Chat around the cauldron

Anyone watched the royal wedding?

Anyone want to share pics of kittens, puppies, babies? Gingersnap recipes?

What do the clouds look like right this minute in your part of the sky?

Over here, it's EXACTLY like the vivid photos E. posted in the O, Canada thread.

I'm supposed to be doing my taxes, but I got distracted when the Doofus Brigade rode past with every shrill alarm ringing.

Why is nonsense such an attention-grabber and time-waster?

Bah, taxes! Bah, Doofi!

But what did you think of Kate's dress?

I have yet to see a single pic from the event.

You know how I went through life so far without seeing Titanic... or hearing any Lloyd Webber except Evita... arrgh, no, I also saw half of the Phantom!...orrr... well, any number of pop culture's/outer world's shining moments... I wonder--nope, as soon as I pop into a drugstore I'll be hit by all the mag and tabloid imagery.

Ah to be a princess.

I love royal kitsch and feudal trappings, so indeed I watched it live. Switching around, BBC America, despite promoting the monarchy proudly (Simon Schama was distinctly disappointing), soared over the American networks, which turned into gossip fests or worse. Katty Kay turned up on MSNBC as a Union Jack waver. But I figure that's what happens when one is confronted by a Sarah Burton frock on a lean frame.

Honestly, I forgot it was today, and besides - no offense - that couple, for some reason, irk me: they seem to ooze smugness, and I can't help wondering whether their respective lovers are going to look less ceramic. I don't keep much track of this stuff (no papers and no TV) but something on a Yahoo page reminded me (why did Yahoo turn into the Sun of web portals?) I shouldn't talk about history as often as I do, I seem to live on a parallel course with whatever the media is talking about.

Goshdarnit! Now I'm all agog for the DVD (I have no television, so wait for recorded products).

I must say I like the sound of "Queen Kate". "Queen Kate", ahoooy! Hoist yer flags!

Ahem. She is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, H.R.H. She left Kate at the altar!

Awww, what a pity!

No sense of humour, those nobs.

She's the new People's Princess, so Kate will work fine, especially given the pirate's treasure it took to pull of the affair. Much was made of her common stock and coal miner heritage. I expected a chimney sweep but instead got Mary Poppins.

The little prince pretty much married the first girl he ever dated, didn't he.

>10 LolaWalser:

Er... actually, back when I lived in London a decade ago the tabloids would report on how often he took advantage of his "privileges" with, no less, the palace staff. I have no idea if there's any truth to that, of course.

#7: But BBC Scotland calls her Countess of Strathearn. They hate the English so much they didn't even mention the Cambridge title.

12> Interesting. She was bestowed 3 titles, I can't remember the third.

It was noted that Blair and Brown were not invited. And Ms. Cameron wore no hat (faux pas).

#10

You don't say! Well--he was pretty when he was younger...

Isn't it strange Blair wasn't invited? Harper of Canada was, but couldn't make it because of elections. (Rah, rah, NDP!)

A friend who's actually been following the build-up to the royal wedding and planned to get up at 1:00 AM this morning to watch it (which she apparently really did-insanity!), was kind enough to bring me some fabulous shortbread cookies she'd baked in honour of the occasion when she came to dinner last night. I ate a couple this morning around 9:00 AM with my coffee while I checked out some photos of the dress on the Guardian website. That's the full extent of my interest in this phenomenon. Now that the wedding's over, I hope news media in the US get back to covering more important things like Trump's tango tan and combover ("We shall overcomb!" could be the best presidential slogan of all-time! Run, Donald, run! Just for the freaking crazy laughs we'll all have at your expense.)

shshshshshsh!!

Next thing you know, Trump's POTUS!

It never ceases to amaze me, just about ANYONE thinks he can be the US Prez, no?

