March 31, 2003...why yes, Hanin Elias does make me think of Ennio Morricone!while obviously purely speculative, this site is also ridiculously fun, and can waste whole minutes of your time smashingly if you let it. it posits that the more closely related two musical entities are to one another, the more likely the same person is to like both of them. some of the entries aren't far off, and some are predictably smoking The Big Crack. click on any of the names onscreen to have a new constellation form with whatever you've clicked as the center. enjoy. (via coworker, actually. ^^) brake, baby, brake---taking me in with all your charmscurrently spinning: "my white noise." blur. right, then. who needs the utterly unnecessary remake of The Italian Job, anyway? certainly not i. i can get my Mini (and MINI) fixes elsewhere. aside from having the original on its way to me even as i type this (and i checked---it really did ship out this time), i just found out that this DVD came out here. WEIRD. considering the original Minis weren't really anything like prevalent over here, and hadn't been put out here for decades. i know that people who are into them here (as well as elsewhere) are usually REALLY into them, but still. i've been frequently amazed at some of the things that have come out here, though---i guess this is just one more thing to add to the list. aha! it's Kultur! no wonder! they put out all sorts of random stuff like this---and what's cool is, a lot of it is R1. granted, at this point it doesn't really matter too much for us, but that makes it a little easier and cheaper, and will look slightly better for not having to be converted...^^ also, if i get really desperate, i can always go watch Fresh Gear on TechTV and hope Sumi Das talks about her MINI Cooper S some more. ^-^ and heck, despite how much i really don't care in the least for (er, and i think we've been watching a little too much TechTV lately. oops. ^^;;;) also, on a completely unrelated note, new recipe up at Licking The Spoon. enjoy! March 30, 2003can't sleep; clown'll eat meweekend accomplished. well, mostly. rather annoyed at having spent most of my sunday evening clearing a stupid virus off my computer. what's funniest to me is that it's not even the newer, more dangerous version of the virus---it's instead an older, more archaic version. what, stupid virus---i'm not good enough for your best? *laughs the laugh of the damned* of course, this means Word '97 is throwing fits and claiming insufficient memory issues, which it bloody well ought to know is patently impossible. and guess who can't find her Office '97 disc so she can uninstall and reinstall? GRAR. but really, these are minor gripes in the face of the current state of the world. so i really oughtn't complain. was a grand waste of time, though. in other news, saw a trailer for the updated version of The Italian Job this weekend. and it made me want to cry. you know, a movie really has to do a lot to make me not want to see it when it's CHOCK FULL OF MINIS. but really, it did. ...when will people stop making "updates" of classic films? with very few exceptions, they Really Don't Work and Just Make Me Want To Cry. so, er, i hurried home and ordered the R2 DVD. along with re-placing my order for the R2 24HPP DVD, since i'd apparently had the order deleted (without my knowledge) for the preordered version with the special slipcover designed to look like Tony Wilson's book cover. (would've been nice if they'd e-mailed me, at least. :P) BTW, for anyone who cares, HMV UK is having a sale on a special list of DVDs right now wherein if you buy one that's on this list, you get a second on the list of equal or lesser value for free. and yes, 24 Hour Party People is indeed on that list. for anyone who doesn't know and would care, the PAL (R2) version of 24 Hour Party People has quite a few things that the R1 version doesn't---including a version of the movie wherein you get to watch certain principals from various Factory bands watch the movie and comment on it. a slight twist to normal commentary tracks. should be entertaining, once it gets here. so if you've got a DVD player capable of it and care, i'd advise this version over the R1 one. (also, regarding purchase from HMV UK; the prices you see onscreen have the VAT included. therefore, if you're not living somewhere where the VAT is applicable, it gets refunded when you check out. shipping to the US is cheaper than the VAT. shipping on our four DVDs of choice came to about ?4.60, i believe. bwee~~~!) oh, and the original Italian Job had been announced tentatively on DVD here in the US ages ago, but the date kept getting pushed back, presumably because of this new synopsis of this post? mmm, Minis. old, classic Minis. not that there's anything wrong with the new one (certainly not), but. oh, and 24 HPP. oh, and we're also getting a disc wherein Murray Walker interviews...himself. ph34r. >D XD XD XD more details to follow, after we get them and watch them...i'd meant to put up at least one recipe this weekend, but no such luck. hopefully soon... March 27, 2003gone in a flashmight be vanished for a few days. don't be alarmed. in the meantime, play nice---since it seems other people can't. :P [N.B. ...also, Sabina is evil. <3 <3 i believe this is nothing you didn't already know. but it's a thing that bears repeating, i think. XD] [added at 5:44pm, same day: oh yes. go have a look at this week's Onion. beautiful. i <3 the Onion so very, very much. XD] March 26, 2003spinning gently out of timecurrently spinning: "you're so great (and i love you)." blur (with Graham) i keep seeing articles splashed all over the place mentioning that people are so surprised that a) Iraq is fighting back, and b) people (on all sides, but concern is especially for ours) are dying. er...how? how does this come as a surprise? people tend to die in conflicts such as these, where large-scale weapons and tempers and such are involved. it's unarguably terrible, yes, but hardly surprising. once again, the mind boggles. on that note, article in the NY Times about opinions shifting as costs of war are tallied. don't tell me he's prescient...in other random, unrelated-to-anything news, seems like the chocolate with amazing restorative powers from the Harry Potter books actually exists. tried it on a whim the other day, not really knowing much about it. have been enjoying Drive. no wonder it's good---60-75% actual cocoa. O.O;;; it's a bit like chocolate-coated, legalised crack, actually, although i'd wager it's tastier. not unlike Mountain Dew Code Red, except that it's completely unlike it. March 25, 2003fitter, happier, more productive...glad to see something like this in a fairly widely distributed paper such as the LA Times. Robert Scheer on Senhor Bush's Colonialist Agenda there. you thought you'd get away without me posting an article? hah. :P frosting on the beater*currently spinning: "out of time." blur. as long ago mentioned, have finally started a recipe archive toddling off on its own. it will be updated according to whim and on nothing approaching a regular basis. also, it doesn't have anything as of this moment that you haven't already seen here. if you'd like to take a look, here you go: hopefully i'll eventually get around to * = and no, that's neither Fred nor George, thank you very much. a change of speedlest one think i am disgusted with absolutely everything right now, here's a few things i feel otherwise towards. mostly rather frivolous, but. just to prove a point... a) Radiohead's new album title: "Hail to the Thief." <3 <3 <3...er, we'll have to see if the album itself is as good as the title, ne? ^.- b) the c) Dirty Damon. i think (and this is d) knowing i'm not alone and not crazy. (well, about certain things.) e) Sabina's fic challenge. eheh. >D f) having time off at the end of this week, in which i shall sequence my little heart out. myself and the MMT-8 will be spending much quality time together. *cracks knuckles* g) the idea that after such incidents as this one involving GY!BE being detained as possible terrorists, one wonders if any group of people numbering over one in a vehicle can be considered "suspicious." soccer moms? oh, definitely. stupid twits in SUVs on cell phones? that cell phone might be a gun! arrrrrrgh! XD h) [added at 9:49am on Wednesday, 26th March 2003] oh yes. the F1 Grand Prix of Malaysia. Alonso on POLE!!!!! AN ALL RENAULT FRONT ROW!!! and the result! fantastic! want to smack Schumi, but that's nothing new. *.