Wacky Noodles and Other Things

The mom blogger quiz from MamaBlogga
Take the Mom Blogger quiz!

One of those quiz things from Jaquandor; some numbers were missing, and then I dropped two questions I’d answered before recently, while keeping a couple repeats I could answer differently.

1. You have $5 and need to buy snacks at a gas station. What do you buy?

It would depend how much water I’d already consumed – if enough for the day, probably get a cranberry juice. The rest is pure rationalization: fruit pie or fig bars, because they have fruit; light popcorn, pretzels or Snackwell cookies, because it could have been worse; a soft oatmeal raisin cookie, because it has oatmeal; and something chocolate, such as Mounds or M&Ms , because I’ve said, “Oh, to heck with it.”

2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?

Neptune.

3. Who’s your favorite redhead?

I once had a very weird dream featuring Julianne Moore.

4. What do you order when you’re at IHOP?

Probably go to IHOP once a year, always on the road. Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity strawberry, because my wife likes the way I say it.

5. Last book you read?

The Genius of Impeachment.

6. Describe your favorite pair of underwear.

If by underwear, one counts T-shirts, then it’s this blue U.S. Congress one that my friend Mary gave me.

7. Describe the last time you were injured.

Crashed bike into a curb on Everett Road in Albany, described vividly here.

8. Rock concert or symphony?

It would depend. Have probably been to a near equal number of each.

9. What is the wallpaper of your mobile phone?

No idea.

11. Favorite drink?

Long Island iced tea. Haven’t drunk it in years. But this is wrong; it was served way before the late 1970s.

12. What type of top/teeshirt are you wearing?

As of this writing, one I got from the Red Cross.

13. If you could only use one form of transportation for the rest of your life what would it be?

The train, assuming that there is really light rail around here.

14. Most recent movie you’ve watched at the movies?

The Simpsons Movie.

16. What’s your favorite kind of cake?

Carrot cake. Usually have it once a year, on my birthday.

17. What did you have for dinner last night?

As of this writing: spinach quiche; I’m a real man.

18. Look to your right what do you see?

Books, some of my wife’s papers, a portable CD player, a garbage can.

19. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

I could not tie my shoes until I was nine, so I only wore loafers. Which doesn’t answer the question, does it? Well, I’ve answered it before.

20. Favorite toy as a child?

A teddy bear, probably three feet tall.

21. Do you buy your own food?

Or my wife does.

22. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?

I encourage it. (“Did you hear what Roger just did?”)

23. When’s the last time you had a sour gummy worm?

A long time ago. Don’t like them.

24. What’s your favorite fruit?

Apples (especially Macs), pears, strawberries, blueberries.

25. Do you have a picture of yourself doing a cartwheel?

No.

26. Have you ever eaten snow?

At least once every year.

27. What color are your bedsheets?

Right now, yellow.

28. What’s your mom’s favorite flower?

I’ll ask her.

29. Do you listen to classical music?

Often.

30. Do you have a wacky noodle?

My daughter has two, and she plays with them even when she’s not in the pool. One of these days, the noodle is literally going to hit the (ceiling) fan, and chaos will ensue.

31. Do you watch Spongebob?

When we first discovered it, quite often. Actually not much in the last three-and-a-half years, ironically.

32. Last food you ate?

Cheerios and Shredded Wheat.

33. Do people consider you intelligent?

Seriously, there are people who think I’m brilliant, just because I was on some game show.

35. Is your away message on?

No. You know what I hate? When I send a message to a listserv and I receive 37 out-of-office messages.

36. Have you ever tried gluing your fingers together?

Something to do NEXT lifetime.

37. What curse word do you use the most?

I really do try not to. It’s probably s***, although a****** is my favorite.

38. What time is your alarm clock set for?

5:30 on the weekdays; blame my wife.

42. What CD is currently in your CD player?

Actually nothing. I’m really into playing vinyl right now. That would be a Star Wars album, not the soundtrack, but the actual story, with scenes from the movie, narrated by the late Roscoe Lee Browne.

43. What movie do you know every line to?

Nada. But Annie Hall is probably the movie I know the most lines to. That or the Wizard of Oz.

46. Do you sleep in the same bed with your pets?

No pets.

47. Do you enjoy giving hugs?

And getting. Probably not getting nearly enough.

48. What part of your name do people mis-pronounce?

Occasionally, maybe to be funny, people say Rogger, sorta rhyming with Frogger.

50. If you were to become famous, would you drop your last name?

Nah, it’s too colorful.

ROG

Angry, Nerdy, Toys & Games

Yes, Lefty, I did see Dylan and Costello last night; more soon.

