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Courtesy of the ever-lovely cookwitch, the coolest 82 year old blogger on the internet. I want to be like her when I grow up.

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/i-remember-an-america-where-black-men-didn/

Also read the previous blog entry, Thanksgiving Letter to the Family 2009 (click the link on the right), it's a hoot and a half.

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full

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1) Homemade coffee cake from Darkes Fayre (my friend Pauline's church's annual Fair, very good! Or it was very good once we'd found it, cos I spent 45 minutes blundering around Potters Bar. I have gotta consider GPS.)

2) Cheddar with apple and cider chutney - courtesy of Tesco's and OMGGORGEOUS!!! I don't know if anyone anywhere makes apple and cider chutney on its own, but I'd like to find some. As part of the cheddar, it gives the cheese a refreshing sweet taste, which makes me think the chutney would work well as a side dish with any cheese or meat)

3) Homemade (by thessalian) cheeseburgers.

OMNOMNOM!!

Untried but tasty looking - the homemade pear chutney I bought from Pauline's stall :) I'd have bought more but all the chutneys had tomatoes in *sighs*

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cheerful

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Spoilers under the cut, do not click!

( Sploosh! )

Hee! Roll on Christmas :D

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cheerful

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Thank you in advance for volunteering for Yuletide! I don't think i gave much info when I signed up about what I liked except "Go, be free, have fun!" which, while guidance of a sort, probably isn't terribly helpful.

The biggie is - no slash, unless the characters are actually gay in canon (which doesn't apply to any of the fandoms I've chosen, so far). So if you're a huge slash writer - very sorry but view it as a challenge! :)

What do I want from a fic? I like the characterisations to be true to the originals as far as possible, so that I should be able to hear the actor's voice saying the dialogue. Sticking to canon is fine where it's possible, but there's not always a lot to go on, so I do not mind if you fill in the blanks and fill out character histories, so long as it's beliveable for that character. The interplay between characters is really important to me - I'm a big fan of friends-as-family style ensemble shows - and I loves me some snarky dialogue. Really, I live for the snark, so if you can manage that, hey, you've made me a very happy Mitchy :)

In terms of what happens in the fic, this is where i'm really going to be unhelpful because I like pretty much anything. Drama, action, h/c: heck, people sitting round drinking beer and talking - it all works for me. Anything that gives me an insight into the characters and friendships is grand!

Lastly, bad grammar and spelling are big turn offs for me, so please get it checked out before sending. (I apologise if I'm insulting your intelligence, which I suspect I am, but y'know, it's worth saying just in case. I've seen fics that would turn your hair white so forgive the paranoia!)

Mostly, I hope you have fun with the fic and I'm really looking forward to reading what you write. Thank you again!

*smooches*

Mitchy

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purring

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Anyone else remember Altair Designs? Geometric shapes that formed patterns that you could colour in to form all sorts of crazy pics? They were a mainstay of wet school lunchtimes when I was at middle school and I loved 'em to bits. I have been looking for the books for years but could never find them. Now, however, thanks to the power of the internet, they're mine again. MINE! ALL MIIIIINE! BWAHAHAHAHA!!

*coughs*

Which is a long winded way of saying I finally found out what brand name they're now listed under on amazon (thank you, wikipedia) and promptly ordered 3 books. And bought a giant pack of felt tip pens. So if anyone wants me, I'll be curled up on this end of the sofa, squeaking happily, listening to music and colouring to my heart's content. I find it ridiculously relaxing :)

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Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday do you!
Happy birthday dear Jenniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!
Haaaaappy biiiiirthday to yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!!

Have a great day, pal!

*snugs*

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Had a lovely day in London today, meeting up with halcyon_shift, doccy and tyrell. There was tea and ice cream and cider and oodles of happy yakking. Given that we hadn't all been in the same room at the same time for upwards of four years and counting, there was a LOT to catch up on :)

Sadly, the visit was all too brief, as halcyon_shift and doccy had to scamper back to deepest, darkest Cornwall, but it was lovely to see them again. Plans are afoot for futher gatherings :) And they loved being back in civilisation, however briefly :D

Back at work tomorrow, but I think I can handle two more days. TooTall always has odd days off, taking off a Thursday rather than a Friday and I never quite got why. He said it broke up the week nicely and now I see what he means. Having a 4 day week in two lots of two days is actually pretty cool. I don't think I'll ever prefer it to three day weekends though :)

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Completely forgot* to go to the fireworks. Ah well. I think there's one display tomorrow if I'm really keen, otherwise, no biggie.

