Faith quiz

Intersting results, considering I don't consider myself to be any of the top ten (or any of the rest of them, either) and was raised Catholic. I wonder what my mother would think of the number one group. Or my grandmother. I don't think Grandma would be pleased that I'm only 48% Roman Catholic. (Look how Quakery I am! Two Quaker groups in the top ten! ...Neo-Pagan...and New Age? The fuck? Usually whenever I'm talking about either of those groups, it's to mock them. And what the hell is Bahá'í, anyway?) 'Course, it's just a freakin' internet quiz, which means the results are flawed due to the nature of the limited and biased questioning. Still, I found it interesting, especially after hearing the first pleasant sermon at a Catholic church in decades this past Friday. Why does death bring out the best in priests? (Then again, he was young and enthusiastic with a very pleasant voice, which is persuasive in nearly any profession.)

Your Results:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (95%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (83%)
4. Neo-Pagan (77%)
5. Orthodox Quaker (73%)
6. Reform Judaism (73%)
7. Bahá'í Faith (72%)
8. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (70%)
9. Sikhism (68%)
10. New Age (62%)
11. Jehovah's Witness (62%)
12. Secular Humanism (61%)
13. Mahayana Buddhism (60%)
14. Theravada Buddhism (58%)
15. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (58%)
16. Orthodox Judaism (55%)
17. Jainism (50%)
18. Taoism (49%)
19. Eastern Orthodox (48%)
20. Roman Catholic (48%)
21. Hinduism (47%)
22. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (47%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (46%)
24. Islam (44%)
25. New Thought (39%)
26. Scientology (37%)
27. Nontheist (31%)

The Belief-O-Matic quiz can be taken here.

Which Clow Card are you?

You are "The Watery"


brought to you by Quizilla

That's hilarious

Immaturity Test

Your score is 9

6-10:
You act 19. Look, college was fun. But unless you're still studying at a university, it might be time to grow up a little.

snort Yeah, right.

So fucking appropriate after this weekend from hell

little trooper sugar kat may explode without warning

M EXPLOSIVE

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com

---

And because I simply couldn't resist entering them for myself:

PARENTAL

ADVISORY

ANGRY RABBIT CONTAINS EXPLICIT LYRICS

UCAUTION

IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY IT IS ADVISABLE TO KEEP SHEEP BOY AWAY FROM FIRE AND FLAMES.

WARNING

halifaxslasher is radioactive. Wear protective clothing at all times.

Don't touch!

Keep your hands away from your naughty bits, you kitten killer.

From The Writer's Almanac

Because if today's an unpleasant day, you can always find neat in the annals of history.

Poor Emerson. He was so disappointed. Peabody had a time of it keeping his spirits up. (Ahem.)

It was on this day in 1922 that a British man named Howard Carter made one of the greatest archeological discoveries of all time by discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen. It was the first fully intact pharaoh's tomb ever found by an archaeologist.

King Tut's tomb was located in the Valley of the Kings. Egyptians had hoped that by hiding the tombs in among the rocky hills of the valley, they would prevent robbers from stealing the valuable contents of the burial chambers. The robbers were persistent, though, and by the time Howard Carter first joined the archaeological survey of Egypt, as a seventeen year old in 1893, most of the tombs had been emptied of anything of value.

Carter was an amateur artist, and he got a job copying ancient Egyptian paintings and inscriptions so that they could be studied by scholars around the world. He worked his way up to supervising excavations. Most archaeologists at the time believed that there wasn't much left to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings, but Carter had found references to a little known pharaoh whose tomb had never been found. He got the wealthy investor Lord Carnarvon to fund a series of exploratory excavations, but he turned up almost nothing. Carnarvon finally told him that he couldn't spend any more money on the search, but Carter persuaded him to fund one more excavation.

The dig began on the first of November. Three days later, on this day in 1922, one of the site workers needed to set down his water jar, so he kicked some rocks off a flat spot on the ground and noticed that it looked like part of a staircase. By the end of the day, Carter had uncovered a series of steps that led to a sealed door. Carter sent a telegram to Lord Carnarvon, and a few weeks later they entered the tomb together.

A long corridor led to wall of stones that blocked the entrance to the antechamber. Carter carefully removed enough stones to make a hole in the door, and then extended his candle through the hole. Carnarvon asked if he could see anything, and Carter replied, "Yes...Wonderful things!"

Carter later said, "At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues and gold...everywhere the glint of gold."

Egyptians believed that they should be buried with all the objects they would need in the afterlife, and Carter found more than five thousand such objects in the tomb, including boomerangs, shields, eye makeup, and 116 baskets of food. It took him ten years to extract and catalogue everything.

It turned out to be the tomb of a pharaoh who had come to the throne as a young boy and died when he was only a teenager. The tomb probably wasn't ever found by robbers because it was a smaller than average chamber. And Carter was surprised to find how hastily the tomb had been decorated. The objects were all jumbled together, and the wall paintings were sloppy, with splashes of paint in the corners that no one had cleaned up.

Many people have speculated that King Tut's hasty burial is evidence that he was murdered. In 1968, a researcher from Liverpool X-rayed the mummy and discovered that there was evidence King Tut had died from a blow to the head.

There has long been speculation about King Tut's curse. Lord Carnarvon died of an unknown illness a few months after exploring King Tut's tomb. That same day, the electricity went out in the city of Cairo, and back in England, Carnarvon's dog, Susie, suddenly howled and died. Some scientists believe that Carnarvon might have inhaled an ancient fungus or microbe that overwhelmed his immune system. As for the electricity, it was pretty unreliable in Cairo at the time. Nobody has any theories about the dog.

The election

What she said.

*~~~~~~~~0o0~~~~~~~~0_0~~~~~~~~0,0~~~~~~~~*

Happy Hallowe'en!

We actually had trick-or-treaters this year. They were cute and polite. I had a hard time persuading them to take more than one piece of candy each. They waited in turn when there were lots of them at once. I'm inordinately happy that we actually had people ringing the bell this year, but that might be because I put together a last-minute cat costume this year for the benefit of those who came to the door and actually wanted people to come to the door to see it.

I hope you, Dear Reader, had a wonderful costume-draped, candy-filled Hallowe'en.

Except for ET, who was travelling back from Tempe. For you, I hope your flights were good and that you didn't run out of munchies for the plane. I know you had plenty of books. Welcome back to the mundane world, 'Rabbit.

Hobbitses!

Look! They found hobbits!

Scientists Find Prehistoric Dwarf Skeleton

[...] The finding on a remote Indonesian island has stunned anthropologists like no other in recent memory. It is a fundamentally new creature that bears more of a resemblance to fictional, barefooted hobbits than modern humans.

Yet biologically speaking, it may have been closely related to us and perhaps even shared its caves with our ancestors.

[...]

Millenia ago, Flores was a kind of a looking-glass world, a real-life Middle-earth inhabited by a menagerie of fantastical creatures like giant tortoises, elephants as small as ponies and rats as big as hunting dogs.

It even had a dragon, although they were giant lizards like today's carnivorous Komodo dragons rather than the treasure-hoarding Smaug described by novelist J.R.R. Tolkien in his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Next they'll find the remains of some human-like species that's a little bit taller and more slender. And then they'll find the twisted bones of creatures that weren't quite human, either. And then they'll find the even older fossilized remains of an old swamp filled with the bones of humans and these other two kinds of humanoids and the tiniest fragments of armor and weaponry. And when all that happens, the five-year old me who believed that the grown-ups were wrong, that Tolkien's elves and hobbits and orcs really did exist once, will be vindicated.

