--Mom & Dad come home from Hawaii tomorrow!
Friday, March 30, 2007
From today's email bag...
--We have a gig tonight...see you tomorrow!
--Mom & Dad come home from Hawaii tomorrow!
Click it to big it!
--Mom & Dad come home from Hawaii tomorrow!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Goodbye Farrah HNT
I am a teen product of the 70s. Disco music, polyester suits, black light posters, mood rings--the list goes on and on. Long hair (but perfect long hair--not the 60s hippie stuff), strawberry incense (the people I hung around with liked the smell--didn't realize the other "uses" for it), and Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill (screw-top caps are so much easier and sensible than corks!). And just like every red-blooded teenage boy, I had the famous Farrah Fawcett poster hanging in my room, easily in sight from my bed. Many an afternoon or evening was spent "staring" at that poster. We've all heard that old wive's tale about going blind? It didn't happen to me with the Farrah poster. Instead, I somehow got "Farrah Flip". Anytime I've let my hair grow long, the "Flip" appears. See it there? Both sides of my head. Without fail. Well, today I took care of the "Flip". And the "Windblown" look. It's all gone, for now. It's about time!
If you're gutsy, click on the picture to see what HNT was going to be this week. I don't know what's up with the leg. In any case, it ain't pretty...
I'm very happy to welcome this week's Mystery Guest. She's been wanting to do this for a long time, and she finally took the leap. In my opinion, she'a a natural! As you can see, she's proud to be here! She's a longtime HNTer, and has started a couple of popular memes of her own. She's going to reveal herself on Thursday afternoon, but she'd like to hear from you ahead of time if you know who she is!Another MG who shouldn't have been too hard to figure out! The Patron bottle should have been the big clue! This week's MG is MG (see what I mean about being a "natural"?)! Stop by and say hi!
"...the Other HNT" has a few good, but NSFW submissions. Big news--we'll be celebrating a full year of anonymous HNTs next week! I'll be mentioning it again, but I'd like to see next week be the best one so far! Hope you'll all join in!
Two weeks!!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tagged...
Got tagged by Bekah. It's been awhile, so why not? Here's the rules (simple, aren't they?):
All of a sudden, this just got alot more difficult. What hasn't ever been mentioned on my blog?? You KNOW it's got to be boring if I haven't mentioned it at some point...
1). Borrowing from Bekah, sort of... If, and when, I play keno, I generally play the same four numbers--15 (birthdate), 57 (year of birth), 69 (year man set foot on moon...), and 75 (year of HS graduation). I have yet to win a combined total of $50 in all the years that I've played.
2). When I was young, probably no older than 8, my grandfather took me ice skating on a pond at his friend's ranch. There was a hole in the ice, and a sled over the top of it so we'd avoid it. No one told me what it was there for, so I skated right up to it, and fell in. Fortunately, it was only up to my chest there, but it scared the bejeezus outta me.
3). I got my first and only bee sting at the same ranch one summer when I pulled an apple off the tree, and the bee was on the back side of the apple. Stung me in the palm. Hurt like a sonofabitch.
4). I had a paper route for about 3 years when I was a young teenager. On my birthday one year, my dad, grandfather, and girlfriend's dad all showed up at 5:30 AM to take me on my route. Dad went back to bed, the gf's father did the route with me, and my grandfather took me to breakfast.
5). My youngest sister and I went Christmas tree hunting about 20 years ago (because in Montana, you go hunt your own--none of this tree lot nonsense). After about 3 hours of unsuccessful hunting we started home. Then we saw it! The most remarkable Christmas tree ever! The bad part was that it was at the top of a 30+ foot tree. So we cut it down. That's a huge sin around here. But we had the best damned Christmas tree ever!
I rarely tag anyone, but I'm feeling plucky today:You're it!
- 1. Get tagged
2. List five things that have not been revealed on your blog.
3. Tag five others.
All of a sudden, this just got alot more difficult. What hasn't ever been mentioned on my blog?? You KNOW it's got to be boring if I haven't mentioned it at some point...
1). Borrowing from Bekah, sort of... If, and when, I play keno, I generally play the same four numbers--15 (birthdate), 57 (year of birth), 69 (year man set foot on moon...), and 75 (year of HS graduation). I have yet to win a combined total of $50 in all the years that I've played.
2). When I was young, probably no older than 8, my grandfather took me ice skating on a pond at his friend's ranch. There was a hole in the ice, and a sled over the top of it so we'd avoid it. No one told me what it was there for, so I skated right up to it, and fell in. Fortunately, it was only up to my chest there, but it scared the bejeezus outta me.
3). I got my first and only bee sting at the same ranch one summer when I pulled an apple off the tree, and the bee was on the back side of the apple. Stung me in the palm. Hurt like a sonofabitch.
4). I had a paper route for about 3 years when I was a young teenager. On my birthday one year, my dad, grandfather, and girlfriend's dad all showed up at 5:30 AM to take me on my route. Dad went back to bed, the gf's father did the route with me, and my grandfather took me to breakfast.
