The first movie I saw — okay, maybe it was the second — was “The Jungle Book.” My brothers and I loved the movie, so naturally we were tickled pink when our grandmother gave us the soundtrack, singing along over and over to “The Bare Necessities.” (My Dad was less charmed, since the album was a free giveaway from Texaco and he was a loyal Arco company man.)

Anyway, I especially loved Baloo’s joie de vivre. Louis the alligator shares that same spirit in “The Princess and the Frog,” Disney’s first hand-drawn toon in five years. You simply can’t create characters like that through computer animation, Disney toon king John Lasseter recently told me for this Variety story.

The directors, who have been known Lasseter for decades, felt like they had something to prove with the movie, as did the cast and crew still smarting from Disney’s decision to abandon hand-drawn animation in 2002. They tried some different styles — evoking painting of the Harlem Renaissance in one fantasy sequence and going psychedelic for the villain — and while those gambits didn’t always work,  the movie was pleasantly upbeat in the way you could always count on Disney toons to be.  The young crowd at the Bridge screening — mostly African-American, incidentally, for a toon with the Mouse House’s first ever black heroine — really seemed to enjoy it, barely fidgeting even during the goopy romance scenes.

The studio has at least two more hand-drawn toons in the works. First up: a new “Winnie the Pooh,” another childhood fave with its share of sing-along tunes. “Surf’s Up” co-director Chris Buck is busy on another.

The weekend was good, really enjoyed spending time with Steven and the rest. Tho Friday I did wake up with a slight bad throat, that has just gotten worse and worse during the last days, now in a barely bearable state. Thank god for painkillers.

Even feeling dead yesterday, I had to get out of bed early and over to the studio, as it was time for me and Magda to do some photo shoots. Went alright tho, even if I felt like no where near pretty enough to have pictures of meself taken, I just had to suck it up and do it. After all, time is closing up on us.

Today I got up way too early for my likings, seeing as I was meeting up with Magda at ASDA around a quarter to nine. There we got some props for the test shoot we had booked a studio for. We don’t get up that early for nothing you know. Seeing as the technician guy Dan seemed to be on holiday or better, still in his warm, cosy bed, me and Madzzz had to pretty much figure out everything ourselves. That shouldn’t be a problem for two second year photography students you might think, but neither me nor the polish had done much studio work without help of teachers or cleverer class mates before. Fear not, we managed pretty well I think, and is rather excited about the actual shoot on Monday.

Baloo really wanted that cake!

Oh, those were sweet, sweet words to read.

(Did you think I had up and fallen off the edge of the world?  Or had given up?  Or is there even anybody reading this?  Probably not, but I go on…)

Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoyed The Jungle Books.  They were more serious than I expected and well-written and deeper than just the tale that goes on.  I can’t wait to read these at bedtime to my kids someday!

But have you ever come across something that just took you forever to read–whether you were enjoying it or not?  For some odd reason, I could not fly through this book.

My theory?  The atrocious printing job: every other sentence had a spelling error, most of them to the point that I had to stop and figure out the word by context.

Really, it was that bad.

Next time, I’ll be less lazy and go find a new copy.

In other news, I brought home every elementary school germ from my new job, unloaded them on my husband, played nurse for a few days, and then received every stinking microscopic bugger back.  On the plus side, I’m definitely feeling the “burn” in my abs from all of the sneezing.

So, to distract myself from the sneezing, let’s play the book vs. movie game–Rudyard Kipling vs. Disney–shall we?

MOVIE Baloo is more fun and carefree…and definitely does more singing than he does in the book.

BOOK Baloo is wiser.

MOVIE Shere Khan isn’t murdered, skinned, and put on display by Mowgli.

BOOK There are more than just Mowgli stories: soldiers, elephants, sea lions, Inuit hunters–the scope is broad and fascinating.

MOVIE King Louie.  Oh, I loved King Louie.

BOOK More details give a richer sense of the characters and their environment.

MOVIE It’s only two hours long.  And not full of spelling typos.

BOOK It would make for perfect read-alouds to small children.

BOTH All of Mowgli’s speech is translated so that those of us who don’t speak animal can follow along.

What, did you think I was going to tell you one was the winner, one was better?  Psh.  Dream on.  Go find out for yourself…

Onto The Yearling–here’s to hoping I can push through most of it today!

SPAZIO ARTE CORSI PER BAMBINI Età 0/12 anni
Per tutti i bambini che hanno voglia di liberare la fantasia con un tuffo nell’arte Laboratorio di pittura, scultura, costruzioni in legno, disegno….. “ComE” Leonardo Da Vinci. Uno dei più grandi geni della storia dell’ umanità. Pittore, scultore, architetto, ingegnere, matematico, musicista, inventore. Leonardo é il “modello” della fantasia che crea nuove forme, é l’archetipo dell’immaginazione che crea felicità. Noi, ancora oggi, quando guardiamo una sua opera, partecipiamo alla felicità che Leonardo provava mentre immaginava le sue creazioni, quando, ispirato da un paesaggio o da un volto nuovo si metteva a dipingere con tutto se stesso.
INSEGNANTI:
Giuliana Dimilta – arte, disegno, manipolazione
Aldo Viti – propedeutica, laboratori artistico musicali
Luigi Gagliardi – propedeutica canto in inglese

