June 30, 2003
Did You Do Anything Else On The Weekend?
Well, yes actually. While working on Paul's blog theme, I watched a lot of Changing Rooms. We've been trying to catch up, which isn't easy as BBCA's schedule is like something created by a monkey on drugs. I love Changing Rooms! In fact, I have a bunch to watch that I taped today while at work. And tomorrow it's on most the day, which means series 12 should be pretty much all taped.
We also watched a PPV movie -- "Two Weeks Notice" . It wasn't too bad. Hugh Grant seemed to be playing a modern Bertie Wooster though. and then, while flipping channels at midnight, I came across "Tipping the Velvet" on BBCA. Damn strange miniseries! Sort of a Lesbian Charles Dickens thing. I actually have no idea how to describe it actually. The camera work was very weird, like what they do on Keene Eddie, or on a music video. A little odd in a period drama.
Last thing I watched last night was my DVD of "Elizabeth". Damn fine movie! Cate Blanchette should have gotten that Academy Award. Elizabeth I has been a heroine of mine since childhood, and I really enjoyed this movie. Until CB's performance, I'd always thought the ultimate Elizabeth performance was Glenda Jackson in the 70's BBC miniseries.
Other things I got done were laundry, vacating, and general cleaning. Exciting, no?
June 29, 2003
Wine Rec
My brother picked up a nice merlot the other week. It's a nice light sort of wine from Argentina. It's called Falling Star Merlot
June 28, 2003
Aragorn's Eyes
Nin did a very nice blog template test with a bit from the pic below.
June 27, 2003
Aragorn!
The RotK teaser poster is out! If you follow the link, you can also get it in wallpaper format. Guess what's on my 'puter?
June 26, 2003
Want a Book?
This is a very cool website with a whole different way of finding a book.
Good time waster too.
June 25, 2003
Women Deserve Better
I rarely post anything on the subject of abortion, because it's an intensely personal topic that I rarely feel up to the task of discussing in a written forum. However, I did want to post a link to this article, by one of my NRO favourites, Kathryn Jean Lopez. I was sent the article by "Feminists For Life", a group I have a great deal of respect for.
I won't post any excerpts here. It's one of those things you'll want to read or not.
I Love This Sort Of Stuff
Scientists shatter Anglo-Saxon
THE first analysis of DNA passed from father to son across the UK has shattered the Anglocentric view of early British history, it emerged yesterday.For decades, historians have believed that successive waves of invaders, such as the Anglo-Saxons, drove out the indigenous population of the British Isles, labelled Celts, pushing them to the fringes of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
However, work by a team of scientists on the Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son, has shown the native tribes left their genetic stamp throughout the UK and not only in the "Celtic fringe".
The evidence suggests that Anglo-Saxons tend to dominate British history merely because they kept better written records than their indigenous counterparts.
A large number of native people remained in England and central Ireland and were never entirely replaced by the invaders, often surviving in high proportions throughout the British Isles, according to the research by Professor David Goldstein, Dr Jim Wilson, and a team of experts at University College London.
Go read it all.
June 24, 2003
Lots of Kewl
This site not only has an intersting blog, but wonderful art, photography, Lord of the Rings things, all sorts of neat stuff. So make sure you click through all the links.
Quote For The Day
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
~ George Carlin
(and go to Michael Moore's place instead ~ Me)
June 23, 2003
My Bad!
Just realized I never put up a link to the pics and Nin's trip report! The only trip report I ever did was a musical one, and that can be found here. Oh, wait, I did do a little one.
Nin's Trip Report Here
Trip Pics Here
June 22, 2003
What To Do?
It's 8pm and I'm bored. I've done all my laundry, I've watched the rest of my season 2 SG1 DVDs, so now what?
Should I watch Fellowship of the Ring for the umpteenth time? Should I help Andrea kill the internet somemore? Or wait till 9pm when L&O Criminal intent is on since I haven't seen it? Or watch more SG1? Heck, I suppose I could even [gasp] read a book!
Bored now [sigh] To think, this time last week we were just getting home from vacation!
Rowling an Inkling?
