Lady D's Cocktail Chat

2008-03-27T07:04:00.001-04:00

Movin' On Up

I'm in the process of converting my blog from Blogger to WordPress. Once I've fully converted I'll figure out the RSS and all that jazz. Not sure if I completely like this template, however. The two post thing up top is nice to look at, but confusing, and I haven't quite figured out how to add content to the footer. There should be a blog roll and "other news" rss links.

I've also "rebranded" for multiple reasons I'll explain when I'm not in the middle of getting ready for work.

Blog in progress...what do you think?

2008-03-21T18:04:00.001-04:00

Changes Afoot.

Stay tuned.

2008-03-18T21:40:00.003-04:00

Jesus...

I was just in the middle of writing a post about what a great time my husband and I had in Greensburg this weekend. Now I can't bring myself to finish it. This is currently on the front page of Digg:

2008-03-17T20:40:00.000-04:00

Actually, this one is my favorite...

2008-03-17T20:36:00.000-04:00

...And Everyone's Favorite

2008-03-17T20:32:00.000-04:00

Pogues - "Very Drunk Interview"

Could use English subtitles on this one:

2008-03-17T20:28:00.001-04:00

Pogues and Dubliners

2008-03-17T19:17:00.003-04:00

Happy St. Paddy's Day

The content of this post was forwarded to me from my friend Sin-Jin (nom de courrier électronique), who doesn't have a blog but should because he is brilliant, passionate and insane. He may have been drinking during this spout of Irish goodness, but it's more likely that he was just being Sin-Jin.

If you cherish your precious Celtic soul... and you haven't checked this out... rush out lads... "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew." Ronnie Drew - the Big Man from the Dubliners... a touching tribute to an Irish musical icon. This song is being sold as a benefit for the Irish Cancer Society. U2 ... Robert Hunter - lyricist for the Grateful Dead [really. you feckin hippies just can't be shut away can you?] ... Shane MacGowan ... Andrea Corr ... Christy Moore...Sinead O'Connor ... and of course The Dubliners... and more and marr... the list just goes on. The song is quite good ... but the live performance on Irish TV's analog of the David Letterman show ... it is quite the spectacle [and Andrea Corr - as always is quite the visual draw Herself...] Just seeing Shane MacGowan, once again proving that he actually still exists, is always worth the trip. For all you Bono-Haters ... and I have heard it all from You over and over... you will not be disappointed...he is out there in front...as only He can be. the Poet - the Earnest One - the iconoclast - the Walking Caricature - the man who has touched so many of our hearts over the years ... and yet - for his views and his high profile - the guy every Hipster in the World seems to hate so vehemently. He's a good Irish lad - with a ridiculous moniker - and more sincerity in his heart than many could ever muster. take a few minutes if you like the Good 'ol Irish music our parents played on records in our houses when we were kids. The Dubliners have always kicked ass - and the little retrospective in this clip is nice tribute.

Also from Sin-Jin (we were honored to see Tommy Makem in his presence twice):
Watch a great Tommy Makem tribute on Irish tv RTE.

(Ed: Well, I'm not downloading RealPlayer, either, so just enjoy this one from Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers):

2008-03-15T00:56:00.003-04:00

Meat Hair

2008-03-13T23:24:00.005-04:00

Meme Like I Do

Can't pass up a good meme. Trackback to Ms. Closkey.

My iTunes Library by the Numbers

Total length:
10791 items, 32.6 days, 56.88GB

First and last songs (by title):
"A.M. / Meat Flavour," Skinny Puppy
"++++," A Perfect Circle

Sort by time - shortest and longest:
"Who's Knocking on the Wall" They Might Be Giants (4 seconds)
"Thick as a Brick" Jethro Tull (43:37)

Bonus: Longest jam not featuring a flute - "L.M.L.Y.P" Ween (36:37)

Sort by Album - first and last:
Abbey Road - Beatles
1965 - Afghan Whigs

Sort by Artist - first and last:
A-Ha
1000 Homo DJs

Top five most played songs:
We just reinstalled the operating system on my Mac, so all of my playlists are starting a-fresh. My top five are pretty much "Who's Knocking on the Wall", et all.

Find the following words. How many songs show up?
Sex: 22 (most from Sonic Youth's Confusion is Sex; others include "Song Against Sex" by Neutral Milk Hotel, and "Prison Sex" by Tool. *shudder*
Death: 207(!) Lots of songs from Death Cab for Cutie, off Death to the Pixies and Death to the Midgets (holla! Decade alumni)
Love: 431 (love vanquishes death)
You: 1032
Home: 84
Boy: 150 (mostly from Boy, Boys Don't Cry and Three Imaginary Boys)
Girl: 90 (it's a sausage party!)

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle:
"Kindergarten," Faith No More
"The Thin Line Between Love and Hate," Iron Maiden
"Track 03," The Dears (No Cities Left)
"Mantovani The Mind Reader," American Music Club
"10:15 Saturday Night (Live in Nottingham)," The Cure

Sounds like the party goers are fighting over the jukebox. I do love that Dears song and I often do play it during our porch beer sessions. Rick is the Maiden fan.

