If you're wondering why I've been quiet...

...it's because I've been playing this game over and over again.

I've made it to level 9 a few times, but the continent of Africa kills me. To be fair, when I took Geography, Rhodesia had only just become Zimbabwe, and there was this place called the Soviet Union.

Update: I'm now regularly making it to level 10, but so far I've come 15 points short of advancing to level 11.

Four Years Ago Today....

I started writing this blog. It was, as I have mentioned many times, a response to a round of "where are the women bloggers?"

In the beginning, I mostly wrote about politics, but that subject has reached epic levels of burnout with me, so now I mostly write about movies or music or random stuff that wanders through my brain.

Thanks to everyone who stops by here, even if only occasionally.

One Man Guy

People will know when they see this show
The kind of a guy I am
They'll recognize just what I stand for and what I just can't stand
They'll perceive what I believe in
And what I know is true
And they'll recognize I'm a one man guy
Always was through and through

People meditate
Hey that's just great
Trying to find the inner you
People depend on family and friends
And other folks to pull them through

I don't know why I'm a one man guy
Or why I'm a one man show
But these three cubic feet of bone and blood and meat are all I love and know

'Cause I'm a one man guy in the morning
Same in the afternoon
One man guy when the sun goes down
I whistle me a one man tune

One man guy a one man guy
Only kind of guy to be
I'm a one man guy
I'm a one man guy
I'm a one man guy is me

I'm gonna bathe and shave
And dress myself and eat solo every night
Unplug the phone, sleep alone
Stay way out of sight
Sure it's kind of lonely
Yeah it's sort of sick
Being your own one and only
Is a dirty selfish trick

'Cause I'm a one man guy in the morning
Same in the afternoon
One man guy when the sun goes down
I whistle me a one man tune
One man guy a one man guy
Only kind of guy to be
I'm a one man guy
I'm a one man guy
I'm a one man guy is me

Movie Quote Meme

I've added hints
Now I've answered the last one left

Lifted from Toast:

Instructions: Look up 15 of your favorite films on IMDb and take a quote from each. List them below. When someone guesses the quote correctly, cross it off the list. Leave a comment with your answers. And NO CHEATING.

I don't know how to cross out, so I will just post any answers under the quote, along with the name of person who guessed it.

1. "She can't act, she can't sing, she can't dance. A triple threat."
SOLVED by Hazel: Singing In The Rain

2. "She said her fiancé had run off with a student cosmetologist, who knew how to ply her feminine wiles."
turn to the right
SOLVED by Hazel: Raising Arizona

3. "I've met another man. He's the best man I've ever met. He's bright, handsome and he's crazy about me. And, he's married. There's only one thing; he doesn't like my hat."
based on a philosophical novel
SOLVED by Tart: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

4. "It's okay to leave them to die."
SOLVED by Deborah: Serenity

5. "It's been many years since I had such an exemplary vegetable."
SOLVED by Tart: Pride and Prejudice

6. " I can remember everything. That's my curse, young man. It's the greatest curse that's ever been inflicted on the human race: memory."
SOLVED by Hazel: Citizen Kane

7. " You know Mr. Gorbachev, the guy that ran Russia for so long? I am a firm believer that he would still be in power today if he had had that ugly purple thing taken off his head."
Suzanne was willing to do anything to get on TV
SOLVED by Angelos: To Die For

8. "Like I'm gonna put a bullet hole in your fuckin' forehead, and I'm gonna fuck the brain hole! "
SOLVED by Deborah: Grosse Point Blank

9. "As a matter of fact, Father, I know I can get my hands on an entire shipment of religious relics, blessed by the Pope himself. The Germans swiped them and put them on the open market. As I understand it, the stuff includes a wrist and collarbones of some of your top saints!"
Norman Fell, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel
SOLVED by Tom Hilton: Catch-22

10. "I got off that boat with nothing but my dancers belt and a tube of CHAPSTICK! "
ASSFACE
SOLVED by Angelos: Waiting for Guffman

