It Was A Time Of Howls And Tin-Rattling
With my brief absence having resulted in the rending of hair and garments, it seems a good a time to remind patrons that this rickety barge is kept afloat by the kindness of strangers. If you’d like to help it remain buoyant a while longer, and remain ad-free, there are buttons in the sidebar with which to monetise any love. Debit and credit cards are accepted. If one-click haste is called for, my PayPal.Me page can be found here. As requested, I’ve also added SubscribeStar and Ko-Fi accounts, via which love may also be monetised, whether as one-off donations or monthly subscriptions.
Additionally, any Amazon UK shopping done via this link, or for Amazon US via this link, or via the buttons in the sidebar, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you. Feel free to buy things wildly and in bulk.
For newcomers wishing to know more about what’s been going on here for the last decade and a half, in over 3,000 posts and 150,000 comments, the reheated series is a pretty good place to start – in particular, the end-of-year summaries, which convey the fullest flavour of what it is we do. A sort of blog concentrate. If you like what you find there… well, there’s lots more of that. If you can, do take a moment to poke through the discussion threads too. The posts are intended as starting points, not full stops, and the comments are where much of the good stuff is waiting to be found. And do please join in.
As always, thanks for the support, the comments, and the company. Consider this an open thread.
Nice to have you back. 😉 Your tip jar has been pinged.
Ping!
Morning, all.
Your tip jar has been pinged.
Ping!
Bless you, sir, and bless you, madam. May you be skilled in cracking eggshells with a sharp knife. No bits in the bowl.
As it’s Friday, I suppose I could scatter some ephemera in the comments.
The thrill of dog toys.
The thrill of live music.
A museum of malware.
And some erotic gyrations.
A little something for your trouble, barkeep.
A little something for your trouble, barkeep.
Bless you, sir. When re-painting white walls, may you remember to dust them thoroughly first, thereby avoiding particles of fluff becoming embedded in the paint.
Time to ponder. Was I foolhardy, once, in plugging the timbers of the rickety barge with a small donation? The prose and lingual pirouettes I enjoy immensely, but the subject matter often incites rage and an uncontrollable urge to wreak harm on the constant parade of very ugly, maladjusted people freaks who are always described as “Our betters.” Can I donate for the former sentiment and not the latter?
Feel free to buy things wildly and in bulk.
Christmas shopping starts this weekend. Will be using your Amazon link.
The prose and lingual pirouettes I enjoy immensely, but the subject matter often incites rage
Yes, I get that a lot.
Can I donate for the former sentiment and not the latter?
The rules on that point are quite flexible here.
My wife has given me permission to ping your tip jar.
With my injury this autumn I have had a bit o’ reduction in business but I do think things are looking up for the year ahead so … ping! This rickety barge has provided me with much enjoyment. Plus, it is worth hanging on in the hopes that eventually I will see what David and the Better Half look like.
Christmas shopping starts this weekend. Will be using your Amazon link.
That’s the spirit. Don’t hold back.
My wife has given me permission to ping your tip jar.
A wise woman. And, I hear, an ageless beauty.
And bless you, sirs. Should you order six small, 200ml bottles of unsweetened lime juice, may said items not arrive in a box that could easily accommodate the average toilet.
#TrueStory
so … ping!
Bless you, madam. May you go down in history as the first human being whose ageing process halted, miraculously, two days short of her 40th birthday.
Should you order six small, 200ml bottles of unsweetened lime juice, may said items not arrive in a box that could easily accommodate the average toilet.
Amazon? 🙂
Amazon? 🙂
Oh yes. For a minute I thought The Other Half had bought a cubic metre of air.
I think I’ll call him Chompy.
They nailed it – Halloween costumes of note.
The prose and lingual pirouettes I enjoy immensely, but the subject matter often incites rage
Ask David for one of his calming elixirs. Just don’t ask about the ingredients.
in particular, the end-of-year summaries, which convey the fullest flavour of what it is we do.
Good stuff. Like NJH said, laughter and rage. Tip jar hit.
Like NJH said, laughter and rage.
As a signature of the place, it just sort of emerged as a recurring theme. As I’ve noted before, the absurd and the sinister aren’t mutually exclusive.
Tip jar hit.
Bless you, sir. May your enemies gray prematurely.
By the way, I finally got around to watching Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (or rather, Dune: Part One). I found it… mildly interesting, but rather uninvolving and inert. It’s attractively shot, as you’d imagine, and there’s plenty of visual spectacle – lots of sand and, for some reason, miles of billowing chiffon. But there’s not much in the way of character, or suspense. The thing is rarely gripping and more than once my mind wandered. I watched to the end because it’s a very handsome film and I was curious as to whereabouts in the story the first instalment would stop, but not because I much cared what happened next.
I found it… mildly interesting, but rather uninvolving and inert. It’s attractively shot, as you’d imagine, and there’s plenty of visual spectacle – lots of sand and, for some reason, miles of billowing chiffon. But there’s not much in the way of character, or suspense.
Sigh. Agreed. I’ll watch Part Two when it comes out, but I do not have high expectations.
“It’s not my fault: ‘the ills of society’ are to blame.
By the way, I finally got around to watching Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (or rather, Dune: Part One). I found it… mildly interesting, but rather uninvolving and inert.
Remember back in the days of hardcover university textbooks, when you used to highlight important passages? But sometimes the whole book would have so much highlighter that it actually became difficult to read?
