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Mirrored from Antagonia.net.

I promised that I would post something, so I'm going to try, but I have had a very busy day, and I have a very busy night so this will have to be short.

First off, it is my sister Holly's birthday today! Happy birthday Holly! We are now twins until almost the end of next month when I go back to being the older sister. Thus also begins my count down to my birthday. Just like Thanksgiving has always (well, used to always) mean the beginning of the Christmas season, Holly's birthday is the beginning of my birthday season (you will note that that gives me a longer season than Christmas has/had, since Holly's birthday is ALWAYS before Thanksgiving, and my birthday is four days after Christmas. I'm just special that way).

Scott, as I'm sure you all know, is back from London, but off to Portland Oregon. We love Portland (actually, both Portland and London are on the list of places we are going to live). I am jealous. But, that's not too surprising.

This last week has been filled with running around. Winter, as I may or may not have mentioned in the past, is trying to get movie/tv work. She has an agent and everything (thanks to my friend Palmer and his very awesome wedding, that was awesome for many reasons, only one of them being that Winter met his agent and she agreed to handle Winter). So this last week, Winter has actually been going out on auditions. It's been interesting to watch, and it keeps us hopping, as they seem to not give us a whole lot of notice before they want to see her.

Which is why we were in Santa Monica last week, for an audition that lasted not even long enough for me to text two people to find out if they were free. Turns out that one of the friends became free, so she (Lauren) came out to join us. It seemed silly to go all that way and not do something fun, so we took Winter to see Men Who Stare at Goats since we both loved it, and Winter hadn't seen it yet. I laughed even harder the second time. Winter's comment was that she thought she only got about one tenth the references, but the ones she got were really funny.

Come Saturday, we went to ANOTHER movie. This time it was just Scott, Sky and I, and we went to see Pirate Radio, which was originally called The Boat That Rocked, which if you ask me is a better title, and I'm not sure why they changed it for us Americans, but, oh well. As for the movie itself, I loved it so very very much. But, you have to understand, it is written and directed by Richard Curtis who also wrote and directed Love Actually which I love love love love. He also wrote several other movies that I adore/love cherish, so chances were pretty good that I was going to love this too. Really, all he could do was disappoint. But he didn't. Well, at least he didn't disappoint any of us.

I lived in London for a year, and while there, I listened exclusively to a pirate radio station. I thought it was a boat based station, but after seeing the movie I looked it up, and evidently it was land based. But I had a clue as to what this was all about, and perhaps that helped. The movie is so much fun. Great cast, great characters. I didn't recognize Kenneth Branagh at all. But then I'm really bad at faces. After the movie, I asked Scott who was playing one of the characters because I KNEW I knew him, and Scott and Sky both said he wasn't familiar at all. I cannot tell you how cool it was to look him up at home and find out that it was Jack Davenport who played Norrington in the Pirate movies. I rarely get to lord it over the two of them, but I was proud of that one, even if all I could do was say, "no, I know him! I'm sure I know him." Cause, ya know, I did.

I am hoping I get to see the movie again. Maybe I'll drag my brother to see it when he's in town, I don't know. But, after I do, I'll try to do a better job reviewing it. I know that saying I love it, if you liked his other movies you will like this, is not very helpful, but it seems to be all I've got.

I have to leave to pick up the girls in just a bit, and I'm a bit bleary eyed from spending HOURS doing bills. It doesn't usually take that long. And I get to drive back into the city today, so I need to make sure that whatever I have to do is done now before I leave.

I'll let you know if there's anything exciting to report. (wow, this is not the blog I thought I was going to write...)

Peter Vadala was on Fox News this morning and set a record for the number of times one can say "homosexual" in a three-minute segment. He also positioned his homophobia as "love." As with most coverage, Fox News ignored Vadala's and his employer's account of the incident and went with the myth that he was terminated for saying something about gay marriage. Maybe I'm reading into it, but he appeared to get on the nerves Fox and Friends interviewer Peter Johnson, Jr. The video can be seen at the bottom of this Raw Story article which references my earlier post.

I'm trying to figure out what I should work on next. I can't decide. I've been way behind on reviews lately, so that should take precedence, but I've also got a sweater and quilt I need to finish. I've got more DCH bags to make, so I could work on that, or I could start knitting a new, small project from the Interweave Holiday Gifts issue. I've also got a bunch of old magazines I'd like to clip, and I'm still in the middle of editing a podcast.