SPAZIO ARTE CORSI PER BAMBINI Età 0/12 anni
Per tutti i bambini che hanno voglia di liberare la fantasia con un tuffo nell’arte Laboratorio di pittura, scultura, costruzioni in legno, disegno….. “ComE” Leonardo Da Vinci. Uno dei più grandi geni della storia dell’ umanità. Pittore, scultore, architetto, ingegnere, matematico, musicista, inventore. Leonardo é il “modello” della fantasia che crea nuove forme, é l’archetipo dell’immaginazione che crea felicità. Noi, ancora oggi, quando guardiamo una sua opera, partecipiamo alla felicità che Leonardo provava mentre immaginava le sue creazioni, quando, ispirato da un paesaggio o da un volto nuovo si metteva a dipingere con tutto se stesso.
INSEGNANTI:
Giuliana Dimilta – arte, disegno, manipolazione
Aldo Viti – propedeutica, laboratori artistico musicali
Luigi Gagliardi – propedeutica canto in inglese

Tidak tahu bagaimana cara kerjanya, tetapi aroma dan rasa bisa menggugah kenangan lama. Aku pikir cuma aku doank yang cengeng, lagi makan bolu, bisa berkaca-kaca matanya atau tertawa-tertawa sendiri ingat masa kecil.

Kemarin lagi browse-browse wordpress ternyata ada juga yang begitu. Makan Won Ton Soup dan memori bersama sang papa di Medan. Memang kalau melihat fotonya sih aku juga bisa meringis, apa lagi jam-jam lapar begini. Diluar hujan, dingin-dingin sedapnya menyeruput kuah dan won ton. Slurppp..

Sekarang giliran aku deh yang cerita.

Bolu Kukus Mowgli

“Mau mamam Baloo, Mami!!”

Begitulah teriakanku sambil mendendangkan lagu dan joget-joget ala Baloo dan Mowgli dari Jungle Book.

Baloo adalah karakter favoriteku dari film Jungle Book. Rasanya waktu cepat sekali berlalu, baru kemarin rasanya ikut-ikutan nyanyi “bare necessities, the simple bare necessities..” bersama Baloo dan Mowgli, sekarang tiba-tiba sudah segede bagong.

Begitulah, tidak tahu saking nge-fansnya sama si Baloo atau memang bicaranya masih tidak becus, bolu kukus itu aku panggil Baloo haha

What a simple time it was!!

Pikiranku hanya dipenuhi oleh teman-teman animasiku, Mowgli dan Baloo, Tom dan Jerry, Doraemon dan Nobita.

*sigh* aku cuma berharap suatu saat nanti aku bisa memberikan perlindungan dan kasih sayang seperti yang orang tuaku berikan.

Bolu Kukus Mowgli it’s my childhood “bare necessities, the simple bare necessities…” (klik disitu untuk full song dari YouTube.com)

Baloo

Baloo is the lovable, joyful bear from the classic film “The Jungle Book.”  He also appeared in the sequels and in the Disney Afternoon cartoon “TaleSpin.”

Baloo is a fairly easy bear to find.  He’s also HUGE, so he’s hard to miss!  In Florida, he’s out fairly often at the Magic Kingdom.  He tends to meet in the meet & greet spot when you enter Adventureland, often with King Louie.  At Epcot, he’s been seen out behind the character spot.  At Hollywood Studios, he randomly appears around the big hat or in the Animation Building.  And at Animal Kingdom, he tends to appear a lot… normally near the entrance.

Have you met Baloo anywhere?

Gene Kelley danced past Joe's in "Singing in the Rain."

OLD BLACK MAGIC:

“Separateness is a useful illusion.”  – The Big Kahuna.

Separateness is a youthful illusion.  Jl.

The ancient Sumerians had no concept of guilt or sin.  Later, the Renaissance considered a life unencumbered by revealed religion.  Religionists study “The Book” in preference to studying themselves; they put enormous energy into it, which if applied to the exploration of self, might produce a more fulfilling result.

“Monotheism is the flip side of intolerance.” – TV Travel Channel on sacred sites, explaining Amarna, Egypt.

Note: In the typical Christian, Moslem, Jewish life, Life is a pain.  One must suffer and hopefully endure until the bitter pill of death is administered.  Within that pain is the typically human drive to pursue happiness.  Happiness is fleeting, of course, but its pursuit keeps us busy, which alleviates the pain, and the fear we have of death.  Pursuing happiness is an attempt to overcome and/or keep the pain at bay as long as humanly possible; but it is just a pastime after all, not a destination.

“[When I die] all these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.” – Rutger Hauer, Bladerunner.

INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS:

“What is it like to feel a stranger?” – - PBS question.  Senator Craig?

I wrote: “Ryan’s wagon was parked by the curb with its tailgate down.”  Spell check gave me: “The curb with its tailgate down parked Ryan’s wagon.”  Typed: “Ryan’s tailgate was parked with its wagon down at the curb.”  Speel check not trubled.  Glow figger.

“You’re getting into the heart of another person’s innermost being, which is something most other websites don’t offer.” – Customer, Loveline.Com, 4/04.  Counselor Dracula will see you now.

“Monte Markham as the voice of Plutarch.” – credit, Cleopatra, A&E Classroom. Get central casting!  He doesn’t even sound like Plutarch.

