Saturday, April 25, 2009

I was bored, OK? (11/9/07)

‘Twas a long time ago, or was it just May?
When all of the people united to say:
“Soon ‘twill be hard
There will be no board
Nothing to post on for many a day!”

But we were so wrong! It was not to be!
The message board lived, quite as strong as a tree.
The numbers kept growing,
Our group it was sowing…
Not content with one forum, we now post in three.

What does it all mean to this poor RM?
Mining the boards for the crème de la crème.
Reviews all the weeks,
All info she seeks
And presents it each week to all of them.

Over and over, again and again,
Could it be this was done with no sort of plan?
RM is now bored
She now can afford
To change some of this as she can.

So, for only one week, just one week alone,
really_mzungu is changing the tone.
The review’s now in verse
And not quite so terse.
Now you’d just better shut up – no moan!


First to The Victory where lies all you need!
To recap this forum is quite quick indeed.
First, answers from Fin
‘bout a little Creeggan
Concerts, show themes, and seeing Ed’s ass and reed.

anna and Sarah like Crocs with the liner –
Good in the cold, but without when it’s finer.
That’s not the worry
Of justapieceofme
Who needs to change two to a third of a niner.

Thanks to answers and FAQ, we are knowing
That one in a wheelchair can still be going.
Jen got the last band
To fit her small hand,
But I want to know, did she sing?

Without door contest info, we all get the blues,
Though against artsy people, I only will lose.
But a fun beach party
In Orlando with nansea –
Is something to do ere the cruise.

For her cool magnets, Becca was given passes
From Sixthman – those cool lads and lasses!
They also sent posters
To those whose luck is the mosters,
But Gary still sues all our asses…

I think it is possible to import tea,
Even if the US has tips of PG.
Some folks in white gloves –
High tea’s what they loves.
Have any won a cabin and who might they be?

kodipper and Sarah both have just booked.
Red Roof was cheap, when those who cared looked.
But do little prop planes
Endure winter pains?
Or do their wee wings simply get bent and crooked?

For seasickness, there might not be a cure,
But many with ginger and bracelets hope to endure.
Others might smoke
Or should I say toke?
Oh, and Hertz rates for cruise time are now quite sure!

Such cool BNL things did Suebee design!
Sucks that that the system just won’t take mine…
The browncoats are meeting,
Though their show was quite fleeting
We can recall its coolness, line by great line.

Though the night goes not to James Bond,
Formal wear will still, by some, be donned.
Others in capris,
On men, they don’t please
Unless worn by performers of whom we are fond.


And now to the Seven Seas Lobby we go –
The place where people like mfield will know
If there is some space
For another bright face
In a cabin on our own cruise furlough?


Caribbean Lounge:
Time for a haiku breakdown.
Just for this forum.

Mature? For one night –
Ellen and dr. evil.
So no Carbon Leaf…

An urban legend?
Did he play with BNL?
Brian Wilson… Hmmm…

Great Big Sea is liked
By nansea (and others too).
I mean really liked.

So many artists
Coming on the cruise with us.
Hard to sample all.

Don’t get “ID3,”
But Becca wants info on
Specific banter.

Late Anaria
Missed the “Top 10 BNL” –
Joined there by Becca.

Gaelic Storm’s Patrick –
Not the only one there is.
In GBS show?

Two bands and hockey?
We need to build them a rink,
Even if it’s hot.

90210 –
Season 7, “Spring Breakdown…”
Soap Network showing!

Steve on CBC –
I will so watch this online.
Thanks, ZiggyNJ!

Guster in movies
Is just cool to see and hear.
I should go watch them.

Some like Mike Doughty –
His music and his bacon.
Some people do not.

Jason Plumb for me!
November Twenty-Second.
Bringing my friend too…

Ed’s Up show sounds sick
Too much sh*t, not enough f*ck…
Still want to see it…

Our Steve love lives on…
Steve in a chef’s hat is weird,
But still kinda hot.

Ed and the freezie.
Funniest moment ever.
Oh his poor, poor wife…

slacker.com – cool!
Although somewhat like Itunes,
Except on the web.

Talk to the Hand – Yay!
Vivisection and Yoko
Make me so happy!


Now to the Buffet, home of bacon and peeps,
Where all starts on topic, but then kind of leaps
Into what’s more insane,
Or maybe inane?
Well, the posting is crazy, often coming in heaps.

First some congrats to WeedMage, MG
1000 posts – a good goal (‘less you’re Finchy…)
Also 2000 did win
annaonthemoon and Rankin –
But did anyone notice the 4000 from me?

These days the internet can grant
Even wishes to those who would rant.
We can now wish for more
Coupons at Kohls’ store,
Though Becca’s wishes have a different slant.

Though quinbooka stayed far, far away
Others gave pictures of Halloween day:
Anna Nicole and Einstein,
A beer-holding cat is just fine.
Those pictures – what more can I say!

Is it cheating to Google or IMDB?
I think Shell would like to get off scott-free…
But the girls will just drool –
BNL/GBS are so cool!
While spanking skates is something all will soon see…

2kids began to ask questions Monday,
First about whether we’d ever flown away
By copter, by balloon…
But what kind of loon
Admits to big bunny love in this way?

Some people here like the Amazing Race,
Though for me, it is quite simply a waste.
That is, unless BNL
Got on it as well,
On this issue I might then about-face.

I took a test that told me that I am not cool,
Then Ron Paul and the Sex Pistols made me feel like a fool.
I barely know who they are –
My learnin’ don’t go that far…
But I do know Bakersfield needs to keep God out of school!

This little bit of the poem goes straight out to Nikki.
She tried to get me on still another cruise – tricky!
It won’t work, don’t you see?
Only two cruises for me!
Plus, with John Mayer, I tend to be kinda picky…

Nikki also, it seems, has an acquaintance
Who asks for too much with complaisance.
We all gave advice,
Some was just not so nice,
But one must be an asshole in just such an instance.

Night of the Lepus is a great bad flick,
Starring Janet Leigh, once killed a trick
Of Perkins in Psycho,
A man who did then go
And act with Roger Moore in North Sea Hijack.

Carol Burnett is funny and surely not dead
But if her show is to be purchas-ed
Do you buy just one season
Or a box, all-in-one?
The price for this rises, as many have said.

I now send out “Rock Around the Clock” ***
To those who got a bad weather shock
When they left their abode,
Didn’t see the comet explode.
*** The song’s artist fits in with my schlock.

Becca needs bobz’s ride, but to where?
Whatever. She’s also doing a fair.
Her crafts are quite neat
And always a treat.
Plus, she hangs out with Sarah when she will be there.

Although with the Comedy Quotes, I totally failed
More trivia would be cool – Gary’s I nailed!
With the writer’s strike,
Our writing’s what I like,
Though some, like WildEagle, have totally bailed.

It’s not a good thing to bug an elephant seal –
Wounds from that fun are too much to heal.
And best not to beer pong
By a seal – that’s just wrong.
But the YouTube guys were unreal!

Now is the time to treat “Random Thread.”
Despite Anaria, random still is not dead.
And now, as is fitting
To another topic I’m flitting
Where “The Mist” will keep me out of bed!

Some time in a restaurant, was there bad food?
Or perhaps some old waitress simply was crude?
Maybe trivia of 60s
Is just what can fix these…
Oh, let’s just watch the old girl dance with her dude!



The networks begin to delay the shows,
So there will still be some with snows.
But the snow is now here
Chez Rankin, I fear,
And Snow is Steve’s cousin, you knows!
“Flanders Fields” is a much better thing
Than anything I can write and/or sing.
It helps to remember,
Even just an ember,
Poppies on Sunday are for rememb’ring.
News is certainly the place for some fun
Full of new of boats taking a really good run
And strippers at school.
This news is too cool!
Makes me forget I hate them a ton…
Many topics, unrelated, in this stanza are found –
Green hotels in ‘Cuse and Yoko broke down;
The Next Great American Band
Gets thrown in here by my hand.
I just need to finish before in verse I am drowned.
It’s hard to figure out Worker’s Comp,
So I shall ignore it and will simply romp
To our own ABCs,
Where nobody sees
My skip of a letter, a mistake without pomp.
I’m now almost done with my poem.
Just have to write a bit about home,
And how when you’re far
And can’t get there by car
There can be sadness even while enjoying the roam.
There remains but the Girls and their Talk,
Where you helped with my ex and feed back.
Baby’s dad news’s a frown
Michelle – take him down!
To joyful and you, good vibes without lack!
Well, I’m never doing that again…

This is not the History of Science! (11/3/07)

NOTE: I tried to write this yesterday. Technically, I did write about 90% of it yesterday. However, it is very difficult to write something so long when the internet is not being agreeable. And when you are technically supposed to be doing something else.

