kedvesem

my beloved

Everyday is a Winding Road

My flight to the States was safe, boring, and all-in-all uneventful. There were three small children that seemed to be competing for how much of the flight they could spend screaming, but it's amazing what you can tune out at 35000 feet (or however high up we were). I have a lot of sympathy for the parents of those children. As bothersome as they may have been for the other passengers, at least the other passengers weren't responsible for trying to calm the poor babies. My heart went out the most to the mum who had just managed to calm her child somewhat...and then we hit a patch of turbulence that upset the poor baby and got him or her started all over again.

Parents of small children are living martyrs, and I think they deserve as much respect and consideration as the richest men and most powerful world leaders.

But yes, I am in the US now and visiting my grandparents. I'll be in Greensboro soon, and then off to school go I. This will be my final post, and this blog will go be "retired" until such time as I fimd myself on another trip of significant length and content. If, for some inexplicable reason, you haven't had enough and you want to continue reading about my thoughts and experiences, please redirect your attention to my more current blog Four Religious Porpoises.

Until nex time: happy hunting, space cowboy!

PLUR!

Warp Factor 6, Engage.

The migration and updating of my blog were successful (although it took like 5-6 hours instead of the "just a few mintues" it was supposed to take). I don't think that should affect readers or comments in any way, but I just wanted to let y'all know.

PLUR!

Prescience, Postart

A few months ago, I started writing a short story (it doesn't have a name yet, but the working title is "London 2012") in which an international paradigm shift is sparked when riots break out at the 2012 London Olympics because of poor logistical planning and a general inability to meet the needs of the millions of tourists and spectators who have come to see the games.

Over the past two months, it seems like there are more and more reports in the papers of "unexpected costs" of Olympic preparations, concerns that preparations won't be finished in time, and Olympic sponsers pulling their funding (Barclay's recently announced their decision to opt out of a 200 million pound Olympic sponsorship that many expected them to follow through with). I really hope I don't end up being right. That would just be creepy.

I went to Heat UK's Evolution party this Saturday. I wasn't too happy about having to wait in line outside the club for more than a half-hour (UK December nights aren't particularly well-known for being warm), but once I got inside and through security, it was great. The music was some of the highest quality House that I've heard since I've been here, and the lights were also really well-done. I don't think I've ever seen something as surreal as dry ice fog drifting through an LED "screen." It was like a green-tinted ephemeral oil slick, swirling and trailing through the air. And then they lit the strobe. Wow.

The siren call of new technology has touched me once again. I think I'm going to switch by blog to the new "beta" version. If I don't post anything else for a while, it's because of technical difficulties. Otherwise I'll try to put something up tomorrow.

PLUR!

Generation Gap

So, I just found out a few days ago that the pop artist Hoku (born Hoku Christian Ho) is the daughter of 1960s and 70s music sensation Don Ho. She sometimes performs in her father's show at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. In addition, she's had a reasonably successful career of her own, her most notable songs being "Not Another Dumb Blonde" (which was featured in the movie Snow Day) and "Perfect Day" (the Legally Blonde theme song). Plus she's seriously beautiful. I wonder what it is about mixed-race people that they can be so much more attractive than someone with "pure" ancestry?

I wish I had a copy of Tiny Bubbles on my computer. I want to listen to it now.

PLUR!

I'm the same boy I used to be

I just heard a sample of Eric Prydz's new single "Proper Education," which follows closely and does a lot of sampling from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In the Wall (part 2)". It twists the driven, militant cynicism of the original song into an easily-accessible up-tempo club anthem, but it does a right good job of it. Besides, sometimes I like up-tempo club anthems. ( :

This is another good mark in my book for Eric Prydz, who's previous work includes the powerful "Call on Me," which samples Steve Winwood's classic hit "Valerie" (actually, the story goes that when Prydz first did this song he used a recorded sample but when Winwood heard the piece he was so impressed with the work Prydz had done that he offered to collaborate with Prydz and rerecord his vocals from "Valerie" for "Call on Me").

I wonder how much the single costs?...

PLUR!

Meanwhile, back in Gotham...

I remembered that I had some corned beef hash in the fridge.

Another meal eaten, another crisis averted.

PLUR!

edit: It is not one of my goals in life to learn how to play Mason Williams's "Classical Gas" before I die. And possibly Darude's "Sandstorm" (although that might just be silly).

Dear Diary

Dear diary,
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum home from work last night. I was on the tube packed into a little corner because the Piccadilly Line is almost always crowded. I wasn't paying much attention to the people around me (except for the young woman sitting down on the other side of the carriage. She reminded me of someone I knew, but I just couldn't remember who!). Then the man standing next to me was acting all fidgety and awkward and was texting something on his phone. I try not to be nosy, but I glanced down just for a moment at his mobile, and he was texting phone sex on the tube! Well, I don't know if that's actually true, but I can't think of too many other scenarios where someone would use phrases like "...been a really bad girl..." and "...with a mouth full of..." (that's all I saw. The posters on the walls of the carriage suddenly got very interesting).

I don't know how I feel about that. On the one hand, I guess people should be allowed to do what they want, as long as it's not hurting any one. On the other hand, though, I want to laugh so hard. Either way, I'm still impressed that his mobile had service so far underground!

Today I am the only research assistant at work (there are normally three of us). Things are pretty quiet right now, so I'm taking a very short break. Today for lunch I ate a Subway sandwich, and it was pretty good and filling, but it didn't have the flavor I wanted. Since I still had a half-hour left for my lunch break (!!!), I decided I would walk around and see what else was around. I stopped at a convenience store and bought a banana and walnut muffin. It was only 59p, and it really hit the spot! Now I feel quite good.

Tonight I will either do laundry or scold myself for not having the motivation to do laundry. I think supper will be pasta, and maybe a scoop of ice cream graham crackers and a chocolate bar if I feel like I've earned it (I usually have).

PLUR!