no wonder i'm half blind

...and no, it isn't what you think. XD

after having shotgunned all the Kushiel's Legacy books one after the other, am now at the beginning of Banewreaker, which is Jacqueline Carey's newest offering to the world of the fantastic.

i purposely avoided reading the dustjacket, after mention of its awfulness (and quotes of its awfulness) were brought up by acquaintances; i'd forgotten exactly what awfulness was involved, and didn't wish to be reminded right before reading. didn't want to taint whatever conclusions i'd come to on my own. so far, i haven't come to any with particular regard to this book, but that's mostly because i'm only about 30 pages or so in. i will say, however, that it doesn't start out with nearly as sure a tone as the Kushiel books did.

[ETA: something else i'll note, upon a bit of further reflection? of course, the more one reads of any one particular author's work, the more one is going to notice certain tropes that author seems to be saddled with. mileage will of course vary by author and fondness the one reading has for a particular author, but it seems everyone has some. it is, of course, even more evident if one reads a bunch of books by the same author in a very short time span.

my point? Ms. Carey loves the phrase "When all was said and done." also "_____ cursed with the fluency of a _______." there are others, i'm sure, but those immediately come to mind. when i come upon those phrases, it's a bit like playing Mad Libs to me. XD]

also recently picked up at the library on a whim:

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, by Ann Brashares. i mean, it involves pants. it has rules about these pants. and it reminded me way too much of both Mariam and Fi simultaneously. so i really had no choice but to pick it up, you see? XD

it was okay...i would've been much more entertained by it were i in junior high; in fact, i think i'd remember it with greater fondness and less amused chagrine than i remember many things i did read at the time, if i'd read this then. ah, memories. i see there are two more books out in this series, and perhaps at some point i'll read them to see where the pants go. not high on my list, but amusing and fluffy enough. ONE PANTS TO RULE THEM ALL, AND WITHOUT PANTS TO BIND THEM.

Tangled Threads: a Hmong Girl's Story, by Pegi Deitz Shea. (yes, the new books are located right next to the junior books in my local library, why do you ask? XD) picked this up because...who writes fiction about refugees in Thailand, anyway, Hmong or otherwise? it intrigued me. and while whoever wrote the blurb on the inside of the book jacket needs to be shot, it was not bad. a bit more simplistic than i'd have liked (yes, i know it's aimed at a certain age group, but still), but overall quite interesting, and probably enough to get some who read it more interested in reading about all topics involved. a fine gateway book into history and research, says i. XD

while reading the latter, i mused aloud about how Thailand alone amongst the southeast asian countries escaped invasion and remained a sovereign nation, and why that might be. Spaz' response? IT'S THE ELEPHANTS.

you don't want to mess with Thai elephants, yo. apart from dooming yourself to bad luck forever, they'll eat all your tapioca right off your truck, too. (can you really blame them? it's TAPIOCA, man! =9)

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

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

big bad(s)

i suppose that there are currently two rather large things going on in my life right now. if hard-pressed, i might even say three (if including the hardcore inundation of The Yummy Fur a certain individual has been flinging my way, haha ;) ). what are they?

biggest one---of this very evening, in fact---is that i can SEE! well, not right this second. right this second, i'm typing with my face a whole lot closer to the screen than is really advisable. but that's because a few moments ago, i took out my contacts. my first-ever contacts. they are RGPs, and although they will definitely take some getting used to, i don't believe i ever fully appreciated just how bad my vision was until i wore them for awhile.

the sheer, unbridled joy at being able to read silly things like bumper stickers on other cars! street signs from far away! and, heavens forfend, some modicum of (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) peripheral vision!

it's truly unbelievable. very strange indeed, and i have a whole little schedule that my optometrist gave me that i have to stick to to get used to wearing these. i really hope my eyes don't freak out and i become unable to wear them, because it's really nice to be able to see. that and this is the best chance i have of slowing down the misshapenness of my eyes---have a nasty astigmatism and even nastier keratoconus. hee.

onto happier topics, however---the Franz Ferdinand full-length is really, really good. really good. great, even. the "Darts of Pleasure" EP was good, but as i've said in other places, the album is fucking great. i was listening to it practically nonstop from the time someone let me borrow it until i had to give it back this morning---now i have to go hunt myself down a copy of the special UK version with the live CD in, because a) LIVE CD BONUS!! and b) no way i can live without it till the 9th of March, when it's officially released domestically.

