Random wibblings of an insane science fiction fan

 
Happy New Year!

So... This is the end of 2003, huh? I can't really say that I'm sorry to see the last of it... It's been a hell of a year, and not in the positive sense of the phrase. Still, as with landings, I figure that in some sense any year you can walk away from is a good year. And, y'know, I'm optimistic about 2004. So, like it says up above, Happy New Year, everybody!
posted by Betty at 4:55 PM [0 comments]

 
From My Inbox to You...

A friend of mine just sent me this list. A lot of it's probably familiar, but I thought it was extremely funny, anyway, and figured I'd pass it along. So:


THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW WITHOUT THE MOVIES

-It is always possible to park directly outside any building you are visiting.

-A detective can only solve a case once he has been fired from his job.

-If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.

-Most laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communication systems of any invading alien civilization.

-It doesn't matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts - your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked them out.

-When a person is knocked unconscious by a blow to the head, they will never suffer a concussion or brain damage.

-No one involved in a car chase, hijacking, explosion, volcanic eruption or alien invasion will ever go into shock.

-Police Departments give their officers personality tests to make sure they are deliberately assigned a partner who is their total opposite.

-When foreigners are alone, they all prefer to speak English to each other.

-You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.

-Any lock can be picked by a credit card or a paper clip in seconds, unless it's the door to a burning building with a child trapped inside.

-An electric fence, powerful enough to kill a dinosaur will cause no lasting damage to an eight-year-old child.

-Every time a person turns on the television to see the news, he instantly sees what he wants and what concerns him.
posted by Betty at 10:27 AM [0 comments]

 
Another Pointless Quiz Gacked From Still Life With Woodpecker


Homicidal Tendencies


Which Inner Demon (tm) Possesses You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I have no idea how it got that from my answers. I figured I was a shoo-in for the "antisocial indifference."

posted by Betty at 5:50 PM [0 comments]

 
The Final Frontier of DVDs

Just got a package of Christmas presents from my sister (a little belated due to shipping delays). She got me a copy of Star Trek V, which pleases me considerably, as it allows me to indulge my completist instincts when it comes to Star Trek movies without actually paying my own good money for number five. Heh. Thanks, sis!
posted by Betty at 4:45 PM [0 comments]

 
Unconscious Mutterings

1. Seeker:: Missile
   
2. Mirror:: Universe
   
3. Fire:: "Fire Bad!"
   
4. Goblet:: Brandy
   
5. Empty:: Spaces
   
6. Secrets:: Lies
   
7. Defense:: Mechanism
   
8. Hatchet:: Job
   
9. Vapour:: Trails
   
10. Ministry:: of Defense
    

Make of that what you will...
posted by Betty at 11:19 AM [0 comments]

 
Now That Is What I Call A Crossover!

Think all your favorite comic book/sci-fi/fantasy/classic literature/etc. universes can't be made to fit together coherently? Well, you're right, but The Unified Field Crossover History of the Universe is pretty darned amusing, anyway. And, in places, kinda scary...

Some random samples:

1949: Long-lost Kryptonian generation ship exterminated by Daleks. One survivor, Kara Zor-El escapes in lifepod.
-People's Republic of China founded.
-Alien spaceship crashes near Arctic base, giving personnel a Thing or two to deal with.
-"The Five" begin toying with CIA's superhuman research.
-"Superhuman" research produces interesting side effect in the form of genetically-enhanced Great Danes, code-named "Great Doos."

**

2141: Few remaining descendants of Moreau's island, still unable to find acceptance, head for stars; will spend most of time hanging around the background of space bars and seedy colonies.

**

Four Billion: Universe has changed significantly, but some human colonists in a galaxy far, far away have retained basic human form. The energy of many dead races, meanwhile, survives as "the Force."
The slowly dying universe has changed laws of physics; there's air resistance in space, so objects moving therein make a whoosh sound as they pass, and "parsec" is now a measurement of time, not space.

(Note: The "continue" link on pg. 4 is broken, but if you go up to the URL address and replace the "4" with a "5," it'll take you to pg. 5 just fine.)

(Link via The Presurfer.)

posted by Betty at 3:06 PM [0 comments]

 
And Now, the Friday Five

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year? I survived for another year! Go, me!

2. What was your biggest disappointment? "Disappointment" doesn't even begin to cover it, but I'd have to say the death of my stepfather.

3. What do you hope the new year brings? I hope to survive for yet another year.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be? Way back in high school, I made a New Year's resolution never to make any more New Year's resolutions. Up until this year, I've kept it. But I've got this kind of writing project sort of thing I'm supposed to be helping a friend with, and I've been neglecting it and neglecting it, and I told her that I really-truly would get working on it come January, and that that would be my New Year's resolution. So I guess I finally have one.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve? Apparently I'm working until midnight. Lucky me. Traditionally, a bunch of my friends get together on New Year's Eve to watch bad movies and play boardgames... If they're doing that this year, I'll probably drop by after work. Otherwise, I have nothing planned at all.
posted by Betty at 3:25 PM [0 comments]

 
Search Request Thursday

Yes, I know, Thursday was yesterday, but it was also Christmas, and I was taking the day off. So there.

I have to say, the sheer number of hits I've been getting for "Simpsons porn" and "Gollum porn" is really starting to worry me. At least nobody's been here looking for porn involving both the Simpsons and Gollum yet, though I suspect it's merely a matter of time. Anyway, here's the latest batch:

backpacking recipe: First take one backpack...

"Tampons" "Aeryn" "Crichton": Hmm... Do Peacekeepers use tampons? Do Sebaceans even menstruate? These are potentially interesting questions...

maximum pain theory comics: OK, what's "maximum pain theory" and why are there comics about it?

sex with galadriel pics: Geez, Gimli, give it up already! She's a married woman!

funniest quotes lexx: My personal favorite was, "It can't be that hard, it's not rocket surgery!"

Jimmy Buffets wedding pictures: I don't even have my own family's wedding pictures, let alone Jimmy Buffet's.

robot download "douglas adams hitchhiker": Aw, don't download Marvin. He's down enough already! (Ha. I kill me!)

Nude.Farscape: Little known fact: after the success of the cartoon episode and the scrapped plans to do a musical episode, writer/producer David Kemper's next stunt would have been to write an All Nude! episode. And this is the actual reason the series got cancelled...

itching powder jeans: This does not sound pleasant.

Relating to, involving, or committing the violation, desecration, or theft of something: Who know google had the capacity to function as a reverse dictionary?

adult Arwen orc fanfic: OK, I like to think of myself as pretty openminded, and, you know, I'm all for interspecies love affairs, but... Ewww!

castrate abc husband: A is for... No. Never mind. I am not doing that.

"cute with long hair": Not me. Mine's much cuter short. To the extent that it's cute at all, which is not much.

gunter ding dong mpg: Who is Gunter, and why do we want to hear his ding dong?

'Top Ten' chocolate brands: I don't know, it's just too hard to decide! Like Deanna Troi, I never met a chocolate I didn't like.

bondage porn: This one hardly would be worth remarking upon, if it weren't for the fact that they had the "safe search" option on.

download liberator handyman: I think the Liberator's handyman would have to be Avon, since he did all the fixin' stuff. I imagine he'd get very annoyed at being called that, though.

