Allegra Sloman's blog

Interfering in science
2006-12-31— Posted by: allegra

http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/interference/a-to-z-guide-to-political.html

Sometimes the headlines write themselves
2006-12-31— Posted by: allegra

The baaing, the baaing.

New Test
2006-12-31— Posted by: allegra

http://www.depict.org/content/films/2003/relationship_over_480.html

My new test of whether a film is funny is whether it’s funny with the sound off. This meets the criterion.

Wild Catamaran
2006-12-31— Posted by: allegra

This weird ‘spider boat’ is a prototype ocean going catamaran, which apparently has been spotted in Seattle.

The oracle
2006-12-31— Posted by: allegra

I consulted the oracle this morning; I made myself up a rather Whedonesque ritual which likely would have been quite amusing to the rational types in the crowd, and then laid down the cards in the Celtic Cross pattern.

It was a hard lesson but a good one.

Tonight I may consult another yet oracle; as previously mentioned in this blog a Finnish form of divination is to melt solder and cast it into water and take note of the shapes formed thereby. Dr Filk as I recollect was supposed to have a much more prosperous time of things, the last time he tried it, although it took a while for that to come true.

There are signs that Chinese citizens are becoming somewhat less willing to bear the brunt of ecological catastrophe as a price for their economic miracle. We shall see how this plays out for stability.

Things I learned today
2006-12-30— Posted by: allegra

I relearned to knit. Casting on caused me some headaches, but I knit for a while and then pulled it all out, it was just for practice.

I learned that somehow some of Maggie and Glen’s presents for other people ended up here, mislabelled for us… dunno how that happened.

I learned that Peggy and Tom have taken on a VERY big project with remodelling the office, but that is going to be a) gorgeous and b) much more useful when they are done. I heart her Ikea desk. I did a tiny amount of painting at the office (everything is prep time…) and got a nice visit in with Martha.

I made up a new recipe for cole slaw – it’s very good.

I learned how I would ideally want my household configured after Paul and I are no longer in the same place, and it actually looks rather different than I originally imagined it. Very strange. I’d like to thank Peggy for nudging me into thinking on a larger scale.

Dr. Porco does it again
2006-12-29— Posted by: allegra

I got an email from Dr. Carolyn Porco of ciclops.org today (yes, I’m on her spamlist) and said, MOVIES!, and grabbed the new gif for the top corner. This is Hyperion in color. Her comment … “the Slashdot guys are crashing our server” or words to that effect, are another reason why I’m glad I have 40 readers…. maybe 41.

Some people think cats on leashes are bad
2006-12-29— Posted by: allegra

I think this pic is cute, and I posted it for PaTRICia.

Quite the building boom
2006-12-29— Posted by: allegra

http://dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com.nyud.net:8080/

Peaceful
2006-12-29— Posted by: allegra

The light is coming back, which is wonderful. The sunrise this morning was stunning. Biscotti and soup are both finally done, and now it’s time to go to work.

Skywatching 2007
2006-12-28— Posted by: allegra

It’s 24 megs and you need adobe, but if you want to know what the sky will be doing in the next year, here’s the link http://www.astrowhatsup.com/download-the-book/

enough sleep
2006-12-28— Posted by: allegra

I managed to sleep without painkillers last night, a marked improvement over previous nights, and got a fair amount done, including another incremental stage in a batch of biscotti and soup and the garbage out and some paperwork. Oh, and I cleaned the boots I stole from Katie. Katie’s response when I sheepishly announced that I really liked the boots and was feeling pouty about giving them back to her was “Merry Christmas” which royally generous of her.

Tomorrow night I’m heading downtown and giving myself a bit of a break from suburban life and hanging out in the West End for the weekend. New Years I haven’t decided whether I’ll go to Jan’s open house of Spitters and relatives or just watch the world go by.

My to do list is the size of an oil tanker and I’ve yet to learn that going to GTD sites does not constitute progress. Plan the work, work the plan…. Marcus Aurelius, Epicurus and Epictetus all help though. Plain talking sumbitches.

Angels sang out in immaculate chorus
2006-12-27— Posted by: allegra

Yoiks. At work we call these times Sucking on the Firehose; you’re being sprayed, in a most mentally unhealthy way, with new information and expected to get it into your gullet rather than sprayed all over the walls. At home I call it much bitter and reflective cud to chew. (I think I stole that phrase from Lucy Maud Montgomery, but I can’t remember Jack Schritt these days, so I’m far from sure). At the same time, I feel energized and optimistic. This is a sign that I am about as seaworthy as the Titanic ten seconds after it hit the iceberg. And yet, and yet. I feel …. good. Not like James Brown, like Mad Martigan in Willow.

Right now the kitchen smells of a devastating combination of roasting almonds and the commencement of turkey soup. This place smells like food. Of course, I’ll have to do a lot more cooking before it actually IS food, but them’s the breaks.

Big shout out to m0m and pOp for agreeing to allow Lady Miss Banjola through the door. I wish you all joy of one another.

Now I’m supposed to be doing research, but I’m feeling like cooking and picking Katie up from work instead.

Keith’s got a mofo of a cold.

Enormous amounts of gratitude and love to Dr Filk for acts of loving service this afternoon.

Sorry I missed you Tammy….

Crafty, Mr. Math, very crafty
2006-12-27— Posted by: allegra

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061223/bob10.asp

If you’re so smart, let’s see you crochet THIS!

Lady Miss Banjola to the rescue
2006-12-27— Posted by: allegra

http://dreamlandtoyworks.com/my_little_cthulhu.html

Cartoon exit
2006-12-27— Posted by: allegra

In Paul’s quite natural haste to quit Vancouver yesterday, he left both the front door and the back door unlocked. I can understand his desire to be elsewhere, but I might wish that he would not put the worldly goods of his housemates at risk in the process.

Friends………..
2006-12-26— Posted by: allegra

I am so thankful for my friends tonight. Tammy came and fetched me this morning and we spent a wonderful day lingerie shopping, eating sushi, and getting a pedicure, all while Tammy dispensed amusing bon mots and really good advice. At the end of it not only did I feel human I felt quite excellent.

All I really accomplished today was learn a Canadian new folk song (the Fenian Song) and get Katie a new phone number, as she has finally (only TOOK a month) decided she doesn’t want Daxus knowing her phone number. I love it when people finally take my advice…. At least I did something useful today, and like I said, I feel WAY WAY better. Tomorrow, who the hell knows.

mOm I cannot find the pic of John Kovalic’s “my lil Cthulhu” which is aggravating as hell, but I’m sure it will turn up eventually and I’ll forward the link then.

Tammy is leaving for Victoria tomorrow and Arizona after that so it will probably be another year before I see her, but her visit couldn’t have been more welcome or timed better.

Fed Glen and Maggie Christmas dinner last night.

Paul’s in Seattle with Keith.

Hot damn an NRA graphic novel
2006-12-26— Posted by: allegra

Great balls o fire!!!! http://www.rawprint.com/images/nrf8_perilfinal_fpr.pdf

I am very impressed, it’s a brilliantly conceived work.

Interesting site
2006-12-26— Posted by: allegra

http://hybridvigor.org/goals.html

The most wonderful dream
2006-12-26— Posted by: allegra

Last night I dreamed I went swimming by moonlight in Muskoka. The water was deliciously cool and I swam backwards away from moon with the light on my face. As soon as I thought I was near land, I turned around and I could feel the sand under my hands. It was a lovely, lovely dream.

I for one hail our new moose masters
2006-12-25— Posted by: allegra

DrFilk said, “Knowing your penchant for moose pics, I thought I’d alert you to this.” Why thank you, kind sir.

Monastery, 1909 Russia
2006-12-25— Posted by: allegra

Color photos….. I love this picture because it is a genuine color photograph of a monastery in 1909, because it is a gorgeous composition by a good photographer (his name’s in the jpg name, and don’t ask me to pronounce it), and because it looks like something out of a contemporary anime….

And speaking of anime, I am still blown away by the deck of anime cards my cousin Catherine is designing. She is one talented artiste….

Pope’s hat for midnight mass
2006-12-25— Posted by: allegra

Benedict’s hat for midnight mass is pretty encrusted with stuff. It must be heavy. Doesn’t he look like something out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer???

A helluva way to break a fall
2006-12-25— Posted by: allegra

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=609&id=1900632006

Some Brit fell 15000 feet out of an aircraft, got his chute tangled, and his fall was broken by a blackberry bush. He was found unconscious, with nothing more wrong with him than a punctured lung (Crikey, those spikes are long and sharp!) and a busted ankle. As one wag commented, I told you fruit is good for you. Just keep a weather eye out for the guy with the banana…

My aunt and the improvised weapon
2006-12-25— Posted by: allegra

I have learned from one of my more ‘things-go-boom’ correspondents that you can turn a disposable camera into a taser. My aunt had a disposable camera at the family gathering yesterday. Hm. Well, the women in my family always were a little odd. It’s a def trif bad idea to cheese them off………..

Oh, and there’s a video of how to do it on the internet, just in case it’s something the McGyver in you MUST KNOW.

Dang
2006-12-25— Posted by: allegra

The choir angelic just got a lot funkier. Just when I’d decided I was going to see James Brown when he came through town next month, the old bugger up and dies on me. He died early this morning of pneumonia. I’ll let other people make the tasteless jokes, I already made fun of him in my blog.

I wish a happy Christmas and a healthy New Year to all my readers (all 40 of you! What a select group you are, to be sure).

I see a tiny patch of blue sky, which is pleasant, because the weather here has been on the downside of atrocious these last few days.

Pic is a captcha from the Blues Brothers of the Godfather of Soul.

Lovely brunch
2006-12-24— Posted by: allegra

No pics (which is hilarious because there were seven cameras there) but Granny’s 95th bday and mOm and pOp’s 50th anniversary went off completely hitchless. In attendance, myself, Paul, Katie (Keith had to work, poor lamb) mOm&pOp (obliviously) Granny (Ditto), Barry, Jackie, Lexi and Rob, Shauna and Catherine, Garry and Diane, Gregory, Tracy and Keegan and Caden, Jeff, Mary… I think that’s all.

We ate like idiots (finger food) and Paul had the brill notion of ordering a couple of jugs of draft rather than all separate beers which meant that we spent WAY less on alcool that we would have otherwise, and we were at a place called Charters which is right on the ocean and HOLY CRAP were the waves high. I am NOT used to seeing 8 foot breakers. Are we going to get on the ferry? It’s looking almost dicey. I’ll post when I get home…

Then the Amazing Cakes Diane made came out and we mounted a vicious assault on them, and then we sang Amazing Grace for Granny, and shmoozed and chatted and admired Catherine’s art work (she’s doing an anime deck of cards!!! send pens…) and had seventeen billion pictures taken. We all had a simply lovely time, and there’s truffles in our bag. Yay us. That was the nicest possible birthday / anniversary party, and I am very very glad I went.

The staff there are darlings and there’s a beautiful saltwater tank with “Nemo and his dad” in it…. two clownfish.

It’s still blowing really hard. I’m going to check the ferries.

Not enough sleep
2006-12-24— Posted by: allegra

I had a lousy nights’ sleep, mostly due to pain, and I’m out of prescribed painkillers. So I took AC&Cs instead, and woke up at 4 am with a bellyache instead. Heavy sigh. Now it’s time to jump on the ferry and get going………

enough sleep
2006-12-23— Posted by: allegra

Saw Tammy and met her beau Henry today, and we had a pleasant meal at Chong Lum Hin. Tomorrow, off to the grands for the 50th wedding celebration and Granny’s birthday party.

Rubber Santa Devil Pirate Ducky?
2006-12-22— Posted by: allegra

Here’s a hopeless cultural mashup. Only thing missing are throwing stars and a ninja mask…..

I love the inappropriateness of it all
2006-12-22— Posted by: allegra

I had a worksibling send me an email that started, “Why you ungrateful hag!” I justabout spewed coffee all over my screen.

I’m okay with it, really, and +so+ wish I could share the circumstances. Anyway, I can die happy now. Actually I’ll be able to die happy when I get a business card that bears the title, “Chief Lackey”. It’s the little things that make a workplace great.

Scarlet Johannsen in fetish gear
2006-12-22— Posted by: allegra

http://www.kontraband.com/show/show.asp?ID=5198&rtn=index-topten

You’re welcome.

No blog today
2006-12-22— Posted by: allegra

I am trying to model good behaviour…. if you have nothing to say, don’t prove it by talking.

Links to ancient Greek music
2006-12-21— Posted by: allegra

http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/agm/

Punkin good Xmas
2006-12-21— Posted by: allegra

http://waynekozak.com/wkap_xmas/

Ah….
2006-12-21— Posted by: allegra

I spend a lot of time working on other people (usually neck and shoulder rubs) so it was a relief to actually be on the receiving end for a change. My feet say, “Thanks!”.

On the other hand, I’m hungover, but it IS the week before Christmas, the drinkinest part of the year.

I light a candle for the immigration woes of some of my friends and colleagues. May the problems be resolved swiftly and in your favor.

So… I mentioned Crisco yesterday, but alas, it gets worse. Imagine working someplace where you say, “I just don’t get Crisco” (the clear context being ‘in the sense of being a personal lubricant for acts of intimacy requiring large amounts of same’, to which your lunchmate’s response is, “But it’s natural.” My riposte, unfortunately for the appetites of my lunchmates, was the first thing that came into my head, which was, “So are gamma rays, but I don’t want them inside me.” This passes for normal conversation at any lunch table I’m sitting at, which is probly why the VPs always look so hunted when I sit down anywhere near them. But really, it’s better than listening to a brace of nerds salivate over expensive cameras, which is the only other conversational oppo.

I think my spine is finally rehydrating enough that I can uncurl from the foetal position, clothe myself, and brave the wild darkness of pre-dawn East Burnaby to get on the bus.

The Wet Spots do it again
2006-12-20— Posted by: allegra

http://www.goodiebag.tv/video/fist_me_this_christmas.htm

No, as a matter of fact I don’t like Crisco, having a marked preference for O My, but I have to tell you, I work in the kind of place where worksiblings send me links like this… and I like that.

The Wet Spots are from Vancouver. I wonder if my Merkin worksibling was aware of this???? rolling around under the Christmas tree…..

Adventures in wellness
2006-12-20— Posted by: allegra

I had another interesting mini adventure at work yesterday. I asked a worksibling to show me where the gym is because as embarrassing as it is to relate, I couldn’t remember how to find it. He did so, in company with some of our other tablemates at lunch.

The menfolks went into the men’s changing room / shower room / washroom, determined there was nobody else in there and invited me to inspect. It was spacious and well appointed.

Then I pushed the door open into the women’s side. It’s the size of a Dilbert cubicle and the appalling stench that greeted me from the immense pile of shoes just inside the door literally stopped us all in our tracks.

So my worksibling says to me, on the way back up the stairs, I thought girls were supposed to smell pretty, and I told him to shut the **** up.

I wanted to be an honorary man for the purposes of gym usage, but instead I think I am going to draft a smokin’ email to the facilities manager and I’m going to hang an even more smokin’ sign up saying that all those shoes will be handed over to a hazmat team if they’re not outta there by a reasonable date.

In the spirit of the season, I am re-reading Robert Graves’ King Jesus.