i can't wait till the show on the 26th. cannot. wait. seriously have not been this excited about a new band in ages. and i've earned the right to say that, i feel---i've read not a whit about the band until earlier today; all of this is based on actually LISTENING to them. not reading about who they allegedly do or do not sound like, or who it's suspected their influences are or are not.

lazy (music) journalism pisses me off like almost nothing else. i've gotten much better at letting it go in recent time---there are, after all, far more important (and worse) things to get angry about. this is but a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. but the fact remains, oh yes.

now, onward to sleep---have a hardcore 3 hour stint o' contact wearing in the morning followed by 2 hours of rest for my eyes followed by another 3 hours with contacts in. they aren't just going to hop in my eyes by themselves, either. to sleep~~~!

important question

Were you to come across the phrase, "hotly deliquescing interior," without context, where would you guess it came from?

a) a romance novel

b) proper smut, real or imagined

c) a cookbook

d) a song lyric

If you'd like, please expound upon your reason for choosing what you did.

HSL in 2004: all about the aural smut. yes. XD

with the radio on...

saw Lost in Translation yesterday. wasn't overly impressed---wasn't really offended, either. thought it did a fairly good job expounding upon culture shock and resultant alienation, including the self-wrought variety.

what really did get me, however, is the whole "let's raid your record collection, shall we?" aspect of the music. XDXD not all of it, of course---certainly not the new Air and esp. Kevin Shields tracks. but the general idea was had. and i'd forgotten knowing about Peaches showing up in the strip club. hee.

the soundtrack is kind of tempting, in a "wow, new KS" kinda way. not overly so---wasn't really blown away by any of the incidental music he provided. 'twas alright, and worked fairly well, but wasn't thrilling in the way that hearing "Sometimes" in a movie theatre was. i can't describe how that felt, really, except it was gorgeous. while "Just Like Honey" showing up at the end provoked mad fits of giggles i had to stifle (since, yanno, wasn't really the appropriate reaction for the scene, and didn't want to be a rude twit in the theatre XD), "Sometimes" provoked sharp intake of breath and general sense of peace.

so what has this movie done for me? it's made me want to pillage my record collection and hibernate in my room house. XD granted, it's probably the weather that's a lot to do with it, too, but.

D'OH. --;;;

i just went to post up my pumpkin soup recipe (finally!), and then i deleted it about halfway through. completely by accident. --;;;

i've a lesson at 1, and things i should do before then. so hopefully i can post it later.

for the moment, i'll say that the Spaz Seal of Approval is highly entertaining. made a really good pumpkin cheesecake yesterday that caused him to flip me off in response to eating a bite of filling before it had even baked.

no, no, this is good. that only happens if it's so good it's made him want to eat it all right then and there. so there really is no more ultimate seal of approval, as far as he's concerned. XDXD

(was hoping to get similar reactions from Mariam and the Mommie yesterday as well, but alas, for it was not to be---we ended up eating the cheesekeeki by ourselves. XDXD)

(i think we should have stickers made up. ever so much better than the poxy Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. >D >D >D)

a bit chilli

went to Kumpaar* the other night. hadn't ever been before, but had passed it many times and wanted to try it out. it wasn't spectacular, but it was interesting, the people were nice, and overall it was a fairly good experience. shall have to go again, and take my sister.

hadn't had curry in awhile, so was decidedly in a curry mood. this is the first Thai restaurant i've seen around here that offers duck and lamb as meat choices. so of course, i opted for duck---was curious to see how it would play with the panang.

at first, i was disappointed. the duck by itself was okay, and the panang by itself was okay---just not together.

and then, i had the Famous Chilli Transformation.

i've heard and read about it, but never experienced it myself before---chillis and their amazing power to pull a dish together. i mean, i've had plenty of dishes with chillis in before; i like chillis quite a lot. but i'd never experienced such a complete and utter transformation of what i was eating previous to this.

after i chomped into that chilli, the duck and panang worked wonderfully together. and i couldn't get over it. chillis used properly are amazing, amazing things. ^-^

(still have leftovers, too. shall have to polish them off this weekend. ^^)

* = allegedly, they at one point had their own website, but i can't seem to find it now. for anyone who can't read the Japanese site linked above, apologies. the address and hours are there, though. ^^

candy is dandy...

