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• 16:06 RT @tweetmeme Tenspeed and Brown Shoe DVD news: Announcement for Tenspeed and Brown Shoe - The Complete Series... tinyurl.com/yctlyku #

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Played a bit of TV Catch-Up tonight.


( Read more... )

Now, it's time to crash before returning to the library (where today the building temperature averaged around 60 degrees or less most of the day) for a full day on Wednesday, and then Becky and I are off to a Rifftracks (the guys behind Mystery Science Theater 3000) live "Christmas Shorts" movie-theater event on Wednesday night.

Yes, sometimes I Tweet...

• 19:43 Tried watching the reairing of Vampire Diaries pilot but got bored. Now watching The Sing Off on NBC. Only marginally impressed so far... #

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This weekend was one of my weekends "off" of work, and despite the back street conditions from the 10" of snow we received earlier this week, I was able to participate in two events associated with my science fiction club, Star Base Andromeda.

On Saturday night, we had our first SBA Potluck in an entire year -- in this case it was a pizza potluck, as we didn't get started planning with enough time for participants to whip up homemade goodies. Turnout was fairly light, but that was (in part) because of the late date of the arrangements, and (in part) because of the bad travel conditions. Never-the-less, it was fun to see everyone who did show up, and we had some good genre-themed discussions.

On Sunday afternoon, we had our first Game Week meeting in months, with attendees playing several rounds of The Settlers of Cataan. I always enjoy a good "strategy" game, and Cataan really fits that bill. Personally, I prefer combined Settlers and Seafarers of Cataan together, but that really only works well with larger groups of players.

My thanks to the SBA members who attended both of these gatherings -- after months of somewhat dormant SBA activity, it was definitely refreshing to be as fannish active as I was this weekend!

Yes, sometimes I Tweet...

• 01:27 Dang! Kirkus Reviews is folding up shop...all the great print review sources are going away. :-( is.gd/5lA81 #

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Managed to get the rest of my 12 posted fannish music vids unblocked on YouTube (for the moment, at least), including this one -- one of my favorite older vids based on a lesser-known but beloved series. All of my vids thus far posted to YouTube are from the first 4 years of SiDiC Music Videos - 1995-1998, back in the days of VCR to VCR editing. So...don't expect high quality! Here's the link to the entire SiDiC Music Videos archive (plus a few non-music-video clips).

hey guys,
I lived in Hastings Nebraska for a very long time. I pretty much grew up in Nebraska and went to school in Hastings. I went to both the public and Catholic school during my high school career. I am Libby Dungan. I was the shy girl who was into Pink Floyd for awhile. I remember Cool Aid days and the Adam county fairs in the summer. I was a part of the class of 2006. My Dad is a doctor in Hastings. I miss Runza and Val's Pizza.

Yes, sometimes I Tweet...

• 00:23 @goldiebug Boss at work seemed certain the libraries'd be open on Wed. If I can't safely get out of my own n'hood, may not be there myself! #
• 00:25 @goldiebug "Prairie Boy" Heh! :-) Now I feel all Laura Ingalls Wilder-ish! If she was buried under an avalanche...with web access... #
• 00:34 @LeeGoldberg Congrats on the sales figures! The books continue to be great! Will the Monk novels continue beyond the series' demise? #
• 08:48 Conditions no better in our circle (i.e. trapped car) than last night. May have to walk 8 blocks to Bethany branch to work toda
  y...or not?! #
• 15:26 @AnnLarimer Yay Burly Shovelers! Are they available to do my circle, next? I'd really like to leave my house at some point... #
• 15:31 @AnnLarimer Nah...just griping. The city'll dig me out soon enough. Thx though. Glad they're there to rescue you! #
• 15:35 RT @THR_TV: Caucus honors Stephen J. Cannell bit.ly/71njVq -- Congrats, Steve!! #
• 16:11 RT @wraithfodder: Vote for your favorite TV sleuth (via @paleycenter) bit.ly/50Jnrk Grissom's in the lead. I voted for Lt. Columbo!
  #
• 18:26 @LeeGoldberg Glad to hear there'll be more MONK novels. Will they be noticeably set post-finale or earlier in continuity? #
• 21:19 @LeeGoldberg Thanks...I'll look forward to it. I really enjoy the quality of your MONK novels...excellent capture of the characters! #
• 21:26 Becky and I finally caught up with the MONK 2-pt finale tonight. Quite satisfying conclusion. Lots of great "moments". I'll miss this show! #

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After getting stuck 6 times in snowdrifts in the 5 blocks surrounding my own home on the way home from work last night, today became a "snow day" for me from work. After debating the logic and safety of trying to forge into the white wilderness to get both Becky and myself to our respective libraries, we learned many co-workers were facing the same circumstances -- stranded in their own neighborhoods until the city's snowplows can start on the residential neighborhoods either late tonight or tomorrow morning.

We spent an hour clearing our driveway and sidewalks -- the depth of the snow in the tire tracks in our circle indicated both of our cars would easily have "bottomed out" if we'd attempted to drive past the end of our driveway. Ultimately, Becky decided to walk the 8 blocks to the Bethany Branch Library and put in a 5 1/2 hour shift there, since she couldn't drive the 10 miles to the other end of town and her own Walt Branch. With my still-not-fully-recovered pinched sciatic nerve, I decided not to risk aggravating my back, and stayed home for the rest of the day.

