|
Musical Day Cookout
|
May. 31st, 2008 @ 07:17 am
|
|---|
|
What the Musical Day Cookout is:
Music. Food. Friends. Family. Music.
You listed "music" twice, where you gettin' all that thar music-stuff from anywho?
You. Me. Them. Everybody.
Bring your acoustic instrument - that lectricity stuff is limited, and ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) aequitaslevitas hogs most of it - and come and play those jazz, funk, and progressive metal standards - like "Partially Written Tune in Some Key or Another" and "We Don't Have a Title for this Song" - along with the Lefty Valdez Band. Having fun is mandatory, musical abilities are optional, and percussionists would be nifty and if enough of them show up I can set up a fenced-in area for them to run around in while they're not playing.
Further details:
When? That'd be the 'today' of this entry: Saturday, May 31st. As much as I try to get things started early so clean up and shut down happens before dark, that never happens. What time will the event be? If you show up before 9am, maybe 10am, you'll probably sit out on the porch for a bit. Other than that, I'll fire up the grill around 1pmish or so. Music will start as soon as we drag all the gear down to the front porch, unless we decide to play up in aequitaslevitas' room or unless someone starts playing something earlier than that.
We'll have all kinds of food, all the usual suspects (burgers, dogs, as well as sausages and/or chicken) and maybe some other stuff like ribs. Use the signup sheet (that'd be the comments for this 'ere post) to indicate whether you'll be coming, what instrument you'll be bringing, and what kind of salad-snack-drink-dessert-so-on you'll be contributing to the feasting. In that way, you'll be able to see what others have and can coordinate so everyone brings something chocolate or something. =)
If you need directions - or want to verify that I'm in the part of PA that isn't a day away from you - feel free to e-mail me (ellyssian at Google's e-mail service). Feeling:  amused |
|
Recently Heard: Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
|
May. 19th, 2008 @ 07:18 am
|
|---|
|
Claude Bolling: Suite for Flute & Jazz Piano Trio
I expect I first heard this in 1976 very shortly after it was first released. I think my dad bought a copy for patrixa, who tended to listen to it, and thus it became a part of my musical heritage. It's funny how, listening to it now for the first time in maybe 15 years, maybe more, the melody is so familiar - Jean-Pierre Rampal's flute playing, dancing around flightily over the piano trio of Bolling, Max Hediguer, and Marcel Sabiani. Even though I recognized that this music was meaningful to me when I first put this on my wish list (birthday's coming up, subtle hint-hint! =) , I didn't realize until now that this is probably where my interest in the traditional jazz trio came from. I know I really enjoyed the rare trio performing at Musikfest, and was certainly disappointed when I couldn't find one, but I hadn't really thought about where I picked up on them before. As a bass player, I've been focusing on them more - as a guitar player, I wanted to turn it into a quartet or kick the pianist out, but now I'm quite satisfied with them.
This disc is considered by many to be the first classical crossover - something quite popular now, in fact possibly the only popular classical music out these days is that which is done with a hip hop beat or what have you. Jean-Pierre sticks with the classical themes, while the jazz crew does there thing and it blends so well. Folks who like Ian Anderson's flute noodlings over blues (as in Tull's Bach's Bouree ) might find something similar here, albeit without all the overblowing and effects.
This is great music to sit and listen to on a quiet Sunday morning, or to have as a background soundtrack for a dinner party or other event. Of course, to top it off, there's also the highly suggestive cover, with the flute in bed with piano, with the flute contentedly blowing smoke rings...Feeling:  tired |
|
Twelve out of Thirteen!
|
May. 19th, 2008 @ 06:56 am
|
|---|
|
Not bad for the episode 12! =)
Today's game will be up tonight - stay tuned, and don't forget, the only thing that counts is answering them correctly. It's not a game of timing, so don't hold back even if you see others have already been credited with a correct guess!
Well, except for the leftover quote number 3 from this episode... that'll be a Sudden Death quote, and timing counts on that! =)
Triple Quotes
1. "A rooster? In New York *City*?" -- Love at First Bite , guessed by nolawitch"Ah, Cindy Sondheim, you should have lived in an earlier age. Things were simpler, less complicated. Do you know how many women had nervous breakdowns in the fourteenth century? Two."
2. "You gotta cock it first, moron!" -- Judge Dredd , guessed by celticboy"The innocent only exist until they inevitably become perpatrators. Guilt or innocence is a matter of timing."
