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What better way to celebrate the arrival of Baby Jesus than with a batch of homemade bacon brittle? This is probably one of those ideas that makes most people say, "EW" on first thought, but then say, "YAY" should they ever try it. Much like sprinkling crispy turkey bacon onto a bowl of Frosted Flakes (thanks to Mr. Vedder for introducing this mind-blowing taste sensation). It's one of those "Trust Me" kind of food.
I received an early Christmas present that was a) a complete surprise and b) knocked my socks off. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to have received a Nintendo DS Lite! I think my first handheld was a Tiger Pinball game I received as a stocking stuffer somewhere in the mid 80s. I played that thing through countless AA batteries and numerous car trips to NYC to visit extended family. I can still feel the buttons under my thumbs and see the ball and it's intended trajectory, timing the flipper flip just so to make the ball obey my every command. Ah, nostalgia.
Then in the later 80s to early 90s the Nintendo Gameboy is where I first met Tetris (Google video link to a one hour BBC special on the creation of Tetris). I didn't own one, but the folks I used to babysit for did. Many a late night babysitting at the Wickes' house I would curl up on their couch, a slave to Mr. Pajitnov's genius, in their 1800s farmhouse and play Tetris on the tiny black and white screen while waiting for them to come home. The music is tattooed on my brain I cannot resist a game of Tetris for a few hours or so.
So it was particularly poignant that the first game I received with the DS Lite was the Metroid Pinball game. And the second? I think it'll be Tetris.
Holy awesomeness! I wish I had access to a Wii and a movie theater too!
McSweeny's has a great short essay on a short imagined monologue by Richard Dawkins to a kindergarten class regarding the plausibility of Santa Claus.
Even though the exam was a throw-up-your-hands affair and I still have one more exam to go, the fact that the lady at the coffee hut gave me a free shot of espresso in my latte this am means that I get +2 to all abilities today (until the effect wears off, upon which I get -2 to all abilities).
These Acorn shearling slippers are the best. They are even better when you get them on sale and $20 off. It's like tiny, airy marshmallows enveloping your little toes. Like the finest fuzz from the head of a kitten angel so gently sheared and tucked around your ankles. Like wearing pomeranian dogs inside out.
I am seriously considering wearing them to my final tomorrow at 8am.
So, like, a really long time ago I had the pleasure of going to high school with an amazing group of like-minded folks who, by fate or some other cosmic force, decided to participate in Drama Club in 1993. We did some great stuff, like put on a production of Les Mis in 6 weeks, and do A Midsummer Night's Dream in the round on a stage we built ourselves. There were, of course, the people who played their parts in the group too, the charismatic, the prima donna, the outragously talented costume designer, the director who came out of the blue and saved us from obliteration by the administration and evil, evil pears. And there was Little Todd, skinny as a rail and the baby of the group. This was not done to belittle him or otherwise shame him, it's just one of those things that kind of came about and he took it in stride. He was funny and always had a smile and a face full of freckles and he played a mean French Revolutionary.
Well imagine my surprise when trolling around MySpace I come across his website for his production company and the trailer for his latest film. It is certainly possible that I am biased because I had good times with Todd (even when he was getting sat on by Craig at the cast part for Les Mis) but honestly, watch the trailer and be impressed. Congratulations Todd!
Last night I "volunteered" at the department Open House for five hours. The Audiologists were there and one of them offered to check my hearing for me. I'd noticed that when I was doing a hearing screening at a local school I couldn't hear 6000 Hz in my left ear at typical levels (about 20 dB). It wasn't the audiometer so I figured it was me. A "real" check by a real audiologist later and sure enough, I have a 30 dB dip at 6000 Hz. 4k and 8k were more or less fine though, and it was only in the left ear, which was a little puzzling. While it's not unusual to have hearing loss at the higher frequencies having it only at 6k and only with the left ear, with 8k and 4k within normal limits and my right ear being fine, is. So the only explanation I could come up with was that I played clarinet for 10 years in various concert bands and orchestras, and as I sat on the right side of the group, my left ear got all the sound from the entire band. Maybe that was it? It was also the ear that I last had a significant ear infection in (1996, oh god did that suck) but that wouldn't cause such a precise hearing loss as this.
Either way, I was told to keep an eye on it since my grandmother had some significant presbycusis. On the one hand, it's cool be able to get this done on the fly, but on the other it makes you hyperviligant (much like med students, all us ComDis students think we have everything at least once. Rather than the dog eating our homework, we claim "anomia", working memory deficits, and auditory processing difficulties. :^)
If I ever get large sums of cash or a monarchy, I will own dozens of bicycles. Vintage bikes, bikes from Japan, bikes from the 1950s with white wall tires. And for the European section? I'll own one of these darling Dutch bicycles from Jorg and Olif. I will have a basket on the front with an adorable little lap dog in it and I'll be picking wildflowers at my own private farm.
I really wish I had found indexed when I was sitting in class hearing* the professor talk about our previous exam and replay video clips of modified barium swallows from said exam during our last class of the semester when we were all itching to write our damned evaluations.
*Not listening because I was tracking a UPS package online instead.
I never thought that a conversation would sidetrack into Euclidian geometry and trying to reason out why an angle can't be trisected with a compass. But let me tell you, it was a fairly awesome conversation.
The Max Plank Institute in Dresden is full of smartey scientists. Don't believe me? This article explains how Michael Schmitz (German website) created a "living logo" that represents the state of the Institute based on employee voting, funding, number of articles published, etc. Makes sense as they are interested in how cells organize themselves into systems.
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Bruce Campbell: If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor
I'm still waiting to warm up to this autobiography. Maybe I need to see Army of Darkness again. (**)
