December 27, 2006

• - money for a new couch - a jar of peach preserves - bottle o' wine - jar of homemade pickles - donations made in my name, per my request
• A chainsaw. Which I used today to clear fallen timber and buck logs. Now, where's that pack of Marlboro's?
• 2 comfort blankets. Now, where's the pacifier?
• This shredder. OMG... it does 20 sheets at a time, and can handle cd's, credit cards, staples and paper clips. I am in shredding heaven.
• I got a fricken sweet toaster oven with convection which was one of the last pieces I needed for a true bachelor pad.
• jams, sweater, red socks, and a jar of anchovies.
• Your shredder can even shred links, kimdog.
• I got a tripod, a quilt, shirts, books, and shitloads upon shitloads of gift cards and certificates. Wow. Oh, and this.
• sick
• wow. that is truly craptacular, vertex. maybe it will fit in kimdogs shredder? what kind of tripod? fluid head? *snicker* ;)
• I got a phone call from sexyrobot! But I'm out of town and it went to my voicemail. Try again?
• An iPod and a homecooked meal. A photo album with over 200 snapshots from the 1930s.
• Another day older, and deeper in debt.
• This mug, a 3 disc goth-industrial music compilation set, Noam Chomsky audio on a CD-R, and a keychain made out of a 5 pin DIN connector. Awh, yeah!
• A friend of mine made me a sweet bootleg of Uncle Remus's songs from Disney's Song of the South. It's a controversial film, but it has some damned fine tunes.
• A Joby Gorillapod, a nice italian cookbook, a Calphalon square grill pan, and the super cool Atari Flashback 2 !!!
• A hot chocolate pot with mugs. Coasters with spiderwebs in them. A sarong with newts on it. (not actual newts, fabric-printed ones) A candle holder with bears on it. A stocking full of incredibly silly things from my Dad. ...AND... a Marantz solid-state recorder! w00t!
• High.
• My mother in law gave me a business card carrier that is leather and is nicer than my wallet. I have no idea what to do with it.
• Drunk.
• i was given two copies of arrested developments third season.
• The usual crap suitable for re-gifting. It's not that I don't appreciate gifts or am some sort of Scrooge but people, including my family, seem prone to buy stuff that I hate. And since people know that I like music, magic and chess someone invariably buys me something like "Dummy's Guide to Jazz Piano Playing", "Magic Tricks for Beginners that Serious Magicians Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Performing" or "Dubious Chess Tactics for the Mentally Handicapped". I know, I know, it's the thought that counts, but I'd rather they give the money to charity, though everyone laughed dismissively when I suggested that course of action. OTOH, they probably hate the stuff I buy them.
• Presents only go to children in my family. Kind of ratchets the bullshit factor down quite a lot.
• I got a scarf, and an Alessi wine-bottle coaster, and socks, and a KNVB shirt, and a signed Billy Bragg book which I already have but this will be my reading copy, and a gift certificate for Home Depot (for an as-yet underdetermined amount) which I'm totally cool with. No Lego. Not even the Batman Lego I asked Santa for way in advance and he totally knew I wanted it so what's the deal, Old Man?
• I got a lovely cashmere cardigan and way too much food n wine
• kamus, I have a copy of "Dubious Chess Tactics for the Mentally Handicapped." Don't let the title mislead you -- the book is not intended to be read nor used by anyone who is mentally handicapped. The book is actually well-written. It gets its title from the fact that it teaches tactics which are particularly effective against mentally handicapped players. Here is an example of me winning (yet another) game at yahoo: bernockle: Q to QB3 horsysRfun: horse to Park Place bernockle: Q to QB1
• I got this shirt. Best present ever.
• And unto them a satellite kit with free to air receiver was borne. And lo did roryk spend many hours in assembly of the dish whilst hanging half out of the window calculating azimuths and parabolas. And thus did he injure his chest in several places, before spending an additional several hours running cable through the house. But behold BBC television for free, including BBC1, BBC2, and Cbeebies!
