The British Pantomime

We've been in the UK since Wednesday last week. We came to participate in a fund raiser for our old church, Saint Mary's Datchet. Every year they put on a pantomime - this year it was Cinderella. They take a fairy tale and fiddle with it. The story stays basically the same, but they put in jokes about village life, songs, and the like. The audience participates by yelling at the characters when they are being deceptive. The ugly step sisters were both men (and were they ugly!), and prince charming was a woman. It really is a hoot, despite my poor attempt at explaining it.

Steve and the boys are stage crew. They moved the scenery and took care of the lights and curtains. (As stage crew are apt to do.) I hope to post some photos soon.

This was kind of a fun language quiz. Are You a Yankee or a Rebel?

I'm "57% (Dixie). Right on the Mason-Dixon Line" I've lived enough places that I've picked up words from all over the US. I know that selling your junk to the neighbors can be a tag sale, garage sale, rummage sale or yard sale depending on where said sale is taking place, but I learned what is was in Illinois, so I call it a garage sale. Of course, my parents came from the south, so I'm sure some of the words I use came from them, not necessarily Illinois. It's very interesting to me how different the language can be just from place to place in the US. Words are fascinating.

Food for Thought

"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."

-- Terry Pratchett in A Hat Full of Sky

The Year in Cities

Picking up a meme I saw on kottke.org, here is a list of all the cities I spent at least one night in during the last year. (At least the ones I can remember.) Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.

Datchet, Berkshire, UK*
Dublin, Ireland
Paris, France*
Loerrach, Germany*
Rome, Italy
Nice, France*
Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Villanova i la Geltru, Spain
Madrid, Spain
San Sebastián, Spain
Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Venice, Italy
Germantown, Maryland, USA
Florence, Alabama, USA
Orange Beach, Alabama, USA
Austin, Texas, USA
Grand Rapid, Michigan, USA*
Lima, Peru

I have the feeling that 2006 will pale by comparison. Blog yours and leave a link.

James Frey Brouhaha

When I made a passing comment on a bibliophilist's reading list yesterday to allegations that James Frey's autobiography A Million Little Pieces was not authentic, I had not read the news story, because I have not read the book. Today however, after perusing the latest news on the story, I spent some time reading the thesmokinggun.com article, then googled it to see what others might be saying about it all. I landed on a kottke.org page that had a short article and a zillion comments. What really surprised me the most about the comments was that practically no one seemed to be saying that they thought James Frey had not made things up or embellished mightily - they did not care at all if it was out and out lies. The main theme in those comments was that if it helped someone then it didn't matter that it was fiction being passed off as fact. (Not to mention those who said good for James Frey for thinking it up and making a buck.) Wow.

Phoons

Seen these before?

Bibles

In a Bible catalog published by the International Bible Society they have on offer the following bibles:

• NIV Military New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs "God's Word in Uniform"


• NIV Military Bible "Faith for the Front Lines"


• Heart of the Outdoors Bible "For Folks Who Love the Outdoors"


• The Way for Cowboys New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs "Saddle Up for Cowboy Evangelism"


• Hope for the Highway New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs "Share the Testimonies of Those who Found the Road to Faith" (In association with the Christian Motorcyclists Association.)


• Reach 4 Life New Testament "Scripture that Transforms Passion to Purity" (Sexual abstinence for teens is the theme.)


• Answering the Call New Testament "Say Thank You to the Heros in Your Community"


• The Road Home New Testament "Steer Truckers to Christ"


• NIV New Covenant Prophecy Edition New Testament "To the Jews I Became Like a Jew, to Win the Jews"


• Free on the Inside Bibles and New Testaments "Unlock Hope to Prisoners"


• Hope for the Future New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs "Hope for Women in Crisis Pregnancies"


• My City, My God "A Bible and New Testament for Urban Outreach"


• Pathlight Bible "Give Campers a Map to Salvation in a Bible Filled with Relevant and Fun Information"

Can you say "overkill" ? Good grief!

My t-shirt philosophy

At 18 months I proudly wore my first logo-ed t-shirt. It said "MIT class of 19??". This of course, was wishful thinking on the part of my parents, but it did begin me on a life time journey of t-shirt collecting. My father bought me t-shirts from the many universities that he visited in the course of his long teaching career, and my collection rapidly grew. From the years of t-shirt wearing, I have formulated a philosophy of t-shirts. It really has only one very short tenet, this one iron clad rule: never wear a t-shirt advertising a university or place when you are in said university or place. A London t-shirt is perfectly acceptable in Michigan, but don't wear it in London. And while I'd never wear a Texas t-shirt in Texas, I'd sure wear one in Michigan. I realize that this goes contrary to the way most of the world wears their t-shirts, but that is part of the beauty of it.

UT over USC

I'm not a sports fan. I end up feeling crummy for the team that loses, whether it's "my" team or not. I did not watch the UT USC game last night, but heard whooping coming from the other room as the men in my family watched the game come to a close. (I was in bed reading a book.)

Since I am somewhat affiliated with UT, being the daughter of a UT professor, and wife and sister of UT Alumni, I do feel compelled to say "Hook 'em Horns" though. I'm sure there is much rejoicing in Austin today.