I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

I can't believe it's only 6pm (18.00) here! Already it seems like it should be more like 9 or 10 pm.

It's pouring rain and in the 40's F, out there. No fit night to be out, tho' there are people walking around on the pavement, every now and again.

I just got into my mini-cupcakes I bought yesterday...yum. They are gold cake with orange frosting and black, yellow and orange sprinkles--halloween colours. Quite good for a dollar and a half, I must say.

I can't decide what to have for dinner tonight. I'm hedging between BBQ franks and beans (merely a tin of Heinz beans with some BBQ sauce added, and some hot dogs laid on top) and tinned corn, or macaroni and cheese and some spinach, or breaded fish sticks and french fries. I'm too knackered to fuss with dinner, want something quick, easy and simple...of course, if I were rolling in cash, I could order some Chinese takeaway or a pizza or something. Ah well.

I'm leaning towards the beans right now, but I'm not ready for supper yet, so may change my mind, later.

Well, I'd started writing a new Dr Who story--the one where he ends up in silent-film era Hollywood, and discovers a real monster is lurking around the set of an early horror film, and the Dr meets some famous early actors, like Chaplin and Fairbanks, Valentino and Tom Mix, Fatty Arbuckle and Lilian Gish (I haven't decided whom exactly he will meet, yet). Unfortunately, I can't access the blog I was using to write the story (I no longer have MS Word), and I can't have them send me my password, 'cos I can't access any of my e-mail accounts, without IE booting me off the web. Ah well, another unfinished story in the files.

I got bit by another spider last night...and the itching is driving me bonkers! It's a big stinking welt on my right forearm--I was clearing out a box in the closet, and I felt something bite me...little tiny spider, great big bite, go figure. I'm out of hydrocordzone to treat the itch with, so I just have to put up with it, and try not to scratch my arm too much, but isn't it driving me half-mad, trying not to scratch?

Wow, this is a boring post...I'm sooo-bored tonight. I might as well go to bed and nap or something. I don't feel like reading at the moment, and I've seen all my videos several times in the past couple of weeks---sat up in bed a lot while I was ill, watching DVD's.

I've been watching: A Double LIfe--which earned Ronald Coleman an Oscar for best actor in 1948. It's about an actor playing Othello, who takes realism acting a bit too far...not being able, eventually, to differentiate himself...or those around him, from his character, and in the end committing, like Othello, murder. It was, I believe, based on a play.

Scarlet Street was good. The ending was sort of predictable, but still enjoyed the film very much--not your average run of the mill plot, at any rate. The bad guy was someone you loved to loathe, the bad girl sometimes showed a little niggling of doubt about right and wrong, but couldn't tear herself away from her man. The main character--a normally dependable but weak man, afraid to follow his dreams, but bold enough to steal...interesting film indeed.

The Thin Man series from the 30's and 40's, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. It prompted me to start reading the story that inspired it, "The Thin Man," written by the man who also wrote "The Maltese Falcon," Dashell Hammet.

I watched Dr Who, of course--the last three episode of Series 3, plus two Davidson's and a Tom Baker, also The Magnificent Seven, Augustus--the Roman-era mini-series, Get Smart, a comdey from the 60's, about a Catholic girl's school called "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows," and some Doris Day/Rock Hudson films.

Well, I suppose I could go and read. I've three books I've been diving into at night, on and off. Have a good night, all.

