darcydodo: (hands (starbuck))
2009-03-20 09:27 am
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The end is nigh...

I'm excited for the last episode of BSG tonight. I had missed most of the half-season, and I've been quickly catching up over the last few nights; I have one episode before the final one left. My parents have an HD-DVR, though, so I'm recording it and the actual final episode on that and will watch them tonight! It looks like the SCIFI-HD channel is showing the episode early, though (east coast time, I can only assume!), as well as at normal time, so I may get to watch the episode as soon as I'm back from working at the Getty....

A few spoilery thoughts )
darcydodo: (snail)
2009-01-15 11:53 pm
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Gmail WTF????

BUT I'M NOT IN GERMANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Beloved Google friends, please help?
darcydodo: (hands (starbuck))
2009-01-13 01:11 am
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Back to BSG

"The Face of the Enemy"? Crazy. Spoilers for the pre-4.5 webisodes.... )

Anyway, fun and gripping, but I can't wait for Friday!
darcydodo: (polar express)
2008-10-26 11:20 pm
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Measure KK

[livejournal.com profile] wageslave asked me a few days ago why I care so much about Measure KK, a local Berkeley measure that requires a vote before implementing the dedication of lanes on Telegraph (or elsewhere, potentially) to buses.

Since I just wrote a long e-mail to the Daily Cal about this, I figure I'll post it here, unlocked, in case anyone wants to read it.

~


I disagree with Rebecca Saltzman's take on Measure KK (10/24). She's swallowing the inaccuracies of the No On KK backers, who are calling KK anti-transit and anti-environment.

All that KK does is require a VOTE on any proposed lane-changes on Telegraph. It does not reject the BRT plans out-of-hand. And the reason that it got put on the ballot in the first place is because the currently proposed plans have the potential to be anti-cyclist, anti-local-business, and pro-congestion (which in turn makes THEM anti-environment).

I am a cyclist, a driver, a pedestrian, a Berkeley student, and a very occasional bus-rider. As a cyclist, I am aware of the danger buses already pose to cyclists, when there are two lanes of traffic and a lane of parking with a broad margin for a cycle lane. If the parking is removed to make way for a dedicated bus lane, the risk of getting crushed between a proverbial rock and a hard place (by which I mean a bus and the sidewalk) will increase immensely. I've lived and cycled before in a city that had no parking lane between the bus and the kerb -- believe me, the approach and passing of every bus is terrifying.

As a driver, I have seen the heavy congestion that Telegraph suffers from during rush hour. I have also participated in the crazy game to find parking in the blocks surrounding campus at most times of day. The removal of a lane of traffic would not convince drivers to take the bus instead of driving -- one drives because it is convenient, or because one needs to have one's car for some reason, *even* in the light of the difficulty of finding parking near campus. And so the congestion will increase further, while buses continue to travel along mostly empty, and that will harm the environment, as cars creep along more slowly and pollute further.

As a pedestrian, I have often found that walking to campus (I live a mile south along Telegraph) is STILL faster than waiting for a bus. And before someone says, "Aha, but the BRT will fix that!" let me point out that I know from riding the bus that the delay problems with the buses are not due to traffic. It's actually thanks to things like their unwieldiness in pulling over and the unexpected delays from having to wait for the ramp-unfolding-and-refolding when a wheelchair is boarding the bus or disembarking. Or stopping while pedestrians cross the street (which they will still have to do even with a dedicated bus-lane).

Rebecca Saltzman talks about how important buses are for students. Strange as it is to think, the students she's talking about are primarily people who live somewhere less than a mile or two within the reach of campus, for approximately two-thirds of every year. The proposed lane removal extends to as far away as San Leandro. That's showing an awfully cavalier attitude to the permanent residents of Berkeley and Oakland. And there's a reason why nearly every storefront along Telegraph sports a green sign saying "Yes on Measure KK."

