PackardGoose.com Forums - Anything noteworthy happen to you today?

Anything noteworthy happen to you today?

polydigm - 2-4-2008 at 12:41

Around about 6:45 PM today the power went, at least in our street. It didn't come back on until 9:00PM. Now, I know a little over two hours isn't that long but when it happens just before you start organising dinner and the natural light is rapidly fading and one of your sons is desperate to finish some overdue assignment etc, etc, ... Anyway, we missed Earth Hour the other day, so we made up for it tonight. It's scary just how dependent we are on electricity.

scallopino - 2-4-2008 at 15:53

Yeah. The same thing happened all over Victoria. I had officially my worst public transport experience ever, which is saying a lot. After waiting 40 minutes for a train from Clayton where my university is, one finally came but said on it (instead of its destination) "Data Version 8.1". The station master had no idea where this train was going. I got on it anyway. The driver made no announcement and all passengers didn't know where it was going either. It was the MYSTERY TRAIN.

I'm just realised i'm too tired to relate the rest of this story. Sorry...

[Edited on 2-4-2008 by scallopino]

BBP - 2-4-2008 at 16:05

We had a power failure just a few days ago, only for a few minutes. Sucked, but fortunately I was up already for my round.

Today I went to visit a friend and did a lot of stoopid things. I need sleep.

Badchild - 3-4-2008 at 15:48

I ate chineze. Now i'm sleepy!

DED - 14-4-2008 at 10:08

Found out this morning on the toilet that we were out of toilet paper. What a suprise that always is. Fortenately our host takes care of everything......... I must not forget to buy some new rolls, altough I think There is not much paper left in the shops after the disaster in Groningen stadium yesterday.

The soccer game groningen - Ajax should be played. After that game we should have known if our own PSV is the 2008 champion. But we had not taken into account that toiletpaper burns. :-P

Groningen Hooligans throw rolls of toiletpaper towards the grass as huge serpentines. Al the tribunes, and part of the field were covered in toiletpaper. One fool lighted that up and in no time the gras and pvc seats were burning in a cloud of smoke. The only fire extinguishers around were buckets of water for the first quarter of an hour.
It all ends up with - no game- 30 injured people some upto now hospitalised and a lot of confusion........

Sometimes its better that you are out of toilet paper
Awful movies about this on youtube (search arguments groningen ajax will lead to several)

[Edited on 14-4-2008 by DED]

[Edited on 14-4-2008 by DED]

[Edited on 14-4-2008 by DED]

scallopino - 14-4-2008 at 10:24

Quote:

Originally posted by DED
Found out this morning on the toilet that we were out of toilet paper. What a suprise that always is. Fortenately our host takes care of everything......... I must not forget to buy some new rolls, altough I think There is not much paper left in the shops after the disaster in Groningen stadium yesterday.

The soccer game groningen - Ajax should be played. After that game we should have known if our own PSV is the 2008 champion. But we had not taken into account that toiletpaper burns. :-P

That is very funny and very awful.

Badchild - 14-4-2008 at 13:00

Football is so....FUN! :rolleyes:

BBP - 14-4-2008 at 17:22

Hit town today for B-day shopping.
PSV is not champion yet, but there are huge football-shape lampoons hanging around in town. Could be fun if they'd turn 2nd!

Badchild - 15-4-2008 at 08:28

I'm going to the Ophtalmologist for the first time in my life....Now i know that i'm 45 years old and retched....i'll be needing reading glasses me thinks.

DED - 15-4-2008 at 09:21

Sorry I cannot read this without my reading glasses, what were you saying?

No kidding
When I was 46 I could read anything small big and worse copies
when I was 47 I bought my first reading glasses ampl. 1
Now I'm using during the day ampl. 2 and in the evening ampl. 3
When I repair old tape junk I even use sometimes 2 glasses and a magnifier.

It is the price we have to pay.

scallopino - 15-4-2008 at 10:27

I've had more eye problems than I can poke a stick at. I've been to the opthalmologists and optometrists and etc. hundreds of times I reckon. My eyesight is bad and getting worse, and i'm only 21. I have to wear two different types of glasses because there is no one lense that can do enough magic for me.

For some reason the glasses i have now get really dirty really easy and it's a complete bitch to clean them, and the cleaning liquid that came with just seems to make it worse.

BBP - 15-4-2008 at 17:43

That sounds dreadful... Is lasering an option?

scallopino - 16-4-2008 at 10:52

I don't know BBP. Actually I do know. I remember the optometrist saying that glasses will work ok for a few more years, maybe ten years, and then i'll have to get surgery. I guess it will be laser surgery.

It makes me wonder about all those people in past centuries who had to stop doing tasks when their eyes went before glasses were available.

DED - 17-4-2008 at 08:37

Life expectation was much shorter at that time
45 was a normal age for most people.
Glasses (lenses to approve sight) were used since 1250 in Europe and maybe before that in Arabia and China.

scallopino - 17-4-2008 at 09:32

Quote:

Originally posted by DED
Life expectation was much shorter at that time
45 was a normal age for most people.
Glasses (lenses to approve sight) were used since 1250 in Europe and maybe before that in Arabia and China.

Good point, and only the people who could afford glasses would have been able to read anyway.

Badchild - 18-4-2008 at 11:37

I just got back from 4 days in Paris....What a great City!

BBP - 18-4-2008 at 11:48

Fun! It's been ages since I last was in Paris. Shot some nice pics there too, of my favourite fountain (I always forget the name somehow).

Today the magazine with my picture rolled in! Scan coming up!

DED - 19-4-2008 at 08:13

Yeah I love Paris. Esp since I have been (1998) in the Crazy Horse
That experience I will never forget and also the drive with a french guy around the place 'létoile twice in rushhour. The guy was crazy. and a lot more off course.
Yester day the metal lid of one of BBP's organs fell on my foot
!@#$%^&*( $%^&*() $%^&*()
that hurts

BBP - 19-4-2008 at 08:31

Today my tire exploded on my newspaper round.

punknaynowned - 19-4-2008 at 11:04

Quote:

Originally posted by DED
Yeah I love Paris. Esp since I have been (1998) in the Crazy Horse
That experience I will never forget and also the drive with a french guy around the place 'létoile twice in rushhour. The guy was crazy. and a lot more off course.
Yester day the metal lid of one of BBP's organs fell on my foot
!@#$%^&*( $%^&*() $%^&*()
that hurts

Ouch!
I hate injuring a foot.
Always worse than a hand somehow.
I can get a lot more done with one hand on two feet, than I can get done with two hands on only one foot. :duh:

Never been to Paris. Someday. Who knows, maybe next year./

DED - 19-4-2008 at 15:26

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Today my tire exploded on my newspaper round.

Today I went to the shop for new outer en inner tubes
openend the chain protector and removed the wheel and old tubes. The outer tube has no profile and holes like Britney Spears. The inside of the wheel sanded and painted with hammerite. Now I'm typing while the paint dries.
Next is to mount everything in the opposite order.
(if I can remember)

scallopino - 20-4-2008 at 07:24

"The outer tube has no profile and holes like Britney Spears." :-)

I would love an explanation of this remark Ded!

BBP - 20-4-2008 at 11:02

We'll post a picture!

BBP - 26-4-2008 at 08:59

Well... it really was yesterday... I had a shower and slipped on the floor. I have some bruises in nasty spots and I cut my toe on the drain.

punknaynowned - 26-4-2008 at 09:30

ouch! here, I'll make ya a cuppa tea

what's the weather like there today?

BBP - 26-4-2008 at 13:22

Sunny, spring is in the air! It will be cold again after the weekend, so I'm enjoying it! Worked in the garden today.

BBP - 26-4-2008 at 17:09

Photos of the tire:

And here's my first publication!

punknaynowned - 26-4-2008 at 17:22

congratulations!!
did you do the donald's on the shirt?
I'm thinking you did
and where did that original printed piece come from?

scallopino - 27-4-2008 at 03:13

Could you translate it please BBP?

BBP - 27-4-2008 at 16:34

Appeared in Donald Duck 17-2008:
Dear uncle Donald. In one issue {5, deleted from original message} you were sleepwalking. I did that too a couple of times. Fortunately that never had any serious consequences. Although I once wrote something on my leg and once I woke up from my own voice (I was talking to a poster) {several experiences were cut here}. If you startto sleepwalk again, you'd best put a wet mop next to your bed, so you'll wake up immediately when you get out.

"Thank you for this (untranslatable joke) tip, Bonny. As a thanks you get this Donald Duck T-shirt!"
{Actually I got the blue one, not the white one in the picture.}

Donald:" I'd better dress warm before I go to sleep! Who knows where I'm going to walk!"

Sorry Punky. Didn't do any drawing.

punknaynowned - 28-4-2008 at 05:33

no reason to apologize, but I'm not sure I understand how keeping a wet mop by your bed will wake you up. Is this another pun I'm not getting?
It's a darling little story, though.

BBP - 28-4-2008 at 07:56

It's true! A mop will stay wet all night, and if you feel something wet and dirty at your feet you should wake up.

(It didn't work for me. If I can sleep thru earthquakes I can walk over wet mops whilst snoozing.

scallopino - 28-4-2008 at 09:59

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
no reason to apologize, but I'm not sure I understand how keeping a wet mop by your bed will wake you up. Is this another pun I'm not getting?
It's a darling little story, though.

It starts cleaning the floor while you're asleep, and then you gradually start to feel the room getting cleaning and cleaner and this wakes you up.

scallopino - 28-4-2008 at 10:06

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Appeared in Donald Duck 17-2008:
Dear uncle Donald. In one issue {5, deleted from original message} you were sleepwalking. I did that too a couple of times. Fortunately that never had any serious consequences. Although I once wrote something on my leg and once I woke up from my own voice (I was talking to a poster) {several experiences were cut here}. If you startto sleepwalk again, you'd best put a wet mop next to your bed, so you'll wake up immediately when you get out.

"Thank you for this (untranslatable joke) tip, Bonny. As a thanks you get this Donald Duck T-shirt!"
{Actually I got the blue one, not the white one in the picture.}

Donald:" I'd better dress warm before I go to sleep! Who knows where I'm going to walk!"

Sorry Punky. Didn't do any drawing.

Is the joke something about sleeping? Why is sleep sometimes slaap and other times slapen? Can Donald fly?

BBP - 28-4-2008 at 11:57

slapen = to sleep.
slaap = sleep (noun).

Donald can't fly. The only stories I've seen where he flew, are where he turns into Superduck or where he is given the power of flight by his guardian angel.

Uitgeslapen means "done sleeping", not sleepy at all. it's not often used as adjective for "tip", but it's not uncommon either.

:-D

Love the cleaning joke! Reminds me of how, when I was a kid at school, we'd often have to walk on cold shower tiles with bare feet, after PE. I hated that, and most classmates did too.
One popular work-around was to shuffle on your towel (standing with your feet on it, of course). But as it would inevitably lead to the teacher's quirk "You don't have to mop the floor!" it gradually lost popularity.

Badchild - 5-5-2008 at 08:04

Hi folks,
Just back from VACATION in Ardèche...I've gone from sunshine and smiles to rain and frowns....Hope you are all doing well!

BBP - 5-5-2008 at 10:37

I'm fine, thank you! How was the holiday?

Badchild - 5-5-2008 at 11:06

It was wonderful of course! Got the hottub delivered and set up now i can finish my fantastic deck all around it....There was a big Rave a few kilometers from my place on saturday night....boom boom boom boom all night long...not too loud though....

scallopino - 6-5-2008 at 11:36

I don't understand Raves and Ravers. Maybe you need to be on their drugs to get it.

BBP - 7-5-2008 at 09:20

Nah... you'll need their brains...

polydigm - 8-5-2008 at 21:51

I'm with you Scallop, I don't understand them either.

Meanwhile, the official Zappa forum is really bugging me at the moment. It just keeps getting worse. Trendy's on one of his binges at the moment, Zombie is still acting like a complete asshole and now Swifty, who is another complete asshole, is getting stuck into Ronny and Ronny won't ignore him so that is also becoming totally ridiculous.

punknaynowned - 9-5-2008 at 05:12

I was amazed the other day when swiftkicknow was a total dick to Sabby. Really surprised me. I guess I haven't paid much attention to him before and am less inclined to now.

Generally speaking, I see the tension on the forum as a pretty natural outgrowth of the tension in the states these days. Notice that all the total pests are Americans and have a history of being pests, there. Now and then there'd be a flareup of this or that, but only once in a while. Nowadays They're all doing it pretty consistently. People are beginning to realize that things may not be the same as they've been accustomed having them for their whole lives.

BBP - 9-5-2008 at 08:43

Oh yeah. But the solution is not another forum. EG The Unmoderated (Calvin's private forum) has nothing but the "nice" people of the Z-forum, and practically nothing happens there. You just need so many people to keep a place interesting... and the quality of the Zappa.com forum lies in the high amount of pleasant, interesting people. Something like the Primus-forum has completely gone shit. 50 new topics a day and none of them interesting.

Solution lies in creating fun topics, which is not easy at all.

(Punky: What is it about Americans?)

polydigm - 9-5-2008 at 11:16

Swifty was an asshole when I first joined zappa.com two and a half years ago. Interacting with him back then is how I learnt to ignore certain people. He's tried it on with me a couple of times since then but I just don't buy into it. I can't understand why Ronny is getting involved, he normally ignores stuff like that.

punknaynowned - 9-5-2008 at 17:11

woops

[Edited on 9-5-08 by punknaynowned]

punknaynowned - 9-5-2008 at 17:28

I had never noticed swift's antics before. But he laid into catpuke too in a ridiculous way.
The thing is, I agree with his sig, in general. But that doesn't give him license to do what he wants and slime people left and right.
poly wrote :"I can't understand why Ronny is getting involved, he normally ignores stuff like that. "

maybe ronny's decided things are gone to hell anyway , he may as well have it out with his adversary. I'm guessing. Yer right though, it is kinda out of character for RN.

Noteworthy was the transformer blowin up in the alley, just before 9AM here. Probably the whole block went out. The power was back on though in 40 minutes.
Noteworthy I'd say, because it's been raining here off and on all night. This means that the hole in my basement that collects the seepage of water (into the basement from outside) can't be pumped out with the pump I have stuck in that hole. This is the first time I've had to think abut what to do in the event that the hole can't be pumped out. Guess I'll have to use a bucket. Didn't need to do that today, but at least I have a solution.

In the states, Prices for things that people buy most often day-to-day are going way up and rapidly. More serious investments like a house are also on increasingly shaky ground, financially speaking as well. So this hits not just the poor but the already weakened 'middle class'. When I say weakened I refer to the effects of the real recession we've been in since the 'dot-com' bubble burst in 2000. That has meant the acceptance of lower paying jobs by huge swathes of the population all over the country. If you can't make as much money you can't save money or buy new things. It becomes all about paying the bills and no frills. People were just gettin used to this new state of affairs and gas prices started going up and now food prices are going up, mortgages are defaulting and people are wondering where they will live and the poor can't find enough food.
And the thing is, These kinds of things affect people in all sorts of ways especially unpredictable when most of these people have never really experienced want of anything. So People feel more and more insecure.
that's what I think.

and does this have anything t do with the forum nuts? I just extrapolated. I Could be totally wrong.

btw Bonny, that's a great dynamic photo of yourself up at the zforum. Well done!

[Edited on 9-5-08 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 9-5-2008 at 20:01

Oh dear... did you get enough sleep? You sound all down, like me on a bad day... (hugs) Must be the power failure...

Last major power failure we had was in 2006, when we were a full 20 minutes without electricity, along with 10 million Europeans. I thought that was kinda exciting though... fortunately we don't have to rely on electricity to maintain our house yet. It was the most beautiful full moon EVER. I could never imagine the little hobbits walking by the light of the moon, but now I know how much light it reflects... ahhh...
Having a mostly pleasant day today. Had a good night's sleep and dreamt about ZPZ.

...

Thank you! It never hurts to colour the Z-forum, does it!

punknaynowned - 10-5-2008 at 06:44

thank you for your kindness B!
the topic is a downer (state of the statesiders) but I have so much to be grateful for and I've always felt that way.
I live in a city of 80,000. Forty Kilometers east of here is Kansas City and you can see the glow in the eastern sky coming from the big city. It's eerie and diminishes the brilliance of the moon. But you can go out in the country and not too far and not have any city lights and the stars are so much more brilliant here than almost anywhere I've been to in the continental US.
Luckily I can see the stars well from my backyard.
(:

scallopino - 11-5-2008 at 04:23

What are all the arguments about at the Zappa forum? Are they all just personal attacks and childishness?

punknaynowned - 11-5-2008 at 05:21

yep, not worth your time.
Sometimes it seems that zombie aka help, i'm a rock is trying to singlehandedly bring down the zappa forum. and Swifty has gone on a rampage being stupid, and isaac loves to flame anyone, trendmonger is particularly acerbic and even starting 'political' threads and Lumpy has decided to jump in the fray on anyone and Ronny's Noomies and catpuke have decided to throw in their lot against swifty's flailings for . . . attention at what he insists are random outbursts, disingenuously
and so on

nothing substantial

BBP - 11-5-2008 at 09:58

And if you try to make something substantial, they'll butt into it and start their own flaming war. Even the "(fill in the blank) just died" thread has flame wars in it now.

scallopino - 13-5-2008 at 11:49

That sounds extremely annoying and frustrating. Is it moderated or do you think it should be moderated?

polydigm - 13-5-2008 at 15:33

Yes it should be moderated. The argument against moderation is that it's a Zappa forum and he was against censorship, but that is a straw dog. Zappa was not an anarchist hence his concern over attempts to modify the constitution and he would not have valued being free from censorship above the right to be protected from assholes. Believing in no censorship is not the same as believing that a small group of assholes should be free to muck things up for the majority.

BBP - 14-5-2008 at 13:31

The Z-forum is being moderated.

Just type Project/Object in a thread you'd like to see removed.

In other news, The Netherlands is on fire. Yesterday there was a huge fire in a college building in Delft, destroying a huge collection on architecture books and a valuable exhibition of famous chairs.
And, when I went to Geldrop yesterday, I bumped into a farm that was on fire. Unfortunately some animals didn't survive.
(and of course I didn't bring my camera. :umm

And then I've been bitten by a spider, ten minutes ago. I put the sucking syringe on it, cleaned it with vinegar, but it still :swear:

hurts. By the looks of it I'm developing an allergic reaction.

Badchild - 14-5-2008 at 17:38

Hi folks,
I just read what punky wrote and i have to agree with him. The state of affairs in the USA is not very peachy right now and i believe it's getting on peoples nerves just a bit. A couple of years ago families were buying McMansions with almost no money down and had all the credit cards they wanted, but now their house is worth less than what they paid for it...And their non-fixed interest rate went up so now they can't pay for the house, can't pay back the credit cards and can't put gas in the car....that could piss you off me thinks....

How big was this spider that bit you bonn ?

Drove through a hail storm on the highway today! just a few dents on the roof.... :puzzled:

punknaynowned - 15-5-2008 at 00:40

hi Mr Acadia!

the credit and mortgage gap (they call it a gap now) has got a lot of people weary already.
Government statistics came out today and said that last month's raise in prices is the biggest such rise in 18 years. They also said that the increase in inflation wasn't much at all (which is good news), but , they said, you have to take out food and gas out of that calculation.
and everybody else says, "What do you think I'm buying?"
crazy;

and y'know Bonny, I don't mind bug bites so much, even spiders. It's the itching after that bothers me.
baking soda and water on the bite helps. Never heard of a suction syringe which might do a similar thing.
don't itch it!
:umm:

scallopino - 15-5-2008 at 09:34

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
The Z-forum is being moderated.

Just type Project/Object in a thread you'd like to see removed.

In other news, The Netherlands is on fire. Yesterday there was a huge fire in a college building in Delft, destroying a huge collection on architecture books and a valuable exhibition of famous chairs.
And, when I went to Geldrop yesterday, I bumped into a farm that was on fire. Unfortunately some animals didn't survive.
(and of course I didn't bring my camera. :umm

And then I've been bitten by a spider, ten minutes ago. I put the sucking syringe on it, cleaned it with vinegar, but it still :swear:

hurts. By the looks of it I'm developing an allergic reaction.

You just go right on up to that spider and bite it back!

What's the deal with Project/Object? What's the problem? I'm out of the loop!

BBP - 15-5-2008 at 11:16

That spider (if it was a spider, I doubt that now) is very tiny. Fortunately the Dutch climate is too cold for poisonous animals. (well, there are adders...)
I could barely find the wound this morning. It's just a small,faint red spot, that hurts a little when you press it.
It didn't itch. It hurt like hell.

ZFT hates P/O. They'll try to delete any thread relating on P/O from the ZFT Zappa forum, primarily if they're started by Jimmie D.

Badchild - 16-5-2008 at 10:08

i dought it was a spider bon....mosquito?? wasp....they can sting you many times...and they come in all sizes.

BBP - 16-5-2008 at 14:55

I have no idea what it was... but I have been bitten by a jumping spider before and had a similar wound (but no allergic reaction). I was lying on the grass, so it's not likely to have been a flying insect.

Badchild - 21-5-2008 at 07:34

woke up in a good mood !

BBP - 21-5-2008 at 08:54

Nice!

Watched Eurovision Song Contest. Feeling disgruntled.

Badchild - 21-5-2008 at 09:16

who won ? Albania or litheuania ??

BBP - 21-5-2008 at 16:57

It was the first semi-final. Israel, Azerbaijan, Norway, Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Finland, Romania, Russia, Greece are through. As usual, some deserve it, some don't. It pissed me off slightly because the competition level was much lower than last year, or the year before.
And another reason I was grumpy was that irritating Belgian entry. In our house we'd put a ban on playing it, singing it, and even naming the title. It really gets in your head. And unfortunately DED insisted we'd play it during emission. So it was in my head all night, during my newspaper round and even for a while after that.

scallopino - 27-5-2008 at 09:52

I don't understand Eurovision Bonny. Is it a competition to see who can sing the song that most makes you want to kill yourself? That's what it seems like. The only Eurovision song I've ever liked was Waterloo.

The song that won this year sucked a huge ammount. There are a huge amount of talented people and talented songwriters in Europe but Eurovision somehow finds the worst.

BBP - 27-5-2008 at 19:27

WATERLOO!! You just lost my respect sir.

Eurovision is becoming more and more of an interesting mish-mash of different musical styles. Aside from the Abba-clones, there are also ballads, there's some dance, some rock, and we've even had some country, soul, blues, latin, Irish folk, Slavic folk and even metal. In fact the 2006 winners were the Finnish metal band Lordi with Hard Rock Hallelujah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6VzdtmrP6Y
I never laughed so hard.

It's in general an entertaining watch, but I find it depressing that the bad song & bad singing from Russia always ends high because of televoting and large amounts of Russian immigrants around the globe. And this time they even won, while some of the entries which were good didn't do well at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwmRD5Gt4Vc
The fine, cheerful Croatian entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bhL3ei0w7M
The nice folky Serbian entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWzGBpLrKI
Best rock this year: Turkish entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx9btAB-4-0
Bulgaria 2007.

punknaynowned - 29-5-2008 at 00:11

why ohh why do I let myself get all spun up about the idiocy at the zforum?
It's worse than the Dangerous Kitchen . . .
I'm sick of jimmied today trying to kill the forum, been I'm not gonna step in that goo.
Notice how he and trendie are trying to police their version of reality and shove it down everyone's throat? disgusting
ok, I'll not whine any more

polydigm - 29-5-2008 at 04:16

I have to agree. I used to respect Jimmie D, but he's turned into one of the forum assholes.

Good news though, that an announcement is coming soon on the new release.

Badchild - 29-5-2008 at 08:08

Storm last night! No hot water this morning.....Sore throat, headhach (how the fuck to you spell ache?)

I'm sooooo tired.....i work too much, drink too much, smoke too much....

punknaynowned - 30-5-2008 at 06:49

oh wow!
I thought I'd replied to this already;
I was juts telling a friend I needed to quit smoking and start . . . swimming or something, do yoga as a habit and start eating garlic, ginger and carrot smoothies instead of coffee . . .
or something :freak:

polydigm - 30-5-2008 at 09:53

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm: Good news though, that an announcement is coming soon on the new release.

Ha ha!! Gail announced something totally unexpected, which is good news of course, but we're still none the wiser about One Shot Deal.

BBP - 30-5-2008 at 11:50

Survived the fierce storm yesterday, and today I got soaked on my round. I made a picture of it, but I don't really dare to publish it; I'm like a Fembot in a Wet T-shirt.

scallopino - 30-5-2008 at 11:57

:wow:

But watch out for the ice pick in the forehead.

scallopino - 30-5-2008 at 12:42

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
WATERLOO!! You just lost my respect sir.

Eurovision is becoming more and more of an interesting mish-mash of different musical styles. Aside from the Abba-clones, there are also ballads, there's some dance, some rock, and we've even had some country, soul, blues, latin, Irish folk, Slavic folk and even metal. In fact the 2006 winners were the Finnish metal band Lordi with Hard Rock Hallelujah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6VzdtmrP6Y
I never laughed so hard.

It's in general an entertaining watch, but I find it depressing that the bad song & bad singing from Russia always ends high because of televoting and large amounts of Russian immigrants around the globe. And this time they even won, while some of the entries which were good didn't do well at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwmRD5Gt4Vc
The fine, cheerful Croatian entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bhL3ei0w7M
The nice folky Serbian entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWzGBpLrKI
Best rock this year: Turkish entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx9btAB-4-0
Bulgaria 2007.

Hey! I really like (some of) ABBA! :rolleyes:

I remember Lordi. I thought it was really funny as well, and even funnier that they won. I agree that it's getting more interesting, but I wish the countries would choose songs that reflect their own music traditions more. Some of them do of course, but a lot of them just go for some general piece of crap that has nothing to do with their country; even worse is when they do it in English!

I liked the Serbian one. She has such a generic voice though. The lead singer in that Turkish band looked like a combination of k.d. lang and Sinead O'Connor... :duh:

The Bulgarian thing was quite amazing. Really interesting. I don't understand why they put that Indian vocal bit in towards the end, but I liked it anyway. That woman sure was a great performer.

BBP - 30-5-2008 at 16:09

Ohh their English accents can be so crappy!
But it was more or less common practice for years to have Slav folk, which is beautiful. Most Bosnian entries have that, for instance. Surprising to find only one this year.

I feel with most ABBA music that it's badly produced. I preferred the intro to the Gimme Gimme Gimme sitcom over the original.

punknaynowned - 30-5-2008 at 19:00

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm: Good news though, that an announcement is coming soon on the new release.

Ha ha!! Gail announced something totally unexpected, which is good news of course, but we're still none the wiser about One Shot Deal.

but wait, there's more

[I first typed 'mote' instead of 'more'!]

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP

Survived the fierce storm yesterday, and today I got soaked on my round. I made a picture of it, but I don't really dare to publish it; I'm like a Fembot in a Wet T-shirt.

Awwww, don't be ashamed ;-)

I seriously don't see how you live in all the constant rain. It would drive me nuts.

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino . . . I wish the countries would choose songs that reflect their own music traditions more. Some of them do of course, but a lot of them just go for some general piece of crap that has nothing to do with their country; even worse is when they do it in English!

I bet they get tired of hearing the local flavors and so do other things in the competition. What would be neat for us might not be so much for them

BBP - 31-5-2008 at 18:06

Maybe...
Today I went to the petting zoo. They have these baby goats that are the cutest!

scallopino - 1-6-2008 at 08:40

Yeah, but baby goats grow up to be goats... surely amongst the most Awful of God's Creachures.

BBP - 1-6-2008 at 14:09

Ah no! They're sweet! They've got horizontal pupils.

Watch quick before I get too nervous and toss it off.

scallopino - 1-6-2008 at 15:15

And up next is the lovely Bonny from Canoga Park

scallopino - 1-6-2008 at 15:28

And Goats! Don't get me started. Most animals, when they first see a human, the first thought that enters their heads is: "Run away" or "Hmm. What the hell is that?" But when a goat first sees a human, its first thought is KILL, MAIM, ATTACK THE GROIN. Goats also eat tin cans and clothing. The devil is often portrayed as a goat. In reality, ALL GOATS ARE DEVILS.

Goats are also uncommonly stupid. If tied up (for safety reasons) they frequently wind themselves around barb wire fences, and then they try to INJURE YOU while you help them.

I'm not trying to scare you BBP, only warn you of the dangers of goats.

If you or any member of your family has goat trouble, call the Goat Helpline on 1500 055 555 -- BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Badchild - 2-6-2008 at 07:48

Yup! goats are extremely dangerous creatures. Never ever trust a goat. Never enter a goat compound with food in your pokets....My daughter still has nightmares from when she was 5 years old and got molested by twenty or so goats that ganged up on her trying to get to the popcorn she had stashed in her coat pocket. Scary very scary beasts!

DED - 2-6-2008 at 10:02

coat pocket or goat pocket :lol:

punknaynowned - 2-6-2008 at 10:11

goats are bad! they'll eat the glove off your hand!
I've never even liked goat milk that they used to try to force on me as a kid. Still don't like chevre.

The trick with goats is feeding them right, though. Keep the males and females separate, first of all, except for strict breeding purposes. Get the females to trust you, they'll eat right out of your hand if you treat them right. Then when the females trust you, and at the right time of year they can be pastured with the males. After probable conception the genders are separated again and long before the nannies start pumping out babies, they need to be induced to be milked. At first, they will give you trouble. After that they will come to expect it. Then the babies are born and the nannies will continue to produce milk long after the babies have been raised and then in turn, reduced into steaks. And you'll have so much milk and cheese ,you won't know what to do with it.
The sweet bleatings of the goats will by then turn into eternal calls of 'Feed ME'. Every spot of available greenery will be stripped of its essence. Every noise that they can make, will be made, unendingly. Every place they should not be getting to, will be tore up and ransacked into a mudhole.
The eyes and intruding nose will invade your dreams.
The bleating. Lord, stop the bleating!

scallopino - 2-6-2008 at 11:06

Beautifully put.

BBP - 2-6-2008 at 12:14

[Edited on 2-6-08 by BBP]

punknaynowned - 3-6-2008 at 00:16

nice pictures B!
they are cute and fun to watch at play. They can have such human facial expressions too. Stoic, stubborn, ornery in their behavior.

scallopino - 3-6-2008 at 05:20

That last one's funny. It looks like the closer one is in front of a mirror.

BBP - 3-6-2008 at 11:31

Making those kid shots was indeed an experience that made me understand the frustration about children and animals on cameras. It took me 2 trips to the petting zoo, and I still didn't get the photo I wanted.

Badchild - 5-6-2008 at 16:02

How long did you stay in close contact with these creatures ? If you suddenly get a bad stomach ache. Call Sigourney Weaver immediately! :-P

BBP - 6-6-2008 at 20:38

Not long... It's pretty nervewrecking... and somehow I know I just won't get a good photo no matter how long I wait.

BBP - 17-6-2008 at 17:52

Made some jam and kept myself clean. Amazing!

Also I got this cool keychain that peeps when you whistle.

polydigm - 18-6-2008 at 00:23

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP: I got this cool keychain that peeps when you whistle.

I need something like that, I'm an incurable scatter brain.

BBP - 18-6-2008 at 07:07

You wouldn't want it. It also peeps if you talk high (and I do), move the pans while cooking, scratch a fork on a plate... It also responds to Kari when we're watching Mythbusters.

punknaynowned - 18-6-2008 at 19:12

Does anyone know how to put mp3's and wav's on a webpage?
I have domain and if I can put it up I think I can share my music.
Unless my sense of things is way off. :freak:

polydigm - 18-6-2008 at 23:28

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned: Does anyone know how to put mp3's and wav's on a webpage?

If you just want to make a file available for download:

<a href="../mpeg/catz_cradle.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a>

If you want a player to appear on the page:

<embed src="../midi/juggle.mid" width=150 height=45 autostart=false></embed>

punknaynowned - 21-6-2008 at 21:58

somebody stole my gas can!
I had a red can for gasoline to run the mower, so I can cut the grass, so I don't get a letter from the city/landlord to tell me to cut the grass. If I don't, the city will and charge me what they want plus administrative costs. I don't have a car and a friend had come by that day to refill my gascan so I could mow the grass.

Ridiculous.
He came back again today, so tonight when it's cooler I'll mow.
Silly.

punknaynowned - 21-6-2008 at 21:59

uhh, thanx Polydigm!
Now all I need to do is translate

polydigm - 22-6-2008 at 01:04

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
uhh, thanx Polydigm!
Now all I need to do is translate

Sorry, I thought you were talking about making your own web pages, so all I've done there is show you the HTML code for doing what you need to do. Maybe, if you give me more detail about what you need to do, I can help.

punknaynowned - 22-6-2008 at 05:50

tomorrow
I have to sleep now
thanx for the offer!

BBP - 22-6-2008 at 12:09

Just upload the file, then link to it on your homepage. Or embed it.

In case you have any internet page trouble, you may want to check W3schools.com.

BBP - 23-6-2008 at 14:13

Went on another sunset picture walk... first time in months...

aquagoat - 23-6-2008 at 18:11

great pics, bb.

[Edited on 23-6-2008 by aquagoat]

scallopino - 24-6-2008 at 07:36

Is that near where you live?

BBP - 24-6-2008 at 12:16

Yep, ten minute walk if you take your time and make photos!

punknaynowned - 24-6-2008 at 12:31

I love it!
thanx B!

BBP - 26-6-2008 at 14:48

Today the PC downloaded an update and installed it all by itself; and it took MORE THAN 7 HOURS. :pissed:

punknaynowned - 26-6-2008 at 15:03

THAT doesn't sound like traffic across the water . . . :umm:

[Edited on 27-6-08 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 27-6-2008 at 06:34

Punky: you disabled the smilies on that message, so the :umm:

fellow doesn't work. I could change it for you...

Believe it or not, there's a "new PC update" ready for us! What the...

punknaynowned - 27-6-2008 at 16:08

changes change

punknaynowned - 27-6-2008 at 16:18

How are you?
It seems like you've taken a drumming over at the zforum with Trendy's blatherings and rudeness, etc.
I thought he could be talked down and bent into some kind of courteous shape, but I gave up a while ago on that.
Don't let him get to ya.

scallopino - 27-6-2008 at 16:47

Ch ch ch ch changes (turn and face the strain) ch ch ch changes!

BBP - 27-6-2008 at 20:30

Me? Well... I don't know why I bother sometimes... he does indeed get up my nerves. But you have to admit he's responsible for the more interesting parts of the forum nowadays... or at least he starts up some discussion. The place seems to have run dry.

punknaynowned - 28-6-2008 at 01:13

I don't think he's interesting, I think he's a lunatic.
He doesn't talk to anybody, he yells at what he thinks is their position which he ridicules as idiocy.
If anyone doesn't agree with his latest indecipherable gibberish, he yells at them to get with his lunatic program.

I thought it was funny yesterday when T opened another thread and zombie replied with "fuck you" in capital letters. no more no less. Zombie is funny when he wants to be.
I'm just sorry to see him lash out so indiscriminately and blahblah.

It would be good if we all could get him to change his tune but that won't last either.

I saw he found an inflatable bozo the clown, that Arkay used to put up to show that no matter how much he gets hit, he always bounces back.

Should I talk about the dvd?
or One Shot Deal?

punknaynowned - 28-6-2008 at 01:56

The TTNS dvd is a torture to watch for me.

polydigm - 28-6-2008 at 04:28

I have to agree with Punky. Trendmonger is in no way interesting to me - just an enormous drag. Although, to his credit, and no-one seems to be acknowledging this, he is limiting his monologues, more an more, to separate threads. That should make it easy to ignore him but people still chase him up in is own threads which is pretty stupid really.

I disagree about the fz forum getting boring. I don't enjoy it as much as I did when I first signed up but there are still some interesting people frequenting the place and a few more have joined in. Zombie has got to get sick of his insanity some day, surely? He's been keeping this bullshit going for some time now. I feel really sorry for someone in that mental state that can behave the way he does. Just a guess, he's trying to make us think he's American, but what he's from Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia and his previous forum name was Latex_Solar_Beef?

scallopino - 28-6-2008 at 07:50

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
The TTNS dvd is a torture to watch for me.

Why is that punky? I don't have it by the way. I don't think i'll get it.

BBP - 28-6-2008 at 09:17

Just visited the forum, didn't make a single post. Very odd... there is really nothing I feel like responding to.

Poly: Was that a Zappa Forum Conspiracy Theory?
(OK... it's not really a conspiracy...) like the ones I make sometimes?

punknaynowned - 28-6-2008 at 10:06

I realise I'm not the biggest fan of the '80's Zappa either.
The synthesised sound.
The best part are his solos. Real good, intense here and they happen often enough. Everyone plays with intensity. The lights, the glare, the red. meh
I watch 2-3 songs and turn it off.

polydigm - 29-6-2008 at 05:32

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP: Poly: Was that a Zappa Forum Conspiracy Theory?
(OK... it's not really a conspiracy...) like the ones I make sometimes?

Before the April 2006 forum change, Frownland was quite a regular poster. Actually, Frownland was just a nick name, his actual name was Latex_Solar_Beef. After April 2006 he posted once and basically said he didn't like the new forum and hasn't posted since. I find that hard to imagine. One of the people he argued with the most was Isaac. Sound familiar? I think he may be Zombie. He's from Newcastle in Australia though and Zombie makes out like he's American but he wrote something recently that came across very much like east coast Australian which got me thinking.

BBP - 29-6-2008 at 11:29

Did you confront him with it yet? Openly? I feel like a good confrontation (=fight).

scallopino - 29-6-2008 at 11:43

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
I realise I'm not the biggest fan of the '80's Zappa either.
The synthesised sound.
The best part are his solos. Real good, intense here and they happen often enough. Everyone plays with intensity. The lights, the glare, the red. meh
I watch 2-3 songs and turn it off.

And the band that's on there has been so well documented on other videos and dvds...why another one? How much of the 60s Mothers got filmed? Surely they could release more of that stuff, and stuff like that.

I like a lot of the 80s stuff but what I don't like is how much singing he does...you know, just sort of wandering around the stage with a microphone. Don't get me wrong...I like the rants and raps and stuff but I don't really like it when it's "Frank The Singer", you know?

punknaynowned - 29-6-2008 at 14:30

me neither

punknaynowned - 29-6-2008 at 14:43

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Did you confront him with it yet? Openly? I feel like a good confrontation (=fight).

He's usually wanting a fight.
Is that what you want?

BBP - 29-6-2008 at 16:12

Not unless you win! Go Punky! (waves Punky flag)

punknaynowned - 29-6-2008 at 23:48

I'm a lover not a fighter.

I don't think it matters what anyone does. He'll just go away and come back later with the same schtick. Now he plays nice until he thinks people won't expect it and then he turns on them.
He thrives on the attention.
We can talk about it here but I'm not interested in spinning his wheels, so I don't talk to him. If I find something positive I try to respond positively. But mostly I ignore him and whoever gets sucked into his swirl.
<shrug>
what do you want me to do? I'll listen to whatever you have to say,
;-)

scallopino - 30-6-2008 at 04:08

There's probably a limit to how much physical damage you can inflict on someone over the internet. And Bonny, where did you get that Punky flag? I want one. Do they have them at Amazon?

BBP - 30-6-2008 at 07:09

Grab a nice clean bedsheet and paint PUNKY on it, in large letters. Hide from your mother for a while.

polydigm - 1-7-2008 at 00:53

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP: Did you confront him with it yet? Openly? I feel like a good confrontation (=fight).

I agree with Punky on this. I don't want to get in a fight with Zombie. The only time I talk to him is when he says something particularly contradictory and I put him on the spot. Usually when I do that, he avoids the main question but I don't pursue it. Making one or two comments is enough for me, I'm not interested in flame wars.

There was a perfect example two days ago where I put him on the spot about getting offended that people wouldn't believe he was black. He's purposely hiding his true identity and yet he wants us to believe he's black. You can't have it both ways and I told him so and his reaction was totally pathetic. When I see that, it's enough for me, no need to keep on arguing with the guy.

As for his true identity, I don't know for sure and I don't really care that much. I wonder about people who need to carry on like that, if I knew him personally I don't think I'd be able to trust him.

punknaynowned - 1-7-2008 at 03:24

I got fans on three continents!!! thanx for the huge vote of confidence people! :-D

You're so right Polydigm!
Aren't you or haven't you been a teacher of some sort? A bunch of my siblings or their spouses have been teachers ( I did it once for about six months. The only way to deal with 'bad behavior' is to be consistent and not return the aggression. Confront them with the behavior, see if they can see it as bad behavior and get them to 'apologize' in some form. But he's not a child and only sees that response to his behavior as a simple exchange of moves in a game. Maybe the rules change, the roles change, but little more. He's long since learned that the one's with a consistent approach are just to be 'dealt with' in a different way, as the rules of the game have changed with that exchange (assuming that there was a real difference in the response to his behavior, as for example, inconsistent to consistent, if you follow).

My hope is that with enough consistent responses from folks regarding his bullshit, like you did, and Bonny in her ways, and so many people, Fritz, and the rest ignore him . . . he might just drop the silly flaming. I'm too hopeful.

[Edited on 1-7-08 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 1-7-2008 at 06:40

Aww...
By now it seems that Zombie's lost it. He's just SO FUCKING ANNOYING. Ignoring is all that is left by now.

Badchild - 3-7-2008 at 08:27

last night was a good night for a wednesday (took me like forever to spell that!), cocktail party on the Cap Ferret, big birthday party for a friend....

Hangover this morning....ouch!

punknaynowned - 3-7-2008 at 08:49

'on the Cap Ferret' ?
where's that can I ask?
:bouncy:

polydigm - 3-7-2008 at 13:41

Yes Punky, I am a qualified teacher with about 12 years of accumulated on and off experience. My last job was teaching Physics and Maths to international students - mostly Chinese - in a foundation studies course that leads directly to university entrance. Almost zero discipline problems, so I think it's more probably due to being a parent that's led to me being able to keep my cool when dealing with irrationality - but I have my moments.

polydigm - 3-7-2008 at 13:43

Let me guess, is Badchild talking about some kind of Ferry?

Badchild - 3-7-2008 at 14:24

No i'm talking about a place
44°38'07''N 1°15'03"O

Nothing but rich folk all over the place.....

BBP - 3-7-2008 at 16:32

Awww... I was thinking of a hat with a ferret on it... I want one to piss off my sister.

Am I correct in locating it in Switzerland, near the Mont Blanc and Mont Dolent?

[Edited on 3-7-08 by BBP]

Badchild - 3-7-2008 at 16:51

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! No wrong answer! try google earth! or a globe

Badchild - 3-7-2008 at 16:52

i bet a hat with a ferret on it would smell real nice!

punknaynowned - 3-7-2008 at 20:09

on the beach!
west of Bordeaux!
looks nice, is it hot?

aquagoat - 4-7-2008 at 05:51

where exactly ?

Badchild - 5-7-2008 at 12:48

Le Canon for the Apéritif
then a beach house at Cap Ferret for dinner. why do you know the place?

No not particularly hot....rather cool as a matter of fact.

aquagoat - 5-7-2008 at 13:27

yes, I live near Bordeaux for 9 years, so I know the place a bit, Andernos, La teste, Arcachon, etc...

BBP - 6-7-2008 at 12:20

Bordeaux is beautiful, been on holiday in that region once. Wonder where the pics of that holiday went to.

BBP - 7-7-2008 at 08:12

This is our new project.

punknaynowned - 7-7-2008 at 08:19

where the hell you gonna put THAT!?

hahahhahahhaaa

I have a bunch of newspapers that fit in a closet: a 5 ft deep, 2 ft wide, 9 ft high closet.
You guessed it, I still

don't have the closet. Still have the newspapers.

BBP - 7-7-2008 at 11:59

I hear your problem with newspapers... Unless they're really BIG NEWS EVENTS like 9/11, I just clip out the sections and pictures I like. Now I have a lot of clippings.

BBP - 8-7-2008 at 06:39

And we're still wondering where we're gonna put THAT!
It weighs 102 kilos, over 200 lbs. It's rigid. We'll never get it around the corner in the stairway. We don't have enough space in garage, hallway or room-between-kitchen-and-garden. So the living room is really the only remaining option.

Badchild - 9-7-2008 at 15:19

It's my daughter' birthday today. She's 13 going on 16.....and also it's my birthday today. I'm 46 going on 30.

aquagoat - 9-7-2008 at 17:40

happy birthday to both of you. :bouncing:

BBP - 9-7-2008 at 17:50

Happy Birthday!

punknaynowned - 10-7-2008 at 06:06

yes Happy!
and may your next trip around the sun be better than the last!

polydigm - 10-7-2008 at 07:57

Happy Birthday Badchild.

I know what you mean about the 13 going on 16 thing. Our daughter was the same and then we she got to 15 she didn't want to be 15. :duh:

BBP - 10-7-2008 at 11:24

I have that. I don't like being 25. I wish I was 21.

Today I added 2 YouTube vids!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3BUqdxs5_ATerry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6feUX3nXFpwFort Boyard Closing Theme 1995.

scallopino - 10-7-2008 at 12:05

I think it's cool that a tv show would have a solo drums performance. Is it a music show? I loved that performance. It had quite a haunting melody.

BBP - 10-7-2008 at 18:20

No, it was a variety show, with two interviews, TV-fragments of things that went wrong, a silly celeb game of similar nature, and a good comedy section. They used to have 3 million viewers (on a 16 million population that's huge) per show. Until the host left to make more money at another place, and there he flopped.

Out of 16 episodes they usually had 2 nice music performances, so needless to say I was surprised at the pick of Bozz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lYWzvyCqew
Here he interviews a disgruntled farmer who complains about the high speed train, hurtling through his back yard 7 times per hour. At the same time, the interview is disturbed every 2 minutes because a plane flies over at roughly 5 metres above his house...

punknaynowned - 11-7-2008 at 08:02

:-D

punknaynowned - 14-7-2008 at 10:09

well something rather singular happened tonight.
Last week a buddy of mine got me a ticket to go see one of my very favorite bands play.
I almost didn't go at the last minute.

Well, we got a short show, they usually play 3-4 hour shows, by themselves with maybe 20 minutes time before the encore. Tonight they quit after only about 2 hours which was a surprise. The singer quit after a few songs for an encore and the rest played an instrumental and said goodnight. Puzzling for those of us used to 3.5-4 hr shows. This was not a festival schedule. Well, my buddy's wife lost her cell phone so we spent time looking for it talking about after an show party and how we all were gonna get there. Meanwhile most everyone else had left. Somebody came thru the pockets of people remaining saying there was an after show jam, just around the corner in that brick building there. We showed up and there was the coach for the band's tour and a guard was posted at the door of this convenient guitar shop. A knot of 20-30 people stood and milled outside and tried to get info out of the door guy who said he didn't know anything, he just couldn't let anybody in. Then we could hear Jimi Hendrix's Manic Depression being started and played and go through a few bars and then they opened the doors and we all filed in and watched them play for almost two hours of essential RnB and rock and funk. They were trying to please and succeeded. The singer never showed up, but all the roadies and the gear guys were there, the hangers on, the people who owned the shop and maybe 30 of the rest of us. The list of stuff they played was phenomenal. All quite credible if not superior in so many ways if only for the arrangement of guitar, bass, drums and B3 organ, in addition to being right in front of you. The ashtray I was using sat on the organ that the keyboardist played.
Here's a partial list
Superstar [here's a link to a youtube clip of Karen Carpenter singing this: so sad, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWkOryYF6CI&NR=1
remember this is without a singer, so just the joyful music
Never Can Say Goodbye, Jackson 5 , here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snihdG1rE0Y
Green Onions, Booker T
Sing A Simple Song, Sly and the Family Stone
a Funkadelic song, was it Let's Make It Last?
something related to but not Funky Drummer of James Brown (don't worry, I'll find it)
Hey Joe, a very specific live version by Jimi Hendrix
Dazed and Confused, Led Zeppelin, almost like the record, but no bow
Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton, didn't think I could like this song again. Deaner sang it softly, beautiful!
Cocaine, really mean version of this
One Way Out, Allman Brothers
I Want To Take You Higher, Sly and the Family Stone
Changes, Band of Gypsys
and then like three songs of Santana from Abraxas, finishing with Oye Como Va

stuff I loved 20 years ago and never would have thought these guys would ever play more than 2 or 3 of these ever. and they played a whole shit ton of 'em for almost two freaking hours cuz they loved it. These are freaking international rock stars and played in Australia Japan and Europe this year already and they have been for 14 years. and they pulled around the corner to play their asses off on all this shit you knew they loved but could never do it as 'the band'. Freaking awesome
thank you and goodnight.
wow

[Edited on 14-7-08 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 14-7-2008 at 11:53

Sounds like you had one helluva evening... Which band was it?

Badchild - 15-7-2008 at 09:18

Just got back from a long weekend showing my Brother the wonders of Provence....Too much food! too much Pastis....too much Rosé....

BBP - 15-7-2008 at 18:55

Fun! What places did you visit? Avignon? Aix? Montagne St Victoire? Arles? Les Baux?

Today I made a long trip to Arnhem to get parts for the pinball table. It's in pretty bad state!
(So am I. Long, long travelling, spent ages looking for the right street, ugh!)

Badchild - 16-7-2008 at 07:43

Went as far as Aix on the little roads then headed east up through Gorde and then up the mont Ventoux for a view. Through Avignon and up into ChateauNeuf du Pape on the way back to my place in Ardèche. Dont get electrocuted by your pinball machine...i did once...ouch!

BBP - 16-7-2008 at 09:20

Great! Our car nearly overheated when we were driving to the top of Mont Ventoux. Fortunately it's cold enough over there for the engine to cool down quickly, but while we were driving up it was pretty scary.
Plus you have to dodge all them cyclists...

scallopino - 16-7-2008 at 13:06

Who are they Punky?

punknaynowned - 16-7-2008 at 19:40

Oh!
you guys won't believe me. We couldn't believe it. I'm still reeling from it for a lot of reasons.
It was ween.

punknaynowned - 16-7-2008 at 19:44

Quote:

Originally posted by Badchild
Went as far as Aix on the little roads then headed east up through Gorde and then up the mont Ventoux for a view. Through Avignon and up into ChateauNeuf du Pape on the way back to my place in Ardèche. Dont get electrocuted by your pinball machine...i did once...ouch!

I'm jealous, man! would love to visit these places . . .

scallopino - 17-7-2008 at 09:56

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
Oh!
you guys won't believe me. We couldn't believe it. I'm still reeling from it for a lot of reasons.
It was ween.

Ween! I love those guys! Wow! I certainly believe you because well they are capable of pretty much anything.

scallopino - 17-7-2008 at 09:58

Quote:

How do you pronounce Aix Badchild? Are x's always silent in French?

punknaynowned - 17-7-2008 at 10:05

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
Oh!
you guys won't believe me. We couldn't believe it. I'm still reeling from it for a lot of reasons.
It was ween.

Ween! I love those guys! Wow! I certainly believe you because well they are capable of pretty much anything.

evidence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmTUV0bcmzU
somebody just posted some camera shots

BBP - 17-7-2008 at 10:12

Like X.

I only know Ween off Chef Aid.

Badchild - 17-7-2008 at 12:54

Is that like weening yourself off coolaid???

punknaynowned - 17-7-2008 at 18:42

hahahaha!
it is badchild.
"Hi! my name is ned and I'm a ween-aholic."
I used to be a zealous ween fan: go to all the shows, get all my friends to go, download shows and spend all my time finding rare stuff thru the interweb. It got so bad I would rather be on the computer looking/listening for ween then spend that time with my girlfriend. I know. Terrible.
But I'm doing better. I've only seem them four times this decade and downloaded only a couple dozen shows. I don't spend all my time making endless mix tapes with weird geeky stuff intended to get people to squirm. I no longer call people Eeediots for dismissing the best band in the world when they don't even venture past a song or a record or two. I just walk away now wondering how they will manage without.
So I was left disappointed with the last record and when the band the other night played such a short 150 min show . . .
We heard that they might show up around the corner. And when they did and they spent 100-120 minutes not playing ween music but playing what was pretty obviously their favorite music by other people and that turned out to be some of MY very favorite music . . .
and did it so well, so intensely and passionately, as if they were trying to find their roots again after being out on the road night after night for 18 months,
well, I've been spoiled now knowing they can do this other stuff so freaking well.
I guess you could call me weened!
:singer:

BBP - 23-7-2008 at 12:57

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Today my tire exploded on my newspaper round.

That was posted on 19 April 2008. It's now 23 July.

The new tire lasted 3 months. Today it exploded again, after it got very, very worn out.

It was at the start of my round, even before I delivered my first paper. I walked back home to get my father's bicycle. Had to inflate that rear tire. Loaded heavy bag onto it. Went on my round.

Badchild - 24-7-2008 at 08:21

Yesterday, I met and spoke with IGGY POP for about 15 minutes! I'm still in shock!

scallopino - 24-7-2008 at 11:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Badchild
Yesterday, I met and spoke with IGGY POP for about 15 minutes! I'm still in shock!

HOLY SHIT!

scallopino - 24-7-2008 at 11:33

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Like X.

I only know Ween off Chef Aid.

I love that song so much! But I don't feel comfortable singing it in public. It was the first thing i heard from Ween as well. The Primus song on that album is also cool and very funny. I think that was the first primus i heard other than the south park theme song.

BBP - 24-7-2008 at 13:07

I got that album before I'd even seen an episode... listened to it a lot. Not anymore though.
I initially liked that Ween song but I grew real tired of it very quickly.

scallopino - 25-7-2008 at 05:53

Even the Elton John song on that album is pretty funky.

BBP - 25-7-2008 at 06:42

Not to mention that phone conversation behind it... :bouncy:

BBP - 28-7-2008 at 18:35

Had some real bad weather here on Saturday... parts of our town flooded...

[img]http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/graphics/image.aspx?object=news&type=large&image=noodweereindhovenSQV350.jpg[/img]

scallopino - 29-7-2008 at 12:57

I borrowed a dvd from the uni library on the history of the Arab-Israeli coflict and then couldn't play it because it's the wrong region. I also started to learn 'Just Like A Woman' on guitar.

polydigm - 29-7-2008 at 13:08

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino
I borrowed a dvd from the uni library on the history of the Arab-Israeli coflict and then couldn't play it because it's the wrong region. I also started to learn 'Just Like A Woman' on guitar.

I suppose these days that most DVD players are region free. Are you watching yours on a computer? I'm a die hard Mac person, but one of the things that pisses me off about them is not having region free DVD players. I'm assuming your player is set to region 4, I think it's bizarre that any library would have something on loan with the wrong region code.

So what's your standard on the guitar? Strummer, or are you a bit more serious. Starting two and a half years ago I decided to go the whole hog and I've been practising pretty intensely ever since.

[Edited on 29/7/2008 by polydigm]

Badchild - 29-7-2008 at 17:02

As of tonight, i will be on vacation in Ardèche for 3 and a half weeks....oh blisssss! I'll have a few glasses of Rosé while thinking of you all here! No computer, no tv! but a good stereo system to blast some FZ etc... while i work on my Deck!

cheers All!

The Badchild :-P

polydigm - 29-7-2008 at 23:05

Sounds great Badchild. I hope you have a good holiday.

scallopino - 30-7-2008 at 13:14

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm

Quote:

It wasn't on the computer but the family dvd player which is probably 5 or 6 years old now. It was Region 4 BUT a few hours after I posted that i did some research and typed in a special code and reset the player so that it is now region free. It was very exciting.

I started playing guitar last November when I bought one of Squiers strat packs. I am mostly a strummer but i'm very interested in blues guitar and I always muck around on the old nylon string that's been lying around. Unfortunately I don't have any time at all to practise properly. I am getting better but pretty slowly. I hate the feeling of being a beginner on a musical instrument again.

BBP - 30-7-2008 at 17:53

Whoo! Magic code!!

I understand Squiers, and indeed any cheap starter package, are nightmarish to play. I had this cheapo black Stagg C&W which hurt my fingers so badly I could never play it for long. Eventually I gave it away to my now ex-boyfriend. He didn't play it often either, though he was a keen musician. And for the same reason.
I assume the frets were too sharp. Maybe I should've filed them down.

Currently I'm borrowing my sister's Telecaster, which plays like a dream. Except it's pink.

:-)

Enjoy your vacacion, Badchild!

In the mean time, I'm home alone as my father currently works afternoons and evenings. It's very warm here, so bad I'm wearing a dress.

scallopino - 1-8-2008 at 11:07

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Whoo! Magic code!!

I understand Squiers, and indeed any cheap starter package, are nightmarish to play. I had this cheapo black Stagg C&W which hurt my fingers so badly I could never play it for long. Eventually I gave it away to my now ex-boyfriend. He didn't play it often either, though he was a keen musician. And for the same reason.
I assume the frets were too sharp. Maybe I should've filed them down.

Currently I'm borrowing my sister's Telecaster, which plays like a dream. Except it's pink.

:-)

Enjoy your vacacion, Badchild!

In the mean time, I'm home alone as my father currently works afternoons and evenings. It's very warm here, so bad I'm wearing a dress.

It is was hard to play when I first started and compared to friends' guitars. I got a bass player friend of mine to do a little set up but there's a limit to how much you can do. You can't set the action too low otherwise the strings buzz too much. But I'm finding it much easier now. And when I get a REAL guitar it'll be a dream to play!

Could you post a photo of the pink Tele Bonny? Did Zaz play play much?

BBP - 1-8-2008 at 15:15

Zaz did play it a lot initially, but after a while she just didn't find the time for playing. She also has a classical one, a decent starter brand that plays well, and she used that one more. Now she's borrowing my bass (a nightmare-to-play fretless Stagg 4-string bass.)
I think I posted a picture of it earlier, though I have no idea where. I'll make a new one...

I'm not playing now though. I cut my right thumb while doing the washing up.

punknaynowned - 2-8-2008 at 05:16

thanks for all the sweetnesses B!

Never forget ya!

scallopino - 2-8-2008 at 08:13

And about the magic code...if you have a dvd player that only plays dvd's in your region, you can find a code on the net for it that will reset the settings and make it region free. Just google the brand and model of the player along with words such as "code" and "region".

scallopino - 2-8-2008 at 08:14

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
thanks for all the sweetnesses B!

Never forget ya!

Are you going down to Hades or something Punkster?

BBP - 3-8-2008 at 11:39

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
thanks for all the sweetnesses B!

Never forget ya!

Been eating too much sugar, hon?

BBP - 10-8-2008 at 17:34

Finally finished on scrapbooking my newspaper article collection. Lots of work, but hey! I'm through!

scallopino - 12-8-2008 at 10:24

Monday morning I finished an essay on the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Monday night I finished an assignment on polynomial rings and primitive roots of multiplicative groups that was hard hard hard. Tonight I have comparitively less to do and will watch a new episode of the Simpsons in ten minutes.

BBP - 12-8-2008 at 17:02

Ooh! Nice!

I've got another stack of DVDRs I'm going to record the simpsons on. I always record them, and store them on the PC. Take 1GB per episode, so after 20 eps it needs to be done.

I also cleaned the bathroom (yuck!). And I'm currently free from my newspaper round, so I slept relatively late.

scallopino - 13-8-2008 at 11:19

I think the new season Channel Ten has been playing is one of the best ever. Like everybody I thought the episodes just weren't like they used to be in terms of quality, but i'd say the last two have been outstanding.

BBP - 13-8-2008 at 18:38

I don't like the more recent episodes I've seen... got up to season 19... but now that the Dutch Comedy Central is showing reruns of the earlier ones, I'm enjoying them so much!

Badchild - 25-8-2008 at 13:52

I'm back from vacation.....and into work.....278 Emails waiting to be read!!!!!!!!! I'm tired allready!

BBP - 25-8-2008 at 19:24

:cool:

Great to have you back! How was your holiday? Finish the deck?

polydigm - 25-8-2008 at 23:41

Hey Badchild, welcome back, it's been a bit quiet around here lately.

You missed out on all the fun at zappa.com. Trendy had one of his forum tantrums and it got quite messy for a while but then Mikey deleted all his crazy threads and at the moment Trendy is keeping a real low profile. Ho hum.

Badchild - 26-8-2008 at 08:54

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
:cool:

Great to have you back! How was your holiday? Finish the deck?

Nice to be back! My vacation was wayyyyyy to short! I did not have time to see everyone i wanted to. It started out pretty bad, as i had to break into my own house because of a faulty door lock! Spent the next day fixing broken window and faulty door lock.

My deck is coming along nice got about 3/4 of the decking put in. It looks awesome to say the least. You can only do so much from 8am to 12 am. After that it's just too hot to continue.

Also, there were an increadible number of Dutch tourist this summer in Ardèche. Much more than other years me thinks.

All in all a great holiday but just too short. Next year i'm taking a month off! It's a minimum. I'll try to post a picture or two of the deck later in the week!

Badchild - 26-8-2008 at 08:55

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm
Hey Badchild, welcome back, it's been a bit quiet around here lately.

You missed out on all the fun at zappa.com. Trendy had one of his forum tantrums and it got quite messy for a while but then Mikey deleted all his crazy threads and at the moment Trendy is keeping a real low profile. Ho hum.

Yeah! i saw that yesterday....I also saw a threat by GZ to shut the forum down....It's about time someone stepped in and quietted down the BS!

BBP - 26-8-2008 at 09:23

Oh Badchild: there are ALWAYS a lot of Dutch tourists in France. The only way to escape them is by going to a Nordic country, or perhaps buying an ANWB camping guide and NOT visiting any camping in it.

Badchild - 26-8-2008 at 13:51

Well, i've never seen so many blond haired people at the grocery store as i've seen this summer. And they talk real funnily too !Sort of an English/gibberish.

Oh and my buddy the barman said that the dutch drink their Pastis "Straight up" without water!??! I mean were talking 45° alcohol here, sheesh!

BBP - 26-8-2008 at 20:49

Ah! That explains why Dutchmen are usually such a nuisiance on holiday! And if you think their English is bad, try their French, pronouncing vous as vows.
(On holiday I refrained from communicating with the French. I preferred to sleep late and so miss out on my turn to fetch the pain at the camping store.)

Badchild - 27-8-2008 at 08:27

What is it with the Camping/Dutch thing?? Do you all dream of going on safaris or is it because for the Dutch everywhere else (outside of Dutchyland) is wilderness!?!

Or is it something more Eco-Nomique!

BBP - 27-8-2008 at 17:19

Economic, I suppose. And freedom to bring your own food. Can't get any peanut butter in France.

BBP - 30-8-2008 at 12:58

My grandmother received a royal medal yesterday. I'm very proud!

scallopino - 31-8-2008 at 17:10

Cool! What was it for exactly?

scallopino - 31-8-2008 at 17:14

I have two major assignments for maths and atmospheric science due on Monday as well as an English essay (on Orwell and Saussure). I've done the assignments but i haven't quite finished the essay yet. It's after 2am.

:shocked:

Those represent the emotions of essay writing.

BBP - 1-9-2008 at 17:58

All the best of luck and inspiration to you... I know how hair-raising essays can be... and what a silly mistakes you can make...

Grandma has been doing voluntary work for over 50 years, among others as First Aid worker and as member of the neighborhood council. In 1983 a non-profit organisation was founded that hired small buses, to transport the elderly and disabled. She has been volunteering for that from the start, until the day of the 25th jubilee, both in the board and visiting new subscribers. She's now 84, and is planning to go back to volunteering in case she'll miss it.

[Edited on 1-9-08 by BBP]

BBP - 3-9-2008 at 08:09

OK, so mod hasn't shown up for some time and the spammers are here making topics.

Badchild - 3-9-2008 at 12:50

By the way! I came back from vacation with a new beard! Makes me look Yunger! :cool:

BBP - 3-9-2008 at 15:11

Hmmm... just make sure you don't look like a terrorist, OK? Hope the family likes it...

polydigm - 4-9-2008 at 08:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Badchild
By the way! I came back from vacation with a new beard! Makes me look Yunger! :cool:

I've grown a beard, and my hair, this year and it makes me look older.

BBP - 4-9-2008 at 11:42

Poly and Badchild: for laughs, make a picture of yourself right after you've eaten. Especially when you've just eaten spaghetti.

Badchild - 4-9-2008 at 15:31

OR ICE CREAM

punknaynowned - 4-9-2008 at 16:38

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm

Quote:

Originally posted by Badchild
By the way! I came back from vacation with a new beard! Makes me look Yunger! :cool:

I've grown a beard, and my hair, this year and it makes me look older.

I cut mine off, but I didn't do it today . . .
mother says I look younger. Figures.
Rainy day here, I came downtown to check my email and the whole world has turned upside down!
they banned zombie?
crazy!
how you folks doing?
not much new here,
staying out of trouble . . .

BBP - 4-9-2008 at 16:52

They banned Zombie at the Zappa-forum?? Whoa! Seems like Admin finally got round to doing what he SHOULD do.

Punky: it took us ages to convince my father he looked quite ten years younger if he shaved his moustache.
Great to see you again!

Badchild - 5-9-2008 at 13:19

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
They banned Zombie at the Zappa-forum??

How do you guys know this?? I looked around over there and did not find anything relating to zombie being banned.

BBP - 5-9-2008 at 16:39

Check the posts of HIAR and Sinister Midget (his latest incarnation), and you see it says "Banned" below his name. The "Hey Isaac" thread deals with it.

I suddenly like the forum a lot more now!

Badchild - 12-9-2008 at 14:47

I just signed a deal for the purchase of 125 appartements in Bordeaux for the price of 12 500 000 euros! I'm really hyped!

scallopino - 13-9-2008 at 14:30

Congratulations! Maybe we could call you Trump?

BBP - 13-9-2008 at 20:09

Are you selling that car now?

Badchild - 15-9-2008 at 08:34

Just to clear up a point. I'm a salaryman, i signed the deal with my Employer's money and my Employer will rake in the profits with the rental of those units....i'll just make do with my pitance of a salary.

What car would i be selling Bonny?

BBP - 15-9-2008 at 12:47

The one you have stashed away in Canada as some sort of funding...

Badchild - 15-9-2008 at 14:45

No non no! I will not sell my mustang unless i have an Emergency and need the money....and that's Emergency with a capital E.

BBP - 15-9-2008 at 16:30

Ah good!

scallopino - 18-9-2008 at 13:41

What if it's a financial crisis and not an Emergency?

Badchild - 19-9-2008 at 08:30

That's a good question Scallo. I've got most of my savings in stock options which have been growing nicely for twenty years now. As long as i don't sell any i'm not loosing anything right? The financial crisis of today is not very different from other bumps (1982-1989-2000). There have always been doomsayers, as in "this will be worse than '29...blah blah...". We have just been through a 10 year boom with mega bucks floating around making everyone happy (think McMansion). This is the longest running bull market in history so when trying to ween the addicts off their habit even slightly, you instantly get big time withdrawal symptoms.
What is really a problem, and a recurring one, is that it's the little guy who will be punished for the big guys incompetence....again! And there is still dickall that the little guy can do about it. That for me sucks big time. I work in the housing and building industry (20years now), and have seen my share of crisis'. Everytime it's the same thing. I see the plomber drive up to the site in his new Porshe Cayenne S and think "there's a guy who wont get through the crisis", because he will not put equity into his business, he'll just ride the wave until it runs out and he sinks along with all his employees. So stupid because it could be avoided by simple management practices.

Anyway, an Emergency would be more along the lines of health and welfare of my family, if you get my drift.

BBP - 19-9-2008 at 16:17

Ah OK... good... hope your stock is in good companies. If they go bust your tactic is, well... not functioning.

BBP - 23-9-2008 at 19:11

Once a tasty treat, now just a memory...

Cinnamon pie I baked for my sister.

scallopino - 24-9-2008 at 16:24

Looks lovely. Was it as good as it looks?

BBP - 25-9-2008 at 19:22

My dad and sister loved it! I discovered I'm not too fond of succade (one of the prime ingredients, along with almonds), but I liked it nonetheless.
Baking it was rather frustrating, though.

scallopino - 26-9-2008 at 09:49

I tried baking a cake once, but I was pretty young and didn't understand the contracted recipe forms of tablespoon and teaspoon. It resulted in much too much baking soda.

[Edited on 26-9-2008 by scallopino]

BBP - 26-9-2008 at 16:56

Well... you could try again now! Cooking is a very difficult science indeed.

scallopino - 27-9-2008 at 13:28

Well I actually do cook quite a bit. But no baking. Nothing involving ovens of any sort for me. Except when you just chuck a frozen thing in there for 20 minutes...I can handle that.

BBP - 27-9-2008 at 18:03

It's a clever idea to stay away from ovens! I often burnt myself on them. Still have a huge burn scar from when I was 4. I remember the skin peeling off. It looked just like a moustache.

But baking pies and cakes is really very rewarding. The delicious aroma fills the living room, making everybody peckish...

Isaac - 28-9-2008 at 00:49

PC's been down for several weeks and I have had to go back and forth between my local library--which is across town--and a computer terminal at a local K-Mart.

zombie1210 - 28-9-2008 at 00:54

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Check the posts of HIAR and Sinister Midget (his latest incarnation), and you see it says "Banned" below his name. The "Hey Isaac" thread deals with it.

I suddenly like the forum a lot more now!

So, I suppose you are going to ban me over here, eh Bonny girl?

Just because?

:pissed:

[Edited on 27-9-2008 by zombie1210]

BBP - 28-9-2008 at 18:00

No I'm a friendly person and unless you display the same idiotic enfuriating behaviour you showed at the Zappa-forum screwing up every thread with offences, drawing attention to yourself like an adolescent Bart Simpson, I'm not tempted to do so.

zombie1210 - 28-9-2008 at 18:19

Thanks, M' lady.

Isaac - 29-9-2008 at 01:43

I drove through several flooded streets to get here.

zombie1210 - 29-9-2008 at 01:51

This is the internet, son.

Isaac - 6-10-2008 at 02:40

I cleaned up some of my old sketches. If my computer was working, I could scan some of them. I drew a real cool one of FZ. :cool:

[Edited on 6-10-08 by Isaac]

BBP - 6-10-2008 at 07:32

There you have it: always store a back-up! I lost all my MIDI-files when our old Compaq crashed, plus all my documents. Fortunately my father managed to salvage all the PC's contents using an USB-stick and many hours of spare time.

Badchild - 6-10-2008 at 08:59

Our French Bank bought Your Dutch/Begium/Lux bank!

scallopino - 6-10-2008 at 09:24

That's enough of your Napoleonic economics Baddy.

scallopino - 6-10-2008 at 09:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Isaac
I cleaned up some of my old sketches. If my computer was working, I could scan some of them. I drew a real cool one of FZ. :cool:

[Edited on 6-10-08 by Isaac]

Cool. What kind of materials did you use?

BBP - 6-10-2008 at 10:21

Nah. They didn't buy the Dutch Fortis/ABN Amro: that was bought by the Dutch government.

BBP - 6-10-2008 at 10:21

Down out and feeling blue. My student Utrecht/Eindhoven commuting career has come to an end. :-(

Isaac - 7-10-2008 at 00:10

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
There you have it: always store a back-up! I lost all my MIDI-files when our old Compaq crashed, plus all my documents. Fortunately my father managed to salvage all the PC's contents using an USB-stick and many hours of spare time.

Last time my computer crashed, it was the same situation. When my computer was fixed, all the files were still there, so I presume it'll be the same here. Having the money to do so is another deal altogether. In any case, I have all the originals of my sketches/paintings/etc. The only things I really need to save are a couple of really good screenplays and a few mediocre ones that need work.

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino

Quote:

Originally posted by Isaac
I cleaned up some of my old sketches. If my computer was working, I could scan some of them. I drew a real cool one of FZ. :cool:

[Edited on 6-10-08 by Isaac]

Cool. What kind of materials did you use?

Sketch book. Drawing pencils. I had a bottle of ink, but I lost it when I had to move back into the old house. I really wished that I could have grabbed that, but I was short on time.

zombie1210 - 7-10-2008 at 01:56

I watched everyone at work get their panties in a bunch as they watched the stock market.

BBP - 7-10-2008 at 15:24

Isaac: get a huge USB-stick. They're cheap and can fit more data than you can imagine on something you could carry around in your mouth. If necessary filter out the crapola you don't need. Losing something unique is the worst that can happen to you. I lost several plays I had, one of them has no other version stored anywhere.

polydigm - 8-10-2008 at 01:57

In 1991, back in the days when Hypercard was still a big deal on the Mac I spent over a week of 12 hour days developing a stack that would play back chess games so you could analyse games without having to mess around with an actual board and pieces. I built in quite a few handy features like being able to choose any position in the game just by typing in the move number. In July 1991 I flew to London and the bastards at British Airways smashed my computer for me and no data was recoverable. That was a painful lesson for me.

BBP - 8-10-2008 at 10:42

Sounds nifty! I didn't know you were a chess player!
Sorry to hear you lost it... Did you ever rebuild one?

polydigm - 8-10-2008 at 15:28

I have mentioned that I play chess before, in that poll thread of Slime's, maybe you overlooked it at the time. No, I never got around to doing another one. If I was going to do it again I'd have to build it as an application but I've gone right off programming.