but liquor really is quicker, innit? XD

lunch was fairly nice; reheated eggplant parmesan (and no, not parmigiana, for such would intimate that proper parmigiano reggiano the undisputed king of cheeses was used, which it wasn't because lo, am too po' for such niceties at the moment) from dinner a couple of nights ago coupled with William Gibson's "The Gernsback Continuum." Gibson is a strange case for me---it feels like something i should like, something i want to like---but for some reason, i've remained quite unimpressed so far in what i've read of his writing. don't really think it's horrid, but haven't really cared for it much, either.

in that spirit, of course, i insist on trying over and over again when the urge strikes---i think i'm bothered by the fact that a lot of people whose opinions i actually do value pretty highly seem to think highly of him. part of me worries that there's something i'm just not seeing that's right in front of me. (recommendations...?)

at any rate, in reading Burning Chrome, which is a collection of short stories (and which i picked up for free from the boxes one of the local bookstores puts out for people to rummage through of things which they were given and don't want, for whatever reason) from 1986 or thereabouts---i'm discovering that so far, i vastly prefer his short stories. granted, this is having read about two of them. XD but already, i like "The Gernsback Continuum" a whole lot better than, say, Idoru. (and there's the matter of that absolutely crap episode of X-Files he wrote, but that's another story altogether. XDXD)

the idea of semiotic ghosts makes me snerk. and am particularly fond of the line about how "really bad media" can quite effectively exorcise semiotic ghosts. ehehehhe.

this explains the early career of Peter Jackson, maybe? XDXDXD

*waits for sizzle that never comes*

run, run, as fast as you can...

apparently, there's to be an Initial D CCG released here. meant to coincide with the official release of IniD Third Stage here. wonder if it's planned theatrically? i know that it's being premiered at BAAF this year (probably dubbed, i'd imagine). oi. i have no idea how either will do here, although i do know the CCG game rankles if only for the usage of the "Americanised" names. (they couldn't even be horribly punny! come ON! Takumi became "Tak," and no thought of at least spelling it "Tach"? --;; i kid because it hurts. oh yes. XD)

also, check out the Makkinen and Solberg editions of the Autobots' Smokescreen.

oooh. ^-^ more than meets the eye, indeed.

oh my...

no matter what you may have heard about it, i'm afraid nothing is adequate preparation for the spectacularly awful and misguided trainwreck that is Pink Lady and Jeff. O.O;;

Trio was showing an episode last night (the Blondie episode, in fact...and was that Florence Henderson? O.O;;), of which i probably caught 10-15 minutes. but even that was enough to make me sit there and go O.O;;;; and "...wow" every few seconds or so.

i will never, ever understand what had to be imbibed to get multiple people thinking this show was a good idea. ever. apparently there's a box set, too.

oh dear. o.O;;

lost time, the making up of

so far, it seems i've been filling my summer up with DWJ books i hadn't read when i was younger. (which isn't to say that what i read when i was younger was a waste of time, but i'm still rather amazed i completely missed out on DWJ when i was younger. and had more time to read. ah, for those glorious days of taking out 20+ books at once from my local library...^^;;;)

anyrate, here's what i've read recently:

Castle in the Air
Deep Secret
A Sudden Wild Magic
The Dark Lord of Derkholm

and i've just now started off the Dalemark Quartet with Cart and Cwidder (which i note that Meril has also read recently ^^). previous to that, i'd only read Howl's Moving Castle and A Tale of Time City.

suggestions as to what to read next, after i finish off the Dalemark Quartet?

rumblerumble!

Subaru get-together last night; we went and it was quite fun. people as a whole seemed very nice, and there were some very nice cars there. plus i got to provide Mini info. hee. XD

but i got thirsty after awhile, and so wandered into a Borders nearby, since i knew they had that in-store coffeeshop thing and i wasn't about to hit the $tarbucks that was also nearby. fully intended on some tea or something similar, but got no further than the door.

they were SO TARGETING ME. XD

not kidding. seemed like a large number of different (really nice) cookbooks remaindered and part of the bargain books section just inside the door. HUGE, oversize books, with lovely photography. yes, they're flexis, but. $5.99/ea.

