Americans! Beware of FOREIGN ELECTRICITY!

Radio Shack gets major props for having in stock, all the time, so I can waltz in 4 days before a cross-Atlantic flight and buy them, 85W Voltage Converters and Foreign Travel Outlet Adapters. Granted, it would be nice if the outlet adapters came by the singles and not just in $20 4-piece sets; if I'm going to England I'm not likely to make a side trip to "South America, the Caribbean, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico." I'd be more likely to want to buy extra U.K.-compatible two-prong adapters by the single. Still, they had them. I walked in and pulled 'em right off the rack. Kudos.

What Radio Shack gets less Kudos for is accuracy in writing.

Converts 220/240V foreign electricity to standard 110/120V

Oh noes! Beware of foreign electricity! You never know what those British electrons get up to! Keep yourself safe; convert them doggone foreign electricities into standard U.S. electricities! (Remember, you can tell they're American electrons by the itty bitty stars-and-stripes pins they wear on their lapels.)

Think about that. "Standard." To the extent that you'd grudgingly concede an objective definition, you might talk about the norm versus the rule, the majority versus the fringe. Radio Shack, however, talks about U.S. versus everyone else.

A majority of the world's countries use 220/240V electricity instead of the standard 110/120V used here in the States....

I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea that what the majority of the world's population does with their wiring isn't to be considered standard. I mean, as far as I can tell, us U.S. people are the weirdos with our 110/120V circuits, aren't we?

So, if you plug a North American appliance directly into a foreign outlet, it will be receiving twice the normal voltage....

OK, style points here for remembering that "American" doesn't equal "U.S." - but then revoke half those style points for forgetting that "North American" also doesn't equal "U.S.". That said, they're still correct, as far as my trip to Toronto last year went; you can plug a U.S. appliance into a Canadian outlet.

Note this. The Radio Shack Foreign Travel Outlet Adapter Set? Contains an adapter said to work in, remember, "South America, the Caribbean, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico".... Canada. Yes. I pulled out the Type A adapter, which Radio Shack thinks a U.S. citizen needs in order to plug their hairdryer into a Canadian outlet.

It's exactly the same as a U.S. 2-prong plug.

Tell me again why I paid $20 for a set including something that will turn my computer's plug into a plug indistinguishable from my computer's plug? Oh, yeah - because that was the only way Radio Shack would sell me adapters to allow me to plug my 6-plug power strip into a U.K. outlet.

Anyway...

This converter, however, cuts the foreign voltage in half, and provides a standard outlet like the ones back home for you to use.

Wait wait wait. Again with this misbegotten idea that U.S. equals "standard" even if the U.S. is the only one who does it, and--

--provides a standard outlet like the ones back home?

*takes a closer look at the voltage adapter*

Seriously! It does! There's a North American-style two-prong hole on the back. Why did I buy the plug adapter kit again?

*goes back to Radio Shack for a return and refund*


Belated note: OK, so the Voltage Converter will plug into a 2-prong U.K.-style outlet. The 4-adapter set is meant for use with this Voltage Converter; presumably it takes a U.K.-style 2-pronger and converts it to whatever prongs for wherever you are. Which makes sense if you're going somewhere not in the U.K. and need to convert to the plug shape of that country. But makes no sense for a U.S. citizen traveling to the U.K.; all they need is the voltage converter, I think.

(And now the presence of the Canadian-compatible adapter makes sense; there are other countries that use that shape but the higher voltage. So, what doesn't make sense is why they label it for use in Canada, where no step-down converter is needed at all.)


Yet another afterthought: OK, so, on more closely examining the prongs coming out of the voltage converter, I'm not 100% confident they fit any known country's wall outlets. They are a lot like the U.K. 2-pronger, but maybe slightly smaller...? So anyone buying the voltage converter has to buy the adapter set. Nice racket you got going there, Radio Shack!

I think I'm going to call J. B. Saunders and ask if they have U.S. ground to U.S. non-ground adapters. And honest to goodness U.S. to U.K. adapters for use with our 220/240V-tolerant laptops.