Scary-funny

There is no paper trail for the new Diebold voting machines which are being used by some districts next Tuesday.

An international organization is sending an election observation mission to the States, like they go to check on Belarussian, Nicaraguan, Afghani, and Iraqi elections, to make sure there's no unreported election hankypanky.

On the lighter side is this little webvideo: Electronic voting machines in Florida. Have fun! Ha ha ha...um. Ha?

Eeeeevil!

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I present to you the evil clown generator. Go have fun, Sparky.

crap...i wrote...a really bad pun...gak!

Hoo-ray for Mr. Sun!

Regarding the numerous warnings from Mr. Cheney, Mr. Sun! informs us of the most recent...

Ominous warning from Darth Cheney: if John Kerry is elected, gravity will deteriorate and all matter will float into the sweet black death of nothingness. Bonus for K/E if it happens: there are probably beings on distant stars who do not yet know that Mary Cheney is a lesbian. As they drift by, Kerry and Edwards can shout out the news. Vote accordingly.

Dearest Boston

Congratulations to your team. They have a lot of heart and fight. They've earned this Yankees fan's admiration.

However, I would suggest one thing regarding the World Series: if your team wins, do not riot.

Another suggestion: if your team loses, do not riot.

Leave the rioting to the L.A. Lakers fans. It really doesn't suit the East Coast.

If people around you are "celebrating heavily," leave. It's a riot, dear. Go find a quieter space. Do not go into the crowd. If there is a guy in riot gear coming towards your area, get the hell away from the rest of the drunken-ass bahstahds. If you are with the rioting drunken-ass bahstahds, you are complicit in their actions. Not a good idea to hang around with them, no matter how much they declaim the suckage of New York and its teams and/or the wonders of your crimson hosiery. Go to one of Boston's fine eating establishments and get something to eat which isn't a hot dog. Go home and hug your fellow fans/loved ones. Stay away from the "party," as it's no longer considered revelry once they start setting cars on fire and throwing bottles at the police. It's a riot. The men in riot gear will do what it takes to stop the riot. Even things they will regret later, as the Northeast is not a place used to rioting of late and has lost its riot-control edge.

I'm sorry people were hurt and that student died. This was, however, one thing that would never happen in New York. We lose, we win. We do not riot over a game.

Author/artist visit alert!!

Tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd of October

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, but for those who might be interested in such things, BRIAN FROUD is going to be at Books of Wonder tomorrow for a Milk and Cookies Press event. Check out the BoW link for more detail.

A neocon lightbulb joke

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a light bulb?

The Answer is TEN:

1. one to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed,

2. one to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed,

3. one to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb

4. one to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for darkness,

5. one to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Haliburton for the new light bulb

6. one to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner "Light Bulb Change Accomplished",

7. one administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally "in the dark",

8. one to viciously smear #7,

9. one surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along,

10. and finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb? and screwing the country.

Bush Debate Bingo

I wish I'd seen this while the debates were still going on. Look at the fun and useful Bush debate bingo card. There are even these handy-dandy game pieces.

(Reminds me a little of the TCM profanity bingo card ET told me about.)

Plus, there's this great Boondocks strip on Bush's behavior at the debates.

Jon Stewart moichidoonegaishimasu

I thought I'd put in this link to a well-written NYT article on Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, and Stewart's appearance on CNN's Crossfire. I'm thinking of copy-pasting, but I'm scared of pissing off NYT. Here's just a little bit:

What distinguishes Mr. Stewart from Jay Leno and David Letterman is that the Comedy Central star mocks the entire political process, boring in tightly on the lockstep thinking and complacency of the parties and the media as well as the candidates. More than other television analysts and commentators, he and his writers put a spotlight on the inanities and bland hypocrisies that go mostly unnoticed in the average news cycle.

Mr. Stewart is very funny, but it is the vein of "a plague on both your houses" indignation that has made his show a cult favorite: many younger voters are turning to the "The Daily Show" for their news analysis, and are better served there than on much of what purports to be real news on cable.

Lord of the Sith

I really wish I could post pictures on here so that everyone could always see this Boondocks comic. It cracked me the hell up. Go see the funny.

Yatta!

Ha! Found it! Now you don't have to deal with frickin' frackin' BitTorrent, but, instead, use the link here at CNN. There is an article (eh) and a link to the RealVideo file of the classic visit/ass kicking.

God bless Jon Stewart.

"Holy shit" is right

This is from an e-mail from my brother's friend, which he then forwarded:

You need to read the transcript of [CNN's] Crossfire where Tucker Carlson interviews Jon Stewart. Holy shit.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0410/15/cf.01.html

I did not think I could love Jon Stewart more than I already do. But I really now do.

On a completely different front, I just watched the last eight DVDs of Cardcaptor Sakura and my head's in a completely weird space. However, my Japanese has improved mightily.

...

I'm kinda crushing on Jon Stewart.

For Maggie

Yes, there is really a dirt road named "Maggie's Run" in Vermont. Five pictures of proof can be found at the (mis)adventures of little trooper sugar kat: photo evidence.

See? I told you ET'd do it better

Death of Superman

Superman is dead

ET can't post this post, so I'm doing it for her, though not as well.

"Superman" Christopher Reeve Dies at 52.

He was the face of Superman for a generation. He'll always be the face and voice of Superman to me, at least, no matter how cheesy the movies were.

He was maligned by some for not becoming an advocate for those who'd suffered from spinal cord injuries and diseases until he had had his accident. Still, he's brought national attention to stem cell research, which is the hope for those like him, as well as those who suffer from Alzheimer's, like my grandmother, from Parkinson's, like Mohammed Ali and Michael J. Fox, and many other horribly debilitating and deadly diseases. This research is now part of the national debate.

He performed what doctors thought were miracles, but the people who have loved those with nervous system and brain injuries can tell you is entirely possible when the right treatment and right therapists/nurses/doctors are involved. My uncle would have made a much greater recovery if the doctors and nurses had just had patience and believed in him. Now, maybe, doctors and other health professionals won't write off people who've been severely injured, like they did my uncle, but will understand how much people are capable of doing.

But, mostly, I have to admit, and he'd probably be pissed if he knew this, I think Clark Kent has died. Somehow I doubt that whoever they cast in the next, ever-delayed Superman movie will fill the big red boots or the dorky glasses as well as he did.

the continuing misadventures of little trooper shopper kat

Dammit, woman, you know I'm weak. Why the hell did you tell me about that Closeouts place? Arg!

I'm disturbed by their lack of Crowley, Moran, and Powers. Must continue my search.

I really can blame no one but myself for the fiscal fiasco at Anime Castle. (But...! Japanese OSTs for $9.99! I could not resist! Gah!)

What kind of ninja are you?

Good Ninja - Bad Ninja Test

Thanks for taking the test. After very careful study of the answers you have us, you seem to be a good ninja. It is important to follow the high roads on your journeys, and you seem to be getting pretty high. Good job.

If you feel that this test is not entirely accurate, and that you have some evil that is not coming through, please feel free to try the test again.

