09/14/10 10:20 - 58.ºF - ID#52734

Ink = Terrible Film

What a waste of a good 1 hour. I realized 10 minutes into the film that I would be fast-forwarding my way through it. What I didn't realize was that even with the fast-forwarding the "slowness" of the film remains with you and drags you slowly and painfully by the tip of your smashed nose.

Yuckety yuck. Life is too short to be wasting an hour on garbage that tries to pass off as an "Indie". I wish I had never found Gnod

Ink was such an AWFUL recommendation. I am never going back to Gnod. EVER

Permalink: Ink_Terrible_Film.html
Words: 99
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/14/10 10:20

Category: opinion

09/12/10 04:16 - 66.ºF - ID#52723

Question for e:lilho

I have *really* thick hair that outgrows a cut in less than 2 weeks but I am not ready for that salon pilgrimage just yet.

Do you have any recommendations for the type of thinning shears I should get? There seem to many types around but I just want one that would take all the bulk away. Thoughts?

Permalink: Question_for_e_lilho.html
Words: 57
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/12/10 04:18

Category: music

09/11/10 08:30 - 50.ºF - ID#52704

Totally Verdi of being heard.

I am in love with this particular chorus from Nabucco. It combines two of my favourites - a waltz rhythm and a multi-voice operatic chorus.

PS: A bit too much make-up for the occasion but the singing is spectacular.

Permalink: Totally_Verdi_of_being_heard_.html
Words: 44
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/11/10 08:30

Category: music

09/10/10 08:39 - 62.ºF - ID#52698

I think I now believe...

... in reincarnations. BublÃ© is really like Sinatra singing Baroque style (as someone else once said).

Missing Image ;(

Somehow, listening to BublÃ© makes me wish Ella Fitzgerald were still alive to sing a duet with BublÃ©. And while that might not be such an outlandish wish, I also wonder about how BublÃ©'s interpretations of Whitney Houston's most famous hits might be. I wish he would try them someday.

Permalink: I_think_I_now_believe_.html
Words: 70
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/10/10 08:56

Category: opinion

09/09/10 11:07 - 55.ºF - ID#52690

Bethesda - Safe at 11:00 PM?

I will be visiting the NIH/NCI campus in Bethesda in some days. But the trouble is I will be getting into the Washington, IAD airport around 10:00. I hate taxis. They freak me out. So I plan to take the metro to the campus from the airport. I am guessing it will be close to midnight when I make it to the Bethesda campus.

Do any of you have any ideas about how safe this area might be - say compared with Buffalo downtown at night? I really don't want to get into trouble. The conference is quite important and I want to get there and back without broken noses, blown head etc. Any information would be awesome! Thanks!

PS: According to Neighbourhood Scout
- Bethesda is safer than 62% of the cities in the US.
- Annual Crimes
Violent 42
Property 800
842 annual crimes per 1,000 residents

Chances of becoming a victim
in Bethesda 1 in 1305
in Maryland 1 in 134

PPS: Oh well. I went ahead and looked up Buffalo as well.
Buffalo is safer than 6% of the cities in the US.
- Annual Crimes
Violent 3,804
Property 16,555
20,359 annual crimes per 1,000 residents

Chances of becoming a victim
in Buffalo 1 in 77
in New York 1 in 221

Man. It isn't THAT unsafe here, is it?! Do you believe this??

Permalink: Bethesda_Safe_at_11_00_PM_.html
Words: 212
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/09/10 11:28

Category: i-tech

09/05/10 07:17 - 64.ºF - ID#52661

Why do people have cellphones?

According to a recent study:

91 percent of Americans say that mobile phones "make them feel safer." Some 88 percent of respondents said that they have a mobile phone, so they can "connect to friends and family to arrange plans."

I use it as an excellent and versatile alarm clock. It scarcely leaves home even though the SIM card is now housed in a smartphone. I have never felt safer with a cellphone and hate talking over phones in general. And that is how some surveys are way off mark and unrepresentative [of me! me! me!].

tinypliny writes at 12:30:32 09/06/10 - Comment #58279: There. Happy? :-)

uncutsaniflush writes at 09:48:43 09/06/10 - Comment #58275: (e:tinypliny) - I wasn't forgetting that you weren't "American" but I reckoned that it wasn't my job to mention. I think you forgot that my wife isn't "American" and that by many people's standards, I'm not "American" despite of )or because of me being a naturalized U.S. citizen. So all three of us are foreign born.

As to the definition of "American" in telephone polls, I daresay that an "American" is anyone who answers the phone and consents to be questioned. So, if you ever decided to answer your phone when it rings, you could be an "American" if a pollster calls. No visa required.

tinypliny writes at 07:22:55 09/06/10 - Comment #58272: (e:uncutsaniflush): You are forgetting one vital part. I am not American. I am a gross outlier by default. Very unrepresented, I am afraid.