It’s that time of year again
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

Biscotti  Do not forget to double the recipe

MIX IN ANY ORDER
3 large eggs
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
� cup melted butter
1 cup pretoasted any combination of coarsely chopped hazelnuts/almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
� teaspoon ground cardamom (Optional but optimal)
3 drops of almond flavouring (Optional and don�t overdo it)

Add, until no flour shows:

2 � cups all purpose flour (you may add a little more if dough is too sticky)
1 tablespoon baking powder (I use less).

Cover carefully with at least a couple of layers of cling-style wrap and 
refrigerate for NO MORE THAN A DAY
Cook in two stages   Preheat the oven to 350

Form dough into two logs (or four if you have doubled the recipe).  Roll the 
dough between your hands until the logs are between 1� and 2 inches in 
diameter and about 14 inches long.  Place on greased heavy duty aluminum foil 
(properly spaced you can get two logs onto a cookie sheet) and squish down 
with your hands until they are less than 3/4s of an inch high.


Cook for about 25 minutes, but watch it like a hawk for the last 5 minutes so 
it does not burn.  You want everything cooked right through but not so cooked 
that you have trouble cutting the logs up because they crumble.  If it still 
looks bubbly on top it isn�t done.  While still warm, slice logs using 
serrated knife in 1/2 inch thicknesses.  If the dough is gooey wipe off the 
knife with every cut.  Return to the oven at 350 until golden brown, about 
another 15 minutes.  For extra crispiness turn the oven off and let them sit 
for another 10, or even overnight with the oven off.


A double batch makes about 60 biscotti, depending on how thin you slice them.

Sign on a restaurant – now that’s a deal!!!
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

NOW HIRING / TWO FRENCH DIPS / FOR TWO DOLLARS. — A sign at an Arby’s in North Bend, Washington.

It had to happen
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

www.youparklikeanasshole.com

Maybe that Durango owner will do a better job of parking it when he’s living in it.

News I needed………..
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

http://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?x=16822

Alcohol protects the brain from trauma!!!!!!!!!!! who knew???

Weather aboveground
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

Here’s Dr. Filk inspecting the damage in Robert Burnaby Park. Still over 100000 people without power in Western Washington, not one but TWO of my coworkers had trees come through their houses.

I feel lucky we didn’t lose shingles or fencing. I had to pick my way through an awful lot of debris on the way down the hill from the bus stop this morning.

Are you edible?
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

In the spirit of the Season, Santa Moose
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

Some people have NO RESPECT for wildlife, especially yearling male meese with a sweet tooth. Both pics, part of a series, sent me by my correspondent in Moosonee. I lie, he’s actually in Alberta, and this is from Cousin Gerald. Buddy, you’re a scandal to any self respecting moose, but I kinda like you anyway. Next up!!! a picture entitled, “Are you Edible?”

It’s been Bally Ages since I posted a moose pic
2006-12-19— Posted by: allegra

This is Buddy. He can fend for himself, but in this pic he is demonstrating that he likes hanging around the house where he was fostered when he was orphaned. Note the dog lying around, completely unconcerned, in the background.

I google imaged Rasta Claus
2006-12-18— Posted by: allegra

Happy Sigh, it’s Rasta Claus…..

How much? That’s all I want to know…..
2006-12-18— Posted by: allegra

http://www.personalblimp.com/

URL sez it all.

Highly recommended blog
2006-12-18— Posted by: allegra

http://van-housing.blogspot.com/

…and now you know where I stole that pic from 🙂

Shiny
2006-12-18— Posted by: allegra

A great peace comes
2006-12-18— Posted by: allegra

I am feeling much better.

Dejunked 2 boxes of books, a big heating pad thingy and a bag of clothes.

Lexi and I did the production line thang on chocolate truffles, I dipped Mr. Biscotti in Ms. Chocolate with excellent results, and then Rob dipped both into Mr. Latte, with what he pronounced excellent results. That all sounds much more kinky than it really was, I assure you. I’m weird – I don’t dip biscotti in either coffee or wine, both of which are trad.

Katie hauled her first 9 hour shift at the deli, and when she came home I worked on her back and we were giggling because she was crunching something awful, like 16 snaps or something.

Keith closed at Superstore yesterday – he was working the 15 items lane and he says he cannot recollect that it was ever that busy. A lot of people paying for groceries on credit though. I shudder when I hear that.

I have found a dandy blog about the Vancouver housing market. It’s uniformly excellent, and I’ve lost the freaking URL. I’ll dig it up and post it.

Suki, Dr Filk’s new cat, is a complete SWEEETheart. I really wish I had a cat who would sit in my lap when I work…. mew.

Quentin Crisp on avoiding a broken heart
2006-12-17— Posted by: allegra

The quickest remedy is that you must learn not to value love because it is requited. It makes no difference whether your love is returned. Your love is of value to you because you give it. It’s as though you gave me a present merely because you thought I would give you one in return. This won’t do. If you have love to give, you give it and you give it where it is needed, but never, never ask for anything in return. Once you’ve got that in your head, the idea of your heart being broken will disappear.

Christmas 2007
2006-12-17— Posted by: allegra

Ach, it’s too late to think about this year, but next year, buy me one of each from::::: http://criterionco.com/asp/index.asp

Off to Lexi’s this afternoon to see what happens when you mashup HER mad homemade chocolatier skillz and my biscotti. Oh yes, there will be calories!

In the meantime, laundry and dejunking.

Sad news
2006-12-17— Posted by: allegra

Paul and I are splitting up and selling the house. I sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to all the various people who thought we were a ‘forever’ couple. Sober consideration yielded the result that killing myself was not the way to get out of this soul-grinding, and unbelievably tasteless, situation. Splitting up seemed a more palatable option all the way ’round. The kids seem fine with it. More details as they become relevant.

enough sleep
2006-12-16— Posted by: allegra

No blog today.

Housing bubble
2006-12-15— Posted by: allegra

Here’s a nice graphic….

Sore
2006-12-14— Posted by: allegra

I haven’t been complaining about it much, but my back is really sore. I no longer have a comfortable sleeping position, and sitting and being in a car are very hard.

Last night I dreamed I died. The hospital paid Paul $50 to cart my body away. I was still having a conversation with the nurse; it was like everybody else knew I was dead and I didn’t.

Bin There, Dun That
2006-12-13— Posted by: allegra

Burned all my con badges this morning. That made a satisfactory offering to Loki, I must say. It’s a good thing to put unpleasant things behind you. There is an offering to Loki that involves dumping a shooter on your head, but I’m not there yet, and I don’t have the courage to ask the Minions of Loki if I can ‘borrow’ a shot of Carn Dum, or whateverthehell they drink for scotch these days and use it for hair tonic, by way of requesting the assistance of an imaginary deity….

Daxus Briggs, Katie’s ex, has, in the last two days, called the house to talk to Paul and texted her (the same day the phone (we had to replace at great trouble and expense after he knocked it out of her hand in the middle of a roadway) arrived, the kid must be psychic). I say this so that if in a couple of days I post that he’s assaulted her again, or killed her, or himself, it won’t come as a surprise.

I guess he doesn’t really understand this whole ‘breach of undertaking’ thing. I’d like to breach his underpants with the toe of my boot, but a) that’s not very Unitarian of me and b) knowing how badly I do anything associated with physical violence, I’d prob’ly just hurt myself.

Work is extremely interesting and extremely difficult right now.

Home life could be better too, but I guess in light of the foregoing I don’t really have to explain much about why. And now Katie’s going to school full time and has TWO part time jobs, which totally reduces the stress of everybody in the house. Keith is continuing to truck along well, thanks for asking.

mOm photocopied and forwarded an article about Dr. Carolyn Porco, about whom previous posts, and Dr. Filk picked up the picture of her and said, in that sonorous and sappy voice he occasionally adopts, “I’m in love.”

Geeks rule.

There is a Christmas tree entirely composed of dead boards at work. It’s about two meters tall and covered in blinking leds out of dead displays. The VP HR loaned her Catbert doll to be the star, and every time I turn around there’s something else on it. Jim from Kanata; please note that the snowman from the Christmas card you forwarded is now decorating the tree. I didn’t think you’d mind….. and thanks for the card, we’re all reasonably well here, except those of us who are entirely insane.

I’m not going to post a picture of the tree made of boards, but I will give you a mental image. I was rendered entirely speechless for the best part of a minute when I saw it for the first time, much to the amusement of those engineering staff who expected a snappier comeback out of little old moi. That about covers it, right?

Paul’s going to Seattle for New Years Eve, possibly with Keith in tow, and I’m not. I’ll be greeting the New Year with snores, in accordance with long standing family tradition.

Another Party, March 10th. Why so close to St Patrick’s Day? Because of Paul’s schedule; February was a write off. There will be live music in The Noisome Lair of Dr. Filk but dancing and drinking will be everywhere else in the house. This will be a dancing party. And drinking. It is the feast day of St Himelin, who changed a pitcher of water into wine and died of the plague three days later. There is a lesson in that for all of us, I guess….

For me pOp
2006-12-12— Posted by: allegra

This picture is for my pOp, who used to hack electrons for a living. Subtext: Oops. If you’re not technical, you probably won’t get why this is funny.

And they made a Christmas tree out of scrap boards in the engineering department, so now I have to find something to put on it.

Scanged from Lifehacker & elsewhere
2006-12-12— Posted by: allegra

http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

This is very useful and very friendly to the environment.

One of the many unindicted co-conspirators I call coworkers sent me this link. And make sure you read the comments….

http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/11/honda-asimo-takes-a-nasty-fall/

Me on the beach on Saturday
2006-12-11— Posted by: allegra

That was one helluva blowy day.

There is a diagram for everything
2006-12-11— Posted by: allegra

http://ahlwoon.ckcheng.com/uploaded_images/attractivenesScale-782459.jpg

Black powder
2006-12-11— Posted by: allegra

No pics, but I definitely fired an AWFUL lot of guns today. Some were short and some were long, and they all went bang. When we got to the range, they were firing black powder guns, so the first long gun I ever fired in my life was a black powder rifle. The target was only about 25 yards away, but I hit it two out of three times.

Then we left for lunch. Then we went back to do our own shooting, and the black powder guys were gone and we had the range to ourselves, which is awfully handy so you don’t have to yell CEASE FIRE every time you want to check your targets.

Can’t go into detail about it too much, but I really really really hated the Glock, and really liked the Walther, but I think I liked the .22 pistol best.

Then we went for a walk down the Puntledge River and HOLY CRAP were there EVER A LOT of SMELLY DEAD FISH.

Then we had supper, drove like the hammers to Nanaimo, and drove straight onto the ferry and now I’m home. I had a lovely weekend. Bang! My fingers got powder on them! Cordite!!! wooo and likewise hoo!

Courteney Comox run
2006-12-10— Posted by: allegra

Paul and I had a reasonably pleasant journey yesterday and ate, drank, sang, played and swapped lies for the day with the Lamprey Family. (Yes, Lamprey Geeks Rule!) We also visited Goose Spit during a windstorm… and then we drove and scrambled up to the top of a cliff that some Alaskan dude clearcut after he was told not to and viewed the windstorm from a different angle. Brisk! Bracing! Entirely Nuts.

Today I am going to fire weapons, teach the Lamprey Family how to make biscotti and go home.

We listened to a simply wonderful album by Harry Manx (Wise and Otherwise) last night and are now listening to Twango Bango by David Lindley and Wally Ingram, who manage to sound like a 19 piece ensemble between the two of them.

If this picture actually posts, it’s a baby Morrison Creek lamprey, and I think it’s adorable, especially the eyes.

Weather in space?
2006-12-09— Posted by: allegra

http://www.spaceweather.com/

The current pic is of a tsunami on the sun. Molto frio!!!

Sundry & various
2006-12-09— Posted by: allegra

I just laboriously entered an immense post, and of course I hit “Insert Story” and the sumbitch vanished.

Paul and I are off to Courtenay on the 8:30 boat. Katie’s up already, she’s working the brunch shift today. She is showing signs of having transitioned from lazyass teenager to workaholic, a turn of events which partakes of the miraculous.

I got a flu shot at work yesterday, and other than not being able to raise my left arm above shoulder height and being sore, no side effects. The nurse giving the shot was smoother than a mirror.

Something in the computer is chattering like a leprechaun’s Uzi, so I took the precaution this morning of gmailing myself all the critical ‘work in progress’ files, including the song lyrics/listing, and the techno thriller to date.

I was very happy to leave work yesterday. I gave Rob of Nine a lift home (he’s limping, poor guy, having cracked a bone in his foot), then called Paul and got his ETA at 22nd Street Station, then battled the worst traffic I’ve seen in South Burnaby since the last Hyack Parade to get him, then got a phone call from Katie about six blocks from home (and more or less on the way) “Come and Get Me” which we did, and then we stayed for dinner, which was 9 Kinds Nibbly Things with Stella. Then home, and Paul and Katie went to Buffyverse and I had a long hot bath and did Sudoku.

Wish I could find the watch. It is resolutely staying in places I haven’t looked yet.

Glow in the dark Condiments
2006-12-08— Posted by: allegra

http://www.backtable.org/~blade/fnord/condiments.html

It made me laugh, what can I say.

Endeavor to persevere
2006-12-08— Posted by: allegra

Some dude in Metchosin has crucified Santa underneath a Latin sign that says Shop til you drop. I personally take much comfort at this time of year in that line from a Wertmuller movie about people thinking Jesus is Santa Claus as a young man.

I’m off to work early this morning, I don’t know why. Maybe the cafeteria is calling me for breakfast. I brought my lunch; homemade chicken soup.

Lady Miss Banjola dropped by for a 3rd season Buffy fest; for some reason the zombie cat episode, and then there were others.

I’m taking requests for song subjects.

Wish list & other stuff
2006-12-07— Posted by: allegra

I wish there was a place I could practice at work. I suspect my sanity would get an enormous boost if I could sing and play for half an hour in the middle of the day.

I wish people didn’t keep asking me what I want for Christmas; apart from world peace and a new sciatic nerve I’m kinda tapped out for ideas…. that I can publicly post.

I wish I could teleport over to my brother’s place and stay there for a week.

I wish I could teleport in February, when I’m planning to go to Toronto. Why go to Toronto in February? I miss real winter and I hear the place still has a decent transit system, neither of which obtain in this fair burg… I bet if I pack my skates there will be a thaw. Anyway, I have people to see and I wish to inspect the childrearing success of some of my friends.

I wish I could skate outside this winter without driving to 100 Mile House, or whereverthehell. Apparently there are ski hills around here that have outdoor skating surfaces. I suppose I should hang with Mr Interweb and find out where. It’s just that Apres Patiner doesn’t sound so good.

The latest Frank issue verbed the galactic moose.

The latest Funny Times actually was. I subscribed to Funny Times for a year when I was living in Toronto and working for CDS; the current subscription was a gift from Janice.

One of my projects while I’m in TO is to visit all my old stomping grounds, personal and professional, and take pictures.

I wish I could teleport to Mars and go play with the rocks for a while.

Serenity Shopping List
2006-12-07— Posted by: allegra

This made me crack up. I found this someplace off Whedonesque – it’s from webcomicsnation.com eckshully, and I thought this was one of the most adorable fanbites I’d seen in quite a while. If you aren’t a Serenity/Firefly fan this will go right by you.

