A meme for a dull sunday

Because it's very dull to not only work on the weekends, but because watching an acrylamide gel stain and destain is the equivalent of paint drying...I give you my monthly what is up over here meme to fill in a bit of time:

Current clothes: Lime green tshirt, black specs, jeans, blue fuzzy socks and boots. My underwear colour is none of your concern.

Current mood: Bored. I've done a lot of work this weekend, which is good, but I'm in the final stretch of things that is a lot of doing and waiting...and I'm not very good at amusing myself.

Current music: Endangered Species - Nickodemus. Great CD. I recommend it. I dare you to listen to it without dancing or at least tapping your foot to one of the songs. This guy is good.

Current annoyance: This weekend work thing. I volunteered, as we're behind from the strike and I do get paid for it...I'd just rather be at home. J took me out for lunch which was nice, but I'm still stuck here for another hour or so. Boo.

Current thing: Marvelling at the normality of everything. It's been rush rush crazy wierd and now all of a sudden it's all back to slow normal. I don't quite know what to do about it. It's nice...it's just been so long since I've thought "I'm bored" I don't quite know what to do about it.

Current desktop picture: A picture of minimoose and a gift.

Current book: Just starting the Golden Compass.

Current song in head: Funky in the Middle - Nickodemus.

Current DVD in player: Logan's Run. I picked it up a while back in the $5 bin and got around to watching it last night. I remember it being way cooler when I was small. It suffers from 1970s dear-god-this-is-painfully-slow-in-the-middle-itis, but effects and ideas? Still cool. And it has a rambling old man with cats and a space pod city blowing up at the end, so it ain't all bad..

Current refreshment: Cool. Clear. Water.

Current worry: Will the gels I run work out so I don't have to come in and do more overtime. I hope so. I'd so like to be done this project...

Current thought: I wonder if the hospital cafeteria is open...I could use a cup of coffee.

MOUSE

J's Dad bought up a bunch of old Radio Enthusiast, TV Repair and Popular Science type magazines at an auction that are from the late 1930s up to the late 60s. Reading through them has been great...just seeing the whole attitudes towards science and technology back then...It was so completely different. And reading about the wondrous technology of radio tubes and the future coming of satellites is marvellous. I feel like I should wear a flapper dress and be smoking a cigarello or something...
The most interesting article so far was from a 1956 article talking about something I'd never heard of. At a time, a few months before sputnik went up in to the air, there was an article about the US's upcoming planned first satellite: the MOUSE (m-something orbital unmanned satellite earth) .The article had spec drawings and wild speculations about the future use of satellites in our lives. Some were spot on, like weather mapping and communications...but there was a whole sense of mild disbelief and wonder about it all...as though it was just too futuristic. I'm a bit disappointed I can't find references to it online. It was the first mention I'd ever seen about it...I've looked online and I can't find anything about it...I guess Sputnik really put an end to it.
There's also interesting things to read about that time in history. President Eisenhower made a lot of comments about the possible errors of the future that are coming true...comments about being wary of feeding too much power to the Industrial Military Complex and how the US should not make it their policy to inflict peace about the world...that it was not their role.
How times have changed.

I am thinking about all this as I'm stuck working this weekend to finish up an overdue project. It's behind from being on strike, and the extra $$ will perhaps go towards buying my very own satellite that I've always wanted. I believe I will have to come up with some catchy name for it before I launch it off...any suggestions?

Friday Favorites - My Life In the Bush Of Ghosts

Holy freaking cow.



this album
What can I even begin to say about this album. It was made in 1979. NINETEEN SEVENTY NINE PEOPLE!
And know what?
It sounds BETTER than most of the electronic music I listen to now...it's as though Brian Eno and David Byrne said "hey! this is what electronic ambient music with ethnic influences will sound like in 25 years...lets make it early." It is one of the albums that inspired the Orb to form and do their thing.

This album is one I've just heard.
And seriously...instant favorite. I have a love of Brian Eno...all he touches turns to gold, and some of his solo stuff is brilliant.
This album however exceeds all manner of good things and simply must be heard. It is some of the first occurrences of sampling. They took vocal clips from various places and synced them up with music. Amazing percussion...and altho quite experimental, very good. It is the music I love NOW...only from 25 years ago. Track 2 is my favourite. The releleased version has a few tracks that are rather experimental added on, but the insert that comes with it is full of a lot of information about the album being made and how they came to decide to do this kind of music...which in 1979 was just not done really. It took them a while before they could actually release the album in the early 80s because they had to get all the copyright releases from all the samples as people were a bit leery...as it just wasn't done back then. And they did it all with analog tech and tape loops. Perhaps that is what amazes me so much about this album...it's like it is out of time...and better in production quality and originality than a lot of electronic stuff produced now.