5). My youngest sister and I went Christmas tree hunting about 20 years ago (because in Montana, you go hunt your own--none of this tree lot nonsense). After about 3 hours of unsuccessful hunting we started home. Then we saw it! The most remarkable Christmas tree ever! The bad part was that it was at the top of a 30+ foot tree. So we cut it down. That's a huge sin around here. But we had the best damned Christmas tree ever!
I rarely tag anyone, but I'm feeling plucky today:You're it!
Monday, March 26, 2007
It's Back!!! Musical Monday #14 (or so...)
A little later than usual, but after suffering through months of Castpost being worthless, and searching for a decent replacement, I've found one! Radio.Blog.Club is wonderful and free. I know many of you use it too. I highly recommend it.
My selection for my first Musical Monday back is very obvious to me. After spending 3 very long days of final rehearsals, the opera we presented (Bizet's "Carmen") was a total success. Personally, I generally dislike opera, unless I'm playing in the pit orchestra (same thing with musicals...). This one, however, has so much familiar music, that I couldn't help but like it. Other than the fact that it was performed in French, so that we couldn't see the subtitles on the screen above stage. The only problem now is that I'm constantly singing various in my head!
So that's what I leave you for today's comeback MM. From the first act of "Carmen". Enjoy!
My selection for my first Musical Monday back is very obvious to me. After spending 3 very long days of final rehearsals, the opera we presented (Bizet's "Carmen") was a total success. Personally, I generally dislike opera, unless I'm playing in the pit orchestra (same thing with musicals...). This one, however, has so much familiar music, that I couldn't help but like it. Other than the fact that it was performed in French, so that we couldn't see the subtitles on the screen above stage. The only problem now is that I'm constantly singing various in my head!
So that's what I leave you for today's comeback MM. From the first act of "Carmen". Enjoy!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Whew!
Thank God THAT'S over!
Highly successful...
Sold-out house...
No major gaffes...
Home after 1:30 AM...
In bed at 3:00 AM...
Up too early...
Body aches...
Head aches...
Very tired...
Hungry...
Will get back on schedule later...
Highly successful...
Sold-out house...
No major gaffes...
Home after 1:30 AM...
In bed at 3:00 AM...
Up too early...
Body aches...
Head aches...
Very tired...
Hungry...
Will get back on schedule later...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Spring Cleaning HNT
So today (Wednesday) is the first day of Spring! The Vernal Equinox. The Sun is directly over the equator, on it's "way" northward. Around here, it's been feeling springlike for about a week or so. Except nothing will turn green until after Easter, at the earliest. Nice temps (for Montana, give me a break!), snow's all gone, and my horny bird friends are already fornicating on the balcony outside my bedroom door. Yep--it's springtime!
Given that I didn't do any thing for St. Patrick's Day, I spent some of Sunday working on some spring cleaning. Moving piles of crap from one place to another. Just showed me that I need to spend some quality time some weekend to do it right. One of the other things I found is that I needed to give Michelle a good cleaning, inside and out. First off, I gave her a bath, being sure to concentrate on her inner parts. You may remember our HNT from the early days where I shared the bath with her. This time around, however, she was the only one in the tub. After she was thoroughly cleaned, I jumped in the shower with her and carefully washed her curves, being sure to get to all the various nooks and crannies! Afterwards, I snapped a few pictures of us for the "365 Days" project over on Flickr (by the way, there's a button over there in my sidebar directly to my site).
While I was in a picture taking mood, I also took a couple without Michelle. If you're really brave, you can find the best one by clicking on it!
If you look at her breasts, you'll see that this week's Mystery Guest is a sex blogger! She's been mentioned over at Sugasm a time or two, as well as having her picture featured over there too! She's sexy, she's not afraid to raise a stink, and she's been seen as both the MG and over at the anon site. She's also part Cherokee! We'll reveal her on Thursday afternoon, but she'd probably tell you ahead of time if you emailed her!
This one wasn't too terribly hard to figure out. It's Stealth, this week's birthday girl! Go say hi, and take a look at her gorgeous necklace!
"...the Other HNT" is a little light numbers-wise. But definitely NSFW. Just a request--I didn't get any of these until early this afternoon. It would certainly be helpful if I got them earlier!
The opera is going well so far. Today was the first really busy day, and they get busier from here. I'll pop in whenever I can!
Lastly, for your viewing pleasure...
Given that I didn't do any thing for St. Patrick's Day, I spent some of Sunday working on some spring cleaning. Moving piles of crap from one place to another. Just showed me that I need to spend some quality time some weekend to do it right. One of the other things I found is that I needed to give Michelle a good cleaning, inside and out. First off, I gave her a bath, being sure to concentrate on her inner parts. You may remember our HNT from the early days where I shared the bath with her. This time around, however, she was the only one in the tub. After she was thoroughly cleaned, I jumped in the shower with her and carefully washed her curves, being sure to get to all the various nooks and crannies! Afterwards, I snapped a few pictures of us for the "365 Days" project over on Flickr (by the way, there's a button over there in my sidebar directly to my site).
While I was in a picture taking mood, I also took a couple without Michelle. If you're really brave, you can find the best one by clicking on it!
