Nikita looks on and disapproves most strongly of the coverings on the other furniture in the same room as 'The Uncovered Chair'. 'The Uncovered Chair' Video Commercial
The Lyric Consort: Steven Thomas, Susan M. Kelly, Christopher Gallo, Alan L. Baker, Jennifer Adam, Leslie Mason Moran, Francis McMullen, and (kneeling) Jodi Rinehimer, at St. Luke's Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, May 22nd 2004. The Lyric Consort
I also thought about black & white puppies. hehe. (posted for Photo Friday, "Black and White")
Tales from 'The Uncovered Chair' - Sherry holds court
Sherry gleefully holds court from 'The Uncovered Chair'. On this particular day she regaled her audience, (Chloe & her sister Shelly), with tales about her numerous visits to the quaint and beautiful town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania; descriptions of the fancy restaurant there, the antique shops that smell of old postcards, and the town's special ability of treating guests with the honour they most certainly deserve. Her sister, Shelly, and Chloe, were most entertained. Sherry also went on to remark upon the inferiority of the new hairdresser she tried, who carelessly lopped off somewhat too much of Sherry's blonde locks, and admitted that she was better off going to Chloe's hairdresser, who is superb at catering to very specific standards.
Sherry sits comfortably in 'The Uncovered Chair'. It is as if she was born to hold court from it. And the absense of cable television, tea, or wine, seems to go unnoticed in her company. She did however, enjoy some fruit punch during her reign. 'The Uncovered Chair' Video Commercial
The Lyric Consort "The Lyric Consort is a professional a cappella vocal ensemble based in Northeast Pennsylvania."
I attended The Lyric Consort concert at the First Presbyterian Church last night. I recommend going to see & hear them, because they are so good they'll make you cry. One song in particular brought tears to my eyes, it was so beautiful. Times Leader | 05/16/2004 | Group marks 10 years of song "You might think the group's main body of songs, sacred anthems and secular madrigals from the 16th century, doesn't fit your 21st-century tastes. But if you close your eyes and take in the unaccompanied sound of voices rising and falling and blending together you might come away singing a different tune, as did a visitor on a recent Saturday morning as the group's members sat rehearsing in a semi-circle in front of the main altar at the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre. "There's nothing more beautiful than the sound of the human voice," says Steven Thomas, director of choral activities at Wilkes University, who joined the ensemble two years ago."
The 16th century is suited to my tastes, I think. But certainly I'm not a huge fan of religious music, in particular. However I don't think someone has to like either in order to appreciate the beauty of this musical performance.
WorldChanging - Fuel-Efficient Driving Habits
Just about all of these "fuel efficient driving habits" have been my habits, without even thinking about it consciously, since I got a car in 2000.
Consolidating trips is second-nature to me, having ridden a mountain bike for transportation for years. When it's your own energy you're exerting, there's a very tangible motivation for being efficient. It's stuck with me.
Recently, I've been setting my cruise control any time I'm on a highway. I've actually noticed that I also seem to relax more when I set the cruise control below 70mph. However, other motorists around me get their stress level up from it, it would seem. I frequently have people ride right up to my tail, and then pass aggressively at the last second. Thursday, I was travelling Route 81 from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre at about 3:30pm, in a 55mph zone with my cruise control set at 62mph. For about 10-15 minutes, a Sarno & Sons formalwear business van was tailgating me - very close, even though he had several ample opportunities to pass me. I can only imagine that he was trying to bully me into speeding up or something - like he couldn't just accept that I was going to maintain that speed. He passed me after I pointed to a sign on the highway that reads "Don't Tailgate".
I use coasting a lot, rather than speeding up and braking... Not only because it's more fuel efficient & safer, but because it's a more pleasant and relaxing way to drive than to constantly be in a state of herky-jerky starts & stops. But I sometimes have motorists behind me crawling up my tailpipe, honking, and making rude gestures because I'm not rushing up to a red light up ahead.
I sometimes have people tailgating me aggressively (swerving back & forth) when there's a ton of cars in front of me preventing me from going faster, which makes no sense. Of course I don't understand tailgating at all, because the law is pretty much set up that if you hit someone from behind - it's your fault - so I keep my distance from cars in front of me who might do something unexpected.
I read a blog post yesterday about traffic control design: Into the Breach - Sharing Streets "The latest thing in urban traffic design is to get rid of traffic control altogether. That's right. No rules. Drivers have to slow down and actually watch where they are going."