Badchild - 8-10-2008 at 16:20

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Nah. They didn't buy the Dutch Fortis/ABN Amro: that was bought by the Dutch government.

That's right! BNPParibas left the smelly stuff were it laid! They did buy up all of Fortis belgium and luxembourg though and it's a real sweet deal. The belgians are just now coming to terms with what happened to their bank.

Everything is in meltdown mode today though and it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better.

Why are you leaving University Bonn??

BBP - 8-10-2008 at 18:09

I'm still a student... am busy writing that Zappa-thesis (yes, I know I've been saying that for 5 years, but today I actually managed to write some down.,,)
There's a limited amount of time you get college finance. A scholarship for 4 years, then, in case you want one, a loan for 3 years. I loaned money after my scholarship ended, primarily because my sister told me to do so. It came in handy recently.

Part of the students finance in The Netherlands is a traffic card which allows you to travel by train, bus or metro anywhere in Holland, free of cost. It's enabled me to stay living with my father in Eindhoven, instead of moving out to Utrecht. I travelled the 50minute train distance for seven years.

Unfortunately, a mix of wrong study-choice, arguments with the new subscription system that would often leave me out of class while I subscribed, and a nasty grim period of a year and a half, caused so much delay that I'm now forced to hurry up with class. Now my finance has ended and I need to pay if I want to go to Utrecht in future.

scallopino - 10-10-2008 at 06:40

So what will you do? Isn't there a uni in Eindhoven?

BBP - 10-10-2008 at 16:37

Yes but that's a technical university. For musicology, the only options are Utrecht and Amsterdam (latter being even further away).

Isaac - 10-10-2008 at 22:04

I've been incredibly tired over the last several days. I've been sleeping for longer periods than usual, and because I haven't had the energy to ride down to the library (PC's still down), I haven't been on the computer the last couple of days.

zombie1210 - 10-10-2008 at 23:41

I've been working, like a normal adult.

BBP - 11-10-2008 at 19:22

Worked the newspaper rounds.

Went to visit my mother. Two adorable little kittens were very interested in us and ran into mother's home. And then the visit became a cat chase.
I caught one, the other was chased out.

Isaac - 11-10-2008 at 21:32

Down at FYE, I traded about $16 worth of DVDs and CDs for a copy of Esham's new album. While I was there, they played "Dancing Fool"! Pretty surprising to hear FZ in that joint. :cool:

LaMarrBruister - 11-10-2008 at 21:37

It's amazing how much your avatar resembles you,Issac.

zombie1210 - 11-10-2008 at 23:07

Careful, LaMarr!!!!!

Bonny will get all butt hurt if you pick on the boy!

scallopino - 12-10-2008 at 11:37

What's FYE?

BBP - 12-10-2008 at 21:00

For Your Eyes?

scallopino - 14-10-2008 at 08:39

Will this mystery ever be solved?

BBP - 14-10-2008 at 11:56

Apparently it's For Your Entertainment.

Isaac - 14-10-2008 at 22:06

Quote:

Originally posted by LaMarrBruister
It's amazing how much your avatar resembles you,Issac.

It's amazing how many people with no lives can follow me around trolling every spot I click!

zombie1210 - 14-10-2008 at 23:50

I liked the pig with the wagging tongue much better than the skull in the stew pot.

No lives? OK.....what job are YOU working right now?

BBP - 15-10-2008 at 14:27

I removed Isaac's avatar because it was replaced by a Bandwith Exceeded photoshop pic and was therefore distorting the page. I did so once before.
For some reason this page still shows up distorted, this place needs an update.

Isaac: clean your tongue. Cut the hatred and namecalling before I have to close another thread and, Frank forbid, posts.

Isaac - 16-10-2008 at 16:41

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP

Isaac: clean your tongue. Cut the hatred and namecalling before I have to close another thread and, Frank forbid, posts.

I've done no namecalling and hate no one. Your confusion and misplaced anger is uncalled for. Here's the distinction:

Me: Not a troll
People who register to this website to flame me: Trolls.

Hope I've been helpful.

zombie1210 - 17-10-2008 at 01:11

Look at MR. Innocent.......

HA!

Don't flatter yourself. NOBODY registered because you were here.

HA!

BBP - 17-10-2008 at 12:27

That's it. This thread is closed. You owe it to yourself, people.

BBP - 21-10-2008 at 09:32

So, the events of the morning:

9:00 Hear birds on the roof, making noise. Hear one slide through the chimney, trying to flap up, making lots of noise.
9:05 I slowly open the bottom side of the chimney, hoping the bird comes out. It doesn't, and I fear I squashed it. Bird poops, result is caught in the fireplace. I close the chimney.
9:07 Open the chimney again.
9:08 Phone animal ambulance. They say they're not allowed to rescue it, I should call the fire brigade or the chimney sweep. I get on-line and mail my father for help.

9:30 Bird is still in the chimney. After some hesitation I finally ring the firebrigade. After I pass some information they decide to talk it over. I leave my phone number.
9:32 Fire brigade phones back: they're coming with the crane to get it out the chimney. They ask me to phone the animal ambulance again, if they can come because the bird just might be injured.
9:33 I phone the animal ambulance again, they tell me to call back when the fire brigade arrives.
9:38 Bird flies out the bottom. I look at him, he flies to the back of the room and bumps into the sliding doors. He remains stationary on the floor.
I immediately call the fire brigade to cancel them. I call the animal ambulance again. They tell me to put the jackdaw in a box, so they can pick it up.

It's between you and me, bird! I go upstairs to put on my shoes and empty a shoebox. I go downstairs, take the camera and make a picture of the animal. It's apparently disturbed by my attention.
I put on my gloves and approach the daw. Daw flies off, attempts the sliding door again, hides behind nearby speakers, Attempts to catch fail.
So I open the slider door and manage to chase the bird towards the opening. It flies off.

Bastard. Nearly gave me a heart attack when he crashed out.

BBP - 21-10-2008 at 20:11

And here I was, wondering why nobody replied on my jackdaw adventure... Apparently I can reply to locked threads. HAAA! Power!

zombie1210 - 21-10-2008 at 23:37

I would have started a fire. he would have flown up and out.

scallopino - 22-10-2008 at 10:35

So here's the problem Bonny: It crashed into the door because it got confused between a door and a daw. Just before impact it was thinking "here is a possible mating candidate".

We have similar problems here every so often. Maybe once every two months. Here's what I don't do: Unlike my father, I don't carefully open the door of the fire place, capture the bird in a towel and then break its neck and chuck it outside. What I do is, close all the doors around the room so it becomes dark, except for the sliding door, which I open wide. Then I open the fire door, it flies out, heads for the light and goes straight out the open door.

BBP - 22-10-2008 at 12:53

Clever. I had no idea what to do and was really scared... I'm thinking of getting one of them bird blockers for our chimney. nt just to keep the daws from falling in, but also to keep all the other birds away from it. Especially pigeons love to stand over them and make noise, waking everybody in the house.

aquagoat - 22-10-2008 at 17:18

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP

what a report, made me laugh my ass off rotf,etc, as the young say.

BBP - 22-10-2008 at 19:32

And not a lie in it!

The fire brigade telephone lady was amused by my being startled. I phoned directly after the bird smashed into the window (didn't want to have the boom lift at the door, telling them it's too late), and my heart was thumping as if DZ asked me to come onstage and play guitar.

Huck_Phlem - 24-10-2008 at 05:22

My Daughter told me she found a Condom in her Mom's bag.

Hmmmm

I had a Vasectomy 11 years ago.

scallopino - 25-10-2008 at 02:02

Hmm.

BBP - 26-10-2008 at 10:56

Hmmm.

aquagoat - 26-10-2008 at 13:41

hmmmm.

BBP - 29-10-2008 at 20:27

Lightening the mood here...

scallopino - 30-10-2008 at 04:35

Excellent! You even captured his outrageous haircut.

MTF - 30-10-2008 at 06:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Huck_Phlem
My Daughter told me she found a Condom in her Mom's bag.

Hmmmm

I had a Vasectomy 11 years ago.

BBP - 31-10-2008 at 11:55

Yesterday I went to the book fair, made a repro of Billew, and went to the AB concert. I came home at 11PM, way too late, and was exhausted.

MTF - 1-11-2008 at 06:12

It's Halloween. I carved a pumpkin that's just an eye.

My daughter's out in the living room, watching Harold and Maude with her boyfriend.

BTW: my cousin was an extra in that movie. He was in the marching band. And one of my best friends went to the church that the marching band was marching past. And my mother used to work at the clinic that was kitty-corner to the church. And my childhood hero - Willie Mays - was treated for his baseball injuries at the clinic where my mother worked.

And the Grateful Dead used to live across the street from the clinic. and Bill Hewlett (of Hewlett-Packard) lived around the corner from the Grateful Dead. And my wife's father went to Stanford with Hewlett and Packard. And I saw Frank Zappa at Stanford. And My wife and I and her father and Jerry Garcia and Joan Baez and Grace Slick all attended the same high school, which is across the street from Stanford Stadium.

It's all so tightly-knit: just like an eye...

[Edited on 11/1/2008 by MTF]

BBP - 1-11-2008 at 12:17

You're one lucky fellow! I could say I went to school with Guus Meeuwis, but that's hardly a showstopper.

Ah who cares? I saw Primus live on their last tour of Europe.

BBP - 4-11-2008 at 09:57

So today, after taking a shower, I decided to debunk the drain myself. Gross.
Afterwards I made a tour of the house, emptying all the trashcans. One of our trashcans is outside, because the lid is gone. We put it there for some reason. It comes in handy when we mowed the lawn and need extra space.

Anyway, said trashcan had several litres of water in it. I usually empty it as soon as I can to prevent mosquitoes from nesting in there. And when I emptied it, there was a dead mouse in there. Eeow!

scallopino - 4-11-2008 at 12:54

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF
It's Halloween. I carved a pumpkin that's just an eye.

My daughter's out in the living room, watching Harold and Maude with her boyfriend.

BTW: my cousin was an extra in that movie. He was in the marching band. And one of my best friends went to the church that the marching band was marching past. And my mother used to work at the clinic that was kitty-corner to the church. And my childhood hero - Willie Mays - was treated for his baseball injuries at the clinic where my mother worked.

And the Grateful Dead used to live across the street from the clinic. and Bill Hewlett (of Hewlett-Packard) lived around the corner from the Grateful Dead. And my wife's father went to Stanford with Hewlett and Packard. And I saw Frank Zappa at Stanford. And My wife and I and her father and Jerry Garcia and Joan Baez and Grace Slick all attended the same high school, which is across the street from Stanford Stadium.

It's all so tightly-knit: just like an eye...

[Edited on 11/1/2008 by MTF]

Nice pumpkins and nice community!

scallopino - 4-11-2008 at 12:56

Today I finished my last ever exam. It was for maths: Algebra and Number Theory II. And it went good!

BBP - 4-11-2008 at 13:53

Great! Congratz Scallop! :drums:

aquagoat - 4-11-2008 at 19:52

cool, congratulations Scallopino.

scallopino - 5-11-2008 at 02:59

Thanks!

BBP - 5-11-2008 at 20:08

Today, nothing of interest happened. Cleared out yesterday's burnt sprout smell. Watched Rocky Horror. And Simpsons. And I finally scored the 5th pro perfect on Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2 and now I have all 6 guitars available. Discovered once more that there's nothing more delicious than a fresh avocado. Played real-life guitar. Made photos. Wrote on my thesis.

BBP - 8-11-2008 at 23:04

Had quite an enervating day: got up at 4:10 AM to do my newspaper rounds, went to the grocers, went to visit my mother,and visited the GLOW Eindhoven festival with dad and sister. GLOW was great, we had dinner at a cute little restaurant where they had interactive tablecloths. Among its features were digital tablecloths in various designs, digital ashtrays and coasters, and digital board games!
Other highlights were the lightshow in the old post office, and a little bedroom built around a lamppost.Unfortunately my sister lost her wallet at the restaurant, and we found out after we had walked a long way: so we had to walk a long way back. I'm exhausted. Been up for 19 hours now. So I'm cutting my internet session a little short this time.

Spacebrother - 10-11-2008 at 08:35

Thought I'd drop by this forum to see whats up. Glad to have missed the Isaac/Zombie tiff here as I'm more than sick of the Isaac related nonsense at the Zappa Forum. How and why does he become the topic of conversation everywhere he goes? I'll heed BBP's advice and ignore his narcissistic adolescent cries for undeserved attention.

Recovering from a cold I've had for the last several days and currently sipping a hot remedy made from ginger root, lemons and honey.

Hi BBP.

BBP - 10-11-2008 at 09:43

Poor dear! Hope you get well soon! Fortunately colds rarely last longer than a week.

Went to GLOW again yesterday. This year, the light festival was nowhere near as photographable but I made some nice pictures and vids anyway, hope to upload them soon...

Badchild - 10-11-2008 at 13:50

Well this being november 10th and tomorrow being november 11th, today is not so busy. I've been completely overworked since like forever. Two weeks ago i was on vacation in my humble abode in Ardèche. It rained. Now when i say it rained i mean it poured. Between thursday and saturday morning in rained 1900 mm of rain per square meter. Thats 1.9m of water per square meter folks. Were talking alot of water. The Ardèche river rose about 6m in 24hours. I actually saw some germans getting ready to put their kayaks in the fucking water....I dont know if they survived, it was not on the news.

this saturday i played golf. Got a good score. Then went to Ikea. The horror...The horror....

BBP - 11-11-2008 at 11:24

Off to the pinball store today! Then I'll upload some of my photos. At the moment I have a lot of graffiti and autumn pictures.

scallopino - 11-11-2008 at 12:27

Please direct some of your rain to southern Australia Baddy. How did you know the kayakers were Germans?

BBP - 14-11-2008 at 14:51

Copied my passport at the grocer's yesterday... and forgot to take it from the xeroxer. Uh oh!

Got it back today. and I hit the town!

Badchild - 14-11-2008 at 16:30

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino
Please direct some of your rain to southern Australia Baddy. How did you know the kayakers were Germans?

I'll get out the blowdrier and see what i can do! But you don't want rain like that. It was pretty amazing.

How did i know the kayakers were German?? Must of been the Liderhosen wetsuits!

Badchild - 14-11-2008 at 16:31

Going to Disneyland Paris this weekend with the kids.....I'm tired and want to sleep....

BBP - 14-11-2008 at 20:59

Good luck! I hope it's more fun for older kids and adults, compared to the last and first time we went there in 1994... Geez, a dark-ride travelling past all the scenes of Snow White, a dark-ride travelling past all the scenes of Pinocchio, a dark-ride travelling past all the scenes of Peter Pan... Translation computers of the cinematic attractions (3D Captain EO and the 360 degrees cinema) were partly out of order and were playing the Italian soundtrack on the English channel...

scallopino - 15-11-2008 at 07:26

We had to put our nine year old Rottweiler down yesterday. Me and my sister buried it. It took ages. It was a shame because we had just discovered she had bone cancer and it was very aggressive. She went from being completely fine to being in immense pain in a few weeks.

aquagoat - 15-11-2008 at 09:11

poor dog!

BBP - 15-11-2008 at 14:51

Very sad to hear that, Scallop... my condolances...

Badchild - 17-11-2008 at 09:43

Re

isney...Things have changed much since 1994 BBP...We had a great weekend. The rides were fantastic. The new Disney Studios park is Great....the Tower of Terror is, well, Terrifiying as fuck! I got a kiss on the cheek from Alice! And everyone was so Professional Howie!!! Really good show.

Sorry to hear about your dog Scallop. I've been there it's a difficult time.

punknaynowned - 17-11-2008 at 09:49

That's too bad scallop. Sad to lose an old friend.

BBP - 17-11-2008 at 14:42

Glad you liked Disney Badchild... I suppose it's nicer if you actually speak French...

Badchild - 18-11-2008 at 13:46

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Glad you liked Disney Badchild... I suppose it's nicer if you actually speak French...

Actually everyone "including Donald" spoke english!!

BBP - 18-11-2008 at 15:22

There was Donald? We only saw Donald during the Cést Magique show. It's on YouTube. Dad uploaded some of our footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOzcQgC9ZzM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_e6x7dEvjU&feature=related Donald!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz0dpGc8N60&feature=related And there I was hoping DED had cut out all the awful songs... Check out 1:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmcwUgwHxkM&feature=related :umm:

1:00... ah hem...

scallopino - 19-11-2008 at 06:07

Thanks for your sympathies everbody.

All this reminds me of a Jack Handy 'Deep Thought' i read the other day:

"One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to DisneyLand, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said, "DisneyLand burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real DisneyLand, but it was getting pretty late."

Badchild - 19-11-2008 at 11:57

This Jack Handy guy sounds like a real card!

BBP - 19-11-2008 at 12:39

Yesterday my father bought a new videocamera. It's pretty sucky. The pictures remind me of the sexy ones Homer Simpson had let made in "They Saved Lisa's Brain" (the one with Stephen Hawking, my fave episode), and the photographer says: "You look fantastic. Let me adjust my lense here." and puts lard on the lense.

scallopino - 20-11-2008 at 11:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Badchild
This Jack Handy guy sounds like a real card!

Oh yeah. Unfortunately he's not around anymore. He used to have these "Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy" segments on SNL, and that's where these are from.

http://www.oliverbenjamin.net/handey.html

One of my favourites is: "If God dwells inside us, like some people say, I sure hope He like enchiladas, because that's what He's getting!"

BBP - 21-11-2008 at 18:19

And today nothing happened. Feeling a little sick.

BBP - 22-11-2008 at 11:01

First snow of the season!
As I was up at 4AM for my newspaper rounds I got quite a faceful of flakes. But when the sun rose, even the ugliest houses look like postcards.

aquagoat - 23-11-2008 at 17:02

went to Belgium to visit some friends of mine this week-end, visited Namurs, had a very good time eating lots of good stuff with my girlfriend.

BBP - 23-11-2008 at 20:25

Ah fun!
Been to Namur lots of times, on Ascension Day. Then they have this huge market we used to visit.

Do they still have that very scary cable cart?

aquagoat - 25-11-2008 at 06:41

I don't remember seeing that, I suppose they no longer have it or I haven't visited that part of the city yet.

BBP - 25-11-2008 at 15:09

It was on that very large hill they had there... it came straight out of Moonraker! Complete with Jaws damage.

BBP - 29-11-2008 at 21:57

Bought a shipload of CD-Is at the second hand store. Some of them are a lot of fun! See if I can find more information on Voyeur.

scallopino - 30-11-2008 at 13:21

I had all of my wisdom teeth taken out on Friday.

BBP - 30-11-2008 at 16:11

Ouch! How are you? Dozy? Can you speak again?

scallopino - 1-12-2008 at 05:42

I'm fine! Not much pain. It's uncomfortable though, and it's hard to eat. I think most people end up in a much worse state than me. My sister said it was the worst period in her life.

Pappawas1975 - 1-12-2008 at 12:47

I began Xmas shopping today. Nothing noteworthy, just weakening....

feetlightup - 1-12-2008 at 15:14

Went to the 40th birthday party of an old college friend of mine on Saturday. The friend who was hosting the party had a band setup, but the drummer was out of town, so I sat in on drums. I'm not really a drummer, but I fared OK. Also played some guitar and sang a bit. Did a rendition of "Bamboozled by Love" with me on guitar and vocals., but the bass player couldn't quite follow the riff, so it ended up sounding like Beefheart.

[Edited on 1-12-2008 by feetlightup]

BBP - 1-12-2008 at 16:07

Saturday we bought a large number of CD-Is at the second-hand store. I also left a few. One of them was a shooter, called Mad Dog McGree.

Sunday we went to a flea market. One woman had a CD-I box of Mad Dog McCree. It was huge, and it had a special gun-shaped controller. We bought it at two euros.

Coming home, we find the game is not in the box. The controller is, though.

So today I cycled all the way to the second-hand store... and all the CD-Is I'd left there were still there; except for Mad Dog McGree. Damn.

BBP - 3-12-2008 at 17:13

Finally finished the drawing for Feets, making all the artwork on the BB-line non-obligatory.

polydigm - 3-12-2008 at 22:32

Non-obligatory?

jabba - 4-12-2008 at 05:43

Poly, this is for you.

Today I noticed there will be some very lucky Aussies because FANTÔMAS is now a part of BIG DAY OUT 2009!!

BBP - 4-12-2008 at 11:01

WHOA! Cool!

Hmmm... now to get to Australia...

BBP - 5-12-2008 at 12:43

Well... 5th of December today, and instead of accomemorating FZ's funeral, that means Saint Nicholas. Yay! Got a stack of presents waiting upstairs, hope they like them! And I can barely wait to finally watch the Duckman DVD with my sister.

BBP - 14-12-2008 at 14:40

Home of the sick here... we're all having a bad cold.

aquagoat - 14-12-2008 at 16:44

so have I

BBP - 14-12-2008 at 16:51

Aww... Get well soon!

BBP - 14-12-2008 at 21:26

You OK Aqua? I understand the snow caused a lot of electricity problems...

BBP - 24-12-2008 at 12:19

Won a Rubik's Revolution in a Donald Duck contest! I'd even forgot I'd entered! :guitar2:

Unfortunately I badly hurt a finger when opening an icecream box, making it hard for me to type.

feetlightup - 24-12-2008 at 15:39

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Won a Rubik's Revolution in a Donald Duck contest! I'd even forgot I'd entered! :guitar2:

Unfortunately I badly hurt a finger when opening an icecream box, making it hard for me to type.

At least it didn't catch on fire.

BBP - 24-12-2008 at 15:48

But it was cold! Makes your fingers numb, and that makes it harder to open the box.

MTF - 25-12-2008 at 03:33

My neighbor - Tom the Deadhead Lawyer - got his daughter a playset for Christmas, so today he and I spent most of the day putting it together.

Merry Christmas

BBP - 25-12-2008 at 13:41

Aw cute! What is it? Toy kitchen? Doll house?

aquagoat - 25-12-2008 at 23:23

merry christmas to you all and thanks for the card, bonny.

BBP - 26-12-2008 at 20:15

You're all welcome!

I spent my X-mas in Belgium. Dad and I went to visit friends of ours. The grill broke down while cooking meat, we watched a bad movie, and we gave a frisbee-shooting robot to the seven-year-old, causing mayhem. In short, it was a lot of fun!

polydigm - 27-12-2008 at 23:11

Sorry I didn't come in and say Merry Christmas before. I haven't had much time for forumming over the last couple of days, what with family stuff and catching up with friends. Anyway, I hope everyone here had a good one.

BBP - 28-12-2008 at 16:55

Hey Poly! Great to have you around anyway!
My blind friend invited me over for New Years. Looking forward to it.

Also my boss grossed me out terribly. She (I don't know how old she is, but a couple of years ago she and her hubby were married for 40 years; and she has a great-grandchild) was cleaning her ears with a Q-tip, when she slipped and pierced her eardrums. It grew back, but her hearing in that ear is bad.
I nearly have to vomit every time I think of it. Eww.

scallopino - 29-12-2008 at 06:48

God. What a vile creature!

BBP - 29-12-2008 at 12:16

Ah no, my boss is very sweet.

So yesterday, finally, after much delay, my friend for 11 years came round. We watched Alice In Wonderland together, which was fun!

punknaynowned - 30-12-2008 at 07:45

merry festivals!
happy familiar togetherness!
hooray!

[practicing my portuguese to korean to english translator]

maybe next month I'll get that stuff posted on the net.

May Janus smile on you in both directions

scallopino - 30-12-2008 at 09:12

Haha. Thanks Punky!

BBP - 30-12-2008 at 09:28

Thanks Punky!
What stuff?

BBP - 1-1-2009 at 20:28

Went to the party my blind friend had for New Years. It was a lot of fun!
There were 6 people in total: 3 were completely blind and two were vision impaired. So I did clean and move furniture a lot. But they were all very fun people and we spent hours talking.

BBP - 5-1-2009 at 19:37

Our first snowy day of the year! And 9 cm of it!
Of course, riding out the trash container wasn't much fun, but I managed to shoot a lot of pretty pictures.

scallopino - 6-1-2009 at 09:29

Gee that's beautiful.

BBP - 6-1-2009 at 19:16

Well... more frost coming up tonight! -16 C expected in these regions!

Anyway... learning to play the castanettes... they're a lot noisier than I'd expected!

scallopino - 7-1-2009 at 08:16

Watch out...they bite!

[Edited on 7-1-2009 by scallopino]

BBP - 13-1-2009 at 20:29

Snow is all gone now. Everything is very, very wet.

jabba - 14-1-2009 at 01:13

I couldn't get on the zappa forum or zappa.com!

Quote:

Address Not Found Firefox can't find the server at http://www.zappa.com.

The browser could not find the host server for the provided address.

BBP - 14-1-2009 at 13:26

Couldn't get on either. What are they up to?

BBP - 20-1-2009 at 14:02

Learning how to use Flash.

BBP - 21-1-2009 at 13:49

Went Carnaval-shopping and have managed to finally decide on my outfit; I had 3 possible dress-ups: vampire, Frank, and Marge Simpson. This was based on the stuff I had already. I decided on Frank. But it means I'll have to get on with the knitting.

BBP - 26-1-2009 at 15:25

Made my own peanutbutter. Tasty AND messy! The golden combination!

[Edited on 26-1-09 by BBP]

punknaynowned - 26-1-2009 at 22:40

Got a food processor the other day. Haven't tried it out yet.
How did you grind up the peanuts?

MTF - 27-1-2009 at 02:03

Took the dog to the beach. He found something dead to roll in.

So I took him home and gave him a bath. Now he doesn't smell like dead anymore...

punknaynowned - 27-1-2009 at 03:39

but everything else does, right?
why is it they love that so much? and their noses are so much more sensitive to ours?
crazy!

I remember having to give the dog a bath in tomato sauce in order to get the smell of skunk off her.
So then the house smelled like tomato AND skunk for it seemed a very long time. :pissed:

BBP - 27-1-2009 at 13:04

I wondered about that too, when a friend's dog rolled over in horse manure. Is it to stop us from petting them?

Punky: Grinding is very hard. I used 3 methods and got a nice comparison. I used:

- Mortar & pestle: very slow, hurts arm much. On the bright side you can decide how fine to grind it.
- Nut mill: little device with small holes and a plastic thing you need to turn round, much like a coffee grinder. A little faster, but the nuts will remain too coarse for peantbutter. Which is not bad if you like it that way, but you'll need some finer grind to blend with the oil.
-Braun Immersion Blender. I'm frightened of the consequences it might have for the mixer, but it's sure a lot easier and faster. However I didn't manage to get the nuts as fine as I wanted.

So, what's left? Ah: oil. I used arachid oil, which is made from peanuts.
Store in the fridge to prevent the oil and nuts from un-mixing and leaving you with a gross layer of oil on top.

MTF - 28-1-2009 at 07:26

I'm told that dogs roll in smelly things to mask their own scent, since whatever they're tracking tends not to be afraid of shit or dead things...

punknaynowned - 28-1-2009 at 13:14

mtf that's brilliant! but what's a chihuahua 'track'? :-P

Bonny you went through all the steps that I would, deductively. And am glad it turned out to your satisfaction.
But after reconsideration, I realized if I would do it, I would rather tie up the peanuts in a clean kitchen towel. Sit it on a cutting board that won't break and bash at them with a hammer!
After awhile, take your sifter or collander ( I keep both kinds) and separate out the big pieces. Then bash away some more until desired smashedness.
I'm suddenly realizing this could really work with my slacker-virtual-youtube-vacation empire thing, my little viral education project I half-ass out here in flyover zone. Just send it to people and keep sending it. Elicit responses, keep them at it. Get them to wonder what's coming next, a bashing, or a sifting? :singer:

punknaynowned - 28-1-2009 at 13:15

I really like those pictures of the snowfall at the top of the page.

BBP - 28-1-2009 at 15:40

Thanks Punky! It was so beautiful!

Hey I like that method! Although it's very Mr Bean.

BBP - 4-2-2009 at 12:26

Had a funeral yesterday, of a twenty-year-old guy. Terrible.

Just a note of warning to my friends: if you end up in hospital, don't catch any infections there!

scallopino - 6-2-2009 at 12:50

I arrived home to Melbourne from Maroochydore in Queensland. I was there with my mother visiting my maternal grandfather, who I see once every ten years or so. He's Ukrainian and was the only one of his family to survive the war. I'm glad i'm home though because i HATE the weather there. It feels so god damn hot every day even though it's only 31 or 32. It's always about 70-80% humidity. Awful.

BBP - 6-2-2009 at 15:54

How are you coping with the heatwave, Scallop? Over 40 deg C, I heard...

scallopino - 7-2-2009 at 14:37

I'm personally fine but many people aren't Bonny. We usually get a few days over 40 every summer. This past two weeks however we've had MOST days above 40! Probably 10 or more days over, and mostly in a row. It's unprecedented. It's been the same in Adelaide, where (i believe) Poly lives.

Today has been different altogether. It's now 12.24am and we have just finished the worst day of heat and bushfires in history. The temperature in Melbourne got to 46.4 and was above 44 for most of the day. In other parts of Victoria it got to 48. Yes, that's right, you heard right, 48 degrees celsius. It's been the hottest day in history. Not only that but there have been gale force winds all day. There were around 8 serious bushfires around the state, one of the most serious ones was about 10km from where i live. Lots of homes have been destroyed and 14 people have been confirmed dead so far today. The death toll is expected to be over 40 just from today. Many fires are still raging right now and will through the night, and lots are out of control. We've been listening to the emergency broadcasts on the radio all day. Firefighters were describing the situation as "apocalyptic". It's truly awful. We've had many bad bushfires before. Kids go to school and learn about Ash Wednesday and Black Friday. Today has been much worse than either of them.

The rail system is mostly out of action and many people don't have electricity. Our power has just come back on after being out most of the day.

On the upside, the forecast for the next few days is in the early 20's with a little bit of rain.

[Edited on 7-2-2009 by scallopino]

punknaynowned - 8-2-2009 at 08:58

WOW!

Glad to hear you're alright!!!!!
10 km away is super close!!!!!

BBP - 8-2-2009 at 13:05

Whoa, that's heavy! I know I could never take that kind of heat; glad to hear you're coping.

What about Ash Wednesday and Black Friday? To us Ash Wednesday is something catholic that signifies the start of Lent, when the members of the congregation get an ash cross drawn on their forehead.

scallopino - 8-2-2009 at 14:05

They must have named it after your Ash Wednesday. 'Ash Wednesday' was a day in 1983 when 75 people died in bushfires and that was the worst in our history and Black Friday was another terrible day. Yesterday was even worse than that. I don't know if you've heard the reports but the latest is over 700 houses destroyed and 84 people dead. The death toll is expected to be over 100. Two whole towns have been destroyed completely. Everybody is really emotional because pretty much every person in Victoria knows somebody who has had to leave their house or had their properties burnt down. So many livestock and other animals have died. There are thousands of people with serious burns being treated in all of Melbourne's major hospitals. It's just really really sad.

BBP - 8-2-2009 at 20:31

Goodness... That's really awful...

scallopino - 11-2-2009 at 11:57

On a brighter note, I just got tickets for me and my sister to see ZPZ in April!

BBP - 11-2-2009 at 14:24

Yay! Congratulations!

scallopino - 14-2-2009 at 03:47

Are you gonna go Bonny? According to the email i just got, they play Eindhoven on May 23.

polydigm - 14-2-2009 at 08:36

Hey people, sorry I haven't been around for a while, I've been a bit busy. The heat wave in Adelaide peaked at 45.4 which seems less amazing now that I know it was even hotter in Melbourne. That was a long two weeks, which are none the less over, where does it go? The death toll in the bush fires hit 181 this morning.

BBP - 14-2-2009 at 09:00

You bet I'm going Scallop!

Hope it's going to get cool again Poly, it sure sounds awful! I'm glad you're OK though!

BBP - 17-2-2009 at 15:58

Went to the dentist today. I'm allright folks!!

BBP - 18-2-2009 at 16:30

Bought my ticket to ZPZ in De Effenaar! I went to the post office for it. Was fun. Guy behind the counter invited me to walk along, across the store, to the ticket machine, and when I wanted to pay with my bank card, we had to walk all the way back!

Unfortunately they're closing down all post offices in The Netherlands... :-(

punknaynowned - 18-2-2009 at 21:53

why's that?
going digital?
<rubber ball>

BBP - 18-2-2009 at 22:55

Yeah now that the post is no longer national, they budget cut a lot. There's a huge number of monumental post offices I fear for... like the ones in Eindhoven and Nijmegen and Utrecht. I guess privatising national companies is never a bargain.

Huck_Phlem - 19-2-2009 at 05:25

so what is 40 celsius? 100 degrees? We get some pretty hot weather here in California where I live which is why I love it here. it gets up to 110 and 3 years ago it got up to 117 one day.

scallopino - 19-2-2009 at 15:52

40 C is 104 F. At the end of Jan and the start of Feb it averaged about 110 almost every day for two weeks. On the day everybody is calling Black Saturday, when the fires started and all the people died, it reached 118.4.

I don't mind hot weather but that is too much. And I hate it when it doesn't rain. It pretty much hasn't rained in Victoria for two months.

BBP - 19-2-2009 at 16:33

Oh yeah, that's terribly frightening... Fortunately in the Netherlands the next drizzle is never far away. Today it snowed again!

BBP - 21-2-2009 at 20:38

Went to the Carnaval parade today!
It wasn't really our day. My sister and I went pretty late, by bus, and the bus didn't stop until the station, so we had to walk quite a while. Eventually we missed about the first 6 floats, which also contains the advertising convoy (they're the ones who always hand out freebies). At photographing all the acts, well: the best 2 floats worked out brilliantly, and I made some pics after that, but then I ran out of batteries.
When it was time to go back, we wanted to go on foot. But before that we'd just hit the town, to get some extra props for my sister's witch outfit. Going back afterwards was quite a terrible walk, but we made it.

I uploaded 4 pics so far, of 2 different floats. And I uploaded the vid of the dragon float!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNxUDRTXA8

[Edited on 21-2-09 by BBP]

punknaynowned - 21-2-2009 at 21:01

looks like fun, except for the long walk and the traffic intransigence
nice pictures, too
what is that building across the street 'Stad...'
is it like the courthouse or city building?
it looks much like my town, stuff like the flags on the lampposts

DED - 21-2-2009 at 23:32

It is on the opposite of the building in the last picture.
The one on the last picture is the town hall and the one you mean is the town office.
Originally the town hall of the last picture has an office tower. A few years ago the council stated that it was unsafe and unpleasant to work in the tower. Restauration was more expensive as building a new one, so the stadskantoor (cityoffice) was build. ........the tower is restaurated and is now a office for a health organization.

BBP - 22-2-2009 at 20:31

Ah... I was wondering why there were two buildings...
Why was it unsafe to work in the tower? Was it swinging in the wind?

DED - 22-2-2009 at 22:13

Bad airco, windows and plates could fall down.

BBP - 23-2-2009 at 09:41

Windows falling... hmmm... I sense some far-fetched analogy here...

Anyway today I was woken up by a phonecall at 5:30 AM. Apparently I should've been at work.
However my boss said she'd call me in the weekend, and as I didn't hear anything, well, I assumed she didn't. But apparently she phoned someone, and a woman picked up and agreed to come to work on Monday. :pissed:

I'll just have to check out, see if it was my sister. She sounds more like me than I do. Or the other way round, I forgot.

BBP - 1-3-2009 at 12:04

Anyway my sister didn't know about the call. So my boss rang the wrong number and whoever was on the other end said she could come in to work tomorrow.

Sneezing my brains out right now.

scallopino - 1-3-2009 at 13:02

Hmm. So in trying to dial your number he got one or a couple of digits wrong and by an incredible coincidence rang somebody else who's boss sounds like your boss, and who's voice sounded like your voice, who said they can come in to work?

BBP - 2-3-2009 at 10:02

It's a she btw, my boss... she's a 64-year-old great-grandmother. She noticed something odd about the conversation, but as "I" said yes so quickly, she remarked to her hubby how nice it is that that Bonny-girl always shows up when they're in need.

aquagoat - 17-3-2009 at 20:01

Today I adopted a cat.

BBP - 17-3-2009 at 20:37

Congratulations! Do you have any photos? I love kitties!

aquagoat - 17-3-2009 at 21:29

Two pics of my new cat (my girlfriend's new cat, actually), just after being washed and a bit later. He's very nice, hums all the time, wants to get caressed all the time. He's 7 years old, named Capucin and gets easily afraid of the sounds he doesn't know or when you move too fast, he must have been mistreated when younger, we got him from a pet refuge.

BBP - 18-3-2009 at 11:05

He's got beautiful eyes. Sweet!

punknaynowned - 18-3-2009 at 18:51

good lookin cat.
It'll take him a couple weeks/months to get used to the new surroundings.

I found this video of some Gary Lucas work from a recent single
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Xa82ZysVw

Huck_Phlem - 19-3-2009 at 04:59

Here it was a beautiful day in sunny California (easily 70 degrees f) and what did I do?

I sat home all day long and listened to old records and tapes on my vintage stereo! :guitar2:

BBP - 19-3-2009 at 10:01

Oh, but that's fun! Besides, isn't California usually sunny? I mean, here I have no problems with my sun allergy. I haven't seen the golden ball in days.

I'm getting increasingly annoyed by the birds on the chimney. I'm scared one may fall in again.

scallopino - 19-3-2009 at 12:19

Haha. Oh yeah. I remember that episode.

BBP - 19-3-2009 at 18:06

Me too. My heart hurts when I think back of that event.

Anyway... not much going on here...

BBP - 21-3-2009 at 18:10

I'm now on a painting identifying spree. Gabriel Knight 3 has about 50 impressionist paintings in it, and I thought it would be fun to make a GK3 Gallery.

One of the paintings they used is this one:

Federico Zandomeneghi (1841 Venice - 1917 Paris)
Signora nel prato (Woman in the field), 1893
Oil on canvas, 46 by 38 cm. From private collection.

It caused a lot of problems with the GK FanForum Members. One posed the question in a quiz on who painted it, leading to a large and varied amount of answers, none of them correct. And the person who asked it, didn't know either. It lead to some members searching frantically on the net for a painting of a woman with a red umbrella; and getting nowhere.

I got nowhere on the Internet either, so I looked it up in the library. I browsed 4 real big impressionist art books before I found it. I was about to give up hope, and then I turned the page and saw it! Magnificent!

punknaynowned - 22-3-2009 at 08:45

nice to find what your looking for when you have all but given up hope in ever finding it.

Some may know, the news often makes me a chain-smoking ranter wallowing in bitter delusions.
"Why can't people just learn the facts and take simple steps to get along?"

So this year, as dumb as it may sound I've been trying to entertain myself otherwise. I started watching tv again, but online. This is significant because I haven't watched any in 15 years. That's right, no American Idol, no Family Guy, South Park, Friends or Seinfeld. No reality tv, no Mtv, no HBO.
No local TV.
Yeah, I needed a break from the news which I still get but on a much more limited field: the internet.
So I watch 30 Rock on hulu and the animated starwars clone wars shorts on starwars.com
I'm also following some youtube 'stations':
-- travelfilmarchives
-- TheRealNews
-- communitychanne

yeah, I'm being cautious, taking baby steps

I run into people on the street and they want to talk about politics or 'philosophy' and I couldn't care less. The more the conversation is about using certain language framed inside certain viewpoints, the less interested I become.
Of course, I can talk about my interests all day, but they're specialized and most people don't care about it at all. So I don't bring it up.

On the other hand, I can sit and look at pretty pictures all day. Or learn how to use my new camera. Because pretty pictures happen all the time. It's just a matter in capturing them and knowing how. Like Fido's gorgeous snaps. He was there at the right time and got the light and frame-in-time, but knew how to do that and which filter or lens or shutter speed etc might work.
But rarely do you find pictures that are that good.

I've also begun to be a fan of big art books. Because the internet isn't there yet, though books can't feature video, they still have a leg up on quality in my book.

BBP - 22-3-2009 at 10:28

Whoa! NO TV for 15 years? Sounds perfect... unfortunately I'm a bit of a Simpsons addict

You're definitely right about the pictures thing... sometimes I wonder if people think I'm crazy whenever I stand for minutes gazing at a beautiful sky...

punknaynowned - 22-3-2009 at 12:23

Bonny, don't second guess yourself out of doing something solely because of what other people *might* think. It usually doesn't help them any and may keep you from doing what you want or need to.

I have seen a fair amount of the simpson's at other people's houses across the years. And a few episodes of Seinfeld on video tape at someone's house. In 2000 I did see a number of the first year Survivor shows again at somebody else's house.
So, you could say I've seen enough to be able to later recognize big 'phenomenon' types of shows.
Oh yeah! I watch The Daily Show on hulu this year, but I sure don't watch 25% of his episodes.

Yeah, I got sick of it then. Random stuff on youtube now is better than I remember most tv being then.

[Edited on 22-3-09 by punknaynowned]

punknaynowned - 22-3-2009 at 12:31

I can watch shadows creep across the side of a building, all day.
Watch the breeze turn leaves from green to gold and back again in the sudden warm gusts of moist spring air.
Daffodils are up all over here.

BBP - 22-3-2009 at 14:00

Dad bought me a Casio keyboard. It's awesome, but dirty! So I'm scrubbing it now.

punknaynowned - 23-3-2009 at 16:19

found this today:
http://www.thru-you.com/
pretty neat
wish I had the electronics to do that:
extract videos from youtube and re-edit them
I don't even know where to begin as far as equipment is concerned
looks like a lot of fun though

[Edited on 23-3-09 by punknaynowned]

[Edited on 23-3-09 by punknaynowned]

[Edited on 24-3-09 by BBP]

BBP - 23-3-2009 at 16:22

IVC (Internet Video Converter) should get you going...

punknaynowned - 23-3-2009 at 16:25

I'm still trying to get the link here working
,,,
I think it doesn't like the hyphen?

IVC
I'll look at it
thanx!
have you seen this, I think it's amazing

[Edited on 23-3-09 by punknaynowned]

punknaynowned - 23-3-2009 at 16:27

how's your keyboard?

BBP - 24-3-2009 at 09:01

The automatic link parser doesn't like the hyphen, no. It's programmed to activate at the use of http:// or www. , but it stops at the sight of a hyphen.

My keyboard is great! It has 4 octaves, which does sort of limit my music scope, but it has so many sounds! Unfortunately it's not that well-programmed. Sometimes intervals that should sound consonant (like octaves) sound dissonant. Not sure what causes that.

MTF - 24-3-2009 at 09:23

This wasn't today, but over the weekend I made the switch from DSL to cable internet. I didn't like the idea of moving to the EVIL CABLE COMPANY, but it was easier to do once it got to the point where it was twice the speed for half the price.

I spent Saturday designing the network and procuring all the stuff. The EVIL CABLE COMPANY supplied a nice install kit for free, and the only things I had to buy were an $80 ethernet cable and one of those double-size power strips. Not bad, considering that my network is fairly complex (2 laptops, 2 desktops, a PlayStation, wireless router, a print server, 2 printers, and 2 shared external drives on a RAID controller). It's all spread across three rooms.

Our house is 105 years old. It probably didn't have electricity when it was built. But the design is remarkably adaptable. It's one story, and there's a four-foot crawl space under the floor. The house is built of redwood, so I could easily drill a hole in the floor and run a cable between any two points in the house. Only problem is, it's pretty creepy down there. Lots of spiders and lizards and other vermin.

The biggest problem, of course, was configuring everything. The old system had fixed IP addresses for everything except the laptops, and the new system uses dynamic IPs all around. It's a lot simpler now. Now we can all share files, like... viruses.

Hmmm......

Huck_Phlem - 24-3-2009 at 15:52

hmmmm I tried the evil cable company and went back to dsl. I have 2 laps and 2 desk but I am on wireless for all but one that is hard wired through the apple hub.

BBP - 25-3-2009 at 07:15

Got soaked on my newspaper round again. Now I'm freezing.

We're having bad PC problems here right now. Vista will shut down and restart instead of going into sleep mode, or off. I'm fearing my game has something to do with that.

BBP - 26-3-2009 at 20:31

We're back! Spread the word!

scallopino - 27-3-2009 at 01:04

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
nice to find what your looking for when you have all but given up hope in ever finding it.

Some may know, the news often makes me a chain-smoking ranter wallowing in bitter delusions.
"Why can't people just learn the facts and take simple steps to get along?"

So this year, as dumb as it may sound I've been trying to entertain myself otherwise. I started watching tv again, but online. This is significant because I haven't watched any in 15 years. That's right, no American Idol, no Family Guy, South Park, Friends or Seinfeld. No reality tv, no Mtv, no HBO.
No local TV.
Yeah, I needed a break from the news which I still get but on a much more limited field: the internet.
So I watch 30 Rock on hulu and the animated starwars clone wars shorts on starwars.com
I'm also following some youtube 'stations':
-- travelfilmarchives
-- TheRealNews
-- communitychanne

yeah, I'm being cautious, taking baby steps

I run into people on the street and they want to talk about politics or 'philosophy' and I couldn't care less. The more the conversation is about using certain language framed inside certain viewpoints, the less interested I become.
Of course, I can talk about my interests all day, but they're specialized and most people don't care about it at all. So I don't bring it up.

On the other hand, I can sit and look at pretty pictures all day. Or learn how to use my new camera. Because pretty pictures happen all the time. It's just a matter in capturing them and knowing how. Like Fido's gorgeous snaps. He was there at the right time and got the light and frame-in-time, but knew how to do that and which filter or lens or shutter speed etc might work.
But rarely do you find pictures that are that good.

I've also begun to be a fan of big art books. Because the internet isn't there yet, though books can't feature video, they still have a leg up on quality in my book.

There's a great moment in "Annie Hall" when Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are standing a queue for the movies (i think)...and all the people are having the most terrible politico-philisophical discussions which makes Woody Allen uncontrollably angry. They are not talking about IDEAS. They are just using the language conventions that surround certain ideas. The goal is not to SAY anything or learn anything, just to show the other person how fluent you are in the jargon. And you can tell they are doing this because they don't really respond to what the other is saying, and just go ahead with their own thing, taking it in turns.

BBP - 28-3-2009 at 08:11

I uploaded the first version of my Gabriel Knight Gallery yesterday. It can be found at:
http://bonny.ploeg.ws/gabriel/gkgal1.html
http://bonny.ploeg.ws/gabriel/gkgal2.html

BBP - 29-3-2009 at 18:38

Went to 2 bookfairs, and I now have a very big reading list.

punknaynowned - 30-3-2009 at 04:19

Friday I took a Greyhound bus out of Wichita Kansas, in a snowstorm and rode the 3.5 hours back home.
All the while talking and listening to this guy in front of me who just had to have company.
Just released the day before from a local prison (attempted breaking and entering he said), but he was nervous and kept swigging on a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew.
We talked about all sorts of things and I didn't mind because if he was puttin his attention toward me that meant he wasn't buggin somebody else with his paranoia and apparent need to escalate everything.
The thing was, there was another that fit the model of the ex-tweaker or recently withdrawn from intense mania or supervision on the bus. A great big tall guy with a cowboy hat that had a military ribbon on the front, a cheap red eagle above that pinned on it and a 30 cm faux raccoon tail tacked at the back end of the hat. He would never stop talking and I was afraid that if the two of them started, they'd go after each other eventually.
The two women behind me seemed to sense it and engaged the freaky tweaky tall one and some where across the Flint Hills I realized we were all having in depth conversations basically about nothing just to keep the agitated one's distracted from their own psychoses.
Everything turned out fine.
I got back home and my buddy picked me up and we went a number of different places including dropping off the shivering cold kid wearing short pants and a ripped up hoodie and a tshirt that had rid with me up from Wichita. I couldn't believe the kid thought he was gonna walk across town in that kind of weather: stoopid.

Well, as it turned out I told my buddy I was looking for a bigger computer to process video, something I've been wanting to do for some years.
He had one he had found in the trash. He found it full of viruses and wiped it and put enough back on itto function.
He already has three computers!

So now I have to figure out what I need on it to make and process the stuff I want to...

As you can tell, I'm pretty excited

BBP - 30-3-2009 at 08:49

Good job your friend did! He saved a PC!

I imagine that on the bus... I've met some weird people on the bus. Even got molested once. But I had my sweet revenge.

MTF - 30-3-2009 at 09:11

Wow.

What the fuck were you doing in Wichita (besides looking for a way out)?

punknaynowned - 30-3-2009 at 10:07

It was a crazy escape even on commercial transport.
I was there to visit with family and help put up my brother's roof for his porch. He had quadruple bypass surgery last week and needed this fixed b4 spring rains hit. Dripping water in the house wasn't somethin he wants to worry about while recovering, puttering around the house with his wife at work.
Every time it rains, after awhile the plaster ceiling in his kitchen (next to the porch) starts a steady drip until long after the rain quits. The old porch had a roof but this was taken down some time ago and now, without a new roof to cover the holes there was the ceiling area of the kitchen that seemed open to the elements.
Fact of the matter is, it's not like you could see through from one side to the other and there had been attempts to put plastic over the 'exposed' portions where the roof had been.
It is kinda hard to explain, but we put a roof over the new existing porch AND these holes (for the most part) thursday and wednesday. What we built is sound on the support and rafters given us.
Whether it keeps out the rain is another story.

It's been awhile I guess since I've laid down with my head at a decline and tried to hammer at something farther down the slope. The urge to just shift and tumble off is within grasp. So you place your nail with your fingers and staring at the nail and not the ground which is what's behind it and you try to hit the nail and not your fingers. And then do it again and again. Pretty sure that wooden ladder was older than me too./

The friend who found the computer IS a wonder.
When I figure out how it works I will be able to do video chat

punknaynowned - 30-3-2009 at 10:14

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Good job your friend did! He saved a PC!

I imagine that on the bus... I've met some weird people on the bus. Even got molested once. But I had my sweet revenge.

what'd happened?

scallopino - 30-3-2009 at 15:01

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
Friday I took a Greyhound bus out of Wichita Kansas, in a snowstorm and rode the 3.5 hours back home.
All the while talking and listening to this guy in front of me who just had to have company.
Just released the day before from a local prison (attempted breaking and entering he said), but he was nervous and kept swigging on a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew.
We talked about all sorts of things and I didn't mind because if he was puttin his attention toward me that meant he wasn't buggin somebody else with his paranoia and apparent need to escalate everything.
The thing was, there was another that fit the model of the ex-tweaker or recently withdrawn from intense mania or supervision on the bus. A great big tall guy with a cowboy hat that had a military ribbon on the front, a cheap red eagle above that pinned on it and a 30 cm faux raccoon tail tacked at the back end of the hat. He would never stop talking and I was afraid that if the two of them started, they'd go after each other eventually.
The two women behind me seemed to sense it and engaged the freaky tweaky tall one and some where across the Flint Hills I realized we were all having in depth conversations basically about nothing just to keep the agitated one's distracted from their own psychoses.
Everything turned out fine.
I got back home and my buddy picked me up and we went a number of different places including dropping off the shivering cold kid wearing short pants and a ripped up hoodie and a tshirt that had rid with me up from Wichita. I couldn't believe the kid thought he was gonna walk across town in that kind of weather: stoopid.

Well, as it turned out I told my buddy I was looking for a bigger computer to process video, something I've been wanting to do for some years.
He had one he had found in the trash. He found it full of viruses and wiped it and put enough back on itto function.
He already has three computers!

So now I have to figure out what I need on it to make and process the stuff I want to...

As you can tell, I'm pretty excited

That sounds like a tale fit for an FZ song, if not a whole album! Especially the military cowboy 'coontail hat.

punknaynowned - 30-3-2009 at 18:09

I wasn't really going for that, just tellin a story.
But that seems like a high compliment.
Thanx!

We live in pretty strange times

MTF - 30-3-2009 at 19:55

I was thinking more like Bob Dylan, or mebbe Johnny Cash.

In any case, that was a good thing you did, Punky. Your brother really needed your help. You earned your karma card on that one.

My father had bypass surgery twice. It's amazing that it's almost routine these days, considering that they basically have to flay you open in order to do it. I hope your brother makes the necessary changes to prevent this from happening again.

punknaynowned - 31-3-2009 at 01:31

it was a good thing mtf.
My brother's wife's brother also came up to help.
He got saddled by debt last year and tried to off himself at the age of 62.
So him coming up to help his sister while Ron was in the hospital and again
to help with the roof was also real good for his own sense of value and purpose.

Both of their recovery's are nothing short of miraculous.
They both look like Frankenstein.
It will continue as daily regimen are worked out
thanx fer the good words!

BBP - 31-3-2009 at 07:26

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Good job your friend did! He saved a PC!

I imagine that on the bus... I've met some weird people on the bus. Even got molested once. But I had my sweet revenge.

what'd happened?

Well... my sister and I were coming back from my mother. I had the window seat. At one point, this guy came sitting behind us, which I found rather odd as he had a different spot in the bus initially.
Shortly after I felt he had sticked his hand through the gap between seat and window. I grabbed a little bit of skin on his hand and squeezed it real hard with my nails. He quickly drew back his hand.
I laid back a little so he wouldn't be able to reach me anymore. My sister asked what happened, and when I told her, we proceeded to write our conversation.

Anyway she had her Swiss Army Knife with her. I turned myself 90 degs and started cleaning my nails with the blade in such a way that he had to see it.

He grew scared, went to take the seat in front of us and was continuously checking over his shoulder. As soon as another seat across the isle became available, he moved there. Long before his stop he went to stand at the exit. And when the bus arrived at the station, he ran like hell!

Anyway, two weeks later, my sister and I related the story to a friend. When Sas said that "they should keep their hands off my sister", I realised I'd been molested. Before I thought that guy was after my wallet.

BBP - 31-3-2009 at 07:28

Hope your brother is better now Punky...

[Edited on 31-3-09 by BBP]

BBP - 3-4-2009 at 11:33

Well... I'll be old tomorrow...

aquagoat - 3-4-2009 at 17:04

what, 56 ? 57?

punknaynowned - 4-4-2009 at 08:07

you're not old,
only better, right?

Happy Birthday!!

Tell you what, seeing as how people are bummed that Aaron or Ray won't seem to make it to this upcoming leg of shows... I humbly offer to all the regulars here any ONE of the following zpz shows that I'll happily burn on cd from flac to wav and send to you any regular respondents here.
That much I can do. Don't tell the others at the other place please.
regulars:scallop, aquabot, poly (where is he), yoko, George, Jon, Paul or BB
list:
2007 08 10 Norfolk, VA, good sound, average set
2007 10 02 Dusseldorf, good sound
2007 11 10 Kansas City, good sound, lifeless audience, like they play to an empty room
2007 11 13 Austin, 192 min long, great sound, pretty much everything played on the 2007 leg is on this tape

2008 07 29 Charlotte, NC cut bass by half from bass midpoint on here, good crowd so the band shines as show progresses, notable joe's garage run of songs
2008 08 07 Buffalo short but sweet, outside rig

2009 01 05 Victoria, a tad boomy, Billy the Mountain, ID, Outside Now
2009 01 06 Vancouver, not bad, but 'boxy' like an FM radio broadcast from the '70's... somehow
2009 02 26 Phoenix, bass needs cut by more than half from bass midpoint, maybe 75%, and suffers from distortion of such overpowering bass but otherwise real good ;-)

2009 03 07 Santa Rosa, Outside Now, Cleetus, Scott Thunes on Willie , Why Don't You Do Me Right

lemme know
(:

aquagoat - 4-4-2009 at 09:04

Happy birthday bonny! :roll:

BBP - 4-4-2009 at 11:46

Thank you Punky and Aqua! It's very fun so far... haven't got my presents yet but we went to the second-hand store where we scored, yes, another keyboard, a Yamaha. A very nice one, but it's not working yet.

I also did my newspaper round, played Gabriel Knight 3 and burnt my hand while making tea.

DED - 4-4-2009 at 13:03

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Thank you Punky and Aqua! It's very fun so far... haven't got my presents yet but we went to the second-hand store where we scored, yes, another keyboard, a Yamaha. A very nice one, but it's not working yet.

I also did my newspaper round, played Gabriel Knight 3 and burnt my hand while making tea.

Seems that the YAMAHA only has a minor power problem. A capacitor is blown, I hope that is the only one.

scallopino - 5-4-2009 at 12:20

Very generous of you Punkster. Unfortunately i don't think it would be appropriate for my internet connection. Scott Thunes has played with them?

punknaynowned - 5-4-2009 at 20:31

oh no!
No internet involved.
I'll burn ONE show for each of you onto ceedees and snail mail it wherever you are.
No problem. My pleasure.
Thunes played one show, about 1.5 songs, you can just about hear him.

MTF - 6-4-2009 at 06:16

Just got home from seeing Arlo Guthrie, at the same theater where we saw ZPZ a few weeks ago.... three blocks from our house.

BBP - 6-4-2009 at 14:36

Related to Woody?

I went to a second-hand store and found a VHS of Oscar (that's another Curry thing.) And the official manual of the 7th Guest.

Unfortunately I needed to get a new thingy for the keyboard, but the guy at the desk couldn't help.

punknaynowned - 6-4-2009 at 16:14

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF
Just got home from seeing Arlo Guthrie, at the same theater where we saw ZPZ a few weeks ago.... three blocks from our house.

did he sing his new bailout song?

(oh yeh, MTF, if you want one of those zpz shows I listed above, the offer goes for you too -- I figgered you already had one of them bittorrent links)

BBP - 9-4-2009 at 13:14

Not today, no. But yesterday I got 2 fantastic late birthday presents: the Donald Duck Chronicles 2 and the Duckman Season 3 & 4 DVD sets! Duckman spans 7 DVDs and has nearly 18 hours worth of entertainment. :shocked:

scallopino - 10-4-2009 at 10:29

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Related to Woody?

I went to a second-hand store and found a VHS of Oscar (that's another Curry thing.) And the official manual of the 7th Guest.

Unfortunately I needed to get a new thingy for the keyboard, but the guy at the desk couldn't help.

Yup, Arlo is Woody's son. He performed at Woodstock.

BBP - 10-4-2009 at 12:24

Ah ok.

Today I finished my birthday project:

aquagoat - 12-4-2009 at 08:12

bought myself a brand new computer cause i'm tired of the old one shutting down all the time, etc...

BBP - 12-4-2009 at 08:56

Hey! PackardBell! We have one too. It's a bit of a PC for those who aren't technically minded...

aquagoat - 12-4-2009 at 10:02

suits me just fine.

scallopino - 14-4-2009 at 13:20

I was awake for approximately 50 hours writing an essay on a Vietnamese war novel.

BBP - 14-4-2009 at 18:13

Goodness! Hope you got some sleep in the mean time... I don't think I ever lasted that long. My record is 26 hours... and I was mentally broken by then.

Not much happening lately... started doing the yardwork again. Pulling weeds, moving the strawberry plants... stuff like that. Yesterday Dad cropped down two of our acacia trees (they're still young and we really don't want them). I understand the name derives from the Greek word Akis, meaning sharp point. They're very thorny.

Unfortunately dad wasn't too caring about disposing properly of the thorny branches. Well, the container was full of removed dandelions. So he left them on the lawn...

...And of course I moved my bicycle over these early morning on my round, puncturing the rear tire. :duh:

Cycled back home during my round. Grabbed my sister's bicycle. Its pedals were all wobbly so I quickly turned back. Grabbed my dad's bike. Had to inflate the rear tire first. I could hear the air flowing out again, so I put it back.
Took my own bicycle. Inflated the rear tire. The air came flowing out too fast to continue, so I had to settle for my sister's wobbly pedaled two-tired wreck.

Repaired the tire today. It seems OK.

BBP - 18-4-2009 at 19:57

Had a nice Saturday for it...
Next Monday I hope to be training a new deliverer. Problem is, he's from Morocco, and thus speaks French. I have a hard time listening to French, it's very difficult and especially in an accent I'm not familiar with. He does speak English too, but I'm not sure how well. It may be problematic with the papers and stuff.

scallopino - 19-4-2009 at 04:53

Hmm. They say music is a universal language, maybe try that?

BBP - 19-4-2009 at 13:24

Nah... it's not universal... you also have to "speak it."

MTF - 20-4-2009 at 04:48

Just tell him " Hey Champ, my fists speak Dutch!"

BBP - 20-4-2009 at 06:34

Nah. Besides he's quite the looker. Anyway I managed this morning. Except with the French, god has that gone downhill since school.

BBP - 22-4-2009 at 20:14

Fortunately it's going a little bit better with the French tomorrow. I'll have to use it to the max tomorrow when I have to explain to the trainee why I have to do the work. Some paperwork issue.

aquagoat - 22-4-2009 at 20:41

If you've got trouble with that french thing, tell me, perhaps I can help you. ;-)

BBP - 23-4-2009 at 06:26

He wasn't around today... hope I can see him again, he was a good worker. And cute.

On the other hand, while I was out on my own doing the delivery, I found 120 euros which I'll take to the police later today.

scallopino - 23-4-2009 at 09:54

No! I would just take it! And then, if the cops come to investigate you, just use some of the money to bribe them!

aquagoat - 23-4-2009 at 17:08

that's what I would do to.

BBP - 23-4-2009 at 18:48

Ha! No, I'm honest... now. When I was 10 or so I found 50 guilders (back then it would be 25 $) at the supermarket, and I confiscated them. And that gave me so much torment in true Crime & Punishment style. So this time I was a good girl and took it to the cops.

BBP - 24-4-2009 at 18:00

Baked bread. And burnt my hand in the process.

Gah, now I understand why bakers used to use their feet to prepare the dough... you REALLY don't want anyone to call you when you're busy with it. I think half the dough finished in the sink, it's so sticky!

BBP - 25-4-2009 at 14:51

Got another belated birthday gift: the Special Edition DVD of Legend (that's a film with Tim Curry. Yes I'm going nuts here.)

And another birthday present was at the second-hand store, the Roberta Williams Anthology. 4 CDs of quality games (King's Quest 1 thru 7, the Laura Bow series, Mixed-Up Mother Goose, first chapter of Phantasmagoria, and of course the first graphic adventure ever: Mystery House.)

scallopino - 25-4-2009 at 17:13

I think belated birthday presents are way more satisfying than early birthday presents.

BBP - 25-4-2009 at 22:08

Oh yeah! Especially with the ones I got, three DVDs that were all worth waiting for!

BBP - 27-4-2009 at 14:14

It sure has been my lucky week! Today I went scrounging at another second-hand store, and I found 2 boxed games at a euro each. Not to mention they had that cookbook I have too, but that I lost and I really needed a recipe that was in it. At 2,50 I thought it was too expensive to buy again, but luckily I had a pencil with me, and I found a Mona Lisa postcard in the bargain bin, so I copied it and bought the card.

And then I didn't buy the card. The lady at the register didn't know how much they cost, so she just said that "it was in the book" and so gave it to me.

scallopino - 28-4-2009 at 07:43

:grin:

That is lucky! Hopefully you don't have a downturn of luck soon to make up for it. It always seems to go that way.

BBP - 28-4-2009 at 09:54

Oh yeah! Well, I was surprised by a downpour when I had just returned from the supermarket... but that's never been too big a problem for me.

BBP - 29-4-2009 at 15:07

And another lucky day today when I found 2 or 3 more of the paintings in the GK Gallery.

BBP - 30-4-2009 at 15:54

Today's been bizarre... It's our national holiday when the birthday of the queen is celebrated. The queen and her following visit some town where they have some celebration kinda, and in most cities there's an open market where everyone can put down a tablecloth and sell their possessions.

I had a nice day for it, bought 2 Curry-related videos and 3 comic books. And when we got home, we heard that the queen had been attacked during her parade. Some man drove into the crowd with his car. This far there are 4 casualties and 13 injuries. The royal family got away in their bus unharmed.

punknaynowned - 1-5-2009 at 09:28

odd how there was at least a 12 hour gap between when I saw you talk about this and when the national news here broadcast it, thru the bbc!
Surprised because it seems they can't stop talking about it when something similar happens here.
Do they know why?
was the driver dutch, an immigrant, a tourist?

BBP - 1-5-2009 at 14:11

Dutch 38 year old male. Karst T. * He was not unfriendly but not very social either. He had just lost his job and had also ended his rent and was moving stuff around in boxes. We may never know his motive now, because he passed away from his injuries last night.

*In Netherlands it's not allowed to name criminals by their last name. (As in Belgium and Germany it is permitted, it's never hard to find out the name of a criminal.) It can turn quite bizarre. One day a man escaped from a penitentiary psychiatric department, and the police warned us to look out for Wim Schippers. When he was caught and he had murdered a man during his escapade, he was apprehended and in the media he was suddenly called Wilhelm S. Or take that boxing champ, Regilio Tuur. Everyone knew his name, but when he beat up his girlfriend and was apprehended he became Regilio T. in the newspapers.

Edit: Tates! His last name was Tates!
There are now 7 casualties including Tates.

[Edited on 1-5-09 by BBP]

MTF - 2-5-2009 at 06:20

By printing his name, that makes you a criminal. Doesn't it, Bonny P?

BBP - 2-5-2009 at 11:57

Nah... really no. I think this website is American. Also Dutch bloggers will just use his last name. The only ones who may have issues are TV shows when they forget to bleep away his name.

Anyway I'm off to visit my blind friend today. Maybe I can record another song.

scallopino - 2-5-2009 at 14:40

Do it!

Today i went to a birthday party/get-together in honour of my former music teacher at my old high school. She turned 64! So we sang 'When I'm 64' instead of happy birthday. I had a wonderful time.

BBP - 2-5-2009 at 20:29

Aw that's nice!

Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to record her, we hadn't spoken in such a long time, so we talked a lot and the other guests didn't arrive much later...

One of the other guests was a nice young lady from Apeldoorn. That's the city (it has the largest area and the largest amount of train stations of The Netherlands) where that guy drove in the parade. Not just that: she also works at a police call centre where she takes in all the non-urgent phone calls. You know, of people who complain about the neighbor's geraniums.

Anyway she had a lot of distraught phone calls, and tips and the like... but even with all the chaos, she even got a phonecall like"I locked myself out, can you come and help?"

MTF - 3-5-2009 at 09:04

Quote:

Originally posted by BBPI think this website is American.

I was wondering what .ws means, so I looked it up. It's the country code for Samoa, which is a territory of the US. So you're right: technically, it's American.

The site could be hosted anywhere, but the domain is registered out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean...

BBP - 3-5-2009 at 16:56

And today we went to some Belgian friends. They're awfully nice and stuffed us. I made a lot of nice pictures again, will upload them soon.

BBP - 5-5-2009 at 11:59

Havin another national holiday today... bored sick.

punknaynowned - 5-5-2009 at 12:51

why do YOU sell-ebrate with a fifth of may?
(-;

BBP - 5-5-2009 at 16:29

Liberation Day. On May 5th 1945 the German troops in The Netherlands capitulated.

punknaynowned - 5-5-2009 at 17:33

OH! that's good.
I also learned about 'Children's Day' in Japan for this day.
Honors children and by extension mothers.
They used to call it Boy's Day because they're like that but changed it to be less discriminating.
Curiously I could only find Hydroc (or Hydoc) as the saint for this day.
I never heard of him, a Cornish hermit, either.

BBP - 5-5-2009 at 18:58

I learned about Mexico Day for this day. Isn't it bizarre? OK, not nearly as bizarre as November 11, but anyway...

punknaynowned - 5-5-2009 at 21:17

what's 11November?

BBP - 6-5-2009 at 11:15

Saint Martin.
It's when the Brits remember the end of WW1. In the weeks before they wear those red poppys on their chests, and on the day itself there's a parade with veterans.

It's also the day when children in the middle section (not near me) of The Netherlands make their own lampoons and knock on doors and sing off-key, trying to collect candy.

But it's also the 11th of the 11th, and as 11 is the number of madness, it's when Prins Carnaval is elected. This prince will lead the town during the pre-Lent festivities. This happens in the south of The Netherlands, and in Germany.

So if you watch the television, there's nothing but long faces on the BBC, and nothing but drunk partygoers at WDR.

punknaynowned - 6-5-2009 at 16:24

wow!
now that you explain, we do have Nov 11 as a holiday and I should have remembered. While technically a national and state holiday it is not widely observed as such by most people unless you work for the state or gov and even then it depends on what you do. In the regular world, businesses stay open and people do what they normally do. Some go to the park or the cemetery, some towns will have patriotic shindigs
I had never heard of a pre-Lent Prince designated the year before (doublethanx!) but recognize that most people use holidays as an excuse to socialize and drink.

aquagoat - 6-5-2009 at 18:18

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
I learned about Mexico Day for this day. Isn't it bizarre? OK, not nearly as bizarre as November 11, but anyway...

what's so bizarre about november 11th? :shocked:

it's the day of the end of ww1 in France.

[Edited on 6-5-2009 by aquagoat]

BBP - 7-5-2009 at 12:17

And the Germans and south Dutch are celebrating the start of the Carnaval season. Switch on your TV on 11-11 on BBC, and there's mourning people. Switch to ze Germans and it's party!

BBP - 11-5-2009 at 12:40

Went to grandma for Mother's Day, which was fun. Saw some of my cousins again, which was great.

polydigm - 13-5-2009 at 00:03

The first noteworthy thing to happen to me today is that I actually found time to come visit the Goose. I don't know if I mentioned this before but my wife is the full time worker of the family and I normally work part time. But, since we moved to Adelaide I've been at home all the time with the plan to start work again after the renovations are finally finished. Well, all bar a few finishing touches, the work looked like it would be almost finished by the end of April. So, back in early April in the middle of a band practice one evening I get a phone call from a school principal wanting me to come and work for him. Thus, since the 27th April, the start of our second term (out of four per annum), I've been back in the deep end taking Info Tech classes with young teenagers. Between family, work and music I've hardly had a moment to visit here and I've only been to zappa.com fleetingly a couple of times.

So, long time no see, how is everyone?

BBP - 13-5-2009 at 08:06

Hey Poly, nice to see you again! You sure keep yourself occupied!

My friend and I finally agreed to go to Amsterdam tomorrow. We've been postponing our get-together for two months now, so I'm looking forward very much to this!

DED wasn't this lucky. He was at a gas station yesterday when a car tried to pass him, and there was way too little space. There's a large scratch along the front door. I'll upload the picture soon.

Badchild - 15-5-2009 at 10:51

Not much today! So i have a few minutes to come and say Hiya! to you all. I know it's been a while but i still come around and check out what's happening. I trust all of you are well and that the spring weather (for us northeners) is putting smiles on your faces. I've been truly overbooked for months now. I spent a few weeks in hospital at the new year and another month recovery before going to South Africa with my kids. We had a great trip to say the least ! We fell in love with that country. Too bad it's probably going to get nasty some day... Otherwise, this economic situation is getting on everyones nerves and our bosses are taking advantage of the paranoia by heeping on more objectives and more work....Luckily the month of may in France looks like a piece of swiss cheese...four long weekends and a day off! Looks like i'm good to go to Ardèche and cut my grass....because i'm a very nice boy!!!

Talk to you soon i hope...

The Acadian

BBP - 15-5-2009 at 15:10

Wow! You've come a long way!

Yesterday I went to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (that's where the Nightwatch is) with my long-time friend. It was great, although I was pretty pissed at finding 3 of my favourite artworks not on display. But I did manage to get a great look at the Nightwatch, learnt a lot about that painting that I didn't know yet, have a thorough look at Avercamp's winter landscape, that's one of those paintings you can look at forever and find new things all the time. And seeing Hugo Grotius's chest is always imposing.

And here's the photo of my father's car:

punknaynowned - 16-5-2009 at 16:12

poly and badchild the acadian were here and I missed 'em

rain rain rain here, chilly too

I've been bouncing from site to site pounding away at the keyboard trying to get people to realize that torture is still illegal and still immoral.

BBP - 16-5-2009 at 19:39

Aw Punky... (pats back) They'll be back sometime...

scallopino - 17-5-2009 at 14:16

Did the driver of the car stop after he scratched Ded's car?

BBP - 17-5-2009 at 16:33

Yeah he did, and the police came and looked at the surveillance camera footage, and it was clearly that guy's fault.

BBP - 20-5-2009 at 14:48

OK we're back! For a while I couldn't get on many websites, and as ploeg.ws was out, I assumed something was wrong with the server.

And today I had my first turn at the lawnmower.

MTF - 21-5-2009 at 08:50

You broke the Internet with your lawnmower, eh?

BBP - 21-5-2009 at 16:50

Heh heh! I've no idea what the Zappas are up to this time... maybe they're just down...

jabba - 21-5-2009 at 17:20

"Apache is functioning normally"

BBP - 21-5-2009 at 19:34

Humm...
Well today's Assumption Day,we went to some flea markets which is always nice. And I'm enjoying the birds in the backyard, I bet they wonder what happened to all the high grass there.

MTF - 23-5-2009 at 07:45

My wife asked me to sharpen some scissors for her, since she's a klutz and would hurt herself if she tried to do it.

So naturally, I sliced my finger open.

The good news is, I seem to be really good at sharpening scissors...

