Xavi's gone Insane!

UPS fail

2009-07-10T21:18:22Z

Forgot to say -- the one who said I could just sign the tag & leave directions for them to leave the package with a neighbour? She neglected to inform me that this can only be done if I live in a single family dwelling; they can't do it for apartments. The girl at the sender's help line told me they don't require a signature at all for packages and that they usually tell the couriers just to leave the package on the doorstep if there is no answer. So, I have been lied to, misinformed, and generally fucked over four ways from Sunday by UPS. Companies who use them will never get my business again, even if it means I have to pay friends in various countries to get things and ship them up by standard postal service for me. I deeply and truly hope UPS finds itself out of business ASAP.

Googlebomb time.

2009-04-12T21:37:07Z

Amazon Rank

[ explanation ]

Something I haven't mentioned but I want to now

2009-02-22T22:31:46Z

People who create an LJ just to friend & follow mine? Creepy. All damn kinds of creepy. If you add me as a friend and your LJ has no entries, no profile, and/or no-one but me on your friends list, do not expect me to add you back. I may lack in social skills, but that is stalkerish in the extreme and thanks but no, I won't be playing along.

Freaky stuff from nature

2009-02-22T21:18:52Z

Shark with strange jaws. Yes, it's a real critter.

Spider who back-combs her web -- she's an 80s girl?

The S'more Martini

2009-02-22T12:53:53Z

From eHow
S'mores don't have to be saved for camping! Why should boy and girl scouts have all the fun? You can use the same classic ingredients as inspiration for a cocktail party. Yes, you heard right. Here's how to turn this outdoor American tradition into a signature indoor cocktail.

* 32 oz. vanilla vodka
* 16 oz. white chocolate liqueur
* 64-oz. pitcher
* 1 graham cracker
* Plastic bag
* Small bowl
* 1 jar marshmallow creme
* Martini glasses
* Bartending badges
* Skewers
* 1 bag miniature marshmallows

1. Pour the vodka and white chocolate liqueur into the pitcher and stir. Refrigerate several hours until the mixture is cold.
2. Crush the graham cracker in a plastic bag, then pour the crumbs into a small bowl.
3. Rub marshmallow creme around the rims of the martini glasses to lightly coat.
4. Dip each glass into the bowl of graham cracker crumbs until the marshmallow creme is covered with crumbs.
5. Pour about 3 oz. of the drink mixture into each of the prepared glasses and serve.
6. Print "bartending badges" styled like scout achievement badges and tie them to the stem of each cocktail glass.
7. For extra credit, set up a marshmallow roasting station near the fireplace and invite guests to roast them and slide into their cocktail for garnish.

Clips of Tarik Sultan & more

2009-02-21T22:21:40Z

An interesting techno-bellydance-hip hop fusion piece:

Another fusion piece

and for the wtf factor, though he's a good dancer, an Asian male bellydancing in drag.

Male belly dancers

2009-02-21T16:55:52Z

I think I want a harem.

Gee, LJ is so generous. /sarcasm

2009-02-21T12:25:52Z

"As a thank-you for their contributions, all the authors of entries chosen for the book will receive a $20 LJ gift certificate (that's a year's worth of Paid Account time or 2 years' worth of userpic add-ons!). And in recognition of all the good ideas we've gotten from lj_turns10, we'll give you a $5 LJ gift certificate (that's 2 months' worth of Paid Account time) if you suggest an entry that makes it into the book. In cases where we receive multiple suggestions for an entry, the gift certificate goes to the first suggestion. And what if you suggest an entry that gets chosen for the book and you happen to be the author of that entry? Then we'll give you a $20 and a $5 LJ gift certificate, for a grand total of $25, to spend as you wish in the Gift Shop."

So in order to pay writers for their work, LJ is giving them gift certificates which can only be spent on LJ merchandise. Hmm. "Hey Steve, I'd like you to paint my house for me. Payment? Oh, yeah... I should pay you. Hey, how's about you can have a second can of paint. Oh, but you can only use it inside my house."

This is kind of intriguing.

2009-02-21T12:13:47Z

The Black Book of Colours. It's a book, in braille and text, describing colours through words and raised line drawings for those who can't experience them visually.

Dollhouse

2009-02-21T04:19:56Z

Watched the second episode, loved it, already have a character I hate. I think Eliza is going to do just fine with this show. I also think perhaps the reason her "girly girl" characters in the show don't come across as effectively may be more to do with the writers than with her performances. The writers don't seem to do well with writing weakness in -- even the little girl who was kidnapped had the presence of mind to try to get information to her daddy.

Early senility.

