| Fun Fact |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|11:19 am] |
Catgut is in fact not made from cat intestines. I was picturing cat farmers raising herds of cats, but this isn't the case.
Catgut is believed to be short for "Cattle gut", or according to folk etymology "kit gut" with kit meaning fiddle.
Although catgut could conceivably be made from the intestines of a cat, in practice it is usually produced using the intestines of sheep or goats. In other words a byproduct of the already existing need for meat.
This will bring some solace to those of us picturing cats slaughtered just for their guts. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|07:47 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | drinkin', holiday | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Nashville Pussy - Here's To Your Destruction | ] |
While the rest of you are out in the heat, I'm relaxing in my house. This is a helluva lot more fun to me than spending a bunch of money of a few seconds of *POP* and being way too hot.
I'm celebrating this by having a new drink. 1 part sweet tea vodka and 1 part Southern Comfort (I suppose you could also do equal shots of vodka and SoCo in very sweet tea, also). I'd call it the "Liquid Panty Remover" if that wasn't both cheesy and already done, so I think I'll just call it "South In Your Mouth" and love every sweet, tasty drop. Holy shit, this stuff is dangerous. Yes, you can come by and have some, but you better hurry, it's goin' fast.
Happy 4th, y'all. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|11:31 pm] |
Game was canceled due to various pre-made plans, so it ended up being just Jen, Di, and myself, watching Cecil B. Demented, Good times. Sadly, it did remind me that I need to drink a lot more than I have in the house to get tipsy, anymore, which is both good and bad.
In other news: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) moonchylde, I got that Jet Li flick you were looking for.
And now, screw it, I'm going to bed. |
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| OBITUARY: Model for WWII icon dies at 86 |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|09:12 pm] |
Published: Last Updated Friday, July 3, 2009 6:34 PM PDT Rosalie Kunert, aka “Rosie the Riveter,” of Burbank died June 28. She was 86.
She was born Rosalie Helen Merritt on Oct. 2, 1922, in Hackensack, Minn. In late 1942 she relocated to Southern California where she began working at the Lockheed Airplane Factory in Burbank. Like many women during World War II, she took on previously male dominated trades such as riveting teams working on the cockpit shells of airplane bombers.
It was here that she was approached for an interview to help promote and encourage women to take over vacated jobs for the duration of the war. She was initially singled out for her tall, statuesque appearance and bright auburn hair tied back in her polka-dot head scarf. They asked her to consider appearing in a promotional film about the war effort at home, but she modestly declined, not wanting to be singled out from the others.
Regardless, the name was still officially coined. Another woman in Michigan was chosen and eventually Rosie the Riveter went on to become perhaps the most widely recognized icon of that era.
Films, posters and even a song were used to encourage women to go to work in support of the war effort. Rosie was very proud of being a pioneer in proving that women could do the jobs known as men’s work, creating an entirely new image of women in American society and setting the stage for future generations .
After the war, Rosie met and married Gerald John Kunert, and they remained married for more than 55 years before he died in 2001.
The couple resided in Burbank, raising five children. To supplement their income during the ’60s, she worked out of her house as a barber for the neighborhood with clientele reaching more than 200 at its height.
Most boys attending St. Francis Xavier and Horace Mann elementary schools in this era will fondly remember the Bazooka bubble gum they received along with their parent’s appreciation of the 50-cent haircuts.
In 1968 she returned to the work force at Miller Elementary School in the cafeteria and later was the manager at Washington Elementary. She worked with the Burbank Unified School District for 16 years.
Rosie was a very driven and creative individual and nothing seemed insurmountable with her “can do” attitude.
Whether it was building a room addition to her home, painting on canvas, doing needlepoint, or applying her green thumb to her wonderful garden, no project was too large or too small. Despite her busy lifestyle she always embraced the needs of others before her own.
She would drop anything she was doing to help those who asked. She was the most caring, trustworthy person in the whole world, never passing judgment on anyone. Rosie’s unconditional love and strength will be forever cherished.
She is survived by four children: Karen Walker, Rodney Kunert, Bob Kunert and Brian Kunert; three grandchildren: Jennifer Kunert, Kevin Kunert and Christopher Kunert; two brothers and one sister. Her eldest son, John Kunert, died in 2005.
A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.
Supplementary to flowers, donations to alz.org would be greatly appreciated. The family would also like to thank the staff at Belmont Village in Burbank. Their compassion will always be sincerely remembered.
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| hundred year old medicine |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|11:20 pm] |
I was in an army surplus store up the street and asked about old medical supplies. The lady there dug out a big dirty box of ointments and tinctures and offered it to me for 20 bucks. Of course i took it. A lot of it was an oily greasy mess, but there were some fun things in there too.
like....
( ten more ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|11:50 am] |
So, last weekend, a guy came to my door. My last payment to ComCast didn't go through (some annoying banking SNAFU, as it turns out), and they'd issued a disconnect order for my service. This guy was a ComCast rep (Jay), and he was seeing if we could clear it up. Short version is that he offered to hold off on the d-con, and we agreed to pay him today (gotta wait 'til we're paid, after all). He was personable, friendly, understanding, and all around, a nice guy about it. Sure enough, he called this morning to make sure we were still on, showed up, never made a big deal about the money, and all went fine.