...and it was in this way i was completely waylaid while meaning only to go and get something to drink. XD THEY KNEW. THEY KNEW I WAS COMING.

so i got the curry one, the Thai one (cos, y'know, i really need another Thai cookbook), the Japanese one, and the Chinese one. there were at least two others i was considering, but i had to show some restraint after all. XD

there was also a sale going on that ended yesterday wherein customers were to take a special bag and put whatever they wanted (minus periodicals and foodstuffs) inside to receive 10% off. the sign specified "everything inside the store," however---the bargain books were all in the vestibule along with the sign and the bags, so i didn't know how literal they meant it to be. i asked when i got up to the counter---and the discount indeed applied. only 10%, which isn't much---took care of slightly more than tax, though. so it was even nicer.

see? you think i was joking about being targeted? XD

(as for the thirst-quencher of choice, i ended up with a raspberry italian soda. decided against warm beverage. was too flushed with geeky bookish excitement for warm beverages. XD)

damn you, Hamutarou! *shakes fist*

...also, quite randomly, i feel i must mention that the term "hipster" bothers me mightily.

not because of any connotations derived, mind.

mostly because every time i see it, my eyes convince me they're seeing "hamster."

i see it correctly shortly thereafter (well, usually), but i'm not making this up.

although it's potentially much funnier the way i read it. hamsters in emo glasses, indeed. XD

my life in pixels

the phenomenal amount of crap* handed out all over the downtown Chicago area never ceases to amaze me.

free stuff i remember: various kinds of gum, Listerine breathstripsthatBURNlikenothingelseifyouaccidentallyputthreeinyourmouthatonce, various cereal boxes (mmm, Smart Start!), various juices and smoothies, a travel coffee/tea insulated mug-thing (with lid) advertising some online auction thing, mousepads, mints, candies, waters (berry-flavoured Propel wasn't so bad, actually), and various other drinks.

and always, whenever i'm confronted with free stuff being handed out, i think of two things: either a) ooh, a power-up! does this mean i get to spit fireballs? or become invincible? goodie! or possibly b) it's all a plot set out by the Dark Kingdom to imbue all the unsuspecting with Dark Power. where are those Sailorsenshi when you need them?

clearly, this says something about me. XD

anyrate, this morning, there was a girl handing out some silly $tarbucks espresso drink-in-a-can. while i'm generally anti-$tarbucks for several reasons, i did take one---'twas free, after all, and therefore costing them money. XD not really v. surprisingly, it tasted much like ass---that's my other problem with them; too spensive AND really kinda gross. what's the point? better kohi can be had via 7-11 and/or Dunkin' Donuts. not to mention various other independent places. yeesh. :P

but it reminded me of my power-up theory, because espresso is still espresso. and i'm thinking now my life is turning even more into a video game, given my recent conversion to biking to and from the train station now. and the fact that my quick-release bike seat & post which are currently stuffed in my backpack make a nice, handy weapon---stake-like, although metal stakes prolly wouldn't be so effective as wooden ones. (and the seat would make a nice bludgeon if it weren't so cushy, but i digress. XD)

walking from the train station to my house takes a good 30-45 minutes, depending on various things. a nice walk, sure---but to one who hasn't got much time as it is, it's more time than i can spend. which is sad, because i really do like getting out and moving around. i used to walk a whole lot more when living in the city, mostly cos either you rely on public trans to get around, or else you walk. and if relying on the CTA busses, you're usually better off walking (although they have gotten a bit better in recent time).

anyrate, biking takes between 10-15 minutes. definitely doable. and so, i have been and will continue to do so unless the weather is exceedingly crappy out. have no wish to bike in the pouring rain. XD but the thing is, i think of the bicycle music from Pocket Monsters. "Janaki GOT ON THE BICYCLE!" and then i get to the station, and hop off, and lock it in the bike bank---and when i get back, it's waiting for me to take it out again. and the music starts playing in my head. (and it's usually the bloopy Game Boy version, not the fully orchestrated anime version. and i have both, on CD. because am dork like that and was more amused than anything that the Pocket Monsters anime took the original game music and fleshed it out. that amused me more than the anime, actually. although Team Rocket is priceless. XD)

granted, i have yet to see a video game chara use a bike seat and post combo as a weapon, but there's a first time for everything, right? XD

also, the post in question has a big sticker on it declaring it to be a "Post Moderne." eheh. XD

more ramblage later. but all this is meant to say a) i'm a huge, huge dork, and b) there is nothing better than a nice breeze rushing past you while biking. well, almost nothing. fweeeeee!

* = and i use the term loosely and all-encompassingly; not really meant derogatively but more meant in terms of "ohmygod, there's crap EVERYWHERE" upon entering my room when still living with my mom. take that as you will. XD

the lunatics have taken over the asylum

OHO.