BBP - 23-5-2009 at 13:09

I'm a klutz with those things myself. Yesterday I broke off a toenail in my shoe, just by walking around. And it HURTS because some of the sensitive skin that's normally protected by nails, is now bare. And the last time I sharpened scissors I hurt myself on the table edge; but the scissors were still blunt.

ZPZ TONIGHT!!! :bouncing:

BBP - 23-5-2009 at 16:52

Had another first today: waxed the car. Except for the bit with the scratch. It's been a long time since I last saw our Opel THIS shiny.

punknaynowned - 23-5-2009 at 20:10

have a good time Bon!
I'll be thinking of ya

BBP - 23-5-2009 at 21:50

WHHHOOOOOOOOOOO! It was great! For now though I'm writing a review while everything is still fresh. And I hope my pics come out OK.
(sweats)

polydigm - 24-5-2009 at 00:12

Okay, other than the fact that I'm really enjoying living in our renovated house and that I'm contemplating strangling some of my teenage students, there's not much to report, but I thought I'd say hello anyway.

punknaynowned - 24-5-2009 at 00:57

hi poly!
glad you like your new house!

Never resort to homicide when under the influence of enforced pedagogy, I always say!

Also glad to see you didn't float away with the floods!

polydigm - 24-5-2009 at 03:12

I'm just flabbergasted by the level of disrespect exhibited by kids who are only 12, 13 or 14.

The floods don't occur in my part of the country, thankfully.

punknaynowned - 24-5-2009 at 05:08

Those kids. They don't know what they're saying do they?

The news in this part of the world about your part of the world is rather sketchy.
You get a flood, we hear of a drizzle.
You get a fire that kills 150 people and we're not sure if that was a heat wave or a terrorist bombing.
Just imagine the rumor mill.
Best not.
Wish I could be of some help but the semester should be over soon enough?

BBP - 24-5-2009 at 11:29

Poly! Great to see you again! How's the new home? Got any pictures?

(Strangling is a dangerous method for murder. If you want to get away with stuff like that, it's worth to watch Forensic Detectives or Delicatessen)

BBP - 26-5-2009 at 09:01

There's been a terrible thunderstorm out here... causing me to wake up at 5 AM. And I wasn't able to go back to sleep again, so I'm real cranky now.

MTF - 27-5-2009 at 09:33

Well, at least you don't have to get up and deliver newspapers anymore...

Okay: remember I told you about slicing my finger open with the freshly-sharpened scissors? It's a deep, clean cut and it wasn't healing very fast. So I tried a trick I learned from a guy who was a medic in Vietnam:

Super Glue.

Apparently, the first use of Super Glue was to treat flesh wounds in triage situations.

I hope this doesn't cause me to go into septic shock or something nasty like that. But just in case it does, goodbye..

:drums:

BBP - 27-5-2009 at 14:52

I know that! When I cut myself in a most stupid method (a nasty gash in the chin caused by a tumble off-stage. Of course I'm in good company with such a fall, were it not for the fact that I had to fall off stage. It was in a play my sister wrote and I helped with the remake for the version we were putting up: it was MY idea to fall off stage in the first place), I did something more stupid: I just went home. My friends were saying I should get it stitched, but I hate needles (and I'm in good company with that too!) so I just cycled home. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and when Dad came home he dragged me to the hospital.

Anyway there they said they don't even stitch women anymore. They just use superglue. If I'd known that... Anyway I was too late to get glued so they put this special adhesive bandage on it that pulls the two sides of the gash together.

It's not the same glue as the one the doctors use: perhaps you'd better go to the GP or hospital to get it done for you.

scallopino - 29-5-2009 at 04:56

My mother's a vet nurse and super glue is standard procedure. Not for the animals though.

BBP - 29-5-2009 at 14:34

I saw on some of them Animal Planet shows that some vets choose to put honey in bandages to prevent infection. That sounded bizarre to me... what if the dogs eat the bandage?

MTF - 30-5-2009 at 09:20

I've heard that some people use bee stings as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Sounds bizarre; but really no more so than shooting yourself up with interferon, I suppose...

BBP - 30-5-2009 at 12:03

Don't bees die when they sting?

MTF - 30-5-2009 at 22:08

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Don't bees die when they sting?

Yes, but not of multiple sclerosis...

polydigm - 31-5-2009 at 22:54

Another quick visit through a small time window. I came out to my studio yesterday morning to log on and say hi but I discovered it was completely without power. The power was still on in the house but no circuit breakers had dropped for the studio, so I assumed I would have to ring up the people who wired it to come out on an emergency call. Later that morning after I gone to drop my elder son off at rowing and visit my mother, my wife called me to say the power had now gone off in the house. She discovered some guys working on a fault in the power lines out in the street and the power came back on about an hour and half later.

Figure that out, how was only part of our power supply affected before the whole lot eventually went out?

DED - 1-6-2009 at 12:00

Power comes in three phases. Nowadays very household has at least to phases in the house so when there is a trouble with one you never will sit in the dark. I assume there was a power failure with one of the phases and later on when the work on the breakdown they have to switch of all three phases.

DED - 1-6-2009 at 12:03

BTW
grind and polish the car today, only a small scratch is left on the door. For a friend |I try to repair their sony ps2.
What a shit. The fault was found very easily but for repairing you need chines hands. Not my spade shaped claws.

MTF - 2-6-2009 at 08:44

We have solar panels on our house. You'd think that would keep us safe from blackouts, but that's not the case. If the power goes out, by law the solar panels have to disconnect; otherwise, it could endanger anyone working on the lines.

Makes sense when you think about it...

BBP - 2-6-2009 at 19:14

The Sony PS2 was fixed, but to test it I had to watch a cheepo DVD we're not attached to, AKA CareBears in Wonderland in awful voice-acting.

Playing Frankenstein: Through The Eye Of The Monster. And picking strawberries. Hope we can make icecream!

BBP - 4-6-2009 at 15:12

Did my civilian duty and went voting for the European Parliament. It was very difficult to make up my mind on what party I was going to vote for, and all the on-line tests didn't really help...

punknaynowned - 4-6-2009 at 15:50

ballot by computer!
And would you say ma'am that did or did not improve your experience of voting?
:bouncy:

BBP - 4-6-2009 at 19:32

We stopped balloting by computer. It seems there was a problem with them and it was possible for people to rig up computers and walkie talkies to hear whatever had been voted, and now they're not used anymore. We had a huge ballot, a red pencil, colour one of the circles, and then slide it in a converted garbage can.
...I don't think that was very privacy-protecting either...

MTF - 5-6-2009 at 08:40

Here in California we had a special election a couple weeks ago. The turnout was pathetic: something like 25%. It was a bunch of initiatives to raise money for schools and such, and they all lost.

The election cost millions of dollars, and in the end it was a complete waste of time and money...

punknaynowned - 5-6-2009 at 09:56

chat at the zforum has been fun
come check it out
crazy conversation
(:

BBP - 5-6-2009 at 09:58

I think this year the turnout was 34%, even lower than the European Parliament election of four years ago. The EP has little power so I'm not even sure what I've voted for...

BBP - 7-6-2009 at 14:11

Had a great fleamarket day! I bought a Charlie Chaplin vid, a CareBears button (yes, I adored those cute little bears as a kid, and watching the original episodes still makes me gooey), and...
GABRIEL KNIGHT 1!!! Yay!

scallopino - 10-6-2009 at 10:27

I accidentally scratched my laptop screen with scissors. D'oh times a million. Channel 10 here in Australia launched their new free-to-air digital sports channel, which they call ONE. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've been watching the NBA playoffs and the major league baseball along with other stuff, when i should have been studying. But i'm officially on "holidays" now, which means the same amount of study but no formal classes.

BBP - 10-6-2009 at 10:28

How on earth did you manage to scratch your laptop screen with scissors?

punknaynowned - 10-6-2009 at 15:00

yesterday talked to s3bbE yesterday who went to this show in Stockholm
the show starter, with a nice bit of dialogue wit Dweezil b4 a nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeehZFhM0l8&NR=1
and the surprising show closer that the crowd sang,
weirdos, they jump right into it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BDjJ0se92o

BBP - 11-6-2009 at 11:47

Ooh! Nice! It really chuffs me how much Dweezil sounds like his daddy.
(And I'm increasingly proud of being among the crowd that originally sang "Fuck the Swedes!")

My sunflowers are coming up nicely and the strawberry jam I made is fantastic! (Must've been that bit of blood coming from my thumb... :-D

)

[Edited on 11-6-09 by BBP]

scallopino - 11-6-2009 at 14:30

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
How on earth did you manage to scratch your laptop screen with scissors?

Funny story. Well not funny at all really. It's not even much of a story. I keep a pair of scissors on my desk behind the laptop. I used them and went to put them back but accidentally kind of softly rammed them into the screen. :singer:

punknaynowned - 12-6-2009 at 04:35

because of the rotation of the earth around the sun I turned 41

it doesn't seem possible and I sure don't understand it. Never thought I would get this far.

PLEASE, no well wishers. I can't believe I'm posting this

BBP - 12-6-2009 at 10:54

(hugs Punky) You don't look a day older to me!

Sorry to hear that Scallop... but that's the kind of stuff that happens to me a lot too, so you're not alone.

Unfortunately I'm still feeling a little unwell, hope that blows over. Otherwise I'm really getting dug into Gabriel Knight 1.

BBP - 12-6-2009 at 19:51

Heard one of my former teachers passed away. Odd.

DED - 14-6-2009 at 16:39

Would any of my teachers should be alive today?
Dunno
Easy day today but I lost a tapedeck that I should restore.
But it was standing here for two years and now it is gone unless it is not a tc 280 but a tc 252.
Also bought a second betamax yesterda but he is eating the tape

BBP - 15-6-2009 at 10:40

You mean he eats the tape in the cartridge, or he eats the cartridge?

Still feeling queezy.

BBP - 17-6-2009 at 11:04

Feeling better. Did a round on my own for the first time. It went pretty well and I was done quickly, it's not a very big one. Unfortunately it's far away from my house.
Yesterday I didn't get much sleep before I had to go to the round, and it was my training day. I got up extra early, but that advantage was soon erased when I spent a full hour looking for the delivery station. Embarrassing. I've livedin this city for 25 years and I get lost at merely 15 minutes cycling from my house.

scallopino - 17-6-2009 at 15:44

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Feeling better. Did a round on my own for the first time. It went pretty well and I was done quickly, it's not a very big one. Unfortunately it's far away from my house.
Yesterday I didn't get much sleep before I had to go to the round, and it was my training day. I got up extra early, but that advantage was soon erased when I spent a full hour looking for the delivery station. Embarrassing. I've livedin this city for 25 years and I get lost at merely 15 minutes cycling from my house.

Maybe that's a good thing! You can keep finding new places and not get sick of it. I hope you haven't got "swine flu" Bonny. It's a pandemic in Victoria at the moment. Fortunately it's much more mild than ordinary flu.

A few days ago Des "Tuppence" Moran was gunned down at his local shops. He becomes the 29th victim in the so-called underworld killings of Melbourne that began around 1998. About 15 members of the Moran family have been murdered in that time. "Matriarch" Judy Moran, who's husband and two sons were all killed over the past ten years, was arrested yesterday for being an accomplice in the murder. No one really knows at this stage why Des Moran was killed because he wasn't really a big underworld (= mob) player.

BBP - 17-6-2009 at 21:14

Sounds horrible... almost Amsterdam...

MTF - 18-6-2009 at 21:42

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopinoA few days ago Des "Tuppence" Moran was gunned down at his local shops. He becomes the 29th victim in the so-called underworld killings of Melbourne that began around 1998. About 15 members of the Moran family have been murdered in that time. "Matriarch" Judy Moran, who's husband and two sons were all killed over the past ten years, was arrested yesterday for being an accomplice in the murder. No one really knows at this stage why Des Moran was killed because he wasn't really a big underworld (= mob) player.

So the Matriarch was arrested for being an accomplice to the murder of a member of her own family?

Not exactly a family of master criminals, is it?

BBP - 19-6-2009 at 14:26

Yesterday I wanted to listen to my copy of Does Humour Belong In Music?
When I opened the box, I found to my horror that the CD was missing! OH SHIT!

So yesterday and today I've been searching all my albums, and I have quite a few, searching for the CD. I failed to find it. :-(

On the brighter side, I did find 2 other CDs that had somehow fallen behind the rack. One of them was my Mr Bungle - Disco Volante, which I'd been looking for for months.

punknaynowned - 19-6-2009 at 16:19

I'm the same way, bonny!

I'm get ing a medical procedure done today. So wish me luck.
Wish everyone the best here and want to wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to Bonny for being so cool and gracious a host here.
If we lived in the same county bonny you wouldn't be able to get of me.
Just your simple presence, even in this virtual world, you've meant a lot to me.
Just saying

you are loved and appreciated for being you
and you can do whatever you want.
So go for it!
<swak>

scallopino - 19-6-2009 at 16:50

@ MTF: :-D

Nope. Des was her brother in law. She was married to a guy named Leslie Cole, who was murdered in 1982. She then married Lewis Moran. Her eldest son, Mark, was shot dead in 2000. The other son, Jason, was shot dead in 2003. Then Lewis was shot dead in 2004. Then Judy arranged or was otherwise heavily involved with the shooting of her brother in law, Des Moran, a week ago.

I hope you guys get to see an Australian drama called 'Underbelly' which is based on the Melbourne Underworld killings. It's a fascinating story and really great show. It was probably the most popular tv series here in history. Season 1 was all about the recent stuff, from 1998 up to about 2006 or 2007. It was huge. Then season 2 which has just finished screening was about the pre-history to it all.

[Edited on 19-6-2009 by scallopino]

scallopino - 19-6-2009 at 16:54

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
I'm the same way, bonny!

I'm get ing a medical procedure done today. So wish me luck.
Wish everyone the best here and want to wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to Bonny for being so cool and gracious a host here.
If we lived in the same county bonny you wouldn't be able to get of me.
Just your simple presence, even in this virtual world, you've meant a lot to me.
Just saying

you are loved and appreciated for being you
and you can do whatever you want.
So go for it!
<swak>

Seconded! And good luck with your operation Punk and hope your recovery is painless and quick. (But that's asking a lot).

BBP - 19-6-2009 at 19:27

Oh dear Punky, what have you gotten yourself into!
Hang in there and be healthy! And thank you for the kind words! :bouncing:

PS I found DHBIM. It was in my other CD player. I have 4 and had forgotten about this one.

MTF - 20-6-2009 at 06:51

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
I'm get ing a medical procedure done today. So wish me luck.
Wish everyone the best here and want to wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to Bonny for being so cool and gracious a host here.
If we lived in the same county bonny you wouldn't be able to get of me.
Just your simple presence, even in this virtual world, you've meant a lot to me.
Just saying

you are loved and appreciated for being you
and you can do whatever you want.
So go for it!
<swak>

Holy crap! I do not want to know what this procedure is. You sound like you're settling your affairs in case you die.

Whenever I have any kind of medical procedure, my philosophy is Don't tell me what you're going to do: just tell me when it's over.

===========================

(Of course we all knew that you have a thing for Bonny, so you may as well get that in the open anyway...)

BBP - 26-6-2009 at 13:01

Had an interesting morning at my newspaper round. The Dutch paper-for-the-celebs-and-sports had Michael Jackson Has Heart Attack on the front page. I snorted at that.
Then I noticed the christian newspaper had a similar head on the front page.
Then I noticed "Michael Jackson Dead" in quotation marks on the cover of "my" newspaper. Goodness, I thought, De Volkskrant is really going downhill.

And when I came home he was dead.

Never liked his music, but I'm still a little shocked nonetheless.

BBP - 26-6-2009 at 18:04

For Father's Day, we gave DED some 2G of extra computer memory. He installed it on Wednesday.

It has the strangest consequences! The top bar of Internet Explorer used to be blue, but now it's black. And WinTV, our programme to watch TV on the PC, wouldn't fogo full-screen anymore.

So Ded downloaded WinTV 2000, a newer version. Today I set myself to finetuning the channels.
It is an arduous task, to say the least. Especially if you have to do it on the wrong day and have to listen to Jackson while testing.

Anyway, it only works a little now. I need to set myself to do the rest.

scallopino - 27-6-2009 at 17:45

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Had an interesting morning at my newspaper round. The Dutch paper-for-the-celebs-and-sports had Michael Jackson Has Heart Attack on the front page. I snorted at that.
Then I noticed the christian newspaper had a similar head on the front page.
Then I noticed "Michael Jackson Dead" in quotation marks on the cover of "my" newspaper. Goodness, I thought, De Volkskrant is really going downhill.

And when I came home he was dead.

Never liked his music, but I'm still a little shocked nonetheless.

Me too. When i was in primary school in the 90s he wasn't just a famous person, but the most famous person in the world. I listened to Thriller over and over again on cassette in about year 8. I haven't listened to him since but Rage, our best music show, did a special Friday night. They played those incredible films he did in full. I'd never seen most of them before and they look and sound like nothing else. No one else even attempted that kind of thing.

BBP - 29-6-2009 at 07:38

Not much going on around here... it's like the world stopped spinning without MJ. Or it's the heatwave that makes me too numb to undertake any adventures.

BBP - 2-7-2009 at 07:28

Goodness, being an Are You Being Served? fan is a bit painful. We lost John Inman in 2007, Wendy Richard earlier this year, and Mollie Sugden passed away yesterday. Oh dear.

BBP - 3-7-2009 at 11:34

Hit the town to buy a passport. Right on time. In September, all EU citizens can only get biometric passports, which store fingerprints. The Netherlands has unfortunately decided to store all Dutch fingerprints in a computer. Something I oppose: if the computer gets badly hacked and all the underworld can access anybody's fingerprint, the entire system of using prints to identify criminals could become corrupted and unusable.

aquagoat - 3-7-2009 at 15:37

isn't that good news, in a way ?

[Edited on 3-7-2009 by aquagoat]

BBP - 3-7-2009 at 18:45

It's bad news if criminals can do it unobserved (and it being a massive system it's very likely that there will be over a hundred people working on it, plenty of opportunity for error). It's possible to make a latex-type-of-hand that can leave other people's fingerprints and if they steal and use your prints, it's up to you to prove you were elsewhere.

MTF - 4-7-2009 at 07:31

I used to work for a software company. Part of my job was to create marketing lists, so I had table-level access to the company's sales database.

One day I noticed we were saving people's credit card numbers in the database. I figured this was an unnecessary security risk, so I emailed the Vice President of IT. He wrote back, telling me not to worry about it.

So I looked again, and found a sale in his name. I printed out the data - including his credit card number - and slipped it under the door of his office.

Right after that, we started encrypting credit card numbers...

BBP - 4-7-2009 at 08:22

Good going!
There is talk about encrypting the fingerprints, but there is reluctance from the people in charge as it will cost money.

scallopino - 5-7-2009 at 11:04

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF
I used to work for a software company. Part of my job was to create marketing lists, so I had table-level access to the company's sales database.

One day I noticed we were saving people's credit card numbers in the database. I figured this was an unnecessary security risk, so I emailed the Vice President of IT. He wrote back, telling me not to worry about it.

So I looked again, and found a sale in his name. I printed out the data - including his credit card number - and slipped it under the door of his office.

Right after that, we started encrypting credit card numbers...

Cool!

BBP - 6-7-2009 at 15:15

Added a new Duck to my family. A fictional one this time.
Discovered my white lumps are probably caused by sun allergy.
Went to the second hand store and bought a nice classical album.

MTF - 7-7-2009 at 07:49

My white lumps are usually caused by not thickening the gravy properly...

BBP - 7-7-2009 at 20:09

Ain't that frustrating, those image host sites?

I fell for it again, I can't believe it. Yet another box to add to my collection of "musical hits performed by lousy artists and keyboard called Star Singers & Hollywood Orchestra or variations thereof". At least this 6 CD box does contain a lot of lesser known musicals, the worst TimeWarp I have heard (and I count my own singing here), and the occasional star performance.
And I now have a box to finally replace my broken Phantasmagoria box. It's so hard to replace jewelcases like that!

BBP - 8-7-2009 at 18:24

Spent quite some time fixing a broken video cassette. Failed.
Dad spent five minutes with it. Succeeds.

One of those days...

BBP - 9-7-2009 at 14:43

Picked up my new passport. Nowadays you're no longer allowed to smile on your passport photos. It's like there's a new Bonny who's much crankier.

MTF - 10-7-2009 at 10:32

Then I guess you should change your mood to "grumpy."
===================================

Today I took my daughter to a Boy Scout camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains. For the next ten days she'll be looking after a group of eleven-year-old girls; teaching them the basics of camping, first aid and so forth.

It's in the middle of a redwood forest. All the trees were cut in 1906 in order to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake/fire. The trees are now 80-100 feet tall, which sounds impressive until you realize that many of the trees that were cut down were 1000 years old and more than 300 feet tall.

I hope she has a good time. Personally, I'd just stand there and gape at the trees...

BBP - 10-7-2009 at 11:12

That IS impressive... We do have a few very old trees that are huge, but they've usually become interred and their largest branches are mistaken for trees. Trees don't get that big here. Must be the climate. (looks out at the rain)

After yesterday's lengthy town stroll, my legs hurt terribly. I had a great night's sleep.

It was interrupted by my boss. I'd forgot to set the alarm. Second time in 10 years of newspaper delivery that that has happened.

BBP - 12-7-2009 at 19:55

Bought a vinyl Fillmore East. And a karaoke CD-I.

MTF - 13-7-2009 at 04:35

I bought a table saw, so now I can - like - saw tables...

scallopino - 13-7-2009 at 16:04

You saw it, you bought it.

BBP - 14-7-2009 at 18:40

Well, I'm taking another short hiatus from Zappa.com. After that little brush-in with Trendmonger I realized that I tend to take those things too seriously sometimes.

In other news, I managed to download the most recent version of XMB forums. I'll check and see what it looks like (and I'll need to consult my father a little too, after all it was him who resurrected this forum after James's... ahem... issues, and he knows a lot more about computers than I). Hopefully I'll be able to get it to work soon, so that the log-in bugs can be resolved.
It doesn't seem to be too hard, but I really wouldn't want to make a mistake and lose all the fondness and writings here.

scallopino - 15-7-2009 at 11:26

Trendmonger must be a hundred and forty by now!*

*Very rough estimate.

punknaynowned - 15-7-2009 at 20:04

woah!
looks like Trendy got some snails in his oats the other day :swear:

you were right bon, that review board is not the easiest thing to find even if zappa.com were printed on the ticket... or zpz or any other combination
do what you want of course, but like you said, it's him that needs a break.
Now to figure out where to put 'em...
j/k
that whole place has taken a downturn. Maybe it's just the summer dog days.
the show I saw in kansas city saturday held no surprises.
Dweeze was sick the gatekeeper said and I could tell he wasn't all the way on, seemed tired.
But still went thru all the motions, the band was great, Joe kept tellin jokes and making Dweez smile, Schiela was awesome, Jaime got in a couple great extended bits -- the most bluesy AND avant stuff of the night I'd say. Ben was just fine. This being the first I'd seen him, I was critical, but he's just fine. He should meet Napoleon. Whatever. Got to hear Apostrophe and Lucille and Outside Now -- which was the high point of the night for me. They played for 2 hours with a break before the encore. I like the venue, outside and with the sun going down it got cooler and we had a breeze in the audience that I don't think they had onstage in that shell...
Overall I thought they were sloppy and a bit disjointed even in transitions within songs, bum notes all over, noticed only because Glynn had the sound absolutely perfect for what they do and in that space. But it wasn't at all bad and there were a number of highlights. Many more people got to see them and were blown away.

on a more personal note, I'm fine. Still sleep a lot, on the mend. We'll see how I feel next month.

BBP - 16-7-2009 at 08:26

Good to hear you're doing well, Punky! You got me a little worried!

Shame Dweezil wasn't feeling well... He wasn't too healthy at De Effenaar either, he had had some gastric distress.

I'm feeling a little better now myself, so I'll be visiting the forum again today. And after visiting the library I'll check up on how the update version of XMB works.

BBP - 16-7-2009 at 20:18

Looks like the big update will be around for tomorrow!

Huck_Phlem - 17-7-2009 at 06:18

I finally got a job offer! I will have to travel a long distance but it sounds like a good job.

BBP - 17-7-2009 at 06:20

That's great Huck! Congratulations!

scallopino - 17-7-2009 at 07:45

Good for you Huckster!

aquagoat - 17-7-2009 at 18:03

good news, Huck!

BBP - 18-7-2009 at 15:52

I found Gabriel Knight 2! YES!!! And I hadn't even finished playing with the other two installments yet!

BBP - 24-7-2009 at 12:45

Made lots of photos from the graffiti art zone here, for the third time. They'll show up on the Photo thread but I need to transfer them to harddisk first.

Huck_Phlem - 29-7-2009 at 05:42

So I get there to the Airport. (SFO) which is a 21.10 dollar round trip and that is after riding 5 miles to the train station on my bike. The lady tells me the job is only 18 hours and my fair is 1/3 of my wages. I told them I would still do it as it's a job and better than nothing.

Then the fucking lady tells me i am over qualified? what the fuck does that mean except that she can't think of a better reason to refuse me the job.

It's been about a week now and the contact who told me over the phone that I was going to be hired has not responded to any of my emails. what a flake!

scallopino - 29-7-2009 at 16:22

:singer:

What can you do about it? Can you do anything?

BBP - 30-7-2009 at 09:03

(pats Huck's back)

BBP - 31-7-2009 at 11:49

The weirdest thing happened on my round today. This guy came out of a house I cycled past. He seemed disorientated and was talking intelligibly. Then he threw something on the street...

A LIVE CHICKEN. :duh:

aquagoat - 31-7-2009 at 19:20

wooow, scary thing! It reminds me of some demented characters you sometimes see in David Lynch's movies. :freak:

[Edited on 2-8-2009 by aquagoat]

BBP - 1-8-2009 at 07:36

The poor chicken managed to find its composition again, it stood up and walked away. Don't know what happened after that, I didn't feel like staying.

Those things just happen. I've often seen bizarre things that made me wonder if I'd dropped off. Like the time I saw a perfect Frank Zappa look-a-like. I thought I was dreaming, but he showed up several times after that. I also saw him at the ZPZ concert last May.
Or that time I cycled through a used tampon. Yuck.
Or that time this guy opened the door of the house where I was supposed to deliver , wearing nothing but a pair of much too tight underpants. :shocked:

aquagoat - 1-8-2009 at 09:56

:freak:

scallopino - 2-8-2009 at 12:53

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
The weirdest thing happened on my round today. This guy came out of a house I cycled past. He seemed disorientated and was talking intelligibly. Then he threw something on the street...

A LIVE CHICKEN. :duh:

Surreal!

MTF - 3-8-2009 at 08:24

We didn't take a family vacation this year, so my wife spent a week as an adult staff member at a Girl Scout camp. She just got back today.

Funny thing: in her job she's a tax director, and has twenty people reporting to her. At the camp, she was getting her orders from two sixteen-year-olds.

And let me just say for the record: I'm glad she's home...

:bouncy:

BBP - 3-8-2009 at 11:21

And? Did she like it?

I had another lucky strike at the second-hand store today. I now own tubular bells.

aquagoat - 3-8-2009 at 12:25

this:

or that:

???

[Edited on 3-8-2009 by aquagoat]

BBP - 3-8-2009 at 20:26

A mini version of the one on the right. Mine only has 8 tubes, tuned from c'' to c'''. But the overtones are amazing. Plus cycling home carrying that was hilarious.

I also finished Gabriel Knight 2 and found many other games, such as the Gobliiins series and Grim Fandango.

aquagoat - 3-8-2009 at 21:20

cool, that must be a funny instrument to play.

BBP - 4-8-2009 at 08:40

It's delightful! I should make a vid!

Anyway I've decided to take up a second round for a week. It sounded OK at first, but it's in the business area and there are a number of addresses behind gates, you know and those won't be opened until a certain time. I hate that.
Fortunately there are lots of beautiful houses too. And I deliver at De Effenaar, our music hall (where ZPZ performed and where P/O will be in a few days).

BBP - 4-8-2009 at 14:47

Cleared my room looking for a book. Didn't find the book and cut my finger.

aquagoat - 4-8-2009 at 18:27

You could die from the danger
Of the dangerous bedroom.

BBP - 5-8-2009 at 07:07

:-D

Thumbs up!

BBP - 7-8-2009 at 08:24

This morning some guy cycling past said "hi" to me. Not uncommon in this region, especially not at 5AM. So I said Hi back, and continued my work.

I noticed the guy kept talking. I couldn't make out what he said, so I assumed he was on the phone with someone, and carried on with my delivering. As I turned into a side road though, I clearly heard him say:
"And what if I lick you? 100 euros."

Fortunately he didn't chase.

MTF - 7-8-2009 at 11:16

Tell him for 200 Euros you'll let him deliver the rest of your papers...

Or the old standby:

"Look Buddy: I don't go down to McDonalds and heckle you while you're working..."

Or the prudent response:

Mace

aquagoat - 7-8-2009 at 16:44

freaky people!!!!!!

BBP - 7-8-2009 at 18:33

Aw thanks. It was a bit shocking... I've been chased before and you REALLY don't want that to happen on your newspaper round miles away from home.

I've also uploaded three tubular bell vids!

MTF - 8-8-2009 at 08:33

Our dishwasher died. Fortunately it was an electric one, and not a person.

There's a bunch of water still in it, which makes me suspect that the water pump burned out.

We'll see. I'll tear it apart tomorrow...

BBP - 9-8-2009 at 13:54

Oh dear... sounds like the old manual scrubbing is coming to you MT...

Discovered that I don't nearly stoop as much as usual when I walk on high heels. Of course they don't make women's shoes my size around here, so it's probably the most pointless discovery in the past 5 years.

BBP - 10-8-2009 at 08:38

Did 2 rounds today. Feel exhausted. But I saw a squirrel!

MTF - 15-8-2009 at 01:08

Check it out Bonny. You're on fire:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/14/BAQS198...

The fire's about seven miles from our house. The smoke is pretty thick here, and bits of ash are falling like snowflakes. Everything has this eerie yellow glow.

Most people are just staying in their houses with the doors and windows closed. There isn't much traffic for a Friday afternoon. That just adds to the eeriness.

BBP - 15-8-2009 at 21:02

Goodness MT! Hope you will all be OK, it looks horrible!

BBP - 18-8-2009 at 19:31

Today? Not really. I cleared the entire front yard of weeds, which is perfectly horrid. I took three hours.
Tomorrow I'll be running my new round.

And I learnt what's the deal with the guy chucking out a chicken. My boss had seen him before. He's letting his chicken out. And he does that on a frequent basis.

MTF - 19-8-2009 at 00:57

Well, at least he's not choking his chicken...

:duh:

BBP - 19-8-2009 at 10:19

Today my secondary hard disk died on my dinosaur Win 98 upstairs. Unfortunately it's the E-drive with over 700 GB of space (pretty much for a PC back then) I hope it's still fixable... or else I'll have WAY too little space on it to do pretty much anything.

BBP - 20-8-2009 at 17:52

Saw the chicken guy this morning.
Wrote a lot for my site.

Have a nasty pain in my chest. :swear:

BBP - 21-8-2009 at 19:43

Still have chest pain.

Yesterday I had to get up even earlier (4:15), because I'm taking over another quarter for a week. The guy who normally does it, had to run me in.
He showed up so late I eventually went on my rounds and scheduled another appointment for the next day. And I was a little pissed on having got up extra early for no reason, and having to get up earlier again.

This morning they did everything to prevent the same scenario and gave him a very early wake-up call, and they called him twice while I was there.
Nice fellow, only problem was that he does WALK his rounds, not cycle. First he took me by car to his round, he parked, and then we walked the rest. It took quite a while, I was back at the station late and had to hurry for my rounds... with a blister as extra handicap.

Oh well. He's a friendly fellow, may contact me through the Tube.

MTF - 22-8-2009 at 11:05

Quote:

Originally posted by BBPStill have chest pain.

Unless you know what caused it, you better go see a doctor.

Here we're still dealing with the Lockheed Fire (named after the company that owns the land where the fire started). At times the air is really bad.

It's been burning for nine days now, but it seems they finally have it contained. Yesterday one of those gigantic Sikorsky Air Crane helicopters flew over here several times. I figure they were using it to move tractors in and out of areas where there are no roads.

The fire is to the west of us, and the staging area for the firefighters is to the east. So every day it's a constant stream of airplanes, helicopters and fire trucks. Most of the tourists have left town, and firefighters from all over California have taken over most of the hotels.

BBP - 23-8-2009 at 14:54

Chest is feeling better now, thank you.

Isn't that the airplane company a Dutch prince took bribes from? Lockheed?

aquagoat - 23-8-2009 at 20:27

went to the sea today, swam for about one and a half hours, became red thanks to the sun, hurt my left foot because of the stones, had a pretty good day. I'll probably do it again next sunday. :roll:

BBP - 24-8-2009 at 09:06

Hey! Sounds like me!

Had another double round today. My new temporary one is in the classy neighborhood, lots of beautiful villas, lots of financial newspaper subscriptions... And I got minorly lost. And I saw another squirrel.

Sunflowers are doing great! One of them is open wide, smelling sweet.

aquagoat - 24-8-2009 at 17:03

not happenedto me but to my lady: She was employed for a new job today. :roll:

BBP - 24-8-2009 at 18:50

Nice! Congratz!

aquagoat - 24-8-2009 at 19:07

thank you.

BBP - 25-8-2009 at 09:43

I got totally drenched on my round, but aside from getting lost and having to resort to a map to find one of the streets, I made no real bad mistakes.

Currentý I'm working on a Wagner article, so lately I've been digging myself into his work. Today I'll be listening to Tristan und Isolde. Thing is, I don't really like Wagner.

MTF - 25-8-2009 at 23:47

Quote:

Originally posted by BBPThing is, I don't really like Wagner.

Neither do I. But if it makes you feel any better, Hitler loved Wagner...

BBP - 26-8-2009 at 13:30

:rsvd:

So did Ludwig II of Bavaria. I must say that studying his life has given me a little more respect towards his beliefs (indeed I can find myself in the atheist, philosophical, revolutionary and anti-aristocrat fields of his mind) but even after all that, listening to Tristan & Isolde... it just does nothing to me. It's cold and emotion-less music.

aquagoat - 26-8-2009 at 17:30

that just makes me think: Has music necessarily got to be emotionful?

BBP - 27-8-2009 at 10:11

No, of course, but if it evokes no sentiment with me whatsoever there's not much point in listening to it for me. It's just... boring, even if there is a story line attached.

BBP - 28-8-2009 at 17:43

Things are growing harsh here. Two of my family members have been hospitalized recently.

aquagoat - 28-8-2009 at 19:39

ouch, bad news, courage Bonny.

BBP - 29-8-2009 at 10:58

Thank you. We'll be visiting our grandmother today, hope she's doing better.

BBP - 29-8-2009 at 17:51

Went to visit Grandma. She's still got her fighting spirit, but seeing her tubed up is always painful. She has severe emphysema.

aquagoat - 29-8-2009 at 18:41

too much smoking ?

MTF - 29-8-2009 at 21:10

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF
Our dishwasher died. Fortunately it was an electric one, and not a person.

We finally got it fixed. Turns out it was still under warranty, so they sent a guy out to take a look at it.

There was a piece of a rubber band stuck in the drain pump. It was just small enough to make it through the dishwasher's rather elaborate filtering system, and just big enough to get stuck in the pump mechanism.

Fortunately the pump shut off before it burned out.

BBP - 30-8-2009 at 12:50

Yes Aqua... poor Gran has tried to quit several times but to no avail... she'll have to now, of course.

Good to hear your dishwasher is OK now, MTF!

Huck_Phlem - 31-8-2009 at 06:22

I went to Berkeley today. I bought some records. I got Zoot Allures in great shape! Also Gentle Giant Aquiring the Taste, and Free Hand. The Tubes first album for 1 dollar! and I got McCoy Tyner Trios.

BBP - 1-9-2009 at 06:37

Yesterday I went to my favourite place in the world aside from my bed: De Efteling, the infamous Dutch fairy-tale themed park. It was fun, although we walked a lot and saw very little. I made a nice vid of the local jazz-band.

scallopino - 2-9-2009 at 15:22

Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't been around for a while. There are some good reasons:

About a month ago my family house got raided by about ten police who came at 6.30am, before dawn, in five cars. My father who is a policeman and local government official is under investigation for stalking. He has been suspended from the police force until it's over. Anyway, the police came and took every computer in the house including my laptop. I didn't get it back for over a week and they still have the main PC which my Dad never uses as well as his laptop. It's been four and a half weeks. The police came and announced themselves and then proceeded to go into every room turning every light on and off over and over again for no apparent reason. They treated my younger sister pretty harshly and were pretty rude all round. To say it was a surreal experience is a major understatement.

My father and me do not get along. I have never liked him at all from a young age. My parents' relationship is a completely miserable one. My dad is a real jerk, a terrible husband and a shocking father. He is intolerant, angry, secretive, a liar, racist, homophobic (i'm not gay but my sister has lots of gay friends), uncaring, selfish etc etc. But at the same time he is a much respected public figure in the community. No one knows the truth about him except his family, who have to live with it every day. What has been annoying about this whole stalking investigation thing (i have no idea if he's guilty or not) is that my mother, sister and me have nothing at all to do with any of it, but it affects all of us. My sister hasn't had her computer for almost five weeks even though she is not the one being investigated.

Also, about two weeks ago I was walking around Melbourne and lost my 4GB usb key that had all my work on it for the whole year, including my honours thesis. I hadn't backed any of it up. I was able to recover some work that i'd sent to my supervisor via email, so that was good. But the rest is gone. Luckily i take all my notes and stuff by hand in notebooks.

Yes...August has been an ungood month and i'm supremely glad it's over. :cool:

BBP - 3-9-2009 at 08:38

Goodness, Scallop... that's horrible!

If it helps, I broke off contact with my mother several months back, as dealing with her mental illness became too much of a strain after over a decade of putting up with it. It taught me I need to think of myself a little more: after all I am the most important person to me, I have to put up with me all my life and I need to do anything in my power to prevent me from ending up like my mother. I don't usually tell people because they won't understand (and then they bring up non-arguments like "it IS your mother"), but it's so deliciously quiet now that I don't have to be used as Barbie every month.

And you're not alone in forgetting to back-up either... I nearly lost some compositions when my hard-disk died in the middle of playing Gabriel Knight 3. Fortunately it wasn't the game's fault and the disk worked again the next day.

punknaynowned - 4-9-2009 at 18:57

sorry to hear that scallop. I had no idea your homelife was so tough.

big bummer too to lose all your work.

Here's to taking strong healthy steps toward the future.

scallopino - 5-9-2009 at 11:08

Yes yes yes. Thanks punk. And Bonny, it seems hard for people who have had a relatively *normal* family upbringing with both parents to understand because they think the bonds between husband/wife, parent/child etc are sacred and *unbreakable*. It isn't true, and in your situation it seems the best thing for you to do what you did. You aren't superhuman and some problems are unsolvable.

BBP - 5-9-2009 at 20:50

Oh yes... I don't often tell my family background to other people... I've even gone as far as saying quietly "I have no mother" just to shut them up. Even if people can make some idea of it and can develop some understanding, it will still change the way they're looking at you.

BBP - 6-9-2009 at 20:31

Went to my cousin's birthday party. She turned 12. As our grandma was staying at her place to recover, she didn't have many people over. I did get two slices of birthday cake... need to try extra hard on my rounds tomorrow to get those calories off!

BBP - 9-9-2009 at 17:42

Found out to my horror that one of the rides in my favourite-place-in-the-world De Efteling, a wooden coaster called Pegasus (from 1991) has been demolished. As it was the first large rollercoaster and the first woodie I ever rode, I have a lot of cherished memories to it... particularly that bend at the end where the lateral Gs nearly bruise your ribs. Oof!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dh2WVM9yg Before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdFuxMGU0k0 After.

MTF - 10-9-2009 at 10:04

In case you noticed I hadn't been around for a while, I was in the hospital.

On Monday of last week (30 August), I wasn't feeling well. I had a bunch of symptoms that pointed to a heart problem. I called my doctor to see if he could squeeze me in, but he was out of town. His nurse suggested that I go to the local Urgent Care facility.

I saw one of the doctors who helped diagnose me with multiple sclerosis eleven years ago. He did some tests, including an EKG and some blood work. Everything came back negative, so he figured I was having some sort of allergic reaction. He sent me home with a handful of antihistamines.

They didn't help. If anything, the symptoms had gotten stronger. By 7am on Wednesday I couldn't stand it anymore. So I got in my truck and drove to the Emergency Room at the local hospital.

As I was explaining my symptoms to the receptionist (who's actually a nurse) I could see her getting stiffer and stiffer. She was typing like mad to get all my information into the computer. Then she grabbed the intercom and almost yelled "Triage to Emergency." Pretty obviously, it was my heart after all.

Within a few minutes I was on a gurney. One person was placing electrodes for another EKG; another was drawing blood from my left arm; a third was setting up my right arm for an IV; and all the while the Triage nurse was asking me a blizzard of questions.

My wife showed up amid all this. She had that "What the fuck?" look, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence. But I didn't get much chance to dwell on it, because they were giving me some morphine with my nitro glycerine. Heroin and explosives: now there's a fun combination.

Eventually a doctor came in and explained the situation. One of my coronary arteries was completely blocked, and as a result I had suffered a small heart attack. But he was worried about the bigger one that was coming. He wanted to perform what he called an "intervention" to clear out the artery. Basically, he was talking about angioplasty.

Given the choice between certain death and a 20-minute, virtually painless procedure with a decidedly ugly name, I don't think it was much contest.

Oh wait; there was a third option: open heart surgery. But my Dad had his chest cracked twice, and I heard there's a limit of two per family. Too bad...

They rolled me into the intervention room about 10:30. I was pretty doped out, but quite lucid. The surgeon had an Indian name, and a Texas accent. He started by making a small incision near my hip and inserting a chopstick-sized tube into an artery. Inside was a smaller prehensile tube, which he was able to push to the clogged artery, about two feet away. Then he popped out the clog and replaced it with a small metal tube called a stent. Then he was done. It only took two stitches to seal the centimeter-long wound.

I had to stay in the hospital for three days, while they adjusted my medication and tried to see if they could get me sick some other way. They finally let me out late Saturday afternoon.

So now I have a new doctor - a cardiologist - and a bag full of tasty new meds. And I'm going to need them to be tasty: because I have to change my diet as well. No more pork ice cream or chocolate-covered cigarettes.

Oh well. At least it's fucking great to be alive...

[Edited on 9/10/2009 by MTF]

BBP - 10-9-2009 at 15:57

Is that the same as PCI? Great they discovered it in time! And I'm very very glad you're doing well!

Big hug!

punknaynowned - 10-9-2009 at 19:35

HOORAYY MTF!!!!
I'm glad you're still here
:-D

BBP - 12-9-2009 at 14:22

Nice! Smiley choreography!

Not much is happening here for me now... still doing my rounds. This morning I had to jump into my neighborhood instead of my usual round. It sucks: it's HUGE.
Yesterday I joined Curryfest, a fan forum for Curry fans. Discovered I'm still reasonably "sane", but it's the nicest place I've been to where there are pretty much no men at all. At least I haven't seen any.
And my Frankenstein videos are faring well with it!

Bought a Fraggle Rock DVD. Gosh. They're boring.

DED - 12-9-2009 at 17:34

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Found out to my horror that one of the rides in my favourite-place-in-the-world De Efteling, a wooden coaster called Pegasus (from 1991) has been demolished. As it was the first large rollercoaster and the first woodie I ever rode, I have a lot of cherished memories to it... particularly that bend at the end where the lateral Gs nearly bruise your ribs. Oof!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dh2WVM9yg Before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdFuxMGU0k0 After.

Aren't you lying here?
According to my memory your first large wooden was the anaconda near Metz in 1993 or so

BBP - 13-9-2009 at 10:29

I definitely went into Pegasus in 1993, that was with Kzryzstov (or however he spelled his name) and with uncle, sister and aunt. We didn't go to Metz until 1994.

BBP - 14-9-2009 at 13:27

But I was lying there. My favourite place in the world is my bed.

Not much happened today... had an unsuccessful visit to the second-hand store in Geldop...

And my E-drive crashed again. Need to run ScanDisk next time I can get it to work.

BBP - 15-9-2009 at 13:47

Went to the dentist. I'm all-right!

But for some reason (probably ten solid years of no problems whatsoever), my dentist wanted me to have an X-ray taken. First time... very strange, one of those things straight from the heads of science-fiction writers... and not too pleasant to keep your tongue curled up for thirty seconds. But there was no problem whatsoever... no infections, no cavities, wisdom tooth coming up on the left...

BBP - 17-9-2009 at 08:24

Tomorrow DED will be leaving to pick up grandma. He'll take her back home to The Hague. Hope she can get around there...
Not to mention the house will be empty for four days when he's gone...

aquagoat - 17-9-2009 at 19:14

Let's have a party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bouncy:

BBP - 18-9-2009 at 15:54

Sure! But you'll have to bring your own booze.

BBP - 19-9-2009 at 10:33

Still battling loneliness here... don't think DED has web access there.
Went to the supermarket. Fortunately I could go early with my rounds and all, but it's half an hour cycling... and half an hour back when loaded with milk and OJ. Oh well... leek at 19 cents for 500 grams...

BBP - 21-9-2009 at 20:22

Fighting the third day of loneliness and my own cooking. Fortunately I'm not that much a picky eater...
My potato soup was great, but when it lasts 2 days, it just becomes a bit too much. And today I made something else that will last 2 days: gnocchi. We're having way too much potatoes right now.

I managed to complete the Gabriel Knight section of my website. Sort of. I hope I can still tune it up by tomorrow.

BBP - 25-9-2009 at 10:22

A traincrash happened here last night. Two freight trains crashed head-on into each other at the Barendrecht train station, and a passenger train narrowly escaped disaster when it crashed into the collision at low speed. One of the freight train drivers died of his injuries.

BBP - 27-9-2009 at 12:27

Yesterday we went to visit my grandmother for her birthday. She is 86 today. Hence my silence.

I finished knitting the larger version of the sleeveless sweater I made earlier. It's still too short. The thing about knitwear is, when you stretch it horizontally, it'll significally shrink vertically.
Hmmm. Maybe I just need fatter arms for my vest.

punknaynowned - 27-9-2009 at 16:59

whatever, if it's knit and warm and still acts like clothing, I'd wear it.
is it that big green thing I've seen pictures of?
;-)

a friend made a knit hat that started from a point, but the 'w' pattern got all wrong and the colors didn't age well...
It was her first hat and she didn't like it much, but I used it for many years. She ended up going ahead and making hats and socks and stuff for years and ended up selling many in a local market...
nice stuff, she charged $40 for a hat ten years ago...
I'm lucky for all the friends I have, but this friend I mention, I haven't seen in nearly a year.
I don't worry or fret. I know she'll be fine. She's got good socks to wear.

BBP - 28-9-2009 at 14:34

Oh yeah! My little green monster. (Little? It's nearly bigger than me!)

Yesterday my sister and I walked over to the nearby museum of modern art: Van Abbemuseum. They have a great exhibition on El Lissitzky, a Russian avant-garde architect/painter/designer.
Lissitzky made various compositions he named prouns, seemingly random compositions of shapes but on closer inspection they do appear to make sense. Some of his artworks have been recreated in 3d, like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQY42GhdSyc
Fountain of The Gravediggers.

punknaynowned - 28-9-2009 at 15:44

the zforum is so sad
there's so much stupid :swear:

I can't bear to watch.
Even the politics has become so poisoned here, smart people are letting the idiots run things and nobody seems to care about FACTS!

I can't talk to people if they wont start from facts. If you want to talk about fantasy, fine. But let's start that conversation by saying something like , 'Let's just talk about nothing,' and I'd be fine with it.
But people insisting they are right and arguing tooth and nail over it and not even know the facts. And our tv news is ALL opinion, no more info unless it's NPR ... education is bad enough here.
Now, without an awareness of difference between fact and fiction, there is no way people can learn critical thinking skills.

I'm sorry, not your fault.
Not your country, not your language.
I guess I'm feeling pretty alone...

BBP - 28-9-2009 at 17:39

No... it's... I know how it feels. And the Z-forum is definitely not the only forum I'm on that suffers this. There's not much to do on the Z-forum nowadays... I sometimes add a vid on the YouTube thread that nobody watches, or tell about my day that nobody reads, or tell about a film I saw the other day... The Internet is no longer the medium of the intellectual and the geeky. It's the medium of everybody. Without Internet you can't even follow school anymore. So all the schoolkids everywhere get online... and that's where the LOLCatz come in.

punknaynowned - 28-9-2009 at 21:19

thanx B! I think you are right. Your insight that now everyone is online all the time helps me put things in perspective and try again to be more patient.
:-P

BBP - 29-9-2009 at 08:50

If you like we could start a BB vs Punky Battle Of The Wits down there...

punknaynowned - 29-9-2009 at 15:11

hahahaha I couldn't find a way to disagree that much with you and then I'd let you win

great idea though!!!

I really enjoyed finding youtube clips and stringing them together, like a travelogue: end up acting like windows for travel intended to spark imagination. The people who liked them were already inclined to that sort of thing. Everybody else said, 'What are you doing? What are you trying to do?'
Maybe I should include more clips where things blow up or people make fools of themselves...

BBP - 30-9-2009 at 08:33

I've been thinking about doing stuff like that with YouTube films... not sure if I have the right means though.

BBP - 30-9-2009 at 16:04

When was the last time you did something impulsive?

For me it was last Monday. After an unsuccessful rummage at the second-hand store, I visited the supermarket in Geldrop. There were posters everywhere, announcing that this shop was taking part in a world record jigsaw laying!

When I was 15 I got into jigsaws. About three years later I halted this hobby: many of the puzzles were either too easy or too loborious (long sections of "sky", by which I mean a big chunk where all pieces look about the same and you'll have to resort to trial and error). Still I made the occasional jigsaw, particularly Graham Thompson's Wasgij series. And whenever I started one, I could indulge myself completely, staying focused for hours on end.

So... it would be right up my alley!
Unfortunately the lady at the desk to whom I gave the participation form, wasn't too sure. She didn't know if adults could take part. She asked some of her colleagues and eventually ended up calling her boss. Oh shit. Suddenly I didn't know if I still wanted to do it. Nightmare scenes of being stuck with hordes of little kids, being snickered at by their parents, solving cartoony puzzles popped into the brain.

Today was the big day! I showed up and... to my surprise...
The puzzles turned out to be a lot harder than the Albert Heijn people imagined. There was indeed a lot of sky in these jigsaws, and there wasn't even air in it! The images were printed with a resolution that was way too high, and most of the participants were indeed very young; even too young to tell the difference between a good and a bad piece. The store attendants were getting panicky: there were still three puzzle pictures left, all had huge gaps and it seemed they would not be done in time.

Bonny to the rescue! I stood bent over one of the puzzles and managed to complete it almost by myself. It took 45 minutes. After this experience I'm thinking of re-trying that Neuschwanstein puzzle I already gave up twice. It was indeed very tough. Probably the Albert Heijn people are re-thinking their marketing strategies: it was sheerly aimed at children, and many of the kids I saw were having a troublesome time there. (half an hour in: "Mom! I placed one piece!)

Anyway I made the jigsaw attending lady very happy. She gave me my puzzle diploma so I can show to everyone that I and many other kids have worked together to make the world's largest jigsaw. And I got a pack of Maltesers, a Snickers and a slice of cake, all of these are being processed right now.

punknaynowned - 30-9-2009 at 18:09

Nice story!
I took the camera out for a stroll this morning. It was bright and clear and cool.
Got a lot of video of this squirrel that kept hiding and reappearing, yelling at me and running away and reappearing. Yelling. A friend drove up and stopped in the middle of the street and asked me what I was doing. I told her. She called me a squirrel and said she has chickens if I want something else to shoot.

I can't load the video up on youtube. It's too big and I don't have the right conversion stuff.

Also I've been responding over at the zforum. It feels kinda impulsive. But no politics today.
'Just say 'No' Punky!!'

BBP - 1-10-2009 at 08:30

You may like to try Internet Video Converter. It's free and works very well!

BBP - 2-10-2009 at 08:19

Cycled over a cat on my newspaper round. He is OK, but I feel horrible.

BBP - 4-10-2009 at 14:46

Happy Animal's Day to all of you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dna0oWu_EU

aquagoat - 4-10-2009 at 19:22

happy animal's day to you, BB

MTF - 9-10-2009 at 08:37

After dinner tonight we took our dog Sam to the park. He was playing with some other dogs, and we were talking with the owners.

I mentioned that Sam has the annoying and embarrassing habit of peeing on people's legs.

A few seconds later - almost on cue - Sam snuck up behind me and started peeing on my leg.

In honor of Animal Day, I didn't kick him to Mars. :-*

================

In other news, I bought tickets to see ZPZ at a local theater in December. We saw them at the same theater last March...

BBP - 9-10-2009 at 10:39

Aw great! Is that with Dream Theater?

We broke the world record jigsaw making! You can find pictures here:
http://www.ah.nl/artikel?trg=eredivisie.wereldrecord

This morning, the front tire of my bicycle turned out to be soft; it probably caught some glass. Ever since they re-divided the quarters last week (I gained and lost a little, but gained more than I lost. Reminds me of my weight.) I deliver at a large number of student residences. You can easily tell them apart by the vast amount of bicycle wrecks in front of the door. And the broken glassware.

So I had to quickly move my bag onto my father's bike, which is a little too high. Riding it is not very... ahem... comfortable.
Ugh... one of those days. I need to repair that tire. And instead I do the worst thing I could: I started on a new jigsaw. :duh:

MTF - 9-10-2009 at 11:50

It's quarter to four in the morning. You might ask: what am I doing up at this hour?

About half an hour ago, Mrs. Flycoon got up and let Sam out. He was met at the bottom of the stairs by a skunk. He got it right in the face.

So we spent most of the past half hour washing the dog with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda.

Once again, Praise The Lard for the hot-and-cold shower we installed in the backyard.

Unfortunately, now the whole house smells like burning tires...

BBP - 10-10-2009 at 14:47

Doesn't the stench go away with tomato sauce? It worked on MythBusters.

Hope you're OK... I experience every day how much it sucks if you get up too early. Especially this morning, Saturday with rain. Bhag.

Yesterday I managed to add 6 disks to my CD-I collection. There's something about me and cult, so it seems.

MTF - 10-10-2009 at 20:38

I'm sure tomato juice works fine, but there's one problem: anything you put on a dog will end up getting sprayed all over the place when the dog decides to shake. And unless you really like that decorated-by-Charlie-Manson look, it's probably best not to put anything red on your dog.

Fortunately, this time Sam didn't get it directly in the snoot. Something in his little lizard brain may have remembered the last time he got skunked, or maybe this skunk just didn't have very good aim. Most of the spray appears to have landed clear of the dog, which is very good indeed. That new skunk smell dissipates much more quickly from your yard than from your dog...

BBP - 11-10-2009 at 11:29

:roll:

There you have it, I don't know my dogs.

Haaa.... slept late... had breakfast... Life is good sometimes....

polydigm - 11-10-2009 at 21:05

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino on 2-4-08: I had officially my worst public transport experience ever, which is saying a lot. After waiting 40 minutes for a train from Clayton where my university is, one finally came but said on it (instead of its destination) "Data Version 8.1". The station master had no idea where this train was going. I got on it anyway. The driver made no announcement and all passengers didn't know where it was going either. It was the MYSTERY TRAIN.

I'm just realised i'm too tired to relate the rest of this story. Sorry...

Did you ever finish telling this story?

BBP - 14-10-2009 at 07:09

He didn't. Scallop hasn't been here in a while either... hope he's OK...

My best friend had his birthday yesterday. Tried to call him three times but I couldn't hook up. You think he lost his mobile?

polydigm - 14-10-2009 at 22:48

It's funny how things can change. A few months ago there was a period when I almost stopped visiting the Zappa Forum. If it went off the air back then for two days I wouldn't even have noticed. Anyway, I'm visiting regularly again and when it went off the air last weekend I was very glad you were still here.

BBP - 15-10-2009 at 12:25

Yeah. I don't think I've posted on there in the past few days though.

Today I'm unfortunately sickly. My newspaperround was like hell. Didn't feel like making breakfast so I just had a cup of instant soup, sorta read the paper, took a shower and slept till noon. I'm still a little feverish now...

BBP - 16-10-2009 at 08:47

Feeling a little better, although I didn't get much sleep this night either: my friend called me at 11PM. We chatted for half an hour, but I was so sleepy I initially went over to my alarm clock to switch it off when the phone rang.

BBP - 16-10-2009 at 16:03

Kinda sad to see that the last 500 new members on this board have all been spammers. We've had around 1350 members now and only 80 of those are real. {sigh}... I need another promotion campaign.

DED - 17-10-2009 at 12:51

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Kinda sad to see that the last 500 new members on this board have all been spammers. We've had around 1350 members now and only 80 of those are real. {sigh}... I need another promotion campaign.

Sorry that I am so little present at least seems to be, but bbp is logged in forever. I need to start another browser or log her off. But I don't know for sure if she still remembers the admin password.

polydigm - 18-10-2009 at 12:50

Sorry to hear about you being ill Bonny. I've just been away for three days and had no access to the internet. I hope you're feeling better now.

BBP - 18-10-2009 at 17:02

I'm improving! Hope it'll blow over soon, because it's horrible when I'm at work.

Today though I finally finished that Hitchcock jigsaw.
It's... odd. You have to read the story in the manual first: a psychiatrist has disappeared. At the crime scene there are various props from Hitchcock films. There are three suspects who all adore one of Hitchcock's movies.
You have to lay the picture of the crime scene, which is in black and white. And then you have to try to solve the case.

Naturally I failed at solving the case (I only knew Psycho, still need to watch Birds and Frenzy), but I'm happy I finally finished the puzzle.

BBP - 20-10-2009 at 09:18

It's one of those days again. I still have a cold, my bicycle broke down on my newspaper round (I could still cycle on it but it needs new pedals, and they're a nightmare to repair. We tried it before and broke many drills in the process). And I stepped in some dog do.

punknaynowned - 20-10-2009 at 11:04

It's not fun, but it seems we need days like that to learn to appreciate the 'good' days more.

BBP - 20-10-2009 at 16:50

Oh yeah. And I had a great day two days ago when I solved that jigsaw and watched Epke Zonderland take silver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgtjsNP1mrg

Anyway, I checked upon my pedal. It definitely needs to be removed: a piece of iron has broken off it and it won't be long until it falls off altogether.
The pedals are firmly stuck and they are attached by Allen (or hex) screws in awkward and hard to reach places. I did try to loosen the one, but well, that bicycle is well over twenty years old and the screws are so rust shut I couldn't figure out which way to turn it. Lubrication didn't help either.
(As it turns out, the left pedal (which I was working on) needs to be spun in opposite direction: normally you'd turn anti-clockwise to loosen, but on the left pedal it's clockwise, otherwise you'd unscrew the pedal while cycling. I didn't know that and spent quite some time not-spinning it in the wrong direction.)

Cleaning my show sure was easier, although gross (and naturally the poop was on the left shoe, and it was the left pedal that broke, so my attempt at un-screwing it was even more appalling).

punknaynowned - 20-10-2009 at 18:03

You call them Allen screws too!!!
WOW!

But I think it is the direction that you face the screw that matters ...
but of course, it is not in front of me, so I can't tell!

show is what gets put on in a theater
shoe is what gets put on your foot :roll:

Good on you I say!! You made me realize another instance where English is just wrong and inconsistent!
A shoe that goes on your foot, SHOULD be pronounced 'shew' to our pronunciation as far as how it sounds to english speakers. But show sounds like a simple 'sho'. But English would normally put a silent 'e' after 'o' to make it sound long, except not in that case. Inconssitent.

I just spent an hour giving a solution to the Afghan war and the American political 'quagmire' that the left is stuck with here.
It answers the question, 'Who Needs The Peace Corp?'
You know, for the US to say, 'Woah! Look at the time! We have to be out of here, half past 2011 and we want you to be able to take care of yourselves. So we'll help you figger that out, but, we gotta go!'
We get them to do what we AND they don't want us to do and we can say we did our best at cleaning up the mess the Bushies gave us.
Anyway pretty proud of myself.

What's the weather like there? At least it didn't rain?

[Edited on 20-10-09 by punknaynowned]

MTF - 20-10-2009 at 19:20

A woman who works for my wife was just diagnosed with the swine flu.

polydigm - 21-10-2009 at 13:03

Jesus Bonny, that day your describing there was a real stinker!! :roll:

To be serious though, I feel for you, having some kind of bug makes things like that seem so much worse. I hope you're feeling better soon. A mate of mine is just getting over a prolonged bout of flu that ended up requiring asthma medicine to cope with, even though he's not an asthmatic. I'm considering getting flu shots, I've never tried them before.

BBP - 21-10-2009 at 13:21

No, we call them Inbus screws. Inbus is an acronym for Innensechskantschraube Bauer und Schaurte. Innensechskantschraube is that beautiful German habit of sticking adjectives to nouns, in this case translates loosely to inside six side screw, and Bauer und Schaurte is the company that invented them in 1931.
Yeah Punk, you're right. Normally whenever you face a screw it should turn clockwise to tighten. But on the left pedal you should turn it anti-clockwise to tighten. The wire is in reverse. That's because, otherwise if you'd have a regular screw, you'd un-screw it while cycling. And that's a bad idea.

Gosh I'm learning so much about bicycles. I've missed my call.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eCdIe0wdvU

Yeah Poly flu shots may be a great idea! Flu is something that will completely incapacitate you once you acquire it. I just have a bad cold now, but the last time I had influenza it struck me twice in the same month, couldn't process food for days, lost a lot of energy. Flu is BAD.

Hope your missus stays clear from the flu, MTF...

BBP - 23-10-2009 at 07:36

Walked in vain to the bicycle repair office. I genuinely thought the sign said they were open until 8 on Thursday and Friday, but when I arrived after 6 they were closed. Mis-read. :freak:

punknaynowned - 23-10-2009 at 10:38

I never want some things from some stores until they are closed.
Like the thing with the left pedal nut.
i don't remember that and that bothers me. I keep wanting to rationalize it away and say, 'Oh, they do that in europe, but not over here', or 'My bike was probably made in Asia and with a different standardization or prioritization of methods in manufacture, with the pedals and screws being the same.' or something like that.
One of these days i will find my set of Inbus wrenches and find out myself. Meanwhile I want what I haven't got and can't remember what's right.

"Dreaming is hard without anything over your head."
Just awoke from a dream where I was at a marvelous party at a typical American restaurant, like a Denny's or IHOP with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in a while. As is usual I got distracted or went out to get something and got distracted and when I came back all my friends were gone. Missed them! Maybe they ditched me. The thought did cross my mind though that they wouldn't get far before they realized I was gone. But then I rolled over and woke myself up.

BBP - 23-10-2009 at 13:46

You know I very often dream I go into a CD-store that's having execution sale, and all the albums you REALLY want are there and dead cheap, so you buy a shiplad of CDs... and then I wake up and don't have any of them. :pissed:

Just picked up my bicycle! It's a bit odd because the pedals aren't shaped like feet anymore, but they twist very well! The one pedal on the right kept making a clicking noise, and that's gone too now!
Repair was dead cheap too, only 12,50 E. That's little compared to what we had to do to remove the pedals off my sister's bicycle oh so many years ago.
It was about 12 years ago, still in our old house. I had to hold back the bike as Dad was violently hitting the Allen screwdrivers with a hammer. As there was no progress and he broke all the Allen screwdrivers we had that size, he proceeded to drill out the screw. And he broke a drill. I was holding that bike and that was effin creepy, especially with Dad getting more and more frustrated.

punknaynowned - 23-10-2009 at 15:07

I guess you would remember it then since it was so difficult!

Much of this summer/fall I have been moving things in dreams, from one place to another. The item itself isn't consistent, but my emotional/symbolic importance is what seems important. The thing can be a book or a key or anything but it it is what I associate the item with in my memory ... that picks up again in the next or later dream. I'll spend a bunch of dreams trying to find this particular thing and then find out it is not a book or whatever I am looking for it is another item but it will *feel* the same and so I'll know that's it.
WHY I felt so driven to move things around? I have no idea except that it mimics what I do for work. Everything has a place to go.

BBP - 23-10-2009 at 20:25

Oh that's probably it. I have had so many dreams where I went to college or school or newspaper round... It's horrible if your dreams mimick what you do in real life, you just don't rest!

I'm discovering the joys of the Wayback machine!

BBP - 24-10-2009 at 10:42

When we returned from the supermarket, we discovered a suspicious noise coming from the front left car tire. A bolt had magically bored itself into the tire. So we went to the garage.
Amazing. It takes less time to fix a car tire than a bicycle tire.

punknaynowned - 25-10-2009 at 06:33

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Oh that's probably it. I have had so many dreams where I went to college or school or newspaper round... It's horrible if your dreams mimick what you do in real life, you just don't rest!

I'm discovering the joys of the Wayback machine!

the way I understand it's not horrible but necessary...
our subconscioius has to process all we do and go through but according to IT'S own priorities. So we do all these things IN OUR DREAMS to 'unwind' and sort out all the things we do and think thru the day. Because if we don't get proper dream time or as some call it REM time, we get grumpy, clumsy, more easily disoriented thru the day when we are suposed to be awake.
Really, plus
MTF or Dr Noomie might have more detailed info about this...

BBP - 25-10-2009 at 20:27

Maybe I'm walking in my sleep again. Sometimes I get spasms when I'm asleep and they wake me up. It's creepy. Usually it's my right arm moving on its own.

BBP - 26-10-2009 at 08:18

Yesterday's flea market gave me a black eye. Some dopey had this wooden clown on a wooden parachute hanging next to his table. It hung over the aisle. My father was walking ahead of me and caused the clown to be lifted along, giving it enough momentum to swing back hard into my eye.

I definitely ran out of patience there. Geez.

punknaynowned - 26-10-2009 at 14:05

"Safety First!"

Did you poke the puppet in the eye? :-P

BBP - 26-10-2009 at 18:31

I pulled it off and threw it on the market stand of its owner. My eye is mildly black now.

Bought a guitar today! I'll post pics of it later.

BBP - 27-10-2009 at 13:41

Seems like the spammers have emerged from their slumber... leading me to believe that they're just some punk kids trying to earn a buck with it.

BBP - 28-10-2009 at 11:43

There's this creepy guy on YouTube PM-ing me. I think he has more interests than my videos.

Speaking of which: I got a friendly e-mail from my ex-boyfriend. He hasn't contacted me in two years! :puzzled:

Edit: So I made an appointment to meet him tomorrow! Kinda bizzarre how quickly that went. I'm very shaky!

[Edited on 28-10-09 by BBP]

MTF - 29-10-2009 at 07:55

I will now predict the future: :singer:

Tomorrow, my neighbor will have a baby. It will be a boy.

BBP - 29-10-2009 at 07:59

Ah! Caesarian then? Sounds great, although I hope you don't share a wall, that's usually inconvenient.

Well, I'm up for a big adventure today, meeting my ex...

BBP - 4-11-2009 at 17:18

Broke a pan lid. Damn. I'm a klutz.

BBP - 6-11-2009 at 08:47

Yesterday I went to visit my blind friend. It was great! She cooked for me (spaghetti). It's always interesting to get a glimpse of the troubles she faces every day. For instance, she couldn't find her oven gloves. I helped in her search, but they couldn't be found anywhere. So she had to phone her cleaning lady.

BBP - 12-11-2009 at 19:01

Scrubbed the toilets. Blegh.

Dad and I will be visiting the GLOW festival today. Photos coming up!

MTF - 16-11-2009 at 08:23

I finally got fed up with Windows Vista. So tonight I ordered Windows 7.

If it just doesn't suck as bad, I'll be happy...

BBP - 16-11-2009 at 10:16

Oh, I've heard lots of positive things about 7 from one of the testers I know... It can never be as bad, can it? I mean, when I started up the PC and it took 10 and a half hours... :umm:

On Saturday Dad and I visited GLOW Eindhoven again. It was a bit of a downer, there were sections where we walked quite a distance to watch a few spotlights in the water. But there was another show we caught, called Glisssando. A group of 9 (1 female), dressed as monks, with a hat on fire and standing on some segway-thing below their costumes, playing music (like Philip Glass and Steve Reich). Their show took half an hour and we were waiting for 20 minutes... but the crowd! Man it was huge! I did have a place at the front but the videos I made don´t look so good. Maybe I´ll upload the best one (and that one is still pathetic).

We also salvaged my Yma Sumac CD from the player. In the process, I had to unplug the device, and in doing so I scratched my head on a stump of the nearby palm. I now have a highly unaesthetic scratch over my right eyebrow.

Huck_Phlem - 17-11-2009 at 18:33

If it took 10-1/2 hours to boot up then there has got to be a problem with the computer. You would need to re-install the original software I think. at least that is how it works on Mac's. (each computer comes with restore cd's) That is why I have not been able to come on here because my laptop needs the disc one of two of the restore cd's. I am waiting till one shows up on ebay.

BBP - 17-11-2009 at 20:29

The Automatic Updates were on. At the time, whenever we installed a new update, there'd be a newer one online the next day. Usually we skipped all that and switched off the AU.
It had suddenly started off by itself. What exactly it was doing? We'll never know. The PC was usable to some extent but most of the CPU was sucked up by whatever it was working on.

It's working OK now... except for our ATI Radeon graphic card which gives me a BSoD whenever I've played Gabriel Knight 3.

MTF - 19-11-2009 at 10:20

I received the Windows 7 disc today. Spent much of the afternoon installing it.

So far, so good.

Goodbye, Vista...

BBP - 19-11-2009 at 16:02

Please MT, tell us all about your findings!

Today I scrubbed the bathroom and dropped a bottle of bath salt. You know, one of those pretty ones that stood idle for years because it looked too nice to use.

MTF - 22-11-2009 at 09:39

I finally figured out why my computer was locking up occasionally. It was my video card. Now I don't live in constant fear of crashes. Hooray...

Windows 7 is indeed better than Vista. The taskbar has some nice improvements, such as letting you move a window to the front temporarily just by moving the mouse over the window's icon. Explorer still has some problems, like not refreshing file lists when it should. And I also had some trouble getting Windows to recognize all three of my USB drives. I had to uninstall the drivers to get Plug and Play to work.

Windows 7 is definitely worth the $85 it cost me (most places sell it for $120) and the half a day it took to install it.

BBP - 22-11-2009 at 12:53

That's great! We've considered a downgrade for quite a while. Well, you know... anything's better than Vista! I've spewed my hatred of it on various forums. I even wrote a letter to our newspaper when they wrote that a PC should start up in 2 minutes (ours takes 5 on a good day).

BBP - 24-11-2009 at 19:38

Baked speculaas today. It tastes great! Somehow though I think it won't last until the end of the week.

MTF - 25-11-2009 at 00:50

Today I bought some tickets, so now I have tickets to see three upcoming shows; all at the same theater.We have:

Zappa Plays Zappa on December 2nd
The White Album Ensemble on December 29th
The Residents on January 23rd

The White Album Ensemble is a rotating group of local musicians who do a show every Christmas where they play one or two Beatles albums in their entirety. They originally formed specifically to play The White Album. This will be the first time they've played it in four or five years (last year they did Abbey Road and Let It Be).

I have to go to the Residents' show all by myself. The rest of my family hates them (Mrs. Flycoon says she still has bad dreams about the Bunny Boy). But my sixteen-year-old daughter is going with me to see ZPZ, so all is not lost...

Huck_Phlem - 25-11-2009 at 01:50

Where is ZPZ playing? You're down in Santa Cruz aren't you? I am making Irish Soda Bread right now. yummm!

MTF - 25-11-2009 at 03:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Huck_Phlem
Where is ZPZ playing? You're down in Santa Cruz aren't you?

http://www.riotheatre.com/

It's about three blocks from our house

Huck_Phlem - 25-11-2009 at 08:53

I wish Estradasphere would open for them!

BBP - 25-11-2009 at 09:47

Looks neat MT!

Huck_Phlem - 27-11-2009 at 05:47

I tried to cook with philo dough. I made an apple thing with pie filling and it was a bit soggy in the very middle but I think it's really good. Next Time I think I'll bring the temp up to 425F and then see how it works out.

I want to try to make Baklava. mmmmm

BBP - 27-11-2009 at 09:00

Had a hard time getting up (some asshole lit fireworks last night, and the storms outside...) this morning. Discovered my coat was still wet from yesterday's visit to the town centre (I got myself a nose flute), so I had to wear my extra-thick winter coat without hood. It was a bit too warm.

Made my way to the delivery station, where I had to fold 60 extra sections into 60 newspapers. Ugh.

My bag became loaded, and as a result, bound too tight so it was troublesome getting out the newspapers.

Early on in the round, my bicycle fell over. This caused the front mudguard to get too close to the wheel. I tried to kick it back, but it took me quite some time before it was out of the way. Time I didn't have, so I tried to fix this issue whilst delivering newspapers. Because the tire got rubbed against the mudguard, it gave so much friction it was very heavy to get forward.