If you look at her breasts, you'll see that this week's Mystery Guest is a sex blogger! She's been mentioned over at Sugasm a time or two, as well as having her picture featured over there too! She's sexy, she's not afraid to raise a stink, and she's been seen as both the MG and over at the anon site. She's also part Cherokee! We'll reveal her on Thursday afternoon, but she'd probably tell you ahead of time if you emailed her!This one wasn't too terribly hard to figure out. It's Stealth, this week's birthday girl! Go say hi, and take a look at her gorgeous necklace!
"...the Other HNT" is a little light numbers-wise. But definitely NSFW. Just a request--I didn't get any of these until early this afternoon. It would certainly be helpful if I got them earlier!
The opera is going well so far. Today was the first really busy day, and they get busier from here. I'll pop in whenever I can!
Lastly, for your viewing pleasure...
Monday, March 19, 2007
Happy Birthday, Girl!
Every once in awhile you meet a blogger who confuses the hell out of you. There's about 3 or 4 out there that, if they're on a roll, are almost impossible to follow. An obscure reference here, a thinking person's joke there. This particular cowgirl from Texas is one of those. Though I've found that, over the past months, I've been able to follow her train of thought fairly well. And that sort of scares me a little...
She's changed her name at least 3 times that I'm aware of, and has had about 5 blogs that I'm aware of. Who knows how many others! Her current name, Stealth, is totally appropriate, because I can guarantee that she's probably been to your site, and can click off a number of facts about you!
Today is her birthday. It's not going to start out as a great day for her, so I'm sure she could use some of your good thoughts going her way. A single mom, a writer, a champion of causes, a fighter, a goofball--all these words describe her. I also like to use the word friend. Happy Birthday, Stealth! Hope you have a kick-ass morning, babe! The rest of you--go stop by and send some good wishes and a birthday one too!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Carmen
Tomorrow starts a very busy week of symphony work for me. We are presenting a partially staged version of the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet. Arguably one of the most recognizable operas ever written, it is filled with music that I can guarantee you've heard someplace else. Go ahead--click the player up above and listen to the overture. It was used extensive throughtout the 1976 movie "The Bad News Bears". Also using the music was Episode #72 from the 3rd season of "Gilligan's Island", where the castaways stage "Hamlet, the Musical", with Harold Hecuba (Phil Silvers) as the Producer, and using bits and pieces of Bizet's opera.I could give you a synopsis, but you can go here to read up on it. It's got gypsies, Spanish music, flamenco dancers, bullfighters, horses, love, war, deceit, death, etc., etc. All the stuff that a good opera has! As far as the actual music, Bizet was smart enough to only use the trombones in the important parts, so we come off fairly heroically, without having to do a great deal. Can't say the same about the strings or the woodwinds, but hey--they could have chosen the trombone years ago! And it helps that this music is so fun to play. I've never been a big fan of opera--I generally hate to listen to it. But playing in a pit orchestra like this makes it alot of fun1
So where's all the work come from? Well, there's going to be about 220 people involved in this thing, with the orchestra being just another cog. The principal singers will get the glory, but they also will be doing the most work. Hours of musical rehearsals, blocking rehearsals, costumes, lighting, make-up, and stage work. There's nothing worse than sitting in the orchestra, waiting for the other cogs to be up to speed. Granted, that's what the rehearsals are for, but we don't have to like it... So that's where I'll be most of this week. Fortunately, we have no rehearsal on Wednesday night, so my regular activities then won't be affected. But other than that, my surfing will be hit and miss all week. Wish me luck!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Not much one can say about St. Patrick that isn't already pretty much known. Unlike St. Urho in the post below this. So I'll leave you with this Irish prayer:
May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.
May you all have a Happy (and safe) St. Patrick's Day!!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Happy St. Urho Day!!
Saint Urho
The legend of St. Urho was the invention of a Finnish-American named Richard Mattson, who worked at Ketola's Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in spring of 1956. Mattson later recounted that he invented St. Urho when he was questioned by coworker Gene McCavic about the Finns' lack of a saint like the Irish St. Patrick, whose feat of casting the snakes out of Ireland is remembered on St. Patrick's Day.
According to the original "Ode to St. Urho" written by Gene McCavic and Richard Mattson, St. Urho was supposed to have cast "tose 'Rogs" (those frogs) out of Finland by the power of his loud voice, which he obtained by drinking "feelia sour" (sour whole milk) and eating "kala mojakka" (fish soup).
The original "Ode to St. Urho" identified St. Urho's Day as taking place on May 24. Later the date was changed to March 16, the day before St. Patrick's Day. St. Urho's feast is supposed to be celebrated by wearing the colors Royal Purple and Nile Green. Other details of the invented legend also changed, apparently under the influence of Dr. Sulo Havumäki, a psychology professor at Bemidji State College in Bemidji, Minnesota. The legend now states that St. Urho drove away grasshoppers (rather than frogs) from Finland using the incantation "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!" ("Grasshopper, grasshopper, go from hence to Hell!"), thus saving the Finnish grape crops.
The "Ode to St. Urho" has been modified to reflect these changes in the feast day and legend. The Ode is written in a self-parodying form of English as spoken by Finnish immigrants. There is also a "Ballad of St. Urho" written by Sally Karttunen.
