I found this at Roger's blog, and you'd better believe I'm doing it!
The Rules:
- X what you saw
- O what you haven't finished/seen or saw sizable portions
- Bold what you loved
- Italicize what you disliked/hated
- Leave unchanged if neutral
CLASSIC DISNEY
-------------------------------
[X] 101 Dalmatians (1961)
[X] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[X] Bambi (1942)
[X] Cinderella (1950)
[X] Dumbo (1941)
[X] Fantasia (1940)
[X] Lady and the Tramp (1955)
[X] Mary Poppins (1964)
[X] Peter Pan (1953)
[X] Pinocchio (1940)
[X] Sleeping Beauty (1959)
[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
[X] Song of the South (1946) (Not a movie in this bunch that I don't love, except the first two, which are OK. Even Song of the South, although when I saw it I was nine and was blissfully unaware of the racial tones. I want to see it again and find out how it holds up...but Disney refuses to release the film in the US. Peter Pan is my favorite classic Disney film, by the way.)
DISNEY'S DARK AGE
-------------------------------
[X] The Aristocats (1970) (It's an OK flick, but you want to talk about some ethnic stereotyping, check out the Siamese cat. I mean...check out what happens at the 2:50 mark of this song from the movie. Whoa.)
[o] The Black Cauldron (1985)
[X] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[X] The Great Mouse Detective (1986) (Not a bad movie. A fun adventure.)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967) (I have never liked this movie. Mainly because I can't stand Mowgli and end up rooting for Shere Khan.)
[X] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[ ] Oliver and Company (1986)
[ ] Pete's Dragon (1977)
[X] The Rescuers (1977) (I love this one, even with its 1970s era static-background, lazy animation.)
[X] Robin Hood (1973)
[ ] The Sword In The Stone (1963): Uh...Walt was still around for this one...
There's some good stuff in here. And some not-so-good stuff.
THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
-------------------------------
[X] Aladdin (1992)
[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991) (I adore both of these films. The Girlfriend (now The Wife) and I saw them in first release. We saw Aladdin five times.)
[ ] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[X] Hercules (1997)
[X] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) (Both of these seem terribly underrated to me.)
[X] The Lion King (1994)
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989) (And both of these seem terribly overrated to me.)
[X] Mulan (1998)
[X] Pocahontas (1995) (Both of these are just kind of "meh". Mulan tends to be prized by film music fans because it has a score by Jerry Goldsmith. Not that good of a Goldsmith score, but there are people for whom Goldsmith can do no wrong at all.)
[X] The Rescuers Down Under (1990) (Not a bad adventure flick.)
[X] Tarzan (1999) (Love this.)
DISNEY'S MODERN AGE
-------------------------------
[X] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) (I love this one! It's such a fun adventure story.)
[ ] Bolt (2008)
[X] Brother Bear (2003) (This could have been so much better.)
[ ] Chicken Little (2005)
[O] Dinosaur (2000) (A stunning opening sequence, followed by ninety minutes of "meh".)
[X] The Emperor's New Groove (2000) (Absolutely great. The Disney people were channeling the spirit of Chuck Jones on this movie.)
[X] Fantasia 2000 (2000)
[X] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Lilo & Stitch (2002): Watched this the other day for about the fourth time, and it still holds up for me. (All fine films. Even Home on the Range, which was goofy fun.)
[ ] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[X] Treasure Planet (2002): There's some nifty stuff here, but the idea doesn't work as well as it could have. Author Philip Reaves did much the same kind of thing in a series of "Victorian space operas" a few years later.)
PIXAR
-------------------------------
[X] A Bug's Life (1998) Not a huge fan of this.
[X] Cars (2006) Well...I like a lot of the individual stuff in this movie, even if there's something subtly creepy and unbelievable about the world the movie creates.
[X] Finding Nemo (2003) My favorite Pixar film.
[X] The Incredibles (2004)
[X] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Ratatouille (2007)
[X] Toy Story (1995)
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999)
[ ] Toy Story 3 (2010)
[X] Wall-E (2008)
[X] Up (2009) Both of these suffered the same fault: "First-halfitis". Wonderful first halves that were followed by conventional, dull second halves.
DON BLUTH
-------------------------------
[ ] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[ ] An American Tail (1986)
[ ] An American Tail: Fieval Goes West (1991)
[ ] Anastasia (1997) (Always wanted to see this one.)
[ ] The Land Before Time (1988)
[ ] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[ ] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[X] The Secret of NIMH (1982) I love this one!
[ ] Thumbelina (1994)
[X] Titan AE (2000) This movie sure disappeared into a black hole, didn't it? But I liked it.
[ ] A Troll in Central Park (1994)
CLAYMATION AND STOP-MOTION
-------------------------------
[ ] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[X] Chicken Run (2000) Just great!
[X] Corpse Bride (2005)
[X] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[O] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[ ] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) I desperately need to see this.
[ ] Coraline (2009) This too.
(I changed the category header here; it was just "claymation", and that's not true of each of these films.)
CGI GLUT
-------------------------------
[X] Antz (1998) I loved this, considerably more than A Bug's Life, which came out roughly the same time.
[ ] Bee Movie (2007)
[X] Happy Feet (2006) This movie makes me want to club baby seals. I HATE it.
[X] Ice Age (2002)
[X] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) Love the first; the second is "meh".
[ ] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) I've heard good things about this one....
[O] Kung Fu Panda (2008) I should watch the whole thing; I was kind of amused by the parts I saw.
[ ] Madagascar (2005)
[ ] Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[X] Monster House (2006) Fun flick.
[ ] Over the Hedge (2006)
[X] The Polar Express (2004) I love this movie...even the supposedly "dead eyes" of the characters don't bother me. We watch this every year.
[O] Robots (2005): I liked this one more than I probably should have.
[ ] A Shark's Tale (2004)
[X] Shrek (2001)
[X] Shrek 2 (2004)
[X] Shrek The Third (2007) Love the first, love the second even more, kinda liked the third.
[ ] Shrek Forever After (2010)
[X] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) I liked this one more than I thought I would.
IMPORTS
-------------------------------
[ ] Arabian Knight (aka The Thief and the Cobbler) (1995)
[X] The Last Unicorn (1982) Love it!
[ ] Light Years (1988)
[ ] The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
[ ] Persepolis (2007) But I read the brilliant, brilliant comic.
[ ] Waltz With Bashir (2008)
[ ] Watership Down (1978)
[ ] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[ ] Wonderful Days (2003)
[ ] Yellow Submarine (1968)
Heavens, I need to see some of these!
STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
-------------------------------
[X] The Cat Returns (2002)
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988) I've had this on DVD for six years or so and still haven't watched it. Don't know what I'm waiting for.
[X] Howl's Moving Castle (2004) When I finally saw this, I couldn't figure out why it was so roundly disliked by other Miyazaki fans.
[X] Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
[X] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) Both fantastic films.
[ ] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[ ] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[X] My Neighbor Totoro (1993) SO good!
[X] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984): I watched this a couple of years ago, and I'll be damned if I remember anything about it.
[ ] Only Yesterday (1991)
[ ] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[X] Porco Rosso (1992)
[X] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[X] Spirited Away (2002) Three amazing films...and none has anything in common with the other. Miyazaki's diversity of storytelling is amazing to behold.
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[X] Ponyo (2009) Wonderful.
Most of these feature wonderful music by Joe Hisaishi.
SATOSHI KON
-------------------------------
[X] Millennium Actress (2001)
[ ] Paprika (2006): Visually lovely, but I found it hard to follow.
[ ] Perfect Blue (1999)
[ ] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
SHINKAI MAKOTO
-------------------------------
[ ] She and Her Cat (1999)
[X] Voices of a Distant Star (2001) Deeply haunting film...and it's only 25 minutes long.
[ ] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[ ] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
OTHER ANIME FILMS
-------------------------------
[ ] Akira (1989)
[ ] Angel's Egg (1985)
[ ] Appleseed (2004)
[ ] Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007)
[ ] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title - Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[ ] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[ ] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title - Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[ ] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[ ] End of Evangelion (1997)
[ ] Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
[ ] Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
[ ] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[ ] Galaxy Express 999 (1979)
[ ] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[ ] Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
[ ] The Girl Who Lept Through Time (2006)
[ ] Lensman (1984)
[ ] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title - Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[ ] Memories (1995)
[ ] Metropolis (2001)
[ ] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[ ] Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
[ ] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[ ] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[ ] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[ ] Project A-ko (1986)
[ ] Robot Carnival (1987)
[ ] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[ ] Silent Möbius (1991)
[ ] The Sky Crawlers (2008)
[ ] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[ ] Steamboy (2004)
[ ] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[ ] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[ ] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)
[ ] Urusei Yatsura: Only You (1982)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[ ] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)
Wow. I need to see some of these. A lot of these.
CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
-------------------------------
[ ] American Pop (1981)
[ ] The Animatrix (2003)
[X] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996) Yeah, we went to see this. And we liked it. So there!
[ ] Cool World (1992)
[ ] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[ ] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[ ] Fire & Ice (1983)
[ ] Fritz the Cat (1972)
[ ] Halo Legends (2009)
[X] Heavy Metal (1981) So cheesy! It still appeals to my inner 15-year-old kid. And a great score by Elmer Bernstein.
[ ] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[ ] Hey Good Lookin' (1982)
[ ] Lady Death (2004)
[ ] A Scanner Darkly (2006)
[ ] Sita Sings the Blues (2008)
[ ] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) I want to see this.
[ ] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[ ] Waking Life (2001)
OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
-------------------------------
[ ] The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
[ ] Animal Farm (1954)
[ ] Animalympics (1980)
[ ] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007): I watched about half of this; what is hilarious for 15 minutes proved to be tiresome for almost an hour and a half.
[ ] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
[ ] Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
[ ] Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
[ ] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[ ] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[ ] Cats Don't Dance (1997)
[X] Care Bears: The Movie (1985) Ahhh, The Daughter's Care-Bear phase! To be honest, I never even found the Care Bears all that annoying. No idea why.
[X] Charlotte's Web (1973)
[ ] Fern Gully (1992)
[ ] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[ ] Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
[ ] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[X] The Hobbit (1977) It really isn't bad. Here's an old post about it.
[X] The Iron Giant (1999) Every bit as great as its reputation. It's the Shawshank Redemption of animated movies.
[ ] Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
[ ] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[X] Lord of the Rings (1978) (Ugh....)
[ ] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[ ] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[X] Pink Floyd's The Wall (1982) (At least, I think I liked it. I saw it five times, and was sober for none of them.)
[X] The Prince of Egypt (1998) Very well done, even if the opening musical number ("Deliver Us") is so good that it overshadows all of the ones that follow.
[ ] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[ ] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[ ] Ringing Bell (1978)
[X] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[ ] Shinbone Alley (1971)
[ ] Space Jam (1996)
[ ] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[ ] Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
[ ] Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
[ ] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[ ] The Swan Princess (1994)
[ ] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[ ] Wizards (1977)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) One of the best films of the 80s.
[ ] Wonder Woman (2009) Don't ask me why I haven't seen this.
[ ] Balto (1995)
[X] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) Watched it with the Kid. It was just kind of there.
Wow, that was pretty exhaustive. And yet even so, there are omissions, such as last year's The Book of Kells. Animation marches on!
On an editorial note, I encountered someone on Facebook the other day who literally dislikes all animation. She claimed that none of it was "her cup of tea", and that she'd rather watch real actors emoting than drawings of people emoting. I found that attitude utterly mystifying. I don't watch movies for actors; I watch movies for story. If you can tell a wonderful story with a drawing or with an actor, well...who cares about the "how"?
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
Monday, December 13, 2010
In the service of Naamah
Quite a while ago, I read a wonderful fantasy novel called Kushiel's Dart, by Jacqueline Carey, a long book set in a pseudo-Europe roughly around the Renaissance era, featuring as the lead character a woman named Phedre who serves a goddess called Naamah, an an anguissette -- a courtesan, or concubine, whose major point of attraction is the fact that she is, well, masochistic by nature. Phedre became deeply involved with the court politics of her city, making enemies before she even knew that she had, and eventually found herself journeying across the continent in an effort to save her kingdom from the disastrous war that was about to befall it. Along the way, she fell in love with her companion and bodyguard, a conflicted young man named Joscelin Verreuil. At the end of the book, most threads were resolved satisfactorily, save one: the escape of the main traitor of the first book, Melisande Shahrizai.
The sequel, Kushiel's Chosen, opens with Phedre having been made a noblewoman by the new Queen, and with Melisande still at large and very likely scheming anew against the realm. Phedre takes it on herself to try to find Melisande and the insiders who helped her escape. This leads her anew into ever more dangerous areas of court politics, evil plotting, selling herself to people she would rather not, and journeys to areas we didn't visit in the first book. All the while she is searching for clues to the magic that will release her dearest friend, who voluntarily took on permanent magical imprisonment in the first book.
Kushiel's Chosen is, as it happens, the middle book of a trilogy, and so it has some of the problems inherent in middle books, leaving certain plotlines unresolved in an ending that sets up the final book. But enough of the plotlines that are inherent to this book are tidied up, so while there is a sense of "To be continued" at the end of Kushiel's Chosen, it is still an overall satisfying read.
The strength of the book, as in its preceding volume, lies in Carey's writing and in her ability to populate a familiar world with interesting and sympathetic characters. In Phedre and Joscelin, Carey has created a couple we can't help but root for – but she does not make things easy for them, in any way at all. They are, in many ways, completely different people, and their relationship is a clear illustration of the old precept that the people we hurt the most tend to be the people we love the most. Carey creates a number of other fascinating new characters here as well: cruel jailers of an inescapable prison, a Prince and Princess who rule a distant island kingdom, a pirate captain, an entire people of supposed heretics who are looking for someone to lead them to the homeland that their god promised them, and many others.
I did find that Kushiel's Chosen was not quite as engrossing as the first novel; the first half of the present book is mainly character-driven drama that doesn't move along very briskly at all. The second half is where things start to happen, and the pace livens significantly after that. The first book had some of the same problem, but in that case, Kushiel's Dart had the sense of exploring a new world that we didn't know helping to alleviate any problems arising from slow pacing. In Kushiel's Chosen, we already know the world we're reading about, so it is a bit more of a problem here. (But it is in no way a large enough problem to detract from reading the book in the first place.)