Howard Zinn quote
2006-12-07— Posted by: allegra

Howard Zinn, from his most recent book.

America’s future is linked to how we understand our past. For this reason, writing about history, for me, is never a neutral act. By writing, I hope to awaken a great consciousness of racial injustice, sexual bias, class inequality, and national hubris. I also want to bring into the light the unreported resistance of people against the power of the Establishment: the refusal of the indigenous to simply disappear; the rebellion of black people in the anti-slavery movement and in the more recent movement against racial segregation; the strikes carried out by working people all through American history in attempt to improve their lives. To omit these acts of resistance is to support the official view that power only rests with those who have the guns and possess the wealth. I write in order to illustrate the creative power of people struggling for a better world. People, when organized, have enormous power, more than any government. Our history runs deep with the stories of people who stand up, speak out, dig in, organize, connect, form networks of resistance, and alter the course of history.

Elvis Preseli
2006-12-07— Posted by: allegra

This Welsh Elvis impersonator – who doesn’t even perform Elvis tunes, apparently – has more charisma than he knows what to do with. Check out that big bald head. Mmm mhmm. His real name is Geraint Benney. As is usual with the Sun Online, may their various minions be cursed and their privy parts struck sore with fistulae and flatulence, the name of the photographer is nowhere in evidence. These Things Are Scent to Try Us. Anyway, whether you were a publicist’s minion or of the valiant, free press, great pic kiddo.

Joke from Cousin Gerald
2006-12-06— Posted by: allegra

In honour of the Liberals, I thought maybe we could go to a quiet, average-looking little French restaurant that no-one’s ever heard of and even French people don’t like, but is environmentally friendly and smart.

Massively urine-worthy clip
2006-12-06— Posted by: allegra

http://www.thedisneyblog.com/tdb/2006/12/mary_poppins_re.html

Mary Poppins recut as a horror film. Baybee! Hide yer childer!

Weird experience
2006-12-06— Posted by: allegra

So…. I’m minding my own business last night, in my own patent pending fashion, and a song said, “Play me play me I need to be liberated from silence!”…. so I start picking out the sweet little beatleseque melody line on the mandolin. And ANOTHER song came along and said, “**** the other song, play ME inSTEAD!!!!” No lyrics for either one yet. One is going to be a song about war, and the other song is going to be a love song. Maybe a biscotti song. No, too sweet. It’ll be a love song for Vancouver weather. No, that’s too disgusting. But it will be a love song…. Oh my GOD, I’m playing a MINOR chord on the mandolin. The people I play with on a regular basis will get scared. I mean, this song has FOUR WHOLE CHORDS IN IT. So in the midst of the retreat from Moscow which is my personal life at the moment, some things are extremely buoyant and fun. And I’ll be taking biscotti to work, which will make somebody happy, even if it isn’t me.

And you know what Brian said? “Get your ass in gear and learn Copperhead Road!” It shall be done, superior sir! As long as he doesn’t tell me to learn the Battle of Evermore or Maggie Mae, I should be fine. Brr!

mOm, I can only think of one line from a movie right now…. “We must learn to be happy without it.” I’m working on it, but the sledding is very heavy.

Up next… meeting Katie’s new beau.

Cancelled the Simplicity meeting, only one person RSVP’d.

I’m reading Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Jumping Jimmy Christmas, what an extremely disturbing and bizarre graphic novel. I say again, Brr!

I just figured something out
2006-12-05— Posted by: allegra

BSE gets into the human food chain not so much with tainted meat from the butcher, but through prions that escape from pet food containers – because we all know that only the most wholesome cuts of meat are in cat food tins…. And all this time I was being a good citizen, cleaning out those cat food cans in the sink. I can feel my brains checking out already…….

Off to school
2006-12-05— Posted by: allegra

We let Katie sleep until 8 and now she’s going to get a lift to school. Sweet, as the kids say.

Still shippiles of snow; the promised rain was so measly and ineffectual that it didn’t actually melt much. We need a really warm spell or some sun.

Today I sort through the tangled mass of songs YET AGAIN to figure out which one to do next, and I made up cards for the ones I just wrote, which include “Short” (sorry, I can’t post the lyrics because they are extremely rude and possibly actionable) “Lady of Komarr” “Going on Vacation” “Buy me a Beer” “The Dream in Fragments” & “Miss Manners has her say”, and I didn’t have a card for “Chance Met”, either, although I wrote it months ago, and I did have a card for “The Merman Lover” which I wrote after “Chance Met”. I have been getting sloppy…. I also remembered a tune I wrote, no lyrics, about 20 years ago. I find driving a car and walking extremely useful in song writing; moving and songwriting seem to go together. I know it sounds stupid, but I could literally write airs all day.

I forwarded one of my tunes to two of my colleagues the other day; one has yet to comment, and the other said, “Wish I hadn’t waited 4 days to listen to that… more please!” which I have to say made my day….

That was for “Crazymaking Boy” a cute little tune which Katie sings backup on. I made the mistake of emailing it to one of Katie’s friends, (shaky fisty, Jessica!) and now the damned song is an Escapee…. there’s like half a dozen kids in Burnaby with the song on their MP3 players. I should probably make it Creative Commons and be done with it. Barn doors and all. Anyway, today should be a tuneful day.

Phone has been replaced and works great. First batch of mailing biscotti is off – Paul scarfed about a third of the batch for a Christmas party last night, which seemed entirely appropriate. Most people are just standing around waiting for an opportunity to eat my biscotti, at least this time of year.

Courtenay folk, prepare to be invaded… this just in from Paul….

Paperwork
2006-12-04— Posted by: allegra

Katie filled out all the paperwork for her new job. Now she’s hanging with friends for the evening.

We bought a family Christmas present – a phone with two handsets so John can have one downstairs and doesn’t have to schlep it up and down whenever he wants it. We also broke down and activated call display.

Now I’ve seen everything
2006-12-04— Posted by: allegra

Home

And to think I could have used one of these last week!!!!

More kitty pics
2006-12-04— Posted by: allegra

Zeek! was very very happy to have Paul home. As soon as Paul lay down on the Sofa of Morpheus, zingo, there he was. Oh, and the phone just rang and the good news was that the job that Katie applied for has called her back to fill in paperwork. So all good news.

Busy day
2006-12-04— Posted by: allegra

Pic is of Kira. I have lots of work to do today…..

I wrote another song
2006-12-04— Posted by: allegra

Little Jimmy Maple Leaf, the guitar slinging wildman that he is, suggested I write a song. I have done so, but now I am deeply ashamed of myself because I will never be able to perform it in a public venue, it being too scurrilous and potentially career limiting.

Stranger, when you see this story, go tell the Maple Leafs, we have done as we were bid.

Anyway, I’ll debut it at my next party, sometime in February.

I wrote it less than 24 hours after he commissioned it. I wish to do for love what others charge so much for, so we may all be enriched by knowing the true price of art. Pic is of a neighbor.

Shaky fisty
2006-12-03— Posted by: allegra

Dang. One of the perils of the blogslife is the Wildean moment. The wonderful backstory thingee you don’t talk about in public. Anyway, I’m very happy right now, although I’d be happier if I hadn’t just boobytrapped the freezer door with half frozen ice cream which caused Keith to let out a mighty yell, and a mightier scolding to the miscreant (terse, witty, and entirely without profanity) who would be, oops, me. I did clean it up. Kira wanted to help, but I .. uh … pink tinged cat puke is not something I care to contemplate cleaning up at the moment.

Paul’s home
2006-12-03— Posted by: allegra

He was able to get an earlier flight, so he’s home early. Me happy.

Cartoon noises
2006-12-03— Posted by: allegra

Little Jimmy Christmas, I haven’t even had coffee yet, and Keith is enthusiastically (Willis-like, full points if you get the Heinlein reference) bouncing around the house talking about doing a Dorothy Dunnett / anime mashup. Yark! Actually, there are possibilities… there are so many pretty blond boys in anime.

Last night’s company Xmas party was well attended, fun, and in a very choice location. I performed “Buy me a Beer” to a crowd of about 150 people without difficulty or incident. Maintaining the three beer buzz required to adequately render the song was a challenge but I was driving home alone after …. so I had to be good. It was received reasonably well (actually, it received enthusiastic applause and people were clapping along during the song, and I forced the Moomins to get up and dance, so yeah, by me it was a success).

The person who took pix of the event has not yet forwarded them to me… wait a minute, let me check my other email…nope, no joy. I got a quick look over his shoulder at the display afterwards; he took TWO DOZEN PICS of me performing and I didn’t even notice… that’s smooth, considering his camera is the size of a fax machine.

And then I had the unalloyed joy of having two of my long time coworkers admire my cojones, a sentiment as cheerfully welcome as it is anatomically improbable. Both of them only play in public when they have backup, and that just makes me shake my head, as both of them are semi pro or at least have vocal training, and all I have is my widdy head, my native talent (40 years of songwriting, gosh darn) and a cruel muse.

Yupper… Polyhymnia is a badtempered muse – she once dated Loki and man, it did NOT work out. He kept bugging her for drinking songs, and she’d get up and go dance and sing in the woods like an elfmaiden. I’ll have to do a story about that sometime. Hm. I just had a great idea for a whole collection of stories… no actually it would work best as a graphic novel. Okay, in the pile with you, Mr. 29th idea before breakfast….

I tuned that goldinged mandolin three times – the humidity in the, uh, facility we were at went up and down a lot. I’m never buying a crappy tuner again, it’s insane making. We TUNE because we CARE.

My only regret was that Paul was not there to see it, he would have enjoyed it immensely. And my grandboss played keyboards, so there.

Katie’s not here but she phoned. Warning: Relationship in Progress. I can’t say I approve, I never met the lad formally, but if it’s taking Katie’s mind off her troubles I shouldn’t make either horrified OR envious noises. This one at least is a Red Dwarf fan so I’m allowing myself to experience a dilute and cautious optimism.

Off to church this morning; it’s a purely musical service, no sermon. Sunday mornings never looked so fine. Which is not to say I don’t enjoy Rev Katie’s sermons, I just like music a lot. You noticed? How kind!

Keith brought me coffee; all is forgiven.

Now I have to get going on the song Jim commissioned. Hint: I am diving into the thesaurus for words that are confused with “short”.

Gosh, whatever Keith’s cooking smells righteous, and he made bread too, the useful man.

I even wore makeup last night. Now my eyes feel like mortared-over bricks, and I actually removed the makeup before I went to bed last night! Cazart.

I should go move the laundry along.

I’ll post pix when Dave gets them to me. Wish he could ‘shop about 15 pounds off my butt, and 5 off my face, but them’s the breaks………..

back to the grind, not
2006-12-02— Posted by: allegra

Yeehaw 4 days off. I have much in the way of plannyness planned, as well as many Solstice “fatten the relatives” plans. And I have been SPECIFICALLY enjoined by my delightful and hardworking and talented worksiblings south of de border to MAKE BISCOTTI and somehow get them through customs. Having a bit of a problem there, because they are w*apons of mass accretion. However, I am sure I can do it, because they are my worksiblings, and you have to figure on doing what it takes to feed them.

Lessee. The world continues to be a weird and interesting place. Katie did not come home last night, but I want everybody to know two things. I know where she is and she is doing fine.

The November novel writing month is over, but I’m still up 18K words. I’ll have to delete or rewrite most of that, but I have a better sense of what I’m doing and hope to be done this time next year.

I have to enter 15 songs in the next two weeks if I want to get back on schedule. I did get through Buy me a Beer last night, but that was only so I could rip a wav file and get it over to Brian. There are now two more verses from what I previously posted – very funny ones, I may say.

Oh, Glen, I keep flashing on the expression on your face when you said, “I’ve FINALLY heard the Tapioca Song.” Giggle.

Time to update the song list. It’s unbelievable to me how many songs I’ve written in the last 2 months. I haven’t had a spell like this since the summer through fall of 1990…. not that I quit writing in the middle, just didn’t produce that much.

I really want to learn another instrument. I suppose it’s time I actually learned piano; really I want to learn bass but then everybody would think I was just copying Peggy, who is essentially so much herself and not anybody else that I couldn’t dream of that… She’s getting SOOOO good on bass. I just want to squee like a four year old when I think about it.

And besides, basses are heavy and my back is crappy right now.

Paul’s at his mum’s place in London; Frances’ funeral is today.

Keith and I got halfway through Ed Wood and couldn’t hack it after about halfway – although as promised, Martin Landau was amazing – so we watched Jacob’s Ladder instead. Holy Virgin, what a CREEPY movie! I was not watching it directly because when I saw the vibrating heads I freaked out. I just listened to it, and when the creepy voice says “Dream On” in the hospital I justabout convulsed in terror. I have such a bizarre nervous system. Keith’s on a ‘going mad’ movie kick, and I said, well, sheesh there’s lots of those. I am going to bug him to rent Gaslight. I’ve never seen it, except excerpted (try typing THAT fast!) in other shows.

Time to start a load of laundry and review my 36 item to do list; at least finding a cure for cancer and accomplishing world peace have finally dropped off the list… and I owe it all to GTD! And it’s not even 8 am yet. A great start to my long weekend.

I light a candle for Paul, Paul’s mum Phyllis, and all the folks gathered to celebrate Frances’ life today.

I light a candle for the Vancouver Lesbian and Gay Choir – I am FINALLY going to go to a show, I buy tix tomorra.

And I’m lighting a big big candle to the folks who crafted the millennia old orrery. Geeks rule! Greek Geeks rule very much indeed! And as Cousin Gerald said, Cartographers Rule the World. (It’s the sign over his office.) I made the mistake of mentioning printers, and don’t ever do that to a cartographer, they have the best stuff. But we have an instantiator at my work!!! so there!

Pic is Katie in Seattle for the Music Project school trip.

nucular terrierism
2006-12-01— Posted by: allegra

A fistfight with a clown?

Okay actually it’s about nuclear terrorism.

Sigh
2006-12-01— Posted by: allegra

Katie didn’t come home last night. Nor did she phone. To quote Kryten, “I’m almost annoyed.” I have a rough idea of where she is and who she’s with, but a phone call would have been nice.

Paul called to say it’s raining and blowing a gale in Toronto right now. He and Per were supposed to see the Avro Arrow display (a Canuckistani pilgrimage if ever there was one – damn, I wouldn’t mind seeing it myself) but the traffic and the weather suck too badly. Paul’s off to London at 2 and will meet up with his mum.

Headgear Smackdown
2006-11-30— Posted by: allegra

Normally, Bennie has it all over the other guys in the hat department, but as Lady Miss Banjola remarked, the Patriarch is having a major hat smackdown with the Pope. And, check out the vestments. At least they don’t wear the same thing to the party…..

Silly string…. isn’t
2006-11-30— Posted by: allegra

more snow
2006-11-30— Posted by: allegra

There was another two inches of extremely dense snow on the ground this morning. Driving was fine because I live just off major routes, but listening to the radio about how 45 seconds of travel was turning into an hour at some of the on ramps made me glad that Dr. Filk told me to put a shovel in the trunk this morning.

I feel like I’m coming down with something.

On the plus side, the distrust, fear and suspicion which has clouded Katie’s life for the last little while seems to be lifting, thanks be.

More writing
2006-11-30— Posted by: allegra

I wrote some more.

I talked to Paul; he’s suggesting I stay put and he’ll fly the family flag at the funeral and come home Sunday – he’s on vacation for the best part of two weeks.

