The Art of Paper Cranes

I have been making paper frogs since I was first taught how in first grade when I was about 6 years old. I have made them for quite a few people, and have even watched with disturbed tolerance as a wedding guest once "dissected" one of my frogs that was being used as a table decoration.

But my frogs aren't proper origami, or at least I didn't think they were. Instead of a square of paper, they use a rectangle made of two squares. And whenever I made a frog, people would ask if I could make a crane. No, I didn't know how. So one day last year I went to YouTube and watched about a dozen videos and played with paper until I could make my very own paper cranes in the traditional style. And I've made a bunch since then, although I've probably lost count (edit: 187 as of this morning*).

After awhile I settled into a crane-making routine. Every morning I have a calcium chew with my breakfast, and every morning I take the wrapper and make it into a crane. So I have one for every day over the last however many days. Rather than dump them in a pile, I had them lined up nicely on a table in front of the window.

Well, the table began to run out of room, and it seemed silly to leave them all there, so I called my Mom and asked for some thread and needles, since it seemed rather pointless to buy those supplies when I know she has tons of extras hanging around. She promptly supplied them, and I promptly did nothing with them for a few weeks. Until a couple of days ago.

First I gathered up 100 cranes into a pile:


Next I used my long out-of-practice skills to thread the needle and start to put the cranes on a line of thread. It took me a few tries with the first crane to figure out how to get it to sit evenly on the thread. I also wasn't sure whether to put knots or anything between each crane. I decided to just string them on one after another and see what happened.

Every fifth crane I make is white, the inside of the wrapper showing instead of the outside. I may reverse that for a future chain of cranes. For this chain, I started with two normal cranes, put a white one on, then four regular followed by a white and so on.


The threading was easy after a while, although I did manage to poke myself *sigh*. I got 100 cranes on the thread, then tied off the top and made a big old loop to hang it with. Then I cut the thread off the spindle at the bottom, rethreaded the needle, and sewed the bottom crane into place so it wouldn't move around, knotting it as carefully as I could manage when I was done. I would have preferred a bead or something to put at the bottom, but I must confess a strange satisfaction to sewing through a crane to make it stay put.

Here's the result, hanging from the hinge of a closet door:


That's the first 100 cranes. I've got another 19 or so on my next string already, headed for 1000 one day at a time...

*Edit: 187 cranes, but I'm only stringing up ones made with the calcium chew wrappers, so my total is 119 of those. Many of the others got given away, or are a completely different size. I'm keeping track in my Daily Writing.

Stepford Plants Report

Today was an outside chores day for Eric and I, and so I got the mowing done and he got the trimming done despite both of us suffering from a long-lasting and incredibly annoying cold that is keeping us from being at 100%. I wanted to mow the yard and then go prep more of the garden plot area, but after I finished mowing my chest hurt and my heart was racing and I realized I had to stop for the day. An hour and change later I still don't feel quite right. No more cold medicine and then outside work for me, I think.

Today's mow at least made our yard look respectable, which is apparently a good thing for the neighbors. A neighbor even offered Eric the use of his gas-powered trimmer when he saw my poor hubby using the wimpy electric one we have. We felt a little rushed because although our yard was in sunlight, a dramatic dark storm seemed to be moving in, as you can possibly see in the dramatic image of the plum stick above. However, it appears that the storm was going past us, not actually moving in, as we still have sunlight on the west side of our house even now, while the east side continues to look like a storm.

More after the cut...

NASA is Cool

TOR:CON 10

No, that's not a science fiction convention held in Toronto, at least not at the moment. That's the risk of tornadoes in certain areas of the American midwest on a 1-10 scale (one being less likely) today. I have been watching the puppy cam on my computer, and The Weather Channel on the TV, and I've been needing the comfort of the puppies.

My heart goes out to those who are in the affected areas.

Oooooooooooo PUPPIES!

PUPPIES! (link to live streaming video).

The Miracle of Life

I was sure the first pepper plant to sprout was dead. After all, it came up but the leaves never uncurled. And the stem appeared, to my inexperienced eye, to be rotting. And the other one sprouted up nicely and quickly outgrew the apparently dead sprout. And then last night I thought I saw a change in the dead one. And when I checked this morning, this is what I found...

I guess life just finds a way. I would love to have two pepper plants. Both of us love peppers, and if these grow to full seedling size, I'll plant both of them. I often wonder that anything at all can grow with my lack of skill and knowledge, but after last year's tomatoes, I guess I've learned that it's not me that's doing it, is it?

The Hugo Nominations!

Hi, everybody. Co-blogger Eric here. Laura wants me to post the news that the nominations for the Hugo Awards have been announced. So, here it goes: The Hugo Award nominations are up on the web. Three Doctor Who stories were nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: "Vincent and the Doctor", "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang", and "A Christmas Carol". Also nominated in the Best Related Works category is the great little book of Whovian essays, Chicks Dig Time Lords. And Girl Genius got another nomination for Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse in the Best Graphic Story category.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Being Human (US): "Going Dutch" - Fairly predictable in some of the storylines, but the ghost story is completely different and wonderful. Actually, it's all pretty original in the way it's going. Very much a changed path. Very much a different show. I'm being surprised at every turn, some I like, some I don't like.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Joker: The Vile and the Villainous!" - An absolutely hilarious start, with the altered graphics for the opening theme. And the action of the main story starts in Atlantis, without Aquaman. At least we get The Fisherman. Batman is completely out-of-character in this one, and his "Eye of Sauron" device seems on the extreme side. It only makes sense if you think of it as being from The Joker's point-of-view.
• Destination Truth: "Ghosts of Antarctica" - The farthest they've gone, in many ways. The crew goes to Argentina, then sails down to Antarctica to visit two haunted spots. The trip is not easy and they spend a good deal of time on the actual journeying, and the living people who are happy to see new faces at the bottom of the world. The investigations involve the crew running around in the perpetual twilight instead of full dark but manage to still be mildly interesting. Not a bad season finale.
• Ghost Hunters: "A Soldier's Story" - The first investigation is at the Sterling Opera House in Derby, Connecticut. Lots of claims, and the location is being renovated, which almost always seems to stir up stuff. The catch only sounds. The second location is a private home, and the father of the family is in the military and stationed in Afghanistan. They find a few strange sounds, one strange regular occurance (a clock jumps off the wall), and they provide as much comfort as they can to the family so they will be ok living in their own home. Which, frankly, is one reason I love this show. They comfort people who think they are haunted with solid debunking, useful advice, and the knowledge that they aren't crazy or alone.
• Doctor Who: "The Impossible Astronaut" - I may as well admit it, Matt Smith still hasn't won me over as the Doctor yet. He's not bad, he's just not my Doctor and I fear he never will be. That said, I like River Song quite a bit, and I'm eager to learn more about her. And Amy and Rory aren't too bad, either. As for this episode, I can't even summarize without spoilers, it's so freaking convoluted. I like the alien menace, very creepy, but not as creepy as some. Cliffhanger was ok, but I'm just waiting for something more. Maybe next week's will satisfy.

