Josceline's Bower

War on Christmas Takes a Shocking Turn

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:31:45 GMT

Instead of a "Keep Christ in Christmas" sign, a California man decided to depict a shotgun-toting Jesus standing over a dead Santa. The neighbors were not amused. It's worth watching the video (which I cannot embed, unfortunately). http://www.kcoy.com/global/story.asp?s=11697824

Cookie Goodness

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:40:31 GMT

I had a fun time decorating cookies yesterday. Thanks to my hosts for being so hospitable and fun. There were semi-obscene Christmas angels (thanks to dread_ex ) and Chanukkah blasphemy (bacon-wrapped shrimp cooked up by doc_jock ), and a sitcom-worthy Christmas display (thanks to the neighbor across the street). ego_id_non_feci is turning into a formidable hostess -- she may one day give the Barony's own Martha Stewart a run for her money.

Random Odds and Ends

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:23:24 GMT

There's a new rum in town. Local distiller Yahara Bay is making "Mad Bird Rum" -- which feature's Madison's official city bird, the pink plastic flamingo, on the label. I may have to check it out.

Johnny Depp is jumping on the vampire bandwagon. He will star in a Tim Burton-directed movie based on the old "Dark Shadows" soap opera.

Design Toscano is jumping on the tacky Obama merchandise bandwagon. Good grief! Actually, I suspect it's left over from last year. Can't imagine why they didn't sell out...

The problem with 14" of snow...

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:31:46 GMT

...is that it's hard to find somewhere to put it all. The snow banks got so high that it was difficult for short little me to fling more snow on top of them. I can deal with 5 or 6 inches of snow at once without much problem anymore (the last two winters toughened me up), but 14" is hard, even with another person to help. I've never seen so much wet, heavy snow at once. Usually, on those rare occasions when we get more than a foot of snow, it's light and fluffy. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for this winter. NOAA said that El Nino should give us a milder-than-usual winter in the upper midwest.

Taking a Break

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:39:00 GMT

I just spent an hour and a half shovelling. The sidewalks are clear (except for the light dusting of snow that fell while I was shovelling), but most of the driveway is still snow covered (except a narrow path from the back door to the front sidewalk).

I didn't look at my watch (it was buried under three layers of clothing), but I knew it was Noon when the church carillon a couple blocks away played a little tune. It also plays at 6:00 p.m. It's very cool being able to measure the day (even a little bit) by the sound of neighborhood church bells.

Winter Wonderland

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:39:11 GMT

There's about 15" of snow sitting on top of our garbage and recycling carts. I'm about to bundle up and shovel the sidewalk. Then I'll come in and treat myself to a chocolate raspberry latte, and maybe a slice of the coconut meringue pie that my husband brought home from the new Hy-Vee recently. Mmm, pie.

Love Is...

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:33:06 GMT

Going to see 2012 in the theater with one's disaster-movie-loving spouse. Actually, it was more entertaining than I expected. We made snarky comments (kind of like MST3K). There were just a handful of people in the theater, and none of them close enough to overhear us. We decided that the Woody Harrelson part really should have been played by Gary Busey, and that the writers missed a great opportunity to have the President (played by Danny Glover) say "I'm too old for this ship!"

There were multiple humorous references to Wisconsin in the movie. Chris suspects there are multiple versions of the movie, in order to reference the audience's home state. Has anyone seen the movie outside of Wisconsin?

Black Friday

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:16:41 GMT

After doing some things around the house, I went to U.S. Cellular around 2:30 this afternoon to pick up some almost-free smart phones for my workplace's employees (they are running a special promotion this weekend). I figured it might be a zoo, and I was not disappointed. The parking lot was full, and cars were parked along the frontage road and on the cross streets (I found a spot on a cross street, a bit behind the building). They had a pretty good queuing procedure set up. The entrance was flanked by two employees with clipboards, one of whom took my name and asked me to wait. After about five minutes, a chair in the waiting area opened up, so I sat down and read the paper.

A lot of people clearly were not prepared for the wait. Several times, they called someone's name with no response. It still took half an hour before they got to me. While I was waiting, I overheard a sales associate talking to another customer, saying that they expected a crowd, but nothing this big.

After that experience, I found the crowds at the mall to be anti-climactic. I needed something at Barnes & Noble, so I decided to take the plunge. It really wasn't bad, and there wasn't much of a line at the check-out. The rest of the mall was populated, but not claustrophobic. No one seemed urgent in their shopping; everyone seemed fairly relaxed. I stopped into Dress Barn, where they were having a buy one get one 50% off sale on everything in the store (except clearance merchandise). There were only a couple other customers in the store. Their merchandise is somewhat overpriced and unfortunately heavy on synthetic fibers (even the blue jeans), which may explain the lack of customers.