11. "We are number one. All others are number two, or lower."
anger, vengeance, silverware, farting, invisibility, shoveling
NOT SOLVED: Mystery Men

12. "He's the fastest jack in Jefferson County!"
SOLVED by MuzakBox: Groundhog Day

13. " I must have some booze. I demand to have some booze. "
classic British comedy from the '80s
SOLVED by Tom Hilton: Withnail & I

14. "He's payin' so he don't have to look. See... guy goes to work every day, eight hours a day, seven days a week. Gets his nuts so tight in a vice that he starts questioning the very fabric of his existence. Then one day, 'bout quitting time, Boss calls him into the office and says, "Hey Bob, whyncha come on in here and kiss my ass for me, will you?" Well, he says, "Hell with it. I don't care what happens, I just want to see the expression on his face as I jab this pair of scissors into his arm."
dancing in Grand Central
SOLVED by Angelos: The Fisher King

15. "Holy dog shit. Texas? Only steers and queers come from Texas, Private Cowboy. And you don't look much like a steer to me so that kinda narrows it down. Do you suck dicks? "
SOLVED by Mr. Furious: Full Metal Jacket

Read, guess, enjoy.

On the passing of William F. Buckley

I was listening to NPR on my way home from work today, and I heard this report on the death of William F. Buckley.

First, I have to comment on this response by Buckley's hand-picked replacement to head up his magazine, The National Review - Rich "Right, but never Correct" Lowry:

Buckley was, Lowry said, "an Ivy League-educated, silver-tongued, witty and erudite guy who could take on all comers — and he had just an incalculable influence."

This is perhaps what Lowry intended to say, but due to his inability to pronounce multisyllabic words correctly (and I'm not joking), he said "eriudite" and "incalcable" influence.

The part of the story that blew my mind was from his biographer, but that part of the story is not part of the audio at npr.com (not sure why). The essential gist of the biographer's comments (and I wish I could remember his name) were that Buckley had a genius for friendship, and never talked about politics unless he was getting paid to do so. He stated quite plainly that Buckley didn't care about politics and thought it was boring.

He didn't care. He didn't care. He founded the Young Americans for Freedom, he started a magazine trying to make conservatism respectable, said that people with AIDS should get tattooed so we can identify them, and fought against every step of the civil rights movement (a position he later regretted, although I take that with a grain of salt.) And he didn't care. Banality of evil, my friends.

The good news, though, is that according to his son Christopher:

He drove out the kooks of the movement. He separated it from the anti-Semites, the isolationists, the John Birchers. He conducted, if you will, a kind of purging of the movement.

Thank goodness there are no more kooks, anti-Semites, isolationists or John Birchers (scroll down the the Notable Members section: Ronald Reagan was a member of the Beverly Hills branch!) amongst the conservative movement anymore! Thanks, Mr. Buckley!

Done!

I finished my first draft of the script for Monkey's talent show. The theme that the organizer of the show decided on was Award Show/Red Carpet, so I did a mock awards show that includes a parody of a nominated TV show and a nominated movie. My favorite part of the script is the Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? section:

MC3: Now let’s see a scene from one of the shows nominated for Favorite TV Show: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Jeff Foxworthy: Okay, our contestant Dr. Alexander Andopolis, BS, MA, PhD, MD, DDS, RSVP is about to select the category for the $500,000 question. Dr. Andopolis, your partner is _________. There is only one subject on the board, 1st Grade Math
Dr. AA: Jeff, as you know, I have advanced degrees in Medicine, Dentistry, Psychiatry, and Etiquette. What you may not realize is that my Bachelor's degree is in Math, so I am confident that I can solve a first grade math question.

New to Blogroll

My friend Sarah Callinan, who is a delightful and incredibly talented soprano, has a gorgeous new website all about her gorgeous self. Please check it out.

The most terrifying two words in the English language*

Clown Ministry

I would write more, but I have to go curl up in the fetal position and whimper.

*aside from (all the gods of the ages forbid) President Cheney.

