plea for help...

via this thread at ILM, a plea for help from Sing-Sing:

please support them if you haven't already. this goes for me, too---all i've got is the "Panda Eyes" 7", which is really great---i finally got to listen to it after having it for ages upon rescuing a Technics SL-B5 turntable a couple of weeks ago which, of all things, works beautifully both at 33 and 45 RPM.

everyday at the bus stop

those of you who take public transit every day know this drill, no matter where you live*. on occasion, your chosen method of transport gets you to where you're going in record time---but alas, the occasion in question can usually be translated to "slightly more often than once every leap year."

more of the time, the daily public transit-taker is forced to build an extra delay-time-cushion into the schedule---assuming said one is meant to be in a particular place at a predesignated particular time. often, such rides will pass without anything other than the normal sorts of incidents one comes to expect along one's normal route; the one dude nearly kicking in the back door of the bus cos he missed it when it was sitting at the stop and the driver isn't in a particularly charitable mood, etc.

every once in awhile, however, a good story comes out of one's public transit habit. or at least, a semi-amusing one...

my usual route of a morning involves a bus line that hops on Lake Shore Drive for a bit. today, that bus ride also involved two guys with JVC camcorders (i think they used VHS-C, although i'm not positive) and their friend, who they were taping from various angles as he rode the bus. both camcorder-wielding guys had neck straps; one had a full-sized tripod attached to the base of his camcorder as well, and was setting it up in the middle aisle of the bus to tape his friend while we were on the 'express' bit of the journey so people weren't getting on and off. i'd had my headphones on and had been idly spacing out while staring out the window and listening to the Lansing-Dreisden CD i'd been lent the day before, puzzling over why the vocals were buried so in every bloody song.

when i noticed what was going on, i stopped the CD and started to listen, but couldn't quite figure out why they were taping their friend. was it for a class project? a personal project? was this the only taping they were doing, or was this one scene out of many? i suppose i could have asked, but i didn't want to interrupt. i also suppose i was making assumptions that this guy they were taping was a friend who'd agreed to this---would've been a whole other wrinkle if it were actually a stranger they'd talked into agreeing to whatever they were taping.

so many possibilities, and all of them got off the bus before i did.

* = unless, of course, you live in Phoenix. XD

lamb in the microwave

i'm sure i'm not alone in having at least a handful of topics that i've gone on about so many times with so many people and in so many situations that i can't remember who and/or what i've told. so please forgive me if i've said this before here, but i've got a bit of a problem.

my problem is my odd fascination with lamb butter.

i know, i know...it's past time for it this year. but my local supermarket has got it on special now, because they didn't sell all they'd got in for the holiday. so it's extra cheap, and so two little lambs have gone home with me~~~!

i'd never bought any before. one of them ended up melting away in the microwave when i was making cookies the other day. the other is safely nestled in my fridge, awaiting beheading and spreading onto a piece of toast, or a bagel, or a sandwich...whatever happens to strike our fancy at that particular moment.

i can't explain it in the least. the cakes don't fascinate me nearly so much, although my sister seems to have an odd prediliction for chocolatey-frosted lambcake butt.

perhaps it's familial?

all i know is, i still haven't made the red velvet cake i meant to when my sister gave me that Harry Potter cake tin. mmm, bloody Harry cake...*.*;;;

drink in the sound...

via carrier pigeon J., one engineer at JVC has found a way to manufacture wooden speaker cones in quantity: by soaking the wood in sake, which provides the malleability necessary but does not compromise the wood's strength.

i'm really curious to hear how this sounds. it's a really interesting idea...probably quite good, too, but of course that particular descriptor would depend upon experiencing it.

still, maybe a different way to intoxicate oneself via sake? XD

cocolat

in the midst of a couple of weeks of utter franticness, i'm currently baking a cake to take to the familial gathering tomorrow, which is taking place directly after band practice.

nothing too overtly special about this, right?

i'd be inclined to agree, were it not for the fact that i believe this cake has quite possibly made it completely impossible for me to ever think about making a normal old chocolate cake the same way again.

sure, it's got butter, and sugar, and eggs, and salt, and baking powder, and cake flour, and vanilla...and, of course cocoa. copious amounts of cocoa.

but what does it have that you might not have been expecting?

EARL GREY TEA.

it's to be an earl grey chocolate mousse cake, and if the cake tastes anything like as good as the batter did (which, er, it had better), i fear it may have ruined me on normal chocokeeki for good.

and think about it. it is the ultimate geek cake. seriously. XDXDXD

more to follow later, quite possibly with photos.

a modest proposal

Soomydoomydoo's just reminded me of my suggestion that, for the price of the tickets she and Fiofio bought to see Morrissey, they ought to be allowed a chance to comb his hair. i mean, seriously. $75 is a damn lot of money. while i'm sure the show will be good (and it better be, for that much), i think the fans are entitled to more. and while i'm sure with a price like that, ticket-selling intermediaries such as That Great Big Evil One That Pervades Most Everything Except Tiny Bars Here *coughs*, the venue in question, and various other people apart from the actual musical artist are all taking increased fees, i somehow doubt in this case that he himself is not making extra money from this. so, since he's a party to it, by all rights he should pay.

it's a small thing, really. Sumy further suggested perhaps being allowed to tug his eyebrow (preferably left), amongst other things. really, it's not an issue of pickiness. i'm not suggesting all-out molestation, either. but really, this could set some sort of example for future such individuals* charging such ridiculous amounts for fans to bask in their presence~~~! fanclubs and such often have events wherein VIP individuals (usually those who've paid way too much to participate in whatever event it is) get special access and priveleges with their favourite stars. this would be just a slight variation on that, really.

(plus, maybe we could see what Alex's shoes would look like on Sr. Momo? XD)

* = obviously, mileage would vary based on individuals in question. some people, i believe it is safe to assume, are best left completely untouched in any way. then again, i wouldn't be the one paying such a ridiculous amount to see those people, so who am i to judge? XD

...but it can't possibly be Klingon*...

if ever i have a bakery of my very own, i hope i could come up with things as cool as this lovely thoracic cake.

(WARNING: it's quite grotesque. gorgeous, but quite, quite gorey as well. XD)

* = they've got two of almost every internal organ in case one fails, IIRC. erm. although this would certainly account for why all these tasty, tasty organs have been left behind...hrrm.