I am already looking forward to reading the final volume in this trilogy, Kushiel's Avatar. Carey has also written several other books set in this world; I hope to eventually read those, as well.
Sentential Links #231
Let's get to the linkage!
:: I have a huge confession to make. It's something that I've tried to hide, but I can no longer keep silent. I'm sure that when you read it you'll all leave me en masse and never come back here again. I will have crossed that line with you at last. (I need to...be more exposed to what Steph is confessing about here.)
:: They need to be ready because in January the awards season begins!! A standard rule of thumb: an actress’ skin must be pulled tighter than the red carpet. What they don’t understand is that viewers don’t say, “Wow, she looks amazing!”, they say, “Wow, she looks like Barry Manilow.” Not that the interviewers are any better. One day Joan Rivers and Ryan Seacrest will look as one. (OMG, the photo in Ken's post can not really be Meg Ryan, can it? Oyyyy....)
:: I wasn't planning on writing anything on the anniversary of John Lennon's death. I figured there would be plenty of other voices on the InterWebs this week paying tribute and remembering, and anyway I honestly didn't think I had much to say about the subject because, as crappy as this is going to sound, John Lennon just doesn't mean that much to me. (This post doesn't go in the direction it sounds like it's about to go. Trust me.)
:: Donn Esmonde wants a museum at Canal Side. That’s a great idea, seeing as museums and nostalgia are the only growth industry we seem to have in this region. (For the life of me, I don't understand why "set up some zoning regulations for how we want the waterfront to look and then just sell the lots and let entrepreneurs do their thing down there" is never seen as an option. Instead, we endlessly kvetch over what to build on the Buffalo waterfront. Ugh! By the way, lots of people complain about the idea of "big box retail" on Buffalo's waterfront, apparently being of the notion that a big-box store is incompatible with the type of walkable urban development that we supposedly want around here. Well, check this out:
That is a proposed Wal-Mart for Washington, DC. Looks pretty urban and walkable to me. Zone it and let people build, folks. That's how you get a vibrant waterfront.)
:: We work hard to shield kids from all things bad. In the process, though, we rob them of opportunities for self protection. (I have no memory of how I found Robyn's blog, Life by Chocolate. It's just a terrific blog about life in general.)
:: There are people out there who have no one to relate to, to talk to, to share with – for one, because our society is so reluctant to open up about death and other difficult subjects. And so, I relate, talk, share. And people, like my overall-wearing, pie-throwing reader in New York, relate, talk, and share back. (She's referring to me, there. Beth Howard is one of my favorite blog discoveries of the last few months. I've been reading her for a while, after discovering her during one of my searches for fellow lovers of bib overalls. I found that, in addition to proudly wearing overalls, she lives in Iowa in the very house that's in the background of the famous painting American Gothic, and that she uses her blog as a way of dealing with some of her issues of grief and sadness after she suffered a staggering loss: her husband, who passed away unexpectedly a little more than a year ago. One week before what would have been Little Quinn's fifth birthday, actually.
Beth also uses pie as a metaphor for a lot of life's struggles, and she approaches the baking of pie as therapy and a method of engaging a world that can seem harsh and uninviting at times. She and I have been Facebook friends for a little while, and I recently corresponded with her about issues of grief, and about communication and writing in Blogistan -- which some folks find to be of little worth -- and about my own love of pie, which includes not just the making and eating of it, but also the wearing of it. Basically it was "Hey, you wear overalls and make pies; I occasionally wear overalls and get hit with pies."
I refuse to see blogging as worthless, just because it's online or because online writings seem more ephemeral than stuff that appears on paper. In some ways, I suppose, it is more ephemeral, just from a preservation standpoint, but I'm not sure the distinction is as strong as some seem to think. I'm always struck, when I'm at the library book sale, by all those old paperbacks with jacket copy that reads along the lines of "The latest riveting novel from one of our most beloved storytellers!" or "This novel is sure to be read and treasured for many years to come!" And it's always some author of whom I have never heard. On the occasions when I Google such an author, their name only shows up on used book seller sites. Their books are nearly completely forgotten.
:: We’ve all heard the stories about people who put up their tree only to have it tip over during the night. I’m ashamed to say it’s even happened to me once in my younger days, but over the years I’ve honed my methods and now can put up a tree the kids could climb — I wouldn’t put it past my boy, either. (Great advice on putting up the Christmas tree! Listen and learn, folks! There's some great advice there -- not the least of which is, Toss the eyebolts and use different screws. Using better-quality hardware than what comes with the item in question is almost always a good idea.)
All for this week, folks!
:: I have a huge confession to make. It's something that I've tried to hide, but I can no longer keep silent. I'm sure that when you read it you'll all leave me en masse and never come back here again. I will have crossed that line with you at last. (I need to...be more exposed to what Steph is confessing about here.)
:: They need to be ready because in January the awards season begins!! A standard rule of thumb: an actress’ skin must be pulled tighter than the red carpet. What they don’t understand is that viewers don’t say, “Wow, she looks amazing!”, they say, “Wow, she looks like Barry Manilow.” Not that the interviewers are any better. One day Joan Rivers and Ryan Seacrest will look as one. (OMG, the photo in Ken's post can not really be Meg Ryan, can it? Oyyyy....)
:: I wasn't planning on writing anything on the anniversary of John Lennon's death. I figured there would be plenty of other voices on the InterWebs this week paying tribute and remembering, and anyway I honestly didn't think I had much to say about the subject because, as crappy as this is going to sound, John Lennon just doesn't mean that much to me. (This post doesn't go in the direction it sounds like it's about to go. Trust me.)
:: Donn Esmonde wants a museum at Canal Side. That’s a great idea, seeing as museums and nostalgia are the only growth industry we seem to have in this region. (For the life of me, I don't understand why "set up some zoning regulations for how we want the waterfront to look and then just sell the lots and let entrepreneurs do their thing down there" is never seen as an option. Instead, we endlessly kvetch over what to build on the Buffalo waterfront. Ugh! By the way, lots of people complain about the idea of "big box retail" on Buffalo's waterfront, apparently being of the notion that a big-box store is incompatible with the type of walkable urban development that we supposedly want around here. Well, check this out:
That is a proposed Wal-Mart for Washington, DC. Looks pretty urban and walkable to me. Zone it and let people build, folks. That's how you get a vibrant waterfront.)
:: We work hard to shield kids from all things bad. In the process, though, we rob them of opportunities for self protection. (I have no memory of how I found Robyn's blog, Life by Chocolate. It's just a terrific blog about life in general.)
:: There are people out there who have no one to relate to, to talk to, to share with – for one, because our society is so reluctant to open up about death and other difficult subjects. And so, I relate, talk, share. And people, like my overall-wearing, pie-throwing reader in New York, relate, talk, and share back. (She's referring to me, there. Beth Howard is one of my favorite blog discoveries of the last few months. I've been reading her for a while, after discovering her during one of my searches for fellow lovers of bib overalls. I found that, in addition to proudly wearing overalls, she lives in Iowa in the very house that's in the background of the famous painting American Gothic, and that she uses her blog as a way of dealing with some of her issues of grief and sadness after she suffered a staggering loss: her husband, who passed away unexpectedly a little more than a year ago. One week before what would have been Little Quinn's fifth birthday, actually.
Beth also uses pie as a metaphor for a lot of life's struggles, and she approaches the baking of pie as therapy and a method of engaging a world that can seem harsh and uninviting at times. She and I have been Facebook friends for a little while, and I recently corresponded with her about issues of grief, and about communication and writing in Blogistan -- which some folks find to be of little worth -- and about my own love of pie, which includes not just the making and eating of it, but also the wearing of it. Basically it was "Hey, you wear overalls and make pies; I occasionally wear overalls and get hit with pies."
I refuse to see blogging as worthless, just because it's online or because online writings seem more ephemeral than stuff that appears on paper. In some ways, I suppose, it is more ephemeral, just from a preservation standpoint, but I'm not sure the distinction is as strong as some seem to think. I'm always struck, when I'm at the library book sale, by all those old paperbacks with jacket copy that reads along the lines of "The latest riveting novel from one of our most beloved storytellers!" or "This novel is sure to be read and treasured for many years to come!" And it's always some author of whom I have never heard. On the occasions when I Google such an author, their name only shows up on used book seller sites. Their books are nearly completely forgotten.
:: We’ve all heard the stories about people who put up their tree only to have it tip over during the night. I’m ashamed to say it’s even happened to me once in my younger days, but over the years I’ve honed my methods and now can put up a tree the kids could climb — I wouldn’t put it past my boy, either. (Great advice on putting up the Christmas tree! Listen and learn, folks! There's some great advice there -- not the least of which is, Toss the eyebolts and use different screws. Using better-quality hardware than what comes with the item in question is almost always a good idea.)
All for this week, folks!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday Burst of Weird and AWESOME!
Well, you wouldn't think that I would have seen so much Weird and/or Awesome what with being offline for most of the last ten days (aside from swiping time here and there at work to check my e-mail and throw up quick blog posts and Facebook status messages), but Boy Howdy, has that turned out to not be the case. I've seen plenty! Hooray for the Interweb! Oddities and Awesome, as always, abound!
:: The folks behind Archie comics are experimenting with "Real World Archie", or something like that.
Ooooh! How about a CSI: Riverdale? Maybe one murder can revolve around the wounds matching the spikes from that hat that Jughead always wears. I, for one, hope this trend continues! Let's see versions of Richie Rich wherein our hero and his impossibly wealthy family are done in by the Great Recession, or by an insider-trading scandal, or stuff like that! Let's see the real class struggle between Richie and girlfriend Gloria! Let's not ask how it is that I was able to call up the name of Richie Rich's girlfriend without having to Google it!
:: I imagine most of you will have seen this already, but it's too amazing not to share. Since the Minnesota Vikings were to have a home game today, the FOX Sports people had their cameras all set up a few days in advance for the game-day broadcast. So they had the cameras running when, after a major snowstorm pummeled the Upper Midwest, the weight of the snowpack on the Metrodome's roof finally became too much for the air-supported structure to bear.
That is some amazing stuff!
(And this is the fifth time the roof has collapsed!)
:: A science writer blogs about the Apollo 11 moon mission for NPR, and gets a response...from Neil Armstrong. That is some serious Awesome, I have to tell you. It would be like if George Lucas were to e-mail me in response to, well, anything I write about Star Wars!
More next week!
:: The folks behind Archie comics are experimenting with "Real World Archie", or something like that.
But as the Archie brand expands, a new monthly magazine series sold in major bookstore chains and Wal-Mart, Life With Archie: The Married Life, has been quietly ripping apart the fabric of life in Riverdale. The recession looms large and disease and infidelity intrude on longtime friendships and young marriages. Life With Archie is a spin-off published by Archie Comics, so it's not a rogue parody. But within just a few months, Riverdale has turned from a 20th-century middle-American paradise into a 21st-century middle-class hell. Is all this grit really necessary in a universe that has blissfully hummed along for decades without it?
Ooooh! How about a CSI: Riverdale? Maybe one murder can revolve around the wounds matching the spikes from that hat that Jughead always wears. I, for one, hope this trend continues! Let's see versions of Richie Rich wherein our hero and his impossibly wealthy family are done in by the Great Recession, or by an insider-trading scandal, or stuff like that! Let's see the real class struggle between Richie and girlfriend Gloria! Let's not ask how it is that I was able to call up the name of Richie Rich's girlfriend without having to Google it!
:: I imagine most of you will have seen this already, but it's too amazing not to share. Since the Minnesota Vikings were to have a home game today, the FOX Sports people had their cameras all set up a few days in advance for the game-day broadcast. So they had the cameras running when, after a major snowstorm pummeled the Upper Midwest, the weight of the snowpack on the Metrodome's roof finally became too much for the air-supported structure to bear.
That is some amazing stuff!
(And this is the fifth time the roof has collapsed!)
:: A science writer blogs about the Apollo 11 moon mission for NPR, and gets a response...from Neil Armstrong. That is some serious Awesome, I have to tell you. It would be like if George Lucas were to e-mail me in response to, well, anything I write about Star Wars!
More next week!
Sunday Stealing
This week it's called The Ninja Meme, part 1.
1. What do you add to your coffee?
Raw sugar. Occasionally, if I'm in the mood, I'll add milk or half-n-half. Very rarely I'll use a flavored creamer, but 95 percent of the time, I just add sugar. I subscribe to the old Turkish proverb: "Coffee should be strong as hell, black as death, and sweet as love."
2. What are you reading now?
Cordelia's Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold, in an attempt to get into the Miles Vorkosigan series. I read this before some years ago and found it nice and entertaining but not particularly compelling. This time, however, I'm finding myself a lot more involved in the story. I'll report more when I finish it.
I'm between nonfiction books at the moment.
3. Do you own a gun?
No, nor do I have any intention to. I have no problem with gun ownership and I have little taste for eroding the 2nd amendment, but on a personal level, guns give me the serious willies.
4. Are you registered to vote?
Yes. I'm a registered Democrat. This year, in fact, marked the tenth anniversary of the last time I cast a ballot for a Republican (former Congressman Amory Houghton). The only election I've skipped was 2002, when we had moved to Syracuse just a month prior to voting. I had no idea who the local candidates were or what the local issues amounted to in that time frame, so I abstained.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Sometimes, but not terribly so. My current doctor is super nice.
6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Love 'em. In fact, I rank hot dogs high among my favorite foods. (They have to be grilled, or at least pan-seared so they have some texture. Steamed or boiled dogs do nothing for me. I do make exception to this rule for sidewalk hot dog stands, though.)
7. Favorite Christmas Song?
"Little Drummer Boy". My favorite version? Bing Crosby and David Bowie.
Honorable mentions to "Angels We Have Heard On High", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and "Silent Night". For more modern Christmas songs, I'm partial to "Happy Christmas (War is Over)", "Same Old Lang Syne", and "River".
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
OJ and water. I tend to have coffee a bit later on in the morning; I don't get right up to coffee.
9. Can you do push ups?
A few, but not enough. (Note to self: start going to the gym again.)
10. What was the name of your first boyfriend/girlfriend?
Errr...well, it depends. First date? Tammy. First girl with whom I had a "thing"? Chris.
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelery?
My wedding ring. Close second: the star sapphire The Girlfriend (later The Wife) got me the Christmas before our wedding.
