On Saturday evening, Hotness and I went to the symphony to listen to Beethoven's 9th performed by the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, along with one of my co-workers and his wife. Here we are:
(r-l: Hotness, Doug, his wife Roxanne)
From the program event guide for the evening: "No other work approaches Beethoven's Ninth in its heartfelt humanity and ultimate optimism, another powerful reason it continues to hold sway in our hearts."
I LOVE this piece of classical music more than any other. Hotness and I first went to hear it at the symphony when we started dating, and I jumped at the chance to see it again with her when they played it this year. Whenever I play this (in the car, at home, etc...) it is never played quietly. In fact, I will gladly drown out the bass of the cars around me while I'm playing this in traffic.
There are four 'movements' (or separate sections) to this hour-plus long symphony. The fourth movement involves the choir along with the orchestra and is the part most recognized as the "Ode to Joy". When they get to this part I start to get goose-bumps, and this last evening was no different. Here is the part of the fourth movement I'm talking about. It's about 9-1/2 minutes long (the actual fourth part is 23+ minutes long) and specifically you'll want to pay attention to the 6:50 minute mark. (Be sure to turn up the speakers!)
What an awesome piece of music! ------------------- Afterwards, we went to our favorite late-night, post-performance hang-out: Pomodoro. Hotness and I shared an appetizer of seared Ahi tuna: We almost got the calamari, but our waitress pointed out that the calamari is a staple item on the menu while the Ahi is only seasonal. We are so glad we decided to go with her suggestion. Absolutely wonderful!
For dinner, Hotness had a Cannelloni stuffed with lamb. I had the special, Black Berkshire Pancetta: Oh my goodness! Melt-in-your-mouth pork in a peach demi-glace. Fantastic! The chef/owner asked which of us was having the pancetta. When I told him I was he said, "I'm jealous!" And well he should be. It was marvelous!
Last year during the Emerald City Comic Con, Hotness and I took a group of our friends here for dinner. It was a big hit and we plan on doing this again for the 2008 convention. The staff is very friendly, and since they've gotten to know us it's always nice to bring new people to the restaraunt and be treated extra special.
All in all, a great evening; The symphony in Seattle and great food at one of our favorite restaraunts.
Finally getting a chance to sit down and talk about last week. Let's see, let's see... oh yes, Christmas!
As I mentioned a little earlier, Hotness and I had a very nice day. With the intention of getting up early, Hotness staggered out of bed and walked into the living room where she layed back down on the couch and went to sleep again. I got up shortly afterwards, noticed she was sleeping and hid in my office to check email and stuff.
Around 9:00ish or so, I figured I'd better wake her up if we were ever going to 'have' Christmas, since we also had to visit friends and family later that day. So I made a pot of coffee and some toast, then we sat in front of the cold wood stove (I hadn't started a fire yet) and opened up each other's gifts.
Hotness got: a pair of 'Heelys', new undies, and lots of assorted stocking stuffers (courtesy of Santa). I got: lots of new cooking accoutrements (i.e. spatulas, hot pads, etc...), a bunch of organic chocolate bars, and a cool new book by Steve Martin. The cat got: a new food dish that says "I Love My Cat" in three different languages, and a new catnip toy. Here she is helping keep the wrapping paper under control:
Then we took showers and got ready to head out and visit our friends, Dug & Debbie and Natalie. Santa had stopped by our house and dropped off some presents that didn't quite fit under their tree, so we needed to deliver them for him. Among them was a stuffed "Curious George" doll and a couple of CGbooks for the little Pook. (Needless to say, Santa knows what she likes and they were a definite hit)
After a brief visit with them, we were on the road again to visit my aunt and have Christmas dinner with her.
It was a very nice evening, albeit very short (since Hotness had to work the next day). We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and rolls for the main course, as well as lots of yummy nibbles for before and after dinner. We got my aunt a new Fairie figurine for her collection and I got a new cornbread recipe cookbook and some ice cream bowls for the two of us.
That was pretty much our entire day. Real quiet and easy-going. ------------------------- The next day Hotness had to work, but I had that day off. I got up and out of the house to hit some of the after-Christmas sales at the mall. I go for a few specific things each year: Smoked salmon, Hickory Farms, and Christmas cards.
The smoked salmon I get just to have on hand. Sometimes I toss it in with some pasta, other times I give to friends as a gift (for like a house-warming), or I use it as an appetizer at a get-together. The Hickory Farms stuff is mostly my post-Christmas treat to co-workers. I make cookies as my 'gift' to them the day or two before Christmas, and then the day after we get back I bring in a tray of summer sausage, smoked salmon, assorted cheeses, and crackers to snack on all day. The Christmas cards are special cards from the Museum of Modern Art collection. They always have really cool, funky cards and I like to send them to the kids on my Christmas card list. So when they drop the price to half-off, I snag them up with a quickness!