She boasted she could shoot and manage a horse as well as a man.  (Duck, guys!).

The Exophiles: Moldy and Scullery track the origin of an alien plaque.  “Moldy, I don’t remember receiving the Frederick W. Grossbach Award, do you?”  “No, Scullery, but it looks good on the wall with the others.”

“There’s never been ANYTHING like it.” – Shaq, speaking for Icy Hot.

We have different views of art.  He draws a stick.  I struggle for “stickness.”  8/97

Creative people routinely demonstrate how to get from here to there.  10/97

Crop circles are just tiny alien subdivision plats to demonstrate that wheat fields can be flattened to make room for tiny alien condos and split-levels.

Q: “Just when are you coming down to earth, young man?”  A: “When it’s all over, I hope.” – Fred Astaire, The Sky’s the Limit.

“No doesn’t mean no.  It means you gotta cut a corner, work harder, and beat the system.”  – Baloo, Disney’s Tailspin, 1/94.  Walt Disney, always a powerful force for strong evangelistic fascist morality.

“We want to talk about reducing nuclear weapons, particularly the kind that kill people.” – Casper Weinberger, Nixon’s Secretary of Defense, CBS News.

“Mr. Begin has offered to let each member of the PLO to leave Lebanon carrying an arm.”  Dianne Sawyer, 6/30/82.  But leave the other arm and both legs behind.

“On a farm with no watch dog, the fox rules the roost.” – Ancient Sumerian proverb.

“NEVAH GO THIRSTY AGAIN!”

“Don’t drink alone, Scarlet.  People always find out, and it ruins the reputation.” – Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), Gone With the Wind.

Robert E. Lee is a highly over-rated general.  Grand Strategy – none.  War Strategy – predictable.  Occasional flashes of brilliance on the battlefield?  No.  He was a most mediocre general.  He had poor early opponents and other Confederate generals, notably Thomas Henry “Stonewall” Jackson, won the early battles.  Otherwise, Lee lost the war in the east.  His arrogance at Gettysburg; the pervading sense of invincibility he fostered in his under-supplied and under-equipped troops, amply observable in the frivolous foraging excursion of legendary goof-off Jeb Stuart with Lee’s entire cavalry; bone-headed insistence on frontal assault of Little Roundtop; and the ridiculous courage absent reason of George Pickett’s suicidal charge, amply demonstrate Lee’s lousy generalship.  Longstreet had a clue, but Lee was too self-involved and self-admiring to listen to him.  Lee was reckless and careless with lives and materiel.  He admitted as much, but rank has its privileges and admirers made plenteous excuses for him – “Bad day, Marse Robert; get ‘em next time!”  His siege resistance outside Richmond worked because of Grant’s outdated Napoleonic-era military science.  Sherman might easily have marched right up behind him, but Grant ordered him not to take Richmond.  The Eastern Army had been waiting years, and there would be war between east and west!  Nope, Lee is highly and very definitely over-rated.

Union General Burnside never let his incompetence impede his triumphant march to personal success.  When he marched his men into a shell hole to be slaughtered during the last days of the Siege of Richmond, Abraham Lincoln said, “Only Burnside could snatch one more defeat from the jaws of victory!”

DAMN LIBERAL CONSERVATIVES:

Against “tax and spend bleeding heart liberal socialist democrats,” place “rob, rape, and ruin selfish warmongering radical conservative republicans.”

Said of the Congress:  “They have to find a way to institutionalize the existing situation, so they don’t have to fix it.”

Advice to Political Candidates:  “Can’t swear, can’t talk about religion and politics, race, or lifestyle.  People tune ya out if ya do.  Make sure yer pronunciation is correct, or the comics will eat ya alive.  Be careful with ideas as they make people very uneasy.  For god’s sake, don’t be negative; be positive, upbeat, and try to sound profound somehow – not too profound, just sort of wise, or sort of a natural good guy about it.  Nobody likes a know-it-all.  You’ll figure it out; it’s in through there.”

“It’s the lie you tell yourself that matters.” – Inspector Morse, ’95.

“No sensible man would allow himself to be sent to war to defend a politician.” – Minister, The Dreyfus Affair.

Q:  Why do we serve the system?  A:  Because it’s comforting in its routines and, like any abused child, we’d rather keep the horror we’ve got than deal with fear of the unknown and the uncertainty of change.

Our national debate has become timid.  The Neville Brothers sing, “You can tell the truth, as long as you don’t tell too much.” So what can one do about it?  Here’s a starter list:

• Stick up for your rights – your own integrity matters more than loyalty to a negative cause.
• Stimulate sympathy – there are social and political reasons for what we do. The social reasons create the greatest measure of self-identification and response.
• Speak only from fact – listen, especially when you don’t agree.
• Use a variety of sources of information; try to understand the other view.
• Act. Do something positive everyday.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves.”

LAST COMMENT:

Pain is an itch we can’t scratch.  All life is pain in the Buddhistic sense.  Its temporal fleeting nature is a constant bitter sweetness, forever a tear on the edge of beauty, a sigh on the cusp of grief.  We only get it for a moment, and sitting in silence, alone, we can feel its presence somewhere, always within, always informing, if we will it so.

