Birds and Pie and Space Boots

The backyard is crappy anyway.

Tue, 24 May 2011 01:28:24 GMT

Review rec

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:49:51 GMT

Robin McKinley has a great review up of Elizabeth Moon's The Speed of Dark here:

THE SPEED OF DARK by Elizabeth Moon

Thank you, Universe

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:44:27 GMT

!!!!!

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:57:32 GMT

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE.

Seriously. Doesn't that make you jump for joy? It starts over here.

AAAHAHAAHAH

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:24:00 GMT

Kayinko Bayingo

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 23:36:56 GMT

Maybe this year I can contribute more than three stories! Here's hoping.

Unkinky:

Here's an interesting article from The Atlantic with standard inflammatory title:

Is Google Making us Stupid?

(I skimmed it. AHAHAHAHAAHAH. Okay. Just kidding. OR AM I? Oh look, tacos.)

**ETA:** elanya puts the kink back into Google, or vice versa? Heh.

Signal boost: Hey United Airlines, remind me never to fly you again.

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:25:33 GMT

After hearing a friend's Continental horror story and now this, I wonder how many airlines stand up upon close inspection. Let's not find out; let's shame them into changing their bullshit.

evilpuppy's Dear United Airlines post.

Hee

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:41:48 GMT

Keith Richards yearns for his pre-(post-?)vampire days, when he wanted to be...a librarian!

It's Only Books 'n' Shelves but I Like It, an article at the Times Online.

The guitarist started to arrange the volumes, including rare histories of early American rock music and the second world war, by the librarian’s standard Dewey Decimal classification system but gave up on that as “too much hassle.”

HIRE ME, MAN. HIRE ME NOW. My husband will probably barter my services for some sweet original LPs.

Next best thing?

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:08:39 GMT

Looks like Due South is going to take a while getting here - from what I can tell Acquisitions is pretty backed up, so I borrowed Farscape, since I haven't seen that yet, either. I watched eps 1 and 2 while exercising (i.e. in my universe: pretending to dance and do karate kicks and stretches) and I really enjoyed it.

In particular it reminded me how much frakking better puppets look (and hold up in the long run) than straight CGI characters. Sort of brings to mind puppet Yoda versus CGI Yoda, and while it was fun to see Yoda zipping and flipping around in the prequels, I had a harder time believing in him. I think the tactility of puppets and the way actors can actually look them in the eye definitely makes up for any fluidity computerized characters offer.

Moya is beautiful! Like a giant fish, or a tadpole - a graceful, less wiggly tadpole.

I like the music. It's infectious and weird, makes me think of the Dr. Who theme. I like this universe a lot. It calls to mind both Firefly (grittiness, eclectic rather than Star Trek streamlinin') and Star Wars (British accents, hee! And, um, puppets!) but it's so quirky. And I love the geekiness. "This reminds me of Louisiana. Or Dagobah."

I'm watching the special features now, and man does Brian Henson sound like his dad. It's disconcerting because he's got a hip little beard instead of Jim's bushy one. Oops, the special features are starting to give away future plot points. Damn it, DVD producers, who puts the full season special features on the first disc!? Yeah, probably ones who don't expect libraries to split up the discs.

I love having a new show, even if it's an old one.

edit to say that Cinematical is discussing the topic of puppetry v. CGI, too; funny! Link to article: Can the magic of puppets persist in a virtual world?

We're loooooooooooooooost

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:52:51 GMT

A. and I caught up with LOST last night, after I got back from a lovely dinner at taste_is_sweet's place. (I really love hanging out with you guys, just so you know.)

Right, to clarify, I'm not talking about the Richard/Ricardo episode, or Sawyer with his cop badge (though, YEAH), I'm talking about how Benjamin Linus is now one of the good guys. Still snarky, sure, but unequivocally on the Jacob side of things.

I think any episode in which Ben wears glasses becomes my new favorite. God, I really hope he and Terry O'Quinn make that new show about assassins.

What the hell was Dr. Hathaway doing in that episode? Yay, Richard Atherton, still playing The Best Asshole.

