Note from my brO
2006-03-15— Posted by: allegra
Allegra, this just occurred to me the other day as I walked the halls of UVic with my ears covered to avoid serious damage to my hearing from people screaming on their cell phones. [1] Regular phones provide audible feedback consisting of the talker’s voice, amplified and emitted from the earpiece. [2] The louder their own voice seems to the talker, the more quietly they tend to speak. You can test this easily enough on a regular phone that allows you to adjust the earpiece volume. Office phones usually have a feature like this. [3] Cell phones apparently don’t have this feedback feature. My own cell phone has an earpiece volume setting but this has no apparent effect on sounds coming from the microphone. In fact I can detect no evidence whatsoever that sound from the microphone is being directed to the earpiece. [4] So I think this explains why everyone seems so loud when talking on cell phones. The whole notion of feedback as way to regulate your voice volume is pretty well understood. If you cover your ears you tend to talk louder. Same thing if you’re temporarily deaf after a loud concert. [5] Now the real question: assuming I’m right about cells having no talker feedback, WHY is that the case? My suspicion is that it’s to save power. To get the sound from the microphone to the earpiece and provide sufficient feedback strength, you have to amplify it. Cell phones are all about minimizing power use for extended charge life. It makes sense, but this is yet another case of unintended consequences, IMHO. Jeff
Working away
2006-03-15— Posted by: allegra
Paul went up to Kamloops with Mike J yesterday – the weather was apparently foul – and got back in time for some daylight, so they hung the engine.
It hailed with unbelievable fury around 10 to 6 last evening. I was just dropping Rob of Nine off at his place after a trek to the liquor store in Lougheed Mall *no Lion Winter Ale OF COURSE*, and the skies opened and 1.5 cm chunks of ice fell for about ten minutes. I was figuring it was pretty local and it was – my place is only about 4 km away by car and nothing fell in East Burnaby. The temperature on the ground was about plus 4 so obviously nothing lasted, but Yumpin Yiminy it was slippery underfoot. I remember driving by a jogger who was blinking somewhat more often than usual but appeared otherwise unperturbed, and one seriously distressed looking motorcyclist, who had pulled over and put his kerchief up.
Futurama-dama continues unabated with a side of a 3rd season of Babylon 5…
Last night I resisted and stuck to my song writing, and am now very well into Mothers Day, including the dirgelike bass line. Hm. Well, I have another half hour to work on it before the work cycle starts again so I’ll get back to it.
Since it’s been ages since I posted a decent moose picture, I will leave you with this gem, culled from a site in New Zealand of all places. Provenance is entirely unknown.
Feelin’ Squiddy Part Deux
2006-03-15— Posted by: allegra
So my mother writes me…..
With just a little encouragement, I might knit a squid…
R
My ever so UNfilial response:
Really? So typing Knitting pattern squid in Google is too much for you? What a drag it is getting old.
Okay, now you can throw a pillow at me and scowl.
A
And my mother’s response, a warm and measured….:
Right. So I found the squid knitting pattern, and it wouldn’t print out. I HAD thought I could try it without a pattern but now that I know there IS one, I want it!
Knitting a squid is as a phrase in English on par with another one unlikely to be heard: Hand me that piano. That appeals to me.
R
Karl Marx RIP
2006-03-14— Posted by: allegra
Karl died 123 years ago today.
We’re coming up on 20 years after the Chernobyl disaster. I remember being pregnant with Keith and feeling very helpless and sad. So expect the usual media feculence as we ramp up to the actual anniversary.
Yrch!
2006-03-14— Posted by: allegra
Apart from my yard looking like Saruman’s minions have been at it, I’m doing okay. Paul, in a masterful demonstration of his command of space, removed the branches on the walnut without bringing down any hydro lines, and if you’d seen the conundrum you would have pronounced it a poser and likely said, plaintively, why not hire a professional. But with a borrowed Sears electric chainsaw (a damn good one too!) and the determination for which he is justly famous, he got the last of the branches down at sunset… One wire did get munched a bit…. but it was the cable – which Paul took side cutters to about 6 years ago, anyway, where it came into the house – when we found out the cable wasn’t actually disconnected and the kids were using it. Snip. Paul is a man not to dick around with.
I have the car today, yippee. Paul and Mike J are driving to Kamloops to pick up the engine for Mike’s aircraft, John’s just gone off to work, Katie’s in the embrace of Morpheus and Keith has to work later today. Blew off karate, the little weiner. Futurama proved TOO much for him, and frankly for me too.
What a sitcom it is! What mastery of the form! At least twice an episode I find myself laughing so hard the kids tell me to shut the fuck up, they can’t hear the dialogue.
I am sad about the trees, and Paul’s really not happy about it either, but it wasn’t our idea to plant those trees on a sewer line, and we will be planting more trees on the property – on the other side, little fruit trees.
As per Brooke’s request, I am working on the song Mothers Day.
Work has finally lightened up. Oatmeal is calling, must run.
Feelin’ squiddy
2006-03-14— Posted by: allegra
I feel squiddy.
http://community.livejournal.com/molluscious/85967.html?#cutid1
enough sleep
2006-03-13— Posted by: allegra
We sang and played at Peggy and Tom’s last night. Tom cooked a stellar meal, and I made a DESSERT! Yes, yesterday was a day I got off my ass and did stuff, including mending, laundry, trimming figs (I am SO sore) and baking a spice cake for Peggy (and a small army of food colouring enthusiasts, truth be told). Paul and I slept like kitty cats. I had yet another dream about a coworker – this one involved me looking puzzled while he tried to explain something to me. This is so close to what happens in real life that I woke up grinning. I can’t tell the difference between reality and dreams. Here comes Paul up the back stairs, having gone running with Peggy (enterprising folks that they are); Katie is asleep in bed and Keith is long gone off to the early shift at Cobs.