Get Mr. Eno and Mr. Talking Heads together...and wow.
They have warped my fragile little mind!

Busy

Too much to bloody do here in the lab.
If I can figure out how to get work done for 5 people all at once I will win a prize!
Albeit the prize is more work...but hey. You go with what you can get...

Sweeny Todd

OH...and by the way...go see Sweeny Todd.
It's Tim Burtony and full of great acting and it's a musical...that's rated R for gore and violence. That doesn't happen often kiddies. The music (with a few exceptions) should've been Mr. Elfman...but I guess when you start with a musical already written you go with what is there. Too bad - I bet he'd have done better. I love musicals so it was an extra morbid treat for me...the scene of them on a beach in turn of the century swimwear and the song about who to turn into pies first were my favorite bits.

The K stands for Kwality

Garmin - you suck.
I was all excited over the coolness of this doohicky - a watch with backlit display and dual time/alarm, combined with a GPS, pedometer, heart rate monitor, calories, speed, pace and lap time tracker that automatically updates your run data to your computer as soon as you are near it. It even has cool touch controls and comes in 2 colours. Sounded fantastic - as I need a new watch soon and I've been looking into a doohicky to do all these other things for me (well pedometer and heart rate anyways) for running in the spring..."Wow, Only $320" I thought. "I could save up for that and use it well".

BUT the more I looked into it, Garmin played the increasingly prevalent "some conditions apply, some accessories required" card. Turns out the heart rate monitor and strap you need to ad to the watch to make it work is ~$80 and the pedometer you mount on your shoe is another $115...and there are varying levels of software that go with the watch to log and download your run data in your computer...most of which are ~$50 to do any geeky analysis of it.
Bastards.

I was honestly excited about a useful doohicky...that doesn't happen much to me anymore. And now? Well I can't honestly justify over $500 on a fitness watch...when the base watch without accessories does nearly all my current watch does (but doesn't look as cool). I suppose I'll have to get back at looking at a boring strap on heart rate/pedometer thingy.

I just can't help feeling like I am 6 years old, I opened my gift from Santa and it has socks inside.
And I have to pee.
Blast it...

Cool clear water

Keep a movin' Dan
Don't you listen to him Dan'
He's a devil of a man
and he's filled the burning sands with water (water)
Dan can't you see that big green tree
Where the water's running free
and it's waiting there for you and meeee?
That water?
Cool. Clear. Water. (water)

My dad had some OLD stuff on vinyl when I was a kid...some 88s and such and one of them was by Hank Snow, who sang old westernish ballads (not cheesy ones). A song I'll always remember was the song I quoted above about people lost in the desert dreaming about water, called (oh so appropriately) Cool Water.
To this day, it pops in my head uninvited whenever I focus on drinking more water....as I am at the moment.
Over Christmas (well pretty much all December after the striking ended actually) I did bugger all for exercise, ate whatever I pleased and was a total vegetable. It was nice...but I found I got sluggish and my stomach was not into eating unhealthy fatty foods anymore (heartburn...bleah...I never get heartburn anymore). And after holidays, where all manner of deliciousness was all around me I didn't eat everything I saw...but I sure made a dent in it.
Consequently, I am rather less in shape than I was a month ago. I don't like it. Not for appearances (don't look too much different really) but I have no muscle tone, strength is diminished and it wasn't until I worked out yesterday for the first time since last year I realised just how much BETTER I feel when I do...and that I need to get at it.
I also need to drink more water.
Cool. Clear. Water.
(water)
I've gotten used to drinking whatever is closest to my body...over the holidays that meant wine, eggnog and such (woot) but now it means coffee. I realised yesterday I drank no less than 6 cups of coffee yesterday. SIX! That's WAY too much. And water? None. At all. Sure I had some juice for breakfast and a healthy lunch and supper, but no water...nada. This is not good.
And so my resolution for January is to drink 5 glasses of water a day.

Let the pee breaks begin!