Avon Campaign 2004: Speaking of whom... Kerr Avon for Federation Prez in New Calendar 2004!

legolas willow crossover fanfiction slash: Um, technically I believe one of them would have to have a sex change for that...

answers to Kira's naked quiz: The good Major must be getting very bored since the Dominion War ended.

eowyn hentai: Oh, my mind just went to some very scary places involving Nazgul... *Shudder*

snow globe shake makes little people yell: It's here. And may I just say that, for some reason, this strikes me as just the cutest search request I've ever gotten?

posted by Betty at 1:43 PM [0 comments]

 
My Christmas Eve

I've got a pumpkin pie in the oven, Christmas music on the stereo, a scented candle on the counter, and a mug of hot apple cider in my hand. See, I'm not such a humbug, after all!

Happy holidays!
posted by Betty at 9:06 PM [0 comments]

 
Here's a Quiz to Get You in the Christmas Spirit...


You shall be taken from this place and publically
beheaded. You're important enough to warrant
public execution and well known enough to look
good on a pike outside our palace.


How will you be executed come the revolution?
brought to you by Quizilla

Decapitation, huh? Well, it could be a lot worse...

posted by Betty at 3:05 AM [0 comments]

 
Counting Down to Christmas

I just got off the phone with my mother. Had to let her know that the presents she sent me got here OK. Or at least some of them did. Apparently there's another box which, with luck, should be here tomorrow. Judging from the way she was talking, it sounds like she just sort of clicked randomly on a few items from my Amazon wish list, so I have the feeling this could be really interesting... She won't let me unwrap them before Christmas, though. My mother has this really weird obsession about unwrapping things. She has this notion that if everybody doesn't have tons of stuff to unwrap on Christmas morning (or, OK, in a pinch, on Christmas Eve) it'll be a tragedy of epic proportions. Except herself, of course. She doesn't care what she gets or when she gets it or whether it's wrapped, she says. And she has to be threatened not to unwrap her own gifts as soon as she gets them. (By my sister, that is. I don't care!) But no matter how many times I tell her differently, she's convinced that if I don't have stuff to unwrap I'm going to suffer the bitterest disappointment of my life. You should have heard her when she thought Amazon wasn't going to get the stuff shipped in time. I thought she was going to go ballistic.

I think it must be that, in some part of her mind, her kids are forever six years old and lost in the joy of tearing through wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Which is maybe not such a bad thing, even if it is the same impulse that seems to make her think that, even though I'm 32 years old and have been out on my own in the world for 14 years, I'm still incapable of deciding for myself when I need to put on a jacket.

I love my Mom.
posted by Betty at 7:56 PM [0 comments]

 
Update

Actually got more than enough sleep last night. Am feeling much better. Am also remembering just why I liked Firefly so danged much.

So, hey, life ain't that bad!
posted by Betty at 11:56 PM [0 comments]

 
And How Are You Feeling Today?

Am still not sleeping properly. No matter what time I go to bed or what shift I'm working, I keep waking up suddenly after about six hours. It's really starting to become rather distressing. On top of which, I woke up this morning a little bit stuffy and sneezy... I really hope that, after miraculously dodging the flu bullet for the last couple of months, I'm not finally coming down with something now.

I got an invitation to do dinner at a friend's house this afternoon, but decided to beg off. If anybody needs me, I think I'm going to be curled up in front of the TV for the rest of the day having a Firefly marathon.

*hangs out Do Not Disturb sign*
posted by Betty at 12:16 PM [0 comments]

 
Unconscious Mutterings

1. Exchange:: Stock
   
2. Parental Advisory:: PG
   
3. Blowout:: Tire
   
4. Spider:: Shelob
   
5. Happy:: ...Days are here again!
   
6. Intense:: Heat
   
7. Corrupt:: Government
   
8. Got:: Milk?
   
9. Crude:: Efforts
   
10. Three:: It's a magic number!
    

posted by Betty at 10:13 AM [0 comments]

 
Saw It!

Just got back from RotK. I'm not remotely up to anything resembling a coherent review, so I'll just say that I went in expecting something exciting and moving and satisfying, and I was not disappointed.

I do have a few entirely random thoughts, though... (Warning: Contains vague-ish movie spoilers.):

I found it hard to credit, but the reviewers were right: the battle of Minas Tirith makes Helm's Deep look like a Sunday school picnic. Absolutely spectacular. And I say this as someone who usually tends to go glassy-eyed at battle scenes.

It was nice to finally see Andy Serkis' face on the screen, and I do think the potted history of Gollum was a good way to start out the movie. Speaking of Gollum, for a guy who's spent the last half a millennium or so living alone in a cave, he's got some amazing psychological manipulation skills.

Eowyn kicks ass! So does Gandalf. And so does Sam, for that matter, when you get him really pissed off. Of course, if you ask me, Sam rocks utterly just by virtue of being Sam. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you have to pick out just one character who's the true hero of the story, it's gotta be Sam.

Gimli completely cracks me up. He gets all the best lines in this one!

I think the decision not to include the Scouring of the Shire in the story was a sound one. It would have been anticlimactic, and the return at the end to a Shire effectively untouched and unaware of larger events actually does hit exactly the right kind of emotional and thematic notes. If I were feeling particularly deep, I could probably talk for quite a while about Joseph Campbell and traditional heroic myth-patterns, and how well the movie captures the idea of a hero who returns to the place he's fought for so changed by his experiences that he no longer truly belongs there. But I'm way too sleepy for that stuff at the moment.

It may sound a bit odd to put it this way, but I honestly do regard the story of Sam and Frodo as one of the great love stories of our time. That it's a Platonic love story (and, the salacious speculations of a thousand fans notwithstanding, I think it pretty clearly is) doesn't change that fact one whit.

Yes, I did get teary-eyed by the end. Which wasn't exactly unexpected, as my most vivid memory of reading the books (lo these many years ago now) is of crying so hard at the end that the words became entirely too blurred to read. Sentimental sap that I am. Actually, I was doing pretty good at the movie, right up until the point where Sam started talking about strawberries. That just really got to me for some reason, and it became decidedly difficult to keep the ol' eyes dry thereafter. Stupid strawberries.

OK, surely I cannot be the only one whose first thought, upon seeing Sam and Frodo disguised in Orc costumes, was "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper." Can I?

I love the fact that so many of the characters (including, at various points, most of our heroes) spend much of the movie looking absolutely terrified. It adds quite an element of realism to the whole thing. And it's not just that... I think that one of the repeated themes of the story as a whole is that of the nobility of being willing to do desperate, near-hopeless, possibly-suicidal things simply because they are the things that need to be done if there is to be any hope at all. And having people who actually look like they're expecting to die at any moment really serves to highlight that, rather than to diminish it.

There was so much else going on that I didn't really miss seeing Saruman at all, but I do think it's a pity he was cut, if only because Christopher Lee is so darned cool. Sigh. I have to wait how long for the extended edition, now?

posted by Betty at 1:44 AM [0 comments]

 
Frell-Ups

Haven't had the chance to do much DVD watching yet, but I did play the blooper reel from the Farscape 4.1 DVD, and it's pretty frelling hilarious. Favorite bits: Rygel clocking himself in the chin with his scepter and Anthony Simcoe forgetting his lines and concluding a particularly impassioned D'Argo speech with, "I've really forgotten what I have to say, but, given how much I'm yelling, I'm sure it's very important!"
posted by Betty at 10:56 PM [0 comments]

 
Friday Five

Ah, this is one of those "list your favorite x" things. I suck at those. I can never pick favorite anythings, not even if you let me make it a "top 5" list. But I'll try...

