Pheaux Phyre Phorum: Teh New Year's Eve Start As You Mean To Go On Edition

Happy 2009 Ever'body!!!!

Have a beer on me!

I have company, so I won't be paying much attention, but hang out if you wish, let us all know your resolutions and evolutions.

A Post About Sports

I don't often do this, but... well, I can't think of anything else to post for today (I'm kicking The Cold From The Future^tm, but it's not completely kicked yet), the penultimate day of Blog365 (2008 Edition).

So.

Congratulations to the Carolina Panthers, 2008 NFC South Champions!!

They get the week off, and then will host a game, opponent to be determined.

Also, gotta give a shout out to the Miami Dolphins, who went from 1-15 last year to winning the AFC East this year. Impressive.

And, sorry your 'Boys didn't make the playoffs this year, pido. I guess I should have bet you after all. :)

Chapter Opening Lines

"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'"

and

"The usual people tried to claim responsibility.

First the IRA, then the PLO and the Gas Board...."

1000 irredeemable points to the first person to identify the book.

Ugh

I did way too much with the packing and cleaning up yesterday (see post below), and I'm paying the price today with The Cold From The Future^tm being much worse than at any other time.

So today has basically been sleep/lay-in-bed-feeling-miserable punctuated by brief forays to the computer (I have no laptop to drag into bed with me).

Vitamin C via juice, herbal teas and Ricola drops for coughing, etc, and Aleve Cold & Sinus (which, btw, I had to have my driver's license scanned to buy... thanks, meth-heads) for the worst bits.

See y'all tomorrow.

"Home" Again

That would be back at my sister's, after an overnight visit to REDACTED and parts nearby, where, yesterday, I met Jen's family and she began the process of meeting mine (there's lots of us). All that went well, I do believe -- despite the wanton thievery of some chocolate pie.

And then today was my family's Christmas Get-Together.

Today was also Clean-out-Mom-&-Dad's-Old-Apartment-At-The-Retirement-Home-Cause-They've-Moved-To-The-Next-Level-Of-Care, which, due to the combination of my dad being a second tier packrat (yes, I admit defeat, Jen) and them living in that apartment for 14 years, was not a simple matter. On the plus side, I get the old rolltop desk (which will live here at my sister's until such time as my living arrangement has room for such) and the parents (who are in their late 80s) have more present health care -- it was always there before, but now it comes to check on them, instead of them having to call for help when needed.

So, I'm back at the computer and tired. Oh, and I have an airline cold I caught playing checkers the other day, which has added another layer to the last couple days. It's all good, though. :)

Fisticuff Diurnal*

I've driven past this place a hundred or eleven times since I got to Teh Flatlands, but I never can seem to remember my camera. Luckily, Jen was with me the other night and had her camera, so viola!

Anyway, I'm off to meet Jen's parents and then later today she'll be meeting mine....

*Hope everyone is having a great Boxing Day!

See ya tomorrow.

Deck Us All With Boston Charlie

Dar Williams, "The Christians & the Pagans"


Oh, and here's the link to me (last year) singing a bit of the title tune.

Christmas Eve Gift To All My Phriends

This is in lieu of the Pheaux Phyre tonight, as it is Christmas Eve and most folks are busy in one way or another.

Have a great night, everyone, and I hope Santa brings ye just what ye want.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, "Big Country", from Live at the Quick:

Back From the Short Trip

I'm back from the brief trip up to the High Country of North Carolina, where Jen and I got to spend a couple of days in a beautiful mountain chalet.

Some shots of the view this weekend:








The best view -- and the one that I enjoyed the most:


More pictures over at her place.

Monday Placeholder Post

This is a just in case post. Because one of the last thing's I would like to have happen would be for my Blog365 to get ruined 9 days before the end of the year.

Probable update later.

Infernal Bagpipe Christmas

For those of you who like bagpipes (and Celtic music in general), WNCW radio 88.7 in Spindale, NC plays... what? Oh, you can't pick it up? Well, here's the link to their livestream... anyway, every Sunday from noon to 3PM (Eastern Time), they play nothin' but Celtic.