If you play defender I could be your hyperspace

"Now let me get some action from the back section
We need body rockin' not perfection
Let your back bone flip but don't slip a disc
And let your spine unwind just take a risk
I wanna' do the freak until the break of dawn
Tell me party people is that so wrong
The ship is docking inter-lockin
And up-rockin' electro-shocking
We're getting down computer action
Do the robotic satisfaction
Now all of y'all ah get off the wall
Have a ball and get involved with

Body movin' body movin'
A1 sound' sound so soothing
Body movin' body movin'
We be getting down and you know we're crush groovin'

Flame on, I'm gone
I'm so sweet like a nice bon bon
Came out rapping when I was born
Mom said rock it 'til the break of dawn
Puttin bodies in motion 'cause I got the notion
Well like Roy Cormier with the coconut lotion
The sound of the music makin' you insane
You can't explain to people this type of mind frame
And like a bottle of Chateau Neuf Du Pap
I'm fine like wine when I start to rap
We need body rockin' not perfection
Let me get some action from the back section

Body movin' body movin'
A1 sound' sound so soothing
Body movin' body movin'
We be getting down and you know we're crush groovin'

Mike D with the master plan
I said ooh my my and thank you ma'am
And when I grab the mic you scream ooh, goddamn
The creme de la creme is who I am
MCA where have you been
Packed like sardines in the tin..tin
So kick off your shoes and put on your swim fins
'Cause when it comes to quarries I'm known to swim
And Adrock light up the place
And if you pull my card you pull the ace
And if you ask me turn up the bass
And if you play defender I could be your hyper space so

Body movin' body movin'
A1 sound' sound so soothing
Body movin' body movin'
We be getting down and you know we're crush groovin'

Mee hee.
Had this song in my head when I woke up...and it fits my day.
I worked out today for the first time since before christmas insanity began...man do I feel great! Perhaps it's part of getting back to it all...:)

Blah Vol. 7

Blah blah blah...it's cold out...blah blah, something about cheese, blah blah blah, I need a nap, blah blah blah, erm...hey. Look at the needle move up and down when I talk! Pah! Pah! Buh! Bel Biv Devoh!
Hmmm...is this thing on?

*cough*

Riiiiiiiicoollaaaaaaaaaaaah!

*insert shuffly monkey dancing here *

*ahem*
Um...yeah.

Soooo, sorry about the lack of blogging as of late. Perhaps it's the back to work blahs, but I really can't seem to sit down and do it at the moment...sorry. Every post I start seems silly and dull and I've deleted I don't know how many of them in the quest of "the next big thing".

All I can think about is how I'd love another week off...AND that I'd like to sit and read the Golden Compass in it's entirety without my coworkers telling me all about how their kids "just loved it", and *insert major plot revelation here* was so amazing, with little nudges of how I should have children so I can share the joy of it with them. Grrrr. Yes it's a kids book. What of it? Just because your inner child is sedated...

Hmmmm...I'm getting snarky. More than a bit.
Best be off to the lab break room for a gallon of coffee and a lobotomy then.
Back later when I'm in more of a "butterflies, zebras and moonbeams" sort of mood.

Cheerio my good peeps.

Toasty

It's above zero today...and will be tommorrow!
So nice to come out of hibernation for a bit before th ebig long freeze.

Hippy New Year

You know it's wierd -I was away at a winter camp for New Years in the woods with lots of wonderful people, eating amazing food from a chef of the gods, learning cool things like contact juggling and firespinning, dancing all night to great music and meeting new and old friends in the wilderness and generally refilling my brain again...and I find I have nothing concrete to write about my time there since I've gotten back. It all seems so mundane to try and describe my holiday. It wasn't earth shattering or orgasmic or some sort of epiphany or anything...it's just as tho I can't really describe it and you all don't really need to know (or care? :P ) about the many details of my New Year's time away with my friends at Maskepetoon.

So to fill the gaps, here are some random key words from experiences of the weekend. I am curious if these words will invoke as much strange appreciation and joy in you as the times, words and experiences did in me the past week...

(ahem)

Ghastly, McGuffins, portal, poi, bodyrolling, smoking fireplaces, fairylights, ice lanterns, curried shortbread, glwoing crystalline altars, blinking, wattage, too many jiggawatts, glacial rebound, wedded bliss, pumpkin pie shooters, frozen lakes, northern lights, inquisitive coyote fur, fuzzy wristicuffs, Charlotte's web, discoball hammock, celtic myths, vision quest, dogs fetching and losing giant sticks, moroccan mint tea, palming a deck of cards, saffron rice pudding, endless hugs and relaxing from the inside out.

So...um...yeah...that's my New Year's in nutshell. I've a few resultions to come, but that's all that's coming out right now.
Hope you are all well and this new year is as intriguing to you as it is to me.