Sunday, December 31, 2006

confusion....

hopefully i'm getting it out of my system before the new year starts. I realized at about 5:30 that I hadn't had any coffee today. what up with that?

probably I got distracted by Roxie. I was watching her through the kitchen window. She picked something up and started running around the back yard. Turns out it was a little piece of rawhide not a dead animal, which was good. But then, as I'm watching her, she proceeds to bury this little prize in one of the containers on the patio. I planted some seeds in them months ago, but they've only grown weeds, she had dug into one of them shortly after I planted them, but I don't think she'd touched them since. It was just weird watching her do that. Yeah, I made an elevated bed just for you puppy!

anyhoo, did some running around today. picked up a page-a-day pisces calendar so I'm good to go now. I did not know it was going to be so cold today or I would have worn a sweater. oh well. back to the records and paper.

Labels:

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Today's Records...

but first, did some digging online and found out how to get sound out of the laptop while it's recording. so now I can hear if something starts skipping. yay! also learned that if I change the Recording control from Mic to Stereo Mix it records other sounds, like notification that a buddy has come online. oops.

Hawaii Calling - Johnny Poi and his Surfboarders: I have a weakness for Hawaiian music.

Hail Sousa! - University of Michigan Band; Dr. William D. Revelli, conductor: pretty sure i got this for RTO.

Waltzes - But by Cugat! - Xavier Cugat and his orchestra: hello!? Cugat!!! he gets exclamation points behind his name! mmmmmmm, Lady of Spain.

What Now My Love - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: quality cheese! but this one I may have to break down and just buy a cd, probably the second worst so far condition wise and trying to take even only the clicks out distorted some of the tracks. I'm making no sense.... it's 2:20 in the morning.... time for sleep.

Labels:

now that I can add labels.....

think I'll start with Records. so now I'll have something to post about. hee hee. Sometimes I wonder what possessed me to make some of these purchases, usually there's a song I recognize, or it just sounds like such an interesting concept and it only costs a dollar! so, to catch up, here's what I've recorded the past couple days and anything interesting about it I feel like rambling on.

Cha Cha favorites - Al Stefano and his Trio: um, who doesn't like Cha Cha music?

Dilo (ugh!) - Perez Prado and his Orchestra featuring Patricia: $1!!!! my favorite bit from the back cover, "Not the least intriguing aspect of Prado's musical war cry is how he manages to make "Dilo!" sound like "Ugh!" The exact technique is his own secret, but it would appear to the analytic ear that he accomplishes the transition by removing the vowels and the consonants from the word before exhaling" - Watson Wylie. um, yeah.

Latin Rendezvous - The George Shearing Quintet: this has More on it, so that's probably why i picked it up.

Forever Yours - The Ray Charles Singers: one dollar! it looks like i purchased this with a couple others that were all part of "the Longines Symphonette Society presents...."

Immortal Performances - featuring... well, lots o' people, it's a grab bag o' stuff that the Longines Symphonette thought was cool, Tommy Dorsey, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Enrico Caruso, Sergei Rachmaninoff just to name a few i recognize.

Songs of the Trail - LSSp: this has the Ballad of Davy Crockett on it. RTO and I call that our song. maybe I'll explain that one later.

The Genius of Jankowski! - Horst Jankowski and the Jankowski choir: how could I resist "Musical Dreams played by an exciting new blend of strings and chorus" for only a dollar?

Music Box Waltzes and Popular Tunes - The Porter Twin Disc Music Box: yes, a dollar, and the second side of pop tunes, well, I was just really curious about what You Light up my Life sounded like on a twin disc music box.

I love cheese! maybe that's what I should label these? nah, we'll stick with records.

Labels:

esprit d'escalier

I went to Best Buy yesterday looking for stylus cartridges for the turntable and also because I had a gift certificate. I was thinking, if nothing else, maybe I could get some ear buds that would be small enough to fit my ears. So while I was looking to the headphones this kid came up and asked if I was finding everything okay.

