Very cute. There are some bits that fly WAAAAY over the heads of the majority of the audience. Those who get it are in for a treat. I laughed so hard at some things, people must have thought me totally bonkers. I had to explain some of it to my family.

So, go for the cultural references, and have a good time. Bonus that it involves a monster beating the tar out of things while singing "Tomorrow" from "Anne." *LOL* Is it a great film for the ages? No. Will you laugh and have fun? Yes. The cheesy ending I could have done without, but then, as Friedrich said, when you'd done so many cheesy things in the film, what's one more to push it over the top?

Friedrich and I had a chat this weekend about this, and I'd love to hear what the rest of you think on this.

As children, it was drilled into us to behave in certain ways in public. Use your manners, don't push and shove, don't eat and talk at the same time, don't throw a fit if you can't get what you want, etc. What happened? I constantly see people, from the very young, to the very old, act in ways that are just plain rude and nasty.

Case in point - this weekend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Adult humans behaving like small mammals with attitude. Pushing past each other, standing in the middle of everything, taking pictures of other people standing in the middle of everything. Giving you dirty looks if you walked between the two. Giving you dirty looks if you stood there looking at them, waiting for them to finish. One pair nearly ran over Dolly on the way to the aquarium. When I told Dolly to walk in front of me so as to be less likely to be run over, one of the women turned and said, "I wouldn't have run over your little girl." Hmmm, I think that odd, considering that you went around me moving like a freight train, and had I not said something, you probably wouldn't have seen her. Perhaps I am overly aware of personal space (one of the things my mom was a HUGE stickler about), but I still don't enjoy having someone blow by me like a semi on the highway. I also consider it my personal responsibility to make my child aware of those around her, so she isn't unintentionally rude. By training my child to think of others, as well as herself, I'm giving her the tools to have a smoother path through life, by not annoying her fellow man.

People letting their children act horribly, too. The child who nearly broke limbs on Dolly and I, when he decided he needed to hit the revolving door at top speed while we were in it. He then proceeded to be extremely rude as he crammed us through the contraption so he could shoot out the other side. He was then followed by his mother and two sisters, who ran into me while looking at the wildlife. We dodged this crew not once, not twice, but three times, while trying to enjoy the exhibit. We made every effort to be somewhere they were not, they were that unaware and obnoxious. Later, someone's young child wandered up to me, without a parent in sight, and started trying to force Dolly and I do what he wanted with an exhibit.

Here's where my questions are: Am I TOO polite? Are we handicapping our child by making her use her good manners? Do we need to let our child run amok, so she can "be like the other kids?" Do I need to shut off the voices in my head that tell me that knocking someone down to get to what I want is wrong, and just go for it, like so many other people? Because, quite frankly, being a polite human seems to be an oddity these days. I see a lot more people being totally unaware of those around them and thundering over others in the herd than I see people being kind enough to hold a door, an elevator, etc.

Maybe I'm just too aware of my surroundings, and the people in them. Maybe I need to tune out a little more, and be happier for it...

Finally, an odd moment, and my view:
Coming back to our room in the hotel, we saw a women, in a bathrobe, sitting in the floor of the hallway. We couldn't tell what she was doing there, as she was sort of hunched over, almost as if she was in tears or something. When we got a little closer, she sort of looked up at me and said, "Hello." I asked if she was ok. She didn't answer - because she was sitting there talking on her CELL PHONE. OK, does anyone else find it odd that you'd think it better to sit in the floor of the hall and talk on your phone, in a bathrobe, than to stay in your room and maybe hang out in the bathroom, if you're worried about disturbing someone else in your room? No way on earth you'd catch me sitting in the hall in a bathrobe, let alone to talk on the cell. Eep. Either I'm super old fashioned, or people are just weird...

( Part 1 - in the beginning... )

( and then came the plumber... )

( and lo, there was more trouble... )
( Final accounting of mucked up plumbing fixed or to be fixed... )

I swear - if Friedrich and I ever have a house built, I'm going to set up my own little office on the site, come to work with them every blessed day until it is done, and hassle the crap out of everyone who attempts to do things in a shoddy or stupid manner. Plumbing, electrical, etc., should be laid out with something like logic. When I explained to the plumber where our water line comes in from the street, and then is actually tied to the house (on opposite sides of the front of our half acre lot), he just shook his head and hoped we didn't live here long enough to need to replace it... and the lawn... and the driveway... This is just one of the many eccentricities of our abode.

Feel free to cross post at will and as needed.

Here is the revised copy per Lord Godric von Appenzell, Minister of Sciences
Populace of the West! Pay Heed! Their Majesties challenge all subjects to compete in an Arts and Sciences Championship to be held at October Crown.

The Champion will hold this position for one year and serve Their Majesties by encouraging participation in the Arts and Sciences throughout Their Realm. The Champion will be determined as the competitor with the greatest combined score of all competitions entered at October Crown.

In addition to the previously published competitions of:
• Period instrumental piece
• Armor, for people or animals

The following categories have been added for the Championship:
• Research Paper (no more than 10 pages) – can be any subject that is of particular interest to you: a battle, shoes, fortifications, jewelry, migrational patterns of Viking raiders, etc. You know there is something that you have been itching to research.
• Textiles – can be: clothing, a favor, a loom, period tie-dye (if you can document it).
• Ballistics – Might be: arrows, catapult, throw in your own ideas!
• Period Private Parts – Etchings, underwear, you have a naughty mind. Make it work!

You can enter as few as one or as many as all of the competitions. As normal, documentation will be required for all entries. The Champion will be decided upon at Crown and announced in Court.

