Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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9:57 pm - Ramblings
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The DC sniper has been executed. No loss - he terrorized the area. We had 9/11, we had anthrax, and we had the sniper.
The Pentagon has been repaired and the memorial created.
It looks like they found the anthrax mailer - he's now dead by his hand.
The sniper is gone.
We are approaching the end of the first decade of the 21st century in DC if you count the year 2000. The first 10 years have been interesting.
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Friday, July 17th, 2009
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9:20 pm - Cronkite dies
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Goodbye Uncle Walter.
I remember seeing him in a crowded corridor at a White House Correspondents Dinner and being totally in awe. He was such a regular intelligent guy.
In this day and age - he will be very sorely missed. There are journalists like him around still but in the din of the Internet they have a hard time being heard.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/72067.html
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Saturday, June 6th, 2009
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12:12 am - Transformers (1)
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In anticipation of the new Transformers, I Netflixed 1.
Fandance had told me of it last summer and her comments rang in my mind as I watched this. Summer action movies skate on the thinnest of plots - this was about the size of the hair of a poodle.
Well, now I know where Megan Fox comes from. Very beautiful girl.
There are points in this movie when I'm actually laughing because it has touches of real wit and humor. There are unspeakably crummy points as well - it's not that even. The transformers are well - robots - and their lines were out of a comic book flat.
It was a bit more amusing than I expected but more uneven than I thought it would be. I suspect that all the computer people in my flist here were howling at it.
In some ways I think it wasn't aimed for a target audience but all over the map. Hence it wasn't that satisfying.
But at least I have a clue of what's going on if I decide to take in Transformers 2.
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009
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12:35 pm - New Holocaust fact - Apparently over 20,000 camps not 5-7,000
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You know I always wondered about this. You hear about the camp for Jazz students, the camp for Gays but the Holocaust Museum finally put it all together.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/03/AR2009060303690.html
Extent of Nazi Camps Far Greater Than Realized
By Monica Hesse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A little more than a decade ago, researchers at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum decided to create an encyclopedia of concentration camps. They assumed the finished work would be massive, featuring a staggering 5,000 to 7,000 camps and ghettos.
They underestimated by 15,000.
Their ultimate count of more than 20,000 camps -- which they reached after a year of research -- is far more than most scholars had known existed and might reshape public understanding of the scope of the Holocaust itself.
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10:54 am - David Carradine dead in Bangkok - maybe suicide
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Thursday, May 28th, 2009
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7:33 pm - The old days of writing
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3:54 pm - A journalist's predicament
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"Twitter post from Roland Hedley of Doonesbury fame: Brushing up on hieroglyphics for POTUS Egypt trip. Anyone know how two reeds, a moon and an owl is pronounced?"
Yes, the trip to Egypt is already a font of new work.... I look forward to seeing the political cartoons.
ETA: Well our Egyptian correspondent says the two reeds are a "ee" sound.
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Monday, April 13th, 2009
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6:37 pm - Oh, wow - Susan Boyle
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Thursday, April 9th, 2009
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6:13 pm - chai tea lattes
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I admit I've abandoned LJ for the ease of Facebook but this should be done here.
Since late last year, I've become addicted to the (high-calorie) chai tea latte. This addiction has led to taste testing. This is not a ">>> is the best!" but a comparison between stories. All of these are with skim.
Starbucks - heavy on cloves but still tangy.
Cosi - a step down on the clove scale from Starbucks but a worthy substitute if you're desperate.
Panera - Very gingery - too much for my taste.
Caribou Coffee - more caramel tasting, and cinnamon
I think I'll stick with Starbucks at the moment.
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Monday, March 16th, 2009
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12:36 pm - Actor Ron Silver dies
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Friday, March 6th, 2009
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6:44 pm - Watchman is 3 hrs = Netflix
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Well, after reading a number of different reviews of Watchman, I think I'll probably skip it in the theatre. Why?
1) 3 hours long
2) haven't read the novel - felt frustrated by V for Vendetta
3) have big screen tv at home.
So unless I go with a group, I think I'll wait for Netflix to come my way.
By the way, have you seen the way the world “fanboy” has suddenly entered the mainstream? It was all over the reviews. Maybe partly because of that movie, "Fanboys." I find it disconcerting to see it everywhere I look.
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Friday, February 27th, 2009
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2:59 pm - Medieval period
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The SCA-ism lives on.
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1057317.html
Got mead? Enthusiasts milk the Middle Ages
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star
In the Kingdom of Calontir, in the Household of the Dragon Aeire, Mike Nave is Cedric the blacksmith. His wife, Marsha, is Marcellina.
On weekends, Nave sometimes throws on heavy metal armor, carries a steel sword and fights with others who have the same affinity for the romanticism of the Middle Ages. Instead of holiday dinner parties, they feast, Marsha donning a dress of authentic medieval design and cooking in an open, wood-fired pit.
“In many ways it was a much more civilized time,” said Nave, a Kansas City, Kan., property inspector.