The selection of the name Urho as the saint's name was probably influenced by the accession of Urho Kekkonen to the presidency of Finland in 1956. Urho in the Finnish language also has the meaning of hero.
There are St. Urho fan clubs in Canada and Finland as well as the U.S., and the festival is celebrated on March 16 in many American and Canadian communities with Finnish roots.[6] The original statue of St. Urho is located in Menahga, Minnesota. Another interesting chainsaw carved St. Urho statue is located in Finland, Minnesota. There is a beer restaurant called St. Urho's Pub in central Helsinki, Finland. A 200l book, The Legend of St. Urho by Joanne Asala, presents much of the folklore surrounding St. Urho and includes an essay by Richard Mattson on the "birth" of St. Urho.
The legend of St. Urho was the invention of a Finnish-American named Richard Mattson, who worked at Ketola's Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in spring of 1956. Mattson later recounted that he invented St. Urho when he was questioned by coworker Gene McCavic about the Finns' lack of a saint like the Irish St. Patrick, whose feat of casting the snakes out of Ireland is remembered on St. Patrick's Day.
According to the original "Ode to St. Urho" written by Gene McCavic and Richard Mattson, St. Urho was supposed to have cast "tose 'Rogs" (those frogs) out of Finland by the power of his loud voice, which he obtained by drinking "feelia sour" (sour whole milk) and eating "kala mojakka" (fish soup).
The original "Ode to St. Urho" identified St. Urho's Day as taking place on May 24. Later the date was changed to March 16, the day before St. Patrick's Day. St. Urho's feast is supposed to be celebrated by wearing the colors Royal Purple and Nile Green. Other details of the invented legend also changed, apparently under the influence of Dr. Sulo Havumäki, a psychology professor at Bemidji State College in Bemidji, Minnesota. The legend now states that St. Urho drove away grasshoppers (rather than frogs) from Finland using the incantation "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!" ("Grasshopper, grasshopper, go from hence to Hell!"), thus saving the Finnish grape crops.
The "Ode to St. Urho" has been modified to reflect these changes in the feast day and legend. The Ode is written in a self-parodying form of English as spoken by Finnish immigrants. There is also a "Ballad of St. Urho" written by Sally Karttunen.The selection of the name Urho as the saint's name was probably influenced by the accession of Urho Kekkonen to the presidency of Finland in 1956. Urho in the Finnish language also has the meaning of hero.
There are St. Urho fan clubs in Canada and Finland as well as the U.S., and the festival is celebrated on March 16 in many American and Canadian communities with Finnish roots.[6] The original statue of St. Urho is located in Menahga, Minnesota. Another interesting chainsaw carved St. Urho statue is located in Finland, Minnesota. There is a beer restaurant called St. Urho's Pub in central Helsinki, Finland. A 200l book, The Legend of St. Urho by Joanne Asala, presents much of the folklore surrounding St. Urho and includes an essay by Richard Mattson on the "birth" of St. Urho.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
S & BJ Day HNT
As you may or may not be aware, Wednesday, March 14th was Steak & BJ Day! As with any true holiday, there's some disagreement whether it's actually the 14th, or on the 20th. But there's no reason to put it off. Now is as good as next week!
In the spirit of the holiday, and wanting to celebrate it to the fullest, I offer myself, with the only half of the celebration I anticipate getting... Juicy, medium rare, and washed down with an ice cold beer (not pictured). Happy S & BJ Day! Hope you celebrated too!
It is with great pleasure to bring back one of my favorite HNTers out of retirement to be this week's Mystery Guest. As with the past few MGs, this one has been seen on occasion over on the anonymous site. What you might remember about her is that she was an avid horse lover, had (has) a husband who, on an occasion or two, was part of her HNTs, and that she shocked the blogging world one day by something that she did. Sort of took her by surprise too! I'm happy to report that she has a new blog (quite different from her previous one!), she still checks up on alot of you, and is still insanely happily married! She's not going to let me reveal her, but if you were to ask me, I might be persuaded to tell you if you're right (with her permission, of course!).
"...the Other HNT" is a little low on numbers, but that's OK. Be sure to stop by and check out your fellow HNTers! And to be on the safe side--NSFW!
Happy Ides of March!
In the spirit of the holiday, and wanting to celebrate it to the fullest, I offer myself, with the only half of the celebration I anticipate getting... Juicy, medium rare, and washed down with an ice cold beer (not pictured). Happy S & BJ Day! Hope you celebrated too!
It is with great pleasure to bring back one of my favorite HNTers out of retirement to be this week's Mystery Guest. As with the past few MGs, this one has been seen on occasion over on the anonymous site. What you might remember about her is that she was an avid horse lover, had (has) a husband who, on an occasion or two, was part of her HNTs, and that she shocked the blogging world one day by something that she did. Sort of took her by surprise too! I'm happy to report that she has a new blog (quite different from her previous one!), she still checks up on alot of you, and is still insanely happily married! She's not going to let me reveal her, but if you were to ask me, I might be persuaded to tell you if you're right (with her permission, of course!)."...the Other HNT" is a little low on numbers, but that's OK. Be sure to stop by and check out your fellow HNTers! And to be on the safe side--NSFW!
