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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Saturday, May 17th, 2008 |
billroper
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12:29a |
27 Dresses ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) daisy_knotwise and I watched 27 Dresses tonight. It's pretty thoroughly formulaic, which is pretty much what I want to see in a romantic comedy. I get really annoyed at romantic comedies where girl does not get boy, girl gets killed tragically, boy gets killed tragically, etc. I rather prefer happy endings. (Yeah, I know. The Grim Roper. Who'da thunk it?) But I watch romantic comedies not so much for the plot as for the journey and the acting. Katherine Heigl does a fine job with the part and watching her I conclude that there's some serious danger that she's going to get all the parts that Diane Keaton used to get, which is a pretty good career path, all things considered. James Marsden demonstrates that he doesn't have to play a stick, unlike in the X-Men movies. And Malin Akerman (who IMDB tells me is about to be in the new Watchmen film) could be stealing Cameron Diaz's parts shortly. So it's a pretty happy little ensemble. And the movie isn't laugh out loud funny, but it's fun to watch. That'll do nicely. |
| Friday, May 16th, 2008 |
spiritdance
|
11:45p |
Looking Have you considered running your own business (part-time or full-time)? Do you happen to be fluent in Spanish or bilingual? The Pampered Chef is looking for bilingual consultants to meet a demand from guests and hosts. If this is something that may be of interest to you, please let me know, and I can get you more information. Comments will be screened, or send me email at glasserkitchen at gmail dot com. Current Mood:  hopeful |
spiritdance
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11:04p |
I guess I should try to catch up Long time, no posts other than the business stuff (that's friends-locked - let me know if you'd like to see it). Things have been a bit busy for the last couple of months. IIRC, the last time I posted was just before Passover. We took the train from Chicago to Rochester, and David thoroughly enjoyed the trip. He got to sleep on the train, wake up on the train, eat breakfast on the train, go for a walk on the train, say goodbye to the train as it left the station in Rochester, say hello to the train when we got back on it ... I think you get the idea. He REALLY enjoyed the trip. We got a nice (if brief) visit in on both ends of the train trip with the Ropers. Since then, we've been rather busy: ( We've got landscaping )( the kids are growing like weeds ) Current Mood:  tired |
filk
[ admnaismith ]
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8:42p |
madrona and smitty_de_smith and I sorta came up with this draft over dinner tonight ttto: "The Farmers and the Cowboys" from OKLAHOMA! CHORUS: O the Shadows and the Vorlons should be friends! O the Shadows and the Vorlons should be friends! One side just wants evolution The other side wants revolution But that's no reason why they can't be friends! I'd like to say a word for the Vorlon--
He eschews both extremes and takes the middle.He eschews EVERYTHING but navel gazing,
And bugs us with the most annoying riddles!
Now, I would like to speak up for the Shadows--
They keep the dull times off us pretty often.They sure made life exciting for my Home World,
Who's population's mostly now in coffins! We should be feeling sorry for the Vorlons.
Their encounter suits ain't got no bathroom zipper.
They ride light years on end, with some few tortured souls for friends!I sure feel sorry--for poor Jack the Ripper!O the Shadows and the Vorlons should be friends... (KICK! POW!) O the Shadows and the Vorlons should be friends...(ZAP! RAWR!), etc.... Anyone wanna add some verses? Current Music: Lord bless JMS, the man who invented Vir! |
billroper
|
5:52p |
Ready For the Weekend
It's been a long day at work, as I got pulled off of the project that I've been working on to port fixes to other releases and to check out some stuff that hasn't actually shipped yet. Given the sheer joy of living at this end of the bad ClearCase connection, there's nothing quite so much fun as working on three different projects in one day.
