Tuesday Toons and Food Updates - The International Edition

Wow I totally forgot that I had a Tuesday Toon tag. So here's me doing a mini revival with these toons... and a pic. 

Now that we're clear on how things work on earth, let's have a look at what's going on in space, the final frontier... 

I giggled. We call it a lift here too. Thank the British occupation.

But seriously folks, if everyone was a little more honest, we'd all get along better. This two sure seem to have figured out the secret of a long and happy coupling!

If he actually has a farm and she, an animal shelter, then well, that would be a hilarious story!

In personal pics, here's a set of socks we saw at Marks & Spencer when we went roaming last Friday - 

We had a quick "business lunch" at a restaurant in the mall where we were going to watch Mission Impossible. They have these specials here, it's called an Executive Set Lunch, meant to be quick and easy, comes in a set, is cheaper than what's on the ala carte menu, and features limited options presumably so the chef can prep the standard soups and salads ahead of time for you to fit a full 3 course meal in the span of an hour's lunch break - do you have this where you live?

Minestrone soup and salad

A seafood plate for me and some oven baked seabass for BIKSS

After our movie we went walking about a nearby mall and were headed to a Vietnamese casual bistro thing when BIKSS got distracted by a Korean hotpot restaurant. So we landed up there instead. It was our first time in this chain and probably won't be our last. He wanted some Korean fried chicken. I must have bungled up the order cos we waited and waited but no chicken came. Halfway thru our pot I said to BIKSS that if they forgot the chicken let's just skip it and not remind them. Cos we were both already pretty full by then. Turns out my chicken order didn't go thru - those online order apps can be a bit of a challenge LOL - so no harm no foul. We'll just come back another day for chicken!

Beef hotpot with tofu, mushrooms, veggies and sweet potato noodles, and a Korean veggie pancake

(As luck would have it, when I went to the supermarket the following day they had frozen K-pancakes in 3 different flavours on 50% off for members of their loyalty programme, so I picked up a bunch of packets! I told my colleague about it at work today and she was quite keen on getting some - so I went back again this afrernoon to pick up another batch for her. I took the opportunity to take mum out for a quick bus ride to the mall and back, and I think she was happy for the little excursion! The hallucinations she used to experience from what we suspected was over-stimulation seems to be gone now, thankfully, so maybe we'll be able to take her on outings a little more often. This month we took her out twice, besides her daily park visits I mean. I'm hoping to make it a regular event. We'll see. She'd have to be home within 3 hours or so cos we want to keep to her potty schedule, and public restrooms are gross as fuck!)

I digress. Where was I?

Right. More food. We went to catch Indiana Jones last week, and thanks to the movie I had a hankering for some Mediterranean food. So we went back to our little Turkish (?) place for some baba ganoush and a grilled chicken something something. I forget the name. 

It was delish. But I think my tummy's not used to having rice no more. Cos I had me a belly-ache all the way home. And it's not the first time it's happened after a rice-containing meal either. Bleugh.

And speaking of eggplant, we walked into a random pizza place last Tuesday. We had intended to try out a place that I found online, but when we got there we didn't really like the scene (and BIKSS was NOT impressed by the waitress who came out to seat us) so we wandered about a little bit and noticed another Italian place. They're really good. I mean, really good. I think we've found our new go-to Pizza and Tiramisu place. Since our last Italian place closed down, we haven't found a new favourite. Until now. Yup. I daresay the Tiramisu here is even better than the other one!

But I am jumping the gun. We had pizza before dessert, of course, and we almost didn't have dessert. But I'm glad we did. 

We noticed that one of the pizzas on their menu featured a honey glaze. Oh, could I have a 4 cheese with honey instead, you think? BIKSS said no harm asking. So we called the guy over and asked if he would give us honey with any random pizza (not just the one stated on the menu), Pizza 4Ps style (see Vietnam trip post). He didn't bat an eyelid. Sure, he said, no problem. On the side, or dribbled over, whatever you prefer! That was good enough for me. (It's only a thing cos I've actually tried asking for honey at another establishment and they said no. Pfft.)

4 cheese pizza with a side of honey (left) & eggplant parmigiana (right). Both were so, so good!

PHEW! And now I'm done with my food-foto dump. I've been carrying all those pics around for longer than I usually do! 

