[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Going to try and put the boy asleep again! ]
Con cred is like street cred, but related to that most geel of activities, the convention.

I invented it at 4:00 am, so it must be brilliant. Go forth and use it wisely.

AILWR = An Incredibly Long Winded Review, cause I have a lot to say.

Part travel log, part ethnography, part cookbook, Beyond the Great Wall is absolutely stunning. The whole work focuses on the other China, specifically the non-Han population. The authors have called this area "Beyond the Great Wall", but that title is misleading as some of the cultures examined are actually within the traditionally Han areas.

While the recipes are wonderful, showing you how to make traditional foods with ingredients you can find in North Amnerican stores, it is the ethnographies that are truely valuable. Easy to read, through these you learn about people like the Uighurs, the Hmong and the Yi. By giving you their religious background, geographical location, climate and religion, the authors help the reader understand where the food comes from.

Intersperced among the recipes are vignettes of authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s travels through this China. Completely genuine and enchanting, you accompany them on motorcycle rides through high mountains, sharing a meal of butter tea with tsampa in Tibet and watching nan-like bread being made by many groups. Not all are about food, thereby avoiding a sense of sameness that would make the book boring. It is a different world.

The photographs are absolutely stunning. A variety of faces, ethinic clothing, landscapes and freeze frames of every day life (all taken by the authors) make this book a perfect addition to the coffeetable.

Serious cooks will take the time to make these recipes (I may make the Mongolian Lamb Patties and the Pea Tendril Salad), but most will just look at the pictures and dream of voyages they will never take and the meals they will never eat.

[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
Television Without Pity (TWOP) used to do these wonderful photoshop contests where board members would manipulate pictures to fit certain themes. There were no prizes, but you would get positive feedback. Given that they were taken over by NBC, these have disappeared. And given the state of NBC, the whole site might disappear, so I thought I mightpost some of my contributions to that great time.

The three below are from the contest relating to dream casting of the upcoming Star Trek movie.

This one I like cause it has a Canuck playing the part originally played by a Canuck. (Lovingly crafted from a Star Trek Inspirational Posters)

This one came out of the roadtrip relationship between Sylar and Mohinder. (Also lovingly crafted from a Star Trek Inspirational Posters)

And this one, includes the mascot of TWOP (Tubey)

[  Mood: Amused ]
[  Currently: Watching Rick Mercer Report ]
You may remember this story.

Well I went a little crazy and sent Joe a billion suggestions for other geek related sign messages. He wasn’t able to use them, but they were too good not to share. Imagine these on your local highway.

Use the force
Shields!
Save the cheerleader! Save the world!
Who are you? What do you want?
The hammer is my penis.
"Ta ma de."
The Truth is Out There
Cheverons locked!
grrr arrg
All Your Base Are Belong To Us
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!
I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
By your command
Exterminate!
It’s people. Soylent Green is made out of people.
Olympia!
To infinity! And beyond!
Never give up! Never surrender!
ET Phone Home!
Avengers Assemble!
Transmute!
By the power of Greyskull!
Frak
I got a bad feeling about this
Bad Wolf
Thunderbirds Go!
Lois must die!
Get bent.
Where was the earthshattering kaboom? There was supposed to have been an earthshattering kaboom!
You damned dirty ape!
Holy rusted metal, Batman!
In space no one can hear you scream.

[  Mood: Evil ]
[  Currently: Watching My son play with a shoe ]
Well, well, what a difference a week makes. The federal government threatens back to work legislation and the city and transit union suddenly agree to binding arbitration. Of course the feds were only interested cause Obama is comng here Feb 19, and the last thing they need are picketers ruining the photo op.

Perfect Poster Placement, Look Carefully
I believe a teenager did this one.

Girl, 13, sends 14,528 texts in a month
There is nothing I can say as she has said it all.

Irony
Funny.

Couple weds in fast-food style … in Taco Bell
Yo quiero esposa?

Cool Lego Structures
Some repeats. I particularly enjoy the Han in carbonite.

Lego Flamethrower
Who thinks "I need a flamethrower . . . made out of lego!"

Chaos for navy as virus hits fleet computers
This sounds like a great plot for the next Tom Clancy thriller. Or maybe it already is!!!

[  Mood: Confused ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son. ]
Today is Marc Singer‘s Birthday.