01. CHEESE or CHOCOLATE?
Cheese
02. BLUEBERRIES or STRAWBERRIES?
Blueberries
03. COFFEE or TEA?
Coffee
04.
05. TOASTED CHEESE OR BEANS ON TOAST?
Toasted cheese.
06. YOHGURT DRINK OR JUICE?
Juice
07. RICE or PASTA?
Both.
08. PUDDING OR FRESH FRUIT?
Pudding
09. MINCE OR TOFU?
Mince
10. HOT DOGS or HAMBURGERS?
Hamburgers...with hot dogs a close 2nd
11. MARMITE OR MARMALADE?
Neither...prefer jelly
12. CHEDDAR OR STILTON?
Cheddar
13. REGULAR OR DIET SOFT DRINK?
I'm a diabetic so it has to be diet...but prefer regular.
14. LEMONADE or SWEET TEA?
Lemonade
15. CHERRIES or GRAPES?
Flavour-wise, both. Fruit-wise, neither.
16.
17. DONUTS OR MUFFINS?
DONUTS
18. WHITE BREAD or WHOLE-GRAIN/WHEAT BREAD?
Either, not fussy.
19. PEAS or CARROTS?
both
20. TARTS OR GINGERBREAD?
Tarts...I've always wanted to be a bit more daring.
21. COLD CEREAL or PORAGE?
Either
22. MUSTARD OR CATSUP?
Mustard
23. MAYONNAISE OR BROWN SAUCE?
Mayonnaise
24. SALAD CREAM OR MAYONNAISE?
Mayonnaise
25. OLIVES OR PICKLES?
Pickles
26. ONION or GARLIC?
Onion
27. RANCH OR ITALIAN SALAD DRESSING?
Ranch
28. SCRAMBLED EGGS or FRIED EGGS?
Scrambled
29. COTTAGE PIE OR SHEPHERD'S PIE?
Whichever one is made with beef.
30. MEAT-EATER OR VEGETARIAN?
Meat-eater
31. TAKE-AWAY OR MICHELLIN STAR?
Take away
32. SUSHI or SANDWICH?
Sandwich
33. READY MEAL OR MCDONALD'S?
Either, probably
34. PIE AND MASH OR CHICKEN CURRY?
Either.
35. FAGGOTS OR PRAWNS?
ey??? What the heck's a "faggot?" Erm-over here, a faggot is a derogitory term for a gay man, or, and outdated term for a stick of wood for a campfire. And, since I don't particularly like shellfish, I'll say neither.
36. CHICKEN OR FISH?
Chicken
37. BEEF OR GAMMON?
Both
38. BUBBLE AND SQUEAK OR TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE?
Bubblie and squeak, I like that. Never had toad-in-the-hole, tho' I know what it is.
39. MASHED OR JACKETED POTATO?
Either is fine, but lean toward mashed.
40. KEBAB HOUSE OR CHIPPIE?
We don't have kebabs here, but we have a Long John Silvers, and that's (sort of) like a chippie. I like kebabs, but here they are only available during BBQ'ing season--where you make them yourself, and they aren't an Indian dish, but American kebabs, or one can get "spedies," a type of American kebab made with chicken, at a county fair.

FOODIE MEME: PART I

Favorite food to crunch:

Movie theater (extra butter) flavour popcorn

Favorite comfort food:

Three-way tie between beef chuck roast (aka: New England pot roast) cooked with carrots and onions, and served with mashed potatoes and beef gravy, or, ketchup-topped meatloaf with Harvard style (aka pickled) beets and mashed potatoes, or, Spaghetti bolognese.

Favorite picnic lunch:

small sub sandwich, and either homemade potato salad, macaroni salad or cold New England baked beans.

...and, if I'm feeling especially posh, I might add some deviled eggs.

Favorite food scene in movie:

The pie-in-the-face scenes in the old silent Keystone Cop series of films...ooh, many's the time I've wanted to do that to some arrogant pompous arse, let me tell you.

Favorite food lyrics:

"You deserve a break today, so get up and get away, to McDonald's." Nah--that was naf...I just couldn't think of anything else.

Best food smell memory:

Mum's pot roast--mmmm! She'd make it with sliced carrots and onions, cloves and bay leaves, vinegar and sugar, and just a hint of worcestershire, oh my gosh, did it smell good!

Food that reminds me of the ocean:

I've never dined at the seaside. We were a good 100 plus miles from the nearest ocean. Fish always came from the frozen food case or the fish market.

Favourite seafood meal out:

Tie: Ted's Fish Fry fish and chips dinner, or...on the more posh side, perhaps some broiled brook trout served with a veg and some rice pilaf or a jacketed potato.

Favorite winter snack:
Chocolate chip cookies.

Most likely to eat for lunch:

At Home: Ham and chese, turkey breast or tuna sandwich with chips (crisps) and, perhaps, some soup if I'm in the mood.

Out: McDonald's, New Way Lunch hot dogs, Long John Silver's, pizza slice(s), Taco Bell, Burger King or maybe the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, if I can afford it.

Least likely to eat for lunch:

Salad. Boring.

(Exception: a chef salad and some really nice homemade soup would be acceptable).

Makes me gag:

Anything with the head still attached to it--don't want my food to gaze up at me while I'm eating it, thanks.

My least favourite food:

Mushrooms. Grrroossss. Yuck, bleh, phooey. Get 'em away from me! (Got the point?)

Food tradition I loathe:

Chicken and biscuit dinners. Why does every country church in these parts, have to hold a friggin' chicken and biscuit dinner. Bland and unimaginative. (in the US, a biscuit is a type of very dry and crumbly roll)

Favorite wild foods:

Wild strawberries, love 'em. And sometimes wild onions--they are much sharper and more bitey than domestic scallions.