In most places, 4 way traffic signs work well. People drive up, take their turn, and it's faster than a traffic light for everyone in a lot of cases. However, there's one 4 way stop sign in Scranton, that during rush hour, is like a battlefield. If you're not very aggressive, you won't get your turn, because most people don't seem to be paying attention to whose turn it is, they just pull right out into the intersection. On Thursday, I had someone cut me off trying to make a left turn when I was going straight, and it was my turn, and then the other 2 cars at the intersection should've gone after me, and this motorist came within inches of hitting my car and looked at me angrily.
I've thought about turning off my engine at a long traffic light, but considering the aggressiveness of people at the 4 way stop sign, I'd be concerned if I did such an unusual thing as turning my engine off at a red light, I'd have someone behind me go wild thinking I was just shutting down and going to continue to sit there once the light turned green. (WorldChanging link via NEPA Whirl-Mart)
The New York Times > Subway Officials Seek Ban on Picture-Taking "Citing the security of 7 million daily riders, 48,000 employees and its transportation network, New York City Transit yesterday proposed a ban on unauthorized photography, filming and videotaping on city subways, buses and Staten Island Railway trains."... "But Mr. Seaton noted that this would not be the first ban on filming and picture-taking in the city subways. One was imposed in the early 1930's, he said, for reasons that are no longer clear, and was in force until 1994..."
For reasons which are not clear even now! Nowhere in this article does it explain the security risk of someone taking a snapshot while riding the subway. (link via xradiograph)
Moon, seen through a telescope in Edwardsville, Pennsylvania, October 7th 2003.
I guess I thought of this because it looks small, but it's big, and it's a vast distance away, but a telescope allows one to see better at far distances.
Also because I don't do "macro shots" really... and this was the closest thing I have to it - being that the camera was bumped right up to the telescope.
I also thought of posting a photo of gargantuan pills (Augmentin) I once had to take for a nasty sinus infection... also because in that photo, the big pills are sitting next to my computer mouse which has the word "micro" written on it. (posted for Photo Friday, "Macro")
The Royal Doulton store at 'The Crossings' outlet shopping center in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, May 2nd 2004.
How dare they have this unsightly construction going on near the Royal Doulton store. I was very put out.
NPR : Morning Edition - Degenerate Gambler - Monday , May 17, 2004 "A New Jersey man pled guilty to concocting a bogus investment scheme and faces up to 20 years in prison. But instead of showing up for sentencing, Brian Strahl faxed the judge a letter saying he was playing in the world series of poker in Las Vegas -- an effort, he claimed, to win funds to pay back victims. The judge rescheduled the sentencing and denounced Strahl as a "degenerate gambler.""
I bet he'll lose some bets in prison.
KOBTV.com - Man whose finger was found near jaguar cage at Albuquerque zoo banned for life "A frequent Albuquerque zoo visitor whose finger was found bitten off outside the jaguar exhibit has been banned from the zoo for life... Darnell says he denied missing any fingers. But Darnell says a print lifted from the detached finger said otherwise."
This is possibly one of the most irrational stories I've ever read in my life.
And I love how in the video clip they ask the little girl what she thinks of the jaguar biting off someone's finger, and she says "I don't like the idea of it at all." (link via Select All)
The Onion | Commuting Tips "An office carpool is a great way to increase your levels of stress, small talk, and coffee spilled in your lap, as well as the amount of time you spend with people you can just barely tolerate."
"Don't take the train. Sooner or later, everyone who travels via train gets chased along the tops of the cars by crooks."
I sent this one to my friend who's been commuting between 5 & 6 hours per day to work and back (Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia), until her apartment is ready for her. I can't imagine that.
Though 4 years ago, I met a guy on a flight from Ontario, California to San Francisco, who said his daily commute was 3 hours one way. A lot of people in California, including my parents, have an hour commute to the office.
I've never worked more than a half hour from my home, including when I rode a mountain bike for transportation. Unless you count the one snow storm in which I had to walk to work during.... 2 feet of snow on my way home that night.
But there are more interesting commutes to work... 75 Degrees South: The morning commute ('The Onion' link via Sore Eyes)
'The Uncovered Chair' Video Commercial
'The Uncovered Chair', which no one would be so boorish and unrefined to cover, is of gold brocade and seems specifically designed and placed to hold court from. (Whence such a time as visitors are being received.) Accompanied by an ashtray stand, 'The Uncovered Chair' is the perfect place from which to blow smoke and regale one's audience with fanciful tales of importance and adventure, to bestow the knowledge of the beauties and benefits of wine and the follies involved in drinking too much of it, and to relate carefully conceived descriptions of acquaintances not present to assert their own personalities or speak for themselves, (or even if they are present). The only thing missing from this exemplary display is a dainty stand on which to precariously perch a cup of tea served in a cracked and chipped mug (with the hand-painted periwinkles), and a white slim-line telephone (with last-number automatic re-dial) with which to receive important and lengthy conversation telephone calls whilst holding court with a lone guest, who is so graciously condescended. And the only flaw is that it does not, in fact, have the best, closest, or only view of the television set, which is not, in fact, cable equipped with visitor luring & occupying channels such as 'the animals'.
