Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Can anyone explain to me this blog? It's one of a bunch of blogs that do nothing but post big blocks of random text referencing each other. It seems to be a scheme to fake out the blog-search engines - artificially inflating their scores - but since there's nothing to see when you go to the actual blog it seems pretty pointless.
0 comments
0 comments
Monday, January 30, 2006
The Mind Boggles
In a professional IT newsgroup I subscribe to, a newcomer (not a native English speaker) was pilloried today for using the words dude and bud. One regular was offended by his use of "street slang". Another said use of those words in New England could lose you your job. So, gangstas on the streets of Boston are calling each other "dude" now?
----------
Arizona Opera put on a wonderful production of Semele this past weekend. Wonderful coloratura singing (or is it bel canto in that period?) and hilarious pop art staging. Stephanie Blythe's Juno reminded me a hellava lot of Pearl Forrester. In a good way.
0 comments
In a professional IT newsgroup I subscribe to, a newcomer (not a native English speaker) was pilloried today for using the words dude and bud. One regular was offended by his use of "street slang". Another said use of those words in New England could lose you your job. So, gangstas on the streets of Boston are calling each other "dude" now?
----------
Arizona Opera put on a wonderful production of Semele this past weekend. Wonderful coloratura singing (or is it bel canto in that period?) and hilarious pop art staging. Stephanie Blythe's Juno reminded me a hellava lot of Pearl Forrester. In a good way.
0 comments
Friday, January 27, 2006
So I'm vacillating right now on whether I'll be going to Consonance this year... it's always a fun filk convention, and I'd like to attend Cindy McQuillan's memorial. OTOH I'm kind of sick of travelling for awhile - I'd like to spend some time at home - and with next week's business trip to MSP I'll probably be even sicker of it by the time March rolls around. Not to mention that it's too close to the date now to use my VISA mileage.
------------
"You can see the sirens flashing in the background."
-- that's what one of Channel 12's newscasters said earlier this week. No, you can't see the sirens flashing in the background, not unless this is the "Girls Gone Wild" version of the Odyssey. Police lights flash. Police sirens make a woo-woo sound.
0 comments
------------
"You can see the sirens flashing in the background."
-- that's what one of Channel 12's newscasters said earlier this week. No, you can't see the sirens flashing in the background, not unless this is the "Girls Gone Wild" version of the Odyssey. Police lights flash. Police sirens make a woo-woo sound.
0 comments
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
To Dine or Not to Dine
Saturday night I went to a wonderful production of Hamlet at the Mesa Arts Center. Very sparse staging, but the acting was marvellous, and the acoustics in the Repertory theater v.good; I could hear all the dialogue from the balcony.
Beforehand I went to this great foodie restaurant called Bak'd. It's a sandwich-type eatery by day, but evenings they offer a prix fixe dinner by reservation only. You choose from a meat entree - or let them know you're a vegetarian when you call - the chef interviews you for any allergies or dietary restrictions - and the four courses that follow are a complete surprise. (How does sweet-potato-stuffed portobello on a bed of braised arigula and asian pears sound?) At $40 this is dirt cheap for a foodie place, and I'm betting they'll be packed as soon as word starts to get out.
Downtown Mesa is still pretty dead by 5:30. Some antique shops and a bookstore were open; closed by the time I left the restaurant. I remember back in '83 having a brief stint as a security guard at a store downtown, and everything pretty much closed down at sunset. The Dunkin' Donuts was the only place open past midnight. Mesans just aren't used to the idea of leaving the house at night to do stuff.
0 comments
Saturday night I went to a wonderful production of Hamlet at the Mesa Arts Center. Very sparse staging, but the acting was marvellous, and the acoustics in the Repertory theater v.good; I could hear all the dialogue from the balcony.
Beforehand I went to this great foodie restaurant called Bak'd. It's a sandwich-type eatery by day, but evenings they offer a prix fixe dinner by reservation only. You choose from a meat entree - or let them know you're a vegetarian when you call - the chef interviews you for any allergies or dietary restrictions - and the four courses that follow are a complete surprise. (How does sweet-potato-stuffed portobello on a bed of braised arigula and asian pears sound?) At $40 this is dirt cheap for a foodie place, and I'm betting they'll be packed as soon as word starts to get out.
Downtown Mesa is still pretty dead by 5:30. Some antique shops and a bookstore were open; closed by the time I left the restaurant. I remember back in '83 having a brief stint as a security guard at a store downtown, and everything pretty much closed down at sunset. The Dunkin' Donuts was the only place open past midnight. Mesans just aren't used to the idea of leaving the house at night to do stuff.
0 comments
Saturday, January 21, 2006
There's a Middle Eastern grocery/deli in Tempe called Princess, just east of the 101 on Broadway. Best. Babba Ganouj. Ever.
-----------
Spend a few hours this afternoon at the Songwriters' Gathering at Encanto. One of the 10-minute sets was a funny guy named Chris Frazer. His material reminds me a little of Ookla the Mok.
I premiered my new song, Merry Solstice, Rhiannon Evenstar, during my set, and it went over really well with the audience - better than I expected, since it's one of those songs that's a little too personal and off-beat to be commercial.
-------------
"Bobby" now has a permanent name; may I introduce Frodo, here travelling incognito as Mr. Underfuton.
Amongst the other names I considered were Bommie, Twinkletoes, Pyewacket, and Kieron the Conqueror.
And yes, he is spending more and more time not under things.
0 comments
-----------
Spend a few hours this afternoon at the Songwriters' Gathering at Encanto. One of the 10-minute sets was a funny guy named Chris Frazer. His material reminds me a little of Ookla the Mok.
I premiered my new song, Merry Solstice, Rhiannon Evenstar, during my set, and it went over really well with the audience - better than I expected, since it's one of those songs that's a little too personal and off-beat to be commercial.
