01.31.04
Badger Badger Badger
Badger Badger Badger mushroom, mushroom!
Lord of the Rings, Special Badger Edition
01.26.04
Southern Culture on the Skids at the Crystal Ballroom
Who knew that Rockabilly was so much fun? I attended the 90th Birthday Celebration for the McMenamins Crystal Ballroom last night not sure what to expect and found that the headlining act Southern Culture on the Skids is a hell of a lot of fun to dance to.. specially when you have something as cool as a floating floor to bounce on. Today I am having trouble hearing, damage from the loud music last night, but boy was that fun.
01.21.04
QuickTime VR Panoramic view of Mars
Now that the NASA rover has landed and had a chance to take a look around, we have available QuickTime VR panoramic views of Mars. Go ahead and follow the link for amazing views of rocks, rocks and more rocks.
01.20.04
State of the Union Drinking Game
The presidential state of the union address upon us I thought it was time to dig up the updated State of the Union Drinking Game:
The general rules of this game are no different from any other drinking game. A drink is either a shot or a good gulp from a beer (or cider). Different events call for different numbers of drinks and all you do is watch the speech and play along. If all goes well, you’ll be unconscious by the time they show the other party’s response.
GAME TIME
This year, President Bush’s State of the Union address is scheduled for January 20, 2004 at 9pm (Eastern). It should be broadcast on all major networks and cable news/political networks.
For online coverage, go to http://www.c-span.org/executive/stateoftheunion.asp.
Read the rest of this entry »
01.16.04
Lyrics: Repeat After Me From Vase[S] by Dahlia
I find the spoken word form of Repeat After Me to be a jarring change in the middle of the beat driven and very melodic album Vase[S] and usually skip it when it comes up. Once I stopped to listen to the lyrics I found them very poetic though and worth taking a minute to pay attention to.
Repeat After Me
From Vase[S] by Dahlia
Repeat after me
Licked off last night
Long weeks still under my nails
I keep falling on myself
I keep falling on myself
Favorite flavors: doubt and betrayal
I keep falling on myself
I keep falling on myself
Fired opinions punching the air
Totally clueless, self-unaware
Afraid of the future, belong to the past
Something’s gotta give
I’m afraid I wont last
I keep falling on myself
I keep falling on myself
Placed importance on finding more pain
Made all decisions on what could be gained
Favored acceptance, labored for cause
Gave up my lifestyle, sold all my stock
Believed all the papers, forgot about pens
Left all ideas resenting my friends
Rattling my ego, repelled my believes
But here I am standing declaring my peace
I keep following myself
I keep following myself
Following myself
Following myself
Falling on myself
Falling on myself
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
Repeat after me
01.14.04
How Cold is It?
Picture by Michael Burton
Given the recent deep freeze Portland went through I found this quite amusing:
How Cold Is It ?
An Annotated Thermometer
*all temperatures are in (as they justifiably SHOULD be) Farenheit*
60 Californians put on sweaters (if we can find any in our wardrobes)
50 Miami residents turn on the heat
40 You can see your breath
Californians shiver uncontrollably
Minnesotans go swimming
35 Italian cars don’t start
32 Water freezes
30 You plan your vacation to Australia
Minnesotans put on T-shirts
Politicians begin to worry about the homeless
British cars don’t start
Your boogers freeze
25 Boston water freezes
Californians weep pitiably
Minnesotans eat ice cream
Canadians go swimming
20 You can hear your breath
Politicians begin to talk about the homeless
New York City water freezes
Miami residents plan vacation further South
15 French cars don’t start
You plan a vacation in Mexico
Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you
10 Too cold to ski
You need jumper cables to get the car going
5 You plan your vacation in Houston
American cars don’t start
0 Alaskans put on T-shirts
Too cold to skate
-10 German cars don’t start
Eyes freeze shut when you blink
-15 You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo
Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects
Miami residents cease to exist
-20 Cat insists on sleeping in your pajamas with you
Politicians actually do something about the homeless
Minnesotans shovel snow off roof
Japanese cars don’t start
-25 Too cold to think
You need jumper cables to get the driver going
-30 You plan a two week hot bath
The Mighty Monongahela freezes
Swedish cars don’t start
-40 Californians cease to exist
Minnesotans button top button
Canadians put on sweaters
Your car helps you plan your trip South
-50 Congressional hot air freeze
Alaskans close the bathroom window
-80 Hell freezes over
01.13.04
BBC production of Lord of the Rings
My friend Michael lent me his copy of the BBC Radio Dramatization of The Lord of the Rings on CD. The set consisted of 13 CDs each with an hour’s worth of radio drama which proved perfect company for my daily work commute as well as the long drives through Northwest winter weather to and from Seattle. I was mostly happy to be reminded of bits of the books that I had forgotten (the last time I read the trilogy was about five years ago) and were either not present or changed in the Peter Jackson trillogy. There were a couple of irritants in the radio production though, the BBC version of Aragorn had a haughty British accent that was probably meant to sound regal but to me came across as pompous, there were inescapable moments of ‘Look Mr Frodo there are Orcs coming towards us’ (how else do you describe action without constantly relying on a Narrator?) and then there was the singing. To describe the singing as irritating is a deep understatement. The hobbits seemed to know only one tune to which any and all lyrics could be sung, the Minstrel of Gondor made me want to strangle him (Monty Python style) and the regular intervals of unexplained and chorus suddenly breaking into song were disjointing. That aside the production was a pleasure.
