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Watcha Doin' - 2019
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Marnie
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Jan 22, 2019 04:41PM
I just saw an ad for A Discovery of Witches. It's going to be on The Sundance Channel in the U.S. but I'm guessing it will then be available through streaming services. Just an FYI for those that loved the book.
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We got our first real snow of the winter over the weekend. We probably have about 6 Inches, but we've also had temps of around -10degrees F. That's not so bad compared with some, but it's pretty unusual here in Indiana. The real problem is that today and tomorrow, the temps have warmed up close to freezing, and it's raining. So the rain on top of snow is making the roads a mess. Rusalka, send us some of your heat; and we'll send you some of our cold.
No snow here but we had a very hard frost ladt night and the canal has frozen. I'm ill today. Again. Seems like that's all i am recently. So not in work but that means i can remain tucked up warm in the boat. It's a lovely sunny day but cold. It's supposed to be colder tonight.
Sarah wrote: "No snow here but we had a very hard frost ladt night and the canal has frozen. I'm ill today. Again. Seems like that's all i am recently. So not in work but that means i can remain tucked up warm i..."Sorry to hear you are feeling unwell, Sarah. Rest up and I hope you get better soon.
We ended up with quite a bit of snow yesterday. Our town was mentioned on the news and they said about 6cm had fallen which was a lot more than was forecast. Because they hadn't gritted a lot of the roads, many became impassable and lots of people had to abandon their cars. We also had a very hard frost last night but it's thawing out a bit now.
Marnie wrote: "I just saw an ad for A Discovery of Witches. It's going to be on The Sundance Channel in the U.S. but I'm guessing it will then be available through streaming services. Just an FYI f..."Will have to watch for it Marnie. Loved the book, which surprised me :-) IMO it’s the best one in the trilogy.
Lilisa wrote: "Marnie wrote: "I just saw an ad for A Discovery of Witches. It's going to be on The Sundance Channel in the U.S. but I'm guessing it will then be available through streaming services..."I read the new one already. I thought it was great!
Cherie wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Marnie wrote: "I just saw an ad for A Discovery of Witches. It's going to be on The Sundance Channel in the U.S. but I'm guessing it will then be available through str..."I read that one as well - although by that time I was getting daemoned, witched, and vampired out :-)
Great to see you back here Marnie!On my side, I am hibernating. It's weather madness in Quebec. The world froze over last week and then we had a snow storm on top. A real one (by Quebec standard). And the weather went back to minus 2 zillions. Forecast says it's going to go up to to 2C tomorrow with icy rain, then back to the -20C this weekend.
And let the festival of broken bones begins.... Rant over,..
Sounds like an intense winter, Esther. Be careful!
Get well Sarah. I am still house bound. We had freezing rain then snow. The roads are a mess. The tempeture is 16f and -9 c
So its hot cocoa and lots of reading for me. I will just have to suffer through it. Oh the torture
Sounds bad, Renee! It's -5C here, but there's no snow or ice, that is pretty good.
My new laptop just came and I am so in love with it. It has German autocorrect though. I can imagine it being a little annoying over the time.
Hope everyone is doing well health and weather wise!
Renee wrote: "Get well Sarah. I am still house bound. We had freezing rain then snow. The roads are a mess. The tempeture is 16f and -9 c
So its hot cocoa and lots of reading for me. I will just have to suff..."
That sounds like torture I could tolerate. lol
I need some of that torture!! :)
I'm just back from seeing Matthew Bourne's 'Swan Lake' at Sadler's Wells in London. It was a late Christmas treat. OMG, it was so good! I have seen a couple of other productions of Swan Lake in the past, as well as several of Matthew Bourne's previous productions, and this one blew them all out of the water. It was so emotional that I literally had tears streaming down my face at the end, as did most of the audience. It was easily the most beautiful dance show I have ever seen. The big twist in this version is that the swans are all played by men instead of women which adds a whole other dynamic to the show and the story. I wasn't sure how it would work but it worked so well.
I know that the ice and wintery things are horrible. And the snow, and shoveling, and all the like. Hope everyone is warm and safe, and is enduring the torture of having to reads ;)The ballet sounds interesting Lisa. I have never been a fan, but I'm not sure I've seen the right things, more amateur than professional. No doubt, that would make a huge difference.
I got a picture from Lexx's sister and her family yesterday who are on holidays in South Australia, with the temperature outside at 49.5C (122F). Melbourne hit 45C (118F) today, and then the electricity went out across the city. Both are highest temp records. And they are our capitals, other regional records have been obliterated.
In fact records of all types have been shattered in the past weeks. We here in Canberra have had the first time 4 days where we have had more than 40C in a row (104F). And the longest streak now of days over 32C (90F) since 1947 with no sign of stopping.
So. Over. It.
Weather in either extreme sounds perfectly miserable and dangerous too. I’ve moved from the PNW that had temperate weather but too little sun to Florida which has lots of sun but sometimes too much heat. Every place has something. The ballet sounds wonderful and different too.