And at the halfway point, it started to rain. One of those days...

punknaynowned - 27-11-2009 at 12:25

I always hated that :umm:

BBP - 27-11-2009 at 18:52

punknaynowned - 27-11-2009 at 21:45

that's pretty!
what is it?
ha!
almond pizza?
I am feeling like a dumb tourist today
forgive me

BBP - 28-11-2009 at 14:38

Gevulde speculaas.

Speculaas refers to all cookies with a certain spice mix (although there are probably countless varieties):
15 gr of cinnamon
2 gr of ground cloves
2 gr of ground nutmeg
1 gr of white pepper
1 gr of powdered ginger
1/2 gr of cardamom

This way of preparation gives a soft, sweet & spicy kind of cake. It's stuffed with almond paste.
To be edited to contain full recipe:

punknaynowned - 28-11-2009 at 15:16

Cake! it looks maybe 25cm across
I thought at first they were almonds
though I suppose they could be roasted sesames on a cookie size...
but no, and hot-spicy too!
Speculaas, that's an interesting word. We have speculate in english as a verb. I also remember it being related through misuse to scapula but in Latinized languages.

BBP - 28-11-2009 at 16:38

Recipe for gevulde speculaas:
200 gr of flour/baking powder mix (couldn't find Eng. transl)
125 gr of brown sugar
2 tablesp. of the spice mix described above
150 gr of unsalted butter
2 tablesp of milk
2 eggs
300 gr of almond paste
55 gr of almonds (to decorate it)
flour
salt

Grab your sieve.
Siefe the flour+baking powder, the sugar, the spices and a dash of salt into a mixing bowl.
Cut the butter into small pieces and put them in the bowl.
Add the milk.
Knead until you have a smooth dough, then roll it into a ball.
Wrap the ball in plastic foil and put it in the fridge for an hour.

Beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water in a bowl.
Take the almond paste and another bowl. Break the paste into small pieces and put these in the bowl. Add half of the beaten egg. Mix with a fork until you can smear it.

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees Celsius
Take out the baking sheet before it's hot in there. Make sure there's a free space in the middle of the oven for it.
Cover the baking sheet with waxed paper.
Strew flour over your workspace and rolling pin (to prevent the dough from sticking too much. This is a necessity.)
Divide the doughball into 2 equal parts.
Roll them both into sheets of 15*30 cm.
Put one sheet on the baking sheet.
Spread the almond paste over it. Make sure you leave a small border around the paste layer.
Put the other sheet on top. Press the sides of the sheets together.
Smear the remainder of the egg over the dough. Decorate it with almonds. Put the baking sheet in the middle of the oven.

The speculaas will be ready in 40 to 45 minutes. Take it out and let it cool.

Huck_Phlem - 28-11-2009 at 21:47

wow I thought it was confinement loaf.

Hey I got my laptop fixed!!!!! Whoooooo Hooooooo! Plus I got an antenna and digital converter so my kids can watch the boob tube but the only thing that comes in on a regular basis is the Mexican chanels. hahahaha

MTF - 29-11-2009 at 03:17

Watch out: my daughter got her driver's license on Wednesday.

We went to Lake Tahoe for Thanksgiving, so she got to learn how to drive in the snow. So far, she's turning out to be a better driver than Tiger Woods.

(but Tiger's a better putter)...

BBP - 29-11-2009 at 12:06

:bald:

Congratz on your daughter MT!

Huck_Phlem - 29-11-2009 at 18:20

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF
Watch out: my daughter got her driver's license on Wednesday.

We went to Lake Tahoe for Thanksgiving, so she got to learn how to drive in the snow. So far, she's turning out to be a better driver than Tiger Woods.

(but Tiger's a better putter)...

Where did you eat?

MTF - 30-11-2009 at 08:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Huck_Phlem
Where did you eat?

The Sunnyside Inn in West Lake. It was rather expensive, but quite pleasant...

BBP - 30-11-2009 at 09:12

This friendly guy came over to clean out our household ventilation system. He was impressed my my father's tape recorder collection and he had a go on the pinball table. And we got new ventilations everywhere. Our toilets are a lot noisier now but I assume that it's for the benefit of all of us.

Huck_Phlem - 1-12-2009 at 08:54

Westlake is nice!

punknaynowned - 1-12-2009 at 10:56

B, I obviously don't live over there and so feel I can't comment, but I do feel you are 100% correct about the nationalist agitation. It is a vicious cycle that feeds and gets bigger on ignorance and starts with the individual and how they think about things.
Of course, amazingly, you said it better than I could in other than your native language!
>hats off<
>bow<
:bald:

BBP - 1-12-2009 at 19:30

Thanks! I can't believe how anyone could believe PVV. It... it boggles the mind, you know... Gosh. I truly hate the Zappa forum right now. Nothing sensible in weeks. I spend more time on my own forum even without counting the daily spam chuck.

polydigm - 1-12-2009 at 21:50

I've just been checking my post history. Did I really not come here between September 06 and March 08? That's almost a year and a half. I was under the impression back in September 06 that you were closing down the Goose, maybe that's why I stopped coming for a while - I can't remember.

Anyway, my news is that after an up and down year of work with pieced together contracts, teaching some really painful classes, I've finally got myself a contract for the whole of next year in a college where I really want to be with my ideal part time fraction of 0.6, teaching three Physics classes. These are international fee paying students, all in their late teens, and they're all there to do the work. It's called foundation studies - it's like a final year high school course to prepare students for university. Okay some of them have typical teenage attitudes but you don't get any of the discipline problems like in a regular high school.

MTF - 2-12-2009 at 07:00

Teaching three Physics classes only brings you up to 60% of full-time? Holy moley. Unless you're just lecturing straight out of the textbook, that sounds like a full-time job to me.

Does that include grading tests and homework?

BBP - 2-12-2009 at 09:22

Wow Poly! That's great news!

You were indeed away for a long time... in '07 things were so bad with the Goose that we only had one regular visitor outside DED and me; namely Scallopino, who I presume is busy now. I was indeed very close to shutting it down, but my father wouldn't hear of it. And now I'm real glad for it!
I have something up my sleeve for Zappadan, btw. But I'll post a newsletter and drop a word on Zappa.com about it.

polydigm - 2-12-2009 at 20:59

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF: Teaching three Physics classes only brings you up to 60% of full-time? Holy moley. Unless you're just lecturing straight out of the textbook, that sounds like a full-time job to me. Does that include grading tests and homework?

Full time is 20 contact hours out of 38 per week. Each main subject has four contact hours including lectures, labs and tutorials. You do your marking and prep in the non contact hours. For me it's 12 contact hours and 10.8 hours prep time and, remember that I'm doing exactly the same thing in each of those three classes.

The only down side to the job is that it's an american owned school and comes with matching working conditions, like you only get a 47 week contract so they don't have to pay for your holidays at the end of the year. Mind you, the salary is higher than in the state school system, so I end up with a little less but not by much for a far more preferable job.

MTF - 3-12-2009 at 09:01

I saw Zappa Plays Zappa tonight. It was the last show of their tour. They played for almost three hours.

I'm trying to upload a scan of the setlist to my Photobucket account, but they're doing some site maintenance right now. I'll try again later...

Okay, it should work now:

People kept yelling for Inca Roads throughout the show. Dweezil finally gave in at the beginning of the encore.

[Edited on 12/3/2009 by MTF]

BBP - 3-12-2009 at 15:55

How was it? How was it?

BBP - 4-12-2009 at 08:55

Voted for Frank in the annual Top 2000.

polydigm - 4-12-2009 at 09:30

I've been teaching myself to play alto sax for 3 weeks now and during this last week I've had a go at two Zappa tunes. I'm still working on We Are Not Alone, but here's a link to a YouTube video of me playing Eat That Question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIu02pkeR8g

[Edited on 4-12-09 by polydigm]

BBP - 4-12-2009 at 21:10

Very cool Poly!
Can I call you Zoot now?

[Edited on 4-12-09 by BBP]

MTF - 4-12-2009 at 21:46

Quote:

Originally posted by BBPCan I call you Zoot now?

Just don't call him Scheila...

polydigm - 4-12-2009 at 22:12

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF: Just don't call him Scheila...

Of course, there's no comparison, she's left handed. :rolleyes:

MTF - 5-12-2009 at 01:58

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigmOf course, there's no comparison, she's left handed. :rolleyes:

That means she's right handed in the Southern Hemisphere, right?

Right?

Calvin - 5-12-2009 at 05:21

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm
I've been teaching myself to play alto sax for 3 weeks now and during this last week I've had a go at two Zappa tunes. I'm still working on We Are Not Alone, but here's a link to a YouTube video of me playing Eat That Question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIu02pkeR8g

[Edited on 4-12-09 by polydigm]

John Coltrane was a poser.

polydigm - 5-12-2009 at 08:30

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF:

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigmOf course, there's no comparison, she's left handed. :rolleyes:

That means she's right handed in the Southern Hemisphere, right? Right?

I think you may have that front to back, or is it down side up? :rolleyes:

polydigm - 5-12-2009 at 08:32

Quote:

Originally posted by Calvin: John Coltrane was a poser.

What can you do with a guy like that?

BBP - 5-12-2009 at 11:00

Marry him?

Huck_Phlem - 5-12-2009 at 21:17

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigmOf course, there's no comparison, she's left handed. :rolleyes:

That means she's right handed in the Southern Hemisphere, right?

Right?

Left.

polydigm - 5-12-2009 at 22:44

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP: Marry him?

Yeah, and the sax would be great. :freak:

MTF - 6-12-2009 at 09:32

Indeed...

BBP - 7-12-2009 at 13:02

Had my ol-time friend of 12 years come to visit. He chatted a lot with my sister. Hmmm...

I baked more gevulde speculaas becasue of St Nicholas on the 5th. Yesterday there was still quite a lot left, but today I can't find any at all. Hmmmm...

polydigm - 7-12-2009 at 20:44

Isn't it funny how you can be sitting around minding your own business and a phone call out of the blue changes everything? Well, now it seems I have 1 continuing physics class starting second semester (the college does mid year intakes), 1 new physics class and 1 new maths methods class starting first semester. So, all of a sudden, I have three sets of preparation. I don't mind though, it keeps things interesting.

BBP - 7-12-2009 at 21:49

Yes! Same goes for e-mails too!

aquagoat - 8-12-2009 at 20:23

Just bought that:

I should get it in a few days. :bouncy:

[Edited on 8-12-2009 by aquagoat]

polydigm - 8-12-2009 at 22:13

Hey Aqua, that's one sexy guitar. I wouldn't mind being able to afford to add to my collection of guitars, but I can't complain about what I've got.

punknaynowned - 9-12-2009 at 09:11

I've been listening to spring'73 shows for the last week:
2 March Tampa, FL
7 March Columbus, OH
11 March Arlington, TX
8 May Boston, MA
9 May Passaic, NJ
XX May Toronto

They sound the best of the tapes I have
typical setlists include
RDNZL, Dog-Meat
Fifty-Fifty
Inca Roads
Cosmik Debris
Montana
Dupree's Paradise

other things that show up at least once in these
Big Swifty
Uncle Remus
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
Yellow Snow Suite
Farther O'Blivion (a la Imaginary Diseases)
and
Green Genes-King Kong- Chunga's Revenge - Green Genes
as the typical show closer
really great!!!

punknaynowned - 9-12-2009 at 09:13

oh wow! That is a beautiful guitar Aqua!!!!

BBP - 9-12-2009 at 09:52

Very cool Aqua! Congratulations!

aquagoat - 9-12-2009 at 18:27

thank you all.

MTF - 9-12-2009 at 19:02

Sweet guitar.

I was going to mention that it looks like the model that Brian Setzer plays, but then I zoomed in on the picture and I realized why it looks like the model Brian Setzer plays...

BBP - 10-12-2009 at 10:27

Hey MT! Check out the joke thread for a lot more of those on an external link. Some are brilliant!

Had a little too much rain this morning... nothing Zappadan won't cure! I'm proud to say Zappa's back in my life full-scale and I'm enjoying every second!

Huck_Phlem - 11-12-2009 at 06:14

I joined the Dweezil zappa world. I think it's a pretty cool site. I am interested to see him do things away from Gail.

BBP - 11-12-2009 at 10:25

I thought that site looked incredibly ugly and I don't think I'll be joining another community for a while. I have 5 running now!

BBP - 11-12-2009 at 14:29

Well... tomorrow I'll be guiding a number of blind people through a theme park... hope that it doesn't too much collide with my Zappadan. But I'm looking forward to it, even though it's a lot of work.

aquagoat - 11-12-2009 at 21:46

received my new guitar today, too happy, photos tomorrow.

aquagoat - 12-12-2009 at 12:23

here it is:

punknaynowned - 12-12-2009 at 19:22

what a beauty!!!
can I ask how much??

BBP - 12-12-2009 at 21:57

Dice! Fantastic! Congratulations Aqua! It's a beauty!

Went to the Efteling agin this time with a group of blind people. My sister, myself and a third person were the sighty ones, and there were 10 visually impaired. It was a lot of fun, but it was very exhausting! I didn't make many photos but I'll upload them all the same!

aquagoat - 13-12-2009 at 12:53

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
what a beauty!!!
can I ask how much??

3200€ which is about 4676$. which is expensive due to custom taxes etc, etc, but i don't care, it's worth it.

BBP - 13-12-2009 at 13:07

:shocked:

So, when can we hear you play it?

aquagoat - 13-12-2009 at 14:03

when I've got my amp home, or perhaps I'll ask someone to lend me his.

BBP - 14-12-2009 at 12:15

Frost is coming up here! Brrrr...

BBP - 16-12-2009 at 12:07

BBP 2009

Family drama: Granny's hospitalization
Family joy: breaking off contact with my mother
Friend drama: death of long-time acquaintance's son (he was 20)
Friend joy: NYE party at my blind friend's house. CHAOS!!
Love life joy: being reunited with my sweetheart!

Top purchase: tubular bells
Worst purchase: 4 Dogs Playing Poke 'r DVD
Best present: Duckman seasons 3 & 4 DVD box
Worst present: 4 Dogs Playing Poke 'r DVD. I'd just bought that, watched the first twenty minutes and complained for the next hour to the donator how bad it was.

Best movie I've seen: ties between La Cage Aux Folles, Tales from Earthsea, Fanfare, Glas, 200 Motels, Rocky Horror and Clue.
Worst movie I've seen: 4 dogs playing poke 'r

Best music moment: ZPZ in De Effenaar!
Worst music moment: standing in the toy store carrying 2 packs of clay, then putting them down ASAP and running out because some moron put Spears on.
Best CD I bought: collected works of Yma Sumac
Worst CD I bought: something by Sigur Ros.

Biggest pat-yourself-on-the-back moment: identifying a painting that left dozens of others looking for it for months in vain.
Biggest head-thud moment: a 78-year old, tipsy driver tried to fake in my father at a gas station, when there wasn't enough room, causing a large scratch on dad's car door. The guy, in pajamas and cosy little footies, maintained unsuccessfully that it wasn't his fault.
Biggest find: 120 euros on my newspaper round.
Best impulse action: taking part in the World Record Attempt Jigsaw Making. We got it!

Small Moment Of joy: Watching Epke Zonderland take silver medal at the world championships on the bar.

Worst Bonny moment: getting lost in my home town of 25 years.
Worst I-Want-To-Die moment: having to re-tune our computer TV... right after the passing of Michael Jackson, so I had to listen to him all the time...
Biggest Technical Drama: death of my mega hard-disk on my old Win 98

aquagoat - 17-12-2009 at 12:39

hum, that was quite a year, especially with those 4 Dogs Playing Poke 'r. :-D

polydigm - 17-12-2009 at 12:40

Great stuff Bonny you're on quite a marathon there.

BBP - 17-12-2009 at 14:04

Thanks!

Another small moment of joy came yesterday. I took part in the Dutch National Dictation, at home in front of the telly.
Het Groot Dictee Der Nederlandse Taal is an event that takes place between St Nicholas and Christmas every year. Two newspapers in The Netherlands and Flanders write out a spelling quiz, and the 10 best Flemish and 20 best Dutch, along with 10 famous Belgians and 20 famous Dutchmen, take part in the finals.
A famous author (this year: Gerrit Komrij. He translated Cats into Dutch) writes a very difficult dictation especially for this final. It's held in the Dutch senate, read by famous newsanchors Martine Tanghe and Philip Freriks, and shown on both Belgian and Dutch national television.
It's very popular, this year was the 20th edition. The dictation was of mediocre difficulty compared to the rest, with an average of 29 errors in the final.
I've always been on the good side of the average. Last year it was close, with 28 when the average was 29, but I've scored 12 errors on three occasions and on one easier dictation I scored 7.
This year, I had 14.
The winner had 7, and came from Eindhoven too. Usually it's the Belgians who win.

To illustrate how difficult Dutch spelling is (it changes every 5 years), here's an example from this year's dictation:
...zij sprenkelde eau de cologne uit de eau-de-colognefles... No hyphen in the noun eau de cologne, but when it refers to the bottle, it DOES use hyphens. I had this one correct btw. One of my errors was that jezusfreaks (Jesusfreaks) does not spell with a capital.

BBP - 18-12-2009 at 17:13

My Frank-N-Feather remake:

I like him! He has this neat expression!

Batchain - 19-12-2009 at 02:52

Worst moment of late: Being talked out of going somewhere (A club.) because, "You really won't like it there, I'm going with all friends you don't know and they don't warm up to people they don't know, especially an older dude in his 40s (One of them is 42!) and, besides, you'd hate the band that's playing. So you'd be mainly by yourself all night. It would be a shitty night for you.
But I was thinking, after closing most don't just want to go home so I was going to have everybody come here but with my mom still going through all her depression it wouldn't be right to stress her out having my friends come here. So, I was thinking that if I kept mentioning you and talked you up to them we could come back to your place and chill. You've got five rooms so that's really cool! Does that sound OK to you?"

And worse? Yes. The "contest" he won to have a "3 hour VIP Freebie" at was at the same club I brought him to at my expense -- no cover for either of us because I knew the band -- but somehow (I still just can't fucking figure out how!) he made sure I had no idea there was any contest going on at all. Well, $30 each way by cab and just under $40 in overpriced drinks. 22 hours to go and I ain't! I can't imagine the titanium balls on him being huge enough to call and ask, "Can we come over to your place? The club just shut its doors. But if there's a complete asshole who could and would he's the one!

--Bat :pissed:

BBP - 19-12-2009 at 14:25

(Hugs Bat)

Huck_Phlem - 19-12-2009 at 19:54

13 months later still no fucking child support! Now the county has fucked it up!

BBP - 19-12-2009 at 22:24

(hugs Huck)

Huck_Phlem - 20-12-2009 at 04:09

I was supposed to be paid on the 1st but now it's the 19th and I finally got something but it's only half of what I was supposed to get. So now I have to wait another two weeks to get the full amount for December?

Now I see why they have bullet proof glass at the child support office!

aquagoat - 20-12-2009 at 13:22

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
My Frank-N-Feather remake:

I like him! He has this neat expression!

yeah, it's really good. :roll:

BBP - 21-12-2009 at 21:45

Thanks Aqua!

Prize for the worst reaction goes to DED:

"But he doesn't look at all like Frank Zappa!"

(then again, that was the point wasn't it?)

aquagoat - 22-12-2009 at 10:37

hahahaha

BBP - 22-12-2009 at 11:10

It's been very snowy out here. It was picture perfect when I first opened the curtains on Sunday, but minutes later it dawned on me: I'd have to deliver newspapers in those conditions the next day.

Yesterday was pretty awful. We're strongly under-staffed, our extra currently does 4 rounds (and no small ones either). On Monday she got stuck in traffic and didn't make it into work. Today she'd managed to get into an argument with the boss, but it's really she who pulls the strings.

Anyway the round itself was pretty miserable yesterday. Dad didn't bother to try and drive to work, so I saw him when I arrived at 7:11 (normally 640 on weekdays). I'd gotten up at 4:20 and left the house a few minutes later.

Today was even worse. It snowed again, not that much, but during my round. Egh.

And I cleared the snow from the pavement. I also made a little fort, but when I realized Dad would probably not appreciate that, I stopped working on it and shoved the snow to the side.

Huck_Phlem - 23-12-2009 at 06:55

You have a paper route?

BBP - 23-12-2009 at 09:06

Sure! I've been a replacement-deliverer for 10 years. I'm only used if there are way too little people working there, and I've worked continuously since June, before that I worked once a week, and last year I was stuck in another route for 6 months, so... We're short on staff, so if you can use a little extra cash, you know where to come...

Problem is, we're all free-lance workers, so the bosses don't have to worry about increasing salary and free days etc. The pay is good at times of economic bloom, but with the recession, well...

BBP - 24-12-2009 at 17:20

We've all had rough days today... I got up at 4:20 for my route, counted my newspapers, they were all there. As it's Christmas tomorrow, we had to deliver to all our subscribers, even the ones who normally only get the paper on Saturday. Meaning I had to deliver some 100 papers, and I had to fold in all the extras first.

The snow had mildly molten then frozen again, so it was rock solid, lumpy (ouch!) and slippery. It was pretty harsh.
Because I have so many thick papers I have to deliver them in two parts, so I go back to the delivery station halfway. While I was working, some moron took 3 newspapers from me, and because I made a mistake, I ended up with 4 papers short.
:swear:

Cycled back to the station and to the house of our boss, but I couldn't get any, so I thought "Screw them!" and cycled back home. It was nearly 8 when I got there, all freezing.

Dad and I had planned to go to the store together. They have an all-you-can-eat breakfast at E 1,50, next to nothing. Besides we could use extra groceries, as we forgot about Christmas.

But the car wouldn't start.
:swear:

I later walked to the nearby grocers, bought vegetables and meat. Walked all the way to the nearest magazine store to get a newspaper as the shortage had apparently affected the delivery of newspapers to the grocers and gasstation where I was.
Bought a newspaper. Went back home. Dad decided to try the car again. Cycled to the gas station with much trouble (snow) to get petrol (our car takes both LPG and regular gasoline: you have to start the car with latter. We knew we were short on gasoline.).
Dad came home, after much slipping, with very dirty gasoline hands. The car didn't work, and now the house smells of petrol.
:swear:

I went back to the grocers again because Dad was not happy with my selection (no christmas bread or any snacks) so I had to go back and get some more stuff.
:swear:

Oh, one of those days..

aquagoat - 26-12-2009 at 09:55

Poor Bonny! :-*

BBP - 26-12-2009 at 11:16

Thanks! We're having a fun christmas right now though. We finally got round to watching one Hitchcock.

MTF - 27-12-2009 at 10:56

We bought a new car today.

My wife's getting to be a big mucky-muck at her company. She was driving an eight-year-old Volkswagen - which is an okay car - but I thought she needed something a bit more commensurate with her stature. So she did a lot of research, and decided that what she really wanted was a Honda CR-V.

Last weekend she told the local Honda dealer exactly what she wanted, and how much she was willing to pay. So this morning - the day after Christmas - the dealer called her to say they had done a trade with another dealer, and that her car would arrive on the delivery truck about 1pm.

We got there about 1:30, and the car was waiting for us. We test drove it. Then we basically looked at each other and nodded. Two hours later the paperwork was done, and we drove it home. As the Honda ads say, simple.

The best part is that our daughter, who got her driver's license a month ago, gets the Volkswagen as a late Christmas present.

BBP - 27-12-2009 at 20:49

Aw neat MT!

Our car wouldn't start again today.

BBP - 28-12-2009 at 10:21

Same story today. We had the car towed out a few minutes back. We're keeping our fingers crossed, hoping it can still be fixed.

BBP - 29-12-2009 at 14:26

Got a flat tire on my newspaper round. Cause was a long piece of iron shrapnel, about as long as a ring diameter and as thin as a needle. Because I cycled a little on it while my tire was flat, it gave two punctures near each other.

Fortunately I was nearly done AND close to home. Whew!

After I had patched the two leaks and put the tube and tire on the wheel, I heard a muffled blowing sound coming from underneath. One of the patches hadn't stuck on properly. So I could do it all over again. Whoopee.

Yesterday I looked for the section of Cranford II (a dreadfully boring English costume drama starring Judi Dench) that I'd been waiting for: four minutes. Uploaded them onto my account, but at the advice of another forumer I removed it very quickly. I don't want to lose my account now. I haven't backed up most videos.

Today I uploaded it again. Created a special account for it too. I'm now a 63-year old male from Beverly Hills.

aquagoat - 29-12-2009 at 20:28

pretty sexy, for your age. hahaha

polydigm - 31-12-2009 at 02:39

Now that I've cracked this YouTube thing I got around to making a couple more videos and uploaded them today. One is me playing one of my compositions on acoustic guitar and the other is me playing another Zappa tune on the alto sax, now that I've been playing more than six weeks, this time with an accompaniment. You'll find them with the following links.

Multiple Folds

We Are Not Alone

Edit: I redid the guitar video because I originally used a program that reverses the sense in the video and makes me look left handed. The Eat That Question video will have to stay with me left handed as that's me after three weeks and I can't redo that can I? And, I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a left handed saxophone.

MTF - 31-12-2009 at 08:59

Today my wife Kathy spoke with her sister, who's a professor at the University of Wyoming.

On Christmas she attended a party with a bunch of other people who were away from their families for the holidays. One of them was a sociology professor from Los Angeles, named Maggie.

After the party, Maggie went home. Before going to bed, she went outside to have a smoke. It was about 10 degrees F, and snowing. Maggie slipped on the front steps of her house, hit her head and was knocked unconscious.

She froze to death. They didn't find her until the next afternoon, when someone noticed her shoes poking up through the snow.

Kathy's sister says she's been having nightmares. I can't blame her...

BBP - 31-12-2009 at 09:14

Goodness, that's horrible! (shivers) -12 C...

polydigm - 31-12-2009 at 11:54

Apparently this recently happened to someone in the UK as well in very similar circumstances. Kind of focusses your attention, doesn't it?

BBP - 31-12-2009 at 14:05

Today I went to deliver the New Year's cards from my paper route. You know that's when you go up to the door, ring the bell, wish the residents a happy new year and then they give you a tip.
I don't like the idea of doing that. It's frustrating when they ring my bell because I feel so obligated to give something on the spot, and there's never enough cash around... So I'd planned to write on every card to donate any tip to charity.

That writing was a bit too much. Plus I had to do quite a bit of writing because we didn't get the cards from one paper and way too many from the other ("Dear subcriber, because we have too little NRC cards we give you a Volkskrant card instead"). Instead I just put the card in the door, if anyone feels obliged to give they usually hang an envelope with content on the door. I found one only once.

I saw 1 lady with the financial paper. She was too busy with her groceries to see what I was up to.
4 people opened the door for me. I convinced two of them to donate my tip to charity, and the other two gave me ten euros.
(I have 100 subscribers. If they all give me 10 euros...)

MTF - 1-1-2010 at 11:05

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm
Apparently this recently happened to someone in the UK as well in very similar circumstances. Kind of focusses your attention, doesn't it?

Uh huh.

We bought a car last week, and we gave my wife's old car to our sixteen-year-old daughter. Talk about focusing your attention...

BBP - 2-1-2010 at 10:39

It's snowing now! And freezing. Fortunately my round was easy. I got three envelopes with in total 20 euros for New Year's tip.

MTF - 3-1-2010 at 09:54

Here's a good one. On New Year's Day I was driving downtown. I went past the local 7-11 (a convenience store). It was surrounded by yellow Police tape; and in the parking lot were five Police cars, two ambulances and a white van.

It turned out that the white van was from the Coroner's Office. That morning there was a murder/suicide in the store.

Happy New Year...

[Edited on 1/3/2010 by MTF]

BBP - 3-1-2010 at 12:32

Cosy... It's all happening around you MT... poor dear.

We went to visit Grandma yesterday and got caught in a lot of snowfall on the way back. It took us three hours to get home and we slipped several times.
I guess the secret word for today is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2UxyUgU2Ns

polydigm - 4-1-2010 at 04:27

What I meant by focussing one's attention was about how quickly things can come to pass and I need to knuckle down and focus on my goals for this new year. As if being 2010 isn't enough to do that.

MTF - 4-1-2010 at 09:55

Here's an interesting irony for you.

Alfred Hitchcock used to live just a few miles from here. When he was planning the filming of 'Psycho,' he looked around for a building to use as the model for the Bates Motel. He found that building right here in Santa Cruz, at the corner of Ocean Street and Broadway.

Sadly, the building was torn down many years ago. But the place where it stood is right across the street from the store where the murder/suicide happened...

punknaynowned - 4-1-2010 at 21:14

yes,MTF, that's deffo an life-imitating-art irony
creepy

Poly -- I wish I had your resolve. Good luck!!

BBP - 6-1-2010 at 13:49

As a kid I loved to play with clay.
The last time I made something out of clay, I was 12. I had to make a bowl at school by rolling lengthy snakes out of lumps, putting them on top of each other, and molding them together. I was miserable at it. I never got further than three stacked snakes, and then my bowl would invariably crumble. We were given three classes for it. By the third, I'd given up so many times I didn't have any clay with my name on it. So I sneakily told the teacher my work was missing, and so I could move on to the next assignment. Which I didn't finish either.

Today I thought I'd revenge on that bowl. So I tried to make one using the same method... to fail.

Eventually I put most clay back in the package, and made a funny square head out of the remainder.

DED - 7-1-2010 at 22:33

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF
Here's an interesting irony for you.

Alfred Hitchcock used to live just a few miles from here. When he was planning the filming of 'Psycho,' he looked around for a building to use as the model for the Bates Motel. He found that building right here in Santa Cruz, at the corner of Ocean Street and Broadway.

Sadly, the building was torn down many years ago. But the place where it stood is right across the street from the store where the murder/suicide happened...

WAs it only the Motel or also the house where Mum (not) live

MTF - 8-1-2010 at 09:31

Quote:

Originally posted by DEDWAs it only the Motel or also the house where Mum (not) live

Just the house:

BBP - 10-1-2010 at 14:29

I love that house! (And Anthony Perkins too.)

It's snowing again. And poor Dad had only just swiped our pavement!

BBP - 11-1-2010 at 14:17

Scored another fluke at the second hand store:
For 50 cents I found this:
[url]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zelda's-Adventure---Phillips-CDI-Game-RARE-Nintendo_W0QQitemZ290366689172QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20091105?IMSfp=TL091105177001 r12647[/url]

BBP - 12-1-2010 at 15:35

Attempting to clear the house.

Adding to my post above:
Zelda's Adventure is the last of the three Zelda-games made for CD-I. It was made by the time CD-i was already dying. It met some very bad reviews: the animation has a very low frame-rate, the game controls are impossible, and the acting is dreadful.

As a result, Zelda's Adventure became an oddity. At a recent auction it fetched 58 British pounds, a current Dutch auctioner is selling his copy for 125 euros, and in recession-tame days it would score around $300 in auctions.

I, however, found it for 50 cents in the second-hand store.

BBP - 14-1-2010 at 16:55

Cycled to town today. A bookstore had an artbook box I was interested in. It wasn't cheap, but that was OK since I still have that prize I won with a crossword years ago: 50 euros in book coupons.

Anyway lots of snow prevented me from undertaking any large cycling trip that I wouldn't get paid for, but today I decided to go anyway.

It was sold already. Damn.

MTF - 15-1-2010 at 10:13

I'm told that these days some bookstores have telephones... :duh:

BBP - 15-1-2010 at 12:26

... I think I described my phobia of telephones earlier on in this topic, and I'm too embarrassed to discuss it again...

BBP - 15-1-2010 at 15:29

Removed a video in my BB-account for copyright violation.

WHich one? Oh, you probably missed it: it's my dad's impression collage of the photos and videos that we made during the prize festival of Het Financiele Dagblad, when I won 1000 euros because I'm so good at my paper route. He had used one of those songs he got for free with our Vista on the background. It had gotten 200 viewers in two years time, some losers gave it one star (so that yours truly, also loser, logged in under her male-63-from-Beverly-Hills account and gave it five stars), and out of the blue I get copyright issues with it. Stupid.

MTF - 16-1-2010 at 04:38

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
... I think I described my phobia of telephones earlier on in this topic, and I'm too embarrassed to discuss it again...

Ah, I'm afraid I missed that. My apologies, Bonny.

BBP - 18-1-2010 at 10:46

No worries, dear.

Things aren't looking too rosy on the BB edge. Saturday I had the shock of opening the door to my mother's husband (you may remember I broke with my mother a year ago), so I closed it immediately, put on the locks, closed all the living room curtains, went upstairs and ignored all the bell ringing. (that's pretty hard. Our doorbell's designed to give you a heart attack)

After that I grabbed my clay (after phoning my sister in panic, but she didn't answer) and started claying. Great stress relief!

And that night my grandmother was hospitalized again. Oh dear...

BBP - 19-1-2010 at 20:13

Today was uneventful, thank goodness. I could use a break after last weekend.

Tomorrow I will be doing two routes, as one of my colleagues is unavailable. Not looking forward to it, I'll have to get up at 4AM now.

BBP - 20-1-2010 at 10:57

Which I did this morning. I was home by 8. Guh. I felt horrible, pain in back and hips... feeling sleepy and hungry, coming home too tired to fix breakfast... I need a hug.

polydigm - 20-1-2010 at 23:51

You'll have to get a hug emoticon, Bonny. Hang in there.

BBP - 21-1-2010 at 10:30

I cannot add one! Even though I added several previously (such as the :pissed:

and

). That was when we were still with Servage. I really don't know how to do that anymore.

Either way I did make the "hugging pumpkin" once. Another forum I frequented at the time had a group hug smiley, so to improve loveliness on zappa.com I made one to suit the group there.

Is it still here? I wonder...

I couldn't get it animated. Even though I did colour every pumpkin picture. I was PISSED!

[Edited on 21-1-10 by BBP]

polydigm - 21-1-2010 at 22:52

Pissed as in drunk or pissed as in angry? I have to say, I'm not used to you using such language!

BBP - 22-1-2010 at 10:12

I was really angry. It had taken me hours colouring all those pumpkins, and then I couldn't get them to work!
There are no good "mild" words that could describe the state I was in, only understatements.

BBP - 23-1-2010 at 20:50

Today was the last of four days.
We're in the middle of the bonus period now. They have such events twice a year to ensure good delivery: one is in the summer (work 9 weeks and get 11 paid) and the other one in January (work 9 weeks and get 10). I suddenly received much more complaints because I had to get up so early (and still finished way too late). Yesterday I had to explain it all three times to people who I caught walking out.
I'd be pretty angry if I'd lose my bonus because my colleague couldn't find a single replacement, which I said to my boss. She was kind enough to say that, if that would happen, she'd give me my colleague's bonus instead.

This morning was nasty. Normally the newspapers arrive at 4 (I'd be on the job at that time, get up 15 minutes earlier and race myself to the station), but today they came at 5! I'll receive extra money for the waiting, but... to be honest... I'd rather have an extra hour of zleep. I'm exhausted. And feeling sick.

BBP - 24-1-2010 at 15:12

Had fourteen hours of sleep last night. I feel good, although still a little sick.
Today is my boyfriend's birthday. I wonder how he is, it's been a while!

BBP - 27-1-2010 at 14:39

Found something I was looking for!

Chinese Girl by Vladimir Tretchikoff. It's in Hitchcock's Frenzy and in Rocky Horror.

BBP - 27-1-2010 at 19:06

^However I failed yet again to find this one...

BBP - 28-1-2010 at 08:59

BF mails he'll be coming back to The Netherlands...

aquagoat - 28-1-2010 at 19:35

cool news.

polydigm - 28-1-2010 at 21:21

I just started my new job this week. We've just had a couple of days of professional development. I knew one or two of the staff there as I did some casual work in a different section of the college last year, but I've met most of the staff this week and they seem a good bunch to work with, which is a relief of course. I've got one class starting their second semester next week, who were mid year intake students last year and my other two classes starting first semester the week after. The new kids starting at the beginning of this year have their orientation next week, but other than a meet and greet on Monday, I'm not involved in that, so I'm getting a good two weeks of gradual wind up to having a regular teaching job again.

BBP - 29-1-2010 at 16:00

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
BF mails he'll be coming back to The Netherlands...

BF mails to cancel due to lack of transportation...

BBP - 30-1-2010 at 16:07

Had snow AGAIN. It's getting tedious now...

aquagoat - 30-1-2010 at 17:52

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
BF mails he'll be coming back to The Netherlands...

BF mails to cancel due to lack of transportation...

poor Bonny!

BBP - 30-1-2010 at 20:51

Aw thanks for your sympathy! He mailed he'd try to come as soon as he found good transportation...
Hmmm... you think I could go to Bulgaria?

BBP - 1-2-2010 at 09:33

Got a back ache and discovered there's a suspicious lump between thumb and forefinger of my left hand. That's what snow-brooming does for you!

BBP - 2-2-2010 at 18:11

Cleaning the house. Or trying to anyway. :yawn:

BBP - 10-2-2010 at 09:59

Had a good night of sleep. Woke up just before Dad came crushing down at 6:30. He made me breakfast and gave me the newspaper. Had some more good sleep after he left.

Ahhh... sleep is good.

Yesterday the home care inspector came for the in-take. She also had to dress my wounds. But she couldn't. The hospital told me they'd provide their own bandage, but the home help told me they had to get the pharmacist to give me my own supply.
Fortunately there was still another lady coming to give me my Feramin injection (yes, I'm an aichmophobe) against trombose.
The bandage would be delivered before that, so she could wrap my wound.
The wounds are looking good, btw. Particularly the left one (largest at 15 cm) is healing well.

Feramin hurts. It's a very thick fluid that is injected into the skin through a thick needle. The ooze leaves nasty bruizes. They're very unaesthetic, and painful, particularly when they're injected into the abdomen. It also has negative side effects, like intestinal bleeding.

BBP - 10-2-2010 at 14:36

Well, that was unexpected. My home help today was the mother of a former classmate, who was a great friend.

MTF - 10-2-2010 at 19:36

Here's to no infections...

Sounds like you're doing fairly well with the shots. Just keep reminding yourself: no matter how bad the shot is, it's better than having your foot turn into a trombone (that's what trombosis is, right?).

I googled "Feramin." I got a brand of handbags, animal feed, and an airport in New Guinea. If the nurse is injecting you with handbags, it pretty well explains why the shots are painful.

Are you sure you didn't mean "theremin?" That would be more in line with the trombone growing out of your foot.

Keep smiling...

BBP - 10-2-2010 at 20:10

MTF, you're a gem! Seriously I can do with a lot of diversion now!

BBP - 11-2-2010 at 12:14

Found this gem. The comments are hilarious!
http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/dp/B00032G1S0/re...

MTF - 12-2-2010 at 06:52

I actually found this one, for the UFO-01 detector, to be more useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-UFO-01-Detector/product-reviews...

BBP - 12-2-2010 at 09:22

I saw a squirrel! :biggrin:

BBP - 14-2-2010 at 09:23

5th batch of snow, and counting..

BBP - 18-2-2010 at 11:14

Triumphed over myself again, by washing my hair and torso hanging over the bathtub.

BBP - 19-2-2010 at 14:07

There it is! I have a bimalleolar fracture. The break in the X-ray on this page is similar to mine, too!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankle

MTF - 20-2-2010 at 06:46

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Triumphed over myself again, by washing my hair and torso hanging over the bathtub.

Ah, the little things.

I remember when I was in the hospital. For two days I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom. I had to.... um, nevermind.

BBP - 20-2-2010 at 13:17

Oh, that's terrible! I had that too the first time... when the nurse cleaned my private parts with a washcloth... eww.
Today I sat sideways in the tub, legs hanging over the edge, and showered that way. And now I'm relaxing while Dad is out shopping.

BBP - 20-2-2010 at 13:19

Dutch cabinet collapsed today. Whee!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_cabinet_Balkenende-4

MTF - 21-2-2010 at 09:35

It's okay. In Haiti the Presidential Palace collapsed, and revealed that they didn't have a government...

BBP - 21-2-2010 at 19:32

A turn for worse here: Dad has fallen ill. He's in bed upstairs now, so I just baked an egg for myself, while supporting my knee on a swivel chair.

Calvin - 22-2-2010 at 04:46

Tough all around there Bonny. Hopefully you didn't get too sick from the liver sausage?

All 3 of my forums are down - the host company's servers went down when their sprinkler system went off during a test and damaged the servers. The unmoderated is no biggie, since it's not very active, but the other two are usually really busy.

[Edited on 22-2-2010 by Calvin]

BBP - 22-2-2010 at 16:33

Unmod? I thought you quit that?

Dad and I got very sick, especially considering I had only a small amount of it. I spent the night throwing up, and my stomach only settled enough a few moments ago. I'm still a little puney, but at least I can get up now without getting too sick. It was a small nightmare letting the home help in.

polydigm - 22-2-2010 at 21:24

Bloody hell, Bonny, you're having a run of bad luck at the moment. I hope it stops soon. I'm certainly going to have to rethink my use of the term "break a leg" for wishing someone good luck.

Calvin - 23-2-2010 at 02:51

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Unmod? I thought you quit that?

Dad and I got very sick, especially considering I had only a small amount of it. I spent the night throwing up, and my stomach only settled enough a few moments ago. I'm still a little puney, but at least I can get up now without getting too sick. It was a small nightmare letting the home help in.

Nah...I even sent you an email on the zappa forum saying I was bringing it back because some people missed it. It's still down though. You've even got some stuff about your leg on there. I just figured you didn't want to mess with it.

Good to hear you're feeling a bit better.

BBP - 23-2-2010 at 08:06

Oh wait wait... did you write that when I was in the hospital? It's possible that my father wrote that and forgot to tell me.

Had a small breakfast this morning. Yesterday I had an apple and a cracker, and especially that cracker felt like too much. But I just ate a bun with chocolate sprinkles, hope it stays indoors. My bowels aren't very quiet and I did feel some nausea when hopping.

We have more family bad luck. My other uncle (not the one with the heart attack last September) is in hospital, he'll get a heart research today with a camera looking for the blockage.

BBP - 23-2-2010 at 08:16

Just checked: I don't have your mail in my in-box. Could you re-send the link?

BBP - 24-2-2010 at 10:57

Having my final Fragmin shot today... otherwise not so much exciting news from this front yet. Tomorrow's the big day.

punknaynowned - 24-2-2010 at 11:54

Oh Bonny!
ouch upon renumbered ouch!!
I just found out!
Bet you don't want to do that again!
and sorry to hear you and ed have been sick
get well soon the both of you.

(you don't want that stuff in your ankle to infect... I've got horror stories I don't want to share)

BBP - 24-2-2010 at 16:55

Rear Window tactics could've paid off today. I just witnessed a car going round the corner here, then producing a KGGGGGGGGGG sound, and pulling over in front of the neighbor's house. I know the sound too well: it's an exhaust dropped onto the road.

Calvin - 24-2-2010 at 23:10

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Oh wait wait... did you write that when I was in the hospital? It's possible that my father wrote that and forgot to tell me.

Had a small breakfast this morning. Yesterday I had an apple and a cracker, and especially that cracker felt like too much. But I just ate a bun with chocolate sprinkles, hope it stays indoors. My bowels aren't very quiet and I did feel some nausea when hopping.

We have more family bad luck. My other uncle (not the one with the heart attack last September) is in hospital, he'll get a heart research today with a camera looking for the blockage.

This was a couple of months ago, I believe. Maybe I just didn't get it sent to you. The server is down right now, and they're working on getting it back up. The URL is http://www.greatnessland.com/unmoderated/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl.

I hope your uncle gets some good news.

BBP - 28-2-2010 at 15:13

Finished knitting my hat.

BBP - 1-3-2010 at 15:50

We suffered some damage from last night's storm. A conifer blew over in the garden.

Huck_Phlem - 1-3-2010 at 18:21

I have a new computer that I got from my new tax money coming back plus I am expecting my vintage Acoustic Research model 4x speakers to come tomorrow!

BBP - 3-3-2010 at 08:29

My blind friend is coming to visit me today. Insert Blind And The Cripple joke here.

BBP - 4-3-2010 at 21:18

Unadventureful day. Dad had a recovery day from the election. His party got one seat in the municipality council.

Batchain - 9-3-2010 at 08:35

Oh, not much today. But last night I was informed that the $165.00 owed to me wasn't forthcoming and the reason for that was, "I don't have it right now but I might in a month but first there's the job where I'm taking a pay cut and might not have for long because they're downsizing and I'm probably going to have to pay for my mother's therapy for her depression, bipolar issues and OCD so I'll have to pay you as soon as I can but there are other things that get even more complicated that I just can't go into but you will get it," and from there the bullshit got piled higher and suddenly sounded psychotically incomprehensible.

So, I was fucked out of $170.00 without this dick giving it a thought! I never knew he was that crazy! And what can I do to someone who's 5' 1", 125 lbs. as much as I'd want to?

--Bat :devil:

BBP - 9-3-2010 at 10:33

Midget throwing?

BBP - 10-3-2010 at 09:44

And here I am, whining on and on about my leg, while Polydigm has his birthday! Happy birthday Poly!

polydigm - 11-3-2010 at 01:29

Yes, who cares about your broken leg when someone like me has a birthday ... but, seriously, moving from 53 to 54 isn't really that momentous and yet psychologically it seemed it was. Time is the enemy. Anyway, thank you Bonny.

BBP - 13-3-2010 at 20:18

Having a bad day... I couldn't get much sleep last night.
I tried to hop to the nearest bus stop (under 2 minutes walking) to see if I could make it. I did, but I was exhausted. Tuesday I have a dentist appointment and I was hoping I could make it by bus, but now I have to reconsider.

And I decided to take the 4 CDs my sister brought to the hospital, up to my bedroom. I lost my balance just before I reached the living room door, dropped the albums (breaking the jewelcase of Waka/Jawaka) and put too much weight on my foot. OUCH.

punknaynowned - 13-3-2010 at 22:57

the joke I tried to make about you and having three legs or one leg?...
I had assumed you'd have sense to find some sort of a crutch sweetie.
Why torture yourself?
Get any old sturdy stick or have ded pick up a dandy second hand cane at some antique store. So you can go for walks and stuff.
It's only for a few months right?
And keep that bad leg working even if you can't walk on it -- every damn day!!!
You've already seen what happens when muscles atrophy.

I only give you a hard time B because I care.
Get a cane, use it with style, go to the show!!!! And a top hat???

[Edited on 13-3-10 by punknaynowned]

Huck_Phlem - 14-3-2010 at 18:42

Get a shillalah its almost St. Patrick's day for crying out loud!

BBP - 15-3-2010 at 11:17

I missed Pi-day! Ratz!

BBP - 16-3-2010 at 09:35

Up for the dentist today...
But in brighter, much brighter news: I'm walking!

Well, of sorts... it's still not pleasant, my muscles have deteriorated unbelievably, but I can walk!

MTF - 17-3-2010 at 17:36

Yesterday I took my daughter to the local clinic to get a blood test. As we were leaving, I held the door open for someone who was following me down the stairs.

It was the doctor who - six months ago - misdiagnosed my heart problem. He concluded I was having an allergic reaction, when in fact I had a blocked coronary artery.

He didn't recognize me. He just smiled vaguely and said thank you.

He never knew how close he came to getting his skull cracked open.,,

BBP - 18-3-2010 at 10:40

That's not really odd, that he didn't recognize you. Doctors see so many people on a daily base.

But I'm very glad you didn't hurt him...

polydigm - 20-3-2010 at 14:53

So, you got hacked? What happened?

BBP - 20-3-2010 at 15:20

Not sure what is the exact cause: a badly working firewall is among the possibilities. But some asshole(s) installed "index" files in all our folders that basically said "this place has been hacked, contact these people if you want it fixed".

Consequently, all ploeg.ws sites showed the replaced file.

I replaced the PackardGoose and bonny.ploeg.ws index files. My father reinstalled some other sites, downloaded a new firewall and replaced our password.

MTF - 21-3-2010 at 05:59

I think the operative word there was "asshole." It seems to be the only necessary part of a hacker...

BBP - 21-3-2010 at 18:02

True enough. Well, inbetween waiting for my father to record a WW2 documentary series onto DVD and opening (and closing) the door to my mother, I did some research into the hacker and sent a complaint to his server.

MTF - 22-3-2010 at 08:43

Tonight Mrs. Flycoon and I watched the final vote on the Health Care bill. It needed 216 votes to pass, and it got 219.

Nice piece of political theater. Various Presidents have been trying to pass a bill like this for over a hundred years, and it took Barack Obama to actually get it done. The Republicans were betting he couldn't do it, so they didn't bother to negotiate to get a bill more to their liking. As a result, the Republicans ended up with nothing. They got their asses kicked.

And it's about time. Like thousands of other people, my brother lost his house - and just about everything else - because he didn't have health insurance and got sick. Then he couldn't get health insurance because he had a pre-existing condition.

Hopefully it ends here and now. I'm fucking sick of living in a Third-World country...

polydigm - 22-3-2010 at 09:45

Congratulations MTF, it's always been one of the things that baffled me about the US.

BBP - 22-3-2010 at 13:00

Same here... The bill we have from our insurance is high at 800 euros (own risk) but at least I can still get sick this year without too much trouble beside the illness.

My plaster came off today. And I had another X-ray taken. Initially my doctor said I needed more plaster, but the doctor who was helping me decided against it. I now got a long brown sock I need to wear for support.

Right now I'm just letting my leg breathe. It looks GROSS, it's very flakey, particularly around the surgery wounds.

punknaynowned - 23-3-2010 at 21:48

progress B! Step by step. Here's something to while away a few hours

The second issue of the Rondo Hatton report: a Journal for those who have outgrown the ordinary,,,
http://www.rhreport.net/current.html
much reading on various very zappa related topics

MTF - 24-3-2010 at 08:47

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm
...it's always been one of the things that baffled me about the US.

You mean the stupidity? The myopia? The amnesia? The blind arrogance? Or all of it?

Yeah: it's baffling all right...

BBP - 24-3-2010 at 18:03

Had another day of nothing special.
HELP!

BBP - 25-3-2010 at 09:35

Robert Culp passed away.
That Voyeur-thing gave me a lot of videos on my account of him...

BBP - 25-3-2010 at 16:48

Walked to the store and back, which is quite a distance. And when I came home I discovered a mis-posted letter, which I returned to the rightful owners, which was also a bit of a walk. That nasty crutch peeled some skin off my underarm.

polydigm - 25-3-2010 at 22:20

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm...it's always been one of the things that baffled me about the US.

You mean the stupidity? The myopia? The amnesia? The blind arrogance? Or all of it?

Well, I didn't want to rub it in ... ;-)

Quote:

Originally posted by MTFYeah: it's baffling all right...

Well, there are a lot of things that baffle me about the US, but the lack of a national health system and the inadequacy of social security in general has always been pretty high on the list, seeing as I've always lived in a country where these things can be taken for granted. Mind you, our national health system is far from perfect.

[Edited on 25-3-10 by polydigm]

BBP - 28-3-2010 at 10:56

Been out for a day, visiting Grandma.

BBP - 30-3-2010 at 11:36

Cycled to a second-hand store today. Unfortunately there wasn't much that I was interested in, went home with a Worst Witch book.

MTF - 31-3-2010 at 06:52

Good, you're not scared to ride your bike.

BBP - 31-3-2010 at 09:25

Oh trust me, I am a lot more scared now, especially when I have to turn. Plus my foot is not yet strong enough to brake, or to catch a fall.

BBP - 7-4-2010 at 21:07

Went to the hospital again, this time by bicycle. The weather fortunately was very pleasant.
The doctor didn't carry out much of an investigation, he looked at the same X-ray from two weeks ago and asked me how my foot was doing. I took of my sock and shoe and demonstrated it. He told me to come back in two months, for another X-ray, and then they'll see if the pins need to be taken out. It's possible that the one on the end becomes irritating.

He also tells me that, once the swelling disappears, I can feel the screws on my fibula. (shiver)

BBP - 9-4-2010 at 21:49

Cycled to the market to buy cheese. We have the best cheese in the world out here!

polydigm - 10-4-2010 at 00:45

So, how do people with screws in their bones get through airport security?

feetlightup - 10-4-2010 at 03:03

I learned a way to give someone the finger online. I'm going to try it out here.

....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(
..............\.............\...

Cool, huh?

BBP - 10-4-2010 at 13:32

Looking good, Feetzis!

Poly: Actually airport security is in general used to people with iron, and according to one of the home helps I've had over here, it will be no problem at all.

However, metal detectors can get tricky. Another home help told me of her friend, a girl, who also has pins. She went to a festival. Security there pulled her out, but in spite of the metal there, they did use a full body search. "Sorry ma'am, we have to check the contents of your bra first!"

polydigm - 10-4-2010 at 23:48

Okay Feets, who are you giving it to?

MTF - 11-4-2010 at 05:03

To me, probably...

A couple months ago, we bought this absolutely hideous food processor thingie. It looks like it was designed by the Taliban as a torture device.

Sooner or later someone was gonna get it. It's probably good that it was me.

It took a nice chunk of my left pinkie, and about enough blood to do a lipid panel.

I threw the food processor in the garbage, which in retrospect wasn't such a great idea. About the safest way to get rid of something like that is to throw it into a volcano...

BBP - 11-4-2010 at 12:32

That's like good ol' DED and the chips/crisps maker! How's your finger?

DED - 12-4-2010 at 11:35

Quote:

Originally posted by feetlightup
I learned a way to give someone the finger online. I'm going to try it out here.

....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(
..............\.............\...

Cool, huh?

I Think ┌∩┐(◣_◢

┌∩┐
is much easier
Although i cannot find all the keys on mu keyboard. But
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=middle+finger+emotic...
in my favourites and then [ctr]c [ctrl v]
will do.

DED - 12-4-2010 at 11:38

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
That's like good ol' DED and the chips/crisps maker! How's your finger?

Thanks of reminding it. I cannot help it that my finger is sometimes a little longer than the rest piece of the cucumber to be spliced.
I also have a quarrel with the modern Philips coffeemakers who act sometimes like a spitting lama.

BBP - 14-4-2010 at 15:01

Went to the physiotherapist today and met up with one of my colleagues.

polydigm - 15-4-2010 at 05:40

I'm in the middle of a vacation from college. I'm just starting to feel human again. Yesterday I actually found time to play some sax.

BBP - 15-4-2010 at 19:36

Aw that's nice!
Tomorrow it's DED's birthday, so I went present shopping. It was great to be in the shopping precinct again after such a long time!

I also had physiotherapy again. My therapist is a friendly young fellow, around 30. He moved and pushed my foot around today and gave me some exercises.

And I'm making preparations for the hazelnut cake I'm going to bake tomorrow.

polydigm - 17-4-2010 at 00:52

Last night I felt the Earth move. Literally. Soon after 11:00PM (+9.5) I was studying away in my studio when I suddenly experienced about 3 seconds of vibration that rumbled through the whole room and resonated through my body and as I stood up I felt a momentary loss of control that I don't want to feel again soon. It turns out that it was an earthquake rated at 3.8, which is significant but not that big. No damage has yet been reported. Puts things into perspective.

MTF - 17-4-2010 at 09:52

Yeah, a 3.8 isn't exactly big, but it's nothing to sneeze at. And when it's happening, you don't know it's a 3.8. For all you know it's going to last for five minutes and be a 9.2.

And I bet you have a better appreciation of Relativity now. That was surely the longest three seconds you've experienced in quite some time...

polydigm - 17-4-2010 at 14:48

Indeed MTF, that's what I meant by the loss of control thing, that once you're aware it's started, because it kind of swells up on you, don't know how bad it will get. Then all of a sudden it's over and it's a bit of an anti climax. Although, I'll never forget the awesomeness of that feeling.

Adelaide has experienced only three largish earthquakes in 120 years and the worst was 6.5.

DED - 17-4-2010 at 16:42

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm
Last night I felt the Earth move. Literally. Soon after 11:00PM (+9.5) I was studying away in my studio when I suddenly experienced about 3 seconds of vibration that rumbled through the whole room and resonated through my body and as I stood up I felt a momentary loss of control that I don't want to feel again soon. It turns out that it was an earthquake rated at 3.8, which is significant but not that big. No damage has yet been reported. Puts things into perspective.

I experienced an earthquake too in Greece (about 4.5)
When you experienced it once, you directly recognize a next quake. My second was in Holland It is a bad experience.

BBP - 18-4-2010 at 18:47

I slept through it then. I was 9 or so.

BBP - 20-4-2010 at 15:42

My ankle is making progress!

aquagoat - 21-4-2010 at 17:53

good news! :roll:

BBP - 21-4-2010 at 21:00

Yep!

Found I'm posting less and less on the Zappa forum. It's just been completely ruined.

BBP - 23-4-2010 at 09:52

After increasing trouble with GoogleAds (our browser will often jam when a page has them, the ad won't load. It can be circumlocuted by pressing CtrlAltDel, then cancelling the task manager.
But suddenly a certain site wouldn't load at all if the wrong ad was showing on it. Nasty.

So dad's got a nice ad blocker, but it's a pain in the neck because a new tab opens with every new site I visit.

polydigm - 23-4-2010 at 15:47

Hey Bonny, what, in your opinion, has ruined zappa.com. Personally, I keep going there because of the obvious Zappa connection, but I've been finding the place really boring most of the time. I have Trendy on ignore, but too many people keep engaging him and quoting him. The man is clinically insane and he, combined with other nut cases that go there and ramble on, gives the place the ambience of a nut house recreation room. Every now and then it settles down and the place is nice enough to visit. I suppose my post count of 2.58 posts per day indicates that I haven't completely given up on the place, but if I stopped posting there today for a whole year, my post count would still be 2.11, so that doesn't prove anything, just that back during my first year, there was enough novelty to get my post count count up quite a bit.

BBP - 23-4-2010 at 17:36

Every time I see the last Randomonium post was made by Sabretoophairy, I don't even look at the subforum.
Every time I see Tripmyster has updated a thread, I don't check it out.

They're just... talking too much and saying too little. It's like the stupid association games you get anywhere. Consequently I back out, other people back out, and there's even less to do there.

MTF - 24-4-2010 at 08:52

I told Plook to fuck off a couple weeks ago. That was mildly amusing.

Other than that, I find the Z-forum about as exciting as a nap...

polydigm - 24-4-2010 at 16:31

Bonny, I know exactly what you mean.

MTF, yes I noticed that. There is stuff that I don't agree on with Plook, but I had at least given him credit for not being shallow, right until that shit about Dweezil.

BBP - 24-4-2010 at 18:30

Which shit about Dweezil?

polydigm - 25-4-2010 at 17:42

Right after it became public knowledge that Dweezil was getting divorced, Plook was speculating about Dweezil getting it on with Schiela. Pretty tacky I thought.

BBP - 25-4-2010 at 18:41

Wasn't that jocular? It's tasteless and painful of course, since there are two little kids involved (I was Ceylon's age when my parents split), but that's the sense of humour South Park and Family Guy drive on. Which is why I don't watch either.

I'm working on a little plan to stir up some fun again. It worked with my joke competition.

punknaynowned - 26-4-2010 at 11:20

I can't stand plook, have him on ignore, but never hardly login anymore or get the email messages saying a thread has been posted on. Sabretoophairy I think is delightful but I understand not everyone's cup of tea, especially if english is not a primary language. I also think Stp may be someone from before but not sure yet.
Not sure B if you made the connection between plook and south park on purpose, but I think that's a wicked yet precise and accurate assessment.
All hail Bonny!!!

BBP - 26-4-2010 at 15:18

Aw dear, that's not necessary! A simple kneel down will suffice. ;-)

Yesterday I fixed both my bicycle tires. The front one had a tiny leak (you know, when it takes days to run flat) that was a pain to find, and the rear one had a large puncture from an acacia branch.

This morning I did my paper route, for the first time in three months. All went very well.

Today I worked in the garden and got viciously attacked by the local stinging nettle population.

punknaynowned - 26-4-2010 at 23:54

Congratulations!!
Battling thorns and driving hazards must be better than sitting around all day and hopping for mobility, right? :bouncing:

Moved a bunch of dead dirt from the basement and packed it around the outside of the house.
I have local sand-stone for foundation blocks here and cement floor. When it rains, the water just pours in and water piles up down there. Most springs I spend a lot of time downstairs sweeping water to the drain. If I don't, water stagnates, mold and bugs grow and with wooden floors and lots of gaps in the house, it heats up in summer and becomes a mold production facility. :pissed:

So, I got the bright idea of putting the dirt on the outside to slow the spread of water getting down there.
We'll see how it goes.

Also, it is ant season. They are hunting for my sugar as I sleep.
"Must ... clean ... kitchen...."

Huck_Phlem - 27-4-2010 at 03:41

My son just got home from downtown where he played guitar for an hour and made 11 dollars to finance some Nacho's he said but ended up keeping the money instead. Good Job!

Huck_Phlem - 27-4-2010 at 03:43

Bonny have you ever tried using tire slime? You can get inner tubes with it already in or your can put it in there your self. if you get a small puncture you just pull out the thorn and then spin the tire and it seals itself. since I don't drive I rely on that stuff a lot!

BBP - 28-4-2010 at 20:05

I've considered that stuff, yes. If only to save myself the burden of doing routes with a flat tire. I'll give it a shot.

But how do you know you rode through a thorn (or a screw, or a needle) if your tire doesn't go flat?

BBP - 30-4-2010 at 14:46

Today is the Dutch national holiday. We went to the traditional market (basically anyone is allowed to sell their surplus goods). Often it is big and fun, but it was rather rainy (and we did get wet) so we didn't find very much. I did meet two friends and I bought a walking stick at the stall of one of them. Dad bought a radio, which was heavy.

polydigm - 2-5-2010 at 04:02

I'm just saying hello. Bonny complains that this place doesn't get enough attention but I do visit fairly regularly, I just don't always end up saying anything. So, I'm resolving to say hello whenever I visit. There it is, and now I have 470 posts.

BBP - 2-5-2010 at 09:40

Congratulations! You're on your way to the 500 border with new title!

polydigm - 2-5-2010 at 22:35

Hello again and thank you Bonny. Now it's 471 and I promise to change the subject next time.

:rolleyes:

BBP - 3-5-2010 at 20:38

Missed out on one of my best friends's birthday today... ayyyy...

BBP - 4-5-2010 at 13:23

Tried to get my Dino computer started again, installed a new hard disk. Failed.

BBP - 4-5-2010 at 21:22

Well... it's another evening of bad behaviour here. After the hooligans threatened to riot in Eindhoven on April 30, today the national World War 2 memorial was disturbed. Although the exact events are still unclear, at this time of writing I can inform you:

The traditional events on May 4th, commemorating the end of WW2, consists of memorial eulogies, flowers/candles etc at various mourning sites. The most major one is at the Dam. Every year, at 8PM, the Dutch Last Post (Taptoe) is played, then two minutes of silence are held, then the National Anthem is played, and then the Queen herself places a garland at the monument, then WW2 survivors place garlands, the Prime Minister has a speech, etc.

This year, towards the end of the two minute silence, a man screamed. Shortly after, panic ensued. It looked like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKN_b66cmnk

Roughly thirty people were injured, most had minor scratches but there were even a few with broken limbs.

Afterwards, the MC restored the rest and the ceremony was continued with silence and the anthem.

The motive is still unclear but it seems that the panic was caused deliberately. And disturbingly, it worked.

MTF - 5-5-2010 at 02:46

On Saturday night there was a riot here in Santa Cruz. A bunch of businesses downtown were vandalized. Broken windows; paint bombs; the works.

Happy May Day.

Don't expect too many Cinco de Mayo celebrations downtown tomorrow...

BBP - 7-5-2010 at 09:29

Guy who started the Dam panic has apologized. I'd have punched him in the face, now that I know how much trouble a broken limb is.

Dad fixed my Dino! It now has only one harddrive functioning (earlier I had 3 disk drives, and one had Windows 3.1). That one is smaller than the large drive that broke down, but it's good enough for now.

When installing it, I chose not to install several of the Internet functions, since that PC is not hooked up to anything. Somehow though, it did install Easy Access; but didn't install Minesweeper or Freecell. Grumble...

Anyway I installed a live action adventure game called Black Dahlia. Initially, on another forum, I wrote how impressed I was with the acting, but now that I've met more characters I'm eating those words.

polydigm - 7-5-2010 at 15:52

Over the last month I've had a gradual return of a health problem that I've been clear of for four years now. You know what I'm referring to MTF. It got pretty bad during the last week and I was thinking of heading off to the hospital tomorrow morning but it looks like it might be turning around again this evening, so we'll see. They say it's not been statistically established as stress related but I've been pretty damn stressed in this new job I started in January. And even though the job stress is going down a bit the thought that my current condition might cause me to lose time at work that could put me in a bad position is creating a different kind of stress, somewhat more fundamental. I'm hoping this turn around isn't just temporary.

Anyway, you've got to look on the bright side, at least I don't seem to be depressed.

punknaynowned - 7-5-2010 at 20:32

getwellsoon polydigm!

About a year ago, I underwent major maxillo-facial surgery.
They took out all my teeth. I went to three dentists and the last one said ,
if they weren't removed, it'd kill me. So of course I did it.
No regrets. A friend helped pay the cost outright and I pay him back when I can.
It's less than a thousand bucks.

But the even better news is how much better I feel.
Immediately upon waking up from the overall drowsiness and sleep post operative,

I felt better than I had in years. As the healing process continued for the next few weeks I felt better and better, as a big weight had lifted. My system no longer had so much to work against and so my health, including my mental outlook overall improved. A year later I am very glad I did it.

Of course, this can in no way be construed as some endorsement of any course of action, as I have no idea of your situation, nor do I need to, just an anecdote.

polydigm - 8-5-2010 at 00:06

Thanks Punky. I guess bad health only stands out when you're amongst healthy people. if you get really sick and end up in hospital surrounded by other sick people you don't feel so special any more.

I had to think a while before sharing my previous message as I'm not sure I'm comfortable talking about this stuff on the internet. I kind of know people here but then again I don't. None the less I've been encouraged by the frankness that is expressed here and so I'm giving it a go. After all, I do like this place because its more real than zappa.com and if I want it to keep going I suppose I should open up a bit more myself. I haven't been a closed book exactly but I do draw the line a bit closer than some. I will say that my problem is in my colon but I won't be sharing any pictures.

I've woken up a bit rough this morning, but that's usually the low point with this thing so I'll see how the day pans out.

Anyway, how's life without teeth? I imagine the technology available these days for dealing with that is pretty impressive. That must be where the major part of the cost of this process comes in?

MTF - 8-5-2010 at 09:31

On the non-medical front, I got an iPod a few weeks ago. As it turns out, I'm rather liking it.

I just figured out that my collection of Rolling Stones bootlegs totals 636 hours of music (in other words: if it was my full-time job to listen to Rolling Stones boots, it would take me four months to listen to all of these).

Guess I better get cracking. And that's where the iPod comes in. Now I can listen dutifully while I walk the dog, work in the garden, or ride the treadmill.

After all, I've also got 300 hours of Led Zeppelin bootlegs. Let's not even talk about Zappa...

BBP - 8-5-2010 at 12:10

Oh dear Poly... hope you'll get well soon! I know how badly your mind can push you down, and to be honest, I wish I didn't.

My sister gave me a belated birthday present; a Samsung notebook with Windows 7!
Don't you all wish you had a sister like mine?

BBP - 10-5-2010 at 18:28

Un-installed and re-installed Muppets Treasure Island about ten times today on my laptop... what's up with THAT?

punknaynowned - 11-5-2010 at 10:42

my computer situation is troubled. That's really why I haven't been here for awhile.

mtf, I wish I had a bunch of things like that, but I have more zappa than I can listen to for many years now...

Poly, I feel like some of the best that we can do as humans is learn from each other. We always have to be careful of how much we share with each other especially over the internet. But these are quiet halls. No amplification. My brother in law had prostate surgery at the first of the year and now he's doing great. And his was complicated by a severe heart condition that he was recovering from etc and they wanted him to take care of it all at once but knew he couldn't handle it. So they made him space it out: a severe heart operation with kidney complications and so on and then after recovery from that for at least 18 months, then the prostate surgery. He didn't want to do it. Not at all. The heart thing he knew he had to do but he wanted to put off the other as long as he could. Then as soon as he got home he set up his office as it was tax season.
He's an accountant. Always a glutton for punishment as he recovers from surgery, he sits in a chair all day doing tax work!!! And he's older still. Graduated from Kent State (yes that Kent State) in 1965. So he is pushing 70.

punknaynowned - 11-5-2010 at 12:38

life without teeth is not so bad for me.
there were a couple months before I got the dentures so, had no kind of mandible action there.
Can't eat chips, salad doesn't work either. Soft things like a tortilla -- even though it is all soft food, you can't eat without teeth. Can't tear it which is what you need. There are lots of things like that you wouldn't think poses problems eating. Once I got the things it took a little getting used to them. Things like a burger is more difficult with dentures. You have to bury your face in it to eat it and thereby bite off a big piece but that doesn't work with those. Too much food in the mouth with those things causes them to unseat from where they are supposed to sit, so now you have all this food AND these hard plastic things moving around.
So always small bites whatever it is. Take my time. They wouldn't be so hard to clean if I didn't smoke. But you have to smoke sometimes in public, where I mostly wear them.
All in all, not so bad. Glad I'm still breathing you know?
:-D

BBP - 11-5-2010 at 12:49

Oh dear... poor Punky! I had braces when I was 15, my canine was growing much to the inside of my mouth so there was no way around it. My teeth were so weak and aching, I could only eat apples in cut parts. Nor could I eat hard bread or pizza. But I never liked pizza anyway.

punknaynowned - 11-5-2010 at 12:59

I had braces as a teenager for three years
I hated that. The ache!!!!
You'd think that might have made my later toothache easier? No way.
That became like a permanent cloud in the head, rather than just the few days around when you get the braces tightened. Still I shudder. Talk about torture.
I feel so much better now. :roll:

BBP - 12-5-2010 at 19:27

Ah that's good news! There was a time when my baby canine was to fall out. I shedded teeth late, it didn't start until I bumped into a doorpost, and it went very slow. I shedded a tooth at 13, one at 14, and I still have 2 babe teeth.

Anyway, that last canine... that was terrible! It grew out so slowly, and there was a night I could feel the pain shoot from my tooth, past my nose, into my brain. It was maddening, and I had a test the next day too!

In the mean time, my ankle is getting better. My foot can flex farther. Twisting it to the inside is still hard though.

polydigm - 13-5-2010 at 06:29

Polydigm coming up for air on the internet. My Daughter is visiting on her way to live with her boyfriend in London and she lent me her USB modem this afternoon. Well, I did end up in hospital lunch time last Sunday, I'm writing to you, albeit fully dressed, sat on my hospital bed. It turns out that this is probably the worst attack that I've had, but it's turning around now and I'm on the mend.

It looks like it might have been avoidable if I'd been handling things differently, but there is a massive learning curve involved with this thing and the catch 22 is that sometimes things have to go wrong in order to clarify the situation. I had another health problem that cropped up that led me to question the safety of the medicine I was taking and it turns out that was a misunderstanding.

There were a bunch of other factors that I was experimenting with that may have also contributed negatively and also some investigations that needed to be made that shouldn't have been left on the back burner. I now have a much better picture of how to proceed in order to avoid this happening again.

As I said, I'm on the mend gradually, and will probably be home by Saturday lunch time. But, after that there will be a long process of gradual healing. As long as it will be, I am able to return to a pretty normal life straight away. I'll probably be back at work early next week.

Yesterday I had a great moment when, after it had finally arrived, my daughter brought Greasy Love Songs in for me. What a great little package, I love it. I'm listening to it right now. The extended Stuff Up The Cracks mix is a real bonus. I think they've done a great job on this one. I like Zappa's remix of Cruising, but this original album mix is also pretty cool.

Anyway, I've got my laptop in here with me and I have Logic installed and I've been working on my music, so it's not too bad in here. I'm seriously missing playing my real instruments and will probably end up hurting myself when I get my hands on them on the weekend. Onwards and upwards.

polydigm - 13-5-2010 at 06:34

A kind of ironical PS. I jumped back to the top of this page where I wasn't saying much and promised to "change the topic next time". I did that didn't I. All the best everyone.

Huck_Phlem - 14-5-2010 at 04:00

I bought a new receiver today. No I don't need it but it's a top of the line Sherwood from 1970 and it's 215 watts so I got it for 57 dollars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130389232329...

BBP - 14-5-2010 at 06:43

Aw dear Poly... It really helped me talking on my hospital events, even though I'm sure nobody is reading them... Just let it out when you need to.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

polydigm - 14-5-2010 at 07:59

Thanks Bonny. Still looks like I'll be out this weekend, but my specialist doesn't want me back at work until the end of next week.

BBP - 15-5-2010 at 07:36

Oh dear... Takeyour rest... catch up on those books you always wanted to read, films you always wanted to see...

polydigm - 16-5-2010 at 23:20

Getting on with my music is on the top of my list. I've been home almost two days now and haven't had that much time for it yet. I've been settling into my routine and it's been the weekend, so I've been doing family stuff and just trying trying to relax and feel normal. The boys are off to school this morning so I'm going to have a crack at some projects today. I've only got around to my guitar for a few short bursts, so I'll have a longer go at that today.

