Saying yes...

Oops...

Last evening, Grizzled attempted to move and unplug an ancient goose neck lamp that was on the top of our computer tower. He was trying to find the cord through the semi-organized tangle when we heard a "Zzzzzpptt!!!" and saw a brief flash. He then asked me to unplug the lamp! Nice... We gently searched and tugged, trying to locate where this danger was plugged in. There was another, louder, "ZZZZPPPTT!" followed by a lovely arc of electricity. The computer stopped. I thought we had blown a fuse, but Grizzled pointed out that the monitor and keyboard were still on. We did notice a large burn mark on the base of the lamp and another on the end of a cable that plugs into one of our cameras. The cable's other end was plugged into our computer... We thought it was fried.

After some jiggling and unplugging of various things, Grizzled got it started. It appears to be up and running. So far, nothing noticeable appears to be lost. I can't help, but think we're on borrowed time. 

The camera download cable is shot as is the lamp. I just hope the computer is not fried in some way I can't see. Anyone have any guesses what damage the zap of electricity might have caused?

Shadow Puppets

My sister just directed me to this.

Only YOU can save Halloween Post-Odeur!!@1!

Due to its importance, I am reposting part of a post from last year:

My main Halloween observation this year would have to be that the trademark Halloween candy bag scent is disappearing! This morning when I got up, I had to put my snoot in one of the bags and take a big whiff. You know what I smelled? Chocolate. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE chocolate. I will take chocolate over most any candy, but chocolate alone just smells like... chocolate. More and more people are just giving out varieties of chocolate and I ask this... Where are the Smarties? Where are the Necco's??? I will definitely eat more chocolate than either of the other two, but those two, along with other faux-fruity treasures are a key ingredient in making a Halloween candy bag smell like a Halloween candy bag! I might even go so far as to say you might need those scary peanut-buttery, toffee chews that come wrapped in orange and black waxed paper... Buh!  You need variety... you need a mix for that elusive smell to happen. I don't want to eat all of the candies that it takes to make that smell, but I do want to smell that wonderful Halloween post-odeur!

Please, save this post Halloween sensory delight! Next year, don't just give out chocolate. If you just give out chocolate, your children and the children of others won't be able to discern one holiday candy experience from another!  The sense of smell is key to so many memories... probably the most important sense out of all of them. Don't rob children (and pathetic adults) from that experience...

SAVE THE HALLOWEEN POST-ODEUR!!!

Starring Michael McDonald as Billy Pilgrim! (Reposting for ZRM)

(This post was originally published 10/24/2007)

This morning, right before waking, I had a dream that Billy Pilgrim offered me some tickets to a concert he was also attending. Grizzled and I decided to go. The concert ended up being  held at my hometown’s community theater. The Little Theater, as it’s known, was formerly a church. Although pews have been replaced, there are still relics of from its previous life. I was curious who we were going to see… who on earth would bring Billy Pilgrim to this small venue!?!  Knowing the area, I was guessing it wasn't going to be Henry Rollins.

As we took our seats, I realized that BP was Michael McDonald. I can’t say that I ever pictured him like that. He was seated next to Allison Janney who appeared to be his wife. Grizzled took the seat in front of us and happened to be seated next to Queen Latifah. They seemed to be having a nice conversation, about what, I have no idea, but they were busy chatting.

The band was taking awhile to start and I was tired so I flipped up the armrests like you would in an airplane and decided to lie down. I had my eyes closed, but could hear various conversations. Allison would not be quiet and was recounting every detail of our surroundings. I kept thinking I know these surroundings, please be quiet, I just want to sleep. BP was discussing the band. He was saying that this band was known for other music, but was trying to give it a go as a rock band.

I heard the band come on stage and start warming up. They were really off, but then again, they were warming up. I was still lying down, thinking I could get some sleep, wondering why there were so many open seats when the first song started.

They were playing “Take it Easy”!!! I opened my eyes. Oh my God! It was the Eagles!! BP hates the Eagles!

And then I woke up.

99.9% Pure

Blue Girl is wanting traffic. She's wanting linky love and is demanding that we all post about our purest comedic experience so that we can send it on over to newcritics. It seems they’re having a comedy blog-a-thon this Nov. 6-11th.

