WE DO THE WEIRD STUFF

The local Best Buys, a shop that sell electronic things, had a sign up
'Gamers..we need u, do u know games, we need yur skillz...'
i'm sure there was a LOL in there somewhere.
I'm thinking of applying and using the 'I was playing computer games before you were born' getting all teary eyed about the old days of UFO, Castle Wolfenstein and the first Doom' gambit.
I won't mention Pong, don't want to totally confuse the babies.

I'm 3lit33 at Wii now, mastered it in 3 days...kids of today get it so easy, no idea of teh mad skillz involved

Amanda sent me this link, happily proclaiming 'Flagstaff is in the news'....and this one

Evangelist Tony Alamo was arrested Thursday in Flagstaff, Arizona, on charges related to a child porn investigation, an FBI spokesman said

When his wife died of cancer, Alamo claimed that she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while their followers prayed. It would be 16 years before her body was returned to her family.

On Saturday, he had said that for girls having sex, "consent is puberty."

oh joy....he sounds like a real charmer.
We do real cheap neuters at work...even do it for free.

I'm reading 'Under The Banner Of Heaven' by Jon Krakauer. All about the fundie LDS church, polygamy and their raping 14 year old girl ways. Some of these cult towns are not that far from here.
'As his 6th wife Debbie became spetmother to Blackmore's 31 kids, most of whom were older than she was (she was 15). And because he happened to be the father of Debbie's own stpemotherMem, she became a stepmother to her stepmother, and thus a stepgrandmother to herself'

It makes me feel all a bit ill.

LA
BREAK IT DOWN

A quick synopsis of our 5 days in LA.
I'm going to Tuba City and Kayenta tomorrow at 5am and staying overnight, so I must sleep.

Stayed with Alyssa and Jesec and a multitude of cats. Always great to a locals in a big city.


Day 1
Got up at 4:30am to catch plane.
Yummy breakfast.
Lots of Wii, never played it before. Exercising while being a slug...love it. Toasted Rob at baseball, got smote at Boxing, but I think eXcite Truck was the winner on the day.


Nick Cave at the Hollywood Bowl, surely did rocketh yay verily. Cat Power was great, Spiritualized was okish but I wouldn't run out and see them again.
The venue is great, big open spaces, full moon and they allow you to bring in all manner of food and drink. We were a fair distance from the stage but the music was loud and clear.


Red Right Hand, The Ship Song, Mercy Seat...happy? hell yeah!
I sat next to this actor dude, who left early with his wife and 2 friends....no taste some people.
LA Weekly review and set list (in comments)

Day 2
Slept in.
More Wii.
Drove to Santa Barabra to visit Rob's Granparents. She is 102 and he is 92. Still live in their own house and doing very well. She plays Scrabble, does New York Times crosswords and counsels old people in dealing with aging. He still drives, paints, reads and gardens. An inspiration and bloody good genetics.

We stayed overnight and left around lunch time.

Day 3
Drove back to LA.
More Wii.
Indian dinner
Watched 'The Fly' till the wee hours. For preparation.

Day 4
Slept in.
Getty Museum, which is excellent.
What happens when you have more money that god and choose to spend it fairly wisely.
We only had a couple of hours so we just looked at a few exhibits, had lunch and wandered the gardens.
My camera battery run out and I left the spare at home...curses.
Got all gussied up and trotted off to the Opera House to see 'The Fly'.
It was interesting, fascinating and all a bit wierd.
I'm sure the performers after years of voice study and acting never thought they would be singing about 'vomiting up digestive fluilds and sucking them back up again'...and gross things about nails, teeth and gums falling out.


It was conducted by Placido Domingo, who I had a crush one as a teenager after watching various operas on video.
During the intermission Jesec claims he saw Viggo Mortensen wandering about, Alyssa and I were sorely, sadly disappointed. I've been practising my accidently trip and swoon now for years....lost opportunity once again...curses.

After that bit of culture we had a late dinner then went to one of the coolest bars I've ever been to.
The Edison, which is in the old restored Edison Power Plant. Its like walking into 1920's Metropolis/steampunk world. Expecting and hoping to leave and step onto a zepplein to drift off home.
A lot of the old machinery, generators and relics are all part of the decor. It was all a bit fabulous.

Day 5
Slept in
Wii
Yummy breakfast
Goodbyes
Fly home.

TRIP PLANNING

Mum is coming over to visit us on the 7th Oct till just after Christmas. The guest bedroom is almost ready and the snows will be on their way.
Which may make it harder to dig a shallow grave in the woods...just jokes Mother ;)

Its her first time overseas so I want it to be great.

The cunning plan is I drive to LA on the Monday (about 7hrs) and pick her jetlagged eyes up at LAX on Tuesday. We dither around LA, maybe go to the Bowers Museum...quilts and terra cotta warriors, looks awesome. Depends on how she is feeling and the crazy arse traffic.

