Friday Follies
- Oh, Internet, You Know the Way Right to My Nerdy Little Heart: Tron + They Might Be Giants = awesome. [G]
- Useful: How to Tell if You're A Superhero. Such as: You have a unitard and a rich back-story, but you’re not a wrestler. - [CT]
- Disturbing: Superheros on the Toilet. It's exactly what it sounds like. -[LMG]
- Counterfeit Art 8: Museum classics, fakified by the Worth 1000 gang. Here are my favs -[LF]
- Cheesy 80s Flashback: Ghostbusters music video. Don't skip it. There's neon furniture, people. Ah, how did we ever let the 80s slip away? -[SH]
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Unreliable
It has come to my attention that some deluded, but kind nature soul has added my name to an international list of "reliable" persons for use by the spouses, assistants and offspring of deposed leaders who need assistance with fiscal transactions. And although it is gratifying to know that I am held in such high esteem by so many of our world leaders (or so I must assume, based on the sheer volume of sensitive emails of this nature I've received of late), I feel that in order to live up to the reputation of integrity I seem to hold, I must inform the world that I am, in fact, not reliable at all.
Take, for example the fact that no matter how much I plan and prepare in advance, I am incapable of getting out of the door on time; particularly first thing in the morning. I sometimes put-off the simple things I don't want to do. I procrastinate until near-to the deadline. I sometimes let my laundry go until I am I forced to do wash or leave the house in sweatpants. I sometimes leave my house in sweatpants. And I haven't blogged anything more substantial than link dumps in ages. Most of these items I've learned to live with, even embrace as charmingly delightful personality quirks. The last one, however, the lack of blogging, has been troubling me. Alas, I fear it's not going to get better any time soon. For one thing, my blogging energies are currently being spent other places. And for another, I've been trying this new thing. I like to call it "Regularly getting a decent night's sleep."
Previously, I have been operating on the "I'll sleep when I'm dead plan," which was working well enough - except I often felt myself so worn out I wasn't sure I'd notice the change in status if I did happen to be dead. As part of Operation Snoozealot, I've been using my apartment as a place to live instead of just a place to sleep, limiting my number of social obligations a week, and, surprisingly, taking the time to read things that are not on the Internet. It's worked a treat too. The circles under my eyes have gone from purple to faint grey to mere shadows of themselves - allowing me to look more like a reasonably sane woman, and less like someone who blacks out at night and runs the local fight club. (Note to self, give a cursory glance to contents of freezer, just to be sure.)
Knowing my changeable nature, I figure there are two possible futures for this whole sleep thing. I can imagine becoming so enamoured with rest and relaxation that I stop going out all together, and become pajama-clad hermit of Howard Hughes proportions. Conversely, I may get bored of all this sensible behavior, and go back to running myself ragged. At the moment, I'm feeling rather cozy, and find the former most appealing. However, the Philly film fest starts this weekend, so I'm guessing the later is more likely.
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Monday Morning Madness
- Monday Morning Quiz: Here
- I'm Sorry to Admit I'd Like to Try Some of These: Pretentious Video Games; especially these. - [BC]
- Mercifully, you go insane: Dotquest; a text adventure you'll no doubt find very familiar. - [BC]
- No, No, No, Nooooo: Curious Beatles tribute. Turns out it is perfectly possible to ruin good music. - [TVS].
- Challenge: Superhero or Household Cleaner? - [N]
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Friday Follies
- You Know, I Never Have Seen First Contact: And now I rather feel I don't have to.
- Related Video: When Captains Collide: Kirk vs. Picard
- My Nephew Loves Elmo: But I suspect he's still a little young to see Elmo do NWA's Gangsta Gangsta. (Language NSFW)
- And While We're Repurposing Children's Characters: Marmaduke's gone all political at Marmaduke Can Vote - [DEC]
- Not to Be Morbid (Well, No Moreso Than Usual, Anyway: Here is how the Internet says I shall die:
According to the Death Psychic: "A deranged homeless man climbs over the dividing wall of a department store dressing room and strangles you to death with a clothes hanger" - [GB]
And according to this quiz:
You scored as Posion. Your death will be by poison, probably because you are a glutton and are around so many people that it would be easy to get away with it. Several important people in history share your fate.Bomb
73% Posion
73% Disappear
67% Gunshot
60% Stabbed
53% Natural Causes
53% Suicide
47% Accident
47% Cut Throat
40% Eaten
27% Disease
20% Suffocated
13% Drowning
13%
How Will You Die??
created with QuizFarm.com - [vtq]
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Road Trip?