Our jukebox is this awesome touch screen Rick cobbled together out of old POS equipment, tubes and spit, I believe. It runs a touch screen version of his software Album Cover Finder, which works really great with iTunes and - HEY - you can buy a copy buy clicking on the cool chicklet to the left.

(Shameless, I know.)

Now it’s your turn. What’s on your playlist?

2008-03-13T21:14:00.007-04:00

Norka Orange

I love Dooce's design posts, and today's post came with a research challenge. Norka Orange soda. What do we know about it? Well, it tastes better, that's a given, but we need to dig deeper.

After a quick Google search we learn that Norka is Akron spelled backwards. Apparently lots of things are called "Norka" in Akron. The phenomenon made it into fiction, and is a joke among the Akron "hipsters." I've been to Akron. There are no hipsters. Well, I guess Blossom Amphitheater is pretty close to Akron, and I've been to some pretty cool shows at Blossom, so maybe there are a few hipsters. Who am I to knock Akron? The city has quite a notable history. There is a NORKA of Akron site, which you really should go visit. That's Northeaster Ohio's Researchable Kriptids Accounts.

The most important lesson I have learned from my experiences, is that we will be judged by how well we treat the other animal species with whom we share our planet. --Richard James La Monica Sr.

I was the 11,111 visitor to his site. Creepy.

We bought a futon from Norka Futon when we lived in Cleveland. It was, like, $800. But it was our couch and our bed for awhile, so I guess we got our money's worth. Plus we donated it to my 20 year old college-student cousin, so, you know, there's a whole new generation barfing and humping on that futon.

Norka bottle photo to the right courtesy of this guy, who seems to really enjoy soda research.

I thought "akron prohibition soft drinks" would be the money search, but...alas. I did pull up this interesting biography. Burkhardt Brewery (Wolf Ledge Brewery) did produce Burkhardt's Ginger Ale, Root Beer, Parfay, and Orange Dee-Light, but no Norka Orange.

Norka Malted Oats were a non-noteworthy product of the pure foods movement. The movement chronicled best in the classic Road to Wellville.

And what the hell is this? Seems to be some malfecious content gleaning here. Apparently this guy wants to sell the domain, too. Just "emain" him and it's yours.

Norka made the "Best Worst and Most Unusual."

Umm...Urban Dictionary...not going to link to it.

"Norka" is most likely a girl's name, and shares similar popularity with "Silvennoinen." If I ever have a daughter, I'm definitely naming her Norka Silvennoinen. She is going to be so popular!

So what did we learn? A lot of random, useless things about Norka. This is precisely why I never went to grad school. I like to do the research, but I can never come up with a good conclusion.

2008-03-10T19:45:00.002-04:00

Extree, Extree

Ben Stein a creationist.

Bueller?

2008-02-28T22:55:00.004-05:00

Wait, Wait

Can't go to bed. Right after my CB post I checked my email and learned that next Wednesday, March 4th is NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY! Brought to you by your good friends at SPOGG.

Mark your calendars; buy a T-shirt; do your civic duty by voting for the Worst Celebrity Grammar.

Did I use those semi-colons correctly? Speaking of semi-colons (or according to the NYT style sheet "semicolons":

Never use semi-colons. What are they good for? What are you supposed to do with them? You're reading along, and then suddenly, there it is. What does it mean? All semi-colons do is suggest you've been to college. --Kurt Vonnegut

2008-02-28T22:41:00.002-05:00

That's a Big 10-4, Good Buddy.

I was watching Smokey and the Bandit last night with my husband, and I got to thinking: blogging is this decade's CB radio.

Oh, and if you haven't seen Bandit, in oh, say, 31 years, I suggest you rent it soon. Come back?

Polish up on your CB slang for a richer experience, while your at it. All the good numbers to you, little brothers. I'm off to press some sheets.

2008-02-28T18:35:00.004-05:00

2008-02-25T21:41:00.003-05:00

2008-02-25T19:59:00.007-05:00

'Member When?

My son is big time into story telling now, which is lots of fun. Today while we were driving home he piped up with this one.

TOMMY: Mommy, I'm going to tell you a story about milk. Want me to tell you a story about milk? Here's a story about milk. Once upon a time there was this big glass of milk who WORE RED SHOES.

(long pause)

ME: What was the milk's name, Tommy? (I mean, I needed to know more about this milk with the red shoes.)

TOMMY: His name waaaaas Diiideeeeeeeedoooowwwww.

(bursts into a rendition of BINGO.)

This is the longest original narrative I've heard from Tommy. Normally his stories are (amazingly accurate) recollections of brief images and memories. One of my favorites is: "Mommy, you member that time your toes took a bath with Aunt Annie?" This is, of course, about the time I got a pedicure with my sister-in-law.

And then there is: "Mommy, you member the time at the chicken nugget store when I had the teddy bear poopie?"

This one may need some explaining.

