28 March 2011

Assorted Flotsam

  • I don't see myself ziplining. I'm not afraid of heights or even hurtling along a narrow wire. But I am afraid of looking bunchy. Okay, make that even more bunchy than usual. Have you seen pictures of people in those zipline harnesses? Definitely NOT a fashion statement. If you've always wondered how you'd look in Depends, have at it.
  • Over the last coupla weeks, I've been hearing about the horror playing out in Japan and, of late, the comment that the US will stop importing fruits, vegetables and milk from Japan. Um, were we really getting a lot of our fruits and vegetables all the way from Japan, anyway? Really? And MILK? From Japan?! Color me skeptical. Now, if you want to cut off the Kobe beef, that I can swallow. Wait...
  • I have a confession. I don't like Bill Maher. I think I should like Bill Maher since I think he's brilliant and I agree with 99% of his positions. But I don't like him. He's mean. Not just snarky, but mean. He delights in trampling on people's dearly held beliefs and that bothers me. I know a key part of his shtick is to be controversial but he seems angry and nasty and condescending. And, let's face it, that's what blogging's for.
  • We saw District 9 a few nights ago and it's really stayed with me. It goes way beyond sci-fi. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it as a very impressive technical achievement but also from a "get you thinking about the way we treat each other" viewpoint.
  • ObligatoryCharlieSheenReference: Charlie Sheen.
Question du jour: Is there a famous person you think you should like and don't?

13 March 2011

"Photograph... I don't want your photograph" --Def Leppard



Back in the dark ages, I was invited to the house of a friend (let's call her Mildred) for dinner and to view pictures of her and her husband (let's call him Ernesto)'s honeymoon. Honeymoon pictures... wouldn't you go?

It was a free gourmet dinner with pleasant people. And, yeah, I was curious what I was in for, picture-wise. For better or worse, it didn't play out as you might imagine. And, really, I'm having a hard time thinking of friends I'd want to see in flagrante. This was perhaps especially true of Mildred and Ernesto. So, I guess I got lucky... not seeing them get lucky.

But seeing other people's vacation photos? Usually, anywhere from incredibly dull to depressing, right? Post them on Facebook and move on. Alas, this was pre-Facebook.

We had a perfectly pleasant dinner and then Ernesto set up the slide show and we settled in.

*click* (picture of sign)

Mildred: Here's a shot of the "Welcome to Maine" sign.

Me: Ah.

Mildred: We just loved Maine!

*click* (picture of cabin)

Mildred: This is the cabin we rented for the week. It was so great!

Me: That looks nice...

*click* (picture of living room)

Mildred: Here's the living room in the cabin.

Me, thinking it's going to be a loooong evening: Pretty...

*click* (picture of vista)

Mildred: Here's the view from the cabin.

Me: OOOooo, very nice.

Mildred: Yeah, it was pretty amazing.

*click* (picture of Ernesto in a Captain Morgan-like pose on boulders with a scarf tied pirate style on his head)

Me: Hahaha! Look at you, Ernesto! A pirate! Hahaha! That's great!

Mildred: *pause* We went hiking. It was really nice there. Some great trails.

*click* (picture of Ernesto still with the same scarf on, in front of a rocky bluff)


[Ernesto may or may not have looked exactly like this]

Me: Arrr, Matey! Hahaha!

Mildred:

Ernesto:

Me: Hahaha!

Mildred:

Ernesto:

*click*
(Yet another picture of Ernesto in the scarf.)

Me: Ha...ha...*cough*

It was at this point that it occurred to me that Ernesto was not trying to be a pirate so much as cover his balding head in what he perceived as a fashion forward way.

Awkward. With a capital AWK.

Which brings us to the question du jour: Is it appropriate to show other people your vacation photos?

03 March 2011

"I miss you since I've been away" --Scorpions

You know how you hate those self-indulgent bloggers that post videos of music because they LOVE THAT SONG and they're way too crazy busy to write a decent post and they somehow feel that if you just hear this brilliant song, that they had absolutely nothing to do with, that you'll feel way closer to them and totally GET them and blahblahBLAHDIblah?

No? You like that sort of thing?

I did not see that coming. You are full of surprises! *chucks you under chin*

Okay, then, for you: Here's the clean version of Pink's latest with pink outlined lyrics, just to make it a little more precious.

And?

You

are

perfect

to

me.