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A long-ish but satisfying day...
Nov. 15th, 2008 10:11 pmNo, we didn't protest today, but our hearts and thanks go out to the people who did.
K replaced his old phone today. He is having fun fiddling with the new one.
We joined![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
super_jayhawk and others at Rabbit's Foot Meadery for a rare Saturday tasting. Tasted mead and cider, talked a lot, bought a case of stuff. I wish they were open a few more hours during the week; being able to get growlers of cider would be nice.
K wanted to go to a movie, so we went to A Quantum of Solace. The reviewers are right; the story is a bit thin, but it's still a great Good Hitler flick.
K replaced his old phone today. He is having fun fiddling with the new one.
We joined
super_jayhawk and others at Rabbit's Foot Meadery for a rare Saturday tasting. Tasted mead and cider, talked a lot, bought a case of stuff. I wish they were open a few more hours during the week; being able to get growlers of cider would be nice.K wanted to go to a movie, so we went to A Quantum of Solace. The reviewers are right; the story is a bit thin, but it's still a great Good Hitler flick.
Delayed writing...
Jul. 15th, 2008 03:16 pmA busy not-busy weekend it was.
Saturday was, of course, PenWAG meeting. It was the summer pot-luck brunch meeting, so we had a good crowd, if a somewhat warm room (we have divined that there is no A/C in the fellowship hall).
The afternoon program was a trunk show by Rachel D.K. Clark. The woman is a blast. Seriously one of the best speakers the club has had in ages.
Sunday we went to Obon withyotefoxwolf and gurdymonkey.
It was... interesting.
We did not dress. I didn't feel like pressing our hakama. Then again, there were very few people in traditional clothing, aside from the taiko performers. We may dress next year.
In many ways it was just a standard church festival/carnival. There were food vendors, lots of food vendors, with interesting and very fresh Japanese goodies. There was a performance area. We got to see some of the UC Irvine Jodaiko performance. They were pretty good.
Most of the local shops were open, so we did a bit of shopping. Nichi Bei Bussan was a pleasant surprise; we had never gone in because it's at the edge of the shopping district. They had a very nice selection of vintage clothing, an excellent selection of footwear, and a very large martial arts store.
Nikkei Traditions (the Hawaiian Japanese store) had some cute stuff.
We almost always make a stop at Kogura Company, and made some good finds there. They had some nice books on tsukemonon (Japanese "pickles") and some other goodies. There will be a return shopping trip soon.
Nikaku Japanese Arts (the website is focused on the Nikaku Animart portion of the business) was also a good stop. We didn't buy anything, but if you ever want a big tanuki statue (and are willing to pay real money) they've got them.
Finally we returned to the performance area to see San Jose Taiko perform. They were, as always, fabulous.
Rather than staying for Bon Odori (traditional dance) we bailed on the festival and went downtown to the Camera 12 to see Wall-E. It was a good film. Highly recommended. Strange, but highly recommended.
Saturday was, of course, PenWAG meeting. It was the summer pot-luck brunch meeting, so we had a good crowd, if a somewhat warm room (we have divined that there is no A/C in the fellowship hall).
The afternoon program was a trunk show by Rachel D.K. Clark. The woman is a blast. Seriously one of the best speakers the club has had in ages.
Sunday we went to Obon with
yotefoxwolf and gurdymonkey.It was... interesting.
We did not dress. I didn't feel like pressing our hakama. Then again, there were very few people in traditional clothing, aside from the taiko performers. We may dress next year.
In many ways it was just a standard church festival/carnival. There were food vendors, lots of food vendors, with interesting and very fresh Japanese goodies. There was a performance area. We got to see some of the UC Irvine Jodaiko performance. They were pretty good.
Most of the local shops were open, so we did a bit of shopping. Nichi Bei Bussan was a pleasant surprise; we had never gone in because it's at the edge of the shopping district. They had a very nice selection of vintage clothing, an excellent selection of footwear, and a very large martial arts store.
Nikkei Traditions (the Hawaiian Japanese store) had some cute stuff.
We almost always make a stop at Kogura Company, and made some good finds there. They had some nice books on tsukemonon (Japanese "pickles") and some other goodies. There will be a return shopping trip soon.
Nikaku Japanese Arts (the website is focused on the Nikaku Animart portion of the business) was also a good stop. We didn't buy anything, but if you ever want a big tanuki statue (and are willing to pay real money) they've got them.
Finally we returned to the performance area to see San Jose Taiko perform. They were, as always, fabulous.
Rather than staying for Bon Odori (traditional dance) we bailed on the festival and went downtown to the Camera 12 to see Wall-E. It was a good film. Highly recommended. Strange, but highly recommended.
Short notes on the weekend...