Food that reflects my heritage:

On my dad's side, Polish food, specifically Polish sausage, pierogi, and golabki (which my family called "golumpkies").

Mum's heritage goes back some 300 years in New York state...just plain old ordinary American cooking there...casseroles, meatloaf, pot roast, steaks, pork chops, chicken...usual stuff. She was Dutch-German, and Irish-English-Scot, by heritage, but the closest we got was Corned beef and Cabbage, and German potato salad, I think.

Favourite takeaway food:

Pizza

Favorite raw food :

I'm not crazy about any kind of raw food--even veggies. I will eat a plain lettuce salad. MAYBE an apple or a carrot stick, or cauliflower.

Cooking classes:

Elementary school (last two years), and three years high school home economics classes. Apprenticed at a national park, twenty years later obtained a culinary arts certificate from a local college.

Restaruant dishes you would never eat, even if they paid you one hundred pounds:

Eels, sushi, octopus, anything with mushrooms in it, shellfish, tripe/brains, black sausage/blood pudding...well, anything made with blood basically,, ham hocks, collard greens, fiddleheads, heart, anything with the eyes still attatched, raw tomatoes--well, most raw veggies, catfish, guacamole, asparagus, artichokes, pizza with anchovies, pasta alfredo, frog's legs, lobster.

Gah--my voice is rough, but got through the first two hours...at least the calls are slightly spaced out, and not rolling in one on top of another for hours on end. Not a short phone script, but not the longest one, either. So, reckon as long as my voice holds out, I'm stuck here, ha-ha.

Cold, deeply grey and rainy day here. 9 C out there at the moment, with some heavy rain moving in later--probably when I'm walking home, sod's law being what it is. I forgot my umbrella--but, wore my heavy Carhardt winter jacket for the first time since early April, so at least I won't freeze...forgot to put on my wellies, though.

New girl sitting next to me--she doesn't sound happy...it's a high pressure job at times, and I don't know if she'll last. But, you never know, this could prove to be right up her alley.

So, utterly broke for the next 6 days, but no big deal. I will have to wash my trousers and unmentionables out in the kitchen sink though, and dry them on the radiators--note to self: by a clothes drying rack.

Well, back to work. Life sucks and then you die--I prefer to think of the afterlife as a free permanent holiday, ha-ha.

Whoops, just got yelled at for going over my break time...heaven forbid. Not like I'm making any sales today. No one's home--and those that are, are freaking out about the economy and not buying anything.

.

Oh gosh, what a rough night that was! Started coughing around 10pm, kept on until 2 in the morning. An hour into sleep, my sinuses on the left side of my face blocked up...got to sleep a half-hour later, an hour after that, started coughing again...dang. And, it's going to be a long day.

Wish to heaven I could blow off work today, and just lay in bed, but...no. I owe it to my employers, who have been very understanding, to have my bottom in the seat at 10am. I'm gonna' be toast by tonight though. Dear God, I feel wicked awful. I can feel fluid in my chest...like I'm drowning in it. I'm sick of this stupid cold...going on week four, as of tomorrow. I can live with a cold, mind--it's this lingering forever that's rotten...not sick enough to stay home, but sick enough to make doing my job a misery.

Anyway, not much I can do about it. I have to eat these mini-waffles, change into my weekend working duds, walk to work and just slog it out as best I can. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Cold and dreary day, bit rainy...but, at least it's not snowing...yet.

Got chastised for picking on David Tennant again...this time, in such a rude way, that I had to delete the comment...lots of the f word...some rather obnoxious little DT fan-girl needs to expand her vocabulary a bit more. British and American mums today, seem to be a lot more lenient than the mum's were, when I was growing up. My mum would have tarred and feathered me, and hung me on a clothesline...and most of the other mum's on our street likely would of helped her, if I'd used that sort of language--and, to an adult besides! One did not talk back to adults (well, to adults not in your immediate family) when I was growing up, it just wasn't done. Cultural differences, I suppose.

Anyway, this young girl was rather put out with my Roasting David Tennant blog. Oh, boo-hoo. Like Tennant's going to give a flying fig about anything I'd have to say. Yeah...riiight. How silly is that? David Tennant would no more read my blog, than he would quit acting and go work the till at Tesco's for a living...not gonna' happen.

Anyway, I like making fun of David Tennant--I find his situation quite hilarious...those fans I mean, that vote him with the sexiest eyes, or hair or whatever. The one's that google "david tennant porn," or "david tennant naked," (oh, not while I'm eating my breakfast, thanks) and where he gets his haircut, where he lives or what hotel he's staying, where he buys his trainers, whether he's gay or not gay, who he's dating, whether or not he's had an accident, what he likes to eat, is he a vegetarian, etc, etc, etc...