Well, I'm game, she said, so they shot her! Ba-dum-bump!

Anyone who is familiar with newcritics knows that the are indeed critics. They critique everything, but the kitchen sink… or maybe they’ve done that as well and I've just missed it. I get the feeling that their request for the purest comedic experience may mean a show someone has seen or an album that was listened to. Mine does not fit into that category, but I’m going ahead anyhow. Sometimes an experience is what it is and need not be categorized or dissected. I will try to relate my most blissfully pure comedic experience with that in mind. Over-analysis has been known to kill the magic.

As most of you who read this blog know, I went through Chicago’s Second City Conservatory Program. It was a 2 year deal that ended with performing a weekly show on the e.t.c stage. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to perform for a living, but I had always wanted to do the program and I have never, for a moment, regretted it.

One of the main rules of improv is to say, “Yes, and…” to whatever might be given to you. You do not want to control the direction of improv, other than moving it forward. Saying no stops the progression, stops development.You don’t so much as want to drive as you want to ride the wave. If you fight the wave and say no to the direction it is going, you fall off. By saying yes, you acknowledge what has been given to you. By adding *and*, you give something back for someone else to build on. And so it goes.

It is incredibly hard at times to surrender to no control while attempting to move this comedy beast forward.  Improv is a bizarre combo of thinking incredibly fast and yet not letting your thinking brain take over. I have had many moments of bliss while learning and attempting this art, but one by far, stands out as nirvana.

It happened during a regular upper-level class… we were doing two people scenes, given only a location and a clue as to why were there. I was doing my scene with Stephen. (Working with Stephen was like working with a genius puppy.) Our set-up was a blind date and we were on a bus. It was also suggested that I did not want to be on this date. I had to find a way to say yes while initially rejecting the situation.

What happened next was the most mysterious and wonderful 5 minutes of my comedic history. The big improv hand came down, we said yes, and oh baby, did we ride. There was actually very little dialog that passed between us, our scene mostly consisting of noises, gestures, and expressions. I remember very little of the actual scene, I just remember feeling as if something else were at the controls. It progressed without thought, it moved without our directing it and even better, it was FUNNY!! We could hear our classmates howling. We could see our veteran instructor heaving. The class then moved into the silent phase of laughter where you are laughing so hard, you’re not making much sound... and then the tears started. By the time the scene ended, there was not one person who was not beet red and crying with glee, including Stephen and myself.

Our scene was the last for the evening and we all walked out feeling incredibly spent, yet elated. It would be naive to think we had anything to do with how that scene went. We just showed up and tuned into the right station. I have laughed oh so many times since and hope to laugh many times more, but I know I will most likely never laugh or feel like that again. It was a moment of comedic grace that transcended words and it was wonderful.

Apple Gacks!

We were up in Wisconsin this past weekend. It was beautiful fall weather, not too hot, not too cold. There was a brilliant blue sky and the leaves, although not fully tricked-out, were starting to get their autumnal groove on.

I ran to the store to pick up a few things and was told to grab some beer in case the basement fridge was empty. I had a lovely 12-pack of Blue Moon in my cart when all of a sudden I saw the Leinenkugel Apple Spice. I was under the spell of autumn and apples. I put back the Blue Moon and replaced it with the Leinie's. Why I didn't just buy both will be saved for another discussion on another day.

I wasn't really worried about the Apple Spice. I like Woodpecker hard cider so I figured if it veered towards that, it'd be good. I had also really liked Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. Although not as good as a real Shandy, I thought it was still pretty tasty. Maybe Leinekugal had worked some more malt magic.

WRONG! WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Did I saw, WRONG?!?!

Oh dear... if one looks at the label, the description says something about a touch of cinnamon. You smell the cinnamon the minute you open the bottle. The first sip was not bad... by the second sip, you're thinking there should probably not be a third, but then for some insane reason you think that burning spice feel on the back of your throat will mellow so you take another.

My palate searched for beer flavor... there was little to be had. My palate did detect the hard cider flavor which was not totally bad although ran a bit sweet for my taste. It probably would have been ok had it not then been used and abused by the overwhelming abundance of SPICE. It felt more or less like drinking potpourri.