12. Favorite hobby?
Reading, writing, blogging, walking, listening to music, ogling power tools, using power tools, waxing poetic about bib overalls.
13. Do you work with people who idolize you?
I have no idea if any of them "idolize" me. If they do, I hope they stop; I'm more than aware of my massive imperfections! I like the fact that I'm generally liked, though.
14. Do you have ADD?
Not to my knowledge.
15. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself?
My tendency to fly off the handle, sometimes.
16. What’s your Middle name?
None: I just have an initial, 'C'. I should get the story someday as to why that's the case.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
"Hey, why don't I have a middle name, anyway?"
"Wow, is my butt comfy!" (I just bought a new cushion for my desk chair and I'm trying it out now. Huzzah!)
"Goodness, there's a lot of chicken in our fridge." (We have leftover KFC and a leftover rotisserie bird in there right now.)
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday.
Yesterday? Geez...coffee, a bagel, and a half a sub sandwich for lunch.
19. Name 3 beverages you regularly drink.
Water, orange juice, coffee.
20. Current worry right now?
Wow, I wish the Christmas season had an extra week or two in it. There's a lot I wish I had time to do!
21. What side do you dress to?
I don't know what this means. Thinking about it, I suppose I put my left leg in pants first...I guess...hmmmm. With overalls, I always fasten the right shoulder strap to the bib first. (By the way, that 90s trend of wearing one strap unfastened was pretty goofy.)
22. Favorite place to be?
Wherever The Wife is. (Awwwww!)
23. How did you bring in the New Year?
Like this.
24. Where would you like to go?
The Smithsonian.
25. Name three people who will see today.
I think there's something mis-worded here! Three people who will see today? Or three people whom I will see today? The latter seems funnier, so: three people who will see today are actor Howard Hesseman, British singer Seal, and the guy who plays Eric Delko on CSI: Miami.
Hooray!
1. What do you add to your coffee?
Raw sugar. Occasionally, if I'm in the mood, I'll add milk or half-n-half. Very rarely I'll use a flavored creamer, but 95 percent of the time, I just add sugar. I subscribe to the old Turkish proverb: "Coffee should be strong as hell, black as death, and sweet as love."
2. What are you reading now?
Cordelia's Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold, in an attempt to get into the Miles Vorkosigan series. I read this before some years ago and found it nice and entertaining but not particularly compelling. This time, however, I'm finding myself a lot more involved in the story. I'll report more when I finish it.
I'm between nonfiction books at the moment.
3. Do you own a gun?
No, nor do I have any intention to. I have no problem with gun ownership and I have little taste for eroding the 2nd amendment, but on a personal level, guns give me the serious willies.
4. Are you registered to vote?
Yes. I'm a registered Democrat. This year, in fact, marked the tenth anniversary of the last time I cast a ballot for a Republican (former Congressman Amory Houghton). The only election I've skipped was 2002, when we had moved to Syracuse just a month prior to voting. I had no idea who the local candidates were or what the local issues amounted to in that time frame, so I abstained.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Sometimes, but not terribly so. My current doctor is super nice.
6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Love 'em. In fact, I rank hot dogs high among my favorite foods. (They have to be grilled, or at least pan-seared so they have some texture. Steamed or boiled dogs do nothing for me. I do make exception to this rule for sidewalk hot dog stands, though.)
7. Favorite Christmas Song?
"Little Drummer Boy". My favorite version? Bing Crosby and David Bowie.
Honorable mentions to "Angels We Have Heard On High", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and "Silent Night". For more modern Christmas songs, I'm partial to "Happy Christmas (War is Over)", "Same Old Lang Syne", and "River".
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
OJ and water. I tend to have coffee a bit later on in the morning; I don't get right up to coffee.
9. Can you do push ups?
A few, but not enough. (Note to self: start going to the gym again.)
10. What was the name of your first boyfriend/girlfriend?
Errr...well, it depends. First date? Tammy. First girl with whom I had a "thing"? Chris.
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelery?
My wedding ring. Close second: the star sapphire The Girlfriend (later The Wife) got me the Christmas before our wedding.
12. Favorite hobby?
Reading, writing, blogging, walking, listening to music, ogling power tools, using power tools, waxing poetic about bib overalls.
13. Do you work with people who idolize you?
I have no idea if any of them "idolize" me. If they do, I hope they stop; I'm more than aware of my massive imperfections! I like the fact that I'm generally liked, though.
14. Do you have ADD?
Not to my knowledge.
15. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself?
My tendency to fly off the handle, sometimes.
16. What’s your Middle name?
None: I just have an initial, 'C'. I should get the story someday as to why that's the case.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
"Hey, why don't I have a middle name, anyway?"
"Wow, is my butt comfy!" (I just bought a new cushion for my desk chair and I'm trying it out now. Huzzah!)
"Goodness, there's a lot of chicken in our fridge." (We have leftover KFC and a leftover rotisserie bird in there right now.)
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday.
Yesterday? Geez...coffee, a bagel, and a half a sub sandwich for lunch.
19. Name 3 beverages you regularly drink.
Water, orange juice, coffee.
20. Current worry right now?
Wow, I wish the Christmas season had an extra week or two in it. There's a lot I wish I had time to do!
21. What side do you dress to?
I don't know what this means. Thinking about it, I suppose I put my left leg in pants first...I guess...hmmmm. With overalls, I always fasten the right shoulder strap to the bib first. (By the way, that 90s trend of wearing one strap unfastened was pretty goofy.)
22. Favorite place to be?
Wherever The Wife is. (Awwwww!)
23. How did you bring in the New Year?
Like this.
24. Where would you like to go?
The Smithsonian.
25. Name three people who will see today.
I think there's something mis-worded here! Three people who will see today? Or three people whom I will see today? The latter seems funnier, so: three people who will see today are actor Howard Hesseman, British singer Seal, and the guy who plays Eric Delko on CSI: Miami.
Hooray!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
My year in statuses
Every year around this time, the "Status Collage" gets popular on Facebook. It's just a collage of the things one posts in their Status box. Here's my collage:
Wow, I babble a lot over there.
Wow, I babble a lot over there.
Friday, December 10, 2010
What has two thumbs and an Internet connection?
Answer: This guy!
Yes, our Internet connection appears to finally be fixed. What apparently happened is that a woman who lives in our building switched apartments, moving literally across the hall. But when they deactivated the phone connection to her old apartment, they deactivated ours instead, by mistake. Oops.
But now we're back online. Huzzah!!!
Thursday, December 09, 2010
It's easy if you try
I was nine years old when John Lennon died; I had no idea, really, who he was when I first heard the name. I remember hearing the news on the radio as I was driven to school the next morning. I knew nothing then about him or The Beatles. And ultimately, since I didn't start loving his music (and the rest of 'em) until just a couple of years ago, he'd really been dead 28 years before he came to mean something to me.
So, in a way, John Lennon is, to me, not unlike Berlioz or Wagner or Mozart: a dead artist whose work came to mean something to me when he was already gone. That's not intended to be any kind of deep statement, just a thought....
Imagine.
So, in a way, John Lennon is, to me, not unlike Berlioz or Wagner or Mozart: a dead artist whose work came to mean something to me when he was already gone. That's not intended to be any kind of deep statement, just a thought....
Imagine.
An antidote to annoyance
As you all might expect, I am seriously irritated by my lack of Internet connection at home and the Keystone Kops manner in which EarthLink is going about fixing it. The latest? Out of curiosity I decided today just to see if maybe my phone was causing some kind of problem, so I experimented with plugging it in, unplugging it, et cetera, just to see if my DSL would come on. And what did I find out?
Since their "tech" came out, my landline has apparently been dead too! What the hell did they do, shut off my entire phone line instead of fixing it?
AGGHHHH!!!
So I'm annoyed and need something to amuse me. Which brings me to...some pie-throwing action.
Antigone Magazine is trying to raise money by selling calendars; in an effort to drum up business, the editor, a young woman named Amanda Reaume, has decided to take a pie in her face for every ten calendars they sell. They must be up to thirty, because so far, she's received three:
Self-inflicted, too -- that takes some moxie.
And then there are Ten Unexpected Pies in the Face:
And...ten more (with a Star Wars one)!
OK, that's helping my mood. A bit, anyway. Harumph.
Stupid EarthLink.
Since their "tech" came out, my landline has apparently been dead too! What the hell did they do, shut off my entire phone line instead of fixing it?
AGGHHHH!!!
So I'm annoyed and need something to amuse me. Which brings me to...some pie-throwing action.
Antigone Magazine is trying to raise money by selling calendars; in an effort to drum up business, the editor, a young woman named Amanda Reaume, has decided to take a pie in her face for every ten calendars they sell. They must be up to thirty, because so far, she's received three:
Self-inflicted, too -- that takes some moxie.
And then there are Ten Unexpected Pies in the Face:
And...ten more (with a Star Wars one)!
OK, that's helping my mood. A bit, anyway. Harumph.
Stupid EarthLink.
Status unchanged
Well, folks, I'm still offline at home. I may have opportunities to get online here and there over the next few days, but it's starting to look like "New ISP shopping" time at Casa Jaquandor. EarthLink told me day before yesterday that a tech would be out "tomorrow" (yesterday, in real time) to check our phone lines. I have no way of knowing if that happened (they said he wouldn't need access to our apartment at all, which is good because The Wife and I both worked yesterday), but when I got home, our DSL modem wasn't even picking up the DSL line. At least before it would pick up the line but not connect to the Internet; now it wasn't picking up the line at all.
So I called yet again, to be greeted by a recorded message that said, "According to our records, your issue has been resolved successfully. Would you still like to speak to a representative?" I said yes, and then proceeded to rip into the poor guy who answered. Oh well. The long-and-short of it is that another tech will be dispatched, yada yada yada. I'm not optimistic. I told the guy, this is EarthLink's last chance, and believe me, it is: if we're not reliably connected to the Internet by the time I get home from work tomorrow, I will cancel my EarthLink subscription and begin looking for a new ISP. The guy assured me that it would be resolved, but at this point, I have less than zero confidence in EarthLink's ability to provide the bare minimum of technical support to a customer who has been giving them forty bucks a month for seven years.
So, I may have new posts up at times over the next indeterminate period. I hope to, anyway. Keep checking back, and thanks for checking in anyway!
(Oh, and for my Buffalo region readers, what's a good ISP in these parts if all I want is Internet -- no phone and no cable teevee?)
So I called yet again, to be greeted by a recorded message that said, "According to our records, your issue has been resolved successfully. Would you still like to speak to a representative?" I said yes, and then proceeded to rip into the poor guy who answered. Oh well. The long-and-short of it is that another tech will be dispatched, yada yada yada. I'm not optimistic. I told the guy, this is EarthLink's last chance, and believe me, it is: if we're not reliably connected to the Internet by the time I get home from work tomorrow, I will cancel my EarthLink subscription and begin looking for a new ISP. The guy assured me that it would be resolved, but at this point, I have less than zero confidence in EarthLink's ability to provide the bare minimum of technical support to a customer who has been giving them forty bucks a month for seven years.
So, I may have new posts up at times over the next indeterminate period. I hope to, anyway. Keep checking back, and thanks for checking in anyway!
(Oh, and for my Buffalo region readers, what's a good ISP in these parts if all I want is Internet -- no phone and no cable teevee?)
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Holding Pattern Omega
Well, a tech should be coming out this morning to look at the phone lines here at Casa Jaquandor, in an effort to determine why our Internet service from EarthLink has been so calamitously bad this last week. So I suppose by this time tomorrow I'll know if we will still be EarthLink customers or not. Their options are: fix our DSL, or wish us well as we take our money to FIOS. Ugh!
And there's lots of stuff I want to blog, but for now, it all has to wait.
And there's lots of stuff I want to blog, but for now, it all has to wait.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Irony is lost upon his soul....
Just seen on Facebook, in comments to someone's post:
What's funny about it is that the person offering this view was, in the last New York gubernatorial election, a vocal supporter of Carl Paladino.
I'm sorry, but this is what you get for picking a Dem nominee who was a Senator for about 3 min before running for President. Obama is a lot of ideas and absolutely no clue how to DO anything.
What's funny about it is that the person offering this view was, in the last New York gubernatorial election, a vocal supporter of Carl Paladino.
Sentential Links #230
Sorry this is late, folks, but EarthLink is not allowing me to do many of the things I like to do online. Fewer links than usual, but onward with the linkage!
:: In one of those memes I do sometimes, there was a question about the movie that I found most scary. The problem was that I saw it when I was nine, give or take a year, couldn’t remember the title, and I didn’t even know how well I remembered the details. (Wow, that does sound like a scary movie!)
:: Watch Family Guy for a week. I think we can take it for granted that you're going to see an incredible amount of misogyny, but what does Seth McFarlane have against Asians? (I keep trying to figure out of McFarlane is that bigoted, or if he is trying for shock value with a lot of the jokes on that show.)
:: I have a weird fascination with X-ray photos that show the path of some object into a person's head. (Well, I didn't until I read this...and now I do!)
:: I lost interest in football years ago when I realized that the quarterbacks weren’t calling the plays. These days, neither are the coaches, at least not on the spot. The reason video games like Madden can be so realistic is that real football games are as programmed as software. Games are simultaneous runnings of competing algorithms and the coaches who write the code days ahead of time are on hand in case bugs develop.
:: The first day I was there we stopped at a tractor supply store and I bought a pair of bib overalls for myself and a John Deer bandana for Yoda. (A new convert, huzzah! She was visiting Beth of The World Needs More Pie, one of my favorite new blogs and people behind the words.)
Well, that's about all I could manage to find when I was able to access the Internet for two minutes here, three minutes there. Still, good stuff! More next week. I hope.
:: In one of those memes I do sometimes, there was a question about the movie that I found most scary. The problem was that I saw it when I was nine, give or take a year, couldn’t remember the title, and I didn’t even know how well I remembered the details. (Wow, that does sound like a scary movie!)
:: Watch Family Guy for a week. I think we can take it for granted that you're going to see an incredible amount of misogyny, but what does Seth McFarlane have against Asians? (I keep trying to figure out of McFarlane is that bigoted, or if he is trying for shock value with a lot of the jokes on that show.)
:: I have a weird fascination with X-ray photos that show the path of some object into a person's head. (Well, I didn't until I read this...and now I do!)