So, I’m at an academic conference at the moment. Which means that I am technically working. I shouldn’t be thinking about things like cruises. There should be other things to occupy my mind.

Fortunately (???) for all of you, however, there are no interesting talks at the moment. Plus, there appears to be free wireless access in the hotel lobby, so I am going to try to write this thing before more demands are put on my oh-so-precious time. Strangely enough, I somehow doubt that my fellow conference-attendees would agree on the importance of Week in Reviews over the advancement of knowledge. Stupid Elation academic types…


To begin then, as I so often do, with The Victory:

- Apparently, one does not need to drink in order to hash. Since that basically means that you’re just going for a run, I don’t get it.

- There is another Pacific NW gathering being planned. Which is good, since it is indeed a much cooler region (in so many ways) than Southern California.

- That really, really long list of what to bring on the cruise resurfaced, prompting (somehow) comparisons between S&D and TRB. As well as a discussion about whether BNL side projects were separate bands or were simply offshoots of BNL. Either way, I’m sure I’ll see many of them…

- Muppetcoat expressed her hope that not everyone on the cruise will be 30-40 year old women and their husbands. I second this hope.

- Every thread arrives at booze eventually. Even when it begins with a worry about BNL/GBS conflicts and veers into honorary (honourary?) Canadian citizenship along the way…

- B-Dub and Mari posted their cabins. I’m sure they’re very nice, but I refuse to get excited about any cabins not on the Riviera Deck. Although if there are molasses spice cookies in Mari’s cabin, I might be willing to reassess her deck…

- NiceyDoodle and CountAbby are going to be FLL/MIA train buddies. I’m sure they’d like more buddies, should anyone else be following the same route.

- 2kids5cats finally (:p) sent out the last of the wristbands and will only part with the last one if she is entertained.

- If anyone is flying into West Palm Beach, you should let joyful1 know. Meanwhile, Mari needs to let me know how checking in early gets you an upgrade. I think this might be information that I need…

- People had cool doors last year, especially the one that won the competition. It always makes me feel artistically inadequate…

- I like flipcup. If it’s being played on the cruise, I will definitely join in. All those other games though, I’m not so sure about. Mostly because I don’t know how to play them. Whether I learn them or not, there is no way that I will be rising early enough to disturb Amicus and WeedMage early in the morning. Crazy people…

- You know, beautiful things like karaoke should only serve to bring us together, not to drive a wedge of contention between members of our message board. And if there are sailor suits and kilts, that makes it even better.

- B-Dub and dakota-xx are our newest virgins, to be mocked and hazed as necessary.

- The aforementioned dakota-xx proved her worth to the message board by instigating, however inadvertently, some typically-off-topic football (the European kind) discussion.

- Tips for the magical cleaning of plastic bottles were given (tips that I might need to take soon, since my Nalgene bottle might be needing a thorough cleaning). Also discussed was the equally magical power of Crocs to be appropriate footgear for both Manitoba and Florida.

- However horrible seasickness may be, just think how much worse it is for those who don’t like the taste of ginger… But if you can’t get the cruise time off, at least seasickness wouldn’t be a problem. Otherwise, that’s all bad.

- Is the BNL design contest over? I have an idea, probably a stupid (Elation) one, that I intend to submit if I a) get back to my real internet connection in time, b) figure out how to submit such a complicated graphic, and c) actually overcome my laziness to do it. Maybe I’ll just take consolation that cturtle1@fuse.net can be cool enough for us all.

- If you still need to book flights or hotels, joyful1 can help. If you want to get into Disney World for free, annaonthemoon’s aunt could help, but probably won’t since she doesn’t know you. I find that most people are sort of weird that way. And I am very jealous of sarah11918’s proposed Scandinavia trip, however complicated it may be…

- If annaonthemoon actually does work out the copyright issues and makes those magnets, I think that she might be very, very popular on the cruise. And how does Disney own the rights to the Mounties?!? That just seems wrong somehow.

- To continue with the annaonthemoon theme, thanks to her, we now have links to even more useful information. You know, the stuff that you don’t get from these recaps…

- dakota-xx apparently does not realize that telling the guys to keep out of a thread is a surefire way to get most of them to read it. No matter what we post in it…

- There might still be room in the inn (the host hotel), so all hope is not lost.

- I would think that it’s been long enough since the Boston Tea Party. We should allow the reimportation of tea at this point, shouldn’t we?

- Mrguard’s grandmother sounds cool. Just like the naked photo…


No more Victory to report on. All that remains must be defeat. Or perhaps the Seven Seas Lobby:

- Where Ocean Girl is looking for a pre-cruise hotel roommate, astrowag needs room in a cabin, and biochemgeek doesn’t need us anymore.


Done with that. Which means that it is time now for the Caribbean Lounge:

- Amazon has The Big Bang Theory theme song for sale. Although I honestly have not been watching the show (but will have ample time to, now that it’s been picked up for the season), I quite like the song. Anything that validates my astronerdiness must be good.

- I like the BNL in bed with Sharon Osbourne clip too, although I have absolutely no idea of when or where or how I saw it. Oh well. And the funny BNL moments have inevitably brought up the Au Naturale tour. I had a ticket to a concert on that tour. But it was stolen. I am still bitter.

- Gaelic Storm will be playing in Maryland sometime in the distant future. That’s too far from home for me to get too excited, but other people should take care of that for me.

- It is apparently normal to have a Ships and Dip playlist. And to play Christmas songs all year… Or maybe “normal” isn’t a term I should be using in this crowd?

- Which is not to imply that any of us have a problem with BNL/cruise overindulgence. I am a little concerned that BarenakedActuary would imply such a thing.

Even if it does signify some sort of midlife crisis, Steve’s hair beats Kelly Ripa any day.

- A “Drinking Song-Off” between Gaelic Storm and Great Big Sea would be a beautiful, beautiful thing.

- If anyone does figure out on exactly which 90210 episode BNL is featured, please let me know so that I can Netflix the DVD. And then possibly lose it…

- Jason Plumb will be performing in Toronto when I will be there. This is a good thing.

- However much the rest of us may disagree with her assessment, I think we may have to give 2kids credit for trying to like Great Big Sea at this point.

- Ed’s Up, season 2 is beginning. And will be missed by all of us poor people who are without Canadian television.

- There are previews of Talk to the Hand available all over the internet! When I am back to my normal internet access, I will be checking them out. Somehow that seems an inappropriate thing in the middle of a conference…


Now the tough part. Somehow I have to get through the morass of insanity pervading throughout the Grand Buffet. Weaker souls would give up at this point, but I know that I shall prevail (assuming that my currently slow internet connection allows it…)!

- Halloween cartoons are amusing. But do not lend themselves to witty commentary.

- Nor do “single tracks of ‘white hot awesomeness’ apparently.

- It’s kind of nice to read about other people ditching crappy jobs when one is considering a change of career.

- But a brief return
Was all the haiku we got.
Don’t forget this thread!

- We thought the cruise was rough. I’m guessing the ride that WeedMage posted might have been a little worse.

- Assuming you could print the coupons, you could get free stuff from Tylenol. Yay for free stuff! Even if you’re not supposed to give it to your kids.

- The new season of 24 might be good. If I had any intention whatsoever of watching this show, I’d probably care more about this.

- Bill Maher has joined the out-of-closet Dumbledore fracas. And has a book.

- MoodyCat’s job, at least when it involves pulling crashed airplane pilots out of lakes, is probably more interesting than most other people’s occupations.

- More favorite lyrics were shared, some of which reminded me of more favorite lyrics of my own that had been forgotten…

- WeedMage has explained life. Guess I can check that off my list now…

- BNL’s on Sirius radio today. Yet another BNL-related broadcast to which I do not have access.

- Losing a pet sucks. Really, really sucks. I am going to stop thinking about this now.

- Is the whole issue of Halloween candy personality related to the “you are what you eat” philosophy? How about the identification with desserts in general?

- I’m still in the phone booth.

- People who wear shoes with tall heels are either much braver or much more coordinated than I am.