Do you still want more ninja fun? Why not test your sixth sense with our Ninja Psychic Test.

Toooooooootemo kawaiiiiiiiiiiii

Must! Get! InuYasha Gashapon Set of 7 Pcs Figure! Gah!

Yay books!

I was hoping the box sitting in the passenger seat when Mom picked me up contained my new Japanese textbook and workbook. I need the workbook desperately, as we're covering the kanji in there now. It was not my Japanese stuff. It was the order I made of super-on-sale books. I got Shopgirl (hardcover, less than $6) and The Pleasure of My Company (paperback, $6) by Steve Martin and the latest in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Grim Grotto ($6). I was happy to have something to distract me from the ennui of midterms which wasn't too long (none of them will be more than a couple of hours' reading a most). I was even happier to see "First Edition" on the copyright page of Shopgirl and The Grim Grotto and "First Paperback Edition" on the copyright page of The Pleasure of My Company. I have a weakness for first editions. I'm especially happy that Shopgirl is a first edition, as I've read that the first edition can go for as much as $38. (Again, I got it for less than $6.) I showed it to Mom and thought of how much it'd be worth if only I could get Mr. Martin to sign it for me. Mmmm. Warm fuzzies. Booooks!

Comfort food

Went over to Amherst, Mass., yesterday, to do some grocery shopping. They have very nice Trader Joe's and Whole Foods stores there. We have frickin' crap-ass Price Chopper and Hannaford, which is barely an improvement on PC. Ick. Anyway, since I'm getting my student loan soon, I can buy my food again (which Mom prefers). I got some stuff at Trader Joe's, and a little bit from Whole Foods, mostly stuff under the Whole Foods brand which I know is good and can only get there (obviously). Among the things I bought was a large container of matzoh ball soup, which I have not had in years and years.

The last time I had it was the first time I'd had it. I can't remember if I liked it a lot then, or if it's really the very sweet memory of when I ate it that made me buy the soup. My boyfriend at the time served it to me because he was so worried about how sick I was. He said it was Jewish penicillin, which made me laugh (he was very good at making me laugh). He sat across from me while I ate it, not eating himself, and making sure I finished the bowl as he chatted away. He was the nicest guy I've dated, though my list of exboyfriends isn't very long at all. We were completely wrong for each other, but I'm glad we dated for a little while so I have these nice, warm memories to look back on instead of the crappy ones I have from dating the other jerks to whom I've had the poor taste to be romantically attached. So, I'll eat this matzoh ball soup and think nice thoughts his way, as he was chemically-imbalanced crazy but very, very sweet for a short while to a girl who was a complete mess in the head.

Boo-yeah!

I gots me a Gmail account! Woo! This is what comes from hanging out with 19 year olds, I guess. Kids have all the connections. I probably should have donated my invite to a soldier, but I'm selfish and evil. Also, I want to have a nice, big account available to me not matter where I am for when I'm eventually booted out of Mom's house and no longer have access to a decent computer/modem. When that happens, my AOL account will hardly ever be used anymore, as I probably won't have access to the internet from wherever I'll be calling my home then. I don't even know if I'll be able to afford a phone line, let alone a decent line of internet access (be it cable or DSL or whatnot). Anyway, this Gmail is MINE! ALL MINE! Boo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Plus, Kerry totally wiped the floor with Bush last night. I kept thinking that Bush has this reputation of being a really good debater. I've seen evidence of this from video of past debates, especially the ones when he was running for govenor of Texas. He's usually highly effective, yet last night...it was kind of crazy. Want proof? Watch the rerun of last night's "The Daily Show." It's slightly less painful that watching the debate. There's something about having your president humiliated, even if you don't agree with him, that's difficult to bear witness to, at least for me.

FYI, from washingtonpost.com

3 DeLay Workers Indicted in Texas
Aides Charged in Fundraising Probe
By Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 22, 2004; Page A01

AUSTIN, Sept. 21 -- Three top political aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) were indicted Tuesday on charges of illegally raising political funds from corporations in 2002, much of which was funneled into the Republican takeover of the Texas legislature.

Corporate contributions to state legislative candidates are illegal in Texas. A Travis County grand jury indicted DeLay political aide Jim Ellis, fundraiser Warren RoBold and John Colyandro, the executive director of DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, known as TRMPAC. Eight corporations also were indicted for illegal political contributions.

The grand jury never questioned DeLay or sought records from him. But the panel's actions could rattle his supporters and embolden his critics because the three men indicted include some of his closest and most loyal allies. Moreover, the targeted fundraising activities were at the heart of one of DeLay's most cherished, high-profile endeavors of the past several years: giving Republicans control of the Texas legislature so the state's 32 U.S. House districts could be redrawn in a way likely to send more Republicans to Congress.

That is what the legislature did last year, and DeLay has often cited the redistricting effort as a key reason he expects the Nov. 2 election to expand the GOP House majority.

Ellis, 47, of Arlington, Va., and Colyandro, 40, of Austin, were indicted on one count each of money laundering -- specifically taking $190,000 in corporate money raised by TRMPAC and giving it to the Republican National Committee, which, in turn, had the Republican National State Elections Committee contribute to seven Texas House candidates. In all, about 20 Republican candidates were helped by TRMPAC activities to win Texas House seats.

Colyandro was indicted on 13 counts of unlawfully accepting $425,000 in corporate political contributions. RoBold, 48, of Middletown was indicted on nine counts of unlawfully soliciting and accepting $250,000 in corporate political contributions.

The indictments follow a 21-month investigation by three different grand juries into the activities of TRMPAC. The result of that inquiry, said Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, was an "outline of an effort to use corporate contributions to control representative democracy in Texas."

Since 1905, Texas law has prohibited the giving or receiving of political contributions from corporations and labor unions to candidates.

At a news conference, Earle, a Democrat, said that although the three-month term of the latest grand jury expires Sept. 30, the investigation has not ended. "This is a continuing investigation into allegations of criminal activity related to the 2002 Texas elections," he said.

Those elections resulted in the Republican takeover of the Texas House for the first time since Reconstruction. With the legislature dominated by the GOP, Republican Tom Craddick of Midland was elected Texas House speaker last year and the Texas congressional districts were then redrawn to send more Republican lawmakers to Congress, strengthening DeLay's base as majority leader. The Washington Post has previously reported that Craddick's role in disbursing money to candidates from TRMPAC was being scrutinized by the grand jury, but he has not been charged and he was not named in Tuesday's indictment.

DeLay was not named as a target of the grand jury's investigation, but documents disclosed in the inquiry indicate that DeLay was central to creating and overseeing the political fundraising in Texas. When asked whether the continuing probe could lead to allegations of wrongdoing against DeLay, Earle said: "My response has been consistent, in that anyone who has committed a crime is a target."

In Washington, DeLay said the legal case in Texas would not affect him.

"This has been an investigation that has been underway for nearly two years, and 40 days before the election, suddenly they've taken action," DeLay said in a statement issued by his office. "You do the political math."

"I'll reiterate what I've said before and today's action emphasizes: I have not been subpoenaed; I have not been asked to testify; and I have not been called as a witness. They've made clear this investigation is not about me."

[To read further, click here.]

How come I didn't know about this? How come this isn't all over the damned TV/radio news? He's the most powerful man in the House and there's been nothing. sigh Our nation's on crack, and I'm too fucking busy to read the paper.