Happy Ides of March!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The End of an Era
As has been mentioned in years past, I'm all over the normal St. Patrick's Day celebrations. For about 15 years, I've had the first green beer out of the tap at O'Toole's. It's a small, family -owned establishment that's been around forever. Very friendly, and very Irish. I've also spent a few hours of my life down in Butte at the M&M with thousands of my best friends. 
HOWEVER--this year, I have to be at a symphony rehearsal at 7:45 AM. No Butte, no green beer & shots at O'Toole's, no corned beef and cabbage. I'll eventually get to O'Toole's--the rumor on the street is that they'll close their door for good on Saturday night. Another nice family business closing their doors. I'll have a green beer, if there's anymore left. And a shot of Jameson's or Bushmill's (or both). And I'll sing along with the perpetual Irish music being played. But I'll have a tear in my eye. O'Toole's will be no more...
Monday, March 12, 2007
I Double Dog Dare Ya
Thanks to an innocent comment left on Heather's first submission for the 365 Days project on flickr.com, she DARED me to join in. DARED me, I say! So I've done it. You can go here to check them out. I'll get a link over in the sidebar shortly.
Like I need another thing to do...
Apparently not everyone knows about the 365 Days thing. My bad. It's a flickr group that you can join. The basic rule--take a self-portrait each day and post it. You have to take it (or it wouldn't be a self-portrait, would it?) and it has to include some sort of body part (duh...). There's currently well over 3000 members in the group. You can check out everyone's pics in the group's pool, or you can track your favorite 365er on their own site. Any questions?
Like I need another thing to do...
Apparently not everyone knows about the 365 Days thing. My bad. It's a flickr group that you can join. The basic rule--take a self-portrait each day and post it. You have to take it (or it wouldn't be a self-portrait, would it?) and it has to include some sort of body part (duh...). There's currently well over 3000 members in the group. You can check out everyone's pics in the group's pool, or you can track your favorite 365er on their own site. Any questions?
Friday, March 09, 2007
Riding in my car and other things
I pulled up to a 4-way stop today. Generally this is always an adventure (why don't women know how to "work" a 4-way stop? fodder for a future post...). As each of us came to the intersection, we all made some sort of eye contact. And all sorts of things came to mind.
First--I noticed that we were all the sole occupants of our vehicles. While in the bigger cities, that might seem odd. Around here, that's not a big deal. But then I started noticing people's faces. Have you ever looked at the faces of your fellow road warriors? It's scary! Particularly those who are driving by themselves!
For the most part, single drivers appear to be fairly pissed off at the world. Everyone is scowling. Like they are late for an appointment, and you'd better not be getting in their way! Others look fairly stoned, and you question if they've really got anyplace in particular to go, or if you should be anywhere near them on the road. Of course, you have your elderly drivers. The old ladies drive without concern for anyone or the rules of the road. You definitely don't want to be near them. The old men have that dazed look in their eyes--somewhere between hen-pecked and comatose. They aren't too bad, but you know they're cursing you under their breath.
Some of the others I've noticed are the talkers. They're just scary, wherever you meet them. The singers--totally oblivious to the fact that they're behind the wheel of a lethal weapon. Generally teenage girls. The teenage boys have the bass cranked so high that their subwoofers are actually affecting the position of the car on the road. Stay away from them!
The only ones left are the ones that are actually smiling. Either because they are medicated, or are one of those ever-cheery types that you want to smack up alongside the head. There's not many of them, but you want to alway be wary of them. The upshot of all of this?? I want the roads all to myself, thank you...
I haven't ranted or raved about any commercials lately, because there hasn't been anything spectacular. But two have caught my attention. First, the rant--Quizno's prime rib/garlic bread sandwich. Quizno's has gotten a rant before for using mutant rodents to sell their sandwiches. This time around, it's the folksy, "person-on-the-street" opinions about it. Flash ahead to the girl who says it's "not lacking any meat, and that's what girls need". And then, the giggle. The giggle that lands somewhere between "I said something racy" and "I remember that thing you did to me last night." What's up with that?
The rave, such as it is, is for T-Mobile's "five friends" promo, or whatever it is. The family is sitting around the dinner table, and Mom asks the daughter if she's chosen her "five". She lists them off, and then little brother lists the same five. "Your friends are haawwwttt." In that voice that only a horny little brother could make (I'm assuming here, since I've never had a little brother...). Not great, but pretty funny.
Ooh--a second rave! The new JCPenney commercial. Not so much for the commercial, because I can't tell you a thing about it. But the music they use in the background. "South American Getaway", written by Burt Bacarach for the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", and sung by the Swingle Singers (or a similar jazz vocal group). I have always loved that part of the movie--no dialogue. Just bank robbing and fun in Bolivia. Kudos to JCP for bringing back that great music!
My ISP and the Google sites haven't been playing nicely with each other as of late. I find that I have to keep rebooting in the middle of chats, and sometimes I can't access Blogger or even Google Search. Of course, my ISP thinks it's taking care of me and redirects me to their homepage, for which I have NO use, thank you. And when things things seem to be OK and I try to access one of those pages again, it's cached to go back to ISP. Why can't things work the way they're supposed to?