2009-02-20T19:26:12Z

Sat down at the PC to look something up on line.

Damed if I can remember what it was now.

I think I'd react the same way

2009-02-20T18:47:54Z

Found here.
(BANG) - Hugh Jackman made a fan faint when he kissed her.

The 'Australia' actor decided to pay the woman - who works as a switchboard operator for US TV program 'The Tonight Show' - a surprise visit after he discovered she wasn't allowed to leave her post to meet him when he appeared on the show.

Her friends told Hugh - who was voted the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine last year - it was her birthday, so he crept up behind her whispered "Happy Birthday" and then kissed her on the neck.

The girl immediately span round, but upon coming face-to-face with her idol turned bright red and fainted in his arms.

{Xav's note, as regards this next line, the credibility is somewhat suspect as they list the National Enquirer as a source.}

According to National Enquirer magazine, Hugh screamed: "OH MY GOD! Somebody help me! I think she has fainted!"

The girl was eventually brought round with the aid of smelling salts and cold compresses. Once she had composed herself she happily posed for a photograph with Hugh.

(C) BANG Media International

Whaddafu?

2009-02-19T10:15:33Z

According to my clocks, it's 6:14 AM.

I just called the transit info line and they tell me the next bus on my route is scheduled to depart at 5:55 am, and the bus after that will depart in two minutes.

My brain hurts now.

Love's bitch...

2009-02-19T03:45:01Z

Recently there have been a lot of comments on how OMG misogynist Joss Whedon is, and how Dollhouse is just a whorehouse with extremely wealthy clients, etc. etc. I've even seen one person call Joss a child pornographer because she didn't like the way female characters were portrayed in the Buffy comics. She figured because the two females in bed together are lean and young looking they must be kids, especially since there is a stuffed animal in the picture with them. Oh, and she just had to say "DYKES DO NOT LOOK LIKE THIS JOSS WHEDON YOU PERVERT!!!!"

Well, for someone who claimed to have watched Buffy she couldn't have paid much attention, since the stuffed pig is Mr. Gordo, a critter Buffy always had with her, a childhood friend who never really left. The bit about lesbians not looking like that? Um, hi, I happen to know a few lesbians who make the two girls in that comic panel look like Plain Jane. Part of the justification for the child porn comment is that the girls lack body hair. Ya know, so do I. It's called a razor. Some folks go for a Brazilian wax. Either way, in the image the two girls have a sheet over them so unless they had major jungle bush there is no way you would be able to tell if they had body hair or not! The comics take place after the series ends, and by that time Buffy is old enough to have been to and out of university. She's not a child.

As far as Joss writing nasty woman hating characters, did no-one notice the whole storyline of Spike's existence? In his first episode we see him standing on the side of the dance floor looking at Buffy and you can tell he's suddenly feeling something other than "I want to kill her." He looks like a man who has just fallen in love for the very first time. As we see more of Spike's life revealed, we see that everything he has ever done was for the love of a woman. He was a poet, a writer who walked into the arms of death after being rejected by the effulgent beauty who had stolen his heart. Dru offered him love, and he blindly accepted. When he squares off against Angelus and does all he can to be a bigger big bad than his mentor, it is because he wants Dru to love him. In one of the earlier episodes, he flat out says, "I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it." Spike turns his dying mother into a vamp, expecting that she will be grateful and will retain as much of her humanity as he has (one could argue that Spike held more of his humanity than any other vampire on the show, but that's a whole different topic to rant on.) When she doesn't, and when he sees the monster she has become as she tries to seduce him, he destroys her rather than see the demon control her forever.

Even in talking about how he killed the two slayers, one during the Boxer Rebellion and one in the 70s from whom he got the coat, he reveals that it wasn't just a kill. He tells Buffy, "sooner or later every Slayer has a death wish." Maybe I have a skewed perspective since I have had suicidal thoughts more than once, but from the perspective Spike must have, as a demon who can't die, if someone wants to die and is tired of the fight then you are being merciful to kill them. For a Slayer to go out fighting and fighting hard would be the most honourable way to go, wouldn't it?

Spike stands by Buffy, helping her when he doesn't have to, when by all means he ought to kill her for what she has done to him and to Drusilla. Instead he lets his heart get the better of him, and ends up acting as a protector to Dawn. He is thoroughly used by Buffy, as both a punching bag and a fuck toy, and he knows it: " So, what now? You go back to treating me like dirt till the next time you get an itch you can't scratch?" " I may be dirt ... but you're the one who likes to roll in it, Slayer."