Peace and Love,  brothers and sisters.  Keep on keepin’ on, and don’t forget to salute the Man in the Moon!

JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER:

Published on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by The Guardian/UK

Human Activity Is Driving Earth’s ‘Sixth Great Extinction Event’.  Population growth, pollution, and invasive species are having a disastrous effect on species in the southern hemisphere, a major review by conservationists warns, by Ian Sample.  Earth is experiencing its “sixth great extinction event” with disease and human activity taking a devastating toll on vulnerable species, according to a major review by conservationists.

 http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/28-11

So this is a bit of a gruesome post. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK…

The other day we had an excursion on a boat. I know. Not very gruesome. Just wait. It gets really sad and gruesome soon. So the ride was long, and when we finally reached land we all had scurvy and were terribly dehydrated, (which may seem paradoxical, but we also very badly needed to use the restroom) Anywho, we found a museum thing that was closed, and decided to hold off eating, and instead tromp around the grounds of the closed museum. A man who runs the restaurant of the museum saw our misshapen bodies (remember scurvy) and invited us into his closed and empty restaurant (no food. No help!) He was nice enough. He had a dog named Baloo, you know from the Jungle Book. So I liked him right from the start. He also had a worker guy in his empty closed restaurant. Well, while the owner was showing off his empty restaurant, the worker guy pulled me aside and showed me various aspects of the restaurant. Here is a dead fish head. Here is a pool table. Here is a stuffed Beaver. You know things like that. Very romantic… Anyway, the worker guy and I had a moment. So we left the restaurant and promptly had to use the restroom. There was just a smelly outhouse thing. So I, along we the others, waited in line patiently. Just as it was about to be my turn, the worker guy told me that I didn’t have to wait in line for the outhouse, that I could use his toilet, in his house (which was attached to the restaurant) I, of course, accepted his offer. I am not opposed to a nice toilet. Anyway, I guess when I was in the toilet the worker guy noticed that we were all hungry. The director told him that we have food, but unfortunately that I can’t eat it (pork, and I don’t eat swine…) So when I got out of the toilet, the worker guy gifted me his fish pie thing (it actually was really tasty) just for me. I was quite flattered. The guy and I obviously had some sort of connection. Ok. Well are you ready for the gruesome part? Well he is dead now! No. I am not kidding. He drowned a few hours we left. We don’t know exactly the circumstances surrounding his death. But regardless, I was quite sad to hear that he had died. Its not like I was ever going to see him again. But still. No one else from my group had any interactions with him. In fact when we found out, he was described to the group as the guy who gave me the fish pie. Him and I had a special interaction. And now he is dead. It is all very sad.

Ok. So that wasn’t all that gruesome. More sad. But still.

Ok the gruesome part. Ordinarily I don’t like to talk about myself personally, but I had this dream the other day, and I can’t get it out of my mind. Anyway. I will just give you the important pieces of the dream.

I was riding a people mover, and I look down and see a giraffe head rolling by. Then I look to my right, and see a headless giraffe fall to its knees, dead. Then I expand my vision, and notice that the giraffe is in some sort of zoo place. I decide to get out of the people mover to check out what is going on. I see that the place is not a zoo but rather a reserve to hunt exotic animals. I decide to enter, being interested of course. However, as soon as I enter, I almost get beheaded myself, but the attacker and his sword just miss me. I take a closer look at the attacker, as clearly I am confused. I am on a reserve to hunt wild game. I am not wild game. As I try to find the hunter I see all around me rhinos and tigers and elephants. Mostly dead, but some still alive, all running frantically for their lives. Then at that moment I get a glimpse of the hunter, he is a monkey. Huge. Like a human in all ways, except a monkey. Think Planet of the Apes, but way better makeup. Anyway, I stop to think about the situation. There aren’t any monkeys that big. This can’t be real. But then I think about it some more, and realize that humans are essentially monkeys too.

Ok So I will let you think about that somemore. But wow. I am still weirded out about that dream. Cant get the image of the giraffe head rolling on the floor, and the giraffe body falling to the floor in slo-mo.

Desbocados, sesión de fotos de "Nunca nos fuimos"

No fuimos prolijos en palabras y menos en explicaciones. Ni siquiera dijimos adiós. Tal y como dijo Sergio Marcos, “nos vamos con el mismo silencio con el que vinimos”.

Desde hace un par de meses Desbocados dejaron de ensayar, de componer, de tener, en definitiva, una razón de ser. Dejamos atrás 12 años de historia, de conciertos y de millones de anécdotas (no descarto publicar alguna aquí, ya que hay como para escribir un libro). Nos abandonamos a la deriva, desmotivados por querer luchar contra unos elementos desfavorables para el Rock (no diría tanto para el Rock and Roll).

Y me dio pena, mucha pena. Tengo una caja llena de discos que no vendimos, unos cuantos conciertos en los que no tocamos, y un puñado de canciones que bien le podrían haber gustado a alguien si hubiera tenido la oportunidad de escucharlas.

Me quedo con muchos recuerdos y algunas satisfacciones, como la de, después de un concierto, ser parado por alguien a quien no conocía, y ser reconocido con las palabras que más pueden gustar a alguien que toca: “me ha gustado mucho esa canción”.

