Tad Williams's Blog, page 36
April 11, 2011
Crafts With Tad
10 April 2011
via Thaddeus Aid. Kinda puts things in perspective, huh?
Astronomers may have witnessed a star torn apart by a black hole | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
blogs.discovermagazine.com
As some of you may have figured out, I change my profile picture every day. It amuseth me much. Anyway, I think in May I'm going to have a retrospective month and recycle some favorites. Feel free to make suggestions. ("Go away" seems to be one I hear a lot.)
9 April 2011
Got a really interesting possible offer to do something today, or at least had a long conversation about how it might happen. Wonder if it'll turn into anything. I believe in the Taxman Rule — "one for you, nineteen for me." Which, translated from Tadspeak, means nineteen of every twenty potential big or cool things fail to happen.
8 April 2011
And here's your Crafts With Tad project for the afternoon...
7 April 2011
Viddy this well, my droogies. Good clean ferrofluid fun.
New Scientist TV: Born to be viral: Magnetic field sculptures
www.newscientist.com
Gary Lee Johns, a physics PhD student at Johns Hopkins University, combined commercially available magnetic-particle-infused fluid with a variety of different metal shapes. The result? The incredible fluid sculptures you see in this video.
I am determined to be in a better mood than yesterday. Oops, I spilled some coffee. Experiment over.
6 April 2011
He also appears to me in dreams. "Ernie and that damn ducky are pissing me off," he says. When I wake from these dreams I feel refreshed and happy. I think Bert has something to teach all of us.
'Face of Elvis' found on a bug in Singapore forest or is it Sesame Street's Bert?
www.dailymail.co.uk
It appears that Sesame Street character Bert's popularity has even reached the natural world - with this tribute from a stink beetle in a Singapore forest.
Could you tell from my profile picture what kind of mood I was in today?
5 April 2011
Thanks for the heads-up, RVBusack — this site rocks. Make your own!
Trying to work. Dogs are crazy. Yap-yap-yappity-yap. Sounds like a fracking Jack London novel in here, but at 78 rpm.
Watched the Ricky Gervais Show -en famille-. The kids are learning how to swear like Brits (and not just like Yanks.)
4 April 2011
These days, Facebook is the great I AM. And I don't mean that in a religious sense. Necessarily.
April 4, 2011
Heimdall Is My Homie, Too
3 April 2011
I did nothing today except the absolute necessaries. It felt glorious. I might even do it again tomorrow, since it's been about eight weeks without a day off.
Okay, I've got about two hours left for serious laziness. I haven't had any of that for weeks and weeks, so I'm going to go and take advantage of it. I advise everybody to stay out of my way — you don't want to get between me and a half-nap right now.
2 April 2011
All friends of Asgard will recognize these manly men, taken at today's WonderCon. Heimdall is my homie, too, but I didn't run into him.
Off to WonderCon. Girl just found some money in her room and it's burning a hole in her pocket. I suspect we will come home with no money and new stuffies.
30 March 2011
This interests me strenuously — it's the kind of thing that's always fascinated me. Then again, I'm weird. Still, it's pretty cool for anyone just to look at.
Your TV at the Moment of Death (PHOTOS)
www.blippitt.com
Artist Stephan Tillmans takes photographs of tube televisions at the exact moment they are turned off, with magnificent results.
Our eleven year old Girl will happily wear previously-worn clothes given to her by friends and family, but she is acutely aware of (and sometimes irritated by) her status as youngest and would have scorned them if they'd ever been called "hand-me-downs."
29 March 2011
This is really fascinating. An articulate insider shares some of what it feels like to live in both that world and this one.
Hope For Autism & Asperger's Syndrome: My Story>/a>
www.youtube.com
March 29, 2011
Goodbye to Oz
28 March 2011
I'm sorry to seem hasty, but this is instantly one of the favorite cartoons of my life.
27 March 2011
We're going to say goodbye to Oz today. I'm going to miss it a lot.
26 March 2011
Just...yes.
We've almost finished our death march to the Emerald City. One more night-time show tomorrow, then a Sunday matinee, strike, and it's all over. I'll miss the play and the folks involved — it's been an incredibly fun experience — but we could all use some sleep.
25 March 2011
This is just such a mind-blowingly good song.
Black Grape - In The Name of the Father (TOTP)
www.youtube.com
I am the very model of a modern major brain case. Our last surge through the play, tonight through Sunday, and already I'm tired and whacky. Ding dang, Mickey, let's put on a show! I know where we can get some instruments! Remind me about this the next time I decide to have fun, will you?
March 25, 2011
That Last Part Was Riding a Bicycle
24 March 2011
I am not middle-aged. I have merely been repurposed.
23 March 2011
This has to have been the weirdest promotional campaign ever. Read the whole thing — IF YOU DARE.
(click image to enlarge)
22 March 2011
I find the coolest stuff when I'm researching...
Big Machines Dancing ( Ballet Excavators )
www.youtube.com
Dancing excavators on a construction site. From the Anne Troake's "Pretty Big Dig."
(via Moshe Feder) Now you're talkin'...