Yesterday afternoon about 4:30 pm, I heard what I thought was thunder in the distance; this surprised me, as there was nothing in the forecast. Fifteen minutes later, the driving rains came, and massive lightning visible in the low sky, with one thunderclap at 4:55 so loud that I literally jumped out of my chair. During this period, went to the various weather channels; the ones operated by WTEN (Channel 10)and WNYT (Channel 13) had people telling me what a beautiful day it was. It was quite surreal. Channel 9, with a real LIVE person, did tell me that there was a rain cell right over Albany at the moment.

And now, inspired, in part, by the return of Greg’s links, though, in the words sung by Carly Simon, “nobody does it better” than Mr. Burgas, a couple things that struck my fancy:

TOYS & GAMES

MONOPOLY GAME SpongeBob SquarePants EDITION. Suitable for Hembecks everywhere.

Go check out Jason in Paris. Jason is some guy in some French city, and in his September 21 post, he talks about the French naming of Monopoly properties. And why you’re at it, go to his September 26 post and find out what this was all about:

EDISON TALKING DOLL – 1890, an expensive failure. I did not know this.

This goes back a ways: Hey kids, get your “Daddy Dearest” Talking Dolls before they sell out!

I’ve seen these on TV and find them creepy, rather than soothing: Talking dolls for Japanese senior citizens.

Web Video Cheat Sheet, a menu of online video sharing Websites.

Commuting by ICEBIKE.

ANGRY

The world’s weirdest and/or stupidest conspiracy
theories.
Well, ONE I believe.

George Carlin: “It’s Called the American Dream Because You Have To Be Asleep to Believe It” [VIDEO]. Carlin: “There’s a reason education sucks and it’ll never get any better, because the owners of this country don’t want it better.” Should you worry about language? I did say it was George Carlin, didn’t I?

STUFF TO CHECK OUT WHEN YOU’RE FEELING NERDY

Blog to commemorate National Chemistry Week (October 21-27).

Climate change: A guide to the information and disinformation.

…and especially…
Quantum Physics Made Relatively Simple – Three Lectures by Hans Bethe.

ROG

MUSIC AND MOVIES QUESTIONS

I’d appreciate your input in any or all:

1. What one to three CDs should I put on my Christmas wish list, and why?

2. Why are some people so fussy about folks applauding in movie theaters? People can laugh, cry, shriek; why not clap? After all, it’s their $10 and $6 bucket of popcorn, and as long as they’re not talking unnecessarily, I don’t care.

The theory is that the film actors can’t hear the applause; true enough. But neither can the performers hear when you cheer (or curse) your favorite baseball/football/basketball/soccer team whilst seated in front of your television set. Seems like snobbery to me.

3. Have you ever sung karaoke? If so, what are your favorite tunes to sing? If not, what would you sing?
I’ve never done it – though I have sung, with a live band, Disco Inferno (I’d deny it except there are too many witnesses). Probably Take Me To the River. Or maybe this song from the 1968 movie The Night They Raided Minsky’s that apparently was also performed on The Muppet Show:
I have a secret recipe.
Concocted with much skill.
And once you’ve tried our special dish-
You’ll never get your fill.
Take ten terrific girls, but only nine costumes,
And you’re cooking up something grand.
Mix in some amber lights, and elegant scenery-
And stir in a fine jazz band.
Then add some funny men, and pepper with laughter.
It’s tart and tasty I know.
Then serve it piping hot, and what have you got?
A burlesque show.

Or maybe not.

ROG

Let’s Talk About Sex

A couple guys at the gym were talking about a recent Oprah show featuring Doctor Oz, who promotes living longer, and feeling younger through a variety of some familiar ideas, and some not so common ones.

From Oprah’s website:
Question 10: According to Dr. Oz, how often should you have sex?
A) Once a week
B) Twice a week
C) 10 times a month
D) 200 times a year or more

My compatriots were pleased to discover that the correct answer is D.

“If you have more than 200 orgasms a year, you can reduce your physiologic age by six years,” Dr. Oz says. He bases the number on a study done at Duke University that surveyed people on the amount and quality of sex they had. “They looked at what happened to folks that are having a lot of intercourse over time, and the fact is, it correlated.” For you math-deprived folks, that’s four times a week.

Among the benefits of having sex often, Dr. Oz says, is that it can prove that your body is functioning as it is supposed to. “But in addition, having sex with someone that you care for deeply is one of the ways we achieve that Zen experience that we all crave as human beings,” he says. “It’s really a spiritual event for folks when they’re with someone they love and they can consummate it with sexual activity … seems to offer some survival benefit.”

