Deb's Daze(d and Confused) Showing 901-950 of 1,219

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

The basic human condition....themes of prehistoric relationships and the concept of sacrifice.....

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

....and it is not everyone's cup of tea!!

[Carol]

I wondered why the men emulated dragging the women by the hair.

[Ruth]

I love Stravinsky, but I've never seen a S. ballet in person, only on film. This one was nice, but it seems ladylike in comparison with the Tina Bausch production at Wuppertal quite a few years ago. I found a link to it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXVuVQ...

How was Petrouchka? That music is so much fun.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

It was as faithful a reproduction of the original as they could get as it is the centenary year of it's creation! The clip of Milagros is ladylike in comparison to the version I saw on Friday....our dancers gave it a far more emotional, passionate and violent interpretation! I will comment on your link once the school watchdog lets me (youtube blocked at certain times to stop students from accessing it)!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Wow!! That WAS powerful! The twist at the end of Milagros, however, is that the sacrificial maiden sacrifices one of the men!
I am on holiday...at last! We have had two loooooong terms because of the bloody world cup rugby....I wonder if they would manipulate the school terms if we had an international ballet competition here.......

[Ken, Moderator]

You mean, they actually manipulate the school calendar because of rugby??? What kind of a message does this send to the kids (he asks rhetorically)?

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Yup....sad innit! I am adopting a line of passive resistance....there will be absolutely no acknowledgement in Rm 12 of rugby in any form.

[Ken, Moderator]

I'd petition the school board, gather teacher signatures (oh, wait -- some teachers might not sign), and pen a satire of New Rugby Zeal Land for the local paper.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Around here that would be like trying to shovel s*#t uphill! This is a rugby-mad nation, with a small few exceptions.....I never could see the attraction in watching grown men kick a pig's bladder around and chase and grab each other......

[Ken, Moderator]

Ha! Maybe if they changed the sport's name to "Chase and Grab" it's popularity might wane.

The American football's sobriquet is "pigskin," too, although I don't think they're made of pig skin anymore. Everything's so synthetic these days -- except for chasing and grabbing, I mean.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Snow! Snowing here!!! And settling! This is so exciting!!

[Carol]

What! Does the snow get deep there like it does where NE is?

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

It only snows here about once every 5 years and then it doesn't settle! This is a once in 30 years event!

[Carol]

Take a picture so we can see.

[Ken, Moderator]

I only get that excited when it snows on Christmas Eve Day.

Or Thanksgiving.

Yay for Debs (making snow angels on her back even as we type)!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

This is my house taken from the street....back yard in the one above. This is just so rare here.....and it was too brrrrrr to go and make snow angels NE!!!

[Ken, Moderator]

Too brr nothing! You need more snow than THAT to make even a LAME snow angel. Sheesh. That there's a DUSTING, as we call 'em.

[Carol]

Looks like snow joking about it. It is a dusting.

[Ken, Moderator]

Still, I suppose if dust is the best you can do every five years, it's like MAGIC dust.

[Ruth]

Oh yes, magic! It has snowed in So Cal where I lived (San Fernando Valley and San Bernardino Valley) only a very few times. All the neighbors come out and marvel. Very exciting.

[Carol]

I think one time snow fell and lasted all of ten minutes here, Ruth.

[Ruth]

Once it lasted about 3 days on the hill above Redlands where we lived before.

[grebrim]

Once, we had full three days without rain in Summer!
But that was along time ago.

[Ken, Moderator]

Once Myrtle Beach, SC, had a dusting like Deb's. They canceled school. And closed the US Post Office. My parents (transplanted New Englanders) thought it hilarious. All these fearsome Confederates hiding indoors as if the second coming of Sherman was upon them!

[Carol]

Summer rain! What is that?

[Ruth]

Yeah, I'm with Kitty. Summer rain?

[grebrim]

*shakes fist at Kitty and Ruth*

[Ken, Moderator]

Rain? You want rain? Come to New England in the spring -- more rains than the Tudors and Plantagenets combined!

[Carol]

grebrim wrote: "*shakes fist at Kitty and Ruth*"

We have scorched earth here. Water bill skyrockets in the summer.

[Susan]

I think summer rain is what makes England's green and pleasant lands green and pleasant.
Or so I try and tell myself every time I have to barbecue with one hand whilst holding an umbrella!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

It carried on snowing for an hour after those pics and was more impressive on the ground.....this morning it is STILL THERE!!!! Unheard of....on the rare occasions when it has snowed and settled it is always gone next morning!

[Carol]

Make snow cream if it is clean enough.

[Ken, Moderator]

Put some in the freezer. Cold cash with lots of interest. Some should be in the shape of snowballs for future deserving victims.

P.S. Thanks, Susan, for quoting the Blake. Love that poem.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Good thinking 99! ;-)

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

March 24th is the big day....dress now finally selected, sourced and two-thirds paid for!
Sad day today.....Bloody George is no more :-(
I thought he looked near death on Monday morning as I headed to work but he bounced back by lunchtime. I got home from work tonight and he was asleep on top of the bbq.....the big sleep.....at least it was peaceful.....

[Ken, Moderator]

I forget. Is George a cat?

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

He's the rescued cat that my daughter dumped on me two years ago.....you know, the one I thought would only last a few weeks so I may as well make them happy ones......he's the one that bit me last year and caused the cellulitis that had me off work for 3 days......bloody George!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Ill I think....age? Dunno....Spca said 4 (hollow laughter).....vet said would never see 10 again....prob closer to 15 (2 years ago).

[Carol]

Sorry about George. Was he the one that scratched you so bad?

March 24th from now till then you all will be very busy.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

You got it Kitty! And yes....George was the biter!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

MORE SNOW!!!!! So much this time that school was closed this morning at 9.30am (I only had 10 kids there out of 27 anyway). It is 6 inches deep in my backyard....unbelievable! What should I watch out for when it thaws? I will post pics if I can......

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

These two are of kids arriving at school this morning....

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

[Ken, Moderator]

When it thaws you should look out for... water. Yep. That's what it turns into. And mucky grounds, if the grounds are not frozen (and I assume they are not there). Really, I imagine snow in NZ is like snow here in April -- a quick, fleeting thing that doesn't hang around long if the temp goes above 32 (or zero centigrade) the day after and the sun comes out. Here today, gone tomorrow!

Love the shots of the kids playing. Something there is about snow and kids. Now, in my old (ahem) age, snow makes me contemplative -- about as far as you can get from "makes me go 'Yipee!' like a kid, but it's still all good. Snow reaches to some visceral, "I'm alive" sentiment in our beings, and that's not only cool, it's downright frozen.

And to think you thought you had to bankroll snowballs into cold cash in your freezer last time! Now you can spend those and deposit many more.

Anyway, happy to see any signs that the earth isn't heating up TOO fast. When you come in and have your hot cocoa, listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGY-P...

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Hahaha!! Good song! We have crap weather forecast for the next 6 days....thaw will be slow I think!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Oh....and ground is frozen.....