#13: I think the third was Baron Carrickfergus (for him) so perhaps she becomes Lady Carrickfergus? And no Sarah Ferguson either which is surely a good thing. I suppose the hat issue is an etiquette thing but (at least to this grumpy old man) some of the hats seemed designed to block the view of any unfortunate person behind. And some looked pretty ridiculous - Princess Beatrice's for example. All the letters to today's "Daily Telegraph" are very positive about the event apart from a Michael Naylor contribution which says "(the monarchy) is the mechanism for exploitation, inequality, wars and undemocratic control." I couldn't agree less.

Edited to remove square brackets round "the monarchy" which made it a touchstone. And a repitition of the word "designed"

The English monarchy is an invaluable mobile postcard.

I don't see their point myself...

Carrickfergus. All I know is, it appears in a song by Van Morrison... and those Irish--chiefs, oh, Chieftains.

"Baron Carrickfergus" sounds like a hero of one of the blue novels from the belle epoque.

Run, Donald, run! Just for the freaking crazy laughs we'll all have at your expense

Imagine the primaries, the debates...Hockey-Mom Sarah vs. The Donald.

I think a Sarah/Donald Republican ticket would be dandy.

Joke, people, joke, but I'm a-feared.

Carrickfergus. All I know is, it appears in a song by Van Morrison... and those Irish--chiefs, oh, Chieftains.

covered by Bryan Ferry, too.

#24

Good one.

I am baking bread (yes, running awfully late), and the smell is TO DIE FOR. My god, I should be doing this EVERY day!

Fresh bread I kneaded with me own two hands! What could be better.

mmmmm smells delicious!

SURE DOES!

I don't know what it is--maybe this new kind of flour, kamut? There's this label, Bob's Mills or something, with lots of exotic flours, every now and then I buy something I never heard of before, next in line, "teff"--but this is exceptional.

A little butter, a little cheeeeeeese...

From the first draft of Lady Chatterley...

"Ay!" he said at last, looking down in his lap. "Ay ma lad! tha're theer right enough. Yi, tha mun rear thy head! Theer on thy own, eh? an' ta'es no count O' nob'dy! Tha ma'es nowt O' me, Carrickfergus. Art boss? of me? Eh well, tha're more cocky than me, an' tha says less. Carrickfergus!

lol
god what tosh.

Re #25: I had a bread machine for a while - and, while the bread that it made was in itself mediocre, just waking up to the smell of baking bread made it worthwhile.

#28

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!

No!! Really?! Geez! Bullseye!

DHL was such an idiot... With a gift for poetry, but an idiot.

#30

I'm not tempted to get a machine. The third best part of making bread (after the smell and the eating) is squish-squish-squishing the dough.

"In Scotland you are too theological, too gloomy. You have made even the Devil religious. 'Where do you live, good-wyf, and how is the minister?' he said to the witch when he met her on the high-road, as it came out in the trial. You have burnt all the witches. In Ireland we have left them alone. To be sure, the 'loyal minority' knocked out the eye of one with a cabbage-stump on the 31st of March, 1711, in the town of Carrickfergus. But then the 'loyal minority' is half Scottish."

from The Celtic Twilight (William Butler Yeats)

#31: Yeah, agreed; mine wore out/broke and we never replaced it. It was an interesting experiment, though.

Any fans of Doctor Who here? Just recently I saw a few 1960s, 70s, 80s episodes, and the complete 2005 "First Series". Now I wish I'd been a childhood fan.

I don't know any kids here (that is, any adults with kids). And occasionally I get all sentimental about them. When was the last time I spoke to a kid? When was the last time I bought a kid a present? How much fun that is! Etc.

And then occasionally, like today, I find myself in a space filled with kids, and lord. The screaming, the running, the yelling, the thumping, the pulling and pushing, the CINEMATIC mayhem they cause.
How does anyone stand that is beyond me. Those poor people taking care of them and teaching them--can't be paid enough.

I see a group of kids and RUN FOR THE HILLS

Sorry, friends, but I actually enjoy children. Matter of fact, I volunteer to be around them! (And not just the two that are mine.)

Parents, on the other hand.....

