Society for Aesthetic Deletions

So, it appears that Mount St. Helens has blown its top a bit again.

I remember the first time it blew, back in 1980. I must admit, being on the East Coast and being 13 meant it didn't have a HUGE impact on me. But I do remember it being a big news event.

This one is pretty small, so far. But I think we're due for a larger explosion.

As Jack mentioned on his blog, we're heading to Boston tomorrow for The Lord of the Rings Exhibit. Which means this will NOT be the longest time we'll have gone without seeing Jack recently, since it will not be a full month but only three weeks. *laughs*

We'll be driving to Quincy and taking the T in. Fortunately, the Green Line still goes to the MoS, but not any farther than that currently, as they work to demolish the old elevated tracks and move everything underground. Which is unfortunate, but necessary, I suppose. I liked those elevated tracks in Cambridge.

And I borrowed the camera from work, though I don't think I can take pictures inside the LotR Exhibit. I may take it to use elsewhere, though!

The trip to the Museum of Science went very well yesterday. I forgot, alas, to make it into the little room they had set aside for the One Ring, but everything else was very neat. I wish I could have taken pictures, but alas, we were not permitted. The life-sized mold of Sean Bean as Boromir in the Lothlorien canoe was worth the price of admission, if just for that! We also did a small amount of general exhibit viewing, including an exhibit of "Strange Matter" which included magnetic liquid and a clay that became harder/had increased mass, sort of like going from liquidy-mud to potter's clay, when magnetic fields were applied to it. Really neat stuff, and used in physical therapy, or so they said. The electicity show was cool too, but the Van deGraaff machine wasn't cranking that much today or something, so we didn't have the huge show the guy was hoping for.

I realized only once we got to the Green line switch at Park Street that the Green line did NOT go all the way to Science Park. We could have taken a train as far as North Station, but decided to switch at Government Center onto the shuttle, which went pretty well. And on the way back, though our bus driver was out of transfer tickets, the subway attendant let us go on for free, which was good. I didn't want to throw another $2.50 in Boston's direction.

We stopped for dinner on the way home, and then tried to get a few blank video tapes but ended up getting a few things before we finally did that, including a fleece pullover for me at Job Lot which was only $10. It fit quite well and kept me quite warm last night while we watched Teen Titans and the reshowing of Lost.

Speaking of which...anyone else watching that show? Lou's actually considering having us get another ReplayTV (when I brought it up), since both Lost and Smallville are on at the same time. And tapes are SO last century.

Yes, Virginia, Wales does really exist. Unless, of course, you're looking on the EU map, which somehow omitted that country, slightly attached to England.

All I can say on this matter is I've been in Wales. Besides having the city with the longest name, pretty much all else they have is rocks and sheep. Spray-painted sheep, but that's about it.

Really.

[oh, in browsing that site, I realize there is a longer-named town in New Zealand, now. Ah well.]

It looks like a bunch of fans got together to do a little commercial to air on Cartoon Nework's Adult Swim, to promote the Farscape miniseries.

Watch it here. Quite funny, and fits into the AS mindset very well, I think.

And yeah, that about sums it up. *nods*

Courtesy of the Scapers LJ.

Slate takes on the Excalibur (in Vegas) and Medieval Manor in this article.

Interesting things to note, especially for Medieval buffs.

Before you ask, yes, I do know someone who did get their free iPod from FreeiPods.com. And I know that you basically sign up to be on a bunch of spam referral lists (not that I'm not on a bunch already). But isn't that what web email is for, anyway?

So, be that as it may, if you would like a free flat screen tv, feel free to click through the link and sign up. You'll be helping me get one, and maybe get one yourself.

Or, just ignore this post and go on with your lives.

Amazon is having a big Fox TV DVD Set sale. Pick up the first season of a bunch of their shows for only $15, for a limited time, no doubt.

Too bad I have most of these already! Though 24 is tempting, since we've been watching it at work during our lunch hours. And M*A*S*H is definitely tempting at that price.

Courtesy of Anne in IM.

I was searching my blog today, trying to find the place someone had mentioned a long time ago that had Farscape DVD box sets cheap (found the entry, but the site no longer exists), and I came across an old post referencing a UserFriendly comic.

I'm very glad to see that, come this Sunday, this is definitely not going to be the case.

Hey Anne, remember when I sent that IM to you today asking who would pay $500 for a vacuum cleaner?

Well, I guess the answer to that would be we would.

