Hey! Are you listening to me?

Ever wonder if you're a boring/annoying person? Friend Mary points out this new technology targeted at autistic folk, but sure to be a boon for those of us suffering our own personal insecurities &c. I know one of my classmates could definitely do with some kind of feedback regarding her annoyance factor. On the other hand, about 80% of the time that I'm boring or irritating, I'm aware of it and ignore it, so this might not help me.

My fave line is: "When presented with fresh video clips, the software gets people's emotions right 90 per cent of the time when the clips are of actors, and 64 per cent of the time on footage of ordinary people."

What this tells me is that ordinary people are not adequately expressing their emotions, and that we need more training in how to do so in standardized ways.

New words I learn

I this morning wanted to see if the term "plus one" is defined anywhere in its nounular form, as used in Doctor Who (series 1, ep 2) when the Doctor says, "See, it says right here: 'The Doctor Plus One.' I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler. She's my Plus One." For the CDes Halloween party, good friend M. will be my Plus One, hence the relevance of the topic.

I went to UrbanDictionary.com - not necessarily a scholarly resource, but fun to peruse on occasion, and saw the term "fives" in a use I'd not previously known. Definition 3 is my fave, because it illustrates growth in the meaning of the term:

Defines a claim or ownership of a certain item. Originally used to define such a claim for 5 minutes, but is now commonly interchanged with the word dibs.

The one bit lacking from this is the bit about how it originated as a way of claiming rights to a seat so that one can go use the loo, refresh one's drinky, or the that.

Oh, and I never did find a prior use of "plus one" as a noun phrase.

I'm in love

Okay, I know I need to get this coursework finished for the summer, but I have to tell both of my readers about this: I'm in love with Linden Hills. Really. This place has everything. If I could afford it, I would pay $1200 a month to live in a 600 sq ft studio apartment in this neighborhood (and I'd probably have to - the one downside is that this is an affluent, mostly white neighborhood; efforts to revive poor neighborhoods often result in gentrification, which looks similar).

They have everything. Employment, shopping, housing, green space, historic buildings, multimodal transit....

They're right on Lake Harriet (on the left side of this pic, taken from linden-hills.com).


It's what New Urbanists wish they could achieve, but it's been there for over 60 years. (And time is a crucial element here, so maybe some NU neighborhoods will eventually be like it.)

The commercial hub at 43rd St W and Upton Ave S makes the 50th and France retail node in Edina look like a turd wrapped in burnt hair. (And don't even get me started on those suburban shitholes like Arbor Fakes.)

Comics roundup

Get Fuzzy is great.
-- Bucky (the cat) expresses something I've long believed but have lacked the ability to articulate.
-- Political jokes.

Cat and Girl is often hilarious.
-- This is why I buy Powerball tickets once in a while.
-- Oscar Wilde, updated for the Spring Break set.

Dinosaur Comics should never be missed. Don't forget to mouse-over the image for an extra fun message. (If it trails off in ellipses, you'll need to right-click and select Properties to see the whole thing - it's worth it.)
-- Etymology: The best story wins.
-- T-Rex is a Web Architect.
-- T-Rex gets kinky.

Spam and pinochle and cheesecake, oh my!

Over the weekend Ben and I went up to see Spamalot with Ben's dad. We drove up and met him for dinner at the Great Waters Brewing Company, and then walked over to the Ordway for the show.

==== SPOILER WARNING (highlight to view) ====
I enjoyed the show. The multi-media nature of it was intriguing, and some dialog was taken verbatim from the film. I felt that a lot of that was not delivered as well as in the original, although the French Taunter scene was very well executed. The bit at the end where Lancelot marries Prince Herbert - and says, "You know, in a thousand years, this will still be controversial" was a hoot.
==== END SPOILERS ====

The costumes and the set were really well done, and Esther Stillwell, who played The Lady of the Lake, did a great job.

We spent Saturday with Ben's folks, and his mom prepared some great meals for us. Thanks, Kathy! (Thathy) We also played a couple games of pinochle, which was fun.