1. List your five favorite beverages. Pepsi. Cherry Pepsi. Peppermint tea. Darjeeling tea from Stash. And, uh... Damn. I really don't know what the fifth one is. Coffee? Root beer? Green tea? Lemonade? Water, maybe, since I drink a lot of it.

2. List your five favorite websites. God, this one is nigh unto impossible. Let's see... Amazon.com, of course, that supplier of all my addictions. This blog page, because, yeah, I'm just that modest. Judith Proctor's Blake's 7 site, because it rocks, even if I don't visit it quite as much as I used to back when I was in the first excited flush of rediscovering what an incredible show B7 was. Uh... the Save Farscape site, maybe, just because I've been visiting it compulsively for over a year now. And... Argh. I don't know. Honestly, I don't. The web is just too full of cool and interesting places.

3. List your five favorite snack foods. Chocolate-covered pretzels. Non-chocolate-covered pretzels. Non-pretzel-covering chocolate. Fruit of various kinds. (Especially nectarines. I love nectarines!) Ummm... Popcorn?

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games. Scrabble. Maybe Pictionary. Beyond that, I don't know, actually. I like to play lots of different off-beat kinds of games, which I can usually rely on my friends to provide. I tend to get bored with most games, I think, if I play them all the time.

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games. The Sims. Actually, that's really the main computer game that I play, and I haven't even booted up that one in months. Well, that and computer Scrabble, occasionally, because other human beings seldom want to play Scrabble with me. And for a while I was addicted to playing Bespelled and Atomica on-line, but I eventually kicked the habit. Mostly. Oh, and Collapse!, too. I nearly gave myself RSI playing Collapse!.

posted by Betty at 4:04 AM [0 comments]

 
Well, I Know What I'm Doing During My Time Off Over the Holidays...

Got a big batch of DVDs in the mail today: all of Firefly, Season 5 of Buffy, and the first set of episodes from Farscape Season 4. Whoo-hoo!

I find, however, that I am now suffering from a terrible case of choice paralysis. What do I watch first? Especially considering that I've still got Season 2 of Babylon 5 to watch, and Season 1 of Forever Knight... Not to mention a few Doctor Whos, a bunch of Alien Nations, both V miniseries, and a handful of movies... And all the extras discs...

Man, why am I sitting here in front of the computer instead of being in front of the TV?
posted by Betty at 8:12 PM [0 comments]

 
Search Request Thursday

Here we go again...

handbag "leather tag" remove: Yes, I believe you are supposed to remove those.

STAR TREK's BLACK ACTOR WITH DREADLOCKS: You know, I don't recall any Trek characters with dreadlocks...

licorice waffer: It's waffer thin! And it's licorice!

"betty bad" patch naked: Uh... No comment.

mt st helens repeat likelihood: High enough that I think I'd be uncomfortable living there...

Farscape jool in bondage: Well, she does kind of dress for it...

i sometimes feel a twinge of remorse, shen passing the old place: I have no idea what this is or what it's from, or who Shen might be... But it's kinda poetic.

betty friends boobs: You leave my friends' boobs out of it!

gollum's porn site: My precious, preciousss porrrrn!

t'pol "text adventure": Hopefully T'Pol's text adventure is more interesting that the dull stuff she gets up to on Enterprise.

pictures of wesley crusher's(wil wheaton) dick: I'll take "things I really have no desire to see" for a thousand, please, Alex.

"Social Commentary" "Flowers for Algernon" "charly": Yeah, I think there was some.

jimmy buffet person pics: Well, any picture of Jimmy Buffet would be a pic of a person, right? Unless there's something about the good Mr. Buffet that I don't know about.

knick knack free movie: Cheaper than buying your own knick-knacks! Just get the free movie and let it play on your TV! It's sorta like a virtual aquarium, only it's a virtual knick-knack shelf!

animals social campaign: Didn't George Orwell write about that?

"Answering machine messages" "Christopher Walken": That's one way to ensure that people are too creeped out to want to call you.

itching powder bondage: Now that's what I call masochistic!

hentai babs bunny: Apparently it's not just for Japanese characters any more...

pennsauken mart telephone number: Here's a thought: why don't you try the phone book?

christmas snow and animation shake yell: They probably wanted this thing, but the other possibilities conjured up in my mind are also amusing.

scorpius keyboard green purple: Somehow, I can't see Scorpius using a green and purple keyboard. He's much more of a "basic black" kind of guy.

campbell's chunky positioning on the product: Positioning on a can of soup could be kind of difficult, I think. You'd be far too likely to lose your balance and fall off.

futurama nude pics leela bender: Uh, isn't Bender always nude? Well, except when he's wearing his apron.

crack cocaine: Don't have any here! Sorry!

legolas stairs helms deep: OK, I admit, I found his Elvish snowboarding stunt a little bit cheesy...

eowyn nude fakes: Eowyn could completely kick your ass if she found out about this, you do realize that, right?

boobs celebrities large pictures gallery: I wonder if it's the boobs, the celebrities, or the pictures that are suppose to be large?

"Purple" "northwestern" "livejournal": Sorry. You have instead found a "blue, white and gray" "southwestern" "blog."

Book embosser: I've got one of those! I don't know that it really does a great job of keeping people from borrowing books and then not returning them, though.

"the boy who cried wolf" hoshi: Hmm, the Star Trek character I tend to associate with that story is Garak. (I love Garak!)

gollum website nude picture: Www.nudegollum.com! (Oh, god, if that turns out to be a real website, I'm going to shoot myself...)

livejournal vancouver nurse kate: Hello, nurse Kate from Vancouver! How's the Livejournal going?

boromir character assassination shirt: I thought it was Faramir whose character was assassinated? Boromir was just, well... assassinated.

BEST TIME TO CONSIEVE A BABY: WHEN YOU"RE OVULATING?

"ba dum ba dum" dramatic music: I think this one gets my pick for favorite search request of the week.

posted by Betty at 6:57 PM [0 comments]

 
Today's Tolkien Link

For fans of both LotR and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's "Once More, With Hobbits." Do not drink liquids while reading, because bits of it are milk-out-the-nose hysterical. Definitely works better if you know the songs from the Buffy episode, though.
posted by Betty at 8:12 PM [0 comments]

 
Waiting for the Return of the King

I'm not going to see RotK today. Deep sigh. Actually, this is pretty much by my own choice... I'm intending to go see it in Albuquerque with a friend, but that's a two-hour round trip, plus three hours and change for the movie... And while that would just about be doable tonight, it'd be a bit of tight scheduling getting back here to be at work at 11:45 PM for the start of my shift. Far better, I thought, to do it when I could take my time and enjoy the experience... Grab a pizza beforehand, maybe, go out for coffee and have a long talk about how great the movie was afterward... So I'm planning on catching it Saturday.