May. 12th, 2008 04:04 pmSaturday morning's PenWAG Fashion Show wasn't a walk in the park, but in the end ran smooth as glass. Started on time, ran on time, the show itself was beautiful, and finished on time.
Saturday afternoon's visit to The Computer History Museum for the Babbage Difference Engine reception was a blast, even if it started with "I don't remember where the museum is, do you?"johnnyeponymous gave us a quick personal highlights tour of the "Visible Storage." It was too cool.
Saturday night's Imagecraft product release party was great, with a bunch of the usual suspects and some folks from the CC26 staff who have never been to one of these before. If you were there, get on over todidjiman's LJ and let him know who you are.
Sunday was spent sleeping, mostly.
We did a run to see Iron Man. This is what a comic book movie is supposed to be. I loved the Stan Lee cameo.
We did dinner at E&O Trading Company. I have to remember that I'm not thrilled by their Pad Thai, but everything else was good and the soy mushroom rice was breathtaking.
We may skip BASFA tonight, K is feeling a smidge off.
Saturday afternoon's visit to The Computer History Museum for the Babbage Difference Engine reception was a blast, even if it started with "I don't remember where the museum is, do you?"
johnnyeponymous gave us a quick personal highlights tour of the "Visible Storage." It was too cool.Saturday night's Imagecraft product release party was great, with a bunch of the usual suspects and some folks from the CC26 staff who have never been to one of these before. If you were there, get on over to
didjiman's LJ and let him know who you are.Sunday was spent sleeping, mostly.
We did a run to see Iron Man. This is what a comic book movie is supposed to be. I loved the Stan Lee cameo.
We did dinner at E&O Trading Company. I have to remember that I'm not thrilled by their Pad Thai, but everything else was good and the soy mushroom rice was breathtaking.
We may skip BASFA tonight, K is feeling a smidge off.
So why isn't my flist exploding with the news of
And why couldn't this have happened to Creation Entertainment?
- LucasFilm Ltd. filing suit last month against GenCon over accounting and finance irregularities at Celebration IV (which happened in early January but I just heard last week via jsciv)
- Gen Con LLC filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy last week (which I just heard last week via muskrat_john)
And why couldn't this have happened to Creation Entertainment?
Saw Stardust. It didn't suck. It was, in fact, pretty damned good.
Did a bit of clean-up on the studio. Got sewing machines put back on their shelves. Got spools of thread bagged and boxed (we're talking industrial spools and cones). Got the cutting table cleared off. Got unused fabric bought for the Japanese project folded but not yet boxed.
Sewing machines need to go into the shop. Working on the Japanese definitely made this obvious.
Need to do a bit more cleaning in the studio and take a few sewing-free days. Japanese is off the schedule for a while, as wizard scrubs for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
stmungo are next.
Did a bit of clean-up on the studio. Got sewing machines put back on their shelves. Got spools of thread bagged and boxed (we're talking industrial spools and cones). Got the cutting table cleared off. Got unused fabric bought for the Japanese project folded but not yet boxed.
Sewing machines need to go into the shop. Working on the Japanese definitely made this obvious.
- Singer 4/2 thread serger is chaining the safety stitch fine, but dropping the chain on the 2-thread overlock
- Pfaff 332 needs a new spring bail on the tension control; part of the spring snapped off and it's not holding the thread in place
- Elna Supermatic just needs a tune-up
- BabyLock serger definitely needs a tune-up and lubrication. It's starting to stick when it warms up.
- The Kenmore probably could use a tune-up; it hasn't been in to a shop in years.
Need to do a bit more cleaning in the studio and take a few sewing-free days. Japanese is off the schedule for a while, as wizard scrubs for
stmungo are next.I shall not dance on Jack Valenti's Grave
Apr. 27th, 2007 01:03 pmI will save my celebration for the day that "region coding" in digital video is a thing of the past. I will save my celebration for the day that violence in media is a bigger worry than nudity. I will save my celebration for the day that movie ratings are meaningful and understandable.
I will save my celebration for the day the MPAA fades into irrelevance.
I will save my celebration for the day the MPAA fades into irrelevance.
Casino Royale, spoiler free.
The title sequence was gorgeous, just fucking gorgeous. I would have paid just to see the titles. Really.
It only got better from there.
I have high hopes for this writing/directing team in the future.
And then there's Daniel Craig. In squarecut aussie-rower swim trunks. Or naked. Or dressed.
Yum.
My only bitch? They switched from Baccarat to Poker, to make the movie more accessible. Makes sense. The Vesper recipe, though? It's still using the aperitif wine from the book, Kina Lillet. A wine that hasn't been made in decades; they changed the brand name long ago and the recipe almost 20 years ago. If they had switched to Lillet Blanc, it would have been reasonable and obtainable.
