Silliness So what are you doing RIGHT NOW? - Page 2472

Stitchawl · 01-29-2014, 04:55 AM

I just came back from the temple, having my new motor scooter blessed. Interesting ceremony; the Monk and his acolytes walk around the bike a few times, then the head Monk dabs some sort of holy mud paste (I'm guessing it's made from Thanaka in intricate designs on the front of the bike, then while chanting Buddhist sutra, splashes both me and the bike with water from a golden dish using a long brush made of grasses. The whole ceremony took about 8-10 minutes, finishing with the Monk tying a thick pure white cotton rope around the steering post of the bike, and another thin one around my wrist, tying in all the blessings and good luck, keeping it within a sacred circle. These are never supposed to be 'cut' off, but can be removed after a while by wetting the string and gently stretching it. I'm a Philosophical Taoist, and as such we don't have ceremony (Religious Taoists do, and I'm jealous...) so I thought I'd 'borrow' the Buddhist ceremony for my new toy.

Stitchawl

ProfCrash · 01-29-2014, 08:51 AM

Looking good. No harm in asking for extra protection when on your bike.

We have a colleague at work who was cut off by another driver who is in a coma after he crashed his bike. Many broken bones, swelling on the brain. Not good.

Stitchawl · 01-29-2014, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Looking good. No harm in asking for extra protection when on your bike.

We have a colleague at work who was cut off by another driver who is in a coma after he crashed his bike. Many broken bones, swelling on the brain. Not good.

I figure that who ever the Supreme Being is, he(she?) stops by all the different denominations with equal regularity. Taoists don't give that energy a name, but we recognize it exists. So if I happen to be visiting Notre Dame Cathedral, I'll stop and light a candle. If I'm in The Great Synagogue of Jerusalem, I'll put on a yarmulka and talis and say the Shemah Yisroael. In a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, I'll sit Zazen. If I'm in the woods, I'll sit beside a stream and listen to the songs of Nature. I'm usually not asking for anything anyway, just saying 'thanks for everything.' I think the message is getting through.

Stitchawl

WT Sharpe · 01-29-2014, 01:17 PM

I'm clearing off the porch, concrete walkway, and the car. When I woke up this morning, my next door neighbor had already shoveled a path from the porch to our car. That was above and beyond the call of nice. I'll have to think of something nice I can do for her and her husband.

Bilbo1967 · 01-29-2014, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I'm clearing off the porch, concrete walkway, and the car. When I woke up this morning, my next door neighbor had already shoveled a path from the porch to our car. That was above and beyond the call of nice. I'll have to think of something nice I can do for her and her husband.

Move house?

You're lucky to have such good neighbours - we do now, but it hadn't always been the case.

poohbear_nc · 01-29-2014, 01:26 PM

Just finished clearing off the steps, driveway & cars ... the snow is still fine powder [no sleet or freezing rain] and I could just use a push broom on it. We're expecting a hard freeze tonight (0 - 5 F) so everything that doesn't melt & evaporate will freeze hard as a rock.

WT Sharpe · 01-31-2014, 12:26 PM

Right now I'm remembering the wonderful film I watched last night: The Man Who Laughs, a 1928 silent adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic by filmmaker Paul Leni. It was a wonderful and engaging drama/adventure, and the final half-hour kept me sitting up and glued to the edge of the bed. It has been said that the physical appearance of the title character was the inspiration for Batman's Joker character, and it's easy to see why; although the character of Gwynplaine was as far removed from Bob Kane's creation as humanly possible. My only gripe with the film was the soundtrack added by a Batman fan. Yes, the Batman theme played throughout, which was highly distracting, to say the least. The only time the moody Batman theme music wasn't playing was during the appearances of Dea, a blind girl and love interest for Gwynplaine whose life the Smiling Man saved while he was a small boy and she was a baby. Whenever she was on screen, the soundtrack played "Beautiful Dreamer", which, while being more appropriate to the time the film was made, in this case only served to throw the Batman theme that filled the rest of the screen time into even sharper relief.

I highly recommend this film to all who love good filmmaking and rousing adventures. Without the Batman theme, if you can find it, but with it if you can't.

cromag · 01-31-2014, 06:09 PM

Got a new-to-me laptop, refurbished, with Windows 7 on a 160 GB hard drive.