-

Re: Recon, what was the point of Charlotte and Sawyer's meet-up? To prime him for meeting Kate?

I love Miles as a detective, though. I also love all the little shout-outs the show gives itself. No more mere guest star SF-masturbation for LOST, no! It gets off on itself, damn it, because it's just that good. Ahem. AHA.

Re: Ab Aeterno

Nestor Carbonell is a beautiful, beautiful man. Nice and scrawny, too. I was glad to finally see his story after all the little hints.

"Interviews with both Carbonell and the producers of Lost have stated that his eyes are one of his physical traits, and completely unaided by any form of makeup." Hee heee, Wikipedia.

AAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAHAHA "This is cobalt. I asked for onyx!" Can't believe I never saw that before. (link goes to the video with better sound, but there are better quality videos in the related queue.)

I'm curious - will Jacob/Smoke Monster Man (does he have a name? DOES HE? I don't like calling him Esau, especially since I remember how, when I first read the story of Jacob and Esau, I remember feeling really, really bad for Esau, and that Jacob was kind of a prick. Sorry, God/Lutheran Church/Everybody) turn out to be the same person, two sides of the same coin? I voiced that thought while we were watching the ep, and it seemed like a dud, given the bottle metaphor, and that they seem to have more of a guardian and prisoner relationship.

Perhaps Jacob's like Cerberus, or looking for a new watchdog? I worry it will be Hurley - I'd rather it would be Jack, honestly.

Next up, "The Package." Thanks, TV Fanatic.

Frrriday

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:47:42 GMT

This week has passed in one long blur. I think I'm not getting enough sleep.

Yesterday we received a report of a forum about our position descriptions. They used a very pertinent graphic on page 2:

Yep, that's definitely what I feel like at work every day.

HAPPY FRIDAY.

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:11:48 GMT

My folks left on Monday, and my lack of lj-reading and updating is solely due to my catching up on work and writing. I have lots of pics to post, most of them concerning Texas Rangers and guns. But until then, LOOK:

The Lady Vanishes is free to watch here at SlashControl!

This is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies. I have a clunky VHS copy I've watched countless times, and now we can all enjoy it online. Go watch! You will love it!*

*Probably!**
**No, certainly!

I have the best husband on Earth

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:14:04 GMT

Am watching Double Indemnity (a movie title that for some reason I slur and stumble through in my attempts to say and everyone thinks I'm drunk, but oh well) in a very clean living room. My folks are coming to visit, so I started the cleaning and baking fury today. A. is taking part in a four-day conference (if I told you what it was called, I'd have to kill you. Seriously) and tonight he brought me back these little pecan and custard filled tarts, and truffles.

I have the best husband on the face of the planet. C'mon, bring me your best. I'D LIKE TO SEE IT!

-

A very official Happy Birthday to sasha_feather! I wrote her a Firefly story, as I mentioned here. I wish you many happy returns, hon. You deserve it. I'm looking forward to seeing you in May! Wooohoo!

-

In regards to my earlier post about vegetarian recipes, I made the most hideous-looking lentil soup the other night. It was a purplish greyish color, it ate up all the broth and quickly transformed into a stew, and the lentils, all shiny and round, looked like beetle shells. However, it was fabulous.

I put a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a big pot and sauteed some garlic and onion. I added chopped carrots, then about four-five cups of chicken broth. I added the lentils (french, or green) and brought the whole thing to a boil, and then I added some sliced potatoes. After about thirty minutes of simmering, I added a cup or so of homemade egg noodles (farmer's market, not me, man) and a can of diced tomatoes. The tomatoes, unfortunately, were "chili-ready" with random spices, so I rinsed them before adding. The remaining spice wasn't bad, actually. After about ten-fifteen minutes of simmering, I added a big couple of pinches of dried basil, black pepper, and paprika. It looked horrible, but it tasted fantastic with a tiny bit of shredded cheese on top.