Sometimes I feel like I can do whatever I want because there's nothing specific on my calendar, but then I think about all the projects I've already begun that I should finish up -- always a lot -- and feel sick. I make myself so busy that I actually want to puke when I think about it.

Quote from this weekend:

TV Show about Thankgiving: "Each year, it is customary for the President of the United States to pardon a single turkey on Thanksgiving."
Daddy: "So do you think this year President Obama is going to pardon George W. Bush?"

I am wearing a new dress, I am way behind on comics this week, and I will post more later!

How is everyone else today?

• 20:26 I'm working on a Carleton College Media Studies Twitter list... Let me know who I'm missing: tinyurl.com/yfggq4u #

Went out for breakfast. Played Risk all day. Dad made chili.

this is mostly so I can find them again but I'd share in case folks were interested
( cut with love )

Tonight at midnight on Adult Swim. Beware.

quizzicalsphinx posted this meme about roleplaying characters. I answered it!

Rules:
~ If you don't have at least 8 OCs I wouldn't recommend this meme.
~ Add on questions to this meme! It will make it bigger!

I think for those of you who don't roleplay but who write, you could totally do this for your writing charries too! It was fun and some of the questions were actually hard!

( i have a lot of characters! )

I made this easy to pick up for anyone who wants to:

<br /><br />Rules:<br />~ If you don't have at least 8 OCs I wouldn't recommend this meme.<br />~ Add on questions to this meme! It will make it bigger!<br /><br /><br /><strong>1) First list all your OCs by first name so we can see your list of all your wonderful OCs:</strong><br /><br /><strong>2) Who is your favorite OC?</strong><br /><br /><strong>3) Who is your least favourite?<br /></strong><br /><strong>4) Who is your most developed?<br /></strong><br /><strong>5) Which OC would you want to date if they magically came to life?<br /></strong><br /><strong>6) How many girl OCs do you have? Boy OCs? It OCs?<br /></strong><br /><strong>7) If you were stuck in a burning building what do you think the third OC on your list would do?<br /></strong><br /><strong>8) Name one thing you regret about one of your OCs.<br /></strong><br /><strong>9) Which of your OCs do you think would make the best father/mother/it parent out of all your OCs and why?<br /></strong><br /><strong>10) Which of your OCs do you think will most likely be put in jail?<br /></strong><br /><strong>11) The eighth of your OCs was put into the future! What will their job be?<br /></strong><br /><strong>12) Name the first OCs catch phrase!<br /></strong><br /><strong>13) Do all your OCs live together or are they separated?<br /></strong><br /><strong>14) Are there any pairings that are in your OC list? (they can't be with someone else's)<br /></strong><br /><strong>15) Your seventh OC switched bodies with you for a day! How will they react at the end of the day?<br /></strong><br /><strong>16) Your last OC just became a fifteen year old. What do they do?<br /></strong><br /><strong>17) Now randomly select a person on your OC list. Who was it?<br /><br><br /><br /></br>18) That OC you just chose? Yeah, they think they are superman (even if they are a girl) and are on the roof about to jump off.</strong><br /><br /><strong>19) Are any of your OCs bored of this meme?</strong><br /><br /><strong>20) Would your second OC prefer the beach or the mountains?</strong><br /><br /><strong>21) Would your 5th OC battle a shark?</strong><br /><br /><strong>22) Which OCs hate each other?<br /></strong><br /><strong>23) Which OC did you create first? And last?<br /></strong><br /><strong>24) What would character #3 want for Christmas?<br /></strong><br /><strong>25) What was Character 5's childhood dream?<br /></strong><br /><strong>26) Are your OCs fat or skinny?<br /></strong><br /><strong>27) What are your first 2 OC's favorite foods?<br /></strong><br /><strong>28) If your listed OCs were in a fight to the death, who would emerge victorious?<br /></strong><br /><strong>29) There's a zombie attack and your OCs are stranded. Who do they elect to be their leader?<br /></strong><br /><strong>30) During said zombie attack, who's the first to die?<br /></strong><br /><strong>31) Which one of these OCs do you think would have the most fangirls/boys?<br /></strong><br /><strong>32) Okay, so does OC number four have any last thoughts?<br /></strong><br /><strong>33) If possible, what's your characters' height?<br /></strong><br /><strong>34) Can your characters dance?<br /></strong><br /><strong>35) What tv shows would your characters enjoy?<br /></strong><br />

Not much to say. Too busy. Doc and I are about to finish our collaborative script for the finale of season 4.2 and I'm literally on my way out the door to the final sound mix for the last episode of season 4.1.

