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Saturday, November 7th, 2009

unclecliffy

7:36p Jersey Boy Today started with call from an old friend, Sigrid. Sigrid and I were colleagues at LSU and neighbors in Baton Rouge. She is an English professor at one of Pittsburgh's many universities, and was in town for a conference. Unfortunately, our schedules were incompatible for this visit, so I didn't get a chance to see her. But we had a nice 20-minute conversation this morning, the first time we had spoken in years. She has a new husband and a new family, and sounds very happy. Like me, she is not a fan of Facebook, though we are friends there. My best memories of Sigrid are going down to her place on Leaway Drive, a few doors down from me, and watching Twin Peaks on Thursday nights. As things transpired, I was her host at her bridal shower (her previous husband). I don't know how it happened that she and Lisa (now in Boston) and a couple of her girlfriends ended up at my place on the night before her wedding. Which is all the more surprising because Sigrid and I weren't all that close, well, not close enough for me to host a bridal shower. No, there were no strippers or anything. In fact, there was really nothing. I think eating and drinking had occurred elsewhere. Come to think of it, I don't understand why they were at my place that night in the first place. These are picture of me and Sigrid on the day of her nuptials. (I can't remember the year.) The day ended with a reunion with Buck Hujabre, with whom I matriculated onstage in Princess Ida with the Baton Rouge Gilbert and Sullivan Society in 1996. Buck -- yes, that's his real name, short for Bucktosh, which is his full Farsi name -- has paid his dues as a professional in the American musical theatre. I have a recording of him in a small part in Vernonique, a comic opera by Messager recorded by Ohio Light Opera, where he sojourned for a season or two. For many years, he performed on a cruise ship, and now he tours with The Jersey Boys. He is not a Jersey Boy, but he has an onstage speaking role. I had sort of a crush on Buck during those Princess Ida days. He is at least 10 years younger than I am, and when I knew him, he had not yet hardened muscularly and still had a layer of baby fat which rounded him beautifully -- just my type. Plus the Middle Eastern good looks. And the energy, my God, the energy. He still has all that energy, and he's just as handsome. I am really proud of him that he's followed a dream and made something of a successful career out of what he loves and what he's good at. Buck is married to a really nice Brit named Mary. She is hugely pregnant. She couldn't join us for burgers, which is what Buck and I ended up doing between the evening show and the matinee. We had a very nice talk, and I left him feeling very happy about the day. The thing about talking with Sigrid was remembering how much I miss academia sometimes. And I was really intrigued and fascinated by the life of activity around a theatre. If only we could have youth and experience. One of my fantasies is to go back to an earlier point in my life with all the knowledge I have now. Sigrid and Bucktosh both reminded me of that fantasy and, yes, it's still something I think about. But not often.

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octranspo [ killertatertots ]

7:37p I checked today to be sure.... I am not going crazy!  I was at Southkeys today,waiting for the 140 billings and checked both the printed schedual, which is up to date, and the screen schedual thing, and there was a 10 minute difference between them. For a bus that comes every 30 minutes that seems pretty bizarre. Is the screen one up to date on delays or traffic?

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Sunday, November 29th, 2009

breadcamesliced

4:11a

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Friday, November 6th, 2009

octranspo [ nbop ]

11:23p just a little healthy venting... I know people running in front of our moving buses is nothing new.  Tonight I think I reached my tipping point.  The forth (right, 4th) person who did this to me came running out of the shadows just as I was pulling away from a service stop.  I let the 50ish year old guy on just to ask him if he thought it was worth the risk to his life.  He (of course) shrugged and said, 'well, I was trying to make eye contact...." BTW it was about 9:30 pm.  WTF is wrong with these people.  Of course, if I hit him, it's my fault so I take a rather personal view on this sort of bullshit behavior. Of all the selfish, stupid things one can do; these people don't think for a second, let alone consider the people on the bus who might get tossed around roughly when I need to hit the brake hard. Christ people can be so stupid.  Otherwise, still a happy man enjoying serving the public (honestly...mostly)

