November 30th, 2007 ryan
I tap dance down the sewer works and to my surprise, find a clean and primped sock monkey. Only not always so clean, often not primped.
As is the fashion of the day, I meander backwards in time through a site I frequent, occasionally an article or illustration striking as amusing as it surely did for everyone else upon it’s original posting.
The site being bearskinrug, a fine collection of the creative works of one Kevin Cornell, and the article being “The Draft” in which our narrator recounts a tale of driving and the emotional perils of perspective therein. Enjoy.
(from bearskinrug.co.uk)
Posted in Utterance | No Comments »
November 29th, 2007 ryan
Clams.
The delicious, slightly briny sometimes unsettlingly sandy bi-valves that beg to be consumed alongside their steamed, fried, or otherwise well-prepared brethren. I wasn’t leaving that crazy commonwealth until I had chowder digesting within me.
(from 11.24.07)
After chowdah came my first experience with “steamahs” here, which had freakin’ tablecloths. Apparently Lando gave the establishment his endorsement so who was I to complain. They smelt a bit like the elephant cage at the zoo but tasted just fine. NOTE: I didn’t use that infernal lemon. Stupid lemons.
Point of interest, didn’t Empire come out something like 27 years ago? How recently did Mr. Billy Dee happen to have a portrait of himself in such garb?
Lastly, mere hours prior to my departure, I had to go all out.
(from 11.24.07)
Clams, shrimp, scallops, crab cakes, smelts, and some sort of white fish. All deep fried to perfection. I haven’t eaten anything even resembling fast food in months so after this debauchery I felt coated knave to chops in a fishy, vaguely salty oil. Good stuff.
Posted in Boston, POTD, Sustenance, Travel | 1 Comment »
November 29th, 2007 ryan
Had to pick up the Dirwoodgable from the place of boarding upon return from Bahston. So this is actually from the 25th of this month.
Not a happy camper.
Pictured right is a quick cell shot of his Report Card. You see, there are ratings for how much food he eats, his waste, his personality, and the like. The not-so-subtle 4 you see refers to his post play time demeanor. The scale goes from 1 to 4, the latter being the lowest at “Poor.”
At least it wasn’t a 5.
Posted in Dirwoodgable, POTD | No Comments »
November 27th, 2007 ryan
No, that’s not creepy. Not at all.
Posted in POTD | 1 Comment »
November 26th, 2007 ryan
If only.
(from bearskinrug.co.uk)
It was with mental floaties tightly fastened that I boarded my Thursday morning flight, for it was Thanksgiving and I was about to plunge deeply completely* into the waters of the kiddie pool that was my father’s side of the family. Not that this can at all be considered a bad thing. As a self-proclaimed uber introvert whose extended family was seen on average .5 times a year growing up I’ve never really been used to all that said madness entails. There are times, though confusing, that I outright enjoy it.
In years past we’d done a Christmas here, a Thanksgiving there. Heck, last year I finally attended the legendary Christmas Eve get-together with the in laws which I may have mentioned in an electronic utterance somewhere and followed up within 24 hours donning what are decidedly easy to refer to as “moose pants.” While not overcome in the sweep of voluntary hysteria that is The Holidays I can get behind an event that involves gallons of boiling oil, propane, and an ill fated bird.
Also of note, my aunt who is gracious enough to host “Disfunction Junction” from time to time is an excellent cook. I consumed no less than the meat of three different animals, 5 vegetables, and as many cakes and pies. Her soups are the standard by which all other soups are set to and woe unto He Who Complains, for He Shall Be Doomed with suffering not just Wrath, but Wrath served hot and cold over several aggressive courses. Of goodness.
Also… the mushrooms. My lord the mushrooms.
I’d wax critical of how… American the celebration of this holiday is as it’s mainly, you know, eating – and in America, but any excuse to realize how spoiled most of us are while tolerating our collective flesh and blood is a noble one in my book. Perhaps I’m just easy to please.
Besides, I like New England. I had fun, and there’s always Christmas around the corner to facilitate my calamitous oratory. I hope that most of us in this quadrant of the globe were able to realize that we are among the most fortunate wankers anywhere lucky to have even a burned bit of poultry to call our own.
—
I even managed a bit of sight-seeing, of which there is plenty to do out in Hahvahd Yahd.
I’ll comment later on the glory that is the fine cuisine of the sea, our friendly bi-valve neighbor the clam.