- Is the whole procrastination=getting things done thing moot if your procrastination consists mainly of posting on this message board?

- Ticketmaster probably would still charge a “convenience fee” for a fake, test ticket. They’re evil that way.

- Many Canadians play hockey. I don’t think that MotownGuyinWI cares.

- I may not know how to play Guitar Hero (any version, new or old), but it does look like fun…

- shipanddip.com isn’t nearly as entertaining as this message board.

- If the Tylenol coupon wasn’t enough for you, then check out the Kohl’s coupon, courtesy of 2kids!

- Pumpkins made out of smilies are cute.

- And if you don’t like those, there are pumpkins made out of Qlippit too.

- The Packers won. This made several people very happy.

- It has begun to get cold in certain places. Cold weather seems to bring out the Mel Brooks in us…

- The Red Sox won the World Series. Some are excited by this. Some are less excited by this. As a resident of New York City, I feel that it is not safe to let my feelings on this subject become public.

- Why aren’t there more pictures of Halloween costumes? I love Halloween costumes.

- I learned some interesting information about football this week. Thank you Michelle in WI!

- Unlike all other BNL-related media that was discussed this week, I will be able to watch them on A&E. Assuming I don’t forget about the broadcast…

- My favorite candies on Halloween were the chocolate bars. All else scored very, very low on my personal Halloween candy matrix.

- If you’re sticking around after the cruise, shell824 would like to hang out with you. I would hang around, but I think my presence might be required back home after such a long absence (that I don’t technically have permission to take…).

- So what was the reason for the white rabbit thing yesterday? I was too lazy (and internet-deprived) to check.

- Could we now consider smashing pumpkins to be a valid protest against the unfair taxing of our favorite gourd?

- I may need to spend New Year’s in Arizona.

- Quebec is a funny place. Funny weird. But “You Will Be Waiting” is a cool song, so it’s not all bad! Quebec est une place amusante. Pas amusant, mais etrange. Mais "Tu attendras" est un chanson chouette, alors ce n'est pas tous mal. Or something like that.

- It is definitely wisest to have a passport for the cruise. And since Canada has eliminated the need-to-have-an-authority-figure-verify-your-existence requirement, I might have two!

- Thanks to the magic of this message board, we can now know who we are.

- It seems to me that a man who goes by the name “Dog” should probably avoid insulting entire groups of people.

- Time for another mp3 shuffle! I’m guessing that BNL might show up on mine again, should I get around to it. When I’m back in a location where I can play music that is. I somehow think that the history of science conference might not fully appreciate my music in the middle of all the serious talks.

- It’s Mommyand3’s birthday! Did anyone else not previously realize that she and Snow Leopard were married? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

- You can advertise anything, anything at all on Craig’s List. But the people who do so are quite often freaks who should be avoided by nice, normal freaks like us. Some of those freaks do drugs. I miss that old “This is your brain on drugs” ad. That was cool.

- MoodyCat needs help to make a t-shirt for the cruise. I need to get motivated to actually order the t-shirt I designed for myself about 2 months ago…

- Thanks to our movie casting acumen (and maybe just a little IMDB), the non-ABC game is still going. And yes, Shell, there are always rules.

- I don’t know Big Head Todd, but anyone who gives me free music must be cool.

- While I was writing this, dakota-xx’s “no boys” thread got moved to the Grand Buffet, thus necessitating its mention again. I was right about the boys not staying out too…

- I haven’t watched Phenomenon, but I have watched the stupid (Elation) little scroll thing that pops up in the middle of half of the shows I watch, thus obliterating unimportant things like subtitles and the lower halves of characters’ faces.

- I notice that no one (besides personal venus, who is my new hero) actually recapped ANY of this message board. Not so easy, is it? Bet you appreciate me now… Oh, and this is the summary of the random thread, in case you were wondering.

- I totally forgot that people were racing to 1000 posts. But congratulations to WeedMage for winning!

- 2kids’ daughter has definitely figured out the “scary” costume thing. That was impressive!

- I would have watched the “How to Get Fired” clip, but I lack a job to be fired from and thus felt that it would be somewhat useless. And, again, inappropriate at an academic conference (which just sucks the fun out of everything, really).

- OK, I didn’t go and check what the current topic of the ABC thread is, but reading the responses without that knowledge is even more fun!

- I was a little disturbed to realize that I recognized most of the comedy movie quotes. Either all of you have excellent cinematic taste, or I need to stop watching so many movies…

- And last, but most definitely not least, personal venus is wonderful. A wonder. A beautiful, beautiful person who apparently wastes time as well as me. Although I should have already known this, considering she’s the only person who’s consistently had more posts than me over the past several months. Whatever – she rocks the entire universe! :D:D:D:D:D


And that, as they say, is that. No more week to review. Until next week, when the vicious cycle will repeat again. And again. And again. Until that glorious day comes when we leave all this behind and sail off into the sunset!

Special! – “In lieu of the Week in Review" (11/2/07) by personal venus

really_mzungu randomly and senselessly stated that she might not be able to produce a week in review this week. In the spirit of all things RM, I give you RM's week (in review)

While RM reads every post on the board, she thankfully (for me) doesn't feel the need to post in each forum. That said, we'll start with The Victory

-RM's lone Victory post taught us that she didn't win the door decorating contest on S&D1, but her door did feature some pretty cool monkey postcards. And she was proud of it. I've never gotten a monkey postcard in the mail.

But this isn't all about me, it's all about really-mzungu. So, with that we are off to the Caribbean Lounge

-RM contended that most of us are certifiable nerds and possibly certifiable in other ways. I'm certifiable for attempting this. There is a lot of pressure here. And I'm just tracking one person's posts.

-Laurel is your go-to gal on all things Netflix. Well, maybe not all things, but she does know the ins and outs of "stolen DVD syndrome."

-Why don't we just give in and celebrate the Christmas season all year round? Silver Bells in April anyone?

-If RM can't convince her friend in Toronto to go see Jason Plumb on November 22nd, I might be available.

The Grand Buffet is where RM spends most of her time - and why not? That's where all her friends are, even if they are friends she never really sees...

-Laurel did however post a picture of herself with a friend who is not going on the cruise. Which is just as well since we probably don't want someone with such a big head standing in front of us during a concert.

-Over in the ABC thread, RM, the letter police, caught us not using both "Q" and "Y" again. She also had some interesting reasons for future employers to check on her resume references.

-She couldn't seem to escape from the phone booth. She was probably too busy already working on this week's Week In Review......

-It's cold in NYC and it sucks when you can't control your own heat.

-RM's parents have a dog with a great sense of humor. Maybe said dog can adds some posts to the Comedy Movie Quotes thread.

-Updating your resume might enable you to secure a job - even if it is a long shot. (unless prospective employers read the ABC thread )

-Someone please get RM some kettlecorn.

-Your choice in candy can tell you what your personality is like. If you're RM it means that you might have a personality disorder and be prone to wearing ostentatious clothing.

-Does your ability to procrastinate affect your intelligence level, or does your intelligence drive your desire to procrastinate? I'll get back to this later...

-Did RM and Michelle in WI make it to Rankin's house for trick or treating? Did Rankin even have any candy left, or did she eat it all?

-She may not have seen Mel Brook's "Silent Movie", but she knows enough about it to answer a trivia question.

-If you need to know what you get when you accidentally type "shipanddip.com", you can ask Laurel.

-Someone please get RM some brownies.

I hope this teaches you a lesson, RM! You can either do your job dutifully, or subject these poor people to my inane ramblings.

All my love, PV

Big, fluffy bunnies and black jelly beans are just wrong. (10/26/07)

If you understand the title of this Week in Review, you might just be spending too much time on the board. If you do not understand the title, you are a wimp who needs to spend more time reading the board and less time relying on these Reviews to keep up with what is posted. I can’t do everything for you, can I?

No. And I possibly won’t even be writing all of this Week in Review at once either. I have a friend coming to visit, possibly any minute now. And real life (I do have one, you know) does tend to trump the board. At least occasionally.


So I guess I should just get down to it then. And down to it, this week, means down to the Indian Library:

- Where we reassured charmed one that the naked picture isn’t all that scary. After all, what could possibly be scary about hundreds and hundreds of people randomly taking all of their clothes off and screaming?