But that sure was some variety huh! I'm glad I live in a place where it's relatively easy to find decent food from around the world! 

As for today's chip pic - I recently discovered this on an online snack shop! That's Lay's hot pot flavoured chips for you. I can NOT imagine what it would taste like, and I'm not itching to try any either! I prefer my hotpot to be made of actual soup, TYVM.

Have A Good Sunday

It's not Tuesday but this was too cute not to share. 

Teaching Notes - Tuesday Things - The Music Edition

It's been a week of music research for me. And there's still a little bit more to go... 

I'm compiling (and creating) some teaching notes / activity sheets / listening maps for a set of pieces that I've downloaded from a site called Making Music Fun.  

They have free resources for teachers and parents and music learners in the easy / beginner stage. But a bunch of music with no info / background is kinda useless imo. It makes learning to play the piano very one dimensional - all you do is play a piece, with no context, no history, no NOTHING! 

Anyway, while it's really tiring (and time consuming) I do enjoy scouring the web for a bunch of different sites before I pull what I think are interesting bits of information and stick them on a page for the kids. Sometimes it's just biographies, other times it's a word search or pictures or fill-in-the-blanks... I mix things up. 

Here are some interesting things I've come across this last week. I hope you enjoy reading a little bit about some of the history, background and strange tales that surround some of the more popular pieces that we hear today.

Let's go! If you like you can click on the videos to listen to the pieces while you read :)

(The title hyperlinks under the video thumbnails will take you to Youtube.)

1. "Tarantella, tarantula: one’s a lively folk dance and the other’s a fuzzy arachnid, but they are linked by a bizarre common history. Once upon a time, the lightning-fast footwork of the Italian pizzica tarantella was the symptom of a terrifying malady, supposedly caused by a spider bite. Read on to discover the dancing plague and musical cure of medieval southern Italy."

From Southern Italy’s centuries-long dancing mania

(Click the link to see all the slides.)

Tarantella in A Minor - Albert Pieczonka

2. The Pavane - and old (very very slow imo)  dance from the Renaissance. Wiki says it is "a sedate and dignified couple dance".  Yaaaawn.

Watch this and you'll agree. This is a dance I could do even with a busted knee.

Renaissance Dance Pavane

3. Arabesque - Adjective and Noun : French, from Italian arabesco Arabian in fashion, from arabo Arab, from Latin Arabus (Merriam-Webster)

In art, from Wiki

"The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems"."

From The Clark

"In music, the term “arabesque” refers to a highly ornamental melody whose free unfolding expresses a slowing of time within the composition. Unlike the straight line, which is the most direct path from A to B, the curving movement of the arabesque creates an effect of circular phrases that conjure perpetual melodies." 

Debussy - Arabesque No. 1

Of course you can't think of Arabesque without thinking of Debussy! (At least I can't.)

And if dancing is more your thing, have a look at Arabesques and Art: Histories of a Position.

Can't be arsed? Ok, just look at this picture so the next time someone talks about an Arabesque in ballet, you'll know what they're talking about. 

There. Got it? Let's move on!

4. Theme songs on telly.

I'm going to just breeze thru these two - first, Masterpiece Theatre. Remember that? The theme you heard was Mouret's Rondeau from Première Suite de Symphonies. 

I love this Fanfare. It's so, um, fanfare-ish. There are a few versions, but I enjoy this organ / trumpet one the most. 

Jean-Joseph Mouret: Rondeau from "Sinfonie de Fanfares"

And the second TV theme is from Alfred Hitchcock Presents - yep. This one came from Gounod. Check it out -

GOUNOD "FUNERAL MARCH OF A MARIONETTE" 

WITH ANIMATION BY TOM SCOTT

From Wikipedia - 

"Gounod started to write a suite for piano called Suite burlesque. After completing this piece, Gounod abandoned the rest of the suite."

(This man had a plan! The best time to quit is while you're ahead, I say! LOL)

The storyline is given along with the piece - 

The following storyline underlies the "Funeral March of a Marionette":

• The Marionette has died in a duel.
• The funeral procession commences (D minor).
• A central section (D major) depicts the mourners taking refreshments before returning to the funeral march (D minor).

