Saturday, June 30, 2007

Want Your Own Village?

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I am hanging out with Little Rita and the Villagers......
if you haven't yet checked out Virtual Villagers, and VVII you oughta. That is, if you like that sorta gaming. There's no warfare, no killing, although people do die from old age, disease and starvation as you try to build a village for these poor castaways, teach them to plant crops, fish and build stuff! Oh, and I almost forgot, you get to make babies. My favorite part of the game is breeding out the erm, less desirable persons in the tribe, and making lots of babies with the hot ones. Personally I have an attachment to the blue haired dreadlocked ladies and the handsome tousled dark haired boys. Here are a few shots from VVI, which you of course have to start with!
See what happens when you have too many babies?
Villagers in action.
Ok that's all I got, go get your own village today!

Friday, June 29, 2007

55Flash Fiction Friday

It had been a long day out on the lake and the fish just weren't biting.
Chicken Little chewed on his soggy birdseed sandwich and thought about lobster thermador. He slouched down into his boat and soon was snoring away.
He awoke at midnight.
"Oh my stars, the sky really is falling!" the chicken exclaimed.
~
Just what was I thinking when I wrote this 55? I don't know about you, but the first time I saw the aurora borealis, I thought the sky was broken, too, just like Chicken Little! If you want to read more about Flash Fiction, go here. Otherwise, let me know if you played and I will send the posse over to check it out. Have a lovely weekend people!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Who's Saree Now, HNT

There once was a lady from Cali
Who quite well knew how to wrap saree
But just for today
She'd wear it her way....

....You have to write the next line for me!

(my apologies to the lovely Mona for improper saree behaviour!)
**UPDATE**
There once was a lady from Cali
Who quite well knew how to wrap saree
But just for today
She'd wear it her way
Forgetting the ways of Old Delhi
~
Happy HNT Bloggy Peeps!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Critters

Um...it's hot...I'll be on the kitchen floor til this heat wave blows over...I didn't even take any pictures this weekend....got nothing...um, except maybe this picture of a yellow wooly cat that Little Rita made.

...and um, this deer that has taken to sleeping in my front yard. I feel so special that she feels comfy to live here, but I sure hope she isn't planning to have fawns in my yard or something. That could get complicated.

Have a lovely week, bloggy peeps!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Summer is Here!!!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! We will be at Bass Lake relaxing!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

55Flash Fiction Friday

Ok I admit it....this 55 is recycled from last year. School is out, and Little Rita and Mr Ratburn are hanging around. I dedicate todays 55 to them, have a fun summer you two!
She kissed the top of her childs head, then quietly slipped the bribe money into the hand of the trusty bus driver...it was gonna cost her to keep that extra week of freedom, but by Joe, she was gonna have it! Besides, the kids will love a week at Disneyland with "Uncle Bus Driver."
~
As summer vacations finds us, all over America mothers are screaming out in agony over the loss of their personal freedom and "space." Some of us even have teacher husbands, so we really are in for it!Let's all take a moment of silence to mourn our loss, shall we?

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Messin Round in the Orchard HNT

See why I have so much trouble with grass allergies? It's 6 feet tall in some spots.

Let it shine, oh let it shine!

Another perfect evening for wandering around outside.
Mr Ratburn thinks he's Isaac Newton William Tell.

Happy HNT Everybody!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Time to discuss a current obssession, shopgirl by Steve Martin. Er rather, steal a review for it, anyway. I have currently read the book and watched the film each twice. I just love them both.
Here's the cool thing about it. Steve Martin wrote the book, he then stars in the film, and I got a pretty good feeling that this story is very much about the real Steve Martin. That's just my hunch, though.
Now, I wanna talk about the film because I saw it last night. It's worth the rental for the opening scenes alone, which are shot in Saaks department store, all the customers dressed smartly in black and white. I have to always rewind the opening because it's just so cool, and here, I will say it again, this is Steve's film, his vision, and I like it.
And, I must admit, I do like the confident, successful, older man thing. The well dressed, hold the small of her back as you enter a room together, fly her up to Seattle for spontaneous evening, slip her tiny black boxes with jewels inside thing. Sigh.....very classy Steve, very classy indeed.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, that Clare Danes all grown up and without her geese is hot hot hot! Enough said, check it out.

Here's my favorite review of the film, from the Rolling Stone:
Some audiences are just never going to cotton to a screen romance that has Steve Martin, 60, getting it on with Claire Danes, 26. To which I say: Grow up, people. The May-December thing worked in Lost in Translation and it works here, thanks to the perceptive and gracefully romantic script that Martin has adapted from his novella. This is not the wild-and-crazy Martin of Bringing Down the House, this is the Martin who writes for The New Yorker with erudition and wit. OK, you've been warned. For those still interested, we'll move on.
Martin, in a sharp, subtle performance, plays Ray Porter -- possessed of charm, intelligence and millions from an L.A. computer business that allows him to indulge his taste for art and sex. There is something courtly but detached about Ray that may have factored into his divorce. And the fact that Martin is probably writing about himself won't be lost on alert viewers.
Ray is first attracted to Vermont transplant and aspiring artist Mirabelle Buttersfield (Danes) when he sees her selling gloves at Saks. The pristine setting -- Mirabelle standing amidst uncluttered elegance -- is clearly a turn-on for Ray, who seems to prefer things untouched by human hands.
As yet, Ray doesn't know about Mirabelle's messy, age-appropriate relationship with Jeremy (a very funny Jason Schwartzman, who functions as the film's broadly comic relief). But even when he does find out, Ray isn't flustered. Mirabelle wears her emotions more openly. She aspires to Ray's sophistication. Mistakenly, she also thinks she can cut through his veneer. Danes, on a roll with Stage Beauty, Igby Goes Down and the upcoming Family Stone, gives her best performance yet. It's through her that Ray's character is truly defined. He doesn't see what he's missing by keeping Mirabelle at a distance, but we do in the light of Danes' luminosity and spirit.
That's intuitive filmmaking, and director Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie) deserves credit for letting us catch Mirabelle in and out of Ray's pumpkin shell. If Ray's world seems hermetically sealed -- Peter Suschitzky's cinematography is cannily sleek -- that's because it's the source of his comfort and his sorrow. Even the film's missteps (the score, by Barrington Pheloung, is cringe-inducing) can't stop this meditation on love -- Martin calls it "Jane Austen for the twenty-first century" -- from melting into heartbreak.
PETER TRAVERS
(Posted: Oct 20, 2005)




