Poetic Champions Compose

~~She'll loan you her toothbrush, She'll bartend your party~~



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Wednesday, January 28, 2004
 
A SHOUT OUT TO MY BROTHER TUCKER, WHO GAVE ME THE INSPIRATION TO SUMMON DEMONS

Who would have ever thought that Andrew Wells would have become one of my favorite characters from the final seasons of "Buffy"? Certainly, not I. But, he was hilarious, and he managed to weasel his way into my good graces.

That is why tonight's episode of "Angel" was such a treat. Tom Lenk returned to the Buffyverse and arrived in L.A. to help Angel retrieve a rogue slayer. Andrew was back.

In just the few brief scenes that he appeared in, he was classic Andrew. He regaled the group (well, not ALL the group) with his explanation of how there could be yet another slayer in the world, since not all of them were privy to the goings-on in Sunnydale. His tale of the "slayer of the vam-PYRE" took us right back to "Buffy" season 7's Andrew-centric episode, "Storyteller."

The arrival of Andrew marks the first appearance of a "Buffy" character on "Angel" since the original series ended last year. It was a chance for the writers to satisfy some curiosity for the Buffy loyalists, as well. Andrew was able to tie up many loose ends by providing details about "Buffy" characters and their whereabouts. It's great to know that Buffy and Dawn are in Italy, while Willow (Yay!) and Kennedy (who we hate with a fiery passion) are spending their time in Brazil. All of the former Scoobies are rounding up brand new slayers all around the world.

And then, the Andrew-twist at the end of the story was the icing on the cake.

I stand by my opinion that seeing a piece of "Buffy" back on TV was great, if only for a brief moment.

Next week: Cordelia wakes up for "Angel's" 100th episode.
 
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
  THEY LIVE IN A FREAKIN' HOLLOW TREE.
Exhibit #2:

Behold, Liv Tyler--bizzarre freak-clone of her father, Steven Tyler.
Liv Tyler, daughter of Steven Tyler, playing Arwen the ELF in 'The Lord of the Rings'

She plays an ELF in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. How much more proof do you need?
 
 
IF YA WANT MY BODY AND YOU THINK I'M SEXY

Dear Zam,

Just in case you were still tempted to think that Steven Tyler--while he is a legitmate rock star--is somehow sexy, please take a gander at this, my most recent evidence:

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

Steven Tyler, of Aerosmith fame

The Gelflings from Jim Henson's 'The Dark Crystal'











Hmm....
 
Monday, January 19, 2004
  KILL ME QUICKLY
This past weekend was spent taking a class. And, not just your average hour and a half class. Nope. This is a 3 credit course crammed into the span of 6 days. That means that my every waking moment (or so it seemed) was spent in this class.

This would not be a problem if I liked all the people involved. However, there are those involved who are VIGOROUSLY annoying me. Three "students" and the instructor. The odds are not good that I will maintain my composure throughout the duration of the course. The one dude (the worst offender) is patronizingly slimy. He actually whacked me on the ass with his notebook. HELLO!?!? I don't even know you from a hole in the ground, and you are whacking me on the ass with your notebook?!?? That did not sit well with me. Then, top that off with various derogatory comments that he made later on in regards to Amelia Earhart and her close friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt (you can see where this is going)...

I want to kick him in the 'nads.
 
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
  STUNNED LIKE A SLEEPWALK SLAPPED AWAKE
Garrison StarrOk, so, I just found out that next month, one of my most favorite musical artists is going to be releasing a new CD, "Airstreams and Satellites." Her name is Garrison Starr, and she is freakin' amazing. You may recall that back in the day, she had an album called "Eighteen Over Me" and a song called "Superhero" which was played on the radio ad nauseum. It was a shame for several reasons. First, when radio stations play a song 75 times an hour, it only serves to make listeners (who are the general buying population) so sick of the song, and artist that they never want to hear him or her again. Secondly, it characterized G*Starr as a "one-hit wonder," which, had the stations bothered to play any of her other songs, she certainly would not have been.