Pero si hay algo con lo que me quedo es con toda la gente que he tenido la oportunidad de conocer, y a la que, desde aquí, rindo homenaje desde lo más hondo de mi corazón.

Dani Casanueva y Eva, por el apoyo desinteresado y el management; Martens por, pese a todo, haberme puesto aquí; Pep Cabrero, por haber formado parte de la banda y por haber compartido tanto con nosotros; Baloo, por habernos dado tantos abrazos de oso y tantísimo cariño; a Ferran de “La Rulot”, por todo su apoyo; a Climent Montserrat por aguantarnos y aportar toda su profesionalidad a la banda; a Jose Guzmán, por tantos conciertos y por su amistad y apoyo sincero; a Xavier Pol, por habernos perseguido hasta donde llegó nuestra furgoneta; a Marta y Jep, con todo el cariño, por ser de nuestra propia familia durante los 12 años que tocamos; a Xavi Taker, por ser un ídolo y querer enseñarme; al Loco, por hacernos soñar dos noches que éramos estrellas (y por dejarme esa Telecaster); a Igor Paskual, Mario Cobo, Marco Antonio López, Noemí Belmonte y Stiven Moyano por participar desinteresadamente en el disco.

A Carmen por su apoyo incondicional.

A todos y cada uno de los asistentes de cualesquiera de los conciertos que hemos hecho.

Y a Fran, Sergio, Lauri, Rebel y Dani.

Hasta la próxima.

PICKLES!!!
Aka Pickle-bliss, Pickle-Pooch, Pickle-Baloo, Pickle-butter-sandwich.
Okay, maybe that’s overshare…  

I am pleased to report that Blondie and Piano-man are now Pickle -approved.

Despite having voted on ‘Pickles’, the name ‘Poochie’ may live on forever in Tot’s vocabulary.

      We got a new cat.  He’s a total sweetie.  He let’s Tot molest him as you can see. But he came with the wrong name.  It’s just wrong.  Pooshie or “Poochie” as Tot calls him.  “Pooch” might actually be appropriate – he’s larger than many dogs…  Now, I don’t take the subject of names lightly.  Mr Tot and I took the full nine months to agree to Tot’s name.  

     First I suggested Pickles because Tot likes this cat as much as she likes Pickles which is pretty extreme, and Mr.Tot suggested Bliss because the cat is so blissed-out, then Pickle-bliss, and Pepperoni.  I suggested something indicating the Abominable Snowman but I don’t really like Yeti which Mr. Tot tells me is his name. Then I suggested Russian names but Boris was the only one I could think of, which might be cute.    So, with my usual obsessiveness, after wracking my brain which took all of about 30 seconds, I turned to the internet. 

      I looked up Polar Bear names – Juneau, Klondike, and then noticing they were Alaskan towns, looked up Alaskan towns  – Kodiak, Nome which could double as Garden Gnome if he stalks the garden.  Then there are those which are Alaskan but sound Russian – Belkofski, Nikolski or maybe they’re stolen.

 Then I found it – Beluga!!! which is a white whale or Baloo for short – like from the Jungle Book = Happy-go-lucky bear!!!)  Purrrrfect!!!  (of course Mowgli’s pretty cute too.)   And it would fit into the neighborhood trend – Pooshie’s info sheet did say he was more dog-like than cat….  Our neighborhood is overflowing with “B” dognames….  Bo, Bennie, Bocchi, Bella, Bella, Bella  (record didn’t skip – we do have 3 Bella’s in this neighbor) and then there’s Bergylsnorpe and Barkylthorpe – though their names have been changed to protect the guilty.  Pooshie has already touched noses with Berglsnorpe (see??  Alaska in his blood with eskimo kissing!!) and he’s been introduced to Devil cat, though she was not his taste for kissing, either that or he’s savoring the chase.

 Then there’s Fritz – as in – he’s on the fritz (not working)

 - Kokhanok (or coconut for short – flaky white stuff?) (kind of sounds like you’re singing Put a lime in the coconut …  with your hips swaying

 - And before you even suggest it – Wasilla is OUT!!!!

 - Chicken – YES, there is an Alaskan town named Chicken – and we could give Pooshie a red comb for Halloween…  and Uncle Steve would be so proud (he works for Cobb- sub-division of Tyson)

 - Did you know that there’s a town called Kalifornsky???  For real!!!  Most of these names, I had to discard because I either couldn’t pronounce them or I wouldn’t remember them….  It’s very limiting – this memory thing.  This afternoon, I couldn’t remember the names of a couple kids I see all the time in the pool.  Oops.

 - Yistletaw?  sounds like somebody screwed up on Mistletoe…

 So…  what do you think?   Do you like any of these?  Suggest anything better?  Let me know…

I was going to blather on about today, but I’ve spent so much time searching for a name, I’m exhausted, and since I got up at 5:30 this morning – I really should head for bed – I’ll just leave you with the highlight picture of the day….  I sure hope she sleeps in tomorrow morning.

Jealous Bass by Baloo

 So! We finally get a moveset from the guy who pumped out more than his fair share last contest, huh? Good to see you’re still at it, Baloo. I guess I’m looking at a boss from Mother 3. I’m not too familiar with the Mother series, but given the extremely brief backstory, maybe that won’t matter here. The Twist (by the way, I don’t know if I ever told you, I’m soooo glad it’s no longer The Special Thing That Makes Him Special) sounds pretty fun, although now I wonder why you have pictures of 6 characters up top when only three of them matter… Eh, whatever.