4. "Love is a dung hill, Betty, and I am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow." -- Rob Roy , guessed by nin_manA: "You are here on a matter of honor. I am here to see that you settle it honorably. There will be no back-stabbing, you will not throw your blades, nor will you use weapons other than those agreed. If quarter should be asked..."
B: "No quarter will be asked."
C: "Or given."
5. "The only shit to cut around here is you. Now I had it in me that you was another 'Lightning Boy', but you just a chicken-ass. Chicken-ass, chicken shit!" -- Crossroads , guessed by dangerdean"They find out I can walk, they take away my Pontiac!"
Double Quotes:
6. "Back mortal, before we strike you with a lightning bolt!" -- The Road to El Dorado , guessed by blackbyrd2"All right. Here's the plan. In the dead of night, you and I grab some provisions, hijack one of those... one of those longboats... and then, we... row back to Spain like there's no mañana!"
Single Quotes:
7. "Yes. Yes. Oh, yes. Then you will worship me! Me. Oh, my soldiers. How long I have thirsted to be a god among mortal men." -- The Black Cauldron , guessed by dreamingcrow
8. "And now, people... and now, people... When I woke up this mornin', I heard a distubin' sound. I said "When I woke up this mornin', I heard a disturbin' sound!" What I heard... was the jingle-janglin'... of a thousand lost souls! I'm talkin' 'bout the souls of mortal men and women, departed of a good life. Wait a minute! Those lost angry souls, roamin' unseen on the earth, seekin' to find life... they'll not find... Because it's too late! Tooooo late yeah! Too late for they'll never see again... the life they choose not to follow. Alright! Alright! Don't be lost when your time comes! For the day of the lord cometh... as a thief in the night! [singing] YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH! Can I get an AMEN?" - The Blues Brothers  , guessed by dreamingcrow, nin_man, nea852
9. "What a dangerous precedent. What if there more heroes like him? What if courage and imagination became everyday mortal qualities? What will become of us?" -- Clash of the Titans , guessed by dreamingcrow, nea852
10. "I need you three to shuffle her loose the mortal coil, so that we may obtain our final glory. Are we all on the same page?" -- Dogma , guessed by nolawitch, malinaldarose, dangerdean, nea852
11. "Bingo, they're immortal. So the first thing we gotta do is make the little sunspot... mortal." -- Hercules , guessed by malinaldarose
12. "Remember, thou art mortal. Remember, thou art mortal. Remember, thou art mortal. Remember, thou art mortal." -- History of the World Part I , guessed by nightwind292
13. "I choose a mortal life." -- The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring , guessed by wintersweet, malinaldarose, nea852Feeling: tired |
|
Goose: It's What's For Dinner
|
May. 16th, 2008 @ 06:22 pm
|
|---|
|
Okay, by feeding these turkeys (pun quite intended, thank you), we've trained Canadian geese to forget how to migrate and to sit around beautiful parks, ponds, and streams, where they can aggressively attack toddlers who aren't feeding them bread fast enough. Not to mention the mess they make.
So, what's it going to take before hunting restrictions on this over-population are removed, and the Kissmas goose can cease being a thing of the past?
Maybe when the kamikaze tendencies become more apparent?
(For the record, I've never dined on goose, to my knowledge, I'm just curious. And often annoyed at the mess they make. And I still haven't forgiven them for attacking aequitaslevitas when he was four years old. Poor kid was so traumatized, he never asked me to take him to feed the geese again. Although we did have to admire the father with the pickup truck, who hoisted his equally assailed son into the back of his pickup truck, safe from snapping beaks of death, to continue the distribution process.)Feeling:  curious Hearing: Hugo Alfven - Kantat vid Reformationsfesten i Uppsala 1917, Op. 36 |
|
Brandonisms
|
May. 16th, 2008 @ 04:40 pm
|
|---|
|
Yep. That's my boy.
Brings me a book to read to him, right? Lots of kids do that.
Anywho.
He brings me this.
Yep, that's m' boy!Feeling: amused |
| » Recently Heard: The Fairy Queen |
|---|
Purcell - The Fairy Queen / Hunt, Pierard, Bickley, Crook, Padmore, Wilson-Johnson, Wistreich, Schütz Choir, LCP, Norrington
While I have a number of operas in my collection, most are from the romantic period - to be fair, early, middle, and late romantic works are represented, but not a single Mozartian or Beethovian or Otherwisian (save two more modern pieces, one an oratorio by Paul McCartney, the other a vampire opera with a heavily synthesized orchestra).
Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen is definitely a first for me - an opera from the Baroque period. I've heard the overture before, and it is a beautiful work - fits in nicely with Bach and Haydn and other harpsichord-centric pieces of that era.
On first listen, without paying the libretto any mind, some Mozart operas come to mind, or perhaps it would be better to stick with works of the period. Upon paying attention, though, a difference becomes clear: no Latin, Italian, or German for the libretto: it's in English.
Now I've gone on record for having a dislike of using English in a libretto - it often shows off that music is the strong point and the words are, well, somewhere between puerile and pure cheese. The writing here seems Shakespearian, and I suppose there's good reason for that: the text, while not transcribed from, was heavily influenced by A Midsummer Night's Dream . In this case, it's presented as a series of entertainments for Titania and, later, the mortals.
Although there are indications that some of the quaintness of Shakespeare's language was stripped away as a side-effect of the Restoration, there's enough that made it through - likely on account of the language of that day still seeming antiquated by todays standards - that it deflects some of the corniness that might otherwise come through.
The first line that really caught my ear was "Hold you damn'd tormenting Punk, I do confess-" "What, what?" "I'm Drunk, as I live Boys, I'm Drunk." And you just can't get any better than that.
Well, except when the chorus comes in a short while later with: "Pinch him, pinch him for his Crimes, His Nonsense, and his Dogrel Rhymes."
May. 16th, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
|
| » Recently Heard: Quiet Riot |
|---|
Quiet Riot: Quiet Riot
Funny how my favorite Quiet Riot album misses out on all the original members - no, Carlos Cavazo and Frankie Banali, who play guitar and drum on most of the Slade tunes you've heard of, are not original. Kevin DuBrow was the only original member during the days of Mama Weer All Crazee Now (Slade's original ) and Cum On Feel The Noize (Slade's original ), although I believe Rudy Sarzo had joined QR back when Randy Rhoads still played guitar with them...
Anywho, no DuBrow on this, making it far less of a Quiet Riot album and more of... something else. Vocalist Paul Shortino came in from Rough Cutt - a band that didn't impress me in the least. Color me very surprised when Stay With Me Tonight came up on the big screen at Narsyphilis back in the day (which was a Wednesday). Shortino brings in a very bluesy sound, and if he ever used that approach in Cutt, I missed it. This was almost a David Coverdale-like feel, and it was great stuff. The whole album carries more of this vibe than of anything remotely resembling the rest of the band's catalog.
While I understand getting QR back together again under DuBrow - it was his band (well, it was Randy & Kelly's band, but DuBrow was their first vocalist...) and that's what I think of as Quiet Riot. Even though this album has Carlos on guitar and Frankie on drums, and even though both of those guys get co-writing credits on every tune, there is nothing on this that would make me think the same guys are involved.
In fact, I'll go further and go back on what I opened up with to say this is absolutely the worst Quiet Riot album ever. However, it's also one of the best bluesy metal albums ever.
Multimedia (i.e. YouTube) Extra!( ... behind the cut! )
May. 15th, 2008 @ 09:03 pm
|
| » Wednesday's Little Helper |
|---|
In no particular order, the sole remaining Triple and Double Quotes get some help...
"My name is Carbone, which means skinny white boy with a gun."
"All right. Here's the plan. In the dead of night, you and I grab some provisions, hijack one of those... one of those longboats... and then, we... row back to Spain like there's no mañana!"
If you think you know any of them, head on over to the latest episode of Monday's Thirteen!
May. 14th, 2008 @ 08:45 pm
|
| » Review: Fluid Film |
|---|
Fluid Film rust prevention and lubricant spray
The jury's still out on this one for me...
Oh, it works great. The smell drives aequitaslevitas and Deb nuts. It does, however, work great to keep tools clean, and to spray on snowblowers to prevent snow clumping (it, unfortunately, doesn't help keep gravel driveways from knocking chains off snowblowers...), and for places where I'd use a household 3-in-1 oil or WD-40. It is more environmentally friendly than those other two options. At its core, it's lanolin. There are, however, petroleum oils in the blend.
If they could keep it functioning and get rid of those dead dinos, I'd be sold on it entirely.
If you are using something a bit nastier for your corrosion prevention and metal surfaces protection, try some out.
