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."