Continuing to think about this: So J. B. Saunders (and this website over here) are telling me that Radio Shack is totally lying when they label their Type B, 2-round-prongs European plug adapter as functional in the U.K. Apparently on the huge grounded monster works there. There is no "U.K.-style 2-pronger" as I've been bleating on about. For cryin' out loud, Radio Shack!

Off to J. B. Saunders to pick up two plain old U.S. to U.K. adapters and a U.S. ground to U.S. non-ground adapter. I hope.

These Jeans Are Cleeeeeeeean!

Bright spring green latex paint splotches on deep black jeans. Unsightly! And this happened last week. Says eHow, "We hope you were wearing work clothes when you were doing that painting job ... because latex paint is almost impossible to get out of clothing." Then they talk about scraping off fresh paint and washing immediately, and sponging dried stains with turpentine. Then, just to rub my nose in it, under Tips & Warnings, they say "Once latex paint starts to dry, it may be too late."

So not helpful.

Next stop, Google. Which leads me here. Which has about a million things to try, from rubbing alcohol to hairspray to acetone nail polish remover. Eventually I decide to try the things they suggest that I actually have in the house, and achieve a happy ending thusly:

1. Wet stain and scrub in liquid detergent with an old toothbrush. Rinse. Repeat until this is doing no more good. (Smears at edge of paint spot are now gone.)


2. Squeeze out excess water. Pour acetone nail polish remover over stain and scrub with toothbrush. Rinse. Repeat this until it's doing no more good. (Brightness of paint spot is now gone, leaving dull/faded impressions.)
   
3. Squeeze out excess water and apply acetone as before. Scrub with a green steel-wool scrubby pad. At this point, tiny crumbs of paint can be seen leaving the area. Rinse. Repeat until paint spot is gone.


4. Repeate toothbrush-and-detergent step. Rinse thoroughly. All that acetone can't be good for your jeans.


5. Toss 'em in the washing machine.

I am currently between steps 4 and 5.

HTH!

What? Of course it was awesome!

I thoroughly concur with Joe Hill.

Also, on the subject of how appropriate the movie is for kids, I'm reading comments all over the blogosphere along the lines of "I took my 3-year-old. She was mesmerized! She wants to see it again!"

John and I saw the 10:00 PM showing on opening night in downtown Denver - in 3D, of course. I saw very happy children coming out of the previous showing with that star-struck look in their eyes; I wanted to stop every family I saw and jump up and down saying "Was it awesome? Was it totally awesome? Was it? It was, wasn't it?"

Our theater was, given the lateness of the hour, mostly full of college-age kids. They laughed at the right times, gasped at the right times, murmured "Creeeee-py!" at the right times, and also cried out "Do Not Want!" when Other Mrs. Spink (or Forcible; I get them mixed up) showed up in her mermaid pasties. (Which, meh. The idea that fat women in skimpy clothes are good for a disgusted laugh is just another face of the misogynist idea that women's bodies are for looking at, not living in, and therefore should be on display if "hot"--as defined by the oglers--and covered up if not. But that's another rant for another time.)

But there were young children there, too. Even at a 10:00 PM showing. Each of them looking like today was their birthday and they were about to receive the best present ever.

The smiles! The big beautiful smiles!

Two Sides To Every Story

Going to see Coraline tonight. Have avoided most reviews, but cannot resist some links presented at Neil Gaiman's blog. Compare and contrast:

While watching this movie I couldn’t help thinking it’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers for kids. I wouldn’t let any of my children under 12 see this version of Coraline.

--Diana Saenger's Review Express, via.

There are many scenes and images in “Coraline” that are likely to scare children. This is not a warning but rather a recommendation, since the cultivation of fright can be one of the great pleasures of youthful moviegoing.

--NYT Movie Review, via.