-

I'm currently 35 pages into what started as an original short story and is now rapidly approaching novella/novelette (blech)/novel territory. Crazy! I hope to finish it soon. To recuperate, I'm rereading one of my favorite books, The Count of Monte Cristo. Great book. If you haven't read it, check it out. Although I really enjoyed The Three Musketeers, I much prefer this one.

-

A. was telling me about one of the presentations he saw today, about misogyny in the 2008 presidential campaigns. *Cue obnoxious simpleton joke about there not being any Real Women running to offend, right?* One of the examples was this t-shirt. I thought I was paying close attention during the campaigns, but I missed this. Hopefully the rest of you caught it. The following link is pretty offensive.

Just one incarnation of the 'I Love Country Music' t-shirt

As for the description, my dictionary defines "innocuous" as: not harmful or offensive . In describing this hideous shirt, I'd go more the antonym route: harmful, toxic. Fuck all of you and the shitty country music horse you rode in on.

-

Double Indemnity is getting really exciting. Lots of gunshots, drive-in restaurants serving beers, and nickel-giving! Woo! I'm also a little in love with Edward G. Robinson.

Ronia/Ronja: impromptu book love

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:49:45 GMT

This is one of my favorite children's books:

Isn't this cover great? Hurrah for Trina Schart Hyman!

I read it when I was in grade school, can't remember how old - but I do remember I read the Pippi books first. I enjoyed Pippi, but this, oh man. I can't even name all the ways this book appeals to me still. I can narrow it down some:

Setting. The story takes place in a castle in the woods: Ronia lives there with her father, Matt the Robber, her mother, Lovis, and Matt's band of robbers who spend their time, well, robbing folk in the woods or feuding and competing with another robber band led by Borka. There are glorious descriptions of trees and caves and waterfalls, and while spring is an important time for Ronia (c.f. "My spring yell is just coming!") snow and winter and cold are described richly as well.

Creatures. Gray dwarves. Rhumphobs. Murktrolls. The Unearthly Ones. Wild harpies. Oh, the harpies scared me. And there are foxes and bears and wolves and wild horses, too.

Friendship and Love. On the night of Ronia's birth, the castle is split in two by a lightning strike, separating it into two halves with a deep chasm they name Hell's Gap. Later on in the story, Matt discovers that his archnemesis Borka has moved his family and band of robbers into the separate side of the castle, and through their ensuing threats and arguments we discover that they were friends as children. Borka has a young son Ronia's age named Birk. Birk and Ronia go from mortal enemies to brother and sister (to which Birk's mother Undis says, "Sister! Oh yes, we know what that will mean in a year or two." Heh.) and best friends.

-

Anyway, I read the book and loved it, and then promptly forgot it. (I was probably reading Sweet Valley Twins or something. Christ.) But every so often, I'd flash on a memory of snow, or a description of the harpies with their black cold eyes and claws and bloodthirstiness, and I'd think, what the hell was that book.

Cue my friend Angela in undergrad. Her apartment was truly amazing; she shared the main rooms of a house with some other gals and had the upstairs attic bedroom to herself. She'd painted the walls and organized bookshelves all along them, and her stacks and rows of books were boggling. One night we sat up there and just browsed aimlessly, and she told me I could borrow anything I liked. Our tastes were frighteningly similar, as were the books we read as children, and I thought of the harpies again. I told her a little of what I remembered, and Ang laughed and pulled Ronia out from one of the shelves. "This one?"

Around the Christmas holidays five years ago, I discovered that there was a Swedish movie Ronja Rövardotter made in 1984, the screenplay adapted by Lindgren. I poked around looking for a DVD or VHS version with English subtitles (it didn't exist then, and it still doesn't exist now) and happened upon a Christmas-season showing of the movie at the Bell Museum in Saint Paul. They (I think it was MN Film Arts or the folks at Oak Street Cinema) had a damaged print (missing about 15-20 minutes) with English subtitles.

I called Ang, but she was unable to get away on such short notice. So I drove down to St. Paul alone and loitered around the hushed museum until the showing began. I loved it.