Now, for those that remember my "siege of ComCast", you know that my opinion of them if low-to-middlin', at best. This guy., though, improved my opinion a lot. I know how much shit these guys take from the general public, and they're just doing their job, so I wanted to make sure he heard a good response for a change. I made a point of letting him know that I appreciated him working with us the way he did, and I told him about my previous experience. I was amused by how shocked he was by the incompetence of the techs involved in The Siege, and as I got to the end of it all, he was looking over my bill and asked if we had an old bill.
Di and I looked at each other. He'd gotten quiet, serious...why did he want an old bill? he only said he wanted to make a phone call. it seemed to do with the part where I mentioned that I wasn't paying for the new modem they'd installed back then, and the thought crossed my mind that this WAS irregular, and either he wanted to clear it up or he wanted to see if I was pulling this out of my ass. We do all this online, so, no, we didn't have an old bill, but I glanced over his shoulder (I'm 6'3", he was MAYBE 5'1") and looked at my current bill...lo and behold, I see that they ARE, in fact, charging me rent on the damn thing.
He looked a little pained. After all, I'd just gone on about how the company acted like a bunch of morons and screwed up my equipment and my service for 3 months, and then praised him and how he'd done a lot for improving my opinion, and here he was about to have to tell me that they'd screwed up again, or outright lied to me, or something. They didn't charge me for buying it, but it's the standard $5 a month equipment rental.
In the end, I blew it off. I know that the thing I was told was from a tech, who may or may not have known better, and that it was a highly irregular situation, anyway. I'd hate for the situation to bite me in the ass later, so I just shrugged and said it wasn't a big deal, because it's not. It's not HIS mistake, at any rate, and this had such a good feeling, I wanted it to stay that way.
So, no interruption of service, paid up, and all's well that ends well. Still probably change services if I ever move, but it looks like they'll keep getting my money for a while longer. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|09:30 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | erik | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Seatbelts - Tank! | ] |
Ha, I turned Erik on to Manowar.
I'm the coolest Dad. |
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| Cake |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|12:18 pm] |
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| Friday Pix |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|08:46 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | friday pix | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick | ] |
Sorry for the delay in posting. Dianna's got the day off, and it totally threw off my remembering that it is, in fact, Friday. Still, better late than never!
( Hang On, It'll Be A Bumpy Ride ) |
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| Pimms |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|04:39 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
So, who here LIKES Pimms?
See, I tried Pimms once a few years ago at the Hampton Court Flower Show.
I thought it was vile – it was some in kind of lemonade stuff.
It had vegetables floating in it like cucumber and I don't remember what all else. That didn't turn me off because I actually love vegetables but I thought it tasted awful. It did startle me to see salad floating in my drink, but didn't traumatize me. ;-)
Am I missing something? If there another better way to drink Pimms.
Am I never going to like this English summertime drink? Am I just not in the know or do I have FAIL written all over me concerning this drinking tradition?
Enlighten me. :-D I'd be willing to give it a try again if you can tell me what I am missing. |
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| dirty yummy fetish wedding |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|03:21 pm] |
Right. Off to London again for the weekend. Shooting May & Dave's kinky fetish wedding. Will be a strange day. Semi-normal ceremony in the morning, followed by attendance of London Pride, then dirty debauched wedding reception in the evening! Staying in the niiiiiiiiiiiiicest hotel. Shame I won't have much time to shoot in there. D'oh. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|04:57 am] |
My night - 20+ layers, a variety of brushes, transparency (24%-%100), flow (50%-%100), hardness (0%-%100%). History was important and surface blur came in surprisingly handy...Tomorrow I need to buy a new outfit with the help of my Style Council. You know who you are...The above has nothing to do with the below  STEPPING STONES - I
-OILGRAPH ON WOODEN PANEL-"You do your work as a photographer and everything becomes past. Words are more like thoughts; the photographer's picture is always surrounded by a kind of romantic glamor - no matter what you do, and how you twist it. "-ROBERT FRANK oilgraph on wooden panel - 10x8Thank you, Charlotte.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|11:17 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | calm | ] |
I had a birthday present from blogbunneh left on my doorstep last night. I am itching to open it – will I make it until tomorrow? ;-)
Well, the heat wave seems to be easing a bit. Last night was really bad. I actually had problems breathing for the first time in I don't know how long – December perhaps when I had the chest infection. My asthma is about 95% under control, but when it gets this hot or very cold out, I wheeze. It makes things miserable.
Anyway, the office is 29 degrees but it is cooler outside and as my boss said, if we could just get the hot air OUT of the office. I could think of a few co-workers to remove. ;-) It's very humid today, though. We are expecting heavy showers today. We could use it – my lawn is brown in places.
Weather tomorrow is supposed to be nice – sunny but not too hot though still nice and warm. I am looking forward to it. :-)
I think we will be looking at one more place for TVs tonight, but we are close to making a decision.
Tomorrow we are up and out early for a music festival at which Kevin is dancing and it is my birthday. YAY! :-) |
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| At Dawn We Slept |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|10:53 am] |
I am reading a book about the bombing of Pearl Harbour. It’s called At Dawn We Slept by Gordon Prange. It is dense and packed with statistics and details. It's a great book.
I am enjoying it except for one thing. The author, when introducing a new person in the book gives a physical description of the person – not a brief one either. I honestly do not care if the person he is writing about has "well formed lips" or his height and weight or other physical characteristics that to me seem excessive.
The author was a respected historian at the University of Maryland. I knew of his reputation before starting this book.
I have no idea why this is annoying me so much. Maybe it is the way the author is describing people or...I dunno...but I want to scream every time I read another physical description of someone.
Anyway, the book is good, and I trudge on – it's huge so it will be a while before I finish. |
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