| Movie List 2009 Part The First |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|03:22 pm] |
Here's my movies-watched list for the first half of 2009. As with last year, asterisks are re-watches. This list doesn't count TV series, of which I've watched Battlefield Britain, Star Trek TNG seasons 1-4 (SO FAR), Mad Men season 2 (getting ready for season 3), Muppet show seasons 1&2 etc etc oh dear.
Numbers in parentheses are years of release!
( click for ridiculous list ) |
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| ointment plus time equals health |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|10:01 am] |
Before Joey and I left Toronto for his book tour, I called the 24 hour nurses' line to make sure my head wouldn't explode on the plane. I'd never flown with a swollen face before, who knew what might happen? Reassured, I hopped on the tiny plane to Chicago sporting giant sunglasses whenever socially acceptable so as to hide my distressing visage.
Chicago is a city of mirrors, did you know? It seemed like everywhere we went there were mirrors upon mirrors. I was left wishing for some kind of phantom of the opera-style mask so strangers stopped thinking I was either massively abused or had unfortunate birthmarks. Twenty-four hours on the train and then we were in Boston.
By the time we arrived, most of the swelling in my face had gone down, but my cheekbone was still bulbous and the bruises were spreading alarmingly. Maybe it was time for a hospital visit? My travel insurance wouldn't cover it, of course, because the accident happened in Canada and I didn't have the presence of mind to lie about that. Options were narrowing and anxiety mounting. A quick visit to the Somerville ER, some shaming from the doctor and nurses about not having come in sooner, and I was told I should get a CT scan to make sure I hadn't fractured my face.
Our Boston host, being both the nicest person around AND perpetually up for strange adventures, offered to drive all night to Montreal, where I could get as many free scans as my heart desired. Have you ever spent the hours of four am to nine am in a hospital waiting room? They are the magic hours, I can tell you. Once I was scanned and xrayed and declared fracture-free, it was back in the car to catch up with Joey. After a dramatic storm I took a driving shift. By this time I'd been up for something around 30 hours and was resorting to sundry tricks (stick fingers in the A/C! sing! think about the desolate future!) to keep myself alert. We arrived in Easthampton just in time for me to shower and make it to Joey's reading. What with post-reading BBQs and Encore-playing I ended up being awake for around 44 hours, which I recommend for anyone who wants to explore alternate states of mind through legal means.
The next day we climbed Mount Tom and I fell in a hole, thus getting further scraped up. Good thing I got that tetanus shot? I'm really not usually so accident-prone (I hadn't had to go to a hospital in over 6 years), so I figure I must have used up all of my injury points for the next few years at least. Thanks to all who gave me pointers and suggestions for healing myself, be assured I took it all to heart! |
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| injuries! |
[May. 22nd, 2009|08:54 pm] |
I had a bike accident last night and I've ended up bruised and scraped, but unbroken. Toronto has streetcars, and I was biking up the street, slipped into the tracks and went down pretty hard. Anyhow, this is all fine except I mostly broke my fall with my face, and now it's swollen and remarkably gargoylish. I have to leave on Tuesday to join Joey for his east coast book tour (details here if you're interested) so I need to heal up fast so I don't scare the customers away!
Does anyone have any advice for healing small cuts and scrapes quickly? I've cleaned the wounds (they're all very shallow, the usual road rash sort of thing) with Dettol and polysporin-ed them up, plus I've applied cold packs regularly to the swollen bits. I did a bit of reading on the always-reliable internet and people seem to think eating lots of protein is good, so I'm getting protein at every meal.
I guess if none of it works I could just run around the eastern seaboard asking people if they are the Keymaster?
ps - I was helped by four separate strangers after I fell, they helped Jeremy clean the cuts and get me fixed up. One even had a complete first aid kit in his car! I am incredibly appreciative of that help, and it makes me so glad that people will stop and do that for one another. Hurrah for friendly Toronto! |
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| puck off |
[May. 4th, 2009|03:09 pm] |
I found this mystery cheese at a grocery store in Chinatown. It smelled like yogurt, but tastes like a saltier fusion of Vache-Qui-Rit wedges and straight up FD&C Yellow #5 + FD&C Red#40 Cheez Whiz. I'm kind of grotesquely fascinated.