*cackles*

guess who just stumbled into an earcandy shop with LOADS of imports marked down to stupidly low prices?

*^___________________________________^*

Crow's Nest (the downtown location, at least) is apparently attempting to clear out a bunch of their import singles. they're not getting rid of the imports entirely, as there are still plenty around and they've still got their own section apart from the stuff that's on sale. so that's good. it'd be far more bittersweet if they were completely axing the entire section, you see. but since they're not, it's just plain sweet.

import 7"s are $2.98/ea. or 4/$10, as are the import CD singles in the designated section. one can also mix-and-match as one sees fit betwixt the two formats. 12"s and 10"s are $3.98/ea.

so, erm, i ended up getting a slightly later train, due mostly in part to madly pawing through all the goodies on display just for me. ^^

and surprisingly, i came out of it having only spent around $14. there's a few other things i'm interested in, and there was really far too much to take in all at once. but here's what i grabbed:

7"s (which i haven't listened to yet):

"Thank God for the Rain" c/w "You Never Will Be." Graham Coxon.

actually, i haven't picked up any of his solo stuff before. and i haven't really heard good things about it, i'll admit. but...but...but...it's Graham! and he was cheap. so i bought him. and besides, it's pretty fire-engine-red marbly vinyl! how can one go wrong? brown sleeve with a drawing of a bird in a bush on the front and a flaming acoustic guitar (with no strings! :O) on the back. Transcopic Records.

"Uneasy (edit)" c/w "Lie Low." Laika.

anyone who knows much about me at all should know how much i adore Laika. Margaret Fiedler is absolutely BRILLIANT---at least, her contributions to Moonshake and to Laika have been. actually haven't poked much into the God Is My Copilot stuff. should. hrr. XD anyrate, er---i didn't previously have "Lie Low," as it's only available here. and i don't have the editted version of "Uneasy," although i do of course have the album version. and god, the sleeve art is pretty. i could show you pictures, but they wouldn't do it justice. it's got this prismy green/blue holographic stuff as the background. v. nice. Too Pure.

"Panda Eyes" c/w "Office Party." Sing-Sing.

let me just state for the record that this is yet another in my ever-expanding collection of jellybean vinyl. it is candy apple red. and translucent. v. pretty. simple sleeve; white with the Sing-Sing logo on in black and a little red heart off to the left. Elefant Records.

CD singles (which i have listened to):

"Re:volution." Coldcut (and the guilty party).

also has an instrumental version at the end, and in between is the rather nifty "Space Journey," which apparently is an intermusic.com competition winner by Nautilis. had seen the video to this ages ago, and seen the single too---but not for $3. it is a pretty great song, and goddamn them and their prescience! XD the instrumental is appreciated, and i know why it's included and see many points to it (not the least of which is actually paying more attention to the instrumentation and cuts and such), but really---it loses all the fun of the Blair sampling. hee. unfortunately, of course, guiltyparty.cc is no longer theirs. d'oh. the credits given on the inside are amusing as well. anytime someone can be referred to as "the Right Dishonourable Sir," you know i'll be amused. oh, and "Minister of Bass." yes. XD

"Beached." Orbital and Angelo Badalamenti.

i saw this and my eyes popped out of my head. i swear. i had difficulty putting them back in, too---good thing the right eye's so wonky or else i might not have been able to tell them apart well enough to put them back in the right places. this has got the radio edit of "Beached" (which is nearly Perfect Pop Song Length at 3:34! XD) and the long version of same (nearly 8:00), as well as a just-Orbital composition called "Doctor Look Out." as for the combination of Orbital and Badalamenti: two great tastes that taste great together? actually---yes. i was a bit skeptical, i'll admit. although i was WAY too curious not to pick it up, especially at such a price. this brings up a problem i usually have, though---that of things that have "radio edits" done for them. in recent time, there are two things i've noticed commonly wrong with a lot of them. scenario one, the "edit" is in fact done very choppily and jarringly, thus distracting you from being able to enjoy the song at all---regardless of whether or not you've actually heard the full-length version. hearing the full-length version of course only exacerbates this problem. it's either this or scenario two, wherein the radio edit is merely the hookiest bits of the song (not to be confused with the Hookiest bits, of course)---repeated over and over and over again with all the subtlety of using a jackhammer to crack open an egg for poaching. and the main problem with this is, a hook very quickly ceases to be a hook when it's what the entire listening experience is composed of. if there's no differentiation between it and the rest of the song, there's a problem. it gets boring, and thusly Loses Its Point.

it's scenario two that's present with the radio edit of "Beached," unfortunately. it's not bad, and not nearly as annoying as it could be due mostly in part to its (relatively) short length. but the full-length version is actually really quite good. i really like it quite a bit, in fact. and "Doctor Look Out" is quite fun as well. definitely worth the $3, and maybe worth full price as well. i hadn't known it existed previous to tonight---that Badalementi boy certain does get around, doesn't he?