To end on a relatively light note--I have a new favorite show. The best one on TV these days. You can find it on the Discovery Channel. "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe". There is nothing as good as this. Not even the surgery scenes on some of the other Discovery shows. Mike, who seems to enjoy his work, checks out the smelliest, sweatiest, dirtiest, foulest jobs you can possibly think of. And does so with a smile! And outtakes during the credits! As you can imagine, it frequently involves waste, innards, and all sorts of unmentionable things. If you've never watched it, I highly recommend it.
Though they haven't hit upon the absolute worst job of all--being the cameraman who has to film all of this. Take after take after take...
First--I noticed that we were all the sole occupants of our vehicles. While in the bigger cities, that might seem odd. Around here, that's not a big deal. But then I started noticing people's faces. Have you ever looked at the faces of your fellow road warriors? It's scary! Particularly those who are driving by themselves!
For the most part, single drivers appear to be fairly pissed off at the world. Everyone is scowling. Like they are late for an appointment, and you'd better not be getting in their way! Others look fairly stoned, and you question if they've really got anyplace in particular to go, or if you should be anywhere near them on the road. Of course, you have your elderly drivers. The old ladies drive without concern for anyone or the rules of the road. You definitely don't want to be near them. The old men have that dazed look in their eyes--somewhere between hen-pecked and comatose. They aren't too bad, but you know they're cursing you under their breath.
Some of the others I've noticed are the talkers. They're just scary, wherever you meet them. The singers--totally oblivious to the fact that they're behind the wheel of a lethal weapon. Generally teenage girls. The teenage boys have the bass cranked so high that their subwoofers are actually affecting the position of the car on the road. Stay away from them!
The only ones left are the ones that are actually smiling. Either because they are medicated, or are one of those ever-cheery types that you want to smack up alongside the head. There's not many of them, but you want to alway be wary of them. The upshot of all of this?? I want the roads all to myself, thank you...
I haven't ranted or raved about any commercials lately, because there hasn't been anything spectacular. But two have caught my attention. First, the rant--Quizno's prime rib/garlic bread sandwich. Quizno's has gotten a rant before for using mutant rodents to sell their sandwiches. This time around, it's the folksy, "person-on-the-street" opinions about it. Flash ahead to the girl who says it's "not lacking any meat, and that's what girls need". And then, the giggle. The giggle that lands somewhere between "I said something racy" and "I remember that thing you did to me last night." What's up with that?
The rave, such as it is, is for T-Mobile's "five friends" promo, or whatever it is. The family is sitting around the dinner table, and Mom asks the daughter if she's chosen her "five". She lists them off, and then little brother lists the same five. "Your friends are haawwwttt." In that voice that only a horny little brother could make (I'm assuming here, since I've never had a little brother...). Not great, but pretty funny.
Ooh--a second rave! The new JCPenney commercial. Not so much for the commercial, because I can't tell you a thing about it. But the music they use in the background. "South American Getaway", written by Burt Bacarach for the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", and sung by the Swingle Singers (or a similar jazz vocal group). I have always loved that part of the movie--no dialogue. Just bank robbing and fun in Bolivia. Kudos to JCP for bringing back that great music!
My ISP and the Google sites haven't been playing nicely with each other as of late. I find that I have to keep rebooting in the middle of chats, and sometimes I can't access Blogger or even Google Search. Of course, my ISP thinks it's taking care of me and redirects me to their homepage, for which I have NO use, thank you. And when things things seem to be OK and I try to access one of those pages again, it's cached to go back to ISP. Why can't things work the way they're supposed to?
To end on a relatively light note--I have a new favorite show. The best one on TV these days. You can find it on the Discovery Channel. "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe". There is nothing as good as this. Not even the surgery scenes on some of the other Discovery shows. Mike, who seems to enjoy his work, checks out the smelliest, sweatiest, dirtiest, foulest jobs you can possibly think of. And does so with a smile! And outtakes during the credits! As you can imagine, it frequently involves waste, innards, and all sorts of unmentionable things. If you've never watched it, I highly recommend it.Though they haven't hit upon the absolute worst job of all--being the cameraman who has to film all of this. Take after take after take...
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Ooh, Baby, Baby HNT
I haven't talked much about In Cahoots or gigs or anything like that recently. That's because we've taken sort of a forced hiatus for the winter. Normally, when a group takes some time off, it's to work on new material, write some songs, maybe work on some solo stuff (oh, wait--that's what the big name bands do...). No, for us, we're birthin' babies!
The trumpet section has been busy this year! Kelly, the guy in the dark blue Hawaiian shirt, and his wife had a son at the end of January.
Chris (in orange) and our sax player Leanne (also his wife, in blue next to me) just had their first child (a boy) Tuesday night while the rest of us were together! Some people will do anything to get out of rehearsing! We've got a gig this weekend, so we're starting back up. Leanne will be out of the picture for another month or so--just in time for the summer rush.All this talk about babies, and being sort of uninspired this week, made me decide that you'll get to see me in my babyness. I think I've posted these before at some point, but dammit, I'm just cute enough to post them again! And I'm nekkid!
This week's Mystery Guest is a returnee from quite awhile ago. She's one of the early members of HNT, and this pose is quite reminiscent of her very first one. She has also snuck in an anon or two. She likes movies, animals and late night snacks. She's opted not to reveal herself this time around, but might let you know it's her if you send her an email asking about it!
