Happy Friday!
OK, last one...
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Happy holidays!
"Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" by Tom Waits.
"Father Christmas" by The Kinks - somewhat overplayed, but still, it makes me smile.
"Everything is One Big Christmas Tree" by The Magnetic Fields.
"Everything's Gonna to be Cool This Christmas" by Eels
"Please Daddy (Don't get drunk this Christmas)" - cover by The Decemberists.
Amphritite
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I'm waiting for a server bounce, and because idle hands are the devil's playthings, I've decided to type something; the first thing popping into my head...a five-for-friday post featuring the random junk on my desk.
I'm embracing the sacred grunginess that is my desk today:
1. Mocha orange hand cream.
2. Two monster finger puppets (I stage impromptu puppet shows with these little guys when I need to let off steam). They were in my Christmas stocking last year.
3. What's left of my morning almond snack.
4. My baby Diet Coke.
5. My worry stone.
--Amphitrite
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(Photo source: http://www.theittybittykittycommittee.com)
Five Good Things to Absorb While You're Still Young:
(Original source: http://www.5ives.com/archives/2006/01/23/five-good-things-to-absorb-while-youre-still-young/)
--Amphitrite
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Saturday mornings, growing up Gen X, were the best (and I've blogged about Gen X Saturdays more than once). We got up, fixed our Cheerios, and parked ourselves in front of the television to watch cartoons. Saturday morning cartoons were followed by the ABC Weekend Special (hosted by Willie Tyler and his ventriloquist puppet, Lester). I lived for those episodes in the early 80s, especially the spookier episodes.
Today's Five for Friday - 5 of my favorite ABC Weekend Special episodes (and a YouTube link, if I could one):
"The Haunted Mansion" - Original aired in 1983, in two parts (the great ones were always in 2 parts), and starred a very young Christian Slater. This was my favorite, and I'm sad I couldn't find it on YouTube. New girl in the neighborhood. Christian Slater's character tells her house was owned by a creepy old miser who disappeared. Secret room in house, searching for fortunes, etc.
"The Red Room Riddle" - Also airing in 1993, this story is the typical, if-you-want-to-be-part-of-the-cool-kids-club-you-must-prove-it fare, but it was (and still is, in my opinion) spooky. I like the graininess of these clips. Takes me back. Way back.
"The Haunting of Cassie Palmer" - This one wasn't actually a part of the official ABC Weekend Special series, but it aired in the early 80s, around the same time, over several Saturdays, so I'm including it in my list because I associate it with ABC Weekend Special. It was a British children's drama, consisting of 6 episodes, and I found them on YouTube! I've linked to the first episode. Cassie's mother was a psychic who has been accused of fraud. It turns out that Cassie may have the "gift" herself and conjures up a spirit in a graveyard. I won't spoil it! If you can get through the poor quality of the recordings, it's an eerie good time.
"The Gold Bug" - Part I and II aired in 1980. It is based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Gold-Bug," starring...Anthony Michael Hall. Secrets and buried treasure! What more could a Gen X kid want out of a Saturday afternoon?
"The Ghost of Thomas Kempe" - Originally aired in 1979. I would like to watch the entire episode again (this one aired in 2 parts also). Family moves into new house. Young boy encounters poltergeist. Creepy.
I found this "archive" of ABC Weekend Special episodes on YouTube. I haven't had time to look through all of them, but I most certainly will.
--Amphitrite
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I haven't done a Five for Friday in some time now!
Poseidon and I watched Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie" last night, and I now have a girl crush on Tippi Hedren. I've seen "The Birds" several times, but I paid little attention to how gorgeous she was, but in "Marnie," I paid attention, and she was lovely! So, for this long overdue Five for Friday post, my five girl crushes, in no particular order:
1. Tippi Hedren
2. Catherine Denueve
3. Brigitte Bardot
4. Kate Beckinsale
5. Jean Shrimpton
--Amphitrite
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Because the management company of the complex where my office is located has been pumping bad, very bad, Christmas music out into the courtyard since Monday, I'm a little on the snarky side today. I wouldn't mind so much, because I'm feeling the Christmas spirit and all, but they are playing the same 3 damn songs over and over and over and over and over. The sound is making me want to seal Santa, all of his elves and everything else Christmas related into an escape-proof cell, in the jungle, with every jingle bell ever made (I would never do that of course, because I am a greedy one, and I still want my presents).
I have a smidgen of crankiness in me, but my will to get over it is strong, and I thank Friday for that. This week has been one of the longest weeks, ever, for no real reason other than I can't look at one more pretty process flow chart or troubleshoot one more XML file. I keep thinking if I stare at it long enough, the XML will rewrite itself. It is Christmastime (don't get annoyed that I'm using a big red font here) and magic stuff can happen, can't it? I just saw a unicorn outside.