BBP - 17-5-2010 at 18:04

Ah that's great! I went back to my keyboard when I broke my leg... guess I just wanted to stay a little longer in my bedroom. During my dark days I pretty much stopped playing, but I've been practicing on a daily base for months now.

polydigm - 17-5-2010 at 23:11

Well, it's 3 steps forward and 2 steps back for me. I didn't end up getting much done on music because I had a bad morning. One of the parts of my treatment was doing more harm than good, so last night I started using an alternative and today, it's early yet, looks like being off to a better start. I did get some some more substantial bursts of guitar practice in though, starting later in the afternoon. Anyway, I'm booting up Logic right now and having a look at an arrangement.

polydigm - 19-5-2010 at 23:19

I hope I'm not putting people off, I notice there have not been any posts for two days.

Well, my last post was wishful thinking, because starting right after making it I ended up being really crook all morning through to about 3:00 PM and began to realise I was being far too ambitious with what I was eating. The treatment had nothing to do with it so I've reverted to the original plan with that. I've put myself on a suitable diet and I've kept every meal down since and including Tuesday night and this thing has gradually settled down. Wednesday was much better than Tuesday, I also made a solid start on a significant new composition. Every sign this morning is that my day is starting at least as well as yesterday.

Anyway, I hope I'm not freaking people out, I'm still managing to find some laughs here.

A joke my son told me, which is probably as old as the hills and is very politically incorrect:

Life's hard, life's a bitch. If it was easy, it'd be a slut.

BBP - 20-5-2010 at 08:17

Don't worry Poly, I've been a little quiet... It's so busy having a new laptop you have to build from the ground up! And the physiotherapy... and drawing... I'll post the fruit of my recent artflow as soon as I can.

polydigm - 21-5-2010 at 00:36

Cheers Bonny. Yesterday did continue mostly as it started. There are always one or two really difficult points in my day associated with the fact that I still have a lot of healing to do that will take a long time, but these are not signs that it's worsening. Late afternoon and evening were pretty tough yesterday but by about 11:00 PM last night that sorted itself out and by that stage it was fairly clear that overall there was some improvement. I went to sleep feeling okay last night and I've woken up pretty smoothly this morning.

When you say you have a new laptop you have to build from the ground up, what do you mean? Did I miss something somewhere else?

BBP - 21-5-2010 at 07:22

My sister bought me a laptop for my birthday! I've had it for a week or two now! It doesn't have much yet (aside from the software and adware that came with it, I have Muppets Treasure Island, BB Flashback Express Screen Recorder, two video viewers and Gabriel Knight 3) so I still need to find a lot of decent software for it. And explore its software. I've found the MahJong this far.

Yesterday I had a good day for it. I saw two squirrels on my newspaper round, went to the physiotherapist, Dad fixed the car so we could finally do the groceries, I went to visit the people who helped me when I broke my ankle (one turned out to be a Hitchcock fan and lent me his copy of North By Northwest!
And I had a little fun with a forum game elsewhere, leading me to upload a video of me playing keyboard.

Later in the evening things took a turn for the worse, when our website got hacked, but we're all back in business. I did lose a post I made on this forum yesterday, but otherwise we're fine!

polydigm - 22-5-2010 at 01:06

Glad to hear the forum's okay.

Further to my last post, the difficulties I experienced on Thursday, although not as dramatic as last Tuesday led me to another diet adaptation which led to a smoothish day on Friday. I even got out to see my GP which was a big step. Today so far, it's 9:30 AM now, I've been walking around the house with a tangible spring in my step.

BBP - 25-5-2010 at 14:15

Celebrated my triumphant return to the real world by cutting my thumb.

polydigm - 26-5-2010 at 00:57

In what way was it a return to the real world?

BBP - 26-5-2010 at 07:47

Well, away from the ankle-related pampering...

BBP - 26-5-2010 at 19:32

Watched Eurovision. The acts, that is, not the results. As usual some good acts, some bad acts, some bad comes through, some good fails. Entries I liked best: Russia (win), Slovakia (fail), Belgium (win), FYR Macedonia (win),

BBP - 30-5-2010 at 17:45

Went to my friend's birthday, and I bought Greasy Love Songs!

polydigm - 31-5-2010 at 04:34

Well, I'm back in hospital. I got a fever late last Thursday, rang the hospital for advice and they told me to come in. They decided to readmit me. After a variety of tests and a couple of days under observation it's looking like my current type of treatment is not working effectively enough, so they're considering the next level, which is the last thing between me and serious surgery.

So my fingers are crossed that the next level works. The problem is that it's not progressing as opposed to getting out of hand, so they want to move to the next level to turn it around and avoid it getting out of hand. So, I'm not feeling particularly sicker than last week, and I'm still finding longish periods of time to mess around on the computer with this and that.

Last night I finally got my own usb wireless modem, so now I'm on the internet, which makes this situation a lot more comfortable.

BBP - 31-5-2010 at 09:30

Oh dear, oh dear! Poor Poly! Get well soon dear!

polydigm - 2-6-2010 at 04:10

Yesterday was probably my worst day. Then last night I had the first infusion of the next treatment and this morning I'm feeling a definite improvement. My appetite is back which means the side effects don't seem to be a problem. Don't worry too much about me, if it comes to surgery, as scary as that sounds, it would mean the problem being completely gone, never to return and I'd be able to return to teaching work, play in a band, participate in sport and so on with very little restriction. That almost makes me want to ask for it.

Onwards and upwards!

BBP - 2-6-2010 at 08:22

Oh dear, dear pal, please keep us posted!

Today I'll be visiting the hospital again, to see if the metal needs to be removed.

BBP - 2-6-2010 at 18:19

Some juggling...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dXSTF36Q_w
"Don't do this at home, it hurts!"

BBP - 3-6-2010 at 20:36

It's been one of those mornings.
At ten to nine, I played a little Mahjong on my laptop.
Nine fifteen, I stop playing, thinking "it's time to go to the physiotherapist now." My appointment is at 9:30.
Then I realize I'm hardly dressed right. I change quickly, discocer it's almost 9:25. I remove the bags from my bicycle, jump on and scoot towards my PT.
At 2/5 of the road, my chain comes off.*
So I raced back as fast as I could, stepping forward and doing even a little running, and then I used my dad's bicycle.
I was still on time! And exhausted.

*In my younger years, the city-bike I had used to have that problem all the time, and I eventually learnt to fix such problems without having to step down. But my current two-wheeler is older than me. It's very retro and had all these neat old features, like old-timey stickers, oldfashioned tyres, old saddle and a fabric chain cover.
The saddle and tyres have been replaced. The chain cover is an almost obsolete part of a bicycle, it makes sure your trousers don't get into the sprocket or dirty from the chain. But it's a neat gizmo. It's wrapped tightly around the support that is around the chain, and it closes with a shipload of metal rings and long iron pins.
Unfortunately that means that, if your chain comes off, putting it back on is a monstrous task.

I tried a hand at it myself this time. It took well over an hour, and my hands were (and still are, even after all the Hand Cleaner Red and white spirit) jet black. My chain is in the right place again. It was badly stuck, and miserably rusty. But it's back up there.

However, I tore up the fabric pretty bad in the process. I could perhaps fix it with ducktape, or sew it, but it's lost that old-fashioned spirit and I'm thinking of wrecking it off.

Huck_Phlem - 7-6-2010 at 06:19

Sometimes I wish I had a chain guard for my bike. Never gets stuck but it dirties my pants sometimes.

polydigm - 7-6-2010 at 23:51

The last line of drugs just kept me hovering and things wouldn't turn back so 9:00AM Sunday they started surgery for over three hours. There were several possible complications with this, all of which turned out with the ideal outcomes. Sunday was a long, gruelling day, but by late evening, things started to settle, with help from painkillers of course. Early Monday morning I was wondering how far I might be able push it that day and the nurses appeared and almost dragged me to the shower. It was the best shower I've ever had in my life. Yesterday I ate three square meals and relished in foods I haven't been able to eat in a long time. I'll get back to you later as it's 8:20 AM Tuesday and I'm about to tuck into breakfast.

BBP - 8-6-2010 at 07:41

That's good news Poly! I'm glad the surgery makes you feel better (well, eventually... I know what it's like now and I'm glad I'm not in your shoes). Bon appetit!

punknaynowned - 8-6-2010 at 22:51

great to see ya on the other side Poly!
Eat Drink and Be Merry!!

Calvin - 9-6-2010 at 03:06

Did they implant a sense of humor? Hehe

Hope you feel better.

polydigm - 9-6-2010 at 13:58

Well, it wasn't all smooth sailing. I had a setback yesterday, which was one of food management only, all physical signs of the surgery have progressed well throughout, although that wasn't always clear to me, and I had a hell of a day and night yesterday. We got carried away with the food and I got quite ill. That seems to be back on track and we're going a bit slower this time. I should be out within the week.

Thanks for everyone's good wishes. A sense of humour wasn't part of the surgery and I'm happy with the one I've got, thanks Cal, just as I'm sure you're happy with yours.

[Edited on 9-6-10 by polydigm]

MTF - 9-6-2010 at 20:57

Hey Bonny: aren't you glad you decided to use BBP as your user name, instead of just BP?

polydigm - 10-6-2010 at 04:07

Coming up to lunch today and things are going well.

BBP - 10-6-2010 at 08:59

Well... part of the reason why I didn't want to use BP is the link to the gas station, of course. I was very fond of BP because of their name, and I was gutted they changed their old logo into that stupid flower "to give them a more environmental image". It's a PETROL company for crying out loud!

We've had elections here. Bad news for the left wingers, but at least prime minister Butterfingers bites the dust.

polydigm - 11-6-2010 at 14:33

Late in the evening the following day and things have continued to improve. I have really been enjoying myself doing a variety of activities moving toward full recovery. The food problem, as horrible as that was at the time, did not prevent my healing to continue at a very good rate. Thus my proposed discharge date has only been delayed by one day and I should be home next Tuesday.

The really good news is that in the case of my disease, the surgery is a complete cure and I will be getting my life back in full with a bonus, which is the knowledge that something which has plagued the majority of my life in progressively worse ways until the last attack which came very close to killing me is now completely gone. It's probably genetic, my father has it, but he's 87 now and his never got serious.

This last attack began late March. I was trying the usual medications to deal with it and it was out of hand by the 9th May when I went into hospital the first time for a week. Nothing really changed when I got back home and ended up back in hospital on 27th May where further drug treatments were unsuccessful. Basically, my life came to a standstill on 9th May and stayed there until I accepted the decision for a very scary surgery with many attendant risks of failure, which took place on the 6th June and I've come out the other side.

I'm still getting my head around it as you can imagine.

MTF - 12-6-2010 at 02:39

That's pretty cool, Poly. Surgery is always scary, but to know that it's over and it worked is certainly a big load off your mind.

Congratulations! :bouncy:

aquagoat - 12-6-2010 at 21:31

recover well, poly! :roll:

BBP - 13-6-2010 at 10:04

Been patting everybody's back here lately. A colleague of mine (that French cutie I used to train) has a brother who's just been operated on a nasty tumor, and since I'm the only French-speaker at my work I'm the only one that can sorta talk to him. Poor guy, he must be so lonely...
Mybest friend came over to visit yesterday, but he's going through some hard times too, and the same goes for my grandmother who phoned yesterday... and there's my ownshoulder which often needs patting... geez. I need some smiles here.

polydigm - 13-6-2010 at 16:38

Thanks for everyone's good wishes.

I came home yesterday, it was a very big day for me of course and the first thing I did was play the guitar. I've got a lot of strength to get back which will happen soon enough but I was surprised at what I was able to play. I had a go at the piano this morning and that's coming back too. The sax will have to wait a bit, I still can't do a full bodied cough let alone blow into a saxophone. It's good to be back home with my family.

BBP - 13-6-2010 at 17:28

Great to hear you're home, Poly! Enjoy your music!

punknaynowned - 14-6-2010 at 06:18

the last couple weeks I have seen a lot more of my older friends than I have in a while.
One I hadn't seen in eight years, the other in almost two years.
One seems to be in a good place, though she was here on a kind of vacation and only for a day. Great to catch up again after so long.
The other looks to be a new friendship, or now perhaps a chance to more better get to know. Spent the whole afternoon running around and talking at looking at this and that, let the random places in town get our attention. Fun. This also involves spending more time downtown which means running into more people. So I run into many more people who say 'Hey! I haven't seen you in awhile. Can I come over and visit?"
So attendant days of guests. Conversation and eats and cigarettes and coffee. Like the olde days all over again. Conversation that zigs and zags.
I have a small downtown area within walking distance. Shops and streets, pedestrian traffic and people walking up and down on mild summer days. People watching Saturday afternoons. Watching the bourgeois stream in a blue sky town.
My kind of 'Waterloo Sunset'

BBP - 15-6-2010 at 16:49

Aw that's great Punky!
My friend of 13 years came to visit me on Saturday. At least my ankle has incited him to visit me more often!

Today I hit the town for a Father's Day gift. And I came home with three bras and three DVDs for myself.

polydigm - 15-6-2010 at 23:07

Just passing and saying hi. Things are going well with me. Best wishes to everyone.

Bonny, that's a very familiar shopping tale to me. ;-)

BBP - 16-6-2010 at 08:19

You buy bras? :shocked:

polydigm - 16-6-2010 at 18:29

I thought that joke would turn up. I meant that I've been shopping for others before and ended up buying stuff for myself instead.

punknaynowned - 16-6-2010 at 23:06

hahahhahha
today I went to our local 'microbrewery' where I met up with an old friend to give them a dozen zappa cd's. I had burned a bunch of things to give him a sense of the zappa world in the last ten years. And talked about zappateers.

I ran into a bunch of people I used to know and one of them gave me a pair of tickets to see a jazz combo Sunday at the place where zpz played last week. He said he could have used my help running stage crew for that show!!!
So I missed out on that entirely :crying:

but get to see a free show next week. :bouncy:

Some people would say I need to get out more often,
but most of the time, I'd say I show up just in time. :biggrin:

[Edited on 16-6-10 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 18-6-2010 at 07:31

Well,if you know the joke's coming, Poly...

Oh man, it wouldve been awesome to work on ZPZ! Hey, maybe I could do that! I still need a ticket to Melkweg btw.

polydigm - 20-6-2010 at 02:05

Don't worry Bonny, it was obvious you were only joking. I wanted to say I related to your tale, I just forgot to specify which part.

Moving on, it's just after breakfast time here in OZ, another day after a patchy sleep which is none the less getting much easier now. I got through yesterday without so much as a single paracetamol and I had a major epiphany about my piano playing early on before breakfast while practicing. To attempt to progress with it, I've used a fairly classical method with all the attendant pre 20th C pieces thrown in and always gave up after getting bored with the process. I don't know what made me think it was a good way to go about it. I don't want to push that stuff into my head any more.

On the guitar, I've always been self taught and have only rarely ever played any pre 20th century stuff and mostly my own work as I've developed as a composer. In fact my progress on the guitar has been integral with my progress as a composer. All this has been knitted together from a fairly extensive personal library of books about music theory ranging from the rudiments through increasingly complex levels of diatonic composition and then serial music and beyond into the rest of the 20th century. I eventually reached a point where the books became only reference material, as carving out my own sonic domain became my main mode of operation. There's still quite a variety of musical discipline going on in there as well.

Anyway, it occurred to me yesterday, why am I not playing the piano using exactly the same methods in principle as I use on the guitar? That's what I started doing fairly soon after I started the saxophone earlier this year. On the sax I only play my own stuff and a couple of Zappa tunes. The upshot with the piano? All the classical books are now permanently shelved and my progress is taking my breath away. I'm already playing things on the piano I wouldn't have considered possible previously and coming up with some new arrangements of my pieces. Right now I'm well into working on an arrangement of, and playing, the Fillmore East version of Little House I Used To Live In. It's great fun and I'm now highly motivated because the piano will do much more for me in the arrangement department than the guitar.

The only thing I don't do is sight read my instruments, but I can read music and pick up parts for them very quickly. I've also developed my music writing ability to quite a high level, somewhat untidy with a pencil, but I love physically writing it. I do most of my work with scoring software, but it's not always convenient to use and I've always got score paper, pencil and eraser about the place.

Well, that was a bit of a long one but I couldn't wait to tell people about it. Hope this finds everyone well.

BBP - 20-6-2010 at 11:32

That's great news! I love the piano for all the same reasons,although with a guitar it's much easier to play in a different key. I primarily play classical music on it though. But I love classical music so it's not a bad idea. Among the pieces I'm currently working on, is one of my favourites: Chopin's waltz no 7 in C sharp minor.
(besides that, there's Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the Ave Maria prelude, the infamous menuet, Mozarts Rondo Alla Turca, Beethoven's 14th piano sonata op 27/2 first movement, Greensleeves, and maybe a few pop songs I play every once in a while. I'm pretty upset now that I let my playing slip so badly. I've had to start over again, re-study songs I never had any trouble with.)

polydigm - 23-6-2010 at 02:07

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP: That's great news! I love the piano for all the same reasons,although with a guitar it's much easier to play in a different key.

I disagree, because even though the guitar presents you with symmetric key changes, they still sit differently within similar pitch ranges, give you a wide variety of different possibilities for pull offs to open strings, etc and you still need to know them very well individually ti get the most out of them. I know certain keys really well like E, F, F# G, A, Bb, B, C and D in many of their major, minor, modal, chromatic scale variations and chord progressions but when I go to other keys I lose track. I'm talking about improvisation there, with fixed compositions that I learn it's no problem, I can do that equally well in any key, which is where I would agree with you.

On the piano, there's a logic with the pattern of black and white keys, which, even though the keys are very unsymmetrical makes them easy to pick out. Okay, having a black key as a root note is more difficult than having a white one, but there are techniques you can develop to minimise that.

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP: I'm pretty upset now that I let my playing slip so badly. I've had to start over again, re-study songs I never had any trouble with.)

I know exactly what you mean, that's my main reason for changing the way I go about it from the bottom up, because I don't intend ever to give it up again. I started playing about 17 years ago in order to help my daughter who was 8 at the time and having piano lessons and then after she gave up I continued only to fall into a pattern of giving it up out of boredom. My current level of playing certainly does not indicate even a third of that time in experience.

polydigm - 23-6-2010 at 02:12

Anyway, yesterday's noteworthy was me driving our van around the the block, exciting hey? I won't be driving on main roads yet for some time. Today is just unfolding, I'll probably go for another walk at some point and do some guitar and piano practice in the mean time. At some point I have to start getting my head back around what I teach at school and do some preparation in advance to help ease my way back in.

polydigm - 23-6-2010 at 02:20

Now for the momentous post. This one's noteworthy right now.

Ta!! Da!! Geoff reaches 500 posts on the Goose!!

BBP - 23-6-2010 at 08:15

Wow Geoff! (APPLAUSE)
In the mean time therapy is going well, although my ankle gave me some trouble last week. And I'm trying to get a game to run, with help from a programming friend off the Sierra forum. He's great!

polydigm - 24-6-2010 at 02:09

So, Bonny, how much time do you think from today until total recovery? And, please remind me of the date of your operation. I hope it's going well.

BBP - 24-6-2010 at 07:38

The tumble and the operation were on February 3rd. Prognosis is it won't be as flexible as it used to be, but we're already diminishing the physical therapy. Maybe a month but I really can't be sure.

BBP - 26-6-2010 at 08:36

Yesterday I uploaded the zip file of the game I'm trying to get to run, so my scripting friend can help out. Isn't that nice? Okay, so uploading the first disc took two hours.

punknaynowned - 26-6-2010 at 09:13

That IS nice. I would volunteer but, of course I have no idea how to do that.
Spent 152 minutes on the phone with the IRS -- our tax collection service here.I talked to 5 people and was on hold for nearly 60 minutes. 152 minutes equals about $30 worth of minutes on the phone. And now I have to wait two more weeks to get more paper work, fill that out and then they will bill me. It may be $1200 or more. First time that's ever happened. I guess I must live and learn. :-D

BBP - 26-6-2010 at 19:10

Dad and I went to visit an architecture day in Eindhoven. Five normally closed buildings would be open. Besides the old textile building (OK, the tour sucked, he knew next to nothing and let us all try to find the exit ourselves, although it was a total maze) and the old art museum, it was rather disappointing. We went to get icecream afterwards.

And I just narrowly avoided a disaster. I slipped down the stairs. But I escaped with just a few scratches.

BBP - 27-6-2010 at 15:20

Dad'll be gone for the next three days... hum.

aquagoat - 28-6-2010 at 17:15

Party tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bouncy:

BBP - 28-6-2010 at 20:21

Oh you bet! (makes a jump to the left...) Cooked myself a nice meal today. And I had therapy again, chatted with ma therapist about football. And he gave me advice on how to improve my running, as I can't run while using my regular foot movement yet. That hurts like hell.

So he adviced me to run slowly, touching the ground with the front of my feet only. Unfortunately it means running gets rather "springy", and I don't have any underwear that can... ahem... soften the blow, so it'll be an indoors activity. Ho hum.

And I cleared the piano. Man it's off-key! Beethoven's op 27/2 sounds much better on piano, though. Even if it's off-key.

polydigm - 29-6-2010 at 00:35

Hey Bonny, I can relate to the stair fall, I fell off a step ladder a week back and bruised my wrist and ankle and luckily managed not to damage any of my surgery. An overconfident momentary lapse of reason. That snapped me out of it I can tell you. What was I doing up a step ladder only two weeks after surgery, well .... ?!

Anyway, had my first checkup at the hospital yesterday and as I've been driving to local shops for a couple of days now and dropped my sons off at their Saturday sport games, I drove into the hospital. When I got there, I found what should have been a perfect park but some dick head had parked right across the line into the space and there were motor scooters parked right up against the other side. I was driving our Volkswagen Transporter Van and just squeezed in so the dick head would have to get in through his passenger door, a minor inconvenience after what he'd done.

When I came back, having realised earlier I'd forgotten to pay and display, I saw something blowing in the wind under the windscreen wiper and thought I'd been fined. But, when got to it, I found a scrap of paper with a note scrawled on it, "Are you a dick head, mate?". Hilarious.

Anyway, they were very happy with my progress at the hospital and happy for me to be driving again, with a warning to avoid activities like gardening and any heavy lifting until at least 6 weeks after surgery and even then I'll have to wear this special elastic waste band when playing tennis and so on, which is cool by me, 19 days to go and counting.

On the music front, my guitar speed is back and I'm now playing the fast parts of Echidna's Arf fairly accurately on the electric. The acoustic is still a bit hard on my fingers, but getting better. The piano's coming along in leaps and bounds and I've started working on a book of Cool Jazz tunes. Still no saxophone, it's killing me.

And, I've started learning French again, with a vengeance this time, but not using text books, just reading books, starting with a fairly advanced young person's book about Monsieur et Madame Curie along with a comprehensive pronunciation guide using sound samples and a comprehensive Grammar guide, both downloaded from the internet and a French - English dictionary which also has pronunciation and grammar guides to cross check with. Similar principle to how I'm approaching the piano now. I did do four years of French at high school so the foundation is in there already and I'm having a lot of fun with it. It's a damn complicated language, though. I want to able to speak to my Mum in French and also email my French relatives.

BBP - 29-6-2010 at 07:53

Tee hee! That's fun... then again, the "asshole" is also parked at the hospital. Maybe the passenger needed much space for a wheelchair to roll up the side.

The thing about French (which I did for six years in high school, I was great at it but barely half a year after I graduated I found it had slipped very badly) is that grammatically it's a lot easier than Dutch or German. With possible exception of verb conjugation, but that's pretty nasty in the Germanic languages as well.
My problem is with listening. It goes very, very fast, and half of the letters you read are swallowed by the speaker.

BBP - 1-7-2010 at 08:03

Today? Dad's coming back. I promised I'd try to clean the living room a little, but it didn't work.

BBP - 2-7-2010 at 17:10

:bouncing:

Netherlands beats Brazil!

aquagoat - 3-7-2010 at 07:17

yeah, congratulations!!

MTF - 3-7-2010 at 08:39

Uruguay beats Ghana!!!

(well, somebody cares...)

polydigm - 4-7-2010 at 00:54

Germany annihilates Argentina!!!!

aquagoat - 4-7-2010 at 09:17

I beat my wife. :devil:

BBP - 4-7-2010 at 10:29

Hey! Did you get married without telling us?

Dad had organized a BBQ with some 120 former employees of one of his old companies. I came along to help out and make some photos. So we're both totally exhausted today.

aquagoat - 4-7-2010 at 12:34

no, no wedding.

BBP - 5-7-2010 at 18:08

Every person performs a part in the play called Life.

Today my part was The Git Who Forgets To Weigh His Apples At The Supermarket.

BBP - 7-7-2010 at 09:28

Having a hard day today... and yesterday too... discovered I didn't just miss out on Les Claypool and Pat Metheney and Mozart's Requiem, but also on another of my favourite groups, DAAU. I was so looking forward to seeing them again, their 2006 album Domestic Wildlife was on every day for ten months.
And now it looks like I can't make ZPZ either. I definitely can't get the day off.

punknaynowned - 7-7-2010 at 10:34

the first thing I thought when I realized I could not go this year was, "Well, I can't do everything I want to."
and the next was, "I should get a show via bittorrent any day." And I did.
Depressed thoughts of not 'being with the others' floated away.
:umm:

punknaynowned - 7-7-2010 at 10:36

If I lived there and had a way to go, you certainly would not miss it.

BBP - 7-7-2010 at 13:37

I guess I'm going to take up a suggestion by SabreTooPhairy. Yes, shoot me. I'm going to bring my bicycle on the train with me.

The thing with that OV stuff I'm nagging about on the Zappa-forum: It's an awful system, currently it's only obligated in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. You buy this plastic credit card, load it with money.
If you want to travel by bus or streetcar, you have to wave the card past the reader until it beeps, then there's 4 euros taken from your credit, and at the arrival point you check out, and the money minus the travelling fee is restituted on your account. Travelling fee is 78 cents per kilometer (roughly 0.65 miles).

The Melkweg is not that close to Amsterdam Central Station. It's 2.1 km.
OV will round that up to 3 km.
If I want to go to Melkweg by public transport, I will need E 6.34 at least. The trip costs E 4.68 altogether, and the remaining money will probably stay on that card for the next five years.

Plus buying an anonymous card costs E 7,50 anyway.

punknaynowned - 8-7-2010 at 11:43

:drums:

BBP - 9-7-2010 at 11:53

Off in a few minutes... Whee!

polydigm - 11-7-2010 at 06:22

Oh well, I'm back at work in a week. That's kind of awesome, exciting and dreadful all at once. I'm sure I'll be fine, but it crept up real quick. Everything else is going well with me, I've got my guitar chops back. I'm regaining some muscle definition and looking less like a starving refugee with every day.

BBP - 11-7-2010 at 11:21

That's great news Poly! Hang in there!

BBP - 12-7-2010 at 11:06

Had several gallons of rain poured over me. Tonight Dweezil is playing an open-air venue nearby. Hmmm?
(contemplates on going)

BBP - 12-7-2010 at 17:17

Too late to leave now...
Bought the new DAAU last Wednesday, but it turned out to be a let-down. Only listened to the first two tracks so far. That took 25 excruciating minutes. :rolleyes:

Man, I was looking forward to that album, considering DAAU's 2006 album didn't leave the CD-player for ten months, but to have spent a large amount on a fancy wooden jewelcase...

BBP - 14-7-2010 at 12:47

I've tarted to miss Peccary, so I've knitted him a little brother.

BBP - 18-7-2010 at 10:06

This place is getting a little quiet now... I've discovered some files on my favourite game, Gabriel Knight 3, that are on the disk but not in the game, and these files suggest that a large section was cut. So I've been puzzling that out. It's very rewarding!

DED - 19-7-2010 at 17:35

On the flea market where BBP did not bought the painting I bought a old 45
Somewhere in the eighties it was a tophit in Holland.
Sometimes we as a nation fell for a stupid song.
This one is called Bloody Mary. The title suggests that you can understand the lyrics, but then you are in error.
The song is made and performed by 2 Dutch streetmusicians and is about the female pirate Bloody Mary who can drink and fight like a man. At the end of the song it will be clear that she can drink and fight but was unable to swim.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ARWZPkGts

polydigm - 20-7-2010 at 02:08

Oh well, sorry folks, but I'm back in hospital again. This time it's a post surgery complication that can occur five to six weeks after the surgery. Basically it's a blockage in my small intestine. I've been back in here a week now. I'll skip the details, but apparently in a reasonable majority of cases these blockages sort themselves out so we're waiting to see at the moment.

This up and down thing is getting a bit weary but I'm trying to stay positive.

I hope everyone else here is doing well.

BBP - 20-7-2010 at 07:47

Oh dear, dear Poly! I hope you'll be back on your feet soon... (hugs)

aquagoat - 20-7-2010 at 10:17

recover well and come back soon, poly! :bouncy:

polydigm - 21-7-2010 at 04:32

Thanks for your wishes Bonny and Aqua. I'm able to keep fairly busy while I'm in here, I've got my laptop and my French books and so on. The thing is that I'm actually quite healthy besides the blockage so at least I'm not laid out feeling sick like I was before the surgery. I go for several walks and sit up in a chair working in between. It's driving me mad not being able to eat though.

Anyway, I'm trying to maintain a positive demeanour and succeeding fairly well.

BBP - 22-7-2010 at 07:48

I'm sure glad to hear you're feeling OK... poor Poly!

There was a huge fire not far from here, at a plastic disposal factory. It caused a huge black cloud that could be seen from tens of kilometers away.

Newspaper article with videos here:
http://www.ed.nl/regio/valkenswaard/7012177/Evacues-moeten-nacht-el...

BBP - 29-7-2010 at 11:12

Trying to get life to go on as hard as it is, so I went to my physical therapist today. He's a lovely guy. He told me he had a problem with the cruise control and as a result, bumped his car into a tree. He decided to buy a new one instead of getting repairs, as that would be too costly.

Huck_Phlem - 30-7-2010 at 07:49

A new cruise control?

BBP - 31-7-2010 at 07:20

Jokes like that are beyond me. I know nothing about cars. Except that the brake is in the middle.

I'm off to The Hague again, to bring my dad the steamer. Unfortunately if he'd done that a day later I could've used the coupons the Dutch Railways sent me, but noooo.

BBP - 1-8-2010 at 18:52

Dad and I are back home and back in business.

My neck hurts. I think it was from yesterday's bird-watching extravaganza.

BBP - 4-8-2010 at 07:13

I just had a very creepy mail in my in-box. Looks like a love letter from somebody who watched my Frankenstein: Through The Eyes Of The Monster playthrough. Help!!

BBP - 5-8-2010 at 08:30

Went to Youtube and saw that my video count of yesterday was over 700 views! :shocked:

Went to see how. It was caused by the video "Chloe Gets Murdered" from my Voyeur walkthrough.

It received over 200 views in one day.

Went to check Discovery how come.

Over 200 viewers came from the site http://www.deadskirts.com.

Went to check out the site but decided to go no further than the welcome page. :shocked:

punknaynowned - 5-8-2010 at 14:19

hi!
I didn't go thru farther than the front page either
but if the front page is any indication
AND if your game walkthrough's title 'Chloe gets murdered' is any indication,
maybe they used the game scenes for some game they were playing amongst themselves. A plausible and harmless guess.

Secondlife advocates are found a lot in graduate school as well. You said at the other place that the person that emailed you was both a teacher and a student. That usually means 'graduate student' here. Learning higher level stuff in their discipline while teaching lower level students in same discipline.

Never heard of a 'dying girl' fetish, most people here can't wrap their head around the idea of "Dead Girls of London", either.

Calvin - 6-8-2010 at 05:21

Well, I went beyond the front page to see if I could find why your video got so many hits, but couldn't find anything. It's definitely weird stuff and I don't think I'll be visiting it again.

BBP - 6-8-2010 at 08:01

I've found it. I googled on the video name and found http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7uyuWVeQslMJ:d...

That's the Google cache.

Calvin - 10-8-2010 at 01:08

Ah, it was the youtube link only. That's why I couldn't find it.

BBP - 11-8-2010 at 07:07

Absolutely nothing extraordinarily happened over the past few days. On one hand I can use my rest, but on the other hand it's ****ing boring.

DED - 11-8-2010 at 21:01

If you areboard you can scan hundreds of pictures.
Esp picture of the period 1977 upto 1984

BBP - 12-8-2010 at 13:47

Ehm... no... I just watched that Hitchcock BBC aired, called Stagefright. And I went to the physical therapist.

BBP - 14-8-2010 at 21:23

Life's normalizing slowly here. Today I had a flat tire on my newspaper round. :freak:

Anyway that's repaired, and while we're waiting for the car to get fixed, we often have to go grocery shopping by bicycle.

It's been a long day... time for bed!

aquagoat - 14-8-2010 at 23:11

bed is always good, it's the safest place out there. ;-)

BBP - 15-8-2010 at 10:06

Not from the nightmare I had, though. Was on my way to school with classmates when we were apprehended by Norwegian terrorists.

aquagoat - 15-8-2010 at 21:13

ooohh, Norwegian terrorists? creepy!!!! :-D

BBP - 16-8-2010 at 08:56

Yes, they made us take suicide pills.

BBP - 18-8-2010 at 07:29

And Dad's back to The Hague again. Reminds me of how I missed him when he went out to take care of Gran back in '06.

polydigm - 19-8-2010 at 08:55

Hello!! Sorry I haven't been by for a while, but my situation is so complicated with all the ups and downs I've had that I end up not wanting to say anything in case it might jinx my situation. I'm not really superstitious but I'm battling to keep a positive frame of mind. Anyway, two days after my last message, because the block wouldn't clear itself naturally I ended up having surgery again on 23rd July and it seems to have done the trick. I've been back home since 1st August.

I'm playing the guitar and the piano again but the sax is still on hold unfortunately, it's been ages.

BBP - 19-8-2010 at 09:04

Aw dear Poly! Glad you're back home and all-right! And it's great to see you again!

DED - 24-8-2010 at 11:31

Poly, keep on going.

BBP - 25-8-2010 at 07:50

DED is off to The Hague again. I'm not sure if he noticed, but I was doing my newspaper round and nearly cycled into his car when I came out of one of the other houses in our street.

BBP - 26-8-2010 at 09:39

Read Dweezil's blog about his daughters painting. That's ten seconds of my life I'll never get back.

polydigm - 27-8-2010 at 01:32

Thank you DED. I will definitely keep on going. Things are coming along okay so far. If I can get through the next two or three weeks without another blockage then you will be hearing from a very happy bunny.

BBP - 28-8-2010 at 17:36

Finished knitting my sweater today, I finally put all the pieces together.
I'll post pictures of it soon.

BBP - 29-8-2010 at 16:35

Made pictures of me and my new home-knitted jumper!
I put them on Sierra Help Pages, which allows you to upload attachments, but you can see them here:
http://www.sierrahelp.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&p=19767#p19...

polydigm - 31-8-2010 at 10:03

You can't view anything there, Bonny, unless you're a member, so that counts me out. Why don't you post your pictures here?

BBP - 31-8-2010 at 10:40

Darn, I forgot about that! I posted the attachments there so I could show them without having to turn to our Vista.

Anyway I uploaded them onto ploeg.ws:

polydigm - 1-9-2010 at 04:26

Nice jumper. It's normal size too (tee hee).

punknaynowned - 1-9-2010 at 13:28

I like the blue color. Some of my favorite hats have been woolen. I think wool would not work well with lots of rain however. Snow yes. Rain, not so much.

BBP - 2-9-2010 at 16:03

Thanks guys!

Had a nasty pervert phonecall today. Felt sick afterwards.

So when the garage phoned to tell our car has been fixed:
I pick up the phone, hear a sigh and a raspy male voice in the distance, and smash the phone on the hook.

polydigm - 3-9-2010 at 00:13

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when you called the garage guy to explain why you hung up on him.

:grin:

BBP - 3-9-2010 at 07:48

You don't want to be a fly on the wall in my house... though I prefer to catch them in a container and usher them outside, I'm very good at swatting flies.

BBP - 3-9-2010 at 16:00

We went to the grocery store by car today.
Our car had been having bad troubles, so Dad was given the option to either have it fixed for a lot of money, or buy another one.
He chose to have it repaired, and he came home with the car yesterday (after I hung up on the garage guy).
Our car had been giving us issues for over a month, and it became so bad at times that we could only get our food by bicycle.

Anyway, we went out for groceries... and when we wanted to go back, the car wouldn't start. After a few attempts we visited a nearby hardware and gardening store to allow the engine to cool, but our Opel wouldn't start after that. Dad went out to call the garage, he was away for quite some time, and when he came back finally, he told me that the garage was unable to pull us away from the supermarket parking lot.

We parted ways there, I went home by bus (lengthy, lengthy ride) carrying the bag with the fridge/freezer goods, and Dad was off to the nearby garage to get help.
I came home half an hour ago. Dad isn't home yet.

Huck_Phlem - 4-9-2010 at 20:47

I do all my shopping by bike. I have to go often in order to have enough stuff for the two kids and I.

DED - 4-9-2010 at 22:36

If you could do all of your shoppings in one day of the week, you save money. Every time you go you buy more than really needed.
I planned to call a friend to help to get the car to the garage. When we arrive at my car fortenately he started!!
We drove back and this morning I went to the demolisher who always repairs my car with secondhand parts. ( new is not handy in a 15 year old car. It was a search to find the problem but finally we found out that a pressureswitch was broken with a result that petrol was injected in the manifold. And that was completely wrong. After changing the part everything was ok....for now.

[Edited on 4-9-2010 by DED]

MTF - 5-9-2010 at 05:13

I'd go Batty. Broken shit just makes me insane.

BBP - 5-9-2010 at 21:24

:bald:

Well it's running now... and it sounds like the on-going saga of the past two years of petrol problems is finally over.

In the mean time my sister and father are playing Scrabble. And arguing. I never know which they are enjoying more.

BBP - 6-9-2010 at 16:16

Bought a whistle in case I get another pervert phonecall.
It's hard to believe something as ordinary as a whistle could be so hard to buy.

punknaynowned - 8-9-2010 at 06:33

Hope your leg heals quick after your spill the other day B!
Glad the car works again for ya too. I wonder what it is like there as far as the ease of traffic with cars, cyclists, walkers, all on narrow streets. I imagine narrow streets with shrubs and parked cars and everyone having to work their way around and through the crowded space. Or maybe better in some areas with older areas connected by broader more open highways and the narrow streets are in older neighborhoods.

I ride my bike to the store as well but also have a friend who comes by and takes me for heavier canned goods and so on. I should mount a crate on the back of my bike. I've not had any spills yet but gotten close with the one hand bound up in the plastic handle of sometimes HEAVY bag of groceries and also needing in helping to steer now and then. I use mostly unused roads only and alleys to avoid traffic.

Today I'm going to finally order Philly'76 and Greasy Love Songs. Was hoping we'd get a notice of a new one. But No!!!

polydigm - 8-9-2010 at 07:21

Quote:

Originally posted by MTF: I'd go Batty. Broken shit just makes me insane.

Sorry MTF, but there's barely room enough for one Batty, let alone two!! Seriously though, I know what you mean about broken stuff. If it's not one thing it's another.

And this year, I'm the one that got broken and kept having to go back for repairs. Anyway, so far so good and it looks like I'll be back at work next week. That's after having been away for four months.

punknaynowned - 8-9-2010 at 08:05

Also great to hear you're on the mend Geoff!!!

BBP - 8-9-2010 at 19:42

Oh I love Greasy Love Songs! It sounds so great!
I played it for my friend (the blind lady who sings Bend or Break on that vid I uploaded), she liked it! She sang Love Of My Life with her choir.

Either way my visit was very cosy. And I got a great amount of reading done on the train.

BBP - 9-9-2010 at 15:39

Taking a breather. We've put Gran's old closets in my sister's room, and now my room got my sister's closet extra. So more space!

Also found the old 9/11 newspapers I saved back in the day.

polydigm - 10-9-2010 at 07:53

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP:

You don't want to be a fly on the wall in my house... though I prefer to catch them in a container and usher them outside, I'm very good at swatting flies.

You give mercy to flies? I've caught spiders using a jar and then releasing them, but flies? Never. The only good fly is a dead fly.

;-)

BBP - 10-9-2010 at 08:22

Normally I am, but yesterday I had a fly in my bedroom. I'm sensitive about that ever since I had that banana fly trapped in my ear at 3AM.

I swatted it with my hand! How did I do that? Did it get stuck in the textile of my sweats or something?

Either way, it was badly hurt, so I grabbed it by its wing and put it outside. It looked alive to me.

punknaynowned - 11-9-2010 at 09:16

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
Oh I love Greasy Love Songs! It sounds so great!
I played it for my friend (the blind lady who sings Bend or Break on that vid I uploaded), she liked it! She sang Love Of My Life with her choir.

Either way my visit was very cosy. And I got a great amount of reading done on the train.

So tell us how Greasy compares with the '84 Ruben...
my copy is on the way next week

BBP - 11-9-2010 at 09:19

Oh it's much better! Sounds much less cramped!

I'm still going to write that review about it.

Huck_Phlem - 11-9-2010 at 19:53

Last week I had a fly stuck in my window. The next day there were 4 and then there were 12. It was hot and they just multiplied like crazy. The best thing that worked was fly paper rolls.

BBP - 12-9-2010 at 17:44

Went on a trip as guide dog. My blind friend (who I went to visit earlier this week and who sings Bend or Break on my YouTube account) asked me to help out at the annual weekend of the Blind and Vision Impaired Students. One of the people who agreed to help out couldn't make it. My sister went to help out on Saturday (they went canoeing), and I accompanied them on their walk through the city of Haarlem. It was lovely! The guide seemed to have an eye on me and gave me a chestnut. I saw the birthplace of Nicolaas Beets (who wrote Camera Obscura, the book I read last month), because of Monument's Day we could visit an old church that is usually closed, and because it was also Choir Festival we saw a choir of 5 singers perform Happy Together; and the local newspaper made a photo of our group!

polydigm - 13-9-2010 at 09:22

Successfully completed first day back at work.

BBP - 14-9-2010 at 08:05

Congratulations Poly! How was it?

polydigm - 15-9-2010 at 10:13

It went well. I'd been away four months so getting up early is taking some getting used to. They haven't got me back on classes yet so I'm doing all sorts of bits and pieces to make up my fraction, which may be easy money but I'd much rather be back teaching classes and being fully occupied. I'm a bit nervous about my prospects for contract renewal at the end of the year but the feedback I've been getting so far seems positive in that respect.

BBP - 16-9-2010 at 18:44

My helping around during a tour of Haarlem with a group of vision-impaired youngsters got my mug in a newspaper.
http://www.echo.nl/hw-hb/buurt/lees/1069563/

Spot the Bon!

polydigm - 17-9-2010 at 14:35

Behind the lady in stripes.

BBP - 18-9-2010 at 07:32

Yup! She suddenly stood in front of me as the photographer was about to take the picture, so I had to decide quick where I was going to stand so that I'd be in the shot. Shame I didn't opt for the other side.

polydigm - 19-9-2010 at 00:57

She's certainly taking up more than her fair share of room in that shot.

Anyway, I've finished my first week back at work and all is going well. I still can't quite shake this "looking over my shoulder" feeling but things seem to have settled down quite well. I've got one more concern that I'll be checking with my specialist later in the week and if that turns out alright maybe the following week I might start to get a little excited about it all.

BBP - 21-9-2010 at 17:24

That's sounding good there, Poly! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Had an action-packed day. Hit the town to get Gran's last film developed.
Then I went to search the rest of the town, to get my sister birthday presents, to look for cheap high heels so I can partake in the stiletto run, and to visit a museum that's closing down in a few months.

Film will be developed next week.

I didn't reach the museum until 10 minutes before closing time.

Didn't find anything else I could possibly buy. No, nothing, nothing at all.

Came home to find Dad clearing the garage.

Unfortunately Gran's fridge had been closed, so mold had formed in it, which I had to clean. BLEGH!! :regan:

[Edited on 21-9-10 by BBP]

BBP - 21-9-2010 at 17:28

(And then I had the cleanest mold on the block)

Calvin - 22-9-2010 at 03:07

I saw an advertisement for the season premiere of Criminal Minds and thought of you today Bonny. It has Tim Curry in it. I think you can catch the episode on the CBS site after it airs, if you don't get it there.

[Edited on 22-9-2010 by Calvin]

BBP - 22-9-2010 at 08:20

Yeah it''s the sequel of the Season 5 final, which I have seen already. The scriptwriting wasn't stellar, and although it's great to see the face behind the voice, when listening to Joe Mantegna I can't help but think "Fat Tony!". But Tim's performance is much loved, although he really frightens most of the girls at the Curry fanforum I frequent. Cute.

I'm sad to see him smoke though.

BBP - 25-9-2010 at 09:36

Watched the finale... it's pretty good!

Anyway, off to bake a cake for my sister!

polydigm - 26-9-2010 at 04:44

Just dropping by to say hi. Nothing to report. I've finished two weeks back at work and now I'm on holiday, crazy timing.

BBP - 27-9-2010 at 07:59

Today's Gran's birthday. We're off to visit The Hague today.

Absolutely nothing went wrong with baking my pie. Isn't it amazing?

polydigm - 28-9-2010 at 06:50

That concern I mentioned above turned out to be nothing sinister so tonight I may allow myself to celebrate.

punknaynowned - 28-9-2010 at 15:01

Poly, enjoy your holiday!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9q7e4tk5dI

BBP - 28-9-2010 at 18:50

Yay! Time to get excited!
Today I hit the town centre again, to pick up the photos I'd sent for printing. My grandmother had made two more photos, that hadn't been developed yet.
One of them is a photo with too much light. It depicts two dogs in front of the heater. Since it was taken at low height, I assume it was taken by a cousin.
The second one is more interesting. It has too little light, but the depicted is still clear: Grandma herself at the photographer's, apparently struggling after her camera got new film.

polydigm - 29-9-2010 at 02:21

Thanks Bonny. BTW, I don't want to put my foot in it, but you talk about your Grandmother is that on your Father's side?

Thanks for your wishes Punky.

BBP - 30-9-2010 at 08:45

Read on DZW that Huck_Phlem AKA Flammaster got hit by a car, got a skull fracture, spine fracture, broken finger and broken collar bone.

Wishing you all the best, Huck! :bisou:

BBP - 30-9-2010 at 08:46

Yes, that's on Dad's side. The one on mother's side died in 1990 or so. She was very sweet.

punknaynowned - 30-9-2010 at 15:48

oh wow!
Sure hope he's got insurance and a way to pay for that!!!
I mean, that's a horrible accident that could cripple him for life even if he has sufficient medical care.
But Without proper rehab after ...

Wait: hit by a car? Does that mean he was on his bike?
Awful. I feel so sad for him ... and his son now too.
Who's gonna look after them?

punknaynowned - 1-10-2010 at 17:14

I am totally thinking about Huck today.

BBP - 2-10-2010 at 09:56

Huck is posting at Zappa.com already... I'll make him a postcard!

polydigm - 3-10-2010 at 02:36

Hey Huck, wherever you are, hang in there mate.

BBP - 5-10-2010 at 08:33

We went to The Hague again yesterday. Besides visiting the family grave and my lovable uncle Peter, we went to the bank to clear the funeral bill.

I'll start saving for a funeral. Maybe I'll have just enough in 50 years. Guh.

BBP - 5-10-2010 at 18:10

Also added some user ranks.

polydigm - 6-10-2010 at 00:31

User ranks?

BBP - 6-10-2010 at 08:54

You are currently Joe's Garage status, since you have 500+ posts. I added some for extra categories shortly after I took over this site (Scallopino complained he didn't get any higher than Apostrophe). Yesterday, recalling the Mini Star (which required one thousand posts) rank I once acquired at the Primus forum with muchas gracias to the 1,000,000 bottles of beer thread, and recalling I've managed to accumulate nearly 4000 posts by now, why not go beyond the 1000 post Frank Zappa status?

polydigm - 6-10-2010 at 08:59

All I know is, if you keep this forum going, I won't stop visiting. It might take me a few years to get to 1000 posts, but I'll keep on posting.

punknaynowned - 6-10-2010 at 16:39

wow!
dunno if I can stand the shock.
Might have to get sunglasses fixed and put them on before I come here
hahahahah
looks great folks!

[Edited on 6-10-10 by punknaynowned]

aquagoat - 6-10-2010 at 16:59

it looks really great, bonny. :bouncy:

BBP - 6-10-2010 at 17:50

Well... you got my father to thank, really.
The smileys look all cut in the preview box to the left of Quick Reply, I'll check if it works... :grin:

DED - 6-10-2010 at 18:07

I even got my b-day in :biggrin:

aquagoat - 6-10-2010 at 19:42

That's true, it works, thank you DED. :bouncing:

polydigm - 7-10-2010 at 04:08

Yes my birth date is in and so is my correct time zone but it still needs a daylight savings option. I do like the default look.

DED - 7-10-2010 at 09:17

I like the 2,3 and more days in de Today's post section. It will give you the opportunity to look for posts in the last 96 hours. Instead of that message "no posts were made in the last 24 hours". I also like the up and down bottom.
I miss something as upcoming b-days at the bottom of the main page. But maybe there is a plugin somewhere.

DED - 10-10-2010 at 08:33

Found a b-day plug-in I will test it but today I have to work in the house. BBP is going to some sort of a concert, I must get the opportunity to get rid of a lot of things. On the other hand Saskia is visiting today so I think I go out with the bicycle.
Other thing is that I upgraded the guestbook and changed the looks of it. Next thing to do is the picturealbum and the chatroom although I hardly think someone is using that.

BBP - 11-10-2010 at 07:48

The cut smilies I was nagging about in my earlier post were caused by my zoom level, which was 105% instead of 100%. Oops.

Anyway, yesterday my blind friend, along with a visually handicapped friend (the lady in striped clothes in the newspaper photo I mailed earlier), gave a small concert in her own home. I taped all of it.

My friend is a choir singer and a pretty good performer, but Stripe was only singing, and incredibly nervous, so quite off-key. Oh brother. I decided to only upload a song by Dutch actor Antonie Kamerling, since he committed suicide recently and that may draw a small crowd of viewers.
Fortunately Hedda sings the lead. I'll save you Stripe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p04kzjtCIzA

Here she is singing Bend or Breakby Keane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS8sVMUMGdc

polydigm - 11-10-2010 at 09:58

Back at work again today after school holidays. A pretty uneventful day on the whole, can't wait to get back in front of classes again.

BBP - 11-10-2010 at 19:47

So glad to hear you're on the mend, Poly!

polydigm - 12-10-2010 at 00:22

Thanks Bonny, I'm at the stage now where I think my only problems are psychological. As serious as my original sickness was and as scary as the major surgery that fixed it was, mentally I was fine after all that. But the set back that took me back into surgery, just when I was ready to get back to work, really knocked me around mentally. It's been more than ten weeks now and I'm still having trouble shaking some of the negative feelings associated with it. I'm sure I'll sort it all out eventually.

punknaynowned - 12-10-2010 at 07:57

I'm thinking the routine will help Poly
Now if only Huck can get out of his sling
Bonny never ceases to surprise me

Heard a great FZ/CB show, Providence, RI 1975
Took place in a big gym though turns out a release-worthy recording
Ten feet from the stage, right in front of CB and Napi
most of the show sounds like you're right there with them
It just showed up in the circles. Dynamite performances!!!
Never thought I'd hear it sound this good, never knew it existed!!!
:bouncy:

[Edited on 12-10-10 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 12-10-2010 at 16:36

When coming out of a thrift store, I noticed a sign put out in the yard by proud parents of a new arrival. They called their baby "Zappa". Sweet!

MTF - 13-10-2010 at 07:11

Poor kid...

BBP - 13-10-2010 at 07:33

I'm not all that sure if their parents are Zappa-fans. It occurs as a first name in a television show called Evelien.

According to the First Name Databank, nine males carry this first name, and nine males have it as second name. Under 5 women have it as a first name.

BBP - 16-10-2010 at 21:27

Had a long day. Feeling sleepy.

Drawed a little. It is starting to look pretty snazzy! :cool:

(I think I preferred the other cool smilie. That one has glasses like Nigel.)

DED - 16-10-2010 at 22:08

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

Had a long day. Feeling sleepy.

Drawed a little. It is starting to look pretty snazzy! :cool:

(I think I preferred the other cool smilie. That one has glasses like Nigel.)

Cant remember I throwed one away?
Is it still in the smilies directory?
I misunderstood the software. After loading them up you have to bring them up in the forum software. First is there a total libary, then one for the topic headers and third one for the messages.
:forumsmiley1057:

[Edited on 16-10-2010 by DED]

BBP - 17-10-2010 at 11:58

:forumsmiley91:

Hey, another BBP smiley!

No, I can't find the other :cool:

smiley anymore. Or was it 8) ?

DED - 17-10-2010 at 12:55

:verycool:

Ah, the new cool.gif came up with the upgrade. Has nothing to do with my adding of smilies. I found him at the original goose back up.
I hope you mean this one.
I found cool.gif, cool2.gif and one more.
I have stalled them on the packard Bell desktop pc
in the users/edward/documents/Printscreenfiles/zappa/smilies directory.
check that out please
I renamed this one in verycool, you will find him behind the more smilies link.

[Edited on 17-10-2010 by DED]
[img]

[/img]

found over 4000 overhere
more and more smilies

[Edited on 17-10-2010 by DED]

BBP - 17-10-2010 at 20:28

Yeah, I noticed several were overwritten.
I like the variety they have here, but if, like we had back in James' day with that Star Wars smiley, any of them is going to screw up the layout of the Quick Reply, there's gonna be trouble.

:forumsmiley48:

BBP - 19-10-2010 at 09:49

Today? Nothing planned. Besides drawing. Hope to be able to show you the result soon.

I fear my RSI is coming up again, so I'll keep my surfing to a minimum.

aquagoat - 19-10-2010 at 20:26

Quote: Originally posted by DED

[/img]

found over 4000 overhere
more and more smilies

[Edited on 17-10-2010 by DED]

yeah!!!!! lots of smileys, me likes it.

polydigm - 20-10-2010 at 07:26

Tomorrow I'm having anaesthetic to have a tooth removed. They're not just taking the tooth out, they're also rebuilding the bone in preparation for an implant in six months time.

BBP - 20-10-2010 at 17:36

The torture never stops, does it Poly?

Having an internet-low day today, since my right shoulder, right elbow and right hand muscles are getting painful. Had RSI once before, in 2002, and I hope I'll never get that again.

Huck_Phlem - 20-10-2010 at 22:47

I feel your pain Bonny.

BBP - 21-10-2010 at 19:47

It didn't help much... guess I've been typing too much lately.

Either way I'm writing a letter to send out in the neighborhood hoping we can keep the cigarette butts, playing children and dog poo out of there. Scoop poop three times in a week in your own front yard, that's TOO much!

punknaynowned - 22-10-2010 at 06:34

ja ja !
how do you say
scoop the poop!
in dutch
hahhahaha

or something more tasteful as
take nothing but photos
leave nothing but footprints

always liked that

polydigm - 22-10-2010 at 06:38

The thing is Bonny, after everything else I've been through this year, yesterday's dental surgery was a breeze. Okay I'm suffering some inconvenience while waiting for this thing to heal and will be for at least another week or two but this is fairly minor in comparison.

Anyway, I hope things are looking up again for you soon.

BBP - 23-10-2010 at 09:00

It's better! Yay!

My delivery station will merge with the one in the city centre.
This means I have to travel further to pick up the newspapers.

Also the routes are cut to 45 minutes each. Good idea, since, whenever I showed somebody new my (large) route, they'd run like hell.

Unfortunately that will take several months. In the mean time, I'll have to travel 15 minutes instead of 5... and since my route is so large I can barely finish it before 7 in the last half of the week, I'll probably have to get up 30 minutes earlier.

punknaynowned - 23-10-2010 at 09:44

that sux, I'm sorry
I can hardly believe you have been doing it so long

BBP - 24-10-2010 at 15:49

Me either. Ten years ago I started doing it for the holidays, for 5 weeks. That winter I did another route, farther away but much tinier, for a week. I was assaulted by a guy on the third day, and so for the remaining two days I only delivered with a friend who played body guard.
Year after I didn't do it.
Year after, friends went on holiday and I took over from them for three weeks, including friend's Kronan (brand of very hard-wearing bicycles). Did the same the nect two years. Then I started filling in during summers, and in winter, and since a guy couldn't make Saturdays, one day a week for a while.
Until 2008, when there was so little staff I ended up with the same route for half a year, and Saturday routes for quite some time.
In 2009 I ended up even farther away, a small route in the centre. For two weeks I took an extra route.
In November '09 the emergency for lack of staff was even higher nearby. A guy got fired. He was angry because he didn't get his raincoat (we're all issued rain gear, I had to wait 9 YEARS on mine) and so, when it started to rain, he just went home and left his bicycle and newspapers outside. He was fired and never allowed to return.

And since that time I've been here. Currently it's about the worst situation it could get, but when the routes are growing smaller, mine will probably be cut in two. Which means much, much more money per route (roughly 7 euros extra per day, for 6 days a week, means 42 euros extra per week... ka-ching). But where are they going to get the extra staff?

Anyway: we went to a flea market. It was very small and cost a lot to get in, but my boss had a stand there and she gave that this radio/cassette player/TV in one, for free. He can return it if he doesn't want it, and if he wants it he can pay it later.
I went home with a Rubik's cube (already solved), an English/Icelandic dictionary, and because I had to buy something with that, a glass.
And I watch my home town football/soccer team beat Feyenoord 10-0.

polydigm - 25-10-2010 at 09:43

I'm still slugging along waiting for my dental surgery to heal. I know I said above, the actual surgery was a breeze, but now four days have passed, I'm getting a bit impatient. I still can't handle it without pain killers. I'm sure it'll be worth it in the the long run. Whinge, moan, mumble ...

BBP - 26-10-2010 at 09:30

Aw yeah... It's such a sensitive area, the inside of your mouth! But be patient, the last thing you need is a wound like the one on my knee that keeps on opening.

Off to hit the town today, see if I can find some St Nicholas presents. Such as chocolate letters.

BBP - 26-10-2010 at 15:41

And I came back after three hours of St Nicholas present browsing with nothing except chocolate initials.
:forumsmiley15:

punknaynowned - 26-10-2010 at 19:26

it's a good day for me when I go to the store and get only what I wanted.
Like today, salad, fruit, coffee, filters and a phone card

BBP - 27-10-2010 at 10:04

I didn't get anything I wanted. Besides chocolate initials but you can get them in any supermarket. They'll probably taste better than the ones I bought too. (I was so upset I ate my B straight away... too much vanilla, too much sugar.)

UTP cable

DED - 27-10-2010 at 12:28

Yesterday I received my internet order for UTP cable, connectors and tools.
I was warned that it is a terrible job to get the wires in the right order into the connector.

They are totally right, y know.
It took me two hours with two reading glasses.
The reason I do this is that we use to have one long cable upto the modem and a short cable between modem and computer.
And that is wrong. The modem should be placed no further away from the incoming ISDN than 1m. It is now 20 or 25 m. That slows down the internet enormously. A utp cable can be 90 meters or so before it is slowing down. So I have to make some changes overhere.
BTW don't forget to fill in my Poll.

DED - 27-10-2010 at 12:30

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned

it's a good day for me when I go to the store and get only what I wanted.
Like today, salad, fruit, coffee, filters and a phone card

That Phonecard was to order a Pizza? :forumsmiley73:

BBP - 27-10-2010 at 17:40

They still have phone cards? Or do you mean like one for your cellphone?

BBP - 29-10-2010 at 14:44

Had a good look at the chocolate initials I bought.

Turns out I bought a C instead of a B for myself.
(thuds head on table)

Anyway from now on my name is Conny. Thought I'd tell you.

Huck_Phlem - 29-10-2010 at 23:22

conny conny bo bonny fe fi fo fonny

punknaynowned - 30-10-2010 at 07:30

actually it was when I wanted a pizza that I realized I did not have enough minutes on my phone to make the call. :duh:

Yes, I use a phone card. Cheaper for me overall. I buy a card and scratch off the number, put that # in the phone and then I can use it for however many minutes the card is worth. Six months ago I used to be able to call overseas at the same rate. But no longer I think.
and I pay the phone company - AT&T for internet access :drool:

BBP - 31-10-2010 at 18:53

You OK there Huck?

Yesterday I went to visit Madurodam, for the first time since 1991. Accompanying a group of vision-impaired again. This time I got to clutch little with my friend, but it was a very cosy day in spite of that. Most of us went to a little restaurant in Utrecht later.

Pictures are coming up!

BBP - 3-11-2010 at 21:31

I'm knitting a huge purple scarf for carnaval.

Yes, yes. Life's rough.

punknaynowned - 4-11-2010 at 05:40

B: it's a children's song in english.
after repeating the first name twice, replace the first letter in anybody's name
with a 'b', then in the next line with an 'f',
then revert back to the original,
keeping the sing-songy syllables to generate and keep the rhythm.

So with me it goes:
neddy, neddy
bo beddy,
banana fanna fo feddy,
fee fi fo feddy,
neddy

yeah, it's not english, but it just occurred y'all may not have this over there...
don't know where it comes from, could be australian for all I know

BBP - 4-11-2010 at 09:05

If Huck knows it, it's probably more international... Interesting! Thanks!

DED - 4-11-2010 at 11:43

Bronx new york says wiki is the residence of Shirley Ellis. (long live wiki)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJLi5_dyn0&feature=related

"The Name Game," or "The Banana Song", is a children's singalong rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name. It was written by singer Shirley Ellis with Lincoln Chase, and Ellis' recording, produced by Charles Calello, was released in late 1964 (see 1964 in music) as "The Name Game." That record went to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 4 on the magazine's R&B charts in 1965. The record was re-released in 1966 and again in 1973. While Ellis' stock in trade was novelty hits, she was not a one-hit wonder. A serious R&B singer for 10 years before that hit, Ellis also charted with "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (#8 pop and #16 R&B), and "The Nitty Gritty" (#8 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box R&B chart). Ellis performed "The Name Game" on major television programs of the day, including Hullabaloo, American Bandstand, and Merv Griffin.

"The Name Game" has been recorded by dozens of recording artists in the years since, notably Laura Branigan, whose version produced by Jeff Lorber, appearing on her 1987 album Touch, features a classroom of third-grade schoolchildren singing along to the tongue-twisting game. The Brazilian singer Xuxa recorded a song using the same play and same sample in the song "Jogo da Rima". Often covered by relative unknowns on collections of songs for children, other cover versions have been recorded by artists as diverse (and campy) as Dean Ford and the Gaylords (1965), Divine (1980), and Soupy Sales (2002). In 1982, Stacy Lattisaw took her "rap" recording of "Attack of the Name Game" to #79 on the Hot 100. In 1993, this song was used on television as an advertisement for Little Caesar's Pizza.

Ellis told Melody Maker magazine that the song was based on a game she played as a child.

Using the name Micah as an example, the song follows this pattern:

Micah, Micah, bo-bicah,
Banana-fana fo-ficah
Fee-fi-mo-icah
Micah!

A verse can be created for any name, with X as the name and X−1 as the name without the first consonant sound (if it begins with a consonant), as follows:

(X), (X), bo-b(X−1)
Banana-fana fo-f(X−1)
Fee-fi-mo-m(X−1)
X!

If the name starts with a vowel or vowel sound, the "b" "f" or "m" is inserted in front of the name.

And if the name starts with a b, f, or m, that sound simply is not repeated. (For example: Billy becomes "Billy Billy bo-illy"; Fred becomes "banana fana fo-red"; Marsha becomes "fee fi mo-arsha".)

Playing the game with names such as Alice, Dallas, Tucker, Chuck, Buck, Huck, Bart, Art, Marty, Mitch, Rich, Richie, Maggie, Ruby, or, in British English, Danny or Annie, results in profanity or rude language.

polydigm - 5-11-2010 at 07:19

Had my dental stitches out today and it feels good, the dentist was happy with his work. I'm also having no more trouble with my major surgery wound and even started doing a little jogging. Very soon I'm going to have to celebrate. The only downer on the situation is that I have a bit of a cold, but it doesn't seem to be getting a heavy grip on me. So, taken altogether I feel pretty good.

BBP - 5-11-2010 at 09:46

That IS great news Poly!

Yesterday I went to the annual book fair, where gazillions of over-produced literature, lecture, crafts material and multimedia are being sold. Normally I have trouble containing myself, but aside from some second-hand comics (of which I put back all but one copy) I didn't find anything.
I bought a collection of Mickey magazines. Belgium had its own Disney magazine before The Netherlands did. It started back in 1950 and ran for nine years. I bought the first half year in book. The language is hilarious, the content almost frighteningly Christian.

Another to me shocking find was a book I was once very glad to have found: The Monstrous Memoirs Of A Mighty McFearless.
I really like that book. It was translated into Dutch. But it never got all that much publicity... let's hope that will be different when the film comes.

punknaynowned - 6-11-2010 at 19:17

my buddy took me to the store and I got groceries
wrote out two 'reviews', one for teh best of fz and teh other for you are what you is
as fast as possible to see if I could
they're over in the review section if Ed wants to use them to plug that error hole
i'll have to listen to filmore east again -- it's been so long

polydigm - 7-11-2010 at 00:57

It's alright, I've done a Fillmore East - June 1971 review already.

BBP - 12-11-2010 at 10:11

Laptop broke down badly. We can't get it fixed, it probably needs to go into repairs.

punknaynowned - 12-11-2010 at 12:41

Conny,
In the next fifteen minutes, the entire Hengelo show will live in my hard drive!
It would be a very easy thing for me to make a cd of this and send it to you.
Call it an early xmas present. This way you would get to hear the whole thing and keep it as long as you want.
Easier than making pie. I also have the Paris show 11/8 and the London show 11/6. If you want those also that's easy as well, but the setlists are pretty much the same.
If you send a mailing address, they can be there within 6-7 days after I put them in the mail.
It would be my pleasure to send a little bit of light your way.

BBP - 12-11-2010 at 14:04

OOH I'd love that! Thank you so much! (hugs)

BBP - 14-11-2010 at 13:45

I got my PC working again, AND managed to chuck off FailSafe without any other problems. Built it up, downloaded several programmes that mean much to me, and now I'm trying to get into DZW. For some reason I keep getting login problems.

Muppets Treasure Island was on TV yesterday. Ahhh, life is good.

BBP - 15-11-2010 at 20:41

Wisdom tooth coming through. Maybe that'll stop me from entering my user name when the pop-up calls for the e-mail address.

polydigm - 16-11-2010 at 06:01

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

Wisdom tooth coming through. Maybe that'll stop me from entering my user name when the pop-up calls for the e-mail address.

BBP - 16-11-2010 at 09:09

I had trouble logging in onto DZW, it was so bad I made a separate account for it and entered a topic in the It's Not Working section.

Two days later I discover the cause: I entered my username instead of my e-mail.

DED - 17-11-2010 at 15:38

saved my car again today.
The exhaust pipe was broken on the most expensive spot, the flexible part.
Every traffic island I have a problem finding my way to the lowest point.
Apart from fridays when we go to the market for real cheese (gouda) we won't have to many troubles.
But that one between the market and home is jus a few inches to high.
Krrrrr
And another 500 $ is gone to the dogs.

Huck_Phlem - 17-11-2010 at 18:32

got up early today. I am not wearing my neck brace anymore. yesterday it hurt but today I feel ok. I am listening to Scheherezade Festival at Baghdad by Rimsky Korsakov. I think that is my favorite.

BBP - 18-11-2010 at 08:49

Hey Huck! Now is the time for a neck massage!

You knew Rimsky-Korsakoff was teacher to Stravinsky? He let Stravinsky make arrangements of melodies he wrote, then he'd compare them to his own arrangements, and in case of a difference Stravinsky had to explain why Rimsky-Korsakoff's was better.

BBP - 18-11-2010 at 17:55

Dad is with friends today, so I'm probably going to have to cook for myself. I am going on the bizarre tour tonight with peanuts, peaches, green beans and potatoes.

I also got inspired to expand my collection of double letter stack words. One of the few in English is "bookkeeper", which has three pairs of letters.
In Dutch, double letters are much more common. Demonstrating:
voorraad (supplies. This word can expand to the even more beautiful "voorraaddoos", supply box, or even to the nonsensical molotovvoorraaddoossoort)
plaaggeest (tease (noun))
eerroof (defamation)
straattaal (street language)
vuurrood (red like fire)
vuurroos (type of rose)
muurraam (window in the wall)
doorrook (1st person singular of "doorroken", go on smoking)
voorraam (front window)
voorreed (from voorrijden, say, when you drive a car from the parking lot close to the door so somebody else can get in easily)
haarrook (smoke from heath or peat-bog)

[Edited on 18-11-10 by BBP]

BBP - 18-11-2010 at 20:30

My peach/cinnamon/green bean/ginger/potato/egg/butter/olive oil/arachid oil mashup was great! I should try more experimental cooking.

polydigm - 19-11-2010 at 06:25

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

I had trouble logging in onto DZW, it was so bad I made a separate account for it and entered a topic in the It's Not Working section.

Two days later I discover the cause: I entered my username instead of my e-mail.

I understood that part of it, but couldn't see the connection with your dental issues. But later I twigged, you're hoping the wisdom tooth will give you the wisdom not to be that dense again.

Theoretically I should be a complete dunce as I had all of my wisdom teeth out when I was younger than you are now because there was no room for them in my mouth. No room for wisdom in my head.

MTF - 19-11-2010 at 23:08

I have lots of wizz and lots of dumb, but I can't seem to put the two together...

punknaynowned - 19-11-2010 at 23:51

OK! Package with cd's sent. It ended up being a lot bigger than I first proposed. A bit like one of your sweaters this grew and grew.
Back over the ocean it goes rather than under to get here. Kindly let me know when it arrives. :bouncy:

BBP - 20-11-2010 at 09:10

Aw thank you so much Punky!
(Hey, I wonder if I'm on it. Okay, probably not. When Scheila told of that porn star bit and Dweezil said "we're not going to do any of that onstage" I couldn't resist saying "Come OON!"
Well, you know, you gotta strike the iron while it's hot. When at the ZPZ soundcheck in Amsterdam Dweezil allowed suggestions for songs ), I could, no SHOULD, have shouted "Take your clothes off" (To DED: you know the intro of Gruppo Sportivo's Superman? That's Take Your Clothes Off.))

punknaynowned - 20-11-2010 at 15:58

wap!
always a mistake :duh:

The list below is what's there, I left out the London zpz show. Found it after I got up today.

2010 11 05 Yellow Shark by LCO w 1973 11 22 L NY Dupree's Paradise Lounge story

2010 11 07 London Sinfionetta w 1973 10 26 Inca Roads

2010 11 08 Paris ZPZ complete w 1972 11 11 L Little Dots/Caravan

2010 11 09 Hengelo, NL ZPZ complete w 1973 03 11 Arlington, Green Genes medley

1969 02 23 E Rockpile, Toronto,
1970 03 07 Olympic Theater LA, CA
I Am All Day 1,2,3 a nearly three hour Canadian Broadcast Company Radio show sanctioned by and contributed to the zft and friends Jan/Feb 2009... not just Gail and Joe but Ruth and Scott Thunes, Steve Vai, Warren, one of the Fowler bros
1970 05 08 and most of
1970 05 15 LA

of course there's more details of what's there, I'll post it somewhere other than the news thread

[Edited on 20-11-10 by punknaynowned]

Huck_Phlem - 21-11-2010 at 00:42

hmmm I have a gruppo sportivo record. (mistakes) it's warped but I can play the inside cuts.

polydigm - 21-11-2010 at 13:20

Another weekend over. Just dropping in to say high. Up early for work in the morning.

BBP - 21-11-2010 at 18:45

Here's a video the local newspaper made about the scream. I'm on it! Look for a girl with green/blue knitted hat around the 1m mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UApgFgkEaY

BBP - 23-11-2010 at 11:38

This is in danger of becoming a ludicrous conversation, Tom...

Anyay I downloaded something called Schmoedipus today. It's odd.

BBP - 23-11-2010 at 18:04

Envelope with CDs came in... THAAAANK YOU PUNKY!!! :bouncing:

Played one of them, with the Sinfonietta playing some Boulez and Varèse and Revised Music... Wanted to take out the CD, but the drawer wouldn't open.

And of course the CD-player is at the bottom of our stereo...

DED and I took the radio out, then he lifted the amp + equalizer+tuner while I pulled out the CD player, then I had to unplug the thing while DED was still carrying all the equipment, then pull out the entire player. Dad then unscrewed it. I used one of Granny's old extension cords to hook up the player to electricity.
Not sure what's wrong; it's a bit of an oldie by now, we had it for 15 years or so. But I got the CD back and the drawer goes in and out again.

punknaynowned - 23-11-2010 at 18:46

oh good news! glad they got there, and fast too!
I promise, they were NOT designed to break the cd player!!!
Hope you get a chance to hear 'em without anything else getting broken - like Ed's back!!!