-------------
"Bobby" now has a permanent name; may I introduce Frodo, here travelling incognito as Mr. Underfuton.
Amongst the other names I considered were Bommie, Twinkletoes, Pyewacket, and Kieron the Conqueror.
And yes, he is spending more and more time not under things.
0 comments
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
How did this happen? My evenings were supposedly open all week, and now I'm needing to make some time to rehearse for the Songwriters' Gathering on Saturday. I've written a new song that's kind of on different pieces of paper right now, with a mental note to transpose up a whole step and capo 2 on top of that. Having the whole song on a single (or two consecutive) pages with no transpositions would be nice.
------------
One of the problems with going out of town over December is that I wind up playing catch-up in January, which is also when I need to be starting seedlings for the spring vegetable garden. I can't use the spare room for seed starting right now because I've still got a chicken cat using it as his refuge, so I've got this setup jerry-rigged on the back porch. The outlet's not working, so I've had to rig an extension cord through an opened window, and I don't think the mat warmer is making much progress against the cold temps we've been having. Oh well, if they don't germinate this year I'll just go out and buy vegetable plants in Feb.
0 comments
------------
One of the problems with going out of town over December is that I wind up playing catch-up in January, which is also when I need to be starting seedlings for the spring vegetable garden. I can't use the spare room for seed starting right now because I've still got a chicken cat using it as his refuge, so I've got this setup jerry-rigged on the back porch. The outlet's not working, so I've had to rig an extension cord through an opened window, and I don't think the mat warmer is making much progress against the cold temps we've been having. Oh well, if they don't germinate this year I'll just go out and buy vegetable plants in Feb.
0 comments
Monday, January 16, 2006
I'm seeing more and more of Bobby these days; though he's still afraid to come too close to me, he and Savannah have been playing, chasing each other around the house in the evening. This morning he even cried for his breakfast - at a safe distance - then hid under the futon when I put his food down and continued to cry until I shut the door to the spare room. So I wrote him this song:
He is brave Sir Robin, come out from 'neath the bed;
He was not afraid to eat, no, brave Sir Robin!
He was not afraid to be fed with lots of tasty food,
Brave, brave, brave, brave sir Robin!
Well, it beats having the "Bobby" song from Company running through my head.
Peasie is just generally annoyed and has resumed hissing at Savannah for no better reason than she's generally the nearest cat handy.
--------------
This coming Saturday I have a 10-minute slot at the AZ Songwriters' Gathering in Phoenix. I haven't gotten the schedule in the mail yet, but Tom saw one at Fidd's last week and says I'm on sometime after 11:00 (AM). It's in Encanto Park in Phoenix. Usually they have 3-4 workshops and at least one showcase track made up of 10-minute mini-sets by local songwriters.
-------------
I will have my online photo albums from my trip up by the end of the month. Yes, I will.
1 comments
He is brave Sir Robin, come out from 'neath the bed;
He was not afraid to eat, no, brave Sir Robin!
He was not afraid to be fed with lots of tasty food,
Brave, brave, brave, brave sir Robin!
Well, it beats having the "Bobby" song from Company running through my head.
Peasie is just generally annoyed and has resumed hissing at Savannah for no better reason than she's generally the nearest cat handy.
--------------
This coming Saturday I have a 10-minute slot at the AZ Songwriters' Gathering in Phoenix. I haven't gotten the schedule in the mail yet, but Tom saw one at Fidd's last week and says I'm on sometime after 11:00 (AM). It's in Encanto Park in Phoenix. Usually they have 3-4 workshops and at least one showcase track made up of 10-minute mini-sets by local songwriters.
-------------
I will have my online photo albums from my trip up by the end of the month. Yes, I will.
1 comments
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
For crying out loud...
This woman claimed that she wasn't abusing the HOV lane because she was pregnant, and the fetus counted as a second person. While I appreciate the consideration that the fetus showed for reducing pollution and conserving petroleum by carpooling with its mother and not driving to work separately, SHUT UP!!!!
0 comments
This woman claimed that she wasn't abusing the HOV lane because she was pregnant, and the fetus counted as a second person. While I appreciate the consideration that the fetus showed for reducing pollution and conserving petroleum by carpooling with its mother and not driving to work separately, SHUT UP!!!!
0 comments
Sunday, January 08, 2006
A couple more images; first the ship Tui Tai seen from Qamea Island in Fiji.
The second is a sea turtle munching coral on the Great Barrier Reef.
So what's been happening since I got back, other than trying to catch up on sleep? Well, I'd been thinking about this even before my trip, and finally decided to do it: I called Savannah's foster mom and asked if she still had any of her siblings. The idea is that if Savannah could play with a kitten her age it would take some of the pressure off Peaseblossom. Their relationship has mellowed, but playtime is still a point of contention. Well, she had one brother, and he's a chicken. He disappeared his first day in the house. Frantic, I finally found him behind the refrigerator. Since then I've been keeping him in the spare room, where he hides under the futon by day and rattles the door at night, whereupon Savannah runs to the door and ma
kes "let's play" noises, and he hisses back. This afternoon I let him out, where he's mostly been moving from one hiding spot to the next.
His foster name is "Bobby", and I refuse to rename him until he comes out and displays some personality. So far I've only been impressed by his ability to disappear.
0 comments
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Home again, home again, jiggity jig
A lot of people who go to Australia get their pictures taken holding a koala. How many get them taken frolicking with wombats?
I'll be posting a few more photos here as I get them sorted out and get re-adapted to Arizona time. Man, the back yard's a mess - all the leaves fell off the ash tree while I was gone.
Steve Irwin wasn't actually at the Australia Zoo while I was, but his presence was everywhere...
0 comments