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This week's movie was Toy Story 3. Yup, finally watched it. I think it was definitely better than the second movie and possibly even better than the first. It certainly had more emotion and depth than the first two. I was really touched by Andy's decisions and his despair when he thought his old toys had been thrown away. I can't imagine a better finish for the movie than what we got. A good one, but definitely builds on the first two movies, so best to watch 'em all if you haven't seen any yet.

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This week's comic book related review is Lords of Death and Life by Jonathon Dalton. I picked this up at Emerald City Comicon because I love the history of the Maya and Aztecs, and frankly this just looked COOL. And it was. The story concerns a farmer having nightmares who decides to go to the city to find out what the nightmares mean. I'd rather not give any spoilers, but the book nicely portrays the culture and the people at a time of upheaval and change, and gives us a sympathetic character to follow. I really hope Dalton writes more about this character, because I'll be in line to buy it.

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My Kindle book this week was The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore. Becky and her little brother go to visit a relative for the summer and stumble upon unexpected adventures. You know, I could name at least fifteen YA books that could be described that way. Fortunately, this book takes its own path and veers away from the well-trodden adventure series into the quirky world of time travel. Becky is a strong female lead, and comes across as a fairly normal kid. She makes mistakes, learns, and basically works well for the story. The supporting cast was also strong, particularly the main characters. I found myself wanting to learn more of the stories of some of the characters. I was amused by some of the rewriting of myth in the tale. Some worked really well, other bits sort of put me off a little. As a book written for kids, it's not bad. The book was marred by some typos and other issues that sometimes managed to distract me from the story. While this is not unexpected in an Indie book, it was mildly disappointing. It probably could've done with another round of proofing before publishing. Fortunately, the errors were mostly small and the book was engaging enough that I quickly got back into it. Definitely a good read, and at 99 cents not a huge risk if you want to try something completely new.

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Agatha Christie this week was Hallowe'en Party from 1969. A girl is murdered at a party after telling a crowd that she'd seen a murder once, and Mrs Oliver calls in Poirot to find out what she meant. Poirot is clearly getting older, which seems strange in some ways, and reassuring in others. His little grey cells are working just fine, though, and he clears out what sure seems to be a really convoluted plot. There is some coincidence in this one, but not as much as in other books. Another good book, and another reason to delay finally finishing them. I started this mad quest to read all of Agatha Christie after seeing the Agatha Christie episode of Doctor Who, and I have not regretted it at all. So when I finish I suppose I'll have to watch that episode again.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist -- My Kindle Wishlist

Simon's Cat is at it Again

Stepford Plants Report

Well, tomorrow I plan on going out and mowing, but today I finally got around to transplanting most of the windowsill seedlings into larger pots. And I've learned a few lessons for next yet. Number one is ONE SEED PER POT. Seriously. I can't bring myself to kill a plant I've grown from seed, so I should just put only one in a pot to begin with. Number two is that I should never ever ever use outside dirt, only potting soil. I'm actually having to weed my seedlings because the outside dirt I used had some weedseeds in it. And number three is that the windowsill can just fit seven pots, so that's all I should try at a time.

Ok, well, I guess it's time to do the actual update of the plants. You can see previous reports here, although I put the pictures of some behind a cut so as to not clutter my front page too much. I'll be doing that here as well, after my first report:

This week let's start with the plum stick. That's the friendly stick I got on May 6th of last year and planted while feeling like a fool since it was literally just a stick with a blob of dirt on the bottom. But, as you can see in this picture, it's now survived its first winter in its new home and is once again growing some leaves. I'll admit to some relief after seeing the leaves, as I wasn't entirely sure it had made it through. I guess I need to stop worrying and let the plants just do their thing.

Ok, cut time. Follow the link if you can't see the rest of the post.

You have an appointment...

Hi, everybody. Eric, here. I just wanted to tell you that the always great Springfield Punx blog (Dean is an artist who likes to reimagine characters in the style of The Simpsons) has a great desktop picture to go along with this weekend's other big event. Oh, heck, just go here to see it.

This Takes Some Courage...

Pregnot-- Toppenish High student fakes pregnancy as social test about stereotypes, rumors.

Gaby Rodriguez would worry whenever anyone asked to touch her baby bump.

It wasn't because she felt shy or embarrassed. It was because the bulge -- fashioned from wire mesh and cotton quilt batting -- didn't actually contain a baby.

Gaby spent her entire senior year doing a project on what it is like to become a teen mom, and how it affects other people's perceptions of you. The article is fascinating, the comments at the end reveal a lot more. I hope she did a very good job with documentation of this, because I could easily see her getting a thesis out of this experience in a few years.

Goodbye Sarah Jane

Via Reddit

Much Requested - Library Books on the Kindle

Overdrive and Amazon.com just announced that they are making library books available to Kindles sometime "later this year". That means that one of my major concerns with being a Kindle owner has been addressed (I happen to love the library). Now, if we can just get the rest of the major publishers on board with library ebook lending and keep publishers from trying to squeeze too much money out of underfunded libraries.

Onward to the future...

Elisabeth Sladen - 1948-2011

Elisabeth Sladen, well known to Doctor Who fans as Sarah Jane Smith, has passed away unexpectedly from complications due to cancer. I wanted it to be a lie, a joke, or something else.

Review - Aliens on Vacation

Aliens on Vacation by Clete Smith with illustrations by Christian Slade.

Release date: May 3, 2011, pre-order now! I got my advance copy via NetGalley.

Scrub is a twelve-year-old from Florida who has been exiled to Washington State for the summer to live with his grandmother at her bed-and-breakfast in a small town. He's missing basketball and his best friend, and it doesn't help that his grandmother is both a hippie and an outer space fan. He thinks he's about to deal with a lot of Trekkies, but the Tourists he meets in Forest Grove are considerably stranger than even he could have expected.

The book is told in the first-person from David "Scrub" Elliott's point-of-view, and it manages to develop him as a character very well, much of it from his reactions to the people he meets. The rest of the cast is seen through his eyes and so are colored by his reactions to them, an appropriate style for this type of book. The reading level is pre-teen or younger and the artwork by Christian Slade on each chapter heading makes for an attractive read, as well. There are a lot of references that adults will appreciate far more than children, making this a good read for any age.

As a Seattle native with a great love of my state, I was tickled by the jokes about Washington and the references to other places, including Canada. I was able to figure out approximately where the fictional town of Forest Grove must be located, and enjoyed when a former hometown of mine got a namecheck.

This is a good book for children of all ages to enjoy, suitable for family reading time or a solo read. Fans of science fiction will probably enjoy it a lot, but people who generally don't read fantastic fiction will likely find it palatable as well. It is the first book in a proposed series, but manages to stand alone very nicely. I'm looking forward to seeking out any sequels, personally. Worth a read.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Destination Truth: "Thai Tree People/Aiya Napa Monster" - Josh goes to Thailand to hunt the Naree Pon, a tiny creature that grows on trees and leads people to their deaths. In Bangkok again, Ryder and Josh have fun with handcuffs. I like the elephant riding scenes. Josh did some dangerous spelunking and I sometimes think this series will end with the report that Josh was killed in an accident somewhere. All the crew brought back were pictures of the temple Naree Pon corpses, which were shown to an expert who couldn't determine what they actually are, so the mystery continues. The crew goes to Cyprus to look for a sea monster. They have the usual luggage and vehicle issues, and Josh snarks at a market. Then Josh jumps off a cliff. I like the video of a shipwreck they got while diving. Again, they don't find much, and decide the basking shark is a suspect for the identity of the monster. But it was sure nice to have an episode all about cryptozoology.