The title sequence was gorgeous, just fucking gorgeous. I would have paid just to see the titles. Really.
It only got better from there.
I have high hopes for this writing/directing team in the future.
And then there's Daniel Craig. In squarecut aussie-rower swim trunks. Or naked. Or dressed.
Yum.
My only bitch? They switched from Baccarat to Poker, to make the movie more accessible. Makes sense. The Vesper recipe, though? It's still using the aperitif wine from the book, Kina Lillet. A wine that hasn't been made in decades; they changed the brand name long ago and the recipe almost 20 years ago. If they had switched to Lillet Blanc, it would have been reasonable and obtainable.
...seems to be a resounding success.
It's there. People are subscribing/watching. People are recommending (some surprising, some entirely expected). People are commenting.
Technorati is being a bit wonky on the searches. I've got proof that the body-search within the journal works (a search on "Doctor Who" pulled up both posts yesterday with recommendations for BDP-short). I haven't got proof that the tag search across all of Technorati is going to work.johnnyeponymous posted a fanzine recommendation, after which I did the great tag-rename, and searching on 2006-fanzine-hugo in tags pulls up nothing. This is more irritating since Cheryl Morgan posted an entry in the soon-to-close Emcit blog using the same tag, which isn't being found either.
We'll see how things continue. On the calendar?
Anyway, if you were a member of L.A.con IV, or are a member of Nippon2007, you're eligible to nominate for the 2006 Hugo Awards. It's not well known how much influence nominators have on the Hugo Award process. So...
Join. Read the rules. Recommend, and make your opinions known.
And then, when the time comes, fill out your nominating ballot.
It's there. People are subscribing/watching. People are recommending (some surprising, some entirely expected). People are commenting.
Technorati is being a bit wonky on the searches. I've got proof that the body-search within the journal works (a search on "Doctor Who" pulled up both posts yesterday with recommendations for BDP-short). I haven't got proof that the tag search across all of Technorati is going to work.
johnnyeponymous posted a fanzine recommendation, after which I did the great tag-rename, and searching on 2006-fanzine-hugo in tags pulls up nothing. This is more irritating since Cheryl Morgan posted an entry in the soon-to-close Emcit blog using the same tag, which isn't being found either.We'll see how things continue. On the calendar?
- Nippon2007 announces their nominating window dates and deadlines
- 2007 Hugo categories are added after January 1, 2007
Anyway, if you were a member of L.A.con IV, or are a member of Nippon2007, you're eligible to nominate for the 2006 Hugo Awards. It's not well known how much influence nominators have on the Hugo Award process. So...
Join. Read the rules. Recommend, and make your opinions known.
And then, when the time comes, fill out your nominating ballot.
WWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!
Jun. 22nd, 2006 12:27 pmWe have got to get to San Diego relatively early next Friday.
How I missed this, I don't know, but there's an Ethan Green movie out.
It's playing in San Diego at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas on the 30th.
No, I don't know what time.
WWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!
How I missed this, I don't know, but there's an Ethan Green movie out.
It's playing in San Diego at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas on the 30th.
No, I don't know what time.
WWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!
Sunday was another "get up too early" day, because we had to be in Alameda at East Ocean Seafood Restaurant to join mzmtnlion, rivetheretic, jkuroda, danaoshee, shalyndra and a few others for dim sum.
This time we got there on time (we were first, actually), and got a good start. It wasn't quite the feeding frenzy that the previous stop was; we had done the Crab Carnivale the night before andmzmtnlion had done fondue with a few friends.
After plenty of jiggly rice-flour food, we popped over to Jack London Square to see V for Vendetta. See it. It's fabulous. It's definitely a more modern take on conservative fascist governments than the graphic novel (steeped as it was in Aryan nationalism and Thatcher conservatism).
Instead of just hauling home, we walked over to the Barnes and Noble, and raided the cheapo rack quite successfully. I snagged a copy of the V for Vendetta graphic novel (not on the cheapo rack), a few William S. Burroughs books (also not on the cheapo rack, but I'm in a wild prose mood at the moment), a history of candy and sweets, a copy of A Cook's Tour and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie production and design book.
Finally we did go home, ordered a pizza, and I spent some time cracking and picking a bag of crab from Saturday night (hence the bit about avoiding typing).
mzmtnlion, rivetheretic, jkuroda, danaoshee, shalyndra and a few others for dim sum.This time we got there on time (we were first, actually), and got a good start. It wasn't quite the feeding frenzy that the previous stop was; we had done the Crab Carnivale the night before and
mzmtnlion had done fondue with a few friends.After plenty of jiggly rice-flour food, we popped over to Jack London Square to see V for Vendetta. See it. It's fabulous. It's definitely a more modern take on conservative fascist governments than the graphic novel (steeped as it was in Aryan nationalism and Thatcher conservatism).
