earthquake vid from japan

Hi again.

Yet another "omg, you have to see this" video.  I have no idea how the heck this guy stayed so calm, when you can SEE the ground opening and closing at your feet.




Ground splits and moves during Japanese earthquake - Videos - Graeme Hill - Weekend Hosts - RadioLIVE

I do not want to see that here.  We're only 175 miles from the New Madrid Fault Zone.

Stay safe, everyone.

unbelievable tsunami vid

Hi all...

I found this via a tweet and watched it...you have to see this.  Hopefully this will upload properly.

I'm not sure what geological formation the videographer is on, but it is scary, horribly awesome what this wave does, and I'm sure that he and everyone with him is thankful that they had a place to be safe.

(EDIT: The video was from Kesennuma, Japan, and is now on the Weather.com website.)

Be safe, everyone.

discovery's launch - from an airplane

Hi all :) This popped up on my radar this evening:



From the poster, NeilMonday:

Flying from Orlando, FL I had the rare opportunity to be able to watch Discovery's final launch as it embarks on STS-133.

Very cool!

Cheers!

bohemian rhapsody - classically

OR!Sue sent me this....it's pretty cool!



I hope everyone had a nice holiday - tonight's a busy sports night for St. Louis fans, as the Blues are playing the Stars right now and the Rams play the Seahawks in primetime (!!) at 7:15.

I have yarn to photograph and review, a living room to attempt to reorganize, and a scarf to finish :)

Enjoy the vid, and cheers!

metrodome roof collapses (video)

This was way too much of a "Wow" factor NOT to post. The roof of the Homerdome...I mean the Metrodome in Minnesota collapsed this morning under the weight of up to 20 inches of fresh wet snow from the storm system that gave us snow and high winds. Video from foxsports.com:



Holy cow.

I have a mini-slideshow of snow-related pics from this morning here. The streets are fairly clear now, but there are a lot of accidents reported around the area.

Cheers!

yeah, another vid

I do actually post other things besides videos.  Really.

This was on a friend's LJ, and I'd heard about it but not watched it.  I wonder how many people on this video were like me and just chimed in on the part they knew already (tenor, here).  It really choked me up just watching it, and Yes, I did get up and belt it out with the vid.  The dog is still hiding upstairs.



Cheers!

degrees of bacon separation = 0

Yeah, it's late, but I had to share this with you all before I went to bed. I saw this tonight while watching the finale of StormChasers:



*diez*

Cheers!!

moviesign - deathly hallows (movie spoilers ahoy)

Well.

It's Saturday night, I'm flipping back and forth between the football Tigers playing Iowa State and the Blues/Devils game (Mizzou is leading, Blues are tied). The house smells like oregano and butter (the cloverleaf roll experiment/dry run for Thanksgiving was a success).  The pup is hunting squirrels in her sleep (her nose is twitching something fierce).

I'm recovering from 8 hours of sleep in the last 2 days.

Paula and I went to the midnight show of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One after dinner on Thursday, and I have to say, for the most part, I was impressed. More on that in a few.

The crowd at the Regal was fairly young and loud - I was surprised that there were so many older teens there, as it was a November Thursday, with school in session. Lots of costumes.  I saw a gal dressed in gold with wings on her head (she was a Snitch), many many Gryffindors, witches, wizards, and a guy in a dress.  I'm not sure if he was dressed as Fleur-as-Harry, or if he lost a bet, but he was a SCARY woman. LOL! Whoever dressed him had him in red (!!) heels, and after the third or fourth time he came and went (he was in the row behind us), the shoes were off. I think Paula was traumatized.

We actually got to sit for about 2 hours in the theatre before the movie, and they didn't start the 'in-betweens' until 11:30.  At first we were all happy to have something to look at, except they ran the same 'quizzes' about 10 times.  We were shouting out the answers to the questions as the pages were displayed.  Yeah, we were a little impatient. THEN previews.  TRON was first, everyone thought that was cool...but every preview afterwards was greeted with grumbles, and by the time we got to the Yogi Bear preview, there were chants of "Harry, Harry, Harry" rumbling through the theatre. Again, impatient!

I won't go into details about the movie - I'm sure that there are enough blow-by-blow reviews out there to satisfy everyone.  I will give my highlights, tho ;D LOTS of skipping around here.