On the other hand, now I get to go home for the weekend, which should be much more fun. :) |
filkertom
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6:11p |
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scs_11
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1:59p |
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maiac
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2:01p |
Nazi Appeaser? I do wish that the next time a Republican says Democrats are just like the people who appeased the Nazis, somebody would reply right out loud in public, "Nazi appeasers? Do you mean, like Prescott Bush, founder of the Bush political dynasty, doing business with the Nazis until his company's assets were seized under the Trading with The Enemy Act?" Current Mood: scornful |
ohiblather
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12:57p |
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morganminstrel
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9:36a |
Doctor Who--A Slight Delay Not this week, but next. In a similar situation to last year's delay of the episode "42," Doctor Who will be pre-empted on the BBC on 24 May by the Eurovision Song Contest. The next episode (the highly anticipated "Silence in the Library" by Stephen Moffat, part one of a two parter) will air the following Saturday, 31 May. To which I can only say...YES! WOO-HOO! You see, I'm going to be out of the country on vacation on 24 May...and I'll be getting back on the 30th. A bit selfish? Oh yeah, sure, but it means you'll be able to see a review of the episode here on 1 June, probably! (Apologies to ketina, who will be going away on vacation just as I'm returning and will thus have to wait to see the episode...) News Source, by the way.... Oh, and P.S. Don't forget, everyone who is watching the new series by...means other than the SciFi channel or living in Britain, Doctor Who moves to its regular timeslot of 19:00 (7pm) GMT this weekend. (Which is 11AM PDT, by the by.) So, if you're looking for, er, ways and means, don't start looking before around noon PDT at the earliest.... (And yes, that means my reviews may get pushed back a day anyway, depending...) Current Mood:  good |
cadhla
|
9:29a |
Song: Language of the Crows. Hanging tree do you know my name? Oh, oh, oh, no. Hanging tree do you know my name? Oh, oh, no. Hanging tree do you know my name Have you touched my heart do you feel my shame, Is my black coyote soul to blame Or can I blame it on the ravens? Follow close in the dead black night. Oh, oh, oh, no. Follow close in the dead black night. Oh, oh, no. Follow close in the dead black night For the moon's asleep and there's not much light, And the barn owls fly in phantom flight Seeking fools and fellows craven. Shake the stones and roll the bones Leave the girls back home to miss you. If your jade's tongue knows the language of the crows, I must positively kiss you. ( Mockingbird do you know the way? Oh, oh, oh, no... ) Current Mood:  accomplishedCurrent Music: Seanan McGuire, 'Language of the Crows.' |
filkertom
|
11:43a |
Insert Geek Cliche Here Which is being played on this week's "Wandering Geek" podcast. Thanks, Curt! I'm going to have a new page in the next few days, with every podcast I can find that has played my stuff. Lots of stuff from Podsafe. :) Are there any others you know about -- or have you played my stuff on your podcast? Provide links, please. |
cadhla
|
8:14a |
In which Old Navy brings joy. So every season, Old Navy rotates the colors of their perfect fit tank tops, both to fit the demands of fashion, and to make sure that people will keep coming back and buying more. I like Old Navy tank tops -- they're comfortable, they fit well, and despite being reasonably cheap, they stand up to a vast amount of abuse -- so I don't mind; it means that there's a big sale at the end of every season, clearing out the old colors, and since 'fashion' has never mattered as much to me as 'brightly colored, preferably visible from space', I've never much minded if they weren't the new hotness. They were comfortable and vivid, and that's what I tend to want. Wednesday, illness forced me into Old Navy with the sudden, pressing need to have a new tank top right now. This was the first time I'd actually been in an Old Navy since they finished bringing out the new color line. I reached the tank top table. Choirs of bat-winged angels sang. Orange tank tops. In two shades. Also green tank tops, also in two shades. The gods of fashion love me. I am wearing a tank top the color of a cartoon pumpkin, along with my orange and green 'witch of ripe apple' pendant, and I am just as clam-happy a little Halloween girl as you could ever hope to see. Life is good. Current Mood:  chipperCurrent Music: Rob Zombie, 'Living Dead Girl.' |
filkertom
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9:51a |
Three Out Of Four Ain't Bad What hero would you really want to be? I've always envisioned a character called Blue Streak, a martial artist with flight and a little extra speed. Made him into a girl for the Hero League notes in The Last Hero On Earth. Almost twenty years since I had the physique for it.... |
maiac
|
8:04a |
Interesting Stuff About May 16 Today is Biographers Day. On this day in history:( Go to The List! ) (The Oriental Garden in the Hillwood Estate, Washington, D.C.) |
supergee
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6:49a |
PZ Myers, who has the unfair advantage of understanding genetics, dissects Michael Medved's concept of the American Herrenvolk. |
supergee
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6:42a |
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supergee
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5:44a |
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scs_11
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12:59a |
Yet another moment when things come together
When my father-in-law died there were very few specific bequests. He trusted his daughters to divide up what they wanted and sell or give away the rest. This was a good decision, as the four did an admirable job of discussing who wanted what and balancing things out nicely. Jim and I (the two sons-in-law) kept our noses out of it, which was also a good idea.