Then we spend a couple of days driving up Hwy 101, the coast road which has beautiful views and cute little towns.
Thursday night we are staying in Monterey and I have tickets to the wonderful Monterey Aquarium. They are shutting the jellyfish room down...bugger. That I remember as one of my favourite exhibits, but we will have otters to console us.

Consoled

Friday night we are in San Fransisco and I booked tickets to a evening tour of Alcatraz. Rob and I did this back in '99 and it was really interesting, plus you get a great boat ride and view of the city.

On Saturday we head inland towards Sacramento. Rob's cousin is getting married in the gardens of their Grandma 's house. Rob and family are flying in for it.
It should be a good party.
Rob is staying with us for the leg home to Flagstaff.
Not sure what the plan is exactly but it will include Yosemite, redwoods, Las Vegas. Hoover Dam and some other Yank stuff.

One of the reasons we thought about coming back through Vegas was to take Mum, hard core trekkie that she is, to the Hilton's Star trek Experience. But due to some dumb fight over the lease, the last day is today....bugger. Couldn't they have duked it out for another 6 weeks at least.

Grr...Dumb Hiltons

So sorry Mum, no Capt Kirk's Chicken Salad washed down with a Romulan Ale, no dodging Borg, no holographic rides, no trinkets.

Puts the refreshing back into Romulan

At least we will have Thunder From Down Under to console us.

Consoled

ATENVELDT CROWN TOURNEY

Atenvedlt is the SCA kingdom that Arizona is part of, and yesterday they had a Crown Tourney to decide the new King and Queen.

The site was about 15 minutes out of town in the forest. It was all very pretty, secluded and peaceful. It was also a camping event so a few folk had set up round the back.
We met up with some friends who used to be the B&B of Ered Sul (Flagstaff), and they know just about everybody.

Medieval muddy family

It was a really nice day. We had a picnic, watched some fighting, took Darwin for a walk. Just down the road from the event there is a swamp. Darwin had the best time I've ever seen. Bounding through the water and reeds for the sheer joy of it. Hadn't laughed that much in ages.
Then she got to play her favourite game of chase and be chased by the human. Rob was out there skirts flying with joyous dog in tow.

My most favourite photo of Rob and Darwin.

The SCA here (of the little I've seen) is very much the same as at home though with a few differences, as you would expect. More mundanity here it seems to my eye.
Cars on site, people not in costume, belly dancers.....
But all in all, its a good group of people, and was great to swish around in costume again.

I don't remember the name of the knight who won, but the final bouts were pretty good.
The knight who came second was tiring fast and blamed the elevation, which coming from Phoenix would make a difference.

Biffo, the black and white knight won.

Hope to do more events, I'm also interested in the Mountain Man stuff, cause then I can play with the Flintlock more. Haven't bought it yet but probably will soonish.

Watching the battling

I NEED TO GET CABLE...

well i need to get a tv first..then get cable.

Via Pharyngula
John Stewart at his best.

SATAN AND ALL HIS LITTLE THINKING WIZARDS

via Neatorama

MENTION ME HONORABLE

My key photo from France won a Honorable Mention ribbon at the Coconino County Fair this past weekend.
Its pink and shiny.
Not a winner as such but neither a photo with no ribbons, so I'm counting this as a win.
In a town of photographers, helloooo Grand Canyon just up the road, I'm a bit chuffed.
Next year I'll get on the ball and enter a few more.



The fair was fun, we watched the kids dance their colourful Mexican Dances, ate fried Chicken, got rained on a lot, patted some sheeps and took a spin on the YoYo.

Swirly

Last Thursday we went to see John Butler Trio open for G Love and Special Sauce. Went mostly because of John Butler but G Love was pretty good too. The venue is at Pine Mountain Amphitheater, a big open grassy hill with a stage at the bottom. A perfect place to sit on the grass under the stars and listen to some good music.
Only 2 weeks till we go to LA to see Nick Cave...woot.

Egg-Freak

Last night we watched "No Country For Old Men", I really really liked it, but I had freaky dreams about the bad guy. Not quite a nightmare but it was violent and it did shock me awake, I had to lay there for a bit before I'd get up to go to the bathroom.
Lucky I have "The Shop Around The Corner" 1940 James Stewart movie to take my mind off psychos with bad hair.

Good dreams

Bad dreams

I can't vote in this US Prez election...but it sure is interesting. Esp on the bad guys side, nothing like flailing around doing damage control while looking like a bunch of intolerant, hypocritical, fundies. Which I guess goes with territory, so really shouldn't be surprised.
If the bad guys win I may be heading home earlier than expected.
Hopefully I'll have my duel citizenship for the next one.