And I still think that's a good plan. But, nevertheless, I find myself being terribly, terribly jealous of people who are getting to see it today (or already did last night). Not to mention my friend, Mr. Professional Movie Critic, who's already seen it twice. Bastard.

Still. I have the feeling it's going to be worth it.
posted by Betty at 5:04 PM [0 comments]

 
Still More Quizzage


You are Scooter.
You are a loyal, hardworking person, better known
as a doormat.

SPECIAL TALENTS:
Going for stuff.

LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE:
"Go For Broke!"

QUOTE:
"15 seconds to showtime."

LAST BOOK READ:
"300 New Ways to Get Your Uncle to Get You a
Better Job "

NEVER LEAVES HOME WITHOUT:
Coffee, clipboard, and Very Special Guest Stars.


What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

posted by Betty at 7:38 PM [0 comments]

 
Obligatory Tolkien Link of the Day

Dr, Suess meets J.R.R. Tolkien in a collaboration from beyond the grave! Yes, that's right, it's "Green Eggs and Lembas Bread"!

A sample:

FRODO:
I have the ring. I have it here.
But, mercy me! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!
I fear the ring is very bad,
The golden ring that Bilbo had!
Tell me, will you take the ring?

GANDALF:
I will not take that evil thing!

FRODO:
Would you, could you, by the fire?
Would you, could you, in the Shire?

GANDALF:
I would not, could not, by the fire.
I would not, could not, in the Shire.

And, uh, so on. Though, unfortunately, it only covers up to the hobbits leaving for Bree...
posted by Betty at 5:20 PM [0 comments]

 
Hubble, Hubble!

A Loyal Reader (hi, John!) sent me this link to a flash presentation of absolutely gorgeous photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope. Amazing, beautiful stuff...
posted by Betty at 3:17 PM [0 comments]

 
Best. Quiz. Ever.



Find Your Warped Personality
this quiz was made by mysti

OK, that result is, of course, completely accurate, right down to that quote being something I've actually said more than once. And the quiz features some of the most entertaining questions and answers I've seen in a long while. But what really gets me is that one of the possible answers to the question "Your first reaction to seeing a glass with some water?" is "The glass is full -- half water, half air!"... Which happens to be a smartass remark I've been using since I was a kid, and which I'd thought was entirely original to me.

Clearly whoever made up the quiz qualifies as a fellow nerd...
posted by Betty at 3:49 AM [0 comments]

 
My Birthday Star

No, I haven't suddenly decided to start believing in astrology. (If that ever happens, shoot me. It'll be the kindest thing.) But I did find this nifty website which asks you for your birthdate and then offers you the name of a star whose light, emitted at the time of your birth, is just now reaching the Earth. (In other words, when you look at the star in question, you're seeing it as it looked on the day you were born.)

My result, valid as of today (since it will of course change as I age):

Your birthday star is in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is called 12 Ophiuchi in the Historia Coelestis Britannica of John Flamsteed and Edmund Halley. It is called NS 1636-0219 in the NStars database.

It has visual magnitude 5.76 meaning that you could just see this star with the naked eye under the best viewing conditions.

A little more research reveals that this is "a main-sequence orange-red dwarf star of spectral and luminosity type K0-2 Ve," a variable star "whose variability is attributed to stellar rotation in which starspots covering a significant fraction of the stellar surface rotate in and out of the field of view."

I am oddly charmed by all of this for some reason.

(Link via The Presurfer.)
posted by Betty at 3:00 AM [0 comments]

 
Some Further Thoughts on Faramir

So, I've been watching some of the Two Towers extras, and I find it very interesting to hear the writers' defense of the changes they made involving Faramir. They start off by defending the decision to move Frodo and Sam's encounter with Shelob to the third movie, on the grounds that if you have this big climactic event involving Sam and Frodo going on at exactly the same time as the big climactic stuff going on at Helm's deep, it's just going to be a bit too much, and the impact of both storylines is going to be diminished. (And, anyway, in terms of internal chronology, Shelob actually happens considerably after Helm's Deep.) OK, fair enough. Jackson and co. then go on to say that, that decision having been made, they were left with a bit of a problem, because pretty much nothing of any real dramatic significance was happening with the Sam & Frodo story. In order to keep some sort of dramatic tension, they say, there had to be some sort of obstacle on their journey. Faramir showing up and being all pleasant and helpful just doesn't cut it, so he had to be converted into an obstacle. Moreover, the reasoning goes, they'd been playing up the power of the Ring throughout the whole movie, the effect it has on people, the difficulty of resisting its lure... This is absolutely essential to Frodo's character arc, in fact. And having Faramir apparently being completely unaffected by it -- in the book, he says that he wouldn't pick it up if he found it lying by the side of the road -- really undermines that.

And you know what? All of that actually makes perfect sense to me. These guys do have a good sense of what makes for good storytelling, for what kind of pacing a movie needs, for how best to structure things to keep the drama and tension at exactly the right level. (Indeed, it seems to me that they understand it far better than the people who make the Harry Potter movies. I have serious problems with the pacing and structure of those, particularly the first one. It tries to stick too close to the book and ends up not working very well as a movie, in my opinon. But that's a rant for another time.) I think their decision is completely defensible in those terms. I can see why it would bother hardcore Tolkien purists as a matter of principle, but I'm not really a hardcore Tolkien purist. I've got nothing particularly invested in the book characterization of Faramir. Indeed, it's been so long since I read the trilogy that I don't even remember that much about the book characterization of Faramir. And, as Jackson himself points, out, they've made much bigger changes than that elsewhere.

However. Defensible as the decision may be in principle, I do think it falls down rather badly in the execution. Fidelity to the book entirely aside, I honestly don't think the movie's depiction of Faramir works all that well purely in internal story terms.

Part of my objection really only applies to the theatrical version, and is very much the fault of the edit which left the Faramir-Boromir-Denethor flashback scene on the cutting room floor. With that scene intact, one is moved with a certain sympathy and understanding for Faramir. He's a man motivated by duty and by a desire to win the respect of his father. Without it, there is no sense whatsoever that there's anything noble or sympathetic motivating him, and he comes across simply as a glory-hound and an asshole. This in sharp contrast to Boromir, who was entirely sympathetic despite his flaws. Indeed, what made Boromir's story so tragic is that the Ring was able to use his good qualities -- his nobility, his desire to protect his people -- as hooks to twist him towards its own ends. This is, in fact, exactly what makes the ring so horrifying and dangerous in the first place. But you don't get any sense of that with Faramir at all, unfortunately.

The other problem is that, as various writers and cast members and etc. say repeatedly on various extras, Faramir in the movie is supposed to have a character arc. He's supposed to start off as an opponent to the hobbits, have an emotional revelation, and change his mind. Which is all well and good, and may actually be more interesting characterization than what Tolkien does with him in the book. Unfortunately, they don't actually pull it off in any convincing manner. It's not remotely clear from the movie just at what point Faramir changes his mind, or why. The idea seems to have been that he finally realizes what the Ring did to Boromir, and recognizes that it cannot be used for good and must be destroyed. Which could have been very powerful, if we'd actually seen it happening. All we actually see, though, is Faramir being keen on taking the thing to Gondor one minute and content to let Sam and Frodo take off with it the next. Exactly what stimulus prompts this sudden change of heart is very, very unclear... And it really, really needs not to be to make both the scene and the character work, in my opinion.