Stat-wise, he looks like your typical big, slow, powerful character. Unlike most characters like that, though, he’s apparently got a pretty rockin’ range. Hopefully that doesn’t break him; I don’t think it should, but it does present itself as a possibility. I try not to rely on Stats for that decision, though, so let’s move on to the actual ’set.

 The Neutral Special SOUNDS cool, but I can’t totally picture it right. The big problem is how the Bass swings himself. I can’t tell what the range of this move would be. I can’t even guess at it, really. Also, I’m confused about where you say “in the smashes,” as you can’t smash a Neutral Special. I guess maybe I’m missing something here, so… I don’t know.

The Side Special is a good concept, but I kind of dislike how it’s so much better against some characters (13 seconds for Ness) than others (3 seconds for Mario). Also, did you…copy this list from Warlord’s Lust moveset? Check R.O.B. (the first occurence of his name in the list) and Captain Falcon. Anyway, I think even for the characters who are only given 3 or 4 seconds of vulnerability, the time is kind of long. I mean, this move isn’t hard to hit with, and it’s painfully easy to follow up with that kind of downtime.

The Up Special is somewhat clever, but it feels like you just couldn’t think of anything better. It kind of seems like a joke ’set concept turned serious, if you ask me, and I don’t know how much I like that…

The Down Special, is normally a perfectly fine move. With just the Bass, I can still go for it. The randomness isn’t too extreme there. Electric Guitar is a bit too random for my tastes, though, as it’s, quite frankly, completely unreliable. Musical Change is kind of a waste, obviously, something I’d rather see in, say, a Taunt. It’s clever, don’t get me wrong, but as a move… Eh…

The Neutral Attack is kind of boring. The only variation that’s exciting is the full band one, and on that, I’d like to see mention of the speed of the lightning bolt. The Dash Attack / F-Tilt is somewhat interesting, though I’m beginning to feel like this moveset has a few lackluster ideas in it, and some underdeveloped ones, probably because you were trying to write descriptions for multiple possibilities with each move. The Up Tilt is kind of an example. It’s just…not as exciting as I’d hoped it would be. Coupled with the randomness effect… Anyway, the Down Tilt is fine. I actually don’t have any complaints about that. Good.

The Smashes are all fine, since you didn’t try to explain multiple instrument possibilities for each move. I have one question, though: what determines whether the jam option or the other one is chosen? Did I miss that, or is it just plain not mentioned anywhere? If I missed it, that’s my bad, but if it’s not there, that’s a problem. Anyway, like I said, I like the other versions of the attacks. They’re clever and now I understand what those other pictures up top were for, so that’s just fine.

The Bass’ attack for the Neutral Aerial is easily the best of the bunch, though I’m a little confused about how many hits he scores. And I assume he always does those hits on the beat, right? Anyway, just a little clarification needed there. The Forward Aerial is okay, nothing really special. By the way, do you know that your attack names are out of order more than a few times throughout the moveset? Just something I thought I should point out. The Off Key Attack in the Backward Aerial is nice, one of the moves I’m actually enjoying a bit in this moveset. Anyway, the Up Aerial, as I believe you’ve been told, is impossible, with the modes and all, but barring that…I still think this move is a little awkward. It’s like a random effect move, and not a reliable one either. Sort of random for an Up Aerial, too… The Down Aerial works all right, though mega-slow, mega-powerful may not be what I’d imagined this trio needing. Either way, it’s an okay move, if a bit too slow-and-powerful for my liking.

The Final Smash is fine, seems especially fitting to the character(s), so I won’t complain about the fact that it’s a little boring. I know it happens sometimes when you’re trying to be in-character. Yeah, not much more to say about that.

Oh, so now we come to the Throws. The Grab is fine, the Pummel is boring, and the actual Throws are pretty good. In particular, I like the Up and Down Throws, but the others are also clever enough. This actually may have been my favorite section of this moveset, so good job.

Taunts and Victory Poses are fine. That Down Taunt is a nice little Extra. The rest of the Extras are all fine. I do like the Kirby Hat; that’d be funny to see. Um… Yeah, that’s all for Extras commentary.

So! I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t think this is your best work, Baloo. I’ve seen you do better than this. I know this moveset was thought up on kind of a whim, and probably wasn’t meant to be a serious contender, so hopefully that won’t hit too hard. It was mainly lacking in detail and creative juices, if you ask me. It was an okay read, just a tad bland or confusing at parts. *Shrug*

HUZZAH!

Fredagen den sjätte Februari 2009 fick jag hem denna rejäla pjäs med posten. Det är en cirka fyra decimeter hög Baloo-figur från serien “Luftens hjältar”. Jag gillar den verkligen.

Om “Luftens hjältar”:

Den tecknade tv-serien Luftens hjältar återanvänder tre figurer – Baloo, Louie och Shere Khan – från Disneys långfilm Djungelboken, men placerar dem i en helt annan verklighet. Platsen är staden Kap Suzette under vad som huvudsakligen tycks vara 1930-talet. Baloo är här en fraktpilot som finner större nöje i att slappa och ta det lugnt än att arbeta. Louie driver en bar belägen på en ö utanför kusten och Shere Khan är Kap Suzettes dominerande affärsman och en kapitalist helt i tidens anda.