:: I lost interest in football years ago when I realized that the quarterbacks weren’t calling the plays. These days, neither are the coaches, at least not on the spot. The reason video games like Madden can be so realistic is that real football games are as programmed as software. Games are simultaneous runnings of competing algorithms and the coaches who write the code days ahead of time are on hand in case bugs develop.
:: The first day I was there we stopped at a tractor supply store and I bought a pair of bib overalls for myself and a John Deer bandana for Yoda. (A new convert, huzzah! She was visiting Beth of The World Needs More Pie, one of my favorite new blogs and people behind the words.)
Well, that's about all I could manage to find when I was able to access the Internet for two minutes here, three minutes there. Still, good stuff! More next week. I hope.
Holding Pattern Eta
AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
OK, now that's out of my system. For now, anyway. Yes, the Saga of the Awful Internet Connection here at Casa Jaquandor continues, with my connectivity woes now reaching Day Five. Oh it makes me mad.
Now, there's the whole "blessing in disguise" thing, yada yada yada, I've been reading a bit more the last few days and I've been writing a bit more too, but still: I like the Internet and I expect it to work, which since last Wednesday it has not. Which annoys me greatly.
Today I finally knuckled under when I got home from work and got EarthLink on the phone. What's happened for days is that the connection is only available for a few minutes at a time (at most), with long periods of connectionlessness in between. Today the "no connection" period lasted, as far as I can tell, overnight and through just about all of today. This sort of thing has happened before, but not in quite a long time, and it's finally become annoying to the point where I'm genuinely considering switching to Verizon FIOS if it's not fixed.
I spent almost two hours on the phone with a service rep with EarthLink, who was very polite and very willing to repeat himself a lot (a necessity, given his very thick Indian accent). He did a good job, although clearly my problem did not get resolved. But it was clear that he was following scripts and decision trees, as there were several times when I tried to offer information that he hadn't asked for, only to have him basically ignore what I had said and plow on to the next point. First we did the "usual" stuff (unplug the modem, wait ten seconds, plug it back in; describe for him my configuration of phone and data cords; et cetera), and when we seemed to have exhausted all of those alternatives, he talked me through some stuff that I didn't know anything about, which seems to have consisted of accessing setup screens and configuration menus and other things I had never seen before.
To his credit, my rep guy at no point sounded at all frustrated as the "Internet" light on the modem refused to come on and stay on, no matter what we did. But it was interesting how obvious it was when we finally reached the final item in his particular bag of tricks, because at that moment, he said "Here's your case reference number, someone will call you within twenty-four hours, have a nice night." And the call ended right then and there. I'm not sure what that means – at one point it sounded as if he was arranging for a tech to pay us a visit to get things figured out, but he didn't say that outright and as of right now I have no idea what the problem here is. I do know that it can't be anything that we did, as we have made zero changes in our Internet setup at home, with no ill effects on the DSL until now.
So here, I am trying to write posts in OpenOffice, paste them into a Blogger window, and "publish" them in the few brief seconds of being connected that I get here and there, once in a while. Hopefully this ends soon....
OK, now that's out of my system. For now, anyway. Yes, the Saga of the Awful Internet Connection here at Casa Jaquandor continues, with my connectivity woes now reaching Day Five. Oh it makes me mad.
Now, there's the whole "blessing in disguise" thing, yada yada yada, I've been reading a bit more the last few days and I've been writing a bit more too, but still: I like the Internet and I expect it to work, which since last Wednesday it has not. Which annoys me greatly.
Today I finally knuckled under when I got home from work and got EarthLink on the phone. What's happened for days is that the connection is only available for a few minutes at a time (at most), with long periods of connectionlessness in between. Today the "no connection" period lasted, as far as I can tell, overnight and through just about all of today. This sort of thing has happened before, but not in quite a long time, and it's finally become annoying to the point where I'm genuinely considering switching to Verizon FIOS if it's not fixed.
I spent almost two hours on the phone with a service rep with EarthLink, who was very polite and very willing to repeat himself a lot (a necessity, given his very thick Indian accent). He did a good job, although clearly my problem did not get resolved. But it was clear that he was following scripts and decision trees, as there were several times when I tried to offer information that he hadn't asked for, only to have him basically ignore what I had said and plow on to the next point. First we did the "usual" stuff (unplug the modem, wait ten seconds, plug it back in; describe for him my configuration of phone and data cords; et cetera), and when we seemed to have exhausted all of those alternatives, he talked me through some stuff that I didn't know anything about, which seems to have consisted of accessing setup screens and configuration menus and other things I had never seen before.
To his credit, my rep guy at no point sounded at all frustrated as the "Internet" light on the modem refused to come on and stay on, no matter what we did. But it was interesting how obvious it was when we finally reached the final item in his particular bag of tricks, because at that moment, he said "Here's your case reference number, someone will call you within twenty-four hours, have a nice night." And the call ended right then and there. I'm not sure what that means – at one point it sounded as if he was arranging for a tech to pay us a visit to get things figured out, but he didn't say that outright and as of right now I have no idea what the problem here is. I do know that it can't be anything that we did, as we have made zero changes in our Internet setup at home, with no ill effects on the DSL until now.
So here, I am trying to write posts in OpenOffice, paste them into a Blogger window, and "publish" them in the few brief seconds of being connected that I get here and there, once in a while. Hopefully this ends soon....
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Sunday Burst of Weird and AWESOME!
Oddities and Awesome abound!
:: The Galaxy Garden is a garden whose plants are cultivated, grown, and placed in such a way as to represent the Milky Way Galaxy. This is amazing! It reminds me, in a way, of the Carl Sagan "Solar System Walk" in Ithaca, which I see part of every year when The Wife and I go there for the Apple Festival, but whose comprising monuments I can never get pictures of because they're always crowded with people.
:: The other day I posted a video of a Star Trek: The Next Generation clip, in which Captain Picard joins a woman he's met in playing the flute he acquired in an earlier episode, one of the more memorable episodes called "The Inner Light". Here, then, is another video, wherein a guy plays that same melody on the Theremin.
Wondering what a Theremin is? Here's the basic background. It's an early electronic musical instrument, invented in the 1920s by a guy named Theremin. (Hence the name!) I'm not sure how it works, but the pitch and such are literally controlled by the position of the performer's hands in the air around it, so it's the only musical instrument I know of -- save the voice -- that can be played without touching anything. It was used a lot in movie filmscores of the mid-20th century, especially in science fiction flicks.
:: Map of Metal -- as in, I think, heavy metal, that wonderfully glam music whose heyday was in the late 70s and early to mid 80s. I wasn't a huge metal-head, relatively speaking, but I enjoyed quite a lot of it at the time. (Never went to a concert, though. In fact, to this day, the closest I've come to attending a rock concert is the Beatles tribute band that played with the Buffalo Philharmonic last year.) I'm actually linking this site on an "unvetted" basis, as it appears to be quite heavily graphical in nature, and with my recent connectivity issues, I haven't been able to load the entire site to see what it's like. Someone let me know if it's cool, OK?
More next week!
:: The Galaxy Garden is a garden whose plants are cultivated, grown, and placed in such a way as to represent the Milky Way Galaxy. This is amazing! It reminds me, in a way, of the Carl Sagan "Solar System Walk" in Ithaca, which I see part of every year when The Wife and I go there for the Apple Festival, but whose comprising monuments I can never get pictures of because they're always crowded with people.
:: The other day I posted a video of a Star Trek: The Next Generation clip, in which Captain Picard joins a woman he's met in playing the flute he acquired in an earlier episode, one of the more memorable episodes called "The Inner Light". Here, then, is another video, wherein a guy plays that same melody on the Theremin.
Wondering what a Theremin is? Here's the basic background. It's an early electronic musical instrument, invented in the 1920s by a guy named Theremin. (Hence the name!) I'm not sure how it works, but the pitch and such are literally controlled by the position of the performer's hands in the air around it, so it's the only musical instrument I know of -- save the voice -- that can be played without touching anything. It was used a lot in movie filmscores of the mid-20th century, especially in science fiction flicks.
:: Map of Metal -- as in, I think, heavy metal, that wonderfully glam music whose heyday was in the late 70s and early to mid 80s. I wasn't a huge metal-head, relatively speaking, but I enjoyed quite a lot of it at the time. (Never went to a concert, though. In fact, to this day, the closest I've come to attending a rock concert is the Beatles tribute band that played with the Buffalo Philharmonic last year.) I'm actually linking this site on an "unvetted" basis, as it appears to be quite heavily graphical in nature, and with my recent connectivity issues, I haven't been able to load the entire site to see what it's like. Someone let me know if it's cool, OK?
More next week!
Been good to know you....
A long-favorite blog of mine, "Mental Multivitamin", has gone "Read by invitation only" after being around for quite a long time. I know I've been reading M-MV for at least four years and probably longer. I have no idea what led "Mrs. M-MV" to take that step, but I do find it a shame. (Her blog never had comments at all, so I can only assume she's been the recipient of nasty e-mails, or maybe she just felt it necessary to "close the door" now for some reason.)
Oh well. I wish her, and her family, well.
Oh well. I wish her, and her family, well.
Holding Pattern Epsilon
Sorry for the lack of posting, folks, but again, the DSL here at Casa Jaquandor has been in and out, all weekend long. It's been enormously frustrating. I was willing to grant that the weather we had several days ago was behind the outages at first, but that excuse is getting harder to accept.
Now, our ISP is EarthLink, and has been since 2003. But I've noticed that since we switched from dial-up to DSL, when I view the blog from home, it shows up on my SiteMeter as a hit from Verizon.net. So my supposition is that EarthLink's DSL is simply Verizon's, rebranded in the same way that a lot of the store-brand merchandise at big stores like Target or Wal-Mart is name-brand stuff with a new label slapped on. If that's the case, then I wonder if Verizon is purposely letting their DSL go to hell in hopes that enough people will sign up for FIOS.
If that's the case, well...it may end up working. We have no interest in a cable teevee plan, so if we decide to ditch the DSL, our best option is to go with FIOS Internet on its own (perhaps also ditching our landline telephone). For now, I've been posting lots of nasty things about EarthLink on Twitter, to see if they pay attention to that. Calling their service number isn't an appealing option; I've gone that route before only to end up talking to a call center employee in Mumbai who very nicely talks me through the steps in power-cycling my modem. Which I've already done. Multiple times. Each day.
Oh well. We've had this problem with our DSL before, and it's always turned out OK after a few days. Hopefully that happens again now, but if it doesn't, I'm prepared to pull the trigger.
Now, our ISP is EarthLink, and has been since 2003. But I've noticed that since we switched from dial-up to DSL, when I view the blog from home, it shows up on my SiteMeter as a hit from Verizon.net. So my supposition is that EarthLink's DSL is simply Verizon's, rebranded in the same way that a lot of the store-brand merchandise at big stores like Target or Wal-Mart is name-brand stuff with a new label slapped on. If that's the case, then I wonder if Verizon is purposely letting their DSL go to hell in hopes that enough people will sign up for FIOS.
If that's the case, well...it may end up working. We have no interest in a cable teevee plan, so if we decide to ditch the DSL, our best option is to go with FIOS Internet on its own (perhaps also ditching our landline telephone). For now, I've been posting lots of nasty things about EarthLink on Twitter, to see if they pay attention to that. Calling their service number isn't an appealing option; I've gone that route before only to end up talking to a call center employee in Mumbai who very nicely talks me through the steps in power-cycling my modem. Which I've already done. Multiple times. Each day.
Oh well. We've had this problem with our DSL before, and it's always turned out OK after a few days. Hopefully that happens again now, but if it doesn't, I'm prepared to pull the trigger.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
20 Questions about Star Wars
01. Who is your favorite character from the original trilogy?
Han Solo. He's got the coolest ship, the coolest weapon that isn't a lightsaber, and I like his character arc from outsider who doesn't believe in anything to full-fledged member of the cause.
02.How would you rank the original trilogy, in order from favorite to least favorite?
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
03. What are two of your favorite action scenes from the original trilogy?
The rescue of Luke and the escape from Vader at the end of TESB, and you know what? I'm gonna stick up for the Ewok battle, which I've never disliked (although it could have used a bit less broad comedy).
04. What do you consider the most emotional scene from the original trilogy?
Darth Vader's rejection of the Dark Side. In fact, I think that scene is even more powerful in light of the Prequel trilogy, because now we have some idea of what must be going through his head as he watches his son there, writhing on the ground from the same Dark Side lightning that the Emperor used to kill Mace Windu at the time that he first rejected the Good Side. The scene is edited together so brilliantly -- Vader stands there, watching; Luke screams "Father, please!"; Vader watches some more; the Emperor starts to get caught up in his own glee; Vader glimpses at the Emperor and sees the joy in Palpatine's eyes; Vader looks back at his son; Vader looks back at the Emperor...and then decides that he can't do this Dark Side thing any longer. That scene packs an amazing wallop for me.
05. Do you have any favorite toys or collectibles based off the original trilogy?
Mostly ships. (I should probably do a post of my Star Wars toys one of these days. It wouldn't be a terribly long post, really.)
06. Which character had the most unsatisfying death in the original trilogy?
None of them are particularly "unsatisfying", really -- I'm not even bothered by Boba Fett's demise, although a little more of a bad-ass exit wouldn't have been unwarranted. Maybe a bit of a fight with Han before Han manages to set off the jet-pack, or something like that.
07. What’s your favorite ship or vehicle from the original trilogy?
The Millennium Falcon.
08. Who is your favorite character from the prequel trilogy?
Obi Wan Kenobi.
09. How would you rank the prequel trilogy, in order from favorite to least favorite?
Revenge of the Sith
Attack of the Clones
The Phantom Menace
10. What are two of your favorite action scenes from the prequel trilogy?
Obi Wan's fight with Jango Fett on Kamino and his subsequent pursuit of him through the asteroid belt of Geonosis; Obi Wan versus Darth Vader on Mustafar.
11. What do you consider the most emotional scene from the prequel trilogy?
I found Revenge of the Sith almost emotionally overwhelming, starting with Anakin's turn to the Dark Side. His subsequent acts of betrayal were terribly sad. One moment stands out: when Plo Koon is leading a contingent of clone troopers into battle, and they receive the go-ahead for Order 66. He turns to them, yells "Come on!", and then looks on in shock and bewilderment as they aim their weapons at him. John Williams's music for this sequence is some of the best of the entire Saga.