The laptop is everything I need ... except I prefer Linux and need a larger hard drive.

So, right now, I'm setting up a user account and updating all Windows related items. I have a new hard drive in an external housing -- in a while I'll be ready to "clone" the hard drive, then swap the new drive into the laptop. Then I'll install Linux (probably Ubuntu, but I'm not a fan of the new Unity desktop) as a dual boot system -- the new drive is large enough, and there are a couple of Windows programs I use for which there are no good Linux alternatives.

Then, I'll put the small hard drive away for safe keeping. If the laptop needs attention under the warrantee it will need to be "as delivered" -- messing with the Operating System triggers all sorts of red flags.

DMcCunney · 01-31-2014, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cromag

Then I'll install Linux (probably Ubuntu, but I'm not a fan of the new Unity desktop) as a dual boot system -- the new drive is large enough,

Ubuntu defaults to Unity (if the machine can run it), but you aren't tied to it. You can use apt-get to install something else.

I run Ubuntu on an ancient Fujitsu notebook and a more modern homebrew desktop. The notebook can't run Unity[/i]. It has onboard graphics based on an ATI Rage Mobility chipset, and doesn't have the horsepower. I use Lxde there, as the lightest weight alternative.

The desktop will run Unity, but an interface designed for a notebook screen falls down on a 23" monitor. There, I run XFCE4.

For dual booting, you might look at installing Ubuntu using WUBI. The WUBI installer installs Ubuntu on the Windows file system, and adds a boot entry to the standard Windows boot menu. Windows sees the Ubuntu installation as one huge file. Ubuntu sees it as a Linux file system, using whatever FS you prefer. (I use ext4.)

On a current machine, access is fast enough that the additional overhead of not having a "native" install generally isn't noticeable.

I found an open source driver for Windows that does read/write access to Linux file systems, and Ubuntu can see and read/write NTFS.

Quote:

and there are a couple of Windows programs I use for which there are no good Linux alternatives.

Which ones?
______
Dennis

5thWiggle · 02-01-2014, 08:18 AM

Sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight to the sunny south. Good bye cruel Canadian Winter! (Or see you later, anyway)

Going to miss my Mobile read fix, though. (5WW is already chewing on the bags, wanting to log on, but resisting.

)

Stitchawl · 02-01-2014, 08:57 AM

Just got back from Chinatown, and the Year of the Horse festival was in full swing! Crowds were elbow to elbow (not fun,) food was incredible (lots of fun!) and the dancing delightful. We watched Miss Chiang Mai and her Court entertain us, some Lion Dancers, and had our ears stuffed with firecracker noise and happy people sounds.
Welcome the Year of the Horse!

Stitchawl

poohbear_nc · 02-01-2014, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

Sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight to the sunny south. Good bye cruel Canadian Winter! (Or see you later, anyway)

Going to miss my Mobile read fix, though. (5WW is already chewing on the bags, wanting to log on, but resisting.

)

How far south are you traveling?
[sweeping out the roost in case strangers wearing goatees show up for lunch]

dreams · 02-02-2014, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

Sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight to the sunny south. Good bye cruel Canadian Winter! (Or see you later, anyway)

Going to miss my Mobile read fix, though. (5WW is already chewing on the bags, wanting to log on, but resisting.

)

Have a great time and I hope it stays sunny and warm in the south.

I'm finishing breakfast, sorting laundry, and figuring out what else needs to be done.

kindlekitten · 02-02-2014, 03:07 PM

getting ready to head to the puppy park. the pup and I are putting on our Broncos gear and will watch the game on delay later

poohbear_nc · 02-02-2014, 03:30 PM

We're watching Puppy Bowl X! Penguin cheer leaders!

01-29-2014, 04:55 AM	#37066
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	I just came back from the temple, having my new motor scooter blessed. Interesting ceremony; the Monk and his acolytes walk around the bike a few times, then the head Monk dabs some sort of holy mud paste (I'm guessing it's made from Thanaka in intricate designs on the front of the bike, then while chanting Buddhist sutra, splashes both me and the bike with water from a golden dish using a long brush made of grasses. The whole ceremony took about 8-10 minutes, finishing with the Monk tying a thick pure white cotton rope around the steering post of the bike, and another thin one around my wrist, tying in all the blessings and good luck, keeping it within a sacred circle. These are never supposed to be 'cut' off, but can be removed after a while by wetting the string and gently stretching it. I'm a Philosophical Taoist, and as such we don't have ceremony (Religious Taoists do, and I'm jealous...) so I thought I'd 'borrow' the Buddhist ceremony for my new toy. Stitchawl Attached Thumbnails