"yeah, oooh, um, do you have, um, needles for turntables?"

he said no, my best bet would be online and how did I set up my rig. he prefers his turntables side by side and it all runs into his laptop so he can mix mp3's. I was caught off guard by that one, told him I was just transfering my LP's to mp3's. what I should have said was, "I just like old people music" I'm old and mildly technophobic.

Frisky and Nardo....

have the right idea. Treats for everyone!

Friday, December 29, 2006

odds.... ends....

got a new battery put in the car today. yay! did I mention that one? Tuesday we were going to meet my sister for lunch... and my car wouldn't start. jump started it and didn't have any more trouble with it. Dad almost broke the hood-propping-up-stick. guess you had to be there.... I'm sitting behind the wheel and he's trying to put the hood down..... I guess not all cars have those sticks... some hoods hold themselves up, like the one on the rental car. anyhoo, he tried to bend the stick back into shape, um, yeah. it still works even if it's not as pretty as before.

let's see... other fun christmas stories.... oh yeah, gift exchange with my mom's side of the family. i brought an mp3 player...thinking the chances were good that the one person that wouldn't/couldn't use it wouldn't get stuck with it. ha ha! yeah, I won't be making that gamble next year. it was also fun watching the OSU alumni's grandma take the fleecy OU blanket from my sister because "it just looks really warm" fortunately the replacement gift lola opened was a fleecey blanket with no school affiliation, so they made a trade later on. I got a set of flashlights and Pirates of the Carribean: um, the second one, dvd.

hmmmm, there have been quite a few Fox News Alerts(!!!) in the last hour. i'm thinking Sadaam is not long for this world. they're saying his lawyer has been asked to come collect his personal belongings. but i'm sleepy and need to trim somebody's claws.

for the records....

got the turntable hooked up! it works! kinda strange, had a few technical difficulties, but I'm slowly making progress. the thing came with Cakewalk Pyro 5. so I press start on the turntable then press record on the computer. can't hear anything until the record is done and i listen to the playback. Cakewalk has something called audio restore that takes the clicks and hissing out... or something. it worked well on the first album, which was probably in the worst shape of the three i managed to record tonight. on the second two it didn't work quite as well, it took too much out and really distorted things. I know there's a way to manually tweak these things, but I didn't have that much patience tonight. not sure i'll ever have the patience. so I'm taking a "record everything with the least amount of work and then go back later if something is just so terrible I can't stand it" approach. so, that's three records down and lord knows how many to go. maybe i'll be done by the time RTO gets home.

oh, I also had a moment of consternation when I put the second record on and it wouldn't play. it looked like the needle wasn't catching and the arm would just go scooting across the disc. yep, it was broken. fortunately i was able to take the needle off my other turntable to replace it. but, i'll have to go out and get some more now in case that happens again.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

not a clarinet

but gail has a post about an instrument that can help with snoring.

a week or so ago, mom had asked me if I'd heard about clarinet playing helping snoring, since i'd played the clarinet ages ago. quick search turned up this article that mentions wind instruments:

Regularly playing a wind instrument over a four-month period can reduce snoring in men and women with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome - and also improve the sleep quality of partners.

But it has be the right wind instrument, where the right circular breathing techniques are used. According to Dr Maurice Preter of Columbia University, a clarinet, or even a didgeridoo, will do, but not a tuba For those seeking a musical partner who does not snore, it maybe best to avoid a tuba player.




anyhoo, mom also mentioned she found this bit about singing for snorers. I'm guessing all this has to do with toning some of the soft palate and throat muscles so they're less prone to blocking airways.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

a little late, but, um, well, we'll just see how this goes.

from Russ at Tac Jammer:

The rules of the game: I whip up a quick blurb about 1) the 3 things I want most for Christmas, and 2) the 3 things I definitely DON'T want for Christmas. Then, I proceed to tag players B, C, D, E and F (that's five other other people, for the sequentially-challenged) in the Comments section of one of their recent posts with a note leading to my post inviting them to do the same thing. Simple, easy, and free traffic for everybody involved. What's not to love?

