Bits and Pieces

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was awesome!!! But I'm waiting for pics from someone else, so I'll write a post dedicated to that maybe Monday or Tuesday...

The book I'm reading (see sidebar) is not highly interesting to me. It's a "classic" sci-fi collection of 4 novels from the era when Clarke and others were just starting out. Pretty imaginative for 1972 or so, but it's just not very compelling.

The focus of the first novel is the technology. Looking back, it really didn't have any meat, in my terms. All of the characters were superficial. And there was one tech gap that needled at me - showing just how little involvement I had in the story. Set in 2030-something, they're inventing anti-gravity, building massively huge things on Jupiter, and discovering anti-death drugs - but they're still using mimeograph machines. The image of a spaceport official looking at documents with purple, banana-smelling ink just doesn't jive!

What is interesting, and what motivated me to post, well, anything, about the book, is that the second novel is entirely character focused, at least up to chapter 4. I feel as if someone else wrote it. Maybe Blish thought that he had the tech established enough in the first novel and that it wouldn't make sense to go into explicit detail in something set 300 years later. I don't know. Of course, I do see equations and junk in chapters ahead, so I may have to retract this.

Port o' Rochester

Sunday we took my boyfriend's parents to the Port of Rochester to see the new Ferry to Toronto, the terminal, and other improvements tied to the ferry. It was really interesting. The boat itself is huge and that's cool. Personally, I was just as interested (or more) in the crowd lining the river to see it come in. Young and old. A mix of races and ethnicities. A mix of languages. Some wearing Lance's yellow bracelets, like me. Some who had brought lawn chairs to enjoy the show of the arrival. Neat that a boat can cause such a fuss.

The beach and port area were very busy, especially for a cloudy, chillier day. It was great to see the area so vibrant. I hope it keeps up. This town needs it.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's coming to town!

OK - I'm just in a great mood. Got a really cool award at work -total surprise and good applause (plus some whistles)! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! (that's a big silly grin spreading over my face) :):)


AND - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is coming Thursday night to the Party in the Park - not far from my office! This is so cool - they are so fun! Big band swing, with attitude!The horns are very cool and the personality of the group is very much in tune with just having a good time, from what I've seen from the Freeview concert. (There's a live DVD coming out next week, too)
It's a BBVD tune that my boyfriend and I have come across as "our song", too.

That will be perfect, given the stressful next few days at work! Great, fun music to wash any worries away!

I am so psyched! (And I've used a ton of exclamation points) And I think this good mood may even get me through a workout - but I better start before TVitis sets in.
I was going to post about seeing the new Fast Ferry this weekend, but I'll do that next time.

Full weekend and a dilemma

What do you do when you see someone who used to be a good friend (at least YOU thought so) - then turned a bit weird and scary - but when you see them they seem to be turning things back around? I wanted to go up to her - she looked as good as in the old days, before she started experimenting with various substances - but the vacant, scary eyes of not so long ago kept coming back and made me hang back. Is that bad? Should I have talked to her? Too late now, I guess. I guess all I can do is wish her well and happy and move on from there. Almost makes me feel like I lost her again, though. I hate losing friends.

Otherwise, a very full weekend spent entertaining/ visiting with my boyfriend's parents, who were in from Vermont.


Judy the resident elephant at the Ren Fest;

Went to the Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY. Much fun. Especially since it was Artisan's Weekend and there were many sales - I enjoy the artisans and the food a bit more than the performances - although the performances are good to set a tone - I just don't like holding myself to a schedule while there and would rather be exploring than sitting still too long. I think that is partly my boyfriend rubbing off on me.

Yeah!

Fixed it! Thanks, Blogger Support! (Apparently the block quote about Sentimental Favorites and the template didn't get along all that well)

Lance Armstrong's bike has a blog! And he (?) is pretty sarcastic....

Underground tales

Our house is full of books.  We both love to read and tend to collect them.  The book I'm currently reading (see the sidebar, which is still broken) isn't all that exciting, so I thought I'd tell you about some that are coming up in my long "to read" list.

Gaiman's Neverwhere is a tale of an alternative world that exists below the streets of London as we know it.  I think I've always had a fascination with the idea of a "hidden" society in some of the nooks and crannies that we may ignore everyday.  Two other books in my list also deal with this topic - but are non-fiction!
The Mole People by Jennifer Toth is an in-depth look at the real people who live in tunnels below NYC. Her goal is to dispel myths about freakish creatures in the tunnels and show the true personalities and dynamics of this society.
The Town Below the Ground by Jan-Andrew Henderson details the history of Edinburgh's underground slum - which existed for 350 years and was forgotten by history until recently. Henderson himself is a storyteller who has been conducting tours of the underground city for several years. 
Will get into more detail when I actually read them.  In the meantime, there are many more books to read!