12. Do you have any favorite toys or collectibles based off the prequel trilogy?
Again, mostly ships. I never did much with action figures, although I do have a couple.
13. Which character had the most unsatisfying death in the prequel trilogy?
We're straying into Fixing the Prequels territory here, aren't we? I don't have a problem with Padme dying essentially of a broken heart, since she hasn't just lost Anakin but her beloved Republic -- she has lost the very world in which she wanted to raise her children. I think Lucas was striving for something very operatic here, and deaths from broken hearts aren't unheard-of in opera. But it should have been drawn a bit more clearly, I think.
14. What’s your favorite ship or vehicle from the prequel trilogy?
There are wonderful ships all through the Prequel Trilogy; I love just about all of them. Picking just one...oh geez, I don't know. Maybe the Jedi starfighters in Revenge of the Sith, the ones that are on the way to being TIE Fighters.
15. If you could get a personalized Star Wars themed license plate for your car, what would it say?
E CHU TA. (Points to whomever can identify that!)
16. Do you have a favorite Star Wars based video game?
I really need to start playing some Star Wars games. I haven't played any of 'em. Yeesh!
17. Have you read any of the Star Wars books (expanded universe), and if so, what are your favorites?
I haven't read any in a long time. I started following them eagerly when they started coming out in the early 90s, but too many were coming out too quickly and the quality tended to be very uneven, so I eventually stopped. I wouldn't mind reading a few now, but I'm not sure which are the "good" ones.
I loved Timothy Zahn's novels, though.
18. Are you a fan of the “Clone Wars” cartoon series?
I don't have Cartoon Network, so I haven't seen any of it. I need to.
19. What (or who) do you hope to see in upcoming Star Wars TV series?
I'd like to see stories that take place well outside the scope of the "Big Story". Maybe follow some Corellian pirate around, or something like that. I'd like to see tales that follow characters who aren't Sith or Jedi or tied somehow to the fate of the Republic. Small-scale stories, perhaps. It's a big galaxy!
20. If you were stranded on a desert island with one Star Wars character, who would you want it to be and why?
R2-D2. Seriously, he's an intergalactic Swiss army knife. He can start fires, cut firewood, stun game so I can kill it, scan for passing ships, and so on.
Of course, if my choice was between R2 and Princess Leia, then....
Han Solo. He's got the coolest ship, the coolest weapon that isn't a lightsaber, and I like his character arc from outsider who doesn't believe in anything to full-fledged member of the cause.
02.How would you rank the original trilogy, in order from favorite to least favorite?
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
03. What are two of your favorite action scenes from the original trilogy?
The rescue of Luke and the escape from Vader at the end of TESB, and you know what? I'm gonna stick up for the Ewok battle, which I've never disliked (although it could have used a bit less broad comedy).
04. What do you consider the most emotional scene from the original trilogy?
Darth Vader's rejection of the Dark Side. In fact, I think that scene is even more powerful in light of the Prequel trilogy, because now we have some idea of what must be going through his head as he watches his son there, writhing on the ground from the same Dark Side lightning that the Emperor used to kill Mace Windu at the time that he first rejected the Good Side. The scene is edited together so brilliantly -- Vader stands there, watching; Luke screams "Father, please!"; Vader watches some more; the Emperor starts to get caught up in his own glee; Vader glimpses at the Emperor and sees the joy in Palpatine's eyes; Vader looks back at his son; Vader looks back at the Emperor...and then decides that he can't do this Dark Side thing any longer. That scene packs an amazing wallop for me.
05. Do you have any favorite toys or collectibles based off the original trilogy?
Mostly ships. (I should probably do a post of my Star Wars toys one of these days. It wouldn't be a terribly long post, really.)
06. Which character had the most unsatisfying death in the original trilogy?
None of them are particularly "unsatisfying", really -- I'm not even bothered by Boba Fett's demise, although a little more of a bad-ass exit wouldn't have been unwarranted. Maybe a bit of a fight with Han before Han manages to set off the jet-pack, or something like that.
07. What’s your favorite ship or vehicle from the original trilogy?
The Millennium Falcon.
08. Who is your favorite character from the prequel trilogy?
Obi Wan Kenobi.
09. How would you rank the prequel trilogy, in order from favorite to least favorite?
Revenge of the Sith
Attack of the Clones
The Phantom Menace
10. What are two of your favorite action scenes from the prequel trilogy?
Obi Wan's fight with Jango Fett on Kamino and his subsequent pursuit of him through the asteroid belt of Geonosis; Obi Wan versus Darth Vader on Mustafar.
11. What do you consider the most emotional scene from the prequel trilogy?
I found Revenge of the Sith almost emotionally overwhelming, starting with Anakin's turn to the Dark Side. His subsequent acts of betrayal were terribly sad. One moment stands out: when Plo Koon is leading a contingent of clone troopers into battle, and they receive the go-ahead for Order 66. He turns to them, yells "Come on!", and then looks on in shock and bewilderment as they aim their weapons at him. John Williams's music for this sequence is some of the best of the entire Saga.
12. Do you have any favorite toys or collectibles based off the prequel trilogy?
Again, mostly ships. I never did much with action figures, although I do have a couple.
13. Which character had the most unsatisfying death in the prequel trilogy?
We're straying into Fixing the Prequels territory here, aren't we? I don't have a problem with Padme dying essentially of a broken heart, since she hasn't just lost Anakin but her beloved Republic -- she has lost the very world in which she wanted to raise her children. I think Lucas was striving for something very operatic here, and deaths from broken hearts aren't unheard-of in opera. But it should have been drawn a bit more clearly, I think.
14. What’s your favorite ship or vehicle from the prequel trilogy?
There are wonderful ships all through the Prequel Trilogy; I love just about all of them. Picking just one...oh geez, I don't know. Maybe the Jedi starfighters in Revenge of the Sith, the ones that are on the way to being TIE Fighters.
15. If you could get a personalized Star Wars themed license plate for your car, what would it say?
E CHU TA. (Points to whomever can identify that!)
16. Do you have a favorite Star Wars based video game?
I really need to start playing some Star Wars games. I haven't played any of 'em. Yeesh!
17. Have you read any of the Star Wars books (expanded universe), and if so, what are your favorites?
I haven't read any in a long time. I started following them eagerly when they started coming out in the early 90s, but too many were coming out too quickly and the quality tended to be very uneven, so I eventually stopped. I wouldn't mind reading a few now, but I'm not sure which are the "good" ones.
I loved Timothy Zahn's novels, though.
18. Are you a fan of the “Clone Wars” cartoon series?
I don't have Cartoon Network, so I haven't seen any of it. I need to.
19. What (or who) do you hope to see in upcoming Star Wars TV series?
I'd like to see stories that take place well outside the scope of the "Big Story". Maybe follow some Corellian pirate around, or something like that. I'd like to see tales that follow characters who aren't Sith or Jedi or tied somehow to the fate of the Republic. Small-scale stories, perhaps. It's a big galaxy!
20. If you were stranded on a desert island with one Star Wars character, who would you want it to be and why?
R2-D2. Seriously, he's an intergalactic Swiss army knife. He can start fires, cut firewood, stun game so I can kill it, scan for passing ships, and so on.
Of course, if my choice was between R2 and Princess Leia, then....
Friday, December 03, 2010
Thursday, December 02, 2010
A shout-out to the fine young man who helped shovel out my car
Hey all!
Now I'm blogging from a public terminal at the Orchard Park Public Library. I hope the home DSL comes back on soon. Yeesh!
I was able to leave work today with relatively little fuss, which was nice owing to the large number of horror stories I had heard from denizens of the South Buffalo area regarding travel. The big difficulty was digging out my car, which had been buried in about a foot of snow since parking it seven hours prior. But a coworker of mine came along to help me do the digging, at one saying, "So, are you going to mention me on your blog?"
Well, here he is. Thanks, dude! And in the brief time span I was out there, he helped shovel out four different cars for coworkers. I'm sure there were more, even, than that. Huzzah for helpful coworkers!
Now I'm blogging from a public terminal at the Orchard Park Public Library. I hope the home DSL comes back on soon. Yeesh!
I was able to leave work today with relatively little fuss, which was nice owing to the large number of horror stories I had heard from denizens of the South Buffalo area regarding travel. The big difficulty was digging out my car, which had been buried in about a foot of snow since parking it seven hours prior. But a coworker of mine came along to help me do the digging, at one saying, "So, are you going to mention me on your blog?"
Well, here he is. Thanks, dude! And in the brief time span I was out there, he helped shovel out four different cars for coworkers. I'm sure there were more, even, than that. Huzzah for helpful coworkers!
Holding Pattern Delta!
Wow, are we ever getting hit with snow in the regions surrounding Casa Jaquandor. Lots and lots of snow, that wonderful lake-effect stuff that beats the hell out of a region about five to ten miles wide and leaves folks half-a-mile outside of the snow band scratching their heads and saying things like, "What in tarnation do you suppose the fuss is all about!"
I assume it's weather related, but our DSL connection at home has been extremely spotty over the last day and if it is weather related I expect it to remain spotty, so I'm not likely to be online a whole lot. But don't just say "Well, screw him!" and click Back on your browsers! I've posted some good stuff lately (also on Flickr), or at least I like to think so. Hang out, leave a comment or two, yada yada yada. Meantime, new content will show up, oh, sometime when I can actually post new content. Cheerio, folks!
(I'm posting this from work, which is something I don't like to do, but duty calls.)
I assume it's weather related, but our DSL connection at home has been extremely spotty over the last day and if it is weather related I expect it to remain spotty, so I'm not likely to be online a whole lot. But don't just say "Well, screw him!" and click Back on your browsers! I've posted some good stuff lately (also on Flickr), or at least I like to think so. Hang out, leave a comment or two, yada yada yada. Meantime, new content will show up, oh, sometime when I can actually post new content. Cheerio, folks!
(I'm posting this from work, which is something I don't like to do, but duty calls.)
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Wednesday Wickedness
Somewhat along the lines of Sunday Stealing, Wednesday Wickedness offers quiz-things, but with a twist: the W.W. quiz questions are inspired by quotes from famed personages. I haven't done one yet, but I'm going to start now, with Groucho Marx:
1. 'A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere."
What is a superstition that many have that you think is crazy?
Just about all superstitions are crazy, aren't they? I can't think of one that isn't. I myself am not very superstitious, except for always saying "Bless you!" when people sneeze.
I suppose I could get political and say that the notion that cutting taxes will raise revenue strikes me as a deeply crazy superstition, or I could call Creationism or climate change denialism "superstitions", but those seem more errors than superstitions to me.
2. "A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running."
What were you in the hospital for the last time that you were admitted?
I have, to date, never been admitted to a hospital. I'm sure that lucky streak is bound to end someday, but for now, everything I've ever done has been in a doctor office visit.
3. "Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse."
What payment do you make that seems ridiculous?
None of my current payments seem ridiculous to me.
4. "Humor is reason gone mad."
How would you describe your sense of humor?
I guess I'm all over the map, huh? I'm a guy who loves intricate wordplay, complex puns, the types of zany comedic situations that fill the Monty Python movies; I love geeky humor like what you'll find in The Big Bang Theory, and I got a huge kick out of the raunchy humor of The Hangover. I like oddball, off-kilter humor like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, observational oddity humor like Seinfeld, meta-weirdness like The Far Side and Pearls Before Swine.
Oddly, slapstick humor doesn't tend to do a whole lot for me, aside from pies in the face (which are more of a participatory thing for me anyway), unless it's worked into one of the above categories for more comic effect. I don't care for the Three Stooges, for instance, but there were some inspired slapsticky things that happened on Frasier.
5. "I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it."
Who was the last person that you wanted to beat with something or other?
I don't really ever genuinely want to beat anyone with anything. But I do use the beating metaphor on occasion. One of my coworkers and I like to joke about how we're going to snap one day and run around The Store, beating people on the head with stale French baguettes. Another friend and I like to quote James Earl Jones from Field of Dreams: "I'm gonna beat you with a crowbar, until you go away!"
6. "I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception."
Would you ever like to change something about your face?
Aside from having The Wife hit it with a pie once in a while, I'm generally fine with my face. It's got me this far in life. (Maybe a slightly bigger chin...but nothing else!)
7. "I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury."
I read an article recently that asked if marriage was still relevant. Other than to raise children do you see the point?
I don't know about this. I'm not sure that the government should be involved in marriage at all, anymore. But as long as it is, then I think it's relevant -- as a legal matter, marriage is, I suppose, society's recognition of the commitment of two people to one another. And I do think that to some extent, marriage still implies and helps to create a stability of a relationship. But this may change. I'm not sure how much longer people will be getting "married" in the traditional sense.
8. "If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again."
Do you find that you tend to repeat your stories?
Yes, I do, and sometimes it gets annoying when (a) I realize I'm doing it, and (b) other people point out that I'm doing it.
9. "There's one way to find out if a man is honest - ask him. If he says, "Yes," you know he is a crook."
Do you find most people that are in your life to be honest?
I find that most people believe that they are honest. Whether or not they actually are can be open to some interpretation. I don't think that anyone is 100 percent honest, but I don't think that there are all that many people for whom lying is as easy as drawing breath.
10. "Wives are people who feel they don't dance enough."
Have you ever felt that your significant other did not go out with enough?
Occasionally, yes. But I know she has thought that about me at times, too. We both seem to easily fall into ruts of familiarity and then not realize we're in the ruts for a bit longer than it should be healthy.
1. 'A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere."
What is a superstition that many have that you think is crazy?
Just about all superstitions are crazy, aren't they? I can't think of one that isn't. I myself am not very superstitious, except for always saying "Bless you!" when people sneeze.
I suppose I could get political and say that the notion that cutting taxes will raise revenue strikes me as a deeply crazy superstition, or I could call Creationism or climate change denialism "superstitions", but those seem more errors than superstitions to me.
2. "A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running."
What were you in the hospital for the last time that you were admitted?
I have, to date, never been admitted to a hospital. I'm sure that lucky streak is bound to end someday, but for now, everything I've ever done has been in a doctor office visit.
3. "Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse."
What payment do you make that seems ridiculous?
None of my current payments seem ridiculous to me.
4. "Humor is reason gone mad."
How would you describe your sense of humor?
