...this gives the idea of

...this gives the idea of getting sauced a whole new spin now, doesn't it? O.O;;;

*thinks of bottle of fish sauce sitting in fridge at home*

never realised it was so dangerous...

TELL-TALE TELEPORTER TELEPATHETICNESS

: "stray cat blues." bis.

<pitiful whinging>
there is no pumpkin spice coffee around here.

this makes me sad.

this also indicates that someone somewhere evidently wants me to sell all my belongings, purchase a tent, and go flit from Speedway to Speedway in Indiana, drinking all their pumpkin spice goodness.

bastard.
</pitiful whinging>

<pout>
additionally, Sing-Sing is playing at the Double Door tonight. Wednesday. out of the question for me.</pout>

now, it's obvious what the answer to both problems is, for there really is one solution for both.

teleporter technology.

why don't we have this yet?

and furthermore, would any of us be content to stay where we are if we did?

doubtful.

maybe that's why. ;.;

double bastard.

*shakes fist*

eventually, i may post details of the weekend. though i s'pose there isn't that much that would be v. interesting to tell. 'cept we ate DAMN good food. some Korean BBQ that nearly killed me, but it was really good nonetheless. therefore, i shall forgive it for nearly choking me to death. XD

IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK

wow, what a lame title. XD anyway, i'm back, we all survived, things went pretty damned well as far as i'm concerned.

i'll relay bits and pieces of the weekend as they come to me. unfortunately, there won't be any MP3s, though. we didn't have time to mic everything properly so as to get decent recordings. though there were quite a few people videotaping. eheh. *^^*

we did a band interview which lasted about three million hours and out of which probably only 3 minutes of usable footage were attained, all featuring Dale speaking. XD

i spent NO MONEY. i am very proud of myself. XD
i'll probably go into greater detail later. but it was fun. Sugoicon is nice and small and friendly, and hasn't got all out of hand like some larger cons seem to have done. it seems much better run, and just...a better experience overall. Fifichu-chan informed me that photos can be found of us from this weekend over at Fansview, along with photos of Nekoi Rutoto, who opened for us. O.O;;; she was very, very nice, and we talked for a bit after the show. i'd like to see her with her band; it's got to be tough performing by yourself without other people to play off of. ^^;;;

(yes, we make weird faces. especially me. eee. ^^;;;;)

whee. must go and assimilate back into real life now. my potatoes are boiling (making more soup, of course!), i got a digicam (but not in time for this past weekend, unfortunately), and, er...oh yes, Jae Young and Her Voices and Elva-chan sent me goodies while i was away. yay, new reading and listening material! ^-^ and stickers for my keyboard! XD

suntanned Hello Kitty still seems very wrong to me. whoever heard of tanned fur? XD

PUBLIC DISSERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

as you may well have expected, you shouldn't expect to hear much from me from now until about Monday.

off to Sugoicon.

wish us luck! ^-^

full report when i get back, i promise.

minus all the embarassing bits, natuerlich.

NEW MISSION

: "kompressor want to get with you." kompressor. (thanks, Kimmie! XD)

...i want to GET WITH YOUUUUUU...and possibly your sister...i think her name is Deborah?

oh god. XD

i SO need to make at least one tape to take with tomorrow. the vehicle we are most likely taking doesnae have a working CD player. (long story about Stupid Adapter Issues shall be skipped...for now. XD) it does, however, sound really good. thus, good tapes are in order. and i think some Kompressor should definitely be part of one of them.

as well as other things. but go, feel the Kompressor love. and it's especially appropriate since we'll be in Ohio! XD

DAMN, WE ALREADY ATE THE MUSHROOMS...

otherwise, we probably could have used them in our show this weekend!

d'oh!