Later that same day, I went to my friend Liz's place and hung out there for a while. I helped her pimp-out her MySpace page and we ate some leftover turkey soup she had made. Since don't work together anymore, it's nice when we can spend some free time to catch-up with each other. ------------------------- Thursday and Friday were regular work days, but with most of the customers on Holiday vacation still, it was pretty quiet. I suspect the next week will be hectic as they all get back to work and send all the stuff that piled-up on theirs desks while they were gone. Oh joy.
So, that was our Christmas. Nice, quiet, and pretty stress-free. I hope you had the same.
As I mentioned earlier, I don't really plan on doing much with my MySpace page but as I would check it out from time to time, I was starting to get a little bummed that I only had one friend listed. Today I just added three more. (Thanks you guys... and gal!)
I know I have friends *, and I didn't need validation from a webpage to prove it, but it's nice to have friends listed so others can see that I'm not a complete loser. (Only a partial one) And, it's even cooler that they are people I ACTUALLY know. Not cyber-friends that like to leave a message once in a while or only talk to me while "chatting" online. These are people I hang out and do stuff with.
You kids made my day, thanks!
* In fact, I have way more friends than is allowed by law. I really am blessed by how many people I can truly say are my "friend".
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To change the subject, I haven't talked about how Christmas went for Hotness & myself. In a nutshell, we had a very nice day, but I'm saving my post-Christmas report until this weekend when I can devote more time to it. Be sure to come back this weekend for all the thrilling adventure you can handle! ... no, seriously.
Aside from that, I'll also have my report of our evening at the sypmphony (coming up on Saturday night). I can give you a pre-concert review (in a word SCRUMTRULESCENT!) but I'm sure there will be more stuff to say about it.
Just to show that human kindness during the Holidays isn't all gone, here are some nice stories about the Salvation Army receiving large monetary donations during this year's shopping season.
Even though businesses are trying to stop them from ringing bells or just outright banning them from the fronts of their stores, it's nice to know that people still contribute to their cause.
I have to agree with how bad it's gotten in regards to retailers and the Christmas shopping season. I got no fewer than 5 coupons from one particular dept. store telling me to "save an extra XX% on two days only sale!". They kept coming one right after another. And not only from them, but other stores that have me on their list sent me "Holiday Greetings... with a chance to save" if I graced their doors on a particular day while shopping.
One year, Hotness & I agreed to not get ANY gifts for each other at Christmas. That was a rather awkward year. We got up in the morning and then looked at each other and said "Well, what do you want to do?" We went for a drive. But, since nothing was open there wasn't much to do. So we came home and watched a movie.
We decided we'd buy gifts for Christmas, but never to make it the focus of our Holiday and try not to patronize businesses that make their employees work on Christmas. (Are you listening movie theaters, chain-restaraunts, and grocery stores?) Everyone should have a chance to spend with loved ones (be they family, friends, or strangers) without having having to work for just one day, irregardless of their personal beliefs.
The Christmas shopping season should be a very short, frenzied thing. Not something that is dragged out as long as a buck can be milked. I've been to some places and seen Christmas decorations up and displays ready before summer is even over with. It's ridiculous.
Anyway, I don't mean to preach and I really do enjoy shopping. It's just... when it comes to Christmas, can't we just be happy for what we have and not for what we can get?
"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?" -- Theodor Seuss Geisel
I just added a new link today. (over to your right.. go on, take a look)
It's called Stuff They Say. In a nutshell, a woman who is involved in many of the personal networking sites (ie: MySpace, Friendster, Etc...) gets a lot of email from guys (and a few girls) wanting to 'hook up' or just otherwise express their sexual prowess.
She posts the best examples of humanity's worst. It's kind of funny on the one hand, and unbelievable on the other that some people would think it's okay to address people in such a manner. Not to mention the atrocious spelling they use. (Don't get me started on internet 'chat-speak'!)
Anyway, women will probably appreciate it more than guys. And fellas, if you do check it out... learn from the examples presented!
Got a chance to hang out briefly with my buddy Dug and his wife, which meant I also got to see my 'niece'. She just turned two a few weeks ago and is getting more conversational.
Today she informed us that she is a Pook (short for 'Pooka-Rooka', one of her many nicknames). She isn't a 'Buggle-Wuggle', or a 'Sweet Pickle', or anything else. She is just a Pook.
