In short, my camera is not working so there's no pictures this year. :(
However, despite certain people's disdain (you know who you are) of artificial trees, our plastic tree still has many memories that you can never get from buying a farmed tree, dressing it up like a tart, and then chucking it out or burning it at the end of the season.
This year my mum didn't want to put it up because she said she'd be the one putting it away and it was just a chore for her. However, my siblings pointed out that she never did the putting up nor putting away anyway (except one year I think). In addition, she also went the environmentally conscious way and kept all the presents she bought in giant plastic bags to place next to the LED tree she made on the window. It looked ugly, so I surprised her by making the stupid tree on the 24th while everyone was out. Too bad I can't show you how awesome it is this year, Mario and Luigi and Kirby and all...
We just hot-potted ourselves to oblivion last night and this afternoon. This evening apparently there will be both turkey and roast beef. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a second stomach.
Sum'n thut t'wus unuswully guud t'mungl th'unglsh wuth u's. Nut tu fuur frum sum unglsh ut thur.
Sticky things Paying money for things that I can do myself for much less The tablet mouse (just the mouse) Garbage bins without lids Traffic jams with Jorghnassen in the car (sorry) Clothes that show how lumpy I am in all the wrong places A story without a point Anything above 27C Students who think half a page of scribbles counts for points Running out of hard drive space / memory / everything Shopping alone Shopping with someone who doesn't want to go shopping Waterloo POLITICKS
Reply to: cbear45@yahoo.com Date: 2008-07-19, 11:19PM EST
I saw you walking your dog at the park today wearing a pink fuzzy sweater and a grey skirt. I wanted to talk to you but your dog kept barking at me and you hurried away before I could get your number. Let's meet again without interruptions. :)
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re: Chance encounter at the park?
Reply to: spot667@hotmail.com Date: 2008-07-20, 9:31AM EST
You weren't wearing any pants, you sick freak.
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re: re: Chance encounter at the park?
Reply to: cbear45@yahoocom Date: 2008-07-20, 9:45AM EST
Just the fact you wrote back shows that you do want to see me again! Same place, same time?
I'm not one to write about nostalgia often. That's Jorgh's brother's thing. However, once in a while it will happen - as it will happen to all people I'm sure - that I get bitten by a memory of something that happened in the past. And then it never goes away until I tell Jorghnassen about it until he gets sick of hearing it, or it just eats me up inside until I forget about it a week later. Then it comes back to me again.
None of my memories from the past that torture me are ever pleasant. I do have some good memories, like falling into the rivière du moulin up to my neck (oh wait that's not that good but whatever), getting to see the Rockies and the Atlantic ocean, and making childhood friends whom I am in constant fear of them finding me. But much of the things I remember are either mundane or horrible things I'd rather not remember.
This entry, however, is not exactly horrible but completely inexplicable: some classic sitcom TV shows between the 80s and 90s.
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Everyone knows of the "reedeeculus" Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and Full House successes (and consequent successes/downfalls/scandals of the Olsen twins but that's an aside). My family would watch television every evening together for their wholesome, slapstick and childish antics that would unite the entire generation of American and Canadian families in that era forever.
There's also the older Small Wonder that more and more people have gained memory of, lost under the sea of Facts of Life, Growing Pains, Family Ties, and Cosby Show episodes. (Now why would Bill Cosby's show be called "The Cosby Show" but have a character named Huxtable, (same occurance for all his other shows) is also completely inexplicable.)
However, few people remember the really, really stupid shows that would only last a few episodes or a few seasons. I mean really stupid. I'm not talking about shows that were found to be retarded, like how they made a Little Muppet Monsters short that came after the Muppet Babies cartoon. Or other idiotic cartoons made just to sell toys (millions of examples come to mind).
This one is really stupid.
When ABC's TGIF shows became huge successes, the network counted on the stable, popular and long running shows like Full House and Family Matters to boost ratings on newer shows they'd slip in during the two hour block. This particular show was called Going Places.
I can't even begin to explain what this show is about. I couldn't tell you even when I was 10 or 11 watching it to begin with. If you watch the intro you'd think the show was about two young couples having wacky adventures in Hollywood and living it up on boats or something.
Let's just assume that that's the case. I'm ashamed enough about this show... because for some inexplicable reason, when I was 10 or 11, I was crazy about it. The song, the characters, their house, their jobs, the idiotic jokes (that I don't remember), EVERYTHING.
And I can't even tell you what the show is about because I don't remember a damned thing about it.
What I do remember, and this will probably haunt me forever (and I will probably regret putting this out in the open), is that I was so nuts about this show that I wrote a story about it. I wrote a fanfic about a terrible sitcom in the 90s before the internet became mainstream. I even remember the title: Going Climbing (maybe because their living it up Hollywood style wasn't enough that they had to get out of Hollywood to have anything else outlandish happen). It was probably about the four main characters going mountain climbing. I especially remember showing the rough pages to my friend in school, and his response was, "You really like that show, huh?"
However, I think I recall vaguely how I felt when the show was cancelled after a year. Devastated? Crushed? Somewhat relieved? It was probably the reason I wrote that fan-fiction. I must have chucked it out a few years later, but I would have liked to see exactly what I wrote and why I was so obsessed with that show.
Yesterday I discovered that my latest favourite band, Junior Senior, had called it quits since the end of September. No surprises actually, as both Junior and Senior (Jesper and Jeppe) had been pursuing solo works over the last little while.
In the off chance you have never heard of Junior Senior, there are many videos online of their music. Their breakthrough in the NA market is probably Move Your Feet, noted for the pixel art featured in the video, back in 2003 when it made the run throughout the geek blogger circles.
Another notable song was done with the collaboration with the B-52s singers - Take My Time:
Last year, I became entranced with the band. I listened to their albums constantly while driving back and forth between work while in Waterloo. I forced Jorgh to listen to it while I made the 8 hour marathon drives, and I still listen to it to drive him nuts.
The reason I listen to it all the time, and have not gone nuts, is that JS never goes old. Well, there's two reasons actually; as a musician, I'm used to excessively repeating pieces, and I don't get as tired of hearing pieces I like, as other people might. (Which is also why I annoy Jorgh with Queen as well, but that's another story.)
Every song in their repertoire is fun, catchy, and definitely good for dancing. Inspirational when you're down in the dumps. Celebratory when you're doing something great. (Stupid when you're doing the vacuuming but whatever.) There's definitely an element of fun-for-the-sake-of-it in their songs, rather than something grandiose or corny. I'm sorry to see them split but at least they gave the world a great sound. :)
All the pressures you embrace They take you to a magic place And take your magic place along And put that feeling in a song
And keep on working through the morning Working through the night Until you see the light Cuz You can hold it in your hand And try to understand Just do it do it do it get it down Cuz music's not just sound
Keep on working on something better Keep on working on something better Keep on working on something better