Enjoy!

Oh, and Happy Solstice to All of You!!!!!

Christmas Morning and the First Day of School All Rolled Together

When I was a kid, I always -- like most of us, I'm sure -- woke up extra early on Christmas Morning so's I could see what presents I got. Well, unlike most of us -- I'm sure -- I was the same way on the first day of school (and the night before).

I could never get to sleep the night before, and it was the only other day of the year (besides Christmas Morning) that I didn't need an alarm or a parent telling me to wake up. I was so excited about the first day of school, new books, new classroom, all that stuff. As I write this I can remember that first day of school scent -- the books, the new notebook and pencils, the way the school itself smelled after being closed up all summer -- the smell of learning, just waiting to happen....

Well, today is like that for me, a day that has been looked forward to for months has finally arrived.


At the time stamp for this post, I will be on a train, going somewhere special.

I won't have access to a computer, so I'm pre-posting this.

Once I am with computer again, I'm sure there'll be photos.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and I'll see y'all when I return.

Friday (video) Kitteh Blogging

When Callie was li'l, she would do this same thing... over and over and over and....

I Told Y'all Yesterday That Someone Was Travelling Today

I have it on good authority that one can get a bagel with cream cheese and a small coffee at the airport in Newark (EWK) for under $2.

Also, if one is lucky, one can get a 2nd li'l tub of cream cheese for free.

In other words, Jen has made it to the States, and will be arriving in REDACTED around 10PM (Eastern) tonight.

Oh!

And it's Thursday, so here's some Monty Python:

Pheaux Phyre Phorum: The Tomorrow is Someone's Travel Day Edition

Jen will be flying up to the States for the Holidays on the morrow, so we all need to wish her a good flight (and not too boring layover in Newark).

Oh, and talk about whatever else y'all want to talk about.

Also, I've set up a Skype Chat so we can avoid Teh Evil of Hell-0-Scam. All ya gotta do is click here, and start typing. I think. Oh, you do have to have Skype installed, but it's just text, no voice necessary.

(I'll also pay at least semi-attention to the "old" comment thread, in case anyone is having problems logging in)

I'll Swan, I Hain't Never Heered The Like

Missouri Mule, over to the Big Brass Blog, tells it like it is. If you know any Southerners, or, hell, have ever met any real Southerners, you will laugh.

On a semi-related topic, here's Andy Griffith, pre Mayberry days, telling a story:

Merry Christmas From the Family

I guess this makes it a tradition here at Phydeaux & Phriends, since I posted a vid of this song last year.

Hope you enjoy it.

More In "People Who Write Things..."

I never dreamed I would be saying this, but there’s something absolutely perfect about George W. Bush as a representative both of U.S. power and the conservative political class. He is the end product of years of political image-making: the elevation of the talking point and the attack narrative over actual discussion, the reduction of ideology to its most basic (and stupid) elements, the shallow pseudo-patriotic rhetoric of Reaganist “pride” in country, the equation of naked greed with “principles.” Behold the apotheosis, the final incarnation of the right-wing ideal, summed up with an almost classical concision in one man, one “decider.”

Dashiell, at the most excellent Jonestown, in his retrospective on the Bush Years, titled "The Perfect President". I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

Music Is

It just is.



From Playing for Change.

(h/t to kumatriel -- click her link or the video for more of the backstory)

Just Imagine if the Adults Were in Charge

People who write things like this need to be in charge.

And why? Because despite their fine words, and their closely-guarded self-images, the actual and real ruling principle of their lives and their theology is fear, not love. Everything flows from that original orientation, that original choice (because it is, finally, a choice). For them, to be inclusive is to expose themselves to what they fear; and what they fear most is summarized in their mythology of hell and eternal damnation: an eternal torture of body, mind, soul and spirit administered by an angry, vengeful, psychopathic god. It is all pure projection.

(h/t to Angelos)