• I got the last Johnny Cash CD. I wanted it to be better than it is. It just makes me sad. Also, food. Lots and lots of food. And I bought #2 The Dangerous Book for Boys. Like Wolof, we only really buy for the kids.
• I got a double cd greatest hits of Johnny Cash recently. Our decision to purchase was based on our enjoyment of the movie, Walk the Line. After listening to it, both my wife and I decided that we would rather get the soundtrack and listen to Joaquin Phoenix singing Johnny Cash songs. Does that make me a communist?
• I think I have that double CD. I really love it. It covers his whole singing career, including the *shudder* Highwaymen stuff and his version of Hurt and that song he sang with U2, the name of which I have forgotten. Random Christmas story: my sister brought over her PS2 and collection of Singstar games. Our almost-four-year-old wanted a turn so I let him go for it, and he sang "Ring of Fire" from start to finish.
• A 19" flat screen monitor, so that now the internets is HUGE. Also The X Files Season 1 on DVD, a gift card for The Bay, and a fantastic prix fixe dinner at a posh restaurant. My mom asked if I got the package with her gifts in it yet. I said no. She said, "that's cuz I haven't sent it yet, LOL". Sigh.
• Bernockle, it's remarkable that you and your partner have somehow unwittingly duplicated Morphy-Staunton (London 1886) the so called "Immoral Game"- I'm suitably impressed! (also, LOL your comment)
• Mr. Dx presented me with a tool box of 19.2v cordless goodies; reciprocating saw, circular saw and power drill and flashlight. Two batteries and charger and lots of bits and blades. He's thinking he'll get to use them. Not.
• An aebleskiver pan. Out of 35 books and one pan on my Amazon wishlist, I get the pan. Admittedly, I really wanted it in time for New Year's, but gah, no books? Do they think five shelves full is enough or something? I gave everyone (who got a gift) locoum. Everyone.
• Actually, I got another ex-girlfriend. I think it not so much as losing a girlfriend, but gaining a stalker. (Thank Zeus for CallFilter.) But, really, I only wanted a Ferrari. =(
• A bottle of champagne for when I successfully run 5 km (uh, sometime in the next year). A bread machine! I gave this (very good for snowy/icy Canadian monkeys), this (for refrigerator monkeys as suggested by MonkeyFlitter) and buncha other ordinary stuff. Oy, Roryk, what's this about free Beeb? How do you get that?
• In a rush of blood to the head I bought myself a Joby Guerillapod off eBay about 10 days ago, then I got one of these (from Canada!) from one of my bros ... so now I have 2 camera non-tripod thingies ... (but still no tripod!) Feel slightly irritated as I bought all the couples in my family individual presents ... (and enjoyed doing it) and mostly they gave me and Mrs Dotcom joint presents ... so what will happen now is that I'll be mean next xmas and they'll be generous and I'll feel even more bad than I do now. Bah ... humbug ... *walks off grumbling
• I bought my wife a Wii. I think it was one of the last ten left in Australia. Wii Golf rules. She gave me a very sharp knife and a wristband GPS. I'm wondering if this is some sort of hint. Also, a tangram.
• > Oy, Roryk, what's this about free Beeb? How do you get that? It's on the Astra 2D satellite, transmitted in the clear so any free-to-air receiver can display it. Astra 2 is accessible from most of Europe, but Astra 2D (which has the freely accessible British channels) is narrowly focused on the UK with spillover into Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. I'm receiving a good signal in northern France with a 60cm dish - I think larger dishes are advised further south.
• I mnaged to re-gift all my prezzies from work 'cept for the fancy chocolates.
• Thanks for that roryk, this whole FTA thing is new to me, so I did some research on what's available in Canada. It doesn't look like we can get the Beeb here for free. *snif*.
• *looks at the 75-piece men's wallet and nose-clipper set from TUM* Yay for regifting! w00t!
• Caught a nice hefty tingle and then curled up with my favorite gift, "Lost Girls," the pornographic graphic novel by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie. It's stunning, transporting, beautiful and possibly revolutionary. And no, I don't work for the publisher.
