Kermit Bale
What do Christian Bale and Kermit the Frog have in common? More than you might realize… (and yes, clearly I have far too much time on my hands.)
Words cannot express how much this made me laugh. Best way to start a day; the merging of my two boyfriends. Totally. God Bless Dlisted for linking to it.
Handheld gaming. Stephen Fry has a lot of affection for Nintendo’s DS, which he finds much more engaging than Sony’s PSP.
Love it. Stephen Fry talks gaming. Talks Nintendo vs Sony. He owns a pink DS. Loves it even more.
The DS and its more streamlined successor, the DS Lite, reached out to women and the middle-aged, and managed to do this without alienating the core gaming audience. Games for teenage girls, games for sudoku-playing commuters, “brain trainer” games for fortysomethings – whole new audiences were being reached, and the units sold in their millions.
My DS Lite is pink. There was so much demand earlier this year that they couldn’t be had for bribes, sexual favours or worse. Unless you accepted girly pink. The moment you open it, you are taken back to the old Game & Watch days but can see why the DS has succeeded so well with the middle class, the middle-aged and the Hello Kitty/My Little Strawberry Shortcake Pony set.
…
A simple pocket knife can be more appealing and usable than a bristling Victorinox, and a dedicated little games machine like the DS can engage us far more than the sleek power of the PSP. You can feel admiration and even awe for the big power boxes, but for the DS you feel affection - and that, in marketing terms, is worth a whole heap more.
I’ll admit, I kind of miss having a DS at the moment, and am back on my bad attitude towards my PSP. I do have God of War to play yet, though, so I might flip-flop once more. I should really just give it up, and have one of each, instead of cycling through different models and wasted money. I can’t help myself.
I don’t watch reality tv, really. It depresses me, to no end, and enforces my feelings that people suck. But, I do watch So You Think You Can Dance.
And I love it.
This year I was throwing my support behind Mark. Not only was he unique in his own style of dance, but the kid has a great spirit. Of course, he didn’t make it to the final four. Blargh.
After Mark was unceremoniously dumped in favour of Twitch, I was hoping that Joshua would win. Out of the four, he needed it the most, and showed remarkable talent in the different styles they put him in. So, I was glad he won on Wednesday.
Although, I was more excited by the Popper battle. The boys are freaks!
I read this via Kris, and I just don’t understand it.
Attenborough alarmed as children are left flummoxed by test on the natural world.
Children have lost touch with the natural world and are unable to identify common animals and plants, according to a survey.
…
The survey asked 700 children to identify pictured flora and fauna. Just over half could name bluebells, 54 per cent knew what blue tits were and 45 per cent could identify an oak. Less than two-thirds (62 per cent) identified frogs and 12 per cent knew what a primrose was.
Seriously?? Less than two-thirds identified frogs? What the hell happened? Did they survey the dumbest kids in Britain? I did pretty well on the test, and even though I lived for a while in Somerset, it’s not like I grew up in the countryside, you know? I spent my formative years just off the M4, in industrial town. But, I still know what a flipping bluebell is (I’ve tried to grow them here, and massive fail).
I think a lot of it is what the kids are exposed to. When I was growing up, we had the likes of David Bellamy and David Attenborough. They educated, they were enthusiastic, and they had shows and specials that immersed us in nature; shows that made you connect with the world you live in. Are there even shows like that any more? Genuine question. Because, there was the Crocodile Hunter (at a stretch), but there doesn’t seem to be anything like that anymore. I haven’t seen them, at any rate.
David Bellamy was my freaking hero (alongside Tony Hart and fine, I admit it… Rolf Harris), when I was a kid. I have a slight issue with Bellamy’s stance on man-made Global warming, but he’s still the guy that had you collecting frogspawn or tadpoles, and using a magnifying glass on insects. So, we’re cool.
Oh my God, tangent. What was I talking about? Oh, right, the article with kids who can’t tell you what a daddy-long-legs is. The answer, by the way is called my worst nightmare.