I awoke to the sound of a woodpecker drumming in a tree.
Super sad sad note. All the trees in the side yard are coming down. The sewer line is right under them and we’ve already had one near disaster. Only the walnut was productive, and only for the freaking squirrels, anyway. Instantly I have a sunny south facing side yard to plant in.
Karl got cuttings from our fig trees. Apparently they are dead easy to propagate.
“My vegetable love should grow ….
2006-03-13— Posted by: allegra
Vaster than empires, and more slow.”
Perverted pepper and quote (Andrew Marvell) supplied by WHO ELSE, Dr. Filk.
Confluence of coinkidinks
2006-03-13— Posted by: allegra
Cousin Gerald found this on a BBC website. It purports to be a recent picture of Glasgow. Now, Glasgow is the place where Toribird is shortly to return from (she finished all of her assignments and got them graded and she’s coming home like two weeks early (Tigger bounce)). So it looks like the Glaswegians get snow. Or, as I read in a Scots Dialect on line dictionary, “Aw naw, SNAW!” Of course, the logo on the van makes it standalone funny, but I wanted you to enjoy the coincidence.
Weekend news roundup
2006-03-12— Posted by: allegra
Absolutely nothing is happening. Everybody go back to sleep.
Bye Vijay
2006-03-11— Posted by: allegra
My colleague Vijay is fleeing the scene. It is tempting to place a bug on the wall of the room where he will be having his exit interview, but it did give us an excuse to drag the teetotal dude to the golf course. Tom U (ach, how I miss him) and Jim A (ditto), Mike, Robbie B, Rob of Nine and Liz, Jessica, Brian C, Venu, Kevin C, Sau, myself and Alex S saw him off.
Jessica was having conniptions at the prospect of her stagette. I am so frikkin glad that is something I will NEVER experience that words cannot describe it. Considering that 3 beers make me garrulous (what, more than normal? ed.) and 7 make me puke, a stag would probably result in my presentation to RCH with alcohol poisoning.
Katie just called from Suzanne’s to indicate all is well; bring underwear. Bring underwear? Okay, I won’t ask any questions. (Actually she needs two days’ worth of clothes but the underwear question sort of got my attention.)
Keith is playing Prince of Persia on PS2 and making a certain amount of interesting banging noises.
Slobodan Milosevic is dead. Happens to the best of us, eventually. Of course there is the little issue of the autopsy… at least he wasn’t alive and dead at the same time, like poor Schrodinger-style Arafat.
enough sleep
2006-03-11— Posted by: allegra
Moose in Bondage
2006-03-11— Posted by: allegra
God, looks like a dull day in rural New Hampshire. “Mert, the moose tied himself up in the swing set again.”
Did you know there is a Distinguished Moose Biologist Award? Bernt Earik Saether of Trondheim Norway won it in 2002. He was inspired to study moose after one bit his sister. I’m making all this up, but you can check it on the inertnet if you like. I know what you’re thinking, Brooke. You can’t fool me. It’s time I posted a picture of a moose playing BANJO! Now THAT would be entertaining. But as moose do not actually have hands, I’ll be a while getting that picture to you.
Busy
2006-03-10— Posted by: allegra
I appear to be recovered from my migraine. A lot of snow fell last night, and I’m glad I wasn’t driving in it because the 106 bus driver was doing chewies in the snow trying to get out of bus stops; he refused to go down the hill into New West and was cycling between the mall and Edmonds Station.
That was because I was on the way back from Mike’s place, where I went to commingle with his harem (
Prior to Mike’s I was with Paul at Katie’s parent teacher night. It’s frikkin weird to think she’s in grade 12. In fact, I felt my innards contract a little when I typed that, no lie.
Then I jumped on the Skytrain (which, when the doors open on the new cars is kyTrain, did you know that?) and disembarked at Nanaimo (I think it would be bad form to say I ‘got off’ at Nanaimo) and walked over to his place. Yes, this news item is full of temporal distortions.
When I got home, Savage Love was neatly folded face up on the living room couch. I didn’t even wait that long for the bus at Edmonds, which is a frikkin miracle, considering how underdressed for the weather I was.
Side note to Rob of Nine. My new record is 7.
Getting to work today will be interesting. It’s 8:15 and Paul isn’t home yet – I’m supposed to have the car.
Pic is of the snow last night.
Here piggy piggy piggy
2006-03-10— Posted by: allegra
Interesting
2006-03-09— Posted by: allegra
The Five Love Languages
My primary love language is probably
Acts of Service
with a secondary love language being
Words of Affirmation.
Complete set of results
| Acts of Service: | 9 | |
| Words of Affirmation: | 7 | |
| Physical Touch: | 6 | |
| Quality Time: | 5 | |
| Receiving Gifts: | 3 |
Information
Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don’t understand our partner’s requirements, or even our own. We all have a “love tank” that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.
My head the weather balloon
2006-03-09— Posted by: allegra
Between midnight and noon today (March 8) the barometer dropped from 101.9 kP to 99.9 kP. My head responded by giving me one of the most bizarre migraines I’ve ever lived through. I went home around noon feeling completely screwed up (Thank God Paul could pick me up) and only just woke up – it’s about five thirty on March 8 whatever the date header says….
I got:
Visual disturbances (like, vertical bars in front of my eyes;
balance disturbances;
coordination disturbances;
unbelievably stiff painful neck, but just on my right side, which persists;
differences in colour vision between left and right eyes;
worst dizziness I’ve ever had when I hadn’t been drinking and didn’t have flu;
transient nausea at the commencement of the ‘ride’.
Get this… appetite and tolerance for noise and light were undisturbed, except for video screens. Even now I’m thinking I should just shut ‘er down and run a bath… the screen is too harsh to look at. As always the fix was to take codeine and lie down. I’m going to go run a bath. More later. That was just plain weird. My brain never ceases to amaze me.