We tried to work out the logistics of getting me out Friday night and then Saturday morning and none of it looked easy; he’s still going to look into it and the situation is still fluid.

Typing the victim impact statement for Katie was a lot harder than I expected it to be. The very starkness and lack of emotion makes it very moving.

There’s a lot happening in my life right now.

Burnaby Library phoned to say that Keith lost his phone and, possibly, his keys. Hope he makes it home soon so I can tell him, he’s probably already noticed that they’re missing and is pretty choked.

Dr Filk, may he be praised and adored, has shovelled the walkways; it’s still bucketing and cusping on sleet.

A good death
2006-11-29— Posted by: allegra

Frances, beloved mother of my best friend from high school, Liz, and her sister Laura, and beloved mom in law of Andy, grandmother to a tidy few childer, died in her daughter’s home last night. They called an ambulance, but with her classic defiance, she chose to go just as you could hear it beeping as it backed up into the driveway.

She was on the phone with her friends – her best friend Phyllis is my mom-in-law – and relating to her family right up until the end, and appeared to be in no pain after she slipped into unconsciousness after three glasses of water and a nice big supper. She was cracking jokes and ribbing her relatives right until the end.

She died surrounded by family.

It doesn’t get better than this, when we must pay our debt, and she paid it in style, with a curl in her lip, and I salute her. (Liz said, I can just hear her say, “I’m not going into ANY ambulance, thanks.”)

The funeral is the same day as the company holiday party, and I’ve already called Paul to put his thinking cap on about travel arrangements, because the party is trivial, and the funeral is important. Paul’s only an hour away where he is, so all that needs to happen is my heading out Friday night and coming back Sunday night…. I’m sure there’s a bed for me somewhere in London….

Love each other while you can; the future’s uncertain and the end is always near.

A company responds to misinformation
2006-11-29— Posted by: allegra

This is MY idea of how a company should respond to bullshit on the web. Boing Boing said, oh you can buy polonium on the web. Guess what? Maybe you can, but it’s a leedle more complicated than that.

http://www.unitednuclear.com/isotopes.htm

Rob of Nine’s snow pic
2006-11-29— Posted by: allegra

Is now on the home page of the SFU site!! Yes, that’s more or less what work looks like now. gorram snow.

special features………..
2006-11-29— Posted by: allegra

Dr Filk bought the entire 40 DVD set of Buffy, so we’ve been watching special features and bouncing around the seasons.

chatted on MSM w/ Leo, et others, last night. Very bizarre to be texting with somebody who bothers to capitalize the commencement of sentences. But extremely pleasant, thanks Leo.

Boil water advisory lifted as the snow starts to fall again. I think my birch tree is very unhappy. You can’t even see my rosemary bush, there’s so much snow. It’s berloody cold here.

Paul is settled in TO for his course, he says he has a very nice room and hung with his former flying partner.

Keith is providing much advice about the novel, to the point I wish he’d find a project of his own to eat his brain. I am in the process of designing an AI, ably assisted by my complete ignorance of all matters computational.

It’s official, I’m writing songs faster than I can transcribe them. Phwoah!

Off to the airport
2006-11-28— Posted by: allegra

Paul’s off to TO for a course. He’s going to be seeing his old flying partner Per and his sis Ruth and their family, and, ever supposing I can remember how to drive when the roads are this crunchy, he’s left me the car. Wish me luck on the commute!

I helped Katie with her victim impact statement last night. Heavy sigh. I remember looking at the inadequate scrap of paper they give you to fill in and saying, as tactfully as I could, “Why don’t you do a rough draft?” and of course she would have more than filled it. Then she decided to type it, which is also probably a good idea. Anyway our mother-daughter bonding event is completing it and faxing it off tonight. And then a LOT of 6th season Buffy.

Michael Ruppert has emigrated to Canada!!!! He’s in Toronto getting treatment. He doesn’t say on his blog that he was poisoned, but it’s hard not to think of that in the current global climate.

Putin must be smirking. The way Russia is denying the activities of the poisoners is great; everybody knows they did it and now anybody inside or outside of Russia who wants to take them on is just going to die a painful and lingering death – or be terrified by the prospect. Nice work! Ever so much more efficient than lawsuits, one must admit with horrified admiration.

Nanoknife
2006-11-27— Posted by: allegra

Finally, a picture – a nanoknife.

The Guardian Comes Through
2006-11-27— Posted by: allegra

Betty Comden’s obit.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,1957719,00.html

Security food for thought
2006-11-27— Posted by: allegra

http://www.simson.net/clips/2003/2003.CSO.04.Hard_disk_risk.htm

Very too much snow
2006-11-27— Posted by: allegra

I am NOT going to post a pic, because it’s too freaking depressing, but there is a LOT of snow here today, and the temperature has dropped, and now…. the morning commute.

I just checked the weather. What a revolting turn of events. Wind chill of minus 18 tomorrow? Who ordered this up? And check out the jet stream pattern, we’re going to get whacked. Chipper is laughing at me, all the way from Ontario I can hear a demented chuckle….

SHout Out
2006-11-26— Posted by: allegra

No pix of the partay yet… hope Rob will get on that…. but it was, Paul and I agreed as we padded off to bed, the most successful soiree ever. We started singing early because Tom and Peggy are opening the church this morning (and in this weather!!!! we have four to six inches of shnow on the ground and it’s coming down with, uh, grim determination).

Big shout out to the Finn Family Moomintroll for bringing the boys, who had a good time AND a snowball fight, woo hoo. Oh and Susanna brought me a Finnish publication of Moominpappa at sea, so there…. Bigger shout out to Maggie-pants for taking them home in her car (having a Jeep and being the very model of sobriety) so the grups could keep partaying on. Also thanks to Jarmo and Susanna to getting up and DANCING to my new tune “Buy me a Beer”. It made the honky tonk feel that much more real.

Enormous shout out to Paul for organizing the garage for the smokers; I came in from trying to make the smokers feel like they weren’t social pariahs (and I bummed a smoke off Tanya, so shoot me) and PAUL WAS SINGING AUTUMN LEAVES when I came back in – with standup bass and other acoustic accompaniment. I thought my heart would explode with joy – and I think Rob, that sly dog, took pictures just as I realized what was going on, so I will be very interested to see my expression. Then Paul said, “I should do more of this” and Peggy just grinned and nodded like a small and happy child. Paul has a very pretty tenor voice. Like really pretty; he sings with intent and awesome phrasing. I think the next time we do a musical soiree we should bring our top five schmaltziest songs of all time and do a Schmaltz Idol. That could be fall over laughing funny, as well as sentimental as all hell.

We opened with “An Evening of Serious Drinking” and closed with that Joe Hall tune that Dr. Filk always sings at the end of the night (the streets are all … lit up tonight…. not one lamppost is sober…). Festivities closed down around 12:30 but we started singing early.

Oh Lexi, that’s one sweet guitar you have! More morosity!!!

Dr. Filk and Lady Miss Banjola were in fine form as well. The Minions of Loki were also in attendance; Mike sang and played a couple of tunes, but left before American Pie, which somewhat irked the Dalai Jarmo; Heather provided very pretty harmonies on I’ll Fly Away.

The Dalai Jarmo instantiated fries (it’s NOT a proper Paul and Allegra party without Jarmo fries) and he was a saintly trooper, because the oil took forever to get hot because the cooker was outside. ANYWAY the fries were awesome as always.

Big shout out to Lady Miss Banjola for bringing me my very own SUPERHERO CAPE. I will try to describe it. It is lined in BRONZE DENIM. The shoulders are turquoise fun fur. The outer shell is a ketchup coloured fabric with zigzagging lines of lime green sequins all over it. It is the most eyemartyring combination of fabric textures and colors possible, and Keith fell on it with cries of glee when he came home and promptly wore it. Of course it looks better on him; high fashion is for the slender.

Thanks also to Maggie for bringing the shower massager, I will be testing it shortly!

I only had three beers. And now I’m off to church, slowly, slowly. Thank you so much to everyone who came and only two people that I REALLY REALLY wanted to come didn’t show, and they likely know who they are. There was nobody in our house last night that Paul and I didn’t want to be there, and that’s a WONDERFUL feeling.

Thanks be to Loki for a fine fine party.

I ran my fingers through Brian’s hair, but only to get the chip grease off my fingers (kidding, just kidding!!!).

Glen thank you so much for coming, the smile on your face was one of the many highlights of the evening……

The evening was brought to us with the able assistance of a banjola, mandolin, twelve string, resonator guitar, six string in d open tuning, six string, standup bass and a large assortment of lusty voices. Happy, happy sigh.

Tone Deaf?
2006-11-25— Posted by: allegra

I got 80.6 %. What did you get? http://jakemandell.com/tonedeaf/

Men in dresses – Bush kisses Putin’s forehead
2006-11-25— Posted by: allegra

Keith’s reaction when he saw this pic, which must have been on the front page of every newspaper in the world, but I MUST repost to this blog was “I’ve always wondered about those two.”

And we’ve gotta thank Putin for adding the expression “peeing polonium” to our lexicon.

At least Stephen Harper has a look of polite attention on his face.

enough sleep
2006-11-25— Posted by: allegra

I wish we had a picture like this of Stephen Harper. I kinda like some of the American political traditions, but I take comfort that we still have the scrum.

You can get anything you want.
2006-11-25— Posted by: allegra

Did you ever wonder what happened to….Alice? http://www.alicebrock.com/alice.html

Sound advice.
2006-11-25— Posted by: allegra

“The time has come to shed all our fears and prejudices; to stand up against all kinds of terrorism: bomb terrorism, mob terrorism and at certain places, state terrorism. We should neither be condescending towards the reactionary element of minorities nor intimidated by the fascist who pretends to be the face of the majority.”

Javed Akhtar, Indian poet, activist, lyricist and scriptwriter.

party
2006-11-25— Posted by: allegra

Katie has brightened the lives of her long suffering grandparents by a) bringing Tom’s blackberry jelly to them across the Georgia Strait b) showing up at all c) demonstrating that despite the best efforts of her ruinously insane mother, she didn’t turn out half bad (okay, let’s give Paul the credit for that) and d) engaging in (GASP! alert the MEDIA!) meaningful adult conversation with them on a wide variety of topics. She’s off her to Unca Jeff’s today to watch movies and chill. Since this is one of *my* all time fave activities, I can only comfort myself with the notion that there will be a PARTAY TONIGHT at the Augur Inn.

And only the cool beyond cool will show up, because despite my having invited half the known universe, only the absolutely most musical or most fun loving people will arrive.

And Brian. Te he.

Some people wanted to come and couldn’t get a hall pass from their spouses. Man, that just sucks!

I found an on line dictionary that explained w00t! Forty-eight and I finally get the freaking reference.

I found all my Christmas gifts on one website! w00t!

See, uses novel technology appropriately. Neophilia is actually a mental illness rather than a survival trait, discuss.

I really wish I could play mandolin better, I can hear a mando solo for “Buy me a Beer” that would probably take 100 years to learn, and I don’t HAVE a hundred years.

I’ll be lucky to be still writing songs in twenty. And since I’m composing (ha, typed composting, same diff!!!) the bleeding things faster than I can actually write them down, I’m in the interesting position of watching my own goal posts hike up their skirts and book it downfield.

This line deliberately left blank.

I keep asking Loki to bring me a drum and an accordion – is this wrong? Paul seems to think so.

By copy to mOm, can you tell pOp that I think Loki has a thing for the Parking Goddess? I should figure out when Loki’s feast day is and plan a party. Another noisy, anarchic, fabled in history partay.

One last thing. I fell asleep last night to one of my all time favourite noises…. three of my fave people laughing uproariously. Yes, my pOp provided a collection of Three Stooges videos SO HUGE that there was stuff in there that the menfolks hadn’t seen. Paul was in hysterics even trying to describe it this morning. Thank you pOp. I think.

I light a candle for the folks breaking up with their long term girlfriends; it’s happening in multiples and some of it is civil and some of it is not, but it’s still sad. I could say more, but I’d need more visual aids, and I’d rather post a Stooges pic!!!

Internet cafe security tip
2006-11-24— Posted by: allegra

http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2006/posters/herley-poster_abstract.pdf

Excellent editorial about the boil water advisory
2006-11-24— Posted by: allegra

http://www.surreyleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=73&cat=48&id=776810&more=

Goodbye to all that
2006-11-24— Posted by: allegra

Well, I was happy, and I’m not anymore, and I was writing, and I’m not anymore. I have to figure out how to get my mojo back. I think I’m going to be making a lot of phone calls over the next few days.

It’s been bally ages since I posted a squid pic
2006-11-23— Posted by: allegra

Stolen from a friend of a friend of a friend on LJ. Oh, and if you want to friend me on MSM I’m u_must_b_joking (you know the drill)hotmail.com, and my screen name is Gelis.

It was hilarious, I friended Katie’s buddy and she came back in my face like a rabid rat, who the f*** are you and whaddaya want. Fortunately she and I go way back…. I mind a wonderful evening when I’d been recording and was higher than a kite on adrenaline and harmony – and nothing else, thanks! – and not even the spectacle of her puking up three days worth of food and alcohol all over my back deck could so much as put a dent in my mood. I waited until she was between heaves and forced Katie to take her into the can to hose her down, and Katie tossed her clothes in a trash bag and laundered them. I wasn’t touching them, that’s what friends are for!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my relations south of the line.

In other news
2006-11-23— Posted by: allegra

I’ve been introduced to the joys of MSM Messenging. My interlocutor pronounced it “the lowest form of communication” but I can certainly understand now how it’s addicting. When you remove the social cues, communication becomes very … anarchic.

More verses
2006-11-23— Posted by: allegra

I’m up over 17K words on the novel (if I already said that, I wrote more last night, anyway) and added two verses to the song last night. I <3 November.

Happy family news for a change
2006-11-22— Posted by: allegra

Katie has a job interview at 6:30 pm tomorrow…. wish her luck!!

Where’s the pickup truck???
2006-11-22— Posted by: allegra

So… anyway. New song.

Buy me a beer
Make it cold one
Buy me a beer
or maybe, two or three
I may get to like your face
when the goggles are in place
Buy me a beer, or maybe, two or three

Tell me a joke
make it a funny one
Tell me a joke, or maybe two or three
My heart’s been torn in half
I could really use a laugh
Tell me a joke, or maybe two or three.

Instrumental break….

Tell me a lie
and not just any lie
Tell me a lie
Made up just for me
There’s a lot of truth around
Lying scuffed up on the ground
Tell me a lie
a pretty one…
for me.

slowing down to take a breath
2006-11-22— Posted by: allegra

A week ago I was looking at Katie’s closed bedroom door and grinding my teeth, because she wasn’t behind it. Now I look at it and sigh. Just because she’s home in her own bed doesn’t mean I get to stop worrying. But she paid for sushi last night!

All the preliminary legal stuff has come and gone; the ex boyfriend is out after half a day in jail and he and Katie both know the terms of his release. There’s a wrinkle, but there always is – essentially that he lives a few blocks from the school so it’s hard to make him not go near the school. Mitigating this is that the last time he went, two of the teachers upended him over a table and held him there until he accompanied the cops out of the building. Or so I heard, and I have no cause to doubt it.

