Happy Birthday Mom (and Robbie Burns)!

Robert Burns was born on this day in 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland and died the 21st of July, 1796. Today (Robbie Burns Day) is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland's favorite poet and bard. A handy time line of his life can be found here. Among other things he is author of the oh so famous song "Auld Lang Syne" (FYI translated from Scots auld lang-syne literally means "old long since" or "old long ago". I like to think it's use in the song is like "for old times sake" but that's just me). Did you know Auld Lang Syne was fitted to music after his death? It's true, it was a poem until then. He actually wrote almost no original music, preferring instead to adapt his poems to folk songs and music he found lying around. His poems were lyrical, heartfelt, sometimes bawdy, sometimes unabashedly romantic, sometimes thrilling, always in Scots dialect, and always with an essence of championing Scottish culture (in one form or another). Other less well known poems that I've heard of include "A Red, Red Rose", "Coming Thro' the Rye", and "A Man's a Man for A' That". Good times.

A Red, Red Rose (Mom warning! Although this is a happy love song, please note that this version is pretty sad sounding so you'll probably snivel):

A Man's a Man for A' That (this video is part of a series of similar animations of the famous Robbie Burns portrait saying some of his poems):

p.s. You know who does a good version of Auld Lang Syne? A new Scottish singer named Paolo Nutini. He also does a cover of Bang Bang that I like.

p.p.s. Robbie Burns night also means that Mom has had haggis on her birthday every year since little cp started highland dancing. Although this year she had Mexican at Mazatlan, her new fave restaurant. Happy Birthday Mom! xxxxxxoooooo

Update: Props to D for pointing out that I never actually mentioned that I was talking about Robbie Burns anywhere in the main body of the post. Silly me.

Why I stayed home today...

From Environment Canada's Official Weather Warnings:

City of Saskatoon
3:13 PM CST Saturday 24 January 2009
Wind chill warning for City of Saskatoon continued

Extreme wind chills tonight and Sunday morning.

This is a warning that extreme wind chill conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

Cold Arctic air and winds of 20 to 30 km/h are combining to produce wind chills of minus 40 to minus 45 over much of southern and central Saskatchewan tonight and Sunday morning. Lighter winds over southwesternmost regions will keep wind chill values out of the extreme category. These extreme wind chills will moderate Sunday afternoon.

At these extreme wind chill values frostbite on exposed skin may occur in less than 10 minutes.

Sweet llamas of the Bahamas! FYI click here for a handy guide to Canada's Wind Chill Index and it'll tell what's up with wind chill.

p.s. McShanty points to anyone who's nerdy enough to know who this is.

If these walls could talk...

From Off the Mark comics.

This comedy in history: Who's on first?

Spurred by recent talk at D's bday party. Abbott and Costello's classic comedy sketch "Who's on first?" from the 1930's. Although they didn't invent the premise (according to Wikipedia the first appearance of it in the moving pictures was in the 1930 movie Cracked Nuts):

Here's a cartoon version of a musical take on the sketch originally (1st shown on TV anyway) done by SCTV:

Here's a take-off of a political version of the sketch that was first done by Johnny Carson about Ronald Reagan, now a viral video featuring now former president George W:

The "Who's on first?" routine has been featured and referenced on everything from the Muppets to Robot Chicken. Another variant plays on the bit's fame by taking the humorous element (the misunderstanding) and killing it, thereby making it funnier. This has been featured on such shows as Kids in the Hall and The Simpsons (Season 10 episode 15) both of which have the straight man ruining the bit by explaining it (Dave Foley and Principal Skinner respectively). It's like someone shouted "Communication people!" at them. HaHa!

Twilight Buns

The always enjoyable 30-Second Bunnies Theatre Troupe has given little cp the gift of Twilight Buns. Bunny/Edward lovers everywhere rejoice!

p.s. You may remember the Bunnies from this post or this one.

We're Missing the Chile #6

Personal musings:
-Keep coming up with new random ways to do things differently than the Chileans.
-Chileans like to laugh at things that are different. Fun times.

