Drunk Quiz

    I'm sure I answered that one correctly.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Molson,” tried the first regular.

    “Molson?” The second regular couldn’t believe it.  “that’s not foreign!”

    “It’s Canadian.”

    “Canadian isn’t foreign!”  The second regular pointed perhaps north.  “It’s right there!  They’re part of us, they’re with us, except for ‘oot’ and ‘aboot’ they talk the same language as us.”

    “They’re their own country,” the first regular insisted.  “Like Hawaii.”

    (from Watch Your Back!,  by Donald Westlake)

     9*/10.  The full review is here.

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Word For The Day - Gunwale

    As shown in the diagram.  I'd call it the railing, but hey, I'm a landlubber.  It shows up in the lyrics of the song The Mad Sailor by the Danish Folk Power Metal group Wuthering Heights, although I've run across it in books before as well.

    It rates being dubbed Word for the Day because of its pronunciation.  It's "Gunnel", not "Gun-Whale" which is the way I've been mentally saying it all my life.  Who knew?!

   The made-up word "Misanthropoetica" also shows up in the lyrics of that song, which is way, way kewl.  Go find the YouTube video of this, it includes the lyrics.

    And FWIW, Wuthering Heights is a fantastic band.  I've been playing the piss out of this CD on my morning commute for about a week now.

   

Pinball Wizards

    Geez but this brings back old memories.  We used to play this machine for hours upon end at a local place called Tempe Bowl.  This was back in the late 60's and very early 70's.

    It didn't cost us all that much money.  We were all Pinball Wizards after all.  But I'm sure it cost me GPA points, as we would camp on this machine for whole evenings, from 7:00 PM or so until the bowling alley closed.  Not a lot of time left for studying after that.

    Anyhoo, I post these pics because there's a giant pinball/arcade game convention here in Phoenix this coming weekend.  Something called Zapcon.  $25 gets you an all-day pass for either Saturday or Sunday.

    There will be about 4 dozen pinball machines, and maybe 2x as many arcade games.  You can google "Zapcon" for details.  Most of the pinball machines are from the 80's and 90's, well beyond my "active playing" years.  But this one....  The King of Diamonds is special.

Phoenix Gay Pride Parade - 2014

    The weather was ideal, and for the first half of the 2014 Phoenix Gay Pride Parade, we were even standing in the shade right on the front row of the parade route.  It was the perfect welcome-back for us, since we've missed the previous three Pride Parades for a variety of reasons.

    The sun eventually rose high enough to take away our shade, but we still had a good time.  Shook hands with the mayor of Phoenix, plus a city councilman.

    I did notice the demographics had changed over the past four years.  There were less floats sponsored by gay bars, and zero GLBT entrants from other cities.  Las Vegas and Albuquerque used to always have a presence.

    OTOH, there were a lot more corporate sponsorships, churches, and schools with entries in the parade.  Hell, there was even a Mormon delegation.  It was particularly gratifying to see some High School entries.

    I took 220 pictures.  Liz took another hundred or so.  I doubt I'll put up a separate blog with the pics, as it would be a sh*tload of effort.  But it felt very, very good to be in attendance once again.

E-Card Saturday

    Today was a busy day.  The Gay Pride Parade in the morning, followed by two separate Celebrations of Life for recently-departed friends.  Between the Sun and the Socializing, I'm beat.  Time to read.

Surreal Friday

    A great piece of Surrealism that a friend posted on FaceBook.  I don't know who the artist is, but this is frickin' awesome!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “And what is there to do for two days in Alice Springs?”

    “Quite a lot, in fact,” I said encouragingly, and pulled out a brochure I had taken from a rack in the motel.  I flipped through it.  “There’s the Alice Springs Desert Park, for one thing.”

    He inclined his head a fraction.  “What’s that?”

    “It’s a nature reserve where they’ve carefully re-created a desert environment.”

    “In the desert?”

    “Yes.”

    “They’ve re-created a desert in the desert?  Have I got that right?”

    “Yes.”

    “And you pay money for that?”

    (from In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson)

   9½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Grammar Pirates

    I admit it, I'm a grammar nazi.  And for the record, there really should be a comma after the word "ready".