Katie went to the cop shop by herself to file the report. I know my childrearing style has been characterized as one of benign neglect, but when they are eighteen and neither stupid nor lazy, parents are no longer obliged to wring their hands about what they did wrong, and how raising kids has been a long siege against their sanity and exchequer.

Yeah, yeah, I know. When we went five years ago to a class on raising your teen, the woman looked around and said, “You know why you’re here? Cause you had a baby and decided to keep it.” A ringing endorsement of personal responsibility, eh wot?

Work is wonderful right now. I have the best worksiblings on the planet.

I am very much looking forward to the company collective consciousness crasher on December 2, the potluck on the 8th, holidays on the 4th and 5th (to bake, you know) and the partay here on the 25th, which will be musical…. ah yes. Now I must clean. Damn, how’d that happen?

Okay, HERE’s the Dandy Warhols Link
2006-11-21— Posted by: allegra

Not safe for work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjlx3AbLhqU

bLAH bLAH bLAH hOUSING bUBBLE, BLAH BLAH BLAH
2006-11-21— Posted by: allegra

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15689.htm

Got up, wrote some more
2006-11-21— Posted by: allegra

Went to sleep at 1:30, up at 6:30. I’m possessed, I’m possessed. The characters pwn me. He is SUCH a schmuck, and entirely irresistible by my standards. SHE’s just a cow, but sort of like a commando raid kind of cow. Now it’s time to pull back, get godlike, and start to move the pieces across the board to the messy, ultra-penetrated by media, finale. Oh, and I need to talk tech to the guys at work… that should hurt! NOT, so NOT!

Nobody has to watch this Dandy Warhols video, but as the comments said, EVERY rock video should have a hot boy twirling a hula.

What, another addiction
2006-11-21— Posted by: allegra

Oh, man, like I don’t have enough calls on my time. But I’m up to 16,750 words and it’s still got me by the scruff of the neck.

Katie’s home
2006-11-20— Posted by: allegra

Finally got to wish her a happy birthday. Helluva birthday, hey?

Ah, married life
2006-11-20— Posted by: allegra

Finally got hold of Paul. Paul has known since 9:30 last night that Katie was at her buddy’s place…. and he didn’t tell me. He says that he forgot.

I must refrain from offering honest comment on this minor lapse, of course; failure to do anything else will earn me sternly worded emails from his legion of fans.

In more driving news……
2006-11-20— Posted by: allegra

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6157800.stm

This item is about how traffic cameras are being ‘necklaced’ in Britain. Necklacing is when you hang a tire around something or someone’s neck and torch it. I feel a prank comin’ on…..

You’re like CROSS TOWN TRAFFIC
2006-11-20— Posted by: allegra

OMFG. Check this out. http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448747,00.html

The gist is that if you remove traffic signs, assholes magically convert into good drivers. I’m looking at this brave experiment and thinking, Holy Crap. It would never work in Vancouver. And Jeff, if you’re reading this…. I’m thinking about you and your driving blog!

6 am, still no Katie
2006-11-20— Posted by: allegra

Can’t raise Paul on the phone.

Keith and Dr. Filk got home okay via their separate routes (they came on two different buses from Seattle and Portland).

Katie probably needs to sleep, wherever she is.

Came home, no Katie
2006-11-19— Posted by: allegra

Rushed home, to no point. Katie’s not here. I have no idea where she is. I talked to my mOm, and that helped, but life is pretty bleak right now.

From happiness to misery
2006-11-18— Posted by: allegra

Katie was assaulted by her boyfriend and lost her cellphone. I requested the men of my household to kick his teeth in should he be so foolish or mad as to set foot on our property again.

I have not spoken to her since it happened – I am nearly crazy with grief and rage and questions. Paul couldn’t get us a flight out tonight. So I have to paste a smile onto my face and not put a damper on everybody else’s happy time.

The only bright spot in this maelstrom of idiocy and violence is that I have friends like Tom and Peggy, who have staunchly stood in loco parentis.

The rest I can’t say, but I’m sure you can interpolate. And I don’t have my cell, so nobody can reach me….

whatever
2006-11-18— Posted by: allegra

So I’m at Orycon 28 at the Waterfront Marriott in Portland OR and having not too shabby a time atall atall. The scotch afforded by Arthur in the fanzine room and the two beers (one of them on the house!) at the sports bar are definitely keeping my mood clipping along at a good rate of knots. I’m loving Fat Tire beer. Can’t find any of my peeps – poked my head into the Buffy singalong and nobody ta home, nobody in the hotel room, nobody in the games room. Just me in the Horspitality suite trying to figure out how to access the internet.

Had a simply lovely chat in the sports bar with a gorgeous woman of a certain age who’s an IT professional checking out the job scene who has nothing to do with SF. She’d like Portland if a house in Indiana wasn’t 150K cheaper. And she’s really liking a consulting gig, rather than being a wage slave for a hospital. I think she was relieved when I was able to throw around words like ERP without undue strain…….

I was singing the Tapioca song while Jem of Pondside and Shaddyr were registering, and we ended up singing 4 part harmony in the downstairs lobby when Jem’s hubby came along and sang too. Then poked my head into the Harmony workshop and billy be damned if *they* didn’t end up harmonizing as well. Well, I’m going to make one last attempt to find Keith and then go find the Bardic Filk track. Worked on the novel today too but only good for about 100 words and it’s not going where I want it, it went really dark for a while. BUT I am learning more about Parkour and I’m hoping to integrate my new knowledge in the book. Up over 12K words, anyway.

Paul’s off to see the Spruce Goose tomorrow, can you credit it???

Spent $60 in Powell’s. US, I hasten to add. Powell’s is the kind of bookstore that’s more like a religious pilgrimage than a mere place of mundane commerce.

The costumes are awesome. I’m sitting next to a full bore Klingon. And there’s a Xena here that would bring tears to your eyes.

Much love to all, and to some piggies more than others…..

Happy Birthday to Me
2006-11-16— Posted by: allegra

The rest of you can go eat your livers, because MY BOSS phoned me at home before 10 am this morning to SING THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG TO ME. I justabout died of happiness. And, of course, I’m up to 11,000 words so you can all just eat your livers some more.

The Minions of Loki fed me last night and I had such a wonderful evening, and I sang and played some, and massaged folks for a long long time. I really enjoy doing bodywork on people. It’s all part of my friendly service, you know, who I am. I am a human switchboard, a song writing machine, and I like singing harmony and doing bodywork and making people laugh and working on folks’ resumes for free. The rest of it is kind of up for grabs….. Well, not like that. But it’s changeable. It is written in the water…..

To recap. I am having a really good time, and it’s going to get better.

I’m off to Portland for Orycon. Full report on filking and other stuff upon my return, although I may hit an internet cafe in the meantime.

I haven’t been this consistently happy in so long that I think I have changed phase from being cheerful to just being nuts. However, I know what will happen when I’m not feeling like a Lab puppy on meth any more, and frankly, it’s better to enjoy it while it lasts than worry too hard about where I’ll be when it’s gone. Trouble, clear my door….

Ah, time to go do something else
2006-11-15— Posted by: allegra

I’m up to 8000 words, and some of it is laugh out loud funny. Okay, I’m being kind to myself, but I cannot WRITE something serious unless I’m mad, and I’m not mad, I’m, uh, what was it Inara said in Serenity? “I’m giddy!”

6200 words
2006-11-15— Posted by: allegra

My novel is chugging away, and I’m up to 6200 words, and I wrote a song yesterday, another mandolin tune, called Miss Manners Has Her Say. I am having a WONDERFUL WEEK OFF.

Lou Dobbs editorial
2006-11-15— Posted by: allegra

When NOBODY ELSE in the MSM was talking about outsourcing, Lou Dobbs printed a list on the internet of American companies which had offshored jobs. Like him or hate him, he’s consistent. Here’s a smoking hot editorial, and I have to say I like it. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/14/Dobbs.Nov15/index.html

Oh, the Huge Manatee!!!
2006-11-14— Posted by: allegra

Happy sigh
2006-11-14— Posted by: allegra

Peggy and I went for a walk yesterday in Burnaby Lake Park. The rain thoughtfully stopped while we were out (wearing our matching DNA scarves, hoho!) and we saw a native squirrel!! They are so pretty! None of the pics on the internet conveyed the glossiness or beauty of the critter we saw – from 2 feet away, and he even posed for a couple of minutes while he chowed down on sunflower seeds – so I’m not even bothering to post a pic. Also, this one had an ORANGE front, and every other picture shows cream. The one we saw was as fat as anything. Winter is coming!

Peggy said, “You know, I see a lot more wildlife when I walk with you!” and I thought, well JEEZ, when they stand in the roadway and let you gawk at them it’s hard to avoid. But I do seem to have good luck that way. And nobody was running dogs while we were there….that was the other piece of luck. Oh, and I saw oyster mushrooms, but they were sticky.

Hello elk
2006-11-13— Posted by: allegra

Katie buys dinner
2006-11-13— Posted by: allegra

And now we have leftovers.

This is not a bad thing.

Keith isn’t even up yet! Katie was here for dinner and then left again to sleep at Suzanne’s.

Unca Dave is beavering away at the mudding and drywalling and generally upfixingness. The big hole Katie kicked in her wall when she was younger and more impulsive is taking the longest to dry, so there’s a fan trained on it.

Still no sign when his ferstunkiner car will be ready.

Now that the downstairs LR is looking so nice, I am going to declare war on those wretched blinds and get nice drapes. I ask the Parking Goddess to provide; please give unto me, when next I visit Village de Valeur, a nice set of drapes, the right size, and not too ‘spensive, and please please, nothing sky blue with bunnies. John says he will ‘wig out’ if forced to live with sky blue curtains with bunnies. Something that matches the bricks in the fireplace is my only care.

It is my hope that my energetic and casual family will quit knocking holes in the walls long enough that we can paint this joint. I hope also to get quotes to get the place painted, hopefully when none of us have to be here… Unca Dave is helping me formulate a Cunning Plan. Ah!

busy…
2006-11-12— Posted by: allegra

Fed Casey and Unca Dave and Dr Filk bbq’d salmon last night, so here’s a pic of a salmon crossing the road. Sample dialogue from last night, “How do you get rid of harpies?” “Plucked if I know.” (Okay, you had to be there.)

I’m up to 4500 words and I’m having a gas with the novel. I’m still in the ‘fun’ part. It will slow down, but right now it’s fun.

The signal only LOOKS like noise
2006-11-11— Posted by: allegra

http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2683

Very interesting blog plus comments
2006-11-11— Posted by: allegra

http://brahms.phy.vanderbilt.edu/~rknop/blog/?p=116

The most interesting part of the blog is the comments – there are some folks who just don’t “get it”. The blog is about women in science.

St Petes to Helsinki in one go!
2006-11-11— Posted by: allegra

Homemade Russian sub.

How to get Danes to slow down.
2006-11-11— Posted by: allegra

Brother Jerome sent me this link. Unsafe for most workplaces, (contains large, firm, female breasts) although I suspect most adult Canadians would find the nudity amusing and in context.

http://www.autof1.ro/index/Video_limitare_viteza_Danemarca.html

It is to laugh
2006-11-11— Posted by: allegra

I’m leaving the storm on Saturn up for the rest of November, up in the corner of my blog. I just went to the news out of Faux News…. and their movie was way worse quality!!!! excuse me while I laugh when I bring the science vid faster and better than the MSM. All hail the interblogs.

Unca Dave’s car still sucks a bus station restroom mop, by which I mean to specifically say that Unca Dave and Paul drove to Hope and didn’t get ten k with the so-called ‘fixed’ car before it died again. So once again, pay for a tow back to the shop, and we are now into a long weekend, so what are the odds that *I* will have to drive to and from Hope because Paul goes back to work tomorrow… which means driving him to work first. I’m disgusterpated. I can barely deal with 30 minutes in the car picking Katie up from work and bringing her back. Ah! Last night when she got home she had a bone to pick with Paul so I fled the scene and shot the breeze elsewhere in the house with Unca Dave until things got a little less ‘intense’. I could say a lot of really unconstructive and disrespectful things at the moment, but I am feeling far too cheerful, if only because it feels wonderful to have had the first dream that involved ‘skin’ I’ve had in about…. uh….. can I get back to you on that? A while, anyway. The images are still floating through my brain in a most wonderful way. Warmth and light…..

I’m having a party on the 25th. In my party invite, which was memorable in a number of ways, I put in, under “obligatory legal notices”

Not Responsible for Lost or Stolen Consciousness.

I’d like to thank Janice for her wise counsel to Paul with respect to Katie, it did help. The rest of the comments are lost, as they say, in the fog of history, or East Burnaby, whichever comes first.

The menfolk have done a wonderful job of drywalling and mudding, and the front hall will be in much better shape with those dreadful dreadful mirror tiles out and the new mirror in. I am very pleased with the results, and they’ve been working very hard.

For laughter of a sweeter kind, check out www.flickr.com/photos/psu80e/page3/ for an exceptionally cute picture of a newly foaled pony. The photographer has also got some other jim dandy pix in there.

Protect them if you got them
2006-11-10— Posted by: allegra

This is an illustration from a medical article entitled, “Acute Management of the Zipper Entrapped Penis”. This just seems to be a riff on how I feel right now, and yes, I’m identifying with the entrapped organ.

Remembrance
2006-11-10— Posted by: allegra

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Day. This is the ship’s bell before the restoration.

Hazards of a writer’s life
2006-11-10— Posted by: allegra

As soon as I have one writing project on the cook, I’m outtza mind with other ideas. Now I want to be writing erotica again. Just don’t remember who to send it to, snerk.

another message from Dr. Carolyn…
2006-11-09— Posted by: allegra

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Cassini has sighted on Saturn a phenomenon that has never before been seen on another planet: a wall of towering clouds that ring the eye of an immense hurricane-like vortex whirling around the planet’s south pole. Go to … The top corner of my blog…. that is THE COOLNESS ladies and gents of the audio radiance!!!

mewsings
2006-11-09— Posted by: allegra

Interesting evening; redoing Katie’s resume cause she’s had it with her job, she wants to apply to the same place Keith is working, and why not? Great to watch the two of them conspiring…. Taking a collect call from Unca Dave to be collected from the roadside in Hope (the car has since been fixed, thank heaven). Paul going to fetch him and coming home faint with weariness. Simplicity meeting which was tons o fun, although only two people showed up. Keith and Kate heading off to see the Minions of Loki; a good time was had by all. Finding out my pOp’s encounter with the medical profession went well, and now we can all hop from one foot to the other waiting for the results. It felt like grand central station, and yet it was really peaceful at the same time…..

Sacred cows make the best hamburger
2006-11-08— Posted by: allegra

My dad says…
2006-11-08— Posted by: allegra

My dad says that a prenuptial agreement is a plan for a divorce. Watching Britney and K-Fed (or Cletus, as some sites refer to him) makes me agree.

I am content with the election results, and Santorum’s disappearance into the glistening streams of, uh, a substance which currently bears his name for once and all time, pleases me most of all.

Katie wants to quit her job because of workplace harassment which the management is doing nothing to stop.

Freedom
2006-11-07— Posted by: allegra

Excellent video, just in time for the midterms.

Fire
2006-11-07— Posted by: allegra

A vehicle caught fire in the underground parking lot of my work today, forcing the evacuation of the building. The top floor, where I work, was apparently ‘safe’ but stank so bad I couldn’t work there, so I went home.