I tend to side with the New York Times on this one. Besides, remember the G.K. Chesterton epigram Gaiman chose to open Coraline with? "Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." Children need to be told that dragons can be beaten. They need stories of children like themselves overcoming frightening situations (and emerging the braver for it) and impossible odds (thereby inculcating a sense of hope).

Clearly, not being a mother myself, I have no right to criticize my friend who insists she will not allow her young daughter to see this, because it's too scary, and her daughter is a remarkably sensitive child. But I can't help but think that I, too, was a sensitive child--oversensitive, to hear my teachers tell it--and I would have bristled mightily at the age of 5 had my mother attempted to shield me from scariness. Granted, I shielded myself from a great deal of scariness. But if I'd wanted to see such a thing, nothing would be more sure to elicit an "oh yeah?!" out of me than Mom telling me that my delicate sensibilities must be protected from frights.

Hell, even had I not wanted to go see a movie like this one, all it would take was Mom forbidding it for me to suddenly, desperately want to go--and to resolve never to admit the nightmares I'd suffer for it later. (And I learned to treasure nightmares by the time I was a pre-teen. Nightmares are adventures.) And you will note that Gaiman says of the "too scary" review that "It's the kind of review that would have had me tunnelling out of my bedroom in order to see the film, when I was a kid."

Tell a kid "It's too much for you," and you will shortly hear the unmistakable sounds of youthful defiance. "Oh YEAH?!" You tell 'em, kid.

John and I are not planning on having kids, which disqualifies us, like I said before, from pontificating on parenthood. When people ask us, "When will you have kids?" we say, "As soon as we stop being kids ourselves." I think that's probably a good answer, actually. The fact that I can remember being 3, 8, 11, 16 in great detail and with undiminished emotional impact would probably make me a horrible mother.

Still, I often wonder if parents who attempt to shield their children from fictional experiences that are "too scary" or "too adult" remember in the slightest what it was like to be a child, and how they reacted as a child when told "no" for no good reason they could see, and how those seemingly unreasonable "no"s engendered distrust, and how that distrust made them reluctant to get Mom and Dad's opinion on stuff later...

Dude! If You Don't Talk To Your Kids About Scary Movies, Who Will?!


Addendum: Were I a parent (go ahead, roll your eyes), and if my youngster wanted to see this movie, and I took him/her instead of saying "No, maybe when you're older"... the best possible reward for this would be to hear my kid say to me afterwards, "Mommy, if you're ever kidnapped by a wicked imposter, I'd save you."

OK, I'll stop with the unearned pontification now.

So this is the GOOD alternate universe, right?

Proposed: That during the Bush administration, comedians were often doing a better job at news than the news reporters were, cf. The Onion, The Daily Show/Jon Stewart.

Observed: That on the first day of the Obama administration, CNN is calling on comedians to augment their news segments, cf. Carlos Mencia interview, recap of last night's Colbert Report "Did you think you'd ever live to see this day?" segment.

Summarized: We seem to have gone from comedians reporting on news, to news reporting on comedy.

(Also observed: I'm watching CNN. On purpose. And they're quoting Rush Limbaugh in order to criticize him.)

Clearly, we switched universes yesterday. It remains to be seen whether we switched back to the universe we left when the Supreme Court made Bush President in January 2001, or whether this is a third alternate universe we had not counted upon.

Upon rewatching Beauty And The Beast (Perlman/Hamilton, not Disney) for the first time in years

If I did the LJ icon thing (which I don't), I'd make me an icon right now. It would feature, off-center on a black background, a scary pic of Vincent going all snarly and I KILL YOU NOW RAWR. And the caption would read:

CAN RIP YOUR THROAT OUT

DOESN'T NEED TO SPARKLE

In other news, the 1989 episode "Arabesque" still reduces me to a sobbing little girl with the ending "these hands" dialogue. Every. Time.

Like A Kid At Christmas

because i have new Doctor Who downloaded to hard drive like RIGHT NOW and we're all gonna watch it tomorrow SQUEEEEEE

*ahem*

That will be all.

