December 2009
Today
Four.
Santacon Story
So we’re at this club, about 40 Santas, and the club is in two halves—there’s one side that’s playing ’80s retro music (where most of the Santas are), and the other side is the goth side—nearly completely dark and playing goth music. It’s filled with really serious goth-y types, in fishnet gloves and clothes with lots of buckles and stuff. So I go over to...
Killing in the Name Of
A couple tried to get Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of” listed as the UK’s #1 single for Christmas, and managed to do it, over the competition, which was a sappy song by a reality-show winner (the reality-show’s yearly winner has won the Christmas #1 spot four years in a row now, apparently). Anyway…win.
Article
Movies (and TV shows on DVD) Watched Lately
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) - Good martial-arts movie; not as beautiful as House of Flying Daggers or the like, but good. Four stars (Netflix)
Body of Lies - Clever current-day spy thriller with Leo diCaprio and Russel Crowe. I liked it. Four stars.
The Band Wagon (1953) - a dance film, with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Good, and funny in places, but other Astaire movies I’ve seen have...
Owie
So last night at like midnight, I’m working on a last few Santacon toys. I put a new blade in the X-Acto, and immediately the blade slips off the toy I’m cutting and goes right across my left index finger, between the knuckle and the first joint. I immediately stick it under cold water and threw some Betadine on it and did the gauze-and-pressure treatment, but I was pretty sure it was...
Santacon Toys
Went to U.S. Toy yesterday to get more of the small plastic toys to hack for Santacon. While the bigger toys are fun, I like the little modded toys, the tortoises with butterfly wings and the clowns buggering dogs and such. The little modded toys are creative, artistic, versatile, cheap, easy to carry, and small enough that I can hide them in corners, potted plants, nooks on the street, etc.. I...
Spicy Candied Almonds Recipe
I blanched a ton of almonds last night, for this recipe and for almond biscotti. This is a great recipe for the holidays—it starts out sweet, but there’s heat that comes later. They’re crazy addictive.
3 tbsp. [peanut] oil
2 cups whole blanched almonds
½ cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar
1½ tsp. [kosher] salt
1½ tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes [I’ve also used...
Christmas Ornaments Ratings
Colorful Ball
Most people would probably see the delicacy of the Generic Colorful Ornament Ball as a drawback, but for me it has become a source of nostalgia. For whatever reason, I remember childhood Christmases mostly for their clutter: tinsel strips, opened envelopes, empty cans of stewed pumpkin, and tiny shards of shattered Generic Colorful Ornament. Plus, they allow any jerk with a copy of...
Aspects of Santa Ratings
Chimneys
“And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.” This seems like an odd ritual to go through just to get the hell out of some guy’s house. Perhaps the ritual is necessary? Is it possible that we have found Santa’s one weakness? My theory is that if he is unable to lay his finger aside of his nose, Santa is helpless. And using...
Christmas Songs Ratings
Santa Claus is Coming to Town Also known as “The Extortion Song.” Pretty pointless, because asking kids not to pout is like asking free cyanide ions not to react with methemoglobin to form cyanohemoglobin. Here’s a hint, kids: Santa is a wuss. Have you ever actually known a kid who got coal in his stocking? Last year even that kid who hit you with the Wiffle bat got a cool RC...
Red Trolley
R. and I were trying to find a place for dinner after buying a Christmas tree on Wednesday, and went to the Red Trolley (2639 W. 32nd, at 32nd and Clay, in Denver). It had been really favorably written up in Westword the week before, and I wanted to try their supposedly incredible, all-natural hot dogs. Unfortunately, the hot dog sales were shut down at 8:00, so we missed those, but we got a...
Commute
Google sez it’s 10 degrees, and my hands were okay in my gloves (compared to yesterday, when it was way below 0 and my hands froze). So procedure needs to be: find additional hand warmth when temps are below 5-10 degrees.
Commute
Google sez it’s -3 in Denver. The ride in was fine—I had an earband under a balaclava, so my ears and the rest of my body were warm, but I need to come up with a solution for my hands. I got to work and my hands were too frozen to dig out my ID so I could ride into the parking garage. Maybe a shell layer or something…
Riding along the Cherry Creek bike path was gorgeous, though....
Go, Senate!
“The Senate on Tuesday rejected an effort to tighten restrictions against using federal funds for abortion under Democrats’ landmark healthcare legislation, handing a victory to abortion-rights advocates but setting up a potential conflict with the House.” Link: LA Times.
Abortion is a legal procedure in this country. To say that the government won’t fund it under the new...
Cracked: 12 Sexy Ads That Will Give You Nightmares →
Totally creepy!
Dramatic Reading of "How is Babby Formed?" →
Commute
Frickin’ eight degrees right now! It was a cold, cold commute in today.