• I thought about buying Lost Girls when it first came out. It would have been my first Alan Moore purchase. Since then, I've read a few more of his comics and realised that almost all his work has a little bit of porn in it. I still can't stand the scene in LXG with Mina and Quartermain in the woods.
• I got lots of yummy dvds (including season 2 of Arrested Development and Millennium and Wonderfalls), and a satellite radio (so I don't have to listen to yucky local "show us your rack" radio contests any more). Yay! I also got tons of "baby's first Christmas" stuff that I can't use because there's still no baby. Boo. But the doc said that, worse come to worse, I'll get induced Jan 3. Yay!
• Good luck with it, Meredithea! Hope all goes smoothly.
• You should wait until at least February 1, so that the kid doesn't get Christmas/birthday presents for the rest of his life. You can hold it in a little longer, can't you? j/k, good luck!
• I got a new stove for Christmas!! Whoo!! I am in housewife heaven!! With too many exclamation points!! Seriously, though-- my kitchen has mice, and they had a nasty habit of crawling around in the old stove and crapping everywhere, which pretty much meant that I couldn't cook without a blowtorch and a gallon of bleach. Well, I can't cook anyways. But at least I have a clean new mouse-free stove to not be able to cook on! Also, good luck meredithea! Should we get you some baby Docs, too? Where does one purchase former Hatian dictators online, anyways? And do they come in child sizes? Hmmm...
• I got loads and loads of rolling tobacco. Best Christmas Ever.
• Best of luck meredithea! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you go earlier just for your own sanity.
• I got a mouse for my laptop and a little Dior purse. The purse is a bit of a mystifying gift, since I own no other bag that cost more than $20. For now I am keeping the fancy purse separate from all my other purses so they don't gang up on the rich kid and pummel her. But the gift I was happiest with was one I gave - it was one of those gift-in-another-gift things with a gym bag wrapped around a shirt wrapped around some socks wrapped around a cannister of racquetballs with a paper-clip folded into the number one inside - to represent Season 1 of The Wire, which didn't arrive till the 27th. That was a ton of fun to wrap.
• Good luck meredithea!
• More good wishes for meredithea.
• I got, um, a fondue pot (already had one, darn it!), an ice cream maker (attachment for the kitchen-aid), the newest Hem and David Gray CDs, the Wallace and Gromit movie, some needlework/christmas decorations from mom, a hand blender, some lip glosses, a Sephora gift card, and a few framed photos of my newest family members :) It was a large haul, and next year my brothers (and his wives) and I are drawing names.
• Whoa. That would by "my brothers (and their wives)..."
• I got a healthy dose of the Christmas spirit - syphilis.
• And a clappy New Year!
• I got a 35-minute flight on this ultralight. And as a result, was frozen solid for several hours afterwards... I've never been fond of flying - so wasn't too worried when I was told, "oh, it'll only go to about 400 feet..." To my surprise, we went to 1700 feet and encountered some fairly nasty winds, but quite enjoyed briefly skimming the coastline at an altitude of about 3 feet.
• 400 shirts and something called "underwear". Whatever that is. There's some naked dude on the cover. Seriously, an Epi Black Beauty is more affordable now than ever! You can't afford not to get me one!
• something called "underwear". Whatever that is. There's some naked dude on the cover. See? A perfect argument for switching to the clearer, more straightforward word "underpants."
• I was really wondering what body part the Epi Black Beauty was going to be for the removal of...
• for the HAIR removal of... /I plead strep throat
• That would be the "Black Beauty" elastrator. So named for the appearance of the unwanted scrotal contents shortly before they fall off. Ouchers.
• Would that be Ney Nair^TM fo hossies?
• goetter's link NSF work or the squeamish! oy!
• Do I want to know why? I don't, do I..?
• No. you. don't.
• Neigh Noir Nair.
• I may be forced to pronounce this thread seriously unfunky unless the bootitude is amplified with a magnificent quickness!