*;;; and at least he wasn't on the podium. and he even got punished! amazing! i) [added at 9:49am on Wednesday, 26th March 2003] this week's Onion. <3 <3 <3 would be more amusing if it weren't so close to home, but is still damn funny. there are loads of things like that lately, actually. j) [added at 11:21am on Wednesday, 26th March 2003] oh yes. and lest i forget, get your war on. [edited later on sometime, as all the "sweaters" refused to stay put in anything referencing Draco. they Just Didn't Look Right. pmmmf. ] March 24, 2003welcome to the atrocity exhibitionskipped out to go retrieve lunch a bit ago. it was only after my curry decided to spontaneously spring a leak on me as soon as i'd hit the library doors that i realised Red Eye's true usefulness: it handily helped to mop up the currilicious mess down the front of my coat, and on a nearby trash/recycling bin. another issue of it also helped to convey my food back through the gates and to my desk, since the curry had of course weakened the paper bag it was in to the point of unusability. amazing. it was also during this lunch run that i wondered how feasible it would be to file a complaint against certain individuals and their policies in our current government---via the Better Business Bureau? i've been wishing there was a way we could refuse to pay taxes based on dissatisfaction with service we've received thus far without fear of reprisal. i don't see one, but the BBB thing seems a bit more likely. i mean, come on---read what they've got up about truth in advertising guidelines, for a start! i've luckily never had to file a complaint with the BBB before. people i know who have have not had much come of it. but the complaints would be on file for others to read, at least. ...which is the problem. probably not many people thinking about coming here are going to go look at the BBB first to seek out complaints. d'oh. it's really too bad. i think the claim (especially when made by a large number of people) would be incredibly valid. that being said, loads of other issues have been brought to the fore recently. i can't even begin to explain how floored i was in having the task of trying to convince someone fairly close to me that wholesale genocide is not okay, and that the notion that "they all look alike" is utter bullshit. not to mention the people who actually believe the tenuous (at best, and that's stretching it SEVERELY) claims made by our government of ties betwixt Mssrs. Hussein and bin Laden. besides the fact that they were never able to prove anything, and that any "evidence" furnished was later discredited not only by credible governmental agencies abroad, but also by the CIA and FBI, merely using common sense should make one realise that two such power-hungry, egotistical individuals as they would not get along very well. really. the idea, aside from being something that would be extremely convenient for those wishing justification for this war, is patently preposterous. of course, the tension regarding "immigrants" is paramount in my mind at the moment, mostly because of this rather disturbing conversation involving genocide. (which almost caused me to lose it, not surprisingly; was very glad Spaz was there and was making really good, informed, detailed arguments [better than mine would have been, in fact---i freeze up when too frustrated and tend to lose ability to speak well. >P], or else i really would have) i mean, there's quite obviously the argument that unless one is of Native American ancestry, either one or one's ancestors somewhere along the line were all immigrants to this country. i wouldn't think this would be something that would need to be said, really---i'd think it would be fairly self-evident. unfortunately, it seems as though the actuality is otherwise. the mind absolutely boggles. un-fucking-real. anyrate, here's some articles for today: The Judicially-Selected Dictator's Pre-Emptive War, brought to you by Ralph Nader (and before you groan [if you groan], read it--it's interesting). more on the Coalition of the Bribed, Bullied, and Blind, brought to you by the Daily Mirror. Henry Porter on How to Save Brand America in the wake of all the wrong being wrought in our name. We Bomb. They Suffer. Robert Fisk on the realities of war, via the Independent. Ultimatums and War by Lillian Corti. and finally, following up from another article along similar lines from the other day, Jimmy Breslin relates Familiar, Haunting Words. March 22, 2003true your heartCovielle (a girl whose work in online comics i admire very much) happens to be an American in Paris right now. she's stated a lot of things i've thought in a far more succinct (and just plain better, i think) fashion than i have so far. and it's also interesting to hear how people are reacting to her presence as well. you can read what she wrote here. going home yesterday evening was exceedingly wibble-inducing. there were police in riot gear on every corner downtown i could see. another protest in Federal Plaza. apparently, the police were eager to avoid the same sort of march that sprawled up along Michigan avenue yesterday (thousands of people, traffic snarled, etc., etc. "civil disobedience." more like civil duty, really. they weren't breaking things, which i think would take it a bit far). when you actually got up to Federal Plaza, there were police in riot gear at least three deep completely surrounding the plaza and the protesters. paddywagons scattered parked all around, some a few blocks up. didn't see horses, but can't be sure they weren't there as well. helicopters. on a lighter note, these are rather amusing. would be more amusing if they weren't so close to home, but you might appreciate them anyway if you haven't read them. i didn't write them, but if you like them, thank the one who did... The Very Secret Diary of Anthony Charles Lynton Blair The Very Secret Diary of Donald Rumsfeld The Very Secret Diary of Dr. Hans Blix The Very Secret Diary of George W. Bush perhaps more later this weekend. have been doing a bit better; haven't been reading/watching news so much today. feel exceedingly guilty that i have such a luxury, this trying to avoid thinking about it. it's a huge circle of stupid, really. :P March 21, 2003zettai unmei mokushirokua few interesting articles today: The Second American Revolution and also, the Washington Post alleges that (shock, horror) the "coalition of the willing" is all about spin. (would link WP directly, 'cept they also require registration to read articles, blah blah blah. generally like to link to sources directly rather than intermediaries, but...) there's also this article, predicting the crumbling of a certain empire. and finally, on a far more amusing note, Anthony H. Wilson Twats AGAIN! (this last via the Null Device.) also, i forgot to mention yesterday that whenever i saw newspaper boxes or what have you with simple headlines such as "WAR" glaring out from them, i very desperately found myself wanting to take a giant Magic Marker and write a big "G" in front of them. cos really, GWAR would be infinitely preferable. sick to death c/w mystery box!was at the protest yesterday. couldn't stay for the march, but was there before it got underway. even more police than last time, which i suppose makes sense. loads more on horses. helicopters overhead, at least two; might've been more. all the buildings kinda get in the way, so i couldn't really see. Federal Plaza was filled with people, and more kept coming in all the time. it was good to see, but still made me cry. this whole thing. i try to stop thinking about it, but i can't... even after i had to leave, though, i could hear their chanting all the way across the Loop. it was half-heartening and half-sad. so many people who feel this way, and the ones who can do something about it, of course, don't give a shit. way to treat your constituency. :P i'm going to try to think of other things. i don't know how much luck i'll have. yesterday was one of the most completely emotionally draining days i've spent in a long time, and i'm fairly certain i'm not alone in that. it's horrid. there are people around here who are complaining because there've been these articles in local papers about how Mayor Daley's requests for an FAA-declared no-fly zone over Chicago have been ignored. ah, yes, it all comes down to this. believe what you're told, oh yes. you'll be ever so much better off that way. some people are such unbelievable tools. it's really sad and frustrating to see. i bet they bought the fucking duct tape, too. and the plastic wrap. yes, children---remember to duck and cover. cos yanno, it's really all coming down on our heads. imagination wins out over reality every single fucking time. disgusting. i'm, er, a bit bitter and worked up. 