• Ghost Hunters: "Chasing Ghosts" - TAPS investigates the Higgins Armory Museum in Massachusetts. This would be a really awesome location for an episode of Doctor Who. Especially the basement, where creepy mannequins with covered faces lined the walls. The place was a personal collection of armor from history and was turned into a museum later, and the ghost stories are much the standard type. It's just an awesome location, and the group has entirely too much fun wandering the place, playing, and enjoying the atmosphere. They do some excellent debunking, particularly on doors that open themselves. In the end they find sounds and chains moving when they shouldn't, enough to make them want to come back.


• Being Human (US): "Dog Eat Dog" - More divergence, more developments, and another element of the original series added to this new one. Older vampires, Aidan's past, and dogfights. This series continues to add on and grow away from its roots. It's a pretty good episode. The Dutch are creepy. Interesting that the older vampires show up so quickly in this version.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:

• March 9th
• Zatanna #10 - Um, yikes? Wow, that's a cliff-hanger and a half. Well, it's some sort of hanging, at least.
• Birds of Prey #10 - So, I think I get what they are trying to do, but I'm not at all convinced they did it.
• JSA All-Stars #16 - Mostly a big battle scene with an unexpected twist that required the build up from previous issues to understand. I'm ambivalent about it. Fun and clever bits, but requires too much backstory.
• All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #5 - Guy Gardner? Not the best ever team-up for poor Batman, although I seem to remember in the regular universe that a certain punch involving those two made history. And the guest star, wow. Fun.
• March 16th
• Brightest Day #22 - Not much Aquaman, unless you count zombie Aquaman. At least the DC zombies were creative and made in-universe sense.
• Power Girl #22 - I must've missed an issue where some dramatic events relating to Karen's company happen, as the whole thing is described within the issue in a throwaway line. Still, fun enough despite my confusion.
• Knight & Squire #6 - Oh wow. Wow. Not at all what I was expecting. Nothing like I wanted to see. But really really darn good. More, please?
• DC Universe Legacies #10 - So that's the end. Not talking to a reporter, like I thought. Sad. I found I wanted to read more. It was a good series. And the backups weren't all that bad either.
• Young Justice #2 - Needs more Aqualad, but I thought it was funny that Superboy hesitated with Superman, then tossed Aquaman over to check his theory.
• Tiny Titans #38 - This one was even more odd than usual, and that's saying something. Of course, I was so busy "SQUEE!"-ing that it harder matter. Artie Jr is AWESOME. Want more of Atlantis. Obviously.
• PS238 #49 - Ah, this is a really satisfying issue for me, as all the threads are finally coming together and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not that this book is ever tunnel-like, but I can feel the payoff coming up quick. YAY!
• Doctor Who V2 #2 - Wow, Amy really knows her history, doesn't she? Nice to see the psychic paper, nice to see it not work consistently.
• DMZ #63 - Parco didn't make the best choice, but I wonder what exactly he gave to Matty, and how it's going to affect the war.
• Northlanders #38 - Nasty nasty, with battles that really don't make sense from any realistic point of view - therefore entirely too true to life.
• Soldier Zero #6 - Oh, so that's it then?
• March 23rd
• Green Lantern #64 - Part one of the War of the GL. Hal and the gang meet up with Krona's big black book, and the Guardians get what they probably deserved.
• Green Lantern Corps #58 - Part two of the War of the GL. Ganthet's group is back from Qward, and get quickly involved in Krona's schemes. Um. Ok. Not pretty, but maybe this is going somewhere.
• Justice League of America #55 - Massive threat, GL involved, Starheart. Not sure what I think about this. I'm not warming up to it.
• Fables #103 - Wow, Ozma's a snot, isn't she? Pity she's probably right about it all. I'm warming up to this book. *sigh* That means we're going to have to get the trades and catch up, doesn't it?
• March 30th
• Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #8 - Part three of the War of the GL. Guy's very messed up group is headed home when Krona's actions hit them. The main draw of this one might be the knock-down drag-out fight between Hal and Guy. But all the threads are pulling together now.
• Action Comics #899 - I was disappointed at first, then justified, then disappointed, then justified. So I think this book worked. It's going to be fun to see what Superman makes of the whole mess.
• Jimmy Olsen #1 - While this seemed to be a lot of reprint, it all held together much better in one big issue. I thought it was a fun little book, and a nice way to introduce Chloe Sullivan into the DC Universe.
• Justice Society of America #49 - I think this and JLA are out of joint. But then, what else is new? Not liking the "new" GL. But at least the storyline seems to be slightly over.
• Zatanna #11 - Yay for smart assistants willing to dress down in order to rescue the super hero. And eek, and double-eek for the whole situation.
• Doctor Who V2 #3 - Ah, the most dangerous of situations, when one side is trying to play the Doctor off the other. I admit, I did look up the historical event involved to see how it really happened.

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My library book this week was The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. Hubby-Eric snagged this from the library to see if there were Oz references, I think. And I couldn't help but read it as well. Elizabeth is an average student who gets a job as a page at the New York Circulating Material Repository, a type of library that deals with objects instead of books. I really liked the building of Elizabeth as a character, with details of her family and social life coming through as needed. The story was a very nice take on fantasy and magic in the real world, and a different angle than I've seen before despite many many books about magic worlds hidden within New York. This would be a good one for teens to read, and is safe for younger children although the romance might just turn them off. Of course, it's a fun read for adults as well.

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Fortean Times #271 (March 2011). Fun cover with an intriguing promise asking if H.R. Giger is actually the "designer" of the Chupacabra as it is currently imagined. And the cover article makes a compelling case for the theory. In short, when the killings started taking place, a movie called Species was big in Puerto Rico. And the look that the monster took was based on a single eyewitness who happened to have seen that movie recently. The article argues that the witness confused events that had happened with the imagery in the movie, creating the Chupacabra we recognize now. It's a fairly compelling argument, taken all together.

Strangedays starts us off with the whole Wikileaks saga, and although the story itself is moving faster than a magazine can track, it does a fairly good job giving an overview of how Wikileaks has affected conspiracy theories. Another article is about the boys that were lost at sea for 48 days. There's also a story about dogs dying mysteriously after walking in a certain wooded area. Another frightening story covers some severe allergies.

An article in Medical Bag claims that there are studies that determined that prayer does work to heal people. I know that a lot of people cite a study that says the exact opposite, but I also know how the media almost always gets science wrong. Ghostwatch has more on the ghosts of those executed, and in some cases the executioners. Archaeology claims the Uffington Horse is probably a dog. The UFO files are good, again, with the discovery of recycled UFO photos used in later hoaxes, and some other short pieces. Blasts from the Past covers falls of flesh and blood... eeuuuuwww! The Random Dictionary is all about the religions that UFO contactees have created.