And the website for No On KK says things like, "Measure KK requires that every time the Berkeley City Council wants to make a street lane change to improve transit and cut greenhouse gas emissions, the Council will have to put it on the ballot." That's pure falsehood. Measure KK specifically requires that if the Council wants to PERMANENTLY DEDICATE A CURRENTLY EXISTING LANE TO BUS-ONLY OR HOV TRAFFIC then this must be approved by a vote. It also points to added costs, "including the cost of an additional required planning study." Perhaps "planning" and "study" are the key terms there. Research and learning are what UC Berkeley is all about. Let's support the application of some of that to things outside the university.

Here is an article from the Daily Planet that well expresses some of the problems with the proposed lane-removal.

A friend [by whom I mean [livejournal.com profile] wageslave, naturally] recently asked me why I care so much about Measure KK when there are more important things on the ballot to worry about, like getting Prop 8 defeated. My reply was that all of my friends and family already know that Proposition 8 (and similar things like Prop 4) is bad and wrong. If I donate money to something, or spend time phonebanking, it'll be in aid of getting Prop 8 defeated, or Obama elected. But this is an important local issue, a non-partisan issue, and it's one of those things that on the day of the election many people are only vaguely going to remember seeing YES and NO signs around Berkeley, and then they'll vote for what seems to maintain the status quo -- "if in doubt, vote no" is the received wisdom, but in this case a no vote is what will change Berkeley. A yes vote allows us to have a subsequent say in *whether* Berkeley is changed, and *how* it is changed.
darcydodo: (Default)
2008-10-06 11:18 pm
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Chain restaurants meme - ga*ked from [livejournal.com profile] toob

Bold the establishments you've been to. Underline your favorites. Strikethrough the ones you don't like.

I've been to about a third of these )

No Andersen's? No IHOP??

I've been to a few more of these than I thought, but I don't feel too much like I've given in to corporate America.
darcydodo: (ivanova)
2008-09-27 09:08 am
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Ga*ked from [livejournal.com profile] wychwood

When you see this, quote Babylon 5 (or Crusade!) in your journal.

Boom.
darcydodo: (willow - what's cooking? (thanks to laur)
2008-08-30 11:42 am
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Ga*ked from [livejournal.com profile] sheffspecial

Silence broken by a meme, of course... I'm delighted to note that I've eaten almost all of these.

The blog Very Good Taste has come up with a list of 100 items that every omnivore should try in his or her life.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea [but I've had nettle beer and nettle soup...]
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp [there may have been carp in some gefilte fish I had once]
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper [because I'm not insane]
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar [I'm fine with the cognac, but not the cigar; someone else can have the cigar]
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects [not sure, I'd have to think about it]
43. Phaal [I may have ordered this once; I remember getting something that was listed as hotter than vindaloo]
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu [not sure, I'd have to think about it]
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini [I don't actually like gin, but I do like Hendricks, so I could be persuaded]
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin [is this something other than white clay? I won't eat plain dirt.]
64. Currywurst
65. Durian [never again... never again]
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake [all of the above, I think!]
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette [clearly I should rectify this next time I'm in Texas]
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill [depends on how flattened and how long it's been lying there and what sort of animal it is; I'd be fine with eating this sort of venison, for example]
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa [I've had roses, and I've had harissa, but I haven't had rose harissa...]
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor [I may have... but I don't think so]
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
darcydodo: (goombarcy)
2008-06-27 09:06 am
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Ga*ked from various people

A hybrid variant (adaptations from [livejournal.com profile] aphenine and [livejournal.com profile] lordcodfish) of that book meme that's going around:

The Big Read thinks the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books they've printed, listed below.

01. Bold the books you have read
02. Italicise those you intend to read
03. Underline the books you've seen a film version of
04. Place books that you have started but never finished in round brackets
05. Place books that you read in school in square brackets

snip! )
darcydodo: (hands (starbuck))
2008-06-13 02:53 pm
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The Hub

I figure that I should put down a couple of my ideas from last week's BSG episode before I see tonight's.

Spoilers for 'The Hub' )

How long's the mid-season break, anyone know?
darcydodo: (hands (starbuck))
2008-05-17 12:30 am
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"With my three wishes clutched in her hand..."