( ... and here's my old version behind the cut )

Thou shalt warn they neighbor when thou dost remove the lid from thine septic tank, so that thy neighbor's house smells not like its contents...

Gah. I had all the windows open to AIR OUT my house. Not acquire new and worse stinks to deal with...

1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List 5 songs you like that start with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

revchewie sent me H.
Note - these are taken, in order, from my iPod. Yes, I have skipped a few in between songs here and there, but you get the idea...
1. "Hands Clean", Alanis Morissette
2. "Happy Holidays", Bing Crosby
3. "Happy Jack's Undrinkable Ale", The Poxy Boggards
4. "Hardware Store", Weird All Yankovic
5. "Hope Has a Place", Enya

Why yes, I DO have eclectic tastes...

Bonus Song:
"Have You Seen The Bright Lily Grow?" - Unknown (performed by Sting!)

Had connection problems last night - I had email, but no web. This morning, I had NOTHING. So, 20 minutes of plugging and unplugging, because of how all the stuff is interconnected (modem, airport, computer, internet phone). FINALLY got it all working. I was about to go into serious DT here folks... I needed my fix!

Rules: Post 3 things you've done that you believe nobody else on your F-list has done. Indulge in remorse if someone calls you out on a listed item.

This was hard for me - my life hasn't been that exciting, in general. And there are some things a nice girl doesn't talk about in public...

1.) Work as a snack bar attendant in a roller rink, on skates.

2.) Get married on a Sunday.

3.) Get dumped off at the wrong stadium in Athens and have to hike halfway back to catch another cab... *LOL*

EDITED: ok, there's another exploit I didn't think of until after the fact: contributed to firing a cannon off on campus during finals week... and didn't get caught. Said cannon (at least the time I really helped out) firing off full cans of soda pop... on the soccer field. We did aim for safety - away from the dorms, and we went and hid in a ditch and watched for people to go by, so no one got hit. *LOL* For the record, the distance traveled by the can that went the farthest was from goal to goal. And it didn't pop open. It was the only one that didn't. *LOL* The things you do when you date mathematicians and engineers...

This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hearst Castle as a State Park. As a result, there are some pretty groovy things going on down here that I thought folks might be interested in. They also just had an article in Westways (that magazine folks with AAA get), so I thought I'd better jump on getting more info on the better ones... here's a short list:

December 11 - 5:30-7:30 pm
Arachne's Legacy: Weavings at Hearst Castle
Muna Cristal, Hearst Castle Guide, will talk about the tapestries and carpets (and probably more) of the Castle.
I had the privilege to take a behind the scenes look at some cloth of gold curtains they were restoring several years ago - this lecture ought to be FABULOUS. If nothing else, you can stand around and drool over the gorgeous stuff... This one is run by the Friends of Hearst Castle. Tickets are $75 per person. This is a "behind the scenes" tour.

Celebrate the holidays with a behind the scenes tour of textiles and fabrics. Muna Cristal has become the principle lecturer on tapestries and carpets at the Castle. Researching and presenting these topics in a meaningful, interesting manner has become a labor of love which she happily shares with any and all interested parties.

I've been told tickets are limited, so if you want one, get one soon. I can shoot folks the email if they're interested. Me, I'm going! 8) It is a THURSDAY night (yeah, I know, what a pain), but folks who are interested in coming down can find crash space at my place or other places in Tarnmist - you could make it your wine tasting weekend! *evil giggle*

November 2008 - February 2009
"Hearst the Collector" - exhibit at the LA Co Museum of Art, featuring items from the Hearst Collection, and companion pieces from all over the world. Should be a GREAT show. Hmmm, maybe a birthday trip for me in January?

December 6
Holiday Feast in the Refectory - limited to 88 people, $1000 per person, but MAN, what a place to eat dinner. The hall is patterned on a Renaissance dining room, with banners hanging from the ceiling, etc. This is one pricy meal, but hey, where else are you going to get to eat like this? *LOL*

Hope it was a good one, with many more to come!

Your result for The Viking Age Persona Test...

Skald

Take The Viking Age Persona Test at Hello Quizzy

Hmmmm. The Enneagram type meme... well, I did two different ones, and, like most of those things, I scored really close in lots of different categories. So, I'm just me...

Just letting folks know that I'm going to lay off the LJ for a while. Lots of reasons, but if you need me, there is email. I've changed the settings on my account so ANYONE who's an LJ member can send me messages here, not just friends.

I did some serious house cleaning (which isn't done yet), and deleted a lot of posts. Lots of reasons for that, but the simple explanation is I just don't need it out there in the universe any more.

I'll come back to this at some point, but right now, I need to step away from the keyboard...

a Lady's size Oud/Lute

I want to learn to play the Lute. I really do. I would really love to have one that's small, because I have tiny hands. One catch - I haven't anyone to teach me around here, at least that I know of. I may have to start hunting more seriously, if I keep seeing things like this. I'm fighting not to buy the thing right now, because I know I won't do anything with it without lessons. 8/

And I would LOVE to get good enough at it to sing and play at the same time. That's going to take a lot of work! But it's a goal I'd like to work towards.

Update: ok, I gave in to temptation. I put in a lowball bid on it. Between my bid and shipping, it's less than $70. If I get it, fine, if I don't, well, there will be others down the road...

I know, how silly - but I've been dealing with these same crappy pans for years now, and I finally got new ones so I could GET RID OF THEM! Used one of the new ones tonight, and it was HEAVEN, I tell you... how could something so inexpensive be so much nicer? *LOL*

For the record, I replaced some old, no name pan with a new T-fal. 8) No need Pam in "non-stick" pan no more!