But nakedness is all that there was to see in that forum, so it’s off to the Seven Seas Lobby, home of those who have a strange desire to join us:

- kodipper, and possibly her friend, would like to share your cabin. They wouldn’t want to share my cabin. It already has five people in it. Somewhat reminiscent of a clown car. If you still don’t understand that reference after Lauren’s explanation of it (in the Caribbean Lounge), then you are simply hopeless.

- Now back to people looking for cabins. Or hotel rooms, in the case of cynthiadogmom, who is looking for a roommate for her hotel room after the cruise.

- kasharose and biochemgeek both want to go on the cruise. Will they room together? A mystery…


And one that will not be solved in this Review. Because there is far too much information in The Victory to waste any time wondering about the mysteries of this world:

- NiceyDoodle informed us that she had a new job and would be on the board more often. NiceyDoodle is a liar. Who should tell WildEagle to dump his silly WarBook thing and get back here. I need my Stupid Quotes!

- For those of you who missed out on any of the Sixthman e-mails, there is apparently an archive of said e-mails. Does this archive make my Reviews redundant? Have I just been wasting my time for all of these months? Probably, actually. Maybe I should ask questions like that.

- Insurance is a good thing, since the universe might be a mean and evil thing that prevents you from cruising.

- Carmela has joined the ranks of those who call themselves “Virgins.”

- It would appear that the Ships and Dip Cabin Map needs updating. NikkiPoooo should get right on that. I’d feel bad about telling her to do work, but I’m doing more. So there.

- anachronistic and knbeagle are bringing their kids. They are nice parents. I’d probably leave the kids at home if I had any, because I’m not so nice. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t have kids…

- In case anyone wants to know absolutely anything about booze on the cruise, I suggest the QUESTIONS thread. I’m pretty sure that every conceivable alcohol topic has been covered at this point. What a bunch of lushes we all plan to be… If you don’t drink, you might still want to check out this thread so that you can ponder the best backpack colors and jelly bean flavors (not black).

- Sixthman sent an e-mail and its correction this week. I got the correction first too.

- I have never flown Skybus and already have several plane tickets for the cruise, so I have very little to say about it. I’m sure it’s very nice.

- It can be very difficult to book a room in a full hotel. Of course, it can sometimes be very difficult to book a room in an empty hotel.

- Unless the entire state burns up, which is unfortunately starting to sound possible, the people of Southern California are well on their way to meeting up again and making the rest of us look like total slackers.

- If you’ve changed your address since the last cruise, you need to update your address, unless you want the new occupants of your former home to get all sorts of cruise info. This might not be a bad idea if you want to make them jealous.

- annaonthemoon has two extra wristbands that she’s willing to sell you if you were too slow to join the cool wristband-owning club the first time around.

- You don’t need to bring a hairdryer on the cruise. You might, however, wish to bring a bottle of some sort. If so, there appears to be an infinite number of options on that front. All of which can be filled with booze, lovely booze.

- If you were quick today, you could have gotten a free, signed poster from Lauren. I wasn’t quick.

- Nikki’s survival at her first Hashing thingy has piqued the interest of others. I am completely and totally in if this happens on the boat…

- Mari, who appears to be the type to fit right in here (8 posts in 3 hours!), will be joining us. She is a cool person who likes the idea of star-watching and swimming with dolphins. I like people who like the same things as me.

- Fin’s been back several times to answer questions. So if you’re not like me and can actually think of something good to ask, you should do so.

- Thanks to Becca and Lauren, my job here is totally moot, since there is now a thread that simply links interested parties to important information. However, if you like your information liberally seasoned with mockery and sarcasm, this might still be your best source. Assuming of course that I ever finish this.


Fortunately for the lot of you, my friend hasn’t shown up yet, so I will continue on to the Caribbean Lounge:

- leprrkan wanted to find out about Carbon Leaf and Great Big Sea. Hopefully she did so.

- And reminded us about Michael Brennan, which is good, because he’s really, really cool…

- More dislike of BNL songs was tempered by nice things said about Andy.

- If you’re tired of reading about music, you can play hangman, in honor of Halloween. NOTE: The writer of this Review does not in any way condone the racist, religious, or otherwise objectionable connotations of this game/holiday, if such connotations exist, not that I can comment one way or another on them.

- The Steve-love had to share space this week with Christopher Moore-love and John Stamos-love.

- Oval Opus is no longer Oval Opus. That seems a lot deeper than it probably is.

- If you didn’t like the old favorite Guster songs thread, there’s a new one that you might like better.

- Adam Gardner testified in front of Congress, which is just plain cool.

- In case you missed one of the 80,000 threads on the subject BNL were on Live with Regis and Kelly yesterday. Live with Regis and Kelly, however, is a stupid (Elation) show that shouldn’t make people wait out in the rain for hours, hoping that they’ll get in, before cruelly dashing their hopes. Not that it would have mattered anyway, since they thought pumpkins were more interesting than BNL anyway…

- In other “television that I don’t get to watch” news, the Steve segment of “Who Do You Think You Are?” was shown on CBC. Apparently it was good.

- I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the album that sold the most copies was the one to draw in the largest number of fans.

- People are still happy about the inclusion of Great Big Sea.

- People are somewhat less happy with the idea that Jake after Jimmy might be joining us on the cruise. I say we discredit him on the whole 21-year-old issue. It’s just plain false advertising. Otherwise, I’m liking the plank idea…

- In case you were worried that there wouldn’t be enough entertainment on the boat, you’ll be happy to know that Harvey Danger, Sarah Perrotta, Kurt Swinghammer, Jason Collett, and Howie Beck have all been added.


And my friend still isn’t here. I guess the traffic is bad or something. Stupid Elation Fridays. Hopefully she’ll be here soon. But not before I finish with the Grand Buffet:

- Although I understand why it happened this way, the edited first post of the “Let’s Make a Deal” thread makes the whole thing kind of nonsensical.

- Thank you, WeedMage, for providing a Stupid Quote this week. But it’s just not the same without WE!!!

- The singles’ party and pajama party are at the same time. Take this as you will.

- Instead of writing this, I should probably be working on my Color Blind Avenger superhero costume. But my dedication to all of you keeps me writing. You should feel very lucky.

- I used to check the Astronomy Picture of the Day site a lot. I don’t anymore. Apparently, my geekiness has shifted its focus in recent years.

- The WAKE UP! video only proves, once again, that cats are indeed evil and want to get us.

- The movie, Southland, sounds… interesting. We’ll see if it ends up sounding anything else.

- I’ve been kind of busy this week, or else I totally would’ve started playing that online Boggle. Oh well. I guess I’ll save it for the cruise.

- polyester_angel is a good daughter who gave her parents a cool anniversary gift. Other people seem to have given similarly cool presents to their parents. I’m now feeling excessively about just giving my parents a card this year.

- I hope you all understand now how dangerous a topic “Favorite Lyrics” is for someone like me, a person with a slight “excessive wordiness” problem…

- Although I still don’t get how the spinning model was supposed to show which handedness our brains had, it was still amusing.

- shell824 had a plumbing mishap. If it really was elephant poop, you have to tell us what happened!

- Viva Laughlin is no more. Although, if anyone ever tries to resurrect it in a puppet format, I will so be the first person to tune in.

- sarah11918 and her husband really do spend a lot of time in Philly. But possibly not at the same time as cool concerts.

- It sounds like all the people on this board from Southern California are OK. Which is good, since, despite their annoying overachieverness, they’re still cool people that I want to cruise with in a few months!

- My shower never says anything to me. It doesn’t have cool lights either. I feel so deprived now.

- nvcatgut has added If I Had $1,000,000 to his burgeoning BNL Qlippit collection.

- I meant to watch Carpoolers when its season started. Then I forgot. I watch too much TV anyway.

- The fact that Dennis Kucinich saw a UFO actually makes me like him more. But I’m weird that way.

- Guy Talk? Hockey.

- The California fires have highlighted again the stupidity (Elationity) of people who think that they can win in a fight against Nature.

- I really hope someone finds that BNL in bed clip soon. I know I’ve seen it before, but I have no idea of where to find it. And now I want to watch it again. This is not good.

- Meetings are boring. Anything that can liven them must be good.

- I have raisins on my desk. And I love that we have the random thread for when I feel the need to say that.

- They wooted off again. There’s a lot of electronic crap out there, isn’t there?