(reminds me. i never did pick up Booth and the Bad Angel after moving out of my sister's. hrrm. XD)

what else was there? a couple different versions of Pulp's "Bad Cover Version" on CD (not sure how many CD singles were released, but i saw two there), some Pet Shop Boys, some Erasure, some JJ72, some Libertines, a Hefner split with Murray the Hump (or was it Murphy...don't know this band...^^;;;), a Funky Monkey 7" featuring Her Out Of St. Etienne, Mazarin's "Suicide Will Make You Happy," some Oarsis from the last album, and i think "Get Ur 9lb Cock On." although i'm not sure. it's all a bit of a blur, honestly. i know i got the only Sing-Sing there, as well as the only Graham. there were a couple more copies of the Laika 7". and a couple more of the Coldcut and Orbitalamenti CDs as well. some BRMC singles. loads of this one JSBX single on both 7" and CD which i forget the name of. Garbage's "Androgyny" in every format listed above except 10". no interesting 10"s, BTW. as for 12"s, some Oarsis from the last album, and loads of both of New Order's "Someone Like You" 12"s (which i didn't grab, as i don't really care for the mixes involved---and was trying to retain some small bit of self-control XD).

there was probably other stuff as well. it took me nearly an hour to get out of there once i was in, and most of the time was indeed spent pawing happily through everything in the bins. there was even some of The Brit to make certain people happy. XD

if any of you who i know and adore are interested in any of this, let me know and perhaps we can work something out. (as though i need an excuse to go back in and look again. XD) i was too overwhelmed to remember much in the way of song titles, but if you've got something specific you'd like me to watch for, let me know. and if you're in the area and interested, i'd suggest you get your arse down there immediately.

now featuring...princesses! both with and without pants!

<randomness>

leaving for the evening; noticed a big wood-and-glass display case near the front of the library just past where the entrance turnstiles are. it's got two Utena artbooks, the first volume of the Utena manga (in Japanese), the first volume of Paradise Kiss (the Tokyopop version), a volume of Domu, and a couple of other things.

and no explanation whatsoever as to why any of it's there. half the case is still empty, however, so i can only assume whatever this is is in the midst of being completed.

still, it's not every day a random glass case filled with manga and manga artbooks shows up on your way somewhere, is it? XD

will go home now. really.

</ randomness>

mock mare-mare soup

eheh.

finally, what you've all been waiting for (no doubt) :

The True Story of Mariam's Pants---in Really Crude Comic Form!

enjoy. apologies for the slight fuzziness on the left sides of most pages; couldn't get the spiral side of the notebook to cooperate as well as i'd have liked with the scanner.

COG

Neil Gaiman mentions a really unbelievably cool TV advert for the Honda Accord, which has been written about in really great detail here, by the Daily Telegraph. the long and short of it is, it's an insanely complicated and cool bit of watching all the mechanical innards of the Accord working together; action and reaction and reaction. and NO CG trickery of any sort employed; they really did this as one shot all straight through. it took upwards of 600 takes to get exactly right, but the point is that they did it. they took the time. they Did Not Cheat. ^-^

which isn't to say that i'm against computer graphics. not in the slightest. when done well, and not merely for the sake of waving someone's expensive new toys about in the faces of the audience, Just Because They Can. that's the sort of thing that pisses me off to no end.

there's also more than a little bit of sadness to see amazing things done with puppets and animatronics and such, and (gasp) hand-drawn lightning and other special effects, and thinking "that's great, but we're never going to see anything like that again, are we?"