In other news, geeky joy! Lookit! As seen on The Big Bang Theory, the Cylon Toaster!

http://cbs.seenon.com/detail.php?p=110940&v=cbs-thebigbangtheory

Makes slices of toast with a cylon head branded on one side and "Frak Off" on the other :D Gleeeeee!! If I had room in my kitchen, and if it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to ship......

* - I fell asleep :P

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Apparently my flist is very musical savvy. I approve :) Only one that remained unguessed was no.9

9) I'll be wetting down the razor then I figure "what's the point?" so I go into the living room, roll another joint - "Scrap" from The Full Monty.

Well played peoples!

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Remember, remember,
The fifth of November
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot!

I see no reason
Why gunpowder and treason
Should ever be forgot!


Happy bonfire night, UK flisters :) Hands up if you're going to a display tonight or over the weekend. *raises hand*

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awake

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I watch a lot of CBS shows and they've just announced the following. (News courtesy of Michael Ausiello)

Numb3rs is being cut from 22 episodes to 16. NCIS and NCIS:LA are getting an extra 2 episodes, from 22 to 24. Criminal Minds and The Big Bang Theory get an extra episode from 22 to 23.

Not terribly surprised at the NCIS news, both shows are doing well. Didn't think CM was doing that well but hey, 'm not complaining. Think Big Bang Theory should have got 2 extra eps but I'll take whatever I can get. The big news is obviously Numb3rs but really, if you've been watching it, you'll know it's been looking very tired and slow. The drastic cut means it's almost certainly the last season and I think it's time. I'll miss it, but it's definitely reached the end of its shelf life. *petses the show* I'm just glad they're leaving Cold Case alone. Further cuts would be painful.

Click the link in the first paragraph for the full list of shows affected. (Hey, jenni411, The Mentalist is getting an extra episode too!).

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I was bored at work earlier so I thought up a song lyric meme :) Guess the song and the musical these lyrics come from!


1) Selling your mom is a wrench, Perfume can cover a stench, That's what I learned from the French - "American Dream" from Miss Saigon (nabbed by thessalian)

2) Fighting with microphones, Freezing down to my bones, And to top it all off, I'm with you! - "Tango:Maureen" from Rent (nabbed by halcyon_shift)

3) But where on earth can people hide their little piece of heaven? Thank God for Switzerland. - "And the Money Kept Rolling In (And Out)" from Evita (nabbed by vissy)

4) You can go to Philadelphia, Take a hack to Hackensack. Hey, I'll never ring a bell for yer, or yell fer yer to come back! - "I Can Do Without You" from Calamity Jane (nabbed by minmorton)

5) He looks like he's asleep, it's a shame that he won't keep, but it's summer an' we're runnin' outta ice - "Pore Jud is Daid" from Oklahoma! (nabbed by halcyon_shift)

6) And I'm a genius genius, and I believe in God - "Manchester, England" from Hair (nabbed by vickita)

7) If I were a duck, I'd quack! And if I were a goose, I'd be cooked! - "If I Were A Bell" from Guys and Dolls (nabbed by jenni411)

8) He took a flower in its prime. And then he used it and he abused it, it was murder but not a crime! - "The Cell Block Tango" from Chicago (mostly nabbed by jenni411)

9) I'll be wetting down the razor then I figure "what's the point?" so I go into the living room, roll another joint

10) No father is not proud of you, no sister acts ashamed - "The Wizard and I" from Wicked (nabbed by voluta)

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Eee! Watched Private Practice this morning before work and saw Tracie Thoms. She was GREAT! I'm biased, I know, but she was! It was a good, meaty role - a woman who had been raped and was now pregnant by the rapist - and she had some fantastic scenes with Amy Brenneman. What was lovely to watch, was not only Amy giving Tracie great support in her scenes, but Tracie returning the compliment in a gut-wrenching scene for Amy's character, Violet.

thessalian is totally getting this episode inflicted on her tonight.

Eeee!

*bounce*

In other news, there is a big Admin Review at work coming down the pike next week which is making me a smidge nervous. They're going to be looking at how Admin resources are used, peaks and flows of work, that kind of thing. I have been strongly reassured that my job is secure, but beyond that no-one is actually sure what the outcome of the review will be or even what the aims are. Hmph. Will have to wait and see, I guess.