'scuse me. >P oh, i know. here's something kinda amusing from the other night, just before this country actually began this thing they're doing. i got to the train station near my house, and as usual, Spaz picked me up. as we're driving home, he asks who i know in Australia. i know people who've been there, but i don't think i've got any friends there right now (and if i do, and you're reading this, feel free to kick me for being so forgetful). i can't think of anybody, and ask why. he responds that i've got a giant box that just got delivered sitting at home, from Australia. he can't remember the name on it, so there's not much i can really do about it till we've gotten home, other than wonder who it could possibly be from. a few minutes later, we're home. sure enough, this huge box is sitting on the table in the kitchen. i examine it; the name isn't one i recognise. it's from Breckenridge. hrrm. can't think of anything to do with Breckenridge. look at the customs slip, and it states the contents to be "SNOWGLOBE." signature doesn't look familiar. hrrm. (of course, this makes me think of my sister. Mariam had this thing last year for snowglobes; in particular, there were these REALLY nice ones that had been made featuring scenes from Lord of the Rings. i wouldn't spend so much money on them, but i did think they were quite lovely. she collected them all. XD) i look all over the outside of the box, trying to see if there's a note attached. look under the customs slip. nothing. finally, Spaz hands me a razor and i slice it open. no note inside; just a lot of styrofoam peanuts surrounding a slightly-smaller-big-box inside that says "Harry Potter" on top. a Harry Potter snowglobe. hrrm. Spaz holds the big box so i can pry the HP box out of the midst of all the styrofoam. pull it out, open it up---still no note. sure enough, it's a snowglobe; Harry Potter, even:  you shake it and there's little stars. there's even Scabbers! the books are really cool; the bookmarks are actual ribbon coming out of the ceramic. and the cauldron is pretty neat (although if they've got a cauldron, why not Snape instead of Dumbledore? XD), with the little bubbles. but still---where did it come from? i couldn't think of any contests i'd entered. i never really liked any of the HP merchandise---except the Legos. thought the Grandpre art was hideous. didn't want the movie stuff (excepting the actual movies themselves on DVD). so i pondered. and Spaz teased, in a singsong voice, "you've got a STALKER! someone must've seen a SWEK show or something! XD XD XD" pointing and laughing. i glared, half-amused but playing along. where could it have come from? i decide to call Mariam. (now, what i mentioned earlier? people upset about there not being a no-fly zone in place? my mother was one of those people. she had in fact called me at work earlier in the day, wanting to set up a system wherein we'd check in with each other with a phone call every day. nevermind the fact that a) it's bullshit, and b) even if it were much of a possibility, were something to happen, i'd think either one of us would probably figure out something was wrong with the other. :P really, such a system makes no sense whatsoever. way to buy into the bullshit, mom. :P) anyrate, i'd told my sister about this conversation via a phonecall we'd had earlier. her response was a gigantic pause, followed by "my silence is my response. O.O;;;" i'd had a similar one, i told her---there was a long pause in my convo with my mom, during which i could feel the ellipses circling my head. and i also related that suddenly, i'd felt this overwhelming urge to run to the bathroom. so i told my mom, "er, i've really got to go to the bathroom. can i get off the phone now?" and i did. i wasn't making it up. and i told Spaz about this conversation on the way home, too. hence, what followed after i announced that i was going to call Mariam: "Ooh, can I call her?" he asked. "I want to make sure she's okay---tell her she needs to check in with us twice each day to make sure nothing's happened to her. XDXDXDXD and then we can call your mom and tell her we just opened up a big box from someone we didn't know, with a snowglobe filled with anthrax---see, Harry Potter is evil! XDXDXD" he phoned up Mariam. and informed her solemnly that we ought to check in with one another every day, twice a day. and it was hilarious. and he told her about the snowglobe. and we found out she was the one who'd sent it. "...but from AUSTRALIA?!?!?" i asked. apparently, it was my late christmas present. she thought it was neat, and that i'd like it. and it is, and i do, even if i never would have bought it for myself. Hedwig, Hermione, Ron, Scabbers, and Dumbledore look pretty good. and Harry looks a bit like he's got leprosy, which is okay too. it now sits amongst my Lego HP sets, Milk & Cheese + Lenore lunchboxes, and Filler Bunny in his capsule on our bookcase. the books at the base are the coolest part of it, though. XD well, we were amused. XD March 20, 2003gone all wrongCommon Dreams often has much reading material of interest; more than probably a lot of people have time to read and take entirely in, i would think (considering we've got jobs, allegedly). which is rather unfortunate. and also why i recommend reading this article right now. i can't even describe how disgusted and sad i am right now. i'm sure you understand. oh, and read this interesting commentary, too. this last sorta ties into something i was wondering about as i listened to the speech last night. in general, i can't stand to listen to the speeches---i'll find out what was said in them later, but i just can't take listening to and/or watching him speak. it hurts. but as i was in the midst of washing dishes last night and we had NWI on (the only newsstation i personally can stand to have on for any length of time). the speech was made. and i wondered, does he even believe what he's saying? because what i got out of the speech is that apparently, we're going in shining armour to rescue the princess from the clutches of evil. is that really what he believes? and what others believe? part of me is utterly incredulous. apparently, that part of me can still be surprised---the very notion of which is somewhat surprising to me, as i thought i had long since reconciled to myself to this particular actuality, and all it entails. it's true, you know. all the world really is a stage. additionally, there are these: another interesting article re: woeful state of media in the US, amongst other things over at Popmatters, via Krissy. nothing not known here, but still. there's also this article, reprinted from the editorial section of yesterday's Chicago Tribune. i'd have posted it here yesterday, as i did read it then and find it rather interesting (especially coming out of that paper), but the Tribune is one of those sites requiring one to register to read their articles, and i didn't think it likely a lot of people would have patience for it. so i'm glad there's that reprint available now. the bit about Roosevelt being a