My Snow Monkeys are going down to their fourth straight defeat and about to fall out of playoff contention. Now I must rely on good fortune AND a do-or-die win next weekend to sneak in and secure a post-season spot. Ivon and Lawren came by today to watch the disaster unfold. On his way over, Ivon called to say he wanted to pick up a healthy alternative to the typically heavy football feasting we’d been doing. He decided to get wraps. I went with the Thanksgiving Turkey which included mashed potatoes, cranberries, and stuffing. Healthy – no sot sure. But delicious. As was half of Akemi’s veggie wrap. And that half bagel and nutella I had for dessert (only realizing two bites in that it was an onion and poppyseed bagel. Nutella DOES go with anything!).
I’m feeling bummed. And a little queasy.
Enjoy some miscellaneous pics…
Akemi’s Turkey Sausage and Salami – Octopus Style:
Sun dogs:
My recent chocolate haul:
Ivon and Lulu – True Love:
Ew, I can’t imagine nutella on an onion bagel.lol You poor thing. Sorry about your Snow Monkeys as well!
That meat octopus is absolutely adorable. Akemi is just so creative!
Joe, sorry about your Snow Monkeys! We folks in Indianapolis can commiserate. The Colts are once again vying for a perfect season — this time in contention for a first-round draft pick. 🙁 Wish they could win a few for their own mental health! Have been afraid to watch…has Peyton been able to watch any homes games from the bench, for moral support? Or is that disrespectful to the QB on the field? Thank goodness for Green Bay, the other “home team.” 🙂
Been a busy, fun, exhausting weekend. Belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the States! Can I sleep now?
Joe, have loved our “visits” with Alexander & Sarah. He made all frowny faces, even when you fed him well. When are you and Akemi going to visit them in Paris?
The pix of the dog children have been delightful, especially in the tub! Was that clean rinse water they were standing in? Maximus looks well, and still engaged in life. Good work, Papa Joe.
Paloosa, were you able to eat this weekend? Thought of you more than once and sent prayers for a pain-free mouth!
JeffW, I SO wanted a piece of your cheesecake!
Deni, congrats to your daughter for her martial arts gold medal, and to you for grooming a cocker spaniel from beginning to end in one day. Oh, and another hoo-rah for having a self-cleaning beagle. You should patent that. 😀
God bless everyone who had to clean house this week, especially DAS. 😀 (Ain’t that revoltin,’ to go through “chocolate season” and the chocolate won’t even work?)
For Tara Yelland, sent you a short list of photo picks w/ photog’s #s. If there’s not a comedy gig in your future, I’m going to be sad!
Hurray for the Stargate Christmas reunion! Joe, will you spill the beans already on the “non-project” in the works? I’d rather hear it from you than Twitter. 🙂
Well, Joe, sorry I can’t comiserate with you this week in fantasy football. I’m well on my way to being 10-2 in both my leagues. I’m sure I’ll lose in the first round of the playoffs, but it’ll be nice to finish out the season on top in both leagues. I had a huge moment of stress this morning 10 minutes before the games to swap in Beanie Wells for “the Law Firm”(BenJarvus Green-Ellis). BJGE still did fine, but Wells tore it up today! 228 yards? Yes please, and put a TD on top of it, too. Thank you! Of course, it wouldn’t be a great week without the stellar performance of my favorite player in the NFL and in all of fantasy football, Wes Welker. If I win the championship in my money league, I’m buying his game jersey. I think I owe it to him. Besides, I’d be proud to fly the colors of a man who’s size and on field actions are diametrically opposed to that of this current age of “diva receivers”.
Most years, I’m where you are, struggling to make it into the playoffs, worrying over the most minute of details in a player’s news and updates section trying to decide whether to sit him or start him. If you need a little pick-me-up, I saw something last week that I KNOW you’ll enjoy. Just google the word “wampug”… adorable.
-Mike
1. You should re-name your Snow Monkeys the Eagles. 😉
2. I LOVE Akemi’s octopus! I wish I had time to prepare food like that, but based on how fast I am in the kitchen now – without doing anything fancy – if I did start getting artistic we’d all starve to death. 😛
3. You really need to start sharing that chocolate with us, you big tease, you.
4. Sun Dogs! 😀
5. Wow. Ivon really IS fused to that couch, isn’t he?
6. I’m wide awake and can’t get to sleep. I’ve come to the conclusion that the sun makes me sleepy, and the rain makes me hyper. I just cannot resist sleeping on a sunny day, like today (think cat sleeping in the sunny spot on the bed – I go practically comatose), but when it rains I want to be up and doing stuff, even if it’s 3 am. Rain is moving in tonight/tomorrow, and I’m already sensing it. I’m gonna need a really potent movie to put me to sleep tonight… something I love, but haven’t watched in a while…black and white, of course…hmmmmm…here’s my choices…
A Double Life with Ronald Colman. Excellent movie, about an actor who can’t separate himself from the characters he plays, all the way to the point of murder. One problem – a dramatic scene from Othello…it might wake me up.