May. 14th, 2008 @ 08:36 pm
|
| » Major Advances in Medical Science! |
|---|
Yes, after exhaustive research, I have discovered the Cure for the Common Cold!
Spend a mere three hours performing hard labor - such as lifting, rolling, and carrying heavy rocks - in cool weather with a light drizzle.
Clear as a bell!
I have also discovered how to Relapse!
Stay up hours and hours past your bedtime entering data into the new payroll system because the prior payroll system failed in basic math!
I go attempt cure now.
May. 13th, 2008 @ 08:21 am
|
| » Recently Heard: Symphony No. 8 (The Journey) & Harp Concerto |
|---|
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Symphony No. 8 (The Journey) / Harp Concerto
Listening to contemporary classical composers can be a difficult task - you may be expecting something like Beethoven or Mozart, and the jarring odd angles may disrupt your sensibilities; worse, you could be one of those modern-artsy goons, and the smooth romantic tones just aren't edgy enough for your cooler-than-thou avant garde self. Of course, if you know where to look and you already know what you like, you'll already know which composers you prefer, or you simply don't classify anything made after [insert-date-here] to be music. The rest of the folks out there may be surprised at just how much variety there is - and how incredibly good modern symphonic compositions can be.
I first came across Rautavaara's music in a rather accidental fashion. For a while, back in the early to mid nineties, BMG had a nice little label - Catalyst - that specialized in music composed relatively recently. While I didn't quite snap up every title they produced, it came pretty close. One of those titles was Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus / Pommer, Leipzig Radio Symphony .
For some reason, although I like work by composers from all over the world, certain areas seem to always create composers I'm drawn to: eastern Europe is one of those areas, and northern Europe another. Rautavaara is from Finland, which fits in with both categories, to a degree, but especially with the latter. His music captures some essence of those colder lands, snow-swept mountain vistas, and mystic forests.
The two pieces on this disc are quite recent - the disc opens with the Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, which was written in 2000, and ends with Symphony No. 8 "The Journey", composed the year before that.
As a musician, I particularly like the concerto format. The harp is one of my favorite instruments to hear in the solo spotlight, and one that doesn't have nearly enough composed for it. The three movements - pesante, adagietto, and solenne - all provide fitting settings for the beautiful melodies Marielle Nordmann coaxes from her harp. Two additional harps are also included in the scoring, giving more depth and texture to the solo instrument and the rest of the symphonic orchestra.
There's a sparseness in the opening of the 8th symphony, quiet sweeping strings painting the setting of the start of a journey. There's almost a minimalist - in the sense of Arvo Pärt, not, say, Philip Glass - approach, where the silence is clearly as important as the lack of silence. The music does grow and swell beyond that, and, despite its seeming simplicities, contains passages of great musical complexities. Indeed, in the liner notes, Rautavaara points out that, because the work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, he "was able to make the second movement an extremely technically demanding virtuoso scherzo." Regardless, the technical demonstration doesn't detract from the musicality - the work remains accessible to the listener.
Although popularity of classical music has been waning - departments at record stores shrinking, specialized stores closing down, stations changing formats to talk radio, and other such deplorable actions - this should be one of those recordings that catches new listeners, lures them away from new age or symphonic metal or film scores to genuine classical music. Think of the snob factor you could wield when in the presence of an alleged classical aficionado who has only ever heard of the three big guys - Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart - and you bring out Rautavaara...
In all seriousness, if you have any interest in classical music, you should give this a listen and see a perfect example of what a contemporary composer can do.
May. 13th, 2008 @ 08:20 am
|
| » Recently Watched: The Mission |
|---|
The Mission
I really don't remember how I got him on the subject - probably discussing flute and, more specifically, pan pipes. Somehow, that led Brad - a co-worker who supplied me with flute music and books and gave me some advice for playing - to bring in the soundtrack to this film. I wasn't exactly sure I'd like it, but I gave it a spin anyway and I was hooked. Sooner or later, I just had to make an effort to see the movie that was described so brilliantly by Ennio Morricone.
There are really multiple stories in here, and one fits into the other. The overarching story is that of political and religious groups fiddling around with this brand new world they found, determining, from Europe, who lives and dies. Actually, not so much who lives and dies, but who is enslaved and who isn't, but it amounts to the same thing in the end. An inner story is one of a man seeking penance for a crime he most certainly did commit. His service of that penance places him on a side - coincidentally, the opposite of the one that he, as a noble, had taken prior to his act of violent passion - in that overall story. Another inner story is that of the Jesuit mission reaching out to the Guarani indians - of how the priests met with disaster, as shown on the cover of the soundtrack and in the opening movements of the movie, when a priest is strapped to a cross and sent down Iguaçu Falls.