manly man made me snicker. and here's an article on the war of misinformation, complete with handy list of cliched phrases which i know i've already seen. perhaps more to come. i'm having extreme difficulty concentrating on anything just now. March 19, 2003driven to distraction...while the of course, it's not in any way taking advantage of the fact that everyone's a little, er, preoccupied right now. oh no. ...what was that being said about it having nothing at all to do with oil in the slightest? hrrm. (heads up comes from Paul the Postman, BTW.) [addendum as of 8:49am CST on Thursday, 20 March 2003: Fi just sent me this. which is good news of a sort, although rather small in comparison to everything else. :I oh, and if you've been having problems posting comments due to it demanding a password of you, sorry---my mistake. it's fixed now, so comment if you wish.] while i've rather lightly brushed up against the topic, i'd like to say now that i really wish i could write something brilliant right now about this whole mess, but i can't. what can i say that hasn't been said already? just saying "er, this is really fucked up," doesn't quite cut it, does it? someone once mentioned to me the joke that SBC really stands for "sodomised by cowboys." an awfully apt description for this particular period in time. wonder if that's how it'll be demarcated in the history books? "The SBC Era: How the World was Lost." also, Spaz got the latest issue of CBLDF's Busted! yesterday. full of interesting news about their ongoing fight to avenge trouncings of freedom-of-speech laws as regards anything and everything to do with comics. in it was an update on the Texas vs. Jesus Castillo case; the crux of which blows my mind every time i read it. basically, it comes down to this: apparently, one isn't supposed to sell pornographic comics to adults of legal age. at least, not in Texas. because, you know, comics are only meant for kids. nevermind the fact that the arresting officer even made note of the fact that the "Adult" section was clearly marked and set off from the rest of the store, and that all materials within that section (including the translated hentai manga purchased by the undercover officer) were all clearly marked as "adult material." you can read more about the case here, and an interview with Jesus here. there's also another Newsarama followup here. the CBLDF and other likeminded organisations need support more than ever, especially now, when voices of dissent seem to automatically equal treason in an alarming number of minds. March 18, 2003can't take this away from me
last night was the only Chicago stopoff for the Beijing Punk Jet Set US 2003 Tour, featuring Hang On The Box and Brain Failure. and it was brilliant. ^_________^ i didn't find out about it until last Thursday, but timing worked out beautifully and so i was able to go. couldn't get anyone else to go with me (which is understandable, as it was so last-minute), but that's okay---i just feel lucky i got to go. who knows when/if they'll be back? and besides, if they do come back, i'll be in a much stronger position to anyrate, show started a bit late, as i expected. (i don't go to the Fireside as often as i used to, but i would almost be willing to swear i've never seen a show start on time there. which isn't a critique, really; just an observation. XD) Hang On The Box was up first, and they brought their stuff in, plugged in, did soundcheck, and started playing.* Li Yan Fan is a really good guitarist. she kept doing things i didn't expect at all, and they all sounded really good. her harmonising vocals with Wang Yue were really cool, for the most part (all hail good floor monitors! XD). Yilina & Shenjing provided a good, steady rhythm section, and Wang Yue had attitude to spare. as for how they sounded, it's difficult to describe. they sound a lot better in person than on record, although i think that's really down to production than anything else. i'd recommend seeing them if you can. ^^ go here if you'd like to hear MP3s and see videos (via RealPlayer), as well as learn more about them. Brain Failure was on next, and i swear it took no more than 5 minutes or so for them to plug in, soundcheck, and start their set. i think the best way to describe them is rollicking. the thing that stood out most to me about them was Shi Xudong's basslines. great, really interesting basslines. he, Xiao Rong, and Wang Jian were bouncing all around the stage, jumping off the stage monitors (and in Wang Jian's case, falling down in the middle of a song---Xiao Rong helped him up, though). no small feat, considering what a small stage the Fireside has got. i always marvel at seeing such displays, cos i'd be so worried i'd jab someone with my headstock or something. XD anyrate, Xu Lin had some neat fills as well. they were shoutalong, pogotastic fun. and Xiao Rong had neat little leopard spots carved out of his hair. difficult to describe, but it was really, really cool. they did "Come On Down to Beijing" as either the last or second to last song in the set (can't remember now...^^;;;); you can hear the song and view the video here. you can also learn more about Brain Failure here. after Brain Failure's set, i skipped out, hopped on the bus, and went home. would've been fun to stay for the other two bands (the Arrivals and the Dillinger Four), but i wouldn't have gotten home until a really obscene hour had i done that---was lucky the show started so early, even though it started later than it was supposed to. otherwise my silly real-life obligations (read: job) would've got in the way of all my fun. XD i've got to say, though---Fireside crowds are generally some of my favourites. they pay attention to bands they haven't heard before, even if they're there to see someone else. they generally don't rudely talk through other bands' sets. they get into it if the music moves them, and they don't if it doesn't---not as much posturing and impetus to look as cool and nonplussed as possible (thusly, the necessity of gluing one's arms to one's sides or else crossed appraisingly over one's chest). there's other kinds of posturing, of course, but the general atmosphere seems much more relaxed. it was a really great show. one of those to singlehandedly restore my faith in music. not that it was in danger, but every so often you need a little kick-start, and this was it. left half-deaf and not even caring. should've brought earplugs (as some smart people near me did), but eh. XD this show was exactly what i needed, and exactly when i needed it. and everything worked out perfectly; i even saw Mariam beforehand. yesterday was brilliant (well, excepting the general state of the world, obviously. *.*;;;). <3 <3 <3 [N.B.= both bands are hitting several other places in the US; if you're interested, check out the tour schedule to see when and where they're coming near you. f'rinstance, they'll be in NYC on the 20th, and it's only $5...