Still sick, still bored. Anyone want to sit up with a sick friend?

[Aristus]

BTW, Skittles, if you still think I'm whining, you have my permission to come over and kick my ass!

[TrogL]

1. partay time!!

I'm just about to do a booze run. Whadya want?

[Aristus]

2. I've been craving some Calvados.

Apple brandy from the Norman coast of France. Yes, that's right, Mr. Ashcroft, FRANCE! I want French booze! Take me away for my unpatriotic drinking habits!

Thanks TrogL, you're a true friend!

[Aristus]

3. Kick.

Does nobody want to talk? Where's Velma when I need her?

How 'bout if I offer coffee and doughnuts?



The finest Sumatran dark roast. Chocolate glazed doughnuts and apple fritters. Dig in!

[GOPisEvil]

4. Apple fritters?

You bribe good!

Sorry to hear you are still I hope you can get rid of whatever is ailing you soon.

[Aristus]

5. I think I'll be four-oh by tomorrow.

Yeah, apple fritters, GOPisEvil, ole buddy. Many as you want. Thanks for stopping by.

[GOPisEvil]

6. Man, apple fritters now, mom food later - this is my day!

The folks have been out of town, so no mom food in a month. I don't care what she makes, I love me some mom food!

I had better only have one fritter though...those things go right to my gut, and today's a gym off-day.

[VelmaD]

7. Did I hear my name?

Hi sweetie. Sorry to hear you still don't feel well. Get better or I'll kick your ass.

Seriously, have a hug. *hug*

And of course I'll keep you company. Whaddya wanta talk about today?

DV

[Aristus]

8. Anything you want, Vel.

Thanks for showing up.



Have all the doughnuts you want. Mt stomach still won't, well, stomach them. So I get a four day weekend; pity I had to feel so lousy through all of it. How's things with you?

[VelmaD]

9. I'm ok I suppose

I spent some time Saturday with my best friend. We baked cookies and watched Sleeping Beauty and Jesus Christ Superstar and Chicago on dvd and sang along. We made homemade chili and cornbread for dinner. And mostly we just sat around and talked which was nice.

I got my sleep schedule all fucked up though. I stayed up til 3:20 Sunday morning reading Will Pitt's 2nd book. It was that good. Couldn't set it down til I was done. Then I got up and watched the Sunday morning talking head shows. Fell asleep on the couch after that. Free advice...never ever ever fall asleep after watching the pundits. It'll give you fucked up dreams. *shudder* No one should have to see the McLaughlin groupd nekkid in their head.

DV

[Aristus]

12. I loved 'Sleeping beauty' when I was a kid.

I thought Aurora was the sexiest Disney heroine, until Ariel came along, heh-heh. And Malificent just scared the pee-waddley out of me. You know, the scene where she changes into a dragon. OOOOOOOOOO!

Sounds like a good weekend you had.

[VelmaD]

13. I love the music...

and the way they worked Tchiakovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" into the score. *happy sigh*

I love the good fairies. My niece still has a hard time deciding whether its' her momma or me that's most like Merryweather.

And Malificent ROCKS! I have a littel stuffed version of that dragon she turns into sitting on top of my puter at work. I'm looking at it right now.

[Aristus]

15. I also liked the way the Prince was a bit of a bumbler.

Not your typical square-jawed, invincible hero. My favorite Disney is still "The Lion King" because it's such a perfect blend of 'Hamlet' and 'Richard III'. In the fourth act of 'Richard III', there's a terrific scene where Elizabeth stands up to Richard fearlessly and tells him off. Just like with Sarabi and Scar. My wife played the Elizabeth role in the production where we met, and ho-BOY! did she do a good job!

[VelmaD]

18. I'm so excited...

about them releasing The Lion King on dvd. My 4 year-old nephew is ecstatic. His nanna even found him an old Lion King comforter for his bed. It's very cute.

I love the voices in that movie. They did perfect vocal casting I thought.

[Aristus]

20. I love to amuse my grandson by doing the voices from LK.

I can 'do' voices to a certain degree. First thing in the morning, before I'm awake, I sound an awful lot like Scar. Man, Jeremy Irons and James Earl Jones voicing the same movie is an embarrassment of riches!