The falls. They feature several times in the film - the opening, Father Gabriel's climb, Rodrigo's penance, and, at last, the enemy army's approach. They are so breathtakingly beautiful - the cinematography in this movie is deeply powerful, as it takes you deep into the jungles of South America and to these awesome falls. As horrifying as some of the actions of the major European governments might be, as unfortunate the decisions of the Catholic Church might be, it's the location and the natives that live there that are the true stars of the movie. The Guarani in the film are played by the descendants of the Guarani.
Jeremy Irons portrays Father Gabriel, the leader of the Jesuits above the falls, who reaches out to the Guarani with his oboe, who attempts to prove to the ruling faction in Rome, Spain, and Portugal that the Guarani are not animals and have souls through their expression of music. It is without a doubt the best performance I've seen from Irons, and a great character - the peaceful power, a good heart, a good man. Robert De Niro's portrayal of Rodrigo is, likewise, the one by which I'll judge all his other performances. From the initial attitude and power he exudes, fallen and broken, then striving for penance - climbing the falls with his swords and armor in a net, dragging behind him. Liam Neeson plays a part as one of the Jesuit brothers, and Aidan Quinn plays a much smaller, but no less powerful part.
Although I don't doubt you could see this movie and spin it this way or that to paint the Jesuits in the wrong, or, perhaps worse, the colonial governments in the right, that's essentially what this movie points out. Some people, no matter how allegedly religious, have only their own selfish motivations, their own greed, their own power to look after. Others... don't. They may choose different paths, they may have been on different paths to begin with, but they have chosen to pick someone up rather than push them down. To me, this is one of a handful of stories - in any media - that can teach such a critical lesson.
May. 12th, 2008 @ 06:21 pm
|
| » Better Late Than Never? |
|---|
Monday's Thirteen is up - had it ready on Saturday, but I wasn't around this morning to post it! Here's why.
Lots of other stuff going on - cruise back to this Saturday post. Mostly good stuff, but one big bad one there at the end.
Unbelievably enough, I also managed to complete enough reviews to get me from here to Friday and a bit into next week. Now there are two challenges - first, finish more of them so they don't drop off suddenly next week; lastly, wake up earlier so I get a chance to post 'em! =)
In other news, hundreds of pounds of stone conspired against me today, but that might have been on account of me moving them from one side of the property to the other (only a few thousand feet or so).
May. 12th, 2008 @ 06:14 pm
|
| » Monday's Thirteen: Episode Twelve |
|---|
Welcome to Monday's Thirteen, the movie quote guessing game.
Answers will be screened. Those who guess correctly will have their name listed with the quote as soon as I can. More than one person can claim a quote, so the movie's name won't be revealled until the weekend game-end.
On Wednesday, some additional hints will be posted for leftover Double Quotes (two-week veterans of the game). Any surviving Triple Quotes will get their hint from the prior week sorted out and matched up. Fridays will see any unguessed Triple Quotes matched with another quote.
Anything that makes it to four weeks is probably too difficult for you all to guess is a real challenge. It will be elevated to Sudden Death status - the first correct guess gets the credit for it, and, unlike earlier stages of the game, subsequent guesses just don't count for squat. Instead of waiting for the weekend, I'll expose the winners *and the movies* for Sudden Death quotes as soon as I can. Sudden Death quotes will also get the benefit of an extra quote Tuesday through Friday in an attempt to get rid of them and make room for something easier that you folks can handle new.
Enjoy!
Triple Quotes
1. "A rooster? In New York *City*?" -- Love at First Bite, guessed by nolawitch"Ah, Cindy Sondheim, you should have lived in an earlier age. Things were simpler, less complicated. Do you know how many women had nervous breakdowns in the fourteenth century? Two."
2. "You gotta cock it first, moron!" -- Judge Dredd, guessed by celticboy"The innocent only exist until they inevitably become perpatrators. Guilt or innocence is a matter of timing."
3. "A lion can raise a mouse, but the mouse is still a mouse. And you, _______, are that mouse. Look at this. He takes it. Chicken blood.""I think I just sweated out a bottle of Yoo-hoo I drank in the eighth grade."