So far, the conclusion is: Good on Cornbread! |
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| The Events of Yesterday |
[Apr. 9th, 2009|12:55 am] |
So it turns our BlogTO came to our webcomics panel yesterday! They wrote about it, even. We all look pretty grim in the photos, except for Willow Dawson, but in real life there were laughs had by all!
Later there was foolishness at Joey's Overqualified launch. It was certainly much livelier than your average book launch, what with the fun bands and the strategic shirtlessness. I did a fairly credible Mitch Hedberg impression? Later we repaired to a karaoke bar, where Joey made us all keep quiet:
But some of us didn't listen and sang songs anyway. My walk home was one of those walks during which I kept constantly debating if I should just hail a cab, but the closer I got to home the less reasonable that seemed. And yet, I still had the conversation with myself every time I passed a taxi... |
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| holy crap HOLY CRAP |
[Mar. 31st, 2009|08:55 pm] |
There is SO MUCH exciting business coming up for us! You probably already know about Joey's Overqualified launch on April 7, but I have a thing going on that very same night. I'll be on a panel with my pals Kate Beaton and Ryan North (among others) called Graphically Speaking as part of the Keep Toronto Reading events going on this month. It's from 6:30-8:30 on April 7, you can see the details here or get facebook to remind you when it's happening by setting your RSVP here. I'm going to be running from the North York Library down to Joey's launch in Kensington, I think you should do the same.
A couple of days later, Joey and I are heading to our first art show! We're a part of the totally amazing lineup for Titans of Small Town, a one-night show at 303Grand in Brooklyn. Chris Hastings and Ryan North are going to be there too, to answer questions and talk about how great they are, plus there's going to be original art from Chris Onstad. Check out the details, and if you're in New York come out and see us! |
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| "This Stings" - the Man |
[Mar. 31st, 2009|03:11 pm] |
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this is maybe the world's best telephone pole sign. Jeremy found it about five years ago, and now it can bring happiness to everyone. |
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| i'm a twit |
[Mar. 25th, 2009|12:04 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | maximumfun.org | ] |
oh good god, i've added myself to Twitter.
real life is ending. |
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| oh what a laugh |
[Mar. 23rd, 2009|02:11 pm] |
We really dropped the ball on letting people know ahead of time, but Joey and I were at the New England Webcomics Weekend! On the first night I might have had too many opinions, but otherwise things went swimmingly. Turns out maybe webcomics-makers are the nicest ever, even the ones you think might be scary. Perhaps even especially those ones?
We were wined (beer-ed?) and dined by the excellent people of TopatoCo, and when I wasn't meeting folks at our table I explored their really great building. Now I'm beset with jealousy that I don't have an enormous factory to wander around. I took some photos, of course. |
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| "Iceland is no longer a country. It is a hedge fund." |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|12:58 pm] |
I really enjoyed Michael Lewis' Vanity Fair story about Iceland's financial troubles (and their isolation-forged society in general). Here's the summation they give at the top of the story:
Iceland’s de facto bankruptcy—its currency (the krona) is kaput, its debt is 850 percent of G.D.P., its people are hoarding food and cash and blowing up their new Range Rovers for the insurance—resulted from a stunning collective madness. What led a tiny fishing nation, population 300,000, to decide, around 2003, to re-invent itself as a global financial power? In Reykjavík, where men are men, and the women seem to have completely given up on them, the author follows the peculiarly Icelandic logic behind the meltdown.
EDIT: here's an article by Jonas Moody that takes Lewis to task for some of his more judgemental pronouncements about Icelanders. I was wondering when someone would take this on... |
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| critic/artist |
[Mar. 2nd, 2009|04:34 pm] |
I discovered, last week (via Smashing Telly, which I've proclaimed the goodness of in the past) the art documentaries of Matthew Collings. I haven't watched too much of his stuff yet, but it seems quite compelling (if a bit aimed-at-beginners) so far!
Here is the beginning of his 90s series, This Is Modern Art. I do love the feeling of being walked around a gallery by someone knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It's pretty Brit-centric, but that makes sense, given its original BBC audience:
Impressionism: Revenge of the Nice is more recent, and has reminded me of so many things I'd forgotten to care about in the face of things more New:
We saw ads for 40th anniversary showings of Kenneth Clark's Civilization, so I want to check out Collings' response, but I haven't yet. You can, here:
(I'll be honest, I'm partly doing this so I can find this guy's stuff again. Make bookmarks you say? NEVER) |
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| HI I'M EMILY |
[Feb. 27th, 2009|04:21 pm] |
Interests this week include:
Controlled Rotting - fermentation, the ageing of meat and cheese, the whole thing is fascinating to me. We're so petrified of the incursions of micro-organisms (99.9% germ free!) and strict adherence to best-before dates, but we allow and celebrate the workings of food rot in a controlled manner. I have eaten a lot of kimchi recently, which I think is what sent me along this path?