Various
2006-03-08— Posted by: allegra
Hey Alan, I dreamed about you last night! You had grown much taller (?!) and when I went walking with you I had to wrap my arm around your leg. Odd dream, but pleasant withal. The rest of my dreams were full of greasy salesmen trying to sell me “snake chow” when I KNOW that snakes eat live food only. Hm. Wonder if I should read something into that.
Puddled briefly last night.
Shown is a new hairy lobster. Actually, it isn’t. It’s a whole new genus of crustacean called kawa hirsuta. The hairs are eye substitutes because this critter is blind. It was discovered in very deep water off of Easter Island. I find it quite beautiful although there likely will be other opinions. Credit AP.
expire of the cuteness
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
http://cityrag.blogs.com/main/2006/03/my_kitty.html
For more pix like:
Ali Farka Toure
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
Is dead after a long illness; RIP.
Perseus taking a shower
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
Perseus in marble
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
Perseus in marble
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
A pictorial meditation on Perseus
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
Cellini’s masterpiece, seen from the side.
Pig snouts
2006-03-07— Posted by: allegra
Strange, strange, are the ways of fortune. I actually had a good reason to be searching for images of pigs looking up. What I looked at instead, about half the time, were repulsive veterinary style closeups of mucosal diseases of swine. Hrrr! bah…. brrrrrr bleaughhh! It was beyond words ghastly, and yet strangely compelling.
So after looking at a LOT of diseased pigs, I found one pig that was *almost* anatomically correct in the correct posture for me to thieve in the name of kitsch, and decided to quit while I was ahead. I am planning a piece of fabric art for my mother, which involves an enchanting young pig looking adoringly at a hummingbird. Thus the warning about kitsch.
Work was actually entertaining in a dry, pinned to a neat label in a neat box, kind of way.
I light candles for Peggy, Brooke, Rev Katie, Dr Filk, my folks, Jeff, Jerome, Tammy, Alan, Janice, Mike, Tori, Keith, Kate, Patricia, Rob of Nine, Peter T, Gianna, Lindsay. I send virtual hugs to Paul. (As soon as I typed that, Paul magically appeared behind me and started massaging my shoulders, which struck me as being pretty funny as coincidences go.) He’s gone off to look after himself and he deposited a kiss on me on his way out the door.
My life has changed abruptly for the better and the worse. My mother’s mother said repeatedly in my hearing that her family could never be TOO big, but she didn’t give me the heart-stopping corollary, which is that you have one fuck of a lot more people to worry about then or be forced to cough up for, which is not always a good trade for the number of relatives you can sponge from, if you follow my venal train of thought.
I’m signing off, Buffyverse is taking over again and I’ll have to take refuge in my bedroom or be suck’d into its aweful power especially as it’s my fave 2nd season ‘sode. Must fleeeee, and take Mandolin with to drown out noise. Yes. A Plan. I have my grip on a Plan.
Word cloud
2006-03-06— Posted by: allegra
Here’s a word cloud of my blog.
Many remarkable things.
2006-03-06— Posted by: allegra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhm67vUMamg
mOm, please do not feel obliged to watch this. But if you do, please be advised that the most remarkable thing about this extremely, uh, sophisticated and adult oriented video, is the guy playing the banjo… at least in my opinion. And as a warning for everyone else, if the sight of dildoes and pasties bothers you, please don’t go there.
I am not going to say who sent this to me, but I will admit “Geez, that’s kind of a personal question!” occurred to me as I was viewing it. By copy to Dr. Filk… I believe you saw a band perform this live at an Ivan Coyote book launch, or maybe you didn’t.
Bambi Blanco II
2006-03-06— Posted by: allegra
I just HAD to post the other picture. Cute as the dickens, ain’t it.
Bambi Blanco
2006-03-06— Posted by: allegra
This picture came to me via cousin Gerald, who got it from a coworker, who got it from a friend who lives in Texas. This little creature, nicknamed Powder by the family who got him briefly before the game warden came and got him, was hours old when they nearly hit him with their car. They figured he was a baby goat, but he’s a whitetail deer fawn. Look how small he is compared to the shoe!!! He took to the bottle right away and will probably end up at a game farm or petting zoo.
Travelling about
2006-03-05— Posted by: allegra
Paul, Katie, Keith and I got on the ferry to Victoria this morning. I spent the whole ferry trip sorting through my pile of songs and writing out lyrics for songs from memory, and adding cards for new songs; all boring administrivia stuff, nothing as fun as actually getting the songs into sheet music form.
My dad’s about to go pick up his mom and Jeff is coming over later too, so it will be a small festive gathering.
Fed Suzanne and John last night; I would have fed Zach more but I pulled out the Nutella. What a mess I made of the roast – I didn’t cook it nearly long enough and then of course overcooked it.
When we got off the ferry we were greeted by what appeared to be a huge pollen cloud; I am now itching and blinking constantly while my brain slowly swells. Everything is flowering here; there are daffs at the side of the road and cherries in bloom – blooming well everywhere.
To keep with the family theme, the picture is of my cousin Shauna (on the left) and my cousin Derry (on the right, and now sadly and too soon departed many years ago of cancer) in about 1973.
Keith is happily telling the grandparents what it’s like to work at Cobs Bakery. Paul pulled out the Jericho Beach flying boat book John bought for him for Dad to look at. All in all, a peaceful Sunday.