Mind you, I still love the movie to pieces, otherwise...
posted by Betty at 7:14 PM [0 comments]

 
The Usual Batch of Unconscious Mutterings

1. Warning:: "A Distant Early Warning" (by Rush)
   
2. Aspirations:: Dreams
   
3. Starvation:: What time is lunch?
   
4. Lid:: Container
   
5. Sketch:: Pad
   
6. Interrogate:: Garak
   
7. Credit:: Card
   
8. Scotch:: Tape
   
9. Confused:: Dazed and...
   
10. Paris:: France
    

I think I'm in a really weird mood this morning...
posted by Betty at 9:52 AM [0 comments]

 
Ah, the Feeling of Accomplishment!

All my Christmas shopping is done, wrapped, packed up, and ready to mail out. Go me!
posted by Betty at 7:16 PM [0 comments]

 
My Scrooge-Like Friday Five Answers

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays? No. One of the things that I like about living here is that it doesn't snow all that much, and when it does it melts very quickly. I don't find cold weather in the winter nearly as bad as hot weather in the summer, but I can't say as I'm exactly fond of it. In fact, it's too damned cold here right now for my taste.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect? Did I mention what an incredible humbug I'm being this year? Honestly, my notion of an ideal holiday "celebration" at his point consists of peace and quiet, opening prezzies that came in the mail, drinking hot cocoa, and possibly not changing out of my jammies all day on Christmas. Oh, yeah.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions? Aside from the usual exchange of Christmas gifts, not really. Yes, I am boring as well as humbuggy.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy? Not as much as I should.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself? A complete set of Deep Space 9 DVDs. But I'm sure nobody loves me quite that much.

posted by Betty at 12:23 AM [0 comments]

 
Search Request Thursday

Bet you'd thought I'd forgotten, didn't you? Here's the latest batch:

Babs Bunny From Tiny Toons Naked: But she's got fur! Toons are never naked if they have feathers or fur. That's how so many of them can get away with not wearing pants.

flying "temporary crown": Alas, they didn't give my any nitrous oxide when they put my temporary crown on, so there was no "flying" involved.

ray bradbury leaking in the ceiling: Wow, I thought water leaking in the ceiling was bad, but that's got to be really disconcerting!

neon and the periodic elements: Neon's element #10. I've idly thought about getting a personalized license plate for my own Dodge Neon that says "Atom 10" or something, just to be really geeky, but I'm pretty sure I never will.

hoopy, douglas addams: Douglas Adams is, indeed, a hoopy frood. However, anybody who spells his last name wrong like that is clearly someone who doesn't know where their towel's at.

salad manufacture hygine: I advise washing the lettuce.

superglue bondage: Ouch!

Cheapest Lego Destroyer: Hmm. How about a hammer?

workings of a Brita filter: Well, mainly the workings of a Brita filter consist of, uh, a filter...

Sentimental Boobs 01: I have nothing to say about that one, but it amuses me highly to look at it.

Betty Boom pics: You know, Betty Boom sounds like a much cooler character than Betty Boop.

trivia question for christmas for dirty minded adults: Because "Christmas" and "dirty" just go hand-in-hand, after all.

hitchhiker guide ford towel "what does it do": Well, mainly having a towel just makes people think you're more competent than you are, really.

older women: I don't think I qualify yet.

naked pictures of the female characters from D&D: Well, I certainly don't have naked pictures of any of my characters...

"natural selection" skins pulse rifle: I wonder if they meant "Natural Election," since that was the name of a Farscape episode. Not sure there were any pulse rifles featured in that one, though.

legolas porn pics: Ah, yes, you can tell there's a new LotR movie coming out, because the hits from people looking for naughty pictures of Legolas have gone up again.

funny pps: Actually, there's something intrinsically funny about the abbreviation "pps," I think.

itching powder prank aunts: If I paid an itching powder prank on one of my aunts, they'd probably kick my ass. Or at least my mother would.

Harrison Jack Schmitt and Cernan conflict: Ooh, astronaut gossip!

orbit gum marketing strategy: Well, if they were aiming their marketing strategies at me, they'd be playing up the Blake's 7 connection. But nobody ever actually does market anything at me.

OTT tarrant strip quiz: Speaking of Blake's 7 connections... Having Tarrant stripping on the show would really have been OTT, if you ask me.

winnie-the-pooh coffeepot: You know, maybe that's why Piglet's so high-strung. He's been hitting the java pretty hard...

Aldous Huxley managed to, with the use of satire, ironic allusion, and foreshadowing to: Hmm. Thank you for that cogent piece of literary analysis.

"broadsword and the beast" translation elvish: Oh, god, I love the thought of Jethro Tull being sung in Elvish...

"The Sims" rivendell door window: Somehow, I think that if you plop Rivendell down in the middle of Sim City, it's going to lose some of its natural charm.

cartoon pictures of irony: Well, anvils are iron...

simpsons porn: My mind so does not want to go there.

whale mpg 02 03 porn: Ah, so that's what whale songs actually are! Porn!

croup and vandemar quotes: My favorite: CROUP: "You can't make an omelet without..." VANDEMAR: "...killing a few people."

machismo cowboy frontier: Go, Marlboro Man!

Socorro M Mountain picture: I don't have any pictures, I don't think, but I could see it out of my front door if it wasn't dark.

buy online Australia giles buffy review rating commentary season mail order fans site Gingerbread: So basically, anything whatsoever to do with the episode "Gingerbread," huh?

posted by Betty at 10:54 PM [0 comments]

 
Hidden Goodies

For those of you who have the Two Towers extended edition DVD, have you seen the Easter egg? I just watched it, and, man, that Gollum's got a mouth on him! Heh.
posted by Betty at 6:33 PM [0 comments]

 
Sleep Woes

Whatever it is that keeps causing my eyes to snap open almost exactly six hours after I go to sleep, I wish it would stop. The sleep deficit I've accumulated this week is killing me. I'm half-expecting my relief to show up at work in the morning to find me slumped nose-down into a keyboard, snoring.

Sigh. Maybe I can manage a nap before work or something...
posted by Betty at 3:43 PM [0 comments]

 
Not Bad, Considering That I Did a Lot of Random Guessing.


Are You a True Blue Lord of the Rings Fanatic?
brought to you by Quizilla

posted by Betty at 5:31 AM [0 comments]

 
Of Course, It's Easier to Breathe on the Ocean Than in Space...

As mentioned, I did go and see Master & Commander earlier tonight. A little slow in places, I thought, but I did enjoy it. It delivered pretty much exactly the mix of clever naval tactics, energetic fight scenes, and interpersonal angst that I expected, so I've got no complaints.

And, man, it really is easy to slip into a Star Trek mindset when watching these sailing-ship movies. There's a scene early in the movie where the captain orders the ship into a fog bank to shake off the enemy vessel, and of course, I couldn't help but think, "Aha! The old run and hide in the nebula trick!" And for the rest of the movie, I kept half expecting to see Ricardo Montalban show up as the French privateer captain...
posted by Betty at 3:16 AM [0 comments]

 
I'm Sailing Away...