PS - Sonny has updated his profile and Danny has signed up, so look to hear more from them soon.

quick pic - Drummer Dan

More this evening - for now - Dan -

adulthood

I'm trying to get used to the fact that this rather significant birthday is coming up.  It's easy on some fronts, not so on others.
I'm trying to keep up with certain "adult" things.  I know I'll have to workout more - well, after I catch up from recent slacking.  I'm paying more attention to teeth and skin, etc.
 
I also just started taking a multivitamin.  Figured it's the healthy thing to do.  Got an "Energy" vitamin because I thought it'd help the workout thing.
So, it's supposed to give me MORE energy, I assume?  WRONG!  At least in the few days I've taken it - I'm groggier than I've been in the last few months at least.  The only thing the vitamin seems to be giving me more of is trips to the restroom.
 
Can I turn 20 this year, instead?

PS, I'm trying to get the sidebar thing fixed.  If anyone has suggestions, I'm open.  OH, and the boys should be joining us soon!

Sentimental Favorites update

Sonny's band, The Sentimental Favorites, will be playing Wednesday, July 28, 9:30pm, at AS220 in Providence.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITES, Sonny Roelle and Geoff Griffin (Plymouth Rock), do their modern-nostalgic-post modern-folk-avant garde-post music accoustic - and oh so much more, see them hear them and walk away with a new outlook on life, guarranteed and improved.

Jealous pangs?

A good friend of mine, one of my best friends, is about to embark on an adventure.  For years now, she's managed to visit all sorts of great places.  The Great Wall and Beijing, India, African Safaris, diving in Belize, the list goes on.  My favorite story was the shark diving trip off of South Africa.  After a good day, with several sharks, on rough seas, they were finishing up when a big great white approached.  Seconds after the last hands and feet were pulled out of the cage opening - CRUNCH! - he bit right where they had been!
I love great whites and think they get bad press for the ancient, fascinating beasts they are - that is just so extremely cool.
 

Now, she heads out again - for a wonderful trip around Asia lasting months.

I'm jealous!

I'll miss her - although we definitely don't talk as much as we should!

 
It's not really being able to afford it moneywise or timewise that I envy.  I just can't imagine going on such an excursion.  I think I would get so paranoid about things not working out, about coordinating all of the details, that I wouldn't be able to plan anything at all!  I can see myself freezing up and just spending the time at home watching talk shows and reading books.
I'm kinda' pathetic. That's why I need friends like Kathy - to keep me going!
 

Bon voyage, babe - keep in touch, send lots of pics, remember us stuck in the everyday grind as you mingle with tigers and elephants, strolling thru jungles, deserts, and grand cities!  And stay safe!

Impulse buys

My boyfriend is a notorious impulse shopper.  There is a magenetic pull in the grocery store that draws him to some of the oddest, though sometimes suprisingly good, things.

• One early example was a tin of Guava Paste.  We were never quite sure how to serve it, so we used the tin as a top, instead, for years before finally tossing it.
• Once, when I was on a business trip, he bought Quail Eggs and Pickled Eel.
• Hulk Jello - vanilla flavor but turns a great green with cold milk
• Hulk cotton candy
• A gummy Wolverine and a gummy Alien
• Colored shrimp slices (you fry them)
• A chicken that lays bubble gum eggs as it walks
• Butt-ugly aliens
• The latest - chocolate cotton candy bites - much like the marshmallows in hot chocolate or cereal - yummy!

 

Mirrormask - the news to date

To continue this week's Gaiman theme, I have to tell you about Mirrormask.
Written by Gaiman, directed by Dave McKean (an artist who's worked on the Sandman comics), and produced by Henson pictures, Mirrormask is an attempt to recapture the magic (in $ and viewer delight) of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal:

MirrorMask centers on Helena, a 15 year old girl in a family of circus entertainers, who often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother's major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world - the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it's up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she's in a dream, or something far more sinister.

This looks really really cool!  I think Gaiman's work creates a rich visual experience and the fact that the characters can sometimes be, well, not quite so human means the Henson aspect could be really cool.
 
BTW, did I mention that Neverwhere, the BBC series that led to the novel, is available on DVD?  (hint hint for birthday buyers out there!)
 

Childhood superhero - the Hulk

Watched most of the latest Hulk last night. It was a bit tough because I was raised on the TV, not the comic, version of the story. But still fun. I liked the comic book effect of layering screens and POVs, thought that was done well.