- I’m sure peanut butter lizards are tasty, but I’m still a little bit nervous about them… Might be the avatar of the person who posted the recipe…

- The busiest thread on the board this week is the Dumbledore out of the closet thread. Not so much because of the Dumbledore controversy. More because of the weirdness or OKness of those who engage in fantasy activities (by the way, LARPers is probably one of the coolest new words to say I’ve heard in awhile). Some of us castigated them. Some of us upheld their right to insanity. I personally think that we, as people on a message board for a cruise devoted to a band that many of us are somewhat obsessed with, should probably think long and hard before mocking the insanity of others. However freaky weird they may be…

- There’s a preview for the upcoming season of 24 online. Like I said before, I already watch too much TV.

- Sixthman was mentioned briefly on the Today Show. At the same time as the almost-as-brief BNL appearance on a rival station, which is just bad timing on the networks’ part. They should have known better. But then they did identify Guster with just about every other band in existence, so I guess we shouldn’t expect too much from them.

- People still like the Big Bang Theory (except for Garyrulez apparently). I think I’ll be going back to that show starting next week. Or maybe I’m already watching too much TV and should give up a show…

- Anaria’s co-workers made a zombie movie. Cool.

- How creepy is it that the pumpkin carving guy knew we were talking about him?

- I just want to say that I didn’t use IMDB for any of my movie-association game posts. So there! Apparently, I also watch too many movies…

- Fighting for Kisses is totally cute. Why don’t they show commercials like that on TV?

- Exactly where on a resume would one put “condom tester?”

- Nikki’s OK, annaonthemoon will be cruising without Aunt Flo, birth control pills don’t screw you up so much these days, formal wear may not be necessary, and people other than me have to deal with flat hair. The guys should really emulate the Girls and talk more…

- Mari is certainly diving in with a passion, posting a new thread within hours of showing up! I’ll post a picture of myself eventually…

- And the ABCs? Still going…


And now I have to be going. Since, despite the fact that my friend is in fact stuck in traffic (just got texted), I’m still supposed to meet another friend in about 9 minutes. Oh the busy life of me!

Don't you people have lives?!?!?!? (10/19/07)

Apparently not, judging from all the posts this week…

I meant to write this in the morning. Back when I thought I’d have a lot of free time today. Silly, silly me. And now it’s nighttime. Still no Week in Review for the hungering masses. But would I deprive you of this singular pleasure, just because it’s late and I might be tired? No! Instead, I toil endlessly in my noble work of making of fun of what all of you said this week. You do know that that is what this is, don’t you? My chance to mock others. And get lauded for it. Mwahahahahaha… (That was evil laughter. The just evil emoticon doesn’t cut it sometimes. )

Now, before I say anything else self-incriminating, I feel that it is time to start the recapping of the week. So to the Seven Seas Lobby with me:

- cricket538 needs a fourth for her cabin. Well, she did. Then she found Ocean Girl and now wants for nothing.

- Carrie95b2000 doesn’t need any of you anymore either.

- However, it would appear that beck and Chiarascura are both in desperate need of cabins. Poor things.

- Bigbaldy and his snowman friend are good to go.

- NikkiPoooo and ShortAlaina snapped up Gill in what must be record time.

That was a significantly more confusing than usual recap of the Seven Seas Lobby. Usually, that’s the easy one. Just mention a couple of people looking for rooms and move on to the insanity of the other forums. Not this week though. I have a feeling that this whole recap might be a tough one… But I am not one to fear such things! No! The endless toiling must continue, and continue on to The Victory it will!

- If you’re planning on flying to Miami (or wherever) from Hartford, there is a thread for you! Wouldn’t it be neat if there was a thread for every single city that we’re all flying from? No.

- charmed one seems to have given up on a flying buddy from Heathrow. Maybe if she was flying from Hartford instead…

- We talked about booze smuggling in the cruiser-age thread again. Not just there, actually, but I’ll get back to the topic soon.

- leprrkan is just a big tease with the whole “needing a place to sleep before the cruise” thing…

- Turns out that the “Carbon Leaf and Great Big Sea” thread was kind of prophetic.

- becky11 is worried that the military might consider the defense of the country more important than a Ships and Dip cruise. I think the military really needs to get its priorities in order.

- leprrkan has volunteered to be hazed as an S&D virgin. Silly, silly leprrkan…

- VistaPrint will make information cards for you if you want people to be able to find you on the cruise. I’d get some, but I just got business cards (real ones, not just for the cruise) for the first time about a week ago. So I’m going to stick with those – handing them out makes me feel like a real-life grown-up for once!

- The NW corner of Pennsylvania seems to be somewhat underrepresented on this board. But don’t feel too bad about that – I was convinced that I was the only person from greater New York City on the ship last year. I was wrong.

- To be safe, you should probably just hand $1 bills to every single person you meet on the cruise. You won’t have to worry about appropriate tips and you’ll make a lot of new friends!

- It turns out that, although we know very little of the details about the Pre-Party, we are very adept at making assumptions about it. And at being amused by drunken Gusterness.

- Sixthman would like to know what size t-shirt you wear. They seem to want to know a lot about us. If I were a paranoid person, I might worry about all the information being collected by these Sixthman types. What will they want next? Pin numbers? Favorite sock colors?

- Hashing sounds like a lot of fun, but possibly far too much work for a beer.

- Airborne is gross, but colds are grosser, so I guess it’s fair. Loud, sweaty, germ-infested people at the gym are gross, but not exercising is grosser, so that’s fair too. And Suebee’s gym sounds positively terrifying.

- We have asked much of Lauren. But where are the answers?

- If all of the rest of you are spending your shore excursions scuba diving, standing amidst the rays, and partying on the beach, does that mean I get the dolphins all to myself?

- No more wristbands! Although I’m sure that 2kids5cats will send those purchased ones out very, very soon.

- The host hotel and its neighbor might be full, but people are still getting better deals than me. Oh well.

- It would appear that there are many things to do in Miami. I am very thankful that there are others more willing to research all these things than me. If it were left to me, the list would read something like, “1) I’m pretty sure there’s a beach. 2) There are many fine restaurants in Miami. We should find one. 3) Oh who cares? We’re going on a cruise – screw Miami!”

- Many people have shared their cabins with the rest of us (stalkers, are you paying attention?). The cruise might be very full now. But I’m not sure how people figure that out, so don’t quote me on the previous sentence. Unlike the rest of this recap, which you may feel free to quote extensively in any forum you wish.

- ZiggyNJ can finally relax, which is good since it would totally suck to be tense for the next 3 months.

- Southern Californians have been proving themselves as incapable of organization as the rest of us. This makes me happy.

- People have booked flights. I booked mine a little while ago, but it’s completely useless now. This is why I don’t like to book so far in advance. Something always changes…

- I bet jtychol didn’t expect three pages of answers when asking those questions. Nor that most of those three pages would be taken up by extensive discussions of Carnival’s alcohol policy and how to circumvent it.

- You know, I was going to be all snarky about the “Ask Fin” thread this week and make fun of the fact that he said he was back and then promptly disappeared. But then the guy came back. And wants to crash at our places. Typical.

Alas, no more Victory, only defeat (wouldn’t it be cool if we were cruising on The Defeat instead of The Victory? Or would that only have been appropriate for S&DII?). And I fear that the Caribbean Lounge will in fact defeat me this week. What is usually a calm, orderly forum with only a few posts has instead become a wild and crazy free-for-all:

- And it’s all Great Big Sea’s fault! Silly, popular-among-cruisers band making my life more difficult. They had better be good!

- In other news, Gill shared her top 10 BNL songs.

- While AZSally and leprrkan shared their bottom BNL songs.

- charmed one thinks Steve’s hair is sexy. leprrkan is just intimidated by it (and the rest of Steve).

- There is something called “singstar 90’s edition” that I might know about if I knew anything at all about video games. But I don’t so I don’t.

- I’m guessing that KiaOra2 goes to a lot of concerts…

- Vance Gilbert and Brett Dennen were requested for the cruise. Haven’t we got enough bands yet???

- SurprisingWoman was surprised at our lack of mentioning BNL in G-strings. I’m pretty sure I would have mentioned that if I’d ever seen it. Oh why haven’t I seen it?!?

- It sounds like it might be a little complicated to get the upcoming BNL DVD in England. That sucks.

- BNL is going to be on Regis and Kelly next week. Now you all know one of the only things that would get me out of bed before 7 AM… Anyone want to wait in the standby ticket line with me?

- Great Big Sea!!!! If you missed this, you are far too lazy about reading the board, and I’m not going to do the work to make up for your slackerdom.