I'm thinking of going to see Master and Commander tonight, since it's playing at the crappy-but-cheap theater here in town. You know, in recent years I've found myself growing increasingly fond of stories set on the seas... Which shouldn't be too surprising, I suppose. The similarities to certain kinds of science fiction are obvious, particularly the action-adventure kinds of SF (both visual and written) that I enjoyed in my youth and am now old enough to start feeling nostalgic about. After all, as I understand it, the character of Captain Kirk was directly inspired by Horatio Hornblower. (Note to self: must read/watch more Hornblower.) And I remember watching the movie The Hunt for Red October and thinking what a good Star Trek episode it was. Not even that it would adapt into a good Star Trek episode, but that it pretty much already was one. Just read Romulans for Russians and a new cloaking device for the super-sub-stealth technology, and you're there.

Further note to self: I believe Pirates of the Caribbean is now out on DVD. Must go and rent it. I still haven't quite forgiven myself for not getting out to see it in the theater.
posted by Betty at 5:29 PM [0 comments]

 
A Holiday Quiz


You are 'Christmas Time is Here, by Golly!', by Tom
Lehrer. Hmm, you really don't like Christmas,
do you? From the moment they start playing
carols in the shops in October to the
appearance of the first Easter Eggs in the
shops on New Years Eve, the rampant hypocrisy
of the Christmas spirit sets your teeth on
edge. You know just how many family fights
start over Christmas dinner, how many people
are injured in the Boxing Day sales, and how
few people actually find Christmas even
remotely merry. You liked Scrooge far better
before those ghosts got to him, and you are
only doing this quiz because you are bored at
work and anything is better than listening to
everyone else discuss their Christmas shopping.
Still, it is two days off work, which does
count for something... Enjoy the break.


What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, to be honest, it's really just this year that I've gone into full-fledged humbug mode. I'm already sick of the whole holiday thing, and am genuinely hoping to hide from humanity this year and to just spend the abovementioned two days off work at home with a good book. We'll see if I can pull it off or not.

But, whoo-hoo! Tom Lehrer! I love Tom Lehrer!
posted by Betty at 11:15 PM [0 comments]

 
It's Currently Time to Do the "Currently" Thing Again.

Current clothes: A dark-blue t-shirt from Powell's City of Books, featuring a picture of the skyline of a city which does, indeed, appear to consist of books. Tan jeans. White socks. White sneakers.

Current mood: Kind of bleah. I went to bed last night at about 1:30 or 2:00 AM, and, in the interest of switching myself over to night shift, every time I woke up I told myself sternly to go back to sleep. Amazingly enough, this worked, and I ended up getting out of bed at 1:45 PM... At which point, I was feeling headachy and groggy from oversleep. A little ibuprofen and a lot of caffeine fixed the headache, but that strange, out-of-it feeling you get when you've seriously overslept has stayed with me.

Current music: Currently in the stereo are Jimmy Buffett's Beach House on the Moon, The Best of Kansas, and The Caution Horses by the Cowboy Junkies. Currently in the portable player is Procol Harum's Greatest Hits.

Current hair: Nice and short and happy. Got it cut right before I left for Jersey.

Current annoyance: The fact that people keep wanting me to be social when what I really feel like is holing up by myself for a week and not talking to anybody at all.

Current thing: Trying to get back into the rhythms of my life after being away for a week. Not very successfully, I might add.

Current desktop picture: A lovely picture of Moya from Farscape. I'd link to it, but I don't remember where I got it from.

Current song in head: Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

Current book: I'm just about to start The Banquo Legacy by Andy Lane & Justin Richards. (Yet another Doctor Who novel.)

Current video in player: Haven't had anything in the VCR for quite a while. I think the last thing was a Farscape tape I was dubbing for my sister. Currently in the DVD player is season 2 of Red Dwarf, which I was watching earlier with a friend.

Current refreshment: Cold water. Except I see that I'm out of it. Damn. Time for another trip to the water cooler.

Current worry: Getting stuff done that I need to get done in the next few weeks. Like my Christmas shopping.

Current thought: If the playback quality on that Mauna Kea tape doesn't improve, I'm going to have to move it to another drive. (Sorry. I've got work-related stuff going on on the next monitor.)

Labels: currently

posted by Betty at 4:03 AM [0 comments]

 
Yet Again Still More Quizzage


Congratulations! You're Sam!


Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, that was a weird one. But anything involving Sam is OK by me. And, you know, that insomnia thing might actually explain a lot...

posted by Betty at 1:56 AM [0 comments]

 
Yup, That's Me, Grammar Nazi.


You are the grammar Fuhrer. All bow to your
authority. You will crush all the inferior
people under the soles of your jackboots, and
any who question your motives will be
eliminated. Your punishment is being the bane
of every other person's existence, because
you're constantly contradicting stupidity.
Everyone will be gunning for you. Your dreams
of a master race of spellers and grammarians
frighten the masses. You must always watch your
back. If only your power could be used for good
instead of evil.


What is your grammar aptitude?
brought to you by Quizilla

This must be accurate, too, because some of those incorrect-grammar choices were physically painful for me to read...
posted by Betty at 10:52 PM [0 comments]

 
That's What I'm Tolkien About!

As I expected, my copy of the extended edition DVD of The Two Towers was waiting in my mailbox when I got back from vacation, but I only managed to find the time to watch it last night. As with the first movie, this one included a lot of extra footage, enough so that it was almost like watching an entirely different movie. And, again, as with the first movie, I can understand why most of these particular scenes were (reluctantly) cut. There's some great bits of character interaction (mainly between Merry & Pippin and between Aragorn & Eowyn, though there's some great comic relief from Gimli, too) and a few things that make the plot transitions a little smoother (like a short scene of Rohirrim soldiers finding the wounded Theodred on a battlefield), but for the most part none of it is anything that would have had a huge impact on the movie as a whole. There is one major exception, though: the much-talked-about flashback scene featuring Faramir and Boromir. Having that scene in the movie completely changes one's perception of Faramir, making him a much more sympathetic character and putting an entirely different spin on some of his dialog. Given the understandable accusations from Tolkien fans that the film effectively committed character assassination on Faramir, I do think it was a major mistake to have cut it. (Although, I have to say, I still don't really understand why he changes his mind when he does, unless he was just that moved by Sam's stirring oratory.)

Anyway, to what I am sure will be no one's surprise, I enjoyed the extended version highly and definitely recommend it. And I'm now very psyched for Return of the King, not that I haven't been for, oh, about the past year.

On that note, for those who haven't see it yet, I thought I'd pass along this list which Tamara forwarded to the Phoenix mailing list recently, and which gave me quite a chuckle. I'm not sure what the original attribution is, though, or I'd include it. Oh, and for those who haven't read the books, I suppose I should mention that it does contain spoilers.


What NOT to do at Return of the King:

1. Stand up halfway through the movie and yell loudly, "Wait... where the hell is Harry Potter?"

2. Block the entrance to the theater while screaming: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" - After the movie, say "Lucas could have done it better."