Among the New Orleans Saints records: Most Up-To-Date Web Site

An unofficial title, of course, but, seriously, I haven't come across any other NFL franchise web site that keeps its site quite as updated on game day. You watch. The "Game Day" page updates with score and key plays throughout the game (typically running about two to five minutes behind; at the time of this screenshot, the score was actually Saint:16 to Falcons:14)...

...and at the same time the "Game Story" is written and updated in next-to-real time (again, lagging maybe by about 2 minutes; as I speak, it's updated through half time, and now we're about a minute into the 3rd quarter).

Maybe another team's web site is as awesome, I don't know. But every time a friend asks me to try to find out how their team is doing (e.g. Broncos), I find out that the team web site is insufficient to the task.

Geaux Saints! WHO DAT?!

Bestest STAR WARS Pastiche Evar

Had occasion to reread the Making Light thread with the timely fruitcake recipe. Why? Because there's fruitcake in the oven right now (but not that recipe). Found this. Aren't you glad I did?

Peacocks in North Boulder

Really.

Round about the corner of Vinca and Upland.

Peacocks. In North Boulder. Yesterday afternoon. Just... peacockin' around.

Huh.

Another Reason To Play YPP!PuzzlePirates

Because when it comes to the inherent problems of DRM and making money on software, Three Rings Design have a clue.

The cheddary 'Free to Play' is not just a cheesy marketing slogan, but a shift in assumptions; it costs approaching nothing to give away some bits, or let people play Puzzle Pirates for free. Every player, free or paid, adds value to the community and excitement for other players. Free players are the content, context and society that encourages a small fraction of the audience to willingly pay more than enough to subsidize the rest.

Game Designer and Three Rings CEO Daniel James. Emphasis mine. Read the full article at Penny Arcade, News for September 29 2008.

Penny Arcade are running a series of comics illustrating the history of Digital Rights Management and Piracy Prevention, and each comic is accompanied by an editorial on the subject by someone in the industry. Follow the link here and use the site navigation to enjoy the series.

How Not To Use Your "Fry Daddy Jr." (TM)

Remember: Before plugging in your Fry Daddy Jr., always remove the black plastic storage lid!



The stupid of it is, my first instinct was to write to the company. "I just plugged it in, like normal, and the black hard-plastic rim melted! It's not supposed to be able to do that! It's supposed to be heat-resistant!"

Then I remembered that the appliance doesn't have a black hard-plastic rim. And that I couldn't find the storage lid. Or a memory of having removed the lid.

Oops.



Tonight we fry tofu the old fashioned way: In an inch of shortening in the iron skillet. Tomorrow, we attempt to clean what used to be the storage lid off the Fry Daddy Jr. in hopes of returning the appliance to active use. Wish us luck.

It's Official: I'm Old (clue #456)

It's not that I was listening to the local Oldies station that was my clue. It was that the local Oldies station was playing songs by Blondie and Eddie Money.

I suppose the Eddie Money song gets a pass, since it directly references The Ronnettes' 1963 hit "Be My Baby" and in fact features Ronnie Spector her very own self. But there is no such mitigating factor for Blondie's 1978 track "Heart of Glass."

The point is, both songs came out in my lifetime. Isn't there a rule somewhere that says that pop/rock releases during your preschool or grade school years aren't officially Oldies until you're at least 50?

I'm too young to feel this old, I really am.

"But you're supposed to be polite to everyone!"

I am putting the work-a-day world on notice: Starting now, I am no longer going to answer the question, "Oooh, that smells good! What are you eating?" with anything more specific than "Food." Because what I decided to put in my body today is not a subject for public inspection, even if I did have the temerity to eat it in the office. Dammit.

Actually, I did that the other day. "What's that concoction there?" he asks. "My lunch," I tell him. And the interrogator would not stop. "No, really, I want to know. Really! Just tell me! It smells good!" I finally told him the restaurant it was from on the off-chance that he was looking for a dining recommendation.