Have you ever heard the CD "Rhythm of the Pridelands"? It's a sequel to the soundtrack CD, with full versions of the African choral pieces from the film. It's even got an African version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" It's wonderful. I am an unashamed Disney fan.

[VelmaD]

21. I won't tell anyone...

if you promise not to tell anyone I'm a fan too.

Love Jeremy Irons and James Earl Jones. Love Madge Sinclair who did Simba's mother too - that woman just looks and sounds and moves like a queen.

The cd sounds fun. My women's choir is doing an African piece in a Zulu dialect for our November concert so I'm way into that right now.

[Aristus]

23. I just love African choral music.

Always have. I sing along to the 'Lifesavers' commercials when they are on TV. My wife thinks that's weird, but what does she know? If you ever get the CD, listen to the song 'Busa'. It is hands down the happiest piece of music I've ever heard.

[VelmaD]

24. I may have to go find it...

need to go get the new cd from A Perfect Circle anyway so a trip to the record store is in order.

I'm so there about African choral music. It always amazes me how the chord progressions can make me smile and cry at the same time. Incredibly powerful and evocative.

[Aristus]

26. Another good genre where male voices are put to best use is

Russian choral music. The film "The Hunt For Red October" has some of the best examples out there. Just amazing stuff. It always amazes me that African music can be so upbeat; you never go a day without hearing bad news from Africa. I guess music helps them cope.

[VelmaD]

30. I used to own...

the soundtrack to Hunt for Red October. Bought it just to hear the men's chorus singing the old Soviet national anthem. (Russia finally went back to that anthem with new words - hooray.) Unfortunately, the evil ex got it in the breakup. *pout*

[Aristus]

31. I loved Sean Connery in that movie.

He even speaks Russian with a thick Scots brogue. It's too bad Alec Baldwin couldn't do the follow-up films. Harrison Ford has a huge following (I understand you like scoundrels yourself, Vel ) But, IMO, Baldwin was the best Jack Ryan.

[VelmaD]

32. Yup, gimme a scoundrel...

every time. Hell, Han Solo helped kick-start me into puberty.

Even so, I agree about Alec being the best Jack Ryan. I don't think I've seen any of the films in the series after Hunt for Red October in ages.

It's just not a role I liked Harrison Ford in. Vastly prefer him in Star Wars and the Indiana Jones movies.

[Aristus]

33. Hmm. The things 'Star Wars' did for kids that the pop culture histories

DON'T tell. I remember feeling my first sexual stirrings as a result of Princess Leia in that long white gown. Shoot, I was only eight years old, too. I remember mooning over her photos on the inside sleeve of the Star Wars soundtrack LP. Carrie Fisher was my first big crush.

[VelmaD]

34. I don't feel so alone...

in being a complete geek now. Han Solo was my first real crush. And the kiss in Empire Strikes Back is still one of my favorite movie moments ever.

I'm still looking for a guy with that sense of humor and devious little twinkle in his eye. *sigh*

[Aristus]

35. Yeah, I like Star Wars. My wife is a Star Trek fan.

We just agree to disagree on the relative merits of both. Ever heard my argument about why Star Wars is better than Star Trek?

[VelmaD]

36. I like 'em both...

my momma was an original Trekkie from back when the show was on the air in the 60s. She was a big scifi geek her whole likfe - even back in the 50s when that wasn't cool for a girl.

No, I haven't heard your argument. Fire away - I'd be delighted to hear it.

[Aristus]

37. I always thought Star Trek was too in love with itself.

Real people don't behave the way they do on Trek, any Trek. Take your pick. Here's a typical approach to problem solving on the show. No matter what the situation, the solution will sound something like this:

"Well, Captain, if we reverse the polarity of the plasma conduits, we can extend a tendril of plasma into the heart of the gaseous anomaly. This will increase negative radon flux activity by a factor of 500%, which would.......destroy the anomaly. It...it's crazy, Captain, but it just might work!"

Star Wars, on the other hand, is like this:

"Luke, blow this thing up so we can go home!"

THAT is how people really behave; 'Let's get this done so we can go grab a brewski!'

What do you think?