I guess I'm all over the map, huh? I'm a guy who loves intricate wordplay, complex puns, the types of zany comedic situations that fill the Monty Python movies; I love geeky humor like what you'll find in The Big Bang Theory, and I got a huge kick out of the raunchy humor of The Hangover. I like oddball, off-kilter humor like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, observational oddity humor like Seinfeld, meta-weirdness like The Far Side and Pearls Before Swine.
Oddly, slapstick humor doesn't tend to do a whole lot for me, aside from pies in the face (which are more of a participatory thing for me anyway), unless it's worked into one of the above categories for more comic effect. I don't care for the Three Stooges, for instance, but there were some inspired slapsticky things that happened on Frasier.
5. "I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it."
Who was the last person that you wanted to beat with something or other?
I don't really ever genuinely want to beat anyone with anything. But I do use the beating metaphor on occasion. One of my coworkers and I like to joke about how we're going to snap one day and run around The Store, beating people on the head with stale French baguettes. Another friend and I like to quote James Earl Jones from Field of Dreams: "I'm gonna beat you with a crowbar, until you go away!"
6. "I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception."
Would you ever like to change something about your face?
Aside from having The Wife hit it with a pie once in a while, I'm generally fine with my face. It's got me this far in life. (Maybe a slightly bigger chin...but nothing else!)
7. "I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury."
I read an article recently that asked if marriage was still relevant. Other than to raise children do you see the point?
I don't know about this. I'm not sure that the government should be involved in marriage at all, anymore. But as long as it is, then I think it's relevant -- as a legal matter, marriage is, I suppose, society's recognition of the commitment of two people to one another. And I do think that to some extent, marriage still implies and helps to create a stability of a relationship. But this may change. I'm not sure how much longer people will be getting "married" in the traditional sense.
8. "If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again."
Do you find that you tend to repeat your stories?
Yes, I do, and sometimes it gets annoying when (a) I realize I'm doing it, and (b) other people point out that I'm doing it.
9. "There's one way to find out if a man is honest - ask him. If he says, "Yes," you know he is a crook."
Do you find most people that are in your life to be honest?
I find that most people believe that they are honest. Whether or not they actually are can be open to some interpretation. I don't think that anyone is 100 percent honest, but I don't think that there are all that many people for whom lying is as easy as drawing breath.
10. "Wives are people who feel they don't dance enough."
Have you ever felt that your significant other did not go out with enough?
Occasionally, yes. But I know she has thought that about me at times, too. We both seem to easily fall into ruts of familiarity and then not realize we're in the ruts for a bit longer than it should be healthy.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Runnin' off the Rails
Our Thanksgiving modus operandi around here, in recent years, has been to meet my parents at a local restaurant for dinner, after which they spirit away The Daughter for a couple of days of quality time while The Wife and I enjoy some quality time as well. Usually, then, after T-giving dinner, The Wife and I go to a movie. After seeing Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and The Men Who Stare At Goats on previous Thanksgivings past, we've decided that our post-enormous dinner movie is better an action film of some sort. (Well, OK, calling Goats an action movie is a bit of a stretch. But as much as we enjoy a good romantic comedy, we don't do rom-coms on T-giving.)
So this year's movie was Unstoppable.
And seriously – that movie is a friggin' blast.
It's about as slick an entertainment as you'll ever see. There's really nothing that happens in it that is a surprise in any way, and in fact, you can almost feel the cliche's falling into place, one by one by one. Unstoppable falls into the action movie subcategory of "Race against time toward an unavoidable disaster". There's a big long freight train in rural Pennsylvania that (a) is pulling a whole bunch of cars filled with stuff that will either explode hugely or poison half the state, and (b) has managed to get away from the freight yard workers. Oh, and it's not just gently rolling away, either: it's under full throttle, with no one at the controls.
Enter, at the other end of the line, another freight train. This one is driven by two guys: the grizzled old veteran of the rails whose career's end is being forced upon him (Denzel Washington), and the young railroader who is smart and well-trained but who has only been on the job a few months and has the misfortune of being related to someone higher up the coporate food chain (Chris Pine). They're just kind of ambling out onto their day, taking a train from point A to point B, when they learn that there's this much bigger train that's out of control and it's heading right for them.
So, already we have the old vet who knows everything because he's incredibly experienced, clashing with the young buck who doesn't want to feel stupid. We have the lady running the freight yard who proposes an obvious solution (derail the train in farm country), but she's overruled by the corporate bigwigs who are trying to manage the crisis from a conference room in a skyscraper in Pittsburgh. "Do you know how much money we'll lose if we derail that train!" comes the typical reply from the guy in the nice suit. And of course, option after option fails until the train is, predictably, nearing a big city that can't evacuate in time because it's too big and where the tracks make a kind of curve that no train whipping along at 70 mph could possibly negotiate. Oh, and that particular curve in the tracks is surrounded on all sides by enormous tanks of fuel and such. See what I mean? Every cliché in the book – and I haven't even mentioned the train full of kids on a school trip.
What I liked most about the movie was the way it got the ball rolling very early on. There is almost no tedious set-up here; less than ten minutes in, the train is out of control and certain disaster is about to strike. What little bits of backstory and character history we get throughout the movie come in little bits, here and there; no long speeches. Unstoppable keeps its eye on the prize, and delivers. It's a terrifically fun flick. See it!
So this year's movie was Unstoppable.
And seriously – that movie is a friggin' blast.
It's about as slick an entertainment as you'll ever see. There's really nothing that happens in it that is a surprise in any way, and in fact, you can almost feel the cliche's falling into place, one by one by one. Unstoppable falls into the action movie subcategory of "Race against time toward an unavoidable disaster". There's a big long freight train in rural Pennsylvania that (a) is pulling a whole bunch of cars filled with stuff that will either explode hugely or poison half the state, and (b) has managed to get away from the freight yard workers. Oh, and it's not just gently rolling away, either: it's under full throttle, with no one at the controls.
Enter, at the other end of the line, another freight train. This one is driven by two guys: the grizzled old veteran of the rails whose career's end is being forced upon him (Denzel Washington), and the young railroader who is smart and well-trained but who has only been on the job a few months and has the misfortune of being related to someone higher up the coporate food chain (Chris Pine). They're just kind of ambling out onto their day, taking a train from point A to point B, when they learn that there's this much bigger train that's out of control and it's heading right for them.
So, already we have the old vet who knows everything because he's incredibly experienced, clashing with the young buck who doesn't want to feel stupid. We have the lady running the freight yard who proposes an obvious solution (derail the train in farm country), but she's overruled by the corporate bigwigs who are trying to manage the crisis from a conference room in a skyscraper in Pittsburgh. "Do you know how much money we'll lose if we derail that train!" comes the typical reply from the guy in the nice suit. And of course, option after option fails until the train is, predictably, nearing a big city that can't evacuate in time because it's too big and where the tracks make a kind of curve that no train whipping along at 70 mph could possibly negotiate. Oh, and that particular curve in the tracks is surrounded on all sides by enormous tanks of fuel and such. See what I mean? Every cliché in the book – and I haven't even mentioned the train full of kids on a school trip.
What I liked most about the movie was the way it got the ball rolling very early on. There is almost no tedious set-up here; less than ten minutes in, the train is out of control and certain disaster is about to strike. What little bits of backstory and character history we get throughout the movie come in little bits, here and there; no long speeches. Unstoppable keeps its eye on the prize, and delivers. It's a terrifically fun flick. See it!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Cutting the meat for her? Why not just eat it, too?!
Jennifer Smith posted this photo, and I remember seeing the article in the paper. It cracked me up. Someone wrote in to Miss Manners to ask if the man should cut the lady's meat at the table; Miss Manners pithily responded along the lines of "only if she's five".
When I worked in restaurants, I never saw a man cutting his date's meat for her. But I did see men ordering for the women, which I found a pretty creepy exercise. Less so at Pizza Hut, obviously, where it's "We'll get a large supreme." But when I worked at Bob Evans, I was always bugged on the odd occasion when I heard a man say "I'll have the Western Omelet, and she'll have the Rise-and-Shine Breakfast, over easy, with bacon." This wasn't terribly often, but it did happen, and when it did, I invariably looked for some sign that the woman was deaf or mute. Never was.
And then I remember this one guy. As a manager, one of the ways I would handle being in the dining room and interacting with my customers was to grab a coffee pot and circulate the room, offering refills. One time I approach a table of four, with a guy and his lady friend sitting on one side and an older couple on the other. Each had full cups of coffee except the younger lady, whose cup was empty. I asked her, "Would you like more coffee?" Whereupon her Manly Companion snaps his hand down on top of her cup, glares at me, and says, "NO!" I've always wondered if he thought I was coming on to his date.
Anyway, the idea that there's a man out there who insists on cutting his lady's meat at meals disturbs me. It's like finding out that there are people who believe that the Earth is flat!
The Moonraker? Really?
Here's something cool: a list of the 100 best movie spaceships. I was especially gratified to see that they don't allow the fact that a lot of those movies are, well, total crap to color their estimation of the ships themselves.
Of course, I do have a quibble or two. Like, the Moonraker. Sorry, but it's just a space shuttle, and I know, we got a lot of stuff done with the shuttle over the last thirty years, but face it -- the shuttle was the Honda Accord of spaceships. Nobody's excited by one. Frankly, that goes for the shuttles in Armageddon, too.
:: I don't even remember the ship from Starman, and the photo doesn't do it any favors.
:: I was also less than impressed with the Narada from Star Trek 2009 -- it just seemed like something invented to look threatening on the screen, and there's nothing from the movie to indicate that it was made with Borg technology or whatever. I suppose this is from the comic book that came out before the movie, but that's weak tea, as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I didn't like the way the Narada's weaponry was either powerful enough to swat around entire fleets like flies, or wimpy enough to fail to take out individual ships, based on whatever the needs of the plot happened to be at that moment.
:: Space Cowboy's ship from Battle Beyond the Stars? Among those geeks who have seen that movie, who remembers for a second what Space Cowboy's ship looked like? If you've seen it, you know what ship you remember from that movie. Damn right: Nell, the boobs-in-space spaceship!
:: I always liked the Klingon Bird of Prey from Star Treks III through VI. (I think they might have used it in Generations too, come to that.) Thinking back on Trek, there were a lot of ship designs that I really didn't like, though -- particularly ones from the TNG era, whose Enterprise always looked oddly distended in the saucer section. The Big E on that show looked great from certain angles, and utterly awful from others. And I was never able to figure out which end was up on the TNG-era Romulan Bird of Prey.
:: OK, I know this is geeky fan-stuff, but there are a few Imperial shuttles in use in Return of the Jedi. Only one of them is the Tyderium; that's the one the Rebels use to penetrate the Death Star shield and land on Endor. The one that Vader uses in the first scene? Not the Tyderium. The one the Emperor lands on the Death Star? Not the Tyderium. The one that Vader uses to bring Luke back from Endor to the Death Star? Not the Tyderium. The one that Luke uses to escape the exploding Death Star at movie's end (which is what's pictured in the article)? Not the Tyderium.
:: I'm glad that a little love is given to one of the ship from the Star Wars prequels, which were chock full of fantastic spaceship design. Lots of fans complain that there's not one single ship in the Prequel Trilogy to root for the whole way through, like the Millennium Falcon. Those fans are dummies.
(OK, maybe "dummies" is too strong a word. We'll go with "oddly misinformed".)
Still, a cool article with some surprising entries that I was glad to see on there. Check it out!
Of course, I do have a quibble or two. Like, the Moonraker. Sorry, but it's just a space shuttle, and I know, we got a lot of stuff done with the shuttle over the last thirty years, but face it -- the shuttle was the Honda Accord of spaceships. Nobody's excited by one. Frankly, that goes for the shuttles in Armageddon, too.
:: I don't even remember the ship from Starman, and the photo doesn't do it any favors.
:: I was also less than impressed with the Narada from Star Trek 2009 -- it just seemed like something invented to look threatening on the screen, and there's nothing from the movie to indicate that it was made with Borg technology or whatever. I suppose this is from the comic book that came out before the movie, but that's weak tea, as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I didn't like the way the Narada's weaponry was either powerful enough to swat around entire fleets like flies, or wimpy enough to fail to take out individual ships, based on whatever the needs of the plot happened to be at that moment.
:: Space Cowboy's ship from Battle Beyond the Stars? Among those geeks who have seen that movie, who remembers for a second what Space Cowboy's ship looked like? If you've seen it, you know what ship you remember from that movie. Damn right: Nell, the boobs-in-space spaceship!
:: I always liked the Klingon Bird of Prey from Star Treks III through VI. (I think they might have used it in Generations too, come to that.) Thinking back on Trek, there were a lot of ship designs that I really didn't like, though -- particularly ones from the TNG era, whose Enterprise always looked oddly distended in the saucer section. The Big E on that show looked great from certain angles, and utterly awful from others. And I was never able to figure out which end was up on the TNG-era Romulan Bird of Prey.
:: OK, I know this is geeky fan-stuff, but there are a few Imperial shuttles in use in Return of the Jedi. Only one of them is the Tyderium; that's the one the Rebels use to penetrate the Death Star shield and land on Endor. The one that Vader uses in the first scene? Not the Tyderium. The one the Emperor lands on the Death Star? Not the Tyderium. The one that Vader uses to bring Luke back from Endor to the Death Star? Not the Tyderium. The one that Luke uses to escape the exploding Death Star at movie's end (which is what's pictured in the article)? Not the Tyderium.
:: I'm glad that a little love is given to one of the ship from the Star Wars prequels, which were chock full of fantastic spaceship design. Lots of fans complain that there's not one single ship in the Prequel Trilogy to root for the whole way through, like the Millennium Falcon. Those fans are dummies.
(OK, maybe "dummies" is too strong a word. We'll go with "oddly misinformed".)
Still, a cool article with some surprising entries that I was glad to see on there. Check it out!
Stop the dreading!
Hey all! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend. More to come later on mine, of course, but this annoyed me greatly when I went to the Buffalo News website on Friday morning. I saw this headline, with the text right under it:
The Southtowns are the suburbs south of Buffalo, as you might expect. (Thus, the location of Casa Jaquandor.) So what's irritating about this? That qualifying phrase in the sub-head: long-dreaded.