Merry wandering

Turns out that Lost is really fun and tense and strange and exciting, with live people going through plane engines and causing them to 'splode into other live people--whee!. You know, the usual JJ Abrams-y goodness, but with a dab of hobbit-y goodness, though it looks like Merry drank a lot more of that water at Treebeard's "house" on the way back from Minas Tirith or something, 'cause he's, like, as tall as the Men.

So, like, is this thing knocking over palm trees and killing pilots who mysteriously resemble Agent Eric Weiss an angry ent or something?

Crap. Now I have another show I'm watching. I was hoping to cut back this year.

(Return of the) Whedon Quote of the Week

I can safely say this will be the greatest film since whatever film comes out right before it.

→ Joss Whedon on his film Serenity, currently in post-production

Oh, dear lord, I so desperately want this

It's never available. I can almost never find the 1955 Womans Home Companion Cookbook, yet here it is, for $25.00. On Hold. Dammit.

If anyone wants to give me a kick-ass graduation gift in May which does not include the words "iPod" or "Powerbook" and "Apple" in its description, please find me the 1955 edition of the WHCC. Best cookie recipies EVER, plus the tastiest deviled eggs on the earth. All entirely without shame of calories, fat, or carbohydrates. It's glorious.

Leafy

A tip to those of my Dear Readers who like to go leaf-viewing (the aki version of hanamisurukoto...no idea if there's a word for it in nihongo...anyone?). This fall is as strange as our summer. The leaves are turning starting, like, now. It'll be a long fall, I think, when it comes to foliage, but some of the more vivid reds might be gone by the time you make it up north out of the City.

Unfortunate News, Dear Reader

An electronic-mail was sent to me to warn me of the following event. I thought perhaps I should share this alert with my friends in New York so that they may avoid such unpleasantness themselves.

A Grim Evening with Lemony Snicket

Tuesday, September 21, 2004, 6 p.m.

Symphony Space

Peter Jay Sharp Theatre

2537 Broadway at 95th St.

New York City

If you are looking for a pleasant night out, you would probably be

better off attending some other event. This rare public appearance by

the elusive best-selling author Lemony Snicket will include shocking

details from his anxiously awaited new work, The Grim Grotto, Book the

Eleventh in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Even worse, books will be

offered for sale by Books of Wonder. Fortunately, if tickets sell out

quickly, you won't be able to attend. Presented by HarperCollins

Children's Books.

Tickets: $8; $6 Members, Children, Seniors, Students.

To purchase tickets, please visit:

http://www.symphonyspace.org/genres/eventPage.php?genreId=4&eventId=1079

http://www.lemonysnicket.com/desc_grim.html

Speaking of which...

Yay! Super-computer-genius brother-in-law M-- talked Mom through rescuing her computer! So happy! In fact, she's so happy that she's allowed me to go online again. Making me type my papers on my crap-ass old pentium from, like, 1997, but I can surf to my heart's content again. Hoo-ray for Super-computer-genius Brother-in-law M--!

P.S.

Hi, Angry Rabbit! Sorry if I messed up the close of your workday. Nice to talk to you. Well, kvetch at you. Whatever.

I will respond to your e-mail when I get up the courage to open AOL again. In the meantime, I shall add you to my AIM list. You will get IMd by a semi-recognizable person shortly. (Uh, and I have two AIM accounts, just for that added spice of confusion.)

Effed-up blog

Ah, Dear Readers.

I was told by one of you today that there is some problem with the formatting of this blog. This roachbird said that the links column, which should be immediately to the left of the entry column, is, instead, at the bottom of the entry column. Is this true for you all?

I must admit, on none of the computers upon which I have so carelessly crafted this web-based journal have I seen the misplacement of said column. I shall be concerned even more if yet another of my readers is plagued by such faulty formatting. That having been said, I have absolutely no idea how to fix something which doesn't need fixing when I see it.

This is what happens when the nigh-computer-illiterate come to play on the Internet.

At any rate, please do respond if you have or have not had problems with the placement of my links column. Or would care to post a poem. Or a dirty limerick, please, as I've yet to hear anyone actually finish a dirty limerick in my presence. For some reason, the guys (why is it always a guy? don't women ever learn dirty limericks? is it a health ed split class thing?) reciting the limerick always stop mid-way, look at me, blush, then say they'd rather not tell me the limerick after all. How immensely frustrating.

Canadian Scott is prettier than American Scott

Bush prefers our pretty boy to his pretty boy:

[...] Mr. Bush wandered over during Mr. Reid's chat with the Prime Minister [of Canada]. Mr. Reid introduced himself and shook hands with Mr. Bush.

"Well, what do you do for this guy?" the President asked as he pointed to the Prime Minister.

"Well, you know, sir, I can't really say," Mr. Reid [assistant to the PM] said. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that, you know, I don't really know from day to day."

[...]

The President chuckled. "Well, you got a pretty face," he told the surprised Mr. Reid. He wasn't done. "You got a pretty face," he said again. "You're a good-looking guy. Better looking than my Scott anyway."

I really can't tell if this is better than the sharp-shooting puppy. Still, I believe this quote can go under the WTF?! category in the Dubyah quote file.

Nostalgia

This is what happens when I cannot sleep. I surf and find this. Come, sing with me now.

Better yet, tell me what the alternate lyrics are (i.e., the one where the teacher dies, gets tossed into the bay, scares away fish, etc.). As I recall, they were even more amusing.

Puppyyyy power!

I shit thee not, Dear Reader. This is for real.

How effing glorious.

Dog Wiggles Paw Free to Shoot Florida Man:

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver's trigger.

[...]

Bradford said he decided to shoot the 3-month-old shepherd-mix dogs in the head because he couldn't find them a home, according to the sheriff's office.

On Monday, Bradford was holding two puppies — one in his arms and another in his left hand — when the dog in his hand wiggled and put its paw on the trigger of the .38-caliber revolver. The gun then discharged, the sheriff's report said. [...]

For Halifax

Comics Books in the 50s

Well, not really. But let's pretend, shall we?

Words, words, words

Yet another example of someone who expresses today better than I can. An excerpt from The Writer's Almanac - SEPTEMBER 11, 2004:

On this day in 2001, it was a clear, crisp, sunny morning in New York City. Students were in their second week of school. People were getting to work in cars, buses, and trains. Alessandra Fremura had planned on leaving for work at 8:00, but her babysitter was 20 minutes late. Virginia DiChiara couldn't get her golden retrievers to come in from the backyard, so she decided to have another cup of coffee. Kenneth Merlo was supposed to go in the office, but he decided to spend the morning helping a friend hook up her computer instead of going to his office. Michael Lomonaco stopped in the lobby of the World Trade Center to order some reading glasses from the one-hour eyeglass store. Michael Jacobs was running late when he reached the Trade Center lobby. He rushed to make the elevator, but the doors slid shut in his face. A musician named Michelle Wiley was at home in her apartment. She sat down at her piano in her nightgown and shower shoes, and stared out her window at the Twin Towers before beginning to play.

Today was O. Henry's birthday.

Remember

It was a beautiful day today. Sunny, blue skies. Another perfect fall day.

I had written something here about the strangeness of my Saturday, but it seemed trivial and stupid, though it meant something to me. Only to me. Hence the trivial.