It occurs to me that I've never been to Coney Island, which is ridiculous, because it's actually quite nearby.
When the weather gets warmer, I feel this needs to be rectified.
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Monday Morning Madness
I don't know what's wrong with me lately - but I have the worst case of the "I-don'-wannas." The only thing I do wanna do is lie in bed and nap, and then wake to discover all the work and cleaning I need to do is mysteriously done, thanks to helpful Sprites and Brownies. Alas, I was a Girl Scout as a child (no, seriously) - and in (what strikes me now as a disturbing ritualistic) intitian ceremony when I was six years old, I chanted the rhyme "Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and saw...myself," thereby taking personal responsibility for my own well-being, acts of kindness, and all those troublesome little acts of housework friendly spirits were said to take care of. I'm starting to wonder if it's too late to recant the chant and start leaving saucers of cream in quiet corners to get this work done. I'm prepared to embrace superstition if it means I can get a little rest.
Sigh.
- Monday Morning Quiz: Here
- I Have No Comment: Your life as a footballer - thanks to Puma. -[JWB]
- Everyone Really is Blogging: Even Chaucer. - [BC]
- Oh, Pac-Man: Video Game Theater is a little like if Meet the Feebles was about video game characters. Not quite as extreme as the Peter Jackson, er, classic, but still not safe for work. - [BB]
- Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Get Back on the Internet: Must Love Jaws. (Some language NSFW)
- Multi-Player, But Old-School: Lemonland
- I'm Intrigued: But too much of a chicken to actually sign-up for a Workplace Interruption of my very own. (d/t/f)
And, because I know you're all on pins and needles about it (not), I have actually left the house, gone to the store, and purchased the Swing Kids soundtrack after learning that the version of Bei Mir Bist Du Schonin the movie was recorded specifically for the film. (Which also filled the shameful Sing, Sing, Sing (best. dance song. ever) void in my playlist.) According to this website, some songs were re-recorded for Swing Kids in order to make them more exciting and palatable to modern audiences. I'll admit I was offended when I first read this - I enjoy swing music, and would like to think that I'm sophisticated enough to appreciate it in its purest form. On the other hand, the version recorded for the movie is my favorite version to date, so there might be something to that afterall. Alas. I think I will counteract my disappointment by watching Swing Kids, ignoring my cleaning, and eating a (lower case b!) brownie.
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Curse You, iTunes
There is a danger in instant gratification; the demon iTunes is likely going to lead me to $.99 purchase my budget into the red. Today's indulgence: so far I've downloaded 8 different versions of Bei Mir Bist du Schoen (which apparently has about a zillion acceptable spellings). This has long been one of my favorite songs. I would say it goes back to having heard it in Swing Kids - but chances are good it got into my subconscious much, much earlier, when my sisters and I used to listen to my grandparents Andrews Sisters' albums.
Unfortunately for me, none of the versions I downloaded are quite the one I have in my head; the one I hear in my brain is a much smokier version than anything I can find on iTunes. The vocalist from the 1938 Benny Goodman recording sounds about right - but it's definitely not the same performance. I suspect I am either making a version up in my head - or I'm remembering the version from Swing Kids - the soundtrack for which is unfortunately not available on iTunes. (I could get out my Swing Kids DVD and fast-forward to the scene it's in, but it takes much less energy to just whine about it here.) If I can't get this earwig out soon, I may have to go to the music store and actually purchase a Cd. (The Horror!) It's about time I owned the Swing Kids soundtrack anyway.
Why the sudden urge to for Bei Mir Bist du Schoen? I watched the first half of Six String Samurai last night (I was too tired to make it to the end), and in it is a song by The Red Elvises called, My Darling Lorraine - which is clearly set to Bei Mir Bist du Schoen.
I have, in fact, purchased My Darling Lorraine as well.
Watching of Six String Samurai makes me think my sense of humor may be broken. Much like The Big Lebowski (which I've never had patience enough to sit through) - I find myself wanting to like Six String Samurai without actually enjoying it. There's so much about it that makes it seem like it should appeal to me - sword play, rockabilly, ninjas, general absurdity; and I can see where one might find it funny - I can see where I should find it funny. But so far, I just don't. I don't know. Maybe I can't appreciate movies that feature bowlers (as in people who bowl - not as in bowler hats. I often find bowler hats quite funny indeed).
This post brought to you by the German language, swing music, rockabilly, and the fact that I'm home today and have lots of housework I'm trying to avoid.
