| TL;DR |
[14 May 2008|06:40 pm] |
DEWD.
I am going to New York. And to the Leeds Festival. And to Wales and Scotland. And Ireland, o'course.
As of 3pm today, my tickets are booked and paid for in full. I will be leaving the country in 87 days in counting.
I still have to save a shitwad of money.
I can get four weeks off work.
This will be my first overseas trip since 2001. My first time in the UK since I was 12. My first time in the States since I was 9. My first time travelling alone on an international flight. My first music festival that isn't Big Day Out.
It's really happening.
I have to scream now. |
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| Best way to the south eastern surburbs? |
[14 May 2008|04:23 pm] |
Dear internet,
Quick question from someone who is not too experienced traveling by car to Melbourne's outer south eastern burbs (where there be dragons). I live in Hawthorn and I was wondering what is the quickest way to get to Frankston during peak hour (4:30-6:30pm) by road, Monash or Nepean? I've taken the Monash (a.k.a. the great south-eastern carpark) before and it took about 2 and half hours, is the Nepean much the same or is it worth going a little out of my way and going that way instead? Or better yet, is there another option I'm not aware of?
Thanks! |
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| Movie English |
[14 May 2008|12:49 am] |
Anyone know of any IPA descriptions of the Englishes spoken in North American movies from the 30s to the 50s? Any leads or key words even would be useful... Or youtube videos from particularly poignant examples. I can just listen, but detailed descriptions might be useful. Any acting resources for speech accent learning available anywhere?
Thanks. :D |
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| A short one... |
[11 May 2008|05:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
Mother: "![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) beetle_breath's dad!"
Dad: Yes?
Mother: "Are you still here?" |
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| You do realise that Harry Potter isn't real, don't you? |
[10 May 2008|05:03 pm] |
Original Story
Florida substitute teacher fired, accused of wizardry
Teacher Jim Piculas does a magic trick where a toothpick disappears and then reappears.
Piculas recently did the 30-second trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes.Piculas said he then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he'd been accused of wizardry.
"I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue, you can't take any more assignments you need to come in right away,'" he said.
Piculas said he did not know of any other accusations that would have led to the action.
The teacher said he is concerned that the incident may prevent him from getting future jobs. |
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[9 May 2008|11:17 am] |
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This is a post about my sister and her friend, who were truly interesting cooks when they were teenagers. Interesting, in that they had some pretty stupid ideas. Thankfully, my sister has since learned (for the most part) to pay attention to what she’s doing and that you can’t always substitute some things. However, she’s still working on it (and yes, she is one of those people who puts something in the oven and then wanders away, how did you know?). Cooking Disaster #1: My sister invited a different friend over for lunch one day and decided to cook them both hotdogs. At the last second, my sister decided she would have some leftover salad instead. They were about halfway through eating when her friend mentioned that the hotdogs didn’t taste quite right. She pulled them out of the buns and examined them to find that, you guessed it, my sister had neglected to take the plastic off of the hotdogs before cooking and serving them. Cooking Disaster #2: For whatever reason, my sister and her friend decided to bake a cake. They got out a recipe book and were following it pretty closely… except for one tiny problem. The cake could be made as a chocolate cake or a lemon cake. But they mistakenly interpreted that as a chocolate and lemon cake. I wasn’t around for the final result, but according to my mother, it was pretty disgusting. Cooking Disaster #3: My sister wanted to bake a cake for a friend’s birthday, but we didn’t have any food coloring for the icing. After contacting her friend, they started looking around for something that could dye the icing purple. Well, it just so happened that we had some Kool-Aid packets lying around. So they tore open a package of Sour Grape and mixed it in. I think I can honestly say that’s one birthday cake that the ‘birthday boy’ won’t forget – my sister said he nearly threw up after he tried it. |
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[8 May 2008|09:44 pm] |
If you're graduating high school soon, or have in the past, you know that fall of your senior year is the time to fill out college applications. Well, around... October, November, somewhere around there, me and a bunch of friends were in Study Hall at our school. Please note that this is a school for the "Gifted and Talented", you have to be tested to get into it. Well, about 10 of us were sitting around, and 3 or 4 (including me) were seniors. Those of us that were seniors were talking about where we applied and such.