So, a link to this, which is neither stupid nor trivial.

Well, shit

	You'll soon meet the love of your life. Just kidding. There's no-one out there for you. You'll die alone, and rats will eat you

Billy's Weird...cat...thing tells your fortune!

Dubyah Quote of the Week

"Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."

Yahoo! News, 7 Sept 2004

First he gives us Kill Bill, then he does this

From IFCtv.com news

After paying more than $20 million for multiple territory rights, Miramax sought to edit [Hero] but facing resistance from Tarantino, who loved the film, later added his name as a presenter credit to gain greater attention for the release. Zhang recently told indieWIRE that Miramax asked Tarantino to cut film, but that the American director rejected the offer.

Apparently the Weinsteins dragged their asses so severely on the release of Hero that Zhang Yimou was worried it would be released in the States after Sony released his newer House of Flying Daggers (which I also want to see). Hoo-ray for Quentin "fanboy" Tarantino.

MemeGen ate my blog

I tried posting some meme-type stuff, but it ate my blog then barfed it back up into this pile of sick and sticky code on my desktop. So, no tables. Just...um, quotey-type stuff.

Random "Cool Name" Generator by Bluez

Your mundane first name: [snip]
"Cool" first name: Blood
"Cool" last name: Maker
"Cool" title: "The Crazed"
How to use this name: Yell your name to everyone you Pwn.

I post this mostly so's someone can tell me what the hell "Pwn." means.

Blood and gore, in honor of Lady Macduff

If you were on a battlefield right now, versus everything...

Name : sugarkat
Gender : Female
Age : 31
Lover or a Fighter? : Lover-ish
Fight for good or evil? : For Good
Battle Cry : Aiiiiie!
Weapon of Choice : Sawed off Shotgun
Appearance : Medieval Armour, flying in from above in a helicopter
Your Battle Cry... : Resonates throughout the field for miles
Foes slain upon first strike : 54%
What you fight : Occupying Enemy Forces
You fight... : Because no one lives forever

This fun quiz by Ferggs - Taken 54128 Times.

Credit to pecunium, who slayed 75% in his first strike.

Myers-Briggs Test Results: I'm a big, hypersensitive, disorganized cry-baby

INFP - "Questor". High capacity for caring. Emotional face to the world. High sense of honor derived from internal values. 4.4% of total population.

Free Myers-Briggs Word Choice Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Rogue of the Week, circa Aug. 4

This made me laugh so hard, I felt obliged to repost it here. Bless the editors at Willamette Week Online for their "Rogue of the Week" series and this article on the so-called Defense of Marriage Coalition.

[...] In a letter sent to the 244,587 Oregonians who signed their petition, the [Defense of Marriage Coalition, or DMC] revealed what's really at stake for kids if the amendment doesn't pass.

"Beginning in kindergarten, children will be taught that marriage between two men is the same as marriage between a man and a woman," the letter says. "Sex-education classes will be required to teach homosexuality as a legitimate option."

This was all news to Gene Evans, spokesman for the state schools. "The Oregon Department of Education couldn't require kindergarten teachers to do that even if we wanted to," Evans says. "The curriculum is set through a public process, and right now there is no marriage curriculum in any grade."

So as long as we're all making stuff up, let's round out this new curriculum with the items the DMC didn't mention:

1. Starting in preschool, girls will wear overalls and keep their hair less than two inches long at all times. Boys must, must, must accessorize.

2. In gym class, kids will work out on Stairmaster machines, with intense techno music or Melissa Etheridge playing in the background.

3. School lunch? Hummus and quiche--every day.

4. Pledge of Allegiance will be replaced by a daily rendition of Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind' to a rainbow flag every morning.

5. Girls will still take metal shop, but boys will learn floral arranging and interior design.

6. The history curriculum will begin with a deep and prolonged study of ancient Greek culture, then will jump several thousand years forward so students can learn the real, super-hot history of Lewis and Clark.

7. Music class will no longer consist of learning to play instruments. Instead, kids will memorize songs from important Broadway musicals, with a special emphasis on high kicks and jazz hands.

To which house should you be sorted?

YOU'VE BEEN SORTED INTO...


be sorted @ nimbo.net

Congratulations on making Gryffindor!

Basically, you're brave, daring, chivalrous, and pretty much ... an all around good person. Of course, some see you as a goodie-two-shoes. But hey, it's true! You're really good at winning, and normally always come out as the hero. Everybody likes you ... except, maybe, the Slytherins. You're too perfect. No, really .... You're too perfect. It's annoying to watch you win, repeatedly. Oh well. Be proud anyway.


Gryffindors to Remember:

Harry Potter
Ron Weasley
The whole Weasley family
Hermione Granger
Albus Dumbledore

Which Powerpuff Girl villian are you?

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE...

Which Lilo & Stich character are you?

you are nani @ nimbo.net

Look, you're the hard-working Nani! You work hard to take care of the ones you love. That just proves how very, very much you love them! You'd do anything for your family/friends, which explains why you hardly have any time to do your own thing. Sometimes you end up tense and stressed out because of your busy schedule, but you find comfort in knowing that you've pleased others.

Happy pill, happy sewage

This is both very funny and slightly disturbing. How much fricking Prozac are these people taking?

Prozac seeping into water supplies

The anti-depressant drug Prozac is being taken in such large quantities in Britain that it has entered water supplies.

Experts from the Environmental Agency are calling for an immediate investigation after it emerged that quantities of the medication were found in rivers and groundwater used for drinking supplies.

[...]

A recent report by the Environmental Agency concluded the Prozac, dubbed the "happy pill" in the United States where it is hugely popular for its mood-lifting qualities, could be potentially toxic. It also branded its presence a "potential concern".

Experts have also voiced concerns that the drug, which they believe has found its way into the water system from treated sewage water, could seriously damage the human reproductive system.

[...]

"We need to determine the effects of this low-level, almost continuous discharge[.]" [...]

Children

The following was in the WBUR e-mail newsletter sent by Dick Gordon.

There's a part of the Russian school story that's not being told.

It's not a big thing, and it's not conspiracy stuff.

In fact, it's very simple.

It all began, we are told, on the first day of school. That explains why there were so many people caught inside the school. See, in Russia, the first day of school is a really big thing. The parents go. They meet the teacher. There was a time when they exchanged gifts. So the attackers chose their target and their timing with that in mind.

What's more, if I can be forgiven a generalization, Russians love children. They love their own children of course, but they also love EVERYBODY ELSE'S children. It's part of that old collective thing. When I lived in Moscow, walking down the street was a dreary affair. No one made eye contact. No one smiled...unless I was with one of my young daughters.

Then complete strangers were cheery, they'd step aside at the metro or the bread store. And they weren't bashful either. If they thought for a moment that one of our girls was not well enough dressed for the cold weather...they rush right over and start adjusting a hat or mittens...smiling at the child, and castigating me for being a bad parent.

I thought about this when the children were attacked in Beslan. It will always be an inexcusable act to intentionally involve children in war and terrorism. It was just that little extra bit nastier, singling out Russian children on that day.

Details on the deaths at the school in Beslan can be found here. I'm reminded a little bit of Oklahoma City, especially by the pictures of bloody children being carried by frightened- and exhausted-looking adults. How could any cause be worth this? I will never understand.

