randvisit

Rand and me. Photo by my 7-year-old niece Annie.


Enjoyed hanging out with Rand these past four days. We decided to spend part of the weekend in Buffalo, but most of the time in Toronto. Out of curiosity, I opted for a train to Buffalo instead of bus; though it's somewhat more expensive, I figured that it would be more comfortable, and would take less time.

I was right about the comfort, way wrong about the time...due to a two hour delay at the border because of customs problems with a couple of passengers. :-(



Buffalo taxis are somewhat more intimidating than
Toronto taxis.


I eventually did make it, however, and enjoyed checking out Rand's library again, eating at The Globe (seared tuna, crabcake, ginger and fennel salad, Thai rice salad), watching some old Ookla concert footage, feeding Chunky Rice, checking out Rand's NEW MAC, browsing Rust Belt Books, listening to music, catching up.



Rand's turtle, Chunky Rice.


Highlights of the Toronto part of Rand's visit in Toronto, for me, include:

- My dear friends Rand and Luisa meeting for the first time!

- Sunset walk with Luisa and Rand along the Scarborough bluffs. Hearing them compare Italian upbringing experiences. :-)



Annie, Sara, Ruth and Rand doing cartoons.


- Rand meeting Sara, Annie and Kaarel for the first time. Ok, Rand did meet Sara years ago, but she was too young to remember. Not surprisingly, Annie and Sara liked Rand quite a bit, and vice versa. :-) After Ruth and Rand got back from their coffee, we drew comic strips at the living room table while Rand sketched Annie.

- Oysters and Louisiana Tea (involves Grand Marnier, can't recall the other liqueurs, but it was very good) late one night. Yum.



Rand and Jodi at the Frog & Firkin.


- Dinner with Jodi and Rand on Sunday night at the Frog & Firkin at Yonge/Sheppard. Allison wasn't able to make it because she was out hiking with John. Good to catch up with Jodi; I haven't seen her in a few weeks. Lots of music and media talk which lingered long after our meals were finished, then we sat in Jodi's car to listen to one of her most recent recording projects.

- Going over old issues of The Electric Penguin, a newsletter I edited years ago (and yes, the inspiration for the name of our domain, electricpenguin.com).

- Many thanks to Rand for replacing a string that had broken on my harp. Turning the tuning key is still too tough because of my tendinitis, but he volunteered.



Rand, Jeff and Parki on the way to David Mason Books on Queen St.


- Watching Zoolander, which was far more amusing than I expected.

- Lunch at the Queen Mother Cafe with Jeff, Parki and Rand. We went to David Mason Books afterward, then I took Rand to Nicholas Hoare on Front Street, one of my favourite Toronto bookstores.



Rand at Masquerade in BCE Place.


A wonderful visit which seemed to go by way too quickly...but then again, that's usually the case with good friends. :-)

I have my laser eye surgery tomorrow; wish me luck.

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kites

Canada Goose kite at the cottage.


Many condolences to the friends and family of Iain Cain, who died a few days ago by his own hand. I never knew Iain well, but remember him as being friendly and gentle, full of good humour.

The photo above and below were taken at the cottage last week, when Jeff put together a Canada goose kite we picked up in Sedona. I was amazed at how real the thing looked when it was in the air, complete with wings that flapped in the wind.

There's something so magical about kites, isn't there? Flimsy bits of paper or plastic and wood suspended impossibly high, anchored to eager hands with a near-invisible strand.





Looking forward to visiting with Rand tomorrow.

Have a safe weekend, everyone.

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toy trains and natto

Natto, the most foul-smelling food I've
ever voluntarily eaten.


Jeff and I visited with my father and Mabuta earlier this week. Can't recall if I've mentioned Mabuta before; he's a remarkably easygoing and polite teenager from Japan now living with my dad. While Jeff set up Dad's new computer, I snooped through the basement where my father stored stuff from when my siblings and I were growing up in the house. A lot of junk, of course, but nearly each item brought back a wave of childhood memories; I can understand why Dad hasn't been able to bring himself to throw some of this out.

Like this beat-up toy train, which I clearly remember playing with when we were kids:






And an old lacrosse stick of my brother's:






I spent several hours going through old photo albums, letters, cards, drawings, LPs, toys, stuff that used to belong to my mother. Cried some. Laughed some. From time to time, Jeff would call down to see if I was okay.

Also found an old FilKONtario membership badge (I have no idea why it was in my dad's basement):



From the *first* FilKONtario (thanks to Judith for the confirmation).


Mabuta made a yummy Japanese dish, some kind of chicken and vegetable sauce over rice. And then I tried natto, a foul-smelling sticky web of fermented soybeans, for the first time in my life. "Foul-smelling" is not an exaggeration. The smell actually made me nauseous and I came very close to not trying this infamous Japanese dish at all. The natto at my dad's place was prepackaged in styrofoam, apparently shipped in frozen state from Tokyo.



An old computer games data tape I found in
the basement of my father's house. For our Model III TRS-80.