Additionally, inscriptions are found throughout the score as follows:

• La Marionnette est cassée!!! (The marionette is broken!!!)
• Murmure de regrets de la troupe (Murmurs of regret from the troupe)
• Le Cortège (The procession)
• Ici plusieurs des principaux personnages de la troupe s'arrêtent pour se rafraîchir (Here many of the principal personages stop for refreshments)
• Retour à la maison (Return to the house)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aight, that's it from me. I hope you enjoyed some of that! I sure have learnt a whole lot this week. 

If you had a favourite, let me know in the comments! 

My mood pic today ~ 

Tuesday Toons

He didn't like Downton Abbey before. But I raved about it. So he gave it another go. And now he's hooked.  

A lot of MY bubbles have been burst over the last 18 months... I know how THAT feels

Can-can you see this happening?

It doesn't take a detective to figure out the punch line in this one!

As always, let me know if you had a favourite. Mine's still the Downton Tabby one. (Yes yes, I know I've posted this before... but it's just SO funny!)

6 Pack Toons

CLICK HERE for the article. Or just be mildly amused at these pics taken from the website.

 

I Missed Tuesday... Better Late than Never

Here's a quick Tuesday post on a Wednesday. I'm trying to play catch up :)

Enjoy!

 1. I bet the person at Behavioral Health Education Services was laughing his/her ass off!

I know I WOULD BE! 

(Ignore the text right at the bottom, it gets cut off. But I felt the screenshot was worth posting!)

2. This is a thing. A real thing. And now you have a name for it. 

3. I hope this never happens to anyone who reads here. Stay safe guys!

4. And if you find that you're getting a free bass plug-in at that prostate exam, RUN!

5. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry!

My mood pic today ~

(I've been watching the Olympics...  today I managed to catch the 10k Swimming Marathon and the Diving - Women's 10m Platform. I'm getting ready to catch Sifan Hassan in her 1500m semis. If you didn't watch her epic fall-to-first heats, click HERE. It's BLUDDY AWESOME. Or watch the video below. She's in the orange tank and blue shorts and goes down pretty early in the clip, but watch the catch-up.)

Tuesday Thing (Yes, Just 1), Covid Thoughts and The Watch

BIKSS bought me a watch. Well, he was surfing for watches (cos that's kinda his thing) and there was a buy one - free one promo. There was a ladies version of the watch he was keen on so he decided to get a pair for us. 

Only HIS came, and the one for me ended up being a different one. So they said he could send it back and they would exchange it for the correct one. I have to wait a little longer for mine.. but this is the one he has now. 

It's from TruWood, and the case is natural black sandalwood; leather straps. 

This is his hairy arm - 

I hope they sort out the exchange quickly. I quite like it and can't wait for mine to arrive. 

In other things, his car is in the workshop so we won't be going anywhere for a couple of days, not that there is anywhere to go. Dining in has been disallowed again. We keep yo-yo-ing back and forth. Le sigh. I hope that when we finally hit the target of 70% being fully vaccinated (next month, was the plan) we'll be able to open up and go on with life as usual again. 

Part of me is a bit irritated. Ok, a LOT irritated. That people will insist on doing stupid things and carrying on with pushing the boundaries. If we all just played by the rules for a little while, like PROPERLY STUCK TO THE RULES, then soon this whole thing can come under some control and we can carry on. 

Take the Olympics for example. Athletes' Village Bubble. HAH. Well that didn't work. The current number of cases connected to the games stands at more than 150, of which 19 are athletes. I really don't think inviting athletes from all over the world to gather in one place doing sometimes-strenuous sports together is a good idea. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, mum had her audiology follow-up appointment via video-call this afternoon cos they're trying to reduce unnecessary movement and limit the number of people going into the hospitals and medical centres. The audiologist had her mask on the whole time. I wondered why that was necessary, but then I realised some of her patients might have gone to see her in person and the room might not be ENTIRELY sterile, so for safety reasons all the hospital staff have to be masked up any time they're in the clinics. 

Yesterday as I was coming back from work there were 4 elderly men at the common sitting area on the ground floor, drinking from take-away cups, mask off, and chit chatting. Yes they were safely distanced - ish...  but the current rule is 2 to go out at any one time. 