I miss Paris

Last night, Loki and I were hanging out at Barnes & Noble, and I picked up a book called Paris, Then and Now . It was only 2 years ago that we went to Ireland and Paris for February vacation.

That trip started out as a family trip to the Grand Canyon, but vastly cheaper airfares to Europe made the trip eastward more desirable. It was a life changing trip for Loki, Sio and Monkey, all of whom declared that there was no place in the world they would rather be than Ireland.

I loved Ireland, but I was completely swept off of my feet by Paris, even though it was ridiculously cold and a cite d'escalier, not very friendly for gimpy folks like me. Paris was a place I could see myself living, everything you need just outside your door.

The book was kind of neat, as it juxtaposed two pictures of the same location, one from the past, one from the present. I was pleased to see 2 shots of the area we stayed in in the Latin Quarter, on the Passage des Postes off of Rue Mouffetard, as well as a shot of Rue Lepic, where we stayed in Montmartre.

Passage des Postes

Loki and I will make it back there at some point, preferably in nicer weather. I just have to figure out how to get rich, and quick.

Video of my a cappella group

Tagged

I already put a response in the comments at konagod, but since the lovely Deborah Lipp has tagged me, I will pick another one of of the many, many books that are near the computer.

Here's the deal:

1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.

"I liked the informal style of it, too. I crossed London in the morning on the rickety old Metropolitan Line and came out into the street market at Goldhawk Road and went round the corner to an ordinary looking house with a front garden, which was the office. I had splendidly bizarre clients."

Here's the book I used.

Now for the tagging: I tag Hazel, Toast, John Howard, Kirk and Kathleen.

Oh, Turner Classic Movies, you're the only channel I ever loved

It's Oscar Month on Turner Classic Movies, and I've been recording and watching up a storm.

1. An American In Paris



I'm a total sucker for a musical, and I'm a total sucker for Paris, and I'm a total sucker for Gene Kelly and Oscar Levant. Clearly, this movie was made for me (18 years before I was born, but still).

What I like about this movie is that it is 2/3s of a typical romantic musical comedy, and 1/3 surreal and/or ballet. Set to great Gershwin tunes.

2. The Hospital



Script by Chayefsky and a bravura performance by George C. Scott. The middle section of the movie features a monologue, essentially, for Scott, and he had my heart pounding. He plays Doctor Bock, a man who is about to commit suicide, feeling hopeless about what is happening in his hospital and in his life. The end of the monologue is disturbing as he sexually attacks Diana Rigg, the daughter of a patient, after she has propositioned him and he initially rejected her. Darkly satiric and prescient about the business of medicine.

3. Casablanca



Believe it or not, I had never seen this movie from beginning to end. I love a good morally ambiguous character, and here we have them all over the place: Rick, who can't help but help out a gambler who is in over his head, but refuses to get involved in the larger issues; Captain Renault, who cheerfully fraternizes and supports the Nazis but still comes through in the end; Ilsa Lund, who is married to Mr. Perfect but has an affair with Rick while Mr. Perfect is in a concentration camp! You know this already, I loved it, although the dialog definitely sounds a bit cheesier having been parodied and copied a thousand times.

4. Sense and Sensibility



This is another one I'd never seen, and now it's another one I could watch over and over again when I'm feeling in the mood for something perfectly romantic. Of course, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman are all fantastic; Hugh Grant was completely in stuttery mode, but adorable. But my favorite moments by far in the movie were when Hugh Laurie was on screen, especially when Imelda Staunton, who played his wife, was chattering away. He was thoroughly unpleasant, and I found it delightful.


Also watched: Seven Brides of Seven Brothers - hurts my feminist head, but I love that barn raising dance scene, Howard Keel's magnificent voice and presence, Tommy Rall and Russ Tamblyn. Anchors Aweigh - kind of boring and enough already about Jose Iturbi! but it did have a very adorable Dean Stockwell and Rags Ragland, one of my favorite "hey, it's that guy!" guys.