Another article talks about Quakers and their tendency to nakedity. There's a tribute to the UK World of Wonder magazine that ran in the early 1970s, including wonderful two-tone illustrations from their Strange Stories features. I'd love to see a collection of those. The Forum starts with an article about the shirt Charles I was wearing when he was beheaded, and the three claimants for being that shirt. The second article is about the music that used to be played at Japanese crosswalks. A third article talks about the King Cheetah, and whether it existed in Asia. The last article is about the Cholera outbreaks in Haiti and why the people blamed the UN troops.

The reviews cover some fun stuff, and have two perfect 10 ratings, which is not unheard of but is fairly rare. One of them is something I already want but cannot afford, the gigantic 75 Years of DC Comics book by Paul Levitz. The tagline on the review is entirely too true: "An extravagant treasure with a heart-stopping price tag". Too true (list price is $200, ouch). The other is a book called Cambridge Ghosts by Robert Halliday and Alan Murdie. The review's tagline describes it well: "You used to get a better class of ghost in Cambridge..." The other reviews are also good, and a couple of items got added to my wishlist. The issue is wrapped up with a pretty good set of letters. Another great issue of this great magazine.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist -- My Kindle Wishlist

Wait, Fantasy isn't for Girls?

It started with this utterly ridiculous review of "Game of Thrones" at the New York Times. The reviewer is definitely not the kind of person who ought to be watching fantasy television based on a fantasy epic. This ignorant comment shows that she hasn't met a lot of women out of her own set:

I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to "The Hobbit" first.

Clearly she doesn't know enough actual women. After all, I've never heard of Lorrie Moore, and what little I saw looking up her work after reading the review made me think I'm not interested in her "failing relationships and terminal illness" books.

The response from strong women everywhere echoed what can be seen at io9 with Really, why would men ever want to watch "Game Of Thrones"? Which is a funny view of the series, but not inaccurate. I read the first three books before issues with time and the library made me stop. I plan on rereading and catching up eventually.

Eventually, Martin himself commented on the review and responses. I'm sure this one will ease off quickly, but it's nice to see that female fantasy-lovers are so well-represented on the 'net.

Stepford Plants Report

As I last reported, I've planted a handful of seeds this year, instead of just tomatoes. So I'm going to give you all the current status, but first I'll tell you about what's been happening the last couple of weeks in Stepford House...

Last Monday, after Saturday's Scare, I mowed the yard for the first time to make it look less like an abandoned home. I set Moby the Mower on a higher height, and did a cursory overall mow. Today I did the second mow of the season, still on the higher height, but I think I covered more of the yard this time than I managed last time.

On that Monday last I also started to break up the dirt in my "garden plot" and get it ready for planting. It'll be a few more days before I can plant, because we are having a late frost, but soon enough... soon...

Since I last wrote, more of the seeds have sprouted, and one even seems to have died prematurely. I've now got eight sprouts, one of which I'm sure is dead. And so I'm going to post more after the cut.

AdKindle?

Amazon has announced a special new Kindle that will retail for $25 less than the current wifi-only version, and will have ads.

I really want to photoshop in a cool ad. And hey, look at the optical illusion!

The ads will only show up on the sleep screens and the menu, not in books. And they will also include special offers that *might* turn out to actually be useful, although I wouldn't count on it.

The reaction seems to be mixed, from "no big deal as long as they continue selling ad-free versions" to "NO NO IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD RUN AWAY!!" I'm in the no big deal camp, myself. If I hadn't been gifted this fantastic Kindle 1 by my grandmother-in-law I would certainly be considering the ad version if it meant I could get a Kindle faster.

There seems to be some speculation that the price may drop even further in the autumn, making them under $100 instead of the current strange price of $114. This would not surprise me.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Being Human (US): "I Want You Back (From the Dead)" - Josh is scared of his relationship, Sally wants to date a fellow ghost, and Aidan witnesses the child he defended get hit by a car. The plotlines diverge even further from the UK show, and it's to the point where I can't tell what's going to happen. And I'm enjoying it. Very different from the original, but it's got its own strong points.


• Who Do You Think You Are?: "Ashley Judd" - She starts by looking up a Civil War ancestor, then talks with an historian to get some information about that ancestor's story. So she next goes to find her New England roots, and is presented with an awesome family tree. She discovers that her New England roots are extremely deep, about as deep as any European-descended person can be. She goes to England to find out why her ancestor left England, and finds some good stories. All very impressive, which makes it all make sense that it's the final episode of the season.

Continuing my Ghostie Marathon:

• Ghost Hunters International: "Amsterdamned " - Aired Jan 26. The team starts in the Huissen House of Horrors, then goes to IJmuiden Fortress, both in the Netherlands. The first location is a private home that is trying to get rid of its owner, apparently. It's history involves deaths in a flood and suicides. In the end, they didn't find anything and tried to reassure the owner, which was good. The second location was a fortress used by the Nazis, now a museum. The Germans built a ton of concrete bunkers on the island, which make up an impressive fortress mixed with the original buildings. The museum has a spooky room with mannequins, yeek. Lots of EVPs and sounds there.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Army of the Dead" - Aired Feb 02. The team goes to the Petrovaradin Fortress in Serbia. A very very big fortress with some stern warnings for the ghost hunting crew, as some of the tunnels go deep enough that oxygen can be a problem. The location was like a maze, and I loved the walkthrough. As for the ghosts, with the tunnels open to the outside, and clearly people had gone there without permission before, I wasn't sure that any sounds they got could be taken seriously. So, of course, they got a very interesting photo. Another cool visit.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Shadows in the Dark" - Aired Feb 09. The Ghost Hunters visit Scotland and stop in at Usher Hall and Inveraray Jail. Usher Hall had some mild but fun stories, including an opera singer who stopped in the middle of a performance because she thought someone had walked up behind her on stage, but there was no one there. The crew caught a few sounds, but nothing definitive. The jail was a very cool location, and it looked like they enjoyed the visit there. Again, not much by way of evidence, but some excellent debunking.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Soldiers of Misfortune" - Aired Feb 16. The team heads to San Juan, Puerto Rico to check out El Morro Fortress and Tapia Theater. The fortress was pretty cool, and big. And the stories were lovely and fun. I liked that they easily debunked the orbs photo. Orbs aren't even slightly interesting to me. As for the second location, theaters are always difficult because of the acoustics, and they always seem to have a tradition of ghosts. This was a fun one, with its history and stories. I love it when they use the thermal camera. I really want one to play with.