The Letter with Bette Davis. Another superb film, this one about a murdering adultress. It’s dark and dramatic – perfect to sleep to. However, I’ve only seen the movie twice before, so I’m not as familiar with the scenes as I am with some other films I own. I need to know a film fairly well so that if I do happen to wake up in the middle of it, I don’t start wondering what’s going on (that’ll just wake me up even more).
In a Lonely Place with Bogart as a washed up screen writer who may – or may not have – murdered a hatcheck girl. I love Bogart, but there are a couple intense scenes that might disturb my sleep.
Witness for the Proscution with Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, and Marlene Dietrich. This is one of my favorite movies to sleep to; I just love the banter early on between Laughton, and his real-life wife (as his nurse), Elsa Lanchester. However, I prefer to ‘watch’ this one during an afternoon nap because – without fail – there’s a scene with Dietrich that almost always wakes me up right near the end.
Laura with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. Suspense at its best, with lots of moody atmosphere. An added plus – Vincent Price. As I said before, I do find his voice oh so soothing! I think I found a winner!
Nitey-Nite!
das
Hey everyone!!!
Greetings from Vancouver..sorry I’ve been MIA for a week or so…been a bit hectic here.
Had an amazing few days at LA’s Creation Con, where I was lucky enough to see Ivon’s pilot for Captain Starship and meet the man himself. He’s a genuine, friendly guy…can’t say enough good things, a real pleasure to meet.
I’m currently holidaying in Vancouver, having fun..headed out to Bridge Studios the other day which was crazy cool.
I’ll be seeing my first hockey game, didn’t manage to get a ticket to the Grey Cup…alas
I ‘ve done more walking the past few days than I have for months…will hopefully balance the food I’ve been eating. Hope to check out some Van food trucks in the next few days.
Hope you’re all well…my Fantasy Football team has been rocking lately…go Tony Romo!!!
Cheers, Chev
Well, at least the snow monkey pics have been cute.
I love chocolate, but the look of all those boxes of it make me feel a little queasy.
The Ivon/Lulu pic looks more like some kind of standoff to me. I think Lulu may be winning.
Well, off to work for again after my great vacation in the canyons of the Southwest. Back to living the dream!!
Is there anything that Akemi can’t make cute?
Poor thing—if I ate that much, I would be sick too. Thanks for the pictures.
Hope you feel better soon!!
Your Snow Monkeys are doing much better than my NY Giants. Don’t think the Giants will make it to the playoffs.
Love Akemi’s turkey sausage! Very cute! ^_^
Love how doggies love to sit in the sun. Your doggies have it good! 😉
Awwwwww…..Ivon and Lulu make a cute couple! 🙂
7. Joey…erm…Joecita…no, wait. That’s not right. Joecito! Look, son…if you’re not going to stay up and wait for me to post my epistle, I’ma not gonna wish you a goodnight NO more! *pouts*
das
Deni: Congratulations to your daughter. I’ve heard from the dojo that overseas martial art competitions can be brutal!
2Cats: Great minds and all that 😉 .
Das: Clean windows AND a nap? You got it going on girlfriend!
Akemi: The Octopus turned out great! You are truly a food artist.
That sure is a cute picture of Lulu and her beau.
@for the love of Beckett: Thank you! At last, someone that gets what it takes to groom a Cocker! Whew! Elway, however, is a very big Rhodesian Ridgeback/Boxer mix, not a Beagle, so when he “self-cleans” there’s very little room for me in the shower. He also knows how to wipe his feet when he’s muddy. No, really, he’s ADORABLE. 🙂
@Tam Dixon: Thanks, Tam! This was Lauren’s first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu big competition, but I was commenting to her that I’d seen some of the other videos from the English Open (men and boys) and that it’s a real testosterone festival. They break bones, pass out, whatever, whereas the women and girls will tap out much sooner. She’ll be getting her blue belt in BJJ this week, and is working on her 2nd degree black belt in judo. She was into kempo too, but finally (and happily for me, I HATE the injuries) decided to stick with judo and bjj.