Offered as an item of interest to you Potter fans:
J. K. Rowling is an Inkling. That's the well-argued thesis of John Granger's fine book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter. Granger demonstrates the absurdity of the claim that Harry Potter is anti-Christian. And even if you've never worried about charges brought by misguided fundamentalists, The Hidden Key will substantially augment your understanding of what's really at stake in Harry's adventures.The Inklings were originally a group of Oxford dons who wrote Christian fiction. The most famous of them are J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series never mention Christianity overtly, and in Tolkien's books, religion itself is absent from the plot. Yet these mythopoeic books aim to "baptize the imagination" of the reader — to teach her the importance of fighting for the right, no matter how powerful the forces of evil may appear.
Rowling has confessed herself to be a great fan of C. S. Lewis, her use of "J. R." for her byline evokes "J. R. R." Tolkien, and she is a member of the Church of Scotland (that's Presbyterian, for American readers).
The rest of the article here.
June 21, 2003
Red Mars
Good book!
Producer Gale Ann Hurd (Hulk, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) has signed a deal with the SCI FI Channel to produce the six-hour miniseries, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. The announcement closely follows another high-profile deal made recently by the SCI FI Channel with filmmakers Dean Devlin (Independence Day, Stargate) and Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2) to develop The Triangle, an eight-hour miniseries centered around the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle.Based on Robinson's best-selling novel of the same name, Red Mars chronicles the epic adventure of the first hundred colonists on Mars and their perilous mission to create a new world. Author Robinson, a member of NASA's Mars Committee, will consult on the project, which will be written by Gregory Widen (Highlander, Backdraft). Currently in development, the project is slated to air in late 2004.
Indy IV Script Is Done
Harrison Ford told SCI FI Wire that Frank Darabont has completed his script for a proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie. "Steven [Spielberg]'s quite happy with it," Ford said in an interview. "I'm expecting to see it in a couple of weeks."
Ford added that he worked closely with director Spielberg, Darabont and executive producer George Lucas on the story. "The way the process works is that George and Frank work together, then Steven gets the script, then I get the script, and we all work together. We all met together and talked about it before they started writing."
Ford said that he remains eager to reprise his most famous role because of fans' demands for a fourth installment in the franchise. "It pleases me to play a character that audiences want to see," he said. "I know that it's eagerly anticipated, and I want us to do a good job, make a film at least as good as the ones we've made before." The fourth as-yet-untitled Indy movie is slated to begin filming in the summer of 2004, with an eye to a July 2005 release.
Cider
A real love. He can never be petted and hugged enough. He's also the 'talker' of the brood. He'd been a stray we saw off and on over a period of time, though we didn't know he was a stray then. When he started hanging around the house, we realized he needed a home.
Tuppence
My eternal kitten, even at 12. He's a Siamese Manx with lovley blue eyes and he's very small.
Some of the Brood
This is Pippin (the tabby) and Kang. Kang is 15 and was a feral kitten that showed up on my doorstep one rainy night long ago. Pippin is about two, and one of three of a litter that we rescued over a few months. *those are Tuppence's toes in the corner)
Fragile Balance
Last night's SG1 was really good, except it was almost a whole hour with NO JACK!! Well, no RDA as Jack I guess would be more correct.
I'm hearing all sorts of rumours that there will be very little Jack this season, and it's being turned into the Daniel show. Damn it!
Am I?
The only person in the world who hasn't read a single word of Harry Potter. or seen the moives?
Update: Geeez! I guess I am... Heck, if even Steven has watched the movie, and is thinking of reading the books... What's a girl to do?
June 20, 2003
Scotland in the Americas
Another kewl link via Ghost of a Flea. This time, about a project called "The Darien Venture"
Scotland at the end of the Seventeenth Century was in a state of crisis. Decades of warfare had combined with seven years of famine to drive people from their homesteads and choke the cities with homeless vagrants, starving to death in the streets. The nation's trade had been crippled by England's continual wars against continental Europe, and its home-grown industries were withering on the vine. Something had to be done. Some way had to be found to revive Scotland's economic fortunes before it got swallowed up by its much richer neighbour south of the border.The man who came up with the answer was a financial adventurer called William Paterson, a Scot who had made his name down south as one of the founding directors of the Bank of England. Paterson returned to Edinburgh with an audacious scheme to turn Scotland into the major broker of trade across the Pacific Ocean. Whilst in London, he had met a sailor called Lionel Wafer, who had told him about a wonderful paradise on the Isthmus of Panama, with a sheltered bay, friendly Indians and rich, fertile land - a place called Darien.