Bubble tea spawn

A fun little tip for my friends, who can actually get to a place which sells decent bubble tea, from Poopy Z. Brite:

A fun thing to do with bubble tea is position three or four of the tapioca pearls between your teeth and lips, open your mouth just enough to let your dining partner see them, and say, "I'm spawning!"

Lazy = fat ass

One Toque Over The Line on Atkins and "carbs" and chefs:

Can somebody answer this question? What the Hell is wrong with the American dining public?

Let me get this straight. We[']re fat because we eat carbohydrates? Well, that certainly explains all the obese Asian cultures. [...]

As Chefs we have enough to deal with the general running of the kitchen and cooking food for people without mental problems. But when every third person comes in with some silly carb free craze[,] it really just fucks us up. It makes people ruin the food we create and when that happens, the gloves come off. If you really think that [...] leaving off the rice or the gnochi that we've spent an hour and half making will make you Claudia Schiffer, you're wrong. Stop blaming starches and driving Chefs crazy with your bullshit.

You might want to consider getting up and going for a walk. If you're too depressed to do that, I don't know what to say. Put down the bon bons, get the fuck up you bloated sack and get to doing something physical.

'Course, it would help if more places were like NYC (and many of its surrounding 'burbs) and had sidewalks. The main difference between my life here and my life in CT is that I have nowhere to walk except the road. I don't even want to be on the road with these insane drivers when I'm in a car. Like hell I'll give them the opportunity to hit me without the tons of steel surrounding my o-so-squishable flesh. Hardly anyone in America (outside of NYC) walks anywhere anymore. I'm thinking of starting some sort of campaign to get sidewalks and crosswalks put in every town in the country. Starting with my pathetic burg. 'Cause like hell I'm giving up my fancy-ass, Italian-monk-made pasta.

Voice from outside (looking in)or, observations on colonial politicking

A comment from crack-of-the-ass-early today by the exhausted, possibly drunk Warren Ellis regarding the RNC's keynote speaker.

Is it me, or is Zell Miller (D - Georgia) actually Satan? I haven't caught any of the RNC circus until tonight, slumped in a very large bed waiting for unconsciousness. But this Zell Miller guy is deeply
disturbing. He is currently claiming that he has knocked on the door of
George Bush's soul and found someone in. "A God-fearing man with a spine
of tempered steel." Which, I guess, is why he's gone to New York to sell
out his party on live television.
The crowd are chanting "Four more years." In between chants, I can hear a
man in the back yelling "Sieg."
___
sent from Treo/time for the sleep of fear
Posted by Warren Ellis at 03:30 AM

Tee-shirt origami

Holy hell, man. The Japanese can even make folding shirts cool.

cheers to the anal-retentive Jubilee for finding it

Sad, yet I think some of my friends might score even lower

Jenny Turpish Slapped Me: Quizzes - Better Family:

20 Questions to having a Better Family

Your score as a human being is 30.

This makes you like The Sopranos.

Holy crap. This is some serious malfunction you've got in your family. It's like baked ziti of anguish set off by a romaine salad of conflict and a nice Merlot of denial. Your parents would cheat on each other in a heartbeat if they could find anybody but each other that could tolerate them. Your siblings blow hot and cold, and by "hot" and "cold" I mean "intractably selfish" and "desperately codependent."

Don't feel bad. This is the score my family gets, and we're not bad people. Mostly.

In honor of the RNC in NYC

Thought I'd display this AP report from a little ways back in the midst of the Republican National Convention.

I believe Freudian slip is a term with which we are all familiar, if only from college Halloween parties.

Bush misspeaks, says his administration seeking 'new ways to harm our country'
Thursday, August 5, 2004
AP Breaking News

(08-05) 10:48 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
President Bush offered up a new entry for his catalog of "Bushisms" on Thursday, declaring that his administration will "never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people."

Bush misspoke as he delivered a speech at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion defense spending bill.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

No one in Bush's audience of military brass or Pentagon chiefs reacted.

The president was working his way toward a larger point. "We must never stop thinking about how best to defend our country. We must always be forward-thinking," he said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush's misstatement "just shows even the most straightforward and plain-spoken people misspeak."

"But the American people know this president speaks with clarity and conviction, and the terrorists know by his actions he means it," McClellan said.

My favorite bit is how "no one in Bush's audience ... reacted," as if that phrase was to be expected.

I'd credit the writer, but the e-mail didn't have any further info.

p.s.

Hiya back, Jubilee! Sorry if I made you late for your ride, there. It was very nice indeed to at least get to IM with you. Cross fingers we can work out the timing in October.

Hope the triangle-karma thing is working out better now, Miss Shoujo-Anime-Life.

I spy with my little eye...Morpheus and Lord Jesus!

Go read this post by Mr. Sun.

Yet another HP4 flick update

In the best bit of Harry Potter-film casting news since Alan Rickman as Professor Snape, Miranda Richardson has been cast as Rita Skeeter. So, so glad. Like Rickman, she may not look the part, but she sure as hell can act it. Perfect.

Books of the summer

A pointless list of the things which I read this past summer. This is so I can clear out my "been done read" list, which probably won't be updated much now that classes are back in session. I read a lot of crap this summer.

• Liquor Poppy Z. Brite
  much, much better than I was expecting. recommend highly to all fellow foodies.
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling, read by Stephen Fry
  
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling, read by Stephen Fry
  
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J.K. Rowling, read by Stephen Fry
  
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling, read by Stephen Fry
  
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J.K. Rowling, read by Stephen Fry
  
• Lullaby Chuck Palahniuk
  a good read, if you like Palahniuk's style
  
• The Confessions of Max Tivoli Andrew Sean Greer
  
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon
  a super-good book! read it!
  
• Remembrance of Things Past, Part Two: Within a Budding Grove, vol.2 Marcel Proust, adapted by Stéphane Heuet
  
• Remembrance of Things Past, Part Two: Within a Budding Grove, vol.1 Marcel Proust, adapted by Stéphane Heuet
  
• Remembrance of Things Past, Part One: Combray Marcel Proust, adapted by Stéphane Heuet
  
• Michael Chabon presents ... The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist
  kind of a disappointment
  
• The Tale of Despereaux Kate DiCamillo
  good kid lit
  
• Night Train To Memphis Elizabeth Peters
  
• Trojan Gold Elizabeth Peters
  
• Silhouette In Scarlet Elizabeth Peters
  
• Street of the Five Moons Elizabeth Peters
  
• Children of the Storm Elizabeth Peters
  
• Alphabet of Thorn Patricia A. McKillip
  yet again, McKillip kicks fantasy lit tushy
  
• Abhorsen Garth Nix
  this trilogy is super-good fantasy kid lit. read it!
  
• The Lord of Castle Black Steven Brust
  super-fun series! yay!
  
• and a boat-load of manga

God bless 'em for having a sense of humor

Today's the first day of the RNC. I'm sure my friends in NYC have already suffered for the stunts pulled by the protesters with more "ideals" than brains. I envy you neither the influx of Republicans or the coinciding influx of avid anti-Bushers. Still, I felt the need to show that not every any-Busher is a complete idiot, nor do they lack a sense of humor. Re: this past Sunday's events for Billionaires For Bush: RNC Extravaganza:

Billionaire Croquet Party
10am, Central Park, SE area of the Great Lawn (View Map)
500,000 anti-Bush protesters will be barred from Central Park so that we can play croquet. Part of our "Keep off the Grass" campaign to privatize Central Park. Bring your croquet sets, badminton sets, and other uppercrust lawn games. Billionaires should not gather in groups of larger than 20, as it would be awfully out of character to get arrested!

