Saturday, July 03, 2010
Hurrah, hurrah!
The Babe has been away all week in DC on business but she's back! I just picked her up from the airport. The house is spick and also span, many laundry are done, I've polished the granite in the kitchen, changed catboxes, swept, made the bed, and generally straightened up. While I truthfully expect no compliments for this--it's only fair that I do all of this and keep things clean--I think she will find very little to be perturbed about, which will be nice for her after a very long day of cross-country flight.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Vuvuzela concert
Ravel's "Bolero" on the vuvuzela is rather funny. I like the stuffy German presentation that accompanies it.
Tree lobsters!
Who ever thought that a hatred of small, smelly fish filets would serve as the basis for a comic on religious psychosis? Well, not I, which is why I'm not writing Tree Lobsters.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Better than English
Better than English is a fun site that collects non-English words that are of great use for describing a concept.
My favorite in what's out there so far is the first: Drachenfutter, a German word that translates literally as "dragon’s food." The website says "Drachenfutter are gifts that a husband brings to his wife after pissing her off. It is usually an attempt to avoid her wrath by giving her chocolate, flowers or other small gifts."
If you have an example of a non-English word that sums up a concept, feel free to submit it.
My favorite in what's out there so far is the first: Drachenfutter, a German word that translates literally as "dragon’s food." The website says "Drachenfutter are gifts that a husband brings to his wife after pissing her off. It is usually an attempt to avoid her wrath by giving her chocolate, flowers or other small gifts."
If you have an example of a non-English word that sums up a concept, feel free to submit it.
Joke du jour
This is from Phyllis Beaty of Magnolia Studios.
Jack decided to go skiing with his buddy, Bob. So they loaded up Jack's minivan and headed north. After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard.
They pulled into a nearby farm and asked the attractive lady who answered the door if they could spend the night.
"I realize it's terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I'm recently widowed," she explained. "I'm afraid the neighbors will talk if I let you stay in my house."
"Don't worry," Jack said. "We'll be happy to sleep in the barn, and if the weather breaks, we'll be gone at first light." The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night.
Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they got on their way. They enjoyed a great weekend of skiing.
But about nine months later, Jack got an unexpected letter from an attorney.
It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the ski weekend.
He dropped in on his friend Bob and asked, "Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up north about 9 months ago?"
"Yes, I do," said Bob
"Did you, er, happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?"
"Well, um, yes!" Bob said, a little embarrassed about being found out, "I have to admit that I did."
"And did you happen to give her my name instead of telling her your name?"
Bob's face turned beet red and he said, "Yeah, look, I'm sorry, buddy, I'm afraid I did. Why do you ask?"
"She just died and left me everything."
(And you thought the ending would be different, didn't you?)
Jack decided to go skiing with his buddy, Bob. So they loaded up Jack's minivan and headed north. After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard.
They pulled into a nearby farm and asked the attractive lady who answered the door if they could spend the night.
"I realize it's terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I'm recently widowed," she explained. "I'm afraid the neighbors will talk if I let you stay in my house."
"Don't worry," Jack said. "We'll be happy to sleep in the barn, and if the weather breaks, we'll be gone at first light." The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night.
Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they got on their way. They enjoyed a great weekend of skiing.
But about nine months later, Jack got an unexpected letter from an attorney.
It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the ski weekend.
He dropped in on his friend Bob and asked, "Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up north about 9 months ago?"
"Yes, I do," said Bob
"Did you, er, happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?"
"Well, um, yes!" Bob said, a little embarrassed about being found out, "I have to admit that I did."
"And did you happen to give her my name instead of telling her your name?"
Bob's face turned beet red and he said, "Yeah, look, I'm sorry, buddy, I'm afraid I did. Why do you ask?"
"She just died and left me everything."
(And you thought the ending would be different, didn't you?)
"Finland, Finland, Finland, the country where I quite long to be...."
I was just listening to the Spamalot soundtrack again the other day, which has this song. And it looks like it's got something to back it up.
