Car ride fun

Of course there are dozens of games to pass time during a long car ride. Maybe you've played the alphabet or license plate game, twenty questions, I spy, or the vacation game. If you've been on a bus or fifteen passenger you might have even played mafia in the car. All these games are well and good for having a bit of fun,and they do help to pass the time, but they normally only affect you and the people playing them. Everyone else in the car can just tune you out if the want to. Now where's the fun in that?

To have a real fun time in the car, you don't just play games for entertainment, you play games with the other passengers minds. Now this is not the game to break out in the very start of the ride. No, you must be subtle in the approach, or at least the time.

I am sure you are all familiar with the song "ninety nine bottles of coke (beer) on the wall." For those of you that are not, here are the lyrics

There are ninety nine bottles of coke on the wall

there are ninety nine bottles of coke

you take one down and pass it around

there are ninety eight bottles of coke on the wall

The song goes on, inserting each preceding number until you get to zero. There are two things you need to know about this song. One, that you may begin to loose you voice after 100 straight verses,and two, this song really has a way of getting on people's nerves. This my friends is where the mind games part comes in.

At some point in your car ride, when everything is pretty settled, and getting kind of mundane and boring, break out into song and begin the first verse. My guess is you'll get .4-3 verses in during the first try. If you have some one tolerant in the car, you may be able to get to "There are 89 bottles..." At some point however it is almost guaranteed one of your fellow passengers will ask you to stop politely, or threaten you with death. Look dejected and sulk for a moment, but then get on with your life as if your random bottles of coke singing desires have been sated.

Once you have them thinking you are no longer going to be singing, and everything is all boring again, start up right were you left off. This might be at eighty two bottles of coke, or half way through the first verse depending on how volatile your fellow passengers are. Again some one will threaten you with bodily harm. Stop again, and wait. By this point they will probably think that it was just a passing phase and you are truly done. However, your little mind game has just begun.

At some point, again restart from where you left off very quietly. "there are eighty one bottles of coke  on the wall (pause) eighty one bottles of coke (pause) you take one down (long pause)..." in fact pretend your done. Wait about a minute and then finish "You take one down and pass it around etc.etc." You will now start to see the paranoia set in. To continue your game, just start off where you left off at random times, never letting them know when, where,or how. Do it right and you will have them all jumpy about when you are about to begin again. You have officially paranoid them, good job. If you can get all the way to zero, even better job.

Now you may also have a very tolerant driver who actually hates the song and is annoyed, but will let you sing anyways. If this is the case, just let 'er rip for all one hundred verses. It will take you ten minutes minimum, and your voice will need a rest afterwards,so it's a good way to pass some time.

Have fun terrorizing your family and friends

Do you speak...Parlez-vous Francais?

I don't know about but you but Il bogues vraiment me lorsque la langue change juste at random. You are fine just going vous affaires et  the language suddenly becomes french. Dernièrement, cela s'est passé à ma famille on Netflix, even when the show does not have french as a Langue de choix de draft de, or even as a subtitle option for that language.
Sometimes it will start out in English but à mi-chemin, grâce à cela changera, and then all the other episodes of that show will suddenly be french too. Otherwise, it will Démarrez comme français, and that particular episode will only be in french while all the other episodes remain in English.
So I'm sure you are thinking,just put on the subtitles, but the subtitles won't work, even when it has them as an option. I've been wanting to watch this one thing for over a month, and every time I try, the darn thing is in French! It is really getting frustrating. My mom is pretty much fluent in French, so she'll translate a bit here and there, but she's not going to act as an interpreter for an entire episode.

I will close with this:

Salut

Si vous êtes assez ambitieux pour mettre dans une forme quelconque de traducteur, bon pour vous ! Enfin bref, je déteste vraiment avoir à apprendre les langues étrangères, vous essayez, mais ils ne collera pas, donc je suppose que je suis bloqué avec jamais vu cet épisode particulier.

Prenez une minute pour vraiment réfléchir à langague, combien leur sont, comment chacun est unique, elle vraiment est l'esprit et rend juste que vous souhaitez arrêter de penser parce que c'est tellement écrasante.