She drives him to distraction, wanting him and using him but being too ashamed to let her friends know the truth. She turns to him for the emotional needs that her friends can't meet, and then pushes him even further away. In a desperate bid to make her see how he feels he attacks her in her washroom -- this is probably the most misogynist scene in the whole show, and it was written by a female writer who states in the interviews that the scene was taken from things she wanted to do in her relationships when she knew they were ending. She compared it to that one last fling you have with the guy who is leaving you, thinking if you can just make the sex good enough maybe he'll stay.

Finally feeling utterly rejected and crushed Spike goes off to petition higher (lower?) powers to give him what he needs so he can give Buffy "what she deserves." They grant him a soul, and when he returns to Sunnydale he is completely mad, but still drawn to Buffy, arguably the cause of much of his madness. Remembering how she had treated him when she corners him in a church, he offers to service her, thinking that's what she has come for like so many times before, only to be thrown across the room in another rejection. In the final episode, he finally gets his redemption. He dies so she and the other slayers can escape and live. He knows she doesn't mean it when she tells him she loves him, and we can see in his eyes that he accepts that now. That saving her life and the lives of others is, in the end, more important than saving his own. Yes, he's love's bitch, but he's man enough to admit it and accept it.

What does all this have to do with Dollhouse?
People are judging Dollhouse based on one episode. That's like reading the liner notes of an album and deciding you hate it. They have barely had time to introduce all of the characters. There's this thing called plot development. Let it happen and see where Joss goes. No, it's not all about his sense of humour in this one, but neither was Angel at first, and that got pretty goofy. (Angel as a muppet, anyone? Not to mention one of the show's writers starring as a puppeteer who gets used as a muppet by a muppet...You'd have to watch it to understand.)

People are saying there are no male Actives. Apparently they weren't watching the shower scene, nor the scene where all the actives settle into their pods for sleep. You can spot at least two male Actives in this clip: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2704002/7884176

"OMG Joss calls it "the sexy human trafficking show." Um, hello, might that be his "quirky sense of humour" that you've just been bitching about not seeing in the show? Its a show that focuses on human trafficking, yes, and the characters are sexy, yes. Wouldn't be much call for rich people hiring fat ugly old geezers as weekend playmates, now would there? How would they advance the secret agent plots if all the Actives were traveling around in motorized scooters? "I'll come rescue your kidnapped child but hang on, have to take my lorazepam first so I don't pop an artery from stress." "Damn it, he's getting away, I can't get my walker up that spiral staircase!"

Hrmph. Seriously people, get over yourselves and give the show a chance, and try to see things from perspectives outside of your own limited life experience. The show is fiction, just like the comics. Everything doesn't need to be 110% realistic. We don't need to see that she gets zits two days before her period or be told that the guys stink of sweat after they have worked out. Unless you're going to slam every single piece of fiction out there, either walk away from the Whedon or open yourself to the idea that maybe he really is a kickass writer, and if you looked at his characters as people first and then as their gender or race, maybe you'd see he writes about strong people, period, end of story.

Xavi, why do you hate facebook?

2009-02-18T23:54:24Z

"But Xavi, why do you hate facebook?"

"Repetitive ads."

"But Xavi, why do you hate facebook?"

"Repetitive ads."

Interesting...

2009-02-18T21:13:55Z

I ran into my sister this morning, and was talking to her about the joint issues. She's double jointed & has the same knee problem, and now her kids are showing it too. She told me to look up Hypermobility Syndrome, and this is part of what I found online: from the American Journal of Psychiatry
Of the patients with anxiety disorder, those who had joint hypermobility syndrome were younger and more often women and had an earlier onset of the disorder than those without joint hypermobility syndrome. Conclusions:Joint laxity is highly prevalent in patients with panic disorder, agoraphobia, or both and may reflect a constitutional disposition to suffer from anxiety. Mitral valve prolapse plays a secondary role in the association between joint hypermobility and anxiety. Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155: 1578-1583

In the "Okay, this definitely sounds like me" category, from http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org:
"If the patient has not yet been diagnosed as suffering from the HMS, the chances are that she may have been made to believe that her pain is psychosomatic, and in some cases that she may have injured herself on purpose. This scenario is most common when the patient may not recall an ‘accident’, which would normally account for such an injury, or when her description of how an injury occurred could not account for such a severe injury in a normal patient. She may have high expectations, having waited many weeks for an appointment to see the consultant and having invested in the hope that the specialist might be able to help. She may be depressed as a result of her pain and disability. In addition, she may seem desperate, willing to do anything to be free from the pain. The patient may appear to be angry at all medical professionals after years of inadequate or inappropriate care. She may be defensive and anxious to prove that she needs help, and she may therefore appear to be exaggerating her problem. Finally, she may be unclear what symptoms to relate, as the problem has often been present throughout her life and she has begun to wonder if it is a normal part of her life."