I see a kid with problems, nine out of ten times I meet the parents and discover immediately where the problems originate.

Do I have to leave the club now?

Makifat, do you have any nice recipes? Are children better boiled or deep fried, do you think?

38> reminds me of that delicious Twilight Zone episode, not sure of the exact title, something to the effect of "How to Serve Man."

Murr, since children are young and tender, spit-roasted is really the way to go.

If they're under five, then my personal preference is fresh child sashimi. Mmm-mmm.

...after five, they're more likely to have been spoiled!!

Just a bit kid-shocked, Mak, after loooong period of deprivation. We had a neighbourhood conf. in the community centre and it was like sticking your head into a blender set to "purée".

In other kid news, I've become a triple aunt (if cousins count)--to Freya. First baby in that uncle's family in thirty years. I'd post pics but she's still all raw looking, like a shrimp.

I'd post pics but she's still all raw looking, like a shrimp.

Yechh! Sounds like they need to put her back in for a few months.

Heh. She was actually twelve days late.

I lost a book yesterday. I can't remember the last time I LOST a book. My mother lost me two books 15 years ago when she lent them--illegally, without asking--to someone who then up and died and it has never been a good time to ask his widow to give them back.

I don't lose books, I never lose books, until, that is, yesterday. I think I know when and where--it was in my backpack's pocket--and someone jostled me in one of Toronto's swinish, ridiculously inadequate subway stations. She must have knocked it out, the bitch. I'll NEVER replace it! It was a 1960s German translation of some Chinese novellas, Der Gatte wider Willen, and I was just in the first story, about alchemy and charlatanism.

No tears, sweetie. A replacement copy is on its way, directly to your loft from amazon.de
(although it may take a few weeks to get there)

>46 LolaWalser: the bitch. I will send a pussy posse after her to scratch her.

How very sad. I don't believe I've ever lost a book, that is, really lost one, not misplaced it in that accumulation of boxes that I used to have before LibraryThing organized them so well. There is that volume of Paul West stories that I remember bringing home, but which LT denies I possess and for which I've been searching in boxes and behind shelves for over a year. I know it's here somewhere, I just know it!!

That said, I will be sending to SilentInAWay a list of recently "lost" books that I am dying to have "replaced". Expedited shipping would be a nice touch.....

#47

AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!1!

I WANT TO MURRY YOU RIGHT NOW! TO MYSELF!

Mi casa es tu casa, and that goes for the biblioteca too!

A Goon Pussy Posse--I like the idea very much.

Makifat--damn, I just "released" a Paul West book, The rat man of Paris. I shall be on the lookout for his stuff for you. Must continue spreading Silent's good karma.

I have procured... JELLY BABIES! Made in UK! Presumably--I hope--the kind The Doctor, my Time Lord and Saviour (c), likes to chew on.



They freakin' cost a lot for a bag of candy.

Goodness, unexpected texture! More like... hummm, fruit jelly slices maybe--dense? Unlike, say, gummi bears. Unlike toffee. Unlike saltwater taffy. Unlike--most definitely--any hard candy.

And with that I run out of comparisons.

This is the only place where I shall wish ALL & SUNDRY a happy new year in hell!

Push that rock, Sisyphus, we ain't nowhere close the top.

53
After my recent bout of Xmastime SAD, even hell looks like a safe harbour.

And Happy New Year to you, Lola-Lola, even if you did rescind your recent "friend" request. (Don't think I didn't notice!)

I grew up with jelly babies and jelly beans. Yummy!

Happy New Year!

#54

Ack! Technical problems, nothing more!

#55

ARE we what we eat?

ARE we what we eat?

I instantly stick my thumb in my mouth and go all gooey inside. :-)

Waaaaa...! :-0

I'm about to be sweet & sour!

Waaaa! Waaaa! Waaaa!

There, there... jelly baby?