The article theorizes that the children who are disassociating from the nature around them, 1) play computer games (of course. Can’t miss out on a perfectly good cliche) and, 2) are lacking in social and emotional development. I’m not going to say I agree with that… because I don’t. But I did like the quote from Attenborough:
“The wild world is becoming so remote to children that they miss out,” he said, “and an interest in the natural world doesn’t grow as it should. Nobody is going protect the natural world unless they understand it.”
Remember when I said I was going to try and start making some positive life changes? You guys, I totally have. It’s not earth-shattering stuff, and it’s not without bumps in the road. The bumps that tend to be shaped like pizza 
Step one was supposed to be quitting smoking, and I will. I’ve just pushed that further down the list for now, until I get into the right frame of mind for it.
Step two was cutting back on sugary drinks, and creamy coffees. I’m not going to lie… this one was frigging hard. But, I did it. I’m taking milk in my coffee now, because there’s just no way in hell I can eliminate caffeine from my diet at this point. Maybe further down the line, when the nicotine addiction has been overcome, and I have less dependencies. For now, I’ve just cut out the 900% creamy cream that Tim Horton’s serve.
The sugary drinks portion of this promise was tough. If you know me, you know I loathe water. I’ll drink it when I’m sick, and boiled with coffee, and that’s about it. No more! I’ve been drinking more than my fair share of water, recently. Mainly in thanks to this:
My sassy new SIGG bottle. Ain’t she pretty?
The benefits of this bitca are two-fold. It’s making it a lot easier for me to actually drink the water, and I’m not sure as to why. I don’t like drinking from plastic bottles, and it’s easier to carry this filled, than it is a couple of small bottles.
It’s also a lot better for my own little carbon footprint. Where I work, there is zero recycling. Hideous, I know. Cans go straight into the garbage, end of story. So, I’ve also eliminated my refuse issues, which makes it more gratifying. I’ve been making such an effort at home, and now I don’t feel like it’s all for naught, as soon as I go to work.
And, it’s great to take on my bike. Which brings me to step three; exercise.
Taking the bikes, and hitting up the local trails has been great. I’m getting out, getting some sunshine, and getting a much needed workout. And, I’m enjoying it! We live in a pretty picturesque area, when you get away from the box stores and town congestion. And, for the several years I’ve lived here, I’ve never managed to explore it all. All that has changed now, and there’s not a negative comment I can make about it.
Well, that’s not true. If the rain would give us a break, I’d be seeing a lot more 
Step four was eating better. I’ve been trying. Like I said, bumps in the road. Usually when I work a late shift and am just too tired to follow through and need a quick fix. But I’m getting there.
Meat is pretty much gone from my diet, which wasn’t really a big deal to start with, and I’m really trying to work on more fresh produce. Fun things in salad to make is more fulfilling and interesting; testing out my threshold for new vegetables… work in progress, but already huge improvement.
And it’s not just physical satisfation from making these changes; it’s mental, too. I feel more alert (when I’m not suffering from insomnia… different problem to solve), I feel like I have more energy, and I don’t feel like I’m just plodding along, going through the motions of living. Because that’s a dispiriting thing to realize. I’m going to make a consious effort to not.
It’s opened up my eyes to making a difference in your life, and the lives of others if you can. Your home, your heart, and the planet.
Sound like a bit of a hippy? You betcha. I’ve got a whole bunch of levels my master plan. I’ve been doing an insane amount of research on the simplicity that is a vegetable garden. That goes into effect next year; this year is planning stages of what we need, how we need to get it done, and will Canadian seasons end up making this a moo point. But, I’m going to work on it. Along with everything else.
I still haven’t managed step five, which is the ambiguous “be happy” dream. For that, there has to be a few bigger changes at home, and at work… and damn, people! Baby steps!
I am a work in progress.
Yes. Just, yes. I’m not going to go on and on, as there’s just no point. Just go watch The Dark Knight. And then, come pick me up so we can go see it again, together
The third act for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is now online. *sigh*
Pluses: Features the true stars of Once More with Feeling, plus a few other familiar faces in the Evil League of Evil. Is yanno… excellent.
Negatives: Whedon wrote it, so the ending is pretty much what you fear it will be. Damn that man.
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