Cordialement vôtre,

La fée Furry

Come on and Get your NaNo on

Did you know that November is National Novel Writing Month (otherwise known as NaNo). The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Now I know it's pretty late to be starting now (you'd need to write more than two thousand words a day), but why not aim to write 10,000, 5,000, or 1,000 words in your own mini "novel" this month? 1,000 words is only a page and a half to two pages single spaced depending on dialogue/how often you indent. Don't worry about the quality of it right off the bat. Strive for the quantity first, and brign the quality later. That what those of us going all the way out for fifty thousand have to do, so why not pretend you're writing a novel?
Here's some tips for getting your word count:

1. Just write
The word goal will never come if the paper stays blank or you keep deleting. Let it all out, then go back and fix your whirl wind.

2. Set time line goals
Since I started three days late, I'm aiming for 2,000 word per day. At some points, it can be really hard to get that next hundred words, but then another 300 hundred will just fly off your fingers out of no where. If you want to get 10,000 by the end of this month you'd only have to write 450 words a day, 5,000 you'd need 210 per day, and 1000 you'd need a measly 50 words per day.
The paragraph above is eighty words and took me less than two minutes to write, you can definitely have time to write a 1,000 word story this month.

3. Hold your story with an open hand
Have a general idea for the plot, but don't hold yourself rigidly to your preconceived notions and let the story lead you where it will. You may surprised, and may very be pleased with the results.

4. Stretch your word count
This will apply more to 10,000+ stories, but there are little things you can do to extend your word counts. Write out contractions (not so much in dialogue), instead of saying "them" or "they" say "Sara and Tom" or "my brothers", write out numbers. 147 counts as one word, but one hundred (and) forty seven is 4 (or 5) words.

5. Show don't tell!
"I was nervous" is three words, but "I chewed on my nails, and tried to act relaxed, but I felt ready to spring at a moments notice" is eighteen.

Try your hand at some creative writing this month, and good lock with your artistic endeavors!

What I want for Christmas.

To whom it may concern,
My desire for Christmas would be a unicorn. I don't mean a stuffed one, or any inanimate form of one. Also, I will not just "glue an ice cream cine to my horse's head" as has been suggested by some people. I want a REAL LIVING unicorn.
My unicorn most first and foremost be a legitimate, magical one. No rip off imports. Secondly, it must sparkle. It need not by "glitterly" but it's gotta have that signiture unicorn shimmer. I'm not fond of matte unicorns (though I suppose it would be better than no unicorn). It needs to have a long mane and tail, that remains free of tangles by unicorn magic, and the horn must by visible from 500 feet. It should look pretty, and let me ride it so I can train to run people through with it's horn for our mutual defense.
Ideally, this unicorn would be purple. I understand the birth rate of purple sparkly unicorns has dropped considerably in the past five years, so a blue, white, green, orange, yellow, gold, silver, or rainbow one will do. I don't like red or black unicorns, but again I'll take any unicorn over nothing.
Another detail that would be nice but not necessary would be for it to NOT be a stallion. I can't show a stallion for two more years, and I would like to show my unicorn, most likely in show jumping or dressage, depending on it's talents, and I'd like to rope off it too.
I understand that unicorns are relatively scarce, but rest assured I take very good care of equines, both mine and others, and the unicorn would be provided for in all it's housing, feed, exercise, vet, and farrier needs. It would have frequent, almost daily attention from me, and would be monitored by other trustworthy persons when I am not on sight.


Thank you for your kind consideration.

The Creepiest Show Ever

     Have you ever heard of or seen H.R. PuffnStuff? Well I hadn't either until my mom found it on netflix and decided to show it to me just for kicks, so I could see how bizarre it was. She was wrong. It's not just bizarre, it's downright CREEPY.
     For those of you not familiar with this freak show, let me give you a rundown. Jimmy is a boy that's skipping in the meadow with his flute, when a boat, yes a boat mind you comes by the shore and calls "come and play with me Jimmy." Talk about creepy.
     Now Jimmy is a total dodo brain and gets in the boat! I'd be really unnerved if a boat just pulled up in front of me and told me to get in it. I would have grabbed my magic flute and bashed it, then high tailed it out of there. I thought your parents told you never to go anywhere with a stranger? Apparently Jimmy didn't get the memo, or thought it didn't apply if the stranger was a mode of transportation.
    Big surprise when he finds out the boat was a trick from the witch "Witchipoo" (I kid you not), who wants Freddy (the magical talking flute) so he/it can play her music. Jimmy is almost in her clutches when he is rescued by "H.R. PuffnStuff" the mayor of "Living Island" where everything can talk and/or move. Unfortunately Jimmy is stuck there until they can find a way to get him off, though I don't understand why he can't get home. The premise of the series is Witchipoo, and her henchman (A giant yellow vulture (looks like a nightmare version of big bird) and some crazy looking orange thing that's fuzzy and has four arms)  trying to get Freddy, only to be foiled by Jimmy and PuffnStuff.
      You thought that was bad? That's only the theme song! Puffintuff is supposed to be a dragon, though he looked like a giant green, yellow, and red demented salamander. Living island is full of eye scorching clashing colors and patterns, and trees that can follow you and talk with Russian and Jamaican accents. In the episode I saw, Witchipoo and company dressed up in orange garbage bags and sunglasses, and sang about oranges in an attempted Freddy napping. Yeah. I think I am seriously scarred for life.
     I'm sure it's crossed your mind "PuffnStuff? Talking boats, idiot children with talking flutes? Man these guys must be on crack or something." Well here are the words to the last bit of the theme song
     H.R. Puffin Stuff
    Who's your friend when things get rough?
    H.R. Puffin Stuff
    You can't get a little 'cause you can't get enough
Need I say more?
                                                    