Nuff said
2006-03-03— Posted by: allegra
It is the weekend. It is payday. I am feeding Suzanne on Saturday and we’re visiting my folks on Sunday. Oh, sorry, mOm, I neglected to mention that in my phone call this ayem. Work fellates the galactic moose. Katie slept at Suzanne’s. John puddled last night. In reviewing the last sentence I must hasten to add that he neither ‘puddled’ like a Rudy Rucker character, nor ‘puddled’ in the sense of lost control of his sphincters, but went to the Pool to swim. Brooke puddled too, in the same sense of the word. Keith appears to have been taken on full time by the Cobs on Commercial Drive and is working a full shift today. He is on the counter, not in the bakery. They adjusted his shifts around his karate. Paul is singing J Geils “My Angel is a Centerfold” which should give you some idea of his mood. His class was cancelled and I got called into pick him up from work. Katie got 35 out of 45 on her Psych presentation. Keith enjoyed Karate last night but I think he enjoyed the three hours playing Whorecraft much more. Keith is admonishing me. He actually caught some live music at Myles of Beans last night. Quite the man about town, he’s becoming.
Course was cancelled
2006-03-03— Posted by: allegra
So Paul just worked an ordinary day today. I’ll go pick him up later this evening. I feel like steak tonight, and by Gar I think I’ll go get some. Steak and epsom salts, on my shopping list. Not to eat all at once of course.
Some cats like to watch
2006-03-02— Posted by: allegra
and some like the parallel bars. Some do pawstands. This is a cruelty free cat show – the cats are doing it as a result of his observation of their special talents and then developing it.
http://www.MOSCOWCATSTHEATRE.com/
Edumacation
2006-03-02— Posted by: allegra
Paul’s on the plane to Toronto to learn about a new inflight entertainment. I miss him already.
But what about small aircraft?
2006-03-02— Posted by: allegra
http://www.alternet.org/story/32903
Gosh. I guess if I don’t want to feel guilty about travelling any more I’d better not go anywhere in the future.
enough sleep
2006-03-01— Posted by: allegra
Bird flu in cats? Now I’m worried.
I haven’t posted a pig picture in ages. This comes from the Cleveland Police Department, and brought a smile to my nervous lips.
Credit Nicholas Danilov, Mosnews.
Found this on a little used section of the drive. Trent (I believe) took the picture. Jarmo looks naked – but he isn’t. Then Jarmo photoshopped in the earth, and you have a lovely image.
So I’ll be gigging – it’s part of a standup comedy contest – at Zesty Restaurant tonight. I have no clue when I’ll be going on. I am so nervous I feel jelly-like, but I imagine some of Vancouver’s finest beer will put me in a less frantic mood. Pic is of the venue.
Enuff said. This pic is actually from 1997 and was um, borrowed most cruelly from a US army website. (Okay, WHAT was this moose doing on a US Army website? Ha! No one can resist the call of the moose.) But in my diligent search for the best of moosiness, I will take my chances with the eagle eyed military lawyers….
Keith worked a full day yesterday but that was apparently “more testing” and he will know about the job FOR SURE Saturday. Apparently I was also dreaming in Cinemascoop about the floor in the kitchen….. do not pass go, do not find linoleum. Much nicer subflooring and a different configuration in the kitchen, but no lino.
It’s been ages since I posted a decent moose picture, so here one is.
Cropped, of course. Note how, whatever the heck got tossed at it has turned, through the magic of oxidation, into a San Francisco palm tree. This was about three blocks from the hotel.
His mom died. He’s being hand reared at Taronga Zoo in Australia. Credit AP. Apparently he matches his name to a T. I find his choice of stuffed animal (or transitional comfort object, as it is stuffily known) rather odd.
2xs.jpg)
Man, there’s nothing I like better than checking out what people have on their hard drives. Look what else I found! Isn’t amazing how much Martin Landau really DOES look like Bela Lugosi? Anyway, this is a lobby card from one of my all time favourite movies when I was a kid. Hey, I don’t HAVE to have good taste, it just comes natural.
I am still feeling grim, but not so grim that I won’t be able to stand up in the church and do the thang this afternoon. The picture is something poached off my mom’s hard drive; sort of fits in with my emotions.
What a sweet little baby! And good enough to eat…. being made of marzipan.
This sea lion swam out of Elliott Bay in Seattle, humped its way on top of a car (a hybrid car) and said, “Ork, ork, ork, rrrr-orrrk, ork!?” which means, “Which way to Elliott Bay Bookstore? I promised I’d meet somebody there in the cafe downstairs….”
This is why you’re not supposed to back over a fire hydrant.
Credit David Caird.
This feline is very intelligent, and while being looked after by Brother James in Kanata, participated in a Trivial Pursuit game, as shown. James informs me she did well in all the cat-egories.
I am still sick, but likely will be at work tomorrow; what a horrible thought……. for all the people listening to me coughing up Smurfs.
Whiskers, what HAVE you been drinking? This is Leo and Linda’s cat, and I find the presence of a Glenfiddich bottle somewhat concerning….
I’m making little snorking noises, which is not overfilling my ocean of charm, because I have a bit of a chest cold. However I forgot all about it last night whilst enjoying Mike and Tori’s hospitality. Tori had spent the day stuffing and unstuffing suitcases and quelling anxiety about her trip… she will be studying art in Glasgow for three months. Mike is really not looking forward to her departure, but if he can he’ll visit her, and if he doesn’t well there will be a rapturous reunion come April.
This is from Brooke’s blog. I had to cross post it. I am in Su Doku ville myself, so a cat, the Georgia Straight and …. Su Doku. It’s the Sunday morning trifecta in the middle of a Wednesday. Cat is called Suzie, and she has issues.
Made it okay to Seattle after a little meshuggas at the border. We actually got Paul back into Canada with no papers, if you can believe it… then went back to the house to collect his wallet. You may infer something of his level of excitement about this trip from this extremely unusual (like in 25 years, never) lapse of memory.
This is a moose in a blindfold. Her ass is in a sling. She is flying, flying, in a sling, blindfolded. She is being airlifted someplace. See the moose swing. See the moose bawl for Gravol. See moose lose lunch, then breakfast, then that big mistake of a midnight moosesnack.