Just over a year ago, she released her second album, "Songs From Take-Off to Landing," after finally working out some troubles with record companies. It is amazingly great. Her song "Gardenia" gives me chills when I listen to it, and I am inexplicably compelled to turn my stereo up to levels unkonwn when my player hits song #10.

Airstreams and SatellitesI have been fortunate enough to see her play a few times when she was in the area, and we actually got to talk to her a few times. She is one of the nicest and most genuine people you will meet. And as far as her live performances, she certainly doesn't disappoint. I cannot wait for this new CD in February, and I am here to make sure that you can't either. Check her out. Give the songs a listen. Then, go buy her stuff. Help a sister make a living. She's terrific.

Garrison Starr -- "Superhero"
Garrison Starr -- "Gardenia"
[Sorry...links are gone. You snooze, you lose.]
 
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
  BLOG IT FORWARD, Y'ALL
Ok, apparently, today is Blog It Forward Day again, so here goes:

Inspired Procrastination--The Procrastinatrix, as she calls herself, and her husband "The Rock Star" are expecting their first child, and it is just absolutely wonderful to feel how excited they truly are about the event. Not to mention, she is a way cool chick, and with all the procrastinating, a gal after my own heart.

Get Off My Lawn--Paul is absolutely hilarious, and a brilliant writer. I think he uses has a talent for using the English language to its full potential. He is infinitely entertaining.

I suppose that I will just list these 2 for now. I am a tad tired and need to sleeeeeeeeppp.....
 
Monday, January 12, 2004
  A GODDAMN APPLE
What an interesting weekend I had.

This past weekend was spent in the big city again (Mac will certainly start to think I am intentionally avoiding her since another Philly weekend has come and gone without a McCrossen's rendezvous), this time for Bri's birthday. Originally, plans were to go to the Flyers game on Saturday, but things didn't quite pan out. That was quite alright though, since we instead spent a relaxing afternoon lounging about after our initial Friday night of bar-hopping (ok--more like bar-hop since we only hit Rembrandt's and McCrossen's). Surprisingly enough, the brutally bitter cold (a whopping six degrees) was NOT a deterrent for people on Friday. Maybe people had bad weeks, or maybe it was the impending Eagles game, but for whatever reason, Remy's was packed, and so was McCrossen's. A good time was had by all at both hot spots, but as The Suz so aptly stated on Friday, while Rembrandt's is a nice place with a wonderful barman (no one knows how to pull a Guinness like Joe Danks), there is just something about McCrossen's that is so much more "comfortable." Every time we walk into that place, whether it has been one week, one month, or one year, people remember us and are always glad to see us. We have made a whole lot of great new friends through Brian, and McCrossen's has become our second home (only after McArdle's). I personally, was glad to spend yet another Friday evening late night at Mickey C's with the whole cast of characters.

Saturday was Bri's actual birthday, and again, we hit McCrossen's for some early dinner action...which somehow managed to evolve into another evening of drinks. I started off with a lovely Black Oak chardonnay to accompany my French Onion soup and Tuna and Scallop burger. Dee-LISH. The wine was flowing freely for a few hours when I decided I needed to try something new.

You faithful readers may recall my somewhat less than pleasurable experience with the dirty Grey Goose martini during my last visit to Philadelphia. I was now determined to find a martini I liked, and so, I thought I would give the martini name another shot. This time, I ordered an apple martini. Let me tell you, when I tasted this drink, it was as if the heavens opened up and a great white light and a chorus of angels had appeared. To quote George Costanza, it was like, "a taste explosion." This stuff is like legal crack in a glass. Oh. My. What a freakin' awesome drink. We passed the glass around, and after tasting, agreed that it was indeed, quite delectable. But, perhaps Brian summed it up best when he said, "That tastes exactly like a goddamn apple." So addictive.