But then I figured, what the heck? I've always been curious about this dish so figured I should at least try it once.

So while my father and Mabuta watched with amusement (I did not hide the fact that I detested the smell and appearance), I opened the tiny packets of hot mustard and shoyu that came in the box, mixed them into the soy bean goop. It also looked revolting, with sudsy sticky tendrils that don't let go even after you put some natto in your mouth but would instead stubbornly stretch between your mouth and your chopsticks; Mabuta showed me how to break the tendrils via a rolling motion with my chopsticks.

I fully expected to hate the stuff and was shocked to discover that I actually liked it. Go figure. Now I want to try freshly-prepared natto to see how much of a difference it makes and the taste and texture.

More information about natto, for those who must know more:

Japantips.net: natto
NattoLand



Red bean ice cream and green tea ice cream. Yum!

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wetstock

Luisa about to heave a water balloon through an
upstairs window.


Happy birthday, Mark Osier!

Had lots of fun at Reid's and Luisa's Wetstock 2004, their annual watergun party. I've upgraded my digital camera since the last party; sadly, this meant that I could no longer use my cool waterproof case, which in turn meant that I had to take photos from a relative distance.

The best prepared were Leslie Ambedian and Peter Kotanen, who arrived with a trunk full of water balloons in addition to their waterguns. In addition to participating in the water assaults, I chatted with the non-combatants on the "safe area" deck, swam in the pool, got a mini shiatsu massage from Justin (who recently completed a 9-month course!), pigged out on barbecued sausages and hamburgers and salads and fruit and homemade apple pie (from Laura & PeterC), played a board game, took a nap.

Many thanks to Reid and Luisa for hosting the event!

Here are a few photos from the party (you can see more in Reid's blog):



Jeff about to surprise-attack Luisa.




Leslie wielding a water balloon menacingly (if it's
possible to look menacing in a dress, that is).




Peter Cook.




Reid and Jeff.




I had to include a picture of Michelle, of course!




David Barker.




Jenny and Andrew.




ScottM and Karin.




Peter Kotanen.




Jamie's first watergun.




Jeff, trying to decide whether or not to shoot me.

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in progress: dandelion report

Urban Tapestry in concert at Confluence. From left to right: Jodi, Allison, me.
Photo by Steve Brinich and Crystal Paul.


Today's entry is on the theme "In Progress", for Wordgoddess.

I've already Blathered about my writing projects, so I figure it's time I write something about my in-progress NON-writing projects, like The Dandelion Report (filking.net). The focus of this non-profit resource is to provide basic information about filkers and their music, as well as highlighting new and established filkers within the community. If you're not sure what "filk" is, please see What is filk.

Because of my tendinitis, I haven't been doing much with the filker interview section (if anyone's willing to help out with that, please do let me know), but am trying to set up the Filk FAQ so that the editorial content is mainly user-contributed. This is something I had wanted to do with Inkspot...a shame MovableType didn't exist back then. :-)

Example: The current poll question is asking for advice on how shy performers can get a turn in the circle. People post their responses, and eventually (though this isn't essential since responses are public), I summarize results and post it at the top of the page. Then I move onto another topic, post another poll question.

With some careful moderation and editing, it's clear that this procedure could be used to generate a FAQ about nearly any topic, as long as the community involved is willing. I'm very lucky with the filking community since members tend to be extremely helpful, especially when it comes to providing information for newcomers.

Once the newest version of MovableType is released (so that I can continue using MT-Blacklist to get rid of spam), I've decided to splurge on an Unlimited Personal Edition ($99.95) of the software, which allows an unlimited number of authors and blogs. I'm very glad the MovableType people recently decided to revise their pricing structure...when they originally announced their "new prices", it meant that I would have to either shut down a number of my online projects OR switch to other blogging software. Their new prices are much more reasonable, and I've been using MT long enough that I figure it's about time I show my support of the software via a full license.

Tentative plans for future Dandelion Report additions:

- Filk cartoons. I've been doing these on paper for years now, so I should probably get some of them online.

- Filk clipart. Free for anyone who wants to use my filk doodles in filk convention program books, non-profit Web sites, etc. These days, I lack the time and arm health to do custom-made pieces for free, but have no problem posting already-drawn doodles and Corel Painter experiments in one place for people to use. :-)

- Special section for concom-types to post announcements and updates (though if any wish to do so now via the main blog, please let me know).

If you're interested in filk, do check out The Dandelion Report, especially the Filk FAQ. If you're on Livejournal, you can get updates by adding "dandelionreport" to your LJ friends list.

Speaking of filking, Steve Brinich and Crystal Paul have given me permission to post some of their Confluence pics of Urban Tapestry (thanks, Steve & Crystal!):



Jodi and me participating in Dave Rood's concert at Confluence.
Photo by Steve Brinich and Crystal Paul.




Performing "Neurotic Love Song" in open filk. Photo by Steve Brinich and Crystal Paul.

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