I knew 2 of them cos they live in my building, so I politely suggested that they move to a different location where they could sit at 2 separate benches instead of all around the ONE table, then at least if the cops came by (yes, they patrol the neighbourhoods) they could plausibly say they were 2 separate groups of 2, and had just bumped into each other there. 

One of them was nice, he said, "Oh yes, thanks, that's a good idea." But one fella I didn't know said,  "Eh, what's the difference? It's still 4 of us, and we're sitting far apart now anyway." I said the difference is on two separate benches they can't slap you with a $300 fine each. There's no proof either way. But right now you're clearly 4 in a group and that's $1200 that the government is going to earn from you should the cops come round. 

Anyway, I said what I had to. And then I left. I didn't feel good about reporting them cos the 2 fellas I know *are* nice old men, and they're in their 70s.. and well, I just didn't want to get them into trouble. But grrrrr. 

I hope they dispersed soon after tho'. For THEIR sakes.

I find it so strange. That some areas of our lives now are SO restricted, with people who are super careful and super cautious and super mindful of others. And then there are crazy things like old men hanging out mask-off and the Olympics. 

Yes, the world can't stand still forever, I get that. But if we could all just PAUSE long enough for the vaccines to go round and the damned virus to stop mutating, then maybe we could finally ALL resume some semblance of normal living again. 

I mean, if you need to charge up your phone, you plug it in, and leave it alone. If you carry on using it, all that's going to do is slow the damned charging cycle down, AND you end up with a really hot phone in the process. 

Fine. End of Rant.

So anyway, here's your ONE Tuesday thing this week. And cos I'm being lazy, it's going to double up as my mood pic for today ~

Many Tuesday Things and McMany McGriddle Things

It's a holiday here, as many places with a Muslim presence celebrate Hari Raya Haji. I had some McGriddles for brunch (of all the Macs offerings this is my ONE thing I will never say no to) and now I'm in a bit of a food coma.

It isn't available year round, they bring it back for a few weeks each time and I go crazy and spend too much money on them. But a friend sent me a video so I could make my own any time I wanted. It seems like way too much effort, cos I never want it THAT badly that I would make it... but here's one version if you want to see what the fuss is about.

Here's another - 

And it turns out... there are quite a number of make-your-own type videos on Youtube, including a low calorie high protein version! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RIGHT. Now that I've got THAT out of the way, here are today's Tuesday things! 

1. I think making McGriddles from scratch might be easier than making friends!

2. They might want to change the description on this shelf.

3. Dream came true for this fella!

4. Heh. Heh heh. 

5. Yes, Doug. We totally get it!

6. Dedicated to JZ, of course.

7. Poor kitty...

8. Not an investment strategy I would encourage.

9. My favourite one this week! 

10. It's all about the optics.

11. And finally, here's one for the summer! 

As always, let me know if you had a favourite! And what's YOUR favourite McDonald's menu item? 

Finally! Tuesday Things on a Tuesday! And Xanax

I gave the mother a tiny teeny dose of alprazolam last night. The doctor said it might help her sleep as her lying awake in bed till 5 in the morning was causing her (and us) a whole lot of grief. The longer she stays awake, the more she imagines things and the more she believes the stories she's made up, the more awake she remains. 

Rinse and repeat. 

Last night she popped her PM meds and went to bed. In less than an hour she was snoring. And she slept a good 11 hours till this morning. 

We were afraid that she *might* be zoned out as some people don't 'recover' very well after such medications, but it turns out she was cheery, well rested, and HUNGRY! She ate breakfast AND lunch. And was in pretty decent spirits. 

It won't be a long term plan, just for a couple of days till my melatonin gets here. I know some people who experience great success with it, as well as some others for whom it does nothing. We'll try it on the mother and see how it affects her. I would much prefer that to a benzo so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

And now - enjoy! 

1. LEAVE A COMMENT and let me know what you saw first!

2. An ad on a game I'm playing. I swear. Brainded?

3.Courtesy of BIKSS. EVOO or CSO2?

4. I have to admit, I really giggled at this one!

5. A multi-orgasm with every screen touch guys! REALLY!

6. I'd not seen this before. I thought it was quite clever!

7. And this one is my favourite this week!

As always, please leave a comment to let me know if you had a favourite - and DO DO let us know what your first reading of number 1 was!