Finland has made it a legal right that every citizen should have broadband access. Every citizen has 1Mbps access and the government is working on getting 100Mbps by 2015, saying that Internet access is a basic requirement of daily life.
Finland has made it a legal right that every citizen should have broadband access. Every citizen has 1Mbps access and the government is working on getting 100Mbps by 2015, saying that Internet access is a basic requirement of daily life.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Nine years ago today
Nine years ago today, I proposed to The Babe ("noon-thirty on June 30" is her mnemonic). I'm mighty glad she said "Yes."
Calling all rockhounds
I drove up to Portland on Sunday to attend a book signing and celebrate the release of Garret Romaine's latest book, Rockhounding Idaho. This book is his latest volume of interesting tips and locations for rockhounding in the Pacific Northwest, following Gem Trails of Washington and Gem Trails of Oregon. All three of these books are well-researched and interesting. If you are at all interested in rockhounding or you have a friend or relative in the PNW who likes getting out and about, consider getting them one or even all three volumes.
You can make your own butterbeer
There's an article on MSNBC.com that gives you a recipe for how to make your own butterbeer. The article starts: "No need to travel to Hogsmeade (or to Universal Orlando) to get a taste of Harry Potter's butterbeer. We've created an easy version of the formerly fictional drink made famous by the young wizard."
It's a lovely, tasty recipe that looks like just about everything a diabetic should not have. I think we're going to try this when the weather turns cold.
It's a lovely, tasty recipe that looks like just about everything a diabetic should not have. I think we're going to try this when the weather turns cold.
Quote du jour
"Twilight" is like soccer. They run around for 2 hours, nobody scores, and its billion fans insist you just don't understand. --Brett Erlich
OMG, it's Transformer Owl!!!!
Watch this clip all the way through. This owl is capable of more than one transformation. I don't know what species of owl this actually is, but it's got game!
Altoids, lots of 'em
I was shopping at Costco yesterday and I gave in to temptation: I bought a dozen tins of peppermint Altoids. Well, they were really cheap--$1 a tin--and I do like them. I have them here in the office and they'll last, too. I'd love to be able to buy ginger Altoids in bulk, too, but these will definitely suffice.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Silly joke du jour
Thanks to NephirNuit on Twitter for this one.
Q. How do you kill a circus?
A. Go for the juggler.
Q. How do you kill a circus?
A. Go for the juggler.
Quote du jour
"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be even more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." -Albert Einstein
Catalog Living
Last week, I posted an article about UnhappyHipsters.com. Alyssa Fox pointed out a similar (and equally funny) blog this afternoon: Catalog Living. Catalog Living is a new blog from Molly Erdman, a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, and comedian. Here's an example of what you'll find on the blog:
"After achieving his life’s work of balancing the wicker ball on the radio, Terrence carefully removed his hat and went for his final swim."
Catalog Living. Go check it out.
"After achieving his life’s work of balancing the wicker ball on the radio, Terrence carefully removed his hat and went for his final swim."
Catalog Living. Go check it out.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Repost: Drowning doesn't look like drowning
This is vitally important information to know. What we think of as drowning from TV and movies isn't anything like what drowning really looks like.
The original post appeared here.
The original post appeared here.
Futurama opening captions
I'd always wanted to know what all the Futurama captions were and now I do. Someone's taken all of them and done a video mashup with the Futurama theme in the background.
Of course, now that the show's back on the air, who knows what will happen?
Of course, now that the show's back on the air, who knows what will happen?
Repost: 6 slacker behaviors that are good for you
Cracked.com has really fascinating and funny articles. Here's one worth reading: it's about six different behaviors that are actually good for you, such as smoking weed (which appears to prevent cancer and Alzheimer's), sleeping in late (ensures you're getting enough), and wasting time on the Internet (which keeps your mind alive).
Quote du jour
"Most people have some sort of religion. At least they know which church they're staying away from." --John Erskine
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Art: The Making of Ephemicropolos
Very interesting piece of art. It's a city made with 100,000 staples.
Comments and links to other videos by Peter Root, the artist, are here.
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