Just testing, because publishing is acting weird.
Hommina hommina hommina….
From The Late Show with David Letterman, we have Grinder Girl:
And that’s not all! Dave also provides weekly doses of Anna Jack, who does amazing things with hula hoops:
Who says there’s nothing good of TV anymore?
(Links provided in comments by Mickey.)
Share This Post
Further Stuff About Wal-Mart
A few weeks ago I posted a number of reasons why I don’t like Wal-Mart, which had little to do with the chain’s questionable labor and business practices and a lot to do with my generally less-than-pleasant experiences as a consumer at Wal-Mart.
Well, I’m not going to absolve Wal-Mart of running stores that, in my experience, aren’t very enjoyable to shop in, but I will credit them for the fine store I was in yesterday. While gallavanting around the Southern Tier, we stopped in the Wal-Mart in our former town of residence (Allegany, NY, for those inordinately curious). This Wal-Mart was generally one of the nicer ones I’ve been in (although it was little better than a train wreck on Saturdays, when people flocked from the hills to do their weekly shopping), and since the last time I was in that store, several years ago, it has been extensively remodeled and redesigned so it’s quite nice now indeed. The electronics section, for example, has been enlarged with several entrances added (every other Wal-Mart I’ve ever been in has one entrance to the electronics area, which makes for bottlenecks). The checkout area is devoid of cluttered merchandise, as are the main aisles, and the floors are as shiny as I’ve ever seen. It was all quite surprising, really. They do still have the “Carton cut open and put on the shelf” thing going on, as well as the “wooden pallet stacked with merchandise, just as it came in off the loading dock” thing going on in some of the aisles, but not nearly so bad as the Wal-Marts here in Buffalo. Oh, and big carts.
So, this one store was not dirty. Still evil, of course. But not dirty!
Share This Post
A Brief Observation on the matter of….Coffee.
[Being a transparent attempt to merely take up space on the blog with a post of dubious content]
I really do prefer the way coffee tastes when I grind the beans myself, immediately before brewing. It comes out stronger, fresher, with more “zip”. (If wine people can talk about “bouquet” and “finish”, I can talk about “zip”.) But last week the grocery store had my brand of coffee on sale, plus I had coupons for additional savings on the ground coffee only, and not the whole bean. So I got the ground stuff…and while not as good in the cup, it is kind of nice to not have to drag down the grinder every morning.
Being a big believer in brewing freshly ground coffee, I would never get one of those coffee makers they have nowadays — the ones with VCR-style timers so you can load the grounds the night before and set the machine to start brewing at eight hours later. That’s eight hours the grounds are sitting in the basket, exposed to air which dries out the oils and thus dulls the flavor, and that’s eight hours your water is sitting in the reservoir with no air in it. (Aerated water makes good coffee, which is why you should let the faucet run for ten seconds or so before filling the carafe to transfer the water to the reservoir, and start your brewing immediately.)
My mother used to have the extremely questionable practice of brewing a large pot of coffee in the morning, drinking her two cups, and then turning the thing off and then microwaving cold coffee back to hot later in the day. The mere thought of doing that makes my skin crawl. And when I was in Target the other day, I was surprised to see that they still make percolating machines! I thought those had gone the way of the dodo when everyone realized that percolated coffee tastes lousy.
Now that winter is coming, it will soon be time to dig out the espresso machine. I don’t make very good espresso, I’m sorry to say — never practiced much — but I love a cup of hot chocolate dosed with a serving of espresso. As for coffee accessories I don’t own, I’ve always wanted to try using a French press and a stove-top vacuum pot.
Oooooh, pot’s done brewing! Gotta go.
Share This Post
They’re probably Cubs fans, too.
Ooooooooh, lookie! More irate Star Wars fans over on AICN!
Here’s the story: A few days ago, AICN put up a publicity notice for some screening of A New Hope that was to take place in Los Angeles. What was interesting is that the people screening the movie advertised it as the original version as released in 1977 (which George Lucas has removed from circulation) as opposed to the 1997 Special Edition.
So, the other night, this film festival (apparently some kind of retrospective on film history) announced that they were unable to get the original version, because – – consistent with his stated policy – – George Lucas would only allow them to screen the Special Edition, and that was that. Chaos, of course, ensued on the AICN TalkBack, in which we have more of George Lucas showing total contempt for the fans and for film history and raping everybody’s childhood and selling out and blah blah blah blah blah.
But as I parse this timeline, I’m wondering: how the hell is this George Lucas’s fault? This film festival went ahead and announced their screening of the original film before they knew if they had permission to screen it? And George Lucas is to blame?