Phone Service Rage ("I can't hear you because you're shouting")
CNN.com - Man angry at Verizon hurls phones "A man who said he was fed up with his cellular phone service went to a Fargo mall and started hurling phones across a store, striking an employee and causing more than $2,000 in damage, authorities said. Jason Perala, 22, of Fargo, told The Forum newspaper that he planned only to yell at employees at Verizon Wireless. "Then I just lost it," he said. "I just started grabbing computers and phones and throwing them. I just destroyed the place. ... I kind of regret that I did it, but I hope my message got across."
But he didn't get the message across, because the way he went about it was socially unacceptable - the violent drama completely overshadows any provocations. And so from this article we never learn what transgressions Verizon was guilty of perpetrating against him.
Because I'm completely sure that he did in fact have some legitimate complaint.
The sheer volume and vast amount of tales told on the internet of how people hate Verizon speaks volumes...
Google Searches: "I hate Verizon" - "Verizon sucks"
And the amount of people linking to this article with no admonishment of the violent outburst says a lot.
Does this justify violence? No.
Does it make Verizon not guilty of poor services? No.
Lately I feel constantly reminded of the term "tu quoque".
It's too bad he "lost it", and didn't find some non-agressive way of expressing his gripes publicly. Perhaps he should've tried poetry or a whirl, instead of 'going apeshit' & 'hog wild'.
(Update: Just to show that Verizon should not be singled out, I will refer to the excellent movie called The President's Analyst, in which TPC plays a pivotal role in the plot. hehe.)
Because we need hairdressers, artists, and 'theatre fags', of course
NPR: Morning Edition - Mass. Justice of the Peace Resigns Over Gay Marriage Justices of the Peace in Massachusetts will be required to marry gay couples beginning Monday. The move follows an order from the state Supreme Court. Linda Gray Kelley of Charlton, Mass., chose to resign her post rather than perform gay marriages.
While I can respect a "conscientious objecter" stand, I can't help but roll my eyes at Kelley's remarks defending herself as not homophobic to a national radio audience - which include a comment, on national radio, how she's "always been in the world of theatre and interior design".
Need I say more?
CNN Money - Gas prices hitting SUV sales? "Gas pump prices may be starting to be felt in dealer showrooms, according to a report from an automotive information provider showing that compact car prices are getting a lift while there is downward pressure on prices for large sport/utility vehicles and pickups."
Well, I've been aggravated with the increase in gas prices. But maybe this is the bright side? heh. (link via War Liberal)
NPR: Morning Edition : Ban Those Pants Louisana lawmaker wants to outlaw those popular hip-hugging pants.
This reminds me of hearing someone say that they found women wearing half-shirts exposing their midrifts unacceptable.
I'm not fond of either half-shirts or hip-huggers, and if they're exposing underwear or whatnot, I find it incredibly lacking in class. But banning them? Surely this is ridiculous and Louisiana has more important laws to work on.
But I wonder if the argument over this law could lead to the lift on the ban on nudity.
10 Worst Album Covers - (alternate page here)
The John Bult one... 'Julie' looks quite sad, and I can understand why... see that look in the eye of that guy holding her hand!
On Jen Bennett's comments, about The Ministers Quartet, Lynn says, "And the one called "let me touch him": is it a plea or a threat???" (link via Jen Bennett)
'Parts' as in 'roles'. Dictionary defnition #6.
Melissa & Dave rehearsing for Petrified Forest at the Providence Playhouse in Scranton, Pennsylvania, February 3rd 2002.
As it happens, I actually considered using this same photo for last week's 'Photo Friday' which was "Play". (It's like some kind of universal conspiracy to get me to post this photo here. heh.)
I also considered using "these parts", body parts (fingers), part of the military, and the best kind of part has a 'Y' on the end - PARTY! (posted for Photo Friday, "Parts")
The Tampa Tribune: Onstage Suicides Banned; Penalty Includes Jail Time Under the new law, scheduled to take effect July 1, selling tickets or participating in an event that includes someone committing suicide will be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Nothing like an imprecise headline. (link via FlaBlog)
I've seen this web site, making fun of various 'unusual' names people consider for their babies, awhile back. But apparently I never posted it. I just saw it linked again recently. Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing Suggestion: "Brittany after the statue- Brittania" Comment: "'Cause nothing in, say, France is called Britanny. Nothing big like a province. Nothing else in England called Britannia, either. Nothing big like...England. Their hatred of this particular woman is the only thing England and France have agreed on since 1066." Suggestion: "What about Bubba for a boy. a great unusual name..."