(link via Hase, who never ceases to amaze me with some of the stuff she finds. O.O;;; which reminds me, i still need to poke through Sniff Petrol some more when i've got time...XD)

TEA IS THE ANSWER

it's gray and super-rainy out today. and rather chilly. not too much so...it's nice, i think. or would think if my feet weren't sopping in my shoes, but it's not so bad. ^^ provided it doesn't stay like this for a month, cos that would just be irritating.

anyway, random stuff. some of which is admittedly a whole lot more to remind myself than it is for your entertainment. but you'll sort it out. ^.^

* the battery was in stock, and is now happily soldered in place and working beautifully. yay. ^^

* made grilled portabello sandwiches for dinner last night. which were too big for the (rather large) rolls that we bought for them, but still quite good nonetheless. marinated the portabellos for about an hour and a half first, then sliced up a small onion and half of one of the giant red bell peppers we had sitting around. also sliced up some monterey jack cheese to melt on top of the mushrooms. wish i could've taken pictures of each giant cap sitting on a bed of grilled onions in the frying pan, with cheese melting happily on top. they were too big for both to fit in the pan at the same time...indeed, each mushroom cap almost took up the whole pan. O.O;;

* wonder how difficult it would be to grow portabellos myself...? as well as other mushrooms. i know there are happy little mycelium colonization kits available, but that doesn't really tell me how difficult it is...?

* need to find straw. which seems easier than it is. want to cover strawberry before it's too late.

* need to start on comforter. is getting cold.

* fleece hats are good.

* have started the '98 Jetta brake boot. should be finished in time for us leaving tomorrow. yay. ^^

* need to bring basil inside before we leave. do not wish to come back to find it frozen and dead on my front porch.

* need to do something with the rest of those grape tomatoes before we leave, and probably the other half of the red bell pepper, too. otherwise they will go bad, and i will be sad. ;.;

* must do loads of laundry before we leave that involve my nice, warm socks.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....

LISTEN...DO YOU SMELL SOMETHING?

a bad, bad, bad smell seems to have invaded my place of employ in the past 20 minutes or so.

it is far worse than the burnt rubber smell of the other day.

and it doesn't seem to be going away.

it smells, in fact, much like my place of employ just got entirely crammed into someone's sweaty asscrack.

this is not my idea of fun.

*passes out*

ASSAULT OF BATTERY

: "chewbacca." supernova.

yesterday evening, i dutifully went upstairs to practice and reprogram those parts before we leave on Thursday. deciding i would record the parts first before practicing the live stuff (as they were relatively simple and then i'd have it out of the way), i set things up the way i wanted and began.

only the parts wouldn't record.

figuring that it was probably the battery that the memory on the MMT-8 relies upon (which is lithium, and thus lovely and long-lasting, but this sequencer is, after all, about 13 years old...so unless it's the battery of the gods, it was bound to die at some point), i got the appropriate screwdriver and opened up the case.

according to the very helpful MMT8.com, there are two sorts of 3.6v lithium batteries used in the MMT-8. one's a fairly common flat, round battery...much like a watch battery. such a battery could probably be found without too much difficulty at a Radio Shack or someplace similar. the other is this weird pink cylindrical one with axial leads. one which it seems people had ended up special-ordering in the past...at least, according to this site. which has been pretty authoritative thus far, so i wasn't thinking they'd be wrong on this, either.

guess which battery mine uses? XD

but in an odd fit of luck (which i seem to have in general), a place called Tri-State Electronics is mentioned at MMT8.com as well. someone in the midwestern portion of the US had in fact found them to be a good, reliable source of these batteries. which is all well and good, but i did get a little worried...i mean, a special order probably wouldn't do me much good if i needed to have the thing before we left on Thursday, right? and i REALLY don't have money to spend on overnighting anything anywhere. and the bits i needed the sequencer for weren't exactly vital, but they were important. and helpful. so i was a little upset.

but then i looked at the Tri-State Electronics page more closely. and found that they're located almost painfully close by. and in particular, located very close to where Spaz works. not only that, but they do have a physical store, as well as decent hours. so Spaz is going to pick up my battery today after work, and when i get home, we will happily solder it in place.

provided it's in stock, of course. it would really, really, really, REALLY suck if it's not. then it would just be taunting me. *.*;;;

although this does make me think that it's very likely that i actually didn't accidentally erase stuff this weekend, and that it was just the battery. makes me feel slightly less dumb, i suppose. XD

also, today's the last day of the farmer's market downtown! so i stopped by the mushroom booth. loads of different kinds (no, not those kind, Rob)...chantarelles, morels, regular button mushrooms, shiitake...and of course, portabello mushrooms. GIANT ones.

i bought two. they were HUGE. the biggest ones i could find that didn't have breaks or tears in their caps...they're much more impressive that way. i think they may have been a pound each in themselves. and i also think that the girl running the stand charged me less than she should have (i talked to her for awhile). lucky me. oh, are these beautiful.