This isn’t a great picture, but the weather here kinda sucks right now. You can sorta see that the roof is flat rather than domed.
The Tree Climbing Goats of Morocco………
This is a sucker footed bat Myzopoda schliemanni. Isn’t it adorable? I want one.
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge183.html
In the face of overwhelming odds, I maintained my sanity; I performed laundering and cleaning of dishes and emptying of cat litter (whoo-wee), I mailed off about twenty application requests to co-ops, I walked around downtown in the rain with Keith a lot, visited Doug and L.E., heard cuts off Odditorium, watered some plants (after trying to open the wrong fricking door, thank God the tenants weren’t home), I called a bunch of people to wish them a happy new year (and only people I really felt like talking to, and mostly got voicemail) and talked to Maggie and cleared up a misunderstanding. Gosh I’m dense sometimes. I’m okay with that.
Here’s a pic of Dr. Filk’s 2007, brought to you by Finnish stannomancy.
Here’s my lump of lead from the New Years’ divining we did last night. This divinatory tradition is apparently thousands of years old. Keith’s was very long and thin, with a knob at one end and a ninety degree bend at the other, by which he interpreted that he was going to have some heavy sledding before he finishes up his schoolwork. Paul’s was very complex; I’d show a pic but I don’t know what he did with it.
We’re currently watching March of the Penguins, which is definitely family viewing. Paul is off to work. I have finished all of my laundry and put it away. (It’s the putting away part that is so remarkable.) Brooke picked up a copy of the mandolin music for O Brother Where Art Thou for Keith (which he will be paying for today, I piously hope). I will be returning the accordion and some other stuff to Peggy’s place today (sorry Peggy, can’t keep the accordion).
Let’s try this again…..
Keith had a belt test today. He got clipped during sparring practice, but he has a good feeling about his grading, and will know in about three weeks. Doesn’t he look entirely cute, and sort of James Marstersish? Sigh.
The top figure is a regular helicoid. The bottom is a Genus One Helicoid…. you’re welcome. Photo credit Indiana University.
It’s enough to make you want to skate to work on the canals. 1/7th of the fleet went out of service during a snowstorm. If you inspect the picture closely you will see four, count ’em, four, jack-knifed articulated buses. Leo sent me this, of course! With the title “Why you live in BC.”
I may have posted this pic before, apologies if I have. The title is “Impending Doom”.
Glenda Haist died today. That’s a little picture of her up in the top corner. She was one of the most honest, decent, hardworking and loving individuals I ever met; her fortitude during her hospitalization and under her many personal trials, which I will not enumerate, was an inspiration to those of us who were lucky enough to know her.
If you look at this, you will understand the life of tech support.
Pic credit Robert Hogg, who went fishing, and had a four metre long great white shark chew on his boat. Not shown, his wife whacking the shark with a paddle, shrieking hysterically, It’s not PAID FOR you BASTARD! Okay, I made that up.
Too adorable not to post…. the dog is in the employ of the Police, of course.
I finished the Eyre Affair. I was about halfway into the book before it really grabbed me, but after that I was sunk, I had to finish it.
I like the tiny snow monster peeping over the top of the roof. You can tell there was ZERO snow last night, it’s stuck to the clothesline.
Black and white pic of the figs.
Unfortunately it didn’t occur to me to wrest the camera out of Paul’s hand, but I narrowly missed witnessing this train derailment at Granville Island. No injuries were reported. When we went to the Model Train etc museum Alan went to a very happy place and started thinking of all of his friends and acquaintances who would go gonzo over this display. There are 6,000 handmade trees in the display. Anyway, I had the great joy of running downstairs and yelling “There’s been a derailment!” at the attendant.
Check it out. This is a 100 year old banjo. Pic snapped at Granville Island earlier today.
This, friends and neighbors, is a Flying Spaghetti Monster Sex Toy Cozy. Does it say anything about me that I can immediately think of three people I know who NEED one? Stolen from a link provided by Brooke. You are all completely spankable and need to contemplate your issues while bringing me more beer for my kidneys.
Photo credit Rob of Nine.
I boosted this picture from the following story… it is a very special gyroscope that will be used to prove or possibly pick holes in relativity.
I hate this f*cking mouse, and I am not going to mince words as I say so. I just did the morning post and the mouse was possessed of Satan and made everything disappear – all I did was touch the f*cking thing, I didn’t even click on anything. I’m gonna get me a new one. Don’t tell me about optical mice, the last one I got was junk too.
Not much to report. Pic is of Darla; I know _I_ couldn’t sleep that close to Carly’s soccer shoes. Yowza.
Happy birthday
Crikey, even the dogs and owls in England are eccentric. Hazel is a dog, and Boobah is a burrowing owl. Hazel recently had puppies… yes, this is another cross species love story, the kind that humans find so entrancing. Anyway, Boobah loves riding on Hazel’s head. Motherhood has its trials.
AP photo shown is from a guy who flew his aircraft into some wires in Minneapolis. He apparently didn’t speak to his rescue workers, which irritates me; THANKS would have sufficed. He is being tested for drugs and alcohol, but on the other hand, the weather was bad. We don’t have to assume he was a bad guy; witnesses on the ground say he was doing his best to avoid hitting houses.
Mmmm. Looks a little frosty up there this morning.
Deep Sigh. Thinking about the good old days. Pic is Syd (Roger) Barrett.
I’ve posted things in questionable taste before, but, Sodom and Begorrah, this takes the wafer. A reporter who covered the Michael Jackson trial has trademarked “Jesus Juice”. He and his partner are looking for a winery with a sense of humour…. Normally I don’t drink red wine, but I suspect I’d pony up as much as $15 CDN to grab me one of these puppies. On the other hand, hint, hint, I have friends with label makers and wine bottles. Doncha all crowd ’round at once, now….
