Nine suicidal maniacs…WHUMP…make that eight
Plus another four a few days ago.
A few weeks ago, I was cruising along the beltway during rush hour. Traffic was moving quickly (like, I was going 60-70), but it was pretty dense. When up out of nowhere comes a motorcycle up in a wheelie. Quickly followed by eight more, zipping between lanes going at least 90. And I don’t mean changing lanes in a gap that looks too small, I mean cruising down the dashed white line, in between a car and an 18-wheeler.
Then the lab got hit by lightning
No, really, the building we were in got hit by lightning on Tuesday. Half of the circuits for the building blew, including those that the huge walk-in fridge and freezer were on. And continued to go in and out the rest of the day as they were trying to fix it.
Yesterday was Moth’s birthday, so we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, with a few other people, including Ginny, my hippo-hacking colleague, who I’d introduced to Moth and his group over Christmas, and they got along great. The threat of rain apparently kept most of the people away. I think there was only one ride that we had over half an hours worth of wait on (and we hit most of the roller coasters twice), and that was the water ride with the big six-person tube cruising downriver through the rapids and waterfalls.
And then less than half an hour after we left, the rain kicked in. Hard. Serious downpour. Glad we got out of there when we did.
A couple months ago, Lindsay introduced me to Richard Thompson, and then after I got out here tipped me off to the fact that he was touring, and had a date here in DC. So then I found out that Ginny’s roommate (someone else who works at the lab) was going, and we got her to go along too. It was great, and thanks to the warning, and being able to raid the roommate’s CD collection (he said that he’s been listening to Richard Thompson for about 30 years), and a few I picked up on my own, there were only four songs the entire night that I didn’t know.
The grand finale was Tear-Stained Letter, and his last pre-encore song was Read About Love, which are among my favorites. He also hit Wrong Heartbeat, Gypsy Love Songs, plus Needle and Thread, Bad Monkey, Never Give Up, and Mr. Stupid from the album he’s currently pimping. I was also hoping for Bathsheba Smiles, Razor Dance, Cooksferry Queen, and Blackleg Miner, though I was pretty sure the last wasn’t going to happen.
I saw a bit of Tony Blair’s departure speech, and other politicos’ responses, generally wishing each other well and all that, and I was struck once again by how bloody polite the Brits are. In my usual oblivious ignorance, I have no idea what any of the details surrounding it are, but I’m having fun picturing the scene…
“Look, we’re going to have to depose you now. You see, your policies have become more and more unpopular of late, and the peasantry are threatening harsh language.”
“Oh. Righto, then. I’ll just clear out my office. Would you like to indict me on anything, while I’m still here?”
“No, no, quite all right, your resignation will be quite sufficient, thanks muchly.”
“Well then, I’ll be off. Cheerio.”
So now I'm hanging out at Moth's and recuperating from the recent insanity, and Ginny is in Rhode Island for the next week on vacation. The hippo is in cold storage, and Lindsay is coming into town on Monday.
I’m sure I’ll think of other things that I need to report on, but for now I’ll just leave you with a bunch of the links I’ve been stockpiling.
Hamster vs. Cookie Bag
A video of an acoustic group doing Video Killed the Radio Star. What’s wrong with this picture?
For the burners, I give you a staff-twirling monkey.
Some rampant geekery, stolen from flamingnerd, and coming originally from Square One, which I actually saw and remember this bit from when it originally aired.
And I’m now on IMDB.
A few weeks ago, I was cruising along the beltway during rush hour. Traffic was moving quickly (like, I was going 60-70), but it was pretty dense. When up out of nowhere comes a motorcycle up in a wheelie. Quickly followed by eight more, zipping between lanes going at least 90. And I don’t mean changing lanes in a gap that looks too small, I mean cruising down the dashed white line, in between a car and an 18-wheeler.
Then the lab got hit by lightning
No, really, the building we were in got hit by lightning on Tuesday. Half of the circuits for the building blew, including those that the huge walk-in fridge and freezer were on. And continued to go in and out the rest of the day as they were trying to fix it.
Yesterday was Moth’s birthday, so we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, with a few other people, including Ginny, my hippo-hacking colleague, who I’d introduced to Moth and his group over Christmas, and they got along great. The threat of rain apparently kept most of the people away. I think there was only one ride that we had over half an hours worth of wait on (and we hit most of the roller coasters twice), and that was the water ride with the big six-person tube cruising downriver through the rapids and waterfalls.
And then less than half an hour after we left, the rain kicked in. Hard. Serious downpour. Glad we got out of there when we did.
A couple months ago, Lindsay introduced me to Richard Thompson, and then after I got out here tipped me off to the fact that he was touring, and had a date here in DC. So then I found out that Ginny’s roommate (someone else who works at the lab) was going, and we got her to go along too. It was great, and thanks to the warning, and being able to raid the roommate’s CD collection (he said that he’s been listening to Richard Thompson for about 30 years), and a few I picked up on my own, there were only four songs the entire night that I didn’t know.
The grand finale was Tear-Stained Letter, and his last pre-encore song was Read About Love, which are among my favorites. He also hit Wrong Heartbeat, Gypsy Love Songs, plus Needle and Thread, Bad Monkey, Never Give Up, and Mr. Stupid from the album he’s currently pimping. I was also hoping for Bathsheba Smiles, Razor Dance, Cooksferry Queen, and Blackleg Miner, though I was pretty sure the last wasn’t going to happen.
I saw a bit of Tony Blair’s departure speech, and other politicos’ responses, generally wishing each other well and all that, and I was struck once again by how bloody polite the Brits are. In my usual oblivious ignorance, I have no idea what any of the details surrounding it are, but I’m having fun picturing the scene…
“Look, we’re going to have to depose you now. You see, your policies have become more and more unpopular of late, and the peasantry are threatening harsh language.”
“Oh. Righto, then. I’ll just clear out my office. Would you like to indict me on anything, while I’m still here?”
“No, no, quite all right, your resignation will be quite sufficient, thanks muchly.”
“Well then, I’ll be off. Cheerio.”
So now I'm hanging out at Moth's and recuperating from the recent insanity, and Ginny is in Rhode Island for the next week on vacation. The hippo is in cold storage, and Lindsay is coming into town on Monday.
I’m sure I’ll think of other things that I need to report on, but for now I’ll just leave you with a bunch of the links I’ve been stockpiling.
Hamster vs. Cookie Bag
A video of an acoustic group doing Video Killed the Radio Star. What’s wrong with this picture?
For the burners, I give you a staff-twirling monkey.
Some rampant geekery, stolen from flamingnerd, and coming originally from Square One, which I actually saw and remember this bit from when it originally aired.
And I’m now on IMDB.