I'd recommend both to anyone who enjoys children's books and adventure stories, but seeing as the scope for English subtitles is kind of limited (and I don't know if any of y'all speak Swedish, or any of the other subtitle languages available; I think there was one in German, maybe?) I'd say don't worry about the movie and just read the book. It's one of my comfort reads, and it's the perfect book to read in winter, provided you're all curled up with a blanket and a mug of something hot.

Fandom Attack, or: Sparkly vampire my little pony Stargate Atlantis style

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:28:04 GMT

So taste_is_sweet and I had a convo that began as a serious discussion about characterization (HA, MAYBE) and devolved into sparkly vampires and My Little Ponies. TIS's slightly edited version of our discussion:

Taste: I knew I should have made John a vampire!
anna_bird: AHAHAHAHA
but he's blue!
blue is not conventionally sexy
Taste: Well, I'll add sparkles.
anna_bird: except with the avatar crowd
Taste: Sparkly blue!
anna_bird: blue sparkles might cut it
heee
Taste: With a tail! PERFECT.
anna_bird: it's like a my little pony
anna_bird: Nojjan
the sparkly one
Taste: He needs a brand on his butt.
Taste: And long, flowing silky hair.
anna_bird: YES

I thought this was hilarious, mostly because I was there and partially because imagining anything as a My Little Pony just kills me. (Dick Cheney! GO! *sparkles* *vomits*) And then chkc and taste_is_sweet got together, and chkc made some chibi artwork. If you like Stargate Atlantis, or if you read The Sacrificial Mage (ahem, some more SGA, aka, this is a rec), go see it! *shooes*

Criteria: Blue, Sparkly, Vampire...

update: And now there's a Rodney! Click on "trial 2" to see.

HAHA! (Another subject line where I am laughing; thank you, Internet!)

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:33:07 GMT

I mostly love how it shows the series as starring my favorites, Sayid and Ben. (And John and Desmond and girls, heh. But no Jack! Yay no Jack!)

BAHAHAHAH

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:39:57 GMT

I died many times watching this. Ganked from this post on Andrew Sullivan's blog The Daily Dish at the Atlantic online. I'm enjoying the rest of his blog, too.

Friday oh how I love Friday!

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:53:31 GMT

I saw some wonderful links during my email listserv catch-up this morning.

- An archivist fellow posted some Mardi Gras pictures he took.

Click on each picture to advance, or here's a link to the index page. I love them all, especially Grape Girl and Avatar Guy. And oh, the blow up doll! Heh.

- A certain Monty Python fan linked to this video:

God, so funny. I love how stumbling he gets at the end. Planned (due to the Grateful Dead archives jabs) or just sweetly authentic? The back story is from this segment of the Daily Show.

Yes, Hell hath no record of a scorned archivist - because they destroy ALL MANUSCRIPTS IN THEIR RAAAAGE.

In other news, it's Friday! Hurrah, Friday! I am going to do nothing but write and sit around moldering and watch Slings & Arrows ALL WEEKEND.

Happy Fake Holiday to all you lovely people!

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:52:45 GMT

I did get an impromptu valentine's day gift this year, thanks to a well-timed back issue of National Geographic (on great gray owls) and the local farmer's market. BEHOLD.

Yeah, that's macrame, baby. God, I love it. The lady at the market said she'd been toting it back and forth for about forty years and no one ever wanted to buy it. And then she sort of forgot about it till then. It's wonderful. Yes, we make it talk.

A. and I laughed till we cried last night reading this:
Emails from an Asshole: Disguisable Weapons (link via Boingboing)

Right now I'm bemoaning the fact that it's Sunday night. However, I also have a slightly-modified Jasmine cocktail, and a husband who's just announced that "shit's ready." Shit=burritos of a decidedly unshitty quality. Mmmmm, delicious.

Kisses and hugs and chocolate/caramel to you all on this manufactured holiday.

Happy-making things

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:35:03 GMT

1. Slings & Arrows. I basically cheered all the way through Season 2's finale.

27. This Valentines-Day card sent to me by my friend D.:

I mean, I understand what they're going for,

but I find it adorable rather than sarcastic. Suck on that, GOP! Your collective sense of humor is just too nyah nyah nyah for me.