Well, it wasn’t a completely bad weekend. I raked leaves and Katie got them into the back composter; we did a grocery shop; I watched Pink Floyd’s The Wall; I made lasagna and cinnamon buns; and of course I finished the Doorstop.
Holy Virgin! Get a load of this Cheney pic. Okay, a contest. What caption should this picture have? I suggest, “I AM smiling”.
There is something really weird about this picture. It’s an alpaca. Credit AP, no human name though. Katie took one look at this and said, “Isn’t that a camel relative that spits?” Alas yes, but who could believe it of such a soft eyed critter.
Still have a headache, but I have to post this picture. This is Finnegan, who was adopted by a preggers Papillon bitch and now has puppies for stepsiblings – yes, mom allowed him to nurse. It is my opinion that, as weird as testosterone is, estrogen is weirder yet. If you want the whole sequence of photos, which is truly remarkable and quite aesthetic, go to snopes.com.
Sandy sent me this, credit Glen Hartong AP.
I’ve been much concerned with my own internal affairs of late, and thought I would turn my attention back into the larger world.
From the Smithsonian Zoo site. No picture credit, darn them. Link supplied by Brooke-n-Banjo.
So Katie has been sweet talking in an effort to get me to pay to sling her in a tanning bed, and I’ve been saying to her that melanin deficiency is just a question mark we have to bear as, you know, members of the Pink People. But Katie is not having any; she wishes to have a better colour on her cheeks, and I am expected to fork it over for her. At the same time this is going on, she has been increasingly concerned about the spots on her body. With the appalling lack of concern that I show for her every waking minute, I have repeatedly told her a) it’s not a problem and b) it will go away by itself. She wasn’t having any tonight and we went on the internet and bopped around differential diagnoses for Leprosy, Lymphogranuloma and Pugnacia, but alas, all she has is Pityriasis Rosea. Pityriasis Rosea is the Perfect Disease; your patients won’t die but they’ll come to visit, and visit often, while they actually get better all by their widdy selves. So I told Katie that there’s nothing much wrong with her, and then we read the treatment suggestions. Ten guesses, my good fen! Yup, off to the tanning bed. That kid’s gonna kill me. Pictured is her current state of mind; she was rolling around giggling when she realized she might chisel some skin cancer time out me anyway. heavy sigh.
Last night we celebrated the life of Tom U, and actually didn’t wait until he was dead to do it. After a stunning meal at Arroy-D on Cambie, enlivened by plinking Thai music and pleasant company, which included the original Lunch Bunch (me, Tom, Mike M and Jerome) and which included Ian as a drop in. Fortuitously, the server had just brought me my second 1516, so I slid it in front of Ian once I viewed his squash pinkened and thirsty looking phiz. Ian and Jerome had other engagements, so Tom and Mike and I repaired to Mike’s place to settle in with a couple of simply wonderful scotches, finishing up with a Martell cognac. Now it sounds like I did a fair bit of drinking, but the scotches were tastes, and spread out over about two hours; besides, Tom U has a very precisely machined tolerance for drunkenness in the folks driving him home; he would simply have refused the lift had I been impaired. Our entertainment for the evening consisted of petting Spud and shushing Tasha when the fireworks freaked her out too badly. We also conversed on a variety of subjects. At one point during the evening Mike fixed his eye on the ceiling and said, in response to the absence of some object in his life, “I don’t know what happened to that.” My response was, “The aliens took it.” Tom and Mike both nodded gently; their thoughtful expressions didn’t change. This will, hopefully, give a hint of the quality of our interactions.
Pic is of Henry the Elephant Seal, who took up residence… until somebody gave him a polite shove with a bulldozer… at an Australian beach. Photo credit Colin Stuckey.
This was too good not to steal. This a buck with a camera mounted on him. They got about 200 hours of footage, most of which (I bet) will cause intense amounts of vertigo and motion sickness. Bambi, the thicket! Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Channel and the University of Missouri, no human photo credit. Kinda like the Elizabethan style ruff, contrasting nicely with the Terminator stylings of the camera mount.
My beloved, twinkly coworker David D took my normal sized meatball and transformed it into what looks like a sizable chunk of alien viscera.
Two nightmares, both of which involved the torture of children, one by the father, one by persons unknown. One little snippet of dream that had Adam Baldwin dressed up in a suit that made him look like something out of James Bond while he leered at Morena Baccarat. One little snippet of dream where a musical instrument that looks like a washboard with strings is played by a child prodigy while the adults look on in astonishment. A house where somebody has taken the tin snips to the ceilings and applied the results haphazardly to the doors instead. And the entire house decorated in yellow and orange (bleah), including Tiffany style interior windows.
Taken September 30, just as we were heading in to the Serenity opening.
This is not a flattering pic of me, but I really like it anyway.
Tamar is a truly stunning looking woman, and I especially like the nails (and the smile….) Pic from a wedding reception in Toronto recently. Let’s just say it would have been a commitment ceremony a couple of years ago. Thor bless Canada!
http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Consequences.PandemicPreparednessGuides I tried to post the link to the first PDF shown on this page, and it didn’t work – I actually got a message I’ve never seen before – so my apologies. But the preparedness brochure has some stuff in it I haven’t seen before.
On Karvachauth, Indian women do themselves up with henna and pray for their husbands. Seems like a great idea to me!
Pic is of Prussian Blue, the front girls for a racist hate band. Gotta love the t’s.
Pic is e e cummings, who was raised a Unitarian.
Cut yer hair. From New Zealand, of course.
Gotta love it. Shaggy manes – and that’s just a small fraction of what their lawn in Kanata looks like.
Born in Florida. 200 and some odd pounds, cazart. Earlier post was my letter to efrank.ca.