"...the Other HNT" is quite a bit tamer than the past couple of weeks, but still NSFW, as usual. And there's a couple of newbies, and an old-timer or two as well!
While I wasn't looking for it, many of you offered to kick someone's ass for me! Definitely not necessary, but certainly appreciated! It's just one of those things, and not worth getting into. But thanks!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Sorry, boys and girls...
...sometimes even the clowns need to recharge. I've got nothing for you of substance. And I don't really want to be whiney. Well, I do, but I won't subject you to that. Too much.Alot of little things (and bigger things) piling up over the past week or so. Finances. Close friends, both bloggy and real life, who are in the midst of some serious personal crises. Finding out from a 3rd party that someone you thought was a decent blogger friend has been talking smack about you. Realizing that you've taken a number of things/people/friends for granted. More bloggers locking up their sites. Missing out on the lunar eclipse because it all happened before the thing even came up over the horizon.
Granted, there's some good stuff too! Just found out last night that a good bloggy friend is getting hitched!! As well as a couple of others. A new pregnancy here and there. A good crop of "safer" anons this week, as well as a great Mystery Guest. We've got a gig this weekend (woohoo!). We have very little snow here, and it's been far less severe than most of the rest of the country (including other parts of MT). Daylight Savings Time starts this weekend, which I think will help.
So there you have it. Some bad, some good. But nothing of substance... Time for this clown to recharge...
Friday, March 02, 2007
Near Meltdown...
Did you ever see the movie "The China Syndrome"? The concept that a nuclear reactor core could overheat in an accident, and nothing could contain it, and it would melt through everything all the way to China? And how they didn't want to tell anyone about their "incident"? Well the same thing almost happened around here. Kind of...
I anticipated being away from the computer from Wednesday afternoon through most of Thursday. But Os, you ask. How would you do HNT? How would we let everyone know that we're up? What would we do?? I had already anticipated that, and drafted both the anon site and my own HNT on Tuesday. And I got Crimson to agree to post for me. She's done that on a number of occasions, and I don't think you guys have ever really known when. So imagine my panic on Wednesday morning, when I went to finalize my HNT. I'm greeted with this (you'll need to click it to big it):
WTF??? I've been accused of being spam?? I mean, if it were bullshit, I'd understand. But SPAM??? I immediately contacted them through their link and jump through their hoops. They reply by stating that a "real person" will check my site and verify that it is or isn't a spam site. And that it would be done within one business day. Well, based on past dealings with Blogger, I anticipated that to mean sometime during the weekend.
I continued to check to see if I was verified. I got a panicked IM from No One In Particular, saying that she'd been blocked by Blogger. Apparently, they were on a roll. You can see what they post when you go to rectify the situation on her site. So I continued to check from work, and I was still blocked from posting. I IM'ed Crimson, and warned her about it. Then I had to leave, not knowing if the free world as we knew it would come crashing down.
I envisioned this mass hysteria from everyone who had posted HNTs, but had no place to tell anyone. How would people know? What would they do? Well, obviously things worked out OK, and no one knew the near-disaster that could have befallen us. I got a nicely worded email from Blogger Help:
What's needed now is a Plan B. There's never been a Plan B. Someplace to go if something happens and you can't comment, or I can't post, or whatever. I'll let you know what that might be in the future... In the meantime, let us give thanks that we didn't have a "China Syndrome" event!
OK--Blogger's pissing me off even more. I've heard from one blogger who has been informed that she needs to delete certain posts. No, not her HNTs with boobies showing. But the ones where she publicized a benefit concert she was involved with by posting a picture of the concert poster. It's "advertising".
The other thing happening is that I can leave comments on anyone's posts that require word verification. I don't get the little picture of the word. So to all of you that use WV, I tried to comment. Really!
OK--word verification works if I'm using Safari, but not Firefox. Why doesn't shit just work?
A little bit better news, I think. It appears that Blogrolling might actually be working as far as their updated blog notification is concerned. We'll see how long THAT lasts...
Interesting thing I've noticed while perusing the blogs. Doesn't seem that too many people have deleted Betcha from their sidebars yet. It's been almost 2 months, and it's still as frustrating and confusing as ever...
The symphony concert for the 4th & 5th graders yesterday went very well. About 1600-1700 kids, all quiet, all paying attention, and all listening to about 45 minutes of live symphonic music. Really quite impressive. On the downside--my running around out in the cold while setting up and returning equipment to various places reaggravated my cold. I'm going to have to sleep most of the weekend to finally kick this thing. I guess that's not such a downside, is it?
For those of you who understand--six weeks!!!
I anticipated being away from the computer from Wednesday afternoon through most of Thursday. But Os, you ask. How would you do HNT? How would we let everyone know that we're up? What would we do?? I had already anticipated that, and drafted both the anon site and my own HNT on Tuesday. And I got Crimson to agree to post for me. She's done that on a number of occasions, and I don't think you guys have ever really known when. So imagine my panic on Wednesday morning, when I went to finalize my HNT. I'm greeted with this (you'll need to click it to big it):
WTF??? I've been accused of being spam?? I mean, if it were bullshit, I'd understand. But SPAM??? I immediately contacted them through their link and jump through their hoops. They reply by stating that a "real person" will check my site and verify that it is or isn't a spam site. And that it would be done within one business day. Well, based on past dealings with Blogger, I anticipated that to mean sometime during the weekend.