01.12.04
Lyrics: Fun for Me from Do You Like My Tight Sweater by Moloko
Over a year after I first heard the song Fun For Me by Moloko it is still one of my favorites. The whimsical tune and curious lyrics get me bopping and signing along pretty much every time it comes on. I thought I would share the love by transcribing and posting the lyrics.
Fun For Me from
From Do You Like My Tight Sweater? by Moloko
I dreamt that I was dreaming
I was wired to a clock
Tickled by the minute hand
Tick tock tick tick tock
I dream I’m on a train
And it is making music
I don’t remember getting on
Clickity click clickity click
I dreamt that I was very tall
I was bigger than King Kong
I heard the bells
The bells are ringing
A ding-dong a ding-dong
I dream that I am sitting in the devil’s company
He gave a solemn promise
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
I dreamt that I was chasing the monster out of me
I caught him in the corner
Ha ha hee hee hee hee
I dream I’m in a tunnel between here and now
Scooby doobie where would you be?
Bow-wow wow wow
I dream I’m at a crossroads
No place left to go
I look in each direction
Eenie meenie miny mo
I dream that I am spying
It’s you I’m looking at
There’s a knocking at the window
Rat-tat tat tat rat-tat tat
I dream I am an ostrich
Head deep in the sand
There’s a rhythm that’s playing
Fantastic elastic band
I dreamt that the bogeyman went down on Mr. Spock
Sugar was a flowing
Sock it to ‘em sock
I dreamt I saw a moo cow jump across the moon
Just a flight of fantasy
Zoom zoom zoom
I dreamt I met a spaceman
He took me to his ship
You know he cut my hair off
Snip snip snip
I dreamt that I was sleeping
Asleep for heaven’s sake
The dream that I was dreaming
It caused me to awake
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
I dreamt I was way up
I was standing on the top
With the feeling I was falling
Bop beep bop
I dreamt that I was jumping in a circus through a hoop
Someone shut the lights off
Shoo-be-doop
I dreamt that I was fast
I was never shutting up
I was going in a hurry
I was giddy-up giddy-up
I dream I’m in the park
I’m standing in the nudey
I’m getting what I wanted
Tootie fruity tootie fruity
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
Fe-fi-fo fun for me
Fun for me
01.08.04
Snowed in with Buffy
Picture by Michael Burton
The snow and ice storm that hit Portland on Monday has not abated. I have been stuck at home for four days now. I just went outside and found that what looks like deep snow is in fact deep snow with a thick layer of hard to break ice on top. Looks like I will be here until the Thaw. No-one knows when exactly that will be but there is hope that it may start this afternoon. I just popped outside to see if I could help this fellow move the van he abandoned two days ago. He has dug enough snow and ice out around it that he is going to try and movie it once the ice on the windshield melts out with the heater… I think he will get out of where he is but am not sure how far he will get after that.
On the bright side of things being snowed in has turned into Buffy Fest ‘04. I finished Season 3 two days ago and have a good start on Season 4. I am absolutely loving this show… it goes to prove that good writing goes a LONG way.
01.07.04
Lyrics: Someone Didn’t Love You From Vase[S] by Dahlia
The lyrics for Someone Didn’t Love You seem to be among the more poignant on the album Vase[S] which is why I find it so annoying that I cannot make out a number of the lines. I would love to hear from people what the lyrics say to them and what may be said in the missing pieces.
Someone Didn’t Love You
From Vase[S] by Dahlia
We shamed love that is understanding
To conquer all men where we are standing
We protect ??
?? what keeps us truly free
Ignoring what we need
Judgment has kept us from believing
We give in to what ??
Forgetting the lessons we receive
Letting whispers fill our ears
Haunting us for years, feeding on our fears
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
You lied to yourself
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
They lied to cover up the pain
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
You lied to yourself
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
They lied to cover up the pain they felt inside
We’re searching in other people’s faces
Reflecting for things that seem illusive
Forgetting the memories we share is
The feeling when someone didn’t care
This burden that we bear is the child in us that’s scared
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
You lied to yourself
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
They lied to cover up the pain
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
You lied to yourself
Someone didn’t love you, someone didn’t love you
They lied to cover up the pain they felt inside