• I missed Dudley saying thank you to Harry.
• "I was afraid you'd lost your way..." made me go 'ooooh...nice double meaning!'
• Where the hell did Harry get the mirror??
• The cupboard under the stairs made me tear up.
• Hermione with Harry's eyebrows.  *diez*
• Thought Harry was going to keel over ... Oh, Ginny! lol
• Could Ron be any more smitten?
• YOU HAVE ONE HOUR! (to fix my office)
• Churchyard. *weeps*
• Snake. *jumps* Good god, Bathilda was perfectly creepy.
• Harry Potter, newest member of the polar bear club
• Harry and Hermione look a little...blue....and....nekkid....
• THEY LEFT OUT MY FAVORITE LINES.  WAH!!!
• Ron is such a suck-up lol
• The DH story art was cool
• *sob*

The chase from the Snatchers made me almost queasy, since the camera was all over the freaking place.  It was really hard to follow what we were supposed to follow.  I'd imagine it was one heck of a job to edit. Hey, Academy! Award for Editing needs a nomination...I nominate DH1!!

I should also say that many of my notes were used for the PFW podcast review and were written down the SECOND time I saw the movie on Friday.  Yes, I saw it twice in 14 hours. Yes, I did that for HBP too. yes, I'm a fan!  lol The Snatcher scene wasn't as bad the second time, as I sat further back in the theatre and center instead of closer and to the right. I can't imagine trying to watch that from the front rows. Ugh.

Speaking of the podcast, I have no idea when the review will be up, but when it is you can download it via iTunes (search PotterFicWeekly in Podcasts) or off the PFW site, which I think is linked on the right.

My favorite section of dialogue from THE ENTIRE BOOK was left out. It was the part after Ron has destroyed the Horcrux in the locket (yes, the audience cheered at both showings) and before they go back to Hermione. To quote JKR:

"After you left," he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron's face was hidden, "she cried for a week. Probably longer, only she didn't want me to see. There were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other. With you gone..."

He could not finish; it was now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost them.

"She's like my sister," he went on. "I love her like a sister and I reckon that she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that. I thought you knew."

Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. Harry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowning. He hoisted it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed.

"I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was a -- a --"

He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him.

"You've sort of made up for it tonight," said Harry. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."

I listen to the audiobooks and Jim Dale reading the US version of this scene is one of my all-time favorite parts.  I was put out that it wasn't included when so much of other dialogue was lifted directly from the book. It's so heartfelt from Harry. :(

If you have read the books, or have seen all of the movies (and yes, this one is not a stand-alone; you need to see ALL of them), go see this one.  I may go see it in the HD or IMAX (is there a difference?) the first weekend of December. No 3D this time - not that I mind, since I don't like 3D anyway.

I've been working on Christmas presents - I've made two Rodekool brioche lace scarves and am about 2/3 into a third one.  I *may* make one more before I work on fingerless mitts.  I didn't get the Ravenclaw shrug finished before the movie due to the fact that I should have stopped what I was working on a week before I did.  Meh.  It needs to have the sleeves seamed and the body ribbing knitted, and it's done.  Almost 6 feet of stockinette!  I did one entire half from Saturday to Wednesday and grafted the two sleeves together. 110 stitches of mid-back grafting. Ugh... I do like the Patons wool.  Nice stitch definition, pretty drape, and good even fabric.

Mizzou is leading 14-0 with 3 minutes left in the game, and the Blues are tied up 2-2 at the start of the third period, and I think I'm out of gas. I may also be out of parentheses.

Have a nice Thanksgiving, US peoples!

Cheers!

dan and rupert on today show

Less than three days. *bounce*

Press blitz is in progress!!







More coming. Leno, Jimmy Fallon, more Regis & Kelly... and as of right now, 70 hours 42 minutes till moviesign!

Cheers!

a little catchup

Hi all!

Yeah, I know, long time to write.  I figured I was just doing my regular boring stuff, but there are little spots here and there I'll pass on.

