Reason #1,329 why I love Google

All this watching TV from my youth had me half-remembering a show from Nickleodeon in the 1980s where there was a Mr Wilberforce, aliens, and kids with paranormal powers. I Googled 'Wilberforce TV Nicklelodeon' and behold, came up with The Third Eye (and here's the Wikipedia entry). It was a collection of different mini-series from around the world with unusual happenings in them. The specific feature I remembered was a New Zealand show called 'Under the Mountain'. I am now happy, mystery solved.

Here are scenes from that feature:


and a longer scene, where they find out Mr Wilberforce is not what he appeared to be.



The (bad) aliens' subterranean base looks ripe for Shoggoths, let me tell you. By the way, remember 'Shoggoth on the Roof'? Well, apparently it was a condensation of an actual musical published by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. For more, check out the article on Wikipedia. Songs include: 'Tentacles', 'Byakhee, Byakhee', 'Shoggoth Prayer', 'If I were a Deep One', and 'Do You Fear Me?'

I'd love to get a copy of the original cast recording. It can be obtained here. For more on 'Shoggoth', check out the HPLHS' website on the subject, including the trials and tribulations of staging it with music (it was threatened legally by the creators of the music for 'Fiddler on the Roof' and even though a parody and therefore legally they'd most likely win, they don't have the money for legal fees.)

I really screwed myself over

I tried to cancel my gym membership today at Gold's Gym. I don't go and it's money I could be using more efficiently. I don't normally have time (ironically I do now because I have a broken foot and haven't been working at the gas station, but of course I can't work out much either since I have a broken foot, not to mention it's hard to pay for since I'm not working both jobs.)

Anyway, I couldn't cancel. I thought I'd signed a contract for a year ending in July. I in fact signed a contract for three years (36 months in small print). The only way out is if I move 25 miles or more from a gym. Argh! But I have only myself to blame; I didn't look at the contract closely enough and was just really stupid. And the dues are going up $5 a month in October, according to a sign at the front desk. Bummer.

So I thought, well, maybe I can get the one-time allowable three-month medical stay due to my foot (you have to have a doctor sign it). But you still get charged; they just tack the extra months on at the end.

Needless to say, it was a fruitless endeavour. I was already annoyed that 1) you couldn't just cancel over the phone, but had to come down, sign paperwork, and then it would go through in about 30 days. I was also annoyed that the medical leave form was not on the website (and I checked both the corporate and the one for this particular franchise) like I was told. Again, I had to come down in person.

Moral of the story: read everything you sign. In the meantime, I guess I will be heading back to the gym once I'm able. I do need to lose weight, work on toning up, and I'm paying for it already.

Ew

Lake amoeba can kill swimmers

It sounds like science fiction, but it's true: Killer amoebas living in lakes can enter the body through the nose and attack the brain, where they feed until you die.

Though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it is known to have killed six boys and young men in the United States this year; over the decade ending in 2004, the yearly average was 2.3.

The jump in cases has health officials concerned.

Someone once brought me a clay masque from New Zealand and said that she'd gone to the hot springs it came from but you coudn't put your head underwater because of this same amoeba (yeah, that makes you want to use a product from there, doesn't it?) I had no idea they lived in the US--mostly the South--as well. I've swum in one lake in my life. I don't think I'll be returning to the water any time soon--just give me a pool. I don't want my brain eaten by amoebas, even if it is really, really rare.

That's up there with the faceless man who was infected by a fungus, who in order to save him they had to remove his eyes and most of his nasal area. (Don't watch this if you're squeamish. Just imagine living without a face. And although it's extremely rare, you never know when that statistic will be you.) YKWIA showed me this on months ago.

You can't hide everything

An Eye in the Sky on Burma

In light of the protests led by thousands of monks in recent days, Burma's military junta is shutting the country off from the rest of the world--bringing down communication lines, websites, blocking access to reporters, all while moving into the streets and shooting any civilians who do not comply.

So scientists are scrutinising satellite images to show things such as fires from orbit. Using data from the past, they have been able to confirm many reports of forced relocations and similar tactics. They hope keeping an eye in the sky will help convince China and Russia from blocking the United Nations Security Council from taking action against the junta.