Million Billionaire March
Noon, Outside front of Plaza Hotel (59th & 5th)
Billionaires for Bush from all across America -- from Beverly Hills to Grosse Pointe to Wall Street -- will converge on the streets of New York for a massive "Million Billionaire March" to celebrate President Bush's favoritism towards the corporate elite. With a combined net worth of over $1,000,000,000,000,000, join the Million Billionaire March as we overwhelm UFPJ's tiny 250,000 person march. Limo and marching band to accompany; formal attire required.

I love the idea of protesters marching in ball gowns and white ties. How fahbulous. Anyone know if they actually pulled these off?

I am without box

What box do you get put in?




brought to you by Quizilla



Strangely enough, this is possibly the most accurate result I've ever received from an online quiz. (Yeah, actually, I do like classical music. What of it?) Cheers to BlueMedea for writing it and Angry Rabbit for pointing it out.

Yet even more fabulous English toilets

Ooh, check out the snazzy johns!

Loo in running for design award
A state-of-the-art public toilet has been shortlisted for a national architectural prize.

The design aimed to change the image of the dark, smelly public loo.

And yet, sadly, the public doesn't seem to appreciate entirely the fabulousness of their johns:

Parish council "snubs" modern loo
A public toilet shortlisted for a national architectural prize has been "snubbed" by a parish council who dislike its state-of-the-art design.

[...] In a letter sent to New Forest District Council (NFDC), Nina Ball, chairman of the parish council, described the toilets as "totally unacceptable to the village of Brockenhurst" and not "in sympathy with the surrounds".

However, they apparently already have plans for the old "dark, smelly public" johns the fabulous trophy johns have replaced:

Public convenience to become flat
A couple have applied for planning permission to convert a public convenience into a one-bedroom flat.

[...] Mr Cubby said: "By the time we've landscaped it, you won't be able to tell it was a public loo.

"The ladies is going to be a nice-sized bedroom and there will be a kitchen/living area where the gents used to be."

Fabulous!

I just loved the headline on this one:

City's fabulous loos recognised
Oxford is fighting off stiff competition in the race to win a top loo prize.

This dork's double-takes

One, Jude Law, master of pretty-boy hotness, is "an avid comic book collector."

"I still go to comic shops, Forbidden Planet, and look through back issues of the ones I love," he said. "I was a big fan of Johnny Nemo and Strange Days, Parallax, you know those? But I haven't gotten into anything recently, not like I did with [Alan Moore's] From Hell and Watchmen."

Which is just so durned cute of him, really. Care to come over and peruse my comic book collection, Mister Law? rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Two, aging master of hotness, Ralph Fiennes, is going to be playing ("say WHA?!") Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This makes sense, in a way, as the actor kind of looks like the older version of the kid who played Tom Riddle in the second film. Still, they chose a short, ugly dude (albeit, very talented) to play Sirius and chose a handsome fellow to play freakshow Voldemort. Why? Why? Why do they do this to me? I'm so confused.

Connection between these items? Ahh.... Hm. Well, I do believe that Mister Fiennes starred in an ill-fated film adaptation of Mister Law's beloved Strange Days back in the day. Ta da! Oh, and they're both freakishly pretty yet shaggable Englishmen. There.

Language question for the general readership

Voldemort. Would that be translated as Flight of Death or Flight from Death? My French is super-rusty.

I'm bored, but I can't bring myself to look at my Japanese flash cards right now. They're such a mess.

Things I have done about which none of you will give a hoot

• went to NYC Ballet's evening performance of "Russian Tribute", part of NYCB's Balanchine 100 Celebration and their summer tour (Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY)
  
• went to Prince's Musicology tour concert in Hartford, CT (present from my eldest sister) with my mom, eldest sister J-- and her son S--
  
• went to a Yankees-Toronto game with Mom and my nephew S--
  
• seen As You Like It (Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA) with my mom, my sister J--, and my nephew S--
  
• visited Six Flags The Great Escape with my nephew S--
  
• went to the Manchester United-AC Milan match at Giants Stadium with my sister J--, my nephew S--, and my mom, mere hours before J-- and S-- flew back to France
  
• finally saw Shrek 2, Spiderman 2, Troy, and Fahrenheit 9/11

The ballet was lovely, but too modern for the angry lesbian sitting in front of me. She didn't like the fact that there was so much focus on the male dancer in "Apollo," and whispered harshly throughout that dance to her milder-tempered life-partner. I thought nasty thoughts at her and she had the decency to disappear after "Apollo" until the third act. Hoo-ray for the awesome power of my mind! Go 'way, stoopid, ill-educated lesbian! And get a better haircut! (Well, at least the first part took.)

As no one I know, outside of certain members of my family, cares for Prince, I won't rave for three paragraphs on how wicked awesome his concert was in spite of the deep-set lameness of the Hartford jerks in attendance. I will note that the floor of the Hartford Civic Center was so filthy that it took great effort on my part to detach my feet from said floor. So much effort, in fact, that I couldn't jump in time to the music when prompted to do so by the Purple One. Others in attendance complained of the same. Those floors were nasty, and not in a Janet Jackson kind of way.

Both of the Shakespeare productions were very good and managed to be fresh interpretations without going too crazy in the reinterpretation. Rosalind in the Shakespeare & Company production and Hermia and Puck in the Williamstown production were the stand-out performances. I sincerely hope to see all three of them go on to bigger and brighter productions, but not too soon, as we can actually afford to see them in regional theater.

Six Flags was kind of crazy, as we went on a weekday and there were nearly no lines at all. This meant we got to ride rollercoaster after rollercoaster with nearly no break in between. By the time I'd ridden The Comet twice in succession, I was feeling exceedingly nausiated and had trouble walking. My nephew was miffed by my weakness, but, in my defense, we'd had about three-and-a-half hours solid of rollercoaster riding and I hadn't eaten yet that day. (I was attempting not to hurl the warm bottle of water I'd chugged just before getting on The Comet, in case you were wondering.)

We went to the soccer match the next day, surrounded by Liverpudlians and Irish and English and Australians. It was fun. My nephew was sorely disappointed by Man U's loss, which shouldn't have happened. I discovered that professional soccer, when played by non-Americans and seen in person, is actually rather entertaining. It's like basketball, only on a much larger court and played with the feet. It continues to be mind-numbingly boring when viewed on television. I still prefer baseball.

"The filthy monkey, it plans..."

Check out the tiny piece of story by Warren Ellis.

That sort of thing had been a local problem since I was a boy, when Farmer Hobble contracted the fabled 'terrible cock-mange' from the sheep who ate the dumped army chemicals and learned to have sex in the missionary position.

baa-aaa-aaa!

(You might also want to look here for more Ellis short stuff.)

Hecto- erm, Hulk SMASH!

Go read The Onion | Why No One Want Make Hulk 2?