I, for one, like snow just fine. Sure, I get tired of it in March, but I also get tired of hot weather in September but it's fine in June. Point is, there is entirely too much hating of the snow around here, and there is entirely not enough embracing it. Every time we openly admit that we "dread" the snow, as far as I'm concerned, we're openly admitting as a region that we really wished we were someplace else.
Well, I don't wish I was someplace else. I like it here, snow and all, so let's stop acting like the snow is this awful thing, OK? You know what, Buffalo? Maybe the rest of the country would stop acting as though Buffalo is a godforsaken snowy wasteland all months of the year if we stopped acting like it is too.
Snow rules. Embrace it! And those that don't want to? Charlotte, NC beckons.
End of rant.
On Black Friday, forecast is for white
Southtowns, at least, are expecting 1st snow as winter makes its long-dreaded return to WNY.
The Southtowns are the suburbs south of Buffalo, as you might expect. (Thus, the location of Casa Jaquandor.) So what's irritating about this? That qualifying phrase in the sub-head: long-dreaded.
I, for one, like snow just fine. Sure, I get tired of it in March, but I also get tired of hot weather in September but it's fine in June. Point is, there is entirely too much hating of the snow around here, and there is entirely not enough embracing it. Every time we openly admit that we "dread" the snow, as far as I'm concerned, we're openly admitting as a region that we really wished we were someplace else.
Well, I don't wish I was someplace else. I like it here, snow and all, so let's stop acting like the snow is this awful thing, OK? You know what, Buffalo? Maybe the rest of the country would stop acting as though Buffalo is a godforsaken snowy wasteland all months of the year if we stopped acting like it is too.
Snow rules. Embrace it! And those that don't want to? Charlotte, NC beckons.
End of rant.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
HE CAUGHT IT...oh. Crud.
Steelers 19, Bills 16 in OT. Sigh....
Well, once again, the Bills lose but they do it in such a way that leaves a weird sense of potential optimism for the team's future. Usually when a team gets really bad and has to start rebuilding, they go through a progression of phases. First they're the bad team that everybody wants to play, because they're terrible and an easy win. (This year, the Carolina Panthers seem to be fitting that role.) But there's a phase that sometimes gets overlooked, and that's when you're the bad team that nobody wants to play. That's the Bills this year. Their record is awful and they're still on pace for a pick in the top five of the draft, but damn, they work so hard and play so hard and they just don't make it easy for anybody to beat them.
But they usually get beaten anyway. That's because, right now, the Bills' level of talent just does not match up to their level of heart. When it does, look out. But for now, it's one painful loss after another.
The main goat today is apparently Stevie Johnson, the Bills' certifiably "great story" of the year -- the seventh-round pick who has blossomed in this, his third year, as he puts on fine receiving display after fine receiving display. But today, in overtime, he was wide open for a long pass, a 40-yarder, that Ryan Fitzpatrick put right in his hands as he entered the end zone. He catches that pass, the game ends right there, 22-16 Bills. Instead, Johnson drops the pass, and then just sits on the ground, in stunned disbelief. It was a clutch situation, and he dropped the ball.
Now, Johnson still has a ton of talent, he's still having a great year, and he's still a young player who can learn a valuable lesson here about what it means to be really clutch. And I hope all that happens, because you can't be considered a great receiver if you drop that pass. (For my money, the worse gaffe was Leodis McKelvin's fumbled punt return in OT. The Bills recovered the ball, but they lost about twenty yards on the fumble. Those yards might have been the difference between the drive ending in another punt and the drive ending in a field goal attempt. Oh well.
Anyway, the Bills came close to knocking off one of the NFL's best teams. But instead, once again, it's Pie Time for Bills fans!
Lots of pie for me this weekend, eh?
Well, once again, the Bills lose but they do it in such a way that leaves a weird sense of potential optimism for the team's future. Usually when a team gets really bad and has to start rebuilding, they go through a progression of phases. First they're the bad team that everybody wants to play, because they're terrible and an easy win. (This year, the Carolina Panthers seem to be fitting that role.) But there's a phase that sometimes gets overlooked, and that's when you're the bad team that nobody wants to play. That's the Bills this year. Their record is awful and they're still on pace for a pick in the top five of the draft, but damn, they work so hard and play so hard and they just don't make it easy for anybody to beat them.
But they usually get beaten anyway. That's because, right now, the Bills' level of talent just does not match up to their level of heart. When it does, look out. But for now, it's one painful loss after another.
The main goat today is apparently Stevie Johnson, the Bills' certifiably "great story" of the year -- the seventh-round pick who has blossomed in this, his third year, as he puts on fine receiving display after fine receiving display. But today, in overtime, he was wide open for a long pass, a 40-yarder, that Ryan Fitzpatrick put right in his hands as he entered the end zone. He catches that pass, the game ends right there, 22-16 Bills. Instead, Johnson drops the pass, and then just sits on the ground, in stunned disbelief. It was a clutch situation, and he dropped the ball.
Now, Johnson still has a ton of talent, he's still having a great year, and he's still a young player who can learn a valuable lesson here about what it means to be really clutch. And I hope all that happens, because you can't be considered a great receiver if you drop that pass. (For my money, the worse gaffe was Leodis McKelvin's fumbled punt return in OT. The Bills recovered the ball, but they lost about twenty yards on the fumble. Those yards might have been the difference between the drive ending in another punt and the drive ending in a field goal attempt. Oh well.
Anyway, the Bills came close to knocking off one of the NFL's best teams. But instead, once again, it's Pie Time for Bills fans!
Lots of pie for me this weekend, eh?
A quick "by the way"
If any newer readers want to read more about Little Quinn's life, you can find links to posts I wrote during his days on Earth in my "Notable Dispatches" page, accessible by the tab link at the top of the main body of this blog.
On the "Saga's End" post -- the post I wrote on the day he died -- there was an outpouring of support in comments, but those comments are now gone because they were left on an old commenting system that I no longer use here. I did save them all on my hard drive(s), however. But the general lack of condolence on the post as it exists now does not reflect what happened at the time.
On the "Saga's End" post -- the post I wrote on the day he died -- there was an outpouring of support in comments, but those comments are now gone because they were left on an old commenting system that I no longer use here. I did save them all on my hard drive(s), however. But the general lack of condolence on the post as it exists now does not reflect what happened at the time.
Sunday Stealing
I've missed a few of these, so here's a new Sunday Stealing quiz.
1. If you could interview anyone on your blog (alive or dead) who would you chose and why?
This is a common question, so I'll try to give an answer I haven't given before. Leonard Bernstein.
2. What do you feel is your strength as a blogger?
An almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.
OK, that's actually one of the secret weapons of the Spanish Inquisition. I like to think I can string words together in a way that expresses the jumble in my head in a way that doesn't suck.
3. Can you share a little bit about yourself that you have not already mentioned on your blog?
You know, once you've been doing this almost nine years, it's hard to find anything like this that I'm still comfortable mentioning here! I suppose that the pies in my face in the post two down from this one might qualify, but it's there, so...if I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm not likely to!
4. If you were forced to change the name of your blog, what would you change it to? Why?
Opinionation in Overalls. Or Blatherous Babble in Bibs. Or Droning in Dungarees.
5. What do you think is the most fulfilling part of being a blogger?
I love the writing, and when I write a post that I particularly like, I dig the feeling of satisfaction I get as I click "send". But the nature of blogging is the interaction, really. I like it when I get good, thought-provoking comments or links back from other peoples' blogs.
6. What would you do with your last day if you found you had only one more day to live?
Find a bakery and start the biggest pie fight I could.
7. You’ve been doing medical research for decades and have finally found a cure. What was it that you found a cure for and why did you choose this particular ailment?
Oh, man...that's a tough one. Cerebral palsy, which took my son? Or pancreatic cancer, which took my mother-in-law? or could I widen my scope out far enough to eliminate all cancers?
8. What is your most guilty pleasure?
I don't believe in guilty pleasures. I freely and openly admit to liking all of the things I like.
9. Answer only one. What is your favorite book, movie or TV show?
OK, fine, I'll play by the rules, despite my instinct to cheat on questions like this.
Book: The Lord of the Rings
Movie: Star Wars: A New Hope
Teevee Show: Firefly
10. What do you think is the very best smell in the world? The one smell that can take you back to a time and place of a very vivid memory in your past?"
OK, I didn't cheat on the last one, so I'm cheating here.
Pizza baking. I love the smell of a cooking pizza, and it invariably reminds me of the good times I had working at Pizza Hut. Now, there were some bad times there too, and in no way would I ever want to go back to that part of my life, but I do fondly recall some of those times.
Roasting turkey. This reminds me of holidays in my home as a kid.
And then there's that "city smell". If you've ever walked down a busy street in a vibrant city with lots of restaurants and cafes and whatnot, you know that smell. It's a thousand different food smells and urban smells and other smells wrangling together. Whenever I smell it, no matter what city I'm in, I'm whisked away to the first time I recall really noticing that smell, when I was walking along Yonge Street in Toronto with my sister one winter.
1. If you could interview anyone on your blog (alive or dead) who would you chose and why?
This is a common question, so I'll try to give an answer I haven't given before. Leonard Bernstein.
2. What do you feel is your strength as a blogger?
An almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.
OK, that's actually one of the secret weapons of the Spanish Inquisition. I like to think I can string words together in a way that expresses the jumble in my head in a way that doesn't suck.
3. Can you share a little bit about yourself that you have not already mentioned on your blog?
You know, once you've been doing this almost nine years, it's hard to find anything like this that I'm still comfortable mentioning here! I suppose that the pies in my face in the post two down from this one might qualify, but it's there, so...if I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm not likely to!
4. If you were forced to change the name of your blog, what would you change it to? Why?
Opinionation in Overalls. Or Blatherous Babble in Bibs. Or Droning in Dungarees.
5. What do you think is the most fulfilling part of being a blogger?
I love the writing, and when I write a post that I particularly like, I dig the feeling of satisfaction I get as I click "send". But the nature of blogging is the interaction, really. I like it when I get good, thought-provoking comments or links back from other peoples' blogs.
6. What would you do with your last day if you found you had only one more day to live?
Find a bakery and start the biggest pie fight I could.
7. You’ve been doing medical research for decades and have finally found a cure. What was it that you found a cure for and why did you choose this particular ailment?
Oh, man...that's a tough one. Cerebral palsy, which took my son? Or pancreatic cancer, which took my mother-in-law? or could I widen my scope out far enough to eliminate all cancers?
8. What is your most guilty pleasure?
I don't believe in guilty pleasures. I freely and openly admit to liking all of the things I like.
9. Answer only one. What is your favorite book, movie or TV show?
OK, fine, I'll play by the rules, despite my instinct to cheat on questions like this.
Book: The Lord of the Rings
Movie: Star Wars: A New Hope
Teevee Show: Firefly
10. What do you think is the very best smell in the world? The one smell that can take you back to a time and place of a very vivid memory in your past?"
OK, I didn't cheat on the last one, so I'm cheating here.
Pizza baking. I love the smell of a cooking pizza, and it invariably reminds me of the good times I had working at Pizza Hut. Now, there were some bad times there too, and in no way would I ever want to go back to that part of my life, but I do fondly recall some of those times.
Roasting turkey. This reminds me of holidays in my home as a kid.
And then there's that "city smell". If you've ever walked down a busy street in a vibrant city with lots of restaurants and cafes and whatnot, you know that smell. It's a thousand different food smells and urban smells and other smells wrangling together. Whenever I smell it, no matter what city I'm in, I'm whisked away to the first time I recall really noticing that smell, when I was walking along Yonge Street in Toronto with my sister one winter.
Kind words, freely given
I'd just like to thank everyone who has weighed in either here, or on Facebook, or in e-mail about today's anniversary of Little Quinn's passing. It really doesn't feel like it's been five years, sometimes; other times, it seems like it's been longer. Maybe some time I'll write more about the various strategies The Wife and I used to cope and get through all of the challenges that Little Quinn posed, from the moment of his birth to the moment of his death. (Keep that in mind, all you regular readers -- we're two months away from the next edition of Ask Me Anything!) Those challenges were many, and they went on a long time even after he was gone -- a longer time than I had even thought likely. The passing of a child is a long-haul kind of thing.
Some of you seem to worry -- and this is perfectly normal -- about the inadequacy of the words you have to offer. Believe me when I tell you, any words of support and love and understanding are the right words. As long as they're from the heart, they're the right words, and I value each word that anyone has ever said to me about him.
So anyway, now back to regular content, huzzah! (But I'll probably be skipping Sentential Links for this week. I just haven't been online much, and judging from my traffic numbers, none of you have, either!)
Some of you seem to worry -- and this is perfectly normal -- about the inadequacy of the words you have to offer. Believe me when I tell you, any words of support and love and understanding are the right words. As long as they're from the heart, they're the right words, and I value each word that anyone has ever said to me about him.
So anyway, now back to regular content, huzzah! (But I'll probably be skipping Sentential Links for this week. I just haven't been online much, and judging from my traffic numbers, none of you have, either!)
Runaway trains! Antiques! Food! Pies! What a weekend!
(UPDATED below.)
I spent a muchly-deserved, muchly-anticipated long weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a great time. Details and photos and such after the break. This is a "daily life" type of post, with a bunch of photos. But there's also a punchline at the end which you may find amusing, if you've ever thought I warranted some kind of "just desserts"....
Thanksgiving Morning here at Casa Jaquandor is a lazy affair. The Wife and I are often quite tired heading into this particular weekend, as our jobs both tend to pick up and become very hectic as the Holiday Season approaches. We're always grateful to have a morning that consists of lazing about, watching the Macy's Parade, drinking coffee, and eating donuts. It's especially relaxing because...we don't cook T-giving dinner.
For the last five or six years, our tradition on Thanksgiving has been to eat out. With my parents not really feeling like cooking the massive meal anymore, and with their drive to our home being about an hour, we've decided it's best just to go to a local restaurant. We tried a couple of different places early on, and were disappointed, but then The Wife and I discovered Danny's a few years back. We first went there on an October night several years ago, whereupon we discovered that they were open for Thanksgiving with special meals, including a turkey dinner. We loved their set-up, and we had a winner. So that's where we go. This year, they did away with the "special Thanksgiving menu" and instead set up a buffet line, with all the usual Thanksgiving selections. (Almost all, actually -- The Wife didn't get her beloved green bean casserole.)