01-31-2014, 12:26 PM	#37072
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	Right now I'm remembering the wonderful film I watched last night: The Man Who Laughs, a 1928 silent adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic by filmmaker Paul Leni. It was a wonderful and engaging drama/adventure, and the final half-hour kept me sitting up and glued to the edge of the bed. It has been said that the physical appearance of the title character was the inspiration for Batman's Joker character, and it's easy to see why; although the character of Gwynplaine was as far removed from Bob Kane's creation as humanly possible. My only gripe with the film was the soundtrack added by a Batman fan. Yes, the Batman theme played throughout, which was highly distracting, to say the least. The only time the moody Batman theme music wasn't playing was during the appearances of Dea, a blind girl and love interest for Gwynplaine whose life the Smiling Man saved while he was a small boy and she was a baby. Whenever she was on screen, the soundtrack played "Beautiful Dreamer", which, while being more appropriate to the time the film was made, in this case only served to throw the Batman theme that filled the rest of the screen time into even sharper relief. I highly recommend this film to all who love good filmmaking and rousing adventures. Without the Batman theme, if you can find it, but with it if you can't. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by WT Sharpe; 01-31-2014 at 12:29 PM.

01-29-2014, 08:51 AM	#37067
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	Looking good. No harm in asking for extra protection when on your bike. We have a colleague at work who was cut off by another driver who is in a coma after he crashed his bike. Many broken bones, swelling on the brain. Not good.

01-29-2014, 01:17 PM	#37069
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I'm clearing off the porch, concrete walkway, and the car. When I woke up this morning, my next door neighbor had already shoveled a path from the porch to our car. That was above and beyond the call of nice. I'll have to think of something nice I can do for her and her husband.

01-29-2014, 01:26 PM	#37071
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,717 Karma: 135239851 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	Just finished clearing off the steps, driveway & cars ... the snow is still fine powder [no sleet or freezing rain] and I could just use a push broom on it. We're expecting a hard freeze tonight (0 - 5 F) so everything that doesn't melt & evaporate will freeze hard as a rock.

01-31-2014, 06:09 PM	#37073
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 26,467 Karma: 459765791 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	Got a new-to-me laptop, refurbished, with Windows 7 on a 160 GB hard drive. The laptop is everything I need ... except I prefer Linux and need a larger hard drive. So, right now, I'm setting up a user account and updating all Windows related items. I have a new hard drive in an external housing -- in a while I'll be ready to "clone" the hard drive, then swap the new drive into the laptop. Then I'll install Linux (probably Ubuntu, but I'm not a fan of the new Unity desktop) as a dual boot system -- the new drive is large enough, and there are a couple of Windows programs I use for which there are no good Linux alternatives. Then, I'll put the small hard drive away for safe keeping. If the laptop needs attention under the warrantee it will need to be "as delivered" -- messing with the Operating System triggers all sorts of red flags.

02-01-2014, 08:18 AM	#37075
5thWiggle Benevolent Evil Lord Posts: 1,704 Karma: 48339466 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Evil Canada (We all have goatees!) Device: Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note, iPad Mini, PocketEdge(retired)	Sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight to the sunny south. Good bye cruel Canadian Winter! (Or see you later, anyway) Going to miss my Mobile read fix, though. (5WW is already chewing on the bags, wanting to log on, but resisting. )

02-01-2014, 08:57 AM	#37076
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	Just got back from Chinatown, and the Year of the Horse festival was in full swing! Crowds were elbow to elbow (not fun,) food was incredible (lots of fun!) and the dancing delightful. We watched Miss Chiang Mai and her Court entertain us, some Lion Dancers, and had our ears stuffed with firecracker noise and happy people sounds. Welcome the Year of the Horse! Stitchawl

02-02-2014, 03:07 PM	#37079
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	getting ready to head to the puppy park. the pup and I are putting on our Broncos gear and will watch the game on delay later

02-02-2014, 03:30 PM	#37080
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,717 Karma: 135239851 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	We're watching Puppy Bowl X! Penguin cheer leaders!