*yeah, deeply and kiddie pool really don’t jive do they
Posted in Boston, So one time..., Sustenance, Travel | 1 Comment »
November 21st, 2007 ryan
“Have you packed Mr. Muggles’ doggie bath yet?”
I’m not a huge TV person in as much as I associate each night of the week with a new airing of a show, nor am I one that watches anything not taped (well, DVR’d) beforehand. I admit there is a lot of programming out there I think is good (big fan of Dirty Jobs) but it takes quite a lot to impress me to the point where I will set aside time to actively follow a show as it airs.
I came to the Heroes party pretty late in the game, holding out for the DVD release of the first season in order to watch it through, sporting my beloved sub-titles, and more importantly so that the plot flowed as a river and not as say, Bishop’s lifeblood, spurting here and there all improperly out of order. I spent the vigil diligently avoiding spoilers, my commitment paying off in time for season 2 which I have been fortunate enough to see now as a well-informed fan.
I could point out that the series is immensely popular, wildly successful, and an entire entity all on it’s own but I’d prefer to simply state that it keeps me coming back, eagerly anticipating both the delivery and outcome of the events of the characters’ experiences.
The show’s presence beyond that of it’s broadcast is not to be ignored as fans in our infocentric world now have access to aspects of the show’s existence which border on excess. Greg Beeman, director/producer, maintains a blog which is easily comparable to insta-ready DVD extras which I consider the light side of the force as opposed to the dark of the countless interweb forums.
Consider this post my endorsement. I’d label myself a bit of a purist when it comes to fandom so if you aren’t already following I’d advise going the DVD route and naturally avoiding plot spoilers.
—–
To my unending amusement there was a reference to slusho recently [ spoilers herein ----> ] posted in the aforementioned blog, which is in turn a reference to the ARGish J.J. Abrams project/movie code-named Cloverfield.
Nerdy internet convergence, let me embrace you.
Posted in Nerd, TV | No Comments »
November 19th, 2007 ryan
I recently made the change to full grown crickets (50ct = $3.48 with tax) for my firebelly toads.
(here are three of the six. the green one is a female and of a different species than the others)
These guys went from a tank with a volume of 120 gallons to that with less than 20 following my most recent move. It’s a temporary housing solution that turns their world into a gladiatorial buffet for the duration of each feeding. They attack on site anything moving, including each other.
I haven’t yet had to pry loose any tiny amphibian maws from any tiny amphibian limbs but that day can’t be too far off.
On average I have had at least two animals that consume crickets for the last 10 years, generally purchasing about 25 crickets a week – though at one point I was at well over 300.
10* 52 * 25 = 13000
Each cricket usually costs 7-10 cents, so a very rough estimate puts my spending anywhere between 1 and 2 thousand dollars on crickets alone.
I’d be more interested to calculate their combined volume in cubic feet.
Posted in Animalia, Bombina, POTD | No Comments »
November 18th, 2007 ryan
Real men winter their lilies.
(not pictured: three more layers of the same)
Finally got around to separating the massive root ball that was my itinerate Cana Lily. It’s survived three moves in so many years and this is the first time I’ve actually gone through the process of wintering it’s under-dirt bits and pieces. Prior to this season (post move from CA) it spent about 3 months forgotten in a garbage bag in a basement, slowly oozing forth white stalks of spite.
Can’t seem to locate any pictures of the thing at it’s 6 feet of glory, but it was home to many a frog when I was out in southern California.
Hopefully the layer cake of roots and bulbish rhizomes will winter well so it can go back to being an indomitable force of towering orange goodness.
Posted in Horticulture, Mundane, POTD | No Comments »
November 16th, 2007 ryan
or a witch’s exposed mammary.
or a stone.
or a corpse.
You get the idea, but I prefer to use the term ‘bastard’ as much as possible. That way when someone says “you shouldn’t say bastard so much” I am entitled to expounding on the accuracy of the term. Entitled!
Only 29F (-2C) and I think this is the first frost Chicago has seen this year… and its mid-November. The trees should be bare, they aren’t, and it would be prudent to find my scarf.
Posted in Mundane, POTD | No Comments »
November 15th, 2007 ryan
Completely slipped my mind to bring the lust yesterday.
Lust as a one-eyed monster. With Teeth.
Clever.
Taken on Adams, Wacker intersection perhaps. I’ll edit this when I figure it out. USPS priority mail stickers are among my favorite forms of graffiti.
Posted in Chicago, POTD, Sticker Art | No Comments »