" Patients are left feeling isolated by their pain and by the lack of effective medical treatment."

All the resources I have found have the same recommendation -- tell the doctors to piss off, then lose weight and exercise like a lunatic until things stop hurting. Yeah, that ought to be simple. Will someone please explain to me why we can have a little blue pill that makes mens' willies go up long after they ought to have given up, but we can't fix this?

Facebook

2009-02-18T19:26:56Z

I like the fairy gardens on facebook.
I like having folks keep in touch.

I detest the repetitive advertising and the terms of disservice and the absolute disrespect they have for their users' privacy and rights.

If it weren't for all of my friends having moved their online socialization there from here, I'd delete my profile right away. As it is, it may not be much longer before I delete it anyhow. It's not as if I have no other games to play than the fairy garden, after all, I still have tons of exploring to do in WoW.

Now I just need to convince my friends to come back to LJ land.

Have some sense, people.

2009-02-18T18:52:10Z

I just got an e-mail panicking over cocoa mulch and how it should be kept away from pets. Yes, it's true, and yes, they included the Snopes link to back that up. http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

My reason for thinking they need a little sense?

The product is called Cocoa Mulch.

It is made from Cocoa. The same stuff they make chocolate from. Chocolate. Chocolate, and cocoa beans, contain theobromine, which is toxic to dogs. If you are a pet owner, you need to know that chocolate can kill a dog or cat, and have the sense to connect chocolate to cocoa to cocoa mulch. Is it really that much of a leap of logic?

xavienne @ 2009-02-17T16:47:00

2009-02-17T20:47:35Z

You Are 53% Passionate, 47% Compassionate

You possess an ideal balance of passion and compassion.

You definitely can get swept away and lose your head a little.

But you're rarely a fool for love!

Is Your Love Style Passionate or Compassionate?

Your Love is Based on Commitment

You believe that love is something that develops and grows.

You don't believe in love at first site, and you never mistake lust for love.

For you, love is about mutual devotion, respect, and understanding.

You don't feel comfortable in a relationship, unless you're both in it for the long run.

Why your love can last: You don't take commitment lightly - or leave relationships easily

Why your love can fail: You're so committed, you often can't see the most obvious problems in your relationship

What Is Your Love Based On?

xavienne @ 2009-02-17T16:45:00

2009-02-17T20:45:16Z

You Are Fearless

You have great dreams and unrelenting ambition. You go for what you want, and it's hard to deter you.

You are incredibly competent and intelligent. You've had a very high success rate in your life.

You tend to dominate people. You have a very strong personality, and others tend to heed to your demands.

You're confident enough to be considered arrogant. You tend to think of other people in terms of what they can do for you.

Are You Flirtatious, Fearless, Factual, or Friendly?

You Are Coffee

You are highly ambitious and goal oriented. You feel like there isn't enough time in your day to get it all done.

You are outgoing and creative. You love talking with people, thinking up crazy plans, and then acting immediately on them.

When it comes to caffeine, you'd like a refill. You can almost always use an energy boost.

Life is too short. You're going to get as much out of it as you can. You live for today.

Are You Coffee or Tea?

You Are A Relationship Rescuer!

You don't ruin relationships, if anything you keep them together

The key: you respect yourself and your guy. Which goes further than you might think.

You simply treat your guy how you would like to be treated... the old golden rule.

And in return, he treats you like gold - or at least tries. And how perfect is that

Do You Ruin Relationships With Men?

(So how is it I am still single?)

Survived

2009-02-16T19:37:13Z

Made it through the half day back at work. Five hour shift; by the 3.5 mark my knee was grinding and gooshy, but I lasted the full time.

LJ

2009-02-15T22:06:55Z

LJ is not permitting me access at the moment, just so folks know I am not ignoring them.

Grr.

2009-02-15T19:29:56Z

Hating my knees right now.
I walked up the stairs to the third floor and back; pretty simple & low mileage, right? You'd think so, except now my knees feel like I have had a run in with IRA enforcers.

So Cortejo said something in her blog.

2009-02-14T17:11:34Z

It got me thinking. She said aged cheddar gives her wicked headaches. I picked up some aged cheddar Thursday, had a little then and a little yesterday morning and had a wicked headache yesterday and have one still today. I'm going to be damned pissed off if it turns out I have to cut old cheddar out of my life; I love the sharp taste of it and the rich crumbly texture. I think I have to start tracking what I eat and what happens on each day to see if I can find correlations. Drat, that sounds suspiciously like science and work. I guess it is worth it if it means I can find out the headache triggers and cut them out, but I suspect I may end up living on rice and water. *sigh* I'm putting in a request right now for a healthy body next lifetime!