Why no one appreciate daring vision of Ang Lee? Aaargh! Ang Lee genius! Maybe panels on screen gimmicky, but him try something new. When last time you try something new?! Ang Lee willing to work in unfamiliar genres. Him brave like Hulk. Hulk wish for him to work on Hulk 2, if he willing, but Hulk understand if he not want to. Ang Lee like Hulk: He not stay in one place for too long. Him working on gay western right now. That prove Hulk's point. If him not do it, maybe Darren Aronofsky or David Gordon Green. Someone with unique vision that not so stuck on action clichés. First studio exec to suggest Joel Schumacher get smashed!

Happy birthday

As my birthday present, my mom took me to see the Yankees play Toronto today (well, now it's yesterday). It was a brilliant present, as the game was very good. First, I got to see El Duque pitch in his second game since his return. Second, Ted Lilly was pitching for the Blue Jays, and I've liked Lilly for a while now, in spite of his dodgy control when he pitched for the Yankees. (I'm still pissed off about that crap trade of Lilly for Jeff "I Suck" Weaver. Bleh-phooie Weaver. At least Lilly could earn a W on a reliable basis.) El Duque struck out ten, though he struggled a bit. Lilly was solid, though he had a shaky beginning. Lilly had a no-hitter for about, what, four innings. Neither of them allowed a run into the seventh, when relief stepped in to take over the mutual shut-out.

Very exciting, in spite of lack of Jeter. My nephew managed to spot Jeter on the bench using my binoculars, which was sweet of him, but I wish I could have seen Jeter play, especially since we were seated to the left of home plate (heh heh heh, cackles the pervy Yankees fan).

At any rate, Lilly and El Duque were quite good and the bullpens both held so the game went nil-nil until the bottom of the 9th, with two out, and the three of us hoping the game wouldn't go too far into extra innings as we were all very hungry. BAM! Ruben Sierra, one of my mom's favorites, hit a walk-off home run and the game was over in very dramatic fashion, with a nice, low score.

Huzzah! The Yankees yet again give me a very lovely birthday present, winning 1-0, even making sure my favored Lilly doesn't get the L. Cheers, boys!

But...but...no one's seen that one!

"You're like Shizuku, from Whisper of the Heart!

"You're very creative and enjoy reading. But you can't just live in fantasy and books forever -- you have to have dreams of your own. You do have talent! It's just a matter of finding and polishing it. School may be boring but it can give you the knowledge you need to accomplish your dreams."

Which Miyazaki Heroine Are You?
Brought to you by bobmink.com

Void

Why can't I open my comments? I just want to see what people had to say, but I click and I click and nothing happens. Why does nothing happen? Does the Internet hate me? I think the Internet hates me. Hate hate hate. Why does it hate me? Is it because I take too many of those (stupid) quizzes at Quizzilla and Memegen? Is it because I take those (stupid) quizzes at Quizilla and Memegen and then post the results in my blog? Is it because I occasionally link a lot in my posts, like the one below? Is it because I'm on the ass end of the Negative Karma Sink(tm): Internet Version 2.0? Is it because I'm a brunette and gentlenets prefer blondes? Why? Why can't I open my comments? Why?

Returning to Goblet of Fire

Went to my sister's, got sick, did some shopping. Came back to find this stuff on the CBBC website about casting announcements for the fourth HP flick:

• conflicted Barty Crouch, Sr.: Roger Lloyd-Pack, who looks the part, really
  
  
• evil Barty Crouch, Jr.: David Tennant
  
  
• Durmstrang Headmaster, Professor Igor Karkaroff: Pedja Bjelac from Belgrade
  
  
• Amos Diggory (Cedric's dad): Jeff Rawle

I'm not sure about the choice of directors, as Mike Newell is responsible for celluloid crap like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Mona Lisa Smile. Not sure if that's an improvement over the jerk who helmed cinematic fecal sludge like Mrs. Doubtfire and Nine Months.

("Who?" you say? Well, look them characters up here.)

Other newish members of the HP cast listed (and linked) here.

Jenny Turpish Slapped Me: Quizzes - Better Person

It stopped raining and I cleaned the litter box, so I'll just post this quiz and then go for a walk.

It makes sense on no sleep. It does.

I wonder how SheepBoy would score?

Go take Jenny Turpish Slapped Me: Quizzes - Better Person and see how you rate compared to this little trooper.

20 Questions to being a Better Person


Your score as a human being is 88.5.


You are close to ideal. So close, and yet so far. Amusing, really, to watch someone squirm so close to the vaunted ranks of perfection and still remain so very, very ordinary. It is all one can do to keep one's ingratiating smile from polluting one's perfect face.

Actually, one recommends you take the quiz again and lie a little.

Jenny Turpish Slapped Me: Quizzes - Better Personality

Severely non-flattering personality quiz from Jenny Turpish Slapped Me:

Wackiness: 34/100
Rationality: 62/100
Constructiveness: 56/100
Leadership: 44/100


You are an SRCF--Sober Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you a White House staffer. You are a tremendous asset to any employer, cool under pressure, productive, and a great communicator. You feel the need to right wrongs, take up slack, mediate disputes and keep the peace. This comes from a secret fear that business can't go on without you--or worse, that it can.

If you have a weakness, it is your inability to say 'no.' While your peers respect you, they find it difficult to resist taking advantage of your positive attitude and eagerness to take on work. You depend on a good manager to keep you from sinking under the weight and burning out.

Meme crazy at 5:30 in the morning

This is what happens when I can't frickin' sleep at night and it's raining so I can't go for a walk.

Your Husband Generator by Lady_Galadriel
Name
Your Husband Is
You Met	a taxi - you shared the cab
You Have	7 children
You Live	China
In	a large house
You And Your Partner Are Best Known For	your GIANT shopping sprees
Created with the ORIGINAL MemeGen!

Colormeme turquoise

Color meme (care of KevMoTown):

1. Copy and paste this: [font color="username"][b]username[/b][/font] into your blog.
2. Replace "username" with your web handle.
3. Replace [square] brackets with html-type brackets.


Et voilà: sugarkat
Gee. Almost as obnoxious as I am.

Yet, little trooper sugar kat, as you can see, is true blue.

Dear weeping Jesus, it can't be!

Oh, yes it can, little trooper. Oh, yes it can.

So now that you've been properly warned, you may enter, and experience the lameness that is WIL WHEATON DOT NET.ENTER
I love you, Wil Wheaton! Let's be friends!

EXIT
You're lame, Wil Wheaton. I hated Wesley, and I hate you.

- excerpt from Wil Wheaton's blog explaination

Yes, that Wil Wheaton. Apparently, he is one of the contributors to the VH1 Best Week Ever blog. Annoying Ensign Wesley. Geezie-creezie.

Whedon Quote of the Week

It was amazing. Four hours at a stretch, great scholars and a great teacher completely prying open the text of Hamlet. I mean, what more fun can there be? ... Spoken like a man who never had sex in high school ...

- Joss Whedon on studying for A level English

Does anybody care about the (mis)adventures of little trooper sugar kat?

Just wondering if anyone is actually reading this blog. Like, anyone at all. I'd be vastly surprised if there were strangers reading this. I'd also be surprised if a lot of people I know were reading this. I just want to know if ANYONE is reading this.

I get responses to my photos on my flog, and I get e-mail from Fotolog telling me the number of times my pictures have been viewed, so I know I should keep updating there. Should I bother here? Please post in the comments to reply. If anyone is there, that is.