BBP - 24-11-2010 at 17:24

I got the impression he was trying to do just that. The garden needs to be done by the time winter gets here in a few days.

Bicycle broke down on the way between paper delivery station and newspaper round. Walked around quite a bit, but I was late all the same.
Just fixed it. Chain cover screw had broken off, so the chain cover was loose and knocked off the chain. It got messy, but I managed to fix it by myself.

Also, I'm looking for a new job. I'm going to quit the newspaper route by the new year, along with my boss and at least one colleague. They're going to ENLARGE the route, even though they haven't been able to get good staff for years because the routes are too long. They're going to make them TWO HOURS. So it'll be like the time when I delivered magazines, except they will have a three hour time frame to do it, while I had a 36 hour time frame back in the day.

My prediction is newspaper routes won't exist by next year. The mailman will be doing that then. Rescues the post in the same go.

Huck_Phlem - 25-11-2010 at 03:31

I need to buy you a new bike!

BBP - 25-11-2010 at 09:29

Nah. I'll quit after the Christmas bonus, copy a letter and put it in the letterbox of every subscriber. And send it to EVERY newspaper around. And Hyves and Facebook and who knows what else. They've been taking advantage of me for too long.

DED - 25-11-2010 at 11:58

Quote: Originally posted by Huck_Phlem

I need to buy you a new bike!

Somehow I think you need one too :lol:

and an airbag for byciclists. (picture 1)
BBP doesn't need one (picture 2)

[Edited on 25-11-2010 by DED]

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aquagoat - 26-11-2010 at 17:42

:-D

BBP - 26-11-2010 at 21:43

:duh:

polydigm - 27-11-2010 at 01:40

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

I'm with you on that one, I'm really not sure what point DED is making.

BBP - 27-11-2010 at 09:50

He refers to my large cup size.

It's freezing cold, we even had a wee little bit of snow. Just 4 more Saturday routes left for me.

Had a brainwave: maybe I should just send all my complaints about work to the labour inspection.

DED - 28-11-2010 at 22:51

and also for the new Swedish invention of an airbag for bicyclists.

http://davidreport.com/blog/201010/the-invisible-airbag-bicycle-hel...

beatiful invention, good alternitive for those stupid bike helmets.

polydigm - 29-11-2010 at 07:55

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

He refers to my large cup size.

Seems to me that he was being a bit mean. But, I am a parent and my kids have probably suffered the odd mean joke from me.

[Edited on 29-11-10 by polydigm]

BBP - 29-11-2010 at 08:55

Yes. Some people pay a fortune to get my cup size, but I can't say it has been advantageous in any way. I cannot wear blouses, for one. Ugly bras. No running. Often painful or in the way. And the boys aren't exactly all over them and I dont wanna know about the girls.

MTF - 29-11-2010 at 09:57

In college, my wife shared a house with a woman who had enormous boobs. She got a lot of attention from guys, but she was miserable. Her main problem was back pain.

Finally she had reduction surgery. It seemed kind of drastic, but afterwards she was much happier. She went around flashing her new boobs to anyone who cared to see (and probably to several who didn't).

I haven't seen her in 25 years, but I guarantee she hasn't spent a minute regretting that decision...

DED - 29-11-2010 at 13:22

Mean?
See it as a sort of Aunt Agatha - Bertie Wooster relation (Woodehouse)

Apart from that it is no fun driving with the glovecompartment open when she accompanies the ride :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVt-6TeSXgA

BBP - 30-11-2010 at 13:40

I don't like it one little bit, his jokes.

Anyway I transcribed a tiny FZ radio interview. Look for it on the General Board!

DED - 30-11-2010 at 15:23

That is quit usual with this kind a humor.
Best defense is attack. Vengeance

But now enough of this, or I read something about this all in a rhyme in a few days

:forumsmiley436:

My belly is like a :forumsmiley151:

someone wants to prick it soon

BBP - 1-12-2010 at 10:19

Anyway, today I fell with my bicycle eary on in my route, and I hurt my knee.

After that I got so scared, I walked pretty much the rest of the route.
It was also quite windy, and some of my newspapers flew away. I had to chase loose papers around on the slippery roads.

Shortly after that I passed my house, so I went in to fold the papers back together again, and to pick up the cellphone just in case.

punknaynowned - 2-12-2010 at 18:18

B, what you're doing trying to coax baddy out of his hole over there is noble and of course you are right.
Know that I am cheering you on. But your effort is probably fruitless regarding him. The effect on others however is incalculable.

And just think, DED is probably at least partly responsible for your big boobs. May even be the same gene that enlarges his belly. :lol:

My guess is that while he may have contributed to your size, you have probably done far less to contribute to his. :wink:
love the way you work

punknaynowned - 3-12-2010 at 06:54

my thing is that I have crazy hair and by the time I was twenty I decided to go with it. But then a year later they made the movie Yahoo Serious. The character actually looked a lot like me. I hated it but stuck with it. A couple years later, when I joined the military, they shaved it off and wow did they make fun of me. That was my bootcamp, til I caught pneumonia and got stuck in the hospital in Orlando, FL, January 1990.
From marching around parade style with someone always yelling at someone for them to act right, down to how to fold your underwear and how much hair on your face to have and where and how to stand up straight and still and move your head and touch your cap. They grind it out one thing at a time if necessary to hold still and contain any individuality. But then after an awful day or two I was laying in a bed with a window, 8 flights up in a tower overlooking the parade grounds or a pond with tall Florida evergreens dotting the rim of the shore. I watched the invasion of Iraq thru the view of CNN from the hospital bed while my new buddies marched around and did endless exercise pushups and jogged miles. They didn't get to see what I could see even though everyone who visited me wore masks and gloves. Discharged from hospital I was assigned to a medical unit where other convalescents slowly got better. Mass Physical Exercise was not part of teh schedule as some like me had to repair themselves internally before they could begin again. I was also excused from the common practice where everyone wore gasmasks and exited a teargassed building. But without the extra training, I passed the needed last physical exams. Simple Timed pushups, situps and 3/2 mile jog. I made it anyway.
But everywhere they sent me, I always saw the left behinds, the sickly in bootcamp, the kitchen slurry mess, the smokers on the back patio, the delivery people on the move. Not the upfront or the store front, the guards at post, the commanders in their cars. That view I don't know. My memory of the guards out front is when I was drunk and they didn't like my attitude.
But that was twenty years ago. The way I figure I got my hair was from both of my grandmothers who each had crazy hair in different ways.

[Edited on 3-12-10 by punknaynowned]

polydigm - 3-12-2010 at 09:44

Hey Ned, I didn't realise you were ex military.

punknaynowned - 3-12-2010 at 21:00

yeah I don't advertize it. Less than 10% of my life and while my experience may have been an uncommon one there and no less 'important' than anyone else's, I figure people in general hear waaaaaaaayyy too much about all that kind of thing all the time anyway. So why add to it?
If I recall it I try to write it down as sometimes, as people sharing our personal experiences, we can help each other. Even if or even especially if, our experiences/life journeys are different.
Nice to see ya G!

polydigm - 3-12-2010 at 23:46

Don't worry, I don't like you any less now that I know.

BBP - 4-12-2010 at 13:02

Whoa, has it really been three days since my last post here? Oh boy...
Anyway I bought an alto recorder. It's large, but they sound so cool!

BBP - 11-12-2010 at 09:47

Wondering how quiet this place has become. Come ON people! This isn't DweezilZappaWorld!!

MTF - 11-12-2010 at 10:54

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

Wondering how quiet this place has become. Come ON people! This isn't DweezilZappaWorld!!

That's cold.

But it's true: Dweezil's about as compelling as a bucket of fish...

BBP - 11-12-2010 at 11:20

:bald:

Weird, though. Such a fascinating background, and such a total boring blog writer.

DED - 11-12-2010 at 19:12

I also started out to write a blog. The first months I was surely delivering each week a blogstory, but somehow after sometime it slows down. Now I can write 10 or more blogstories a day, there is enough base material. but i think there is something in between my brain and keyboard that is disfunctioning.

polydigm - 12-12-2010 at 00:54

I'm really lonely at the moment. My wife and two sons got on a plane for Paris yesterday then they're off to England later in the week. I'm meeting up with them later on because I've still got work and stuff to do.

I know what you mean about DweezilZappaWorld. Right at the start it was interesting but got boring real quick and I stopped going regularly ages ago. I pop in every now and then. Last time I dropped in was to check out why some strange guy was serenading me via messages but I never really figured out why.

BBP - 12-12-2010 at 13:23

(hugs Poly in a friendly fashion) Play some Zappa!
I'm now listening to The Man From Utopia, in other words, we've reached the year of my birth. I really like the song SEX on it, which is playing now. Because it's on my second compilation (Have I Offended Someone?) I managed to get into it without having to listen to The Man From Utopia Meets Mary Lou.

MTF - 12-12-2010 at 19:58

I think of The Man From Utopia in the same way as Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Apostrophe and Sleep Dirt. These are all albums that don't have a central theme, and contain worthy songs that didn't fit on other albums.

Basically, they're albums of leftovers. But any good cook can whip up a fine meal from leftovers, and Zappa was the musical equivalent of a master chef...

BBP - 12-12-2010 at 20:36

To me the whole sound of Apostrophe is what binds the album, much more than on Weasels or Sleep Dirt. Also, track 1 and 2 belong together, as do track 3 and 4.

BBP - 16-12-2010 at 10:25

Knitted a baret.

Quit DweezilZappaWorld.

Feeling better!

polydigm - 16-12-2010 at 10:44

Thanks for the hug, still feeling lonely, but it's getting closer, not long to go now.

Huck_Phlem - 16-12-2010 at 15:42

I think sleep dirt has a sound of it's own more than any other Zappa album!

polydigm - 18-12-2010 at 03:09

Quote: Originally posted by Huck_Phlem

I think sleep dirt has a sound of it's own more than any other Zappa album!

I think that's true whichever version you're talking about. I've always been in awe of this album.

BBP - 18-12-2010 at 11:14

It's a good album. I should listen more to it, really. I only have the vinyl, and by my digital 90s ears it seems to sound so soft!

Still living in a cheap christmas card here... listening to Make A Jazz Noise Here. Today I will be visiting a long-time friend of mine, am looking forward to it!

Huck_Phlem - 19-12-2010 at 04:07

I have a promotional copy on vinyl. Just listened to it today on my awesome vintage stereo. ahhhhh nice.

polydigm - 19-12-2010 at 05:16

I've been listening to the CD version for some time. My eldest son decided to get a bit nuts about vinyl a while back and recently got himself a turn table. One night he put Sleep Dirt on and I realised I missed the instrumental versions. But, I'm not one of those fanatics who hates the vocal versions.

BBP - 19-12-2010 at 14:00

I still haven't heard the vocal versions.
The visit to my friend was great. He became a fan of Japanese chess (Shogi) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi and we ended up making Shogi pieces out of paper.

Cleared up piles o' snow again.

Huck_Phlem - 19-12-2010 at 22:46

The only one i like the vocals on is Spider of Destiny the rest I hate.

BBP - 20-12-2010 at 12:13

There has been another casualty in the family: my grandfather's sister. I never knew her.

Huck_Phlem - 21-12-2010 at 07:56

It's still sad when a family member goes. So sorry.

BBP - 21-12-2010 at 10:58

It's not her death, I didn't know her at all and never heard a nice story about her, but it's a bit sad to see what's left: a total mess.

MTF - 22-12-2010 at 06:02

Getting old sucks. If you don't have anyone to take care of you, all the blind spots in your life become more obvious. Eventually, they become life-threatening.

Take care of your Dad.

PS: to celebrate the maestro's birthday, I'm listening to my favorite album; Over-nite Sensation...

DED - 22-12-2010 at 20:08

Quote: Originally posted by MTF

Take care of your Dad.

...

Huck_Phlem - 23-12-2010 at 00:43

I think my kids will take good care of me since I treat them so well.

DED - 23-12-2010 at 11:24

Hope my kids do the same, although they are not very happy with me, since they discovered that they have the same strange sense of humor.
You and I are in Equal conditions and I think, we have done a good job.

BBP - 27-12-2010 at 10:30

Anyway, ploughing through the snow again... and again... It is quite slippery now, and the pavements are still covered with the muck. We had 20 cm (8 in) here. Newspaper delivery was hell. I frequently sank away up to my calves in snow, feet were soaked and freezing. Paper route took 5 and a half hours.
En route, I saved two bushes that had bulged under the snow's weight, I pushed a car, and received 20 euros from a friendly subscriber. Saw a sign that said "Let It Snow". Fought the urge to kick it over.

That was Friday. On Saturday I slept late, my sister came over and she stared in disbelief at the piles o' snow.
Sunday we went to friendly friends in Belgium, who stuffed us with food.
Today is my last week of paper route. And I'll start collecting tips.

BBP - 28-12-2010 at 10:17

Funeral is today. Dad has spent some time rehearsing his speech and I scrounged up the Lacrimosa off Mozart's Requiem. It's the only music that really moves me to tears.

DED - 30-12-2010 at 11:36

Thanks to my daughters it was a sollen funeral.

One for showing up an bbp for that and the music

BBP - 30-12-2010 at 20:50

I thought I spelled it out for you DED... it's solemn.

Today I finally managed to go around for christmas tips. The bulk of houses gave a no-show, and there was even one lady who opened the door but gave nothing (the house I always do first, no less), but I scored over 90 euros, and I'm only halfway.

aquagoat - 31-12-2010 at 09:30

Wow, you can get money by going to people's houses for Christmas?

BBP - 31-12-2010 at 11:08

Yes, it's a tip. All newspapers do that, even the door-to-door weeklies. Back in the day, even the Donald Duck deliverer was allowed to drop by. Last year was the first time I had the opportunity to do it, but I didn't, considered it too embarrassing. My grandmother told me off for it, she said I had the right to do that and she kept 2 euros for each deliverer that would come by her door.
Inflation is towering. When my sister (who delivered the same paper, which is how I got into it) went out for tips in the late 90s her top tips were 15 guilders, which would be 7 euros. My top tips are 20 euros. It might be the snow.

DED - 31-12-2010 at 11:25

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
I thought I spelled it out for you DED... it's solemn.

Yeah, you're a lousy speller

punknaynowned - 31-12-2010 at 12:12

heard of the last kodachrome processor closing shoppe.
this video has a bunch of good kodachrome snaps with the paul simon song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQWSMT47VA

happy stew year all

[Edited on 31-12-10 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 31-12-2010 at 15:31

Happy new year!
(unfortunately, with today's illness and the family trouble, this year's effort is a little feeble. Which is how I feel.)

DED - 1-1-2011 at 00:35

Happy 2011 everybody

aquagoat - 1-1-2011 at 11:01

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Yes, it's a tip. All newspapers do that, even the door-to-door weeklies. Back in the day, even the Donald Duck deliverer was allowed to drop by. Last year was the first time I had the opportunity to do it, but I didn't, considered it too embarrassing. My grandmother told me off for it, she said I had the right to do that and she kept 2 euros for each deliverer that would come by her door.
Inflation is towering. When my sister (who delivered the same paper, which is how I got into it) went out for tips in the late 90s her top tips were 15 guilders, which would be 7 euros. My top tips are 20 euros. It might be the snow.
cool practice, we don't do that in France.

anyway, happy new year you all.

polydigm - 1-1-2011 at 15:18

Yes indeed, Happy New Year everyone.

Huck_Phlem - 2-1-2011 at 02:50

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
heard of the last kodachrome processor closing shoppe.
this video has a bunch of good kodachrome snaps with the paul simon song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQWSMT47VA

happy stew year all

[Edited on 31-12-10 by punknaynowned]

Wow. I have that in my stack of records to listen to right next to me. it's up right after The Dregs Industry Standard. That Paul Simon record has excellent sound quality.

BBP - 2-1-2011 at 21:23

Still sneezing and coughing. Watched Muppets Treasure Island.

Huck_Phlem - 3-1-2011 at 03:38

with your pj's on? The little booties attached to them even?

BBP - 3-1-2011 at 12:45

?

Still wheezing, although my temperature is down. I'm getting worried about our Aussie friends though, what with all the floods.

polydigm - 3-1-2011 at 21:35

Those floods in Australia are in a very particular region of Queensland which is prone to flooding in general.

Huck_Phlem - 4-1-2011 at 06:35

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the Plane but in Cincinnati it falls on the street.

BBP - 4-1-2011 at 14:01

Whoa, must be a large plane...

I am STILL having a temperature. Played piano for the first time in five days.

BBP - 8-1-2011 at 19:37

Got fed up with being ill and went to help Dad sort of with clearing aunt's house.

BBP - 9-1-2011 at 18:26

Deleted the first bot since the site update. Oh damn.

BBP - 10-1-2011 at 18:05

Had a hard day's work today. DED and I rented a trailer, rode it to aunt's home and loaded all the garbage bags we'd filled in the past few weeks plus some furniture, drove that to the junkyard and dumped the load, then went back, destroyed and loaded some old closets so we could get rid of them. One of them was infested with big black creepy spiders, so SpiderBon had to go out and kill them all while dad was climbing curtains.

MTF - 11-1-2011 at 06:23

Finally got my new glasses today. Suddenly the world's a whole lot less blurry...

DED - 11-1-2011 at 11:00

does it please you, this new world?
I am still trying to shave me with my reading glasses on, only with the result that you will find no single hair on my glasses

Philmore - 11-1-2011 at 12:22

I hate having to wear glasses. I wore contacts for years; then my eyes got old and dry. Can't use them anymore.
And I'm too chickenshit to get laser eye surgery.

If I don't wear my glasses...

"I can't see. Do-do-do-do-do-dooo."

BBP - 11-1-2011 at 15:10

Dad and I went on a mystic journey to Missing Laundry Sock Land. We rescued one sock that might be salvable, and three items that might be socks. It reminds me a bit of the result of the Mouse Eaten By Carnivorous Plant video I posted frequently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j-qJ_0qroc.

After DED found there was dirty water coming out of the centrifuge, he decided to take a closer look and found a sock had gotten trapped between the drum and the edge.
He called for my help. I brought the sausage grips from downstairs. And so the Hunt for Socks began.

The culprit was easily found, and after some nasty drum pushing Dad got it out. But there was more in there. Dad removed a second item, apparently white in a former life, either a gym sock or a washcloth. A third item was so firmly lodged Dad accidentally dropped the grips while he was trying to retrieve it.
He rescued the grips with the nearby curtain rail, and while I was pushing the drum to one side and shining with a torch into the centrifuge, he found two more ex-socks. Blegh.

Afterwards we went to Aunt's house. Tomorrow we'll phone the second-hand store again to make an appointment for them to collect the stuff. We brought home the paintings, her centrifuge and her surprisingly modern TV. And we pulled the thirty-year-old carpet from the stairs, which was dusty and gross.

[Edited on 11-1-11 by BBP]

MTF - 12-1-2011 at 07:43

So Bonny, what other Chaplin movies were you in?

Huck_Phlem - 13-1-2011 at 02:35

who knows you could find a bucket full of money stashed away somewhere.

I hear that the old lady who used to live in my condo and who died was a real strange lady. She even put an alarm on the trap door in my room to the attic. I looked up there for hidden money but realized that the money would have been inside by the way she put the alarm sensors.

polydigm - 13-1-2011 at 13:46

Had a great week in France and we're back in the UK having a lazy day.

Philmore - 13-1-2011 at 20:13

I like winter, but I hate the snow.

BBP - 13-1-2011 at 20:16

Yeah the money was probably found by her heirs if the old lady died. I mean we've been turning over literally every stone, although we do occasionally discover some gems. Yesterday I found two silver spoons in the cutlery tray.
(polished them both. One came out reasonably well, but the other... Let's just say I'm learning a lot about cleaning silver nowadays.)

Well Philmore, you could pick up snow sculpting...

aquagoat - 13-1-2011 at 20:19

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
Had a great week in France and we're back in the UK having a lazy day.
where did you go?

BBP - 14-1-2011 at 11:51

When did you come from?

BBP - 15-1-2011 at 19:57

Auntie's House Clearing Update
Today I scrubbed the Toilet From Hell. It was gross, but it is clean now! Of course now I'll be pissed off if they remove that toilet bowl.
I also attempted to clean the plughole from the sink, but it's probably too far gone. I also cleaned several window frames, attempted to wash a window (but no right equipment at hand), removed the plastic from the shed's door, cleaned the bathroom tiles and floor (yes, where she was found), packed two boxes, attempted to help my father with sanding down the stairs, and found the bell back I wanted.

Dad got all dusty lungs from the sanding. Boy.

We had dinner at a small cafeteria, which was nice.

Huck_Phlem - 16-1-2011 at 01:48

Man! Sounds like a chapter from Cinderella. You deserve a nice dinner and some flowers and maybe a back rub.

BBP - 16-1-2011 at 21:33

Let's sing the Cinderella song!

The plughole has been cleaned by me. And I washed all the windows on both sides. I think she paid the windowwasher, considering the outside of the windows was clean. The inside, however...
It's pretty tragic to see how someone can let herself slip into oblivion like that. The sheer curtains were filthy and removing them to get to the windows was terrible. All the dust getting into my eyes... I opened the front room window to let out the dust, but unfortunately the window was so badly jammed I couldn't close it.
We found a lot of Tegenaria domestica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_house_spider when we wrecked the closets in the shed. There were several in her house too, and today I found there was a reasonably fresh web in the corner of the room. She had a small cabinet there that we have gotten rid of since.
Normally domestic house spiders stay in their web, except for the males during the mating season (June to October), so the only reason why we've seen so many is because we're destroying their homes. Poor little blighters.

polydigm - 17-1-2011 at 02:23

Quote: Originally posted by aquagoat

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
Had a great week in France and we're back in the UK having a lazy day.
where did you go?

My aunt and various cousins live around and about Alençon. We spent several afternoons and evenings experiencing their hospitality. Our daughter, who now lives in London, came with us and provided excellent translation as she speaks french quite well.

We stayed in a gîte on the outskirts of Alençon. We wondered about various places locally, visited one of their produce markets and sampled various delights from a nearby boulangerie.

We spent a day on Mont St Michel and another day in Paris, mainly visiting the Louvre, after parking underneath, followed by wondering around on foot along the Seine past the Notre Dame Cathedral. On the way back to the car we got some delicious crêpes from a street side stall. One with ham and cheese and another with nuttelex and banana.

I have to say the road tolls were a bit of a shock, driving from Callais to Alençon and later back again.

punknaynowned - 17-1-2011 at 06:54

sounds like fun! how long a drive in time, Calais to Alencon?

DED - 17-1-2011 at 10:33

That's fun allright
I think a 4 hour drive. Have you driven along the bridge in Le Havre. I first thought it was a roller coaster. Never been so high in the air with a car. Have been in Montauban quit a few times in a cheese and babymilk factory overthere (east of Le Mans). although it is nice I prefer the south and east of France.

Road tolls are high but the roads are very comfortable. If you take the Route national, it is free but will take a enormous time.
We managed to eat in Aix leaving the home early for the route de soleil. so it was including pauses a 12 our ride. from Eindhoven to Aix.
Riding on the N6 and 7 you see a lot but it takes you more than one day.
When i was in Paris for prof. reasons it was nice to see that when you drive in France with a 130 km/hr after an hour you are 130 km further. In Belgium 100 km in a hour speeding like hell but the road conditions are bad. In Holland speeding upto 140 km/hr you manage to reach a average speed of 85 km, due to the busy traffic.

polydigm - 17-1-2011 at 12:10

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
sounds like fun! how long a drive in time, Calais to Alencon?

We went by car. About 2 Hours from Reading to Folkstone, 40 minutes on the Channel Tunnel Train from Folkstone to Callais and then about 3 and a half hours from Callais to Alençon.

Quote: Originally posted by DED
Have you driven along the bridge in Le Havre. I first thought it was a roller coaster. Never been so high in the air with a car.

Some of the bridges en route from Callais to Alençon are the biggest I've ever been on. Seriously long and high over vast stretches of valley and so on.

DED - 17-1-2011 at 23:32

I ment this special one
The Pont de Normandie

[Edited on 17-1-2011 by DED]

Huck_Phlem - 18-1-2011 at 00:45

I would assume that bridge is arched so much for ships to pass under?

polydigm - 18-1-2011 at 11:16

Oh well, a tense and boring day at the same time today. We're packing in preparation for the flight back to Australia leaving this evening.

BBP - 19-1-2011 at 19:01

Have a good journey, Poly!

I believe that arch is in case the Eiffel Tower will be shipped to the UK.

Visited a second-hand store today and tackled the infamous Belgian codecracker key. It is an incredibly difficult calculation key that was used to con people in one of those games on TV that the audience can phone to and win much money with after they've spent an equal amount in phone tabs.

How it works: some text and a math sum is put on screen. Meanwhile a host is trying to lure people into calling to win a large sum of money, that no-one is likely to get since the key is too difficult. So difficult in fact that 1 out of 6 of the puzzles on TV were given the wrong solution by the quizmaster.

It is estimated that the code made over 2 million dollars. Considering it was night-time TV in a small area (Flanders, 6 million people) that's much, even though it took a year and a half.

Been playing with the code. They gave us two fake puzzles, with solutions, and I can't reach the solution with all data I have. Frustrating and fun, like Tetris.

Philmore - 19-1-2011 at 22:03

What a drag it is getting old.

BBP - 20-1-2011 at 17:59

Do you mean you are annoyed with getting old, or is this forum tiring you?

BBP - 22-1-2011 at 13:04

Sent out the newsletter.

Yesterday I accidentally performed a sword-swallowing feat. I was looking for the thinnest knitting needles I have. I found #1 and locked it between my jaws so I wouldn't have lost it by the time I found the other, and when I found the second one the first one shot into my throat for about 20 cm. Save a raspy feeling I'm allright.

Huck_Phlem - 22-1-2011 at 17:05

(cue Sabre Dance)

Ladies and gentlemen right before your very eyes we have the amazing Bonny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqg3l3r_DRI

polydigm - 22-1-2011 at 23:21

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
When did you come from?
Very funny.

I hope you haven't done any lasting damage with that needle.

Anyway, we're back safely in Australia and still battling with jet lag. People thought we would find the cold winter in the UK hard to handle, but it was no big deal at all. In fact, now that I'm back, I'm finding this summer a bit hard to handle.

BBP - 23-1-2011 at 13:23

Is it very wet out there Poly?
I'm OK.

Philmore - 24-1-2011 at 13:24

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Do you mean you are annoyed with getting old, or is this forum tiring you?

It's about all the stupid little pains you get with age.

BBP - 24-1-2011 at 17:58

There's nothing I can to about that... Except give you a hug!

polydigm - 25-1-2011 at 03:03

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Is it very wet out there Poly?
Adelaide and suburban areas don't really get floods, although the Murray region has been flooded quite heavily in the past. But even when that happens it's usually from rain that falls elsewhere. Look up the River Murray on Google. It's sourced in New South Wales, forms part of the border between NSW and Victoria, and eventually passes through South Australia arriving at the sea in the south in a place called Goolwa.

It's quite warm and dry here in Adelaide at the moment. The only bonus is that we got a lot of rain last year and our water restrictions are freer than they have been for a long time.

[Edited on 25-1-11 by polydigm]

BBP - 25-1-2011 at 13:28

Okay...
My laptop has crashed badly. I couldn't even get Windows Recovery to start.

DED - 25-1-2011 at 15:20

Your scanlogbook (AVG) was ruined
That caused starting and stopping of the avg program.
it is now uninstalled.

If you had to download something pls use the desktop

polydigm - 26-1-2011 at 01:52

Today is Australia Day in Australia. A public holiday for everyone. We're going to the beach this arvo for a swim and some beach cricket and then coming back for a barby. Can't get more Australian than that.

[Translator: arvo = afternoon and barby = barbecue]

Philmore - 26-1-2011 at 13:50

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
Today is Australia Day in Australia. A public holiday for everyone. We're going to the beach this arvo for a swim and some beach cricket and then coming back for a barby. Can't get more Australian than that.

[Translator: arvo = afternoon and barby = barbecue]

Happy Austrailia day! If you're going to the beach, don't forget your togs and sunnies.

DED - 26-1-2011 at 13:58

I had an old HPIIIp laser printer that was working quite allright together with a flatbedscanner on our old compaq pc.
With the new vista machine the scanner was not working (lack of a parallel port), the HP worked until the tonerdrum was empty.
It is hard to find a new one these days.
So I bought for 3 euro's a second hand Lexmark 3 in 1 printer. It scans like hell but printing in color was not working. B&W worked.
For another 3 euro's I bought a second one to exhange parts but it has the same problem.
Always something with second hand goods!!
So I bouht myself a brand new Canon Pixma 3 in1 printer.
It prints very nice and very good pictures. I made a copy of my pass when I needed it. Nothing above new???
When I had for a few weeks I want to make a scan. Printer is not connected properly was the message on the screen. With the handbook I tried to solve the problem. Tried in on another PC, Tried another USB port. Nothing helps. Read all about it in the forum, quite a few people have the same problem. In the mean time I placed the lexmark on the floor to make a quick scan and installed a old computer in a bedroom with the old flatbed for multiple tasks. We had that situation for over one year now.
Today I received a mail with a new forum post. Somebody had the same problem and tried another scan programm.
ACDsee-pro, with thatt he could scan. Today I installed a trial and yes my canon is scnanning pretty well.

Now I have to find out if there is a good reason to buy a peace of software, more expensive than the printer to scan a document.
I feel cheated by Canon.

Huck_Phlem - 26-1-2011 at 17:10

The ink is where they get you. I won't even buy ink and make my kids print out their school projects there by using flash drives.

BBP - 26-1-2011 at 21:00

Yep, popular marketing strategy.

polydigm - 27-1-2011 at 06:42

I had a great day at the beach yesterday. It's the first time I've gone swimming since my surgery. We played some beach cricket and although I've got sore muscles today it was great to be able play around like that again. Next step is to have a go at squash.

Badchild - 27-1-2011 at 10:19

Hi everyone. I got an Email telling to get with it and come here and Post....OR ELSE!
well here i am and i'm gonna post post post until the cows come home. You know what i mean jellybean??

I dont wanna end up lost in space and not being part of this, can we say "Historic" forum. How long has it been BBP ??

So what's happening ?? well i'm between jobs right now so i'm laying back a bit....doing the house husband bit....cooking -cleening and taxiing the kids to their activities....and listening to alot of music. I know got my whole appartment wired up with sound so it's nice to walk around and hear everything perfectly.

So there you go....it's bloody cold here in Bordeaux and winter just is not letting up....it's sunny though and that's better an nuthing right?

Am I ranting now ??? oh well i'll stop then..

Please don't kill my account here cause even though i dont post much...i still come and visit frequently...

Later people..and keep on truckin' Bonn!

there's a Hug for ya!

The Acadian

BBP - 27-1-2011 at 12:47

No don't worry Badchild, you're not on the Endangered Species list... that's for people who come here and have never posted.

Philmore - 27-1-2011 at 16:06

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
I had a great day at the beach yesterday. It's the first time I've gone swimming since my surgery. We played some beach cricket and although I've got sore muscles today it was great to be able play around like that again. Next step is to have a go at squash.

My muscles are sore too, except it's from shovelling this goddamn snow.

We've already had over 50+ inches this year and we still have Feb. and March to go through.

BBP - 27-1-2011 at 16:13

Whoa! Where are you? North Pole?

Philmore - 27-1-2011 at 17:01

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Whoa! Where are you? North Pole?

Feels like it. Looks like it too.

polydigm - 28-1-2011 at 07:37

Quote: Originally posted by Philmore

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Whoa! Where are you? North Pole?
Feels like it. Looks like it too.
So where are you? Do we know you from that fun place called zappa.com?

BBP - 29-1-2011 at 10:12

Possibly in the New York area, I understand they've had the fifth snow-storm of the season.

In the mean time I did something stupid. One of my old newspaperfriends is on holiday for a few days (back Tuesday) and she asked me to do her round for the three times she's out.
That's yesterday, today and Monday. Her route is a large one at over 110 papers, it's far away for me, and it has a care centre for the elderly. At least there's one place where it's warm!
Tonight it was -5.

And DED, I was wrong: I do still have to do the folding. Unfortunately that meant I had to do that on the living room floor now that Lien has taken over here.

DED - 29-1-2011 at 22:29

Lazy day today because Friday was the last day in the house of auntie.
Tried another thing at the notebook of BBP (an back up of the D: partition of the hard disk. I succeed so no data will be lost forever.
Could not found the c:partition. I think it will end on bad sectors in the hard disk there where the registry is kept. That could be the reason of the error while extracting files. With a new HD it will be up quickly I think. Downloaded the first season of Baretta, the series where not so good as I remembered.

[Edited on 30-1-2011 by DED]

Huck_Phlem - 30-1-2011 at 05:27

barretta? hahaha I used to watch that when I was a pre teen.

BBP - 30-1-2011 at 18:39

Cleaned my room. Well, really only a section of it. Spent two hours. I gave Hammersmith Odeon a first spin, it sounds great!
Also found a great old Zappa review of OSFA in a magazine of which I can't remember how I acquired it.

polydigm - 31-1-2011 at 05:47

I'm suffering in the heat at the moment. This is the second day in a row reaching 42°C. Apparently it's dropping tomorrow to a mere 33° max and will stay there for about four days.

BBP - 31-1-2011 at 10:48

Poor Poly! That must be the worst!
Ah, the days in Portugal... Dad, sis, Gran and I went there on our 1995 vacacion. For some reason, Gran had little problems with the 39C heat, while I had reached boiling point and was barely fit to walk between sea and towel. She thought that was funny.
(of course, by the end of the holiday she wasn't fit to walk from sea to towel either. She'd broken her ankle. All her bones were still in place, so she could walk with it, but with much pain.

punknaynowned - 31-1-2011 at 13:28

after a couple days above 5C and bright, sunny, today they predict freezing rain and drizzle that will turn to snow and continue through Wednesday. Blizzard conditions with >56km/hr winds expected, so power lines might go out in all that. 30 - 40 cm snow expected which will drift in high winds.
I bought a professional microphone with a port for a cord for a USB connex.
And slowly play with audacity to see how it goes. So I have a new toy.

BBP - 31-1-2011 at 17:12

Hit the down. Apparently the US Blu-ray quality of Neverending Story is so bad that someone on another forum wanted to get the Dutch version, which I bought and then mailed to him.

polydigm - 1-2-2011 at 03:25

Hey Punky, I'd definitely not rather have a blizzard, but I am, in a strange kind of way, missing the UK. Mind you, I'm talking about on the same latitude as London or further south.

BBP - 1-2-2011 at 18:48

The aunt saga continues.

When my grandmother passed away, we found her camera, with some exposed film in it. We wound it back and took it to the photography store, where it got developed. Two pictures were on it: one of dogs that my cousin had made, and a picture of Gran she had made by accident. We were very happy with that Gran photo.

In my aunt's home we found a disappointingly low amount of photos, maybe about 30 while Gran had hundreds. But we did find a camera, containing a partly exposed Kodak film, of the pince nez shape. We wound back the film, and yesterday I took it to the shop.
"Can you do something with this?" I asked.
The friendly assistant replied: "I don't know if we still have the machinery for that. They stopped producing that type of film at least 15 years ago."
I quickly remembered that time my sister forgot her film and had it undeveloped in her camera for a year. When it came back from the shop, it had a warning card in it that leaving your film on the shelf for so long will cause damage to the photos, and they indeed were very blurry.
"So after fifteen years there can't be much left of the images, can there?"
"Well, we could always try."
And he went to call the lab. He warned me that it would be expensive, that the developing would cost 15 euros alone and that, since the film format didn't exist anymore, all prints would have to be cut manually. And that it would take two weeks. I paid the developing costs, left name and number, and went out.

Later that day we received a phone call from the photography shop. They'd started working on the film immediately and found only one photo on the film, and printing that would cost 10 euros. We agreed, and I went back today.

And so I went to pick up the 25 euro photo. It was in colour, but the photographer had it printed in black and white to make it slightly clearer.
In the foreground are a table and four chairs, which we don't recognize. The background looks like trees.
On the photo are a woman and child. Since the photographer told me the film dates back to mid-80s, it's possible that they are my mother and sister. But we can't be sure.

punknaynowned - 1-2-2011 at 19:22

I can't stand the heat in summer so I sympathize. Can never get naked enough while sweating on everything, never near a pool to cool down often enough, always tired. Just miserable without air conditioning. I admit.
On the other hand, I prefer winter, so long as I have a place to stay and it's warm. So far so good.

I like it here in Kansas because of the changes in the weather. Never the same day to day. That's what everyone says here, "Don't like the weather? Wait awhile, it'll change."
Always does. I would love to visit england or france to see the sights and so on. I don't think I could live there for long though. Rain all the time, why I wouldn't live in the northwest US, Portland, Seattle. Not bad for awhile...
I lived in Florida for just over a year. Didn't like it. No culture except for very specific spots that's all full of tourists (I'm thinking Key West and Miami). Plus it rained everyday. Then the sun would come out and be hot or always near 100% humidity. Yuck.
It's my perception that when it stops raining in england or normandy, the sun may come out but doesn't warm much. So it stays wet and cool more often with the warm sunny days less frequent. I may be wrong, but the culture, the tea drinking, the gabled roofs, the proliferation of hedges and bridges, awnings and smoke filled pubs, the clipped speech --- all speak to me as products of such a climate.
Lovely people, but dour climate produces pessimistic outlook. Just an observation, a generalization. Individuals are always different.

For comparison, I know it rains all the time in Holland. And again, I may be wrong in my perception but the dutch all seem sunnier in outlook somehow. Big bright colors on the buildings, even if the colors on a Rembrandt may be dark, the personality shines thru. As if because there is so much water in the lowlands, people have more time to see their reflection and have spent the time to scrub out the gloom.
Colors: Red and blue for england and france, I think of sea and beef blood. Holland's colors are bold orange and green which makes me think of bright banners and tapestries, big hunks of cheese

punknaynowned - 2-2-2011 at 08:05

but damn Poly! that looks a BIG hurricane heading for landfall...
I'm all safe and warm here, so far

BBP - 2-2-2011 at 20:20

Hope you're out of the hurricane zone, Poly...

polydigm - 2-2-2011 at 22:15

Think about North America. The hurricane zone is toward the equator, so, for example Florida in the south gets hurricanes but not New York in the north. In Australia, in the southern hemisphere, the directions are reversed. Northern Queensland or the north of Northern Territory get cyclones. I'm way down here away from the cyclone zone in the south of South Australia.

BBP - 3-2-2011 at 17:50

That's good news, I was worried there. Thing is I live in a stamp size nation in comparison to Australia and when there's harsh conditions up north the south is getting the same problem sooner or later.

punknaynowned - 3-2-2011 at 17:53

I see Milton Bradley over in the other place got some real snow in Michigan. We were ready here but got half of what we expected. Maybe 15-20 cm. It drifted. It's still real cold. But it took me 20 minutes to shovel off the walk. Pretty, white, cold. Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan all got hit pretty hard.

polydigm - 4-2-2011 at 03:53

Okay Bonny, seeing as you haven't answered my question on Cal's forum, here it is again. What is the year round weather like in Holland?

BBP - 4-2-2011 at 13:30

Year round? Changing. Really. Summers can be heatwave or five consecutive weeks of rain. We've had hail in June and very hot Januaries. This year's January had one warm week where I could go out in T-shirt, but it started freezing again a week later. In general, unpredictable is one of the better words.

Right now it's storming in the north, and over here it's quite windy too. That's why it's a bit confusing for me, weather in Australia. Netherlands fits many times into Australia, if something happens out north here the south will usually get some of the effects too. A storm on the other side of the country isn't ever as far away as you are from the floods.

DED - 4-2-2011 at 13:51

Measured from 1971 -2000
All are averages/year over this period

Days with rain (more than 1 mm) 131
Days with snow 25
Dry days 109
No sun 76
Fog 65

ours of sun 1524
rain in mm 827
Humidity % 82
Temp in winter 3.3 centigrade
Temp in summer 16.6 centigrade
summerdays (25-30 centigrade) 22
tropical days (30 and more) 3

source KNMI

At our base in Eindhoven it is alway a few degrees hotter in summer en colder in winter than close to shore (The Hague)
In Arabia we sell holidays with rain warranty. ( sure bet with 131 rainy days in average).

When we go on holidays in France we keep drivin' until the grass beneath the crash bars is brown. Due to all the rain Holland (where not urbanised) is green.
The painting of our houses is grey, white or standard yellow or brown bricks. The difference you will find is in tghe front door. Not a single one looks llike another.
For colorful painted houses you must go to the Algarve in Portugal or Crete.

And when we're home we have to make sure that we are save from the water

[Edited on 4-2-2011 by DED]

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polydigm - 5-2-2011 at 03:45

I get your point Bonny. It's a 2,000 km road trip to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland and about 1,750 km as the crow flies. The region where the cyclone hit is several hundred kilometres north of Brisbane, almost 2,000 km as the crow flies from Adelaide. Brisbane got hit with bad flooding but has very little risk of getting a cyclone, here in Adelaide we get neither.

Thanks for the info DED. Wow, do you really only get three days a year above 30C?

polydigm - 5-2-2011 at 03:48

Does anybody know what's happening with Calvin's forum? It seems to be down at the moment.

BBP - 5-2-2011 at 11:58

On average over 30 years that is. We've had heatwaves that have made me wish I was on the North Pole, and we've had years where winter gave spring and summer a miss and went straight into autumn.

DED - 5-2-2011 at 13:43

We have seasons with just one tropical day and we have seasons (not many) with 18 in parts of the country, but that is an exception.
Our country is splitted in 4 parts, the one at the coast is the coldest and north-east part of Limburg in the south is the hottest. When there is a average is about the whole country (with is no greater than aprox 400 x 250 square km). The hottest part is only 50 km long en aprox 10 width. Traveling within our small country can give a difference in temperature of 6 or 7 degrees. 20 at the coast and 27 in Eindhoven. In Belgium (smaller than the Netherlands differences are even bigger from the hills (ardennes) in the east up to the coast.

Eindhoven itselfs lies in a lower part than the surroundings, so temp is mostly higher, but also the air polution has high marks.
We dont have actual mountains or hills in our country. Differences in hight are due to the redrawing meltwater in the iceages. In the highest parts of the country (350 m above sealevel) you can find fossiles of fish meaning that our whole country was covered by water ages ago. Springtides (1953) and meltwater from the alps can cause some problems but apart from that we don't have many real extremities in weather. Our bodies are use to the conditions. In our parts of the world (including scandinavia) it is enough to be outside for 20 minutes to get our vitamines (d) out of the sunshhine. Arabian migrants here still clothed in their portable prisons mostly suffer from a lack of vitamine D.

I was once on Rhodos in Greece ( 8 day trip) where temperatures raise upto 40 centigrade in shade. It was a hell of a holiday, crawling from one air conditioned bar to another. Back home I was ill for weeks.

aquagoat - 5-2-2011 at 14:04

wow, a great week-end beginning at my house, no more water because a pipe is broken, some guys from the water company repair service are working hard to fix it, hope they'll soon succeed. My vacuum cleaner just broke down, strangely just a few weeks after the expiration of the two year warranty, I took a warranty extension when I bought it so I hope it'll be ok and get out of the shop with a new one, or they'll lend me one until they get mine repaired.

Well, anyway, my girlfriend and I will go to the restaurant tonight and have a good time, if the place hasn't burnt down to the ground by the time we get there.

[Edited on 5-2-2011 by aquagoat]

BBP - 5-2-2011 at 14:16

We have six vacuum cleaners right now, can we help?

aquagoat - 6-2-2011 at 09:52

well, maybe, we'll see in a few days.

BBP - 7-2-2011 at 11:26

Finished knitting a beautiful jumper for my sister, with a lot of cables, took 30 hours... and now I have to wait for two more weeks for her to come over and see it.

DED - 7-2-2011 at 11:46

pictures please I'm curious. ????

MTF - 8-2-2011 at 06:25

Bonny, why do you have six vacuum cleaners? Isn't five enough?

DED - 8-2-2011 at 19:50

To tell you the truth we don't have enough money to buy a seventh one.

No reallly whe had two. a small one and a bigger one with a lot of noise and less prestation. Therefore ZAZ left us her vacuum cleaner. Than we had three.
Our late aunty had 4 one on a steel, one for the crums, a normal one and on the attic an almost antique Nilfisk (the powerful Norman). It stll works wonderfully. So we end up by having 7 vacuumcleaners, like every normal household

[Edited on 8-2-2011 by DED]

[Edited on 8-2-2011 by DED]

BBP - 10-2-2011 at 12:53

Sister and I are pleased as punch to see Primus coming to Europe, she'll buy us tickets as soon as they come out!

BBP - 10-2-2011 at 14:50

Today I received a form from Chartis. Over 1 year after my tumble I finally get my ex-boss's insurance to examine me!!

MTF - 11-2-2011 at 10:18

Bonny, I forgot that you're a big Primus fan. Well, you might like this: Primus did a run of shows around New Years at the Fox Theater in Oakland. They had the Residents open one of the shows.

A good friend of mine also happens to be friends with the Residents, so he got backstage passes and hung out with both bands. He had never seen Primus before, and was quite impressed.

Here's a really nice picture of Claypool from that show. It was taken by a news photographer named Josh Keppel:

polydigm - 11-2-2011 at 13:48

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
We have six vacuum cleaners right now ...

That sucks, big time.

(I couldn't resist)

BBP - 11-2-2011 at 17:40

Nice!

Of course, we can't go to Primus now. Some asshole companies bought up all the tickets, and they're now sold out. Sure, you can buy them off those but at three times the original price. I'm angry.

MTF - 14-2-2011 at 10:04

Sorry to hear that.

But here's another picture, from backstage at that concert. You've got Les Claypool, Josh Keppel (the photographer of the last picture), And Josh's son Lazlo.

Josh has some amazing pictures on his Facebook page. You can see them here:

https://www.facebook.com/joshkeppel#!/joshkeppel?sk=photos

BBP - 14-2-2011 at 12:00

They are great photos Mental! Thank you!

BBP - 15-2-2011 at 13:30

I've started learning Italian, and it's going well!

punknaynowned - 15-2-2011 at 19:00

Some of this is specific to US like I said but it reaches across the west in many ways. You saying you're learning Italian and knowing the anger that Italian women are showing Berlusconi today reminded me of this I wrote last November- hope you can enjoy some of it. I'm on the side of the women here!!!

I am constantly reminded how the US has no mommy. It's all about daddy who would rather take the kid to go hunting or shoot off rockets than scold him for not doing his homework or 'clean your plate, wash your hands, don't lie'.
Think about it. We've never had a mommy to do this here. The church acted like that for much of our history, but when there's a chance to make lots of money or go fight a war, we always ignored her anyway.Oprah's not our mommy, nor is Hillary. Martha Stewart? Nope.
Britain may be the example that proves the rule. Victoria and Elizabeth so overshadowed the British for the
18-1900's, she IS the state and everything maternal values stand for.
Russia has them in her history, Germany too. Italy, Spain, France all still have some form of a Mary, still an amazing figure and they all at least have sense enough to have state healthcare.

I'm not saying this as a lark or a joke. It's rather serious and getting worse all the time. Glenn Beck seriously needs his mommy.

But in at least three big ways have I seen this maternal role being played out in our American history
)Churchly community-oriented models and methods, like hospitals the way they used to be
)the culture of the university -- one that used to teach distinctions like between self-interest and enlightened self-interest as some point out and which now measures things in a strict cost-benefit analysis -- no longer has a collective understanding of what is meant when it's graduates are asked 'Where did you matriculate?' Of course, Matriculation has been replaced with a superior sleaker, business friendly model that works students like the products and strict resource producing assets they are. So long as they pay.
)the media in her watchdog capacity, with a history of popularizing things like abolition, even actions against Tamany Hall, for Abstinence, for Prohibition, Suffrage, later the growth of Labor Unions and so on.

In short, the Nanny Culture, though folks will hate the term. We don't have it. Absent.

Oprah may have seen this best and maybe did her best. Made a lot of money by ... comforting people.
But the country hasn't had even a surrogate, besides television since ... I don't know when.
Not Elanor Roosevelt though she was probably the last nation-wide descendant of that set of cultural waves borne out of Suffrage, out of Prohibition rallies and so on.
Nobody to tell us to wash our hands, wash our mouth out, or even 'don't take your guns to town'
[ahem]
"Amen, pass the ammunition "

This is no indictment either of half the population, not at all. In fact, it is the cue I see taken by many amazing women all over the country standing up and saying what's on their minds, pointing out what's so often very wrong that I see so much real hope of what there is what we can be that's out there.
I know Europeans who love Rachel Maddow for example or think Elizabeth Warren could act as a popular and thereby even necesary corrective to what ails so much of American CW about just the economy. And just for the record I think Nancy Pelosi has done a wonderful job, despite what others may say. Yay Nancy!
Y'know, Jon Stewart has a mommy and it shows. The Right is building one or is she self-grooming already? Gosh how fast they grow up.
Silvio Berlusconi is instructive here. Today's story -- Thursday's scoop [http://www.npr.org/2010/11/11/131251668/italy-s-berlusconi-embroiled-in-fresh-sex-scandal]
has him saying he likes beautiful women. But I don't think he respects them so much as he shown a pattern of acting like he owns them or perhaps, even more important to him, to then own the story.
Hence so much trouble. Ahh, he's a politician so he means the opposite of what he says. I Bet he didn't learn that from his momma.

polydigm - 18-2-2011 at 08:21

There's definitely something lacking in American culture in general. Mind you, I'm not saying Australia is much better, there are plenty of people here who would like to emulate the American example.

A quote from a movie I saw recently, forget the name, from a character who was very "American", as close as I can get it: "America is shit, but then at least, everyone else are the flies on our shit". Very depressing image.

polydigm - 18-2-2011 at 08:25

Anyway, on a much lighter note, after not having my teaching contract renewed from last year and falling into a bit of a slump while waiting for work and wondering how our financial situation would survive, I got a call today for four weeks work starting next monday. Wahoo. (I just watched that Einstein comedy the other day)

punknaynowned - 18-2-2011 at 12:40

glad you're working again!

BBP - 18-2-2011 at 17:49

That's great news Poly!

polydigm - 19-2-2011 at 06:40

Thanks for your thoughts guys. It's not just the money, I need to be working again. Music is an engaging past time but when you don't have a way into the business like FZ had it's hard to maintain your self respect in a vacuum. Anyway, teaching is part entertainment which is one of the reasons I keep doing it I guess.

DED - 19-2-2011 at 11:22

Pfff, after a period of months finally found a solution for you tube on our family website.
Problem first was that you had to choose your language again and again.
Second we modified the channel in our colorscheme and wanted to see only our uploads on a grid. It worked but you tube found it nessecary to add the profile and activity among a great with bar with a search field in top.
Since a few days there was another cange. You tube does not like frames anymore so the channel was opening on a new page and giving the standard startpage. That was enough for me. I found the video lightbox. A simple program to make xml pages with you tube movies. A free program for non commercial use. I cracked the javascript to get rid of their watermark. and now it works like the way i want. Why do i want to work with (invisible) frames? instead of drupa or joomla style? Well that is simple our menu sticks on the same place no matter how deep you are scrolling and we use the entire screen. You can check my work on http://www.3xploeg.com using the button top right wich stated streaming AV in the screen use button Ed in the our channels part.
As you can see on the start screen it also work with self hosted flv's.
I even found a way to directly link to the player screen. That gives me the idea of entirely ripping a english spoken Dutch movie and put the link in a members only section on this forum. As a present for 5 years of goose our own movie theatre.

polydigm - 20-2-2011 at 03:27

So what do you do for a living DED? I was just wondering, seeing as how you seem to like mucking around with computers at a higher level than most.

DED - 20-2-2011 at 12:34

solving managerial problems.
ICT was in our family since dos 1.26. In that time you need a lot of fantasy when the only thing you saw was A:>
Where A:> stands for a 160 kB floppy drive sindle side single density. Before that an 8 bit Atari with Atari Basic.
So computers have been quite a while in our family for fun, business and study. I managed to deal with all the major changes. Apart from that it is in our genes to find a solution for the situations were wish and reality lies far apart. We never give up not even in situations where it is more effective to give up.

polydigm - 21-2-2011 at 07:49

I hear where you're coming from DED. I'm sure I've spent way too much time programming computers. And then are the times when I've moved house and I had to throw out a whole heap of books I had once been very familiar with that were now irrelevant because of system upgrades or some such thing. It can be soul destroying.

[Edited on 21-2-11 by polydigm]

DED - 22-2-2011 at 21:11

Trying to make something new on the Goose. a forum part for member with streaming AV.
Our own Theatre.
On this moment I have a problem with the large flv files for a complete movie. The won't fit in the player. and the file disappeared instantly. Maybe the host doesn't like these big files. Still working on a solution

DED - 23-2-2011 at 20:25

OK finished it works

punknaynowned - 24-2-2011 at 05:56

works good!
"Don't mess with the Dutch."

aquagoat - 24-2-2011 at 09:13

yeah, it works well, thanx DED

polydigm - 24-2-2011 at 12:06

This new job's going well, but it's hard work and boy am I looking forward to the weekend.

punknaynowned - 24-2-2011 at 12:38

the week is downhill from here

DED - 24-2-2011 at 18:07

We here are pleased when it is monday.
(for an exception)
2 weeks ago I forgot the waste bin and they only collect once in a fortnight, so I have my waste now for almost a month in my garden.

BBP - 25-2-2011 at 18:24

Well Poly, it's always hard to start up again isn't it? How is it going?

polydigm - 27-2-2011 at 02:45

Thanks Bonny, it hasn't gone too bad at all. Year 8,9 & 10 can be a bit of a struggle but I think I've got it in hand. It's a relatively tough school but they seem to be pretty good kids mostly. I've given out a few detentions already, but that happens when you're a new teacher while they inevitably test the boundaries and find out you mean business. And when you're a temporary teacher it's even harder because you can't establish long term relationships, but all up it's going pretty well. None the less, I was glad for the weekend, which is rapidly coming to a close. I've got a whole bunch of preparation to do this afternoon ready for the week ahead.

Spacebrother - 27-2-2011 at 13:26

All I can say is that my day was noteworthy enough in the sense that I can say all is good. Haven't had a mishap or injured myself since I busted my ankle since September '09.

punknaynowned - 27-2-2011 at 15:33

Good to hear SB! I was just thinking about yer ankle. No really, wondering how you were doing before this whole Wisconsin thing blew up.
An old friend blew into town last night and a bunch of us who used to work together came out to have a night. It was really super to see everyone. We don't hang out anymore, all have different lives, different jobs or live in different parts of the country. And we all picked up where we left off. Pretty neat.

Earlier in the day went to the rally in Topeka (state capital) in solidarity with the workers in Wisconsin. A fair number of people showed up, still pretty disappointing. Tonight there's a grammy party at another set of friend's. Robs makes a whole bunch of kickass food and we sit around and watch the awards show on tv. How we do.

BBP - 27-2-2011 at 16:02

That's good Spacey! I hope to stay on my legs long enough myself. I broke my ankle last year, but you knew that?

BBP - 28-2-2011 at 22:59

Father's friend phones, he's coming by tomorrow morning. Doing some emergency cleaning. Sent DED off to bed, he's too cranky.

BBP - 1-3-2011 at 15:19

Sooo... after Dad's hard work nobody has seen the movie?

punknaynowned - 1-3-2011 at 19:01

I watched it. It was good, I never saw it before. Can't think of another way I could see it. Not that it's rare but it's not on a list of things I've been dying to see. I don't do rentals or netflix etc. But not a waste of time, free! Decent story, acting and toward the end, interesting editing. The american lead seems a real lucky dumbass. So, cautionary like that. Good movie.

I think it's great Ed put it up there. I'll watch anything.

polydigm - 1-3-2011 at 22:58

I've been too busy Bonny, to do anything other than drop by and say hello. I'll have a look at it when this contract is over.

BBP - 2-3-2011 at 10:57

You'd better try and save it then, since DED has had the idea of putting another Dutch film favourite in the theatre (thus pulling this one), and at any rate I'm not comfortable with this structure.
The other Dutch film is hard to get, and it's on my favourite movie list.

punknaynowned - 3-3-2011 at 22:19

found this today
http://icbs.berkeley.edu/natural_theory_lt.php
Several studies trying to find the ways that neurons and synapses in the brain give rise to thought and action.
came to that via an article by George Lakoff. New to me.

I'll watch another movie I haven't seen!

polydigm - 4-3-2011 at 07:06

What gets me is this bullshit some psychologists are coming up with that supposedly proves we have no free will. That thing with neurones firing in the subconscious prior to the conscious impulse to do something. So what? We get unconscious input all the time and process many things subconsciously. This just tells me that their assumptions about what constitutes a conscious choice and how it is manifested in the human brain are faulty in the first place.

I mean, you can see the irony as well can't you? By their own argument their experiments to determine the nature of free will are not the result of free will, so why are they doing it?

Anyway, just as one example, the fact that we agonise over some decisions for weeks on end before making a final choice cannot be broken down into a single observable train of thought, so just how well are these experiments designed? The fact that we may be processing data subconsciously doesn't prove we don't have free will. When I studied maths at university, with some of the more complex problems, I often awoke at three in the morning with a solution, but this didn't happen to me unless I had decided to try and solve the problem in the first place.

Their philosophical conclusions based on where certain thoughts are triggered prove nothing about free will in my opinion and one day I will find a way to articulate a proper counter argument. They are failing to see the woods for the trees. Each impulse they analyse is just a "tree" but there are a whole wood full of trees involved in the decision making process. It's like saying a protein can be understood just by knowing the individual properties of atoms of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen and so on.

Blah, blah, blah ....

BBP - 4-3-2011 at 11:32

Happy birthday Polydigm!

You should talk to my sister, Poly: whe is a philosopher and intended to get her PhD with a thesis on free will. There may be free will, but only about 5% or so.

DED - 4-3-2011 at 11:37

Yes happy birthday.....
And talking with my daughter, it is better to wait until tommorrow. Today is party time and not a day for a heavy discussion with our Sas.

aquagoat - 4-3-2011 at 17:50

happy birthday Poly! hope it was a good one.

punknaynowned - 4-3-2011 at 20:15

clapclapclapclap -- woohoo!!!

polydigm - 5-3-2011 at 06:03

Thanks everyone. Talking about free will, we went to see The Adjustment Bureau last night for my birthday, with just my immediate family, wife and two sons. My daughter's grown up and moved to the UK. The film touched on a few dodgy points but overall I thought it was pretty good, quite entertaining and enjoyed by all. Tonight we're all having dinner at my Mum's place with my brother coming as well. We're getting take away from a very good restaurant called Buddha's Kitchen. They do very, very tasty and good quality Thai food.

punknaynowned - 5-3-2011 at 10:35

heard an interview with some of the makers of that Adjustment Bureau today on the radio. He said those of the bureau were not angels or gov men but 'agents of fate'. As far as the story goes, Would you agree Poly?
Sounds like you had a good birthday.

BBP - 5-3-2011 at 19:40

Went to the carnaval parade. Will tell you about it later, because I'm on the wrong computer to upload photos, and I am totally freezing, spent 4 hours outside under-dressed.

DED - 5-3-2011 at 20:58

http://www.studio040.nl/fotos/fotobekijken/134/Page-1

BBP - 7-3-2011 at 11:52

It's been two days and I'm still in pain. Yesterday was a bit rough: Dad and I went to a flea market, but it was so crowded it was way too much for me.

Anyway we did strike gold: an old lady was selling an old Donald Duck collection at 5 euros per complete year, which is very low for early 70s. I also found 3 CD-i's.

punknaynowned - 7-3-2011 at 12:16

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
It's been two days and I'm still in pain. Yesterday was a bit rough: Dad and I went to a flea market, but it was so crowded it was way too much for me.

Anyway we did strike gold: an old lady was selling an old Donald Duck collection at 5 euros per complete year, which is very low for early 70s. I also found 3 CD-i's.

what's wrong? what did you do?

btw I want to get everyone - family, friends - to enroll here and watch Fanfare ... it cheered me right up, so I assume it would do the same for anyone

BBP - 7-3-2011 at 17:16

Glad you like Fanfare!

I went to the Carnaval parade and stood outside for hours in short dress, stockings and high heels. I was tired, cold and had sore feet.

I just made a page with all my photos:

http://bonny.ploeg.ws/carnaval2011.html

polydigm - 7-3-2011 at 21:52

I don't want want to say too much about The Adjustment Bureau yet to give people a chance to see it. And the point that was made about angels versus agents of fate - it's actually a lot more complicated than that, but I will vent forth on it later, once people are happy I'm not spoiling the film for them.

[Edited on 7-3-11 by polydigm]

BBP - 9-3-2011 at 10:17

Fell for the first April Fools gag of the year.

Philmore - 9-3-2011 at 13:10

That Carnaval parade looks like fun. It's very colorful.

The parades we have in my town have some guys in suits, the horribly out of tune high school marching band, a truckload of Boy Scouts and a bunch of baton twirling girls who don't know the meaning of synchronization.

polydigm - 9-3-2011 at 21:53

Well, my four week teaching contract is going okay. I'm coming up to the end of the the third week. The majority of kids there are not impressed by school or teachers so it's quite a challenge to find something appropriate for them.

Bonny, you can't tell us you fell for a gag and then not tell us what it was. And besides, it only the 10th of March.

BBP - 9-3-2011 at 22:47

Well, out here they start their april fool's gags early, February is no exception.
Second, it was such good news I was all excited going to bed, then I woke up and discovered it was probably a prank, but now it doesn't look ike a prank anymore. So I might not have been fooled. But if you must know, there's been a hint towards a new Gabriel Knight game.

...Then again, it wouldn't be the first time this year I got excited over the Dutch proverbial dead sparrow, see Primus.

polydigm - 10-3-2011 at 21:49

I'd not heard of that before but I might have checked it out if there was a Mac version, but apparently not. I notice they use Tim Curry. Aren't you a fan of his?

BBP - 11-3-2011 at 10:28

You know I've played Sierra (game company) adventures since young age? I was a huge fan of Leisure Suit Larry, and I played GoldRush and Sid & Al's Incredible Toons. Later I discovered series like Phantasmagoria (I was so scared of it I couldn't finish it for a year) and Shivers. I discovered that Gabriel Knight was the most popular, so I played the floppy version of the first game, got nowhere and never looked back.

And then I saw Rocky Horror, wondered if that was the guy from Clue, checked Curry out on IMDB, discovered all the things I could have known him from if I had been paying attention (like Duckman and Pink Floyd: The Wall Live In Berlin), and decided to check him out more. Noticed Gabriel Knight on the list, and three days later I found GK3 in a goodwill store. Fell in love with the game music before Tim had even started talking.
You know, those books that are so good you can't put them down? Films that are so good you are biting your teeth until it's finished, when you completely forget time? I never knew a game could reach that level. And all three installments of GK are that good, even the one without Tim.

polydigm - 12-3-2011 at 02:35

I got right into xbox games for awhile after giving my sons an xbox about 8 years ago, but I went off them pretty quick. I don't like shoot em up games, or games with excessive violence. Elder Scrolls involved too much killing and what have you. The Harry Potter games were okay but I really only liked the second one. The original Wallace and Grommet wasn't too bad. Nightcaster was an engrossing challenge. I'm curious about GK, but if I can't find a Mac version I won't bother.

MTF - 12-3-2011 at 09:39

We had lots of tsunami fun today. The waves started hitting here about 8am local time. News helicopters were jockeying for space above the Santa Cruz harbor, so they could get the best view of boats smashing into each other.

I think everybody except surfers were surprised at how powerful the waves were 6000 miles away from where they were generated.

Here's an interesting little 1-minute time-lapse video of some of the early tsunami surges. Each surge is about five minutes real time. Under normal conditions, the tide NEVER goes out this far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTJMShvpVUs

PS: You can see a surfer scurrying out of the water between surges, when he finally realizes what a fucking idiot he is...

BBP - 12-3-2011 at 10:29

Sounds like you will enjoy adventures more. They're more focused on problem solving, like reading Da Vinci Code and solving all the riddles yourself. Some are about solving concrete puzzles (like you're in a haunted house, and every room has a puzzle in it you need to solve, like an anagram or a chess puzzle. The 7th Guest is a game like that and it grew so massively popular it spawned dozens of imitations). In others there, say, might be a locked door, and you need to find a key. Or there is a locked door with a key on the other side, and you need to find a way of getting it out.

That's a cool time lapse, MTF!

BBP - 12-3-2011 at 19:02

Caught a peribalus strictus on the first floor, had a good look at him and took him outside.
http://www.ahw.me/p1/holcostethus_strictus001b.html

DED - 13-3-2011 at 23:43

That means that our neighbours are right.
There do live strange creatures in our house......

BBP - 14-3-2011 at 14:24

Our Pinbot is breaking down, probably diode problem in the right flipper.

BBP - 16-3-2011 at 18:15

Dad fixed the right flipper, replaced the left flipper, replaced a rubber band and a small post that take ages to get to.

Painters came over to give the front door, garage door and all window frames a fresh coat of paint on the outside. All doors and most windows had to be open, so now it's freezing in here.

Also, I went to the dentist, and I'm OK!

polydigm - 19-3-2011 at 07:16

Good to hear Bonny. I've got dental surgery scheduled for May. It won't be as traumatic as the last batch, but it's still fairly major. Last time I had a tooth removed and a bone graft done, which has turned out really well, so the problems I was having with the tooth before have been fixed.

This time coming up is to put in an implant. If that goes well, six months hence I'll get a crown and it'll be just as good as a real tooth and infinitely better than getting a bridge. It's very expensive but it should end up like I never had any trouble there in the first place, which is miraculous, because I've been having trouble with that tooth for more than fifteen years.

Last time I had to have a general anaesthetic, but this time it's just with a local so I have a Valium at the ready.

MTF - 19-3-2011 at 10:28

Just got home from seeing Primus. Easily the loudest concert we've been to since ZPZ (when we were sitting in the front row right in front of the speakers).

The show was presented by Green Gopher Garden Supply; the business run by Les Claypool's brother. The show was a benefit for Les' nephew. Les also announced that his step-father was in the audience, and was seeing him play for the first time.

They played some songs from their upcoming album, including one about fishing. Les admitted he's never been fishing in his life. I couldn't really follow the lyrics, but I got the idea the song isn't really about fishing. I think "fishing" is a metaphor.

Les Claypool really is a kickass bassist. The bass is an easy instrument to play - even Sid Vicious could do it - but it's extremely difficult to play well. And to play it at a virtuoso level is very rare. Few musicians that good would bother with the bass.

And he's the only guy I've ever seen play a bass with a whammy bar. You gotta like that.

But seriously: I was not expecting a mosh pit. Fortunately we were standing behind two big guys; so we got knocked around some, but we didn't get smashed...

BBP - 19-3-2011 at 10:38

You were going to Primus and not expecting a mosh pit?
That's odd if he says he's never been fishing. It can't be what I think it means (that is, the type of hunting where you catch the denizens of the deep)

Hope you'll be all-right, Poly! It sure sounds nasty!

polydigm - 20-3-2011 at 05:14

Bonny, I'll be alright, the worst part is over with, apparently.

MTF, have you heard the Five Peace Band, either live or on CD? The bass playing there, by Charlie McBride is pretty amazing.

punknaynowned - 21-3-2011 at 22:16

wrote an article last night, finished another and then posted both.
Got up late. Responded to comments. Read a bunch of articles.
Looks more and more like the new normal for me.

polydigm - 23-3-2011 at 11:21

I finished my 4 week contract last week and I've been at a bit of a loose end this week, although I seem to be getting back into music composition mode. Tonight I got a phone call from the school I just worked in to do a day of TRT (Temporary Relief Teaching) tomorrow as one of their maths teachers is having a day off. I need the money and accepted enthusiastically but still have that deep down wrench if you know what I mean. Oh well, up early tomorrow.

BBP - 26-3-2011 at 20:07

Hope all goes well, Poly!
Been drawing a lot lately. Great to be back there. I've also tried to pick up my calligraphy again (the amount of calligraphy pens I have now is astounding... alas the bulk is not working).

polydigm - 27-3-2011 at 04:01

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Hope all goes well, Poly!
Thanks, it did go well. Now I've got another TRT day on Monday.

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Been drawing a lot lately. Great to be back there. I've also tried to pick up my calligraphy again (the amount of calligraphy pens I have now is astounding... alas the bulk is not working).
I'm not trying to be pernickety about your English, I just want to make sure I understand your point, are you saying that the majority of your pens don't work?

BBP - 27-3-2011 at 12:10

Yes. It's those cursed fountain pens, you know. I'm very glad our arts teacher made my class do calligraphy for months: it improved my handwriting greatly. It was near illegible for years.

polydigm - 28-3-2011 at 07:34

My handwriting was bad as a kid, then I broke my wrist at 13. The doctors did a bad job fixing it and my hand writing has been pretty much atrocious ever since. If I make a really sustained effort I can be reasonable, but if I just let go and write it's a bit of a mess.

Anyway, today's TRT is finished, so I'm putting my feet up.

BBP - 28-3-2011 at 11:21

Ouch! Sounds like you fell pretty hard!
Did you ever consider getting another operation done? I can imagine a bad hand writing is tough when you're a teacher.

polydigm - 29-3-2011 at 00:04

I have a permanent break near the tip of my ulna in my right arm and I've been told it's virtually impossible to fix. It hasn't prevented me developing a decent squash game and is probably not that responsible for my bad hand writing. Back in school when we did archery I discovered that I was quite good when I did it left handed. I could push on the bow with my right hand (pulling is when I have a problem) and pull the string with my left, but the PE teacher, a complete asshole who was responsible for me breaking my arm in the first place, forbade me to do it left handed, so I gave up a sport I was potentially good at.

BBP - 29-3-2011 at 11:08

Oh god, don't talk to us about bad PE teachers! There were two at my school who were such a complete nightmare to have. They just wouldn't accept that there might be something you can't, and if you're too heavy AND too weak to climb rope, you're not going to learn it in two days time. I was relatively lucky, being a terrible sweetheart I never had much teacher trouble, but my sister once got kicked out of class because she wouldn't do a handstand on one of these things http://www.gymnastiekwinkel.nl/gymnastiek-toestellen/springkasten, and it looked downright dangerous, so she wouldn't and got kicked out.
He punished her by putting her in a handstand position for 15 minutes.

Anyway after three years of terror I finally had a good teacher. It didn't stop me from having a severe elbow bruise and a ring finger which I think I may have broken back then. And at least two concussions from balls hitting my head.

I'm completely in favour of banning PE from schools.

Huck_Phlem - 30-3-2011 at 02:15

A dresser drawer?

BBP - 30-3-2011 at 10:38

It's some sort of thing you're supposed to jump on and off. My sister, and classmates, had to do a handstand on the end, then flip over to the other side (that is, off the dresser). Since those things are built from several partitions, the end of the ones on the top came loose and flew up whenever someone performed such a stunt.

DED - 30-3-2011 at 18:22

this one

Attachment: springkast2.jpg (27kB)
This file has been downloaded 441 times

[Edited on 30-3-2011 by DED]

polydigm - 31-3-2011 at 12:19

Wow Bonny, those PE teachers sound awful.

BBP - 31-3-2011 at 19:04

Say, how did you break a wrist? Did you fall or something?

polydigm - 1-4-2011 at 01:44

It happened early in my first year in high school around my thirteenth birthday. We were being introduced to the parallel bars in PE. This basically weak bunch of 12/13 year olds were being asked to do a reverse dismount from the end of the bars set to the full six foot height, which is just insane. The person behind you in the line was supposed to support you if you came down awkwardly which was way too much to be asking of us - both in terms of the person doing the manoeuvre and the responsibility for the person behind. I was the pigeon who was first in line and the PE teacher left us unsupervised. I fell backwards and landed with my hands underneath, the person behind me just stepped out of the way.

My wrist was badly distorted by the fall. A couple of GPs in the local hospital thought they could fix it without help from a specialist and it's never been right. I had some exploratory surgery done when I was 26 after having some trouble with my wrist at work. It was found that my trouble stemmed back to the original break and the incompetence of those GPs. I had a cyst removed which helped me big time because it gave me back full movement of my wrist but I was told there was nothing they could do about the break.

It's not as bad as it sounds. They said that building up the strength in that arm would help a lot, which turned out to be true. It gets a bit sore sometimes but I can still play guitar, piano and sax and most of the time I barely notice it. I've had problems with my back from that fall as well, but it's hard to quantify just what those problems might be. But exercising and keeping fit helps and like I said, I've been able to play squash which is a pretty vigorous and demanding sport.

BBP - 1-4-2011 at 12:02

That IS insane! I could never do a reverse dismount due to the combination of heavy weight, little muscle and big feet that get in the way, so after a couple of failed attempts in which I hurt my feet badly, I just switched to forward. But at least my teacher had the decency to have them set to height. We did have to do a forward somersault on them by second grade, when I was 13.