I avoided the big box stores. Maybe that's where all the frantic crowds were.

Happy Birthday, Mateobard!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:29:47 GMT

Hope you're having fun on your special day.

Deep Thoughts for the SCA

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:28:36 GMT

The SCA is not an historical re-enactment organization. It is a networking organization for people who have an interest in the middle ages and/or renaissance. It has more in common with the Kalamazoo conference than with Regia Anglorum.

Anyone who has attended or planned an academic or corporate-sponsored conference will know that interspersing serious, educational presentations with fun receptions and silly team-building exercises will increase information retention.

Serious academic researchers need not be embarrassed about being involved with the SCA, so long as they are not trying to pretend it is something that it was never intended to be.

Full Weekend

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:18:18 GMT

I had a hectic week at work, which fortunately eased up a bit on Friday afternoon. I made it to SUN about an hour before my first class on Saturday, which left plenty of time to find my classroom, unload my stuff and haul it to the second floor of the library. I brought a bunch of CDs and a boom box for my music appreciation class, and a bunch of books for my Arthurian legends class. I stuffed most of it into my collapsible cooler on wheels (used in the past as a portable tiki bar), stacked the boom box on top and strolled across Edgewood College's lovely campus (on Wisconsin's most beautiful November day in recent memory). It worked quite well for hauling, especially since there was an elevator. I congratulated myself on my cleverness when I saw Master Cadwallon huffing and puffing after climbing the stairs with a box full of books.

The morning class went fairly well. About eight people came in to get an overview of how music sounded and evolved during our period of study. I chose the music selections on the spot, in an attempt to find examples that each attendee's persona might have heard (that's why I brought a big stack of CDs). That meant I couldn't really give Lady Annetje a discography when she requested one later (she missed the class because it conflicted with another one she wanted to take). I'm going to try to recreate it from memory in an email.

The Laurel Roundtable and the Laurel meeting happened (and finished) on schedule, allowing sufficient time for me to get back to the library building for my afternoon class, on the evolution of the Arthurian legends in period. That one went a little better, I think. My time management was certainly better; I managed to get to Sir Thomas Malory just before the end of the hour. I had a request for a handout later on, after I'd already packed everything up and put it in the car. Fortunately, I was able to email it in PDF format today.

Court was momentous, both for the baronial changeover and for rezansky 's vigilling. I went home, changed out of garb and had a bite to eat, then accompanied my husband to the post-revel. That was fun. We left relatively early, but I was too tired to accompany my hubby to the Inferno afterward to celebrate whymc 's birthday. At least I got to see him last weekend at shannongeek 's party.

Today, I did three loads of laundry, unloaded the car and raked some more leaves in the yard. I expect to sleep well tonight.

For dread_ex

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:36:21 GMT

Some surprising discoveries about the Battle of Bosworth

Not only was the battlefield not quite where they thought it was, but they've uncovered a surprising amount of cannon and musket ammunition.

Petite Theft Auto

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:20:12 GMT

Some nefarious car thieves broke into a storage facility in the Atlanta area and stole seven mini-cars belonging to local Shriners. They tried to return for the remaining three mini-cars but were deterred by the presence of police.

It begs the question of what they plan to do with the mini-cars. How would you sell stolen mini-cars? They would be rather conspicuous, and I suspect that the authorities will be monitoring e-bay and Craig's list.

Maybe some local fraternities plan to stage underground mini-car drag races.

Relaxing Weekend

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:27:27 GMT

It's been a nice weekend of staying fairly close to home after three event-weekends in a row. Yesterday, I ran several errands. It was a lovely, sunny Fall day, which was nice to see after so many gray and drizzly days. At St. Vinnie's, I managed to find theme-appropriate costumes for both me and my hubby to wear to last night's party. That was good, because he was lukewarm about going, since he didn't have a costume. While not as elaborately dressed as many of the party-goers, we did not feel out of place, and we had a great time.