Our second upright vacuum cleaner died right before our new chair arrived (pictures to come soon), and we went today to Best Buy to ascertain what they had.

It was quite interesting. On the floor, they only had models that were $100 or less, or $300 or more. I left the decision up to him, but indicated I'd be happier with the "Animal" model depicted in the link above, which was $100 more than the "low end" model. Especially as it was designed for picking up animal hair. And yes, it is that awful color of lavender.

It did a good job tonight. Lou was busy vacuuming while I was doing the dishes. Oh, our new dishwasher is coming tomorrow. That died last Tuesday, when our neighbor came up to inform us that his kitchen cabinets and countertops were being leaked upon by something...namely, said dishwasher. A repairman came out to fix it, and basically declared it old and dead, with the drain seriously leaking. Fortunately, that's a landlord issue, so he's paying for it all.

Which also means we're at the whim of what he chooses to get us, but I'm sure we'll manage pretty well.

Lastly, Lou and I watched Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars tonight. Both parts. I'm terribly content, which actually distresses me. I think part of me wanted there to be some cliff-hanger-y ending, so that the potential for more would be out there. But this seemed to wrap everything up very nicely, so I'm content, yet not. *sigh* I am happy and sad as well, but no spoilers.

Now, onto the wait for the "Serenity"!!

And just after watching the recorded mini-series, hot on the heels of that is the announcement of Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (mini-series) on DVD!! January 18th release date, street price of $19.98.

Excellent. Though I'm still going to play around with burning the episode onto DVD on my computer once I download it from the Replay.

Like many folks, I have gotten sucked into watching Lost, even though it's opposite Smallville. We Replay the Smallville episode, and then I have someone send me the Lost via Poopli, and since I've requested the "Standard" quality, we usually get it overnight and can watch it Thursday night when we watch Smallville.

[all of which is going to be moot soon, as my boss is going to be selling me her Replay cheap, as she bought herself a second TiVo and doesn't feel the need to cross-platform anymore.)

But anyway, the point of this post was to point you to the latest Penny Arcade comic, where Tycho and Gabe discuss the Beast, and try to decide what it is.

Of course, this discussion, and discussion elsewhere, is all amusing to those of us who have been watching Alias for three seasons. Because if you know JJ, just when you think you have everything all figured out, he'll suddenly switch it up, and go off in a totally different direction than what you, or maybe even he, thought originally.

And if you're following this show and not reading Cleolinda's recaps, then you really should be. Links to the previous recaps are at the end of her post.

I'm on a blogging roll today!

A creationist book detailing how the Great Flood created the Grand Canyon stays for sale at Grand Canyon museums and gift shops. Why?

“Now that the book has become quite popular, we don’t want to remove it.”

The sale of the book in particular was supposed to be reviewed by higher ups in the NPS, but that review never happened.

Courtesy of a Canadian friend.

Lou and I stayed up until the final out last night. We were at a game, and started listening on the way home, since someone told us they were up 6-1 in the 4th.

As I said in my subject, I think he echoes my sentiments pretty much.

But the curse isn't over, even if we DID beat those damned Yankees.

It's a smart, and funny, interview with Neal Stephenson. I wasn't going to blog it, but the response on Question 4 is just too priceless to pass up.

Colors will be changed at least until the World Series is over. Whenever that occurs.

I've said for some time that the Providence Place Mall would be the perfect location for an Apple Store. Well, according to this website, it is definitely a serious possibility. (scroll down to the second entry under "Confirmed By Job Listings, News Accounts, Etc.")

I still don't know if I'd ditch education for retail, but it would still be great to have an Apple Store so close.

Thanks to Slashdot, I've now read two reviews of "The Last Starfighter: The Musical," and the second one most especially is making me want to try to work a day to go to New York and see it.

But I don't think it'll happen. Alas. Maybe it will return in some shape. One can hope.

First pics!!

The Fantastic Four Pictures - MovieWeb

Okay, I'm starting to buy Jessica Alba as Sue Storm. Chris Evans does nothing for me as Johnny, but I like Chiklis and Gruffudd. And I do wonder how much time McMahon will spend covered in the film.

It looks like this software could give Readerware a run for its money.

Since I'm still Windows-based at home, it's not a perfect fit for me, but it still looks good. And it's won the Mac OS X 2004 Innovators Award.

Personally, I like being able to use an iSight to scan bar codes. Great idea.