I had 3 apple martinis (on top of my 5 glasses of wine) and I was basically, worthless after that. Not sloppy, but a tad schnoopered. We ordered some wings and calamari to go, and proceeded to head back to the apartment. It was nary midnight at this point. We got back to Brian's and we chowed down, put on pj's, watched 2 seconds of hockey, and passed out (in that order).

Sunday morning rolled around, and we dragged ourselves out of bed by 10:30 am to head to the diner for breakfast. A quick pit stop at the Whole Foods Market after we ate was punctuated by the most annoying man ever and his 3-year-old son doing their grocery shopping in every single spot in the store that we wanted to be in. We specifically went to the store for some garlic-stuffed olives, and this guy and his kid were (literally) inspecting and sniffing every single container of olives that was in the case. He actually allowed the 3-year-old to choose the olives. We were baffled at this, until, later on in an attempt to quiet the fussing child, he gave the kid olives--and the kid was eating them like they were candy. Unreal.

After the grocery shopping was finished, and we were finally able to ditch the annoying guy and his olive-eating freak child, we again went back to the apartment to lounge and lollygag on a lazy (such alliteration!) Sunday afternoon. We watched a few early afternoon hockey games (gotta love NHL Center Ice®), some NFL playoff action (but not the Eagles), and mostly, we watched the Philadelphia Park horse racing channel. It's always fun to watch the races and make friendly $1 wagers amongst friends--which we did. Again, I was reminded of why I should never take up gambling--I have the worst luck in the world. I did not get one pick correct all afternoon. All my dollar bills, down the drain. But, it was fun anyway.

We hung around into the evening hours, but decided it best to get the heck out of Dodge before the Eagles game ended in order to avoid the traffic death trap that is the Schuylkill Expressway. Needless to say, I got ZERO work done over the weekend, but, I had very little that needed to be completed to begin with.

The best part of the whole weekend--and perhaps the most ironic--was that I returned home to find that awaiting me in my mail was a hand-knitted hat from Mac over at Go Fish! Woo hoo! It is so freakin' awesome--I just love it! Thank you, Mac! The color is so unique, and the style is perfect for me (picture to follow soon). I hope you will all be über-jealous of me as I proudly sport my new "fishknit" hat. It's the bestest (and yes, I can make "bestest" a word if I want to).
 
Thursday, January 08, 2004
  YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME!
Well, it's official.

I have a groupie--woo hoo!

I suppose that now this means that, just like in Tiger Beat, I will have to do one of those little bios where I list all my "Likes and Dislikes" in order to keep my fanbase satisfied.

*sigh* The burden of having 5 people who read this...
 
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
  REALITY TV: ROUND 38
Why oh why is it that all the new reality shows have to start up at the same time?

I cannot help but feel that it is a deliberate effort on the part of television executives to prevent me from getting any school work done at home. I bring things home from school, but then I turn on the TV and I get sucked into "Life After Extreme Makeovers" or "Celebrity Mole: Yucatan."

The absolute end all will be next week: new episodes of The Bachelorette, starring my favorite chick from this last series of The Bachelor--Meredith (the Paula Cole-alike).

Someone let me know when it is June.
 
Thursday, January 01, 2004
 
IT'S NO GRAPES AND A POT OF WATER, BUT IT'S TRADITION.

It's kind of funny that Zam and I alway joke about how we share a brain. All along, I had intended today to make my New Year's Day blog post about our strange, yet enduring PA Dutch New Year's traditions. Prior to writing this post, I stopped in at Zam's Blog, only to find that she has posted a wonderful little tidbit about her Cuban heritage and her family's New Year's traditions. (It's really a beautiful little entry--you should go read it.) Now, of course, I seem as if I am a copy-cat. However, I shall continue on with my original plan. So, here's the skinny on how we Dutchies in Pennsylvania celebrate the first day of our new year.

