A wire story in Monday’s Seattle PI: Man acquitted of murder in Othello.
My first thought: “Y’know, that’s not how I remember that play going….”
Michael Hanscom
Sick Boy
Generally speaking, I don’t get sick very often. The occasional sniffles or light cold, but not much more than that. I made up for it this weekend, though, when I managed to come down with some nasty 48-hour-ish flu bug. Saturday evening I had a little bit of a headache, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to make me worry. Prairie and I had a good mexi-goo dinner (a bit of experimentation on her part, somewhere between enchilada and casserole), watched some Frasier, and went to bed. As the night wore on, though, I started feeling queasy…and then the bug hit. From 3am until 8am, I had nearly hourly trips to the restroom to puke, accompanied by cold sweats, and fever hovering around 100 degrees. Not fun in the least!
Sunday I ended up spending most of the day sleeping, trying to catch up on the sleep I’d missed Saturday night. We carefully fed me drinks (clear liquids only), crackers, and white bread, which stayed down most of the day…then one last puke session Sunday night brought it all back up again. Thankfully, the fever broke last night, and everything I’ve munched on today has stayed down. I was able to spend today in bed again (with a short run onto campus to turn in an assignment that had to be in today), and it looks like the worst is over. Still, while I hate missing two days of work and one of school, at least I don’t find bugs like this very often. It’s been years since I’ve had anything like this — here’s hoping it’s another good many years before another such bug gets me!
50 Gayest Songs of All Time
Stupid humor time, folks. Australian website Same Same, preparing for Sydney’s 30th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, just ran a reader poll to determine the ‘50 Gayest Songs of All Time‘.
…last month we asked you to vote for what songs out of the vast catalogue of musical history you think deserve to be called camp classics. We received thousands of votes, and now that they have all been counted and triple-checked, we’re proud to finally reveal exactly what songs have made it into the final list of the Gayest Songs of All Time.
I figured I’d run down the list and figure out just how many of these camp classics have made it into my music collection over the years. So, under the cut — does my music collection make the grade? How’s my collection of gay anthems?
I Am Legend Original Ending
Last weekend, Prairie and I went out to see I Am Legend at the local second-run theater, and we both came out with the same opinion — not a bad flick, until the end. For some reason, the last ten minutes or so of the film completely diverge from everything that had been set up until that point, taking what had been an interesting apocalyptic zombie film and ruining it for us with an ending that didn’t make any sense.
When we got home, I did a little poking around, and read on the film’s Wikipedia entry that the theatrical ending was actually (and unsurprisingly) a studio-mandated reshoot, and differed drastically from the ending as originally shot. Prairie and I were planning on renting the DVD release to see the original ending, but now, it’s been leaked to the web…and it is so, so much better than the crap that was released to the theaters. Obviously, you shouldn’t watch this if you haven’t seen the film and/or are worried about spoilers, but if you weren’t happy with the film as released, you really should check this out.
The Last Galactica
The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica approaches, and even though they almost lost me during season three (they went a bit too much into boring soap opera, with too little progress towards anything interesting), that season rebounded well and ended so strongly that I’m really looking forward to BSGs return.
I need to pick up the Razor DVD sometime soon, too, I still haven’t seen that.
This photo was originally published in an Entertainment Weekly sneak preview of the upcoming season of BSG. No major spoilers, but a few intriguing hints (and yes, the missing figure that should be apparent to any art student is intentional)….
John McClane for President in 2008
Now here’s a presidential candidate I can get behind.
McClane was fighting the war on terror before it even had a name — and he’s proven he can win it.
John McClane believes in strong health care — he just doesn’t have time to get to a doctor when he’s being shot at.
McClane gets that technology creates as many problems as it solves. Relying on a gadget is no replacement for doing it yourself.
McClane knows that patriotism isn’t about waving a flag while you sit on the couch watching ‘American Idol’. It’s about getting off your butt and fighting for what’s right.
McClane is the American cowboy for our times. He gets how important action-packed portrayals of true heroism are.
Since he hasn’t announced a running mate yet, given that I’m not in entire agreement with his stance on technology, may I suggest Angus MacGyver? Equally as able to get out and get things done, but his willingness to use and adapt available technology would be a nice balance to McClane’s ‘hands-on’ approach.
(via nyquil.org)
Twice an Uncle
I got this little note from dad last night…
Paul Fain Hanscom was born at 5:58PM AST (6:58PM in Oregon). Emily and Paul are doing fine. They had not recorded height and weight when Kevin called.
I now have two nephews, and Noah has a brother! Yay!
Congrats to Kev, Emily, and Noah. We’re looking forward to meeting Paul!
Another Valentine’s Day Present
Valentine’s Day morning, as I was puttering about the house and getting ready for the day while Prairie slept in, there was a knock at the door. When I answered, I was handed a package from Amazon by one of our landlords. This was a little confusing, as I didn’t remember ordering anything, but it was definitely addressed to me. Okay, whatever…
When I opened it, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find The Cult of Mac, which I’d put on my Amazon Wishlist not too long ago. On the shipping invoice was a nice little note from ‘Liz in Pittsburgh,’ who reads this site and decided to send me a Valentine’s Day present — cool!
So, many thanks to Liz! I got about halfway through yesterday as I was bussing around town, and have been enjoying all the stories of the Mac über-fans (and, unsurprisingly, seeing elements of myself in more than a few of the stories). I hope your Valentine’s Day was a good one as well!
De M’amour Soiez Sure
Our Valentine’s Day presents to each other: poesy rings inscribed with ‘Of my love be sure’ in French.
The original of this 15th century poesy ring can be found at The British Museum, Dept. of Medieval and Modern Europe, London, England.
The original of this ring is enameled gold. The hoop is rounded on the outer edge where it is engraved with an interlaced band between two rows of sprigs. The poesy is engraved in the interior of the ring in period French, though the ring is actually English. French remained the language of the Court and Nobility for several centuries after the Norman Invasion in 1066.
Poesy (n): A short poem or sentiment decoratively inscribed on rings or jewelry, particularly in the Middle Ages – usually a romantic gift or token of friendship.
Tradition has it that words which touch the skin have a particular power. Poesy Rings were traditionally given in sterling silver as engagement rings, and then replaced with the same ring in gold upon marriage.