Husband and I are planning to break free of the city and head out on a road trip/vacation for a week or more, away from computers and trains.
Be well Internet, do good.
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Be well Internet, do good.
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Apr 28, 2007
Apr 27, 2007
#6 Feel-good Flick for Friday
How Greek Dancing Started
A very witty television commercial for Tnuva, an Israeli dairy product company, advertising their Greek-origin cheese product. Enjoy.
[for a larger view click on the YouTube logo].
A very witty television commercial for Tnuva, an Israeli dairy product company, advertising their Greek-origin cheese product. Enjoy.
[for a larger view click on the YouTube logo].
Apr 26, 2007
Taunted by subway DJs
There I am standing on the subway platform, waiting for the train.
Out of the speakers flows the soft, all-familiar music theme from "The Godfather".
Uh-oh.
I muster all my self-control to keep from scratching my jaw, and NOT imitate Brando's famous gesture, rasping "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse".
I have to exercise the same self-control whenever the cursed subway sound system plays "Singing in the Rain". It seems some people find a
fatoverly plump woman jumping in a puddle singing "Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo" intimidating.
So, don't taunt me subway DJs!
Play that funky lounge music instead, cappish?
.
Out of the speakers flows the soft, all-familiar music theme from "The Godfather".
Uh-oh.
I muster all my self-control to keep from scratching my jaw, and NOT imitate Brando's famous gesture, rasping "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse".
I have to exercise the same self-control whenever the cursed subway sound system plays "Singing in the Rain". It seems some people find a
So, don't taunt me subway DJs!
Play that funky lounge music instead, cappish?
.
Apr 23, 2007
Seat lurkers
I have used Greek public transportation for many years and there is one particular type of passenger that has always irritated me.
The seat lurker.
Mostly female, definitely over 50, varying weight, usually short, with an uncanny ability to cut through a long line of preceding passengers, thrusting purses and shopping bags out of their paths, gnarling "if you can't handle it, take a cab".
They are famous for their Superman x-ray vision, able to scan and detect vacant seats from afar as the bus stop, before they even board the vehicle. Once they lock in empty chair coordinates, they proceed with G.I. Jane determination, eyes unblinkingly glued to the goal: The Seat.
In the unlikely case that someone else beats them to The Seat. The war is not over. They will hover annoyingly above seated young Ipoder until he/she relinquishes. If simple hovering goes unnoticed, then heavy respirations ensue. If those don't work, they whip out the old "I-could-be-your-mother/grandmother" cow-eyes accompanied with phony sweet smile and eyelash battings.
If obstinate chump STILL refuses to budge, seat-lurker reluctantly turns to other seated bus riders skimming for hints of potential dismounting and fresh seat coordinates.
I've had many personal bad experiences with this rude lot over the years. Only this morning, on a packed bus that could have easily been mistaken for a sardine can, a seat opened up directly in front of me. I looked around in case there was someone more needy than I and indeed, a couple people down, was an old man weakly balancing himself by a hanging bus strap.
By the time I motioned him to come and sit down, a female seat lurker had plopped herself down in the available seating. I informed her that an elderly gentleman was about to be seated and I got a mouthful of adjectives from her from out of the blue. Nasty mouth, too. Old man remained standing, I was fuming.
This is why I feel no remorse when I utilize my own personal ploy against seat lurkers as payback. If I'm seated and I notice a disgruntled, standing seat-lurker (you can tell by their eyes, up down the aisle doing the scan), I bait them. How? By adjusting my bag strap over my shoulder (makes it look like I'm getting ready to board off).
Bait is taken and they start to make their way through a bus full of standing people. I get halfway up from my seat and then.... innocently re-adjust the folds of my skirt and sit down again, never intending to get off the bus in the first place.
The expression of disgust on their faces is priceless.
.
The seat lurker.
Mostly female, definitely over 50, varying weight, usually short, with an uncanny ability to cut through a long line of preceding passengers, thrusting purses and shopping bags out of their paths, gnarling "if you can't handle it, take a cab".
They are famous for their Superman x-ray vision, able to scan and detect vacant seats from afar as the bus stop, before they even board the vehicle. Once they lock in empty chair coordinates, they proceed with G.I. Jane determination, eyes unblinkingly glued to the goal: The Seat.
In the unlikely case that someone else beats them to The Seat. The war is not over. They will hover annoyingly above seated young Ipoder until he/she relinquishes. If simple hovering goes unnoticed, then heavy respirations ensue. If those don't work, they whip out the old "I-could-be-your-mother/grandmother" cow-eyes accompanied with phony sweet smile and eyelash battings.