It's still pretty funny. (link via Raspberry World)
Another 'urban legend' e-mail (Swiffer WetJet is not harmful to pets)
Snopes.com - Urban Legends Reference Pages: Critter Country (Swiffer WetJet) Claim: The Swiffer WetJet poses a general danger to household pets. Status: False.
I received this one recently. Apparently it's a new addition on Snopes. I don't think I've received it before, but I kind of have deja vu of hearing about it before. Apparently it's not true.
But heck, I was surprised when I found out the Clorox Ready-Mop was safe on hardwood floors. My cat, Nikita, turns her nose up at my Clorox Ready-Mop when it's in use, and runs off. But then that's probably just because she takes after me and thinks housekeeping is beneath her.
Note: The fact that the Swiffer WetJet is not harmful to pets does not mean it should be added to their water supply.
Hug fact confusion (since Snopes.com probably won't debunk this one)
I'm constantly receiving forwarded e-mails that are urban legends or hoaxes already debunked on Snopes.com, but I doubt I'll find this one, so I'll take care of it here myself. FACTS AND HINTS ABOUT HUGS
There is no such thing as a bad hug; there are only good hugs and great hugs
Hug someone at least once a day and twice on a rainy day.
Hug with a smile; closed eyes are optional.
A snuggle is a longish hug.
Bedtime hugs help chase away bad dreams.
Never hug tomorrow someone you could hug today.
You cannot give a hug - without getting one.
No one of my gender, particularly with my upper-body physical feature, would agree that there is no such thing as a bad hug.
Bedtime hugs might actually cause bad dreams if they involve an intruder in your home, or even an inadvertant cat claw embedding into your neck.
Hugs today do not necessarily fulfill the hug quota of tomorrow.
And anyone who's tried to bad hug me has found out that it is indeed possible to give a hug without receiving one.
Do I sound cynical? It's all in jest.
Scranton Gas Prices
Price watch of local gas stations, updated by members who spot and report gas prices.
Nationally: GasBuddy & GasPriceWatch.
I wish there was a way to input the time you saw it, because obviously it could be hours or a day before someone gets a chance to input the price. I input a price today that I saw last night, because it seems to be the lowest around, and I called to verify that it was the same today, which involved a lot of hullabaloo to get the phone # of this particular station.
The station in question is Sheetz in Dickson City (or is it Scranton?) not far from the Viewmont Mall on Route 6 (or is it Route 11?). They have regular gasoline at $1.79 for the past 3 days. This is the lowest price I've seen in the past week from Wilkes-Barre to Scranton, Dallas to Archbald. (links via NEPA Whirl-Mart)
Worst Romance Novel Covers of 2003 The Nanny Solution and The Big Bad Wolf Tells All are just hysterically bizarre when one considers the content..
The first one is kind of silly looking actually, but it made the top of the list because, as All About Romance says, "We like our covers romantic, and we like our covers sexy. But no one wants their cover to look like porn."
Well, the fact is, that romance novels are basically 'porn for women'. At least those that qualify as erotic literature, (which refers to most).
That's not to say no women go for porn and no men go for erotic novels, but pornography is mainly marketed to men, appealing to what's considered a more male perspective of sex involving simple visuals, and erotic novels are mainly marketed to women, appealing to what's considered a more female perspective of sex involving complex seduction scenarios.
The big arguable difference between pornography and "erotic literature" is that a novel is pure fantasy and involves no reality whatsoever, whereas pornography (excluding anime) involves actual photographs of real people posing, or film of real peoplereally having sex. (link via Sore Eyes)
The only time I've left the country was to go to Mexico, Jamaica, or the Bahamas. And one only needs a birth certificate and driver's license to travel to Mexico & such.. And, considering my experience, one doesn't even necessarily need them to return from Mexico. (See entry from October 18th 2002.)
I may be going to Qatar this summer to visit my uncle Tony who is stationed in Iraq, so obviously I need a passport for that. And I heard it could take a couple of months to get one, heaven knows why.
I'm now convinced that 'they' don't want me to leave the country, considering the outrageous costs of getting a passport.
First, it could've cost me $20 just to have the passport photo taken. Fortunately, my friend John D. offered to do it for me.