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the_suzer

10:48p I Just Work Here Opening letters from Carleton has become a part of my life that I truly dread.  Nothing good ever comes from those pieces of mail.  So it was with a great sigh of relief that I read that the academic powers that be have decided to finally let me graduate.  As of November 14th, I will be an alumnus.  Congrats to me on taking 6 years to do my B.A.  I have learned that 95% of political science professors are left wing, and the ones that aren't are usually hilarious.  I learned that you should never ever sit in a campus pub during a huge news event, or after the release of a new Death Cab for Cutie album.  All in all, well worth the thousands of dollars.  Last weekend was my birthday, so I'm old now.  I am apparently, still not wise though.  I definitely almost got arrested after demanding that two police officers drive me home because "my feet hurt and it's my birthday, so where's your squad car?".  As always Stephanie threw an amazingly decorated party.  Anytime you can show up at a friends house, drink vodka and say "Ian....it's Britney time.  Make it happen" and it does...well you're blessed.  Actually that's all I really have to report.  Two people are back in my life after extended absences, and one person has exited at stage left for now.  Everyone is talking about leaving Ottawa, literally everyone.  This is good, seriously, run for the hills before it's too late.  Fan out and then let me crash on your couch when you get to whatever cool place you land.  I'm going to need places to hide out when the military comes looking for me.  Alright, off to bed, which is also known now as "the place where Dexter likes to jump around and chase imaginary things that are actually my FACE at 5 am".  I'm going to go out and watch the Leafs lose in overtime on Friday, feel free to come join me.

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Thursday, November 5th, 2009

octranspo [ fierodough ]

5:02p Emergency downtown? Please excuse my typing... I'm writting this from my blackberry on bus 6359. This bus, the 95 Orleans has been held up for almost an hour at Lebretton because of some emergency downtown. Something at Slater and Kent. Anyone have any info? Traffic is really bad as of now. Cheers!

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news [ theljstaff ]

1:15p LiveJournal Major Notes: Spam counter-attack, RSS feeds again, CSI Deadly Intent contest The empire strikes back In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal. RSS feeds again If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience. Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests! c_s_i If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here. Enveloped in postcards Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits. Photos of the week If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too! ( Read more... )

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unclecliffy

8:05a Uncle Cliffy on TV I've got three tiny soundbytes! Autographs? Autographs, anyone? :)

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Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

muffin_von_chub

8:57p ( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

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octranspo [ niceocdriver ]

8:58p A Rare Props To Management.... ....for starting to hand out sanitizing wipes for the equipment, and bottles for hand cleaning to all drivers! Most of us have been trying as best we can to clean our work stations as much as possible and wash our hands as often as possible, but this is a great idea, and I thank management for doing this for us to make things much easier to try and stay healthy and not catch any flu or other viruses!

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octranspo [ sarah2586 ]

6:07p Fare hikes. 73.25 for a student pass? Wtf? Not like I have enough to pay for...I really don't like the city for this. *shakes head* current mood: angry

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draconravie

1:38p Had to post this... ...I'm not sure why but this passage from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy is stuck in my brain. "Mihailov meanwhile, although Anna's portrait greatly fascinated him, was even more glad than they were when the sittings were over, and he had no longer to listen to Golenishtchev's disquisitions upon art, and could forget about Vronsky's painting. He knew that Vronsky could not be prevented from amusing himself with painting; he knew that he and all dilettanti had a perfect right to paint what they liked, but it was distasteful to him. A man could not be prevented from making himself a big wax doll, and kissing it. But if the man were to come with the doll and sit before a man in love, and begin caressing his doll as the lover caressed the woman he loved, it would be distasteful to the lover. Just such a distasteful sensation was what Mihailov felt at the sight of Vronsky's painting: he felt it both ludicrous and irritating, both pitiable and offensive." current mood: curious

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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

octranspo [ niceocdriver ]

11:30p And I Thought My Job Sucks Sometimes... ...then I watched Parking Wars on t.v.,man those people have it B.A.D.!!!!!!!!! Here Iam thinking we have it bad with people bitching about stuff that we have no control over, but these poor people have it worse than anyone...LOL! They couldn't pay me enough to work ANYWHERE for that company...meter maid=ass kicking daily, working in the office=dumbasses blaming everyone BUT themselves (like OC I think) for their own screw ups, AND the poor workers that boot the cars , man I can't believe they don't get attacked and/or shot at daily! Just when i thought my job could be bad, this show shows how mental some people can be and how defensive they can get while they are in the wrong!!!

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breadcamesliced

10:15p

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breadcamesliced

2:10p

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