baby it's cold outside

Please allow Jarvis and Pete to demonstrate how fucking cold it is outside.

That clock thing DH is holding is pretty awesome. An elfbrand gift from his dear old Da, it claims to be "atomic"--giggle-- but it does have a remote sensor thingy that is out in the yard so we can check the actual temp w/out going outside! oooh how very hi tech. Of course we could peek at the weather channel, or WEMU is always on in the kitchen (they do the weather at the top of the hour) and in about seven seconds I can check on the 'puter. But it is a silly toy and Pete likes it. It does have the phases of the moon on it...

Still Joyce's B-day

If you won't read Ulysess (shame on you if you haven't yet) at least rent the Coen brothers film. O Brother Where art Thou? It's lovely. "Gopher, Evert?"

Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives.
—James Joyce

My fave story about James Joyce; (I only have two and neither of them actually includes him.) is the one with Pete and Eric and the Guinness Fleagh. (say FLA for those of you who are Gaelic impaired) The three of us (this is back when we didn't so much as fart without one another) were attending this splendid festival of all things Irish. We had WAAAY too much Guinness and it was very hot. It was so hot (easily +90F) that the event was giving away free water. Huge galvenized steel troughs filled with bottled water and mostly melted ice. Some random guy picked me up and "threw" me in one of these bathtub sized buckets. WHY? because I asked him to!! There was NO shade anywhere, so hot-- the only thing hotter was all the live music/bands. (NOTE: This anecdote sometimes masquerades as the Van Morrison Orgasm story but that is a diff thing entirely.) This event was a rocking good time. Swing dancing drunk with pretty strangers. Ask me about the hooker on the fence sometime.

ANY WAY--James Joyce..right--
This day was very sunny, white hot bright. I think I lost my sunglasses. My alcoholic memory fades but it was hot-- and steamy-- and very drunk and the guys have toddled off (as they were wont to do) and I spy a tent. A big white canvas thing.

It was creating an oasis of deep lush shade. Dark and inviting. The grass was not trampled down by thousands of feet. The grass was heavy and soft, like a meadow. and what was it that I heard? Not the crazed and amplified jig of another folk band, not the dulcet tones of Elvis Costello, no this was calmer...a deep baritone of spine caressing manliness. This person was not singing--he was reading...FROM ULYSSES!!. I sank down on the green grass. In my blurred vision I could see a long lean black Irish dude, gorgeous, he stood on a little stage--he held THE BOOK. and he read. The sing song patter of Joyce's nonlinear ramblings connected viscerally with my disjointed and heat addled brain. So cooool-- I drifted off on this sea of happiness. The beautiful accent wrapping around my dreamy little head. I glanced around the darkened audience--singles and couples, less than 50 people total. I was in heaven. Poor silly boys if only they knew--ah...magically Eric placed my feet across his lap, Petey resting my head against his thigh. Pete handed me a full cold pint, we listened as Leopold stumbled along to his funeral--his journey a mirror of duplicitous fiction so beautiful and raw.

HP & the Deathly Hallows

It seems that early this morning-- Seattle time-- the whole wide world finally learned the official publication date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; JKR announced it on her page. (see the link to the right). It is 12:01 AM on Saturday, July 21, 2007. sweet. I have pre ordered my adult UK cover, but I think I'll just pick up the American edition after breakfast that morning. Unless, the kids want to go to one of the bookstore gigs. And a mere eight days after the movie release! (Gonna need a new counter downer-er) Man--Phoenix Rising is gonna be nuts. and TLC is totally bogged down.

Meatwad gets the hunnys yeah

This morning in the FREEP Petey pointed out the story about the faux bombs. in Boston. Now granted I was still pre-coffee so when he asked had I heard about the bombs in Boston I was a little startled. But it seems that the mysterious blinking boxes were only a promotional prank for a cartoon. It appears they have been on display in numerous other cities and that Boston overreacted a bit. Part of me can hear the indignation of the Bostonians, but really it is a funny cartoon and a great prank. Honestly, what can you expect from a show that presents a whole cow, injected with jalepeno cheese, dipped in beer batter and deep fried? This is not a place to go for intellectual stimulation.

I am suddenly reminded ("self" I said to myself) of Bill Gates' and Jon Stewart's recent conversation about the future interactive capabilities of TV/computers. What are some examples of this new technology Gates offered?: educational shows will have quizzes at the end, or that the viewer can participate in game shows. Neato--especially from the Mommy POV, yet Stewart raised the point that perhaps sometimes we (Fat Lazy Americans that we are) just want to sit and be entertained. (amen brother) My girl QueensexxyGretch just pointed out (and this supports Stewart's idea) that after staring at a computer screen all day at work-- the last thing she wants to do is come home and make a myspace page. Enough with the blinky screen. I can understand that. Ya'll know I adore a well bound volume. But... I do like the idea of hanging out with Shake and watching dog shows.--Fo drizzle!