My Indian colleague kept strange-looking candy in her desk and on person for the express purpose of shutting up the bothersomes or changing the conversation. Offer someone a lollipop with candied ants and grubs and they won't remember what they wanted you to do for at least a minute or so.

Happy new year to all and sundry, if you still believe in happiness!!!1!

To the rest: as you were, as you were. No worse, no thinner, not a loser, rarely a winner, no senses missing, or limbs, no keepsakes or people lost and mislaid... and

so.

Happy New Year to our leader in hellraising and all the other devils.

Thank you, thank you, and remember!--the Devil too, they say, serves to illumine (His? A?) Way.

The texts are always corrupted.

yeah, but what about the contexts?
happy new year to all hellraisers everywhere!

OMG THE APPEARING/DISAPPEARING TARDIS MUG WORKS!!!!!1!

Fourteenth at the table, finally!

France Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Congratulations, douce France!

vive la France!

Beat the Brits to it! ;)

Reasonably innocuous, moderately sunny new year to all!

and a bright and sunny taiwanese new year to you lola dear!

Yay, cat, the one & only--and such reckless optimism too! Mwah and scritches!

It's good to be alive, said the shoelace to the cucumber.

How's Taiwan?

taiwan is lovely this morning: bright sunshine and blue skies after weeks of incessant rain.

Mwah and Mwah again!

Oh I hate you.

:)

It's minus 27 or 38 Celsius here, or about minus thousand fifty Fahrenheit.

I'm drinking anti-freeze, it tastes like pastis.

minus 27? omg emigrate! how can you bear it?

I can't stand the cold. I am even thinking of relocating to the south of the island, which is inside the tropical zone, but all the work is here in the north. winters here don't usually get below 10 celsius, but last week it was 9 celsius and there was even snow in the mountains. Very rare. But worse is the rain. The houses are not built for insulation, and we sit huddled in our steel and concrete boxes waiting for spring.

go easy on the antifreeze. I hear that stuff puts hairs on your chest.
:)

I hear that stuff puts hairs on your chest.

SURELY CATNIP TO A CAT!!!!!

I used to get by in winter on secondhand heat from the profligates around me, but not this time, was forced to switch it on.

Oh me too with increasing (age-related?!) cold-intolerance.

What am I doing here, I must be mad, my lovely Dalmatia... take me back...

I don't know, I like the gay marriage here, I keep waiting for someone to gay-marry me...

Looks like LT lost another wonderful member and his beautiful library... I hope it's just a glitch, but if not... adieu, Makifat, good luck wherever you are.

P.S. I shall hope for a reincarnation monkeybrite! Never say never forever!

Awww, I've been missing his contributions, and was wondering where he was and why we haven't heard from him.

I've been missing him too--you hear that, Makif? WE MISS YOU, MAN!!!--but the weird thing is, I looked at my connections today and he was adding books, but when I went to his page, poof! he was gone.

I hope it's the good things in real life that have taken him away from this virtual nonsense.

oh that is a shame.

I realised a long time ambition today. At long last I managed to visit The Hellfire Club in the Dublin mountains. There is a nice view from the ruin.







Unfortunately the graffiti artists and litter bugs have managed to find the spot too.

http://www.abandonedireland.com/hf.html

Looks livelier than this place! :)

That's a fantastic view. I wonder whether the clubbers ever noticed it... ;)

Did you go inside? I assume the railing isn't original?

>82 LolaWalser: I was planning on going inside but the earth around the doorway was very muddy and inside I could see beer cans and other litter on what appeared to be a muddy floor. I decided not to enter. There were, however, several people inside.

I am not a great fan of Wikipedia, but the article on Montpelier Hill, the hill on which the club is situated, has a section on The Hellfire Club and there are several photographs of the inside included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpelier_Hill

I assume the railing isn't original?

I would be of the same opinion. The railings were probably put there for some health & safety purpose, less to do with preventing injury and more to do with having taken the proper measures to avoid any legal liability in the event of a fall. Apparently Ireland is the second most litigious country in the World, second only to the USA.