Of course I have to note we had mixed PE in school. Which sucks from 4th grade or on, when you're playing basketball against people who are a head taller than you. Or when you're on your period and staying on the side (which I by consequence never did, too embarrassing). Or when your breasts have grown too large to control, even with sports bra.

That's pretty careless from your GP's. If you were in the States you could sue them.

polydigm - 2-4-2011 at 00:01

I was told when this was discovered that I could sue and legal aid were pretty keen to do it but my head was in a bad space at the time and I didn't get my act together to do it. Money aside, I should have done it because a message needed to be sent to that hospital about what was taking place there.

Sounds to me Bonny like your school was pretty insensitive. I expect stories like mine from people my age, but schools and, the law along with them, have changed. It doesn't sound like it has where you are, or did things used to be a lot worse? DED?

BBP - 2-4-2011 at 13:02

Actually that somersault was not as bad as it sounds. English language doesn't differentiate between a somersault on the ground, which all kids do when they're young and during which you always have support from the floor, and one in the air, which is only for gymnasts. The MO was, first you swing and put your legs on the bars, one on the left, one on the right, so you have your legs spread.
Then you move your hands in front of your legs, then you pull up your lower legs and hook your feet behind the bars, and then push off. While you're turning, your shoulders and upper arms are always supporting the rest of the body. It's pretty easy, but naturally quite scary looking.
Also: P.E. class is always dangerous. I broke my finger when a very fat girl ran into me during basketball. I always assumed it had been bruised, until I broke my ankle and realized I wasn't immune to fractures.
I bruised my elbow when, during basketball, I tried to get the ball from someone, but I fell, and he fell on top of me. We're still very good friends. And there was some charm in walking around with a black and blue arm with a gory wound, creeping out the girls.

My school wasn't really careless. It was a bit of a posh school, with very little foreign kids (three in my year with 110 kids), an inter-school sports competition between 4 schools, an artistic competition between 4 schools, and many after-school activities.

DED - 4-4-2011 at 14:29

Main problems in Holland are "the quality"of teachers esp. at Gymnastics. They don't seem to understand that we not all are alike.
Speaking with them on this issue seems to be not done. I was send out of the classroom many times and punished even often. Only because I was not the easiest guy around. For me, teachers are only right in what they say if they can prove it. When you say that things are the way the are, or because they say so, have a hard time educating me. It started out when I was six. I wrote done milk when I had to wrote milk, unfortenately by that time I wasn't aware of different languages. I had a Corgi Toy Milkvan with a large sign on top stated MILK. So when I had to wrote down Melk (Dutch for milk) I wrote milk. The teacher stated that I was wrong and I couldn't accept that. She didn't explain that people in England and some other places speak a different language and say milk to melk. If she had done that I could have some understanding, but to say I'm wrong was the start of a strange career in education.

polydigm - 5-4-2011 at 14:22

I was humiliated by my teacher in front of the class in grade 3 for not knowing my times tables properly. I decided on that day that no-one was ever going to do that to me again, so I learnt my tables quick smart and other stuff besides and went on to become the one who corrected teachers whenever they made mistakes. She created a monster.

BBP - 6-4-2011 at 20:39

Go Poly!

polydigm - 7-4-2011 at 00:55

Those humiliating experiences can go both ways, they can cause some people to shut off from education altogether.

Anyway, starting the day before yesterday I got back to playing my alto sax. I'd just transcribed the melody from "Overture To A Holiday In Berlin" and got really curious to hear it on my saxophone. I went back to it momentarily around October last year but that lasted 2 days. Other than that I haven't played it since before I got really sick back in May last year.

I've been kind of battling with what I'm doing with my life ever since my second surgery in July last year and music has taken a bit of a back seat. Although, I've been trying to keep my chops up on the guitar, but that's been about it. My brother bought me the book "The Rest Is Noise" for my birthday in March. I've been reading it bit by bit ever since, over 600 pages, and finished it yesterday. It's a history/critique of 20th Century music. I've found it very inspiring. I'm right back into full blown composition again and did that transcription on Tuesday as an exercise which then led to playing the sax again.

Remarkably enough, I haven't lost a lot from what I learnt at the start of last year. It all comes back pretty quickly with a little reinforcement. It'll need a little more time and practice before I can play OTAHIB well but I'm already happy with my progress after only two days. I don't exactly push myself, I'm just driven to keep playing and eventually I have to stop because my face muscles just can't do it any more. Maybe that's where the saying "chops" comes from: building up your jaw muscles playing a reed instrument.

Talking about composition, my latest is a major one, bringing together all kinds of seemingly disparate elements with a fairly large ensemble in mind. I've no idea yet how I'm going to get it performed properly, but I will at least put together a demo using my studio. Firstly, of course, I have to finish it.

Anyway, better go have my breakfast, I'm off to the hospital for a routine check up with my surgeon. Don't worry, I'm well, they just need to check up on my progress periodically. I'm fairly fit and back to being slightly overweight; taking the dogs for long walks with my wife; been to the beach swimming several times since Christmas; working in the garden and doing plumbing odd jobs and so on. The only physical challenge left for me now is to try some squash again.

punknaynowned - 7-4-2011 at 11:35

good to hear Geoff!
Overture to Holiday In Berlin is one of my faves!
Would love to hear any new songs when their ready too

polydigm - 8-4-2011 at 08:33

Just today I made a new section for my music on my web site. Try the following link:

Geoff's Music

I hope you like some of it.

punknaynowned - 8-4-2011 at 19:23

there's a number of pieces under 'perfect time' that I like. Haven't listened yet to 'Can't Stop It'.
The first one sounds almost zappa related. 'Been There' and 'It's Not What You Think' are actually compelling. Many of them I wanted them to keep going. Reparturnling starts out very atonal or dissonant and ends up in a very different place. Neat. Dabbling starts out intriguing and stays there almost til the end. I like it all and will be back.
Thanks for sharing!!!

punknaynowned - 8-4-2011 at 19:24

I have to do errands today and don't want to.

polydigm - 9-4-2011 at 01:24

Thanks for the feed back Ned.

Reparturnling has three components, each of which has a very different harmonic basis, but are none the less thematically related. The piece is ABABCD, I tend to use mostly pretty classical forms to structure my pieces, I don't buy into the total serialist view of the world. A is serial, based on a twelve tone row. When I work with serial composition I have my own way of doing things. I don't like really abstract mathematical type serial stuff. Sometimes I develop a series that I like the sound of, which is the most important thing, then I experiment with it and see what kinds of chords I can get out of it and other melodic variations. I try the retrograde and inversion but I'll only use these if they sound good to me, my variations are mostly non standard. B is kind of tonal, inspired by Stravinsky. It's not tonal in the sense of having a key centre but it's constructed using diatonic elements. C is modal using the dominant mode of F# ascending melodic minor. D, the cadence, is based on elements of A and B.

Been There has a similar mix of atonal, non tonal diatonic and modal elements.

BBP - 10-4-2011 at 14:30

Attempted to do some gardening, lost to the stinging nettles.

MTF - 11-4-2011 at 09:35

My daughter's about to graduate from high school, so she and my wife are taking some tours of colleges. This weekend they went to Chico State, which is a party school almost as notorious as my alma mater; U.C. Santa Cruz.

Last night they went camping on Angel Island, where my wife took this picture of the Golden Gate Bridge:

We're looking toward the west. San Francisco is to the left; Sausalito to the right; and the Pacific Ocean is on the other side of the bridge. That fog bank in the distance is the reason Mark Twain once said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

BBP - 11-4-2011 at 11:44

...I was about to say "Gosh, the Golden Gate Bridge sure has deteriorated since it starred in Vertigo"...

aquagoat - 11-4-2011 at 19:18

Cool pic, mtf.

BBP - 12-4-2011 at 22:49

Started knitting a cape. It's a lot of stitches: knitting a needle takes about half an hour.

Huck_Phlem - 13-4-2011 at 01:35

Both my brothers went to Chico State to take GST (General Studies Thematic) to get all their basic classes out of the way then went on to other state schools. My oldest went on to CCAC and the other one went to SFSU.

MTF - 14-4-2011 at 05:12

Quote: Originally posted by Huck_Phlem
Both my brothers went to Chico State to take GST (General Studies Thematic) to get all their basic classes out of the way then went on to other state schools. My oldest went on to CCAC and the other one went to SFSU.

Neither my wife nor my daughter was too impressed with Chico. So far it looks like San Francisco State is her #1 choice. Next weekend they're going to San Jose State and then they're flying up to Oregon to look at a couple places.

She managed to get a D in chemistry. This actually turned out to be a good thing, because it ruled out a lot of schools we couldn't afford anyway.

[Edited on 4/14/2011 by MTF]

Huck_Phlem - 14-4-2011 at 05:48

Yea my son got a D in Latin and Biology this quarter but some of the kids told him it's the Semester grade they look at.
He can fix it with Summer School they said.

DED - 14-4-2011 at 15:05

Finding the right school for your children is a hard job. And by the time that you have found one, they complain afterwards. I did what was right in my opinion that time. I hope someday they will understand.

BBP - 14-4-2011 at 16:01

Well dad, it's not like you ever said anything positive about my elementary school's principal.

DED - 14-4-2011 at 19:36

that rejected scout you mean.
There was no alternative there accept for a black catholic school

BBP - 15-4-2011 at 10:05

"except".

Not much happening here, but today I'm going to hit the town, trying to find Dad some birthday presents. The only thing he asked for is "solder". Thank you Dad.

polydigm - 17-4-2011 at 00:44

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
"except".
See, he must have sent you to a good school.

BBP - 17-4-2011 at 11:11

Actually I had a very bad English teacher. Fortunately my English was always ahead of school, it was a bit of a snooze subject for me.

MTF - 18-4-2011 at 05:52

I'm watching a National Geographic documentary about the Japan earthquake and tsunami. It was compiled mostly from news footage and cell phone video. There's very little narration: the pictures speak for themselves...

DED - 19-4-2011 at 20:58

To me, i found it fantastic that they also search for picturealbums and personal belongings. People who lost everything are very glad that they found some pictures and belonigings of the people they loved.

BBP - 19-4-2011 at 21:13

Spilt tea all over me. Whose genes do I have, anyway?

DED - 20-4-2011 at 07:12

I don't drink tea, so it must be genes from another one

polydigm - 21-4-2011 at 04:06

BBP - 21-4-2011 at 13:10

(Actually he does drink tea occasionally.)

BBP - 22-4-2011 at 13:53

It's incredibly hot in here today, incredibly hot in here...

Decided to walk to the market, but I soon regretted the idea. I even bought some Slush. (that's ground ice with syrup)

punknaynowned - 22-4-2011 at 15:38

it's rainy and humid here. We need rain too but as long as the mercury stays where it is and temps rise, I fear it will just get more and more humid and no added rain will come. But crying won't help it any. Coffee doesn't seem to perk me up today either. With the impending rain as well I can't get out and work either.
Slow news day it seems. I should be Grateful about that I guess.
I know, I'll put zappa on and read.

polydigm - 23-4-2011 at 04:37

We're having a very nice Autumn here and I have to say I don't mind the prospect of Winter either. It can be a bit inconvenient some times, but so can Summer in it's own way and overall Winter's becoming my favourite time of year you just have to make sure you get plenty of Vitamin D.

Spacebrother - 23-4-2011 at 09:28

Haven't been around here in a while. Thought I'd check out whats new since the last time I visited this forum.

BBP - 23-4-2011 at 10:10

Hi Spacey! Good to see you again!

MTF - 24-4-2011 at 08:41

Today I fixed the stairway in our back porch, and in doing so I found a lot of rotten wood. We'll have to replace the whole porch.

But not today...

BBP - 24-4-2011 at 09:14

Oh crap, that sounds like it will cost a fortune!

Happy Easter, everyone!

aquagoat - 25-4-2011 at 10:26

happy easter you all!

DED - 25-4-2011 at 16:41

Yes, it is almost over, but happy easter from a sunny Eindhoven

BBP - 26-4-2011 at 09:37

My blind friend came to visit yesterday. We went for a walk and had ice-cream. Very cosy.

polydigm - 27-4-2011 at 06:01

Australia is a secular nation and as such some things are rated higher than religious festivals. Anzac Day for one. For many years now we have held Anzac Day on the actual day rather than having a public holiday Monday in lieu. Anzac Day is the 25th of April which happened to be Easter Monday this year, so Monday this week was called Anzac Day and Tuesday was a public holiday in lieu of Easter Monday.

So, we've just had a five day weekend. Although, if you're a teacher, it's in the middle of a term break anyway, which has been the case ever since the government cunningly reorganised the school term structure. Back in the bad old days we had three terms with a two week term break in May and then in September, that is, Autumn and Spring, which is kind of logical for holidays. Now we get three two week term breaks, April and October for the first and third, which arguably places both of them in better weather, but the kicker is taking two weeks from the Summer break and dumping them in the middle of Winter at the end of June.

The reasoning is sound I guess, it was argued that we needed to have a two semester year.

Anyway, I forgot to mention here that I got a teaching contract at a good local school for all of second term - ten weeks this time - which is good news but my holiday's almost over, I'll be back at the rock face on Monday.

BBP - 27-4-2011 at 10:49

Wow, great news Poly! And educational too!

BBP - 29-4-2011 at 10:51

Summer has struck here, cars covered in pollen and rain being sorely missed. I've started juggling again.

aquagoat - 29-4-2011 at 17:37

it's raining again in here after 4 weeks of summer sun and heat, I'm longer used to that weather.

DED - 30-4-2011 at 07:38

Yeah we had a little thunder and some rain, now it is dry and sunny again. Fortenately because april, 30 is Queensday in Holland.
Music al over and free markets where everyone can do anuthing to earn money.
Selling old junk, making music, playing games etc.

polydigm - 1-5-2011 at 12:41

I'm counting down to my first day at work tomorrow. Thankfully it's a professional development day, a good way to warm up to actual work.

BBP - 1-5-2011 at 20:01

Good luck Poly!

I finished knitting my cape! It's huge and really very cool!

polydigm - 2-5-2011 at 08:38

Today went well. Tomorrow I start real teaching. I'm sure I'll be like a duck back on the pond after a stroll in the woods.

BBP - 2-5-2011 at 20:57

Thats great Poly!

Had a scary moment when my laptop got a BSOD in the middle of watching a Youtube video. I'm worried a driver got crashed.

Here are two pictures of the cape I knitted:

MTF - 3-5-2011 at 05:01

Nice cape. Are you a Superhero?

polydigm - 4-5-2011 at 10:28

That's a lot of knitting. I imagine that's quite warm.

BBP - 4-5-2011 at 14:57

It is, and quite heavy too!

Am trying my hand at Dvorak's Humoresky.

BBP - 4-5-2011 at 19:52

I get so sick of Google link of that account all the time. I made a special account so I could still log in to YouTube without having that linked to any of my active Google accounts. That worked OK but now Google links up all its services to that account. So I am also automatically logged in on G-mail, and the Google search engine etc. How on earth am I to believe they are not invading my privacy?

Anyway I've circumlocuted my problem. I've dropped Google as homepage and search engine. Now I'm using Dogpile.com.

MTF - 5-5-2011 at 07:20

I got my driver's license renewed today. I had to take the written test, so I had to actually go to the DMV. Yuck.

aquagoat - 5-5-2011 at 19:50

i move on saturday and probably won't have the internet before awhile, so see you soon everyone, I'll be back in two weeks, perhaps.

BBP - 5-5-2011 at 20:55

Good luck Aqua! Hope to see you soon!

MTF: DMV is what mysteries are made of. I'm not aware of the Dutch CBR being that annoying, but seeing Patty and Selma ("Some days we don't let the line move at all. We call those "week days".), or listening to the Primus song, I wonder: why doesn't the US govt just hire more people to deal with the work there?

MTF - 6-5-2011 at 10:20

The US government has no control over whether you can drive; that's controlled entirely by the states.

The California DMV is really, really bad. Matt Groening, Les Claypool and Frank Zappa all live (or lived) in California; and they all made their comments based on their experiences with the California DMV. Zappa said he stopped driving because of the DMV. I find this hard to believe; nevertheless, he said it.

Last time I renewed my license - five years ago - I stupidly mentioned that I have multiple sclerosis (it's true, but it was stupid). A month later, when I hadn't received my new license, I called to see what was up. The guy told me I had missed my appointment to take a driving test to prove I was okay to drive. I told him I had never been informed of this, and he agreed. But I still had to take the driving test, and the next available appointment was in three weeks.

I passed the test and got my license about three months late.

This time I had to wait three weeks just to get an appointment to renew my license. And when I showed up for the appointment, I had to wait in line to get a number. Then I waited half an hour for my number to be called. They issued the test, which I completed in less than five minutes. Then I waited forty-five minutes for someone to grade it (which took all of a minute). Then another fifteen minutes for someone to take my picture and get a thumb print. Total time: an hour and a half. Subtract out the waiting: seven minutes.

This time I didn't mention the M.S. My last attack was nine years ago, so legally I didn't have to mention it. But we'll have to wait and see if they want me to take another driving test. There's probably some idiot in Sacramento with a Magic 8-Ball who's making these decisions...

punknaynowned - 6-5-2011 at 19:54

I despise the dmv too, but I don't drive
you can count on one one hand the number of times I have in the last decade and even then it's a cross-town trip to help somebody move a vehicle or that sort of thing. I still have to go to the dmv to get my mandated state ID card though. Have to do that again next month. A buddy wants to sell me a car and for me to get my license again. I would use it to get groceries above what I can carry on my bike. Maybe drive to visit family 200 miles away once a year. So not something I have any great desire to do.
Gov doesn't want to hire more workers Bonny, as that costs them money.
Of course there is more money. There is always more money
the banks just don't want people to use it, they want corporations to use it so the banks can make more real money

BBP - 6-5-2011 at 20:52

Hey Punk, there's you, me, FZ, and Huck_Phlem, all grown-up non-drivers! We're in good company!

Checked it out: there's a Halloween episode of Punky and the Brain where they need to go to hell, which is depicted as DMV. I couldn't help but think of Primus watching that...

polydigm - 7-5-2011 at 03:42

Wow, people keep giving me more reasons why I wouldn't want to live in the USA. Our version of the DMV here is fine. Well, the ones in New South Wales and South Australia anyway, I haven't had experience with the ones in the other states. I've been to Victoria as well, but I didn't need to interact with their transportation authority. We have some strict rules to deal with at times but getting appointments and dealing with them in person is generally pretty user friendly.

Anyway, I've just finished the first week of my contract and this one's a great job. The sad thing is that it will finish and who knows what the next one will be like. I wouldn't mind getting a permanent contract in this school.

punknaynowned - 7-5-2011 at 07:57

A couple years ago they did a series of 'ten minute' plays I liked, all different writers, we try to do as many as we can every year. One vignette after another, we joke it's a kinda live theater for the Attention Defficit Disorder challenged. If you don't like it we tell the audience sometimes just wait a few minutes, it'll be different.

So one year many of the pieces were about waiting in line somewhere, and all from different points of view.

One was the DMV and two guys argue over who gets to go first as they have the same name. The clerk gets into it with them - when she's not on her break - and finds it entertaining. They end up wanting to kill each other and she couldn't care less.

Another is the info desk at the library. Answering questions, answering the phone, talking to patrons and answering to his boss. Same actor also played a priest listening to confessions in a different piece.

In one, a buddhist, a catholic, a Jewish mental patient and a hippie end up in a kind of after-life bus stop, waiting to find out what's next while they realize they're actually dead.

One more has the same guy travelling all over to convenience stores all over the country to find a product they no longer carry.

BBP - 7-5-2011 at 21:12

Oh that theatre sounds great! Would be a great format on YouTube too.

I've cleaned a small section of my room and am pausing right now. Hope I don't forget I still need to do the rest since my bed is covered in junk. And I called a long-time friend, who is planning to come by tomorrow.

BBP - 9-5-2011 at 06:54

Long-time friend stayed for about 45 minutes. He had little time.

We've survived the hottest day of the year but it's still very hot in my bedroom right now. It woke me up at 7.

punknaynowned - 11-5-2011 at 10:04

here's a clip of the Mosae Zappa fest the other day, one I liked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hPw2ULgMhE&
and Bonny says she likes men in dresses or something similar, here some do a nearly drunken sing-a-long of Sofa1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksla7SwOkFc&

[Edited on 11-5-11 by punknaynowned]

Huck_Phlem - 12-5-2011 at 03:40

I don't drive but when I go to the DMV for an ID card here in town it's real quick. Shhhhh! best kept secret because it's a small office but never very busy.

BBP - 12-5-2011 at 22:33

Lucky Huck!

Hey Punk, I like that Sofa! It's more of a sari thing that guy is wearing though.
But the grand question is: what on earth made you think I like guys in dresses?

At any rate, thanks for posting! I watch Eurovision and that usually gives me a headache, so I could use something different.

punknaynowned - 13-5-2011 at 01:04

haha, two words: Tim Curry!

and Bonny, I'll not likely spend any more time at the z forum. I realized all I was doing was talking politics and not anything else and trying to answer all the claptrap with facts and reason was getting nowhere fast.

But, I still consider a few people like you as very near and dear. As modern communication renders distances moot, I never feel like you're very far away. Just a couple clicks away at most. I could post more but it would be all the news mostly which wouldn't be much fun.

here's more from my fave japanese popgroup. Great music, amazing performances, many kinds of music and while intense there is a ton of structure and melody, from 2003, this is shiina's first dvd with her rockgroup,
the rest of the dvd is on the sheena ringo playlist
if you push the 'playlist' button it'll show up in the right margin...
http://www.youtube.com/user/endsenten#p/c/0/tu8vqNEGjIo

polydigm - 15-5-2011 at 02:47

Wow, so I've finished two weeks of my contract already. Where does the time go? It's going well, which is the main thing. Now it's Sunday already and I've still got marking and lesson preparation to do before tomorrow. Tuesday I'll be at the dentist getting an implant. I'm looking forward to being able to chew on both sides of my mouth again.

BBP - 15-5-2011 at 20:53

Aw Punky, that's sweet...
Just remember to never take anything away from yourself that you love...

That procedure sounds painful, Poly! Hope all goes well...

Had my laugh of the day when Dad and I were going to two flea markets. The outside temperature has dropped considerately and it was raining a bit. When I walked out wearing a T-shirt, Dad said: "Are you sure you don't want anything else for wearing? It's very chilly." I said: "Sure, I'll get my cape."

We didn't even find the second flea market. Half the small town of Lieshout (famed for its beer Bavaria, the most disgusting beer from the Netherlands according to students) had been blocked because of a minor cycling event.

Huck_Phlem - 17-5-2011 at 01:11

I still like to read the politics on Z but do take certain members with a grain of salt and try not to engage them too much. There are still some very well read people on there.

polydigm - 17-5-2011 at 09:28

Well, the dentist thing came and went without any problems this morning. I took a valium a half hour before hand. The actual procedure wasn't that difficult and when the pain appeared a couple of hours after, ibuprofen and paracetamol were enough to cope with that. I'll be back at work tomorrow almost as if nothing happened. That's modern medicine for you. The only step left to go now is after 5 or 6 months healing I get a crown put in.

I've just been out in the garden helping my youngest son with his school personal project, which is designing and installing a water feature in our front garden. He had decided on a fish pond. He had already finished the digging out of the basic shape previously so today he put in the plastic lining and filled it with water. It's looking good.

BBP - 17-5-2011 at 22:03

Discovered we have a give-away store just a short trip away!

Give-away stores are a charming creation that spawned from the squatting circuit. You can visit them and get up to three articles from their shop, for nothing. It's a way of making us reflect our disposables society, how much we throw away.

It's a beautiful concept, and I decided to go there, bringing with me an article I got for free in the first place: a metal wire chandelier. I always wanted a chandelier, but I'd prefer a more "classy" rather than "late 80s fashion" model.
(I'd gotten those at a flea market. Sometimes people just give away their stuff for free as the market is about to close, since bringing all your junk back is often a pain in the butt. These people were giving away two chandeliers, and I got both of them: one a black wire circle with five evenly placed candle holders (it now hangs vertically on my wall) and one that has 5 bent wires that join in the centre. This last one I had no idea what to do with: it's large, clumsy and not all that pretty. It took up place in my closet for at least 5 years). So I thought I'd give it away and I dragged that sucker all the way to the shop, letting it dig into my back... and then I discovered they're only open on Wednesday and Saturday.

Oh well. Let's see what they have tomorrow.

punknaynowned - 18-5-2011 at 00:21

Help Me! I can't stop it!
Wealth To Spare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icReC79GXI4
(another torch song)
loads of covers of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6UmRGXmIWU
acoustic cover, shows chords
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf0yYDliIX4&NR=1
acoustic guitar w whistle, good sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSnu_gVXjEE&

[Edited on 17-5-11 by punknaynowned]

MTF - 19-5-2011 at 06:37

Here's some wild Dutch Indorock from 1960: the legendary Tielman Brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83S7r4CPORk

BBP - 19-5-2011 at 08:57

Yeah I know them! They're the biggest band in the Indo-rock genre (which is the name for the rock music played by Indonesian immigrants in Netherlands). One of their performances became quite legendary, because the host described them as "bunch of monkeys", and because the tape went missing. One of my teachers found the recording at the Dutch TV storage, tucked away somewhere, and she recorded it illegally.

BBP - 19-5-2011 at 09:02

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYbrpC3ebk
And here's the full version of their performance without some sonsabitch watermarking it and pretending it's his.

polydigm - 19-5-2011 at 09:07

My week turned to crap yesterday when a gear linkage in my van decided to snap just as I was going out of my driveway on the way to work. Since then it's been organising a tow and catching buses and long walks lugging heavy bags from work just at those times of the day when I'd normally be catching a breather. I won't be getting it back until tomorrow night after spending my first week's pay for the privilege, so my transport troubles aren't over yet. In the middle of all the palaver over the van yesterday morning the stud that buttons up my jeans decided to break, luckily before the taxi arrived so I was able change my jeans just before leaving. The cab got me to work 3 minutes before my first class of the day, phew.

Anyway, I'm still maintaining my usual sunny disposition.

BBP - 19-5-2011 at 11:52

Touch of Murphy's law... poor Poly!

BBP - 21-5-2011 at 19:05

Just in case the world ends today: it was nice knowing you! (waves)

punknaynowned - 22-5-2011 at 02:54

well, I'm still here.
wait! where did everybody else go???

there was a tornado warning in Topeka - west of here - an hour before (?!?) the rapture was supposed to happen.
The sirens went off, the wind it blew. But all the animals looked up and went back to what they were doing.
The storm passed north of us but Topeka got baseball sized hail.
Another storm is coming our direction tonight, while the rest of us will just have to get back to sinning.

MTF - 22-5-2011 at 06:21

Here's the headquarters of Family Radio, in beautiful Oakland, California. This is where Harold Camping broadcast his famous Rapture prediction.

Photo: Josh Keppel

Oakland was also the home of The People's Temple (of Jonestown fame), as well as the headquarters of both the Black Panthers and the Hell's Angels. And remember the 1989 earthquake, when a highway pancaked and crushed 42 people? That was in Oakland.

Oakland's murder rate is about 3 1/2 times the national average. It was also the place of which Gertrude Stine said "There's no there there."

Nice place, Oakland...

polydigm - 22-5-2011 at 06:43

Friday, on the way home from work, I decided to catch two buses to pick up the car, rather than pay $13 on a taxi. Then I lost my multi trip ticket on the first bus and had to buy a single trip ticket to get on the second one. All up it cost me not much less than the price of a taxi ride. What a week. So far though, my weekend is going well.

DED - 23-5-2011 at 05:55

$13 on a taxi ????

When you open the door from a taxi and get in you pay around 6 to 7,5 euros ($9-$12) That includes the first km. Km 2 upto XX cost you 1 euro upto 1,5 Euro ($1.40 -$2) A short drive from station to home 4.3 km can cost you in Eindhoven 20 Euro's. ($28)

polydigm - 24-5-2011 at 09:47

DED, we think taxis are too expensive here. The prices where you are just seem beyond evil to me.

BBP - 24-5-2011 at 21:40

That's a very adequate description... when my sister went to us by cab when gran had passed away she was charged over 30 euros I think.

Elderly and disabled people can get a severe price cut though. Gran could get her first 200 km or so at a low price so travelling to us by taxi was cheaper than by train. My blind friend gets a lot refunded due to her handicap.

punknaynowned - 25-5-2011 at 08:10

well that's a bit of kindness there I guess.
but don't get clever Bonny and go breaking your ankle again!

once every couple weeks I make marinara:
tomatoes, onions, garlic
pork, red pepper,
a spoon of fennel seed
a spoon of olive oil

tomatoes go in the pan, two 28 oz/ 794g cans, : crushed, whole, or sauce
one or two med-large onions (yellow, red or white) diced, go in the pan
6-8 garlic 'cloves', minced, go in the pan
spoon of olive oil
spoon of fennel seed, both in the pan
stir
bring to boil, reduce to lowest simmer

pork I get in a tube like sausage, end pieces tastes like sausage and bacon
cook that AND DRAIN OFF THE FAT!!!
add two chopped fresh red 'bell' peppers
simmer on low, stir now and then til peppers are completely soft and both are almost mush
add to tomato sauce

simmer so that tomatoes/onions have cooked about an hour

I don't mind it chunky. If you don't like chunky sauce, use a blender.

Excellent sauce I never get tired of. No salt, pepper, sugar, basil, wine or mushrooms or anything like that.
The most expensive item are the peppers. Yellow and green peppers are fine of course but will change the flavor.
The pork, red pepper and fennel are perfect together: flavorful yet subtle and all showoff the humble yet beautiful tomato ...
I keep it ready in the fridge for times like now:
add it to a cup of rice and a bit of cheese. YUM
took as long to fix as writing this post. Most often I put in on prepared pasta I get in the freezer section at the store: ravioli, tortellini. A $4 bag of that will last three-four meals for me.

storms all across kansas and oklahoma today. Two people died when an uprooted tree impaled a van and caused it to crash. Everybody's nervous about storms today since what happened in Joplin.
I'm still here!

BBP - 26-5-2011 at 15:42

Don't worry, I have no intentions of breaking my limbs ever again.

Your sauce sounds good!

BBP - 27-5-2011 at 14:38

Had better days. I have to cancel my London plans since Curry had to quit his production, and I failed to get a part as extra in a film they're shooting here.

aquagoat - 27-5-2011 at 16:28

Ok, I'm back, it took a lil' longer than I thought it would, but I'm finally back. Glad to see you again, everyone.

BBP - 27-5-2011 at 20:31

Hey Aqua! How's the new home?

polydigm - 28-5-2011 at 05:34

Hey Aqua, I hate moving house. I hope it's all going to plan for you.

aquagoat - 28-5-2011 at 06:46

well, the new home is cool, in both the senses of the word, I have to change a part of the heating system and there was a water leak between the sink and the wall where the water pipe goes out of the house. The leak is repaired, I'll change the heaters in a few weeks. Otherwise, it's pretty cool, I've got a room for all my stuff, which is great cause i'm finally gonna be able to bring back all my instruments, CDs, comic books, etc, etc... I'll post pictures as soon as possible.

punknaynowned - 28-5-2011 at 13:09

glad your move went well!
I always hate it myself.
If you have more room that's the best.
Minor fixes are always the norm.
It'll take time to get used to all the little spaces.
You take good photos, too!
looking fwd>>>

polydigm - 29-5-2011 at 10:25

I've just spent the majority of my Sunday doing school work and finally I'm chilling out for the evening. It always feels good after it's done. I got a complaint from a parent last week. Apparently her precious daughter thinks I spend too much time telling stories and not enough time teaching maths and feels it might be holding her back. Bollocks. It's always been a part of my style as a teacher. I don't just tell stories at random, they always weave back into the work at hand and when they are more general I try to relate them to decisions they have to make as they grow up. Most students find me approachable and enjoy the stories, there's always one that has to fuck it up. Anyway, needless to say, that class is gonna be working their butts off next week and wondering why the change in tempo.

DED - 29-5-2011 at 22:21

Big computer problems here after installing vista SP1. Computer didn't start at all after the final restart.
I had to reinstall windows, my documents fortenately are safe, but no program is working unto a reinstall (missing all the libary files)
One of the important programs that did not work is mu subtitle manager. That keeps me from publishing a new movie.

DED - 29-5-2011 at 22:26

@Aqua. Your new house is in the same town? Hope you publish the pics soon.

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aquagoat - 30-5-2011 at 16:52

yes, i'm still in the same town. I'll take pics on thursday and post them the same day, I think.

Caputh - 31-5-2011 at 10:54

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
I've just spent the majority of my Sunday doing school work and finally I'm chilling out for the evening. It always feels good after it's done. I got a complaint from a parent last week. Apparently her precious daughter thinks I spend too much time telling stories and not enough time teaching maths and feels it might be holding her back. Bollocks. It's always been a part of my style as a teacher. I don't just tell stories at random, they always weave back into the work at hand and when they are more general I try to relate them to decisions they have to make as they grow up. Most students find me approachable and enjoy the stories, there's always one that has to fuck it up. Anyway, needless to say, that class is gonna be working their butts off next week and wondering why the change in tempo.

As a fellow teacher, I feel for you; my uncle (also a teacher) once produced the memorable quote "I would rather clean out the lav with my tongue than mark essays or exams". It is the only bit I find tedious in the extreme.
Don't let dumb parents get to you - I always find there is a far higher percentage of arrogant, ill-informed parents than there is of pupils - we can't pick and choose who our parents are after all. I know it's difficult to switch off after being totally annoyed by some busybody - my wife has had to leave the teaching profession because she can't do it. My advice (for what it's worth) is to carry on as you always would, if you're convinced that you're doing things the right way. I hope you take this the way I mean it - as friendly support and not as an attempt to be another busybody.

Huck_Phlem - 4-6-2011 at 02:30

I saw Kindle for sale on Amazon. Click Buy! I just had to get one just been waiting for the price to come down.

polydigm - 4-6-2011 at 06:50

No worries Caputh, I get your intentions. You're right about carrying on as is. If you can't be yourself, what's the point? I'll carry on doing my thing but being a bit more cleverer about it. Anyway, this week went by quite well without incident. There was a bit of a pain with some assessments being moderated, but by the end of the week I had that under control. The red tape in teaching is becoming unbelievable, or did I bitch about that one here already?

BBP - 5-6-2011 at 10:06

Huck: what's a kindle?

aquagoat - 5-6-2011 at 19:19

some pics of my new home:

the last room will soon be filled with my guitars and CDs and stuff and some things will change in the other rooms.

[Edited on 5-6-2011 by aquagoat]

BBP - 5-6-2011 at 21:47

Nice! Great bath too! (Well, unless you're in a hurry, but they're great when you broke a leg)

DED - 6-6-2011 at 11:04

Nice place, very nice . Girlfriend seems not too happy when photographed . Love the colors in your bathroom, ours is plain white, if the house was not rented, it should be one of the first thingsto change.

punknaynowned - 6-6-2011 at 18:58

looks airy and has light! Also wood floors where yu want and tile where that is handy, always a plus!
Congrats!

I see too that Waiter is up in the theater. Same male and female lead. I just started it and will get back to it.

aquagoat - 7-6-2011 at 19:01

thank you for the compliments, I'm beginning to feel home even if a few modifications are still to be made.

MTF - 8-6-2011 at 07:31

Nice place, Mr. Goat.

My daughter Rachel turned 18 yesterday. She did some of the things you do at 18: registered to vote, bought some lottery tickets. Didn't buy any cigarettes, though.

She graduates from High School on Friday.

And Bonny, the Kindle is Amazon's e-book reader...

Huck_Phlem - 8-6-2011 at 16:21

Congrats to your daughter! mIne graduates middle school thursday.

All of a sudden my kids want to read now that I got the kindle. the protective case for it should arrive later this week.

Calvin - 9-6-2011 at 03:50

Quote: Originally posted by MTF
Nice place, Mr. Goat.

My daughter Rachel turned 18 yesterday. She did some of the things you do at 18: registered to vote, bought some lottery tickets. Didn't buy any cigarettes, though.

She graduates from High School on Friday.

And Bonny, the Kindle is Amazon's e-book reader...

My daughter graduated on May 8th. All 3 kids graduated, which is nice. I told my daughter she should do what Patton Oswalt advised: When you turn 18, buy a gun and shoot a ballot. Just because you can.

BBP - 9-6-2011 at 16:17

Congrats to your daughters Cal and MTF!

Has anyone seen Ober (Waiter) yet? It was one of the biggest award buffs at the annual Dutch movie awards (golden calfs) when it came out, but from the first few minutes it didn't look or sound too interesting.

punknaynowned - 9-6-2011 at 23:10

today on google front page in honor of les paul's birthday there are strings that can be plucked with your mouse. Plus a button to record what you do and then it will play it back.
Insta fretless guitar, sorta.
Still fun and cute

BBP - 10-6-2011 at 09:50

I'm still happy I turned Dogpile. OK, I can't search by date, but at least my searches aren't tracked.

Huck_Phlem - 10-6-2011 at 18:51

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
today on google front page in honor of les paul's birthday there are strings that can be plucked with your mouse. Plus a button to record what you do and then it will play it back.
Insta fretless guitar, sorta.
Still fun and cute

Oh that is what that is! I'll give it a try.

BBP - 12-6-2011 at 10:23

Made an extensive post series in the General Board, with translations of a number of Zappa-Hitweek articles from '67 to '68.

MTF - 13-6-2011 at 10:00

Today we attended the wedding of my brother's daughter Tricia. She married a Naval officer, so they were able to have the wedding at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.

It's a beautiful location; on the grounds of the old Del Monte Hotel, which was once one of the classiest hotels in the United States. And even though it's now run by the Navy, they still run part of it as a hotel. It still has the ornate woodwork, the rose gardens and the wandering peacocks. It looks like something out of a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

At the reception I had lunch with one of my brother's dear friends, Rock Scully. For twenty years he was the manager of The Grateful Dead. My brother was a huge Deadhead, and by coincidence he and Rock went through rehab together. They developed a tight friendship. My brother died last year, and Scully was actually the last person to see him alive.

This was the first time I had seen him since then. We talked for about two hours. Fortunately it wasn't all about my brother: fortunately, he peppered it liberally with anecdotes about the Grateful Dead and San Francisco in the sixties.

All in all, it was a good day...

BBP - 13-6-2011 at 15:30

Sounds great MTF! Congratulations!
(Got any Grateful Gossip to share?)

Yesterday I gave my father a footbath and sanded off his calluses. Yes that's a very ugly picture.
Well, he's lost a lot of weight now.

polydigm - 13-6-2011 at 22:49

Wow, Bonny, that's dedicated. That's certainly something I'd never expect my daughter to do for me.

Congratulations and condolences, MTF. Was he a younger or older brother? I have a younger brother, but he hasn't been too frugal with his health and worries me sometimes (well, most of the time). If you didn't know us you might think he looked like an older brother.

polydigm - 13-6-2011 at 23:08

I tried that Les Paul Google thing.

Something I wrote: Ode To Les Paul
Frank Zappa: Eat That Question

BBP - 14-6-2011 at 07:12

That ETQ is uncanny!!

punknaynowned - 14-6-2011 at 10:35

I know it's difficult advice to follow but somebody told me: "Never take anything personally!"

hats off to mtf for old friends

hats off to poly for a new composition and I like that ETQ too. dunno how you did it but I like it

BBP - 14-6-2011 at 22:01

Use your keyboard...

polydigm - 14-6-2011 at 22:58

I couldn't have done it without the keyboard, I tried and got nowhere fast.

The top row of number keys:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
G A B C D E F G A B

The other rows do the same, but I found the numbers easier to work with.

polydigm - 15-6-2011 at 09:52

Yee ha!! The place where I'm doing my current 1 term contract has just offered me a contract for all of the second semester.

punknaynowned - 15-6-2011 at 16:02

oh good! another semester of econ security for ya. Good news!

and that's great with the numbers on the virtual les paul thing

every year they have a get together called netroots nation.
I can't go - no funds - but it's being held in Minneapolis and gosh I love that town.
people are headed up that way and the buzz in the circles I follow now is electric.
We'll see what they come up with.

BBP - 16-6-2011 at 10:22

Hey Poly that's great news!

I've started on re-polishing my math skills. We divide math in two types, A and B. A is considered the easier one, dealing with probability, matrixes and stuff, and the other one deals with formulas, parabolas and trigonometry. I was forced to drop the hard math because my class had been at war with our math teacher, he wouldn't teach us anymore and he was replaced by some dipfish (once I asked him to help me with something I just messed up with even though I knew how it was done, he messed up himself all the time and I spent fifteen minutes after class waiting for him to figure it out. The day after he was asked in class how to do it; and he messed up again). Making it worse I couldn't pull up my grade in the probability exam because I forgot my calculator.

Anyway I had to drop hard math, and without the sinus science physics becomes near impossible so I had to give that a miss. I hated biology for the drawing though I was good at the other elements of it, and without those subjects there's little use for chemistry either. So I ended up with a lot of considered "loser" subjects, or a "fun package" with Dutch, English, French, German, macro-economy, history and math A. It wasn't a fun package, getting the literature straight is very hard, the oral exams were planned on and around my birthday (that's fun, I had to get up extra early to fail French literature on my birthday and spent my big 18 studying for German) , the listening exams were horrid, there was the English letter writing when we suddenly had to do a formal letter while we only had practiced informal letters, one complete class had not been taught what a two-line verse was called in Dutch and missed that question on the poetry exam (for which we had to examine a sonnet my Dutch teacher had written)...

Anyway it always stung me I couldn't do that type of math while I was good at it. So I've found some math B books in a second hand shop at a snip and I'm now digging my way through those, drawing parabolas.

aquagoat - 16-6-2011 at 18:39

cool news, Poly!

BBP - 17-6-2011 at 13:18

Yesterday I went on a lengthy trip to Woerden. After one and a half hour by train, I had to walk half an hour to reach my destination; a home of which the owner had two Primus-tickets on sale.

And I made a lot of photos!

polydigm - 18-6-2011 at 03:30

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
oh good! another semester of econ security for ya. Good news!

Cheers, mate.

Quote:
every year they have a get together called netroots nation.

What is that?

polydigm - 18-6-2011 at 03:32

Cheers, Aqua, I hope you're settling well into your new place.

Hey, Bonny, I guess that means implicitly that you now have some Primus tickets?

MTF - 18-6-2011 at 06:42

Here's a picture from last Sunday's wedding reception:

Rock Scully's on the right; my lovely wife Kathy (a.k.a. Mrs. Flycoon) is on the left; and I have no clue who that moron in the middle is...

BBP - 18-6-2011 at 13:26

Nice pic MTF!

Well Poly: I'm not crying victory until I find myself in the Effenaar foyer, perhaps thanking Larry LaLonde for turning me onto Zappa. But I did buy tickets for me and my sis!

And I'm sore all over from yesterday's car shoving. I hope it'll be better tomorrow.

DED - 19-6-2011 at 14:34

Fathersday in Holland

BBP and Zaz brought me a book, bay leaf drop, peanuts, electric flycatcher, flour scraper and more.

BBP - 19-6-2011 at 16:54

Today's the day Primus performs...

BBP - 21-6-2011 at 10:55

Spent a day in Limbo and am trying to pick up life as it was.

polydigm - 21-6-2011 at 13:02

What's up Bonny?

BBP - 21-6-2011 at 15:56

Well, on Primus-day I was still sore from the car-shoving (my back and shoulders still hurt), and after the concert I had a sore throat and unusually deep voice and a painful neck from head-banging. Yesterday I got up at 5:45 to wake up my sister and see her out, after that I went back into bed and slept until 1PM, so now I'm busy getting back into my biorhythm and listening to Primus along the way.

punknaynowned - 21-6-2011 at 18:54

glad you were able to make it to the Primus show. I remember you were sad that you couldn't go, so it's great that you were able to work that out and take your sister. Sounds like you had fun.

Yesterday I cycled all the way to the store and gathered everything I knew I could afford. It was only when I got to the checkout that I realized I had four dollars, not the twenty I thought I had. so I got creamer and put everything else back.
Felt stupid.
But today is a different day.
Happy Solstice!
Today it's History of Genoa, Italy 1200-1300

BBP - 22-6-2011 at 11:13

Discovered that our fly buzzer really works. Ouch.

polydigm - 23-6-2011 at 09:35

Okay, if we're talking about being stupid, today on the way to work, running late, I discovered that my soy milk drink container had burst open in one of my work bags. It was everywhere. Luckily I was able to rescue all my marking because it was in a separate pouch of the bag. Luckily I had some shopping bags in the van so I had something to carry the stuff in when I got to work. This palaver made me even more late. When I got to school, there was a class waiting in the corridor because their teacher was absent and it turned out I was the pigeon doing the relief. By lunch time today I had a headache and took some panadeine and my year eights after lunch behaved badly. All in all, a crap day.

BBP - 23-6-2011 at 21:56

Aw dear Poly... Chin up!

polydigm - 24-6-2011 at 10:27

Thanks Bonny, it wasn't that bad, and I had an alright day today.

BBP - 24-6-2011 at 16:48

Aw nice!

I had bicycle trouble yet again: chain fell off. Now that I don't have that old-timey canvas chain cover, it's a lot easier to fix, and I managed to put it back on myself. Even though it was raining. I did go home straight away: you know what those things do to your fingers. Yuck!

Went home and discovered the chain is so loose it's going to happen again and again unless I shorten it.

polydigm - 26-6-2011 at 23:09

Do you not have an adjustable back wheel? Or do people not do things that way any more? There used to be a bit of a fork where the back wheel was attached and you could loosen the wheel nuts and drag the back wheel out a little bit increasing the chain tension. Mind you, it's a pretty limited adjustment depending on how loose your chain is.

BBP - 27-6-2011 at 10:52

The wheel is already as far as it can go without falling out. But yesterday we managed to cycle a good deal with it anyway, as long as I don't accelerate too much. It's probably what's been going on since at least last year when I was in a hurry to get to the physical therapist and my chain dropped.

polydigm - 27-6-2011 at 23:08

Looks like you'll have to take a link out. Have fun with that.

Meanwhile, I'm in the second to last week of term and holidays are around the corner, which I'm looking forward to. The downside is two weeks without pay, but now I know I'm going back for the rest of the year, a lot of the stress has been lifted.

BBP - 28-6-2011 at 20:40

We're having a delightfully ghastly thunderstorm here. Dad is out helping some friends move house. Hope he makes it.

BBP - 29-6-2011 at 17:08

The storm was pretty bad, flooding sewers and alike. In the nearby town Vught about 50 houses are about to collapse.

aquagoat - 29-6-2011 at 19:45

I had a bicycle accident coming back from work this afternoon, my cardigan got caught in the front wheel, stopped my bike and made me fly a while before falling on my arms and receiving that bloody bike on my legs. I can barely move my left arm, the elbow is probably broken, and my right elbow hurts too, I'll see how it goes tomorrow but I don't think it's gonna be ok.

DED - 30-6-2011 at 14:21

Broke elbow is a difficult one. No plaster and it needs a lot of time

aquagoat - 30-6-2011 at 18:22

yeah, finally, the right elbow is fractured, the left elbow seems to be intact, we'll see in a few weeks.

punknaynowned - 30-6-2011 at 21:57

OUCH! I'm sorry to hear that. You seem to type just fine! Get well soon...

DED - 30-6-2011 at 22:52

I hope that everything ready in the new house. If not don't force anything.

aquagoat - 1-7-2011 at 06:39

yeah, i know, i'll keep the things i wanted to do in the house on stand by until i've fully recovered my physical capacities.

aquagoat - 1-7-2011 at 06:43

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
OUCH! I'm sorry to hear that. You seem to type just fine! Get well soon...
thank you, i manage to type with my left hand fingers, it's not so difficult.

[Edited on 1-7-2011 by aquagoat]

BBP - 1-7-2011 at 11:11

My Get Well message got vanished in the last spam chuck so it seems...

Poor Aqua! That hurts so much! Get well soon dear!

BBP - 1-7-2011 at 12:41

Since it happened on way home from work, you may get your work's medical insurance, not sure how you have that arranged but anyway...

I just rolled over in amazement when my bank account contents had doubled. My insurance money came in today!!

aquagoat - 1-7-2011 at 17:38

yes, this is considered a "work accident" and therefore I won't have to pay anything. I don't know how long this system will last considering the government's policy in terms of health care insurance.

BBP - 1-7-2011 at 19:25

It's not much of a consolation when you're in pain is it?

How long will it be until you're better?

aquagoat - 2-7-2011 at 09:43

i should be a bit better by tuesday. I'll see the doctor again on friday and he'll tell me if I can get rid of that arm sling that's very annoying but necessary for the healing of the bone. My left arm already feels better, I can flex it more than i could on thursday but it still hurts when I try to clench my fist or when I move it too fast. It should get better in a few days.

polydigm - 3-7-2011 at 05:10

Sorry to hear about your fall Aqua but glad to hear it's no worse than it is.

Nothing new to report for me, just dropping by to say hello.

BBP - 3-7-2011 at 10:05

Whipped this up last night...

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aquagoat - 3-7-2011 at 16:03

oooooh, it's so nice of you, thank you very much.

BBP - 3-7-2011 at 17:39

Any time!

DED - 4-7-2011 at 16:22

And the original is even better.
BTW
Red and blue glasses someone?

Puzzled by Bbp.

[Edited on 4-7-2011 by DED]

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MTF - 5-7-2011 at 08:03

Today was Independence Day here in the US, a.k.a. "Blow Shit Up Day."

BBP - 7-7-2011 at 19:45

Enjoying a Donizetti opera on TV. Otherwise it's been one of those days: burnt my index finger (ouch) on hot water while attempting to clean something.

BBP - 9-7-2011 at 11:22

Quote:
[quote="BBP"]We had a small disaster here. Click here for background music

At a quarter past 11 last night, we suddenly heard a bang and some sparking noises coming from the area near the computer. What exactly happened,we don't know. But the results are:
-Computer has apparently melted. The Vista won't respond to the on/off button. The monitor and speakers are apparently still working. I'm fearing for the life of the terabyte external drive, since if we lost that as well we may have lost a lot of photo and film material.
-TV is out. It'll go on stand by, but when it's turned on the power light will flicker. VHS, DVD and CD-i all seem to be working, but it's hard to tell. Fortunately we brought my great aunt's television.
-Dad got a wireless phone set for his birthday just a few months back. The receiver's out. The phones themselves still work (although both were in the power slot) but with no receiver working they're of little use.
We hooked up our old phone. When Dad turned on the TV this morning (temporarily forgetting what had happened), the power light was still blinking, but on top of that he heard strange tones. They appeared to come from the phone. It had automatically gone on speaker mode, triggered by my father's attempt to use the TV.

In the past month we lost our coffee maker (which caused a power failure in the house), our car, and now TV, phone and computer. Tough times. :|

BBP - 11-7-2011 at 19:33

We had quite an adventure fixing the TV and PC. We haven't tried the TV yet but the PC wouldn't work with the new fuse. Looks like we need a new PSU for that.

aquagoat - 11-7-2011 at 21:02

Bloody technology!!!!!

[Edited on 11-7-2011 by aquagoat]

BBP - 13-7-2011 at 19:48

PC's working again!

DED - 13-7-2011 at 20:01

Yes I am back again. Used an outdated xp desktop last days but doing more than patience failed.

BBP - 13-7-2011 at 20:27

Patience is solitaire in English. The Klondike version.

DED - 15-7-2011 at 18:10

ha so, but you need a lot of patience to do a solitaire game.

Huck_Phlem - 16-7-2011 at 07:33

Finally after 10 months of waiting I will get my settlement. it will to be over 130k but still not enough.

BBP - 17-7-2011 at 09:37

That's still 4 times the average Dutch year salary. Doesn't it cover your medical costs?
I got less than 6K out of my settlement, but it's more than my cost, my cut income for two months and my college delay.

This night I dreamt there was something on my ceiling that fell down, and I tried to dodge it and fell out of bed. Got some nasty scratches.

polydigm - 19-7-2011 at 08:21

Bonny, that's daft.

I'm doing this with my new computer glasses, which are graded from mid vision down to close vision. They're fantastic.

Huck_Phlem - 20-7-2011 at 06:19

NO this is after paying the lawyer and the medical. it could be a little more. He is still working on the medical part. He got them down to half and is trying to get them to accept one third of the amount. It's at 142k now. I just got two thousand today and put it in the bank because the big check will take 9 days to clear.

[Edited on 20-7-2011 by Huck_Phlem]

BBP - 20-7-2011 at 10:34

Hoping the lawyer is worth the money...

Huck_Phlem - 21-7-2011 at 19:03

Well it's a system that has to be dealt with and they are helping me with real estate advice free of charge.

DED - 23-7-2011 at 17:24

Yesterday the 22nd BBP and I were in Den Haag visiting the grave of my father and mother, her grandparents. Main goal was the memory of them but we also bleached the grit. That was a hell of a job, it took over 3 hours. Next to the graveyard is the crematory and it was a busy business there. The wind helped us to smell a burning body every ten minutes or so. Yak. After we finished we went to the windy beach and walked along the shore for a while.

BBP - 25-7-2011 at 10:04

Making top use from the rental car, we went to the funfair in Tilburg. Since it's about the most expensive fair in the world we didn't do anything besides getting an ice cream. But I made fun photos of the haunted castle.

punknaynowned - 25-7-2011 at 17:53

Quote: Originally posted by DED
the 22nd BBP and I

Dang! How many BBP's do you have?

BBP - 26-7-2011 at 11:41

There's 24 of us. While one went away with Dad to clean the stones the other twenty-three went on to clean the shower, tidy up the living room, do the washing up and inventing little forum jokes.

punknaynowned - 26-7-2011 at 19:32

BBP Smurfs?

DED - 26-7-2011 at 21:06

They make them here

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polydigm - 29-7-2011 at 08:23

Ho ho, funny people.

polydigm - 6-8-2011 at 08:47

So where's Punky?

BBP - 6-8-2011 at 11:05

He's been on the Zappa forum recently...

Been out sleepwalking again today. I half-woke up in the middle of my room with my blanket wrapped around me.

MTF - 7-8-2011 at 08:51

Hope you wear a nightgown: otherwise, it could be a bit embarrassing...

punknaynowned - 10-8-2011 at 21:18

Hi!
Just a word to say hello.
I'm okay, my air conditioner works and I have food in the fridge. Bills still get paid and I watch The Wire on my computer. Talked to someone the other day who grew up in Baltimore and worked law enforcement there for over two decades. Now he is a prominent leader for leap, the law enforcement against prohibition organization here in the states. Says the Wire was a true story, only the names were changed and one other thing The Hamsterdam part of the story was a stretch of the truth. That he said was a 'needle exchange program on steroids'. The rest was true about the projects, teh docks, teh schols, the city etc.

Sobering. Great tv.

polydigm - 11-8-2011 at 00:27

Hi Punky. So, what do you make of the riots in England?

punknaynowned - 11-8-2011 at 02:50

?

[Edited on 19-8-11 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 11-8-2011 at 12:07

Seeing as Poly was kind enough to open a separate thread for it, I'll just continue with my everyday shenanigans and tell you Dad and I went to Best, by bicycle. It's quite a distance, we cycled 27 km in total. At a second-hand store I found a nice magazine with a FZ interview I'm inclined to translate for y'all.

polydigm - 11-8-2011 at 23:16

Nothing noteworthy. Having added a comment to my new thread, I'm dragging myself away from the computer to shave and then head off to work, grumbling, yet considering myself privileged to have such a good job to go to in the first place.

punknaynowned - 14-8-2011 at 16:33

I listen to a lot of radio. It's on all the time with the news. I've been doing it for years. I feel better having said that. But once a week there is an hour show with a topic. This American Life has fun looking at our idiosyncracies.

This week they are looking behind the scenes at Amusement Parks. One in particular is just up the road in Kansas City. It's summer, people who can will go on vacation. Many will go to an amusement park. They look at the competitive nature of different facets of 'play' as shown in the park. Here's the Australian link, or there's a link at the top of the page if that makes things easier,
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/443/amusemen...

hope you can hear it in Europe. It shows a lot about things here. Good stories.

polydigm - 14-8-2011 at 23:03

Ditto my last message. Although, I've got time to finish my coffee yet.

BBP - 15-8-2011 at 07:32

Been translating all those articles (well, most of them) that Slime posted to me. Check them out!

polydigm - 15-8-2011 at 13:30

Good stuff Bonny.

BBP - 15-8-2011 at 18:07

Thanks! Tell all your friends!

I accidentally typed Statue of Liperty. Seeing that made me think of a Mick Jagger version of the New York Lady.

Oh boy...

punknaynowned - 17-8-2011 at 03:14

wowsers Bonny! that's a lot of translated material!
really great, thanks a lot!!

polydigm - 17-8-2011 at 10:02

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Thanks! Tell all your friends!
Multiple Choice, pick the correct one:

(A) Come on Bonny, I don't have any friends, why do you think I frequent internet forums?
(B) All my friends are here already.
(C) Friends, who needs friends?
(D) All of the above.

BBP - 17-8-2011 at 22:05

All of the above I guess.

Been out as blind guide dog to De Efteling again, my favourite theme park. Pictures will come later. For now, I'm exhausted and sore. And watching the Timothy Treadwell doc.

punknaynowned - 18-8-2011 at 02:35

listening to Scott Parker's Zappa podcast. This time it's the Flo& Eddie band.
Lots of rare bootleg things, some history, a little discussion, some on the wah-wah from a technical standpoint, but all in all always good for the zappafan.
http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2011-08-14T09_59_48-07_00
hope you can hear it in europe

MTF - 18-8-2011 at 09:40

Today my wife and I dropped our daughter off at San Francisco State University. Periodically we'll send money, and hopefully in four years she'll get a diploma.

Probably some other stuff will happen in the meantime, but that's the idea...

polydigm - 18-8-2011 at 15:58

Hey, MTF, that's certainly a huge milestone. We're at the stage of one gone, one practicing take off at the edge and one still snug as far as flying the nest is concerned. Sigh.

BBP - 19-8-2011 at 10:05

I uploaded my Efteling photos!

Part of the construction of the wooden coaster. It's a very cool one! I bought a key-chain of it, which I managed to lose within thirty minutes.

Caroussel palace, with one of the oldest working caroussels in the world.

Fata Morgana (1001 Arabian Nights themed dark ride) square.

The Little Mermaid statue in the Fairy Tale Woods. Americans aren't used to anything, I thought when Disneyland removed the Minnie Mouse-statue with Janet Jackson's clothes after Nipplegate. The Caroussel palace exterior and ths statue give Efteling boobs a-plenty.

Longneck, the theme park's icon

It's very Jeroen Bosch, this painting in Villa Volta.

Madhouse Villa Volta from the outside

Troll

[Edited on 19-8-11 by BBP]

punknaynowned - 19-8-2011 at 10:44

congrats mtf! You're work is mostly done!
Nice pictures B. I always like it when I learn something.
Pictures of Holland in August, even an amusement park is something I don't think I've seen before.

DED - 19-8-2011 at 23:55

Best compilation of the disaster at the Pukkelpop festival to be found here.
http://www.deredactie.be/permalink/1.1091161

To avoid the dutch voice movie compilation starts at 47 seconds
Band on stage is Skunk Anansie

[Edited on 19-8-2011 by DED]

BBP - 20-8-2011 at 23:04

Now that I've reached the late 80s with the articles, I'm constantly bothered by a horse called Zappa.

polydigm - 21-8-2011 at 02:18

BBP - 21-8-2011 at 09:13

I mean, many of the articles showing up are horse race results.

punknaynowned - 21-8-2011 at 13:50

Quote: Originally posted by DED
Best compilation of the disaster at the Pukkelpop festival to be found here.
http://www.deredactie.be/permalink/1.1091161

To avoid the dutch voice movie compilation starts at 47 seconds
Band on stage is Skunk Anansie

[Edited on 19-8-2011 by DED]

That is Lots of wind and rain. Hope nobody died.

and

Wow! what the hell pissed cleon off? Maybe he just wants some excitement... to pick a fight to ummm ... hell, I don't have any idea. I Wouldn't worry about it. cleon

[Edited on 21-8-11 by punknaynowned]

DED - 21-8-2011 at 16:02

Quote:

That is Lots of wind and rain. Hope nobody died.

Actually 4 ( 5th was not at the terrain) people died and over 100 wounded, 11 of them seriously and three of them are still critical. In fact this had his influence on any other open air festival throughout Europe and maybe world. In fact today there was a warning again for thunderstorms and a nearby jazzfestival stopped (Jazz in Catstown) and some horseracings were canceled.
We were in the center today but nothing happend.

http://www.billboard.com/events/pukkelpop-death-toll-rises-to-5-as-...

[Edited on 22-8-2011 by DED]

polydigm - 23-8-2011 at 01:14

Hey Ned, how did Cleon come up. What did I miss?

punknaynowned - 23-8-2011 at 03:44

he's being a big jerk to B over in the zforum the last week. Of course she's the smart one, put him on ignore. Unfounded tantrum on his part from what I can tell.

Ed - that storm has to be unsettling to see as you're not accustomed to them. Some here would say global warming could be a factor. The thing is there is no way to really protect from the hazards they bring.

BBP - 23-8-2011 at 10:39

Yeah, Cleon's normally OK but he's been drinking way too much.

We're having another horrible thunderstorm out here. Half an hour ago, at 11:10 AM, it suddenly became very dark, and since then it's been rain, wind and thunder. It's been calmer now although there is still rain and lightning, but vision was very low a couple of minutes ago.

polydigm - 23-8-2011 at 13:06

So is this weather you're having normal for Holland this time of year, or is it freak weather?

BBP - 23-8-2011 at 13:58

This weather is not all that unusual, but it is for August. Usually we have around three flood days per year, partially due to high ground water level.
I just slapped a video together I'm uploading, hope you'll enjoy it.

BBP - 23-8-2011 at 14:30

Ah, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GohVMam_pw

polydigm - 23-8-2011 at 23:08

Thanks Bonny, I'll check it out later on.

BBP - 24-8-2011 at 20:33

The give-away store is a wondrous thing. I try to come there every Wednesday (they're only open two days a week), with Efteling and Best I hadn't been a while, and when I came there, some things in their policy had changed:
-Number of items you are allowed to take away went up from 3 to 5
-They don't accept clothes anymore, they've been overflooded with textile.

What had stayed is that copy they had of The Double by Dostoyevski in Spanish.

polydigm - 24-8-2011 at 22:40

That's a weird shop you have there. Nothing like that around here. How do they make a living and pay the rent?

BBP - 25-8-2011 at 10:53

They're squatters. Nowadays squatting is illegal here, but the idea surfaced when you could just inhabit a place that had been empty for a year (provided there were no plans with it. It would mean you'd have to break in first, and that is illegal, so you basically had to get as many people as you can to cover you up, and when you got in the building you call the police, they declare it empty and then you were a legal inhabitant). These squatters do have a contract with the building's owner. If the owner decides to step out, they'll just move elsewhere.

BBP - 27-8-2011 at 17:33

Not much activity this saturday... cycle trip to the supermarket again... Received a package...

BBP - 30-8-2011 at 19:19

Had a bit of a struggle with my father. He kept nagging he watned some soup, but there wasn't any, so I got dressed to go out and get some. Dad felt guilty, locked all the doors and bicycles, then hid the keys. I managed to get out and bought him some soup.

DED - 30-8-2011 at 21:14

With some of these soups you can win 25000 euros, than you won't complaint.

DED - 31-8-2011 at 13:18

BTW
Dear Bonny, I know you are plundering the archives of newspapers. Beware of the fact that Eindhovens Dagblad has digitalised all papers. You can not reach it by internet but for free from the premises of the Regional Historic Center Eindhoven at the raiffeissenstraat. That is aprox. 3 km from your headphones

BBP - 31-8-2011 at 22:34

Came home from the give-away store with two great art books and one book with cookie recipes.

BBP - 2-9-2011 at 19:32

Car is going to the wreck yard on Tuesday.

BBP - 4-9-2011 at 10:12

A friend of mine was supposed to come over today, but he just rang to cancel.

I also finished my Flakes comic. Check out the Zappa: General forum!!

polydigm - 4-9-2011 at 13:16

Boy, it's quieter than usual around here. Just thought I'd say hello so you weren't the only one posting here Bonny. Funny comic. I'm stressed at the moment about assessment and reports at school.

BBP - 9-9-2011 at 21:20

Off to visit the same friend who cancelled due to hangover. He asked me to stay over.

...It's a good thing I let my nails grow long.

Something that at least gets too little love is my Hammersmith album art.

It's mostly Doric temple. There's drawings of band members in the metopes, the tympanon has FZ in a sort of Adam in Touch of God pose, and two poodles. Of course that doesnt show. I need to put something in the temple, or on the columns, since now all the fresh information is on top and bottom, not in the centre. Right now I got the Light as if FZ were playing there.
It's two days work, but it hardly shows. Maybe I should've used a ruler for some of the inking I did manually now.

BBP - 11-9-2011 at 15:39

Discovered a highschool friend became a professional actor when I saw a photo of him in the newspaper. Cool!

BBP - 11-9-2011 at 22:06

Read the science section of the same paper and discovered another schoolmate in it.

BBP - 13-9-2011 at 19:02

Been to the dentist. I'm OK!!

aquagoat - 14-9-2011 at 08:44

cool, i'll have to go to the dentist soon for my yearly check up. It should be ok too.

polydigm - 14-9-2011 at 15:06

Wow, what's with the dentist? I went last Thursday to have a filling in a tooth that had a little decay damage over 30 years ago, that was so insignificant that various dentists have refused to drill good tooth to fix it and have just piddled around with it. It's been annoying me for years and finally it's been drilled and filled in a more permanently.

BBP - 14-9-2011 at 18:45

That's lucky. A college friend of mine, a pretty lady, had a cavity every time she went to the dentist. Until she was helped out by an assistant, who had to drill and said he couldn't find the bad tooth, she thought it was just bad habit or something. She hasn't had any cavities since she switched dentist.

BBP - 20-9-2011 at 10:54

Happy Birthday to my sister zazkia!
Unfortunately she is on holiday in Bulgaria and we haven't heard from her for a while.

punknaynowned - 20-9-2011 at 17:33

"Holiday In Bulgaria" sounds like a Dead Ceaucescu song?

BBP - 20-9-2011 at 17:47

...You know Ceaucescu was Romanian?

punknaynowned - 20-9-2011 at 18:21

yeah I just couldn't think of a dead Bulgarian leader's name ...

I'll watch the Zeemerman movie. It can't be as bad as Warhol's films, can it?

Hi Bonny!

punknaynowned - 20-9-2011 at 18:23

oh and happy birthday to your sis.
My sisters birthdays were the 18th and 19th and you have the same day as my mom. Weird.

DED - 20-9-2011 at 22:42

Not so weird
April happens to be 9 months after July our summer holidays
and September is nine months after the dark days around christmas and new year.
Not that most people only doing IT around that time, but people are more relaxed in those periods, ideal for conception.

polydigm - 20-9-2011 at 23:04

I'm contemplating changing my life around and returning to University, I'm tired of High School teaching, but it's complicated. So I'm a little preoccupied at the moment and those damn reports still need to be finished.

BBP - 24-9-2011 at 19:35

Having elbow trouble. Must've been all that drawing.

BBP - 26-9-2011 at 16:29

Bought a great deal of music books. Hope I can master rock piano now.

BBP - 27-9-2011 at 22:44

Dad's off to The Hague, so I'm all alone tonight.

aquagoat - 28-9-2011 at 07:46

The weather's sunny so my girlfriend and I are going to the beach.

polydigm - 28-9-2011 at 10:53

My head's buried in maths study at the moment which is not too easy to share on a music related forum. The good news is that Friday after work I'll be on mid semester break. Woo hoo.

Hey Aqua, there can't be too much beach weather left this time of year. What part of France are you in? I'm sure you've said before but I've forgotten.

aquagoat - 29-9-2011 at 08:40

I live in the blue zone of the map, in Amiens, Picardie, France, about 90 kilometers from The channel. We'll probably go again this week-end since the weather's supposed to be sunny until next week.

punknaynowned - 29-9-2011 at 11:09

Hello and Good Morning Aqua
always wanted to go and see Picardy
Good Morning to Bonny and Ed too
I watched some new television on hulu today, something I never do.
It wasn't all that great, Pan Am and the Playboy Club. I guess Hollywood tries.
This summer I spent a fair amount of time watching two television shows. An activity I picked up only recently after not doing that at all since 1994. The two shows were Madmen and The Wire. Both are well worth it, very revealing of their subject matter for different reasons.
Madmen is about an ad agency in New York in the early'60's and
The Wire is about Baltimore in the last decade more or less
great tv, great characters, great writing
I imagine there are examples on the intertube
anyway, highly recommended

have a great Thursday!

DED - 29-9-2011 at 11:15

Back form a great 2 days The Hague. 2nd day I went to the beach and it was warm enough to undress and enjoy some sun.
both days I road on a rented bikes trough the dunes. (visited the familygraves, studied in the national archive, shopping in secondhand stores and so on. The things of a good live.

polydigm - 29-9-2011 at 12:45

Quote: Originally posted by aquagoat
I live in ... Amiens, Picardie, France, about 90 kilometers from The channel ...
So, not in the south of France then?

aquagoat - 29-9-2011 at 17:13

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm

Quote: Originally posted by aquagoat
I live in ... Amiens, Picardie, France, about 90 kilometers from The channel ...
So, not in the south of France then?
I used to live in the south a few years ago but I moved up north in 2007.

polydigm - 29-9-2011 at 22:41

So, Aqua, how have you found the change in weather? We lived in Sydney for a while which was sub tropical and quite humid at times and now we're in central southern australia with not much between us and Antarctica. When the wind blows from the north we sweat, when the wind blows from the south we freeze. It's crazy weather here. The only nice time of the year weather wise is in Autumn.

aquagoat - 30-9-2011 at 07:28

well, it's a bit more rainy than where i used to live but it's ok, it's not as bad as I thought it could be. I don't care when it's cold, I'am not sensitive the cold but i can't stand it when the weather's really hot, I wonder how I could stand th southern heat.

BBP - 30-9-2011 at 09:54

... I couldn't... I spent my summer holidays gasping like a puppy.

polydigm - 30-9-2011 at 10:29

Yes, it's weird, when I was kid used to look forward to the Summer here, but not now. People were wondering how I would handle going to the UK last Christmas, from Australian summer into the middle of UK winter, but I was fine.

BBP - 1-10-2011 at 20:31

Hottest October 1 ever here. I could hardly breathe when I went outside for some groceries.
Sister is coming over, we're celebrating her birthday. I baked an apple pie, it's delicious, and I didn't even burn myself!
The burning didn't come till later, when I noticed a burn smell. My sister had omitted to remove a teatowel from a precarious position near the stove, so there's a hole in it now.

DED - 2-10-2011 at 20:48

been to the shopping center with daughter for presents.
IN the end we eat an icecream.
Looking to her surroundingts she forget her ice and off course it fell on the ground.
Al left was the cookie. I bought her a new one.
I did that before....some 25 years ago.
some things never change.

aquagoat - 6-10-2011 at 10:01

My girlfriend and I went to my parents' house in Cognac on monday, I packed all the stuff I had left down there, went to the restaurant with my parents and came back home yesterday with one of my guitars, one of my pedalboards and a few other musical things. All I've got left to do now is organize the repatriation of all those cardboard boxes. It's gonna be expensive, I think.

BBP - 6-10-2011 at 19:19

Aw, that's when you know you left home... but why should sending cardboard boxes away cost so much money?

I went running yesterday, for the first time in ages. I'm not doing it again until I can find a better bra.

aquagoat - 7-10-2011 at 10:09

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Aw, that's when you know you left home... but why should sending cardboard boxes away cost so much money?
I planned to rent a little truck but my girlfriend didn't feel like driving twice 700 kilometres in a few days. So I'll have to hire professional movers unless I find someone who wants to spend two days with me and drive down there and back.

Quote:
I went running yesterday, for the first time in ages. I'm not doing it again until I can find a better bra.
My girlfriend's got quite big boobs so she never runs because of that problem.

BBP - 7-10-2011 at 15:12

I feel her pain... got a large size myself. You know that joke of overweight characters unable to see their toes through their bellies? I can't see my toes either. And I have big feet.

DED - 7-10-2011 at 22:04

We all have our problems

[Edited on 9-10-2011 by DED]

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BBP - 10-10-2011 at 11:43

Discovered Round The Twist on YouTube. Ahh... those were the days. "Can I have your walkman if you don't come back?"
They aired just a little too late for me, so I had to rush off to school to see the ending.

BBP - 13-10-2011 at 22:15

Phoned my friend for his birthday. Took photogaphs of a lot of drawings with the intent of publishing them. Am now in doubt about doing so.

BBP - 15-10-2011 at 12:30

Joined DeviantArt. Look for Bonnzai.

polydigm - 16-10-2011 at 12:20

My last day of freedom is coming to an end. I'm off to bed with some maths books.