After the mid-afternoon meal (when we sat down, the Lions led the Patriots 17-10, but when we left, the Patriots had won 45-24), my parents absconded with The Daughter for a couple of days at their home, allowing The Wife and I some quality time together. This was extremely welcome! The Wife and I have, in the past, found it entirely too easy to lose sight of making time for one another -- especially since for years we've worked opposite shifts at our respective jobs -- so now, we tend to aggressively plan our time together and make the most of it when it comes. And we crammed a lot into the 48 hours we had together!
After T-giving dinner, it's become our own little tradition to go to a movie. This year we selected Unstoppable, the runaway-train movie with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. But since the show-time was still ninety minutes away, we were able to run home and change into more comfortable clothes.
Among the many virtues of bib overalls is that of all pants, they are by far the most comfortable to wear in the hours following an enormous meal.
So we went to see Unstoppable, which we loved. I'll have a full review of the movie up sometime soon, but I do want to note that the Regal Cinemas in the new addition at the Walden Galleria Mall is a great place to see a movie. They've somehow made the concept of stadium seating even better, with seats that rock a bit and armrests/cupholders that swing up and out of the way, which makes for easier hand-holding with one's sweetie during a movie. Yay! (We tend to like the action pictures on T-giving Day. Not sure why.)
The next morning, of course, was Black Friday. We're not the types who go out at four in the morning to find the best deals on stuff; we do go out shopping a bit, but later on, after more morning relaxing and coffee.
Later on we ventured out to do some shopping. JCPenney (clothes for the kid), Barnes&Noble (book ideas for the kid -- but none purchased), JoAnn Fabrics (sewing supplies for some of The Wife's projects), Home Depot (bought a Dremel 4000 rotary tool, huzzah!), and a few other stops. We had lunch at Panera Bread, where I looked kind of bored:
We also planned to make a nice dinner that night of steak, and squash, so it was off to a grocery store to pick up those items among a few others, including...three coconut cream pies.
More on the pies later....
But amidst all of this, we were also having some frustration with a local tire dealer. Our minivan needed new tires, and to make a long story short, The Wife got a quote for new tires several weeks ago, and then, in the intervening period, the tire place changed managers. This new guy proceeded to muck things up to the point that next time we'll just go someplace else. (For the locals: it wasn't Dunn Tire. Not going there in the first place was probably our first mistake.) This manager guy started off by telling us he would honor the quoted price, then said that he could only honor the quoted price if we got the same identical tires as last time (which weren't in stock), then told us he couldn't honor that quoted price unless we could prove, with receipts, that we'd had the previous tires properly rotated every...however long it is you're supposed to allow to transpire between tire rotations.
Anyway, The Wife got more and more angry until the guy finally got all apologetic and offered a $100 discount for the "miscommunication", but we're still unhappy and do not plan to go back. I love it when management people blatantly screw up and try to blame it on a "miscommunication". Ugh!
During all of this, lake-effect snows started to move into the region, for the first real snowfall of the winter.
To give an idea of how quickly the snow bands can move at times, this intersection -- about 2 miles from Casa Jaquandor, the corners of Southwestern Blvd. and Milestrip Rd. -- looked like this ten minutes after I had driven through it the first time. That's what can happen in Buffalo, folks! It's been a very mild winter thus far -- the one day before this that we "had snow", a couple weeks ago, it was an overnight dusting that had already melted by the time we got up.
Now, however, the "blustery" has arrived.
Our other main shopping destination that day was the Orchard Park Antique Mall, which is a big store that is full of antiques, offered by different dealers. We spent close to two hours there, that's how big and fascinating a place it is -- you can find everything there from beautiful antique jewelry to vintage action figures to old books to old furniture. Just an amazing place.
And in any antique store, you can find lots of questionable stuff as well. At one point we saw a set of glow-in-the-dark plastic figurines from the Casper the Friendly Ghost movie that came out in the 1990s. The Wife and I recoiled in horror, because these figurines were a tie-in item when we worked at Pizza Hut. Aieee!
And then there are things which are well-nigh inexplicable:
I do not want to know.
After that -- about five o'clock -- we went to pick up the completed minivan and returned home for our steak dinner. Later on we drank some wine, we watched The Man with the Golden Gun...and we attended to the matter of those three coconut cream pies.
Obviously we couldn't eat three entire coconut cream pies -- not just the two of us, at any rate. So, to what use did we put them? Where did those pies end up?
Well...here's where they ended up:
Yup. All three, in my face.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pie in the face. This is a fate that befalls me every once in a while, and as my good friend Belladonna once said, "It's a bit of a rediculous tradition I suppose, but it has been fun and keeps me from taking myself too seriously!"
The holidays can be a deeply emotional, and for some folks, troublesome time of year. I find that getting hit in the face with a pie is a good antidote to that. Yes, I believe in "pie in the face therapy". Hey, it can't be any less effective than some other "therapies" out there!
Here's how it went down:
I hope your Black Friday was as much fun as ours (new tires notwithstanding)!
UPDATE: No, this wasn't the first time I've been pied. My last pieing can be found here. (Ignore the date on that post -- I backdated it to keep it hidden as a kind of "easter egg" for people who went digging around for it. Now, I figure, why hide it?)
I spent a muchly-deserved, muchly-anticipated long weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a great time. Details and photos and such after the break. This is a "daily life" type of post, with a bunch of photos. But there's also a punchline at the end which you may find amusing, if you've ever thought I warranted some kind of "just desserts"....
Thanksgiving Morning here at Casa Jaquandor is a lazy affair. The Wife and I are often quite tired heading into this particular weekend, as our jobs both tend to pick up and become very hectic as the Holiday Season approaches. We're always grateful to have a morning that consists of lazing about, watching the Macy's Parade, drinking coffee, and eating donuts. It's especially relaxing because...we don't cook T-giving dinner.
For the last five or six years, our tradition on Thanksgiving has been to eat out. With my parents not really feeling like cooking the massive meal anymore, and with their drive to our home being about an hour, we've decided it's best just to go to a local restaurant. We tried a couple of different places early on, and were disappointed, but then The Wife and I discovered Danny's a few years back. We first went there on an October night several years ago, whereupon we discovered that they were open for Thanksgiving with special meals, including a turkey dinner. We loved their set-up, and we had a winner. So that's where we go. This year, they did away with the "special Thanksgiving menu" and instead set up a buffet line, with all the usual Thanksgiving selections. (Almost all, actually -- The Wife didn't get her beloved green bean casserole.)
After the mid-afternoon meal (when we sat down, the Lions led the Patriots 17-10, but when we left, the Patriots had won 45-24), my parents absconded with The Daughter for a couple of days at their home, allowing The Wife and I some quality time together. This was extremely welcome! The Wife and I have, in the past, found it entirely too easy to lose sight of making time for one another -- especially since for years we've worked opposite shifts at our respective jobs -- so now, we tend to aggressively plan our time together and make the most of it when it comes. And we crammed a lot into the 48 hours we had together!
After T-giving dinner, it's become our own little tradition to go to a movie. This year we selected Unstoppable, the runaway-train movie with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. But since the show-time was still ninety minutes away, we were able to run home and change into more comfortable clothes.
Among the many virtues of bib overalls is that of all pants, they are by far the most comfortable to wear in the hours following an enormous meal.
So we went to see Unstoppable, which we loved. I'll have a full review of the movie up sometime soon, but I do want to note that the Regal Cinemas in the new addition at the Walden Galleria Mall is a great place to see a movie. They've somehow made the concept of stadium seating even better, with seats that rock a bit and armrests/cupholders that swing up and out of the way, which makes for easier hand-holding with one's sweetie during a movie. Yay! (We tend to like the action pictures on T-giving Day. Not sure why.)
The next morning, of course, was Black Friday. We're not the types who go out at four in the morning to find the best deals on stuff; we do go out shopping a bit, but later on, after more morning relaxing and coffee.
Later on we ventured out to do some shopping. JCPenney (clothes for the kid), Barnes&Noble (book ideas for the kid -- but none purchased), JoAnn Fabrics (sewing supplies for some of The Wife's projects), Home Depot (bought a Dremel 4000 rotary tool, huzzah!), and a few other stops. We had lunch at Panera Bread, where I looked kind of bored:
We also planned to make a nice dinner that night of steak, and squash, so it was off to a grocery store to pick up those items among a few others, including...three coconut cream pies.
More on the pies later....
But amidst all of this, we were also having some frustration with a local tire dealer. Our minivan needed new tires, and to make a long story short, The Wife got a quote for new tires several weeks ago, and then, in the intervening period, the tire place changed managers. This new guy proceeded to muck things up to the point that next time we'll just go someplace else. (For the locals: it wasn't Dunn Tire. Not going there in the first place was probably our first mistake.) This manager guy started off by telling us he would honor the quoted price, then said that he could only honor the quoted price if we got the same identical tires as last time (which weren't in stock), then told us he couldn't honor that quoted price unless we could prove, with receipts, that we'd had the previous tires properly rotated every...however long it is you're supposed to allow to transpire between tire rotations.
Anyway, The Wife got more and more angry until the guy finally got all apologetic and offered a $100 discount for the "miscommunication", but we're still unhappy and do not plan to go back. I love it when management people blatantly screw up and try to blame it on a "miscommunication". Ugh!
During all of this, lake-effect snows started to move into the region, for the first real snowfall of the winter.
To give an idea of how quickly the snow bands can move at times, this intersection -- about 2 miles from Casa Jaquandor, the corners of Southwestern Blvd. and Milestrip Rd. -- looked like this ten minutes after I had driven through it the first time. That's what can happen in Buffalo, folks! It's been a very mild winter thus far -- the one day before this that we "had snow", a couple weeks ago, it was an overnight dusting that had already melted by the time we got up.
Now, however, the "blustery" has arrived.
Our other main shopping destination that day was the Orchard Park Antique Mall, which is a big store that is full of antiques, offered by different dealers. We spent close to two hours there, that's how big and fascinating a place it is -- you can find everything there from beautiful antique jewelry to vintage action figures to old books to old furniture. Just an amazing place.
And in any antique store, you can find lots of questionable stuff as well. At one point we saw a set of glow-in-the-dark plastic figurines from the Casper the Friendly Ghost movie that came out in the 1990s. The Wife and I recoiled in horror, because these figurines were a tie-in item when we worked at Pizza Hut. Aieee!
And then there are things which are well-nigh inexplicable:
I do not want to know.
After that -- about five o'clock -- we went to pick up the completed minivan and returned home for our steak dinner. Later on we drank some wine, we watched The Man with the Golden Gun...and we attended to the matter of those three coconut cream pies.
Obviously we couldn't eat three entire coconut cream pies -- not just the two of us, at any rate. So, to what use did we put them? Where did those pies end up?
Well...here's where they ended up:
Yup. All three, in my face.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pie in the face. This is a fate that befalls me every once in a while, and as my good friend Belladonna once said, "It's a bit of a rediculous tradition I suppose, but it has been fun and keeps me from taking myself too seriously!"
The holidays can be a deeply emotional, and for some folks, troublesome time of year. I find that getting hit in the face with a pie is a good antidote to that. Yes, I believe in "pie in the face therapy". Hey, it can't be any less effective than some other "therapies" out there!
Here's how it went down:
I hope your Black Friday was as much fun as ours (new tires notwithstanding)!
UPDATE: No, this wasn't the first time I've been pied. My last pieing can be found here. (Ignore the date on that post -- I backdated it to keep it hidden as a kind of "easter egg" for people who went digging around for it. Now, I figure, why hide it?)
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Five years....
How can it possibly have been five years since I last held my son? Time is awfully relentless. Wow.
This photo was taken just days before he decided that he'd had about enough of his limited life here with us. I can't say I blame him for that, but...well, it would have been nice if he could have said something first. But then, it would have been nice if he could ever have said anything, at all.
Anyway, I sure hope he's OK, wherever he is right now.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Things I'm Thankful For
I'll be spending some quality time with The Family over the next few days -- first just with The Wife, as my parents take The Daughter for two nights, and then with all of us for the rest of the weekend. That being the case, I'll be taking a break from the blog. I'll have new content up either Sunday or Monday, depending.
For now, here is a partial list of things for which I am thankful -- partially recycled from last year, and with some new additions.
So, what are you thankful for?
For now, here is a partial list of things for which I am thankful -- partially recycled from last year, and with some new additions.
Cheddar cheese so sharp it makes you pucker
Sesame crackers
Our azalea plant
Our ivy plant
Cats
Get Fuzzy
My blog
Other peoples' blogs
George Lucas
Star Wars
My dining room table
Klein screwdrivers
LED flashlights
William Shatner
Sela Ward
Mary Stewart's Arthurian trilogy
Stephen King
The hardware store in my old hometown
Angle grinders
My new jigsaw
The glory years of the Buffalo Bills
Watching Star Trek: The Next Generation every night at college
Surprising The Daughter with a new Webkinz
Ms. Pac-Man
Sergei Rachmaninov
The Beatles
Van Halen
Baked pasta dishes
Pizza
Cookies
Harry Potter
Guy Gavriel Kay
Big, thick poetry collections
Small, artfully illustrated poetry collections
My drill
Schopp and the Bulldog (Buffalo sports talk radio guys)
Fried chicken
Italian sausage
The Amazing Race
Elections
Aaron Sorkin when he's on his game
Steak
Chess
Big breakfasts that leave me full until mid-afternoon
Light breakfasts that take the edge off until a nice lunch
Firefly
The Mentalist
Tasting something good at a restaurant and figuring out how to make it at home
Ice cream at the roadside place down the road
The County Fair
Libraries
JRR Tolkien
Route 20-A in the fall
Sandals
Using the scissor jack at work
Blue denim bib overalls
Hickory-striped bib overalls
Pies on the table
Pies in the face
Pies in MY face
Monty Python
Aquariums and science museums
The Origin of Species
Complete collections of Shakespeare
Thick, fuzzy socks in the winter
Eggs
Watching the Super Bowl
Watching figure skating
Discovering new authors
Liking books on the re-read that I didn't like the first time
Daniel Craig as James Bond
George Lazenby as James Bond
The Y
My MP3 player
My cell phone
The Burchfield Nature and Art Center
The Daughter learning the string bass
John Williams
Hector Berlioz
Toronto
Roast turkey
Chicken wings
George Carlin
Hayao Miyazaki
Baby Fiona
Little Quinn
The Daughter
The Wife
So, what are you thankful for?
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