No bottles that were opened were even near finished before being disposed of. I heard comments of how Leinie's must be competing with TJ Swann or Boone's Farm. Personally, I think it was right up there with Glade.

What amazes me is that this is its second season. Enough people enjoyed this to bring it back! If anyone out there is a fan of Leinie's Apple Spice, I'd love to know why. Maybe it's popular with people who don't want a beer to taste like beer. Maybe it's popular with people who think the Renuzit should taste as good as it smells...

There was a variety of beer left in the basement fridge so I was saved from hearing about the horrors of my purchase. I think it will be awhile though before I try any seasonal "flavor" beers again. God help me though it Leinie's rolls out an Egg Nog Lager come December.

BG Lights Up My Life!

UPS delivered a package to my door the other day. It was an unexpected package. Even better, it was addressed to ME! Woo-hoo!

It was from Blue Girl.

Blue Girl had been telling me for awhile that she wanted to send me something for my birthday. I kept telling her the thought was appreciated, but she really didn't have to. I put it out of my mind until the intriguing package showed up.

She promised I'd like it. She said I'd laugh. She told me it was ALL FOR ME! MY VERY OWN!!!

WHAT COULD IT BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!?!?!?@!!!

I ripped it open and as one of my best friends says, "Laugh did I laugh!" Apparently Blue Girl remembered a post I wrote last year bemoaning the fact that I never got something I had wanted for oh, so very long.

Well! I have one now! Woo-hoo!!!
Thanks BG!!

Pharyngula Mutating Genre Meme

Shayera has tagged me.

There are a set of questions below that are all of the form, "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is…". Copy the questions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:

— You can leave them exactly as is.

— You can delete any one question.

— You can mutate either the genre, medium, or subgenre of any one question. For instance, you could change "The best time travel novel in SF/Fantasy is…" to "The best time travel novel in Westerns is…", or "The best time travel movie in SF/Fantasy is…", or "The best romance novel in SF/Fantasy is…".

— You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is…".

You must have at least one question in your set, or you've gone extinct, and you must be able to answer it yourself, or you're not viable.

Then answer your possibly mutant set of questions. Please do include a link back to the blog you got them from, to simplify tracing the ancestry, and include these instructions.

Finally, pass it along to any number of your fellow bloggers. Remember, though, your success as a Darwinian replicator is going to be measured by the propagation of your variants, which is going to be a function of both the interest your well-honed questions generate and the number of successful attempts at reproducing them.

My great-great-grandparent is Flying Trilobite
My great-grandparent is A Blog Around the Clock.
My grandparent is Shakespeare's Sister.
My parent is Excuse This Mess...

1. The best comedy in scientific dystopias is: Brazil.

2. The best sexy song in rock is:Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. :)

3. The best cult novel in absurdist fiction is:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

4. The best stand-up comedian in American comedy is: Lewis Black.

As for tagging... hmmm. I guess I will tag Snag just because it's fun to say. I think I will also tag fish. Chuckles and Claire should round it out.

Sorry if links don't work. I did this farkin' meme 4 times during crazy weather... our power went out numerous times and of course I had not saved. Grrrrrr. I'm not doing it again!

Forgive me, AG!

We don't control our muses. We never know which ones will be talking to us or which ones we'll hear. Yesterday while working on some other painting, a muse beckoned. I had to heed the call. I don't think this muse is done... I think I'm going to have to go to the store and actually get the makings for the subject so I can paint from something other than what's in my head.

RIP Neebles

Neebles briefly rallied or so I thought, or hoped. She then promptly veered off onto the road marked "Worse" only to then speed directly off in the direction marked "Death". Maybe living without her Polly Pocket goodies was too much for her.

My youngest lamblet, being much more pragmatic about these things, suggested we not tell her older sister. Neebles waited to buy the Polly Pocket Farm until Grizzled was taking her over to a friend's. The youngest lamblet knew the eldest lamblet would be undone by this. She's probably right. Normally I would feel a little more undone, but you know, there are the days when you just can't go there.

Rest in peace, Neebles. I wish we had a little more time to get to know you, but we'll never forget your fashion flare.