Well, OK. Tomorrow night I will personally screen Return of the King in my home, and you’re all welcome. But if I can’t get a print and have to send you all home, remember the logic of the Idiot Star Wars Fan: It’s Peter Jackson’s fault.
Share This Post
Holy Orange Gourds, Batman!
Yesterday the family and I trekked into the hills and farmlands of New York’s Southern Tier to visit a place called Pumpkinville, an annual event for us. Pumpkinville is pretty much just what it sounds like: a small roadside tourist attraction devoted to, well, pumpkins. Lots and lots and lots of pumpkins. Not only do they have thousands of them nicely lined up by size in one spot, but if the pre-chosen ones aren’t to your liking, you can actually wander out into the pumpkin patch itself to grab one. And there are farm animals to pet and feed, pony rides, crafts, apples by the bushel, a shed in which maple products are sold (New York being the country’s largest producer of maple syrup), pumpkin-flavored ice cream, and the obligatory hay rides (although the hay ride now involves no hay, the bales in the wagon behind the tractor having been replaced by wooden benches). A good time was had by all, especially since the autumnal turning of the leaves seems to be at peak in the Southern Tier.
Then we proceeded to the town of Ellicottville, which hosted its Fall Festival this weekend. This is your basic street festival, with food and crafts and all manner of other stuff going on. Ellicottville is Western New York’s largest skiing town; it’s home to several of the area’s largest ski resorts and has a real upscale, Aspen-like air about it. Thousands of people converge on this little town each year — on the way out, we sped past traffic literally backed up seven miles on US 219 — for this Festival. Ellicottville itself caters to a very wide area; wealthy people from Canada even travel there during the winter weekends.
Here is what the hills and ski slopes in that part of New York look like:
This photo is a couple of years old; there was no snow yesterday. Here’s an even better view, from up on one the ski slopes themselves:
Is it any wonder that October is my favorite month?
Share This Post
Howl! Howl!
I wrote a guest review of the film RAN for the Destroy All Monsters website. I’m not sure how insightful my review is, given my general lack of knowledge about Japanese cinema outside of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime films, but check it out, anyway.
One of these days I’ll get around to adding DAM to my links, because it’s an excellent site about Asian popular culture. I learned about the site from Darth Swank.
Share This Post
Something I Never Thought I’d Say:
How do you say “The Right Stuff” in Cantonese?
The Chinese government has confirmed that they are launching their first manned space mission next week. They’re being pretty coy about actual details, but I certainly wish them success, as a person who thinks that manned spaceflight is still the best thing to happen in the twentieth century and an essential part of our future as a species. Here are a couple of interesting things from the article:
:: The people doing the flying will be called “Taikonauts”, from a Chinese word for “space”.
:: The launch is being scheduled to possibly coincide with a major conference of the Chinese Communist Party, so as to link spaceflight with politics. Sort of like 1957 again…I wonder if we’ll have some prominent Senator announcing that we have no intention of going to bed by the light of a Communist moon?
:: According to reports, the ship will be additionally equipped with handguns, knives, and other weapons. This quote is offered: Astronauts will be able to deal with wild beasts, sharks and other dangerous animals or enemies. Kinda makes you wonder where they’re planning on landing. The Afghan highlands? Iraq? (Actually, the article reports that Inner Mongolia will be the landing site.)
:: The article does not report on what the taikonauts will eat while in flight. I envision little squeeze-tubes of Kung Pao Chicken, but that’s probably wrong. (Which reminds me of an exchange from MAD Magazine‘s parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey that I never tire of quoting:
DAVE BOWMAN: What’s for dinner?
FRANK POOLE: A glass of steak, a glass of potatoes, and a glass of corn.
DAVE BOWMAN: Nothing to drink?
FRANK POOLE: Yeah, a piece of coffee.
Har har!)
Share This Post
Political Anger Here!
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Dear President Bush,
The other day, Governor-elect of California Arnold Schwarzenegger said this, in reference to the giant budget problems he’s about to confront:
“I will make sure that I can meet with President Bush as quickly as possible, because I have a whole bunch of business, California business, to talk to him about and take care of. There’s a lot of money we can get from the federal government.”
I just want you to know, Mr. President, that if you ride to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s and California’s rescue now, after allowing that state and its former (Democratic) Governor to twist in the wind along with all us other budget-challenged states, merely because the new Governor there is a Republican and you’re naturally hoping to put California’s electoral votes in play, not only will I never vote Republican again in my natural lifetime (and I have done so, more frequently than you might immediately believe), even if my mother runs on the Republican ticket against a known cannibal with a taste for children and kittens on the Democratic ticket for county dog-catcher, but at such as I’m actually employed and pulling in money again I shall start donating to any Democrat I can find, for the first time in my life.
Thank you for your attention, Mr. President.
(Link via Billmon.)