It’s been a pretty bizarre day, and the most bizarre thing is that the sun has come out after a simply miserable couple of days.

One of my favourite virtual bars………
2006-11-06— Posted by: allegra

http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/06_06/06_06_inebriated_in_iran.html

Adult discussions
2006-11-06— Posted by: allegra

I never thought I’d live to see the day, but the kids were discussing moving out together last night. It’s very hard to describe how I feel about that.

The weather is atrocious.

X and A had us over for a V for Vendetta showing and it was wonderful. Andrew liked his mask! Dinner was good too.

Then I took a hazelnut torte over to Tom and Peggy’s and we sang and played a bit. Keith really liked the standup bass, it’s a sweet instrument. Tom, Keith walked off with your copy of The Moon is Harsh Mistress. He will give it back, but honestly, he should have his own.

Book of Job…. redone.
2006-11-05— Posted by: allegra

NaNoWriMo
2006-11-05— Posted by: allegra

As long as I’m working on this novel I’m not going to have much time for a blog. So don’t mind me, I’m a touch busy. With respect to the more unpleasant background noise, I’m going to take my Dad’s advice and suffer in silence.

On a more cheerful note, we have a new family saying. “When the zombies come, it’s time to visit Santa Claus.” This is a Red vs. Blue reference (an internet cartoon), but it’s also an injunction to the imagination. It’s also practical advice because zombies slow down in the cold and then it’s a lot easier to whack their heads off.

Off later to watch a November 5 showing of V for Vendetta. I think my host will be happy to get a V mask, he’s not expecting it. And Keith’s costume is damned scary.

I’m making chocolate chip pecan cookies for Paul to take to his coworkers.

Conte
2006-11-03— Posted by: allegra

This writing is the most hellishly complex thing I’ve ever taken on. I’m asking total strangers about design elements – and they’re giving me good ideas. It’s as if my ten years in Vancouver – ten years snuck by in the last two weeks, oddly enough – are branching like a Mandelbrot set under microscopy (J Coulton “You’re one badass ____ing fractal”) into words. I had somebody ask me, “How will you know when you’ve won?” with respect to the plot, and I was astonished. You don’t win battles like this; the war on stupidity will be over when we’re all dead, and it won’t even be stupidity that won, it will be entropy.

I heart November, it’s the most creative month of the year.

“All things are a flowing, sage Heraclitus says. Yet a tawdry cheapness shall outlast our days.” Ray Pound. Man, he had that right, even if the anti-Semitism and weird monetary theories were a bit much. Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

Katie came home last night, can you credit it?

John Robert Columbo said the one thing that will allow me to finish this book that I’m working on. And it oughtta be over the desk of every single writer. “The notion of originality is vastly overrated in this culture.”

Flying visit
2006-11-03— Posted by: allegra

My son would rather be pulled backwards through a knothole than read my blog, so I am with amusement and fondness going to recount the events of the evening, events which culminate in Keith making loud, enthusiastic and happy noises, even though at the time of posting they have not been emitted from his cakehole. Keith does not know, and will not know until he actually comes through the door in less than half an hour, that the Minions of Loki came through the house tonight and left not one, not two, not three, but FOUR V for Vendetta masks. Oh yeah. Oh yeah baby.

We now pause for drama and clarity. And possibly more beer.

Cthulhu is picking his way through hell these days, trying to get accepted in polite society. Everywhere he goes, the waiters say, “There goes the calimari man, isn’t it just AWful?” And Cthulhu, freshly decorated with the third place ribbon from a Cthulhu look-alike contest (having been so foolhardly as to go up against ILM) will be slinking away thinking, “I used to be able to drive humans into madness by my presence and now precious little waiters are laughing at me behind my back! FTN, I’m outta here.”

Sorry, had to deke off to weirdsville there for a mo’.

Hugh Jackman is in every movie for the next three months. It will be like a plague. A beautiful plague.

Oh, oh oh, and they’ve cast Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter. This is perfection verging on the iconic, as casting goes.

More later.

Lighting a candle or two
2006-11-02— Posted by: allegra

I light a candle for Frances, recovering in hospital from surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. I light a candle for Phyllis and her speedy recovery from knee replacement surgery.

The trickster in the code
2006-11-02— Posted by: allegra

Somehow I have dragged myself into writing a techno thriller for National Novel Writing Month. It has a working title and a plot. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.

It’s like some kind of domestic trifecta
2006-11-01— Posted by: allegra

Realizing there’s no camera to take a picture of the amazing dawn, hearing the cat throw up and discovering you have a nosebleed, all at the same time. There’s a song in there somewhere, and someone else can write it.

Halloween
2006-10-31— Posted by: allegra

One of my beloved coworkers turned up at work in a beard and mustache (and otherwise fully accoutred as female, as normal). My response, (tones of well bred enquiry) “I didn’t know merkins migrated?”

Ex Judge of the day
2006-10-31— Posted by: allegra

No, not my dad.

http://abovethelaw.com/ (Scroll down until you hit a picture of a derelict vehicle…..)

Obit
2006-10-31— Posted by: allegra

Maggie Mae, runt of Scooter and Cody’s final litter, has passed on from pneumonia. Love each other while you can.

Had a good long talk with my brother yesterday. The kids are thinking of coming to visit him when they next have two spare days to rub together.

You start out thinking they’ll never leave and the next thing you know they’re never here.

???
2006-10-30— Posted by: allegra

Since when is Tony Blair a friend of the environment? The world’s gone mad, I tell you, mad!

But why?
2006-10-29— Posted by: allegra

George W Bush Speechwriter software….http://www.actofme.co.uk/bush_speech/bushspeechwriter.html

More retro motor pron
2006-10-29— Posted by: allegra

Oooh, look, a Hubbard steam powered motorcycle. It’s so hot I could die.

rude awakening
2006-10-29— Posted by: allegra

There I was dreaming about lecturing my coworkers on how to emasculate certain other coworkers and somebody abruptly woke me up. Really, it was a lovely dream. But that’s okay, because there was homemade french toast and sausages and coffee. Happy sigh. Today I will do nothing except possibly breakfast dishes and a nice long walk…

Yesterday was eventful; I went to the Bodyworlds III show again (my, what a lot of dissected penises there are at that show!); I saw The Prestige with Hugh Jackman (swoon, double swoon, in Edwardian evening dress), Scarlet Johannsen (swoon) and Christian Bale (meh) and Michael Caine (swoon) and Andy Serkis and David Bowie (interesting pairing, wot?) and I definitely was kept guessing til the end so no spoilers. Then Alan took me and Paul to the Keg in New West and we did NOT have dessert.

Visiting
2006-10-28— Posted by: allegra

Keith and Alan and I will be off to see The Prestige today for our movie, and then before that we’re going to the Body Worlds III exhibit.

I had the single weirdest migraine ever last night. I got 15 minutes of practically hallucinatory and very beautiful aura – brilliant alien letters in firegold and rainbow colours dancing and shifting in the middle of my visual field – and then no headache. I feel mildly headachy this morning and it hurts to sneeze, but other than that I seem fine. I think this one was triggered by changes in the air pressure. The neurologist told me I have “atypical” migraines, and he wasn’t just whistling Dixie.

Hanging out
2006-10-27— Posted by: allegra

Alan’s here, and pulled about half a dozen items of clothing for me (courtesy Janice, thank you) out of his bag, and an equal number of books for Keith and myself. His bus trip was fine except that it’s not nice when they have the air conditioning running in October.

Today bookstores and assorted running around including dealing with Kira’s asthma, tomorrow dead bodies at the Science Center.

Shout out
2006-10-26— Posted by: allegra

Big beeg shout out to Andrew S my worksibling who got the Echo running again… Paul’s off to buy a battery. Katie ditched work today, but she’s been feeling off colour for a while and will be seeing the doc on Monday.

Moving Day
2006-10-26— Posted by: allegra

I will have my new cube at work this morning.

Oysters
2006-10-26— Posted by: allegra

I think those oysters were….

yeah.

Car died.

Dead in parking lot at work. Man, it was dark.

Powerpack could not revive it.

Sneezing all day.

Finishing up Komarr.

Keith’s dreaming up Lymond fanfic. “Give me a few years and I could totally take him. He’s all about the grappling, and I’m all about the kicks to the face and testicle shots.” Snicker, I get to listen to this shit every night. “My kumite is based on fast reflexes and return.” And so it goes.

Have worked on the song and have ALL THREE CHORDS worked out, and Dr. Filk says I should debut it at Orycon. Bedtime. Two verses. Happiness.

Candles
2006-10-25— Posted by: allegra

I light a candle for Frances, Phyllis’ dear friend and the mother of one of my oldest friends, Liz, who is gravely ill in hospital in London ON.

I light a candle for Paul, who dutifully reports that his mother sailed through the surgery, was up walking with a walker today, and kicked his ASS at Scrabble. Sounds to me like he needs the candle more than his mum did for the surgery! Bless her, she’ll live to be a hundred, and I’m likin’ that.

Note to the world
2006-10-25— Posted by: allegra

Any company email (where said company does not actually EMPLOY anybody named ‘Guido’) that mentions Guido is automatically funny. In a sick, uncaring, I break your face kinda way.

I have written the second verse to the Lady of Komarr. Man, I love driving in the car because it makes me write songs. Driving by myself, I mean. Being driven or having passengers doesn’t cut it.

Best of all………. I sang it for Keith and he DIDN’T PUKE.

Katie didn’t come home last night but she phoned. It’s a shame, because I bought about $20 worth of junk food to get her through the door.

A cat in the house
2006-10-24— Posted by: allegra

My worksibling Dave has inherited – temporarily – this fine feline, name of Romeo. This cat reminds me SO MUCH of a person, particularly the facial expression, that it’s quite ludicrous.

Forgot to go walking with Peggy yesterday – just as well, or neither of us would have gotten the garbage out – but we did go this morning.

Woke up at three thirty and didn’t go back to sleep.

Dr Filk is still all bubbly and happy about OVFF; I asked which the best concert was and he was incapable of speech for about thirty seconds, and then said, “Now that would be hard to say.”

I am working on a Vorkosigan love song. I have the first verse and chorus but now I have to back and read Komarr.

Pumpkin Patch
2006-10-23— Posted by: allegra

It’s been ages since I posted a pic of a REALLY HAPPY KID. This is my coworker’s littl’un, obviously having a really good time at the pumpkin patch.

It’s nice to know who’ll survive the end of the world
2006-10-23— Posted by: allegra

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S16/13/72E53/index.xml?section=newsreleases

No rants today
2006-10-23— Posted by: allegra

We celebrated Samhain, Diwali AND Eid last night (Welcome to Vancouver!) (okay, Eid was early, ditto Samhain) at Tom and Peggy’s. So, fresh bread and corn (courtesy Paul), one of THE yummiest veggie curries ever (mild but oh so subtle) courtesy Martha, a jumbo prawn stirfry (PNW cooking) courtesy Marnie, butter chicken (omgomg), two kinds rice, two kinds naan, fresh pineapple, trifle, home made chai and gulab jaman from Baba Sweets on 6th St, which I immediately absconded with so I could nuke them until they were just the right temperature. Ten years ago I didn’t even KNOW what gulab jaman was and now I’m so fussy about them that I reheat them… Vancouver is the city that nudged me from being a glutton into being a foodie. But I still don’t like tripe, and you can’t make me.

And we went walking to Burnaby Lake, where we saw this goose pair. The almost albino one is called Al. Why? I dunno, that’s just what we were told. Been there for years apparently. Lovely lovely day for a walk and we ALMOST saw a tree frog, but man, they are little, and the tree it was hiding in was big. The leaves came CRASHING down. Interesting sound effect. And, as always, when leaves come down, it made me think of the song that Galadriel sings (in the book, not the movie) when the folks are leaving from Lothlorien.

I started feeling weird, and then I realized it was three o’clock in the afternoon and I hadn’t eaten or drunk all day. So we stopped off at Katie’s work and found out that instead of her being moved into line prep and cold side she stays in dish pit, grr grr grr. She’s asleep now, although I should prob’ly wake her shortly. I did some of her laundry yesterday and she was so grateful, she hasn’t had a minute of her own in what feels like an eternity to one so young. Working full time and going to school is definitely harder than anything she’s previously taken on.

Paul’s off to London to be there when his mum wakes up from the anaesthetic (she’s turning into bionic gramma, this time it’s a knee) and look up some old friends. I light a candle for Phyllis’ rapid and and comfortable recovery.

Oh boy, less than a month to Orycon, and Powell’s books. Happy sigh.

Willy Pete
2006-10-22— Posted by: allegra

Good morning, everybody. Israel has acknowledged that it used white phosphorus against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during the last round of hostilities. It strikes me that Israel would do well to learn from its old Uncle Sam and tell international nosy parkers to shove off and mind their own business, rather than to submit to the white hot glare of obloquy.

Have you ever heard what, whether the recipient be uniformed or civilian, white phosphorus (Willy Pete in American military parlance) does to human beings? Google Italian documentary Fallujah phosphorus and find out.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1108/dailyUpdate.html links to a number of interesting sites.

The short version is that Americans did use white phosphorus in Fallujah. The Israelis used white phosphorus in Lebanon. Israel admits it, and the US doesn�t.

A professional attitude
2006-10-21— Posted by: allegra

I remember Tammy and Gary being a little shocked when, with my characteristic tact, I told them they weren’t professionals. In those days I didn’t think that Corporate Communications and IT were ‘professions’. When, with some asperity, Tammy asked me how I’d classify their careers, I said, “Hired guns,” which made Gary laugh, but I don’t think Tam was too impressed. When I think of a ‘profession’ I think of a category of work that has a governing body which can cashier you. So a profession is: the military; law; nursing; medicine; teaching; policework; dentistry; accounting; massage therapy; midwifery; architecture; chiropractic, audiology; veterinary medicine; optometry; yes, of course PHARMACY Brooke; social work; speech pathology; physiotherapy; psychotherapy and all of the various and interesting stripes of engineering. Since prostitutes don’t have a governing body, I guess they aren’t professionals. Somethin’ must be wrong with my take on things.

Professionalism is an attitude. It consists of working to a high standard set by your conscience and your closely examined understanding of what you, personally, are capable of doing. There are always minimum requirements in a job…. a professional attitude means that you don’t automatically work to the minimum standard. A professional attitude means that you know there are times when ‘good enough’ really IS good enough. I’m not a working musician, but I tune my instruments before I perform. I don’t proofread for a living (as this blog, alas! shows) but I do care about spelling, punctuation, grammar and little fiddly things like assonance and layout and type size. One of the reasons that I like how limited I am in changing those little fiddly things in this blog is that it FORCES me to concentrate on staying current; otherwise I’d be dicking with the typeface constantly. I keep thinking about changing things, but I am crazy; I enjoy working inside constraints and having well defined limits placed on things. And I’d have to learn a lot more XHTML, or whatever it is people are coding with these days.

I guess I have a professional attitude about biscotti. I DON’T have a professional attitude toward clothing. Any day with no bra and no pantyhose in it is a damned good day. And if a coworker I dislike asks me something work related, I don’t mess around. I just DO THE JOB. Empire building is for little people. Enterprise building is for adults. We rehearsed the show for the congregational dinner last night. Man, I really LIKE Peggy’s bass. It is one of the sweetest sounding instruments evah. And Donna’s harp sounded gorgeous.