Time to catch up on some computer tasks, sip hot chocolate, and hope the snowplows come through our area overnight!

Here's a photoset from this morning.

Yes, sometimes I Tweet...

• 14:38 Getting socked in by lots and lots and snow. Libraries made the decision to close at 5:00...so I've still got 2 1/2 hours of work to go! #
• 19:20 Okay...not so much fun. Got off work early at 5. On the 4 mile ride home, I got stuck 6 times in snowdrifts!! Needed a push out only once. #
• 19:23 @wraithfodder Good luck keeping it down to 1". Don't know what our official total is so far, but it was drifting 15" deep or more here. #
• 21:36 Fab! My favorite recent cartoon is coming to DVD with a 2-hour film version! is.gd/5guwZ #

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Very satisfying conclusion to the 15th season of The Amazing Race tonight!

( Read my spoiler-laden review of the finale under the cut... )

Yes, sometimes I Tweet...

• 20:42 Yay! Huskers will face Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. December 30th in San Diego! Not too shabby for a 9-4 season this year. #

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Heartbreak for Nebraska football fans tonight as we fell to Texas 13-12 on a Texas field goal with 1 second left in the game. But, considering that I thought we'd lose the game by 3 touchdowns, I'm literally stunned with pleased surprise at how close we came to a major upset and the chance to throw this year's BCS standings into total disarray.

Actually, we finished the season exactly as I predicted. I prognosticated before the season began that we'd finish as a four-loss team in Bo Pellini's second season as head coach, and here we are now, with a 9-4 record. What I didn't think would happen is that we'd win the Big 12 North and challenge the #3 team in the country to within 1 second of a season-spoiling upset! Of course, it was all our defense and special teams play, as our offense still couldn't generate any traction against Texas...which has been the story all season against all of our opponents, even the "mud puppy U's" at the beginning of the year. Nebraska's dominating defense slammed Heisman-candidate Colt McCoy to the turf a record 8+ times (more than any other Texas opponent all season). Ndamukong Suh put a serious exclamation point on his senior season and showed why he's expected to be the #1 draft choice next spring. It's too bad he won't be seriously considered for the Heisman, as a defensive player, because he certainly showed more skill than McCoy did tonight.

All in all, although it was a disappointing loss, the Husker team really can hold its collective head high...they came a hair's breadth away from pulling off an unexpected victory tonight and played some of the best (at least defensive) ball they have all season. And we'll still get into a decent bowl game this year, no matter what!

Congrats, guys! And with so many returning players coming back in 2010, I think next year will be even better than this year was! Maybe our offense will even show up to some of the game. ;-)

I got the unpleasantly early lunch time of 11:30 to 12:30 today at work, right during the heart of the 25th Annual Star City Holiday Parade, which goes down two streets both a block from where I work in downtown Lincoln, NE.

I was able to get across "O" St. to go to Highnooner's Deli for lunch. While I was there, with hundreds of people jamming the street outside in the 30 degree temps, I was sort of able to see most of the bands and rides that were going by on the street outside, but not any of the floats. I snapped a few photos of the Marvel Super Heroes as they walked by -- Green Goblin, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America -- and then finished my lunch.

Heading back to work, I could see, because of the zig zag route the parade takes, that Santa and his sleigh (the parade's final attraction) were only 5 minutes from passing by my best vantage point and started to make my way there. All of a sudden, the giant Kermit the Frog balloon went right by a block ahead of me. I quick backtracked a couple of blocks to get a better view of Kermie, and got there just in time to snap a couple of shots. Still got back to work with 10 minutes to spare on my lunch hour!

This is only the 3rd Star City Holiday Parade I've seen even just a part of, and today that was only because of the timing of when my lunch was scheduled.

Here's a photoset of my other images from today's parade.

Hard to believe that the "little show that could" is finally coming to an end. I've been recording them off my cable system's "On Demand" channels, and I'm a little behind -- so I've still got the past four episodes to burn off before I can even think about watching tonight's series finale of MONK.

But it's still a bittersweet moment to know that it's ending for good. Sigh...it's not as if there aren't shows to replace it in my viewing selections. Heck, just on USA Network alone, I'm watching PSYCH, BURN NOTICE and WHITE COLLAR. But MONK had a style and feel that was all its own, and Tony Shalhoub could range between way-over-the-top and painfully-realistic and sentimental in his deservedly Emmy-winning performance as Adrian. The entire cast has been wonderful, and the shift from Sharona to Natalie was handled well several seasons ago.

I'll probably post again after I've watched the final 5 episodes of the season, but even though I won't be watching "Mr. Monk and The End [2]" live tonight, I'll be thinking about the end of a classic TV series!

*sniff*

Now...where did my wipes go?

Yes, sometimes I Tweet...

• 18:25 My Farscape: The Complete Series arrived in the mail today. Yay! No Peacekeeper Wars in the set, though. Boo! Still...a good deal! #DVD #

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