^^] * = this is one of the things i love about the Fireside and similar venues---bands tend to plug and play. no taking a zillion years and making the audience wait forever. yay for less bullshit; we could certainly take a lesson from them! --;;; March 17, 2003yesterday is gone and now i need an alibihours and hours and hours and hours spent walking the streets, to and from record shops (mostly one in particular) and venues. headphones plugged in always, with brief stops when necessary to get precious lifeblood-renewing batteries for the small audiocassette player responsible for All That Is Good And Pure In Your Life. magazines pawed through for far too long in the shops; many purchased with scraped-together change gotten by foregoing the week's lunchmilk. the Crown books was nice; had discounts on magazines. the City Newsstand had a better selection, but alas---no discount. neither carried everything you wanted, so off to elsewhere for those most forbidden amusements: MM, NME, Select, Vox, etc. of course, the shops likely to carry such fine periodical literature were also the ones most likely to actually carry some of the things your eager eyes were going wider and wider to take in. a blessing and a curse, because if you spent the money on the magazines to find out about these things you'd never hear in a million years on local radio stations, how were you to afford to purchase these things and take them home to listen to? a quandary, to be sure. good thing you were in charge of doing the week's worth of laundry at the laundromat down the street, then. good thing too that your mother let you have whatever change she had in her wallet. she couldn't give you an allowance (except on very rare occasion, and never regularly), and she wouldn't let you have an after-school job---but at least you had some change. and friends you'd made at your favourite record shop who didn't give you the evil eye when you'd purchase an album with $10-something in silver coinage (usually quarters, but sometimes smaller denominations). the excitement of such purchases was, of course, incomparable. it took a lot to get them, and thusly, they were that much more appreciated. you weren't trying to be cool. you just wanted something different. had you been trying to be cool, you would have gone along with what was on the radio. you would have tried harder to fit in. you wouldn't have been wearing bunny ears and steel-toes. piffle. you used to write all the time. mostly bad lyrics over choppy, churning, angry guitar chords, written in the throes of unparalleled angst only achieved in teenage frustration; railing at a world which you believed was only shutting you out. (you may have found out differently later, but.) some didn't have chords. a kind soul might've called them "bad poetry." or not. eventually, frustration (as it tended to) gave way to DIY-ness. time to type away and cut-and-paste. time to run away to the photocopy shop and make endless copies (really only 50, but that's a lot to do at one time by yourself) of the end product. staple, staple--must have that nice staple in the center to hold it all together. oddly more personal and political than musical, but what you needed to say at the time. it'll make you cringe later, but that's what it's meant to do, right? (and besides, it served its purpose---for all the time she wouldn't believe you when you told her, you finally convinced her that you Weren't Just Kidding about how awful and full of racist fuck-upped-ness your school was. didn't matter that it was a self-published, shoddily-produced fanzine, subject to no one's editorial whims or fact-checking except your own---it was Written, and therefore that was Authority Enough. :P) getting up the slightly giddy courage to be cocky enough to send nice letters requesting interviews to local heroes. optimistically purchasing a very overpriced (but necessary) small tape recorder with which to tape interviews to transcribe later. shock and amazement when someone calls you in response to such a letter. elation mingled with fear and a handful of eeep as you prep a million times over for the questions you want to ask, and hope you don't sound like a complete and utter moron. you write, and write, and write---and nothing comes out the way you'd like. you can't get things to work the way you want; you're instantly appalled by how the first issue came out and you wonder why you ever thought it was a good idea in the first place. you think you ought to go back to doing music, not trying to explain anime because it just isn't happening the way you'd like. you're supposed to review things for other peoples' zines, but those things fall through for various reasons. a pity, really---you liked those zines and they were a whole lot more readable than yours. but the fact remains. maybe more music was in order? would perhaps have been easier to write about, although of course you always felt that someone somewhere had already done it better or perhaps was already doing it better than you, and so you let this stultify you into Not Even Bothering. second issue, much delayed---and never to be. this angsty!semi-reminiscence brought to you by: a weekend filled with dreams involving The Indie, which is all your fault. quite amazing i remember them at all, given that i'm usually lucky if i remember that i had dreams, let alone what they were about. (oh, and check out Indie Rock Pete Hits Indie Rock Bottom. hopefully will grow in entertainment value; seems strangely lacking somewhat. although there's a Kompressor poster on page 15, which amuses me nonetheless. XD) also watched Crispin Glover play with rats this weekend. which was amusing enough. Shirley Walker scored it, which i don't think ehough people are mentioning---she had a lot to do with the EXCELLENT scoring of Batman: the Animated Series. so it was v. exciting to hear her work in a theatrical form once again. i <3 Ms. Walker. ^-^ i usually am not so keen on remakes, as there is rarely a point---but as i haven't seen the original, i am unqualified to comment. although of course i know about the little nods Morgan & Wong made to the original and its sequel, given that Everyone In Creation has seen fit to mention them in the reviews they've it is stunningly gorgeous outside and i'm unfortunately trapped in for another 2.5 hours. ;.; but after that, it's off to (hopefully) meet my sister and then hop from there over to the Hang on the Box show. ^______^ (and then, of course, go home and find out what went on in the speech i missed and wouldn't have watched anyway, as i just can't take watching him. can't. can't. can't. and will more likely than not be intensely upset, but this is to be expected, really, because i don't think it likely in the slightest that this is going to go any way other than what we're all expecting anyway. this entire experience is a grand metric fucktonne of stupid. --;;;) March 16, 2003what this weekend has taught me...i've got loads i'd like to write about from this weekend, but as i'm also directly in the middle of it and still have loads to do (and it is GORGEOUS out, besides), i'll give you this to occupy yourselves for the moment: you'll want the sound up for this one, and it comes via the inimitable Hase. enjoy; will write more later and/or tomorrow. ^^ March 14, 2003"r" is for random...statchecking: found that someone apparently found HSL using the phrase "learning to read the Meril way." for the record, i wish i got as much reading done, too---though i don't know that it's a skill that can easily be learned. must be self-taught by doing, yes. XD also, the phrase "thank you kindly" always strikes me as a bit strange when spoken. i mean, are any other adverbs ever appended to "thank you"? thank you angrily? thank you smarmily? it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. XD and finally (well, for now, at least), the Ikea Sex Survey Says: Knives & Forks in Bed; No Spoons!. this raises two questions. one, why aren't sporks even mentioned? and two, why the hell is Ikea conducting a sex survey? o.o;; i can see it now... "Ooh, baby, that GIR lamp is really turning me on..." *lascivious sounds of slurping and gropage ensue* "Good." *more slurping, then a crash as a body is flung haphazardly onto the waiting V?RDE base cabinet* *sound of glass breaking* "OWW! I did NOT need that TREVLIG dessert glass broken into shards and embedded in my arse!" "Does this mean I can't eat Daim! cake off your belly button later on?" "We're going to sleep like ALIAS knives tonight, after that little performance." this could be a new commercial to follow along with Ikea's "Just Trying It Out" theme, perhaps? we'll just have to see. XD ...somewhere, we will meet...WARNING: this entry contains randomness and disjointed rambling/ranting,etc., etc. i can only hope it approximates something resembling sense for anyone who's not me who's reading it. XD firstly, let's play Clue! Hang on the Box + Brain Failure. at the Fireside (6pm Monday 17th March; tickets $8). with a show. oh, and the Dillinger Four, but i'm really more about the other two. ^-^ also, Fi would be well amused if she'd seen the Interpol fashion spread in an NYTimes men's fashion supplement that i saw yesterday. can't find photos online (though i'm sure someone will put them up if