@ chevron7, wha? Captain Starship? You mean this? Interesting, I love Paul McG.
http://youtu.be/fnASalkSxHY
Is Yeeeeeeargh the Abominable Snow Monkey cry of defeat? Maybe you shouldn’t have put Cowboys on the team.
Awwww! The doggies are even cuter in a bathtub shot. I think Ivon has met his match in Lulu. Glad to hear Maximus is hanging in there. Such a doggie trooper.
Sorry about the bummed. Sounds like you caused the queasy. But been there recently too, with Thanksgiving in the States just past. Think I spent a few days in a chocolate coma. Made a new recipe called Chocolate Cobbler. Is now filed in the death by choccie category.
Excited with you and for you about the impending release of Dark Matter.
@ Deni – A little late to the party, but congrats to your daughter! Got any videos of this kickass kid o’ yers?
das
Deni: BJJ and Judo? Do you have a youtube link? That would be so cool to watch.
A dog that knows how to wipe his feet? That I would have to see. I wish I could get my cats to do that.
Can someone explain to me how a string of lights can be perfectly fine when I put it away, then when I unpack them to put them up again, only half the string lights?
Sorry. Extremely poor grammar. “then when I unpack it to put it up again…” Ah, I feel better now.
@Debra
‘When you par a story down to pictures and minimal words, I just don’t get hooked…Of course, I don’t give a fig about superheroes either.’
I’m with you on comic books. To me, it’s like being offered a few mediocre entrees – dried out cheese on stale crackers, that sort of thing – when you’re really hungry & craving a hearty meal…if that makes sense. 😛
For me, comic books suffer from being neither fish nor flesh: not enough words to be a book, not enough artistic merit to be art, and I would rather see actors portray a character’s expressions than have them drawn by artists whose style & talent varies from issue to issue (and, yes, I know there are comic books with very good artwork – particularly on the covers – but I am making an extremely subjective & sweeping generalisation. ;-))
Another poster here remarked upon the tendency of comic book story arcs to go on and on without ending, and I see that as less a stylistic choice than as a tool to keep fans spending their money; so I find that off-putting, too.
And superheroes have never interested me. Too black-and-white, too self-righteous. And, again, I know there are all kinds of alternative & ‘dark’ versions of iconic characters like Superman, Batman, et al, but even so, that kind of character doesn’t interest me. Then there’s all the violence & sexism, and the overly-muscled style of drawing…and I’m afraid comic books are just not my cup of tea.
I think using them as kind of an extended story-board is a great idea, though. 🙂
Hope I haven’t offended anyone. It’s just my opinion. I think if someone gets pleasure from comic books, go for it, don’t worry about what others think, enjoy yourself. 🙂
Regarding plays, it’s interesting to read them, to study the language and themes, to compare the play as written to the play as performed; but only reading a play is an incomplete experience – they are written to be performed, after all. I think many people struggle with Shakespeare, for example, when they have only read it – at school, read aloud by other students in a monotone 😉 – but when they see it performed, or even read aloud by professional actors, they get it, and enjoy it.
Well, that’s my irrelevant opinions. 😀
Exit, pursued by a bear…
@Debra
By the way, the pups in your icon, are they Jack Russells? What’re their names? Jack Russells are such pocket rockets, I can’t imagine having two!
@2cats
‘Personally, I like mine slightly dingy, keeps the riffraff from peering in.’
Inspired by das & Mr. das’ window cleaning, I was gonna clean mine; then I read this and thought…yeah. 😉
(Love your kitties :-))
@Deni
Is that Elway in your icon? Cute! Is he bouncy like a Boxer?
@PBMom (and all you other busy bees)
Don’t forget to take care of yourself in between being busy! Relax, have some ‘me’ time (probably measured in seconds, you sound so busy!), nice cup of tea & choccy biscuit, etc… 🙂
Loving the new icon – you looked lovely in your previous one, but you look espesh glam in this one.
@for the love of Beckett
‘Joe, will you spill the beans already on the “non-project” in the works?’
I second that! And my imaginary friend thirds it!
@das
Yes, there’s nothing like a good black-and-white movie. And, I may be reaching here, but I’m sensing a theme in the films you’ve listed…
For all us animal lovers, here’s some ‘awww’ (hope the link works…):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUV1oTciznE&feature=fvwrel
(Or type ‘Amazing interspecies friends’ into you tube.)
Ooh!
The link worked!!
I AM a genius!!!