Pretty much any fast food place that has chicken nuggets is the chicken nugget store, although this particular time it was Chic-fil-A. We like that store because they have the indoor playground and it's right by a Get-Go, so you know, cheap gas. Chic-fil-A does have the worst toys for little kids. I suppose they are meant to be educational, but really, a flip book full of fun historical presidential facts (with First Lady trivia as a bonus!) is a bit astute for my three year old. He said "What do I do with this?" and chucked it like the Ralphie and Randy chucked their Christmas socks.

Half way through the chicken nuggets, Tommy has to go to the bathroom. As he is recently potty trained, a trip to the bathroom is an event worthy of fan fare. After a lengthy explanation as to why Mommy can't go into the boy's room, he follows me into the girls room and starts to do his business. Lately, he's into his privacy and makes me wait outside the stall.

"Mommy! Come look."

'Kay...

"Mommy. Look. I pooped a teddy bear."

Lord help me if that poop didn't look like a Teddy Graham. My kid is so damn cute he even poops cute.

Of course now every time we're in a public bathroom my cute kid yells at the top of his lungs: "MOMMY I POOPED ANOTHER TEDDY BEAR, COME LOOK!" And I cringe because I just know the other moms are thinking what is she teaching him!

2008-02-23T10:08:00.005-05:00

Oops.

Dear Cynthia and Woy--

I had a great time at BlogFest 13. Can't wait for the next one. I really enjoyed meeting the both of you and connecting with other Pittsburgh Blogging Royalty like 2PJ. (Although technically I only met 1PJ.)

In the giddiness caused by bumping elbows with so many creative minds AND a planned date night with my husband, I completely left Finnegan's Wake without settling my bill. My bad. It's not often that we get a baby sitter on a Friday night.

I had the crab dip and a Yuengling. Where can I mail my check for $12?

Lady-D

2008-02-20T22:26:00.003-05:00

The Pay Kinda Sucks, but It's All-You-Can-Eat Birthday Cake!

This item made me laugh out loud - not only for the insane image but the comment underneath that says, "Parents, here's a suggestion: stick with Chuck E. Cheese."

There is nothing on the planet - save the Big Red Bird - that my son is more petrified of than Chuck E. Cheese. Is it the sweaty adolescent in the rat suit? Is it the cacophony of sugar-crazed kids, plunking golden tokens, and blaring 80's-esque pop? Is it the freaky animatronic Munch's Make Believe Band?? (They don't really have that anymore - that's a leftover anxiety from my childhood closet.) Whatever the x-factor, a visit to Chuck E. Cheese is a guaranteed hour-long, screaming clingfest, accompanied with months of unprompted flashbacks: "Mom: I do not want the Cheese. No more Cheese."

Well, Kid, I promise not to torture you with the Cheese ever again, or at least until you decide you're too old to have a party at the Toy Lending Library. I will, however, keep at you about Red Robin. It's the only family-friendly restaurant we've found that serves good beer. And dammit, that's a rare find indeed.

2008-02-17T09:32:00.002-05:00

iPod Touch Post

In our household, we buy electronics for Valentine's Day, which is just fine by me. A little inconvenient for typing long posts, and I have to practice my HTML, but it's still sweet. Now I just have to find insecure wifi hotspots, near, say, work.

2008-02-11T03:09:00.001-05:00

Pepsi Tate
"Deal Less Than Themselves"

Album cover meme idea courtesy My Brilliant Mistakes, via ThatNight.net

The CD Cover Meme group has only three rules: (1) The first article title on this random wiki page is the name of your band, (2) the last four words of the very last quote on this random quote page is the title of your album, and (3) the third picture here, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

My full article can be read here. Quote courtesy Jane Austen and photo courtesy strict.

That was fun...now I seriously need to get back to bed.

2008-01-31T05:09:00.001-05:00

Note to Self

Next time I'm up at 3 AM (well, now 5 AM) I'm going to remember to research these tools:

Book Swim
Vimeo

OK then.

2008-01-31T03:39:00.000-05:00

Up at 3 AM

Tommy was up at about 2 AM and instead of letting him crawl in bed with us, I decided to put him back to bed in his own room. Now everyone is sleeping soundly except for me. Luckily for anyone who *ahem* frequents this site, that means more quality blogging!

"I can't blog at work!" is a frequent lament of mine. Now I suppose if I was really hardcore I'd bring my laptop and try to pirate in on someone's unprotected wireless network. But considering I just gave up my lunchtime gym habit because I could never find the time to walk across the street to workout, that's probably an unrealistic level of commitment.

So I get by emailing myself little tidbits that I hope to remember to blog about before the rest of the world has scooped me. You could call me the Jackie Harvey of the blogosphere.

You may have seen the "How to Make a Panda Bear Grow" email that was circulating around several weeks ago. I decided that this little guy looked like my little guy when he was about 6 weeks old. Uncanny, isn't it?

2008-01-31T03:33:00.000-05:00

Bridges of Allegheny County

Good to know that the 8(!) bridges I cross every day to get to work are structurally sound. Check out where you live here.

2008-01-31T03:23:00.000-05:00

Well, If the Kennedy Endorsement Wasn't Enough for You

Obama #1 in Gates and Jobs Households

The computer already told me a few weeks ago to vote for Obama, so this just seals the deal.