After that, we got a brief lesson on Christmas:
So now everybody knows who baby Jesus is, and who His mama & dada are.(don't forget the 3 wise men and the camel!)
She is such a little treasure! (Of course, I could be a little biased)
Ugh! I have not been a fan of MySpace or having a page there, as almost every one I've ever seen looks like something from a Lisa Frank nightmare. That's the major reason I decided to go with a Blogger profile, instead.
But, I have friends who have them and they're always asking me to get one "so they can add me as a friend on their page". Also, everytime I go to their pages, I can't access the pictures. So I finally broke down and got my very own MySpace page.
It made it look nice and not too cluttered, but in all honesty I'm probably not going to do much else with it. I only have it so I can access my friends' MySpace profiles and keep up with them.
If you have a MySpace page and want to be added as a friend, let me know. I only have one 'friend' on there so far, so it'll be nice make it look like I actually know more people.
Whew! We got out of work a little early on Friday, which allowed me the chance to get to a couple of places that are always closed by the time I get into town. So, since they were still open I was able to complete my Christmas shopping and I am now FINISHED! Yay! Everyone is taken care of.
All I have to do now is wrap everything up and make it look all purty and stuff.
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Not a whole hack of a lot has been happening otherwise. Hotness and I went to my company's Christmas party/dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse last weekend. The food was awesome, as to be expected. Appetizers began the evening with garlic sauteed prawns, bacon-wrapped sirloin bites, crab-stuffed mushrooms, and seared Ahi tuna. Then for dinner, there were several entrees to choose from. I had a petite filet w/ king crab legs, while Hotness had a petite filet with a crab cake and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce.
Drinks were partaken of, so afterwards when dinner was over we walked around Bellevue Square Mall to work the alcohol out a little. Hotness bought a new pair of shoes. And I might I just say... they are darn sexy! I'm looking forward to getting her a new dress to go with them and then going out with her to the ballet or symphony and watching some heads turn.
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Overall, though, things are good. I've got a few days off from work to celebrate Christmas, so with my shopping already done I can just relax at home.
Be safe out there if you're still trying to get your shopping finished. It's getting crazy and there's a full moon on the way so it's only going to get worse.
Hotness got the link for this video in her email last night and I felt it summed-up alot of my feelings about Christmas-time and the P.C. crowd who are always trying to take the joy out of it.
Just a heads up, you may want to listen to this on headphones as some of the language is rather... well, 'colorful'. Other than that, it's safe for work. (But if you leave your speakers on, don't say I didn't warn you!)
I just got tickets this morning to go see the Seattle Symphony perform Beethoven's 9th at Benaroyal Hall the weekend after Christmas. This piece is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE classical work. Hotness & I are going with a friend and his wife from work.
Huh? What's that you asked? "Didn't you just go to a Rob Zombie & Ozzy Osbourne concert not long ago?" Why, yes I did.
"And Ferretnick... you also went to see Weird Al in concert. Right?" You are correct again.
"But classical music? Really?" Yup! I just can't be pigeon-holed into any one genre. Sorry.
If you stop by and read this regularly you'll obviously notice that I've changed the look on this blog a good bit.
I'm just trying it out for now. I like it, 'cause it's different. But I don't know what YOU, the general popluace, think about it. Is it appealing? It is nicer than before? Is it harder to read the text? Do you like the color scheme?
I'm still tweaking it here and there to fine tune this into the masterpiece of visual and literary spendor it's destined to be. Well, one of these days. ...... It could happen!
Hmmm... Sounds like Batman was feeling a little full of himself lately:
And if that wasn't enough, here's Spider-man getting into the act:
(I guess somebody was talking trash about Aunt May again)
These seem to be taken near the same area, but at different times. I don't know the story behind the second video, but it doesn't appear to be a safe place to hang out when Superheroes are standing around beating the crap out of civilians.
If you're planning on being in the area (regionally the Pacific Northwest and specifically Seattle) around the weekend of May 10 & 11, you should come to the Emerald City Comic Con.
I was just on the website for the con and saw that they added a bunch of new guests, among them Andy Kuhn. (who drew this nifty self-portrait of himself for me at last year's convention)
"Yeah, so what?" you may be asking. Well... not only is Andy a talented comic book artist, but he's also a member of the band "The Fuglees".
Andy had a few of the band's CDs on his table while he was siging autographs and doing sketches, so I bought one on a whim and was really impressed by it. I played it in my car for about a month straight. The tunes are catchy and fun and the band doesn't seem to take themselves too seriously. I kind of compare them to "The Presidents of the United States of America", but according to their MySpace page they describe themselves as "Armed with humor, wit and an endless repertoire of catchy pop songs, The Fuglees style is similar to tongue-in-cheek acts such as "Bare Naked Ladies" or "They Might be Giants" with an edge reminiscent of "The Foo Fighters".