• Ghost Hunters: "TAPS Meets the Real Housewives of Atlanta" - Aired Dec 1st 2010. Rhodes Hall in Atlanta, Georgia. Special guest stars include a bunch of people I've never heard of, but the female Ghost Hunters seemed happy there would be more females on the team for the night. Gorgeous building. Looks pretty busy, being regularly used, and has a lot of the standard kind of reports. The guest stars were a blond named Kim who freaks me out more than any ghost. Sheree, another woman with long hair who was the only one who seemed comfortable, and NeNe, who immediately focused on staying near Jay since he's the biggest of the team. I thought they would be much more annoying than they were. As it turned out, they were fairly normal for novice investigators, and it was a normal sort of ghost hunt.
• Ghost Hunters: "Ghosts of Christmas Past" - Aired Dec 8th 2010. A special Christmas episode, complete with new music and opening images. The crew first heads to the Christmas Farm Inn in New Hampshire, which only makes sense for a Christmas special. Lots of sounds, but not much else. Next, the gang goes to the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie, NY. A one-time church, surrounded by a cemetary, and used as a refuge during a war. Looks like a fun place to check out, but only in daylight. They did a bit of debunking, which was nice. But there wasn't much else there.
• Ghost Hunters: "Haunted Town" - Aired Feb 23. New season, new events. This time, the entire town of Alexandria, LA invites the Ghost Hunters team in to investigate three locations that have been paranormal hotspots: Hotel Bentley, Finnegans Wake, and Diamond Grill. The reveal will be in front of a crowd instead of a single client, as well. A very strange and fun event. The investigation was neat, it may have been the first time a town shut down an entire street for them so they wouldn't get any interference. I liked the reveal with the entire town looking on, and them giving their usual "take control, don't be afraid" responses. A very different and fun episode.
• Ghost Hunters: "Pennsylvania Asylum" - Aired Mar 02. The group is invited to Pennhurst Asylum in Pennsylvania. I love their new van. Apparently they do, too. The place looks like it's in terrible disrepair, being slowly overgrown. Considering its history, not a surprise. The tunnels were crazy. In fact, a lot of the place was insane. I love how Steve rants about how they never have the camera in the right place. Some interesting stuff there. I like the cows.
• Ghost Hunters: "Century of Hauntings" - Aired Mar 09. The team starts out investigating a family home in Oxford, MA, that has belonged to three generations of the family and creeps out the current generation. They got some really creepy audio, but reassured the family as usual. Next they went to Philadelphia to visit the USS Olympia, a very old ship with very narrow corridors. They decide to go in without a camera crew due to the tight quarters, and instead use shoulder-mounted equipment along with their stationary cameras. It made for a dizzy investigation, as the cameras weren't as stable as with a professional crew.
• Ghost Hunters: "French Quarter Phantoms" - Aired Mar 16. They get to go back to New Orleans, this time to visit the Old U.S. Mint, a building I've not heard of, but I loved the history of it. The whole Civil War part was amazing. The building was like a lot of old buildings. Lots of sounds, lots of echoes and strange acoustics. I admit, I loved Steve and Tango's reaction to the door opening, even if that had nothing paranormal about it. Overall, another fun episode.
• Ghost Hunters: "Hotel Haunts Unleashed" - Aired Mar 23. The Ghost Hunters' travels take them to Rapid City, SD and the Hotel Alex Johnson. A neat old hotel that has many stories of hauntings. The crew has added a new member, a dog named Maddie. Maddie is good at detecting EMF or animals, which can help with investigations. They took her on a test run through the hotel, and she was able to detect high EMF well before the handhelds, but didn't find any animals. The hotel was neat, and I liked the response of the hotel manager once he reviewed the evidence. On to the next!
• Ghost Hunters: "Frozen In Fear" - Aired Mar 30. The gang heads to Mackinac Island, Michigan and the Mission Point Resort that is generally closed for the winter. They are going in the icy cold, and have brought along Maddie. With the possibility of being stuck on the island if the ice locks up the ferry, Steve still chooses to go. Luckily, he manages to get the last ferry of the season. The rest of the group have to go back via plane, and the weather was so bad that the client came to the TAPS office for the reveal. Some fun bits in this one, including a computer server that sounded like someone talking, doors opening and closing by themselves, and a light turning on unexpectedly.
• Ghost Hunters: "Residual Haunts" - The crew goes up to Fort Knox, Maine to hunt for old soldier ghosts. The investigation is in the freezing cold, and they do a bit of good debunking. Why do so many of these old museum places have creepy mannequins? Sounds, as usual, but not much else. The second location was a private home built on apparently haunted land. The woman who called them in had been living on the land for 20 years, and has had experiences for almost the whole time. The crew helped comfort her, and debunked a few of her haunts. Overall, she seemed happy with the results.


• Destination Truth: "Haunted Island Prison/Ucumar" - Aired Mar 22. The Destination Truthers go to an abandoned prison on the Panamanian island of Coiba. As usual, Josh has some fantastic snark in Panama, particularly when the whole team gets hats. Getting to the island is a bit of a challenge, as the helicopter Josh charters can't land there in the weather, so Josh and Ryder jump into the water. Because they are looking for ghosts in a jungle, they find plenty of noises. I loved the frog. Next, they go to Argentina on the search for a bear-like creature called the Ucumar. Josh repeatedly states he loves the country, and they had a wonderful time tangoing in the street. The investigation involved lots of logistical issues, but they eventually found evidence of an endangered bear living in the area that could certainly be the Ucumar in some sightings. So it all worked out well for everyone.
• Destination Truth: "Sandstorm Spirits/Cerro Azul Monster" - Aired Mar 29. The crew goes to the abandoned desert town of Kolmanskop, Namibia, bringing along a guest from another show, Jael de Pardo. The snark was wonderful in the Germanic Namibia, including the group eating bugs from a street vendor and the new sound engineer proving she has an iron stomach. Ryder attempts to outrun an ostrich on the long drive to the ghost town. A dune buggy trip is a great deal of fun for the group. Oh, then they started hunting ghosts in abandoned buildings. Didn't find much of anything, but it was still an interesting trip. After Africa, they head to Cerro Azul, Panama to find a strange, hairless creature. I love the bus the DT crew "stole" and their regression into children while riding in it. It was cool that they interviewed the original witnesses, the kids who claimed to have killed the creature. I have my doubts about that story, especially since the photos definitely show a bald sloth that may have been dead for some time before it was found. But any excuse for Josh to run around in the middle of the night in a dangerous jungle!
• Destination Truth: "Jungle Temple Ghosts/Namibian Night Stalker" - The crew goes to Thailand to hunt giant ghosts called the Phret. They start in Bangkok, trying to debunk a video of a Phret climbing Victory Monument. They also free some birds at a shrine for luck, ride rapid boats as taxis, and wander off into the countryside to ride motorcycles (and crash, Ryder got stitches). Their overnight ghost hunt was at the Phanom Rung temple about 300 miles away from Bangkok. Rex got attacked by something invisible that tried to strangle him, and the crew find strange lights in the temple and a thermal hit of something they couldn't identify. Spooky. They next head to Windhoek, Namibia with Jael again, and look for an African Chupacabra. They go to Ondangwa, then to a remote settlement that had some goats killed by the night stalking blood sucker. The gang stopped at a border and stepped into Angola so Josh can claim he's visited 94 countries, and once at the destination, Ryder got painted red by the local Himba tribe (whose women were carefully blurred). They find a freshly dead goat, and see a rapidly moving animal, but can't prove the existence of any new beast. But hey, running around in the middle of the night in a dangerous area!