My new driver's license photo is nice. I look angelic in it. I was so pleased. Much better than my previous driver's license photo, in which I look like an escaped mental patient. Well, this passport photo, I can't help thinking I look like a criminal. Of course I'm going to have to live with this one for the next decade apparently. I look better in a photo I took of myself after getting caught in the rain, in torrential downpours, twice, earlier this week.
Then I went to the post office to apply for the passport. I had to write out 2 checks: one for $55 to the U.S. Department of State, and one for $30 to the U.S. Post Office. The total cost was $85, which is clearly outrageous.
And why should one have to pay so much for a little empty booklet with a crappy photo just to leave the country, damn it.
Upon telling a friend, Eric D., about my trials of getting a passport, he said, "That's the way it is now. You wouldn't have heard anyone say, 'Christopher Columbus, may I see your passport?' No, those days are over. Well, at least since the astronauts walked on the moon. I don't think anyone asked for Neil Armstrong's passport. If someone had asked for Buzz Aldrin's passport on the moon, he probably would've given them a punch... which would've made for quite an entertaining video clip considering the gravity issues on the moon.
The Shining in 30 seconds, Re-enacted by bunnies
It seems like a big trend now to paint bunnies in a dark manner. It's like that bunny merchandise out now that has all those negative sayings on it.
I thought this little flash movie was pretty entertaining though.
Teo Ventrello performs at the Earth Day event at the AFA Gallery in Scranton, Pennsylvania, April 21st 2002.
There are too many meanings of the word "play".
It's kind of like how last week the word was "natural"... I decided not to post a photo... because I had the sneaking suspicion that a lot of the photos posted for it would not be of flowers or things you'd see on the animal channel. haha. (posted for Photo Friday, "Play")
Scranton Times Tribune : Troopers Receive Tips; Patient Still Missing "Mr. Joslyn escaped from the mental institution Monday around 7 a.m. by scaling a security fence, touching off a search that included door-to-door checks and highway checkpoints. Trooper Satkowski would not say why police are concerned Mr. Joslyn could be a threat to others. But he advised anyone who encounters the escapee not to approach him but instead call 9-1-1 or state police at 963-3156."
Why did I move closer to the mental hospital? Okay, so I'm not near it, actually. I'm actually closest to the regular hospital that I was born in, which is bad enough... I don't want to be born, live, and die on the same spot! But a friend who lives even closer to the mental hospital invited me to visit last night. I could've wound up running into the escaped mental patient. As if I don't deal with enough crazy people as it is. Hell, from my estimation lately, most of the people outside the mental hospitals are crazy, so I can only imagine just how crazy someone has to be to actually be technically considered an actual danger to oneself and others.
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
(more)
Sherry gleefully holds court from 'The Uncovered Chair'. On this particular day she regaled her audience, (Chloe & her sister Shelly), with tales about her numerous visits to the quaint and beautiful town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania; descriptions of the fancy restaurant there, the antique shops that smell of old postcards, and the town's special ability of treating guests with the honour they most certainly deserve. Her sister, Shelly, and Chloe, were most entertained. Sherry also went on to remark upon the inferiority of the new hairdresser she tried, who carelessly lopped off somewhat too much of Sherry's blonde locks, and admitted that she was better off going to Chloe's hairdresser, who is superb at catering to very specific standards.
'The Uncovered Chair', which no one would be so boorish and unrefined to cover, is of gold brocade and seems specifically designed and placed to hold court from. (Whence such a time as visitors are being received.) Accompanied by an ashtray stand, 'The Uncovered Chair' is the perfect place from which to blow smoke and regale one's audience with fanciful tales of importance and adventure, to bestow the knowledge of the beauties and benefits of wine and the follies involved in drinking too much of it, and to relate carefully conceived descriptions of acquaintances not present to assert their own personalities or speak for themselves, (or even if they are present). The only thing missing from this exemplary display is a dainty stand on which to precariously perch a cup of tea served in a cracked and chipped mug (with the hand-painted periwinkles), and a white slim-line telephone (with last-number automatic re-dial) with which to receive important and lengthy conversation telephone calls whilst holding court with a lone guest, who is so graciously condescended. And the only flaw is that it does not, in fact, have the best, closest, or only view of the television set, which is not, in fact, cable equipped with visitor luring & occupying channels such as 'the animals'.
I'm now convinced that 'they' don't want me to leave the country, considering the outrageous costs of getting a passport.
Then I went to the post office to apply for the passport. I had to write out 2 checks: one for $55 to the U.S. Department of State, and one for $30 to the U.S. Post Office. The total cost was $85, which is clearly outrageous.
