...and where were you?

Despite all the coverage in the papers and on TV, it says something about me, I suppose, that I didn't immediately post something about the event of five years ago.

I was just on the phone and the subject came up. Where was I? Well, I had just moved to Japan 12 days earlier and had spent the better part of that Tuesday dodging the raindrops & puddles of Typhoon Danas - 400mm/16" of rain - while looking for a place to rent ("dana" means "to experience" in Tagalog; however, the Japanese don't name storms, so this was Storm 15).

I was sitting on my bed in the Kanto Lodge (the 'hotel' on Yokota Air Base), trying to dry out, eating a late dinner and channel surfing when I turned to CNN seconds after the first tower was hit. That was 9:48PM. I didn't get to sleep until well after 3AM.

Whether or not one is a supporter of the US military, or any military for that matter, there is something to be said about an organisation trained to react to certain circumstances. By the morning, the base was a different place. Cherry pickers were parked along the inside of the base wall, overlooking the highway running past. Military personnel were inside the camouflaged bucket, armed with serious fire power. ID checks were everywhere, and not only to get on base.

Before 9/12/2001, I was never required to show ID before then when entering a bank, hotel, grocery store, service station or Burger King.

running the gamut

Computer on the fritz...injured wrist...the avocado incident...all these conspired to keep me from posting. Of course, I must not be that compelled to blog if I didn't find another computer from which to post. Be that as it may, perhaps I'll be more diligent over here in the land of ntycement in the future.

Live long & prosper. Nano nano.

comfort food

For many people I know, and I won't name you all here, the concept of comfort food is a pig-out session with some bag of crisps or cold pasta leftovers. While I've been there with the crisps/chips and leftover pasta, for me, the comfort is in the making.

While cookies won't always be the comfort food of choice, it seemed only too right to share this with the blogosphere tonight. These were one of those recipes that just appeared in my youth. Mom probably got them from her mother, a girlfriend, or the newspaper. Regardless, these entered the Light household decades ago and have never left.

Coming soon to a convection oven in Cheshunt, I present the humble...

Oatmeal Macaroons

Preheat oven to 350F/175C
Makes 2 dozen

1 c oatmeal
1/2 c butter (1 stick)
1/2 c plus 2 T sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 c flour
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 c nutmeats (optional) OR
1/2 c chocolate chips OR
1/2 c raisins

Melt butter and add oatmeal
Brown lightly, stirring constantly
Remove from stove and allow to cool
Add sugar, salt, flour and baking powder
Add slightly beaten egg, vanilla and nuts/chips/raisins if using
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets
Bake 10-12 minutes
Allow to cool slightly on sheets, but remove to wire rack while still warm to complete cooling.

random ntycement

I had no idea about what to post today. I entered some random word into Google (I can't even remember how lame the word was!) and hit "I feel lucky". But that only takes you to the first site the Google search returns. I managed to enter two words back-to-back that generated Wikipedia sites. Been there, done that.

In exasperation, I entered "jumpin jehosophat". Here's a site that wasn't Wikipedia. Be prepared for hours of entertainment.

Monster Horror Chiller Theatre

I do so love the serendipity of the blogosphere. Having taken a day off from blogdom, I log in to find two postings by my good frend, Laura E Goodin. Not only do Laura and I share a middle initial, but a fairly well versed (read: obscure/unique) sense of humour. For whatever reason, her comment on my Friday posting fired just the right sequence of synapses to send my warped thought patterns to Canada, crica late 1970s-1984ish, and the wonderfully crafted Second City TV.

As for MHCT, the late night horror film show that never quite manages to book really scary films. Hosted by Count Floyd, aka Floyd Robertson, co-anchor of the SCTV News. He often gets 3D films, invariably starring those masters of the genre, Doctor Tongue (played by John Candy) and his sidekick Bruno (played by veteran character actor Woody Tobias Jr.).

Woody and Tongue also taught screen acting on Sunrise Semester; other important Dr Tongue and Woody Tobias Jr episodes include:

• Helping the Elephant Man during Pledge Week
• Repairing the SCTV satellite to block CCCP1
• Escaping Towering Inferno
• Woody Tobias directs 2009

For an insight into all things Laura, visit Dr Tongue's 3-D House of American exPat Dramatists here.

Into the blog...Day 3

Ramblings for this post. Had my first experience with comment spam this morning. Offers of internet-based full frontal nudity first thing in the morning...nah, don't think so. I am rather embarrassed to say, it took me 30 minutes to figure out how to remove the interloper. I don't blame the time of day on this lack of ability--rather feel humbled due to my infancy in the greater blogosphere.

frigedæg

I was thinking to myself this morning, "TGIF." Then I wondered just why it is we call Friday "Friday" and not "Blogday" or "Squeekday" or the like. What to do? Why turn to the friendly Wikipedia, of course...

The name Friday comes from the Old English frigedæg, meaning the day of Frige, the Germanic goddess of beauty, with similar cognates existing in most Germanic languages. The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from the name of Venus (vendredi in French, venerdi in Italian, viernes in Spanish, vineri in Romanian etc.), while in Germanic languages it is named after Freya [pictured], the Norse goddess of love and fertility (Freitag in Modern German, vrijdag in Dutch, fredag in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish etc.).

In India, Friday is Shukravar. It is based on Shukra—Vedic god of Venus.

So it seems that Friday lives up to its name during happy hours across the globe (in alcohol-drinking cultures), when, with the more alcohol consumed, everyone turns into someone else's Frige, Freya, Venus or Adonis.

Hi-ho, happy campers!

Well, here it is: my first entry to my first blog. Should this be a momentous occasion? I'm not quite sure.

Part of me wants to slip quietly into the ethers of the blogosphere, hanging out my shingle in the hopes someone will stumble across this space. Then again, it's much more my style to broadcast to all and sundry that this blog is here and it's all about me.

Well, maybe not all about me. I don't look like this picture. Rather, pride of place as the first posted picture on this blog will go to Buster. I rescued Buster from the RSPCA in Adelaide in 2004; he was the only dog in the entire kennel run with a personality worth noticing, was absolutely ecstatic I was standing in front of his kennel, and, most importantly, was in kennel 927, which just happens to be my birthday.

I am sure I will have much more to say about Buster in coming postings. He seemed to be the logical major subject of my first posting.

Hasta la vista mis amigos.