[VelmaD]

38. Too funny

I admit that Star Trek can be a little too attched to technobabble and it's vision of the future is sometimes a little to pie-in-the-sky. But people sure needed that in the 60s. Hard sometimes to remember how radical it actually was. That said, my love for the series has declined with each sucessive iteration to the point where I don't even watch Enterprise.

Do you only consider the original Star Wars trilogy in this argument. 'Cause as much as I love Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor and as much of a fangirl as I am, I did not like Eps I and II.

[Aristus]

39. I agree, the new films bite, big time.

Natalie Portman is gorgeous eye candy, but she sure can't act!

I remember hearing that she played Anne Frank on Broadway. Apparantly her performance was such that when the Nazis break in at the end, audience members would yell out: "She's upstairs!"

[VelmaD]

40. I've never seen her...

in anything else so I have no idea whether she can act or not. The thing is I KNOW Liam and Ewan and Samuel L can act and the movies still suck. I put the blame squarely on George Lucas. He needs a dialogue writer and he needs to turn the reins over to someone who can actually direct. *sigh*

[Aristus]

41. I agree.

"Empire" was the best written of the films, and that's because he turned the script over to a professional screenwriter. What happened since? Is he that much of a control freak?

[VelmaD]

42. Not just the script...

he turned the movie over to a good director as well. Irvin Kershner did a great job with that film.

I don't know what happened since but I think that yes, he is that much of a control freak. It's sad.

[Aristus]

43. Oh well, a guy gets a little money and a little sucess and see

what happens? Whatchya doing at work right now?

[VelmaD]

44. Well, right now...

I'm finishing up some workpapers for an audit that went to our board last month. Gotta get the last of the review comments cleared and the workpapers in to my boss when I leave today. But once they're turned in I am officially done with the project. GO ME!!!

[Aristus]

45. Hang in there.

Please tell me your job isn't as boring as it sounds! It must be, if you hang out with me for diversion. Oh well, a job's a job, and at least you have one. I'm lucky; I'm unemployed by choice and going to school. I should start working again in January or so.

[VelmaD]

46. Sometimes it is and sometimes...

it isn't. You just caught me recently at a point where a bunch of audits from last fiscal year are winding down. That involves making sure all the paperwork is wrapped up.

When the new audits for this fiscal year get cranking my job will sound more exciting. My next project involves going in and assessing the quality of the investigations into allegations from our youth that the staff mistreated them. Should be really hot.

[Hotlanta_User]

10. What's ailing you?

I'm bored to tears at work today and stumbled across this site. I'm getting a kick out of it.

[Aristus]

11. Welcome to DU, Hotlanta User!

You're gonna love it here!

I've got a little stomach ailment, fever, sweats, nausea, sounds lovely, doesn't it? Thanks for asking.

[Hotlanta_User]

14. Whew.....

.. I can't handle the nausea! YUCK. Hopefully you'll get back on your feet soon.

I wouldn't say that I'll love it, but it's definitely interesting.

I'm typically conservative, always voted Republican, the whole nine-yards. It's good to get all views... so I'm out to enlighten myself with thoughts from the left. I'm tired of what the politicians are spewing at me, so I'm looking to this site to see what the regular people are talking about. In some cases I've been shocked by what people have to say.... but other times I'm pleasantly surprised by how much our thinking is in line with each other.

I sure am enjoying it.

[Aristus]

16. My hat's off to you for being open to differing points of view.

Many DU-ers are welcoming of "outsiders", as long as they are not disruptors, and it doesn't sound like you are. My wife is a conservative Republican, but she has had it with Bush and his misadministration. She doen't like to be lied to. If my wife can stay married to a liberal Democrat like me, there's no reason why we couldn't have you for a friend here.

[Hotlanta_User]

17. I'm always open to differing points of view....

But heaven knows I usually don't agree with them.

I don't think the current adminstration is a TOTAL failure, but I am open to replacing them with new leadership. However, I see none on the horizon that I'd like to have at the helm. At this point I think Bush would be the lesser of two evils. There's still a lot of game to be played before the election. It's going to be fun to watch.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I still have the feeling that I won't feel that welcome from everyone.

Where are you in this great country of ours?