It's 2010 - finally my jet pack is here!
www.gizmag.com
I am up early — I am waiting to see if I have jury duty. Hurray for democracy! I hope the bugger pleads.
Department of Metal Studies.
21 March 2011
Jello sculpture of San Francisco — the view from Alcatraz. The artist is Liz Hickok. http://www.lizhickok.com/portfolio_jello.html
(click image to enlarge)
And another master for a rainy day — the recording's not great, but he was awesome.
Tipitina
www.youtube.com
Professor Longhair & The Meters
Thank you, JASalmonson, for reminding me how much I needed to listen to some Louis Jordan today.
Caldonia / Louis Jordan
www.youtube.com
I don't remember how to write but I'm going to try anyway, since I've finally got some time for it. There was something about characters, and something about plot, and not falling over...wait, that last part was riding a bicycle.
March 21, 2011
The Brutal World of Community Theater
20 March 2011
We have done the show full-on for 8 straight days. Now we rest before our last four shows. It's been amazing — lovely people, acting with my kids, neither could have been better. Makes me all fuzzy and sentimental. Unfortunately, many, many animals were injured in the making of this production.*
(*No, they weren't. That's a total lie. I just feel like I'm being a sap so I wanted to get edgy for a moment.)
19 March 2011
This is me after a week of late nights. Natural cheeks but also natural eye-bags...
Thought that those of you with a perverse sense of humor might enjoy this. Me in my Guard regalia. Just realized that the tight strap of my hat gives me total chipmunk cheeks. Must think of a way to milk a laugh out of it...
Official opening night, good show, then jump into civvies and off to the official gala fundraising thingie, get back with tired kids after midnight. Oh, man, the brutal world of community theater is grinding us down.
18 March 2011
The rain has rolled in. Right now it's washing across the skylights, playing them like tambourines.
Wow. What an interesting time in which we live.
(Subbed) Nuclear Boy
www.youtube.com
Original upload by http://www.youtube.com/user/onaradaijobu Following is taken and translated from an original uploader: This video was created based on the simple analysis of the current state of the Fukushima Nuclear power plant by media artist Kazuhiko Hachiya
March 18, 2011
Old and Dangerous and Loving It
17 March 2011
Opening night for our play and I think it went well. It's very hard to say of course, since you never really get to watch the play you're in unless you tape it. Still, the audience appeared to enjoy it and many nice things were said. It sure was fun. (This was actually the first of two previews before the official opening, but it was our first live audience.)
16 March 2011
Thanks for all the HB greetings. I've been a little scarce, but not because I've been birthdaying it up: we just had our last dress rehearsal for our play and we open tomorrow. Kids and I have been leaving at 5:30 and getting home at 11 every night, which means anything that needs doing at home has to be done in the daytime. Result — behind on everything! But I had a nice day and I loved all the wishes.
14 March 2011
Thank you all so very much for the lovely birthday wishes. I have read every single one and wish I could respond to them all individually, but then I'd have no time to have an actual birthday. I count myself incredibly lucky to have so many friends, both old and new, met-in-person and not-met-yet. I honestly believe I'm one of the luckiest people in the world.
Hope I didn't jinx anything...!
Wow. I'm old and dangerous and loving it.
March 13, 2011
Out Rolling in the Mud
12 March 2011
Wow. Just...wow.
Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis
www.cnn.com
The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.
According to ABC/Reuters, about the Japanese power plants, "The government earlier warned of a meltdown at the No 1 plant, but said the risk of radiation contamination was small."
Could someone with a more nuanced understanding of nuclear power and containment explain to me how a meltdown could happen but risk of contamination remain small? Thanks. I'm asking very honestly. I'm curious and underinformed.
Just had a sudden urge to hear this. Just a wonderful song. (Also a really cool movie that still holds up. Roeg's films are going to be watched for a long time.)
Mick Jagger's Memo from Turner
www.youtube.com
Mick Jagger's Memo from Turner from "Performance" 1970
I was doing a little mental list tonight. I say short, enigmatic things to the lizard ("tail, huh?"), frequently lie to the turtle, and lob constant insults at the office cat, but when I go outside to feed the feral cat, I talk to her in broad, encouraging little speeches, like a mayor talking to the poor.
11 March 2011
I love Tom Tomorrow.
The non-acquiescers of the northernmost plains!
www.credoaction.com
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow
Culture war, anyone? A REAL culture war? Because there's one coming.
NH GOP Senator Says The Disabled and Mentally Ill Are 'Defective People' That Should Be Shipped Off.
www.addictinginfo.org
A community health program manager got a surprise when she e-mailed her NH Senator recently to ask him about why he had voted to cut money from mental health programs. The Senator told her that society would be better without disabled people, and he wishes he could ship disabled people to Siberia.
Very sad about the terrible earthquake in Japan. It's so hard to reconcile the big things like this and the small things like my kids happily watching television or playing games in the other room being true at the same time.
10 March 2011
I am horrified that these hearings are going on in my country. I am horrified that a sluggish economy has given these thugs what they think is a "mandate" to attack labor, women and minorities like our Muslim citizens with the full power of the government.
Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison Breaks Down at Peter King Hearing
nymag.com
He was recounting the heroism of a Muslim-American who died on 9/11.
Another busy day. If only I had opposable thumbs...!
I am so very grateful that I get to think for a living — usually in a horizontal position. Yes, it's as good as you would guess. Now the answers to your next two questions: Yes, I know; and, Yes, I am.
9 March 2011
I've been out rolling in the mud today. Literally. I'm dirtying a costume for the play because it's TOO DARN CLEAN.
This guy is WAY cooler than Charlie Sheen.
Picture This | Sign him up! Fan catches bat, saves beer | Seattle Times Newspaper
seattletimes.nwsource.com
March 9, 2011
Dogs Do Not Understand the Word "Chillax."
8 March 2011
As I mention from time to time, I don't respond to FB friend suggestions but will friend pretty much anyone who asks me. (I try to weed out the obvious porn.) It's how I keep it real, ya feel me?
7 March 2011
Me to turtle: "Okay, I screwed up and left your light on crazy late. If you don't tell anybody about it there might be a couple of dead bugs in it for you, capisce?"
Dogs do not understand the word "chillax." I can state this with complete certainty. They also have trouble with, "quiet", "hush", "right now", "I'm going to kill you I swear," and, "shut the hell up with that stupid barking."
I am beginning to believe they do not actually understand English very well.
6 March 2011
Big rehearsal day. And before that, Boy must be delivered into the hands of Pokemon Black via the local game store. Well, not that local. Busy me.
March 6, 2011
Moose and Squirrel
5 March 2011
via Peter Stampfel. I divorce myself from political thoughts and just marvel at teh cuteness (and teh skillz.)
[Guitar] Cha Sun Chon et al. - "Our Kindergarten Teacher" {DPRK Music}
www.youtube.com
This is a post-it our eleven year old Girl left. I don't know why. It's a self-descriptive phrase she uses, so I assume she was unhappy about something at the time she wrote it. Judging by what I saw of her this evening, though, she shed the mood like an old scale.
Busy day, good day. Exercise, Mexican food with the familia, then watching Rocky and Bullwinkle with Los Pequeños. They're into it now more than me, and I love that show so much I wanted to name our kids Boris and Natasha. (Although now that I think about it, it might have been even better to name them Moose and Squirrel.)
3 March 2011
I just posted this as a comment on a friend's wall, then realized I should share it with everybody, in case anyone out there has never seen the legendary Señor Wences.
2 March 2011
Yes, my profile picture is of Great Aunt Margaret when she was a girl. She disappeared into a termite mound one day, carrying only a shotgun and her bridal trousseau, and was never seen again.
One of our cats is snoring. Sounds like someone napping on a whoopee cushion.
As far as I can tell, this nifty piece is by Shane Parker.
The Overlook Hotel Restaurant - Children's Corner (jpg)
2.bp.blogspot.com
March 2, 2011
Dog's Best Friend
1 March 2011
By the way, I owe everyone answers. I'm way behind on mail and stuff. Don't be hatin', now. I'll catch up soon. I will I will I will I will...
Two hundred pages into Bobby Dollar. Have to remember this is a short book and it needs to end at some point. I mean, I will, honest — that's the whole point of this exercise, writing shorter books/more often. But it's fun to work on this one.
28 February 2011
By the way, profile pig is named "Baldrick". Not mine — found while swimming in Google Images.
Oh, so true, so true.
Hyperbole and a Half: Dog
hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com
At least she has a compassionate owner... :] I got so excited to see an update, especially one filled with hilarious pictures :D
My friend Jupiter and I have a love-hate relationship. We're the last two awake in the house, and I like all of him except the end of his snout where all the complaining noises come out and his claws which wind up way too often in the skin of my leg, even after I've been kindly petting him in my lap, paying his filthy blackmail.
27 February 2011
Stole this from Violet Blue. The wisdom of the ages.
Cats Quote Charlie Sheen « Medium Large
mediumlarge.wordpress.com
Let's see if truth changes anything.
The Wisconsin Lie Exposed - Taxpayers Actually Contribute Nothing To Public Employee Pensions
blogs.forbes.com
Pulitzer Prize winning tax reporter, David Cay Johnston, has written a brilliant piece for tax.com exposing the truth about who really pays for the pension and benefits for public employees in Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker says he wants state workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to "contribute more" to their pension and health insurance plans. Accepting Gov. Walker' s assertions as fact, and failing to check, creates the impression that somehow the workers are getting something extra, a gift from taxpayers. They are not.
26 February 2011
A dog may be Man's best friend, but Dog's best friend is definitely Tennis Ball.
What Happens when Engineers Own Dogs
www.youtube.com
I wonder when the first marriage will happen for a couple who has only ever communicated by links to other web pages.
Had dinner with our really nice neighbors. Their kids are all in college. The time before we reach that point is not impossibly far away. Wow. Grown-up kids — what a concept. I'm not certain I'M officially grown-up, so what's up with them?
