My Drunk Kitchen Hilarity

So, I've been amusing myself (and hopefully my sister, to whom I sent these links and quotes) by watching eps of My Drunk Kitchen on YouTube. I pass on the drunken, hilarious goodness to you.

Meat Pie

So now you have a thing, that is kinda somewhere between a stew and a mess...
Don't knead your dough too much, 'cause that leads to co-dependancy.
My pie crust looks like vegeta.

Toast
I like my cheese like I like my women - mature, yet mellow.
Marmite is not like Nutella.
These beans smell like...sad ketchup.
On my arm, whatever. On my boobs? Ooh, I'm into it.

Onion Rings
Oh, now the fumes are trapped in the goggles with my eyes!
Sometimes I worry if I'll make it to 50.
Make your own tiny sweaty hot pocket of humid!

An Evening Musicale

I vow, there is little I like more than music, particularly of an evening when the rain persists; reading, naturally, brings me equal joy, but to-night I am happily ensconced in my sitting-room, listening to the pianoforte. Should one be fortunate enough to host a gathering of musically gifted neighbours, an evening can be passed quite amicably; I myself am regarded as the skilled musician in my family, and am rarely treated to performances by my good husband, yet he finds the music of others to be very agreeable. He persists in rearranging our furniture and his various apparatus, so as to achieve the most pleasing sound.

I know with certainty that my life is enriched by the beauty of music, and I find I am content to hear it, though I cannot see those who are so accomplished at their instruments. When I depart my humble estate, particularly when I choose to exert myself for a period of time, as I did this evening, I often include the following item in my reticule, so that I may continue to listen when I am not at home.

I cannot tell you how it delights me to own such a diminutive and clever article - why, it is as though I have brought with me the whole of the county! and each neighbour plays so exquisitely! and only the pieces that I want most to hear! - how marvellous.

Your's, etc.,

Julia

This week, I am participating in a silly blog challenge with a handful of other librarians. You can follow them here:


@KRidwyn, blogging at Hmmmm
@Girlwithshoess, blogging at Justgirlwithshoes
@jobeaz, blogging at Macaronic
@kalgrl, blogging at Feral Librarian Tales

Our aim is to write five blog posts in the style of Jane Austen. I think what I will find most difficult, is writing in first person, without the aid of dialogue. Austen's style (to me, at least) is most evident in her characters' speech, and my blog tends to be first-person accounts. We are meant to write about topics we normally would choose, too, so this will be interesting! #blog5daysAustenese


Edit: it killed me to leave that apostrophe in Your's, but examples of that usage are all over Pride & Prejudice.

Wikimedia Workshop

I was chosen as one of two QUT students from IT43 to attend a Wikimedia workshop at the State Library of Queensland on Monday, May 16th. Craig Franklin, QLD representative, and John Vandenberg, Wikimedia president for Australia, taught the session at The Edge.

We began with an overview of 10 Simple Rules and the 5 Pillars of editing, then learned how the Wiki family of sites is interconnected. There's a single sign-on, so once you've registered, you can add content across all the wikis.

During the training session we edited some scanned text. The Wiki software uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read and interpret scanned documents, but it's not perfect. Faded or antiquated fonts are more difficult to process, and human eyes are needed to proofread, with a second volunteer to verify the initial proofread. In these types of content pages, the "original" copy is retained alongside the plain text, for reference and as added value. A historical document or early print edition of a book, for instance, is notable for its format and not just its content.

What do you think of WIkipedia? Do you use it or run in fear? Craig and John assured us that Wikipedia's collective knowledge is growing and has become more reliable than when it was first started up. Some high-profile pages, for example Katy Perry's entry, are locked so that only certain accounts can make changes - this has cut down on malicious edits. The upload and naming policies aren't exactly strict (in fact, you're encouraged to BE BOLD!) and it seems more people are becoming part of this amazing worldwide knowledge network.

What astounded me was the woman in the workshop who had no background knowledge or Wikipedia at all. It's certainly not new, so I assumed anyone who'd spent any time online would have come across it and known its basic principles. But when we were editing pages of the scanned book, she noticed an earlier edit and asked, "Who is that?" and I just shrugged and said, "Some guy." She was astounded that he wasn't a professor, or a writer, or a vetted expert in the field. She just didn't understand, until that moment, that Wikipedia was literally the encyclopaedia that anyone can edit. I'm glad she came to the workshop and hope she is able to use her new skills in her work!