Concert

    Quick!  I've got a Time Machine!  Let's go to this concert!  But bring $5, cuz I want to sit in the good seats.

Phoenix Gay Pride Parade

When : Next Saturday, 05 April.  Starts at 10:00 AM

Where : 3rd Street, from Thomas to Indian School

Weather : Partly Cloudy; 70°F high, 54°F low; 10% chance of rain

    In other words, perfect weather to watch a parade!  We've missed the past couple years - one time it was almost 100°F; another time one of our dogs was fighting for her life at the Emergency Pet Hospital (she lived).  Before that, we had made it to the parade 3 years in a row.

    If you've never been to a Pride Parade, you don't know what you're missing.  It is absolutely wild, yet it's safe to take the kiddies to it.  It also strikes a blow for Gay Rights, and here in Arizona, bigotry runs rampant.

    So if you live in Arizona, cancel the rest of your plans for next Saturday, and attend the parade.  You won't regret it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Do you know you came from a place far away?” it said.

    “Oh, yes.  We know that.”

    “A place farther than the moon.”

    “Er.”  Masklin hesitated.  The journey had taken a long time.  It was always possible that they had gone past the moon.  He had often seen it on the horizon, and he was certain that the truck had gone farther than that.

    “Yes,” he said.  “Probably.”

    (from Truckers,  by Terry Pratchett)

    9*/10.  The full review is here.

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Existential Saturday

    For the record, this really did happen, and just a few weeks ago.  My vague recollection of the CNN or MSNBC article was that the locals organized a search party for the lady, and were asking everyone they came across to join the search.  Someone unfamiliar with the lady saw her and asked her to assist them, without giving her a name or description.  The lady wasn't senile, just uninformed as to whose body they were looking for.

    But it does scream Existentialism! as well.

Science Fridays!

    To give proper credit, this is an excerpt from yesterday's Tom The Dancing Bug comic strip, which you can read and enjoy the GoComics.com.

The Arts

    Our brains are divided into two lobes - one that takes care of the analytical things in life; one that sees to the creative things in life.

    It is important to use and exercise both halves.  Most of us have careers that utilize the analytical lobe.  We calculate, manufacture, diagnose, drive a vehicle, sell something, etc.

    All well and good. It pays the bills.

    But the creative half of the brain needs activity as well.  So :
        Play The music
        Write the books.
        Shoot the films.
        Paint the Art.  And last but not least...
        Blog the blogs.

RIP - Flight 370

    The painting above is by a Uighur artist named Memetjan Abdullah.  He took part of a cultural exchange program recently, between China and Malaysia, titled "Chinese Dream : Red and Green Painting".

    When the show was over, Memetjan had the misfortune to board Flight 370 for the long trip back home to Beijing.  The flight that is still missing, but which pretty much certainly crashed into the South Indian Ocean.

    All too often, we think of airplane crash victims - especially foreign ones - as a group of nameless, faceless, featureless people for whom Kismet rolled an extremely unlucky Lot.

    But they're not an amorphous glump of humanity.  They were fathers, mothers, and in one case, a 5-year-old child.  They had loved ones who will grieve and die a little each day for the rest of their lives.  They had hopes, and they had dreams.  And for one Chinese/Uighur painter, a extremely promising artistic career  

Book Excerpt for the Day

    After the inquest, the judgment leveled against Nesomi and her associates was like the wrath of the gods.  The Planetary News Network had its commercial business charter cancelled.  In the space of a heartbeat, one of the primary news agencies on Juni simply ceased to exist.  The newsmakers and administrators who had committed the crimes were judged just as harshly.  Most were ordered to undergo mandatory social rehabilitation.

    (from Dawnwind : Last Man Standing,  by George R. Shirer)

    4½*/10.  The full review is here.

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RIP - Oderus Urungus

    Sad news, as Dave Brockie, much better known as Oderus Urungus, the lead singer and heart-&-soul of the band GWAR, was found dead Sunday evening at his home.  At 50 years old, he has been taken from us much too soon.

    GWAR has played in Phoenix a number of times, but in truth, I just never got around to going to one of their concerts. I do know, however, to stand well in the back of the crowd.

