November Gave us the Slip

Damnit!, we exclaim together:  November was ridiculously short.  All of a sudden it's December tomorrow (already so in Australia), and meanwhile they've been playing carols for half a month, I've already seen The Grinch, A Charlie Brown Christmas, AND, Shrek The Halls... and I've bought 1 (one) present.  DAMNit!  

Just because, they're laying it on thick:  Coldest Winter Imaginable in Canada.  Sorry Guys.

...oh, wait.  Where the Fuck am I going for a month?  DAMNit again!

In conclusion—hope people like the festive banner.  It's been tweaked and finalized, just in time for the Holiday season.  Thanks to Phil for a) making it much quicker to load, and b)putting the 'Holyrood Huddle' back where the "." used to be.  Gladness!

Oh— one more thing:   If/When HR! announces a Boxing Day show, can someone buy me a ticket???  If not, I'll see if Cassidy can grab them.  But, as i recall, Cory is pretty damned good at this.

updates

First off, there has been some talk of how goddamn cold it is in Canada. Now, I don't want to say the weather is better here, but we did recently enjoy temperatures in the 37s. That's centrigrade mind you.

The main problem with weather that warm is that our crummy neighbors take pleasure in standing directly outside our window talking all night when it's hot.

Another thing: what's up with this new mario game? Man, it looks sweet.

I also took the initiative and watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Did anyone follow this? What the hell was the thing with the crabs that looked like rocks dragging the boat in the "locker"?

Finally, I was recently detained by Melbourne police in questioning related to the rape of the GRE verbal section. I presented in my defence the inimitable words of Phil and Hinchuman: you can't rape the willing. Indeed, for this very reason, I've declined to press charges against the GRE quantitative section.

Something to do

Michael Winter is reading at MUN  . . . TONIGHT!  All you fools in town should wise up and get it on the go.

Michael Winter will be reading from his latest novel, The Architects are Here on November 27th at 7:30 pm in Room A-1046 in the Arts & Administration Building Atrium at MUN.

FYI

No more Johnny Howard, Kevin Rudd is the new Prime Minister of Australia.

Frankly vs. Earnestly

I came across this tidbit while cybersurfin' on the digital trailways of the world wide web:


Frank & Ernest chronicles the adventures of two "every man" characters who are anything but ordinary! They are able to appear in different settings, time periods - even manifested as things and creatures other than people. The variety in the strip extends to their observations about a wide variety of subjects.

Frank & Ernest peaks with a unique voice that reflects the strip's iconoclastic - but lovable - attitude combined with timely - and timeless - humor. Wordplay often adds extra entertainment value.

A tradition of innovation continues to sustain the strip's vitality. When it debuted in 1972, Frank & Ernest was the first panel presented in a strip format and the first comic to employ variety in settings and character manifestations, eschewing an ongoing story in one setting. The tradition of innovation was evident also in the introduction of e-mail addresses to the comics pages of over 1,000 newspapers (1994) plus in the use of detailed digital coloring process for the Sunday strips (1995). The strip's first web site has extended the innovative tradition in three ways:

* First translation of syndicated comic strip characters to 3-D format.
* First availability of an interactive version of a strip first published in the newspaper.
* First searchable database of syndicated cartoons.

Who knows what the future will offer!

Frank & Ernest is read daily by over 25 million people in1,200 newspapers in the United States andabroad.
Characters

The wordplay often evident in the strip - frankly and earnestly! - begins with the name! Frank, the taller of the two characters, tends to be more open and candid. Ernest, true to his name, typically is genuine and sincere.

What traits do they share?

* Observers.
* Neither right nor left, but always off-center.
* Nothing is sacred for them. Everything is fair game for their wit.
* Respect society - but aren't afraid to point out its flaws.
* Vacation plans likely to include renting travel videos and watching them on the couch.
* Make fun of themselves - not others. Able to laugh at themselves.

Frank - the taller of the pair

* Talkative, gregarious, uninhibited, self-centered.
* Happily self-deluding. Fools nobody but himself, but that's good enough for him.
* Has a girlfriend, Francine, but can't seem to have things go smoothly with her.
* Lampoons pomposity.
* Has unconscious wisdom. Has the correct answer to everything - but for all of the wrong reasons.
* Precisely targets pretension.

Ernest

* Happy, lovable, innocent, easy-going, totally oblivious to himself.
* Naively upstages Frank.
* Pays no mindful attention to Frank's foibles.
* Benignly punctures self-delusions.
* Has worse luck with women than Frank does.
* Often turns the table on Frank but is completely free of malice.

The Weakerthans

CBC Radio 3 let John K. Samson (The Weakerthans) come by their Vancouver studio and play 4 tracks. This is really good stuff, really stripped down, quality tunes. It's a couple years old but definately worth a listen. If anyone has any idea how to extract the audio from the site, let me know.

http://archive.cbcradio3.com/issues/2003_01_03/main.cfm

Cat's out of the box

The cat is officially out of the box: I'm sad to say that yours truly and Jill will NOT be returning home for christmas! or at all until June!!!