This is that movie.
BTW, Ping
About that double comment: I clicked Preview once, and the Post once. I think we’ve seen that software bug before. [ Shrug. ]
*ping*
BTW, Ping
*ping*
Bless you, sirs. May you never be approached by a chatty panhandler who as part of his schtick insists on showing you his bruises.
#TrueStory
The thrill of dog toys.
Strong dogs or bad tiling?
P.S. Ping!
Spray-bottle policy.
A feel-good moment.
Agreed. I’ll watch Part Two when it comes out, but I do not have high expectations.
Well, I didn’t regret watching it – it is very pleasing to the eye – but I didn’t find it remotely compelling. I mean, if it weren’t based on a famous book, and were instead an original idea, I’m not sure it would have been praised quite so much.
P.S. Ping!
Bless you, sir. May your repertoire of comfort food include bacon French toast.
Ping!
I have questions.
Ping!
Bless you, sir. May your newly purchased, rather swanky bottle of olive oil actually fit in the intended cupboard and not turn out to be a half-inch too tall.
May your newly purchased, rather swanky bottle of olive oil actually fit in the intended cupboard
David’s super powers transcend time and space: Even the bottles I purchased months ago fit in the cupboards.
More honest than most politicians: “I do not have a single constructive proposal!” (Japanese Revolutionary Fascist Koichi Toyama Runs for Tokyo Governor)
David’s super powers transcend time and space
I suspect it has more to do with me being (a) distracted by a fancy bottle and (b) unable to visualise the precise dimensions of said cupboard. In my defence, it was quite close – as I said, a half-inch at most – but I haven’t figured out how to pass one solid object through another.
[ Resumes studies on subject of passing solid objects through each other. ]
Turns out I’ll need more dimensions. It’s that or overhaul the laws of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. And then there’s all that maths.
I may just leave the olive oil on the countertop.
I suspect it has more to do with me being (a) distracted by a fancy bottle and (b) unable to visualise the precise dimensions of said cupboard.
I prefer my explanation.
[ Resumes studies on subject of passing solid objects through each other. ]
On that topic, how about this unique bottle? Also found on Amazon.
On that topic, how about this unique bottle? Also found on Amazon.
Heh. I could add it to my list of household objects that can’t be cleaned due to insufficient spatial dimensions.
[ Looks at sticky hob. ]
I thought the new Dune was about as good an adaptation as it’s possible to get on film. My disappointment was more that there is simply so. much. Dune, just in the first volume, that anything less than multiple seasons of a high budget HBO show is going to give it short shrift. I felt like I was watching memes from a longer work.
I suspect the movie doesn’t work if you’re not already familiar with the story. Casting actors with strong screen presence, like Jason Momoa, helps but ultimately you’re not given any time to invest with any of the characters. They name Shadout Mapes but there was no reason to; if you sneezed at the wrong time you’d completely miss the only scene she’s in.
[ Resumes studies on subject of passing solid objects through each other. ]
Try upping the grain weight and using full metal jacketed rounds.
”It’s difficult to fill, difficult to pour, and difficult to clean.”
All points in its favor, if you look at it in the right way.
“This unique Bottle”
Also handy for long roadtrips in the truck during a -40c blizzard.
Deleted my Paypal account months ago. Too woke for me.
I will do some shopping on amazon
Glad you’re back. *kerching!*
I will do some shopping on amazon
Be sure to write a list. You wouldn’t want to forget anything really expensive.
*kerching!*
And bless you both. Should unexpected houseguests descend, may you know the whereabouts of your trousers.
may you know the whereabouts of your trousers
Are you implying that one’s blog commenting thong might be insufficient?
Also pong.
[ Returns from heated battle in Hades’ Star. ]
Also pong.
Bless you, sir. May you always know where your nail clippings went.
I felt like I was watching memes from a longer work… you’re not given any time to invest with any of the characters.
Yes, that. In the film, things explode around people you barely know or have much reason to care about. But hey, plenty of artfully billowing chiffon.
Thanks to all who’ve chipped in so far, or subscribed, or done shopping via the Amazon links, including all those much too shy to say hello. It’s much appreciated and is what keeps this place here.
how about this unique bottle?
At first I thought, “Cliff Stoll did a video about Klein bottles a few years ago, including how he custom-ordered a large number of a standard version. Any connection? He couldn’t have sold them all, could he? Why would he now sell a different customized version?”
Then I saw “Cliff” at the bottom of that page and clicked on thru to the site’s home page. Sure enough, Cliff Stoll. I wonder if he actually still has any from his first batch.
From 2015, “The man with 1,000 Klein Bottles UNDER his house.” https://youtu.be/-k3mVnRlQLU
(I first submitted the above about 30 minutes ago. I tried all the recommendations about making sure it hadn’t been posted, and adding opening the thread in MS Edge, not my usual Firefox. So far, no. If this shows up as a dupe, sorry.)
Still around. Long story. Ping!
Have a drink or two on me, barkeep.
Ping!
Have a drink or two on me, barkeep.
Bless you, sirs. May you always have replacement heads for your electric toothbrush.
Dune was the last SciFi novel I read and in fact the last novel I read. 30 yrs ago. I read non-fiction now. It had several cool premises that other SciFi does not.
Elephants here…
Just checking what happens when one posts a comment.