    RIP, Oderus Urungus.  Nobody, but NOBODY, can cover Kansas' Carry On Wayward Son the way you covered it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Love, proclaims Rosie, all you need is love.  And no one need feel deprived of a love object.  It needn’t be a human being; it can be an animal – a cat, a dog; it can even be a garden; it can be a flower it can be a tree.  The whole natural world is one, linked by love, upheld by love, redeemed by love.  One would suppose that Rosie had never seen a cat with a mouse.

    (from The Children of Men by P.D. James)

  7*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Friday Night W(h)ine

    Really now.  There's two of us, and a freshly-opened bottle of wine.  Red, of course.  Why would we want to cork it?

Marching Band

    For the record, I was in Marching Band for one year in High School.  One football season, actually.  I ended up thoroughly screwing up the halftime show (clarinet players will follow trumpet players anywhere) at homecoming, and quitting the band that same night.  School political mayhem ensued.

    And yes, I'm aware Justin's last name is misspelled in the above photo.  Methinks whoever created this did that deliberately, to avoid lawsuits.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

    Personally, I find the Flying Spaghetti Monster eminently believable.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Wait.”

    Max stopped and nervously turned around, hoping that the old man had not sensed something false about the check.

    Sanderson folded it and tucked it away.  He nodded at the machine.  “It has a lot of power.  With great power comes great responsibility.”

    Max felt relief at not being caught in any wrongdoing and replied, “I don’t want power or responsibility.  I just want to get to the good life quick and easy.”

    (from The Attic Piranhas, by Marlin Williams)

    8*/10.  The full review is here.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

    Today we are all Irish.

Hugs

Ukraine

Happy Pi Day!

    I went on FaceBook at (almost) exactly 3/14 @ 1:59 PM and left a Happy Pi Day post.  Next year will be even kewler - 3/14/15 @ 9:26 AM/PM.

E-Card Thursday

    An appropriately-themed E-Card for today.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Gorloff shook his head, still confused.  “Of course we value science.  Discussions of scientific discovery are in vogue among the elite.  We build universities and fund experiments. . .”

    “It is a good beginning, but as you say, their work is discussed by the elite.  They are not elite themselves.  Scientists are not leaders in your society.”

    “They rarely seem interested.”

    “It would be interesting to find out why that is so.”

    (from Owl Dance,  by David Lee Summers)

    6*/10.  The full review is here.

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Demotivational Tuesday

Weather Update

   Although here in Phoenix, I've been wearing cutoffs for about three weeks now.

Cosmos

    If you missed it, it will be shown again tomorrow night (I think), on the National Geographic Channel.  It is positively awesome.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Why are you acting like some damn pirate?” (. . .)

    He stood alone on the deck, his face washed by the breeze, and considered the man’s final insult.

    Acting like some damn pirate.

    Sea monsters, hellhounds, robbers, opposers, corsairs, buccaneers, violators of all laws human and divine, devils incarnate, children of the wicked one.

    All labels for pirates.

    Was he one of them?

    “If that’s what they think of me,” he whispered, “then why not?”

    (from The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry)

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Nerd Quiz

    I got 9/16, so I'm quite the nerd.  Missed the whole bottom row, though.

Animation

    Well, I'll be.  So this is what "Animated Gif" means.

GPS, Cell phones, and Dinosaurs

Kafka

    Kafka is way kewl!

Scintillate, Scintillate Globule Vivific

Scintillate, scintillate globule vivific,

Fain would I fathom thy nature specific;

Loftily poised in the ether capacious,

Strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous.

(author unknown)

Science Sunday

   It was indeed a fast weekend.  It will indeed be a long work-week.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    After inhaling a couple slices of pizza, I finally spoke.  “So, I want to know more about you.  Tell me something.”

    “Well, let’s see,” Courtney replied, “I’m thirty-six. . .”

    “You cougar!” I joked, “I’m thirty-four.”

    “I’m not a cougar unless you and I are on a date.”

    “I’d call this a date, wouldn’t you?”

    “I haven’t decided yet,” she replied.

    (from Jackpot!,  by Jackie Pilossoph)

     6½*/10.  The full review is here.

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