3 things i want:

1) rto at home
2) happy, healthy kitties and puppy.
3) record player that will hook up with the computer and i can convert stuff. (which I got, yay!) so um, for next year..... an ipod that can hold all my music. (does such a thing exist?)

3 things I don't want:

1) fruitcake
2) a pony
3) cell phone

since it's after christmas I'm not gonna tag anyone for this, unless someone reading it just really needs something to do, then knock yourself out and let me know. m'kay?

wooooooo!

not dead. just got home tonight. it will take me a few days to catch up. gotta get the car looked at tomorrow, pay attention to all the critters and play with my new stuff. how many records do I have? bwah ha ha haaaaaa.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

awkward office moment.....

so yesterday they had a secret santa gift exchange at work. we drew names last week, fortunately I knew the person whose name i drew. anyway.... I got a candle in a cute little ceramic canister. pretty sure it's peppermint scented, my favorite. anyway.... later in the day i'm walking down the hall and this lady behind me starts calling, "Laura..... Laura...." so I stopped and before I could tell her I wasn't Laura she told me she drew my name and did I like the candle? I said, "yes! is it... is it mint?"

"oh no, no, it's blackberry" she replied.

I told her I don't have a very good sense of smell (true) but that I liked it. well, we all have work to do. Later I asked my supervisor if there is a Laura in the office and she said yes and not to worry because the lady I talked to was usually kind of out of it.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

so cute!!!!

stop-motion kitty makes stop-motion movie. There are five bits there, each about a minute and a half. a commenter at TV in Japan said this is for a movie. I don't know, I can't read Japanese.

Monday, December 18, 2006

oh, mom reminded me....


I saw some of these a couple weeks ago. You could order them here, if they weren't sold out. I'm sure they'll be more widespread next year.

my suspicions were confirmed.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

The Inland North
The West
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

via Sean M.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

keeping up with the Disneys

how many dalmatians? Posted by Picasa


oh, and a reindeer Posted by Picasa


I like the use of both real and painted lights. Posted by Picasa

not sure what she was expecting.

so, I bought a few more bunnies a couple weeks ago, was talking to mom on the phone and finally got around to taking them out of the wrapping. It was dark outside, so I just set them next to the door so I could take them outside next time I went to check the mail. Wandered off, came back and found this scene. Posted by Picasa

yep, that's Roxie's bunny. She put it there herself and then plopped down on the rug.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

I've created a monster.

I always thought it was cute that Bosco had a habit of drinking out of the sink. it's just fun to watch. 7, 8 years I've had these cats and they never showed much interest in drinking from the tap, until recently. Carlos started coming and hanging out on the bathroom counter whenever I was in there. then he'd drink out of the sink after I washed my face. so I left the faucet on once and he figured out how to lap it up. though he still varies between drinking and just wigging out and attacking the water, he now DEMANDS that I turn the water on if I'm in there. I mean, I'm trying to put mascarra on and next thing I know I've got this paw on my arm like, "aren't you forgetting something?"

I've also noticed they're much more likely to lay paws on me now that I keep their claws trimmed. particularly on my face.... they almost never touched my face before, but now? hey, that's how you get attention.

maggie's Rent review.....

uh, yeah, next time I think I'll opt for a Eurotrash version of Boheme, at least then I might care for those degenerates.

could someone explain the popularity of this one to me? Is it just that I knew how much better the original was? also love how Larson takes a few digs at stupid uncultured Americans and then gives the thing a happy ending. Mimi comes back to life! yay!

Friday, December 15, 2006

I have no words....

Carin had a post a while back about O Holy Night. I think I've found the most.... interesting recording.

h/t Alien loves Predator

so long as I'm posting bad holiday music, here's a clip for mom.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Craptastic Christmas lights!!!!

okay, I didn't want to choke Carin's email with this entry so i'm posting the pics here.... cause it really takes more than one to get the full effect. I tried to find this house a few days ago, but couldn't find it. : ( anyway..... the pictures:


Ta da! first shot with flash.... just because.... can you tell there's a house there?


second shot, without flash, so you can see how it glows.


some close ups:


and because the front yard just couldn't hold it all, here's one side of the house.


so they also played christmas music and every few minutes it would snow, but I couldn't get that on camera.