It's a technique that has worked well in Darfur, but Burma has dense vegetation which hampers the efforts. Still, I hope it will help.

I didn't get much sleep last night

so I'll go on to bed soon. I've been watching 'Sapphire and Steel' (which terribly misunderstood the concept of 'element', but is rather interesting, despite a very tiny special effects budget) and 'The Tomorrow People' (original series) with a friend today. I loved British TV as a child, things like 'The Prisoner', 'The Omega Factor', 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (although I didn't get all the humour back then), 'All Creatures Great and Small', and 'Doctor Who' (the latter two shared a principal actor--Peter Davison). So I decided to give you a couple of bits of British fun from Doctor Who, this time outakes/bloopers, first from the Tom Baker years, second from the current Doctor's.



My favourite? 'How long, K-9?' 'Insufficient data.' 'Yeah, you never f***ing know the answer when it's important.'



My favourite? Cybermen playing football with K-9.

Today's radioplay: 'The Tankerville Club'

I'm going to bed

Too--much--time--on--YouTube

(Well, I was getting a bite to eat.)

But if you want to watch nearly 10 minutes of all the Doctor Who intros chained together like I just did (yes, I'm such a geek), here you go:

It must be the hats, then

From Friends of the Earth's green video competition; two polar bears debate the true causes of global warming. You can vote for this or one of the many other entries on their website.

Damn I'm good

I heard a new song on the radio tonight on my way home. It sounded like the lead singer from Nickelback, and lo, it was Chad Kroeger himself, along with Carlos Santana. I should have recognised the latter--it has Santana's signature guitar work. It made me want to dance. Here it is, 'Into the Night':

No radioplay for a couple of days, unfortunately

Today I had someone watching a video for the first hour or so that I was at work, plus a repairman taking the copier apart and putting it back together for yearly preventative maintenance for about four hours (he was about halfway through when I came in). It included vacuuming toner. I did start one but there was just too much going on in the library and at that point I was up and about helping people (I normally listen when I first get in and I'm going through my e-mail). So I just put the CD back in its case and will hope for a quieter day tomorrow.

Today has been get-everything-on-Lisa day. We had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Needless to say, I got soup on my nice pink top. Then I found dirt from who knows where on my cuff--maybe from the outside of the car? Then there was the steady rain when I left work. I will not complain about the rain--we need it desperately and I was the one who left my umbrella in the car, but let me tell you, the boot is a pain to deal with since I can't drive in it but I need to have it on when I walk back and forth to work. It's worse trying to get the thing off in the rain, especially as I'm not supposed to get it muddy or wet (it can't be washed due to the air bladder). Now I'm eating a PBJ with natural peanut butter and spreadable fruit and of course the peanut butter is runnier than normal, where I had to mix the oil back in. It's a good thing I was planning on changing clothes anyway--and doing laundry tonight, for that matter. :)

I'm making my way

through the Kübler-Ross model for grief. This morning's refusal to get out of bed and feeling emptiness were married with this idea that she wasn't really gone. I refused to look at the things emphaised the loss--her water dish, her food, her leash. Tonight I'm feeling anger. Terrible rage, even though I don't really have a good focus for that rage. The Goddess? She gave me 16 wonderful years with Cerys. Fate? For a dog, 16 is a ripe old age, better than can be expected for many breeds. Myself? The only real regret I have is that I would have liked her ashes back, but couldn't afford the $120 to that like I did with Spock (as a cat, his was much cheaper). But otherwise despite all the tribulations in my life I gave her a good home. So no, I shouldn't be angry with myself, either. I haven't gone into bargaining--at this point there's nothing to bargain for. I have felt terribly depressed all day-sleeping most of it, although a friend enticed me out long enough to watch a series we liked from fifteen years ago, which I enjoyed immensely.

So that leaves acceptance. I'm not there yet, but it will come, I know. Tomorrow it's back to work and I'll have other things to occupy my mind. But it will be awhile before everything feels 'good' again.

I still haven't taken care of her things. That is for tomorrow, I think. I just can't bear to do it today. Every now and then I get a whiff of her scent, too, and of course for now the bedsheets have it. It's a comforting scent, one that will eventually fade and become one more loss.

But I'm hanging in there, at least. Thanks for reading this. Good night.