- Sarah Harmer was added too. Her fans need to be a lot more excited if they want to take on the Great Big Sea people.

Phew. Far more Caribbean Lounge than there should be. 54 minutes in to this recap and not even starting the Grand Buffet yet? This is not good…

- T.B.A. is opposed to the playing of board games on the cruise. We didn’t want to play Boggle with him either!

- No Stupid Quotes since Saturday? Shame on you, WildEagle! Shame!

- Does it make me a bad, sick person that I liked T.B.A.’s Famous Mouthfuls more than the real ones? Wait. On this message board? That just makes me normal…

- Why am I not surprised that Ellen from Saint Louis popped up rather quickly in a thread about blogs and porn?

- Somehow, I don’t think that receiving a call from Optimus Prime would be as cool as receiving a call from BNL (not that I’d know… ).

- Even if it makes me seem like a numpty to all of you, I just have to say how much I hate spiders.

- I don’t much like peeps (peep). Not too fond of mint Aeros or peanut butter Cadbury’s either, so the candy thread was kind of a bust for me this week.

- Nikki claims to be addicted to something called CyberNations. Considering how much time she still has to post here, I’m starting to think that she must not actually work…

- I am in fact vain enough for the Google ring. Unfortunately, I don’t receive enough hits for the ring to actually inflate my ego. It would just depress me.

- Did the good vibes work, 2kids?

- annaonthemoon and sarah11918 ate and croc-shopped this week.

- I’m afraid to think of what my parents’ dogs would do with those porthole things. Probably find a way to get in trouble – that’s what they’re best at.

- The list of 100 favorite blogs brings up an old question of mine. How does one get anyone to actually read your blog? I mean, it’s just a glorified, public diary. So I would assume that most of them totally suck. How do you find the good ones?

- It’s pretty safe to say that many of us watch far too many movies and memorize far too many quotes from them.

- I knew a bunch of guys in college who played Magic. They played every Friday night without fail. I might be tempted to learn to play, but I already have an activity that eats up all of every Friday night…

- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Forget politics. Always pick the same side as Kermit the Frog. This can never, ever be wrong.

- personal venus surpassed the 4000 post mark this week! And, to celebrate, I’ll steal some of her fireworks!

- Haikus should be deep --

They explain important things.

Plus, they amuse me!

- I do read books. And yet the book thread always makes me feel somewhat illiterate…

- I think I may have finally been convinced to try Crocs this week. Now I just need to find some on sale…

- I love that synchronized swimming video…

- The guys talked about soccer/football, the possibility of bringing up some new and guy-friendly topics, and drunk dialing. As usual, most of the non-sports conversation was carried by those who should not technically be called “guys.”

- The Spy Museum does sound cool. I wonder if I’ll have time to visit when I’m in DC in a couple of weeks…

- When you think about it, the really crazy part of watching religions spread in a cartoon is realizing that the people spreading the religion could never have seen it this way. They just saw it as a person-to-person thing. World movements are so weird that way…

- I always have trouble coming up with good Halloween costumes. This probably has something to do with my unwillingness to spend any money or use a sewing machine. I refuse to attribute it to a lack of creativity.

- Within the field of electric puns, I feel that my batteries have been drained and that I just don’t have the capacity to conduct anymore of such insanity.

- Small children’s definitions of love are indeed mushy and sentimental. But also kind of sweet.

- Michelle in WI’s baby’s birth father sounds just plain scary. I’m really glad the baby has the in WIs waiting for him instead!

- It’s kind of scary what a stupid, yet powerful, weapon PC is in the hands of some people. Just spoils everything for the rest of us…

- Those little piggies are cute, but I’m not sure I’d want one. It would be way too weird to eat bacon in front of them…

- Sounds like the Philly people are going to see Carbon Leaf together! Which reminds me that I really need to go buy my tickets to the New York show…

- There’s just something fundamentally cool about being eulogized with peeps.

- If you would like to introduce your children to the effects of hallucinogenic drugs, may I suggest this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PqjMSNfkU&mode=related&search=

- For those of you who have been informed by the internet that you don’t exist, I am more than willing to share some of the 226 mes with you.

- chrisandlaurie would like to refer you on to this cruise. Do not listen to them! Instead, let me refer you. I’m a much better person (of course ). All they can offer you is free drinks. While I can offer you immortality! That’s right! A weekly mention in these recaps! Every, single week! You’ll be famous! Popular! Cool! Just mention SXM-345380 to those nice Sixthman people, and all this can be yours! Oh, and drinks too.

- I often find it amazing just how much I learb every week on this board. PA...

- “I” think that “quotation” marks are quite “fun” to use and “should” be used far more in all of our “message board” “correspondence.”

- The board was mean to some people this week. But it was nice to me. When the rest of you can’t log on, it means that you can’t post. And if you can’t post, I have less to recap. Which is seeming like a very good thing at the moment (109 minutes and counting…).

- I was glad to hear that I’m not missing much by not watching “Viva Laughlin.” I have too many shows to watch anyway.

- Like Mad Men. WTP??? What an ending… And I have to wait until next summer to find out what happens next? Herein lies the problem with good television.

- Far too much Girl Talk this week (not that that is unusual or anything). Boy trouble (and what, when it comes to boys, is not trouble?), my date, attempts to shoo away dr.evil, feminine “freshness” issues, good and bad bacteria down there, Aunt Flo, vaginal mucus, excretions as perfumes, yoghurt, dress shopping, Nikki’s armpit (is it better?), past relationships, titles of an autobiography, deodorants, and the inability of doctors’ offices to make appointments.

- Anaria would like us to find some zombies for her.

- There is a controversy about Ellen and pet adoption. Not to belittle the issue, but it was definitely a slow news week.

- We passed the 100-days-until-the-cruise point this week! Now how many more recaps does that make…

- Lots of ABCs. This is hardly news anymore.

- Many people were excited to be reminded of Slade. The 80s were a weird decade…

- If you don’t have “She’s On Time,” you should definitely make an effort to find the special Stunt CD that has it. Such a good song…

- If you always wanted a strange, rap (it is rap, right? I’m such a dork) name, you now have the ability to learn wu you are.

I’m still thrown that “E Pluribus Unum” isn’t the national motto. But that’s really not the controversial point, so I suppose I should let it drop now. Although what is the point of a controversy if you drop it?

- The Random Thread was struck by an inexplicable influx of poo today. Bound to happen eventually…

And although I could mention how desperate we were (as usual) for answers to absolutely everything from the all-powerful, all-knowing Lauren, I am now tired. And have about 6 minutes before it’s Saturday. Too much posting people. Really. Now, go spend time with your loved ones or take a walk or do your jobs or something!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Wherein All Secrets Are Revealed… (10/12/07)

Not really though.

I’m feeling much better after last week’s wee little rant, so I won’t subject you all to that again. Of course, I was considering putting this off until tomorrow morning. Until I realized that I would not in fact be going out on a date tonight. Stupid Elation boys who make a big deal out of how long it will be until they see you again and then don’t bother to call for a second date…

But my loss is your gain! Unless of course you don’t like my little Reviews. In which case, why are you reading this? Stop now. I mean it. Only people who are happy and loving every little word and ellipsis (see Ellen, I can learn grammatical terms!) should read this. All others, turn back now. You have been warned… We begin, as is often the case with…


Ummm. What do I usually start with? OK, I’m going to go check which forum needs reviewing. Just a moment… Apparently, we begin with the Seven Seas Lobby:

- But not for long, since the only news from that quarter is that unfolding has filled her room.


Well that was anticlimactic. Huh. Maybe The Victory will be more exciting:

- Apparently we are all now on the Frappr map, since there haven’t been so many posts about it this week. Let the stalking begin!

- 2kids5cats is a lazy, good-for-nothing person who has yet to send out wristbands. We should shun her. SHHHHHUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!

- Carrie95b2000 is not going to be on the Riviera Deck. But I’m sure she’s a nice person anyway.

- There was much lively debate about what exactly would be needed on the cruise and how that related to the size of luggage to be carried. This, naturally, led to much lively debate about Marilyn Manson.

- Karaoke – the thread that just won’t die.

- Remember people – peroxide is not a good mixer.

