BBC- Doctor Who - Radiophonatron
Make your own Doctor Who themesong: Just flat out neet. The BBC is always doing neat things with technology. Also, I should note that I have been a Doctor Who Fan for just short of 20 years now starting with the airing of Destiny of the Daleks on WTTW Back on December 22 of 1985 (Credit the
Doctor Who in Chicago website on the recordkeeping of that one).
Happy Holidays Y'all
Or:
Q: What do you really want for Christmas?
A: Real Estate.
Or:
I'll give you 5 good reasons to have a Merry Christmas
So, uhm, yeah Christmas has come and gone. It's been a wild ride on this end; and I'm not sure at this point, I have all the words to explain it. I'll start with this little nugget which I received last week. There was no explanation in the box, and the return address was blackened out. The only things I knew were that it came from Austin, TX and that it was signed L.V.P. with a rubber stamping of Lucy VanPelt (of Charlie Brown Fame).
Anyhow, as you can imagine, I was taken aback by this
thing that arrived at work. It appears to be fossilized peanuts in the shape of the state of Texas. I clearly know
who this came from. I have a vague idea why. But for whatever reason, it still just makes me shake my head... I think it's a good icon of this past christmas season for me.
More details to come this week; and Miss VanPelt, I'm overdue at sending you a letter*.
* Let the record show that I'm overdue at sending everyone a christmas card. expect it around valentines day. mmkay?
Buy Blue Current Campaign
Curious correlation of political donations to retail/corporate establishments. It's ood to know when I'm going to spend my hard earned ducats this holiday for people, that I might be furthing some of those *red* issues.
Things are good: Part 2
So, initially I wrote something about this, in last Monday, and through whatever ineptitude on my part, I lost my mini-review to the ether... So here I endeavour to say what an enjoyable read Audrey Niffenegger's
The Time Traveler's Wife was.
Add one part, sci-fi time travel story, one part love story, and one part Chicago location porn, with some clever dialog, and positioning of characters, and you have this book. The story introduces us to Clare and Henry, a couple that in the truest sense of the word, were
destined for each other. Clare first meets Henry when she was 6 and Henry was time travelling back. Henry first meets Clare when he's a 20-something punk-rock librarian that doesn't quite have his shit together. The dynamics of thier relationship is intriguing, since at any given moment, he's probably just seen her in her past; which was typically a distant memory for her.
The nature of his time travel is immutable and he is typically powerless to change things that he already knows that have happened.
Aside from the usual trappings of lovestory/scifi, the book had all the makings of what I've described as
Chicago Location Porn. The Art Institute figures prominently, as does lots of fun hangouts. I was mildly taken aback when Clare and Henry settle in a house not all that far from my old neighborhood. I had fictional neighbors! It's kind of exciting.
It was incredible timing that I had just saw the Pixies at the Aragon just the week before I read the chapter where Henry and Clare go and see the Violent Femmes in 1991. The whole book came to life for me, because it all just unfolded around me in the streets and venues of this great city. It's a wonderful piece of work on it's own accord, but it's especially sweet watching the story unfold around you.
Totally tangentally, I read most of the book while on the train, so I also had my iPod with me, and, have been switching between two recent playlists that I put together in the last couple months... Oddly enough, I found that both of them had songs that could easilly be soundtracked to the movie of the book that was playing in my head... So, if you're reading
The Time Travellers Wife here are some tunes that might help you along... they're either Time related, love related... or just good tunes that I enjoyed while reading the book:
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Bare Naked Ladies - It's all been done
Of Montreal - Penelope
Stereolab - Tomorrow is already here
Dusty Springfield - What's it gonna be
The Apples in Stereo - I can't believe
New Order - Here to stay
Tears for fears - Mad world
Komeda - Blossom
Spiritualized - Oh Baby
Franz Ferdinand - The Dark of the Mattinee
Air - Surfing on a rocket
Jesus & Mary Chain - Just like honey
Johnathon Richman - The origin of love
Mark Eitzel - Proclaim your joy
808 State - Quincy's lunch
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Buzzcocks - Love you more
Air - Venus
New Order - Thieves like us
Of Montreal - Mimi Merlot
The Cardigans - Lovefool
Komeda - Out from the rain
John Wesley Harding - She's a piece of work
William Shatner - Ideal Woman
Rufus Wainright - Oh what a world
Hedwig & the Angry Inch - Midnight Radio
Neko Case - Train for Kansas City