Tonight's BSG episode was truly awesome spoilers for 'Guess What's Coming To Dinner' (and what sort of title is that, anyway?) )

On another note entirely, before BSG started we caught the tail end of Doctor Who — now, I don't watch the show, and I'm told that it's much better if you actually watch more than the last five minutes of an episode like we've done for the past few weeks, but here's an approximation of our take on tonight's episode:

*watching a woman in a weird bath thing* Oh, so that's how they make cylons!
*two seconds later, as a copy of the woman comes out of another bath exactly in the fashion of a resurrected cylon* Wait, no, seriously, that actually is a BSG reference, isn't it?
Ha ha, and that guy with the really fat head is like a Centurion without his helmet on! That's what's under the helmet!
*half a minute later* Wait, they're actually called Centaurons?

Someone who actually watches Doctor Who as well as BSG, tell me: Was the blatant intertextuality intentional?
darcydodo: (pepper)
2008-05-13 08:06 pm
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So fucking cute

Video link: Golden retriever fosters six stray kittens

Cutest. Thing. Ever. Six tiny little kittens nursing alongside six tiny little golden retriever pups! Awww!

(link from [livejournal.com profile] elettaria)
darcydodo: (basking shark)
2008-05-03 10:14 pm
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Ga*ked from [livejournal.com profile] limnrix

Not cutting (sorry, [livejournal.com profile] monanotlisa!), because it's not too long and everyone needs to appreciate the proof of my divinity. ;)

Ray, if someone asks if you are a darcydodo, you say, 'yes!'

Which movie was this quote from?

Get your own quotes:
darcydodo: (goombarcy)
2008-04-29 11:05 pm
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Ga*ked from [livejournal.com profile] lahosken

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.

List of books )
darcydodo: (Default)
2008-04-08 06:26 pm
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Dialect meme, ga*ked from everyone

I grew up in LA; both my parents are from California, but my dad's from the north and my mom's from the south. I lived for four years in England, and that certainly informs my idiolect, but for the particular questions asked here I'm definitely able to differentiate between inherited and actively learned.

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
A creek, a stream, or a brook. I think a creek's probably the smallest and a stream's probably the biggest, but I'm not 100% positive.

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
A shopping cart. I learned to say trolley in England, and I do sometimes from force of habit, but it's actually a shopping cart. Or a grocery cart.

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
A lunch box? Err...

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
A frying pan or skillet.

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Probably a couch. Or sofa. I'd probably say couch, but I'm happy with either. A sofa's probably more overstuffed.

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
(Rain-)gutter. Drain. Rainspout. Drainspout. Gutter is definitely my first choice, though.

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
People sit on their porches? Must be in some other part of the country. ;)

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda. Or soft drink.

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancakes. Mmmm.

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Depends where I get it! A sub, grinder, hero, hoagie... ;) I'm conversant with all those terms, but sub is my first choice.

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Trunks. Swimming trunks. Preferably they're not wearing speedoes. :P But my Australian friend just returned my dad's that he'd left in Australia, and she gave me his "swimmers," which I'd never even heard!

12. Shoes worn for sports.
I wear tennis shoes or sneakers on a daily basis; but cleats are usually for sports. I think it's asking about the former. (Once again, I picked up "trainers" in England.)

13. Putting a room in order.
Tidying or straightening. My parents would tell me to clean my room, but that's a bit more thoroughgoing.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Firefly!!! We don't have them here. :(

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Sowbug. Not a potato bug, because that's actually a different thing (with stripes!), and not a pillbug or roly-poly because that's silly.

16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
See-saw. Are there other names, seriously?

17. How do you eat your pizza?
By the slice and with my hands. How's that dialect?

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
A garage sale. Or, I suppose, a yard sale, if you must.

19. What's the evening meal?
Dinner. But when I was at camp (in Vermont), it was supper.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Well, I don't have a basement and never have, but I suppose that's what I'd call it. We've got a crawlspace under the house here and in LA. :)

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Drinking fountain or water fountain.