they haven't already), and it isn't mine. but, er...O.O;;; also, the Null Device brings up this article about how the Big 5 major record companies are considering merging once again to offset the brutal losses they've been suffering in recent time. *snarls* boo fucking hoo. once again, they seem to conveniently be skirting the fact that it's got little if anything to do with people file-sharing and buying video games and everything to do with product SUCKING. not only that, they've been systematically producing less boardroom!pop in the past few years, and therefore have had less to throw at the wall to see what sticks. ergo, less has stuck. i may not be the most mathematically talented lass in the world, but even i can figure that out. add to that the ridiculous retail prices asked for for new CDs these days, plus the current state of the economy---and gee, wonder why they aren't flying off store shelves anymore? if more people would say what they mean, would face up to the realities of whatever it is they're dealing with, they'd make their own and everyone else's lives a whole lot easier. unless, of course, they went the other way and just became interminably whingey bastards about it. which, of course, is always possible. in some ways, i think this is probably their equivalent. this is why the RIAA exists. it can't POSSIBLY be the record companies' products that are at fault, oh no. nor even the simple math i pointed out above, if you're of a mind for manufacturing. it's those naughty file-sharing bastards, obviously. ...fucktards. March 13, 2003not really a tune you can dance to, is it?...wow. O.O;;; this is, of course, a very small and insignificant thing in the face of just about everything else, but this definitely tips the scales just an eensy bit more towards utter, complete, irrefutable insanity for Senhor Ashcroft now, doesn't it? (incidentally, they were always referred to as "tabby cats" by everyone i know. as a kid, i only ever saw "calico" in books. perhaps it varies by region...?) March 12, 2003what the paper said...damn. it seems the Read Or Die OAVs have been picked up here. which wouldn't be a problem for me in the slightest, except it's being done damn. --;;; the joy of sing-singA Change of Light sounds like a very interesting project. not only the concept, but who's involved in it. unfortunately, as i'm over here and it's over there, well---no such luck for me. but it does sound interesting. and says something about Sing-Sing coming here to tour soon! o.o;; *goes off to rabidly scan papers for more info* (oh, and the Change of Light info comes via No Rock n' Roll Fun. also, looks like Pete Townshend won't be prosecuted, after all. and all that entails...this article in the New Scientist on the glaring lack of safety for anyone where SUVs are concerned is quite succinct, and even mentions the issue of bumpers on the blasted things not lining up with those of cars.
one more bit of stupidity in the (d)evolution of auto manufacturing. and with how unbelievably unsafe and unfriendly to the environment they are, it'd be easy to suggest that the "S" in "SUV" is really meant for "Self-centered." problem with this is, they're quite unsafe for their occupants as well. might i suggest a new blanket ad-campaign, then? SUVs: The Vehicle For Those Who Hate Everything might not be punchy enough...perhaps it needs a bit of reworking... March 11, 2003can somebody please explain to me why anyone would want to wear clothing with giant words stitched across one's bum? i wonder this anew each time i see it, and i haven't ever been able to figure out why. i mean, yes, it draws attention, but that still isn't quite why to me. if that makes sense. so, splain, if you can. either with or without the Htoday, i would like to thank (in no particular order): * live ophiluses (ophilii? and as opposed to dead ones? XD) well, actually, i think the caramel is probably better. but the flavour known as "chocolate underground" is quite good. reminds me of the yogurt my mom used to make (and no, i'm not kidding). it's very, very satisfying in a completely different way to other yogurt i've had. wish it were less expensive; i'd eat it more often. as it is, it's a nice treat once in awhile. (eat cheaper yogurt the rest of the time. mmm, Yoplait. XD) and YoBaby (if you get over feeling that your yogurt is harassing you) tastes quite like pudding. only not. num. ^-^ in other news, Mariam took the mommie* to see Disturbed in Milwaukee last night. the mommie CANNOT claim no one loves her. --;;; XD * = "the mommie" is the most oft-used term to refer to Mariam's mom betwixt Mariam and i. it is never meant in reference to my mom. it's a long story, and perhaps someday i'll splain publicly. although i do indeed have at least two mommies, it's not in the way you think. and some of you know the story already, sooooo... March 10, 2003sat in a pub watching the women's tennishrrm. i've had a few thoughts in mind for days now that i considered writing about here. i still might, but...not today. however, some people will be pleased to know that it seems likely that we may very well have t-shirts made up sometime in the forseeable future. and probably by sometime in May at the very latest, as there's Acen going on (which we're allegedly involved in). more details as they're available. if you'd like to read more about my fairly non-eventful weekend and a lot of rambling about the Formula One Grand Prix of Australia (whee, opening race of the season), click in at your whim... weekend did what it said on the box. brought the week to an end; no more, no less. got some things accomplished; not so much with others. made pancakes and a new kind of pizza which needs a bit of tweaking, and which at one point had me so angry at it that i really was thinking about throwing it out. am glad i didn't, as it's still quite tasty---just, as i said, needs more tweaking. also rediscovered why going into any store on a Sunday afternoon/evening is a Bad, Bad, Horrid, Stupid, Imbecilic, Dangerous Idea. remembered to breathe both times. the Grand Prix of Australia was this weekend, and this season does promise to be a fair bit more interesting than the last. which is good, because really, it couldn't get much more coma-inducing than last season, bar a few moments here and there. when you know pretty much exactly how things will shake out over the course of a season before it's even started, there's a problem. (it also doesn't help if the omnipresent smug look on Schumi's face more often than not makes one want to smack him, particularly when he ends up on podium [and usually the top step] all season long.) all the rule changes that Max Mosely, In His Infinite Wisdom *cough* (oh, andthoseotherguysintheFIAtoo) have come up with do promise to make things more interesting, but i don't think anyone will be able to keep them all straight. particularly as they keep changing every other second (or so it seems). some are a bit inane---the "must qualify with the fuel load you're going to race on next day" one in particular. but the series needed something, else it would've been as cut-and-dried and dead boring as last year's was, for the most part. as for the result? i'm fairly pleased---would've been even cooler to see Kimi Raikkonen on the top of the podium, but as it was was quite nice as well. i'm fairly happy whenever Schumi doesn't win, mostly because he does it all the time. and not even a podium finish, well---that was brilliant! i hope we continue to see good things out of Sauber this year as well. and Minardi's why-bother-qualifying flouting of the new rules was quite amusing. drive-through penalty for Kimi was STUPID. ONE-kmh over limit? O.O;;; dude. also saw A Clockwork Orange almost entirely all the way through this weekend. on IFC, and unedited. i'd seen probably almost all of it before, only completely piecemeal, so this was a bit of a change. i was reminded, though---one of the Dell commercials featuring deposed stoner king Steven the Dell Dude used to always automatically bring a certain scene from this film to mind due to the music. well, and the look on