Instead of just hauling home, we walked over to the Barnes and Noble, and raided the cheapo rack quite successfully. I snagged a copy of the V for Vendetta graphic novel (not on the cheapo rack), a few William S. Burroughs books (also not on the cheapo rack, but I'm in a wild prose mood at the moment), a history of candy and sweets, a copy of A Cook's Tour and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie production and design book.
Finally we did go home, ordered a pizza, and I spent some time cracking and picking a bag of crab from Saturday night (hence the bit about avoiding typing).
The 2006 Hugo Nominees...
Mar. 22nd, 2006 05:29 pm...are posted everywhere, including Emerald City.
Check out the list. If you're interested in voting, read up, watch up, ask around and pre-register for a membership (supporting or attending; attending only matters if you're, well, planning to attend) to L.A.con IV.
BTW, just so you know (and I made this mistake myself):
Hugo voting is by preferential ballot. If you want to see any episode of Doctor Who win the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, vote your favorite episode as #1, your second choice as #2 and your third choice as #3. If your #1 gets knocked out of the count early, you're still helping the other two towards the finish line.
Check out the list. If you're interested in voting, read up, watch up, ask around and pre-register for a membership (supporting or attending; attending only matters if you're, well, planning to attend) to L.A.con IV.
BTW, just so you know (and I made this mistake myself):
Vote Splitting is a myth!
Hugo voting is by preferential ballot. If you want to see any episode of Doctor Who win the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, vote your favorite episode as #1, your second choice as #2 and your third choice as #3. If your #1 gets knocked out of the count early, you're still helping the other two towards the finish line.
...some of you aren't down with the SomethingAwful.
Doesn't matter.
You've got to see their "A Very Star Wars Valentine's Day" Photoshop Phriday.
Doesn't matter.
You've got to see their "A Very Star Wars Valentine's Day" Photoshop Phriday.
The non-spoiler Harry Potter review...
Nov. 17th, 2005 10:56 pm...k, the book has been out for 3 years, so spoiling is relative.
But no, no spoilers.
Still, you should have read the book already.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is an unwieldy book, and they had to skin it, tan it, and make a stole out of it to get it down to a size that would fit in a 2 hour movie. There are great heaping chunks of the book that are just gone.
The pacing, on the other hand, is fabulous. If you're going to slice the book that much, you might as well give a lot of thought to pacing, and get it right. The cut from the Quidditch World Cup game to the victory celebration was really abrupt (What? Are these folks who just didn't get to the stadium yet? Nope, the game is over...) but that was the worst.
Special effects were smooth as glass, but that's to be expected.
Viktor Krum and the boys of Durmstrang look like the next crop of auditions for Bel Ami Films (if you don't get that reference, don't ask).
But no, no spoilers.
Still, you should have read the book already.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is an unwieldy book, and they had to skin it, tan it, and make a stole out of it to get it down to a size that would fit in a 2 hour movie. There are great heaping chunks of the book that are just gone.
The pacing, on the other hand, is fabulous. If you're going to slice the book that much, you might as well give a lot of thought to pacing, and get it right. The cut from the Quidditch World Cup game to the victory celebration was really abrupt (What? Are these folks who just didn't get to the stadium yet? Nope, the game is over...) but that was the worst.
Special effects were smooth as glass, but that's to be expected.
Viktor Krum and the boys of Durmstrang look like the next crop of auditions for Bel Ami Films (if you don't get that reference, don't ask).
Salutations from across the galaxy...
Oct. 6th, 2005 06:14 pmThe League of Evil Geniuses asks you to join us
in celebrating the opening of our newest transit terminal
with an Evil Geniuses' Hall of Fame Reception
at
Silicon 2005
Saturday, October 8
The Doubletree San Jose
2050 Gateway Place, San Jose, CA
Light refreshment from around the galaxy will be available after the Masquerade, when we unveil our latest inductees.
Tags:
Fanzine Love...
Aug. 25th, 2005 08:09 pm'k, I've already said nice things about The Drink Tank, a very idiosyncratic and personal 'zine by johnnyeponymous.
There's another one to read. Jack Avery's SF/SF. Jack has collected a nice stable of writers with connections in many different fannish circles, reporting on a large number of events. Check it out; you may see yourself in the pictures.
johnnyeponymous.There's another one to read. Jack Avery's SF/SF. Jack has collected a nice stable of writers with connections in many different fannish circles, reporting on a large number of events. Check it out; you may see yourself in the pictures.
