Archive for March, 2007

Sorry I missed celebrating this

Tuesday, March 20th, 2007

It was the 70th anniversary of H. P. Lovecraft’s death the other day.

His stories (and others of that ilk) are what I read when I want to read horror. I don’t like gorefests, and something about the creepiness he invokes resonates with me. It’s about time to read/re-read some of it … I’ll have to see what I have from Whispers Press.

New linkage

Tuesday, March 20th, 2007

I’ve added some new music links to the blogroll.

First, there’s The Walrus Speaks, a music blog with video and audio. The author is a left-wing Hindu, but he’s got pretty good taste in music, as far as I’ve seen so far. I can’t get the audio-only player working in Safari, but have no trouble with Firefox.

Next is Senses Working Overtime. This one has music reviews and links to other music sites, including the Why Fidelity podcasts.

For ukulele fans, we have this site, home of the Big Muffin Serious Band and the Serious Ukulele Ensemble. Lots of lyrics and chords, some tablature. More at Ukulele Beatles Fun!.

Finally, in honor of the recent St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve added Ceolas and the Irish Song Lyrics site.

I bet they slap him harder than Sandy Berger

Monday, March 19th, 2007

Philadelphia man steals documents from National Archives and sells them on eBay.

Mind over matter

Monday, March 19th, 2007

This would be a good thing, if we weren’t raising a generation with the attention span of gerbils on methamphetamines.

This is so totally cool …

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Well, actually, it’s hot. About 200 million degrees. You know, I can remember growing crystals of various types as a science project when I was in school – nuclear fusion was not an option.

Of course, the article’s title misled me – when I see “Radioactive Boy Scout,” I think of David Hahn.

Not to mention that winning a science fair was never this lucrative when I was a boy. My question about this story, though, is this: is it really the 66th year of the Intel Science Talent Search?

I could go for this

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Tesco is apparently coming to Denver. I hope they include a section for imported items from England; every now and then I get a craving for the food I remember from my childhood: Cornish pasties, steak & kidney pie, Ribena, bangers, pork pies, and the like.

Sometimes, I can take care of it myself. I haven’t done it recently, but I used to make steak & kidney pie once or twice a year, and I have some friends who requested a standing invitation for anytime I made it. My daughter starts drooling if I mention that I might make Yorkshire pudding.

There’s a place over on Havana called The English Teacup. They sell imported food items and some souvenirs and household goods, or, at least, they used to. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been by.

It used to be owned by a woman named Jeanne (I don’t remember her last name), but she sold it to a younger couple several years ago. My mother used to go there regularly – it was amusing to hear her native accent reassert itself almost the moment she stepped through the door.

In any case, I hope that at least one Tesco in the Denver area is convenient to me. Then again, I don’t know how convenient it has to be – my daughter and I seriously contemplated driving to Amarillo, Texas just to get some barbecue (from Dyer’s – winner of the Texas Sesquicentennial Barbeque competition). We never did make the trip just on its own, but we did combine it with a trip to San Antonio. Good eatin’. Have to do it again, sometime.

You can make the case for American ingenuity

Friday, March 16th, 2007

… but I think whoever came up with this is just lazy.

Then again, maybe it would keep the cat from unrolling it all.

I didn’t see a white sportcoat

Friday, March 16th, 2007

… but there are plenty of pink crustaceans.

Sounds like overkill

Friday, March 16th, 2007

The German edition of PC World is giving away a high-end PC that they’ve put together. It will be awarded by random drawing, and while I’m certain that gamers (among others) will drool over it, I doubt it would be immediately usable here … besides the different electrical power specifications, the plugs would be all wrong.

Still, one can dream.

Warming up

Friday, March 16th, 2007

There was still a little snow in my back yard this morning. I expect it to be gone by the time I get home tonight, which will mean it’s the first time since December 22nd that there’s been no snow on the ground.

My spring crocuses in front have started to blossom, and the remainder of the bulbs are showing. I think I’ll like spring this year.