Me: Oh, I only applied to _______, and I fall under automatic admission, so I'm already done.
Friend 1: I'm not even applying anywhere - I haven't taken the SATs yet, or anything. I'm just going to go to the community college my first year.
Friend 2: (points to a large - around 15 colleges high - stack of envelopes in front of him) I'm applying to all of these.
So, my first friend grabs the envelopes and starts flipping through them. All of a sudden, we here, "Hey, (Friend 2), what's St. Anford? Is it some religious college?"
He takes the envelope, and - looking very confused - reads the address. He hands it back to her, trying not to laugh, and says, "Ummm... (Friend 2), that's Stanford." Blank look. "As in, the Ivy League university."
"Ohhhhh..."
Meanwhile, all of the rest of us are in tears we're laughing so hard. Friend 2 then asked Friend 1 how she got into a gifted and talented school again. |
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| worms galore |
[13 May 2008|11:09 pm] |
I picked up my last load of manure for my garden tonight.
it's mostly worms, I think.
seriously... each shovelful had at least 30-40 worms showing on the face of it. This stuff is beautiful. I'd eat it, if it wasn't ex-shit and full of earth worms. beautiful black, moist, yummy dirt. Instead I'll wait a couple months and eat the plants that grow out of it...
my mouth is watering in anticip ation. |
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| Horror (Fictional and Real), Nasty Conservatives, Gaming Updates |
[14 May 2008|01:09 pm] |
Recently had the opportunity at Splodge with caseopaya, severina_242, _zombiemonkey, and cvisors to see the classic Hammer film Horror of Dracula (with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee). A good bit of cheesy horror (the working class Londoner accent complete with Gordon's gin at a Kluj inn would horrify Transylvanians). Later in the week watched the classic Vincent Price flick House on Haunted Hill which was quite clever and finally, wonder of wonders, found the memory card for the Playstation 2 which had been missing for several months and contained four hours of a saved game for Project Zero, certainly one of the best horror games that has ever been produced.
In real world horrors, there has been both the earthquake in Chengdu and a rising death toll (approximately 10,000 mostly in Mianyang) and the effects of Cyclone Nargis in Burma, where the number of dead or missing is over 100,000. The military junta that rules Burma deserves a special award for disgusting behaviour for not only blocking aid workers, but for also holding a particularly rigged constitutional referendum days after the event. An interesting comparison can be drawn between how the contemporary Chinese government is reacting to the disaster compared to their government during the Tangshan earthquake which killed approximately a quarter of a million. Communications technology is a bedrock of an open society.
On topic, there was the kerfuffle over a local Liberal Party 'blog, managed and operated by insiders, criticising leader Ted Baillieu. Although now closed it has been mirrored with history all the way to December. Not only is it amazing to think that it took that long to go through the IP logs, but in the fall-out the conservative's hatred of Jews is once again exposed. An isolated incident? Perhaps not - consider just prior Republican Congress hopefull Tony Zirkle (who, not surprisingly campaigns primarily against pornography and prostitution) decided to attend an Adolph Hitler birthday celebration sponsored by the American Nazi Party. If one was to give a broad summary it would seem that "the left" has a problem with Israel, whereas the "the right" has a problem with Jews.
Apropos there recently has been "some discussion" over an online Harry Potter RPG which called itself "Kristallnacht", which has since changed its name. Personally, I thought it was a great name for the story with enormous potential for thematic references and an oppurtunity to teach people some history via analogy (which is one of fantasy's better uses). In my own gaming worlds, I am pleased to see that a DragonQuest PBeM I am involved in has just restarted, had a good session of Bushido last Sunday and most recently I've started a Powers & Perils PBeM which has developed very quickly. Finally, one of the players in my HeroQuest PBeM has culled the archives into a story representation; it currently runs at 185 pages. |
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| An annoying "where can I find.." |
[14 May 2008|12:53 pm] |
Heya guys!
Sorry to spam you with this stuff, but when google and the business directories seem to fail you (yes I even used the paper ones! :O) who do you turn to?
I'm seeking a wholesaler/retailer of watch parts; cogs, springs, tension wheels and the like especially, also whole casings if they are le'cheap. I can't really seem to find places that will sell the parts - minus the complete watch - to the general public.
