"Stuff your eyes with wonder...live as if you'd drop dead within ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that...shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on its ass." --Ray Bradbury

In fact it's the only way I'd watch a movie with Colin Farrell in it...

Owlvark: (reading the movie reviews in Playboy) Did you see the blurb about the Colin Farrell fisherman movie?
Duaumteffe: I think I missed that one. I tend to not notice anything with him in it.
Owlvark: #hands the magazine over#
Duamuteffe: So, he picks up someone in a net, he falls in love, and his daughter insists it's a mermaid. Hmm.
Owlvark: I so hope it's Old Gregg!

Hah! I found the dragon chariot toy! Only it's called the "Serpent Chariot, " which is probably why it took me this long to locate the damned thing. Thinking about it, I had the two-headed dragon, too.

The blue guy is so not a serpent, though. Serpents don't have legs, for one thing.

Awesomeness

OMFG they exist! They exist! I was starting to think I'd never find out where my little kobold guys came from! Oh, my cup runneth over- I *loved* these toys and played with them until they fell to pieces, but buggered if I could remember what they were called!

Man, this gives me hope that someday I'll find out who made the blue dragon with the mauve chariot...

So I got up in my normal groggy fashion, grabbed some clothes at random (a pair of ripped jeans, a white tank top) and, noticing it was a little cool, threw on my red, black, and beige plaid wool Woolrich shirt like a jacket. I then trundled off to the bathroom, glanced in the mirror, and realized that I had inadvertently qualified for "Dress Like Wolverine Day, " should any such holiday ever come into being.

Since the Small Fry is at the age where she wants to watch the same movie every day, I guess I'm pretty lucky that it's Lupin III - The Castle of Cagliostro. It's the most family-friendly of the Lupin films, being as it was directed and co-written by the genius behind Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, and it's a great film on its own. It's even great after the fifth time this week, which is saying something #grins#

The Littlest Spudgirl

Definition of hilariously adorable: one's four year old niece splashing in a puddle with a stick and singing the chorus to "Jerkin' Back And Forth."

Two-Sentence Movie Reviews

Iron Man 2

I tried to come up with something grammatical, but all I've managed is "The further continuation of sheer unadulterated awesome!" and that's not entirely correct as far as sentence structure goes. It is, however, utterly correct in theme, content, truthfulness, and tone- and for those of you who don't get as much enjoyment as I do out of a sweaty Robert Downey Jr. building complicated machinery (seriously, do they just plug a cable in the back of my head to come up with this stuff?) you will likely be pleased to note that there's a lot more action in this one, lots of witty retorts, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (which is a terrific piece of casting, by the way) awesome effects, and also Scarlett Johansson gets a lot of screen time to alternate between being preppy and kicking serious ass.

Of Course, It's Not All Gloom...

Duamuteffe: Hang on, let me trim your eyebrows. They're getting out of hand again.
Owlvark: But what about my other job as a Mentat? I'll get thrown out of the Mentat...League. Or whatever it's called.
Duamuteffe: How are you holding down a job as a Mentat? You don't even know the little saying!
Owlvark: The little saying?
Duamuteffe: You know, when Piter drinks out of the little bottle- "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion." You know, that bit.
Owlvark: Was that in the movie?
Duamuteffe: Of course it's in the movie! What kind of a Mentat are you, anyway?

(Note to lovers of the novels- yes, I am aware the saying was made up for the film. Do not bother to write and mention this.)

"Mom and Papa bought a Chickering
Every day I'd sit and play that thing
I practiced hard; it was more than a whim
I played with grim determination, Jim

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller
I'm a real low rider
Hold me tight
Honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go
Piano Fighter

I worked in sessions and I played in bands
A thousand casuals and one-night stands
Here on Thursday
Gone on Friday
Heading down the Dixie highway

Someone called
Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller,
I'm a real low rider
Hold me tight
Honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go
Piano Fighter

Maybe I'll go to Reno
Nobody knows my name
I'll play Claire de Lune in a quiet saloon
Steady work for a change
Ain't going down that long, lonesome road
Ain't going down that long, lonesome road

Got in trouble down in New Orleans
I must admit that I was strung out
And painted in the corner of a limousine

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a thin ice walker
I'm a freelance writer
Hold me tight
Honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go
Piano Fighter

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller
I'm a real low rider
Hold me tight, honey
Hold me tighter
Then let me go
Piano Fighter

Then let me go
Piano Fighter..."

- Warren Zevon, "Piano Fighter"

I've been meaning to blog this week, but I got flattened by a head cold/sinus thingie and haven't been able to put two words together coherently on paper until today. Today, though, I feel great, so that's definitely a plus. Instead of blogging extensively, though, I'm going to try and finish off the chapter I've been trying to finish off for two weeks now.

Today, in the Kingdom of Livia, King Livia of Livia issued orders that his Royal Monster was to compel any prisoners to gather pinecones in order to feed his sticks. Why, or indeed how, the sticks were to eat pinecones is as yet undetermined. Collection of pinecones only ceased when the prisoner (who still claims not to be a number, but a free person) pointed out that if the King of Livia wanted five pinecones, and they had gathered thirty, then the job was officially over. After some argument the point was conceded by the monster.

Today's song...

Courtesy of the Small Fry:

I want to be big and strong
I want to be big and strong
Then I can do all the things that I want
I will drive my car everywhere
And I will eat all the donuts
I will eat all the donuts
Then Mommy will drive me in my car
And I will eat all the donuts in the car
And I will not spill any

"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe."

- John Walter Wayland

I'm thinking there's a D&D module in the preceding post, by the way. #grins#

Reason #2,956,953 that my life is awesome

Duamuteffe: #reading#
Small Fry: #grabs arm# Graaagh!
Duamuteffe: Who are you?
Small Fry: I am a monster!
Duamuteffe: Well, that explains the roaring. What do you want?
Small Fry: I am here to take you to the King of Livia, who is my king!
Duamuteffe: What does he want of me?
Small Fry: He wants you to pick up sticks and bring them to the castle!
Duamuteffe: What does he do with the sticks?
Small Fry: He makes them into firewood! The King of Livia needs LOTS of firewood!

~a few minutes and several sticks later~

Duamuteffe: I'm escaping! #runs off# I am no longer subject to the King of Livia and his bizarre whims involving sticks!
Small Fry: You CAN'T escape! The King of Livia NEEDS HIS FIREWOOD!!!

Reason #2,956,807 that my life is awesome

So I'm babysitting my niece, and we're sitting outside when a big crow flies into a nearby tree and starts cawing.

Small Fry: What's that crow doing?
Duamuteffe: He's cawing.
Small Fry: Calling? He's calling for help?
Duamuteffe: No, no, *cawing*. *Caw-ing*. It's the sound crows make.
Small Fry: Oh. What's he saying?
Duamuteffe: I don't know. I don't speak crow.
Small Fry: (standing up to face the crow) WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, MR. CROW???

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