Five Things Make a Post
Oct. 27th, 2013 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pedanther1. Last night was the annual Toastmasters Halloween-themed public meeting. (We've done it two years in a row, that makes it annual. If we do it again next year, it will be "traditional".) As we did last year, there were creepy costumes, disturbing foodstuffs, atmospheric decorations, and a mix of members and guests doing speeches or presentations on related topics.
This year, I was one of two people who did a poetry recital. Coincidentally, we both took the approach of picking, rather than a poem that was about ghosts throughout, a ballad in which all the principal characters die and then the last couple of verses are about how their ghosts are said to still haunt the vicinity: I did Alfred Noyes's "The Highwayman", and Firstname B did Banjo Paterson's "The Geebung Polo Club".
(There's a running joke in our club about how many of the members have the same first name, in particular the two stalwarts whose surnames make them Firstname A and Firstname B. Which makes another unplanned coincidence about the two poetry recitals, because I'm Firstname A.)
2.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lost_spook's Obscure & British Comment Fest is still occasionally producing new fruit. The most recent was, to my delight, inspired by one of my own comments, and I love it.
The great disadvantage with stepping into drawings, mused Mary Poppins, was that one could never be quite sure what lay around the corner. The initial impression might very well be one of pleasant pastoral elegance, with green meadows and gently rolling hills; but on the other side of those hills might be marshes, or brambles. Or, as in this particular instance, caves. In the normal course of events, Mary Poppins didn't mind caves. A large, roomy, picturesque cavern was a grand place to be, and filled with opportunities to improve young minds. This cave, however, was dark and gloomy, and dripped constantly. In the normal course of events she would never have dreamt of stepping inside; but then, in the normal course of events, she wouldn't have been chased into it by an army of slavering orcs, either.
"Orcs." She managed to keep the lion's share of her displeasure from her voice. It wouldn't do to appear too ruffled, after all. "Orcs, Ronald?"
3. Tiny Games is a project I backed on Kickstarter that recently came to fruition. It's a smartphone app for people at a loose end, but instead of being a game you play on your phone while ignoring your surroundings, it has you answer a few questions and then describes a game you can play where you are with who you're with and what you have at hand.
("Choose and rearrange words from the restaurant menu to describe new dishes. The creator of the most revolting dish wins." "Knife beats fork, fork beats spoon, spoon beats knife. Keep playing until the toast pops, and then tally your final scores.")
One nice consequence of the publicity surrounding the Kickstarter drive was that they were invited to collaborate on an official Sesame Street app, which ended up being called Sesame Street Family Play, which uses the same mechanism but is particularly aimed at families with small children.
4. In the lead-up to the Doctor Who anniversary, the ABC is making some classic episodes available on iView. Already available are "An Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks", "The Tomb of the Cybermen", "Spearhead from Space" and "The Sea Devils", "The Sontaran Experiment" and "City of Death", and "Earthshock", with a new Doctor being added each Saturday over the next few weeks.
5. Carli Davidson's photography series "Shake" documents weird and wonderful facial expressions captured on dogs shaking themselves dry (the jowly breeds are particularly impressive). Now, there's also a video. (via)
This year, I was one of two people who did a poetry recital. Coincidentally, we both took the approach of picking, rather than a poem that was about ghosts throughout, a ballad in which all the principal characters die and then the last couple of verses are about how their ghosts are said to still haunt the vicinity: I did Alfred Noyes's "The Highwayman", and Firstname B did Banjo Paterson's "The Geebung Polo Club".
(There's a running joke in our club about how many of the members have the same first name, in particular the two stalwarts whose surnames make them Firstname A and Firstname B. Which makes another unplanned coincidence about the two poetry recitals, because I'm Firstname A.)
2.
lost_spook's Obscure & British Comment Fest is still occasionally producing new fruit. The most recent was, to my delight, inspired by one of my own comments, and I love it.The great disadvantage with stepping into drawings, mused Mary Poppins, was that one could never be quite sure what lay around the corner. The initial impression might very well be one of pleasant pastoral elegance, with green meadows and gently rolling hills; but on the other side of those hills might be marshes, or brambles. Or, as in this particular instance, caves. In the normal course of events, Mary Poppins didn't mind caves. A large, roomy, picturesque cavern was a grand place to be, and filled with opportunities to improve young minds. This cave, however, was dark and gloomy, and dripped constantly. In the normal course of events she would never have dreamt of stepping inside; but then, in the normal course of events, she wouldn't have been chased into it by an army of slavering orcs, either.
"Orcs." She managed to keep the lion's share of her displeasure from her voice. It wouldn't do to appear too ruffled, after all. "Orcs, Ronald?"
3. Tiny Games is a project I backed on Kickstarter that recently came to fruition. It's a smartphone app for people at a loose end, but instead of being a game you play on your phone while ignoring your surroundings, it has you answer a few questions and then describes a game you can play where you are with who you're with and what you have at hand.
("Choose and rearrange words from the restaurant menu to describe new dishes. The creator of the most revolting dish wins." "Knife beats fork, fork beats spoon, spoon beats knife. Keep playing until the toast pops, and then tally your final scores.")
One nice consequence of the publicity surrounding the Kickstarter drive was that they were invited to collaborate on an official Sesame Street app, which ended up being called Sesame Street Family Play, which uses the same mechanism but is particularly aimed at families with small children.
4. In the lead-up to the Doctor Who anniversary, the ABC is making some classic episodes available on iView. Already available are "An Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks", "The Tomb of the Cybermen", "Spearhead from Space" and "The Sea Devils", "The Sontaran Experiment" and "City of Death", and "Earthshock", with a new Doctor being added each Saturday over the next few weeks.
5. Carli Davidson's photography series "Shake" documents weird and wonderful facial expressions captured on dogs shaking themselves dry (the jowly breeds are particularly impressive). Now, there's also a video. (via)