Spaz will be excited. he is full of the mushroom love. what to do with them, though? decisions, decisions. i'm making tons of soup lately, but do i really want to use mushrooms this big and beautiful in soup? i don't know. maybe grilled portabello sandwiches are in order...? ^-^

'tis a tough, tough call to make.

(BTW, you might want to keep a lookout for strange large packages coming your way. as of around 9:45 this morning, in fact. ^-^ FINALLY. XD)

TAKING LEGO LOVE A LITTLE TOO FAR

no, not like that.

like this.

i wonder if anyone else is allowed to play it...? O.O;;;

CURSE YOU, COLUMBUS!!!

: "stormtrooper in drag." st. etienne.

no, not that one. not the one directing the esteemed Ms. Rowling's quasi-epic series-as-films. no...the one who we're supposed to be celebrating today.

and curse my brain even more.

for, y'see, i did something Really Dumb today. no...no...REALLY dumb.

right, so today's Columbus Day. and i knew this, unlike usually...i'm usually pretty bad with holidays, unless they're the REALLY major ones, like...oh, Arbor Day. so it's quite amazing that i knew at all, but since i did, this is even more frustrating.

see, i had packages i needed to send out today. a lot of them. mostly from that stuff i sold off on eBay. and one especially large (and overdue) one going to a particular friend of mine (finally!). and since i catch a train in the morning far too early to go to the post office by my house, i horsed them all downtown with me on the train.

[small note: perhaps that should really be "burro'd"? or maybe "muled". being that i am far more like either of those than like a horse. despite being born in the year of the horse, which is neither here nor there. XD]

which wouldn't have been so bad, had i been able to go through with my (what i thought was) ingenious plan to mail them all off on the way to work. then, amazingly, my backpack would be light as air (or at least, just slightly more than the weight of The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize by David Cavanagh, which i'm reading right now...). and i'd go on about my business happily, without mounds of packages impeding, well...anything.

the thing that really annoys me, though, is that JUST BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE, i actually said something about how of course we'd never get today off. Spaz was like, what's today? and so i told him. I TOLD HIM. and still, i scooped up all these packages, so neatly bagged up and ready to go...put them in the boot of the car, and off we went.

grar. i'm such a dipshit sometimes. my own fault, really. but.

at least i made a giant pot of soup yesterday, though. cream of broccoli, potato, and cheddar. quite yummy. and of course, i got to explain How Bay Leaves Work yesterday, too. which is always fun. ^-^

i remember the first time someone explained the mystery of bay leaves in soup to me. of course, it didn't do me much good, being that i'd sat and chewed on the thing for quite some time before i got to the point where i could choke it down...and then, of course, learned that i really, er, wasn't supposed to. thanks, mom. XD

also, in preparation for this weekend (which is SugoiCon, lest you forget...though of course i'm sure i'll see none of you there. but we are indeed playing on Friday night, just in case anyone cares. ^^), we had two rehearsals...and sometime during the second of these, i apparently accidentally erased some of the loops i'd sequenced for a song we're doing. whoops. so i get to reprogram those as well. go me.

and of course, i didn't get to see Sleater-Kinney on Friday as planned. so you don't get any show reviews out of me for that.

but at least i got a voice-changing megaphone. i seriously think it's one of the best toys i've bought in a long time. XD

ah, on a more positive note, here. now you can finally see what the purple hair looks like, although it seems darker in person. and also although it's now faded out quite a bit, and is a kind of neat translucent-y mixture of purple, this purple-fuschia colour, and pink. and about an inch of dark brown roots. but. XD

and also, i took photos last week of one of the COOLEST cars i've ever seen. it's this neat little British fastback called the Princess 1100, produced by Vanden Plas, a BMC tuner. this car was released in the US, although rebadged as the MG Princess (Vanden Plas had done over an MG 1100 to get the Princess 1100 in the first place, so it makes sense...since we'd just get confused over here and all. :p). however, the car in this photo is actually right-hand drive, which is even cooler. and it even had British license plates on it (along with a temporary Illinois plate on the back), which you can sort of see in the photos (although i've mosaiced out the actual numbers on behalf of whomever owns that lovely vehicle).

i REALLY wish i could have taken photos of the interior. it's gorgeous. in the link above, you can read about it, at least...i think THESE are the things i get excited about, with cars. weird old stuff that you can tell someone's really taken care of, really put their heart into. stuff you don't see every day, that isn't very common. and by that, obviously not just exotics...getting all excited seeing random Ferraris or what have you. just random stuff like this...and when i saw that Saab Sonnet awhile ago (which i unfortunately didn't take any pictures of). it's just so cool. stuff i love to see. ^-^

oh well. perhaps more later.