Here are a couple more shopgirl reviews if you're interested.

Have a lovely day!

Monday, June 18, 2007

I Can If I Want To.....

Image hosting by PhotobucketGo see that WDKY and tell him ya played and that he really oughta hang around again a wee bit more.

Going To A Town



Yep Musical Monday, yes, Rufus. This is Rufus' "Shame on you George Bush etc" song....check it out. If you drive around with an American flag in the back of your pickup truck, you probably oughta not watch this.
Not to get all soapboxy, but I just love it when people in the public eye use that opportunity to make a statement about something they believe to be truly wrong. Or, use their riches to do the right thing, or you know, that sort of thing.
Now, don't get all pissed off at Rufus for telling it like it is. (He's Quebecois, btw).

In other news...busy weekend at the bazaar, made some bucks, paid some bills, it was hot and sunny, my allergies suck, and school is out. I might have to post my runaway bus driver 55 this Friday....he he!
Have a lovely week, people.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

You Killed My Father!


"I am your father!"


Happy Father's Day to all you big daddys out there!
(55Flash Fiction Friday is down there if you wanna play.....)

Friday, June 15, 2007

55Flash Fiction Friday

"Your results are back from the tests, Susie."
"Actually, you're not allergic to very many things at all."
"However, you are very allergic to a number of wild grasses and weeds commonly found in this area, especially in orchards, fields and undeveloped lands."
"Now where was it that you said you lived?"
Achoo! Achoo! Aaaaaaachhooooooooooooooooooooooo!




Ya know, I should have bought stock in Kleenex years ago! If you wrote something cool today, let me know so I can come over and read it. If you need to know more about 55 Flash Fiction Friday, read this. I'll be the one in the corner with the tissues.....

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Ohh Mannn, I'm Sooo Hotttttttt Whiny HNT

When I was a little kid, I figured out that the coolest place in the house on a hot summer day was the kitchen floor. My brother, sister and I would lie on the cold linoleum and moan and groan about how we wanted a pool. We wanted a pool so bad that we told our parents that we would dig the hole for it if that would save some money!

Now that I am an adult, I finally have my pool, and if you wanna see it, go to Mr Ratburns blog.
It was 98 degrees today. Guess where I ended up spending the afternoon?

Happy HNT Everyone and stay cool!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Wrapped in Metal, Wrapped in Ivy, Painted in Mint Ice Cream....

We could be bouncing
Off the top of this clouuuuwwwwddddd!!!!

Welcome back, Lo! This one's for you. For my other three readers, please check out these beautiful children singing one of Tori's newest tunes. It's so sweet, I promise!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Ganga Giri & Sukhawat Ali Khan

Image hosting by PhotobucketCan it really be Sunday morning at 8 am? Say it isn't true. While you betas were all tucked snuggly in your beds last night, Mr Ratburn and the Barefoot Mistress went to a rave.
I got into bed at 3:30am this morning and now I have to go work at the farmers market?! Yes, sadly, it is true...
While I suffer, please enjoy this video of an Australian band called Ganga Giri, who performed last night.
And then, I have added a video of another performer from last night, Sukhawat Ali Khan and his amazing sufi band.
Rave on, people.
See you later, groannn!!!
**UPDATE**Ok the market's over, it was 95 degrees, totally exhausting...
BTW I heard from the runaway, and she is fine, having fun, but her butt is a little sore.
Have a lovely Monday, beautiful bloggy peeps!


Ganga Giri


Sukhawat Ali Kahn

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Feeling Klimty HNT

***Update***I'm flaking on the 55, I have work to do...and people irritated at me...eek! Go see G~man and tell him if you wrote a 55, and he will come and bless it with his presence, and perhaps maybe even bring some wine or something to eat~ Have a lovely day!
Oh Gustav, darling...

...because of you, it's ok to lie around naked on a polka dot duvet and call it art!

Let's check out another masterpiece.


Happy HNT everyone!

Monday, June 04, 2007

Never Was A Cornflake Girl.....

I know you are all just so tired of looking at that picture of me in my thong...so I thought it was about time I posted something else. How about my feet?

Your Feet

When I cannot look at your face I look at your feet. your feet of arched bone, your hard little feet.

I know that they support you, and that your sweet weight rises upon them.

Your waist and your breasts, the doubled purple of your nipples, the sockets of your eyes that have just flown away, your wide fruit mouth, your red tresses, my little tower.

But I love your feet only because they walked upon the earth and upon the wind and upon the waters, until they found me.

Pablo Neruda

...see you all for HNT

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Farewell to Large Marge Panties

Announcement!

Where it has been nearly a year since the barefoot mistress has lost 35 pounds and kept it off, I hereby declare that all granny panties be banished from this house forever, and from here on out, all undergarments shall appear as the ones pictured below:
But of course I look like that in my new panties!
Have a lovely weekend!