You know, I actually really enjoyed watching these in a marathon. I was despairing that I'd ever watch them all, but it was a lot of fun once I sat down and just watched them while I was alone in the house.

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This week's comic book related review is Tron: Betrayal. This is a prequel to the movie that bridges the gap between the original Tron and Tron: Legacy. I haven't seen Tron: Legacy, and don't really plan to at this point in time, so I'm not really sure why I read this. It's clear that effort went into deciding what would happen with Flynn, and a lot of work went into the book. However, the art isn't the best (at times I cannot tell the difference between Tron and Flynn). I'm more interested in seeing the sequel after reading this than I was before, but not enough to get me to go hunt it down now. So, I guess my opinion on this one is just so-so. Good, but not great. If you haven't seen Tron (the original) then don't bother, this will just confuse you.

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My library book this week was Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This is the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. There were certain things I suspected had to happen in this book, and most of them did. But I didn't guess very well on anything else. In fact, closing the last page, all I could think was, "Wow." I can't really give any details at all about this book without giving away spoilers, again it builds so carefully on previous books that even character names beyond the main one may give something away. So, Katniss grows up, other characters develop and change like real people, and some really terrible things happen. I was slightly disappointed by the way the book ended, until the epilogue, and by the time I read the ending I was actually actively angry at the author for what she'd put certain characters through. I totally understand why this series is so popular.

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Agatha Christie this week was By the Pricking of My Thumbs from 1968. Tommy and Tuppence are getting older but they aren't out of the business of adventure entirely, and when Tuppence gets a feeling after meeting an old woman, she dashes off in danger before Tommy can stop her. A thoroughly enjoyable tale of the pair of almost detectives as they deal with getting older. It's more sparse than many of her stories in some ways, but I think it made up for it with how everything clicked together and fit. Her work has lost nothing, and I'm extremely sad that I'm getting to the end of the novels. I understand the enduring sales and fandom now, and I wish I could do what Holly did in Red Dwarf and erase them from my mind so I could reread the lot when I'm done. I'm reading them a bit slower now so as to savor them all the more.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist -- My Kindle Wishlist

Standing Mixer...

Hubby-Eric just made some cookie dough with our poor little underpowered hand mixer, and I couldn't help thinking how awesome it would be to have a standing mixer. So I'm officially adding it to my wish list, and probably won't get it for a few years.

The Eisner Noms

The Eisner Nominations have been announced. I haven't got a lot to say about them, except I'm of course hoping that Eric Shanower gets one for The Marvelous Land of Oz, and Skottie Young as well, of course.

The UPS Guy

As I was thinking, "hey, it's time to go out and get the mail" I heard a sudden clattering of rain against the sliding glass door behind me. After some internal debate, I went to the front room and opened the window shade to watch the storm pass. It was a glorious and very short storm, with a mix of hail and rain, and some sunlight peeking through. After it had spent itself, I stepped outside and started down my driveway... and watched as the UPS truck roared up to my house.

I saw the driver grin, and decided to stop and wait. Sure enough, he had my comic book order and boy was HE happy that I was down on my driveway waiting for him. It made for an easy delivery and he smiled as he handed me the box, and I could practically hear him grinning as he roared off to his next stop while I got the task of walking the box back up to my door. Then I went back out and walked to the mailbox. The UPS truck roared by once more, leaving the neighborhood, as I unlocked my mail slot and pulled out the stuff within. The driver gave me quite a cheery wave as he roared around the corner and away.

And oddly enough, I'm feeling cheered up by it too.

SURPRISE!

So, it was Saturday afternoon. Hubby-Eric was out of town visiting Oz friends, so I was happily at home alone enjoying some nice uninterrupted relaxing time. I was sitting in our living room in my favorite chair, which is right in front of the sliding glass door that leads out into our back yard. The glass door has a nice curtain in front of it, a Zen Garden design, that looks pretty neat and gives me privacy from the neighbors opposite.

As I'm sitting there, I hear some voices out back. I think it's probably the neighbors until the screen door behind me rattles loudly, then someone attempts to open the sliding glass door. I jump up, startled and scared, and start to move toward my front door. Then I think, maybe I should see who's in my back yard and rush back to open the curtain. I can't see anyone. I can hear voices at the side of the house, though, so I think they are moving.

I pick up my cell phone and dial 911, but I don't hit send. Then I go to look out the front door. There are about four guys on my porch, one is trying to look into the house through the windows in the door while another is attempting to open the door. I freeze, and watch as they turn and walk away from the door. Wha-?

Decision time. I stride over to the door and they are all walking away, down my front yard. I look out and see several older women in my yard as well. Several cars are parked on the street in front of my house, and one in the driveway. Everyone looks confused, not like they are trying to rob me. I open the door, keeping the cell phone ready to dial, and ask "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!??"

The guys turn back, look very surprised, and say, "We came to look at this house, it's for sale."

"It is certainly NOT for sale, I live here!"

"Well, Judy* said it was for sale, and we came to look." *Not her real name.

"Judy was wrong, get off my property. Take whoever was trying to break in at the back, too." As I say that, an older guy walks around from the back and glances at me at the front door. Then he looks down at the ground, like he's ashamed. I must look terrified or roaring angry. Everyone looks cowed but defensive. One woman says they weren't trying to break in, so I shouldn't say it. I sputter some sort of response that makes it clear I thought so and nearly called the police. They disperse to their cars and an SUV drives up. A woman in a suit gets out looking very tense, consults quickly with one of the others, then comes to the door.

It's Judy. She's a real estate agent. She made an assumption that my house was for sale without checking any listings based entirely on a piece of paper I have in the window (the one that says "NO SOLICITING"). She thought, without looking, that it was a foreclosure notice. She apologized, profusely. Repeatedly. I explained that things could have turned out very bad, as her clients seemed to be trying to break in. She apologized. I forgave her, as much as possible in the heat of the moment, and let her leave.

I closed and locked my door (thank goodness it had been locked before!) and looked down. My hand was clenched on my cell phone. I carefully canceled the call I didn't make, then went back to my living room and sat, adrenaline screaming.

It suddenly occurred to me that I only had her word that she was a real estate agent, and that I didn't know for sure. I hadn't gotten her information. What if it was some complicated scam, or a dry-run for an actual robbery? I called hubby-Eric to try to calm down. He suggested calling the non-emergency police line and reporting it. After talking with hubby, I felt a little better, but wasn't sure I wanted to report it to the police. Seemed like overkill.

Instead, I went hunting for Judy. I searched for that first name with "real estate agent" and Churchville. I found a likely Judy, and looked until I found her picture. Yep. I called her up, and got confirmation that it was her along with another half-dozen apologies. Ok. So it seems unlikely to be a scam or test robbery.