I think all this wild DT enthusiasm is a geinuine hoot.

I was reading online, some stuff about Love's Labour's Lost--I vaugely remember reading that play in the mid-80's, back when I was working behind the counter at Midas Muffler, but couldn't remember exactly all that it was about, other than a bunch of guys decided to give up girls for a time--so I was curious and read up on it...and found a few reviews of the play, and fan blog commentaries, besides.

Whoa. One woman, from Virginia I think, flew over there for the week, and watched the play every night for five nights. Okay, now that's scary...and very expensive. Well, at least she has a hobby, I suppose.

Another fan-girl wrote she dosn't remember what the play was even about, or who else was in it, 'cos she spent the whole play staring at David's (I wish I was joking here) hair.

Hilarious!

I was just reading on a Who forum, about the RSC auction in London this coming Tuesday. Wow, cost is the equivilent of about $1600 a ticket...in a recession, no less. Nice to know not every Briton is hurting for money.

I haven't had $1600 of my own money, at one time, since 2004. Seems like a lifetime ago.

Anyway, it's to be a brillant evening...well, for $1600 it darn well better be, ey?

There's to be a performance by David Tennant, fan-girls, a soliiquy (gah--I can't spell any more, arrgh!) by Mr. Tennant from Love's Labour's Lost, also Patrick Stewart will be there, Derek Jacobi and a host of other top notch totally talented Shakespearean performers from the RSC.

Highlight of the evening is an auction. Up for grabs:

A script from Dr Who, signed by all the actors.
Dinner on stage with two of the cast members from Hamlet--could one of them be Tennant, fan-girls? (oh, I can just hear some of them swooning at the thought of dinner with david, god help us)
six tickets to Hamlet
A private performance by RSC members at the winning bidders home, and more.

Gosh, wouldn't that be brilliant. Times like this, I can truthfully say that POVERTY SUCKS.

Well, it's for a really good cause--next to helping the poor, the elderly, the sick, animals, kids and the environment, I think helping the arts is pretty darn important, as well, so certainly I would hardly begrudge the RSC their fund-raiser. Matter of fact if I had a dollar--which I don't, I just spent my last three dollars on the milk and butter which I forgot to buy--I'd give it to the RSC. I knew about them long before I'd ever heard of Tennant (through one of my college courses) and was impressed by their dedication from the get-go.

So, if like me, the RSC gala is way out of your league, I hope you will still consider--if you can at all spare it, giving a pound or two to the RSC, to help keep one of Briton's--no, the world's--great traditions alive.

AS many of you know, I'm a wee bit of a nature girl.

However, things were not quite always all sunshine and roses, when I was out there in the woods and fields.

Take as an example, the winter time. Now, I have to tell you, there's nothing more glorius than being the first to trod the virgin snow in a pine forest after a snowfall--I mean, the pines look like towers of snow castles, the stillness, the feeling that might be something like what the first astronauts felt, walking on the moon.

And then, you snowshoe or walk under a drooping pinebough...and the wind decides just then to pick up speed...and the boughs move, and you find yourself with 6 inches of icy cold snow suddenly being dumped down the back of your neck.

I never said swear words as a teen--except for that time. It was the "s" word, if I recall correctly.

AFTER THE STORM: EASTERN WHITE PINES DROOP WITH HEAVY SNOW

Okay, it's Friday night. ten minutes to ten--reckon that makes it ten minutes to three am, in the UK.

I walked down to the office, to work a few hours make up time...only to find the 'puters were down...means I gotta' try to work the full shift tomorrow, drat. I will if my voice holds out. It's better today, but after four or five hours of saying the same script over and over...well, we'll see. I'll bring along plenty of cough drops.

Anyway, yeah, it's Friday night. I'm a bit tired from shopping--what with beverages, a 7 pound bag of cat litter and a five pound bag of cat food, ten tins of pasta, etc...my back is a bit sore. Blimey! This from a woman who used to think nothing of lifting 40 or 50 pounds. I'm getting old, man.

Man? Oh, now I'm really showing my age. Next you know I'll revert to saying far-out, neat-o, right on and groovy.

Come to think on it, I don't think I've actually said, "groovy," since the forth grade (age 10).

Anyway, Friday night, sitting here watching Utopia again whilst blogging--sometimes the computer will let me in..found a "cheat." I can't access the internet by clicking on the IE icon...but, if I open the recycle bin, I can click favourites and access my blog that way. Sometimes I can go to other websites...but it's very iffy. No rhyme or reason as to when or why I get kicked off the internet. Can't access any of my e-mails still. It doesn't like that.