Today, I ran a couple more errands, then went to Cherokee Marsh and took a long walk to enjoy the pleasant weather. There were several other people doing likewise, but the place is big enough that I found some solitude now and then. In parts of the woods, it smelled like some kind of incense (not that anyone was burning incense -- just that the leaves and bark smells reminded me of some incense varieties). I suppose the recent wet weather released some of the essential oils from the plants. I went to a little-visited corner of the park where a wooden pier is still in the water. I sat on the pier and enjoyed the sound of the marsh grasses blowing in the breeze and various birds calling. When I resumed walking, I was surprised to encounter a family with a very vocal child not far away. I'm amazed that I couldn't hear them while I was sitting on the pier.

When I got back, there was a phone message from my brother, who is back from his European vacation. He was out when I called him back, so I haven't heard the details yet. At least there were no mishaps that kept him from returning as planned.

Agincourt Not Such a Lopsided Battle After All?

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:42:19 GMT

Today's New York Times has an article on work by some revisionist historians whose research suggests the French army at the Battle of Agincourt was not nearly as large as English chronicles claim, and that the English force was larger than previously reported.

Happy St. Crispin's Day.

Eventful Weekend

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:53:32 GMT

I day-tripped Crown Tourney last Saturday. It was a nice, low-key event for me. I got to see a lot of friends, and also meet with most of the team I'm sponsoring in Griffin Needleworkers next weekend.

Druscilla wanted to test the pattern she drafted, to be sure it will really work at the event. So, she made a "test fit" outfit using some pretty nice fabric (some that I acquired in Oswin & Isabelle's garage sale and some complementary stuff that she had in her stash). There were only a couple of minor issues with fit that will be adjusted on the competition outfit. I wore the new outfit for most of the day (see photos).

I didn't focus as much on the tournament bouts as I usually do at a Crown, due to garb planning discussions. However, I saw most of it. Congrats to our new Prince and Princess, Tom and Siri.

On Sunday, a bunch of us went to Hartford to see the touring production of The Jungle Book in which mateobard has a major role. The play was fun, and afterwards we all joined him and his family at a local watering hole for dinner. Mmmm, prime rib and chocolate martini. I didn't have room for a banshee (ice cream drink with Irish cream and banana liqueur) afterward, although I've really missed having them since Irish Waters closed. I think dread_ex got one, if I remember right.

So I spent a lot of the weekend in the eastern part of the state. This coming weekend, Griffin Needleworkers will keep me in Madison.

Midrealm 40-Year Anniversary

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:02:25 GMT

Yesterday, I rode down to Chicago with Alissende to the Midrealm 40-year event. It was held at the University of Chicago's Ida Noyes Hall, my all-time favorite event site, as well as the beautiful Rockefeller Chapel next door.

We arrived just about the time the Coronation court was starting, and since we needed to finish getting into garb and find a place to stash the intruments where they wouldn't be stepped on, we skipped it. There was a cool display of historical artefacts, including several freon helms and an embroidered history of the society patterned after the Bayeux Tapestry.

We saw hbevert and Heinrich there, which was great. They are living downstate now, so we'll get to see them from time or time at area events. The four of us sat in the stairwell landing with the window seat and played music for quite a while. It was very enjoyable. A number of folks stopped by to say hi or comment on the music. We were encouraged to go to the chapel for the music jam session (not a concert) before court.

Alissende and I went over earlier than H & H (who still needed to check out the history display). I played for a while with Master Reginald and some musicians I did not know (at least one was with the American Recorder Society group but hadn't been in the SCA before). We were joined a little later by Master Robyyan and Mistress Amelie. Then my thumbs really started to hurt, since I had been playing for a while in the other building also, so I excused myself just as H & H arrived.

Alissende and I sat in a pew near the front so we could hear the remainder of the pre-court music (which sounded really good -- the acoustics in the chapel are nice). Then court started. The King and Queen of the Midrealm were announced, and the musicians played a rendition of "Back in Back" (Robyyan arranged it at King Dag's request). They were followed by the King & Queen of Calontir, who were accompanied by a kazoo band (for a second, I thought I heard krumhorns; sadly, no). The Queen of Ealdormere came in with a herald who sang Bob & Doug MacKenzie's old theme song ("Coo-loo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-COO") and said "Eh" a lot. I held my breath when they called our King and Queen. Siegfried & Elizabeth came in with quiet dignity. Classy. It seemed appropriate after all the times that Dag called him into court for some joke or other.

Midrealm Court was not as long as I feared. By the time we changed clothes, retrieved the car and loaded all of our stuff, it was going on 8:00. We were both tired by the time we got back to Madison (after a quick Taco Bell dinner at the Des Plained oasis). We both get up a lot earlier than we used to and find it more difficult to travel late in the evening. Still, it's nice to sleep in one's own bed.