🙄
Mr. M.:
Ivon & Lulu: Cute. And the dog’s not bad, either! Ha ha ha…um…
Actually, this pic looks less like love from Lulu, & more like, ‘Dude, you’re in my spot.’
Love the chocohaul. Please taste & review.
Sorry about your monkeys. 🙁
Just remember, the nature of monkey was IRREPRESSIBLE!!!
Cuteness has made me smile! Yippee!
I can make hot cocoa with Nutella, so yum. (edited to delete awkward body painting remark).
Mmm, wraps. I guess I should thaw and roast my turkey and make cranberry sauce so I can have leftovers. We ate at the neighbor’s house. Her hubby made outstanding stuffing, and one of the most delicious green bean casseroles I have ever tasted. I was beginning to think I didn’t like green bean casserole, but I’ve simply had BAD GBC all these years,
Sorry about the Snow Monkeys.
@for the love of Beckett:
Thanks! It was good!
But unless you come to Chicagoland or show up at the Stargate Chicago convention next August, you’ll probably need to make your own (it doesn’t ship too well 😉
Maybe this will help:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55871901@N05/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55871901@N05/5202932504/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55871901@N05/5199883437/in/photostream
If you follow the recipe, you may want to reduce the 250-degree time to 70-minutes. I’ve been experimenting with cooking time lately and that seems to be the “sweet spot”; at least for my oven.
I hope your Thanksgiving went well.
@Joe on the Snow Monkies:
Good luck next weekend, and while it probably caused some grief with your Snow Monkies, I was glad the Ravens won Thursday night 🙂
Sorry. Should be “Snow Monkeys”. It’s hard to break an old (mis)spelling habit…
@Zed of Earth: Yep, that’s him! He’s bouncy, always has been, although he’s getting a bit older now! “The Cute” is what he has embroidered on his dog bed, and what everybody knows him as. He’s being very cheeky tonight, as well. Oy! 🙂
@Das: Thank you! Videos? Funny you should ask…(Lauren’s the one in the black gee, the gorgeous brunette…looks JUST like her mother 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWujjP69umI
http://youtu.be/jtSB7wrzrvs
@Tam: Yeah, he wipes his feet, and he’s frickin’ cute doing it, too! I’ll try to get a video tonight or tomorrow and show you! 🙂
@ Sparrowhawk – I never would have known the difference. 😛
@ 2cats and Zed of Earth – I tried the dingy look once, but my OCD won out. I think one big reason I love having clean windows is that I have really bad eyesight so I love when things are ‘in focus’, like crisp, clear windows. Also, Zed, love the video! And I must find the time to reply to your comments about comics. I was once like you.
@ for the love of Beckett – No worries, God has already blessed me with the ability to clean – I LOVE it! 🙂 I wish I could spend all day cleaning the house, organizing things, and decorating. So much more fun than sitting on my backside, doing office work. Ugh. I also love yardwork. I find both very rewarding and therapeutic. In my old age and with working I’ve learned not to be overly obsessive about cleaning (as the occasional cobweb and dust bunny will attest to). I’ve also never been like my cousin who went as far as polishing the copper plumbing pipes in the basement, or my friend who cleaned the oven – while in labor – because she didn’t want her visiting mother thinking she was a bad housekeeper. There are just some things that I accept will be dirty at times, and I can’t afford to always be replacing old rugs and just don’t have the time to be painting all the time, so my house is far from perfect, but still, I do enjoy making what I do have as neat and tidy as I can, with the time and energy that I have. Housework is like playtime for me. 😀
das
Hey Joe, worry to be such a pain, but this one’s a better video and I posted the link but it’s hard to tell it’s there. Could I re-post? Thank you!
http://youtu.be/jtSB7wrzrvs
@Sparrow_hawk:
If they’re outdoor lights, moisture works its way into the bulb sockets (by being outside while “thermal cycling”) and when put away, it slowly corrodes the metal contacts in the sockets. If you pull the bulbs one by one you’ll probably find several have corroded.
The midwest winters are brutal on light sets!
I once comptemplated removing the bulbs in all my sets and putting electrical anti-corrosion compound (otherwise known as petroleum jelly 😉 in each one; at least until I found out what pain it was. Now I just expect that I’ll have to replace a few sets every year.
My son goes crazy over putting out the lights (he wants the brightest house on the court!) Hopefully we’ll have it done by Saturday, weather depending.
I saw this link and thought of you: http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/ultimate-food-lovers-bucket-list-154200960.html