GRABBINGSAND

The weekend has provided me with much to say about ice, proper footwear (for ice), warm attire (for ice), the stability of electric power (re: ice), the effect of gravity upon trees (encased in ice) and even a recipe (that does not include ice). However, I am compelled to confess something that must be true, because I read it in an email that came from the far reaches of the Internet(s): I love tents. Really. I must. Otherwise, why would I receive this unsolicited email:

To Whom It May Concern,

We have learned from the Internet that you are interested in tents.

Well, I never knew it, but I guess it is true. I love tents. I would share the website of the friendly company that sent this email, one that specializes in (what luck!) tents, but this is my own never-before-known and unheard-of fascination. Not yours. Get your own.

Note: Somehow, this post decided not to be published on Sunday.

I was going to make a mostly ranting post about how “happy” I am that America so wisely re-elected a money-thrifty Republican for President, because a Democrat would’ve just kept on spending and spending … but I have too much real work to do.

Or I was going to make a rather horrified post about the just-released and appallingly awful trailer for Fantastic Four … but I have too much real work to do.

Instead, I took the Roger’s Multiple Intelligences quiz. Nikki posted her results over on Alenda Lux last week, so it only makes sense that I check my own communicative results against hers.

Verbal/Linguistic 89% Interpersonal 82% Visual/Spatial 82% Musical/Rhythmic 68% Intrapersonal 64% Logical/Mathematical 57% Bodily/Kinesthetic 54%

Verbal / Linguistic. Just like her. As I suspected knew already.

The Oscar nominees are up. A cursory glance at the list tells me two things. Thing One: For the films I’ve seen, Oscar has a pretty keen eye for what was really good in 2004. Thing Two: There are so many ‘04 films I have yet to see. However, rarely have I allowed incomplete data prevent me from making an educated guess or three, so here are some of my out-of-the-box/off-hand Academy Award predictions:

• Actor in a Leading Role: Johnny Depp – FINDING NEVERLAND
• Actor in a Supporting Role: Jamie Foxx – COLLATERAL
• Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Winslet – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
• Actress in a Supporting Role: Cate Blanchett – THE AVIATOR*
• Animated Feature Film: THE INCREDIBLES
• Directing: RAY
• Best Picture: RAY
• Writing (Original Screenplay): ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

I could cast guesses at the rest, but I really need to catch up. In the next month, I need to see The Aviator, Million Dollar Baby, Hotel Rwanda and probably Sideways. At one film a weekend, it can be done …

I have a birthday in March. I have a purposefully delayed honeymoon in November. Between March and November, I intend to scratch together enough extra cash to replace my aging Kodak DX3600 with a newer, better, faster, cooler digital camera. (Not a light decision, as the Kodak has done some lovely work for me in the past.)

In preparation, I’ve been shopping. Camera shopping is about as perplexing and self-defeating as computer shopping, but the likely candidate is the Panasonic DMC-FZ3. By brand-name alone, this goes against my belief that one should stick to buying products that fall within the main focus of a given manufacturer. Panasonic makes televisions and radios … what do they know about cameras? But this entry-level member of their Lumix line is getting very good reviews and you can’t beat a Leica lens.

Or can you? If anyone has any digital camera opinions, please share.

I’ve said it before and I still mean it … 11:30pm just is not the same without the original Tonight Show theme song.

“And so it has come to this. I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something that I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it.”*

We should all be so lucky.

Our very own zig-zagging former Governor, current Senator and all-around partisan turncoat has found a place on The BEAST’s 50 Most Loathsome People of 2004.

19. Zell Miller

Crimes: Part Yosemite Sam and Part Foghorn Leghorn. Miller doesn’t make the list for his salivating, traitorous keynote speech at the Republican National Convention, or even the duel thing with Chris Matthews. He makes the list because he really does represent Southern Democrats. Miller was chief of staff for diehard racist Georgia Governor Lester Maddox, who used to own a restaurant where he’d hand out pick handles to his customers to beat any black people that might try to come in. The Democratic party really isn’t the party he once knew—thank God.

Smoking Gun: Won’t switch parties, just to be a pain in the ass.

Punishment: Death by torrential barrage of spitballs while watching his granddaughter make out with Big Pun.

Now, before you guffaw too loudly and proudly, you should know that you made the list too. So did I. We all did. We’re at #3.

I was working this morning. Really. In fact, I still am. However, I was successfully distracted from my task at hand by a link sent over the wires by Mr Low, a good friend and my games editor over at JIVE. It’s a webcomic. return to sender.

A serialized web-comic that is equal parts Manga, Optic Nerve and Invader Zim, with a darkness akin to Ellis, Gaiman or really good X-Files episode.

Start here.

In other news, my latest article is taking up space on the front of JIVE. It’s another Q & A with Jack Emmert called “Letters to Statesman” — this time, we’re letting the hero do all the talking.

Update: The City of Heroes website is linking directly to the feature. Dang.

The iPod has a seemingly handy feature. The On-The-Go feature allows you to select songs from the thousands available one-by-one. These are appended to an ever-growing playlist that you can select to hear these pickings all in one set. Convenient. However, this list cannot be finely edited, nor can the pickings be resorted or reordered. Also, songs cannot be added to the On-The-Go playlist while they’re playing. So really, you just pick these songs when you happen to scroll by. They can be deleted, but only in one fell swoop, all-at-once.

The result is a mismatch that seems so strange, yet makes sense, even when it shouldn’t. My current On-The-Go is my at-work soundtrack and is doing a fine job of keeping me mostly on task, but the individual songs have very little to do with one another. Observe …

1. “High Noon” – Juno
2. “The Thinner The Air” – Cocteau Twins
3. “Shadow on the Sun” – Audioslave
4. “The Man Comes Around” – Johnny Cash
5. “Whatever Lola Wants (Gotan Project Remix)” – Sarah Vaughan
6. “Dream On” – Depeche Mode

And so it continues … No sense at all.

Okay. Pressing play. Getting back to work.

… kick your oatmeal’s ass.

Seriously. Keep your Quaker Oats, flakey as they are. You know they’re rolled and therefore inferior. My oatmeal is so righteous that it comes in a metal can. Why? Because it is steel cut, baby. That’s right. The each individual oat grain has been ninja-sliced into perfect little vectors of nutrition. And they’re Irish! Fightin’ Oats! If it weren’t for the can, these oats would rip their pantry mates to shreds.

(Seriously, these things are pretty good. And good for you, hence their recent introduction to our household. Especially with a lump of low-fat peanut butter mixed in.)

Minor addition. Using the Customizable Post Listing Plug-In from coffee2code, I’ve added descriptive links to the five most recent posts. See? Over there. To the right. Neato!