Gollum, of course, was a great leap forward. but how many bazillion dollars were spent on the effects in the Harry Potter movies (to name a particularly glaring example), and how crap did they (mostly) look? it's not about the toys, it's about the talent. it's about how they're used. and the idea that older forms of doing effects work, of the days of Kit West fiddling with a kazillion and a half condoms to make up the innards of the giant sandworm that Paul Atreides latches his hook into to ride in David Lynch's Alan Smithee's Dune will never come again. great miniature work? what's that?

it wouldn't be so bad if more CG effects looked better. but a lot of them don't. and so, quality is sacrificed for convenience, once again. :P things that had risen to a level of being accomplished artistic expressions are left writhing sadly in the dust. does advancement always have to be about discarding all vestiges of the old? it really shouldn't be that way, but all too often that seems to be the case.

at any rate, i REALLY hope i get to see this on TV sometime. wasn't shown during our airing of the Brazilian GP, that much i can tell you. not that i'm surprised. Honda.co.uk has put it up online, in both a smaller version and a larger version. additionally, an Accord owner particularly taken with the ad and distressed at the appallingly slow download times he was getting from Honda's UK site mirrored it at his own site here.

i'll take a look once i'm home. the painstaking description written up in the Daily Telegraph just sounds too unbelievably cool not to. o.o;;;

[addendum: after having watched it (and it IS really cool and highly recommended; you'll need Flash 6 installed to do so, however), the Daily Telegraph article is actually wrong. not everywhere gets Accord wagons (the US doesn't), so they couldn't air this commercial just anywhere. and the car is also right-hand drive, of course. so they'd have to change that a bit if they wanted to air it in the US, as well as elsewhere. since they already spent so much time and money to get this commercial shot, it might actually be much easier and more cost-effective to simply make Accord wagons available everywhere. in right-hand drive. ^^]

what comes of real DIY

great story of DIY discovery up in the entry dated 12th April over here, at the domicile of Our Favourite Postie Paul. how cool is that? a history through flooring---that's really, really, REALLY cool. ^^

why should i fangirl when i've got others who'll do it for me?

oho.

ohoho.

OHOHO. XD

erm, uh, yeah.

so, Wired.

May issue is out already. nothing to get too excited about, really---little teensy mention of us on the calendar page listing notable events of the month. they used the cartoon drawing of us that Tony did (which is fine, cos it's cute).

i wouldn't have bought it just for that, though. in fact, i am a complete and utter dork for buying it, because i really did so more out of amusement over placement of us than anything else.

click the popup to see why. and you don't have to tell me what a dork i am, because i already am well aware.

(but seriously, you really couldn't make this up! ^^)

XD

more on this weekend tomorrow. comics and the Cowboy Bebop movie. w00t. ^^

stole all the change off me

an (admittedly rather silly) thought just occurred to me.

(yes, i'd turn back now if i were you, too. XD)

the three proper Electronic albums can be broken down as follows:

s/t: barney + johnny + neil + chris = Interesting! New! Side Project! and therefore, automatically meritorious (or so it seems). it's also the most lauded of the three, which i still can't quite grasp. even taking into account temporal distance from this release, i still can't quite understand why so many people (and no, most of them who i've talked to aren't rabid PSB fans, either) like this album so much---and especially above the others. skeptically embraced by the few already entranced with the bands who donated members to this project; mostly ignored by everyone else.

Raise The Pressure: barney + johnny + karl = repressed boy band album shot straight to no.1 in an alternate universe. no, seriously---listen to it, think about it, and tell me i'm wrong. and hey, that would mean b. would have to get a choreographer, right...? XD mostly ignored by everyone except die-hard fans.

Twisted Tenderness: barney + johnny + ex-members of Sub Sub + various others in non-high-profile projects = most straight-ahead pop, with some interesting flourishes here and there. also arguably the one with the most balanced sound; the synths and guitars play nicely together, with neither necessarily hogging the spotlight. a nice change. mostly. ignored. by. everyone.

alas, for they are not so different after all in the end result. :P

but i'm right about the boy band thing. i'd almost put money on it. listen to it again (if you've got it) and tell me i'm wrong. XD

we've got a file on you...

went Jae Young-spotting and Fi-spotting yesterday evening by watching last night's new ep. of V. Graham Norton on BBCA. and alas~~wasnae as Jazzlerlicious as i had hoped, although Fi did end up quite a spunky lass as promised. and the Naked Cowboy. O.O;;; UM.

also, i have a bit of a confession to make, from this weekend.

i'd never seen Pretty In Pink before.

while it doesn't seem like the sort of touchstone that many people talk about (ala the Cusack oeuvre) as a defining film as regards, well, any aspect of their lives---it nevertheless seems something most people i know have at least unconsciously done. perhaps the first rule about Molly Ringwald is that we don't talk about Molly Ringwald? i don't know. (although i don't see what the big deal over any aspect of her is anyway, but that's a completely different matter.)