Once the daughters had picked out what they wanted, they asked Jim and I if we wanted some specific things. One of them was a Bose wave radio, probably the best-sounding desktop radio ever made. Jim didn't want it, so I allowed myself to be persuaded to accept this little electronic joy. It promptly got installed by my basement workbench, and has made me very happy.
Tonight I was down in the basement trying to breathe life into an external disk cabinet when I noticed the radio. In particular, I noticed a little button on top that said 'AUX.' Aux. Auxilliary? Turned the radio around, and sure enough there was a jack in the back that you can plug things into. I grabbed Ruth's ipod, managed to find an appropriate adapter cable in the junk box, and tried it out.
Yes! It sounded better than any portable CD player I've ever owned. Did I mention I rip CDs at a very high-quality bit rate? It really showed on the radio.
Now I've *really* got to get an iPod. Hmm... what with putting a big chunk of the car on my credit card, I'm gonna have a boatload of Amazon discount coupons coming in soon. But can I wait? Decisions, decisions.
Current Music: "Pass and Fail" by the Heartless Bastards |
scs_11
|
12:36a |
Coolness in design award goes to.... This afternoon I purchased my first accessory for the new car. It's an AC inverter, a little box you plug into your power outlet (formerly known as a cigarette lighter) and converts your car power into something you can plug household appliances into. There are a number of times each year that I want to go somewhere far away and write notes or reports while someone else drives. Since laptop batteries don't last nearly long enough for this, an inverter is a nice choice. One unexpected benefit of the new Civic is that the power connector can handle 120 watts - enough to power even the hungriest laptop without blowing a fuse. So I went off to google and asked it to find some appropriate devices. I got two surprises. The first was that about half the auto inverters out there now come with USB ports, so you can recharge your cellphone/ipod/whathaveyou from the inverter. Nice - no more buying a this car adapater, a that car adapter, etc, etc. Your home adapters will work when the usb ones don't. The second was the physical configuration of this device from Black and Decker. Instead of being a non-descript box that won't quite fit right anywhere in the car, it's designed to fit into one of your cup holders. The power outlets are on the top. There's a lid on it so that when you're not using it, you can close it up. This prevent spills from having an awkward effect. Better yet, when the lid is closed it looks just like a drink cup. So you can just pull the plug out of the power connector, drop it on the floor, and passing thieves think you have a cup of coffee in the holder. Nice trick, guys. Oh, and it's cheap too. |
| Thursday, May 15th, 2008 |
scs_11
|
1:14p |
Steve Buys A Car At Unexpected Speed So I now have a new 2008 Honda Civic, exactly to my specs (manual 5-speed, air conditioning, radio). It's a light blue, which met my specs for "not black, not white, not silver." I didn't intend to buy it on the spot, but the salesman must have thought I was negotiating instead of trying to go home and have dinner, and kept sweetening the pot. ( So how did that happen, Steve? ) |
billroper
|
11:05p |
The Superhero Team Meme It's back! But the results are stranger this time. |
officialpibgorn
|
11:17p |
UP WITH THE SNARK IN THE MORNING... Do you hear the flutter of little wings?  The long wait is over. The Snark is at it again. Don't miss her. Click the link at the right for The Snark Ascending, or go to snarkascending.livejournal.com. Humor with a deep gulp of oxygen. And no queues. What are you waiting for? |
filkertom
|
7:12p |
Will Elder Dies Sadness. Will Elder, one of the great early artists on Mad Magazine and co-creator (with Harvey Kurtzman) of Little Annie Fanny, has passed away at the age of 86. You'll recognize his style instantly. What are some of your favorite bits in Mad? Yeah, yeah, I know, way too many. But list a few. I love the musical parodies, obviously (especially of Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, Part 1), but I also have great fondness for Al Coker, Jr., unbridled awe for the foldable back covers by Al Jaffee, immense love for the margin cartoons by Sergio Aragones, and absolute adoration for the works of Jack Davis and Mort Drucker. Head and shoulders above them all, however, is good ol' Don Martin. Two in particular stand out -- dunno the actual names, but you know 'em: Singin' In The Rain, and the Official Guide to Superhero Comic Sound Effects. |
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morganminstrel
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2:20p |
"No, no really. All I gotta do is put 'Bat' in front of any noun and I can trademark that mother." (Crossposted from ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) zen_daily_dose, because it's too funny.) Can you come up with better captions?Put 'em in the comments and for added fun, if you want, the actual contest info is here. (And when I say "contest" I mean "thing where they get content from readers with no actual prize attached.") Current Mood:  amused |
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