[addendum: hey, Sugoicon added us to their page, finally! ^-^ although i'm a bit worried about them hosing us. the weather's supposed to be pretty cold this weekend...XD]

...I'M EXPECTING COOKIES WHEN I GET HOME

after all, i've got Filler Bunny and Spooky happily residing there...why shouldn't i have some lovely Halloween BooBerry cookies like these?

MANOS (the hands of fate)

oh, but they are against me. truly.

at least, insofar as the idea of my going to see Sleater-Kinney ever is concerned.

do you realise, this is either the third or fourth time in which my attempts to go to see them live have been thwarted for one reason or another? (i am fairly certain this is time number four, but since i have a tiny shred of doubt, i admit that it might only be the third. only.)

this is getting to be rather tiresome.

i was rather upset earlier, but i suppose it's not as bad as all that. especially considering other things that have been going on.

my poor sister. >.<;;;;

SHOWGOING ETIQUETTE 101

...and for our first lesson, here's a whole chapter on how NOT to conduct oneself at a Sleater-Kinney show.

or really any show, for that matter. but yeesh. O.O;;;

and speaking of, tomorrow night i get to see them! ^______________^

they're in town tonight as well, but unfortunately i'm only going tomorrow night. and that only due to the wunderbarness of my sister, who is taking me as my birthday present, because i am poor, yo. ^-^

i think i'll wear my boots tomorrow, just in case. i have it on good authority that S-K fans are generally well behaved (and i've unfortunately not gotten to test this theory prior to tomorrow as there have been some insane scheduling problems the last few times they've been in town...i thought it was a conspiracy against me so that i'd never see them, i really did...*.*!), but it's always nice to have the option available to kick the crap out of someone if it's necessary.

plus, i'll have my sister with me, and She Is Of Normal Height Tall. thankfully. XD

in other news, i am unfortunately only number four when you search on Yahoo for "wookie sex." i must do something to remedy this unfortunate situation immediately.

WOOKIE SEX! WOOKIE SEX! WOOKIE SEX!

it's chilling and funny, all at the same time.

laugh, damn you. XD

WHEN I GROW UP

: "plainsong." the cure.

...god, this song is gorgeous. ^-^ oh, and it reminds me: listening to Disintegration yesterday (which i hadn't done in ages, and which i mostly blame on you ), of course "Lullaby" came on. which i'd forgotten about. and also forgotten about the video to. but then i started seeing it in my head. my god, that video is hilarious! XD i think i have it somewhere. hrrm. shall have to dig.

anyway, er, Fifichu directed me here, where i found many things i'd like to be when i grow up. it's so hard to choose, though! you ought to go and see for yourself, what you really are...^^
_______________________________________

Janni is a mousemat that produces 240v of electricity and doesn't distract you from your work.

Janni is like a normal sticky label, but it keeps food fresh for up to eight weeks.

Janni is like a normal kettle, but it mimics the movements of a lizard.

Janni is a cardboard box that plays Nethack and tracks its position with GPS.

Janni is a webcam that will not work outside of the UK, stretches to twice its original size and has no moving parts.

Janni is a walking stick! It doesn't always work!

Janni is a cricket bat that can read warchalking symbols!

Janni is a pair of sunglasses that's also available in white, believes itself to be self-aware and sticks to the ceiling like a gecko.

Janni is a web page that's completely waterproof! It disables itself if it's taken more than 100 feet away from its base.

Janni is a bracelet that's invisible to the naked eye, is water-absorbent and uses the Google API.

Janni is a carpet! It rotates at high speed!

Janni is a crematorium that doubles as a bedside table!