Sheep Cheese - clearly related to the above! When in London, Jeremy and I went to Neal's Yard Dairy at the Borough Market and got some wicked sheep's milk cheese. Neither of us can recall what it was called, but DANG it was delicious, all oozy and grassy/nutty flavoured.
The Fall of Carthage - I listened to this Radio4 programme on Carthage earlier this week, and thought it a fine example of academic disagreement nicely mediated (normally I can't stand to listen to people on the radio arguing, it's like listening to your parents fight as a kid) and it's got me all fired up to learn more about Carthage and Rome's relationship! Any book suggestions? |
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| hello again old continent |
[Feb. 24th, 2009|06:28 pm] |
we are back from London (photos are here) and it's really too bad that we didn't stay long enough to see members of Parliament racing with PANCAKES.
the next best thing, i suppose, will be to make some ourselves. |
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| meme time USA! |
[Jan. 31st, 2009|09:53 pm] |
open yon iTunes and here information shall be found!
How many songs total: 12 160
How many hours or days of music: 33.4 days (WHAT THE FRIG?!)
Most recently played: "You and I Misbehaving" Tilly and the Wall
Most played: "Lords" The Sword (this is a recently bought computer, so the replays are not high, only 6 times)
Most recently added: Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains, self-titled album
Sort by song title:
First Song: "À ma fille" Charles Aznavour
Last Song: "-" Pelican
Sort by time:
Shortest Song: "Test Ground 1" Melt Banana (1 second)
Longest Song: "Pastoral" Beethoven (44 minutes 42 seconds)
Sort by album:
First album: "Aaargh! Annual - Year One" various
Last album: "+" Justice (that should be a cross not a plus sign)
First song that comes up on Shuffle: "Don't Ever Change" The Beatles
Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death - 166
Life - 198
Love - 631
Hate – 48
You - 1402
Sex – 49
Dudes I knew we had a lot of music but this is bananas. Kind of makes me want to listen to more than public radio podcasts, occasionally? |
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| Valentine's Day is Coming for Us |
[Jan. 22nd, 2009|11:22 pm] |
You know, Valentine's Day is the ultimate A Softer World holiday. What are we if not romantic? So this year, for the next couple of weeks, whenever you order the A Softer World book from Loose Teeth Press, you'll get eight free valentines. You already have the book? Eight valentines not enough for all of your many loves? You can also order a pack of 16 instead! But you've gotta move on it soon, because these delightful cards will only be available until February 8th.
We've got a new comic up on Tor.com, you should go look at it! I'm especially proud of that photo, and if you don't go look, my fragile ego will be crushed. |
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| ASW News Post Archive (sort of) |
[Jan. 16th, 2009|03:04 pm] |
Alright, I've been meaning to do this for ages! Our news posts on the ASW are not archived, so I thought I should make a sort of clearinghouse of the links I've featured in the past year or so. Provided I remember to do so, I'm going to cross-post all of my ASW stuff here, so that it won't be so ephemeral.
(in no particular order)
Society in Decline:Intrastate Commerce - yet more evidence that the USA (in general) has done a better job holding on to great midcentury signage.
Year 2008 in Photographs - the Boston Globe's The Big Picture has a three-part best of series, this is part one.
Cat Cam - cats take photos too?
Foodpairing - teaches you how to combine your foods in new ways, AND it has suggestions for substitutions.
The Selby - beautiful photographs of beautiful people in their beautiful homes. Like the best decor magazine you've ever seen without all the ads for flooring.
Früli - the fruitiest beer I've ever drunk.
Free Rice - show off your vocabulary AND feed people.
Corey Arnold - the coldest, loveliest photos you'll ever see.
Ali Bosworth - a photographer who lived in Victoria when I was there. Maybe the opposite of the above shots, Bosworth's tend to be warm and drowsy.
ASW Fanart - the ASW flickr tag! There are actually hundreds of pieces up now, go check 'em out and put up your own, DAMMIT. |
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