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Friday Follies
- Ummm..What?: One Got Fat is a bicycle safety film starring monkeys, which sounds cute but is actually tremendously disturbing. However, it is also educational, and watching it I learned the following things:
- Monkeys are cold hearted, and completely unfamiliar with the idea of "no monkey left behind."
- Monkeys should not ride bikes. Ever.
- They should, however, all wear feathered caps. Monkeys in feathered caps are awesome.
- I will probably have nighmares about this film.
- Only Slightly More Disturbing Than That Monkey Movie: Is the fact that Vanilla Ice once made a movie. Shudder. -[G!]
- Because I Have a Soft Spot for 8-Bit: 8 bit Awesomeness.
- Since I Skipped It Monday: A quiz, a quiz! (You know you can't know your own personality without an internet quiz). -[SM]
- Nifty Little Video: For Don't Fuck with Love. (Lyrics, as you can imagine, not so SFW)
- Muppet Meat: Muppets hawking deli products. How exactly are these things "certified" anyway? - [SH]
- Things:
- I Want: These shirts.
- I Don't Want:
- Dead actors in new movies
- To be carried by a robot. (unless I'm Queen of the Universe, they're carrying me in my litter, and are part of my expansive, robot army.)
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A Few Notes
- Did you ever have one of those weeks when you've got more things to do than you have time to do them? I've been having one of those. Good for me, bad for blogging. Mea culpa.
- Spring starts officially next week. To celebrate, Philadelphia has been cycling through the seasons on an almost hourly basis. We've had temps in the high 70s this week. And also snow. In fact, there is said to be snow due tomorrow - and yet this hasn't stopped my hayfever from descending with a sudden, desperate passion. Thank you, Mother Nature, for taking the time to cram everything I hate about weather into one, impossible to dress appropriately for package.
- The inner workings of my cellphone have apparently learned some tricks from the inner workings on my body. Normally, the second I make a doctor's appointment, my sick goes away. This week, just after I made arrangements to ship my phone back for a replacement, all normal functions resumed - even the scroll button that stopped working well before everything else went kerflewey. I'm giving it another day before I cancel the switch out (as I'd rather not have to go through the bother of mailing it back, getting a loaner phone and then waiting on a replacement.) I suspect the phone realized that it's still under warranty - and it would rather wait to break when it would be truly inconvenient. Or else it's just waiting for me to cancel the switch, so it can break good and proper all over again.
- There will be Friday linkage. It will be late. I'm afaid you're just going to have to live with that. Life is hard.
- I need a nap. I think I'll have one now.
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Monday Mornning - Madness Free
This weekend I learned I can tussle with flesh-eating zombies and escape with some minors bumps and bruises, but that a mere two-martinis are more than enough to lay me out flat.
It must be because zombies aren't full of tasty gin-soaked olives.
Alas, since I've been running around (and recovering), I've been away from the Internet all weekend - so no linkage.
Also - my cellphone and I are currently having a difference of opinion about what constitutes appropriate cellphone behavior. I think it should work all the time, and it thinks it should work when and how it wants. So - until I can make it out to get a replacement, email is probably your best bet for reaching me.
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Friday Follies
- Your Favorite Movies, Recast With Babies: Thankfully, this is from the goons at Something Awful, and not a new slew of movie remakes (I just hope Hollywood isn't scoping out the Something Awful forums). Personal favorites: The Shining, Ghostbusters and Hellraiser; but I don't think anything beats baby Bill Murray.Ok, well maybe baby Bill Shatner.
- Under Odyssus: A soldier's blog from the Trojan war. - [K]
- 8-Bit Characters, 20 Years Later: Press Play on Tape. And don't forget...you're a member too. (Some questionable work content.)
- Check Yes or No: Random Jack Chick Tract Generator. - [LMG]
- Depeche Mode: In Simlish. This is simultaneously too awesome and too frightening for words. Zwoo Been Bang. - [CT]
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Two Questions, Unrelated (except that they both occured to me yesterday)
- Why is it that any time Vic Damon's Little Girl comes on my MP3 player, I feel the nigh-irrestible urge to break into an old-style Hollywood song and dance number on the street? I worry about the day that "nigh" is worn away. I mean, I'm clumsy and I don't even have a choreographer.
- What was with Michael Kors and those dark sunglasses at the runway show during the Project Runway finale; how could he see anything? The only possible explanation I could think of was that he was trying to remain incognito...but surely sitting between Heidi Klum and Nina Garcia would have given him away.