Dear Cheerful Incompetents: Hi, how are you? Howzit goin’? I sent you my credit card information and pressed enter and it all disappeared. There’s no obvious place to log in, even if you do get a magic, you know, password. Actually having a log in on the front page of your site would be a sign that you have actually entered the land of webbiness, and left your inkstained days behind. Oh… look….you have to mouse over Already A Subscriber? which isn’t on the front page of your site! And look, even though I sent my information to you, it won’t take my username and password. Under the circumstances, should I really trust you? I mean, you guys died off from the newstand before my last subscription ran out. F/ckers. I’m over that, honestly. It’s time to let bygones be bygones. You have twenty four hours to demonstrate that you want me to subscribe. The response email shall be entitled “Grovelling Apology” and contain the magic words “We didn’t bill your card, please try again”. Also, some verbiage indicating that the subscription is for One Month and I’ll have to do it again to get more, and what your cancellation policy is, would make me a lot more comfy with the notion of throwing money down your particular drain. If I get an auto generated response to this, I’ll give you such a pinch, you’ll look like the after picture from a BDSM party. Warm, somewhat moist and nitrogenous personal regards, Allegra Sloman Pic is a sunrise from my back deck.
Can’t we all just get along? Credit Mike M.
From Dr. Filk.
There’s a blob about halfway down this pic, taken by Ken Kastner in Alaska. It’s a moose. He managed to get himself stuck on a cliff, and now he’s likely to die.
Went to small group ministry last night at Tom and Peggy’s and the group meditation was awesome, as always. The meditation was about groundedness and my prodrome FINALLY lifted although that could be my new glasses, too.
I shamelessly stole this image from Mr. Damon’s blog (nmazca.com). You have to admit that this pic from Doha, Qatar is something else. Does it…. remind you of anything? I mean, now that you can get Happy Ramadan lights and hanging decorations? PS I don’t think Ghazi Kanaan committed suicide the other day.
I actually invented a microgravity bed for two, hint hint, but I never got around to patenting it. Second on my list is popping a water balloon. Herewith, pic, screen captured from a NASA film.
Pictured is the armature for the wererabbit from the Wallace and Gromit film. It was destroyed in a fire, which completely gutted Nick Park’s studio, with all the sets and props, for all the Wallace and Gromit films. As a cultural loss it is a great tragedy.
Darain Housen is sporting a hat made of hair. He is from St Thomas WI. Norman Grindley took the picture.
This guy was fishing in Wales when the weight came up and slammed through the corner of his eye. His mates noticed the weight sticking out and took him to hospital. The docs spent five hours removing it. Can you believe it? One micron further and he likely would have lost the eye. If you’re going to be clumsy, be lucky! (Part of my ongoing series of WTF skull xrays).
Pallet of white paint meets gravity. Interesting image, isn’t it? Happened in downtown Oslo.
Ady Feeney, still smarting from the time Colin Cousins and a bunch of his mates ‘redecorated’ Ady’s pub in Southampton UK, extracted a clever revenge. All I can say, it’s a good use for a Vauxhall Astra, whether the damned thing is running or not. Pic stolen cheerfully from the Sun Online, the UK’s premium source of extremely funny pictures of animals, people and things. Also gleaned from the Sun Online; the Canadian Folk Band the Wyrd Sisters is suing JK Rowling for copyright infringement, because a band frequently mentioned in the Harry Potter books is called, how strange, the Weird Sisters. How this can be anything except the world’s most venal publicity stunt is difficult for me to fathom… The spelling is different, and guess what!!! Weird Sisters is a Shakespeare reference and Shakespeare is NOT COPYWRITED. Give me a flocking break, dears. Why don’t they sue the filk band with the same name, could it be the filk band has no MONEY? Can such things BE?
A baby Aardvark from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha NE.
I would be remiss if I did not catalogue Paul’s labors over the last few days. Here’s the Hellacious Hole of Horror. (We had to expose the sewer pipe to put in a cleanout as otherwise you can’t get a snake out to the street.)
Can you fit in one blog…?
Hand belongs to a nice little boy in India named Devender Harne. He has a galloping case of polydactyly, and it doesn’t bother him.
This is a screen capture from the Amazing Race game. I am so fricking glad I don’t watch network TV that interpretive dance, fireworks and multiple orgasms couldn’t even touch conveying it.
Rock Paper Scissors now has 25 hand signals. I am NOT posting a pic, as I can’t fit in this tiny space, but I will post the link. http://www.umop.com/rps25.htm
Why, it’s been bally ages since I posted a good moose picture. Tip of hat to Sandy for a simple “Van Gogh” moose moment.
Remember those ugly little birds I had pictures of earlier (apologies to Brooke). Here they are all grown up.
I have made one Blue Sun tshirt for the Serenity opening and have now transitioned to plastic stencils, as the paper one I used yestreen kinda disassembled half way through. I consider it interesting and coincidental that I already had the correct shade of blue fabric paint, and I have plenty left over for the one I’m making for Peggy (the art work should be a) clearer and b) straighter on her shirt). That will be tonight… I had to leave hers til second because she’s not going until Saturday and it needs at least a day to dry.
From the ocean depths…. a GIANT SQUID!!!!!
Words cannot describe how much I love the work of Tex Avery. Bugs Bunny on reds and acid. Yeehaw.
Cindy Sheehan’s court date for obstructing a sidewalk, leading to her getting busted in front of the White House, is my birthday.
Brother James reports that his hands are cool and dry, thanks. I am interested in YOUR comments, o my other readers. Looks like I’m going to have a 13k hits month. Who is reading my blog? I hear from Sandy, my mother, Brother James, Patricia, Cousin Gerald, Mike and Brooke, but unless they suffer from OCD and are hitting it 42 times a day (uh?) I’ve got lurkers galore.
Black tailed Marmosets. Ain’t they sweet?