Am having a girl’s weekend on the gulf side of the state, so I’ll be listening to my challenge book, In the Woods, during the drive to and fro. Probably the only “reading” I’ll do this weekend.
Property that borders us was a private owned wildlife sanctuary. They donated to a non profit and they went in and cut trails and labeled trees and stuff. Cleaned it up. My wife and kids go walk the trails and ski and snow shoe and stuff over there so for a few years since they did the work my wife sends me down to plow the parking lot for her. Here I've been wondering if I'd get in trouble plowing private property yet this morning the land trust called me and asked if I could plow the parking lot when needed and they could pay my fuel. They are a non profit so they're budget is small. I was like who you thinks been plowing it for past few years. Heck my wife loves going over there but someone could bring me a case of beer come spring time for my trouble. Don't worry about the fuel. Will work for beer. Lol. My wife already had me doing it anyway.
Travis wrote: "Property that borders us was a private owned wildlife sanctuary. They donated to a non profit and they went in and cut trails and labeled trees and stuff. Cleaned it up. My wife and kids go walk th..."That is hilarious. Happy wife and a case of beer. Think you are winning.
The heat wave in Australia is hitting the news here. The pictures of animals that have died from the heat is rather horrific.
That's sad, Janice. I didn't realize how hot it was. I knew there was a heat wave, but those temperatures are serious. Yikes.
The temps in Adelaide and Port Augusta made it to the news here too.
Sounds like everyone wins in that situation, Travis. Good on you for helping them out anyway.Nibling #17 (nephew) was born this week too. He went home from the hospital in 39C, today is 40C. Welcome to the world, little Noah, it's on fire. But at least his namesake knows how to deal with other natural disasters we frequently have!
Sorry, will be more upbeat soon. I am just so frustrated with the world at the moment.
Actually, one good thing (besides the cute newborn), I found the best cold cocktail. It stays frozen ages which has been important here at the moment. https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/w...
As I've been buying watermelon to freeze for the chooks to keep them alive the past weeks, this is working out well. Half for them, half for us. They can keep the frozen iceburg lettuces, can't think of a cocktail for them.
Cocktail sounds lush Rusalka. Great that both you guys and the chooks benefit from the watermelon. Yeah lettuce cocktail sounds bad. I hope the temperature breaks soon. I don't think i could handle that heat. Well not if i had to actually lead a normal life at the same time.
Double checked the cocktail. Still pretty good. For quality assurance purposes and all that ;)2am and still 22C (71f). Got to 42 today.
It's also Australia Day today, which I feel very funny about. The PM spent this week playing culture wars of Anglo Australians vs ... well... anyone he could think of actually. He announced millions of dollars to recreate an act that did not happen of the British captain who claimed Australia for the British. Ignoring, oh I dunno, Indigenous Australians, the Chinese, the Indonesia, the Maori, the Dutch.... etc. URGH.
Anyway, I wanted to share what I posted on Facebook, which explains my current grumpiness, but also displays reality when I say Australia is Utopia. /spoiler... I'm lying.
"On reflection this Australia Day, I am so grateful I live in Australia.
I am lucky to live in such a beautiful country with one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.
With deserts, rainforests (tropical and temperate), reefs, alpine and snowy regions, and everything in between full of diverse and unique wildlife and flora.
We have the oldest continuous cultures in the world, with bonds with the wildlife and country, both spiritual and practical.
I love that I have a small paddock in suburbia in the capital city.
We were one of the first countries to allow women the vote (behind Finland and NZ), we were the first to have a 8 hour working day, we have access to state run healthcare, education, social security, and many other things.
I adore our larkinism, our mostly relaxed nature, our looking out for each other, our disdain for authority, our taking the piss out of everything, our genuine, inherent generosity.
But.
Celebrating on a day that is for many of our First Australians a day of mourning, of colonisation, of dispossession, which has lead to so many social, physical, and psychological problems for their people seems very wrong.
Celebrating when the majority of us are migrants or children of migrants, while others coming to escape persecution are locked up in camps either onshore or offshore with more and more issues from this institutionalisation seems wrong.
When we have heat records toppling around the country, with wildlife dropping out of the skies or suffocating in our waters on mass, willfully ignoring the changes in our climate and not changing our behaviour to help because of money, or engaging with the elders of the land who have dealt with issues like this before, again celebrating seems wrong.
When we have Nazis protesting in the street and harassing migrant groups, which just happen to be the migrant group of choice by the government to vilify at this point in time, I feel we need to do something different.
When we do Australia right, we are amazing and easily the best place on earth. I feel we are very much falling short of our potential at the moment. So while I quietly think about the good of who and what we are, we need to do better."
Hey guys. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be here that often for the next month because of exams. I also won’t be reading a lot. I hope I can participate as much as before when I’m done 😊
That's a great post Rus. I think you could exchange Australia (and a few of the details) for any other country and it will be the same. We all have our great bits, but we definitely can/should be better.Good luck with your exams Fiona!