Why is that Geekgasm worthy?

Because when I was young I loved watching V. I watched both of the mini-series and the tv show. And I became a fan.

And because I became a fan, I followed him and his career. So then I watched the Beastmaster movies.

Now for the young lady I was, this was as close to erotica as I could get. And boy did I indulge.

So happy birthday, Marc. You made my Canadian youth much more interesting.

[  Mood: Cool ]

Traction Man is an action figure given as a gift to a young boy. The toy comes with combat boots, battle pants, and a warfare shirt and is not to be microwaved.

The book humourously tracks how the boy uses Traction Man in imaginative play. When it’s time to do the dishes, Traction Man explores the Lost Wreck of the Sieve, battles the dishcloth and is rescued by Scrubbing Brush, whom he makes his pet. A trip to Granny’s involves some time in suspended animation and a green hand-knitted outfit for jungle combat.

Beautifully illustrated, this is the first in a series that also includes Traction Man Meets Turbo Dog. It is one of those books that both parents and children can enjoy. And it is so in the next "What to Read After Harry".

[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio – Canadian Budget ]

In case you didn’t know, I have two history degrees. So I approach historical fiction with a weary eye. Too often they scarifice historicity for dramatic action. This drives me bananas. Still, there are some very nice historical pieces out there. The Other Boleyn Girl, In the Company of the Courtesan, and the Legion series.

So it was with a little concern and a little hopw that I picked up Emperor: The Gates of Rome

Author Conn Igguldun takes a look at Julius Ceasar’s early life creating a young boy who grew up on a small estate outside of Rome. His best friend is Marcus, a foster child of the family. Together they run around the estate, getting into trouble and having a good life.

Then tragedy strikes when Julius’s father dies. This thrusts both boys into adulthood and the politics of Rome. Marcus ends up in an Eastern legion and Julius ends up in his Uncle Marius’ legion.

I found this quite gripping and was quickly engrossed by the story. For an author’s first novel, this one manages to avoid some the new author pitfalls. The twist at the end was interesting, but might be stretching my disbelief a wee bit too much.

We will see what happens in the second installment.

[  Mood: Amused ]
[  Currently: Listening to A Book on CD on the History of the Papacy ]

Stephen Clarke’s first book, A Year in the Merde, is a very funny look at modern day France through the eyes of English advertising executive Paul West. The sequel finds Paul in the midst of setting up his new tea room, while also trying to develop his new relationship while not quite getting over an old one.

In the course of this book, Paul learns about living in the French country side, how simple household chores can be metaphors for sex, how a rusty bicycle can show the difference between residents and tourists, how to deal with dishonest architects, the French film industry. He also makes a return visit to England and sees through French eyes the horror of the British office party and how the British work in general.

Interstingly enough, it is the lack of office shenanigans that weaken this book. This was where author Clarke delivers a sharply honed commentary on the status of French society. This deficit, which he tries to make up for with observations on French family life and British office lifewas, was very noticible. The maturing the main character also may be one of the reasons for the weakness as it is Paul`s slightly frat like attitude that is so fresh in the first book. Still Clarke is a keen observer and commentator on French society and that makes the book worth reading.

I have already ordered the third.

[  Mood: Distorted ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding My Son ]
In honour of the inauguration, I have several Obama links. There are some non-Obama links in the latter half of the email. Please enjoy!

Obamaicon
Take a picture and turn it into an Obama hope poster.

Whitehouse.gov before and after
Very striking and very telling.

How the Internet has changed
Using whitehouse.gov as an example.

Lego Inauguration
Way, way, way too much time on their hands. Of course Barbara bush is hillarious.

Yes pecan
Yup. You just read that.

Obamaawesome
What a cool action figure. Did you know Obama was a samurai? That he took on Vader?

Come Back In A Week
Funny.

And now some non-Obama choices.

You can smoke fewer cigarettes by smoking longer ones
Now that I know, my life is much less complicated.

The Secret Saved My Life
Funny.

WIND FARM UPDATE: More UFO Sightings
Who knew that that the aliens had issues with windfarms? (And I appologize if someone else has already posted this here – I searched, but could not find.)

Whiskas Advertising – Wild Cats
This man gets more than he bargained for.

Whiskas – According to Hubert
So funny.