Still feeling the rush of adrenaline, I worked out the likely scenario. She's a real estate agent, and this neighborhood has a lot of foreclosed properties. She saw the NO SOLICITING sign in the window from her car as she drove past and wrongly assumed it was a foreclosure notice (first mistake). Then, when her clients asked about a certain type of house, she thought of the one in the Stepford neighborhood and gave them the address, saying she'd meet them there. She probably figured if they liked the location she could contact the agent on the foreclosure notice to get a key and do a walkthrough. She was a little later than her clients (second mistake), and they must've liked the house enough to try to get in without waiting. She freely admitted to me in her many apologies that it was her own mistake. Ok. Seems extremely likely. I know a lot of real estate agents seem to fly by the seat of their pants.

I'm still not sure whether I should call the non-emergency police line and report it. On the one hand, it scared the goodness-gracious out of me. On the other hand, it had a logical explanation, plenty of apologies from the responsible party, and I got a blog entry out of it. Further, a complaint could very well cost the woman her career, and she's made it very clear to me (she called me on Sunday to make sure I was ok) that she's learned her lesson. I'm just not that vindictive, to cost a woman her living for two admittedly stupid mistakes.

I had a difficult time sleeping Saturday night, as every sound from downstairs seemed to be a threat. At least nothing bad actually happened, as there was a lot of potential there for much more stress on everybody's part.

A Sunday Review

My library book this week was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. The second book in the Hunger Games series, Katniss must deal with the events from the first book, which have left her confused and heartbroken. I'm trying not to give spoilers, which is hard, because this book builds so carefully on the first book. The writing style is so engaging, first-person present tense, that you feel yourself there in the action. The only thing "wrong" with the story is how long it takes Katniss to see the obvious in front of her. She's a kid, but a remarkably self-centered one for being such a responsible teen. So it's frustrating as a reader to know what could happen if she was more aware of the world around her. Looking forward to the final book.

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This week's comic book related review is Hikaru No Go Vol 21. The qualifiers for the international tournament are decided with a surprise extension of play, and Hikaru is offended when a Korean player insults Shusaku. This is mostly more set up for the tournament, and ends with the team arriving at the hotel. I'm treasuring every last issue now, as we're far too close to the end. And yet I'm really curious to see how the series finishes, something you don't get with American (superhero) comics at all.

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TV this week:

• Being Human (US): "I See Your True Colors... And That's Why I Hate You" - Sally tries to let her old friend know about Danny, Josh must confront his family, and Aidan screws up. Another good episode, going in a very different direction than the UK series. I like the changes.
• Being Human (US): "Children Shouldn't Play with Undead Things" - From the title I should have figured out what storyline would be in this one. I wonder if it's going to finish the same as the UK version? Completely new ghost storyline that has promise. And the lovelife of a wolf storyline is similar. Good ep.


• Who Do You Think You Are?: "Steve Buscemi" - This episode focuses on an ancestor who had some issues. It's not every day that you find out that your great-great-grandfather was a suicidal dentist, thug, war deserter, and bigamist. But then, not everyone has such interesting relations.
• Who Do You Think You Are?: "Gwyneth Paltrow" - This was a bit scattered, with multiple ancestors being hunted down. She goes to Barbados to find one, hunts through the census and death certificates for others, and then to a synagogue to find rabbis in her ancestry. I enjoyed it a little less for the scatterness, but there seemed to be more in it because of the multiple ancestors she hunted down.


• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Battle of the Super-Heroes!" - I loved the pre-opening teaser with King Tut Pharoah. The main segment was with Superman, and I guess I've been spoiled by the other animated Superman series, because it really didn't do much for me. Oh, it was cute and clever and all that, but in the end I wished for the Lois who swam with the sharks with Aquaman.

I've decided to try to catch up on some of the ghost shows that I have recorded in the last few months. So, I had my own little marathon while hubby-Eric was off in Oz. Here's my thoughts written as the marathon progressed:

• Ghost Lab: "Afterlife Sentence" - Aired Nov 20th 2010. This one has a visit to the West Virginia State Penitentiary followed by a private residence in Ohio. I like how they brought along a former guard to talk with one of the inmates. She seemed to get a response as well. The second investigation didn't prove much, but revealed some issues that needed to be solved at the home, so that's good.
• Ghost Lab: "Theme Park of Death" - Aired Nov 27th 2010. This one visits the Lake Shawnee Fun Park and a private home, both in West Virginia. A couple of tragic deaths at a Fun Park have led to hauntings, and the team goes hunting for dead children. Of course, the fun park was built on a Shawnee burial ground. It's like an episode of Scooby-Doo. The private home has been abandoned for ten years after ghosts drove the family out. Witnesses were members of the family that lived in the house, and a sketch artist drew images of the ghosts based on the sightings. A little research revealed them to be family. The "no more fussin'" EVP was kind of cool.
• Ghost Lab: "Eternal Home" - Aired Dec 4th 2010. The team goes to The Shanley Hotel in New York and then to Arkansas to visit The Poet's Loft. The story of the hotel was interesting. The EVP was fairly cool, and I like that they brought in a voice expert to try to determine what the voice was. The second place had a good set up, with a fun ghost who clearly wants to be helpful for the most part. Though there might be older and more menacing ghosts there, too. Both places had once been bordellos.
• Ghost Lab: "The Morgue" - Aired Dec 11th 2010. We start at a home in Arkansas, then move to the Harrisburg State Hospital in Pennsylvania. The home is set in the middle of nowhere, and children are being terrified by ghosts. The only clue as to why is that the land is along the Trail of Tears. In the end, they were able to calm the children and reassure the family. Next up was a huge hospital with a long history. They caught a lot names on EVPs, even the name of a former employee, but they weren't able to figure out why.
• Ghost Lab: "The Innocent" - Aired Dec 18th 2010. This has two investigations, one at the Soldiers National Museum in Pennsylvania, then to another museum in New York, the Iron Island Museum. The first museum was once an orphanage with a mysterious headmistress who abused the children. The team's findings suggested unhappy child ghosts still being held prisoner. The second place was a church/funeral home before it became a museum. It seemed to be haunted by a man and possibly by the son of the museum director. It was heartbreaking to watch her read a letter to her dead son, trying to bring him out.
• Ghost Lab: "No Escape" - Aired Dec 25th 2010. They visit Montana and Tennessee in this episode, starting at the Montana State Prison then going to the Old South Pittsburg Hospital. The Montana State Prison is a very nice looking building that's now a museum, with some creepy stories from the staff. In fact, they started having experiences during an interview with a staff member, which doesn't seem to happen much in *any* ghost hunting show. I like how they recreated a prison riot in the hopes of bringing out more action. Lots of action in that place. The hospital they visit next had a good set up, and a frightening EVP. Now, if only I really believed in EVPs. Part of me wants to, but I have a hard time with them.
• Ghost Lab: "Path of a Killer" - Aired Dec 31st 2010. This episode investigates the Villisca Axe Murder House in Iowa and Million Dollar Lane (bowling alley) in North Dakota. The Villisca murders were never solved, and now something seems to be haunting the house, so the team tries to figure out what happened and what's happening. Spooky EVP, but none of it proves anything. Next up is a bowling alley, and it seems like a fun visit. I figured they would play a game, very much their style.
• Ghost Lab: "Behind Stone Walls" - Aired Jan 8th. The team goes to Missouri to check out The Pythian Castle, then visits the Hundley House in Illinois. Cool castle. Interesting history they uncover, as well. I like how they left the clients happy with their haunting. The Hundley House had some great sounds, but I'm not sure what to make of it. It's so easy to fake such things, but the owner seemed ok with it.
• Ghost Lab: "Chambers of Horror" - Aired Jan 15th. This episode starts in a literary fashion at The Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe in Kansas City, Missouri. The second segment visits the Great Lakes Shipwreck Coast Museum in Michigan. I was interested in the first place, a haunted house based on Poe's writing. It's a remarkably silly location, though it apparently gets more real after dark. Haunting a haunted house takes some doing. The Shipwreck Museum was much more interesting a place. The stories of the wrecks were heartbreaking, and the trip to the Myron was an interesting aside for this show. Again, I wonder who is bankrolling these guys.
• Ghost Lab: "Deadwood" - Aired Jan 22nd. The finale of the season (and the show?) is in Deadwood, South Dakota at the Fairmont Hotel and the Wild Bill Bar. I've seen this location on TV before. It's a wonderfully creepy awesome place. The last words they got were rather impressive, even if you don't really believe in EVPs. I got the distinct impression that this was the final episode from the voiceover at the end. That's ok, I've got plenty of other shows to watch.