Janni is a pair of trousers that can be controlled by willpower alone! It does exactly what it says on the tin and can cook small meals.
_____________________________________

i personally think i'm going to go with the crematorium that doubles as a bedside table. what do you think? ^^

AND BEGINNING, INCREASE!

okay, as promised earlier, here's a small taste of the Alien X from A Zone anime manga. i'm not going to scan the rest, because that would be completely against my principles, nyah. XD but so you get the idea. maybe if you're lucky, you'll find this one day. and/or we'll hang out and you'll see my copy of it in person. ^^

the opening paragraph is my favourite. enjoy. XD

OHOHOHO

...Puu, you really oughtn't have done that. XD

this is way too fun. check it out; i'm now a certifiable

the sticker says so, yo! XD

(on second thought, perhaps i'm merely certifiable...^.-)

OSCILLATING CERAMIC HAMSTER

...is what i saw this as saying when i first glanced at it.

don't ask.

but i thought i'd share my Specialness with the world, once again. XD

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL...

: "time baby III." medicine feat. elizabeth frazer.

oh, Engrish, engrish, engrish...how do i love thee? XD

so, this rather interesting thing popped up in my mailbox sometime overnight. i wonder how feasible it is, and if this guy will be able to pull it off? it's an interesting proposition, in any case. is it overly optimistic? i have no idea whatsoever. oh, the Studio Pierrot love runs deep. ^.-

thing is, the first thing this made me think of was the Majokko Club Yoningumi "Alien X from A Zone" OAV. which, if you've seen it, is hilarious enough. i have a good friend who's very fond of the old Studio Pierrot magical girls shows (and has been for years) and thusly, i have indeed seen it. oh, have i seen it. XD

but what's EVEN BETTER than that OAV is the manga adaptation. which i have.

there's this Majokko Club artbook that i got randomly quite some time ago; it seems that my favourite comic shop had unearthed a whole bunch of this random weird older manga-related stuff. and since they didn't know what it was and just wanted to get rid of it, they priced it all REALLY cheaply and put it out for sale. i scooped up quite a bit of it, as some of it was interesting, some was random, and some i knew other people i knew might want. this book was one of those items, but i can't bring myself to part with it. and i doubt i ever will be able to.

i ought to put some scans up for you to witness. the manga is in full colour, and written entirely in Engrish. which makes it even MORE hilarious than the OAV, which is truly a feat.

oi. XXXD

THIS IS JUST TO SAY...

...that i have pumpkin butter.

so now, all is right in my world.

please don't query me about my recent pumpkin obsession, because i have no answers for it, really. except that i must grow some next year. mmmm, pumpkins. ^-^

(lo, i am pathetically easy to please...XD)

GRUNGE NO HAMSTER

: "ride on shooting star." the pillows.

this song is so amusing.

it's taken time to grow on me, but it's sorta been forced on me...i don't mind it, but i honestly didn't care much for it when i first heard it. however, learning the lyrics has amused me mightily.

for starters, i didn't know the proper name of this song till recently. and whenever the part of the chorus that actually goes "ride on shooting star" would come up, i always heard it as "why don't you piss off?"

i am certain this is in no small part because i'm, well, me. with all that that entails.

but.

so upon learning the proper name, i shared this observation with any and all who would listen, and if they weren't sure what song i was talking about, played it for them so they'd understand. cos it's amusing goddammit. XD

and then Shinji_ mentioned that the line "sandanjû no yô ni" always sounded like "sometimes you don't want it" to him.

i suppose, under those circumstances, one might indeed feel inclined to tell another to piss off. XD

i'd almost suggest another song rewrite is in order, except the original lyrics are amusing enough as it is...perhaps more because of inventive English pronunciations than anything, but. XD

(i feel the sudden urge to play bass, toss said bass up in the air at the end of my performance, and knock myself unconscious with it now...)

I'M NOT DEAD YET

whee.

i'll be returning to work tomorrow, and expect to be spending roughly the rest of the day slaving over a hot sequencer and keyboard, as well as cleaning up around the house. oh, those woeful domestic duties. XD

but! in no particular order, i've re-established this week that chickenpox, WinBlows 98, and DePaul can all BLOW ME. *.*!

none of the reasons are related to one another, of course, but what are you going to do?

also, all things pumpkin are good. pumpkin soup is lovely, pumpkin bread is lovely (before it goes bad and starts to ferment, at which point it's just...eeep...), and especially pumpkin shakes. in fact, i'm sipping on one right now. alternating with a nice huge mug of Irish breakfast tea. num.

it's good to be back...can't wait till these scabs go away, though. ^^;;;;