Apart from that, work is ticking over nicely. Earned some brownie points on Wednesday by typing and emailing a document at top speed to my line manager at a very important meeting. Coming from an admin background, I am always surprised when people think typing 2 sides of A4 is a long, difficult task :P I may not get to do the level of copy typing I used to but by crikey does using the internet a lot pay off in keeping up your typing speed and accuracy :D


My Season 2 Big Bang Theory DVDs arrived this week, just beating the postal strike. Yay! I watched a fair few of these while staying with Mary in NYC but I have no problem watching them again. The gag reel is so hysterical, I've watched it six times already. thessalian heard the hysterical laughter the first time I watched it, from outside the flat and through several walls and closed doors *sheepish*

This week is not my favourite week in the calendar (Mum's birthday yesterday, anniversary of her death tomorrow) but I'm doing ok. Laughter, Tracie squee and snugs from friends help a lot :)

Now I must slurp this tea and find some work to do. Yay Friday!

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Had she lived, my Mum would have been 71 today. Sheesh, 71. *shakes head* I can't imagine it. I can imagine the bitching about it though :)

Happy birthday, Mum!

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I got a response from Stephen Fry on Twitter :D Leeds (my team) played Norwich (his team) last night and won, 2-1. We had lots of chances but frankly, our strikers couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo, the accuracy was woeful. In the end, it came down to a mistake by the Norwich goalie in the 92nd minute of the game.

stephenfry Norwich lost :( Boohoo :( Put up a good fight from all I can tell. But up against the probable league champions. *snivel*

Mitchyuk @stephenfry if it's any consolation, we were incredibly lucky to win and the way Norwich played, I can easily see them getting promoted.

stephenfry @Mitchyuk Noble of you to say so. I bow down with gratitude x

Heeee! *squeaks like a fangirly*

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So last week I got a wonderful piece of mail from my ISP, Demon. "Blah blah bandwidth blah blah usage blah you're using too much, stoppit" was the gist. Apparently, when I wasn't looking, they introduced a bandwidth cap Fair Usage Policy, and they consider 50GB per 30 day rolling period to be fair maximum usage. I blew through this last Wednesday and I can only assume that watching BBC shows in iPlayer instead of downloading must have contributed to this. So yesterday, I got a second piece of mail saying my bandwidth will be throttled until usage drops, suck on 128kps between 9am and 11pm until we decide you're being good.

Screw that, I'm moving to BT, where for exactly the same as I'm paying now, I'll get unlimited downloads and (probably) better download speeds and possibly a shiny BT Hub. So if I disappear for a couple of days in the next couple of weeks (it's supposed to take place without loss of service - AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!) that'll be the reason why. Not sure what I'll do about email but I'll get the message out about new email addys etc nearer the time.

Sad way to end nearly 14 years with Demon but one of the reasons I went with them in the first place was lack of bandwidth cap and I ain't putting up with being throttled when their service has been steadily deteriorating for years and I've stuck with them. Enough is enough.

*determined nods* Stay tuned!

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1220756/A-strange-lonely-troubling-death--.html

Do NOT read if you are easily distressed by hackery.

DO read if you want to sharpen your keyboard, as thousands have already, and file a complaint with the PCC.

http://www.pcc.org.uk/complaints/process.html (There's even a direct link to the form for those wanting to complain about Moir. The site may be down, such is the volume of traffic. Please try again) CHeck the code of practice - general consensus is she breaks 1, 3, 5 and 12. (Accuracy, Privacy, Intrusion into grief or shock, Discrimination), although the whole article is a piece of shite.

We get the press we deserve, I'm told. Well, we all deserve better than that filth. The PCC can't do much, but public outrage is a terrific weapon and those that speak up will be doing what they can to try and stamp out this sort of hatefulness.

Best rebuttal I've read is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/16/stephen-gately-jan-moir

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Soooo, looks like I'm going to Baltimore next April.....

Hey, look, Tracie's doing a series of cabarets and the tix were on sale and, and, and I'M ONLY HUMAN, DAMMIT!!!

I'm seeing Tracie in cabaret!! *squeeeeeee!!*

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It's Beta Appreciation Day so halcyon_shift made me these! Aren't they great? Man, it's like she knows me or something ;)




Thank yoooou halcyon_shift! *cuddles her new icons*

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Amazed

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OK, this is amazing.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/the_berlin_reunion.html

The Royal de Luxe Theater Co control two giant puppets (and I mean GIANT puppets) around the streets of Berlin to commorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, in a touching story of reconciliation. Umm, yeh, I'm not doing it justice, just trust me and go look at the pics. :) The shots of the GIANT giant coming out of the river are jaw dropping.

Courtesy of donttrythis (aka Adam Savage of Mythbusters) on Twitter.