If obstinate chump STILL refuses to budge, seat-lurker reluctantly turns to other seated bus riders skimming for hints of potential dismounting and fresh seat coordinates.
I've had many personal bad experiences with this rude lot over the years. Only this morning, on a packed bus that could have easily been mistaken for a sardine can, a seat opened up directly in front of me. I looked around in case there was someone more needy than I and indeed, a couple people down, was an old man weakly balancing himself by a hanging bus strap.
By the time I motioned him to come and sit down, a female seat lurker had plopped herself down in the available seating. I informed her that an elderly gentleman was about to be seated and I got a mouthful of adjectives from her from out of the blue. Nasty mouth, too. Old man remained standing, I was fuming.
This is why I feel no remorse when I utilize my own personal ploy against seat lurkers as payback. If I'm seated and I notice a disgruntled, standing seat-lurker (you can tell by their eyes, up down the aisle doing the scan), I bait them. How? By adjusting my bag strap over my shoulder (makes it look like I'm getting ready to board off).
Bait is taken and they start to make their way through a bus full of standing people. I get halfway up from my seat and then.... innocently re-adjust the folds of my skirt and sit down again, never intending to get off the bus in the first place.
The expression of disgust on their faces is priceless.
.
Apr 20, 2007
#5 Feel-good Flick for Friday
Children - Robert Miles
A wordless melody that will take you on a journey.
[press pause and allow the video to load on your browser for better viewing]
A wordless melody that will take you on a journey.
[press pause and allow the video to load on your browser for better viewing]
Apr 18, 2007
Given the official Flubberwinkle seal of approval
Discovered on the Net and methinks them neat:
musicovery.com, interactive webRadio.
Groovy (stop snickering, it IS groovy) layout with mood colorings of genre and beat; streaming is amazing, no buffering or standstills (at least NOT with a DSL connection). No fees whatsoever (unless you wish to buy music from amazon.com).
spout.com, online movie community.
Makes keeping track and reviewing movies a cinch. You can even blog about your movie reviews on your personal account (which is free).
shelfari.com, your own virtual bookshelf, reading and wish list.
You can also try librarything.com
I do have an objection about the lack of "foreign" writers, but hopefully the collection will expand with the memberships, which by the way are free.
.
musicovery.com, interactive webRadio.
Groovy (stop snickering, it IS groovy) layout with mood colorings of genre and beat; streaming is amazing, no buffering or standstills (at least NOT with a DSL connection). No fees whatsoever (unless you wish to buy music from amazon.com).
spout.com, online movie community.
Makes keeping track and reviewing movies a cinch. You can even blog about your movie reviews on your personal account (which is free).
shelfari.com, your own virtual bookshelf, reading and wish list.
You can also try librarything.com
I do have an objection about the lack of "foreign" writers, but hopefully the collection will expand with the memberships, which by the way are free.
.
Apr 17, 2007
Girl talk, almost.
Girlfriend @ work: Money's tight but I need to refresh my wardrobe with some new clothes.
Me: You shouldn't have any problems finding something you like. You're thin AND there are 15 Chinese (=low-priced) shops with different womens' wear on this street alone.
Friend: Nah, I don't feel right shopping in Chinese stores.
Me: Ah, you're boycotting Chinese manufactured clothes because they make under aged workers sew the clothes directly on cargo ships that carry the products to the West, therefore no minimum wages or safety regulations for these slaves on international waters?
Very conscientious of you. Bravo.
Friend: [her mouth gaping and her coffee cup in mid air]
Er, no.
Because their shops are so dingy and I think of shopping as a form of therapy AND entertainment.
Me: Oh.
.
Me: You shouldn't have any problems finding something you like. You're thin AND there are 15 Chinese (=low-priced) shops with different womens' wear on this street alone.
Friend: Nah, I don't feel right shopping in Chinese stores.
Me: Ah, you're boycotting Chinese manufactured clothes because they make under aged workers sew the clothes directly on cargo ships that carry the products to the West, therefore no minimum wages or safety regulations for these slaves on international waters?
Very conscientious of you. Bravo.
Friend: [her mouth gaping and her coffee cup in mid air]
Er, no.
Because their shops are so dingy and I think of shopping as a form of therapy AND entertainment.
Me: Oh.
.
Apr 13, 2007
#4 Feel-good Flick for Friday
One thing I miss the most about the States is baseball. Who's on first? Class act by Abbot and Costello. Enjoy. [press pause and allow the video to load on your browser for better viewing]
Apr 12, 2007
Ingenuity
This is great way to put empty CD cases to good use. Proposed by fellow Flickrian pwka.