I continued to check to see if I was verified. I got a panicked IM from No One In Particular, saying that she'd been blocked by Blogger. Apparently, they were on a roll. You can see what they post when you go to rectify the situation on her site. So I continued to check from work, and I was still blocked from posting. I IM'ed Crimson, and warned her about it. Then I had to leave, not knowing if the free world as we knew it would come crashing down.
I envisioned this mass hysteria from everyone who had posted HNTs, but had no place to tell anyone. How would people know? What would they do? Well, obviously things worked out OK, and no one knew the near-disaster that could have befallen us. I got a nicely worded email from Blogger Help:
- "Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so that it will no longer appear as potential spam."
What's needed now is a Plan B. There's never been a Plan B. Someplace to go if something happens and you can't comment, or I can't post, or whatever. I'll let you know what that might be in the future... In the meantime, let us give thanks that we didn't have a "China Syndrome" event!
OK--Blogger's pissing me off even more. I've heard from one blogger who has been informed that she needs to delete certain posts. No, not her HNTs with boobies showing. But the ones where she publicized a benefit concert she was involved with by posting a picture of the concert poster. It's "advertising".
The other thing happening is that I can leave comments on anyone's posts that require word verification. I don't get the little picture of the word. So to all of you that use WV, I tried to comment. Really!
OK--word verification works if I'm using Safari, but not Firefox. Why doesn't shit just work?
A little bit better news, I think. It appears that Blogrolling might actually be working as far as their updated blog notification is concerned. We'll see how long THAT lasts...
Interesting thing I've noticed while perusing the blogs. Doesn't seem that too many people have deleted Betcha from their sidebars yet. It's been almost 2 months, and it's still as frustrating and confusing as ever...
The symphony concert for the 4th & 5th graders yesterday went very well. About 1600-1700 kids, all quiet, all paying attention, and all listening to about 45 minutes of live symphonic music. Really quite impressive. On the downside--my running around out in the cold while setting up and returning equipment to various places reaggravated my cold. I'm going to have to sleep most of the weekend to finally kick this thing. I guess that's not such a downside, is it?
For those of you who understand--six weeks!!!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Driving HNT
I was supposed to have a rehearsal Tuesday night, but bad roads and illnesses scuttled that. So I took the opportunity to get in a little grocery shopping. Since I had the camera with me, I figured I'd better snap off a few pics. Here are some thought that occured while driving home. In no particular order...
This week's Mystery Guest comes to us from afar. You might recognize his tattoos. Though he's had a little bit of work done on them since this picture. He's been blogging forever, and has played HNT almost as long. Some of you might have even written to him over the past year. He's revealed more of himself on his own HNTs over the months, and if you haven't already figured out who it is, he'll be revealed here on Thursday afternoon.
Wow! Alot of you wanting to know who this is! It's Px from across the ocean. Go say hi--he might have good news!
"...the Other HNT" this week is more NSFW than most weeks. Be forewarned! Sometimes it just happens this way (or do you all conspire to do it this way?)!
I won't be around much through Thursday. The symphony is presenting a youth concert to all the 4th & 5th graders in town and the surrounding area. Which means that I'm not really here posting this (thanks, Crimson!), and won't be around most of the day on Thursday to see yours. But I'll get there eventually!
- Nalley's makes a killer Dill Pickle Chip Dip. There's only one place in town that sells it, and it's across town from where I live. I decided to go there tonight specifically for the chip dip.
- Between the bright orange light from the auto-focus and the flash going off, I kept seeing spots all the way home.
- I suspect the people that pulled up next to me at the stop sign and looked at me funny were seeing the same things.
- You can see me looking in my side mirror. Yes, there was a cop following a block behind me. Yes, I have a history with the cops in town. Yes, I was a little nervous.
- I've noticed that, for no specific reason, I always seem to have a couple of days of beard growth going on for my HNTs.
- Spring is just around the corner. I can feel it. It's still too far away.
- I need to get to bed earlier. I look/feel tired, in spite of sleeping away most of the day last Sunday.
This week's Mystery Guest comes to us from afar. You might recognize his tattoos. Though he's had a little bit of work done on them since this picture. He's been blogging forever, and has played HNT almost as long. Some of you might have even written to him over the past year. He's revealed more of himself on his own HNTs over the months, and if you haven't already figured out who it is, he'll be revealed here on Thursday afternoon.Wow! Alot of you wanting to know who this is! It's Px from across the ocean. Go say hi--he might have good news!
"...the Other HNT" this week is more NSFW than most weeks. Be forewarned! Sometimes it just happens this way (or do you all conspire to do it this way?)!
I won't be around much through Thursday. The symphony is presenting a youth concert to all the 4th & 5th graders in town and the surrounding area. Which means that I'm not really here posting this (thanks, Crimson!), and won't be around most of the day on Thursday to see yours. But I'll get there eventually!