Even NOAA won't give the extent of the bad news

 Some forecasts say 20" in my area, but NOAA is silent on Wed's accumulation.   This means two things: 

1) more shoveling

2) trip to the packie* 

*packie is an eastern Massachusetts term for "package store" aka liquor store; this explains it.

It doesn't run in the family

My oldest son Raymond writes for AOLPatch.  I agonize over writing. He doesn't, which is why he gets paid to write and I don't.  Here is his latest; click on the link in the subtitle:

Forget Me Not. No, Seriously: East Providence Florists Will Help You Out.

East Providence florists open up about how they can keep you looking like a smooth operator this Valentine's Day.

By Raymond Beltran | Email the author | 2:30pm

42.715639, -72.512867 (42° 42' 56.30", -72° 30' 46.32")

Yes...only 1 hour from where I live...

This explains so much...so very much....

I was wrong, partially

Lord Creamhorn (my arch enemy) said that Teddy Peanut Butter (aka bliss in a jar) made a version that had ribbons of jelly in it.  I told him that he was wrong.  He was.  I told him it was Koogle.  I was wrong.  The product is called Goober (R)   There is no need to get a pen to record the date when LCH was wrong: there is a time stamp on this post :)

The poltics of...

What does the term "politics" mean?

Politics:
1. [usu. treated as sing.] the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power: the party quickly gained influence in French politics | thereafter he dropped out of active politics. ■ the activities of governments concerning the political relations between states: in the conduct of global politics, economic status must be backed by military capacity. ■ the academic study of government and the state: [as modifier] a politics lecturer. ■ a particular set of political beliefs or principles: people do not buy their paper purely for its politics. ■(often the politics of) the principles relating to or inherent in a sphere or activity, especially when concerned with power and status: the politics of gender. 

2. activities aimed at improving someone's status or increasing power within an organization: yet another discussion of office politics and personalities. (Oxford Dictionary of English)

The highlighted definitions are the ones I use.  Sadly, definition #2 is the commonly understood one. 

When studying the Rhetoric of Politics (as I will be this semester), I suspect I will be studying the Rhetoric of power, instead of the Rhetoric of governance. Certainly, it can be argued that government and power are interchangeable, though that argument does make me a bit uncomfortable.  

Best news: NO MARX IN THIS CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Peanut Butter and what happened to the jelly

and a handful of these.

One hefty tablespoon of this 

heaven on a spoon...

Seriously:

This is what it is like for me when I'm working at the Vet's between semesters: Click here and then click "play free preview".

Frosted Moho

                                                              

Yep

http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm

 

 

 

This explains so much about our friends on the other side of the Valley....

The OED says...

masterpiece: (noun) a work of outstaning artistry, skill, or workmanship: (OED)

I love a good Mystery.  I love MYSTERY! on PBS. I don't love the description:

"Each summer, Masterpiece mystery! presents the best British mysteries."

WTF?!?!??! Each Summer?!?!? What happened to every Tuesday / Thursday night?!?! I go away from TV for a few years and THIS happens???   Note to the programmers: People are BBQing, drinking beer, and NOT watching a ton of TV in the summer (unless they can't sleep); the time to watch a good mystery is when the weather gets cold and we are inside...morons.  

As for the "best British mysteries"...really, PBS??  Really?  the "Wallander" series isn't British, and it isn't even shot completely in England - nor is it written by a Brit: it's written by Henning Mankel who is Swedish. So are the mysteries being aired the best of what the Brits have to air?  (if that's the case, you folks sued it up with the old Holmes, the new Sherlock, the Poirot Series, and maybe Wallander when I'm in a good mood)

And where are the Edward Gorey Animations at the beginning and the really cool theme music?!!???  Well, at least you had Alan Cummings hosting it last season.

Oh, wait 0 that's right, they have to make room for:  Masterpiece "Classic" and that abysmal failure "Downton Abbey".  Even Maggie Smith, an amazing set,and wardrobe couldn't improve a tired plot and awful screenwriting. (sorry, Baron, Lord Fellows).  Seriously, if I were interested in the complexities of the British titled class in the Modern peroid, I'd watch "Upstairs Downstairs"...which is making its re-appearance (re-done, not the original) in march 2011.  

But PBS doesn't stop with molesting my much loved MYSTERY! by tampering with it, or mangling Masterpeice Theatre with this obscure, exhausted, written for TV series.  For this, PBS now offers Masterpiece "Contemporary". We got realllllly contemporary. Frank Cottrell Boyce's"framed" which was supposed to be a comedy, but was really a hokey feel good sappy story that annoyed me.  Bah Bah and BAH!  I want Masterpiece Theatre back, and I want MYSTERY! to be shown on its own, instead of being part of a brand-name under the umbrella a the Masterpiece brand. 

Blog Features

Expect scathing judgments on your judgments:
 

• The Hamlet Subtlety Scale:  0 being the most obvious  10 being the most subtle: reserved for beer and literature only; call for nominations in 2 weeks.

• The Polonius Award:  given periodically to those people whose verbosity in place of brevity is just as annoying as Polonius; accepting nominations now.

• The QEMM Award: for who is "mas macho", by era / genre.  

Don't make me do this alone.

My penchant for black haired insulting types...

Before there was Snape

There was Jeremy Brett  

Now it's Benedict Cumberbatch (leave the name alone, people).

If you haven't seen the BBC three-episode series on PBS' MYSTERY!, then you have missed out. I didn't think anyone was better at insults than Alan Rickman (with the Rick-plan) as Snape, and I didn't think anyone was better with scathing commentary than Jeremy Brett as Holmes, until I saw Cumberbatch as Sherlock. Amazing script (though I do wish that they'd be more careful with Watson's character), well-shot and with a really hip look. Cumberbatch is amazingly fluid and at times seems to be channeling Brett.

I have purchased the DVD  of Season I (that's right: there will be a Season II in the Fall). I will be obsessing over the episodes it between classes and studying.  

Welcome to the geekdom that is my life, people....