4. "Love is a dung hill, Betty, and I am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow." -- Rob Roy, guessed by nin_manA: "You are here on a matter of honor. I am here to see that you settle it honorably. There will be no back-stabbing, you will not throw your blades, nor will you use weapons other than those agreed. If quarter should be asked..."
B: "No quarter will be asked."
C: "Or given."
5. "The only shit to cut around here is you. Now I had it in me that you was another 'Lightning Boy', but you just a chicken-ass. Chicken-ass, chicken shit!" -- Crossroads, guessed by dangerdean"They find out I can walk, they take away my Pontiac!"
Double Quotes:
6. "Back mortal, before we strike you with a lightning bolt!" -- The Road to El Dorado, guessed by blackbyrd2"All right. Here's the plan. In the dead of night, you and I grab some provisions, hijack one of those... one of those longboats... and then, we... row back to Spain like there's no mañana!"
Single Quotes:
7. "Yes. Yes. Oh, yes. Then you will worship me! Me. Oh, my soldiers. How long I have thirsted to be a god among mortal men." -- The Black Cauldron, guessed by dreamingcrow
8. "And now, people... and now, people... When I woke up this mornin', I heard a distubin' sound. I said "When I woke up this mornin', I heard a disturbin' sound!" What I heard... was the jingle-janglin'... of a thousand lost souls! I'm talkin' 'bout the souls of mortal men and women, departed of a good life. Wait a minute! Those lost angry souls, roamin' unseen on the earth, seekin' to find life... they'll not find... Because it's too late! Tooooo late yeah! Too late for they'll never see again... the life they choose not to follow. Alright! Alright! Don't be lost when your time comes! For the day of the lord cometh... as a thief in the night! [singing] YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH! Can I get an AMEN?" - The Blues Brothers , guessed by dreamingcrow, nin_man, nea852
9. "What a dangerous precedent. What if there more heroes like him? What if courage and imagination became everyday mortal qualities? What will become of us?" -- Clash of the Titans, guessed by dreamingcrow, nea852
10. "I need you three to shuffle her loose the mortal coil, so that we may obtain our final glory. Are we all on the same page?" -- Dogma, guessed by nolawitch, malinaldarose, dangerdean, nea852
11. "Bingo, they're immortal. So the first thing we gotta do is make the little sunspot... mortal." -- Hercules, guessed by malinaldarose
12. "Remember, thou art mortal. Remember, thou art mortal. Remember, thou art mortal. Remember, thou art mortal." -- History of the World Part I, guessed by nightwind292
13. "I choose a mortal life." -- The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring, guessed by wintersweet, malinaldarose, nea852
May. 12th, 2008 @ 06:08 pm
|
| » The Week in Updatia |
|---|
In no particular order:
Justin has his driver's permit. I took him over to the parking lots - and roads - at Beltzville. We went over everything I could think of - pulling into and out of parking spaces, going forward and backward in line, parallel parking, three point turns, and so on.
Rachel got her purple belt. She also assisted at a birthday party, and, after witnessing how none of the kids in gym could stretch properly, she wrote a letter to her sensei and to her gym teacher, and the end result of her efforts will be that the karate school will be spending a whole day at the middle school assisting the gym teacher.
Mr. B is not hitting his brother, he's whacking him.
Justin received a final grade of 90 in his first college level course.
Rachel played several concerts with the middle school band and went on a trip to an amusement park. Her band received a gold medal - only the second out of eleven years - in a performance for the high school professors.
Deb, Justin, and Rachel will be going down to Philly to volunteer at the Race for the Cure tomorrow.
July 12th, 3-5, I'll be giving a talk on native plants and natural landscaping at the Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem.
That'd be the end of the good news section. In the quite-possibly-not-so-good-news section, Deb's sister Pat - who a number of you have met at the cookouts - will be undergoing an operation to get a biopsy of... something in her brain. They don't know What, yet. And the entire board of the hospital is being brought in to figure out exactly What. Good thoughts would be welcome.
May. 10th, 2008 @ 04:41 pm
|
| » Seven out of Thirteen |
|---|
Well, all the Sudden Death and Triple Quotes were cleared out, and all but one of the brand new Single Quotes was guessed, but absolutely none of the Double Quotes were guessed.
Sudden Death Quotes (first guess and they're gone!)
1. "We can't leave yet, Captain. We haven't put enough food on board."