Persongalleriet kompletteras av en rad nyskapade figurer, däribland den unge föräldralöse Ville Virvel, mekanikern Vildkatt som kan laga allt men som i övrigt är minst sagt trögtänkt, den teatraliske luftpiraten Don Karnage, den affärsinriktade Rebecca Cunningham (som är Baloos chef) och hennes dotter Molly.”

Källa: http://disneyania.tonakaistudio.com/

Let us rewind to April 5th, the day after the dog catcher came to collect the tag-along dog.
I was in my car with Jakkie, we were on our way to Target to buy maternity clothes and a silly monkey easter basket for her. I had the key in the ignition and was getting ready to start the car when some lady tapped on my window. I didn’t know this lady, so I was confused. I got out to see what she wanted and got dragged into a way too long conversation.
Turns out this lady who approached me lives four doors down from me and her daughter is my duplex neighbor. It just happens that this lady has indulged a little bit too much in I don’t know what drug. She not all there, really, so it took a while to get this out of her.
It seems that when the dog catcher came, she saw him taking this dog, which she happens to know the owners of. She freaked out. She begged the catcher not to take her (I guess it’s a girl, but she pees like a boy dog so I thought she was a he.). The dog catcher was having none of that and I don’t blame him. So she runs down to the house and tells the people the dog catcher is taking their dog. So they run down to get the dog. They talked the guy into not taking the dog, but they still got charged for this dog running around loose, plus they got charged for having two other dogs that aren’t licensed at all.

She wanted to know what happened to make me call animal control. I told her of how this dog harasses us and how I have tried to talk to the owners and how I have tried to put the damn dog back in its yard and how I had just had enough already. She didn’t really get what I was all upset about. She told me about the lady who walks in the morning with her rottweiler and how this little dog (Honey is her name, by the way) would walk with them, jumping all around and being all spazzy (my words, obviously). So that just made me wonder if this lady ever had a freaking choice! The lady with the rotti recently moved, apparently, so my best guess is that Honey was looking for a new family to torment.

The bitch of it all is that I didn’t get back to my normal walk routine until this last Monday because of my trip to Los Angeles, so I didn’t even know if causing all this drama helped at all.

Monday morning she wasn’t there and I had hope.

Tuesday, as Baloo and I rounded the corner, sure as shit, there was Honey. It would seem their solution to all this was to remove her collar. Umm. Sure. No tag, no fine? Is that what they are thinking? Gawd! So I walked back home and got out my little green water gun and filled it with water and took it and Baloo back out. I was going to finish my walk damn it!
I did not have a great walk, but I did walk. Every time Honey got near us I squirted her. I don’t know a single dog that likes getting sprayed in the face with water. None. It was suggested to me that I should get some dog mace, but I don’t like that idea. Besides, I have visions of me, the exact opposite of grace, spraying Baloo by mistake. Or spraying myself. No, better stick with something that doesn’t hurt anyone, ’cause that’s more my way anyways.
It started to work a little better every time I sprayed her, but she still followed us all the way home.

This morning she wasn’t out and now I don’t know what to think.

All I know is that my yard contained Honey with absolutely no problem, so clearly they have not even tried to build a dog run for her or any other freaking thing to solve this problem. Oh! That’s right! It isn’t really their problem, it’s everyone else’s problem. It bothers me that they don’t seem to care. I feel like I need to communicate with them somehow, but I don’t think they will hear me. At least, so far they haven’t. I thought about sending them a letter. It’s less confrontational than an in person visit. And I have thought about just letting it go and training Honey to not follow us using the squirt gun. There is a bigger problem here than just me though. Their dog runs free, out in the street! Honey could be hit by a car any day and not only die, but traumatize some poor motorist. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to strike and animal with your car, you know what I mean by that.

I think I will send a letter if Honey continues to follow us, but I don’t think I will get them to see things my way, which is not something I usually care about. Normally, I really don’t care if anyone sees things my way, but it isn’t Honey’s fault and I feel like I should speak on her behalf. Grrrr.

It has been a bittersweet trip. The very reason for me being in Los Angeles is a sad one. Jill was amazing and graceful. Quite a remarkable woman. The card I made her was just right and touched her very deeply.
I am grateful for my friend and getting to spend happy time with her and her boyfriend. She and I had a great time at the Getty yesterday. Well, after she got some coffee into me. I was pretty well worthless until then. :p
But, I am ready to go home now. Home! I even had a dream about Baloo being so, so, so excited to see me.
I’m coming, Baloo! I’m on my way!
And when I get there, my new fella and I are taking Baloo to the river! I hope the weather is okay…

I’m in Los Angeles closing up the office here.

The RVP’s assistant chose our lodgings. They SUCK. I don’t care if I have to argue with her next time, I am choosing our hotel.

Tony moved in just in time to watch Baloo for me while I’m gone. THANK YOU TONY!!! Baloo loves you so.

We had an excellent Italian meal for dinner. I had spinach and ricotta crepes with cream and red sauce. Oh. My. God. So. Good. I ate ALL of it. Now I am more full than I like to be, but it might have been worth the over full feeling. Yes. I think it was. A noteworthy thing, that.