286,944. THIS IN MY SPAM FOLDER TONIGHT:

This isnt a joke its a real place! Fuck yeah!

edit to say: eleventy million. Hahahaha, all y'all, I always thought John Mayer was a pretentious dickhead based on boring shit such as "Your Body is a Wonderland" (seriously, bubblegum tongue? I'm throwing up in my mouth just thinking about it) and NOW NOW NOW I am vindicated! Because he really is a dickhead and he would have been even if he'd never breached the top 40! So I'm happy, yeah. And although Perez Hilton and his royal We are too far below my reading vocabulary (yes, I fucking went there, I'm a fucking elitist, right!) for me to partake ever, I did enjoy his little pictures of John Mayer post-Playboy-interview. Because elitists, we love the pictures. Yeah, I should have capitalized that because that's my royal We. Anyway, thanks, estranged_rose, for all your angry feminist links!

The SCOTSman? Oh, do you mean....Macbeeeeth?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:09:55 GMT

JESUS CHRIST BUT I AM IN LOVE WITH SLINGS & ARROWS.

That's all gotta watch now bye.

Peyton Manning attempts to summon Beelzebub in his hour of need.

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:49:34 GMT

I wish I had the ability to screenshot with my brain, people. There were some moments during that big-ass football game this weekend when I swear to god that he was communing with the Divil. And he called one play by putting his fingers up by his head and making little springy horn fingers. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT. We kept expecting him to fall down, tear open the earth and go home.

Say, did anyone else notice the goddamn monsoon of sexist commercials?

"Bob has no spine because he likes to hang out with his girlfriend. Buy this gadget, Bob, and reclaim your balls."

Or the creepy monotone internal monologue of the glassy eyed yes-men:

"I secretly hate you, honey, but since I have this fucking great Dodge Charger (tm!) I'll put up with you when you do annoying things like talk to me or expect me to behave like an adult who lives with another adult. A man's gotta pass on his asshole seed somehow, right?"

Also, I don't care how many Bud Light commercials I see, I will never drink that horse piss. Yuck. And the ads make everyone who drinks the shit act like a willfully stupid ass before they've had any alcohol. That's cool?

A. noticed another trend: there seemed to be some Feel Bad/Empathy For That Rich Guy ads. Poor Mr. Burns lost all his money - quick, someone give him a Coke and a football. (I did feel bad for Smithers, but I always feel bad for Smithers.) And we saw a ton of previews for Undercover Boss - the show where the CEO/president takes a low-paying job at their own company to see what goes on there. (Blech, I find that manipulative, even though it came across as staged and false. It's hard to do sneaky reality TV show stuff anymore unless you're just trying to get people to slip on banana skins for Candid Camera.) The boss meets a downtrodden pitiable employee (just one, I assume?) and moves heaven, hell and purgatory to help them out. Pbbbbbbt.

It was fun, though. We dinked around Austin before going to watch the game, bought cigars from a garrulous dude who told us all about Kuwait, his wife and his education program for underprivileged teens, and found a huge thrift store. The weekend went too fast.

TV, TV, TV. Read a fucking book.

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:38:19 GMT

I love TV on DVD and online. Watching episodes in real time blows. But if hulu starts charging, I'll have to go back to my sneaky haunts. Gotta get that Black Books fix in now on IMDB:

BB Free on IMDB.

A. and I watched the first eps of LOST on hulu, and I must say, it was funny to fall back in again.

Theories!

1. Sayid is really Jacob pretending to be Sayid. I mean, we all saw the Christ-arm pose. Or maybe he's supposed to be the good thief! Or the bad thief! Stupid show. Sometimes I think that a little religious reference can make a story better or more interesting, while too much just makes things confusing.

2. In the alternate universe where they do NOT crash on the island, everything is perfect. Kate escapes, Hurley's lucky, Sawyer's something, Boone's alive, Walt is...hey, wait, where's Walt? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT.

Except for John Locke. He's probably the evil mastermind behind a box company. This isn't much of a theory.