PS: Using the word "unrepresentative" (or indeed, "representative") in a sentence without a qualifier could get you drawn and quartered in cold blood at a statistics exam. Lucky for me, far from being any kind of exam, my whole "blogging theorem" revolves around perfecting the art of poking as much fun as possible, and not taking myself or anyone else too seriously.

If I were in "work mode", I would have dragged some heavyweight muck along --> :::link:::

;-)

(e:Paul) - Yes, the concept of "phone" needs an update. (e:uncut), I checked sometime back and verizon didn't tell me that they can do a data-access-only plan analogous to the dry-loop dsl.

museumchick writes at 09:56:14 09/05/10 - Comment #58268: I am not a huge fan of talking in phones either... i rather prefer seeing people in person or writing to them. They do make good alarm clocks, though!

uncutsaniflush writes at 09:32:42 09/05/10 - Comment #58267: (e:paul) - "a phone you can't talk on" isn't that the iPhone. More seriously, can't you just get data/messaging plans without voice these days?

paul writes at 09:09:16 09/05/10 - Comment #58266: I wish you could buy a phone that you can't talk on.

uncutsaniflush writes at 08:57:43 09/05/10 - Comment #58265: (e:tinypliny) - are you saying that you think 91% percent of Americans feel as you do? Is that what you mean that "some surveys are way off mark and unrepresentative."

I dislike talking on the phone myself but just about anywhere I go I see people talking on their cellphones sometimes only to say inane things "yeah, I'm at Wegmans next to the ice icecream."

Perhaps cell phones only give an illusion of safety but, unlike you, many people feel reassured if they can call someone (be it friends, family or the police) if their car breaks down or gets into an accident.

If you believe news reports, especially in bad weather, lives have been saved because people were able to tell rescuers their locations because they had cell phones.

So I find the statistic you quoted quite believable. And I have a question for you, why do you think the statistic is "way off mark and unrepresentative?" And, as a scientist, what is your basis for your theorem?

Please and thank you.

ElmwoodEyes writes at 07:44:54 09/05/10 - Comment #58264: i use it for facebook, Huffington Post and NY Times...and will rarely pick up if you call me. That being said, I feel lost without it.

Permalink: Why_do_people_have_cellphones_.html
Words: 102
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/06/10 12:31

Category: the odes

09/04/10 11:07 - 61.ºF - ID#52652

Daniel Craig. Be gone.

I just spotted your more-than-perfect replacement.

NB: Besides, RPJ really has had MI6 as well as MI5 experience. Minor details such as getting blown to bits the last time he was filmed shouldn't come in the way.

Permalink: Daniel_Craig_Be_gone_.html
Words: 42
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/04/10 11:13

Category: the odes

09/03/10 10:41 - 71.ºF - ID#52649

Parkour in Buffalo

Salsa, tango, hip-hop, whatever, you all just lost out. I find this absolutely fascinating.

I am fairly confident that no one in Buffalo wants to vault over this low wall quite as much as I do.

Maybe I should start local like this bloke at Target.

Don't think I will be ever able to jump over any cart though.

Permalink: Parkour_in_Buffalo.html
Words: 69
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/03/10 10:53

Category: the odes

08/29/10 12:14 - 64.ºF - ID#52599

Childhood Fears.

I hated low ceilings - they made me feel trapped. I still do.

But I liked this song and the video was a favourite.

PS: There. I took your suggestion. (e:Paul).
PPS: I guess that is why I like hanging out on the floor so much. It adds an extra 3 ft between me and the ceiling.
PPPS: Someday my home will have glass ceilings. Away from people who throw stones of course.

Permalink: Childhood_Fears_.html
Words: 78
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/29/10 12:24

Category: eating in

08/28/10 10:28 - 70.ºF - ID#52593

Moroccan Bread (or something...)

Only, I forgot the whole zucchini bit, put too much bran in an already 100% whole wheat mixture, didn't make the biga properly, was too lazy to knead so adopted the no-knead 18-hour ferment technique and the dough was so wet that it was pourable.

Imagine my surprise when in spite of all my transgressions, this is what came out of the oven:

I admit it was very very soggy in the centre. But the best rescue for soggy bread is to slice it and put it in the oven at a low heat setting for around 20 minutes. The result is a super-spicy chewy bread that is excellent with hummus, red-onions and jalapeÃ±os - my favourite toppings. I think this bread might just have 110% fibre in one serving.

This whole experiment just reaffirms one thing - anyone can bake bread no matter how much they meddle with and twist the recipÃ©.