It was neat to edit the scanned book and learn more about OCR. I wish the workshop had been more advanced because I might end up teaching a session on wiki editing myself, along with Katya, the other participant from QUT.

So, Wikipedia, Wikimedia, etc... bane or blessing of your existence?

Ultimate 5 : YouTube Guilty Pleasures

If I'm in the mood to let the Internet entertain me, this is where I turn. It is absolutely fascinating what people put on YouTube. I don't have anything up there, myself.


1. MEEKAKITTY!

Meekakitty, aka Tessa, is a redheaded model who lives in NYC and recently won $100,000 in a vlogging contest- which she says she will use to go to college for video editing. Awesome! She's funny and can sometimes talk really fast and comes up with the strangest things to do on camera, yet doesn't come across as a try-hard. She's a Zelda nerd and she doesn't drink coffee. Everything else, you'll have to find out by watching her videos.

Chocolate Shop Adventure
Tessa + Caffeine=WORST IDEA EVER
New Moon - TEAM JACOB
51 Things I Found In My Suitcase

2. An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Two geeks. Three cats. Corporal snuggling and cat yodelling.

The Original
Halloween Portrait
Cat Yodelling

3. Michelle Phan

I discovered Michelle Phan by chance, and although I've watched a few random makeup tutorials before (none of which have made me want to race to the drugstore or department store makeup counter) Michelle is in a different class. For starters, she's a professional makeup artist. Her videos are clean and crisp, she does the video separately from the audio so you can actually see and hear what she's doing, all her makeup and tools are listed in the sidebar, and she mixes it up. Sometimes she'll do a simple look I could wear during the day (not that I have - still at the "watching and marvelling" stage of viewing makeup vlogs) and other times, it's a really big, impossibly complex costume makeup tutorial.

Here are a few that impressed me or bewildered me the most.

Glamorous Birthday Look
Easy Autumn
Lady Gaga Bad Romance Look
Sailor Moon Transformation
Kissable Cheeks with Chocolate!


4. Harry Potter Puppet Pals

Some are better than others, and some are not suitable for school-aged kids... but they make me laugh. Potter fanfiction has practically over-saturated the web, but Harry and pals as puppets? I only wish they could have talked Alan Rickman into reprising his role as Snape.

The Mysterious Ticking Noise
Wizard Angst

5. YouTube, Granny-style

Jody's grandmother asked us to show it to her, because someone told her, "You can just type in any tune and it will play it for you - for free!" She was rather excited about this. I was more than a little wary. The person had not told her there were videos to match... Fortunately there wasn't much that could go wrong from her chosen "tester" song, Auld Lang Syne.  (Thank goodness she asked me and not Jody, who can't spell.) I typed it in and explained "suggestions" to her -

"See? There's Auld Lang Syne with drums, or with bagpipes, or a choir - "
"Oh, let's have bagpipes!"

Wordle Me This

My Saturday of Loveliness

Ah, bliss. I got to sleep in. There were snuggles. I fell back to sleep to the sound of funny Australian birds. When I woke up the second time at close to noon, there was cereal and Earl Grey tea waiting. I read some Psalms over 'breakfast.' One that M suggested sparked a few ideas for a song, so I will have to come back to that another time.

It was a beautiful day, so I showered and put on my new Esprit dress, which is both comfortable and adorable - it's sort of boho; three different-patterned swatches stitched together and twist-dried so it's crinkly, with a square neckline and puffy elbow-length sleeves. It has a drawstring empire waist with copper beads and butterfly charms on the end of the string. I tried to find a photo of it but no luck, and our camera is missing its battery charger.

There was a message from my best friend that she'd received my package, and on a day when she really needed a pick-me-up, too. I read a couple chapters of Red String, and stumbled on a hilarious creation known as Cubeecraft - free printouts of cube-cutified* characters such as Alice in Wonderland, Princess Bride, and Sister Claire. Just print them in colour on cardstock, cut and fold, and you've got yourself cubee (kyoo-bee) playthings, or decorations for your desk or windowsill. The internet is awash with strange cuteness.