So, it’s not the act of sex as exercise that will help one lose weight – one only expends an average of 25 calories. It is that satisfying one appetite center of your brain (desire for sex) can help satisfy another (desire for food).

I wonder if any of my buddies made a point to mention this when they got home?
***
I come across all sorts of things that I consider for my blog here. But then the internal censor kicks in, and I don’t use them, not because it offends me, but because I wonder if it might offend you.

For instance, I came across this story some time ago about a condom fashion show in China, designed to get more Chinese to use prophylactics. I wasn’t sure it was even real until I saw stories such as the one here. Still, I let it go until I read stories posted by Rose, a good, respectable blogger, about velvet vulva purses and Japan’s penis festival, the latter an ancient tradition which currently raises money for AIDS education.
***
Speaking of condoms, the magazine Ad Age has been chastising television the past couple weeks. For while there are more sexual acts on TV, there are still major restrictions on advertising condoms. One of the articles can be found here.
***
At the website/podcast Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful Life, Legal Lad(TM) discusses all sorts of useful information, including Plea Withdrawal (see Larry Craig) and Nudity in Public Places.
***
I came across the ill-named Hornitos. Somebody was paid good money to come up with that brand name?

ROG

The Snowstorm of October 4, 1987

SOME FLAKY TALES ABOUT A REALLY FLAKY TIME
Times Union, The (Albany, NY)
October 4, 1997
Author: MARK McGUIRE Staff writer

It was more than a storm; it was a touchstone. The Capital Region has endured its share of severe weather, from blizzards to severe windstorms to even the occasional tornado and hurricane. This one wasn’t even the worst.

Certainly more snow has fallen at one time than the 6 inches that came down on Albany on Oct. 4, 1987. But the damage it caused, and its totally unexpected fall arrival, left a mark on the region and its psyche.

But we don’t have to tell you: You told us.

The Times Union solicited readers to send in their stories from the storm. And you did, in the form of hundreds of e-mails, a likewise number of calls, a letter from prison, even a drawing from a then-5-year-old.

The stories are uniform and unique, of weddings canceled, cars destroyed, days without power, food spoiled, babies born and camping in living rooms. These tales almost invariably start with disbelief, then spiral into different recollections of perseverance and hardship and compassion and humor.

“The snowstorm was one of those events, not unlike one of those national tragedies (JFK assassination, Challenger disaster) in that, if you were there, you remember,” Roger Green of Albany wrote. “I’ve been to many parties where people compare their snowstorm stories.”

Everybody does have a story. Here are but a few:

Here’s mine – I was living in the West Hill section of Albany, on Second Street, between Ontario and Quail Streets. Since I was home on that Sunday morning, watching CBS Sunday Morning, I must have been having one of my periodic spats with the pastor [who is NO LONGER THERE]. Suddenly, the power went out, and immediately after I got outside, I could tell why. A branch on a tree landed on the power wire leading to my house was pulled out, fortunately along the side of the house so I wouldn’t accidentally get electrocuted.

Later that day, I walked to work at FantaCo, which, a dozen blocks away, never lost power. The weird thing about that storm is that lots of people never lost electricity at all, or only for a few minutes, while some people were without it for days, or even a couple weeks.

Sunday night, I stayed at a friend’s house.

Monday, walking to the store, there was this beautiful disconnect. Sunny weather, this foreign white stuff on the leafy trees. And steam – lots of steam. I remember thinking at the time that it had what I imagined was rather post-apocalyptic. I wish I had taken pictures, for I found it eerily beautiful.

I bought the local newspaper, which looked…different. The Times Union building on Wolf Road lost power because of the wet heavy snow, so the TU and sister paper The Knickerbocker News put out a joint newspaper out of the Troy offices of their rival, the Times Record (now the Record). It was in the Times Record fonts. I still have that newspaper, somewhere in the attic.

Monday night, I stayed at home. By then, I had put my perishable food in the snow outside, and fortunately, the gas stove was working, so I ate some of the food I had purchased only the day before the storm. I listened to TV via my battery-powered radio by candlelight. One revelation: the TV show Cagney and Lacey depend on visuals, as well as dialogue.

Tuesday, after work, I stayed with another friend, and Wednesday, after work, with the first friend.

Thursday after work, I was increasingly excited to see that the light at Central and Quail was finally working, and Clinton and Quail, and Second and Quail. YES! Power was restored to my house! My perishable food was ruined, since it had reached 70 degrees outside, but at least I could safely buy more.

The strange thing about this storm was that it was highly localized. Some of the surrounding area had more than a foot of snow and a federal disaster declaration was issued. Ask people in Syracuse or New York City about this storm and they have no idea. It was more like the Buffalo snowstorm of 2006.

ROG

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