Apr 11, 2007
Vlogues, the new blogs
I'm sure most of you have heard/read about Anna "Devil-wears-Prada" Wintour's demand that "blog" be replaced with a more attractive word. I agree with the Vogue editrix -not how we each perceive "fashion" obviously- but, how gaudy the word "blog" sounds.
Here, in Europe, blog sounds less tacky because the "o" is pronounced like oreo, the cookies.(See why I'm not a fashion queen? My mind immediately went to food.) Whereas, on the other side of the Atlantic the "o" is pronounced ah, as in blah. Ms.Wintour makes a valid argument, blog (pronounced the American way) sounds like it's ready to hurl its stomach contents.
Therefore, since blog=web+log and since vlogs=video+log are the NEW blogs I propose: vlogues. By vloguers. In the vloguesphere. Elegant enough?
.
Here, in Europe, blog sounds less tacky because the "o" is pronounced like oreo, the cookies.(See why I'm not a fashion queen? My mind immediately went to food.) Whereas, on the other side of the Atlantic the "o" is pronounced ah, as in blah. Ms.Wintour makes a valid argument, blog (pronounced the American way) sounds like it's ready to hurl its stomach contents.
Therefore, since blog=web+log and since vlogs=video+log are the NEW blogs I propose: vlogues. By vloguers. In the vloguesphere. Elegant enough?
.
Apr 6, 2007
#3 Feel-good Flick for Friday
Music video of Maksim Mrvica, gifted Croatian pianist, playing "Flight of the Bumble-Bee"
Apr 5, 2007
Doodling with snapshots of this year's batch of Easter eggs
Happy Easter to those celebrating Easter this Sunday, Happy Spring to all.
Apr 3, 2007
How to look silly for science
Got this e-mail from a friend today. I invite you to try too. Why should I be the only one looking silly at my desk?
>>While you're sitting at your desk, raise your right leg from the floor and make clockwise circles.
>>While you're doing this, raise your right arm and form the number 6 (six) in the air.
>>Your foot will automatically change direction. Try it.
[original Greek text] Εγκεφαλικό τεστ
>>Οπως κάθεστε στο γραφείο, σηκώστε το δεξί σας πόδι από το δάπεδο και κάντε κύκλους κατά τη φορά των δεικτών του ρολογιού.
>>Ενώ κάνετε κύκλους με το πόδι σας, σηκώστε το δεξί σας χέρι και σχηματίστε στον αέρα το νούμερο 6 (έξι).
>>Το πόδι σας θα αλλάξει διεύθυνσή κίνησης. Δοκιμάστε το.
.
>>While you're sitting at your desk, raise your right leg from the floor and make clockwise circles.
>>While you're doing this, raise your right arm and form the number 6 (six) in the air.
>>Your foot will automatically change direction. Try it.
[original Greek text] Εγκεφαλικό τεστ
>>Οπως κάθεστε στο γραφείο, σηκώστε το δεξί σας πόδι από το δάπεδο και κάντε κύκλους κατά τη φορά των δεικτών του ρολογιού.
>>Ενώ κάνετε κύκλους με το πόδι σας, σηκώστε το δεξί σας χέρι και σχηματίστε στον αέρα το νούμερο 6 (έξι).
>>Το πόδι σας θα αλλάξει διεύθυνσή κίνησης. Δοκιμάστε το.
.
Apr 2, 2007
Still dizzy from the startdust
Visited the Planetarium yesterday.
Accompanying Husband and Daughter#2 teased me about my silly grin throughout the Black Hole show. I can't help it, I'm mesmerized by full dome digital projections. They make me feel so relaxed, so Zen.
There I am - minuscule, tiny, flyspeck of a being, floating among astral bodies, albeit digitally composed ones, trying to savvy the greatness that is universe. I am humbled by the wonder of supernovas and time-space quanta and trivialities of my mundane existence seem to magically fall into perspective again.
.
Accompanying Husband and Daughter#2 teased me about my silly grin throughout the Black Hole show. I can't help it, I'm mesmerized by full dome digital projections. They make me feel so relaxed, so Zen.
There I am - minuscule, tiny, flyspeck of a being, floating among astral bodies, albeit digitally composed ones, trying to savvy the greatness that is universe. I am humbled by the wonder of supernovas and time-space quanta and trivialities of my mundane existence seem to magically fall into perspective again.
.