After a load of laundry and a grilled cheese sandwich, I convinced Jody we should venture outside with our books. There's a recently developed green space near us that overlooks the water, so we put on light jackets and shoes and headed out. We settled on one of the stone benches for awhile, winter sunlight on our faces and wind licking at the pages of our books.

I am still working my way through W.M. Thackeray's Vanity Fair, but I've got less than 200 pages to go now. I am enjoying it, and there is so much more to it than the Reese Witherspoon film, but I find it takes me awhile to get into it - so if I'm sleepy or have less than a half-hour to read, I pick up something less dense. (This past week or so I've read Mary Balogh's Slightly Scandalous and Tongue in Chic by Christina Dodd. They are far from dense but very entertaining!)

After our lazy, cuddly outdoor reading session we remembered we were in need of groceries. Lots of groceries. I won't bore you with a list, but we did get a roast chicken, pesto and a pizza base, which went together beautifully with some fresh pineapple, red pepper and cheese for our dinner. We had some white wine and watched a little TV. I've been fairly balanced food-wise this week, but not today! In the mood to be completely indulgent, I frosted and sprinkled two chocolate cupcakes I'd had in the freezer, for dessert. I read a bit more of my book and we contemplated watching the Serenity movie on TV, but that would just lead to us wishing we'd brought the Firefly series with us from Canada to watch first.

Jody is now playing a game on his iPhone as I type and we listen to some Ella Fitzgerald. I originally brought out my Mac to mess around with Scrivener and perhaps write a little, but I haven't posted anything here in a week, so instead I wrote this and added links to webcomics I've been following. Now I will go have a look and see if I can add anything to my poor neglected story.

It's been such a lovely Saturday.

* I made it up. I've got an English B.A. - I figure I am entitled to a few made-up words.

So You Think You Can Dance - Highlights

Reality TV shows are in no danger of disappearing, and Australia has no shortage of them. Thankfully they aren't all as cringe-inducing as Hell's Kitchen or as insipid as The Hills - reality? fiction? who cares?

Dance. Scores of Australians thought they could, and battled it out in couples, singles, groups and constantly changing pairs every week - sometimes with more than one routine to show off per episode. If a dancer found themselves at the bottom of the list, they had to perform what the judges called "Dance for your Life," which was always nerve-racking and sometimes surprising. Without a "Simon" type judge I liked this show a lot more than American Idol. The blonde host is singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Alive; Someday Soon). I'm a little behind in posting this, but I wanted to highlight a few of the best routines of the two-hour finale. The Final Fours' performances are embedded from YouTube, with the judges' thoughts and favourite clips of each dancer's progression throughout the show.

All I can say is, Go Talia! The 18 year old ballerina shone every week, proving she could do much more than plié when she put her mind to it. That girl worked it, and she came out the winner.

Her duet with Loredo, to Taylor Swift's "Love Story," had viewers clamouring for more - it was voted "favourite moment." Here she is with her final performance.




Another standout was the "suitcase routine" done by Top 3 contender Amy and her partner Damien. And I must mention how much I want her outfit...




The group routine inspired by the movie Kill Bill was awesome. So much is going on, but every dancer breathes purpose into their role, without taking away from the ensemble piece.




In the end, the Final 4 became the Final Two, and just behind Talia was Charlie. Charlie was always a character, and you could tell how much he loved dancing and entertaining the crowd. In this number, Single Ladies, he teams up with Penny from the Top 20 - and you can see how she's a frame for his incredibly charismatic performance.



And finally, Ben - who now thinks he'll go on to be a choreographer. Ben nearly sold himself short in the auditions, but fortunately the judges sensed there were things he could do that he hadn't shown them in his audition piece - and, just like that, he got a ticket to Top 100 week. I didn't really like his final performance, so here's his duet to Beyonce's "Diva" with Talia instead.



There was also a guest spot that left me breathless: New York dance company Pilobolus' (shortened) duo routine known as "Symbiosis." It showcases strength, grace, and awe-inspiring trust. Disclaimer: Pilobolus often performs in little or no clothing, so any content on their website - or YouTube for that matter - may be unsafe for work or a home office with curious small people nearby. This clip is work-safe.