This is very depressing for us as we had many wicked plans... teaching at mun, hanging out with nothing to do, wii, eastwood, buttertarts, drinking, eating like a fiend, staying at bob's apartment downtown....

DAMNIT!

So here was the line of thought that lead us to decide to stay in melbourne instead of heading home for good in december.

1. my thesis: I got behind in writing and realised I would have to finish writing it in January, the same time I started a new job at mun (whihc was only a hope, not a certainty...). So staying here, i figured I would have the whole month off from working to focus on writing...

2. visas: we realised that if we applied for a visa in march we would be able to stay here until classes end in june. This means jill could keep working and I'll be able to teach one more term here. But we have no visa options in canada, unless jill has a job lined up beforehand.

3. money: if we moved back home in december, we wouldn't have any savings, and jill would likely take forever to find a job or have to live in the field the whole time (a la jacob last summer), which wouldn't justify moving home! Meanwhile, in the best case I'd be working at mun (which pays less than our rent would be), so I'd have to have a second job (which in st john's isnt easy to find from my experience) and not have any time to focus on my thesis.

4. next september: wherever we go next september, we'll need to have money saved up to get an apartment and to cover the time until jill get's a job (and in the worst case i get a job). We wouldn't save much in newfoundland because we'll make way less than here, unless jill works in the field, which doesn't justify moving home.

So there you go, Im not happy about it but it seemed like the only option. The good side, however, is that hopefully by June we'll have enough saved that we can stay the whole summer in newfoundland without working. This would be ideal, as all the wicked things of christmas will be translated in the second, much longer christmas season....

It sucks living away though for all the reasons jacob has mentioned for christmas........ I feel like a fucker but there you go, i know it's going to be wicked christmas too!

And they called it what now?...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071115.wdinosaur1115/BNStory/Science/home

Rejoiiiceee Rejoiiiicceee!!!

Tis true, yonder friends:

fare has been purchased for passage from the port of Austin (in the state of Texas), arriving in the narrow harbour of St. John's (Newfoundland) on the 14th of December, the year of our lord two thousand and seven.

Excitement! And I shall be celebrating until January the 7th, the year two thousand and eight. Also in the mix there are 7 days in the city of New Amsterdam (commonly called 'york'). I have also arranged to work in the galley of a Tex-Mex restaurant while I'm there, to offset the cost of passage.

In other recent news -from the land of Australia, no less- I can confirm that both Mr. Crosbie & Ms. Slater can indeed be reached via the telephone, despite the terrible distance the signal must travel through the undersea passages and arrive onshore. Also guaranteed: an entertaining and lively conversation, complete with references to current and historically overlooked films, in addition to much conversing about "maps" and their various accuracies and goings on. "Highly Recommended."

Christmas gift idea for yours truly:

There is no question: I need this shirt. If anyone wants my address just let me know. >8]

Holidays!

Who's gonna be in the 709 for the holiday season this year and when are you getting here?

flying/sitting dutchman

Some guy who levitates in front of the white house.

bringin' the truth

Stephen Colbert writing in the NYTimes.

                   Surprised to see my byline here, aren’t you? I would be too, if I read The New York Times. But I don’t. So I’ll just have to take your word that this was published. Frankly, I prefer emoticons to the written word, and if you disagree :(

Obviously it's slick

this new banner represents a new era of greatness for the 'HH'.  A nod to design greats such as "BioCurious" and probably to something else.  I don't really know what i'm doing, but i've found if i fuck around with it for long enough, i turn it into fun.  I know, I know, you  say: "Luke, you work too hard on something that pays absolutely nothing instead of doing actual work, and procuring some form of gainful employment."  Huddlers, I tell you, I care not.  It makes me feel like a big man, and I hope it does the same for you.  

p.s. what do you think? 

oh, and when you're making a new post, the blog title is just a "." or "period."  A crappy side-effect of the internetz.

So, which side are you on? Or will be on in 100,000 years?

For some of us, I think i already have the answer.  Sorry Arielle...  errr, rather, the mongreloid ancestors of Arielle's children.

Human Race will split into two species in 100,000 years.

     "The human race will one day split into two separate species, an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, according to a top scientist."

Also, as if we didn't know, James Lipton, host of Inside the Actor's Studio is a pimp.  and was a pimp, for real, in Paris.

And, more than anything, I want to know:  what did all yonder Peeps do for Hallowe'en?  All Hallow's Eve?  I saw some scary costumes: Jacob's ego-maniacal 'Jake in a box,' and also Cory's terrifying hairy-mask.  

For my part, I basically tried to ignore it, and got by by wearing my threadless bones shirt.  No 6th st. for me, thank god.

What was everyone else?

What was l'Allowe'en like in Kingston? Melbourne?  Fredricton? Goose-bay?

just askin', yo...