Two of Ninety-nine

two_of_99
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

This morning, the campus was fogged-in but there were red balloons everywhere to guide international students to various locations for orientation. I took this photo and then immediately got Nena's 99 Luftballons stuck in my head.

Thank goodness for YouTube -- here's the video in its original German, though this is not the first video they produced for the song. The first video featured concert footage and was rejected by MTV; MuchMusic played it, and I remember JD Roberts (now John Roberts) and Michael Williams joking about the fact that American audiences apparently didn't want to see Nena's armpit hair.

Ankleversary

I just glanced at the calendar and realized that a year ago today I smashed my ankle.

For the most part, it is all better now -- as good as it's going to get, I'd say. I do get the odd day of extra aches and pains (usually when the weather changes) and I obsessively cling to handrails now, but I often forget that I have permanent metal plates in my ankle. This, I presume, is a good thing.

Many thanks again to all those who supported me through the ordeal.

So much to do....

Blogging may be scarce for a while as we are busy with prep at home and all I have the energy to do at the end of the night is surf aimlessly or play a few rounds of a puzzle game.

Today, Hubby is finishing filling the U-Pak unit then we still have a bit of packing to do (but now our storage locker and storage room are empty -- all that stuff is in the U-Pak) before we prep for painting this weekend. After that, we start shuffling but we have a bit of a breather before we have to get all the furniture out of the way for re-carpeting.

Once the carpet is in, we have a couple of days to stage the place (gah) before the sale sign goes up. If everything goes according to plan, we will have the first open house on the 20th of September.

***

While you are waiting, check out this bizarre bit of chronocide. (You have Mental Floss to thank for alerting me to its existence.)

Elder God For Sale!

After fifteen months, Hubby's one-of-a-kind sculpture is complete and is now for sale. We'll be listing it on eBay, but offers will be taken any time.

The highest point is the bow of the boat which is is 5' 6" off the ground. The widest span (wingtip to fingertip) is just over 5'; I'm guessing it weighs close to 200 lbs. Here are some detail photos:

More info at thosedewolfes.com and Flickr.

Science in Song

This made my day. I expect this video has been making the rounds and so it should!! (For the record, I found it over at the Brain of Shawn) It's a rap video about particle physics.

No, really.

If you like Bill Nye , Beakman's World, Daily Planet or Mythbusters, or if you have any interest in physics or science education, this video is a must see.

And if you like it, check out the Large Hadron download page with links to the lyrics, video, and mp3 single. :)

And if that isn't enough geeky music fun, go check out these videos:

She Blinded me with Science -- Thomas Dolby (classic 80s synth pop)
Weird Science -- Oingo Boingo (the lead singer is Danny Elfman, best known for his many collaborations with Tim Burton)
The Elements Song -- sung by Tom Lehrer with LEGO animation and effects by David White
The Science in Me -- song by Outbox, X-Files montage by XFRachgaz
The Device Has Been Modified v2 -- CyberCat (music video inspired by and using footage from the game Portal)
Fire on Babylon -- song by Sinead O'Connor, Babylon 5 montage by Hubby :)