This morning started early, as my husband plans to go to the post-event fighting practice with Roisin, who wants to leave at 7:30 a.m. To his credit, he got up with no prompting from me and seems very focused on getting ready. I got up a little earlier to make a pot of coffee. On the bright side, it will be easier to get up on Monday than it usually is.

Spider Silk Textiles

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:32:28 GMT

For the fiber geeks, the New York Times has an interesting article about making textiles from the silk of the golden orb spider in Madagascar, including a photo of an 11-foot piece of brocade going on display at the American Museum of Natural History:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/arts/design/23spiders.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

(Free registration is required to access the website).

Deep Thoughts for the SCA

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:40:40 GMT

The likelihood that someone will recommend you for an award is inversely proportional to your demonstrated emotional neediness.

That isn't cruelty; it's tough love. Giving an award to someone who is desperate for emotional validation is like giving heroin to a junkie. Yes, it will make him feel better today, but it will only enable his addiction to continue and escalate. Eventually, he will need bigger and more frequent fixes to keep from freaking out.

Tiki Pirate Weekend

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:13:18 GMT

Friday night, the hubby and I went to Des Plaines to check out the Tiki Terrace. To my surprise, it is located in a strip mall, in a small piece of frontage right next to Radio Shack.

The interior is smaller than I expected, but it is laid out well. The booths are framed with nice carvings, the walls are papered with authentic-looking bark-cloth textiles, and there are big fiberglass moais behind the raised stage. I give them an A for atmosphere.

On Friday and Saturday nights, they have a polynesian dance review. There is a $19.50/person seating fee, which includes an entree from a limited menu. Appetizers, drinks and desserts are extra. The food was tasty (I really enjoyed the poke appetizer; I haven't been able to find poke outside of Hawaii before), and the drinks were pretty good. My husband approved of the zombie, which he said was a little on the tart side, but probably made from scratch, not a mix.

The show was kitschy fun. There were three dancers (two female and one male). Only the male dancer looked like he might actually be polynesian, but they all knew their dance moves. Audience members who were celebrating birthdays or anniversaries were called up on stage to dance as well, for the amusement of their friends and family.

I wouldn't mind going for lunch on a weekend day sometime. They have a more extensive menu when it's not a show night.

On Saturday evening, I attended the housewarming party for rezanskyand tcsumner. It was a lovely gathering, and their new house is adorable, with many nifty features. Their dogs also enjoyed the party (and all of the attention). Afterward, several of us went to the nearby Jade Monkey to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day. It also happened to be the Jade Monkey's 2nd anniversary celebration, so the place was packed with non-pirate patrons. After a round on the crowded patio, we decided to check out the rumored tiki lounge at the nearby Eastside Club. However, that place was hosting a blues festival, so we decided not to go in. Another time.

I was going to post some photos, but my blackberry's battery needs to recharge before I can download them.

Happy Birthday, Reardp!

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:29:56 GMT

May the candles on your cake burn like cities in your wake. Happy Birthday!

Paleolithic Linen

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:45:47 GMT

Paleobiologists looking for pollen samples in a cave in the Republic of Georgia also found traces of processed (wild) flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old. These are the oldest human-processed fibers yet discovered. Very cool.

No Social for Me

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:39:38 GMT

My throat is still sore, and my muscles are achy. I may be contagious, and I need to rest my voice, so I'll be staying home this evening.

Hope to see folks next week.

For whymc

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:12:20 GMT

Here are links to that article we were talking about last night:

Gawker has posted a scan of the original GQ article (by war journalist Scott Andlerson), along with their crowd-sourced Russian translation.

NPR ran a story about Conde Nast's attempted suppression of the article.

Tiki Shack Review

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:23:45 GMT

The hubby and I stopped at The Tiki Shack last Sunday afternoon on our way home from the zoo. It's in that building that's wedged between State and Carroll Streets. The main entrance is on State. The dining room entrance on Carroll Street (as well as the dining room itself) was closed (they only open it on Friday and Saturday nights).

I can't say I was disappointed, because my expectations were low. The decorations are lackluster (like one might find in a basement during a tiki-theme party). Actually, it looks more Carribbean than South Pacific (I doubt the proprieters realize there is a difference). There are a number of palatable tropical drinks on the menu, but they taste like pre-mixes. The coconut shrimp and crab cakes taste like they are pre-made and frozen, then simply baked onsite.

I'll have to check out the tiki lounge at the Eastside Businessmen's Club. There is a tragic lack of decent tiki bars in the Madison area.