Travel log: Isla de Chiloé aka Isla Grande de Chiloé
-You ride a ferry to get to the island
-Staying at cabin on Lake Natri (Lago de Natri)
-Went to Castro (the capital) and saw houses on stilts (palafitos)
-Saw wooden churches (UNESCO heritage site)
-Bought an alpaca sweater (CP note: You should have bought a people sweater!)
-Went salmon fishing but apparently didn't do it right (hearty laughter ensued).

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Archaeology nerd notes:
Evidence suggests that Solanum tuberosum tuberosum, the most commonly grown potato in the world, is indigenous to Chiloé.

Also, Chiloé has a very diverse mythology stemming from folklore from multiple indigenous populations mixed with Spanish conquistador fiddle-faddle, shaken (not stirred) and let stand in an isolated environment.

Did you know that Darwin visited Chiloé in 1834? It's true, he wrote about it in his diaries. If you're curious "The Voyage of the Beagle" can be read online in its entirety (either at Project Gutenberg or here), chapter 13 is about Chiloé. Anthropologically it's pretty interesting reading (*cough*ethnocentrism*cough*) although Darwin was a naturalist, not an anthropologist (Dammit Jim!). Here's an excerpt from December 1, 1834 when Darwin reached Castro, (keep in mind that Castro was the capital of the province until 1788 but didn't become capital of the province again until 1982):

Early on Sunday morning we reached Castro, the ancient capital of
Chiloe, but now a most forlorn and deserted place. The usual
quadrangular arrangement of Spanish towns could be traced, but the
streets and plaza were coated with fine green turf, on which sheep
were browsing. The church, which stands in the middle, is entirely
built of plank, and has a picturesque and venerable appearance. The
poverty of the place may be conceived from the fact, that although
containing some hundreds of inhabitants, one of our party was
unable anywhere to purchase either a pound of sugar or an ordinary
knife. No individual possessed either a watch or a clock; and an
old man who was supposed to have a good idea of time, was employed
to strike the church bell by guess. The arrival of our boats was a
rare event in this quiet retired corner of the world; and nearly
all the inhabitants came down to the beach to see us pitch our
tents. They were very civil, and offered us a house; and one man
even sent us a cask of cider as a present. In the afternoon we paid
our respects to the governor--a quiet old man, who, in his
appearance and manner of life, was scarcely superior to an English
cottager. At night heavy rain set in, which was hardly sufficient
to drive away from our tents the large circle of lookers on. An
Indian family, who had come to trade in a canoe from Caylen,
bivouacked near us. They had no shelter during the rain. In the
morning I asked a young Indian, who was wet to the skin, how he had
passed the night. He seemed perfectly content, and answered, "Muy
bien, señor."

And now for For D's enjoyment

From the HISHE website because today's caption is "Did you guys see the size of that chicken?" (from the movie Young Guns) we bring you:

How Star Wars IV should have ended:


p.s. Happy birthday D! Other captions include: You call THIS archaeology?

We're Missing the Chile #5

Personal musings:
Pestilence continues unabated (although it isn't impacting the quality of life too much)
The peanut butter is gone! Noooo!
The inefficient way of purchasing goods in the store in Rancagua is probably to keep people from shoplifting.
The flowers here are crazy and everywhere! (Here's a website for Moms. Let's all learn about Chilean native plants! Huzzah!)

New toys:
A spanky new cellular. It's with Entel but it's pay as you go (that's what everyone has in Chile).

New drinkies:
Melon con vino - basically a hollow honeydew with wine, sugar, and melon chunks. Mix and pass around. This video uses a cantaloupe. Recipes vary. (CP note: Also a Chilean punk band. I kinda like them even if I don't know what they're saying, they have a few downloadable songs on PureVolume).

Travel log: Valparaíso
Went on a boat ride. It was a blue and white boat, just picked the one that the sales guy didn't look whacked out.
Saw war ships in the harbour
Saw seals
Beach was pretty but cold (chilly if you will)
Bought a T-shirt that says "fin del mundo". Did you know that the most southern point of Chile is only 20 minutes from Antarctica?



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Travel log: Viña del Mar
Got hit on by a bus driver while walking with a new buddy. Was probably a good thing he was looking at the tall gringas because at least that means he saw them and wouldn't run them over. They'd be the only things he wouldn't run over.
CP note: Did you know that Viña was the birth place of Alberto Hurtado (a Catholic saint)? It's true! Also, Tom Araya (from Slayer).

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