For those who may not know, the term Pennsylvania Dutch actually has nothing to do with Holland or the actual Dutch at all. The first settlers from Germany who came to PA back in the time of William Penn and the colonials were actually misunderstood because of their German accents, and when asked their original nationality, their reply of "Deutsch" (the German word for "German") became "Dutch." Hence, the whole PA Dutch--also called, more correctly, Pennsylvania German--culture, which is really German-based. (My town is famous for its annual Pennsylvania German Festival every year.) That being said, on to the explanation. *whew*

Any self-respecting Dutchman would rather be caught dead than not having eaten his pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. For as long as I can remember, my mother has made the traditional pork and sauerkraut for the New Year's Day dinner. Growing up, all my friends' moms made it, too. That's how you can tell which families are true PA Dutch. It's just the way it is. It's supposed to bring good luck for the upcoming year.

It's crazy here. Talk to anyone on New Year's Day, and one of the first questions they ask is, "Did you have your pork and kraut?" The folklore goes that the pork, rather than chicken or turkey, is good luck for the new year because a pig will thrust its nose forward in the dirt when it is looking for food, while a chicken or turkey will scratch backward. This idea, that if you eat chicken on New Year's Day, you'll be scratching for food all year long, originated with the first German settlers to come to Pennsylvania.

Usually, heaps of mashed potatoes accompany the pork and kraut, but in our family, the one other deelish tradition we PA Dutch have is that of the lettuce and bacon dressing. Oh my goodness. That is one thing that I love. So simple, but yet, soooooo good. Honestly, the name says it all. It's lettuce with a few hard boiled eggs sliced up on top, and then warm bacon dressing sprinkled over top of the lettuce. Yumm. I'm sure it clogs your arteries in less than 5 seconds, but heck, I only eat it once a year, so it's ok.

Anyway, that's how we do things here in Dutch country. I hope that everyone who reads this has a wonderfully happy, healthy, and prosperous 2004, and that only good things await you and yours in the year to come.

Peace out.
 
There's a dream where the contents are visible
Where the poetic champions compose...

~Van Morrison, "Queen of the Slipstream"

Edgar Allan Poe




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    BUFFY Quotes of the Day
    Anya: It's possible that he's in the land of perpetual Wednesday, or the crazy melty land, or you know, th-the world without shrimp.
    Tara: There's a world without shrimp? I'm allergic.

    ~from "Triangle"


    Anya: I don't see you winning too many beauty contests... unless the Miss "My Face Fell Off" Pageant gets going.

    ~from "Bargaining: Part Two"

    Anya: Here's a little something you should know about Vengeance Demons. We don't groove with the "sorry." We prefer the "Oh God, please stop hitting me with my own rib-bones!"

    ~from "Same Time, Same Place"


    Buffy: It's just like, nothing's simple. I'm always trying to work it out. Who to hate, or love...who to trust...It's like the more I know, the more confused I get.
    Giles: I believe thats called growing up.
    Buffy: I'd like to stop then, ok?

    ~from "Lie to Me"


    Riley: Got big stories to tell you, too. We get half a sec, we can compare and contrast.
    Buffy: Did you die?
    Riley: No.
    Buffy: I'm gonna win.

    ~from "As You Were"


    Xander: Giles lived for school. He's still bitter there were only 12 grades.
    Buffy: He probably sat in math class thinking, "There should be more math! This could be mathier!"

    ~from "The Dark Age"


    Giles: In the end, we are all who we are, no matter how much we may have appeared to change.

    ~from "Lessons"


    Dawn: How are you?
    Willow: A little confused. I mean, I'm sweaty, I'm trapped, no memory, hiding in a pipe from a vampire...and I think I'm kinda gay.

    ~from "Tabula Rasa"


    Buffy



    101 Reasons Why I Love Buffy the Vampire Slayer






    I'm a Woman, so, my mood is always subject to change, but at the moment it's... The current mood of PDawg at www.imood.com


    iPod Mini


    I'm beginning to understand this now. It's all about the journey, isn't it?

    ~Giles, "Restless"

    The End of an Era


    Once More, From the Top...