I'm wondering if downloading Mozilla 3 did this? It's what killed my old computer, I susupect. I keep reading things on Google like "firefox 3 is s_it," "firefox 3 sucks" (my own opinion, actually), and "stay away from firefox 3"--this refers to post 3.0 firefox editions...3.1, 3.2, 3.3 all seem to have generated a LOT of problems for some people...and firefox is totally unresponsive to problems, it's like they're in total denial.

If anyone knows a comparable browser that's suited for Windows 2000, let me know, ey? I'd appreciate it.

Well, we here in northern NY are in for a week of cold, rain and snow apparently. Winter is here a wee early this year...tho' it may warm up temporarily come early November, it's been known to do that.

_________________________________

So, on with the meme, ey?

What’s the most underrated and overrated types of food?

Over-rated: sushi

Under-rated: fresh from the oven, salted and roasted pumpkin seeds. Best part of carving the Halloween pumpkin, mum's roasted seeds...yummy!

What do you usually eat for breakfast?

Whatever I want. Most commonly, either honey-nut toasted oats, yogurt, oatmeal (porage) or scrambled eggs fried potatoes and bacon. But, I'll eat pretty much anything..donuts, bagels with cream cheese, bologna sandwich, cold pizza, spaghetti, left over Chinese...if my stomach can hack it and I'm hungry enough, nearly anything's fair game.

What did you have for dinner today?

Two chilli-dogs and some potato salad.

What’s your favorite local bird?

Red-tail hawk. Spent much of my teenage years watching them. We had loads of wild birds where I grew up: Plieated woodpeckers, great blue herons, cardinals, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, pheasants...you name it. But I always got such a kick out of watching hawks--they are AMAZING! I remember once, sitting on my front lawn, watching this hawk right over my head, circling and circling and circling, higher and higher and ever higher in the sky, until eventually it became just a tiny speck in the heavens...and then, disappeared up into the clouds. Farr-out.

What’s your favorite local tree?

Well, for purely sentimental reasons, I'd say Eastern White Pine--'cos we had a grove of them behind our house.

Transcendentally, I'm fond of the big ol' Eastern Hemlock (sort of like a spruce tree)--lovely to hear in the wind, and glorius with the sun shining brilliantly off the boughs and needles.

Aestetically, the maple...can't beat a maple tree for shade and in the autumn, the colours are, of course, amazing...oh, and let's not forget the syrup, yum!

What’s your favorite season?

Autumn

What’s the best night sky (Northern hemisphere)?

Late autumn or winter, in the Adirondacks or Vermont...or maybe in Iceland. Or, summer in Yesllowstone Ntional Park. When you can see the Milky Way (the stars not the candy bar) with your naked eye, you know you've got a great sky to gaze at...and the meteor showers...wow. Get high enough, and you can see AND hear the shooting stars. Delicious.

What is your favorite way to imbibe alcohol?

I don't drink...don't like the taste of alcohol especially...and, I've only been tipsy twice in my life, and don't like it. But, that said, I do like a scoop of good vanilla ice cream, with a wee bit of creme de menthe poured over it. Or, some pancakes or crepes with a little peach brandy poured over them...yummy.

What is your favorite television fantasy?

That's easy, riding in the Tardis. Who wouldn't want to do that?

New age: is it jazz, classical, easy-listening, or crap?

Depends. Swings between jazz, classical and crap I find.

What’s your favorite "oldies" band?

Don't have a fav--but, love lots of stuff by the Beach Boys, Doobie Brothers and Three Dog Night.

What is the "oldie" you find most romantic?

Earth Angel by the Penquins

I know you’re in Borders, and I need to find you quick. What section would I find you in?

Sci-fi section, Doctor Who, Doh.

Or, try the mysteries or the westerns...after that, I may be in the horse books, writing or history sections...last resort, try the CD and DVD section upstairs. Dont' bother with the coffee shop...way too over-priced, we'll go to Stewarts, instead.

What literary character or author do you kind of sneakingly hope you might be compared to some day?

Louis Lamour--not literary genus, but one helluva story teller. Or, maybe Ralph Waldo Emerson..he had some brilliant ideas. Of course, every writer wants to be a Shakespeare or a Jane Austin or Dickens or whatever. Deep down though...I don't really want to be compared to anyone...I'd rather be uniquely me.

Currently book you are reading?

I'm reading three (not at the same time, obviously)...just began re-reading Doctor Who "Last of the Dodo's", also half-way through reading The "Thin Man" and also, just started chapter two of "Shakespeare of London".