Just fun punky/grungy/pop type of music. Here's a clip of them live doing a couple of songs from their second album, "Indiana":
(NSFW by the way, unless you're wearing headphones)
I didn't get a chance to listen to the CD before the convention was over so I'm really looking forward to having him back at the show this year so I can let him know how much I enjoyed it.
If you're into Indie bands or like music that isn't 'commercial', then you ought to check them out. And if you can make it to the show, buy a CD. Heck... you might even see me while you're there.
To paraphrase Steve Martin: "My new passport is here! My new passport is here!"
I got home last night to find out that my passport was in the mail waiting for me. It's the first one I've ever had, so I'm actually really excited about it. I can travel outside the U.S. now without alot of hassle.
I had planned on a trip to Mexico about 7 years ago, but that was right before the 9/11 attacks. All my plans went down the toilet as I didn't have a passport and everyone was a bit weird about travelling soon afterwards anyway.
So I put it off since I didn't really need one for my day-to-day business, and only recently applied for it. I needed to have one so I can go up to Calgary to volunteer at the Calgary Expo. Now I can, and I can plan my trip for Mexico again. (Hopefully in October for Dia de los Muertos)
On the flip-side though; It's one of the RFID-chipped passports. I'm not a big conspiracy nut, but even I get freaked out by the use of those in our daily lives. That is too much information accessible to whoever thinks they need it. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I can do. It's here and it's going to stay.
I guess shouldn't worry too much, after all Big Brother only has my best interests in mind. Right?
Greenpeace has started a viral campaign to get people to use energy-efficient lighbulbs instead of the standard variety. The idea is kind of cute, if not a bit risque.
They have people with light shining out of their bottoms saying "Until the light shines out of your bottom, use an energy-efficient lightbulb instead".
Good advice and a simple thing we can all do to help improve our enviroment.
The Rock, a local pizza chain, is sponsoring a competition between Western Washignton State high schools as to who can perform the best classic rock song with their school band.
We're not talking about "Angry Little Johnny and his garage band buddies". We're talking about high school bands. You know, tubas, flutes, french horns, xylophones... the WORKS!
They're offering a 1st place prize of $10,000 to the best band, and they've been promoting it on the local Classic Rock radio station, KZOK.
The station has been posting the bands online for listeners to hear as the contest takes place, but it's going to end soon. The deadline for all entries is next Friday.
Supposedly, when all the entires are in and they've judged the winner, the morning radio show is talking about putting out a CD for purchase with all the bands that entered.
I'm hoping they actually do, 'cause some of them sound great.
I think it was a cleverly devised plan by a secret group of Jewish ninjas (or Ninjews)
in order to undermine the governments of the world and throw us all into economic chaos.
...... Or maybe it's just a way to sell more cool T-shirts and crap.
It's quite possible that at any given moment, you could be approached by ninjas today as this holiday allows them the freedom to manuever without having to hide in the shadows all the time.
You may also find yourself under attack by ninjas at work.
Be prepared to fight for your life if this should happen.
However not ALL ninjas are bad.
Some, in fact, fight for good causes.
(video from JoshBass.com. Used without permission.... but under the circumstances, I don't think he'll mind)
In the meantime, you may want to stock up on shurikens in case the ninjas you face to day are not friendly and only want to flip out and kill you.
After the snow and slippery roads this past weekend, it started warming up and raining throughout the night. To the point that several roads in my area are in danger of being flooded from water and all the snow that has melted.
I got up this morning. Showered & shaved (now I have a squeaky clean noggin!). Packed my lunch and drove towards work. Only to discover that the main road was closed to ALL traffic because a tree had fallen across it. All the cars were being re-directed to a road a little further south which meant a looooooong line of of cars not going anywhere quickly. I thought I'd bypass that can of worms and go north a bit to take a different route.
All was looking good as I went through town and got on the road to connect me to the freeway. That is until I got to said freeway. It was stopped. Period. No traffic was moving whatsoever. "WHAT?!?! I traveled out of my way, through rivers running over the road and hydro-planing in my car a couple of times just to get here and sit??? Forget it. I'm going home."
So here I am in my warm little cabin in the woods, blogging away. I think two words come to mind while I'm stuck at home today: Guitar Hero.
A few years back I went to a yard sale with Hotness and found a mug (or cup, if you will) that just screamed out for me to buy it. I L-O-V-E tacky junk, so for 50 cents it soon became mine.