Some little SD rang my doorbell at 1 am this morning so I am now awake at 2:30 am. I blogged *like, typed* and I type very fast…. for 20 freaking minutes after cruising around the net for about an hour trying to garner something worthwhile to say and then the Spyware scan appeared out of nowhere and NOT ONLY did it kick me off the internet, it destroyed everything I had just written even though I cut and copied it. Shaky fisty.
Gadzooks and Zounds! Tis been verily an age since I posted a decent bunny pic. Herewith, one giant pink bunny, lovingly knitted by public art loving grannies, and erected on a mountain in Italy for the benefit of hikers and aerobic aesthetes. If you look very closely in the lower left corner you will see people, for scale.
Glenda was doing great today, and although she had to be coaxed, she agreed to have her picture taken. The food at Peace Arch Hospital continues to suck.
Yannig Tanguy decided, screw it, gas prices ridiculous, no more bread van. So, here he is with Copper the pony, delivering bread the old fashioned way. Get over it… there’s a lot more of this coming.
LED bathtubs? Isn’t this a sign of somebody ELSE’s apocalypse? It’s $1800 Canadian. I mean, I love green, but anybody spotting my um ample um you know lovingly bathed in Zombie Green would probably have a really hard time doing anything but drinking heavily and weeping copiously for many long days afterwards. Stolen from Gizmodo.
My Papal fan base screams for this pic, stolen from b3ta.com.
It’s been bally ages since I posted a decent moose pic. Herewith, with kind regards from Cousin Gerald, provenance unknown.
Picture is of a deity. Strangely enough, I am NOT a devotee of the Flying Spaghetti Monster; I am not a Pastafarian. However, I am deeply in sympathy with the Pastafarians, and hope that the imminent split between the Spaghettarians and the Linguinarians does not result in bloodshed.
Pic stolen from mtholyoke.edu, and references this person as being Judge Janet Hall. Judge Janet Hall just ruled that it’s not democratic to put gag orders on the public identification of librarians involved in Patriot Act inquiries at libraries.
This is hilarious. Every once in a while a fly lands on the camera at Mt St Helens, and I managed to grab this image. Mothra is coming! Flee! Everybody keep moving their mouths after they stop talking!!!
Stolen from sadlyno.com, which has some interesting and evil links. I don’t think the proprietor is a Christian. But the flying red eyed kittens destroying a large building image is pretty much burned into my brain.
Pic is a formal portrait of JK Rowling.
Katie came home with two boys I’ve never seen before last night. They hung out in her room talking and then she walked them home (?). They seemed like decent enough kids. One of them was wearing a t-shirt from Chichen Itza and when I asked him if he’d actually got it from there, he nodded with an “It was SO BIG” smirk. And he’s going to China later this year… or so his buddy said. And then Poof, they were gone. The TV had migrated upstairs on the weekend (funny…) and then Keith came out of his bedroom long about ten pm and said, “And now it can go back downstairs, I’m trying to SLEEP”; slam. So John had to watch 4th season Buffy (I think the one where Giles gets turned into that thing with the dirty great horns) downstairs.
Squirrels in Scotland are adapting life in modern buildings by becoming lighter in colour… or so the theory goes. Photo credit Sean Bell from the Scotsman.
That’s Joe Rohrbacher standing in front of his house.
It’s a short trip from Serenity to Spamalot. That’s Alan Tudyk in the centre of this cast photo. Doesn’t he look wonderful with…. long hair????
Tasha was completely screwed up from her trip to the pound; but she appears to be in much better shape as of today, and here’s the complete mob: Tasha, Winkie, Spud and Mila in front of Mike’s folks’ place in the beautiful sunshine yesterday. I love a happy ending.
Pic is more Finn Slough. Picturesque, eh wot? Looks sorta like a house on the bayou, and it should be on stilts, given that the Fraser river is about 30 metres in back of it.
John is back from the south end of Cascadia (Cascadia is the Land of the Salmon) having been to CascadiaCon in Seattle, and if his description is accurate, Brooke, accompanying herself on banjo, sang her way through “Gentle Arms of Eden” which is a Dave Carter tune. Hm. Did you know that border guards are not legally required to know what a banjo is? I thought not.
Details on eurekalert.org. I wanna dress that color!!
Photo credit AP, the Shreveport paper. The MSM rarely sticks the names of the photographers on the credits, piss me off; I am retitling the picture “Louisiana Hospitality”. And yes, I’m being very grim, because that’s about how nice the hospitality would be around here after the big one came through.
This is what the drier parts of New Orleans look like.
Man, it’s been so long since I hung out with Mike by himself I’d forgotten what it’s like; we killed a couple of Stellas apiece at Toby’s Grill and ate ribs and wings and shot the breeze. Winkie is as pretty as she ever was, and she was always a very pretty cat.
Tori took this picture of Mike on Hornby Island. Sigh. Had to put something up that was nicer to look at than the centipede.
Tonstant weaders will recollect a previous post in which a gentleman in the UK was bitten by a South American Critter, a Brazilian Wandering Spider as I recollect, and damned near died. Well, picture if you will, yeah, GROSS isn’t it? I just finished reading Allen Steele’s Labyrinth of Night (full of motorized insectoid critters) so I was underwhelmed when I read the story of Aaron Balick of the UK, who was expecting to find a mouse in the papers behind the tv and whipped out this behemoth 9 inch Scolopendra gigantea, no kiddums. Being of the British Phlegm, and holy crap, as they say, that took some doing, he popped it in a jar and got it to the Museum of Natural History, where the head bug dude just about spasmed. Yes, folks, that IS the biggest centipede currently extant, and it hitched a ride to Britain on some fruit. Now, I found an earwig in my home grown grapes yesterday and that made me plenty nauseous… but if I saw this thing I’d pee my pants. Jeez, Dale, they have these things in Belize? No need to strip down the bed in the guest room on my account, I ain’t never going to South America now.