3. Desmond has learned how to physically jump through time and space rather than just mentally!

4. Evil!John Locke/Smoke Monster is evil and the fact that he's trapped on the island is the reason the alternate universe folks are having fun happy times.

Nonsensical comments in no particular order!

Sawyer's fucking teeth. Man, he really lost his appeal to me when he capped them. Weird, huh?

We're back to Love Triangle Central again. I know Juliet's in V and all, but I wanted her to hang on just so that damn Kate-Jack-Sawyer bouncy-ball bullshit would end.

Yay, Claire in the taxi!

Yay, Lucky Hurley! Perhaps he's evil now?

What the hell happened to the other universe where Sun teamed up with Charles Widmore, and where's Eloise?

Why ash?

Yay, new exciting strange temple devotees with flight attendant and kids.

Poor Ben. Poor Richard!

Frank the pilot is still my favorite.

Although Sayid is still my favorite. Damn it, if they killed him to be a host for Jacob, that's really gonna piss me off. That would be interesting from the viewpoint I've gained re:the show's killing off their main characters of color - kill off Sayid and yet he'll still be present, with a white man (scuse me, he may be God or an Angel or a Martian, but it's a white actor) talking through him. Let it just be Sayid, I hope, I hope, I hope.

In other news, last night I watched the first episode of Slings and Arrows, and oh my god, I'm in love.

Stupid digital TV/Texas=a post of unworkable equations

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:25:47 GMT

No ABC=No LOST.

Yes, I'm very sad. I'm a little out of practice with averting my eyes when it comes to headlines, internet fangasms, or flist giddiness, but I. Will. Get Through This!

Stupid neighbors downstairs or next door have cable=I can hear cheesy theme music from LOST. DAMMIT.

A little spare time goes a long way

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:40:28 GMT

Today I decided to get up early and make caramel rolls. The original plan was to start them last night and stick them in the refrigerator, but not only did I discover I did NOT have that recipe, but I also drank a couple drinks last night and decided I was too tired and too lazy and too sweetly tipsy to successfully use a mixer.

Unfortunately, I discovered that being in my right mind does NOT insure Martha-Stewart-quality. At least, not the quality of something looking perfect and also tasting perfect. But let me show you!

It begins ordinarily enough.

This is the yeast bubbling and growing in the bowl, along with sugar, salt, eggs, water, and oil. Yay, it's alive!

Here's the dough after some flour has been added. This roll recipe takes a lot of flour, and a lot of stirring, and I always think that I'm adding too much.

Then there's a gap in the photolog, as A. and I went out so he could print off some articles and I could buy tea and other necessities like toothpaste, and then he went and did the laundry while I sorted through the ungodly amount of paid bills, old receipts and other nonsense paperwork that has been on the dining table for so long it's making rustle-y little growls and yips. So I forgot about taking pictures of the dough's two risings.

But it rose twice. Even in this cold weather we're having. Score one for the tiny kitchen and too many cups of tea.

I proceeded into the caramel roll part of the recipe. You roll out the dough in a big rectangle, you smear a melted stick of butter all over it, then you sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over that. Roll it up, cut it into one-inch-sized pieces and deposit pieces into a 9"x13" cake pan. Of course, before/while you do all that you need to melt more butter and brown sugar and a couple tablespoons of corn syrup, and put that in the cake pan so the pieces have something to sit on. Easy!

Unless you made your dough with secret evil sentient Texas yeast and you didn't make the caramel sauce quickly enough. My one-inch pieces swelled into two-inch ones before I had half of them in the cake pan. I managed to squeeze most of them in and stuck the last three in a round 8" cake pan. You're supposed to let them rise double again, but I thought they were probably big enough, and so put them in the oven.

20 minutes later:

Yes, what the hell!

Despite this damning and slanted photographic evidence to the contrary, I have made these successfully and in the normal size and shape before.

It's probably just Texas. Again. Sigh. And when you try to take one you invariably take two, which is bad because they are humongous anyway.

At least they taste wonderful. Sometimes I think wodgy-looking things taste better anyway. But I've been inured to wodginess through making pie crust, so I'm a little biased.