The biggest one was that D and NE!Sue came to visit last weekend, and we shopped and ate and walked and drank ;)  We went to IHOP (of course) Thursday night. Then Loopy Ewe, Hodak's (I love their fried chicken), Knitorious, 2 malls in search of a handbag, and Mike Duffy's in Kirkwood.  And that was just Friday!

Saturday was Oktoberfest in Hermann. We went to the Brush and Palette Club show - it's very sad, but it seems to be getting smaller every year.  I'm guessing it's a recession thing, but there were a lot fewer vendors than I ever remember seeing.  We drove up to Stone Hill, and had the Plate - bratwurst (hold the sauerkraut on mine), German potato salad, and chunky applesauce - and bought some wine.

I got the latest line of Stone Hill's semi-sweet called "Jacquesse" - yes, it's pronounced "jackass" and has a donkey on the bottle! LOL!!  The white is on the sweet side of semi, the red is a nicely bodied fruity semi, and the 'berry' (rosé) tastes like weird combination of kiwi-strawberry and raspberry.  It's the sweetest of the three, I think.  I'll let you know after I drink more of it *g*

We wrapped up Hermann at the FestHalle which is part of the Dierbergs family-owned Hermannhof Winery.  We started going to the Festhalle a few years ago, and it's great for music, beer, wine, and music! Did I mention the music? There was a 40th birthday party going on right in the middle of the Halle - everyone was having a great time, and I think it's really nice to be able to bring in your own food (and in this case, decorations) to celebrate with a group.  We had wonderful weather all weekend, and great company.  :)  It's almost an annual event for us to get together!

More mundane stuff - my father's been helping me fix things around the condo and we're working thru the list.  This is what happens when you live in a 45 year old place - things break!  I now have 2 working sinks again!  w00t!  Next up: the dripdripdripdripping kitchen faucet. Then the outside light, the baseboard heaters, the bathtub faucet....and the deforestation of my courtyard. heh heh heh

I've been working on a vocal project to record my voice for use as a synthesized voice.  The project is called ModelTalker and it is a speech synthesis system for 'banking' your voice.  It was primarily developed for people who are losing the ability to speak due to ALS or other illnesses, but I'm on the other end of the spectrum - I'm a "beta" for the program, and am offering my voice to be synthesized for others to use.  Kind of like donating my voice so that someone who has already lost theirs can speak.  My benefit is that I will receive a SAPI5 version of me for my own use.  It's been interesting, and frustrating at times, as it's still in beta, but I'm about 2/3 of the way through the 1600 phrases needed for recording.  My problems have been more allergy and sinus related than anything - I have to record in almost complete silence, and have a clear nose!!  I despise allergy season.

If you know someone who has a great voice and is willing to spend some time to help others, direct them to that linked site, please.  The software is available up to and including Windows 7 64-bit.

33 days to Deathly Hallows #1.  I.  Can't. Wait.  *bounce bounce*  Warner Bros. announced last weekend that the movie will NOT be ready for a 3D IMAX release which, in my opinion, is just fine.  I can't see in 3D anyway, and from what I've heard, the conversion method makes things shaky and blurry.  I'd rather have it in HD, please!  Besides, Dan Radcliffe doesn't like 3D either, so there! The trailer in the post below has been changed very slightly to reflect the 2D only release.  I would LOVE the one-sheets. I may have to go hunt for I just found two at AllPosters - Trio in Trees and Hogwarts in Flames - and Leaky has the close-ups of the trio (plus Dobby) and the villains.  I want the Harry one, and the Greyback one freaks me the hell out.

I have a metric ton of yarn to review. I've gotten to the point that I don't know where to start, but man, I need to organize.  The latest is (another) BSJ, and I found a very pretty short scarf that I want to make for a few people - it's called "Rodekool" and is available as a Knitty pattern. Now I'm interested in the Brioche stitch! help....me.....

Anyway, not much else going on. The Lily-pup is as crazy as ever, and now weighs in at 15.2 pounds.  YAY! The Cards didn't make the playoffs, and the $%*&^$ Reds did, but were swept by Philly.  I'd've liked to have seen the Rays go to the WS, but they're out too.  I'm not going to say who I'm rooting for else I jinx them, but let's just say they don't rhyme with Spanky's or My Aunts. Ahem.

More later.  Gotta organize the Yarn!Stash!Monster first.

Cheers!!