On Sunday we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Kathy had never eaten there (though she had gotten cheesecake from them in the past). My first impression, upon opening the menu, was that they must be really struggling, financially. About 45% of the menu consisted of ads for everything from purses to jeans to American Express to Carnival Cruise lines. I wondered if I could order those things as well, but decided against asking our waitress (she seemed like the type who wouldn't see the humor in it, even if she did understand the point I was trying to make - which is also unlikely). I think my favorite was the ad for a website where I could look at the ads again, when I got home. The top of the page exhorted the diner "Enjoy our ads again!" - because they were so enthralling the first time around. The next remarkable thing about the restaurant is that about 80% of their entrees are "specialties." Really? That seems a bit ... ridiculous.

Nonetheless, the meal was good, and of course we also got dessert - I ordered a piece of cheesecake, and I believe Ben had one of their "specialty" desserts (not the cheesecake, which was odd, I thought, given the name of the restaurant - but I don't really know much about marketing in the restaurant biz) - it was a chocolate cake. Not a piece of chocolate cake, but an entire cake - at least, it took up the same amount of space. My greatest criticism, I think, is of the prices. Given that almost half of their menu is sold to advertisers, I would have expected the prices to be a bit lower.

Summer Vacation, Part 4

Aaaah, summer. That magical time of year when temperatures rise to WTF and humidity makes the outdoors all but unbearable.

Here I am basking in the cool of Central Air, trying to get focused on school work. The dog occasionally pesters me, and the cats love the laptop, and I need to start writing a paper. Meanwhile, laundry tumbles in the washer and dryer, and I consider the pros and cons of going to the grocery store (pro: get more food; con: have to leave house).

We've [redacted] the most recent episode of [redacted], but haven't watched it yet - it's the middle of a [redacted], and I am trying to hold off watching until we have both parts. Can I make it? Place your bets!

A disrupted sleep pattern adds to the complexity of my life. Wow, it's tough being an unemployed American.

Last weekend, Ben & I went up to the Twin Cities. I did a little homework, and we went to see Daywatch (based (mostly) on the book Nightwatch, and sequel to the film of that name), then we had dinner with friends Melissa & Shane & Jessica & her husband Gabe, then a couple of drinks. Mmmm... drinks.

Geek Prom 2007

Saturday night Ben & I attended the 2007 Geek Prom at the Science Museum in St. Paul. It was ... well, let's just say it was geeky. The music, provided by E.L.nO., was decent, danceable, and fun. I wonder if all geeks love the 80s, or just the ones who were there.

Sadly, there was no drunken debauchery. Well, maybe a little - but I'll get to that in a minute. They advertised "a cash bar" but all they had was beer, wine, and an appalling blue thing that approximated a martini in some vague way. Perhaps it was the Vulcan equivalent.

So shortly after the new king and queen were crowned (a friend of ours was last year's queen, which is part of the reason we went), I was looking around the room, and suddenly the door on the men's room flies open, and 5 or 6 naked guys come running out onto the dance floor, then out into the next room, then back into the restroom. Hilarious. On principle alone, I declared it the high point of the night. Then a rent-a-cop (possibly St. Paul PD, but I'm not sure) shows up, & after the guys get dressed, they're escorted out of the building.

I'm wondering, was there really a need to arrest these guys? This was a private-ish event (open to all, but in a private venue, at least), open to those 18 and up, and it's doubtful that those present had never seen a penis before. In fact, as I noted immediately afterward, for most of the guys there, it was the closest they'll ever get to seeing a naked woman.

So, everyone has a good laugh, and the audience applauded the streakers after they came out of the restroom, in an effort to show support for them and disdain for the authority figures. No harm done. Well, I should clarify. Some harm did befall a few innocent bystanders (including last year's queen) when the cops decided an appropriate response to streakers is the use of pepper spray. Yes, they sprayed several people with pepper spray (though apparently none of the streakers showed any ill effects). Jackasses. That's all I can say.

P.S. One of the streakers had been dressed up as a little lad who loves berries and cream. Yeah, it was creepy.