Also - posts like this one are why I love reading dooce so much.
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Hi There
Just sort of popping on to say, "hi!" as I realized I haven't really posted anything more substantial than lists of things for well over a week now; although it feels like much longer. I think I'm finally triumphing over this blasted fatigue that came neatly packaged with the persistent cold-that-wasn't-quite-the-flu I've been battling these past few weeks, and which has been circulating through my place of business like a poor man's plague.1
The most irritating bit was not so much the lethargy (the way I run about I practically enjoyed the biologically enforced rest), but rather my unnaturally abbreviated attention span. Normally my neuro-pathways are a buzz with various activities (none of them useful, I'm afraid; it's all trivia and the trivial), but while in this comatose state I've found that I've had to concentrate on the task at hand with absolute concentration, or else I'd loose track of what I was doing all together. (Which is how turning on a lamp the other day led to my groceries sitting out on the counter, forgotten in their bags, for over half an hour.) Really, my short term memory is terse as it is, I'm barely functional in this state. I'm certain one of these days I'll start running water for a bath, decide I want some tea, and then elect to walk away and check my email while the water's boiling, subsequently setting the apartment on fire and drowning myself, as no doubt when I check my email I'll decide to see if anyone's posted anything interesting and this looks like a fun game and hey why are my slippers suddenly wet and what's that smell?
Which is not to say my week of rest and recovery has been an entire loss; I took a detour home last week that allows me to make future plans with the caveat, "Yeah, I'd love to; depending on the undead," without a bit of irony or hyperbole.2 But I even wrapped up that adventure in time to make it an early night in pajamas, under blankets and falling asleep in front of a movie by 8:30PM.
Thankfully, the sky was almost unbearably blue and clear yesterday, and the weather warmer than it has been of late, so I did a fair amount of walking in the afternoon. Being outdoors and active after ten day's hibernation reinvigorated the old noggin, and I'm feeling much more myself again. (Mind you, I had to have a lie down when I got home, so I won't say I'm fully recovered, but I'm most of the way there.) Hopefully I'll be back to regularly posting like a gibbering maniac soon enough.
And to those of you who are thinking of suggesting that the fatigue and memory loss is not a symptom of a cold, but rather of progressing age, I say this to you: "Ppppbbbbtttt!!!!!" Now excuse me while I submerge myself in some caffeine and have a bit of a sleep.
1 It could have been much worse, of course; the other thing circulating has been that horrific stomach virus, and frankly I'll take two weeks of feeling like I'm slow-draining energy like air out of a leaky tire and dozing in bed in my pajamas by 8PM each night over my body feeling the need to void itself, through any means necessary, of everything I've ever consumed throughout my life in just two days time.
2 Sorry to be purposefully vague; but I really can't say too much more about it at the moment. Well, I'm not really that sorry; it's sort of fun, in a childish way.
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Monday Morning Madness
- Monday Morning Quiz: Is in its usual place.
- The Last One I'm Posting, I Swear: I thought I was done posting Brokeback mash-up/parodies; but I can't deny those quick & efficient bunnies. [BC & D]
- How's Your City Planning? Cityscape: The Game. - [BC]
- I Love Messes I Don't Have to Clean Up: Splash Back - [MF]
- So If I Die Tomorrow, I'll Be Considered Well-Read?: A list of books British librarians feel all adults should read before they die. (Like John Walkenbach, from whom I've taken this link, I've bolded all the titles I've read already. Hrm Maybe I should take a break from reading and work my way through the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, just to make sure that when I meet my eventual fate, I do so culturally well-balanced.)
:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Bible
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
1984 by George Orwell
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn
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Ward 5, Division 8
If you're a registered Democrat Philly local, and the above means anything to you, I beseech you to visit this post from local blogger, photographer, and politically motivated Albert Yee before the weekend is through.
It's great to see someone not only talk about local politics, but also take action. Good luck, Albert.
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Friday Follies
- Ask a Ninja: "You got questions, Ninja got answers." - [SIW]
- Footloose and Fancy Free: A Muppet cover band? Oh, Dead Hensons, when will you come to Philly? - [CT]
- Better Than an Animatronic Monkey Head: An animatronic Einstein head. It's amazingly lifelike (well, except for the robot body). It even talks. Also - Aiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Cyborgs are creepy, even physicist cyborgs) - [N]
- How to Annoy Your Co-Workers: Sheep Beats - [MF]
- Best. CD. Cases. Ever: Analog - [PG]
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