Lou Ferrigno is so cool! As a child, The Hulk was my FAVORITE TV show. Nothing could keep me from watching.(One night, I got sick in the living room because I couldn't let myself get up and miss anything)I caught every TV movie over the years, too. Just a really good beast....:)

My boyfriend got me a Hulk bobblehead pen that I use when angry at work. A destresser.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Bunny Thespians

Another link from Neil Gaiman's site takes classic flics, condenses them to 30 seconds and has cartoon bunnies reenact them. Very amusing! It's called angry alien and Alien is the latest clip. I only watched that and The Shining - the latter was great.

The Japanese answer to the MSN butterfly

I really like Neil Gaiman's blog (see link in sidebar) because I love Neverwhere and American Gods and am looking forward to more (remind me to tell you about the MirrorMask movie - what I know -looks cool! another time). I also really like the glimpse it gives into how he tackles the creative process. Walking with an author as he writes a book is much more insightful than most "inspirational" books on the subject. (Laurel K Hamilton's blog, though I haven't spent as much time there, also does this - and there are probably more.)

Tonight, as I do some catchup in Gaiman's blog, there are also several amusing random things. Such as: this ad. Here's an article to explain.
We've been talking about how baffling Japanese culture can seem (specifically, some of their ice cream flavors)at lunch - I think this ranks right in the same arena...But then, we DID come up with the guy in the blue butterfly suit.

Berry picking

Went blackcap and raspberry picking with Mom yesterday. Prickers and weeds, climbing over rocks, and trees eating my hair - but a good time! I love fresh blackcaps - a favorite piece of the country that you can sometimes find in the city, too. With mint ice tea to follow in the swing on the deck - a perfect summer afternoon.

Corn Hill Arts Fest today. Walked a lot and got pretty sunburned, but another good time - Zydeco, Abbott's, and shopping!

Theophilus Band update

The gig tonight has been rescheduled for September 4.

Steven King in Prime Time

Just watched the second to last episode of Steven King's first prime time series: "Kingdom Hospital". Though I am somewhat upset that he borrowed so heavily on the Danish mini-series The Kingdom, I think the King series is very well done. I especially find the opening compelling and love the big anteater-type beastie.

Speaking of haunted hospital shows - did anyone catch "All Souls" when it was on UPN? Similar premise but a lot more ghosts and a lot more potentially evil things happening at once. That could have been way cool, but it didn't get any publicity - canceled. Hard to find something meaty on a canceled show from '01, but did find a bit here.

Who was there before?

I have a huge fascination with many facets of stories. That's the main reason why I love market research so much. This comes into play in a lot of my other interests, too, but I won't get into all that now.

When we were kids, we moved several times. In each new house, I would search and search to find something that might tell part of the story of those who had been in the house before. I was thrilled when I found a pick-up-stick in the closet of my room in one big old house. Kinda' sad, yes, but I was 7.

Not until a few years ago did I ever feel like "something else" had been left behind. I was reminded of this when I started reading Grave's End by Elaine Mercado, a nurse who has written about her life in a haunted house. Fascinating and some of it (the early, lighter parts) rang home. The sensation of being watched. Of someone in the room with you. An unreasonable apprehension.

In my old apartment, I used to get those feelings. I would feel watched throughout the house and the anxiety would occur in various places, but both were worst in the stairwell. I would race through it to do laundry, talking loudly to the cat or singing to myself as a distraction. I never felt much at ease there. This echoes so closely the early stages of the haunting at Grave's End, I wonder who or what may have been in that apartment. What was their story?

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Roelle kid happenings in July:

July 9
Dan's band, Theophilus is playing at Phoenix Cafe in Palmyra

Until July 23
Sonny will have some artwork on display (as CW Roelle) at CBGB's 313 Gallery in NYC:
Help Computer! is the title of the show

July 22-August 14
(including an artist panel on August 1)
Sonny/ CW will be in a show at South Country Art Association in Kingston, RI (ref the calendar on Sonny's site

July 31
Theophilus at the Jammin' for Jesus Festival


PS - I've learned links! Still working on images...

Starting out

I'm really just testing this at the moment. I need to check in with a more technical friend to find out how to insert pictures, favorite sites and blog links, and so on. But I had to start somewhere, so here it is.

If you're checking this out already, I'm one of the 3 Roelle kids:
Aprille the market researcher
Sonny the artist
Danny the drummer

Sonny and Danny should start posting once I have a chance to get the basics down and explain it all to them. Then we can get into the fun stuff - our thoughts, adventures, debates, and so on.

So, give me a bit to catch up on how this all works and then check back - hopefully it will be of interest!