New Project

My actual new project is a creative writing project for Monkey's school, but I'm also thinking about working on a graphic novel. I have these funny little visuals that pop into my head, and I think they might best be conveyed in graphic novel form. It might be just for me, but I'm going to get out my pencil and a sketchpad and start drawing.

FIREFLY SEASON 2

Yeah, you read that right.

Hat tip to the lovely and Bond-eriffic Deborah at Property of a Lady. That's a woman with good taste, my friends.

I was on the radio today

I had a doctor's appointment today (no bronchitis, just reactive airways responding to congestion), and on the way down I turned on the radio, and the station was tuned to WAMC, which is an NPR station out of Albany. The show was Vox Pop, hosted by Dr. Alan Chartock (I have to check that spelling), and his guest was NY state Republican Assemblyman/Minority Leader James Tidesco. The subject was discussion of the results of Super Tuesday.

I happened to tune in right in the middle of a commenter who talked about how radical the Republican party has gotten, and Tidesco kind of pissed me off by talking about how both parties has their wingnuts. Since it's a 20 minute ride to my doctor, I dialed in and waited on hold through several digressions into the Iraq War.

Right before they picked up my call, another woman called in to talk about what I wanted to talk about, which is that the Republican party is no longer a hospitable place for moderates. I felt I did pretty well in responding to Assemblyman Tidesco, but as soon as I was done talking, I had to go into the doctor's office, so I don't know if he badmouthed me after I got off the phone or just kept spinning about McCain being a moderate.

You can listen here I'm Maureen from Hartford.

Damn, damn, damn

I think my cough is morphing into bronchitis. I can feel the tightness in my chest.

I'm concerned, because shortly after the first time I had bronchitis (when I was about 12), I started having asthma attacks. I had them until Sio was about 3 or 4. The last time I had an asthma attack, I had to use one of those mist machines to bring my oxygen levels back up. Then the doctor gave me a combination of steroids and an inhaler that made me feel paranoid and anxious. I felt so horrible that I stopped taking them.

And oddly enough, my asthma went into remission after that.

Well, even though the timing is awful (hugely busy week at work ahead), I have no choice now, I have to go to the doctor tomorrow.

Desktop Meme

My desktop:


Via Toast

Already a fun year in sickness

January's almost over, and I've been ill for most of the month. In addition to my regular allergies, and the weird neck thing I had a couple of weeks back, I spent the weekend with a fever and a snot factory in my head.

I was talking to Loki this morning, and he said "usually when you get sick, your voice gets all sexy...what happened this time?" It is true that when I'm sick, my voice usually gets sexily husky. It's almost Thursday (rehearsal), and I sound like Elaine Stritch if she had laryngitis and smoked a little more. Not sexy at all.

On top of that, the horrible neck pain I had has migrated to my lower back. I can't bend over or pick things up off the ground, or stay in one position for too long, without feeling this dull ache just near my left kidney.

I don't feel horrible, in fact, I tend to feel better if I get up and go to work as opposed to lounging in bed. I think, I haven't actually tried lounging in bed, but that would involve staying in one position for a while, which I already know is not good.

I do feel generally demotivated. I don't feel like eating or watching TV. I've been on the internet but I don't feel like staying on for very long. I have to wash some dishes, and I don't feel like doing that. Malaise, I guess. If my work schedule lets up some, I'll try to get the doctor.

Audition Songs

I am once again looking for audition songs, but this time, it's for my audition when I transfer from the Community College to the University. The website has no suggestions as far as what kind of pieces - most auditions will ask you to prepare an art song and an aria, one in a foreign language. The school I am planning to transfer to says nothing.

I went to this website today, and found the list of composers helpful. I was thinking of focusing on woman composers, but I am having a hard time tracking down song samples, so I can hear before I buy anything. I want a song that will play to my strengths (which are limited as far as classical music is concerned) but will challenge me.

I've probably got at least a year before I have to have anything ready, I'm looking now so I can know it backwards and fowards and inside and out, so it's a part of me.

How you know it's time to change the channel...

"Ladies and gentleman, Debra Messing and Zac Efron!"