I heart Stan Goff
2006-10-20— Posted by: allegra

I don’t always agree with what he says, but I love the way he says it. There have been times, reading his stuff, that I think that Stan Goff is who Hunter S Thompson would have turned into if he’d stayed with the military. Here he is on revolution in everyday life: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/members/100506_insurgent_handbook.shtml. His comment on the preacher made me laugh, very hard. This is the only pic of him I was able to find in which he is smiling.

Cheerful….
2006-10-20— Posted by: allegra

Well, actually, this isn’t cheerful at all…. http://www.fromthewilderness.com/members/101606_leaves_water.shtml

Dr Filk, take a bow
2006-10-19— Posted by: allegra

Dr Filk is off to OVFF in Columbus OH, one of the stations of the filk year.

And what is filk?

It is a sociable and relatively egalitarian musical genre practiced mainly by a subset of science fiction fans, mostly sf convention attendees, which is characterized by emphasis on group performance until late in the evening, spontaneous harmony and clever lyrics, which leans to the folk/Celtic trad end of the spectrum, and in which at least 95% of the songs deal with science, science fiction, fantasy and cats, or are parodies of songs covering these subjects. AND most of them are too damned long. It is mainly practiced in the US, Canada, the UK and Germany, although Australia & Singapore have been infected.

Duels have been fought over the definition, with copious quantities of pixels shed, but frankly filk music is what filkers sing when they get together, and that’s everything from x-rated rounds to zither music. Filk music comes in three subcategories: heartwrenching, funny, and hymns. Which last is pretty funny, considering.

I light a candle for Riverbend
2006-10-18— Posted by: allegra

Riverbend, the ‘Iraqi girl blogger’ who is actually a young woman, has finally posted again… it had been more than two months and Keith and I were starting to get a little panicky.

mmm mmm
2006-10-18— Posted by: allegra

http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/safe/notsee.html

The legendary twin Spokelsemoose
2006-10-18— Posted by: allegra

Twin ghost mooses! It’s been bally ages since I posted a decent moose pic. This from New Brunswick, via Chipper.

New scarf
2006-10-18— Posted by: allegra

My mom knitted me a DNA cable scarf, and I’m wearing it right now. Tom and Peggy fed me and Paul and Katie last night (spag). There wasn’t enough sauce – only five gallons. I wish I was joking. I am joking about the enough, but not about the five gallons. Tom is a big guy, and his notion of portion sizes is “lots” “vats” and “dozens”. Pears in quince jelly with ice cream for dessert. Life is HARD, not. It’s time for me to buy more hazelnuts!!!!

Look Brooke! Zombie job picture!!!
2006-10-17— Posted by: allegra

All we want to do

is eat your brains

(J Coulton).

The phone rings and….
2006-10-17— Posted by: allegra

We hear that John Makela has been injured in Afghanistan. I light a candle for his speedy and complete recovery, and for the poor shattered nerves of his parents, family, girlfriend and friends.

Holiday in Hrvatska
2006-10-16— Posted by: allegra

“It is a perfect opportunity to combine holidays and dental care,” she said.

This plucked, a direct quote, from a travel blurb about why to visit Croatia. Hrvatska – which is what the folks who live there call it, is a beautiful country, dropping slightly or stable in population, welcoming to immigrants (or so they claim) and practicing of religious tolerance and civil rights – and interestingly, possessing really good, cheap dentistry. Come to Hrvatska and get your choppers cherished for 1/4 what it would cost you in Britain. I mean, who could desire more of a vacation than a damned fine bargain in extractions? $50 US to get a tooth pulled? I know a good deal when *I* see one. The rest of you are just flower maimed wusses.

I …. live for a good cleaning. Feeling half a teaspoon of toxic bacteria being liberated from my oral crevices gives me a thrill words cannot contain.

And cleanings are CHEAP in Hrvatska. I haven’t priced crowns and (dAMN! Root canals! Lord have mercy!) yet, but I want to walk through the streets of Dubrovnik with a headful of dental anaesthetic. That sounds cool. That sounds like the vacation my grandchildren will ask me to tell stories about, over and over.

The only reason Hrvatska exists, in my opinion, is so that there is at least one country in Europe that sounds like it fell out of a Tintin graphic novel. And now, I must bid a fond farewell to the hardworking dentists of Split.

Hey – I found a pic of Thomas Pynchon!
2006-10-16— Posted by: allegra

He’s legendarily private, but I found a pic of him that’s so old that I wouldn’t know him now if he walked up and bit me on the lip.

What doesn’t get reported
2006-10-16— Posted by: allegra

From Arnaud de Borchgrave, UPI.COM

Anti-Semitic incidents have proliferated in France in recent times, but the news seldom makes it across the Atlantic and when it does, it must still fight to be heard above the constant melodrama of constant trivia. A Jewish sports club in Toulouse attacked with Molotov cocktails; in Bondy, 15 men beat up members of a Jewish soccer team with metal bars and sticks; the bus that takes Jewish children to school in Aubervilliers attacked thrice in the past 14 months; synagogues in Strasbourg and Marseilles and a Jewish school in Creteil firebombed in recent weeks; in Toulouse, a gunman opened fire — all ignored in the mainstream media in the U.S.

The metropolitan Paris police tabulated 10 to 12 anti-Jewish incidents per day in the past 30 days throughout the country.

2.5 million people live in Paris. This is on a par with the GVRD. Okay, you tell me. If there were a dozen anti Jewish (or anti Muslim, for cry eye) incidents involving desecration and violence in Vancouver every day for a month, do you suppose for a minute you would somehow NOT have heard about it?

I light a candle of solidarity with the Jews of Paris. Siz shver tzoo zein ah yid, as one might say phonetically in Yiddische.

And I&apos;m not too thrilled with Jean le Pen, either; he&apos;s trading in his expensive hatred of Muslims – 40% of the population under 20 is 2nd or 3rd gen North Africans – for the much cheaper hatred of Jews. Fewer of &apos;em, and EVERYBODY hates &apos;em, to coin a phrase. Nothing like political expediency to trim your ideological sails.

What a world.

Retro scooter porn
2006-10-16— Posted by: allegra

This is so hot it defies description. Motorcycle pr(n!

I curse my oven
2006-10-16— Posted by: allegra

I made a hazelnut torte last night which everyone ate, but it wasn’t entirely cooked all the way through. (Cooked enough that nobody was going to die of some bacillus, but even so.) I cooked it at the prescribed temperature for the correct length of time, and the surface redefined “golden brown”, but I have come to the inescapable conclusion that it is not a good idea to trust the gauge on that oven. Oh well, throw whipped cream on the torte and the world’s all good.

Feasted John at Tom and Peggy’s last night, it being the celebration of his birth, lo these many years ago. We were eagerly awaiting what confection Brooke was going to whip together for him, and were treated to the one, the only, MeatCake. (Insert George Carlin reference >>here<<). It was meatloaf, cooked in a bundt pan, and assembled in layers, the icing for which was whipped mashed potatoes dyed a splendidly virulent green, and garnished with bacon bits. It was yummy as well as visually striking. Yes indeed, it was no surprise how many people took pictures of the Birthday MeatCake. Then she made ‘t-bone steak’ for dessert, which was actually a fudge-y thing with marshmallows (for the t-bone) which I passed on because it was so dense (except for the marshmallow bits) that it was appearing to make time run backwards. Oh, and it came with ‘blood’ sauce – something red and deliciously gooey. So there were three desserts, counting the hazelnut torte, because there was also fresh pear (from their garden) flan. As John was heard to remark, “Three desserts! That’s almost adequate!”

Then we played and sang, including my new favourite song, Brooke’s Tune Away Boys, a sea shanty which promises untold horrors if you don’t tune your damned instrument before you go to filk circle. All in all a splendid evening!

Sick, sick, sick
2006-10-15— Posted by: allegra

http://www.devilducky.com/media/29431/

A comic sketch entitled “Waiters Who are Nauseated by Food”.

CRTC
2006-10-15— Posted by: allegra

I received an interesting Email from Cousin Gerald today, a forward from a buddy of his who’s very cheesed about a CRTC decision regarding the telcos. If I understand this all correctly, the Canadian telcos have raised about 650 million bucks from overcharging for local service since 2002. They were supposed to rebate us, like, the consumers, but they appealed to the CRTC to apply the overcharge to “building broadband capacity”.

Now, I am a big fan of broadband capacity, and if I believed more than 80% of the money was actually going to be spent in that fashion, I’d grumble but roll over and say “Make it snappy”.

Before I looked at the CRTC decision, I was thinking that I don’t believe a goddamned thing the telcos tell me, and I don’t think that Canadian Government Agencies should be quite so cheerful when they’re letting thieves keep their spoils on the promise that they’ll be spending it for the good of humanity. After, I had a different feeling. Here’s the CRTC decision, which comes close to being in English. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/dt2006-9.htm

So I guess the upshot is that the CRTC thinks the consumers should get it back, and now we’re arguing about the best way to do it. If I was the benevolent dictator of Canada, I would use it to underwrite broadband access in remote areas and to disabled people, but that just shows what a socialist fluffy headed sap I am. Why not spend it on wealth creation? Who gives a shit if First Nations and disabled people have broadband? Anyway, if you have any interest in the disposition of a pile of money so big it would even make Bill Gates, George Soros and Warren Buffett pay attention, google CRTC and rate cap and Disposition of funds in the deferral accounts, which is what the decision is called. You can also visit http://www.piac.ca (which is a consumer group of some stripe or other) for more links.

News Flash
2006-10-15— Posted by: allegra

Paul’s going to church.

I’m staying home to do laundry.

enough sleep
2006-10-14— Posted by: allegra

Boy, did I get enough sleep. I slept until 1:52 this afternoon, and yes, I am feeling somewhat poorly, which might account for my long rest.

I saw Body Worlds 3 last night with Brooke. She has forgiven me my ticketing meshugas so I will hurriedly skip on to: Yes, it was great, if you’re not too squeamish see it.

The water heater died – the damned thing was only five years old – and Dave the Plumber replaced it. Paul is even now tying the new one back onto the frame of the house so it doesn’t fall down during an earthquake.

The first thing I did when I got up was realize that I was an hour late for the Spit, so I threw on my clothes and flew out the door to the Thirsty Duck, where Jan, Susanne, Dee, Ingrid and myself quaffed bevvies and had a late lunch and then drifted by Renaissance Books. I bought Sex with Kings (a history of European court mistresses which I’ve already finished as it was the definition of a quick read) and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman for Keith – it will be waiting for him on his bed when he gets home. Ingrid was amazed to learn that Vancouver has a Sci Fi convention…. I told her it’s pretty much a media and gaming con, but the filk track is pretty good these days, snicker.

Anyway the only other thing I’ve done today is yawn and sneeze and eat dinner, and frankly, I’m just as happy about that. I am feeling a weird trembly exhaustion which is just crying out for more unconsciousness.

My sleep was full of nightmares… maybe going back to sleep isn’t such a good idea.

You’ve gotta be kidding me
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6248833

and for my flying friends
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

http://www.ornithopter.ca/MediaGallery/Videos/index_e.html

And the Bible doesn’t say a THING about polyandry
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/BiblicalMarriage.htm

Read and giggle. The rest of the site is plenty amusing.

Just in time for the apocalypse
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

http://www.MERKINWORLD.com/

…. and you should thank your lucky stars I’m not posting a pic. NO I don’t want one for Christmas (although if you do, get me the rainbow). YES I think 150 quid is a bit much for some fluffy polyester. Hm. I feel a prank comin’ on.

Asteroid animation
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

http://www.umich.edu/news/Vid/kw4.mov

Okay, this is REALLY COOL. The animation is of the KW4 binary asteroid; 1 second is 8 hours and they show 4 different angles. These are not solid masses; they are rapidly spinning collections of space junk; if you tried to land on one you’d be sorry.

So these folks live in Anchorage
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

Either these folks are starting a zoo, or they have animal control problems. To me, the scariest thing about this picture is not that there are four bears in it, but that you CAN’T SEE THE FIFTH BEAR, which will be a black bear sow. How the HELL she ended up with four cubs completely amazes me.

Music of the Domestic Goddesses
2006-10-13— Posted by: allegra

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/10/vacuum_cleaner.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

Great pic of musical vacuum cleaners…

Katie said she’d come home and didn’t. Tiresome, but I pushed the door of her room open and pretended I was Hitler looking at Poland.

Keith made bread after coming home from karate; I didn’t know because I forced myself off the computer at 9:34 at went to bed, and now I have actually had enough sleep, which amazes me.

Lexi visited briefly earlier this week, and told the kind of anecdote you hear maybe once a year. Since she doesn’t blog and I can’t repeat it – alas, it is not my story to tell – I’m feeling somewhat crabby, but I will say this…. if the End of the World as We Know It comes along anytime soon, I want Rob and Lexi in MY corner. And of course anybody who knows them feels much the same way…

I’m very much looking forward to the weekend. There’s gonna be a Spit! (See previous blogs for what is a Spit). Maybe I’ll finally get Dunnetteer Jan’s detective books back to her, although given how many books are parked next to my bed right now that seems like a hard prospect. I have finished Joanna Russ’ On Strike Against God, which, if I parse it correctly, she wrote at one sitting during a manic episode triggered by the loss of a lover. There are some really bad typos in it, but also some really great stuff, especially the quotes at the end.

There is an interesting link between the local Spitters and VCon; Academie Duello, which does weapons demos at VCon pretty much every year now, and which held a Dunnett Reenactment this past spring (god, it was amazing!) actually approached some Spitters at VCon and said something along the lines of “That was fun, we should do that again.” Yee haw. Maybe they could reenact the fight between Niccolo and Simon in The Unicorn Hunt (when two guys try to kill each other with large or sharp hot metal items) or the fight in Queen’s Play between Lymond and Robin Stewart, in which Robin does everything wrong and Lymond doesn’t to kill him anyway because he’s trying to make a point. I realize that the only person who reads my blog who will get any of this is the Empress of Brookealonia, but that’s okay.

I’m yawning so hard my jaw is cracking, so I think I’ll go get me some coffee.

A bad bad review
2006-10-12— Posted by: allegra

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2006/10/ratfink_to_rele.php

This man’s command of invective needs to be admired, so admire it already.

OMG it’s a Marketing thing, you wouldn’t understand
2006-10-12— Posted by: allegra

http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/sure/sure-deodorant-is-the-same-as-secret-206620.php

OMG hey pOp
2006-10-12— Posted by: allegra

www.oscarbrand.com

This will mean nothing to most of my readers, but if I told you that you can now buy a package set of the WWII songs for $30 US what would that do for you? I grew up with these songs. They are part of my sonic landscape.

INTERRUPTION BASED MARKETING
2006-10-12— Posted by: allegra

http://soundprinciples.com/ad-verse/2006/01/direct-marketing-science-of.html

The vilification must stop
2006-10-12— Posted by: allegra

http://www.anncoulterisbrainless.com/

Now, in this very blog I have accused Ann Coulter of having a tapeworm, (or was it Michelle Malkin? all Repulsigans look alike to me…) and I’ve told her that I would bake her a pie, because she’s so very slender. So I am definitely in the ‘hater’ category. But I have never, no never, committed the gross calumny of accusing her of being brainless. She isn’t brainless! She’s just differently abled in the truth department. There’s a BIG difference.

