my new best friend (the iPod, not the Furby)

Pictured here is the gift I got myself to help survive the hours of punishing desk sitting at work. Music magically levitates my buttocks so there’s less chair pressure. Or something like that.
I know everyone else and their dog has an iPod already. Toasters and tree stumps have iPods. By waiting till now, however, [...]

24-hour plays

Maggie and I saw this show last night. (Woo hoo! It’s been rare for Mags to get out of the house recently.) A bunch of dramatists are given 24 hours to write, rehearse, and produce six short plays. I don’t think much sleep happens in the meantime. In fact, the theater smelled like espresso. First [...]

baby spooks

There’s an item in the latest weekly posting on JREF about people who hear mysterious voices generated by electronic devices. Electronic Voice Phenomenon, it’s called. The theory is that there are dead people hanging out in your environment. You can’t hear them, but your tape recorder, radio, TV, or even coffee pot can pick up [...]

parrots and stuff

With my time siphoned off into trivial pursuits like putting in eight-hour work days five days in a row, I find myself seriously lacking in blog fodder. “Blog fodder” is a good phrase. Next time someone starts to tell you about the funny thing their cat did last night, you can say, “Shut up with [...]

i read it in a magazine

A birthday blog entry!
From Scientific American:
A bolt of lightning can give off approximately twice the x-ray radiation as a chest x-ray.
From the New Yorker:
In an article about skiing in dangerous places, an avalanche specialist is quoted as saying, “Luck is a negative reinforcement…you have probability and complacency working against you.” I like that quote. It [...]

see how they run

Saw this British farce/screwball comedy last night as presented by the Valley Community Players in Renton. The story concerns a Vicar and his new American wife, but it’s really about people running (literally) on and off stage every few moments, multiple mistaken identities, shocked women fainting, awkward and embarrassing situations and entanglements, plot gyrations that [...]

the contstant wife

The play is currently at the Rep. It’s written by Somerset Maugham, who’s best known for the book, Of Human Bondage. Very enjoyable production, and Babs and I got rush tickets right down in front/center. The writer pulled off a huge accomplishment with this play. Written in the 20s, it feels totally fresh and relevant [...]

music fetish

The Shins are coming to town in May. They are playing at the ludicrously named Bank of America Arena at the U.W. I’m going to go and it will probably cure me of attending rock and roll concerts filled with kids half my age or younger. On their recordings, the Shins have magic. I know [...]