Wow. That was a lot of good dancing. Hope you enjoyed it!

Random Memes - thanks Courtney!

I’m supposed to take the fourth picture from the fourth album in my pictures folder and post it - random, just the way I like it!

Ooooh, it's a good one, too. I don't have four albums up on Flickr yet (just got it recently) so I went to Facebook.


Mmmm cake! This photo was taken by my husband of only a few hours. We were waiting in the airport for our flight to San Francisco to begin our honeymoon! I barely got to eat at our reception so I had the catering staff pack me a little box of sandwiches and a little box of cake. And I was still wearing the dress I'd changed into mid-reception, with my tiara but no veil, which caused people to ask what I was all dressed up for. Ohhh my goodness, the cake was tasty. A friend made it for us; raspberry with vanilla cake was the layer you can see, and chocolate with hazelnut was the other. It was gorgeous, too.

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Then, according to Courtney and Toni, I should grab the book nearest to me (which unfortunately I haven't started yet; I grabbed it from the lending library) and go to page 56. Then type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.

OK, so this one is called A Perfect Match by Patricia Veryan - it's a Regency romance - because I need something light to take to the beach. Yes, beach. I know it's February  but I'm in Australia. Hmm. Well, this could present a problem. This particular copy seems to have its pages out of order. So I will choose a page at random, since I can't find 56 in its rightful place. Here we go, page 46.
"She kept her eyes downcast, her heart thumping so violently it was all she could do not to betray herself. How smug he sounded, doubtless gloating over how he had, as Lady Branden said, 'gulled' his trusting nephew!"

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And in case you haven't seen it yet, here is a reposting of the 25 Random Things meme that's been flooding Facebook. Just to keep things interesting, I'll change a couple things...

1. I make really awesome banana walnut chocolate chip loaf.
2. Our grandparents let Pam and I drink coffee when we were young. I still don't know if it was decaf or not.
3. I am a game snob - but really good games like LocoRoco, Ico, and LittleBigPlanet have managed to hold my attention.
4. I always wanted to be a figure skater, so I started ballroom dance in university and hoped I would love it - I do, but I need more time and money to practice.
5. I've never tried Red Bull or any other energy drink.
6. I kept rose petals from my first boyfriend until I got married.
7. It's been my dream to be a writer since I was very small, but I'm not sure I have the drive to do it right now.
8. I was accused of plaigirism at age 10.
9. I have seven email accounts.
10. Except for one haircolour-in-a-box no one noticed, I didn't dye my hair until I was 26.
11. I read The Hobbit for the first time in grade 7 - it was supposed to be something I read aloud with my dad, but he couldn't keep up with the weird names and all the characters, so I finished it on my own.
12. My Gramma used to knit sweaters when I was small, often matching ones for me & Pam - my favourite was either a turquoise one with a fuzzy angora panda, or one with a dinosaur that had stegosaurus spikes that stuck out.
13. Sometimes I get the urge to straighten racks or t-shirt piles in a store - and I haven't worked in clothing retail since 2003.
14. I always thought I'd be better at being on time when I was older. Sigh...I've improved (!) but I'm forever keeping people waiting.
15. I used to hoard my Halloween candy for months.
16. My favourite thing to eat is breakfast, particularly Eggs Benedict - but I rarely get up early enough to eat breakfast, so I am constantly at odds with my favourite meal of the day.
17. You can barely tell I've read a new book because I don't crack the binding or fold the pages or leave it open upside-down.
18. Laughing at peoples' mullets is one of the great, small joys of my life.
19. The Crazy Kitchen at the museum in Ottawa is stuck in my childhood memories as one of the best things ever.
20. I've traveled by plane on three holidays in my life: New Years Eve, Canada Day, and Christmas Eve.
21. I love my MacBook, possibly even more now that it's been through a tea-spillage disaster and survived - I've had its thermal paste replaced so the fan would run properly.
22. I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've seen The Princess Bride.
23. I was on the JV soccer team for one year in high school.
24. It scares me a little that I usually know what Jody means, even when he says something that doesn't come out right.
25. Three months is the longest I've ever been apart from my sister, until now.