Sample Coulter quote: “I have to say I’m all for public flogging.” — MSNBC 3/22/97

Sample Allegra reaction. “Kinky! Girl, you’ll be stampeding cattle through the Vatican next!”

Dr. Porco strikes again
2006-10-11— Posted by: allegra

Check out the wavy rings of Saturn….

enough sleep
2006-10-11— Posted by: allegra

Nothing’s happening to me; I’m devoid of thought. It’s nice and peaceful here right now.

Keep those cards and moose pictures coming
2006-10-10— Posted by: allegra

This moose on the highway (a beautiful Nancy White song by that name is echooooing in my heeeead right now) was captured in NFLD. What a rack!

It’s been bally ages since I posted a moose picture
2006-10-10— Posted by: allegra

From Aftenposten – the legendary Sp�kelsemoose (if this doesn’t show properly, that weird symbol should be an o with a forward slash through it).

Happy sigh
2006-10-10— Posted by: allegra

We had a wonderful meal at Tom and Peggy’s last night – I don’t mind roast turkey two days running! And I was able to recycle the parsnips, so there.

Paul and I are still feeling a warm glow from our very happy and successful Thanksgiving dinner, and we did the bike/walk/run thing at Cariboo this morning so the blood is actually circulating!

Shortbus
2006-10-10— Posted by: allegra

Go see it. I really enjoyed it, even though it made me really uncomfortable in spots. I laughed really hard and I was crying at the end, so I guess it hit the “I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me” spot.

Ambivalence and creativity
2006-10-09— Posted by: allegra

http://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/article.asp?articleID=27195

4307
2006-10-09— Posted by: allegra

4307 is the sales code for longan – we have some in the house at the moment which are being scarfed down by Carly.

We had a simply fabulous evening. After I cooked pretty much all day we sat down around 6:15 and scarfed green beans, fresh turkey with two kinds gravy (one with mushrooms, the drippings gravy definitely without mushrooms), new potatoes, two kinds salad (green and cucumber/tomato), cranberry sauce, home made stuffing, corn on the cob, parsnips that nobody ate because I didn’t put them out, home made beer, home made perry, tea, coffee, passionfruit raspberry sorbet, Omani butter cookies and home made hazelnut torte with cream personally flagellated by Paul.

Oh, and Mike, Katie and Nita shared a coconut rum shot at the end of it all…

The only picture Jim got of me I’m glaring at the camera so hard it’s amazing it didn’t fly out of his hand. I’m posting a pic of the Carly and the Nita instead, everybody would rather look at them.

I’d list the participants, but let’s just say that we had to buy another table to seat them all, and that when I woke up this morning I had a new program on my computer. (They asked permission first).

I crashed out about the time that the Buffy musical episode came on, and was simply amazed when Paul, who was still suffering from the depredations to his feet from the Science World show, joined me shortly thereafter. It’s wonderul to have guests you can abandon like that, but man, we were bagged.

For everybody else doing Canuckistani Thanksgiving today, have a lovely time!

He’s missing a golden opportunity
2006-10-08— Posted by: allegra

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1005wsj-japan-blog05-ON.html

Painting rings on Jabba’s back.
2006-10-08— Posted by: allegra

So many happy, and a couple of unhappy, things to report. Unhappy first. My friend is still in the psych ward. I really hope she gets better soon; this is being very hard on her and the people who love her, so I light multiple candles for her and her family.

On a far less serious note, my hazelnut torte collapsed when I took it out of the oven, but I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble getting the folks to eat something that has the best part of a dozen eggs, a cup of sugar and a half pound of ground hazelnuts in it. Simple recipe, hunh? It will be yummy no matter what the hell it looks like. Paul has volunteered to get whipped cream. The good old heart attack circle is complete…

I took a good brisk walk this morning before the sun came up and feel reasonably sanguine about today’s festive meal.

Paul, Jim, Carly and Nita saw the Body Show at Science World last night. I stayed home, and now I wish I hadn’t because they say there’s NO WAY to see the show in two hours; you need four at minimum and you can’t do it when you start at 7 pm and it closes two hours later… So I guess I should go and see it with Katie or Keith or both some afternoon when it’s not so jammed. It was a good experience buying tix on line from Science World, and I recommend doing that if you’re going. The folks were one and all blown away by the exhibit, and can’t recommend it highly enough, and say that the ticket price is very reasonable for what you get.

Keith has finally written down the days he’s supposed to take off for Orycon, so hopefully we are now all free to go to Portland in mid-November.

Dr. Filk is much enjoying V-Con and has brought me the On Spec that Casey had a story published in. I am going to wait for the houseguest uproar (that’s GOOD uproar, they do dishes!) to die down a bit before I read it, but it looks intriguing.

Katie and Carly burst out laughing when they saw each other this morning (for the first time in AGES); they were dressed almost identically in hoodies and pants and they were in the wonderful teenaged phrase “scrubbed out” which basically means that they were glamour pusses by comparison with the rest of us feeble elderly types. It was a most amusing fambly moment.

Keith continues to amuse and amaze. His most recent quote is a direct hit on George Lucas (a Jabba sized target these days), which he came up with upon learning that George has seen and liked Serenity and is choked that Firefly was cancelled. Keith is hoping that George, who’s richer than God, will tell Joss, “Joss, my flabby old heart and now quiescent sack are not up to another epic production – here’s some cash towards a full season of Firefly.” Lie down when you’re dreaming there, boy.

Has anybody else seen the Family Circus parody which takes a Family Circus cartoon and inserts a Nietsche quote? Okay, I found it funny, I’ll shut up now. Alluva sudden I can hear the Dandy Warhols winding up in the background!!! (they have a song called Nietsche, just in case you were wondering.)

Flabby old heart and now quiescent sack? I’m still howling about that one.

A little bird sent me this
2006-10-07— Posted by: allegra

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Skinner/80

Maybe I’m really sick to be amused by somebody making fun of Katherine Harris, but don’t I have a right to be sick?

Laugh, I thought I’d die
2006-10-07— Posted by: allegra

http://motionographer.com/media/battle_adbands-w.mov

If you didn’t grow up in the 70’s don’t bother with this movie but if you did you’ll find it quite amusing. Essentially a bunch of VERY FAMILIAR album covers come to life and, well, there’s an exchange of gunfire, and then – aw watch it anyway, it’s pretty funny.

enough sleep
2006-10-07— Posted by: allegra

no trespassing
2006-10-06— Posted by: allegra

Mike McG took this in Thailand….

Do not google this!!!
2006-10-06— Posted by: allegra

Whatever you do, DO NOT google image Brazilian eye popper. You WILL be sorry.

Reading
2006-10-06— Posted by: allegra

Finished the Edgar Award Winning “New Orleans Mourning” last night. I LOVE the heroine, Skip Langdon, and her boyfriend Steve makes me drool. Must… find…. more….

Also finished the last hour of Good Night and Good Luck, which is a bloody awesome movie.

I am going into hibernation mode, so I’m planning a nice long walk sometime this weekend to try and counteract this.

I’m having a small gathering on Sunday night – the trad turkey – what can I say, I’m the world’s most conventional oddball.

My brother sent me a youtube link that made me cry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 if you have any interest.

I’m still enjoying the sensation of how tidy the yard is when I pull up. Thanks Keith and Paul.

Katie ACTUALLY CALLED at midnight to say she wasn’t coming home last night. This represents progress, let’s celebrate. Doubles all round.

Overheard at the call center
2006-10-05— Posted by: allegra

Once again, I must INSIST that this didn’t happen at my company.

CS Agent: So… That takes care of your billing issue… Are you looking for a cell phone?

Customer: (starting to rant) Cell phone… I do not need any stinking cell phone… If you sell me a cell phone you might as well give someone a hammer to hit me on the side of the head. That way, I will be just as retarded as the rest of those idiots.

CS Agent: (without missing a beat) That may be true sir, but fortunately for you, I do not sell hammers.

Customer: What? (long pause)… You are a funny guy…

Click!

Hey, ya heard it here first
2006-10-05— Posted by: allegra

Out of Jordan comes the bloggy, bloggy news that by the 17th of October (end of Ramadan) there will be a massive attack on North America, and all Muslims are advised to leave. The comments posted at the end of the blog encompass such sentiments as, “Hey, chuckles! Where do you want us to go? Iran? Afghanistan? Sa’udi Arabia? Send me the plane fare and we’ll talk!”

I am no longer worried about the end of the world. I’ve read the latest Scienterrific American, and when the CO2 PPM goes over 900, we’ll all die from the Hydrogen Sulphide gas that will be produced when the chemocline in the ocean shifts to the surface. Read the article and be prepared to be scared out of your shorts.

It’s fall
2006-10-05— Posted by: allegra

I was walking into work yesterday and a 20 inch across maple leaf fell into my path. I put it over my desk yesterday. People laugh when they see it, it’s so big.

Growing up
2006-10-05— Posted by: allegra

As I contemplate the arrival of my 50th birthday, which is taking shape against an eldritch, relentlessly backlit mist, and it only a year and a bit away, I must force myself to pause and consider the lives of my elders. For this year, they will, inshallah, celebrate 50 years of married life. I would call it bliss except it would be a damned lie, one which my parents would vigorously attack. “Yup,” they’d say, “We had a pretty good time, but I wouldn’t call it bliss. Especially when I think of this past month of hacking up my lungs & maintaining a furious schedule while trapped in my house.”

pOp, there’s THE WORLD’S MOST BORING WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE on Greenwood. I looked at it and ached with the desire to scan and post your stories. pOp’s Exploding Bedtime Stories. I can see the button now, edged in blue… There’s the story about how two of the four engines quit on takeoff when you were at full fuel and had many pounds of live munitions on board. Oh, and there’s the arctic survival training story, which features a dog running into your sleeping quarters to take a simply grisly dump; the story of searching for a lost guy who had no survival gear and put stale gas in his airplane prior to take off; and several other memorable and icy anecdotes besides; in other news, seagull guts; the man they called “Microswitch”, who nearly bled to death from a routine injection when they broke the needle off in his arm. Ah yes, these and many other stories enlivened my children’s childhood. I enjoyed reading them a LOT, and hammily.

Then I contemplate my grandmother, whose trek through her nineties continues to be full of adventure and gadding about, which is exactly what a woman her age SHOULD have on her agenda if she feels like it.

Well, I want to talk about my mother too, but I just can’t do it. I’ve backspaced over three sets of paeans to her ineffible Mummy-ness, but they all would have made Hallmark Cards disappear in a bloody shower of pancreatic implosions.

Keith is unhappy; the latest Strangers in Paradise is late. Katie is working. Paul is working.

Life is purty good right now, although not because my darlings are out earning their bread… Oh, look, Keith just fired up Good Night and Good Luck.

Missed a pic
2006-10-04— Posted by: allegra

Earlier I mentioned something I scanged from Carryabigsticker.com … here it is.

Moving right along
2006-10-04— Posted by: allegra

I am trying to intuit what Katie’s school fees are this morning; I have emails from the school saying pay up but there’s nothing to indicate what the Viking tax is to keep Katie in school. Yes I know they just declared school fees illegal.

Her boyfriend is trying to pre-emptively break up with her so he can walk away having dumped her. Young love! Katie doesn’t even appear upset about it.

Keith and I watched I Dood It last night. I don’t know what to say about this movie except that it has some of the wildest stuff imaginable in it with interminably long spells of not much happening. The song by the Jimmy Dorsey band and the Eleanor Powell rope dance at the beginning was enough to make my eyes pop out. Anyway, it stars Red Skelton and guests Lena Horne and Butterfly McQueen and the INCOMPARABLE Hazel Scott – her guest bit had my jaw on the floor – what an A MA ZING ivory tickler she was. (Dr. Filk wandered in just before that started and HE was pretty gobsmacked too). Oh, and there’s one piece of physical comedy (Red Skelton trying to get a passed out Eleanor Powell, who appears to be shapely string stuffed into a wedding dress, from the floor to a bed) that was so funny I ran out of air.

If I appear cheerful at the moment, it’s partly because I have a happy secret! I will tell you if you ask me nice, but I can’t post it publicly.

From carryabigsticker.com
2006-10-03— Posted by: allegra

Scanged from carryabigsticker.com. Go there, very funny fridge magnets.

flippin’ out
2006-10-03— Posted by: allegra

It’s been ages since I posted a picture of a black comedian dressed up as a woman. In point of fact, I think this is a first. Didn’t he have great legs? Remember Geraldine’s boyfriend’s name? (Killer, in case you were wondering.) I used to LOVE the Flip Wilson show.

enough sleep
2006-10-03— Posted by: allegra

www.englishrussia.com

I found some truly bizarre videos here (Orthodox Jews making Russian emigres drink until they puke? – no I didn’t watch it, the description in the comments was good enough for me) as well as some wonderful Rooslish. If you find the cat picture, enjoy; they are claiming that the facial expression on the cat is not photoshopped but I have my doubts. And if the facial expression on that cat is truly natural, I for one would not want to live with such a creature. They also have a dodge for shipping stuff to Russia which made me smile.

Katie didn’t come home last night and didn’t phone, but I guess we know where she is.

I finished John Barnes’ A Million Open Doors (I heart Giraut) this morning and watched Falling Down last night. Time to do dishes and get ready… Paul is just coming off shift now.

Duly noted
2006-10-02— Posted by: allegra

It takes a LONG TIME to roast and shell 10 pounds of hazelnuts if you are shelling them by hand. On the other hand, when people walk into your house, they are very impressed by the delightful blast of hazelnut scented air.

Boys and girls come out to play
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

Maybe men and women aren’t so different after all.

http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/news/?ItemID=22044

Harrisand Sculptures
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

Here’s a detail of the previous sculpture.

Harrisand Sculptures
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

This sculpture won the People’s Choice award. I can’t remember the name of it except that Dreams was part of the title.

Harrisand Sculptures
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

Another angle of the giraffe family.

Harrisand Sculptures
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

This is part of a larger tableau of the Cirque du Sand. I found the rest of the tableau uglier than a ruptured python, so I lay down on the sand and shot this, and I’m quite pleased with it. This one is for Vampire Mama, who really has a thing for giraffes. The top of the mother’s head was at least 8 feet above ground level, and this sculpture has been up since Labour Day, so you can get an idea for just how stable and amazing these sculptures are.

This one’s for Lexi
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

I can’t remember taking this, so I’ll assume Paul took it. This one’s for Lexi. The rest of the tableau was a bunch of dwarven and dragon extras sitting around bored out of their minds while this dude set up the shot. Very very funny.

Harrisand Sculptures
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

Here’s the same pic except shrunk down so you can see most of it.

More Harrisand
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

Detail, taken by Paul, of the Mexican entry.

Harrisand Sculptures
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

So we went to Harrison yesterday, and I didn’t hurt my back to nearly the extent I was afeared to, and Paul and I took some wonderful pics. This is a detail from a sculpture entitled, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. The little metal spikes coming out the top are to prevent trickster corvids from landing on the sculptures. It’s kinda Halloweeny, and it’s clicked over the beginning of October, so I figure I can get away with it.

That’s me Mum
2006-10-01— Posted by: allegra

When I am that age, I want to be just like her. Happy sigh.