                                                      PuffnStuff, Jimmy and Witchipoo

 

                                                The el-creepo talking trees



P.S. The show was canceled after one season (surprise, surprise) and Jimmy never gets off the island. Poor kid, he'll live the rest of his life as a perpetual drug trip.

Awesome Sauce Composers: Alan Menken

       Who doesn't love Disney? And what's the best part about Disney? The songs of course!  Have you ever considered the genius behind these songs? Though there are many composers that have graced the Disney scene, it's most certainly arguable that Alan Menken has got to be the most influential and popular.
      Alan Menken has composed the scores for Beauty and the Best, The Little Mermaid, Hercules, Tangled, Enchanted, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pochantas, Aladdin and The Newsies. He has also done scores for other lesser known Disney movies such as Home on the Range.
     He is also the composer for the additional songs found in the live musical versions of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and The Newsies. In addition he composed the score for Little Shop of Horrors.
      It surprises me how very few people actually know his name.This guy has the most Oscars of any living person, but a majority of people will go "Alan Menken who?"
     Alan Menken has got to one of my favorite composers. He's right up there with Bach. I know he's no where near the utter musical genius Bach is, but who is? His songs are memorable, fun, and moving and are in a variety of styles. You got the touching, moving and/or sad songs like Santa Fe, God Help the Outcasts, Home and Part of Your World, The Inspirational, feel good songs (though you've got to question the validity of the logic/theories of the lyrics sometimes) like Go the Distance, A Whole New World, I See the Light, Someday, and Seize the Day, and then the totally fun ones like Under the Sea, I Won't Say I'm in Love. Friend Like Me, That's How You Know, and Be Our Guest.
   He most often collabrated with the (late) Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Stephen Schwartz.
It's time this guy gets the attention he deserves. Now go pop in a Disney movie and belt out some Disney tunes in appreciation for this truly amazing composer. If you don't have time for a movie, why not sing along with one of these?

 

 

Awesome Sauce Composers: David Lanz

     David Lanz has got to be one of the greatest modern composers of piano music. I discovered him earlier this year by accident. Here's a sample of his awesome music

     He composes in the "New Age" genre. He says his pieces are supposed to make people enlightened, but I hate to it break it to him that I don't feel enlightened, though I do enjoy playing and listening to his music.
I love his style, I'd call it "Ornately Simple." The pieces are complex, yet there not. They also are very attainable in playability. The sound absolutely fabulous and impressive, and are rather simple for a player of modern attainments. I recommend every pianist to have "Dark Horse" in their repertoire. It knocks peoples socks off, and flows very nicely, easy to learn and memorize, I had it pretty much perfect in a little over a week. As long as you can play comfortably in octaves, it's easy.
      The simplicity aspect of his pieces is lovely. It gets the point across, and emotions are protrayed clearly. It touches the soul and impresses the listener, but in a subtle way, unlike some pieces that try to knock you over the head and say "look at me! I'm trying to be impressive and emotional."
He composes in a variety of styles, from more "classical" sounding to jazz and blues. His pieces are very creative, and many of them are a type of tone poem. I'm blown away by the fact that he composed an entire album (Skyline Firedance), and almost every song was entirely triplets, but they all sounded completely different! Now that's skill.
     I strongly encourage you to check him out, and as a pianist to learn some of his pieces (if any one is interested, I have the sheets for the songs above,and many more that I could make a copy of). He truly is a great composer, though he really needs to do something about his hair.