3. Play a drinking game where you have to take a sip every time someone says: "The Ring."

4. Point and laugh whenever someone dies.

5. Ask everyone around you if they think Gandalf went to Hogwarts.

6. Finish off every one of Elrond's lines with "Mr. Anderson."

7. When Aragorn is crowned king, stand up and at the top of your lungs sing, "And I did it.... MY way...!"

8. Talk like Gollum all through the movie. At the end, bite off someone's finger and fall down the stairs.

9. Dress up as old ladies and reenact "The Battle of Helms Deep" Monty Python style.

10. When Denethor lights the fire, shout "Barbecue!"

11. In TTT when the Ents decide to march to war, stand up and shout "RUN FOREST, RUN!"

12. Every time someone kills an Orc, yell: "That's what I'm Tolkien about!" See how long it takes before you get kicked out of the theatre.

13. During a wide shot of a battle, inquire, "Where's Waldo?"

14. Talk loudly about how you heard that there is a single frame of a nude Elf hidden somewhere in the movie.

15. Start an Orc sing-a-long.

16. Come to the premiere dressed as Frankenfurter and wander around looking terribly confused.

17. When they go in the paths of the dead, wait for tense moment and shout, "I see dead people!"

18. Imitate what you think a conversation between Gollum, Dobby and Yoda would be like.

19. Release a jar of daddy-long-legs into the theater during the Shelob scene.

20. Wonder out loud if Aragorn is going to run for governor of California.

21. When Shelob comes on, exclaim, "Man! Charlotte's really let herself go!"
posted by Betty at 8:14 PM [0 comments]

 
Unconscious Mutterings

1. Blizzard:: Snow
   
2. J:: K
   
3. Control:: Freak
   
4. Blood:: Donor
   
5. Mysterious:: Alien
   
6. Annoying:: Traits
   
7. Throat:: Sore
   
8. Condom:: "You're about as much use as a condom machine in the Vatican!"
   
9. Search:: Engine
   
10. Heartfelt:: Sobs
    

1,000 trivia points to anyone who can identify where the condom quote comes from.
posted by Betty at 7:45 PM [0 comments]

 
Another Dumb Quiz, Because I'm Still Procrastinating on a Zillion Things...


STAND UP: You are a natural stand-up comedian. You
watch the news with people, and when you give
your opinions, people start laughing. They are
not laughing at you, they are laughing because
what you say is so TRUE. The world is a very
funny place, full of natural comedy. All you do
is repeat various humorous things that you
notice from everyday life. Your unique
perspective on the world is what makes you so
funny. Of all the various comedy types, you may
be the funniest of them all!

PREMIUM COMEDY OF YOUR TYPE IS WELCOMED AT:
http://pub98.ezboard.com/bkickbanned


How funny are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I feel like I ought to say something amusing at this point, but I just can't think of anything...

posted by Betty at 4:51 PM [0 comments]

 
There and Back Again?

It seems that Peter Jackson is quite keen to do a film version of The Hobbit on the heels of the LotR trilogy. Ian McKellan thinks it's a great idea. Apparently Tolkien's heirs don't. Personally, I'm with Sir Ian all the way...
posted by Betty at 2:28 PM [0 comments]

 
Yikes!

I just took a look at my work schedule, and it's a damned good thing I did... Somehow, I'd gotten it into my head that when I went back in to work after my vacation, I'd be on morning shift. Well, I'm not. I'm on nights. Which really kind of sucks, given that I'm still on east coast time, and I've been waking up at about 7:00 in the morning (an utterly ridiculous hour for me). Looks like I'm gonna be imbibing a lot of caffeine tonight, as I've now only got one day to switch myself over. Oops.
posted by Betty at 7:41 AM [0 comments]

 
Holiday Fun

Go, on, shake the snow globe! It's good, clean, holiday fun!
posted by Betty at 7:29 AM [0 comments]

 
*Giggle* *Snort*

I'm still having fun with this screenplay thing. I tried it on the blog's November archives pages, with results that were mostly fairly similar to the one based on the current posts page, but was highly amused by the film's stirring conclusion:

FADE TO.

INT. TOM HANKS AND JULIA
ROBERTS'S WEDDING

MAXIMUMVERBOSIT.BLOGSPOT.COM
(MAXIMUM VERBOSITY)
is making a wedding toast.

MAXIMUMVERBOSIT.BLOGSPOT.COM
(MAXIMUM VERBOSITY)

Still more proof that
evolution simply does
not build things to last.

WEDDING GUESTS

Hear, hear.

MAXIMUMVERBOSIT.BLOGSPOT.COM
(MAXIMUM VERBOSITY)

What I'd really like,
though, is to see the
animated series released on DVD.

Everybody laughs

TOM HANKS and JULIA
ROBERTS

Hahahahahaha!!!! Oh
MAXIMUMVERBOSIT.BLOGSPOT.COM
(MAXIMUM VERBOSITY). You
are one of a kind.

THE END

Yeah, I certainly am...
posted by Betty at 3:54 PM [0 comments]

 
Hollywood, Here I Come!

Even more interesting than Maximum Verbosity in Spanish, it's Maximum Verbosity: The Screenplay! This completely cracked me up. Especially the very first dialog exchange, which actually had me laughing so hard I was choking on my own spit. Seriously. Of course, I admit to being fairly easily amused.

You can turn your own website into a screenplay, too, by going here. But I get first crack at the studios!

(Link via The Presurfer.)

posted by Betty at 3:38 PM [0 comments]

 
I Think This Is My Favorite Quiz From At Least the Past Month.


Determined Survivor
Methodical, calm,
focussed. All the traits Mother Nature was
thinking of when she earmarked a species for
survival. You look before you leap, but you
don't hesitate too long. You'll probably be the
first one to die anyway as someone else panics
and dooms you both. The universe, and movie
cliche, is ironic that way. Still, chin up!


How's Your Survival Instinct?
brought to you by Quizilla
posted by Betty at 8:34 AM [0 comments]

 
A Leftover Friday Five

There is no Friday Five this week, but seeing as I didn't do last week's, I figured I might as well use that one. So:

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not? Clothes shopping is kind of tedious, and grocery shopping can be, but I love shopping for fun stuff. Like books.

2. What was the last thing you purchased? A Christmas present for my sister. I'm not going to say what it is, because, although she's mostly offline at the moment, with my luck she'd somehow manage to read this anyway. It's rather more than I'd really intended to spend, but it was a bargain I couldn't resist, and I know she's going to like it. So I'm pretty happy!

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why? Online, if there's something specific I'm looking for, and I know where to look for it. It's much easier and (usually) faster, and it means I don't have to interact with actual human beings. Plus, I live about 85 miles from the nearest shopping mall. On the other hand, if you don't know where to find a particular item, it can be difficult to track down what you're looking for online. And if you don't know what you're looking for, it's hard to browse. And for many kinds of items, it's difficult to be completely sure of exactly what you're getting unless you see it in person. So brick-and-mortar stores still have their place in my universe.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it? I got a very irregular allowance, as I recall. It wasn't a fixed amount of money every week. If there was something specific I wanted money for, I'd tell my parents, and they'd either give it to me, tell me I couldn't have it, or say, "OK, do some chores and we'll give you an allowance for the next few weeks" or something.

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing? A DVD set that it turned out I already had. Oops!
posted by Betty at 7:56 AM [0 comments]

 
Yet Another Pointless Quiz

Yeah, I know, 250 e-mails in my inbox to answer, and I'm doing this...


Which Survivor of the Impending Nuclear Apocalypse Are You?
A Rum and Monkey joint.