As such I will soon be blessedly free from writing and post-production duties for a while. Looking forward to just being a director for the next several months--still a difficult, full-time job, but at least it's not three difficult, full-time jobs on top of each other.

I did want to say that tonight's episode is really really good, though. Probably my favorite of Doc's scripts in these first eight episodes. Much to enjoy in it, on the biggest and smallest of scales. And if you're not finally converted to Sgt. Hatred by this one, then you're never ever going to like the poor lug.

Also, the Williams Street online store has a ton of new Venture Bros. merch for sale. Get 'em now, before our request for freebies exhausts their limited supply!

We Love You,

JP



P.S. Two small items my perusal of various message boards these past few weeks compels me to comment upon:

1. Captain Sunshine = NOT an actual pedophile.

2. Brock's absence has nothing to do with Patrick Warburton. He didn't ask for more money, he's not too busy for us, he hasn't refused to come back or anything of the sort. It was a creative choice on our part, and Brock WILL be back in the show at some point. Just not this week. Or next.

Current Music: And Then I Dreamt Of Yes - Dandy Warhols

• 10:41 New Rule: No more interim solutions. #
• 22:05 "If you can't beat them, annoy the hell out of them." That's an anti-piracy strategy that I can at least get a chuckle out of, #
• 22:12 I'm working on a GA Tech DM/HCI Twitter list... Help me find people to add: tinyurl.com/yb5jp69 #
• 22:29 @elspethprairie thanks for posting that after hanging out with me for the night :P #

Introducing Dad to Arrested Development. Just ate Mexican food. Sitting at Abby's.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of tasting two very distinctive American gins, both from Massachusetts.

The first one is Greylock, from Berkshire Mountain Distillers in Great Barrington.

If you’re not a big fan of gins, or if you’re a connoisseur looking for something new, I would highly recommend Greylock: it has a delicate floral flavor that is a touch sweeter than the average gin and light on the juniper.

The second is Gale Force, distilled by Triple 8 of Nantucket, who also make Hurricane, one of my favorite rums.

Gale Force has a much more potent flavor than Greylock– heavy on the juniper, peppery, with a bit of a burn to the finish. I don’t want the “burn” bit to scare you away, because unlike a lot of “burny” liquors, this one still goes down smooth!

The challenge with these two gins was to create drinks that would compliment their very unique flavors. Here’s how I did it:

Grey Fog

For 2 cocktails:
6 oz Greylock gin
1 oz Black Duck Cranberry liqueur
1 small Seckel pear (Seckel pears are tarter than other varieties)
Scant 1/4 cup whole sage leaves

Chill two martini glasses.
Reserve 2 slices pear and 2 large sage leaves.
Dice remaining pear very small, add to shaker.
Rub sage between hands to crush, add to shaker.
Add Black Duck
Muddle contents with wooden spoon.
Add gin, shake.
Strain into glasses, add pear slices and sage leaves for garnish.

(In this case, the sage flavor balances the sweetness– Greylock in a sweeter cocktail might be overpowering, but with something very savory to balance it, you can concentrate on the floral flavors)

Port in a Storm

For 2 cocktails:
6 oz Gale Force Gin
1 oz Amontillado Sherry
6 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1 generous tablespoon fruit jam (I used red current & rosemary)

Chill two martini glasses
Add gin, sherry, bitters, stir
Add jam and stir
Shake briefly
Strain into glasses

(in this one, the Amontillado cuts the “burn” at the back end of the drink. The Peychauds’, which has a nutty, sarsaparilla flavor, and the fruit jam complement the peppery flavor of Gale Force, giving it the same kind of balance you’ll get in a “hot & jammy” Red Zinfandel or Pinot Noir.

Mirrored from Antagonia.net.

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( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Current Mood: ded of giggling

• 20:08 @ibogost Try the siftable maze game if you can... It is even more fun if you have a few people and compete for the best time. #

I hear she has excellent negotiating skills. (Headline later sadly amended).

We went to the book store and cooked and watched movies today. Whee!