BBP - 16-10-2011 at 20:44

Poor Poly...
Worked in the front yard pulling weeds and cleaning turds. Why on earth people let their dogs crap in other people's gardens is beyond my comprehension.

polydigm - 19-10-2011 at 02:01

I should have separated my last post into sections. The loss of freedom thing was going back to work after a break. The maths books I actually enjoy and I'm going back to university next year. My year nines yesterday were horrible, I ended up with a migraine, but I don't want it to sound worse than it really is. It's not a bad job overall, I'm just totally over it.

BBP - 19-10-2011 at 22:26

What do you mean by totally over it?

Have new vacacion plans. I'm looking into Munich, as in: what's there and how can I reach it and stay at a decent cost.

polydigm - 21-10-2011 at 00:01

Totally over it? Teaching at that level just holds no appeal for me whatsoever any more.

I spent ten hours in hospital yesterday. I am now officially initiated into the world of pain called kidney stones. I had a half hour doubled over in agony on Wednesday morning and then about four lengthy bouts over a three hour period yesterday morning. The doctors think it may be over, but I'm sat here now, looking over my shoulder. The good news is that the cat scan I had yesterday also confirmed that the surgery I had last year has turned out quite well. So, if I get through today and the weekend without any more kidney pain, I'll be laughing by Monday.

Hey Bonny, maybe you could visit Fritz while your there?

BBP - 21-10-2011 at 11:15

It all happens to you doesn't it? Poor Poly! Be in good health now.

BBP - 22-10-2011 at 11:44

Just checked: Fritz lives in the Rhineland: probably one of the big towns by the Rhine: Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Dortmund, Essen... I believe he lives closer to my house than to Munich, which is in Bavaria.

polydigm - 23-10-2011 at 22:08

Well, the doctors were wrong, I was up at 4:00AM Saturday in pain on and off until 9:00AM. Another stay in hospital from 6:00AM to 1:30PM. They're still not totally sure of course what will happen next. I'm up now having a coffee getting ready to go to work waiting for the time bomb to go off again.

Aside from that I am in pretty good spirits in general. I feel good about my plans for next year. It looks like I'm in a good position for getting some first year maths tutorial work, so I'll be able to lower my high school class load right away. Anyway, I'm off to have a shave.

Bonny, when are you going to Munich?

BBP - 24-10-2011 at 20:26

Ah no, poor Poly! You stay cool and get well now.

Have no date set for Munich. Am still trying to figure out whether there's enough to do there for me.

Zappa Forum Conspiracy #72: IrishBoris = Zombie.

polydigm - 25-10-2011 at 09:09

I've conversed with IrishBorish in chat. He seems like a perfectly reasonable human being. If he's Zombie then his cover story is way too complicated. I believe he really is from Ireland and Zombie was a Yank. IB travelled to Australia a while back as a back packer. He's got strong opinions and there's nothing wrong with that, I think he's just finding his feet at zappa.com and he'll settle down eventually.

BBP - 25-10-2011 at 09:57

Ah. Could be someone with a long thumb still, such as the jerk who made those Shaggy and Ius Rincewind accounts (who posed here as Trendy and as Guybrush Threepwood). After all, I'm Timothy Brown from Somerset.

Am now a converted pastafari. Anything that celebrates good humour and logic is cool in my book.

polydigm - 27-10-2011 at 13:02

Back in hospital. On painkillers to see if the stone comes out freely, otherwise, they're going in after it. Talking via my iPhone, cool, it's nice to be able to stay in touch.

punknaynowned - 27-10-2011 at 14:39

get well soon Geoff!!!
my dad had k-stones when he was about your age.
Said it was the worst pain he ever felt.
He passed his too.
>fingers crossed<

Hi Bonny!
Hi Ed!
Hi Aqua!
We had a good opening weekend for the horrorshow last week.
Tonight is a rehearsal and Friday, Saturday and Monday the last shows.
Several short pieces drawn from HP Lovecraft this year.
This weekend they are holding auditions for Waiting For Godot to be performed early next year.
I'm deciding whether I want to spend time on that. The writing is worth it, but the rest, I don't know.

boo!

BBP - 27-10-2011 at 15:39

Punky! Nice to see you again!
I'd do Godot without thinking. It's been so long since stage and I really miss it. Unfortunately with the musical craze, there's next to no non-musical amateur production.

Aw dear Poly, hope all will go well!

BBP - 30-10-2011 at 14:16

Played for guide dog again, toured 12 vision-impaired souls through a space exhibition. Was fun.

DED - 30-10-2011 at 17:50

hi Punk, how are you.
Poly, if possible enjoy your stay, they will take care of you and your stones.
Sawed a big trench off of our Acacia. Somehow I managed to cut in my finger with a trenchcutter.
The green bin is filled up now with much to large parts, I hope I won't have problems tomorrow.
The green bin is only for leaves and so on, not 4 inch width trenches.

BBP - 31-10-2011 at 10:43

DED:

Branch

Trench

[Edited on 31-10-11 by BBP]

polydigm - 31-10-2011 at 16:49

Bonny, you're a real card, I got a good chuckle from that.

Thanks for your wishes everyone. Yes Punky, it's a very special kind of pain. Anyway, I ended up in surgery about six hours ago and still have some unpleasantness to look forward to, but it's basically over. I've been back in the ward awhile under the influence of some very nice pain killers, listening to FZ on my iPhone. Broadway The Hard Way (extended cd version) is a brilliant album.

DED - 31-10-2011 at 18:01

That is why I couldnt find the movie the Franch Connection ........

BBP - 31-10-2011 at 22:08

Aw dear, dear Poly, this one's for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bksTWhelw0Y

aquagoat - 1-11-2011 at 08:50

Recover quickly, Poly.

BBP - 2-11-2011 at 20:29

Got very close to witnessing a car crash. Walked past a crossing, nothing wrong, walked back ten minutes later, police and ambulances on the place where I'd crossed the road earlier. A 71-year-old female cyclist got hit by a car, that bumped into a lamppost afterwards. Pretty creepy.

polydigm - 3-11-2011 at 22:45

Thanks for your wishes everyone. I've been at home a couple of days now, doing time so to speak. Seems to be going okay so far. Should be back at work by Monday.

BBP - 4-11-2011 at 10:35

Hey Poly, glad you're home again! Hang in there!

DED - 5-11-2011 at 18:43

Yeah you've better doctors there I presume.

Hmmm Maybe it was not a good idea to remove your kidneystones by the natural way.

polydigm - 5-11-2011 at 23:27

DED, you'd have been right at home at zappa.com before they introduced moderation.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good today. It looks like things have gone pretty well.

polydigm - 8-11-2011 at 22:03

Just having coffee before work, my third day back. It's been fine. Yesterday, my feral year nines were actually quite sympathetic. They're not bad kids really. Although, it was a bit quieter than usual as three of them had got themselves suspended while I was away and two of the other 'characters' were absent.

BBP - 8-11-2011 at 22:26

Sounds like a harsh school you go to. In my 6 years at school only one kid I knew got suspended, she placed a stink bomb in the classroom.

DED - 8-11-2011 at 22:48

And guess Our ZAZ (Saskia) is send out once in all those years and BBP never (altough I almost forced her to do so). It is not nice when there is a parents-evening and there is nothing to discuss apart from good grades,good behaviour.

DED - 8-11-2011 at 22:53

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
DED, you'd have been right at home at zappa.com before they introduced moderation.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good today. It looks like things have gone pretty well.

Don't tell me, that this is something that could be subject of moderation in the States, I won't believe it.

polydigm - 9-11-2011 at 08:29

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Sounds like a harsh school you go to.
The school has a zero tolerance attitude to the disruption of the education of those who have come to actually do the work. Suspension is not punishment, it's protection of the rights of those who are doing the right thing.

polydigm - 9-11-2011 at 08:32

Quote: Originally posted by DED

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
DED, you'd have been right at home at zappa.com before they introduced moderation.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good today. It looks like things have gone pretty well.

Don't tell me, that this is something that could be subject of moderation in the States, I won't believe it.
It was an off the cuff remark about the proclivities of certain members of zappa.com. Proclivities that relate to a fascination with certain body parts or outputs. Nothing personal was intended.

MTF - 9-11-2011 at 10:27

My sister-in-law died yesterday.

She had cancer and knew she would die soon. The doctors discontinued chemotherapy a few months ago. On Monday morning she was really out of it, so her daughter took her to see the doctor. While she was in the waiting room she had a stroke. It was all over in a couple minutes.

punknaynowned - 9-11-2011 at 10:41

Quote: Originally posted by DED

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
DED, you'd have been right at home at zappa.com before they introduced moderation.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good today. It looks like things have gone pretty well.

Don't tell me, that this is something that could be subject of moderation in the States, I won't believe it.

ha! I take it as a joke! Americans can't hardly be accused of 'moderate' behavior!

Ed, things used to be a bit more wild and free on the zappa forum, some years ago. All sorts of crazy persons. Then moderators of all kinds flattened things out., sure. They kicked out jimmie d, the best non-cop we had.
But Geoff, I think it was the bullies that people got tired of. Those and the wanna-be bullies. Everyone knows that if bullies aren't given boundaries they take over.

You know this in your classroom. I like the positive outlook to class participation you have down there. In principle. With that model, you are showing your bosses the positive effect you are having on your own troublemakers. So much that when you are out, they lose it and get thrown out!
Or is my view too rosy?

BB, I liked the glowfest vid. I still dream of doing something like that here with projections. On a big canvas like a building, at night. Not waiting on Godot.

MTF, sorry to hear about your sister. Condolences to your wife.
[Edited on 9-11-11 by punknaynowned]

[Edited on 9-11-11 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 9-11-2011 at 11:10

My condolences MTF, very sorry to hear about her.

polydigm - 9-11-2011 at 12:11

Sorry to hear your sad news MTF.

Punky, I'm one of those teachers who tries to meet the kids half way. The only time I get really pissed off is if they take advantage of that. Those kids that got suspended while I was away do tend to get into less trouble with me than other teachers but it wasn't because I was away, they're high on the list to get in trouble at the best of times and seem to reserve their worst behaviour for others. I just don't overreact to the relatively minor stuff, so things are less likely to escalate to the more major stuff. Mind you, it can be a bit trying at times.

DED - 9-11-2011 at 13:02

My condolences MTF.

punknaynowned - 9-11-2011 at 14:20

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
Sorry to hear your sad news MTF.

Punky, I'm one of those teachers who tries to meet the kids half way. The only time I get really pissed off is if they take advantage of that. Those kids that got suspended while I was away do tend to get into less trouble with me than other teachers but it wasn't because I was away, they're high on the list to get in trouble at the best of times and seem to reserve their worst behaviour for others. I just don't overreact to the relatively minor stuff, so things are less likely to escalate to the more major stuff. Mind you, it can be a bit trying at times.

Still staying in what I'm calling the 'positivist' frame, not reacting to the more minor stuff is just what my brother did for years as the only teacher in several districts that had any success at all with the behavioral disorderly kids. Just not react. The kids know the rules and if they want to diverge from that then they could do that, it just had to be elsewhere. And they weren't gonna get the reaction they expected from him. That was his whole deal. Most of those kids had troubled homes and were used to getting reactions for disruptions. That's how they normally got any attention at all.
In any event, it's an interesting topic.
He'd get hammered by authoritarian bosses who'd be upset because he wasn't consistently following policy that policed student's language. He didn't care about that. People get excited and say stuff but if they were on topic, following along and engaging with the material, he didn't see a big problem. for example. Some might say he was lenient, but he could show the students learned stuff and respected him to a degree because he was all about the topic.
I like how you put that: 'meeting them half way.'
Glad your recovery seems so swift.

Philmore - 9-11-2011 at 21:32

Man, that other forum is turning extremely nasty.

BBP - 9-11-2011 at 23:33

I should bring back the "lyrics that describe JPFunk" thread.

polydigm - 10-11-2011 at 07:54

Wow, Bonny, looks like you did that ... <cough> ...

BBP - 10-11-2011 at 16:40

The forum's down now, so it seems.

polydigm - 10-11-2011 at 21:34

It's still there, running fine, don't worry Bonny, you didn't break it.

BBP - 11-11-2011 at 10:51

Good...

polydigm - 13-11-2011 at 03:45

You'll notice that my avatar is not showing. My #$%?!@*& web hosting service has dropped me right in it this weekend. I'm dropping them as soon as possible, which is a hassle, but it has to be done. I can't get them on weekends so I have to wait till tomorrow. So all the pictures I'm using in various forums will have to have their links edited at some point. Using the internet can be a real pain sometimes.

punknaynowned - 14-11-2011 at 03:53

I still see your avatar. In fact, it hasn't gone away at all as far as I can tell.

something I found today that made the tears stream down my face. That never happens.
This weekend, Honolulu hosted the annual APEC (asian-Pacific economic counsel) meeting where many of the world's leaders came to discuss what's on everybody's minds. Economics. A local guy had been hired to do the light entertainment he played some old songs, dylan (Watchtower) and sting (fragile).
But then decided to go ahead and sing the new song he wrote this month. He was scared to at first but then realizing he wasn't getting in trouble, kept singing it over and over for 45 minutes!

His description is here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-M07v8N_eU
the video for the song is here and the lyrics are under this if u click 'Show More'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE&

polydigm - 14-11-2011 at 08:51

Well, my website has been suspended and I certainly can't access it. I'm not sure why you can still see my avatar because its url is on my website. Weird. Anyway, the bastards still haven't fixed my problem and I can't move to another host until they unlock my domain name. Meanwhile, I can't access my email with that account, which is my main email.

BBP - 14-11-2011 at 10:25

I get an X too. It's probably locked in Punky's cache.

Oh dear, Poly, they're sure out to get you right now are there?

DED - 14-11-2011 at 21:32

Geoff is the owner of his Domain. That means you can find yourself a new hosting company. Via them you can move your domain. Check godaddy in the states. Your mail is a different problem. Moving to another hosting Company normally destroys all our email. Best you can do I think is to stay with tucows and create an different email acount at gmail. send all the mail to your gmail. It is free, only a lot of work, but you have all your mail. After that it is easy to move between hosting company's if you still want to leave tucows.

BTW nice house you have

polydigm - 15-11-2011 at 00:20

DED is correct, its my domain. That does mean, because the domain stays the same, that if I move to a new hosting service I can set up the same email address.

Hey, DED, what do you mean "nice house"? To what are you referring?

Yes, Bonny, I was thinking of you as well. Sometimes you have a run of bad luck where a series of your "noteworthy" posts are somewhat harrowing. It seems I've had a few of those throughout the last year and a half.

Anyway, I just got off the phone after working out some grudging compromise with my host and I'm doing another year with them. In the mean time I will be researching alternatives and if need be, I will be ready to switch without the hassle in advance of next time.

polydigm - 15-11-2011 at 07:40

Okay, my avatar is back.

So, on the way home from work today, I stopped to get petrol at a Shell station. They've got this stupid alert about mobile phones and petrol which is just rubbish. I had my hands free ear phones plugged in and a complete stranger comes up to me and starts giving me a lecture about my phone. I ignored her because I've been accosted by nut cases in public before. She walked off and the next thing I know the petrol pump stopped pouring. The woman had gone into the shop and complained and the attendant stalled my pump. I went into the shop to be told she was the manager having changed into civvies to go home. I told her as far as I was concerned she was a complete stranger, she didn't tell me she was the manager, she just started barking orders at me and what did she expect me to do. If shed' told me she was the manager I wouldn't have ignored her. What am I, some kind of disaster magnet?

While we're on the topic, somebody needs to do something about this stupid myth. Check the following link and you'll find out why Shell in particular has freaked out about this.

Relevant Article

DED - 15-11-2011 at 10:09

Quote:

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
DED is correct, its my domain. That does mean, because the domain stays the same, that if I move to a new hosting service I can set up the same email address.

Hey, DED, what do you mean "nice house"? To what are you referring?

prtety simple. Sometimes you only "rent" the domainname. The administer adress is then that of your hosting company. Otherwise it is your private adress. (you can hide this information by making your site private, will cost a fee)
So I found your name as owner and a adress with a no 13.
I copied the adress in Google maps , streetview.

polydigm - 15-11-2011 at 10:36

I was about to say that when you look at my house in Google Maps street view, the blue Peugot out the front is our car and the two guys standing in the drive way are me with the brief case and the real estate agent selling the house just before the auction back in December 2007, but I just checked it and the picture has changed to a more recent one, still more than a year old. So I'm no longer famous.

I just found out two days ago that I can pay for privacy on my domain information. Prior to that nobody bothered to tell me it was an issue. DED, you've just highlighted to me the need to do so.

BBP - 15-11-2011 at 11:15

Mythbusters did that already didn't they? It's, if I'm correct, the one where Adam Savage burns off his eyebrow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw6-PhvcS3M

polydigm - 15-11-2011 at 13:27

Yes, the myth has been busted, but the point is that many petrol stations still have signs barring mobile phones.

DED - 15-11-2011 at 15:29

Quote:

DED, you've just highlighted to me the need to do so.

I google myself on a regullar base, if you want to, you even can find my favorite colour of underpants. Nevertheless I understand you completely, but don't kill the messenger.

Handy's at gas station. I also see this signs in a train. Maybe we think that it is for safety, but in fact they basically can mean in order to avoid asocial behaviour. Keep your mind at what you're doing. And that should be filling up. There is a movie somewhere on the tube from a guy who was lighting up a sigaret during filling. Nothing happend until he mindless started to play with his lighter.

polydigm - 16-11-2011 at 09:21

Quote: Originally posted by DED

Quote:
DED, you've just highlighted to me the need to do so.
... I understand you completely, but don't kill the messenger.
I wasn't having a go at you, I don't mind that you googled my house, I meant that you've made me realise my information is out there and there might be people I don't want to be googling my house.

polydigm - 16-11-2011 at 10:01

Here's the previous view before Google's last update: Of course, you can't see the house behind all that bush and whatnot. Their updated view is still more than a year old, because that vine fence at the front got pulled down in early December last year. That's me on the left and the real estate agent on the right (note the sign) before I bought the place back in early December 2007.

polydigm - 17-11-2011 at 08:20

I had the structural engineer around today. We need approval from the council before we can mount our new solar system.

BBP - 17-11-2011 at 10:44

A new solar system?! What's wrong with the old one?

polydigm - 18-11-2011 at 08:25

The old one's overrun by human beings. Very funny, Bonny. It's a solar system and it's new. We don't currently have one.

It's a 6.58kW system and will pay for our bills while we are getting a decent feed in tariff. Hopefully by the time that runs out battery technology will have improved enough and its cost relative to the rising cost of commercial electricity will be favourable enough to take that next step. The problem is that you generate the most electricity when you're not using it.

BBP - 18-11-2011 at 10:47

Oh, like MTF has! That's confusing... someone needs to invent a new word there.
So you're getting solar panels and stuff? Cool!

polydigm - 19-11-2011 at 00:10

Oh, so you weren't joking? I suppose I should say Solar Power System, or something like that. Yes, it's pretty cool, but we're having to jump through some hoops to get there.

BBP - 19-11-2011 at 11:37

Half, I knew you weren't getting a new solar system obviously.
Did some sculpting. God that modelling putti is nasty.

polydigm - 21-11-2011 at 11:55

Still more hoops to jump through, we haven't got our approval yet. Now the engineer's worried about a crack in the wall. I have a mass of 80kg and stand on a space of about 0.02 square metres. Thats equivalent to a localised force of about 40 500 gm tubs of butter stacked on top of each other. One of these solar panels has a mass of 18kg and stands on a space of about 1.65 square metres. That's equivalent to a localised force of about one half empty 500 gm tub of butter. What the hell is he worried about?

The council is concerned about them getting caught in the wind and torn off your roof as a public safety issue, they're not so worried about them collapsing your roof in on itself, which is hardly likely. I'm getting a bit weary of this crap.

BBP - 21-11-2011 at 20:58

Ah, maybe that guy is just trying to get some extra moolah.
I've been photographing drawings and stuff that is in my agendas, then upload them to DA. I always make them myself and now have 15 of them. One comic I made can be seen here:
http://bonnzai.deviantart.com/#/d4gvhi3

I love DeviantArt. Over 200 artworks uploaded now.

polydigm - 21-11-2011 at 21:47

Funny comic.

polydigm - 23-11-2011 at 08:47

I think you're right about the moolah Bonny. When I got the guy's plans which put a bit of a spanner in the works and then listened to him tell me that if there were any problems, we could get back to him and he would see what he could do, I realised he was fishing. Anyway, I've figured out a way to side step the problem, so it seems it's all steam ahead. Without any further hitches (touch wood) we'll be running on solar within 10 days.

BBP - 23-11-2011 at 12:12

That's good news Poly!
http://bonnzai.deviantart.com/gallery/33517285#/d4gvfew
Here's more Fred & Derek.

polydigm - 25-11-2011 at 23:10

During a tutorial one time back when I was training as a teacher during a postmortem of a recently completed teaching practical we were asked about the highlight and lowlight of our experience. I answered that the highlight was that there weren't any lowlights but that the lowlight was that there weren't any highlights. Kind of how I feel right now.

punknaynowned - 26-11-2011 at 00:51

are you "in between things that only go halfway"?

I've decided that if the revolution is finally happening, I better be healthy for it. Or at least not 'dying any minute from something stupid like smoking related disease'. So I try one of these e-cigarettes that provide vaporized nicotine when you breathe in on the white end. The other end glows visibly, to tell you how much gets delivered...
{i'm told I don't have to like the slight aftertaste}

Welcome to the 21st Century!!!!

BBP - 26-11-2011 at 11:02

Those things are certainly only halfway...
You're guaranteed to not "die any minute from smoking-related disease". Except for Anton Webern (who went out for a smoke and was shot by a drunk soldier) smoking diseases like lung cancer and emphysema are slow and excruceating.

polydigm - 26-11-2011 at 14:21

Wow, Bonny, that's really comforting.

Just as well I don't smoke.

Good luck with it Punky.

BBP - 28-11-2011 at 19:27

Went out on my usual trip to the second hand store, this week I went to one that's about 20 min cycling from here. I'd found a lot of CD-is, and among others a first edition (1955) of a book by Bordewijk (my fav author) that I didn't have,and tons more stuff...
and when I go to the coffee corner to check out my potential purchases, I discover I don't have my wallet on me.

polydigm - 28-11-2011 at 23:42

I hate that feeling. I hope you found it again Bonny. I've been going okay this week. So we're back to Bonny's hard times now.

Calvin - 29-11-2011 at 01:53

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
are you "in between things that only go halfway"?

I've decided that if the revolution is finally happening, I better be healthy for it. Or at least not 'dying any minute from something stupid like smoking related disease'. So I try one of these e-cigarettes that provide vaporized nicotine when you breathe in on the white end. The other end glows visibly, to tell you how much gets delivered...
{i'm told I don't have to like the slight aftertaste}

Welcome to the 21st Century!!!!

I'm not sure how that's supposed to help. If you were addicted to heroin would I give you vaporized heroin?

[Edited on 29-11-2011 by Calvin]

polydigm - 29-11-2011 at 10:24

Wow, Punky, you really came to the right place for sympathy, it seems.

BBP - 29-11-2011 at 10:52

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
are you "in between things that only go halfway"?

I've decided that if the revolution is finally happening, I better be healthy for it. Or at least not 'dying any minute from something stupid like smoking related disease'. So I try one of these e-cigarettes that provide vaporized nicotine when you breathe in on the white end. The other end glows visibly, to tell you how much gets delivered...
{i'm told I don't have to like the slight aftertaste}

Welcome to the 21st Century!!!!

I'm not sure how that's supposed to help. If you were addicted to heroin would I give you vaporized heroin?

[Edited on 29-11-2011 by Calvin]

No, they'd give you methadon. It's supposed to be not as bad as heroin but methadon addictions are pretty nasty too.

punknaynowned - 29-11-2011 at 19:18

thanks Geoff!

Bonny, I would likely feel the same as you about tobacco if my aunt and grandma were smokers and died so recently.

Cal, are you trying to be funny? Hope you're feeling better since you quit smoking.

update: I fell off the wagon yesterday after five days of steady progress. Today, Coffee's made and I'll cycle to the store and get me some creamer for it. Another thing I do two-three times a week is get a veggie smoothie: carrot, beet, spinach, garlic. I think the vegetables are responding to me.

BBP - 29-11-2011 at 20:51

Ah Punky, I didn't mean to be so harsh on your quitting attempts. It's in fact parallelled to how I quit taking sugar in my tea. I drank tea a lot, especially in my newspaper round days when I'd be freezing all over at least until noon, and I took sugar. Lots. A one and a half kilo bag wouldn't last for two weeks.
I decided to finally quit, and do so gradually: I bought one of those artificial sweetener dispensers. At first it took 4 of those pills to match the sugar content I previously used. One week later, I went to 3. Next week, 2. Week after, 1.

And I got stuck at 1 for several weeks. I was about halfway through the 650 pcs dispenser when I dropped it on the floor, so I bought a new one.
On my second use of that new dispenser, I got instant butter fingers and dropped it in my tea, top first so the contents contacted the liquid I was about to drink.

I drank it.
You know, the record number of lumps I've had in my tea was 31, I was getting bullied by two nasty boys and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of a grossed-out face. But it was drinkable.
There may have been a few hundreds of artificial sweetener pills solved in that tea. And that was not drinkable. It was gross. Sticky. And I couldn't finish it. That was the last time I took sweeteners of any kind. Yeah!

Went to the second hand store again, with wallet this time. They still had the Bordewijk book and the other books I wanted, but the CD-is were gone. I did get (new) shoes and trousers at a nearby shop. Getting new shoes for me is a nightmare considering I have Paris Hilton size. Been wearing little but men's shoes since I was 15.

Calvin - 30-11-2011 at 23:25

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
thanks Geoff!

Bonny, I would likely feel the same as you about tobacco if my aunt and grandma were smokers and died so recently.

Cal, are you trying to be funny? Hope you're feeling better since you quit smoking.

update: I fell off the wagon yesterday after five days of steady progress. Today, Coffee's made and I'll cycle to the store and get me some creamer for it. Another thing I do two-three times a week is get a veggie smoothie: carrot, beet, spinach, garlic. I think the vegetables are responding to me.

Trying to be funny? No. It sounds like you didn't really make a decision to quit, you made the decision to try to quit. If you really want to stop, decide that you aren't going to have anymore, ever. And then focus on the fact that there is no pain in withdrawal, just a restless, uneasy feeling. After I reconciled that those things were true in my mind it was a snap.

polydigm - 1-12-2011 at 01:08

I went cold turkey on cigarettes, the green stuff and alcohol altogether for my birthday back in 1985. That was one of the hairiest things I've ever done but it was worth it.

Calvin - 1-12-2011 at 03:42

I've never used the green stuff, and have drank very rarely. My brother-in-law and his wife are as of now raging alcoholics and are not admitting to it, so they don't think they need help and get angry at people that suggest they do. I don't want them to hit bottom before they realize what's going on, but I don't know what else will do it.

BBP - 1-12-2011 at 10:53

Hairiest, Poly? Interesting choice of words, sounds like my dad should try it.

punknaynowned - 1-12-2011 at 11:57

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin

Trying to be funny? No. It sounds like you didn't really make a decision to quit, you made the decision to try to quit. If you really want to stop, decide that you aren't going to have anymore, ever. And then focus on the fact that there is no pain in withdrawal, just a restless, uneasy feeling. After I reconciled that those things were true in my mind it was a snap.

Calvin! You've given me a gift! The right thing at the right time! And something I can use every day! Thank You!

[Edited on 1-12-11 by punknaynowned]

polydigm - 1-12-2011 at 13:29

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin
... they don't think they need help and get angry at people that suggest they do. I don't want them to hit bottom before they realize what's going on, but I don't know what else will do it.
I feel your pain there mate. I've been through that with a couple of people, it ain't easy.

polydigm - 1-12-2011 at 13:35

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Hairiest, Poly? Interesting choice of words, sounds like my dad should try it.
It's a commonly used slang term in Australia and England at least, I can't speak for America. "It was a hairy situation, I nearly didn't make it."

punknaynowned - 1-12-2011 at 14:02

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Hairiest, Poly? Interesting choice of words, sounds like my dad should try it.
It's a commonly used slang term in Australia and England at least, I can't speak for America. "It was a hairy situation, I nearly didn't make it."

"Looks like you made it!"

polydigm - 2-12-2011 at 00:23

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned
"Looks like you made it!"
Well, it has been nearly 27 years now, but thanks for the fanfare anyway.

Good luck with yours. If nothing else, when you succeed, you will end up feeling better about yourself and that's priceless.

BBP - 2-12-2011 at 23:51

Lost a long post.

Anyway I've started on a set of cable knit gloves for my sister, but I'm quitting because the pattern in the book doesn't work. It must be a nightmare to correct every single pattern, there's so many numbers you can't easily look up, but it's very frustrating.

Calvin - 3-12-2011 at 12:43

Quote: Originally posted by punknaynowned

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin

Trying to be funny? No. It sounds like you didn't really make a decision to quit, you made the decision to try to quit. If you really want to stop, decide that you aren't going to have anymore, ever. And then focus on the fact that there is no pain in withdrawal, just a restless, uneasy feeling. After I reconciled that those things were true in my mind it was a snap.

Calvin! You've given me a gift! The right thing at the right time! And something I can use every day! Thank You!

[Edited on 1-12-11 by punknaynowned]

Now you must be joking.

punknaynowned - 3-12-2011 at 13:33

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin
Now you must be joking.

Nope. See the pm or u2u I sent you here.

DED - 3-12-2011 at 15:05

Hairy as Australian,GB slang, but in Holland we also use our hair in our language when it is a hairy thing.
It was a hair(thickness) close. 't scheelde maar een HAARTJE.
And in Holland Slang we extend it to
it was as close as a hair(thickness) from an elephantstail (In Dutch it rhymes)
Het scheelde maar een haartje van een olifantenstaartje.

Even in language we are closer to eachother than we think.

punknaynowned - 3-12-2011 at 15:22

We use 'hairy' in amer-english to mean the same things. Like 'scary', like 'near' as Geoff and Ed used it.

An expression I heard once when someone asked 'how are you' was
'As fine as a frog's hair'. This was meant in a different way, I think. 'Fine' can mean 'quality' or 'good' or 'thin', 'tiny'.
But frogs don't have hair...

DED - 4-12-2011 at 00:56

Kermit does

BBP - 4-12-2011 at 17:43

That depends on the hand inside him.

polydigm - 5-12-2011 at 07:34

So, Bonny, are you having a go at your Dad's hair "situation".

BBP - 5-12-2011 at 12:17

Well, I could knit him a wig. I got a shade of brown that matches his old colour (which, btw, I've never seen, I only recall him as being grey). Could knit some more for myself too, since I'm getting very snowy myself and I'm very tired of meeting old friends I haven't seen in ages only for them to tell me "Wow, you've really gone grey!"

punknaynowned - 5-12-2011 at 15:33

speaking of thinning strands ( I know it's a stretch) yesterday, I went to the Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City.
YES! That one!
They make a big deal about so many people playing there: The Beatles to FZ, Count Basie to Hall & Oates. The upstairs ballroom does have wooden floors but the structure is all concrete, except the roof. The sound id not great. Now they do play music there but as a background to it's primary use.

The Cowtown Ballroom is now the Cowtown Mallroom. It's a two-story flea market! Records and players, lamps and lunchboxes, artifacts and nostalgia trash, it's all there and prices are going up. It started about a year ago to gather a larger group of active sellers and now it hums with activity.
I got a hardbound copy of The Martian Chronicles and a box of girl scout cookies.

BBP - 6-12-2011 at 00:31

It's been St Nicholas, had and gave lots of presents. Most notably a home-knitted toy Shaun the Sheep. Shaun's a little thin on top in my version too, although he has a mullet on the show.

I'd love to visit Cowtown someday, sounds like my kind of place!

polydigm - 6-12-2011 at 08:50

I've just finished my last school reports for the year so I'm floating a few centimetres above the ground. It's just baby sitting from here on in. Next week is the last week of the year and there will only be year 8s and 9s left and they're having a special activities week. I get to take a group of four students around an eighteen hole par 54 course which are all par 3 holes on Monday and an eighteen hole par 60 course which has 6 par 4 holes and 12 par 3 holes on Wednesday. And they pay me for this?

BBP - 7-12-2011 at 19:47

Ah... the last week of school... We usually got a movie OD. Usually a Python in English class, and my French 3rd year teacher showed us Leon.

Calvin - 8-12-2011 at 22:07

Not today, but last night - my wife and I are in bed watching some news, when what comes on the screen but a picture of one of the supervisors I work for. She was charged with embezzlement of 4000 dollars from some community club that she was working for. All day I was expecting an e-mail from our manager that said she was let go. (She hasn't been there all week). Nothing yet.

MTF - 9-12-2011 at 10:20

That really sucks. Stealing from a non-profit earns you a trip to the same level of hell as child molesters. I hope she enjoys herself...

BBP - 9-12-2011 at 11:58

Of course we've experienced here recently that charged is not guilty and that people are innocent unless proven otherwise.

Calvin - 9-12-2011 at 12:33

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Of course we've experienced here recently that charged is not guilty and that people are innocent unless proven otherwise.

She admitted that she took the money to pay debts.

BBP - 9-12-2011 at 16:33

...At least she admitted it, but that's really low.

BBP - 14-12-2011 at 23:05

Not much happening here. We're very shocked by the events in Liege of course. It's a bit of a dull, grey, industrial city, with a nasty smell lingering over it; but they do have three months of fun fair a year. Friends of mine took me there once, and it was very cosy; I got a lot of Primus beer coasters and won a camel in the Camel Race.

DED - 15-12-2011 at 00:02

Will this Liege affair be the yearly Christmas disaster? Or is another one coming up?

polydigm - 15-12-2011 at 00:15

Who, what, where, when, why?

BBP - 15-12-2011 at 11:35

In Liege, Belgium, a madman aged 34, who had previously been convicted of owning a lot of cannabis and weapons, caused a rampage. He let 4 handgrenades explode at the christmas market and then started shooting around. It's not yet known whether he shot himself on purpose or by accident.
Currently there are 5 casualties: besides the killer, two teenagers, a 75-year-old lady, a toddler, and a 50-year-old caretaker of the man's neighbors. She was found near his home.
Over a hundred people are injured. Five of them are still fighting for their life.

Calvin - 15-12-2011 at 22:49

My supervisor was fired yesterday. I thought it was just inevitable.

BBP - 15-12-2011 at 23:25

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin
My supervisor was fired yesterday. I thought it was just inevitable.

Yay! Justice!

aquagoat - 16-12-2011 at 21:28

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
In Liege, Belgium, a madman aged 34, who had previously been convicted of owning a lot of cannabis and weapons, caused a rampage. He let 4 handgrenades explode at the christmas market and then started shooting around. It's not yet known whether he shot himself on purpose or by accident.
Currently there are 5 casualties: besides the killer, two teenagers, a 75-year-old lady, a toddler, and a 50-year-old caretaker of the man's neighbors. She was found near his home.
Over a hundred people are injured. Five of them are still fighting for their life.
i heard about that news the other day, terrible thing that will happen more and more often, in my opinion.

[Edited on 16-12-2011 by aquagoat]

BBP - 16-12-2011 at 22:55

Now the blame game is being played of course: justice didn't want him to get parole (Belgian prisons are overcrowded), but according to his psychological tests there was little chance at recidivism.
I feel horrible for the toddler and his parents: they can't afford the lad's funeral.

polydigm - 16-12-2011 at 23:45

I had a funny accident at Dweezil Zappa World the other day. There's a thread there that I started in May 2010 about the suggestion that Dweezil might start playing his own music with ZPZ. I was a bit strident to start with but realised pretty quick that I basically don't give a toss. Even Trendy piped up and tried to reeducate me. He is such a dick head. It seems to me, that given he puts so much effort into changing peoples minds, that he should be pleased when someone actually changes their mind. But I wasn't even allowed to do that, hilarious. Not that I was actually agreeing with him, of course, I was backing off, not morphing into a sycophant at the same time.

Also, Dweezil revealed himself in that thread as being a bit of an arse. He did exactly what Trendy does, reacted without reading all of my words, jumped to the wrong conclusion and came off sounding a bit nasty and spiteful.

Anyway, the thread structure there is a pain, because every time a new page is started, the first post from the thread is redisplayed as the first post on the new page. This led some stupid people who can't be bothered to check before they open their mouths to start going off at my original post again as if I'd just said it. Finally, that second page settled down and since June 2010, nothing else has been said. Until last week that is, when some twat comes along, a year and a half later and tells us to move on. Then others began to add their two cents worth as well.

Next, a third page appears, with my first post reprinted yet again at the top of that one. So I thought I'd see if I could delete the reprint ... and guess what ... it deleted the entire thread!!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ... (pause for breath) ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ... (calls ambulance) ... cough .... ha .... ha .... ha .... ha .... etc ...

polydigm - 22-12-2011 at 09:04

Is it something I said?

BBP - 22-12-2011 at 11:43

Nah don't worry. Zappadan had me covered there for a sec. Not much interesting stuff going on here, Im making new friends at the giveaway store but that's about it. Oh and I have a sore throat.

Huck_Phlem - 23-12-2011 at 01:35

I remember that thread.

polydigm - 23-12-2011 at 02:43

Hey, Huck. Where have you been? How come it says your friendship is pending at Dweezil Zappa World? Not that I care about that place that much, but it's not all bad. Dweezil's latest change to the appearance is crap. His header now covers up any custom headers. So the picture of my gibson on my home page is almost totally obscured by his new header. So much for a personal home page. He's quite the egotist.

MTF - 23-12-2011 at 09:59

Our oven died on Tuesday, just in time for Christmas.

I called an appliance repair place. He said he couldn't look at it until the 29th. And the appliance store I called said they couldn't even deliver a new one until after Christmas.

Anyone know how to barbecue a pie?

DED - 23-12-2011 at 13:23

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3538273/how_to_barbecue_a_fruit_pie/

BBP - 23-12-2011 at 17:27

Hey Huck, great to see you! How have you been?

Sorry to hear about your oven, MTF. Do you have a straw box?

Calvin - 24-12-2011 at 03:33

Had somebody offer to make me a doily sweater. That would be SO cool.

polydigm - 24-12-2011 at 09:32

I'm not sure I could see you in a doily sweater Cal, not that I can see you at all, of course.

MTF - 24-12-2011 at 09:32

Quote: Originally posted by DED
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3538273/how_to_barbecue_a_fruit_pie/

I was joking about barbecueing a pie. I thought it was just a nice, absurd way to end the post. But somehow it doesn't surprise me that you found this video; in parts of the US Midwest, barbecue is nothing short of a religion...

DED - 24-12-2011 at 18:08

Me too was joking.
But how absurd you want to think, reality is more absurd than you think.

BBP - 27-12-2011 at 16:47

Not much going on here...

polydigm - 28-12-2011 at 22:47

The numbers are slowly ticking over. I would have thought with the holiday season, people had more time for idle banter. I'm working hard on my studies every day but still finding time to look in.

MTF - 29-12-2011 at 10:24

Fixed the oven today. The problem was the igniter, which is quite similar to a car's cigarette lighter.

A guy quoted me $250 to fix it, but said he couldn't do it until next week.

So I found the part online, had them overnight it to me, and replaced it myself in about an hour.

The money we saved will pay for our tickets to see two upcoming shows: They Might Be Giants (27 January) and Zappa Plays Zappa (15 February)...

BBP - 29-12-2011 at 10:44

Nice going MTF! Our local handiman DED would be proud!

Any ideas why Dweezil isn't visiting this side of the Atlantic anymore? Too much alimony or just having small kids in general?

DED - 29-12-2011 at 12:23

Yeah I'm proud

http://youtu.be/zctww85vvSY

polydigm - 29-12-2011 at 14:29

Good one MTF. That's just the kind of thing I can't stand. Mind you, sometimes I'm just too lazy and take the expensive option. We had to cut down five trees four and a half weeks ago that would otherwise have shaded a significant percentage of our solar panels in the afternoon. I got a quote on one of them for $1500. Bugger that, let alone times five, I cut them all down myself with a little help from my sons. Money wise it only cost me the price of a chain saw, a little electricity and a few lengths of heavy duty rope. I haven't finished yet, there's some finalising required and a heap of branches to transport away, but no shade on the panels in the afternoon. It was hard work but well worth it and the first really hard work I've done since my surgery last year. It felt good.

aquagoat - 29-12-2011 at 19:18

I've got a f...ing cold, right in time for my holidays.

BBP - 29-12-2011 at 23:43

OOh Poly that is hard work! I hope they're not acacias, like the little nightmare in our backyard with thorns like a hedgehog. They'd be perfect in the garden of a sanatorium for tree hugging addicts.

Poor Aqua! Get well soon!

Some tears here today as the theatre where I had my grand debut at age 7 playing a part of a dragon, burnt down. A very charming theatre it was too. Take a virtual tour at
http://speelhuis.virtuele-tour.nl/virtual.html

MTF - 30-12-2011 at 04:38

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Any ideas why Dweezil isn't visiting this side of the Atlantic anymore? Too much alimony or just having small kids in general?

I have no clue why he does anything. But as long as he plays at a theater three blocks from my house, I'll go see it.

BTW: now that the oven works, I'm off to another project. I'm refinishing a hundred-year-old cabinet from the house my wife grew up in. I spent most of the day sanding, and probably will tomorrow as well.

Tomorrow we're going to see a band play a couple of Beatles albums in their entirety; Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. These guys are fantastic: we've seen them every December since 2003.

polydigm - 30-12-2011 at 07:26

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
OOh Poly that is hard work! I hope they're not acacias, like the little nightmare in our backyard with thorns like a hedgehog.
No, three Jacarandas, one Olive and one Pine. The Pine is the one that I got the $1500 quote on, it was over 10 metres tall and very spread out with many long vertical side branches bunched together. The Jacarandas were at least as big and two much taller. One was quite a challenge to bring down. I'll post a video at some point. The Olive was massively overgrown, I've never seen an Olive tree that big before.

Watch the highest Jacaranda branch come down.

You'll see as the view scans right that we're surrounded by trees and piles of tree cuttings and branches. The Pine directly behind then a Jacaranda then the Olive and a Jacaranda together and finally the biggest Jacaranda that we're pulling the branch down from. There had already been quite a bit of lopping done to all of them by this stage.

BBP - 30-12-2011 at 19:18

Aw... pity about the pretty purple flowers, but nice to see you and Euan moving.

polydigm - 30-12-2011 at 22:19

Euan's laughing at the end and saying "Look at Darwin". Darwin is one of our two beagles and a bit highly strung. Both dogs, the other one's called Fitzroy, were inevitably curious about what we were doing, but when the branch came down Darwin scarpered into hiding up the back of the garden.

And yes, it's a pity about the trees, but they're yet another example of how previous owners of this property have stuffed things up. One of the Jacarandas comes out of the ground literally right next to the Olive. Two giant trees having to fight for the same space. The Jacaranda we're pulling down in the video is right next to the house and was consequently covering a significant area of the roof and filling the gutters with all kinds of crap all year around, hence a regular chore of mine to get up there and clear it up.

There's one huge tree there, I haven't established its type yet, that will probably get to stay, which is a plus. The other plus is that the placement of the trees we cut down was a bit random and not very conducive to arranging a nice back garden, which is the next step after we clear up.

Calvin - 31-12-2011 at 05:10

I'm going to watch a Dutch fighter against Brock Lesnar. Is Overeem popular there Bonny? Or is it not something you pay attention to?

punknaynowned - 31-12-2011 at 09:03

Good riddance: 2011!
In Holland, Happy Rains and sluices!
In France, Happy Hills and juices!
In Ausland, Happy Rays and ruses!
In Canuckland, Happy Trees and mooses!
In US, happy jobs and truces!
2012: Happy New Year !!

BBP - 31-12-2011 at 11:08

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin
I'm going to watch a Dutch fighter against Brock Lesnar. Is Overeem popular there Bonny? Or is it not something you pay attention to?

What on eath is that?

Calvin - 31-12-2011 at 16:48

UFC? MMA? Alistair Overeem is the Dutch fighter. He won last night too.

DED - 31-12-2011 at 17:12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Overeem

Not my sport BTW, but he seems to do quit well.

polydigm - 31-12-2011 at 22:43

Happy new year everyone.

DED - 31-12-2011 at 22:46

Yeah Happy New Year to you all.

May your wishes for 2012 come true

[Edited on 31-12-2011 by DED]

Calvin - 1-1-2012 at 06:52

Quote: Originally posted by DED
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Overeem

Not my sport BTW, but he seems to do quit well.

I think he'll be the next champion whenever his next fight is.

aquagoat - 1-1-2012 at 13:21

Happy new year everyone!!!

BBP - 1-1-2012 at 14:13

Wishing you all a fantastic 2012!

polydigm - 1-1-2012 at 14:21

I talk about my plans for 2012 and hope it goes well then I come back from dropping my son's friend off home and our carport auto door decides to play up. I ended up messing around with that for quite some time and didn't get around to doing what I had planned for the middle of the day today. Then we had to go out for various family related events and when we got back I eventually managed a kind of temporary fix which enables the door full movement but with some manual involvement required.

Everyone's on holiday at the moment so in two days time I'll need to involve a professional. I've repaired the door before and got a further 3 years of life out of it but now it's beyond my capabilities and needs a major overhaul. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

BBP - 2-1-2012 at 11:50

Oh dear, hope the door gets sorted out...

polydigm - 3-1-2012 at 00:17

I'm taking it in my stride. Hopefully we can get someone out today.

polydigm - 3-1-2012 at 01:28

There you go. Life is full of surprises, not all bad of course. It's one hour since my last post. The first business I rang, because my explanation of how I'd tried to fix it made sense to the guy, he gave me a tip on how to finish it off properly, instead of what quite often happens with some people who can't wait to get your money out of your pocket. Anyway, I tried his tip and it worked and the door is now back in full operation.

BBP - 3-1-2012 at 09:31

Lovely!
I'll be going to visit my blind friend today. Would be lovely if it wouldn't be storming.

polydigm - 3-1-2012 at 15:53

El Nina?

DED - 3-1-2012 at 16:52

No Xynthia

BBP - 3-1-2012 at 23:16

I read several things to my friend, among them the Gogol story The Nose and a chapter on a man whose vision was restored after having been blind for over 40 years by Oliver Sacks. My throat hurts. Lots.

polydigm - 4-1-2012 at 02:37

Who's Xynthia? El Nina is the global weather effect currently dominating the planet's weather. It means we're getting a lot of rain down here. El Nina doesn't happen as often as El Nino, which brings dry weather down here more typically.

BBP - 4-1-2012 at 16:03

In Vaals, near the Dutch, German and Belgian borders, a German bus caused mayhem after dodging a dog on the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JaCqiv3IWE

The dog's allright.

aquagoat - 6-1-2012 at 17:51

changed the pickups on my 7 string ESP, now I've got a real roaring guitar, me=happy.

[Edited on 7-1-2012 by aquagoat]

BBP - 7-1-2012 at 17:41

Great! Paint tiger stripes on it!

Went to a museum that's closing down. It's kind of horrible, the amount of money they have to setup an exhibition is about 5000 euros; next to nothing. When Dad and I went there a few months back, they had an exhibition on needlecraft, and among the things they showed were a great amount of books from the second-hand store I always visit (didn't even erase the pencil price in the back) and two racks filed with second-hand clothes where they didn't take the price-tag off, and the craftwork of a bunch of 11-to-12-year-olds.

Went back this time, and it wasn't much better. Geez. Entry was 5 euros: that's the same amount I paid for a ticket into the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where all the Rembrandts are; or the Van Abbe museum, where there are two Picassos, a Chagall and a Christo.

aquagoat - 7-1-2012 at 20:07

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Great! Paint tiger stripes on it!

great idea, next step in the evolution of that plank of wood.

BBP - 9-1-2012 at 17:39

Recently found a flute with valves... looks like a piccolo. Am looking up things about it.

polydigm - 10-1-2012 at 00:02

Okay, DED didn't answer my question so I did a bit of research. Xynthia was a monster storm from 2010. The recent one in Europe is Joachim.

BBP - 10-1-2012 at 11:35

Oh thank you!

DED - 10-1-2012 at 16:21

Missed the question and used a wrong source sorry. Bad start in 2012.
The first storm is over, second storm comin up now is named Bonny, whens she blows with the finger below the mouth saying pfoe.
Seems to be for playing a few sounds from her new flute. pfoe pfoe pfoeeee

BBP - 10-1-2012 at 17:13

C'mon, it's hilarious. Watch it for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEr0kAyCk2g

polydigm - 10-1-2012 at 23:53

Hey DED, there's no need to poo poo her poo.

BBP - 11-1-2012 at 12:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK7ci6UDBeQ

DED - 12-1-2012 at 15:15

That's a lot of poo's

BBP - 13-1-2012 at 20:22

Happy black cat day today!

polydigm - 14-1-2012 at 01:14

You'll need to explain what that is, at least to me anyway. Are you referring to Friday the 13th?

BBP - 15-1-2012 at 12:07

Yup. Was it that obscure?

polydigm - 16-1-2012 at 01:48

No, not obscure, I was allowing for our Aussie/Dutch cultural differences. I've never heard it referred to as black cat day. So, yes, it was kind of obvious which day you were referring to, but I wanted you to explain the black cat part. Yes, we do have in UK/Aussie culture the superstition of bad luck from a black cat crossing your path, but many of us are not superstitious. Anyway, we don't have an association between black cats and friday the 13th so I'm curious about what yours might be.

I live at number 13 by the way, which is how much we care about superstition. And, in France, the number 13 is good luck. My guess is that at some stage of history there was a battle between the French and the English that the French won when the date happened to be the 13th. I'm half French and half English. Saying "merde" to someone in France to wish them good luck is based on a historical battle won by a famous French general who stepped in shit as the battle commenced.

When we migrated from England to Australia in 1961, we left on Wednesday the 13th of Sep and arrived on Friday the 13th of October. Basically, I'm cursed.

BBP - 16-1-2012 at 09:03

Interesting! I was aware that in some countries 17 is unlucky.
(checks up Wiki)
Aha! Apparently there is no source data for Friday 13 being unlucky until the 19th century. It also says in Spanish-speaking countries Tuesday 13 is unlucky. Friday has been considered an unlucky day since [strikethrough]Rebecca Blacks's song[/strikethrough] The Canterbury Tales (14th century).

There's at most 14 months between two Friday 13ths.

Checked out the French page, and it is decidedly different. In a complete Gregorian cycle, which lasts 4800 months, Friday 13 occurs more than any other 13 (Saturday 13, Sunday 13 etc).

Boy this is fun. Decided to look up "break a leg". Us Dutchies say toi toi toi.

polydigm - 16-1-2012 at 09:05

And, black cat friday?

BBP - 16-1-2012 at 09:17

Well it's a bit of a Donald Duck thing with me; almost every time there's a Friday 13th there is a bad luck issue of our Donald Duck magazine, usually with lots of black cats and ladders and stuff.
(checks Wiki)
Black cats are considered to bring good luck in UK and Ireland. And Japan.
In Celtic mythology a fairy known as Cat Sith takes the form of a black cat.

Where the European black cat fear comes from is not known but it seems much older than Friday 13; in the Middle Ages black cats were wiped out and burnt at the stake, causing rat plagues and pestilence.

Black Cat Awareness Day is August 17th. Black cats and brown cats have a very low adoption rate.

polydigm - 17-1-2012 at 14:47

So, you're saying it's not a Dutch thing, it's just a Bonny thing?

BBP - 17-1-2012 at 22:19

It is.

Dad's come down with gastric distress. Poor guy. Get well soon dad!

polydigm - 17-1-2012 at 22:37

Gastric problems, no fun, hope you get well soon DED.

BBP - 19-1-2012 at 13:04

Looking like there's more and more voices against SOPA. Methinks strike works.

polydigm - 20-1-2012 at 06:39

Goddamn Americans. Notice I'm talking about capital A Americans. There are many americans I don't have an issue with. Same thing applies to capital A Australians, although as a percentage of the total population I think think the capital A phenomenon is higher per capita in the US than it is in OZ. Which is a much bigger worry in terms of sheer numbers. In America (referring to the country, the capital A is just correct English, I can't help it) that's more than 200 million people I would have difficulty trusting with anything whereas in Australia its about 10 million people.

Capital A Americans, keep your goddamn hands off the internet!! It's a modern Global phenomenon and it doesn't belong to you.

DED - 20-1-2012 at 12:02

o, we can have an internet without USA.

polydigm - 21-1-2012 at 09:22

Totally agreed, but it's worth considering in what ways they might be able to hamper matters. Type in "Who's in charge of the Internet?" in Google. Brings up some interesting food for thought which I need to look into further. I can imagine there is a certain type of right wing evangelist American that can't sleep at night because of the global nature of the internet and their personal lack of power over it.

punknaynowned - 21-1-2012 at 14:18

yeah, you've heard of stuxnet and russian and chinese hackers. The puddle of piddle that used to be little is rising around them. xenophobes have a warped world view that's fer sure and as soon as they can voice a fear, nowadays they feel they have the obligation to tell the whole world and *project* that fear as an accusation onto whoever is their hated enemy this week. Namely muslims, liberals, socialists.
Top ten clues that show your 'conservative' 'friend' is an american xenophobe

a) there are always enemies that want to do away with all that is 'good'
b) 'they''re always out to get them
c) the worst case scenario is already happening and must be stopped yesterday
d) nothing will stand in their way until they can exert their brand of 'righteousness' on anything that stands in their way (repeat)
e) small problems, like a pimple need to be excised with the biggest heaviest weapon that will strike fear into any that might think a pimple is not the greatest problem to mankind - while encouraging people to eat more greasy foods
f) if 'mistakes' are made, deny them, blame the victim and then use the 'opportunity' in the spotlight to pivot and call for a new crusade on another in the list of made-up enemies
g) demand that humans have no worth other than what money and jesus gives to them
h)anything done to further the tribe's cause is given carte blanche to do whatever they want and told ''It's OK If You're A Republican"
i) deny facts or reason if it conflicts with any of the above - or if it conflicts with anything the above has twisted them into believing
j) whatever you don't like, ask the tribe experts how they feel and if they agree, go on FOX and tell everyone how the terra-ists and liberals should be cut up, dismembered and put on display for it - so they can learn their place - whether or not what you think you saw or heard is what you actually heard or saw

I live in it. It's their fear that drives their actions and increases their ignorance all along the way as they 'progress' on their scorched earth policy.

Thankfully they're only about 10% of the population. another 10-20% do what the bullies tell them. Another 20-30% do what they tell them sometimes to get them to shut up. There's a good 40-60% in the middle though who don't really care at all or have any understanding of what's going on. The presidential race is like a long ball game tournament to them that most people will tune into for a month or two. They pick their sides, cheer and then go home.

Nearly 200 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville said that the american experiment had a good chance of succeeding if people could keep their faith, improve on education and make the vote available to all. From this vantage in time, faith has fallen to all but the most virulently despotic, and education as a national project has almost been completely gutted, by money. That's where we were, in my estimation, before the Iraq invasion, before the loss of the credit mills and the economic collapse.
So yeah, we've fallen down hill and keep tumbling. More and more people are acting like they'd rather have a king. Gingrich has always acted like he'd be the man for that job. Another nightmare scenario that the right wing nuts seem to ready to embrace.

Hold on folks, the year of the dragon looks to be a mighty bumpy ride.

polydigm - 21-1-2012 at 15:02

I'm sure I had a razor blade lying around here somewhere ... ( I'm joking ... I think ... )

Anyway, how's it been Mr Punky? I'm studying my arse off.

punknaynowned - 21-1-2012 at 15:25

I'm fine. Paid rent and much of my bills. Only three weeks late.
Next month, next due date is in ten days.
I have food and heat and water and electric.
I almost have enough work to make it by. Almost - so long as I can be late.
I don't like it and would rather spend my time working but so much of the time is spent negotiating for the next job, running around for supplies and preparation and then waiting for payment. That's why I'm late - waiting to get paid.
But I'm okay.

I'm glad to hear you are feeling better and are back in the swing of things.

BBP - 21-1-2012 at 17:07

Been doing some embroidery lately...

I feel like a total fruit.

[Edited on 21-1-12 by BBP]

polydigm - 22-1-2012 at 01:03

Now there's a change of pace. Is that a book mark?

BBP - 22-1-2012 at 22:49

It is!

polydigm - 23-1-2012 at 03:16

Nice work. There are about a dozen maths books that I'm studying at the moment. I've got bookmarks all over the place.

punknaynowned - 23-1-2012 at 11:43

today I watched the new Downton Abbey episode up on pbsdotorg, a period piece set in a Yorkshire castle before and during WWI. Charming. Impeccable taste. I don't think I saw a single thing explode.

MTF - 24-1-2012 at 09:49

My daughter just returned to college after her Winter break. Her roommate informed her that her boyfriend - the son of a very famous Hollywood actor - proposed to her and presented her with a quarter-of-a-million dollar diamond engagement ring. She turned it down.

Good girl...

BBP - 24-1-2012 at 11:45

Goodness. Now I'm curious!

MTF - 25-1-2012 at 01:26

Here's the guy in question, along with his father and his stepmother.

Shhh, no names please...

BBP - 25-1-2012 at 10:26

Yes, I'd turn that down.

MTF - 26-1-2012 at 05:22

I can't blame you: his real name's Willard...

polydigm - 28-1-2012 at 01:26

Just got myself a Roland Cube 40 practice amp. I can now play anywhere in the house, whereas my 100W Fender was impossible, you only have to breathe on the volume knob to cause a riot.

BBP - 28-1-2012 at 23:26

Sister came over for the first time in almost twom months. She spent the day asleep on the couch.

Now we're having nuts. These are special: they have sateh flavour.
Sateh tastes like peanuts. So basically we have peanut-flavoured peanuts.

polydigm - 29-1-2012 at 03:26

Pushing the boat out.

In english we spell it satay. Basically a crushed peanut sauce (like crunchy peanut paste not smooth) with cumin, coriander and a hint of chilli or some similar type of flavour mix. I love it.

aquagoat - 29-1-2012 at 08:56

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
Pushing the boat out.

In english we spell it satay. Basically a crushed peanut sauce (like crunchy peanut paste not smooth) with cumin, coriander and a hint of chilli or some similar type of flavour mix. I love it.
that sounds quite good, i'll have to taste that one day.

DED - 29-1-2012 at 11:08

You are too late for our tiger nuts

BBP - 30-1-2012 at 16:33

Been outside today. It's COLD!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2XyR8aanc0

punknaynowned - 30-1-2012 at 22:42

FYI, there's a lot of *pre*-historic evidence showing matriarchies were dominant or that women held greater degrees of power in tribal societies. But that's archaeological evidence. Think Venus de Milo, even stonehenge ...
but african and south american and asian cultures even today have strong females as leaders and having specific leadership roles.
There are traces of such dominance in ancient egypt, phoenicia and up to today as jews trace their genealogy thru the mother. You're not considered biologically jewish unless your mom and her mom were jewish/ Converts are not counted as biological, just converts. If your dad's jewish and mother some other ancestry, you're not born a jew though you can convert.

You're right bonny, greek and roman women were very much like slaves but so were the majority of people in their society, regardless of any rights they would eventually be allowed. Sparta had a different attitude but 2/3 of their population were kept as slaves - helots, the workforce, the army had no rights except in the hierarchy. There are a couple examples in the greek history of strong women but they were courtesans/artists and as such very much or very likely 'kept women'.

Of course, you know there is much speculation as to the Lilith character in the early part of genesis in the bible and what she may have represented ... and why she was supplanted. But it was a decided move into strict patriarchy and the story we have is all there is left.
Another example that feeds the speculation that previous to the story *being written down* there may have been more tolerance in matri-centric attitudes in prehistoric jewish culture.

The truth is that only in the last couple centuries have women been allowed and taken the opportunity to get education and tirelessly work their way into the male dominated world.
I say power to them. When women have more input into solving the problems of the world, we all benefit. Excluding them from the discussion is stupid and discounts half the population. When women can claim the power of their voice without the males shutting her down or trying to, the whole world benefits. Current case in point, Myanmar. Another, women in africa running org's that distribute mosquito netting, or teach reproductive education, or reading. The benefits are incalculable.
But also, there is a big cautionary tale here. Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Condi Rice, Christiane Legard are all strong females with a huge track record. BUT, they had to take on the attitudes, modes of expression and tactics of their male counterparts to succeed. Their example, as a result, seems to show that women have to limit their feminine side and push masculine traits in order to make it. But as women move in and take over in the ways they do, men will gradually be more and more responsive and accepting. It'll just take a long time.

polydigm - 31-1-2012 at 00:50

Like I said on the other forum, the differences are over played. I'd be quite happy living in a world where women were totally equal and no-one gave it another thought. In Plook's case, maybe it is genetic, but not in the way he thinks.

BBP - 2-2-2012 at 10:57

Nah, education. No genes.
Went over to the giveaway store, when I had walked there they had a sign on the door: "closed due to cold". They have no gas or electricity, the only power they have comes from solar panels. It's used for one small heater they have that's not making a lot of difference. So I understand it. But I wish I'd known.

BBP - 3-2-2012 at 19:45

Had heavy snowfall today, lasted at least 4 hours. Swept the pavement and attempted to build a snowman, but the snow is too powdered.

polydigm - 4-2-2012 at 04:15

Lovely weather here, not too hot. Played squash today for the first time since my surgery and it went well.

aquagoat - 4-2-2012 at 09:11

It snowed a bit tonight, will perhaps snow again today and tomorrow, we'll see.

BBP - 4-2-2012 at 11:08

We had the coldest night in 24 years. -22.9 C.

punknaynowned - 4-2-2012 at 13:24

rain all day yesterday but quit by sunset.
cooler today, we might reach 8C

BBP - 5-2-2012 at 15:42

Still cold. We now officially have a cold wave, the first one since 1997. The frost is on this pumpkin.

[Edited on 5-2-12 by BBP]

polydigm - 6-2-2012 at 03:09

We're in the middle of a cool, wet change here. La Nina is still in force. I don't mind it at all, I'm not a summer junky. Our air conditioner died towards the end of 2010 and we haven't replaced it yet. Last summer (Xmas down here) was also a La Nina year (all that flooding in Queensland and ridiculously expensive bananas) plus we spent five weeks in Europe in the middle of it, mostly at around 0° C, so over all, we got by fairly easily without a cooler. We've had a few days this summer that were a bit tough, but again, mostly got by without a cooler. I guess we'll finally give in, but at least our budget hasn't been too taxed in the mean time.

BBP - 6-2-2012 at 19:44

Had an e-mail from Unica why he's not on the Z-forum anymore. I don't think he's coming back.

Calvin - 6-2-2012 at 22:27

I'm sure that upsets some people.

polydigm - 7-2-2012 at 00:58

Ask him to sign up here. I don't get why he couldn't at least say why. I appreciated his efforts at zappa.com and it upsets me somewhat that he couldn't say why.

BBP - 7-2-2012 at 22:24

I invited him today.
Thing is, I get along great with almost anybody who doesn't give me any reason to hate them. It's weird if people you have respect for are having a feud in your face, like Spacebro and Baddy, but it's even odder if you have it behind your back and are confronted with it all of a sudden. Fortunately there's no-one at war of the few regulars we have here.

polydigm - 8-2-2012 at 05:24

Unica is Paul Berkholst, right? He's removed himself from Dweezil Zappa World as well.

BBP - 8-2-2012 at 11:14

Goodness... whatever it is, it got him hard.

DED - 8-2-2012 at 18:03

I'm almost shure that BBP does'nt like this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22iGupTZJyQ
My Bonny is pissed

Calvin - 8-2-2012 at 18:24

Quote: Originally posted by DED
I'm almost shure that BBP does'nt like this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22iGupTZJyQ
My Bonny is pissed

For something that supposed to be playfully idiotic, it's actually really idiotic.

BBP - 8-2-2012 at 18:38

Welcome to carnaval Cal.

polydigm - 9-2-2012 at 00:53

OMGWTHWT

Oh my god, what the hell was that?

MTF - 9-2-2012 at 08:29

Man, Holland's got some seriously ugly people. It's almost as bad as the U.S...

BBP - 9-2-2012 at 10:51

Thank you for your comiserations. Bonny is indeed a name to sing and taunt with, and I have been tempted to change it for that reason.

Calvin - 9-2-2012 at 23:15

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Welcome to carnaval Cal.

Why thank you, it's a real pleasure......wait.....is that good or bad?

BBP - 10-2-2012 at 09:43

Depends. I think carnaval is a lot of fun. For my father it probably has a bit of a bad aftertaste.

punknaynowned - 10-2-2012 at 10:54

Hope everyone has a happy Carnaval!
I dug up 1984 10 13 Padua, Italy Frank Zappa show
and that Outside Now is really great. Ike sings his little heart out.
I', also using ubuntu and feeling a whole lot better about computer experience

BBP - 10-2-2012 at 17:11

Hey Punky, always great to see you!

BBP - 10-2-2012 at 20:14

Oh, here's some more local "glory":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6RiXYJgYyM

polydigm - 11-2-2012 at 07:52

Maybe next time, I dare not watch it right now.

punknaynowned - 11-2-2012 at 15:59

thanks Bonny!
I always feel welcome
and I often come by here.
I just don't have much to say

listened to 1984 10 12 Viareggio show. Great sound on that but the show overall not quite as splendid as the one on 1984 10 13.
1984 10 13 Padua has a surprise 'Sleep Dirt' done on electric guitar toward the end of the 'Let's Move to Cleveland' solo, raw and dirty blended with some Filthy Habits-type leanings.
Also listened to Ascolta 2008 11 29 show in the UK. this one:
http://www.zappateers.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=14092
then I started to listen to
1984 10 10 Bologna show which sounds pretty good too.

over here,
since there is forward motion on the housing crisis/foreclosure mess (though far from complete it's just starting)
and the Greek bailout will likely happen one way or another (far from over, I know, one step forward, two steps back)
the rightwing here has decided that Obama is to blame for contraception coverage that came into place when Bush was president.
So, more phony uproar because so many don't pay attention to the news.
I won't go on here at all.
It's just what I'm seeing.

It's sad that unica won't come back. He always seemed a nice guy. I'm still grateful that he shared all his stuff.

And I've sworn off the zforum.
If you look how long lumpy gravy is
31:34
that's how many posts I have. Silly, but it seems fitting to me.

punknaynowned - 11-2-2012 at 16:11

oh yeah, it's nice to see that Jakeobs did those interviews with Scott Parker and the idiotbastard,
supporting the Zappacast which is worth listening to, imo.
Episode 3 is my favorite as Scott talks to Greg Russo about the Paul Buff recordings.
Sometimes Greg talks too much but they include a number of surprising things.
Extended versions of Why Don't Ya Do Me Right? (about 48 minutes in) and in particular an instrumental labeled 'waltz' (about 54 minutes in).
Russo thinks it's very different than what Frank did later but I think it reveals a lot, being so early, of directions he would take later. Like Uncle Meat
the link
http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-31T13_43_40-07_00

[Edited on 11-2-12 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 11-2-2012 at 16:14

You're just scared to watch it, aren't you Poly?

Yeah I really feel like it's up to me now, I really need to finish that FZ drawing I was working on some years back.

Calvin - 12-2-2012 at 00:56

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Oh, here's some more local "glory":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6RiXYJgYyM

Um..........okay?

BBP - 12-2-2012 at 11:36

The lyrics of the chorus go
"when we take a rollercoaster ride
it shouldn't stall"
and further continues with god-awful amateuristic rhyming. It continuously gets spoofed in the comments, like the top rated comment:
"when we take a rollercoaster ride
there needs to be a crane".

DED - 12-2-2012 at 14:41

This one does not need a translation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oukebShcq4k

BBP - 12-2-2012 at 16:39

Or this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkev8cM3GwU

polydigm - 12-2-2012 at 23:06

I dared watch that video this time ... OMG ... how is that entertainment? I was going to suggest that the reason comments had been disabled on the one DED just posted was that they might be getting death threats from Islamic Fundamentalists, but why would they be disabled on that last one Bonny posted? And, the concept of a young woman wearing a costume with fake breasts, that still aren't actually being shown, is ... bizarre.

Anyway, there go several minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Calvin - 13-2-2012 at 01:03

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Or this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkev8cM3GwU

Sukkel! Verliezer!

DED - 13-2-2012 at 08:43

You're right about the fact that Johan is receiving threats, but in the case of Johan that is more or less usual. He was also threated for a song about Polish workers.

DED - 13-2-2012 at 08:51

Quote: Originally posted by Calvin

Quote: Originally posted by BBP
Or this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkev8cM3GwU

Sukkel! Verliezer!

The first one is translated correctly. But verliezer is not the word in Holland. We use "looser". And a looser he is. But that is a long story. He costed his city Tilburg millions. He became known in Holland as sidekick in a TV program. Then he wanted to start his own theatre in Tilburg. With money from the city. But his plans were not convincing. The theatre was closed before opening. Leaving the city with a great loss.

BBP - 13-2-2012 at 11:27

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm
I dared watch that video this time ... OMG ... how is that entertainment? I was going to suggest that the reason comments had been disabled on the one DED just posted was that they might be getting death threats from Islamic Fundamentalists, but why would they be disabled on that last one Bonny posted? And, the concept of a young woman wearing a costume with fake breasts, that still aren't actually being shown, is ... bizarre.

Anyway, there go several minutes of my life I'll never get back.

I tend to switch off commentary just because there's a huge amount of infantile people making nasty comments on it. "Adje" is, or was, pretty big he was a character from a very popular TV show. The tune he sings is from that enormous fantastic Dutch theme park Efteling. It's a big budget thing even though you wouldn't guess it from the quality, and it's definitely bigger than its quality. So in Adje's case there would be a lot of people making horrible comments, on something that's supposed to be kid-friendly.

BBP - 13-2-2012 at 11:29

Dad, it's "loser". "Looser" means "more loose".

punknaynowned - 13-2-2012 at 13:42

I'm on chromium a version of chrome for ubuntu
listened yesterday to
1984 10 08 Milan
today it's
1984 10 14,15,16 stint in Roma

DED - 13-2-2012 at 14:38

I knoow

but soometimes it happpens to me

polydigm - 14-2-2012 at 00:16

Soomtimes, things get so lose around here I end up completely loosing my perspective.

punknaynowned - 14-2-2012 at 09:38

Ah-Ha!
1984 10 14 Rome show has three direct quotes of 'Sleep Dirt'!
1) in King Kong in the guitar solo
2) in Let's Move To Cleveland, he uses it to rev himself up for the big tortured guitar end-of-the-solo
3) in the Illinois Enema Bandit, in the solo, but just a line or two

BBP - 14-2-2012 at 20:40

Neat spots Punky!
Went to town today, notably to buy a book about the sorely missed theatre 't Speelhuis.

MTF - 15-2-2012 at 06:29

Nothing much happened today, but tomorrow my wife and I are going to see Zappa Plays Zappa.

They're playing at the Rio Theatre here in Santa Cruz. It's about a five-minute walk from our house.

This will be the third time ZPZ has played there. As you might expect, we're rather proud of that...

BBP - 15-2-2012 at 12:26

I can imagine that! In retrospect I could've begged ZPZ to play 't Speelhuis... Man I miss that place.
Still haven't heard from Unica.

polydigm - 16-2-2012 at 03:16

MTF, ZPZ are playing a cool set at the moment, too. I'm jealous. They're not coming to Adelaide when they visit OZ this time.

MTF - 16-2-2012 at 07:43

Just got home from ZPZ; and boy, are my arms tired...

They had Scott Thunes on bass. I don't know what happened to Pete Griffin. Maybe Stewie got him...

Good show, as always. Scheila did a killer sax solo during "Eat That Question."

At the end of the encore they played "Whipping Post." That was when we left...

BBP - 16-2-2012 at 08:16

Pete quit the band and they have a replacement lined up so he won't be back.
How was Scott Thunes?

punknaynowned - 16-2-2012 at 15:34

I picked up the Tucson zpz show w/ Scott on dimeadozen.
Haven't listened to it yet.
Instead I shifted gears and started to listen to the early 'B' grade or better rated '77 shows I haven't heard.
Yesterday it was
1977 01 26 Munchen and today it is
1977 01 27 Dusseldorf
exact same setlists, except 26jan has I'm the Slime and 27jan has a long City of Tiny Lights.
tomorrow, you guessed it,
1977 01 28 Brussels

all is well here
sun hits the front of this little house with the ground all frosted over under a dappled light blue sky

BBP - 16-2-2012 at 20:18

Went to De Efteling. Dad stayed home sick. Pictures are coming.

polydigm - 16-2-2012 at 23:05

I'm officially enrolled at uni as a student now and the fee hassle has finally been sorted out. Next week I find out how much work I'll be getting and sign up as a casual employee, so it's all coming together, gradually. I'm enjoying and getting right back into my study of maths. I've been doing a little work on a couple of new music compositions as well and tinkering around on the piano. When I'm not working on something, which is nearly all the time I'm awake, I still watch a tiny little bit of TV and last night I read a little more out of Zappa the Hard Way, which is turning out to be an interesting read. Also, of course, I'm still finding time for forum stuff.<