Gaagle.

Announcing the third annual Metamorphosism St. Valentine’s Day Limerick Contest, which is actually the fifth annual contest of its kind here.

Important: entries will be disqualified if they don’t follow this year’s rules!

And here are this year’s rules:

1. Entries must be proper limericks. Limerick information here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

2. Deadline is 14 February 2006
3. Entries must be submitted to comments in this post.
4. Entries must include something. Last year they had to include references to medical pioneers, microscopic animals and skin conditions. The year before that it was psychiatrists/psychologists, the year before that philosophers. So this year, extra points will be awarded for references to hair bands, disfiguring diseases and or types of Roman gladiators.
5. I am the boss of the rules, and may change them arbitrarily as usual.

Acme Heartmaker

Beta wangled me into playing in the music school orchestra this year, rehearsals start sometime this month. They are after work this time so I have no excuse. Among the things we are set to play is part of Mozart’s um Mitridate. Hey, I said, I know someone who played that, I’ll ask her for some pointers. Of course, I said, her version might have been a bit more complicated. Maybe, said my teacher.

Meanwhile, this Romberg sonata in E-minor or something I’m learning is starting to sound like music, rather than a painful string of notes. The music, that is, is beginning to stick its head out and look around, nervously, checking if it’s safe.

Is it safe, says the music.
You bet, I say.

Alpha said last night, Hey, you’re sounding a lot better lately. A person can almost stand to listen to you.

And the cats no longer run away and we have to go sticking those xeroxed “have you seen my stripey red cat” announcements to trees when I practice.

Announcing the third annual Metamorphosism St. Valentine’s Day Limerick Contest, which is actually the fifth annual contest of its kind here.

Important: entries will be disqualified if they don’t follow this year’s rules!

Acme Heartmaker

On our drive into town this morning, Beta remarked that the world is experiencing a hypocrisis. We had been talking about how Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the West was in another dark ages and how we agree with that, but would add most other countries to that, including his. (Unfortunately, checking facts now, I cannot find any evidence that he really said that; all I can find is a quote of him slamming The West for using medieval terminology against his country. I guess I should be happy, now I can say it and don’t have to be agreeing with him: We, the entire world, are in the throes of another dark ages kiddo.)
Alpha and I saw a movie last night, “We feed the world.” It is about the food industry – factory farms, replacing rain forest with soy plantations, Nestle blessing the world, hybrid seeds, different things.
Beta had seen it before and recommended it.

The interview in the movie with a Nestle boss was entertaining. That with a U.N. food expert was informative. The one with an Austrian guy selling Pioneer hybrid seeds in Rumania was just sad, he was so honest about what he was doing and seemed so sorry.

I dunno, what can I say? I’m waiting for part II, about corn syrup and stuff.

It’s all part of the hypocrisis. That turns out to be a Latin word, meaning play-acting, so it’s a perfect fit. The way we play act that we are not taking on a crushing load of guilt with our lifestyle.

By “we” I mean “us“.

Why do people in movies almost never watch television, except in horror movies?

This morning, in the car on the way to the train station:
Man: A bunch of great blog post topics occurred to me when I was meditating this morning.
Girl, 16: …
Man: But now I can’t remember any of them.
Girl, 16: …

Two days ago, in the kitchen:
CD player: [doing, twang, ching, ching, doing]
Girl, 8: What. Is that. Buddha Bar? Pff.
Girl, 16: What. You’d prefer Rammstein I suppose.
Girl, 8: RAMMSTEIN! RAMMSTEIN!
Man: Heh.

This morning, in the kitchen:
CD player: ROSENROT, O ROSENROT, TIEFE WASSER SIND NICHT STILL.
Girl, 8: School. Yuck.
Man: But if you study well, you could open your own Rammstein school.
Girl, 8: Yeah!
Man: Where everything is taught through Rammstein.
Girl, 8: In math, I would teach, “Ramm + Stein = Rammstein.”
Man: Right.
Girl, 8: And so on.
Man: Like that.

This isn’t maybe funny, but I was thinking “Occult Blood” would be a good name for either a darkish band, or a horror movie. Or maybe an album by a darkish band with a better name.

Also, that “Rammsmeier” would be a good name for a brass band that did Rammstein covers.

I got like 9 hours of sleep last night, not counting dozing back to sleep after cats woke me up a few times, or when Gamma woke me by kicking off the covers. I went to bed at about eight thirty PM and got up after 5 AM. I’m unstoppable.

Now, off to take a shower, go grocery shopping, cook, clean a little and pick Alpha up at the train station.