OK, here we go:
I doubt 2 - 5 of this Five for Friday post will compare with this first one, but please read on or you will hurt my feelings. I found a blog post this morning that had my sides aching from the commentery on strange Christmas lyrics, and the post is better than that peanut butter I had for breakfast. I will give you a sample, but please--pretty?--read the full blog post so you can laugh so hard you get cramps (then you can go home for the day):
"And why is the couple planning this sham snow wedding saying to the parson, “Hey, man, you can do this wedding when you’re in town.” First of all, I think it’s just a tad disrespectful to refer to this snow pastor as “man”, second, “when he’s in town?” You just crafted him out of snow! He’s not going anywhere, you didn’t even give him legs. I’m pretty sure he can officiate your creepy snow wedding any time." - Buster Blonde from Persephone Magazine
If
brash impiety makes you nervous or uncomfortable, then please look away
from the magnet. Everyone else with a sense of humor? You are
welcome. Poseidon bought this magnet for me a couple of years ago. The magnet hangs proudly,
on our refrigerator, for all to see. This morning, while leaning on the countertop, trying to wake up, and blindly digging my spoon into my jar of peanut butter, I saw it and it made me laugh.
Seriously, each and everytime I see this magnet, I sniggle (snort and giggle at the same time). "So, where is my fucking pony?" By the by...I'm still waiting for that pony.
Christmas gits = gift wrapping, and gift wrapping is an art. I start out thinking, "Oh, this should be easy." But the finished product looks as though I studied every gift intently, broke them down completely, then reassembled them into something resembling little abominations marching off an assembly line of mass reproduced Cubist art.
"Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit." -- Kin Hubbard
Few truer words have been spoken, and this quote reminds me of a Christmas card my sister bought years ago (I blogged about this once before). The card had a happy shiny Christmas scene on the front, but the inside read, "Merry Christmas, but just remember at 12:01 am on December 26, it's back to F' You Charlie."
Great reading for those with a privilege bias. Just kidding. Sort of.
"Orphans, dead parents, lonely children at Christmas, morose spoken word recordings, everything you love about the holidays. Move the turkey over so you can fit your head in the oven." -- April Winchell
--Amphitrite
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I should be working, but I'm surfing and shopping. I'm going to analyze myself here and say that I'm looking for a distraction because one of my coworkers is retiring today, and he will be missed, and I'm trying not to be sad. So, shopping it is! I found a funky clock that would make a great gift, then another funky clock, and another, and another, and now I have a headache. This Five for Friday edition is all about time management...in a cool way.
Oh, this is almost too terrific to share, and I don't think I've seen anything
like this before! From madeindesign.com, Coolheure Magic mirror Clock - Projected display. Make sure you look through all of the images of this clock on the website to really get the idea. This projects images of clocks on your wall! Want it, but the price tag is a bit high. 200.00 British pounds, or about $320 bucks! Perhaps if I win the next Powerball drawing.
A modern take on the cuckoo clock! Also from madeindesign.com.
Sleek stainless steel. This isn't just a clock, it's art for the wall, with an actual cuckoo. The design looks as the though the poor cuckoo drilled himself a hole in the steel to pop through. This isn't your grandmother's cuckoo clock, that's for sure!
The same clockmaker responsible for the design above just stole my heart with this
next one. Diamantini & Domeniconi Striped Cuckoo Clock (I found this one on the Rockett St. George site (all of these are UK sites so far...the Brits have an eye for design, no?), and yes it is pricey as well, 195.00 pounds. I can already hear the shopper voice in my head trying to justify the price: "But this would look amazing in the green room."
Poseidon and I recently saw a similar gear clock for sale in a local shop,
but I spotted this one on Etsy, made by pixelthis and it's affordable! The artist's creation uses a large recycled bicycle cassette gear, a recycled computer DVD and a new quartz drive clock movement. Up-cycled and recycled. It's cool with a conscience.
The Albero Cuckoo clock, first designed by Paolino & Fusi in 2008. Yes, another cuckoo
clock! I found this on a the momentoitalia.com site, and at $410.00, I won't be owning this one either, but I'm so excited by these cuckoo clocks!
I feel a tug of war emerging with my practical self and my I-want-it-now-Veruca-Salt self. I really want to see a bird pop out of a clock, and I'm oohing and ahhing over the stainless steel and the striped clocks. Poseidon will have to talk me down off the ledge.
--Amphitrite
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Political posts are posts I avoid writing because I still want my friends and family to be my friends and family, and I'm no "crafter" but I occasionally like to sew stuff together, so what better combination for a Five for Friday post? Politics and fabric. Doesn't matter which side of the political fence you land (a nice face plant in the dirt will be the outcome for us all), both donkeys and elephants have big ears. They do:
All fabric swatches are from Spoonflower.com!
--Fortuitous Observer
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Ever see a picture that sends little goose bumps up and down your arm (or in my case, the hair on my rather hairy arms stands at attention)?
I love the feel-good creepiness I experienced as a child during October, so I chose some eerie, spooky pictures/illustrations that take me back to that feeling. Ghoulies and ghosties, welcome to the table!
--Fortuitous Observer
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