thanks, Jason, for pointing phoons out to me!

Time to just stop for a moment. Turn off the TV, turn off the radio, fold up the newspaper.

Today is the first truly splendid weather of the new season. I mean, it is fantastic. Standing in front of an open window with no shirt on kind of weather. Big deep breaths of cool air, close your eyes and sigh kind of weather. Summer is over. I hope wherever you are, you manage to get some of this breeze.

Phoons put a smile on my face this morning. Just a bunch of people posing for pictures as though caught in mid-sprint. This Father Serra one is a favorite.

If I was still active in any Champions or superheroic games, I’d have to make a character called the Phoon. it’s just a good word.

(that and now I want to drink mum tea, with my sweetie, phooning.)

I finished Stephen King’s On Writing. I need some time to think about what I’m going to say about it, and when I get there I suspect I’m going to have a lot to say. I’m sure will be interested, but who knows who else will be.

pointless waste of time….. :)

Spooktacular Cinnamon Halloween Cookies
Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup non-sweetened butter
1 pound fresh cinnamon
2 turkey necks
12 oz. Ground beef
3 tsp. Sugar

These wonderful treats take a little bit of effort, but the smiles you see when you hurl them at strangers are more than worth it.

First, combine your flour, vanilla, butter and bees wax in a large bowl. Mix until it is the consistency of chilled nitrobenzenamine.

Next, remove golf-ball sized clumps of the dough, and shape it into fun Halloween shapes. Since this is your first time, try something simple, like witches. You’ll need some basic sculpting tools to get the shape right (like I said, it takes a little work!).

A toothbrush can be used to capture the exact texture of the witch’s hair. A toothpick or a needle can be used for finer details, like the thread holes on her coat buttons, and the wart on her tiny little nose. Be sure to shape the face into a scowling expression, and add fun little details, like minute scratches around her neck where perhaps some witch hunters tried to hang her once. To get accurate details, you can go to your local library and research witches. An excellent reference is D. B. Cumming’s “Witchcraft and Legend: Separating the myth from fact in American folklore” by Waldorf Press, published 1995 with a forward by Sandra Bernhardt.

After six or seven hours, you should have your first witch cookie ready for baking. Repeat this step with the remaining four dozen cookies.

As a side note, as you get better at making your fun cookie shapes, you can try more complex ones, such as a little cookie dough skeletons that actually laugh and threaten to consume your soul. I’ve been doing this for a while, so now my cookies are shaped as abstract ideas. This year my cookies are going to be shaped like trepidation.

Now that you have your little army of witches, take an ordinary rolling pin, cover it in flower, and flatten them all out. They should be a nice round cookie shape, about 1/4 inch in diameter.

Sprinkle on your cinnamon, until it is a layer about 1/2 inch thick. Grease a cookie sheet and give it to a friend for safe keeping.

Bake your cookies for 12 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve them while they’re warm, if possible, and watch the sugar-induced happiness come alive!

Keep practicing, and you’ll be ready for the coming October holiday!

Happy Halloween!

the dictum was adjourned sine die due to lack of interest.

dictum DIK-tuhm, noun:
1. An authoritative statement; a formal pronouncement.
2. (Law) A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.

Dictum is literally “a thing said,” from the past participle of Latin dicere, “to say.”

sine die SY-nee DY-ee, SIN-ay DEE-ay adverb:

Without designating a future day for action or meeting; indefinitely.

From Latin sine (without) die (day).

Delirium: (See Visions.)

http://robotbastard.com/

be sure and watch both the American and the Japanese previews.

The Museum of Online Museums is where you’ll find “online collections and exhibits covering an array of interests and obsessions,” and “objects elevated to art by their numbers, juxtaposition, or simply the passion of their collector.”

In other words, the Monets are just down the hall from the Japanese Milk Bottle Pull Tabs.

Tonight’s dinner –

Fresh squeezed lemonade, red beans and rice, cornbread (low fat – sweet, made with applesauce) and greens with basalmic dressing.

(or, if you’re Newt, 37 pieces of kibble)

Pretty carby, but I’m craving comfort food that’s easy to make.

What I’d *really*like is some vegetarian shepherds pie, and a cold beer, but one works with the ingredients at hand. (plus, SP takes me an hour to make…it’s worth it, I can eat off of it for a week.. but I’m Scotto the lazyman tonight.)

Uh. What?

Boong Ga Boong Ga is a Japanese arcade game where you physically jam a big cartoon finger into the plastic replica of a woman’s butt, and watch the screen as her animated face contorts with surprise and, uh, whatever.

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood/8943/boong/

You’ll also see what are allegedly the game’s mascots in costume form: a big foam hand with extended finger and a walking turd.

(And in passing, I should note that below that is a mascot from a Japanese Playstation 2 video game, where you control a vacuum cleaner and try to pull the shorts off of monkeys. The game is available in the United States, though only for Japanese-made PS2s.)

There’s a tamer variation intended for the U.S. called “Spank ‘Em!” where you spank the plastic butt instead. The images below are flyers from the manufacturer; the second is in English and well worth looking at. In “Spank ‘Em!” you get to spank all sorts of villainous types, including ex-boy/girlfriends, con artists, and of course child molesters. Ah, the relaxing joys of videogaming!

http://www.retrogames.com/images/boonga.jpg
http://www.retrogames.com/images/boonga-e.jpg