“Yes, there was hand-to-hand combat. But there was chivalry and law; people respected each other.”
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8:38 am - Mad Moody's command works with dieting: Constant vigilance!
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Well, Lent has provided a good wake-up call. I got on the scales for the first time and don't like what I see. Coupled with this article from the Washington Post that says "low-fat, low-carb or high-protein? The kind of diet doesn't matter, scientists say. All that really counts is cutting calories and sticking with it, according to a federal study that followed people for two years. However, participants had trouble staying with a single approach that long and the weight loss was modest for most."
I know how this happened - getting up early to do the website and then not exercising, eating more sugary cakes and drinking Coke, and other habits that are bad - but the end result is that I'm 10 lbs heavier than I was 2 years ago at Mom's funeral (A convenient marker since I weighed myself regularly back then) and it's time to get on the ball.
This doesn't mean suddenly banning cake and cupcakes, chocolate, etc from my diet -- it means just upping more exercise (something I actually enjoy) and cutting out the second or third Coke, and drinking more water.
It means being watchful, something I've let slip. Since I know that my cholestoral goes up when I'm overweight, it means being healthy as well.
So, Lent is now working and I'm aware of the problem. Now to work on it.
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Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
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5:41 pm - If not one, then another
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This morning fixed the I-Phone. This meant getting a new one. Cool, that's ready for the convention.
Then the front half of the back right molar broke off. Tomorrow I have an emergency appointment with my dentist.
So far it doesn't hurt, but it does feel like I have the grand canyon back there.
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Sunday, February 8th, 2009
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8:25 pm - Pride and Prejudice
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Well, after decades of avoiding Jane Austin, I have to read this for a work assignment. I'll put a link to that if when I write it - if I write it.
What is really clear to me is the difficulty that people have adapting it to film. It's all done with dialogue so filmmakers have to provide all the visuals and fill in the skipped conversations. No wonder it's a task.
And the book is putting me to sleep.
Okay, Austin fans don't jump me -- I'm doing my best. It's better than Northanger Abbey which I only got thru the first 20 pages. I'll finish this. I have admit though I prefer Georgette Heyer so far.
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Saturday, February 7th, 2009
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10:51 am - Scurrying about
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So far, Saturday is a winner. It's supposed to hit the low 50s today. Tomorrow - 60 degrees. For February, that's GOOD.
I finally got my hair cut, I got my favorite Chai - and found they were selling it at the Barnes & Noble so I bought a box. C.J. Cherryh has a new book out that I might pick up.
We've reconfigured the schedules at work so I no longer have to be up at 6:30 a.m.! I have to stay later, but I was doing that already. My foreign reporter (now on the way to Afghanistan) scored Dad's Xmas ornament so he basks in my good will for the moment.
Best of all -- I learned how to turn off the Skype so it no longer opens when I log on! Life is very good right now.
So now, it's off to the bakery, then to the homestead for the day.
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
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9:16 am - Sinking in defeat
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I have put an ethernet cord on my wireless printer. But at least it prints. It never wanted to do it wirelessly.
Life is like that in electronics....
TGIF!
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Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
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7:10 pm - "Defiance"
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Okay, the main reason I went to see "Defiance" was Daniel Craig. The secondary reason was that I had read one of the Bielski brothers' obits back in the mid-1990s during my WW2 period of writing, and was taken with the story.
Defiance is about a Jewish family, the 4 brothers Bielski, who fight against the Nazis starting in 1941. Basically, the Germans and their collaborators, wipe out the Jewish communities in Byelorussia - the Bielski parents are killed, the sons flee to the woods, and set up a community for escaping Jews. Out of 1200 who made it there, only 50 ever died.
The movie's based on a true story, and gently massaged Hollywood-style, but still it's a flick that stays with you. All the performances are great even if the women don't have much to do in it.
One of the outstanding elements is the cinematography which was shot in the woods of Lithuania. Now there is real untouched beauty.
So, I recommend this movie for those who want a serious gritty WW2 flick with lots of violence, brutality and courage.
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Monday, February 2nd, 2009
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7:44 pm - Whee! An Internet connection
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The new modem comes tomorrow. I hope.
Otherwise all I can do is surf the web on other people's free Internet because I don't want to put any passwords in.
The new 42" tv arrived today (late) but in the meantime I cleaned: the fridge. the closet. many other things. tossed out old sneakers. Twist-tied wires.
I even dusted. Man, very productive -- and suddenly had time to do this because I wasn't surfing the web.
Something to think about.
But in the meantime - bring on that modem!
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Saturday, January 31st, 2009
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3:53 pm - Patience
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After about six hours on two days, and an hour with Doug going through the Apple, the final result is that my ancient modem has finally fried itself.
Verizon will send me one to arrive on Tuesday (I hope.) Until then I have very little Internet access.
Not happy but it's not the wireless router or the computer, so one has to be patient.
See ya next week!
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