Twitterpated

• 03:59 John Flansburgh's dad died last week. :( #
• 04:01 @NowIsStrange You must not know 'bout me. #
• 07:32 @NowIsStrange gave me the DS version of Dragon Quest IV! Hooray! #
• 08:04 I have to work on Saturday! Can you believe it? #
• 17:56 Why are there so many valentines featuring fart jokes? #
• 18:04 @amandapalmer Because it'll turn you into a vegetable if you eat it? #
• 18:08 @NowIsStrange I think that was the case at Henry Ford's wedding, too. #
• 18:13 @colinmeloy Only if they stop luring my ship onto the rocks! #
• 18:13 @eehouls In one of the Oz books, there's a cat queen who's referred to as a "puissant pussy." That's a play on words you wouldn't see today. #
• 18:15 tinyurl.com/atshss Inappropriate valentines #

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I wish I had a tremolo

The New York Times has an article on Neko Case. It's definitely worth reading, even if it means signing up for a free Times account.

(This was cross-posted to the ladypilot community.)

I'm so tired of homophobia

So, let's see. The Rufus Wainwright concert last night was pretty cool. The last time bethje and I saw him, he was backed by an orchestra. This time, it was just him, alternating between piano and guitar. His sister Martha, who did the opening set, also sang with him on a few numbers. I can't remember everything he played, and I don't know Rufus' back catalog as well as I do those of most of the musicians I see live, but I know he opened with "Going to a Town." In place of "I'm so tired of America," he sang, "I'm not tired of America," "I'm so tired of homophobia," and "I'm so tired of California. Also in the setlist were "Sanssouci," "Not Ready to Love," "The Art Teacher," "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," and "Hallelujah." There was also a Shakespearean sonnet that he set to music, apparently as part of a project he's been working on. He had a lot of amusing between-song banter as well, and pointed out that he doesn't really have any traditional love songs in his repertoire.

In addition to Dragon Quest IV, I received two other gifts from Beth: The Annotated Hunting of the Snark and NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe. Astronomy is one of several hobbies that I wanted to pursue, but didn't really have the patience to stick with it. Maybe someday I'll get a telescope. I don't know. I bought some presents for her, too, but they still haven't arrived. That makes me feel bad, even though I know I don't control the post office. I will someday, but not yet.

If you could live in the sauce, don't you think I would live in the sauce?

I don't really have that much to say about tonight's cartoons, but I might as well say something, since I've made it a tradition by now. Actually, the Simpsons episode was surprisingly good, considering most of what we've seen recently. They did a flashback/what-if episode that actually fit into established continuity, unlike that train wreck with Marge going to college in the nineties. I have to wonder whether the new opening is the one they're going to be using from now on. Probably not, since it's even longer than the original, but we'll see. I'm hoping it won't be, because even though the added references were kind of amusing once, they won't be if we keep seeing them over and over. Family Guy wasn't that great (come on, if you're going to make us wait so long for a new episode, make it a better one), but I do think the decision for Bonnie to actually have her long-awaited baby was interesting, and I liked the Hannity & Colmes joke. (I assume that, back when the episode was made, Colmes's decision to leave the show hadn't gotten out yet.) And I did enjoy American Dad, especially Steve's reaction to Roger's seeing another family, and the glimpse into Roger's past. Incidentally, I was just recently thinking about how the writers love to put in minor characters with weird, obsessive attitudes. They had that spa detective a few weeks ago, and they did it again with the sweeper outside the theater this time. I think they work quite well, in kind of a surreal way. As for the ending with the koala, it seemed a little out of place for this show, but it was amusing enough that I'm willing to forgive that.