Steven's face. ...well, it made me smirk. oh, nearly forgot two other important things about the weekend. one: the jasmine tea from Takashimaya's Tea Box that Fi recently sent is AMAZING. i've enjoyed various jasmine teas before, but this tops them all. the fragrance is more...pure, for lack of a better word, and i don't believe i can properly describe the taste. two: while i didn't get around to doing that survey of everyone at work and their reactions to the Skippy Lou keychain and accompanying stickers, i did remember to take them to band practice and commenced to quiz everyone there. and amazingly, no one is as disturbed by them as you and i are (excepting Spaz). me, i stand by my vanilla extract theory. naughty Sanrio ought to learn when to say no. XD the beauty of haiku is elementalhaving difficulty with the periodic table of elements? perhaps seeing each element in haiku form will make things a bit easier for you? no, really...more later. ^^ take aim...via Spaz, let's be careful not to pee on our shoes, right? (hrrm, damned thing says i'm "not in control of my man-bits." why, i'll show that little...XD) more later. March 07, 2003in the mouths of historymost of the people i know who are reading this enjoy food, to some extent. and likewise, most of the people i know who are reading this know that i enjoy food a great deal; preparing it, enjoying the smell of it, serving it to others---and eating it, of course. i also enjoy learning about it, and growing it, and in general finding out all i can about different aspects of it that interest me---in much the same way i end up doing exhaustive and obsessive research into most things i enjoy to any great degree. so, y'know, food geekery. ^^ it seems very likely to me that food is probably as reliable an arbiter of truth as one is likely to find. things political, artistic, spiritual, supernatural, scientific, social---everything can be told in fairly vivid detail through food. while various institutions and individuals may continuously alter various histories concerning people and places and things---it doesn't seem like much thought is ever given to altering mentions of food. food is overlooked as incidental and superfluous---and this is what protects it from such alteration. (i could of course be entirely wrong about this; need to do further research. ^^) but it seems that food, if not entirely truthful, will at the very least be able to tell more about more things with more accuracy than most other historical texts will. one might have an opinion of the food, but the food itself is impartial. that being said of course, it had to be adapted in order to be made in an American kitchen, particularly at that time. there are of course a whole slew of more authentic options which are fairly widely available now, and thusly much less of a need to substitute ingredients. but still, the thing that's particularly interesting about the Thai approach to cooking is that the philosophy is very adaptable; it uses what's around. it takes other methods of cooking, pulls them into itself, and comes back with something entirely different, and uniquely its own. curry is an excellent example---of course, Thai curries are famous. but so are the Indian curries which made their way to Thailand, which Thai cooks learned from and adapted to their own ends, thusly creating something new, and something uniquely Thai in character. so the question arises---when is something truly "bastardised"? i don't think adaptation is bastardisation; i think that it's necessary. authenticity is more about the spirit of a cuisine than it is about specific ingredients, barring certain exceptions that become obvious with each instance. a landlocked area is generally not going to be known for its great sea-life-based culinary creations. is it bastardisation if they observe techniques from an island town, adapt them to their needs, and dress their poultry/meat/tofu/vegetables/roots/etc. in it? i really don't think so. of course, this means it's different than what one would get if one travelled to that island town, but that's to be expected. civilisations throughout history haven't all been eating the same thing; there are certainly regional differences to take into account, and even within those, families. generations. individuals. it's not bastardisation; it's variation. according to constraints of ingredient availability, personal preference, and the palates of those who you're serving (and not to mention time and cooking for oneself vs. cooking for multiple people, i.e. CupNoodle vs. something requiring more effort XD). so complaints regarding bastardisation baffle me---unless it's the spirit of the thing which has been violated. the art of cooking is not one of ingredients; it's of spirit, it's of willingness to adventure into territories unknown. cooking isn't boring at all if you do it right. all my babbling aside, here's a couple of interesting things i've run across in cursory fits of Googling; haven't gone too far into either, but they do look quite interesting: (scroll down past the PG info to find the text) this has got loads of historical information and recipes; very Eurocentric. and finally, getting back to Thai food---i also found this book, which i desperately need. if it's half the things it describes, i'm quite happily sold. o.o;;; in conclusion, i'll offer a quick & easy recipe for super-ghetto Thai-style curry. if you've got a few ingredients around, you can pull this together in about as much time as it takes to do a stovetop packet of instant ramen (and i specify stovetop because it's quite obvious that you could microwave it much faster, smartass XD). quick and good, and you can make it as hot or not as you'd like. TIME REQUIRED: 20-30 minutes, give or take. INGREDIENTS: * bit of neutral cooking oil for your skillet PREPARATION: I adore frozen boxes of chicken breasts. They're insanely handy. This is where having a microwave comes in handy---defrosting. One can throw together a meal involving chicken in a matter of moments, and the frozen box lasts for ages; you can use the chicken as you need it, not waste any, and have some always at hand. Frozen shrimp is good this way too---in fact, most familiar protein-laced centerpieces of meals freeze fairly well. Anyrate, if your chicken/meat/tofu is frozen, defrost it before beginning this recipe. Also, if you don't happen to have leftover rice sitting around, you might want to start cooking it before you do anything else. (and if you've got a rice cooker, so much the better!) Heat a large skillet on med-high heat. If you're using chicken, beef, or tofu that needs cutting into smaller bits, cut it while you're waiting for the pan to heat. Once it's hot, add only enough cooking oil that it puts a nice, thin coating across the bottom of the pan (or less, if using nonstick cookware). Add garlic if you're using it. Add chicken/beef/shrimp. and lid skillet for a few minutes; stir occasionally until browned (or pinked, in the case of the shrimp). If you're using tofu, ignore all that and skip to the next step. Add coconut milk (or cream of coconut/milk mixture) and curry paste to taste. (start out with a very little bit of curry paste if you're not familiar with it; you can always add more, but you can't really remove it if you've added too much!) Stir until curry/milk mixture is uniform in colour and all paste chunks have been dissolved. Add frozen vegetables. Lid again; allow to simmer for awhile. Turn down heat if necessary; in any case, stir occasionally. If using tofu, add it in and lid the skillet again. Add just a splash of fish sauce towards the end of cooking; if you're using the fresh basil (and here, it must be fresh---dried basil doesn't do much for it and so i wouldn't even bother if that's all i had here, really), shred it by hand into the skillet and mix in just before you dish the curry onto your rice. If you're using leftover rice, throw that into the skillet with the curry for the last few minutes to heat up. Otherwise, dish the curry onto your rice and enjoy! March 06, 2003well, *this* certainly explains things...i don't know about you, but this isn't The Hobbit i remember reading. O.O;;; [ADDENDUM: not surprisingly, they've changed it already. but check the "more"...] ...right, then. here's a screencapture. i swear this was not altered in any way...