- Hertz has confirmed that they have a shuttle from their rental car drop to the Port. And I bet that shuttle will get to the Port earlier than the shuttle from the host hotels, which means that all you rental car people will be in front of me in the boarding line, just like last year… Sigh…

- There has been much booking of hotels this week. So much so that the Marriott and the Courtyard Hotels are full. Fortunately for those who did not book there, it would appear that many fine hotels are available rather cheaply from Priceline-type websites.

- MotownGuyinWI and Musical Genius are incredibly ambitious and fit people who are planning to run the half-marathon in Miami. I would do the same except a) I don’t like running, b) I’m pretty sure a half-marathon would kill me, and c) I just plain to simply toast them and their accomplishments with my first on-board fruity drink.

- There are people driving from Orlando to Miami for the cruise. If you would like to be one of them, you shouldn’t bring too much luggage.

- CayCay will be in San Diego on the 26th and 27th of this month. Don’t let her enjoy the sunshine alone!

- Hey guys! Fin’s back! Or he was. Not that he answered any questions. Or stuck around for more than one little post. But you take what you can get, I suppose…


Now I will awkwardly use Fin’s musical context to transition badly to talking about the Caribbean Lounge:

- I informed you all that Craig Cardiff would be a cool addition to the cruise. And am apparently doing so again.

- Our discussion of disliked BNL songs led to a discussion of liking/disliking Kevin’s singing. In the end though, can you really dislike someone who describes his own voice as Kermit-like?

- We also liked BNL songs. Still. Which is a good thing, considering the cruise thing and all…

- 2kids has way cooler computer conversations with bands than I’ve ever had. Not a surprise, since no band or singer has ever deigned to reply to me… We also found out that half an article by Brian is very entertaining until it stops and then is frustrating.

- Gaelic Storm will be in Chicago at some point. Since there is no chance of me being there, I’m not going to re-check the date. I have to leave something for the rest of you to do, don’t I?

- Not to be nit-picky or anything, but why are we using the “Confirmed Artists Thread” to discuss such things as college rivalries and a general hatred of Ohio?


Probably a question without an answer, kind of like “What’s the meaning of life?” or “Is there a God?” Only less profound. Fortunately, my pathetic lack of profundity does not keep us from enjoying the inanity that is the Grand Buffet (I’m really bringing out the stupid transitions today, aren’t I?):

- The way Lauren got her job sounds like one of those never-actually-happens, dream-come-true type things. Lucky Lauren!

- The Canadians on this board had the opportunity this week to eat lots and lots of turkey (and strange bean dishes). Or tofurkey, if they swing that way.

- WildEagle hasn’t posted any Stupid Quotes for about 5 days. He needs to remedy this.

- While I didn’t actually get around to DVRing Friday Night Lights last week (sorry), the insistency of Garyrulez’s pleas did motivate me to check out the back episodes on the NBC website. Having now watched about half of the first season this way, I can agree wholeheartedly that this is indeed a fine show that deserves your viewership. Even if it is about football…

- I was a Woodpecker, although being an Utter wouldn’t be so bad either.

- Apparently my parents aren’t the only ones disorganized enough to lose Christmas presents. I’m still going to tease them mercilessly about it.

- annaonthemoon and sarah11918 are going to be dining at the California Pizza Kitchen in the mall in King of Prussia, PA on Tuesday, should any of you be in the neighborhood.

- The aforementioned Sarah had a dream about the cruise and might need some Help! dealing with her issues.

- nvcatgut made another Brian Wilson video, which is much easier to hear than the previous one.

- That artist dude took another picture of naked people. Ours is still better.

- I also neglected to DVR 49-Up. Sorry Shell.

- However 1984ish such systems are, Nexus passes suddenly seem worth the effort when you get stuck waiting behind 300 cars for an hour at the border…

- Should I be worried that WeedMage’s inspiring and philosophical story mostly made me want a glass of wine? Or two?

- You’d think that the government that wants to monitor our actions for potential threats before any crime is committed would make it easier to get fingerprinted. You’d think that, but you’d be wrong…

- When it comes down to it, “Ned Flanders” might just be the most Goth name of all.

- Furtaonley msot of the polepe riedang tihs braod are steamrr tahn aegrvae. Tihs is rlaely hrad to wtrie wtih aitoamuc sleipnlg ccehk.

- NikkiPoooo thinks that Eric Hutchinson is a good singer. As a person of confirmed good music taste, we might want to believe her.

- I am now picturing polyester_angel at her work Christmas party, jingle bells hanging from her dress and seamed stockings on her legs…

- As MoodyCat found out this week, Nature doesn’t always give the most thoughtful birthday gifts…

- If the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of sea creatures didn’t creep me out so much, MotownGuy’s photos would totally make me want to go scuba diving.

- It would appear that we will never truly be rid of the peeping appliances, no matter how many trips down the Finchy branch of memory lane we take to get away from them.

- I get to meet Sarah in New York tomorrow! Yay!

- We were haiku-less.
Fortunately they returned.
Now I am happy.

- Just so that no one gets offended ever again, I will now detail all of my personal experience with every member of this board that I’ve actually met. katenev_BNL stood behind me in the cruise-boarding line last year. I met NiceyDoodle and WildEagle repeatedly throughout the cruise. anaria and polyester_angel will be my roommates next year (I also ate lunch with PA in Montreal back in July). dawezl and Muppetcoat traveled with me to Buffalo in June, where I also met quinbooka, CayCay, Suebee42, and probably a bunch of other people. While I was in Washington state in August, I went to a Renaissance Fair with WeedMage and to the gathering with 2kids, her husband, and Barenakedesq. Nikki came to visit New York last month and stayed with me, having many adventures. And Muppetcoat (who currently lives within walking distance of me) has been hung out with several times. Are you all happy now???

- There was some more discussion about interesting-sounding books that I have not read.

- I’m sure that none of us really believe that celebrities get preferential treatment in the criminal justice system.

- Do you think that Garyrulez would disclose the location of the Rulez Estate, Farm, Hatchery, and Ostrich/Giraffe Habitat if I gave him a $1,000,000 bill?

- Carbon Leaf will be playing in Philadelphia on December 12. I think they may be playing in New York sometime around then as well…

- The mention of several mysterious and apparently unfindable BNL videos suddenly makes me desperate to see them. Sigh…

- The Guys Talked about Jodie Foster, the Hannibal Lecter movies/books, and hockey. This may represent unprecedented variety for this thread!

- Boggle is better than Scrabble. Anyone who feels differently is just wrong.

- Body hair might be considered a weird topic on some message boards. On this board, it has inspired two pages of discussion in a short time.

- However interesting Indiana and giraffes may be to you people, the thread was about MY future career! Of all the threads to go off-topic…

- Does it betray my incredible innocence about certain topics to admit that I had to Google Harry Reems?

- Going alone to a concert may not be ideal, but it’s a whole lot better than not going at all (says the person who happily saw 3 out of her first 4 BNL concerts all by her lonesome).

- Back in my day, we didn’t get cookies, sparkly stars, or fireworks for a measly 100 posts. We had to work for our virtual rewards. We posted through the snow, uphill both ways, and still didn’t get any fireworks until 1000…

- In the interest of accuracy, I need to point out that my answer for quote number 19 is incorrect. George Bernard Shaw said “He who can does, he who cannot teaches.”

- I just dropped hard-boiled egg on my pants. If the preceding sentence is your idea of the perfect post, then get thee to the Random thread!

- 200 pages of the ABC thread and we’re still having trouble with Y…

- Should we be worried about how thoroughly many people on this board are identifying with The Big Bang Theory? It’s like we’re all nerds or something…

- I should know better by now than to follow a link described by the phrase: “There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs.”

- It would probably suck to have an ex on Ships & Dip with you. Fortunately, just about everyone I know thinks my BNL obsession is more than a little nutty, thus making this problem rather unlikely for me.


Hey! The Stupid Elation boy just left me a message. I wonder what his excuse will be… Since it’s time for this exercise in insanity to be finished now, I think I’ll go check…

Week in Peep (10/5/07)

Sorry Gary.

No witty intro this week ([parenthetical_rant]If you don’t think I’m witty, then you can just keep quiet. Or, better yet, you could write your own weekly review and give me some time off. Wow. What a nice though – a Friday not spent re-reading everything on this board… Not that you’re not all really entertaining, but you do tend to write a lot. Which takes a lot of time to read, not that anyone appreciates how much time that is. You all just skim whatever you feel like and then count on me to recount it all to you in clever little snippets at the end of the week. Why do I bother? What do I get out of all this? What’s the point? Why am I still even asking, since these questions are keeping me from writing the silly thing and then getting on with the important business of my life. I do have one, you know. Despite allegations to the contrary from certain people (you know who you are). I even have a life that has nothing at all to do with this board. Not that the length of this aside is any indication at all.[/parenthetical_rant]).