"We need less mouths." -- Cutthroat Island , guessed via magic epiphany by nea852"Stop your chatter and say something Latin-ish."
"Congratulations, madam. There's another town you've destroyed."
guessed with the above info; here's the rest of the hints that would have appeared this week:
A: "They're backwards."
B: "I assure you ma'am, they're normal in every respect."
A: "Why don't *you* row?"
B: "Why don't you *swim*?"
A: "Give me the map."
B: "Give me... a kiss first."
A: "That's it? You fighting with that?"
B: "No, Uncle. With this!
[Morgan reveals a loaded cannon and lights it, aiming it at Dawg] Bad Dawg!"
2. "Mares eat oats, and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy. A kid'll eat ivy, too... wouldn't you?" -- The Cell , guessed by feste_sylvain"You know, I know another little boy who has a horse. His name's Edward. The boy, not the horse."
"Mocky-Lock is the boogeyman, Mocky-Lock wants me where I am!"
"Do you believe there is a part of yourself, deep inside in your mind, with things you don't want other people to see? During a session when I'm inside, I get to see those things."
Guessed with the above quotes. Here's the rest:
"Me got boy! Boy me got!"
A: "Did we go sailing?"
B: "Almost! Mocky-Lock showed up."
"Mocky-Lock is a pain in the ass."
Triple Quotes
3. "But how the world turns. One day, cock of the walk. Next, a feather duster." -- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome , guessed by ravenswing90, dreamingcrow, phantom_wolfboy"Well, ain't we a pair, Raggedy Man."
Guessed with only the above quotes! Here's the rest for the week - if it had lived until Friday everyone should have got it! =)
"Congratulations! You're the first to survive the audition!"
"You know the law: Two men enter, one man leaves."
4. "No, thanks. I don't like cockfights." -- Die Another Day , guessed by celticboy"I hope nobody here's superstitious. That's one big mirror we're about to break."
"His name is James Bond. A British assassin."
Guessed with the above - Friday's would have been the dead give-away if it had come to that:
"So you live to die another day."
Single Quotes:
10. "My driving is rivaled only by the lightning bolts from the heavens!" -- The Cannonball Run , guessed by dreamingcrow
11. A: "I had this feeling about him, same for him. It wasn't exactly a thunderclap, or a lightning-bolt, it was more like a..."
B: "Light drizzle?" -- French Kiss , guessed by nea852
12. "When I find the right girl, I'll know. It'll just hit me. BAM! Like lightning." -- The Little Mermaid , guessed by malinaldarose, dreamingcrow
May. 10th, 2008 @ 03:41 pm
|
| » Poetry Night |
|---|
I'll be heading down to Bethlehem for the poetry circle at the Moravian Book Shop. If you're in the area, drop by between 7 and 8 tonight!
May. 9th, 2008 @ 04:24 pm
|
| » Nik Bärtsch's Ronin |
|---|
Phenomenal.
May. 8th, 2008 @ 09:56 pm
|
| » Wednesday's Little Helper |
|---|
In no particular order, the Triple and Double Quotes get some help...
"His name is _____ ____. A British assassin."
"They find out I can walk, they take away my Pontiac!"
"The innocent only exist until they inevitably become perpatrators. Guilt or innocence is a matter of timing."
"Ah, _____ ________, you should have lived in an earlier age. Things were simpler, less complicated. Do you know how many women had nervous breakdowns in the fourteenth century? Two."
A: "You are here on a matter of honor. I am here to see that you settle it honorably. There will be no back-stabbing, you will not throw your blades, nor will you use weapons other than those agreed. If quarter should be asked..."
B: "No quarter will be asked."
C: "Or given."
"I think I just sweated out a bottle of Yoo-hoo I drank in the eighth grade."
(Keep in mind, the Sudden Death quotes are both dead - good job nea852 and feste_sylvain! - and one of the triple quotes - while still open for guessing - has been knocked out of the "Gets More Hints" category! Have fun!)
If you think you know any of them, head on over to the latest episode of Monday's Thirteen!
May. 7th, 2008 @ 01:30 pm
|
| » Tuesday's Part |
|---|
Helping out with the last remaining Sudden Death quote:
2. "Do you believe there is a part of yourself, deep inside in your mind, with things you don't want other people to see? During a session when I'm inside, I get to see those things."
If you think you know it, put this quote out of its misery over at the latest episode of Monday's Thirteen!
May. 6th, 2008 @ 02:10 pm
|
|
|