Rusalka wrote: "Double checked the cocktail. Still pretty good. For quality assurance purposes and all that ;)2am and still 22C (71f). Got to 42 today.
It's also Australia Day today, which I feel very funny ab..."
Very well said, Rusalka. A lot of people seem to go through their daily lives oblivious to the greatness around them while ignoring those social issues at cross purposes with what is right.
Fiona wrote: "Hey guys. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be here that often for the next month because of exams. I also won’t be reading a lot. I hope I can participate as much as before when I’m done 😊"Good luck with your exams Fiona.
@Rusalka, well said. I hope the heat gives you a break soon; it's on our news now as well.Fiona, good luck with your exams. Can't wait to see you back.
In just a couple hours, I'm off to take the kids to the circus. I haven't been in years; so I'm kind of looking forward to it.
Thank you all. Have fun in the circus, Tricia!
I haven't been to a circus in years either. Enjoy!
Good post, Rusalka. I agree with Peggy. Every single country can say they could better...
Wow thank youRusalka, I learned a lot from your post. I admit to not having much knowledge of you history.Good lucj Fiona
Well said Rusalka. And as Peggy said, we could easily change out the name of the country and it would still be true. Good luck with your exams Fiona. See you on the other side.
Rusalka, Rob asked if you'd seen any of the videos on youtube by Juice Media.
Thanks all for my little rant or two. Tether was wearing a bit thin, but glad you guys understood the weirdness, and learnt a little bit about where we are in Australia at the moment. We're balancing, like so many countries, on the brink of something.Feeling a lot better today. A lot cooler today, and I spent the afternoon hanging out with our housemates playing Delta Green (real worldy RPG with Cthulhu-ian influences).
And it's pretty hard to hate the world when some of your best friends' kid of 19 months decides your name is the word he's going to learn of the day, and keeps introducing you (and him) to everyone for several hours.
Tomorrow is a day off due to Australia Day yesterday, and will be even cooler. Here's hoping. Sanity will soon prevail, I hope :D
I have not Sarah (and Rob), I shall go check them out.
Rusalka wrote: "And it's pretty hard to hate the world when some of your best friends' kid of 19 months decides your name is the word he's going to learn of the day, and keeps introducing you (and him) to everyone for several hours.."Awww! That's sweet. :)
I'm going to go to the art gallery today to see a display of kimonos. There are only two cities in Canada which received the honour of hosting the display, and my city is one of them! We're starting off the afternoon with brunch, then the art gallery, and ending a the viewing of the upscale house for this year's "Dream Home" lottery. I'm going to buy a ticket. Maybe I'll get lucky.
I think I am jealous of Janet. A friend has a kimono that was her mothers. It is one of the most beautiful things I have seen. I would love to go to that show.I am actually going to see The Favorite. It is a costume dram with several Oscar nominations. I love costume dramas, I hope this lives up to the hype.
Renee wrote: "I think I am jealous of Janet. A friend has a kimono that was her mothers. It is one of the most beautiful things I have seen. I would love to go to that show.I am actually going to see The Favo..."
My parents have been to Japan several times. Their city was twinned with one in Japan, and since my dad was mayor, he went as one of the representatives. I feel connected to Japan in a small way as a result.
I also love period movies and seeing all the grand costumes. I just finished watching Alias Grace on Netflix, and they often wore the same dress over and over, especially the maids and housekeepers.
I didn't know they made a movie of Alias Grace. I enjoyed the book I think I may need to get that one,Japan is on my bucket list of places I would love to see. I hope that I can convince my husband. He prefers beach escapes.
Alias Grace was a 5 or 6 part series and kept very close to the book.
I defiantly have to get that. It sounds right up my ally.
So the circus was great. It was super crowded with lots of screaming children, thankfully not mine, but it was definitely fun. When we went in, the sun was shining with no snow in the forecast. When we came out, it was snowing so hard we couldn't see the road. On the way home, my five-year-old had to stop to go to the bathroom twice, way too much pop at the circus apparently; the windshield wipers decided that the middle of a snow storm was a good time to quit; and the kids complained about the cold despite the heater being turned on high and started fighting over the only blanket in the car which wouldn't fit over both of them. A 1 hour drive took 2 and a half, and I was *so* done by the time we finally made it home. Today, I slept in and did nothing.
@Rusalka - the people who make the videos are Australian. They are satirical about various aspects of life in Australia and the government with the occasional pop at Trump. I watched the one on Australia day which they called Amnesia day and the one on West Papua. I learnt some stuff!
Just in case you guys are interested, it's the Lerwick Up Helly Aa event tomorrow in Shetland (Our main Viking Fire Festival). You can watch the procession live if you're so inclined. https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2017/01/30...
There WILL be squads of bearded guys at various strategic places in the town tomorrow. They'll be wearing Viking skirts, roaring their heads off and waving shields and axes. This is followed by a torch procession in the evening and much merriment throughout the night - mostly involving copious amounts of alcohol and iffy fancy dress (includes said bearded men in drag ... not a pretty sight!!)
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