Instead, we will head straight to The Victory for the important news:

- Which is that drumgroovy will be one of the cool kids on the Riviera Deck! OK, so that’s not particularly important news (sorry, drumgroovy). But this review is principally done in reverse-chronological order, so you’re all just going to have to be patient if you want to read news that actually is important.

- drumgroovy is also 23. He will be smuggling booze aboard (or trying to anyway), in case anybody is thirsty.

- Many people, who are not drumgroovy, like Great Big Sea and would like to see them on the sea.

- If you are arriving at the airport (FLA or MIA) at a weird time, it’s probably more economical to rent a car than to take a taxi for a long distance. I’m sticking with the shuttle myself.

- annaonthemoon was looking for a ride from Orlando to Miami. And appears to have found one in orlbnlfan. Who may be getting a whole bunch of travel companions…

- It is an incredibly long flight to Florida from places like Australia and Singapore. My congratulations and condolences to ephant and drumgroovy for attempting such flights.

- Much advice was given on packing. My only advice is this: listen to nothing, and I do mean nothing, suggested by someone named Garyrulez.

- Is it all the sun that makes Southern Californians such overachievers? Three meet-ups is just rubbing it in, in my opinion.

- Peep.

- Thanks to Frappr, we can all stalk each other quite effectively.

- When I was a rich white kid at camp (an amusing idea, since it was a cheap religious camp that we paid about $100 for), the song was “Alice the Camel.” We didn’t have such things as Sign and Sail cards at camp. But that would have been really fun…

- Lauren has decided which questions are worthy of answers. I didn’t submit any, since I knew I could never be worthy of the awesomeness of Lauren.

- Fin’s still not answering our questions, almost as if the guy has a job or something.

- And, last but not least, there is a host hotel! Actually, several host hotels! Pick your favorite! And if you’re one of my roommates, I hope you like what I picked for you…


Alas, in my excitement about host hotels, I forgot to begin with the Seven Seas Lobby, an error which I shall rectify right now:

- Sounds like Shutterbug is still looking… Help her find a roommate!

- And Bigbaldy may win the prize for best new username/avatar…


Short but sweet, a rare thing on this board… And not something that I regularly expect from the Caribbean Lounge:

- Ed’s eyes are pretty.

- Guster played at Kent State. They were good, although apparently the late night wannabe traveling with them was somewhat less good.

- I still haven’t seen the movie Once. But when I do, I’m sure I’ll want the band on the boat too.

- polyester_angel would like Buck 65 on the boat. She may have requested this before…

- You can pre-order the BNL CD/DVD from Amazon now. I need to send my parents a link for that – it would make a lovely birthday present…

- Jason Plumb will be playing in Toronto on Nov. 22. I will most likely be in Toronto on Nov. 22. This is good.

- drumgroovy and carroway have favorite BNL songs!

- While Yay4BNL and CayCay have least favorite BNL songs!

- And KiaOra2 and Muppetcoat have favorite Carbon Leaf songs!

- Penn State graduates are to be found in many different regions of the country. Although probably not Penn State graduates, Matt Wertz and Joe Firstman (what an appropriate name for a Sixthman cruise…) were recommended as musical acts.


I just have to say that the buffet on the ship this year had better be pretty cool. I would expect nothing less after calling it the Grand Buffet all year:

- KatieSue04’s apartment issues have been settled. Sometimes, the fear of lawyers is a good thing.

- We continued to watch TV when not posting on the message board.

- nvcatgut has paid off the cruise. This makes me jealous. Of course, since the last payment is due rather soon, I guess I won’t have to be jealous for very long. Just broke…

- Don’t let your dogs eat sorbitol. It’s very bad for them and could even cause death. But it’s perfectly OK for humans to eat it… For now…

- Multimedia meatloaf and cookies are now available for your non-dining pleasure.

- All seems to be proceeding happily and well in the future adoption of Baby Boy in WI. Although if the poor child ends up with a name like Girvin, the happiness may not last so long…

- In case you don’t read The Victory sections of this review, let me reiterate how ridiculously far it is from Singapore and Australia to Florida. Especially when you can’t take a direct flight…

- Suddenly, I understand the origins of the discontent expressed at the beginning of this review! Thank you Transportation Magazine of July 1943! Thank you! Now please excuse me while I go freshen my lipstick.

- I must say… Puerto Rico is indeed sounding quite pleasant right now.

- Matt White has a chance to do a McDonald’s commercial! Actually, I’m not sure that this is a prize worth winning…

- Peep.

- Wouldn’t it be cool if superstars convicted of felonies could be sentenced to a normal life? They’d have to go to work, balance their own checkbooks, sit in traffic while commuting or deal with mass transit… And then maybe I could get to live their life during the sentence… Hmmm, I’m liking this idea!

- It’s not that I spend too much time on this board, it’s that all of you spend too little time here.

- Rush Limbaugh is a pompous windbag jerk who has the right to say what he likes. No matter how much time Congress wastes debating that.

- Peep.

- According to the infinite wisdom that is the internet, I will be voting for someone named Chris Dodd in the next election. Hopefully, by then, I will know who he is.

- The Mom Song made both my mom and dad very happy when I sent it to them.

- Minneapolis is an amazing city with a plethora of sights for the eager tourist. They also have a giant cherry on a spoon, which is possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever seen and actually makes me want to visit Minneapolis.

- Peep.

- A brief note to WildEagle: Posting the occasional Stupid Quotes does not satisfy your posting requirements for the week.

- Citibank pop-ups are probably quite annoying. Although I would gladly take a few pop-ups if Citibank would agree to stop sending me credit card bills…

- Men might not be so good with the emotional advice, but at least they make your car go.

- Water for Elephants and Middlesex were recommended for those of you with intellectual aspirations greater than the message board.

- I may need to find out for myself if my roommate is like a Slinky or just a Dildo.

- How does one gain a nickname like “The Oomph Girl?”

- Butter in WI has a nice ring to it…

- The people who managed to either watch, tape, or download The Big Bang Theory enjoyed it. Those of us who haven’t gotten around to any of these activities just read about it.

- Despite a good concert to possibly attract attendees, the people in Philly aren’t moving so fast on the party idea. Maybe if someone from California came to visit…

- sarah11918 had a good experience with someone in a service industry! I’ve been told that this can happen but have rarely experienced such a joyous thing for myself. And we can all join in the celebration of this rarity!

- Peep.

- Guys can be weird, and it’s weirder when they’ve randomly dated your friends in the past. Or if they’re cage fighters. But some guys are like that. Even in Michigan. (massive points to anyone who can guess which children’s book I was thinking of while writing the last two sentences…)

- When I was in high school, I thought I was pretty successful for getting into college with enough scholarship money to pay for it. I hadn’t even heard of BNL until college! Ashley Qualls started a business and is now a millionaire who listens to BNL. Sigh…

- It would have been cool if PA had shown her students A Clockwork Orange for their reward! Of course, I’m a heartless b**** who didn’t cry over Bambi’s mother, so what do I know? Well, thanks to safinch, I now know that Benjamin Franklin played a gay man on Who’s the Boss.

- Time once again to get your wootoff.

- It’s probably not worthwhile to worry about the possibility of no cruise in 2009. It’s much better to make trouble with peeps. And WTP is now my favorite acronym. Ever.

- There are many ways to get yourself into shape for the cruise. Kickboxing is a painful one.

- NiceyDoodle is now working in an office, which means she should be posting more. So far, she seems to just be celebrating Thanksgiving… Which is just making me hungry for turkey!

- Tina Louise is alive and Rankin is a lucky duck. Ah the randomness…

- Carnival needs our help again in order to take over the cruise ship universe.

- Garyrulez respectfully requests that we all watch Friday Night Lights this evening. If I weren’t so busy writing this peepin’ review, I might be setting my DVR right now. However…

- Kunta Kinte in WI will forever be indebted to the ABC thread.

- Peep.


And with that last peep (peep), I must go. There is laundry to be collected from the basement! A DVR to set! Dinner to eat! A night out to embark upon! Ah, yes, I do have a life!

(peep)