[Aristus]

19. My avatar is the state flag of Washington.

We call it the 'dollar bill'. Guess why? I'm in a little town called Puyallup. Our only claim to fame is that we host at this time of year the fifth largest state fair in the country. So, where are you?

Well, if it helps, I voted for Poppy Bush twice. That was before I knew a thing about politics. I appreciated his heroic war record, but his economic policies weren't the best. Now with Dub-yah (you've probably already run into some of his less flattering nicknames on this site) it was hate at first sight. I'm a Gulf War veteran, the son of a Vietnam veteran,and the grandson of a WWII vet, and I didn't like him using wealth and privilege to get out of serving in Vietnam. Clinton skated out of it too, but at least he was opposed to the war. W. Bush supported the war, without being willing to risk his own neck in support of it, which strikes me as more than a little hypocritical.

[Hotlanta_User]

25. I've heard of ....

.... Pue-wallup... I even know how to pronounce it correctly!

I'm from the great state of Tennessee, but currently live in Atlanta.

Georgia, a great bastion of bible-thumping conservatives.... predominately white, Protestant, blue collar.. good ol' God-fearing country folk.

And Atlanta, the quintessential liberal city.... almost always elects a black mayor, large Asian and Hispanic pupulation, openly gay city council leaders.

The state has a population of about 9 million, with 4.7 million of them living in metro Atlanta. Makes for strange bed-fellows in the Georgia legislature.

My avatar is the current state flag in Georgia. In 1999 it was different.... in 2000 it was different again... it's only look like this for about 6 months now. The whole thing has been the epitome of pandering. Gotta love it!

[Aristus]

28. Tennessee is a beautiful state. I've spent some time in Nashville.

That was an eye-opener. I rather unfairly expected it to be a city of backward bumpkins all listening to the Grand Ole Opry. It was an incredibly cosmopolitan city. Lots of diversity, lots of things to do.

[TrogL]

22. That's not going to be a popular opinion here

We tend to think of Bush (whom we call Dubya, or * or other things) more in terms of the Antichrist, but go ahead and make your point.

[Hotlanta_User]

27. No kidding, Trog...

..... didn't take me long to figure out he wasn't very popular around here.

[Aristus]

29. Well, we have liberal Dems, conservative Dems, Greens, Independents,

Libertarians and all kinds of people here. You could say Bush 'united' us after all. There are even some liberal Republicans here. Don't get discouraged. For every angry, spewing thread, there are three or more threads filled with solid, enlightening debate.

[Interrobang]

47. What you need is some chicken soup.

Fortunately, I have a very good recipe for quick chicken soup!

2+ bone-in chicken breast, skin optional (it adds more flavour, but also more fat)
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, or to taste
3 bay leaves
peppercorns, crushed, to taste
celery leaves, chopped
parsley, chopped, or dried parsley flakes
basil flakes, celery salt, paprika, and any other spices you like, to taste
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce (but if it ain't Lea & Perrins, don't bother)
2 caps full of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. mustard
1 capful vinegar, white (to tenderize the chicken)
1 dash hot sauce

carrots, cut in coins
celery, sliced
frozen peas (optional)
egg noodles, pasta, or rice (cooked)

Place chicken breasts meat side down in large pot. Cover and then some with water. Add the rest of the ingredients above the drop-line. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 45 -60 mins minimum. Add vegetables (except peas), and cook until tender, minimum. (If you have the time, you can turn this into an all-day project.) Add noodles, rice, or pasta, and cook until tender/heated through. Add frozen peas last, and cook until heated through. Salt to taste after it cooks.

This recipe is a LOT easier than it looks, and serves 4+, depending on how much chicken/water/stuff you throw into it.

Otherwise, read any good books lately?

[Aristus]

48. Thanks for the recipe, Interrobang.

I had some chicken soup on Friday. Worked for a few hours. Then, relapse. I'm much better now and expect to be back in the saddle by tomorrow.

Just finished reading "To America." Stephen Ambrose's last book. It was a compilation of essays and reminiscences of his career as an historian. He will be missed. He was a wonderful writer, and a fair historian. I like the fact that he leaned a little to the left. Few serious historians are reich-wingers.