I am beat after a long stupid day of travel. I’ll try not to worry about how clean my room really is so I can sleep.

Yup. That’s right. I had to call the doggy police. I am tired of going home in frustrated tears because I can’t walk my dog. If I want to avoid the very busy major street with no sidewalks, on which cars fly by at 50+ mph, I have to walk by this house. There is no way around it. I have not gotten a good walk in all week and my thighs are starting to show the effects of my lack of exercise. I am not happy. Today, I should have been enjoying and extra long walk, but again, I didn’t get far before the tag-along was up our butts and running around in the street. I tried to knock on the door, but I couldn’t even find the front door. This house is WEIRD. So, I’d had enough and I called animal control. They are sending out an officer now with the doggy paddy wagon. Said dog is currently out in my back yard playing with Baloo. It was not at all difficult to contain it. It just followed Baloo right in and I closed the gate. Ta-da!
I think Baloo is the problem, really. This little doggy loves Baloo. He loves him! Baloo is four times his size, but they are out there wrasslin’ around and having a fine old doggy time. And if this was voluntary on my part, I would be very happy for them. But this is not a play date. This is not the dog park. This is a run-away harassing me on my morning walks. If I can contain this dog, why can’t they? And I have spoken with the owner before. And I have put the dog in their yard. I have tried to handle this. But the owners don’t see what the problem is. Well, maybe after they are fined they will care enough to keep their dog from harassing walkers by.

domesticated?

maybe. i like people, but

i’d survive out here.

by baloo

First, my dog.
My boy Baloo was a very, very bad boy yesterday. So bad that I almost didn’t let him stay in the house when I left this morning. I am taking a chance. I pleaded with him to be a good boy. I tucked the cover on the couch in real tight and stuffed a dog cookie into his kong really tight so he would have to work at it for a while. When I came home yesterday he was outside. That in and of itself is odd, because he is always happy for me to be home. He does this sometimes when he knows he is, or will soon be, in trouble. And boy was he in trouble!
See, he decided to play with one of the couch cushions. He got one open and removed a little bit of the stuffing. Mind you, I was furious, but I have experienced so much worse. From him and from my other, past, dogs. He didn’t ruin it. He could have. He really could have. I have lost entire chairs and couches to dogs. But I got the thing back together fine and it doesn’t even feel lumpy.
I was very nervous leaving home today. I decided to risk it and leave the doggy door open though. Stupid? I don’t know. I do know that if I lock him outside my risk of him getting bored out there and getting out of the yard is pretty high. He gets bored, what can I say? I will contain him in the garage if I have to, but that is no life for a dog, so that is a last resort.
I was not entirely pleased when I got home today, but I wasn’t busting any blood vessels either. One of the cushions was, indeed, off the couch, but not torn or unstuffed. He destroyed my morning walk hat though. Grrr. You remember what Jayne’s hat in Firefly looks like? Well, it was kind of like that. Ear flaps to protect my little elf ears from the morning cold, fleece lined with cute tassels on the sides and top. Sigh. I really liked that hat. Clearly, Baloo needs more restriction, but I figured out how to do it. The cage-like gate I have out back to protect the PG&E man from Baloo can come inside. Screw that utility man anyways! Just kidding. They have these handy little scan guns now, so they don’t even need to go in people’s yards anymore. Having the gate in the house is not really what I want, but it will do. I am not willing to lose anymore possessions to a spoiled, bored dog!
Having Tony move in is going to end up being a big, big help. Even if Tony is home sleeping during the day, he will be there. Just the fact that he will be there will help Baloo.

Second, not my dog.
The neighbor’s dog. And by neighbors, I don’t mean next door. I mean down the street and around the corner neighbors. These neighbors SUCK! They seem to have the attitude that if their dogs wander off it’s okay, because they always come back. Okay, fine. But what about all the people who have to DEAL with your dogs?! This kind of irresponsible dog ownership drives me crazy! This little one today (I think they have like 6 dogs) looked kind of like Bolt from the recent movie of the same name. Cute, sure, but oh so annoying. This is not the first time Baloo and I have had our walks interrupted by these people’s dogs. He followed us relentlessly to the point where Baloo was getting defensive. This little dog was right up Baloo’s ass. Baloo peed, he peed right over it. They he tried to get Baloo to play. Okay, if we were at the dog park that would be great. But I was trying to get our morning walk in. I was so irritated that I cut our walk short. The dog followed us all the way to my front door. I assume it got home okay, since it’s allowed to wander wherever the hell it wants to go and no human seems to give a shit that it could get run over or anything.
Yes, I checked the tag. If I had been able to figure out for sure who the dog belonged to, instead of just being fairly certain, I totally would have knocked on their door at 6 AM. Hell yeah I would! Not. My. Dog! But it only had the county tag on it and those only have the animal control number and dog ID number. No owner phone or address. So I could have called animal control and left a message. Yeah. So helpful.

Oh, fur faces. Such big trouble you can be. Maybe my next pet will be a cat. But that won’t be for another, like, ten years. By then, I’ll probably be over the whole pet thing anyway. In the meantime, as much trouble as my boy can be, he is still my favorite mammal. I do love my boy.

Seen through my mobile phone