I have to make myself go out of the house today; thyroid meds are almost all gone so I have to go to Shoppers Drug Mart and put my new prescription in. I wish my doc would put more than one refill on them -- it isn't as though he doesn't see me often enough to track how I am doing.

I think I may set myself a goal -- to be living somewhere warmer within fifteen years from now. I love the look of snow, and it is a wonderful thing to see snow before Yule, just to get in the mood, but really I get tired of it very quickly. I like warm days and I like evenings that are warm enough to go out & soak up the heat, then come in to a cool bedroom to sleep.

If I were independently wealthy I'd build a house with a bedroom dug into the basement so it would always be a little cooler and I'd never have to worry about the sun glaring in when I am trying to nap. There would be a nice sunny kitchen and living-room, and gardens, but the bedroom would be well insulated to be cool in the summer and comfortable in the winter. There would also be a room just full of pillows with a padded floor so I could flop on the floor and let the kitties pile around & over me as much as they wanted, and a good old fashioned cold-cupboard for food storage. I'd also make sure the kitchen was huge. That's the one thing I have hated about most of my apartments -- tiny galley kitchens. My places in Wolfville had big old fashioned kitchens that a person actually had room to cook in and wasn't constantly smashing elbows into cupboards and counters. I like that. I like being able to walk across a kitchen and have it take more than one step.

I have dreamed since I was a teenager about having a huge kitchen, all the modern appliances, a big island in the middle with a woodblock surface for cutting, a sunken area on the counter with a marble surface for kneading bread and rolling pastry, and a double sink with the sprayer faucet attachment. Huge fridge with the ice dispenser on the front is a must; I love iced tea in the summer (sweet tea for the southern folks on my flist since I know there are a few now.) I could design such a wonderful kitchen, given the chance. I probably should have become a cook; I love cooking for others and seeing people enjoy a meal I have made. I'd want a dishwasher for sure, or someone hired just to follow me in the kitchen cleaning up after me because I really dislike doing dishes. I love cooking though, mixing things to see what tastes best with what, which seasonings add which colours to foods, and exploring cuisine from other countries.

I think I might splurge Monday and spend the six dollars to get a good Indian meal in the mall -- there is a tiny little fast food place called "A Taste of India" and they do a killer plate, six dollars, chicken curry, two veggie dishes, rice and a beverage. I just have to go when they aren't too busy so they can hear me, so I will actually get what I ordered. For someone who can bellow like a drill sergeant when I need to I am really terribly shy and quiet, and almost impossible to hear in most situations.

I watched Dollhouse yesterday and it made me think.

Dollhouse is about this group of people who arrange for rich folks to have the perfect person for a ridiculous sum of money. Rich folks can come in and hire someone to be whatever they need or want, as long as the price is right. Does anyone else see this as sort of a commentary on the whole Hollywood scene and acting in general? After all, what does Joss Whedon do other than create people out of imagination and thin air, and then spend large sums of money hiring folks to come in and be that person for a limited amount of time?

If you listen to interviews with James Marsters, he is much like Echo -- he learns what he needs to for each episode and then forgets it so he can learn what he needs to know for his next part, or the next episode. The fans remember his lines better than he does after the fact, because he had to memorize a new set of lines. One day an actor is a cheerleader, next they are a supermodel, next they are a spy or a kindergarten teacher or what have you. Always it is because someone with money decided they wanted to see what it would be like if. They wanted that dolly to act out their fantasy on film. They wanted that perfect person for that perfect moment, and once it is done, they are done with that persona. If you're lucky as an actor you're working with someone like Joss who has a family/stable of dollies to play with, and he'll find you a new person to be for his next game.

It makes me wonder if actors who have been acting since they were kids have much chance to develop a personality of their own or if part of them remains a blank slate that can pick up whatever the director wants to put in there for the next character or scene. Maybe that's what is wrong with Joaquin Phoenix -- he has been reprogrammed for so many parts he has lost what and whom he is, if ever there was a strong self there to begin with. Perhaps this is why so many child actors end up badly -- they need a director or a stage mom to tell them who to be.

Ugh.

2009-02-14T15:39:59Z

I think I have a cold. My sinuses are stuffed up and my head feels like it is going to explode. I have to try to get the trash out today but it's snowing & very slippery, and I'm not miss perfect balance at the moment. I think I'd like to move south, now.