If anyone knows someone who knows a cousin who once knew a place that et cetera, let me know!
Cheers folks.
Also.
Isn't it nice and sunny today! |
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| Language Politics in Belgium |
[13 May 2008|07:43 pm] |
Just read an interesting article in the International Herald Tribune: "Belgium teeters on a linguistic edge." It's a little long to post the full text, but it makes for an interesting read.
Liedekerke has only 12,000 inhabitants, but its elected council has caused a stir by insisting on the "Flemish nature" of the town. Not only must all city business and schooling take place in Flemish, true throughout Flanders, but children who cannot speak the language can be prohibited from taking part in holiday outings, like hikes and swimming classes.
"België barst!" says the graffiti on the bridge near the train station, or "Belgium bursts," the cry of the nationalists who want an independent Flanders. But here they also want to keep the rich, French-speakers from Brussels - only 21 kilometers, or 13 miles, away, and 15 minutes by train - from buying up this pretty landscape and changing the nature of the village. |
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| CHAOS ACT IV - 6-7 June 2008 CANBERRA. |
[14 May 2008|12:09 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | gig | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | METAL | ] |
(x-posted) |
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[13 May 2008|09:59 pm] |
Facebook Learn Spanish of the Day: "saber a gloria"
to be wonderful
Entregar eso ensayo me ha sabido a gloria.
From facebook:
El baño me ha sabido a gloria
That swim was wonderful.
Saber a gloria - when something is delightful. Also used with la siesta... la comida... el paseo...
So why is it not Though i do not understand why it is not "entregar eso ensayo me sabió a gloria."
???? |
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| RIP WWII Hero Irena Sendler |
[13 May 2008|09:50 pm] |
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Irena Sendler — credited with saving some 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazi Holocaust by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, some of them in baskets — died Monday, her family said. She was 98.
[source]
She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007... but lost to Al Gore, who won (partially) for his documentary.
[source] |
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[13 May 2008|06:42 pm] |
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Does anyone know where I could get a rip of the film for Hlemmur? |
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| getting jumpy in Russian |
[13 May 2008|06:30 pm] |
Can anyone help me out with translating an occasional phrase into Russian for use in fiction?
At the moment, I'm looking for an expression that would be translated as "jumpy" or "nervous", as in slightly inclined to paranoia. The speaker is an older woman, and she's talking about a man. A colloquial expression would be wonderful, but it has to be a term that would have been in use 20 or 30 years ago; current slang would be anachronistic.
Many, many thanks! |
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| Badminton courts |
[14 May 2008|12:28 pm] |
It appears the email circulating around office about organising a Badminton Tournament for the Wellington office wasn't really a joke. So, a couple of us are seriously looking at flexing those long-forgotten muscles and wanting some practise before the challenges. Question is: where? None of us are club members and we may not even rate high on the performance scale. But isn't there any place we can simply pay by the hour and book a court? How long in advance do we need to make any such bookings? While in Singapore we had to hit the online bookings between 7:00 - 7:10 am on sunday mornings as the weekly schedules would all be gone within 10 mins! Please tell me things are easier this side of the planet.
Thanks in advance. |
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| good book? |
[13 May 2008|05:36 pm] |
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Hi. With finals almost over, I'm looking forward to reading whatever I want. I'd love to read a good linguistic/language related book, but nothing too dense or intellectual (don't make me think after finals). Does anybody have any recommendations for an interesting language related book that is an enjoyable read? Something I could pick up at Barnes & Noble or something? |
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| another survey |
[14 May 2008|10:28 am] |
Well my oven is all working now, and the plan is that M and I will chrissen it by making pizzas Saturday; yeah! :)
Face it, haven't done a survey in so long!
survey snagged from kristenpurp ( Read more... )
til next time, RdFreak |
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| Four Star Episode Marathon |
[13 May 2008|07:23 pm] |
I've been seeing promos for the TV Land 4-star episode M*A*S*H marathon Saturday, so just wanted to mention it here.
Besides the "4-star" eps, there's a M*A*S*H 20-year reunion and the final episode. |
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jubilant