Pun Fest

Store Wars.

Douglas Adams was really on to something

the theremin is still the coolest instrument I know

Although it's pretty much a tie with the sousaphone, I think.



See! It can do lyrical melody AND weird 50s sci-fi sound effects!

In other musical news, I joined Le Zbor (which translates, using two languages as 'The Choir'). I've been to two rehearsals. I have a whole lot of croatian lyrics to learn. But it's nice to be singing again.

Cake Wreckorating.

I just found a new blog to amuse me, and thought I would share. Here's a seasonal sample:

[This cake] looks like a really well-made Santa suicide scene:
(Yes, of course Santa bleeds sprinkles. Duh.)


Go. Now. Check it out.

Of Shoes and Slights and Russian Tanks.

The throwing of shoes at Bush becomes all the more amusing when you discover that the Iraqis find being hit by a shoe the absolute worst form of insult. Which makes the shoe incident not only hilariously ridiculous, but highly point-ful as well.

My favourite related links so far are the following:

This wonderfully dry and witty piece about insults

and

This amusing new game called Duck Duck Bush!

A Complete Cop Out Tumblr Post

If I don't write something soon, by Christmas I will have been silent for a whole month!



Via Language Log

And if you think that's funny, you should have heard what the ghost of future perfect passive continuous said!

Random Amusements

You know I have unlimited internet when I post things like this. Or possibly it's being at Sean's place in Paris and the combination of unlimited internet *and* being directed to many amusing links without having to go to the toruble of finding them myself. So. I bring you:

1. An amusing comic that describes my life when I have internet access at home. When I have a home. And when I have a laptop. Although these days I can do this on my telephone, of course.



2. And then this:

A vision from 1934

For some reason this pleases me

Even though it only got me a measly 13 points, putting down the word "bassoon" was somehow satisfying. And I'm winning anyway, so I don't need the points...

Engrish

I read Engrish every day, and don't usually feel the need to blog about it. But today's is just brilliant.
Glad we got that all cleared up then.

For Macaronic Ecdysiasts with Glossitis...

I don't know about the rice donation thing, but I am currently obsessed with this vocabulary game.

My best level so far: 50!

Tumblrpost

1. Mathelicious!

2. Social Networking Wars.

An Archbishop's view...

Here's an interesting take on the christmas legend - at least, interesting coming from the Archbishop of Canterbury! I've always mostly liked Anglican dogma...

Last Word on the Election

The SMH reports that Howard finally conceded Bennelong yesterday. Officially. He's like a bulldog isn't he - refusing to let go of anything until the last bit of life has been shaken out. Incredible. Anyway, I find the picture that goes with the article rather interesting as well! Well done to the photographer for capturing those expressions.

And here's some more election reading from friends' blogs that I meant to post ages ago: Nick's entertaining account of Election Night, Nathaniel's take on the new state of Australian Politics.


And finally, something completely non-election related. Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's! Argh! It's the end of the Discworld! Well, not yet, apparently, but it would seem to be the beginning of the end. And, in His words, an Embuggerance. Here I was thinking that he, his brain, and the Disc were immortal, and he would churn out books at a rate of 1.5 per annum for the rest of eternity! (Thanks to Amanda & James for the news - I think)

Random thoughts

There's something wrong with my brain. I just thought 'oh, I'll blog that straight away before I forget", and then, in the time it took to open a new browser tab and get blogger up, I forgot. Damn.

So I'll blog this, instead. It's a book called 'Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies?' which some fundamentalist bigot saddled with the name Sheila K. Butt has recently released. There are two reader reviews on amazon - both well worth reading. One of the reviewers had even actually read the book!

Thanks to Slog for entertaining me with that and similar nonsense.

And now back to answering Craigslist sublet & sharehouse ads for Montreal...

Oh, that reminds me what it was I wanted to blog: I've been studying maps of Montreal to work out where I might want to live, and I've just noticed something: unlike every other city and small town I've been to on this continent so far, Montreal appears to actually use street *names* and not numbers. Not a single '24th street' have I yet found. AND a glance at a map of the city shows you that it isn't laid out in the standard North American battleships grid pattern, which, while it makes navigation a little simpler, seems to lack soul and character. I have a feeling that I am going to like Montreal. I think it will be refreshingly European, and, after 3 months on this continent, I'm kinda missing that! I wandered through the European section of the Minneapolis Institute of Art the other day, and realised that I suddenly felt more at home than I have in ages. Canada is better than the US, but I've not been entirely at ease in either place. It all just feels too American. But it seems Montreal, with its street names, language and metro system, will be quite different. And that, of course, is a major part of the reason that I chose it as my destination in the first place.

Chicken chicken chicken...

Chicken chicken chicken, chicken chicken chickens chicken. Chicken. Chicken, chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken!

Chicken chicken chicken chicken's chicken, chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken. Chicken chicken chicken chickens chicken chicken chicken chicken. Chicken! Chicken chicken chicken! Chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken. (Clicken chicken .PDF) Chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken, chicken chicken chicken!

Chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken, chicken chicken. Chicken chicken!

(Chicken Chicken, chicken ChickenChicken chicken chicken)

Ellen quote

I just read this quote from everyone's favourite lesbian, and it tickled my fancy:

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better.
- Ellen DeGeneres


It also gives me an excuse to do some lazy linking posting. As Sean is now my flatmate, and will soon be travelling with me as well, his blog and my blog will often mention the same things, so
I plan to use this to my own advantage, and tell everyone about my life by linking to his. So. Here are some photos of our weekend away in the Bunya Mountains. I also have photos, so I'll see if I can find one of me and post it sometime in the next decade. Of course, if Sean was being thoughtful, he would have included one of me to save me this trouble. He also wrote this post about the weekend.

My mother will be happy...

So, having done that last silly quiz, I naturally have wated the last hour on other sillly quizzes on the same website, with no intention of blogging any of them. But then I did "What Higher Degree Should You Do?" and this is what came up. Hmm... And I was hoping it would say either the TESOL masters I'm finishing this semester, or the translation masters I have some idea that I might like to do sometime in the future...

You Should Get a MD (Doctor of Medicine)

You're both compassionate and brilliant - a rare combination. You were born to be a doctor.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Blog Personality

Your Blogging Type is Logical and Principled

You like to voice your well thought out opinions on your blog. And if someone doesn't read what you write, you really don't care! Serious and blunt, sometimes people take your blog the wrong way. But you're a true and loyal friend to those who truly get you.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

How on earth they decided all that on the strength of 4 questions, I have no idea!

I hate Pachabel

I'm been considering exploring putting embedded videos on my blog, both for putting fun things like this here, but also to allow me to start video blogging occasionally. So I thought I'd start by putting this in here. It's a great rant, and, as an ex-bassoonist, I sympathise with the cellist. Slightly. As I remember it, the cello lines were usually more interesting than the bassoon lines. The only problem with this clip, is that now I'm hearing pachabel everywhere. Grr.