i blame Sabina for the fact that it was on the terebi this weekend, too. unfortunately on WE, which i've since discovered (by watching said movie on it, actually) makes me want to stab my eyes out even moreso than watching Oxygen for any length of time does. (hey, they show eps of AbFab, or else i never would have bothered in the first place!) EEEK.

anyrate, the movie. i still haven't seen all of it. i started somewhere around the middle---and i'd known that "Shellshock" was used in it. i've got the 12" that states this fact all over it, actually---some pretty forgettable sleeve art as well, but i'm digressing. anyrate, i hadn't realised what else is in that movie, soundtrack-wise.

three New Order songs within a single half-hour of watching. interesting edit of instrumental bits of "Thieves Like Us," part of "Elegia," and of course part of "Shellshock." Spaz jokingly wondered if they were going to show up as the band playing at the prom scene towards the end. XD

no, of course not---for that particular scene is loaded with an incredibly long edit of OMD's "If You Leave." leading me to explain about the evilness derived from the catchiness and earworminess of said song, which i'd just discussed with Sabina earlier in the week.

i found myself wanting to rewatch the movie from the beginning just to hear what else was used in it, but i cheated a bit in that regard by watching the end credits---as much as i could, since of course WE squished them off to the side to run promos for something else over most of the screen.

and oh, look. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want."

NOT FUNNY.

particularly in light of hearing about The Importance of Being Morrissey.

but at least it wasn't used during the prom sequence. (wonder where it is used, though?) i mean, i was never the sort of person who wanted to go to prom, or to school dances in general---did end up going to a couple, mostly because i was dragged kicking and screaming by friends of mine. but for some reason, such an occasion doesn't seem to go so well with the Smiths as soundtrack providers to me, and particularly not that song. (jaw nearly on the floor in that scene at the end of Never Been Kissed, in other words.)

ahem. er, i am pathetic, i know. XD

...oh, and completely unrelatedly, yesterday was Christopher Walken's birthday and no one seemed to care mentioned it. *cries*

all you've heard is true

i 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 yet.

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)

WHICH ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER?

via the Null Device, here's a fun little game to help you waste a few more minutes of your Thursday away: Despot or Sexpot?

(i'd suggest the tagline as "the taches aren't telling," but that's just me. XD)

in other news, why can't we all just settle our differences with pillow fort wars?

i think i'm going to cry. XD

more later, including (probably) another soup recipe! ^^

HOWEVER I LOOK, IT'S PLAIN TO SEE

weekend hasn't exactly been unproductive, but i'm feeling more and more as though i should have gotten more done than i have by now. which, of course, is why i'm writing this here. XD

Friday night, went to The Big Bad Place of Evil to pick up a book i'd ordered. then went to Ikea, where we had nummy dinner and played with a fun light that has little plastic signs you can slip in---would be fun to make custom ones for it. >D (later found out ShinJon had bought one earlier in the evening, which is even funnier. XD) ate nummy food, found doorknobs, and heard "Getting Away With It" played in the store. i couldn't believe they were playing it. i giggled hysterically. man.

had another v. successful and productive practice yesterday; there's loads i need to work on, but i think we're doing pretty well. hung out with Eric and Sarah afterward, where we went to the Billy Goat Tavern (the original one, down on Lower Michigan) and had burgers cos Sarah desperately wanted one (or two). they were okay; nowhere near the best burgers i've ever had, but alright. i think i don't have the hatred for them Spaz has got mostly cos it was never built up to be this Amazing, Great, Legendary Place to me. i sorta missed out on that whole thing. so it was sorta just like some new experience to me, with nothing particular attached to it except to remind me once again that parking downtown SUCKS. eee. but it was fun; good to see them. they dropped me off and i made two of the CDs i'd planned. also made tacos, frijoles negros y arroz. nummy dinner. loads more stuff to do today, since i didn't get much done yesterday. *yawns* eeeeeeee...i wish we had milk. :P

JITENSHA NI NOTTE

(betcha that'll get a certain someone i know singing a certain song. XD)

saw someone on the train this morning on the way in with a Birdy bicycle. i want one. badly. shall have to look into how much they cost. this would be BRILLIANT to have, especially the way i commute. and i wouldn't have to worry so much about it being stolen, since i could fold it up and take it with me wherever i wanted! and it's not a stupid obnoxious razor scooter! ^-^

more later, probably...