There's one other house I may get pictures of that's in town, I went by the other night though and chickened out because Santa and Mrs. Claus were on the front porch.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

a not inflatable snowman. Posted by Picasa

Blowing Smoke blog

posts a clip from one of my favorite shows, Coupling. uh, there's some adult content in there, but it's hilarious. the local PBS station sometimes runs this on Saturday nights. I've seen a lot of the episodes mulitple times and they still crack me up.

evil things....


I picked up some Woodchuck cider the other day. usually a six pack of anything will last me a few months. this stuff is just too tasty.

snowman Posted by Picasa

penguin and igloo Posted by Picasa

Monday, December 11, 2006

white lights Posted by Picasa

I liked this one so much

i made it my desktop wallpaper Posted by Picasa

Saturday, December 09, 2006

I met G Dazzle yesterday!

but i forgot my camera. she has a couple pics here. RTO would be happy I found someone other than him to go to La Madeleine with.

signs o' Christmas.....

Barney video

B.C. Clark!!! The Jingle turns 50 this year. and the website is greatly improved since the last time we saw it. There's video people!!!! oh, and did my sister get me a t-shirt? no she did not. or maybe that will be the "christmas shirt" this year?

Friday, December 08, 2006

so far, so good.

the kitties stay under the tree, not in it. Posted by Picasa


be sure to check out the Carnival of the Cats this week.

sums up my thoughts well

secret santa, satan, whatever.

update: from the comment. How can you go wrong with Santa and O Fortuna? hee hee.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

some of the snow from last week. Posted by Picasa

hopefully my picture taking skillz will improve..... Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

christmas lights Posted by Picasa

on the front porch today.....

yeah, no on would see that. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

It's mac n' cheese time!


no more voting. or I guess you could, but i won't pay attention to it.


Monday, December 04, 2006

puppy emergency....

one of Roxie's claws came off last night. just dropped her off at the vet. I feel like such a bad puppy mommy.

late update: turns out she's fine. they cleaned up her paw and didn't think it warranted antibiotics. it doesn't seem to be bothering her since she's been home.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

maybe I should just wait til RTO is home on leave.

update 1:06 p.m.:
the cook top was dropped off about 10:30 this morning. apparently the installers are a separate deal. haven't heard from them yet. figured they would call while I was taking the puppy to the vet, but they didn't. so far mac n' cheese is ahead with 57% of the votes.

update 2 3:19 p.m.: was getting antsy about the intallation, so I called Lowes. got to looking at the receipt and they didn't charge me for installation. guy at Lowes said it was some kind of computer glitch they had the thing listed as a range in one spot and a cooktop in another so it didn't automatically prompt for installation. though I'm pretty sure I said i would need it installed. *sigh* so they'll run the charge through today and someone should call me tomorrow to set up an appointment to get the thing installed. how many times can I type install-? many.

update 3 6:32: installer just called and he's coming tomorrow afternoon. yay! so tonight it's three cheese chicken and brocoli. keep voting!

some backstory....

The other day RTO was a little disturbed that I left the puppy outside while I was at work and it was cold and rainy/sleety/snowy. I made some crack about coming home to a "pupcicle" so I asked evilsarahk to make a shop for me, he came up with this. in future, I'll try leaving the puppy in the garage.

breaking!!!

Fire destroys peanut company in Anadarko

hey, it rated a mention on Fox News Channel.


at least it wasn't the Goober House. it just isn't Christmas without peanuts and socks.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

spending spree....

new tires and a range (to be delivered and installed Monday) if I haven't bought your christmas present yet, you're just out of luck this year. sorry. ;D

Friday, December 01, 2006

my editor

you can quit typing now. Posted by Picasa


be sure to check out more kitties at the Carnival of Cats.