"Lord of the Cock Rings" indeed.
March 05, 2003all you've heard is truei really am a gigantic dork. (as though anyone reading this needed further confirmation. XD) was at Butera last night. it just opened last week, and we were a bit worried previously. the place where Butera now stands is maybe 5 minutes from our house at the most. it used to be another market which was very inexpensive and mostly had lots of good things---one only needed to be wary of purchasing meat from them, but this wasn't such a big deal. and then they closed. and we were sad. we ended up going to one or the other of the bigger chain supermarkets in the area, which didn't necessarily have much better selection or quality of products---but which were significantly more expensive. and also not located 5 minutes away, so last-minute "oh crap, forgot ____" moments were much more frustrating. anyway, so Butera opened up last week. it's a small local Chicagoland chain, and there used to be one not far from a few of the various apartments my mother and i had occupied. it was frightening for various reasons, and other people i knew who'd been to others had reported similar experiences involving cockroaches, rotting vegetables, mouldy bread, and the like. so it was with some trepidation we passed by the store frequently before it was about to open---hoping it wouldn't be horrible, and thinking it'd be really nice to have an okay place to grab groceries from so close-by. er, it's really cool. i mean, as much as a supermarket can be. far more selection than anywhere else i've been around here; not just of foods you'd expect to find, but from elsewhere as well (and not the standard "Ethnic Foods" aisle, either). half an aisle devoted to Italian cookies. o.o;;; there's loads of fresh produce, much more than there had been at the old market---and all pretty much in really good shape. and CHEAP. the meat isn't scary (although we haven't bought any yet), and neither is anything else. everything is really reasonably priced. seriously, i think we've already saved around $60 just in the past two weeks we've been shopping there to what it would have cost had we bought comparable items elsewhere locally. O.O;;; (the story in short form behind all this: apparently, the original Butera stores had been owned and operated by the Butera family for years. they were then sold to some employees, who ran them and expanded the chain a bit more, and under whose care the stores fell into the shoddy state they were in when first i had visited them. in 2002, they were bought back by the original family, and this is the first new store they've opened. if this store is any indication, it's really great the family has bought them back. O.O;;;) so anyway, the Supreme Dork Moment: last night, in the midst of a big snowstorm, we decided to go to the store because it would likely be entirely empty. it was. so, groceries! of course, we're spotting new things the entire time. this was, after all, only our second time there. after raiding the aisle with all the candy in (finally had Cadbury Flake last week. XD and Spaz got Milka Happy Cows! XD XD), i stumbled into an aisle i thought i'd been in before. the aisle with all the spices. here is (approximately) the conversation that followed: me: O.O;;; *nikonikoniko* c'mere! look at this! *nearly bounces* Spaz: what? O.O;;; me: isn't it beautiful? *gestures broadly toward the racks of bulk spices---something which we most assuredly did NOT find very readily in the stupid chains by our house. all outrageously priced McCormick and their ilk. bleh. >P* Spaz: uh yeah, sure...o.o;; me: do you have any idea why i get so irrationally happy over bulk spices?* Spaz: no, no i don't...XD O.O;;;; um. XD in conclusion, Cadbury Fingers = Glico Pocky. discuss. XD no Jaffa cakes, though. ;.; halfway to civilisation but still not quite there. at least we've got J.Lo on Polish candy bars to keep us warm. XD in other news, the Saturn is no more. no, not like that. don't worry. no further accidents have occurred but the end of the period the insurance company was willing to pay for came yesterday. as the GTI is not yet shod with proper snow tyres (nor does it have proper snow wipers, actually), Spaz opted to continue rental for a few more days until the tyres arrive and are mounted and balanced properly on the GTI. but honestly, the Saturn was making both of us miserable. Elva-chan doesn't have the problem of having to deal with defrosting her windscreen (or any other windows in the car), given where she lives---so this wouldn't be a problem for her. but apparently this is a common problem for Saturn sedans---the defroster actually seems to impede vision further for quite some time after it's been turned on. o.o;;; makes for some really safe driving, let me tell you. additionally, the seats were also really mean to our backs. un-ergonomic in the slightest. plus, you sit so low to the ground it's quite awkward (and can be painful if you're not careful) getting in and out. the throttle and brake pedals are completely unresponsive as well; you have to mosh each one down to the floor for a good few whole seconds before either responds. there's no way to attenuate pressure; you can't just give it a little gas, because this car won't let you. likewise, you can't just give it a little brake. you're either going or you're not, and you're either stopped or you're not. no in-betweens. as you might imagine, these (amongst other things) got rather irritating after awhile, so Spaz begged them for any other car in the same range (all the other cars in this class were gone when he initially rented it, which is why he ended up with it). we ended up with a Ford Focus sedan---which is actually a class up from what the Saturn's in, but they were nice and charged the same rate for it. XD words cannot describe how much nicer it is. the controls are much more intuitive; the brake and the throttle respond to your commands; most importantly, the defroster actually works! this is a must with the weather the way it is right now; the whole inability-to-see-shit-out-any-window thing really makes driving rather uncomfortable. and unsafe. seriously, Spaz had to roll down the window on the Saturn and stick his head out it for a good 20 minutes after getting on the road in the morning in order to see where he was going---and this is after letting the car sit and warm up for a bit before getting in! O.O;; trunk space is also better; all in all, space is not wasted in the spectacular fashion it is in the SL-1 we had. granted, this car is also probably a lot newer and has seen a lot less abuse, but still. others who've got Saturn sedans in this area have reported the defrosting issue, so i'm confident it's not just the one we've got. (i used to think about getting the Focus ZX-3. if i did, 'twould be in eggyolk yellow. i <3 the stock seats in that car muchly; the bolstering feels so nice. ^^ but alas---space usage. MINI is small, but makes marvelous use of the space it's got. plus, roof rack! plus, love! XD) * = this isn't the first time, either. the first time i found bulk spices in a store around here, i swear i almost did a dance. ashamed to know me yet? XD when you're stuck like gluefun with Multibabel filtering in this manner: english -> french -> back to english -> german -> back to english -> italian -> back to english -> portuguese -> back to english -> spanish -> back to english (dizzy yet? wait'll you read it...XD) some of you may remember this fic i wrote ages ago, but i bet you won't guess how it all turns out in the end... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was on a particularly bright, cheery day in Tomoeda that a certain "Daidouji residence. Who may I ask is calling?" came a pleasant, "I am Eriol Hiiragizawa, and I had an appointment with Ms. Tomoyo "Please wait a moment while I check, sir. While I check, you may come |