• Ghost Hunters International: "Hamlet's Castle" - Aired Jan 05. Visit to Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark. What an awesome location! I love seeing the setup for the places, and this is one place that I'd love to visit someday. Watching this so soon after Ghost Lab, I find that there are advanatages to the instant review style of Ghost Lab over the "do everything then review" style of Ghost Hunters.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Ghosts of the Eastern Bloc" - Aired Jan 12. They start at the Pidhirtsi Castle in the Ukraine, then go to the Reszel Castle in Poland. Pidhirtsi has some great ghost stories with it, including a murdered wife, Nazi occupation, and a TB hospital. Not much found there, to the relief of the clients, who wanted to be sure it was safe to open a tourist trap there. The Reszel Castle has a lovely history like most castles, including a horrible tale of "the last witch of Poland". I was totally unimpressed by them getting all excited by a straw in a glass of ice moving, but Barry's dance when he thought a bug was crawling up his leg was great. Fortunately, they figured out that ice caused the straw to move. A fun episode.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Unfaithful Spirit" - Aired Jan 19. This one is all about Fürsteneck Castle in Germany. More wife abuse in this one, with an unfaithful wife bricked up for her crimes. Lots of sightings and horror in the castle. One of the ghost hunters learned the hard way that you don't invite spirits to take your energy, except later he invited them to take energy again. The crew was jumping throughout the episode, when they weren't nearly fainting. Blinking lights, and disembodied voices, but not much else.


• Destination Truth: "Live From Ireland - The Search for the Banshee Ghost" - Aired March 17th. The event took place at Duckett's Grove Castle in Ireland. I liked the opening how Josh went through the set up and introduced his whole team, and still managed to get a little snark in. The location looks beautiful, and it's clear that restoration work was being done well before they mentioned it. Why doesn't it surprise me that Barry is the one member of the team who really doesn't want to hear the Banshee? I loved how, at one point, the members found a bridge over a ditch, and they were told not to go down in there. When they asked why, one of them said, "they're going to commercial", then it went to a commercial. Heh. Sending Jael up that tower was cruel, but I do wonder if what she was hearing was just the wind on the staircase there. A fun start to this part of the season, but I'm glad I didn't watch it live.

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Fortean Times #270 (February 2011). A wonderful Christmas themed cover of the Three Wise Men being led by a flying saucer. The cover story is about religious accounts that are very Fortean, including Ezekiel's wheels, Zechariah's scroll, and Vishnu's flying chariots as specific examples. The article of course mentions Chariots of the Gods, and the stir that caused in the popular imagination when it was published. I found the sidebar that asked what the Wise Men really saw to be a fascinating look at how we study our own past.

Strangedays has the usual round of up fun stories and images. The bear that does a "yoga workout" every morning was fun. The short article on the Catholic Church in the US looking for more exorcists was intriguing. The Bogus Social Workers article reminds me of the clown scare. There's a bit about more bits of John the Baptist found and being revered as relics. Another article is about letters and postcards that arrived very late at their destinations. There's a bit about a ladder that unexpectedly moved at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There's also a great picture of a rock on Mars that vaguely resembles a gorilla.

The Science section covered the "missile launch" that was widely observed on the 8th of November. Ghostwatch is about the ghosts of women who were executed. Archaeology showed us an ancient smurf in Peru along with ancient tattoos on a mummy. The UFO Files discusses military sources for UFO sightings.

An article about UnConvention 2010 has a fairly unflattering picture of Paul Cornell, Doctor Who and Marvel comics writer. Another article discusses the high rate of conversion to fundamental Christianity by undergraduates at high pressure British Universities. There is also an article covering the 41st MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Conference in Denver. The second part of a UFO contact story started in the previous issue continues the argument about what UFOs are, and what contactees are actually experiencing.

The Forum starts off with a love-letter to "A Christmas Carol". A second article covers the curse of Tecumseh on US Presidents. The third article is about Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and how it can possibly explain just about any Fortean experience, without stretching it too much. The Reviews were good, as usual, but didn't prompt me to hunt anything down, although the perfect 10 given to the UK DVD release of Night of the Demon was interesting. A wonderful review of the "Journey Through The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead" exhibit at the British Museum makes me wish I could hop on a plane and check it out. Another strong issue of the best magazine available.

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Stepford Plants Report

So I'm sure you are all just on the edge of your seats, waiting to hear about my planting adventures.

As you know, last year I planted five tomato seeds (Moneymaker) on March 31st. The first seed broke through on April 9th. They eventually turned into monsters and provided buckets (literally) of tomatoes. I vowed not to make the same mistakes this year.

I also planted a stick on May 6th that I was told would grow into a plum tree. It grew an impressive array of leaves and some tiny branches over the summer. The leaves fell off for the winter, so we'll be watching to see what happens to the plum stick this year.

So, what's happened so far this year? On a visit to Costco, I noticed they had plants, and I told Eric that if they had a grafted plum tree, I would buy it. Sure enough, they had a grafted plum tree with three varieties of plum on it, so I puchased it and we somehow got it home. We planted it in the back yard on March 19th.

On March 24th, I planted eight seeds for the windowsill. I planted two varieties of tomatoes (Moneymaker and Tiny Tim), a variety of pepper (Yolo Wonder), and some zucchini (Fordhook). Two seeds in each pot. I have watered them regularly each morning, and on the morning of April 1st I saw the first signs of life from the zucchini and the Tiny Tim Tomatoes.

In the morning, they were barely peeking through, but by the afternoon, both Tiny Tim's were up and visible and the zucchini was making sure I knew that it will have to be transplanted sooner rather than later.

Pictures after the jump.

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