Paterson had immediately seen the potential of Darien as the location of a trading colony. Trade with the incredibly lucrative Pacific markets was a hugely expensive business, since all merchant ships had to make the hazardous trip round Cape Horn on the southern tip of South America. This added months to the journey, and the ships involved had a high chance of being lost at sea. If a colony could be established at Darien, goods could be ferried from the Pacific across Panama and loaded onto ships in the Atlantic from there, speeding up Pacific trade and making it much more reliable. Moreover, the Scottish directors of the Darien Venture could charge a nice fat commission for the privilege. Never mind that the Spanish claimed control of that part of Panama: no-one ever made a profit without stepping on some toes.
Read it all.
OLOTRP
(Obligatory Lord of the Rings Post)
(via Ghost of a Flea)
LOTR makes another mint at the bank
15 June 2003
By MATTHEW LOWE
A set of coins featuring designs from The Lord of the Rings films will become legal tender this year.
The currency has been commissioned by New Zealand Post to coincide with the release of the final part of Peter Jackson's movie trilogy, The Return of the King, in December.
Officials are deciding which famous characters from the big screen version of JRR Tolkien's novels will appear on the coins but hope to finalise plans in July.
The coins will come in denominations from 50c up to $10 and are being made from gold, silver and cupro-nickel by the British Royal Mint.
A release date for the coins, which will be available individually and in presentation packs, has not been set.
New Zealand Post officials said the launch was likely to closely follow the issue of a third set of The Lord of the Rings stamps on October 1.
Travel
Found this today. Got anice personal email in reply to my request for a brochure, and a link to this year's tours.
June 19, 2003
Tashy died in the middle
Tashy died in the middle of the night.
June 18, 2003
A Little Sad
I think Tasha is getting ready to let go of life soon. I know she's old -- 17, which is kitty ancient -- but I'm still trying to deal with it. She and her brother were my first cats all those years ago. We rescued the litter when we lived in Pt. Townsend when the parents, both feral cats, moved in under the motel my parents managed. She was the runt of the litter, a little white furball. L.B. we had to put to sleep a few years back, but Tasha just keeps holding on. But the signs are there she's ready to move on. I thought she might be gone when I woke up this morning. I thought she'd died when I was petting her last night; for a few moments she just wasn't *there*. I already miss her.
June 17, 2003
Confession
It's a girly thing, but I love nice perfume. Somehow, I always gravitate towards stuff I can only afford not to use every day! My current favourites are Allure by Chanel, Accenti by Gucci, Gucci #3, Dolce & Gabana by D&G, and one I haven't bought yet, only smelled, Valentino Gold by Valentino.
June 16, 2003
Back!
Back from vacation -- though I doubt anyone noticed I was gone :)
Will probably have pics up at some point this week.
June 6, 2003
And I'm Off!
Heading off for a week's holiday. so little to no posting here for a while. I'll try and post some trip reports as I go though.
Take care!
June 3, 2003
June 1, 2003
A Small FYI
If you click on the Amazon link in the sidebar, I get a teensy weensy commission from everything you buy. It helps, in a small way, to pay for the domain.
Thanks to everyone who has used the link so far! Every little bit helps.
Good Forever Knight News!
From the FK email list:
It has been confirmed that the whole first season is going to be
released! Quote (from zentertainment): "As a result of its recent online poll, COLUMBIA TRISTAR Home Entertainment has announced it will release
First Season DVD box sets this year for SOAP, DILBERT, and THE TICK, as
well as collections of RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, DESIGNING WOMEN, FOREVER KNIGHT, and NEWSRADIO."