According to the description:

You missed the full-on war that caused the widespread death of so many people because you were making yourself another espresso at the company's snack kitchen. Your life isn't anything of value, but you're here anyway - might as well make the most of it and set up a .com to rent movies to half-melted soldier carcasses. A couple of banner ads and you'll be laughing, you sick new media parasite.

Well, it's nice to have my apocalypse all planned out in advance, I suppose.
posted by Betty at 8:48 PM [0 comments]

 
Search Request Thursday

I doubtless missed a lot of these while I was gone, but here's what I've got this week:

plumbers putty bomb dogs: I have no idea what that's about, but I'm quite sure that I want no part of it.

simpsons and satire lesson plans gulliver: This, on the other hand, I would love to be involved in, because it sounds like a hell of a fun class!

star trek frell term coined: Sorry. Star Trek does not get the credit for that one!

"wormholes" how to tell if furniture is good quality cherry wood: You know, I sometimes forget that the word "wormhole" can actually also be used for holes made by worms.

seinfeld cartoon porn: It wouldn't surprise me if there was some on the net somewhere.

malcolm x speech monolog: I think he did a lot of those.

"mmmm shiny" things simpsons: Mmm, Simpsons googles...

"Key to Time" dvd problem: I think the problem is that none of the Key to Time segments manifested as a DVD. If you're trying to fit a DVD into your Key to Time structure, it's no wonder it's not working!

Unforgiven "vigilante justice" -Mystic -River: I wonder how mystics and rivers were managing to confuse the issue.

"Vancouver" "psychic frauds": Those damned psychic frauds get everywhere.

watch 3d cartoon comics nude in quicktime: No thanks. It's a little chilly in my computer room at the moment to sit around watching quicktime movies in the nude.

movie with an allusion to catcher in the rye: I'm just impressed that somebody besides me seems to know the difference between "allusion" and "illusion"!

tabloid nude pics: You do realize that those are probably all fakes?

are marot faster than weasels: If I had a clue what a "marot" was, I might be able to answer that. But as far as I know, he was just some French poet guy. Hmm. Are French poets faster than weasels?

second hand hunter wellies: I dunno. I think those would be pretty high up the list of things I'd prefer to buy new.

will deleting the teddy bear virus ruin your computer: No. But it will make you look like an idiot.

farscape blake's 7 crossover: I've always said I'd like to write one, just so I could put two one-eyed maniacs in a room together and see what happens. But I almost certainly never actually will, 'cause that'd involve having to write Plot, and stuff.

"health and safety" computer lesson quiz ergonomics: I'd probably fail that quiz. My ergonomics suck. Even with the $900 adjustable chair I sit in at work.

posted by Betty at 7:48 PM [0 comments]

 
Dental Update

I'm sure everybody's been waiting with bated breath for the last week, wondering how well my new crown's working out. Right? Well, the answer turned out to be "very well." After a couple of days, it felt completely comfortable, and it performed just fine over the orgy of eating that was the Thanksgiving holidays. So I called up my dentist first thing this morning to see about getting it cemented in permanently. As it happens, they were able to fit me in this morning (although I had to spend about an hour and a half sitting in the waiting room for a ten-minute procedure), so it's now become an irrevocable addition to the population of my mouth.

But I'm not allowed to eat any caramels today until the glue dries.
posted by Betty at 11:28 AM [0 comments]

 
A Couple of Quizzes Snurched From Still Life With Woodpecker

you are paleturquoise #AFEEEE

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is low - You stay out of stressful situations and advise others to do the same. You may not be the go-to person when something really needs done, but you know never to blow things out of proportion. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Hmm, except for possibly that thing about solving other people's problems, that's not at all inaccurate.



What Finding Nemo Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Just don't ask me to tell the joke about the sea cucumber and the mollusk...

posted by Betty at 8:29 AM [0 comments]

 
...And I'm Back!

Yep, that's right, I've arrived safe and sound back in Socorro, and am once again sitting in front of my own dear, familiar PC. It's good to be back!

Honestly, I didn't intend to completely neglect you all while I was gone. I actually tried to stop by and blog a couple of times, but was thwarted at every turn. The first time, Blogger appeared to be down completely. Then, when I tried it again a couple of days ago, it appeared to accept my password just fine, but wouldn't show me my blogs. Although that problem may have been on my end, not Blogger's, I don't know. I gather they've had some major problems in the past week or so, anyway. According to Greta, apparently at one point my blog was showing up in Spanish. That must have been interesting.

Anyway, the trip went very well. I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but by sheer coincidence, it happened that my sister and I were on the same connecting flight from Cincinnati (she having flown in from Portland, I from Albuquerque), and I was able to get us seats together when I booked. So we both got in together on Thursday evening, about the same time as my mother arrived from California.

Thursday night, we spent at my aunt's house. (That's my mother's older sister. Pay attention, here, because you're going to need a scorecard to keep all the relatives straight!) On Friday, we went to my other aunt's house -- that's my mother's younger sister -- for the big turkey dinner, as cooked by my grandmother. Which was, to say the least, an interesting experience... My aunt was still in the process of moving in and hadn't even moved all the cookware over when we arrived. Add in the fact that the house was so full of people (many of whom hadn't seen each other in months or years) that no fire marshal on Earth would have approved it as safe, and, honestly, the only possible word to describe it is "pandemonium." A fairly pleasant pandemonium, and one with lots of great food, but utter chaos all the same.

The next couple of nights, we spent at my mother's younger brother's house. (Well, actually she's got two younger brothers, but we only crashed with one of them. Confused yet?) And it was pandemonium there, too, between the two-year-old (aka my utterly adorable, but very noisy and active nephew), the teenager with the friend sleeping over, the small yappy dog, and god only knows what else I'm forgetting. It was great to see everybody again, and in a way I really wish I'd gotten to spend more time... But the whole experience definitely has me thinking that I've gotten far too used to living on my own. And that I'm quite happy to continue to do so, if only because there's nobody in my house trying to communicate by just calling people's names at the top of their voice, and figuring that wherever they are, they're bound to answer if you yell long enough.

Anyway, after that my sister and I went to my dad's place for a few days, which was much quieter, even if we did bring the two-year-old with us. Did I mention that he's adorable? Because he's adorable. But he also never stops being two, which becomes rather exhausting. I have much, much respect for my sister just for being able to keep up with him day after day!

And all of that sounds incredibly boring, I know, but mostly I went back to visit people, not places. So we did a lot of what I can only refer to as "hanging out," which was a lot more fun to do that it would be to write about. Well, we did make a trip to the New Jersey State Aquarium, which, while not very big, really had some pretty high-quality exhibits. The nephew loved it, but then he's had a thing about fish ever since he saw Finding Nemo, apparently. And I can now say I've petted a shark.

So, yeah. That's my exciting and fascinating trip to New Jersey! How've you been? (I ask here because it's probably going to take me ages just to get caught up on my e-mail.)

And, oh, yeah, just because I forgot to mention before I left, as has apparently become traditional... Books read on this trip were: the last 150 pages or so of Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt, Metaphors We Live By by by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, and the first 100 pages or so of Ursula K. LeGuin's Changing Planes. For the record.
posted by Betty at 8:59 PM [0 comments]