Why am I the one considered rude when I refuse to yield personal details? (And why is my judgment as to what constitutes "private details" up for debate?) Why isn't he considered rude for prying past the first refusal?

*sigh* Reason #469 to be a writer: Your office has only one person in it at all times.

So, I'm going to get hard-assed about this. "What's that?" "Food." "No, really!" "Really food."

Because Changing Social Norms Regarding Privacy And Politeness Begins With Me!

Beware the Fringe Beast!

Because sometimes you just have to take photos of your cat. There are laws.

Luck Be A Playah Tonight

Shorter Frank Sinatra: "Ladylike behavior means acting like I own you."

Lady Luck's response: "Waiddaminit. You thought we were on a what? Excuse me while I laugh myself sick over there by that guy at the roulette wheel."

i *heart* making light

Exhibit A:

It is one thing to call a blog-comments-troll a fruitcake. It is a thing of an entirely other and more elegant order to give the troll a fruitcake recipe.

Exhibit B:

After two threads about Ron Paul devolved into abortion debates (this is vaguely legit given Ron Paul's pro-forced-pregnancy policies thinly disguised as a states-rights stance), Teresa made a brand new thread for those determined to pursue the subject beyond the bounds of civility. "If y wnt t tlk bt brtn, d t hr," she wrote. Whereupon people commenced to talk about everything but on the pretext of playfully misunderstanding her disemvowelled text.

A Modicum Of Research Needed

Dear Heroes screenwriters:

Your touching montage of flooded-out homes superimposed over a melancholy facial expression fell a little flat after having the owner of that melancholy facial expression say, "Half the folks in this county are still living in FEMA trailers." This is because Louisiana does not have counties. It has parishes. This is important to know when writing dialogue for fictional Katrina survivors in New Orleans.

This kind of sloppiness makes you look very bad. It makes you look like you care about the Gulf Coast aftermath of August 29, 2005, only insofar as you can use it to boost your show's ratings. Like you said, "Oh hey! I know what makes viewers feel sorry for characters! Hurricane Katrina!" and then just went ahead and sprinkled the words "New Orleans" and "Katrina" and "FEMA trailers" indiscriminately throughout the script. It makes you look callously unconcerned with actual Katrina survivors and the realities of their lives over the past two years, seeing as how you couldn't be bothered to research those realities.

In short, it makes you look like an exploitative git.

Next time, fact-check. Read Metroblogging New Orleans or Poppy Z. Brite's blog. At the very least grab a map. Maps are useful and chock-full of details. I recommend them.

Signed,

A Jefferson Parish Native
(origin: 1.5 miles west of the 17th Street Canal)

Cake doing the Jim Carroll Band. Maybe.

Compare and contrast:

Cake's "Short Skirt/Long Jacket," 2001

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond
I want a girl who knows what's best
I want a girl with shoes that cut
And eyes that burn like cigarettes
I want a girl with the right allocations
Who's fast and thorough and sharp as a tack
She's playing with her jewelry, she's putting up her hair
She's touring the facility and picking up slack

with

the Jim Carroll Band's "I Want The Angel," 1980

I want the angel that knows the sky
She got virtue, she got the parallel light in her eye
I want the angel that's partly lame
She filters clarity from her desperate shame
I want the angel that knows rejection
Who's like a whore in love with her own reflection
I want the angel whose touch don't miss
When the blood comes through the dropper like a thick red kiss

Tribute? Deliberate inversion? Total coincidence? Discuss.

(This classroom exercise brought to you by Flashback Radio!)

The Oceanmasters Tell It Like It Is

Overheard while workin' me pirate's hindquarters off at a distillin' joint:

Hephaestus broadcasts, "We are aware of the problem with lag on Viridian at the moment."

Hephaestus broadcasts, "It is under investigation."

Hephaestus broadcasts, "We are confident that it is *not* the server, but some problem elsewhere."

Hephaestus broadcasts, "So all the petitions suggestion we reboot aren't helping."

Hephaestus broadcasts, "kthxby."