It has to be handmade, because I can't imagine anybody ever making this commercially. (If I'm wrong and somebody else has one of these, PLEASE let me know!)
I don't know if it supposed to be anything in particular (like a troll or goblin or what-have-you), but I love that handle: a naked female form. When you hold it, your thumb rests betwixt her heaving bosom (bosoms?) making the drink inside that much sweeter to partake of.
It holds about 2-1/2 cups (that's more than HALF a quart!) of your beverage of choice.
I haven't yet drank any mead or ale from it but it has served well for mochas, herbal teas, and juice. (It makes those liquids seem 'manly' just by being in the mug)
I'm not really a fan of beer. I've never devoloped a taste for it. I don't know why, but it just has never appealed to me. (I do love me some tequila, but don't get me started on that topic right now)
On a really hot day when some people say, "You know, a beer just sounds good right now", just does NOT hit home with me. I'd rather drink almost anything else than a beer.
But some people enjoy it, and that's cool. I think the different types that are available are pretty interesting, and I like some of the names they come up with for regional micro-brews.
So my point is this... Some people really like beer and then there are those who REALLY LIKE BEER. Like the unknown thief who recently stole 450 kegs from the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland! That is some haul and a pretty bold manuever. Those things ain't exactly the lightest things to carry around. Police are still trying to figure out who took all that beer and what they are going to do with it.
Can you say "Monster Kegger"? ____________________________________
In an almost-related story: Londoners will be able to locate the nearest public toilets when they're 'out & about' instead of peeing in the alleys and filling the streets with urine.
All they'll have to do is text the word "toilet" to a number and they'll recieve a text back with the location and open hours of the nearest 'relief station'.
Hmmm.... I'm thinking if the Ireland police can get something like that in place in the next day or two, they'll be able to find the thief (or thieves) relatively quickly.
I was going to post much earlier today, but I got side-tracked and it just never happened.
I woke up this morning to a nice layer of freshly fallen snow, so I decided I'd better get the snow tires on the car before I got in a jam without them. But before that, I had to refill the bird feeders. (The little critters barely waited long enough for me to hang them back up in the trees before descending upon them and emptying them out again. Ungrateful little things.) No sooner had I gotten the tires on the car when our new mattress was delivered for our new bed. Then I was free for the rest of the day, so I met up with G-rod to have lunch and hear about his T-day vacation in Mexico.
It was a clear and blue sky when I left the house, but we had just sat down to have lunch when I looked outside it had started snowing. Like crazy! People all started getting panicky, so the parking lot was a mess while a mass exodus took place to get out and get home. Here's G & me outside after our lunch:
We were going to check out a holiday art & craft sale, but I forgot where it was and the weather was getting worse, so we called it a day and headed our separate ways.
I was glad I had put on the snow tires earlier. My drive back was pretty slippery and more than one time I slid while driving. Nothing major, but still it was kind of scary to not be in control for a second or two.
This is what to road looked like right before the turn to go up the hill (small mountain, more like) to our house:
At the bottom of the hill, my neighbor was getting out of his truck and preparing to walk the mile trek (UPHILL!) in the snow because his truck just couldn't make it. He saw me and gave the 'hitch-hiker' thumbs-up sign. So I picked him and drove him home. He was kidding about me giving him a ride, 'cause he said, "Your car will make it up this hill with the snow? My truck just kept sliding until I was sideways. I finally gave up and decided to walk."
My car has never let me down yet, and today was another win for the "Battle up Snowy Hill". I dropped him off at the end of his driveway and came into the nice warm house.
Now Hotness is folding clothes and I'm blogging. Not a very exciting life, but we can't always be the social butterflies we're known for. ___________________________________________
Not much of a holiday to celebrate. Cases in the U.S. have risen recently, so something is obviously not working or people are just getting reckless again.
I fail to see the logic of people who think that those who get it certainly deserve it.
Does a child who gets it from an infected mother during pregnancy deserve it? What if that mother got it from being raped by an infected assailant?
How do either of those cases make it a "disease for fags"?
I've known a few people with AIDS, both gay and straight, and I wouldn't wish it anyone.
Yes, maybe they should've taken better precautions instead of thinking "Oh it won't happen to me. I'm always careful", but still.
We almost got the calamari, but our waitress pointed out that the calamari is a staple item on the menu while the Ahi is only seasonal. We are so glad we decided to go with her suggestion. Absolutely wonderful!
Oh my goodness! Melt-in-your-mouth pork in a peach 
Coincedence? Perhaps.... but I think not!
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