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(pound pound pound)
Aug. 18th, 2003 05:48 pmAfter the celebration of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
qbear's birthday on Saturday, Sunday was fairly quiet. Woke up earlier than expected and was full of energy, so I went downstairs and tackled cleaning out the pantry and the kitchen food cabinets. Jack came downstairs just as I had stacked the last of the canned goods on the counter, so after a startled scream, he said, "Wake me when it's over!" and went back upstairs. An hour later, all our canned goods and pantry staples were sorted out, with soups on one shelf, pasta on another, rices on another, couscous on another, beans of various kinds on another, etc. It was very gratifying -- our under-the-stairs storage shelves were gleaming and organized like a supermarket aisle. Also mopped the kitchen while I was at it, then made a bacon-peppers-and-mushroom scramble to fortify us before we headed out to spend Jack's birthday gift certificates.
(Jack said he wished he had a camera, while I was cleaning and cooking ... I was cleaning wearing only tighty-whitey underwear, a pair so old that they're practically see-through (but oh-so-comfortable), but I didn't want to be spattered by bacon grease, so once I started cooking I threw on a white cooking apron with Sylvester the Cat on the front. Jack pointed and laughed . . . what a ridiculous sight I must have been.)
Anyway, our first stop was Target in South San Francisco, where we bought the cheapest VCR possible ($39.99!) to replace the defective one we'd bought at Fry's the previous week. (The defective one played tapes OK but screwed up the cable system so we couldn't get channels 2 or 5, and as we had thrown out the box we could hardly take it back. We're down on Fry's and might not shop there again, except for computer components.) The new VCR appears to work fine, and the defective one is heading for the guest room, where we don't have cable installed (since we don't want guests to get too comfortable.) Also dodged the multitudes of back-to-school shoppers and purchased a retro touch-lamp for the wet bar.
Next stop was Tower Records in Stonestown, where Jack had $50 to blow. He headed straight for the DVDs, where he picked up Paper Moon, an IMAX-y macro-to-micro documentary, and at my suggestion, Kiss Me Stupid, a black comedy by famed director Billy Wilder that almost ended his career for being too black. He finished up his gift certificate with a public-domain cheapie DVD of a Flash Gordon serial from the '40s. Personally, I really don't like public domain CDs, as their only benefit is their low price. Other than that, the picture and sound quality usually sucks, there are usually no added DVD extras, and their art direction is so poor that they look terrible sitting there on your DVD shelf. And their very presence sometimes offends me -- for example, Charade with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn is an enjoyable romantic thriller from 1963, but the presence of so many cheap public-domain versions makes the quality version (from Criterion) hard to find.
Over on the CD front, I picked up the Junior Senior CD (only $10), the Dandy Warhols' Come Down, and Cat Power's You Are Free. Also picked up the first Fountains of Wayne and the latest by the British band, The Music, but put them down again while I was waiting for the cashiers in the slow-moving line. If I'd had to wait in line much longer I might have put everything back. That'll teach 'em.*
_______________________
* Here's how Jack makes fun of my family's supposed judgmental nature.
1. Open left palm.
2. Make fist with right hand.
3. Pound fist lightly into left hand three times fast while stating flatly, "That'll teach 'em."
Good for many scenarios:
-- While watching TV . . . a newscaster reports on a mugger who tried to hold up a group of karate black-belts. (pound pound pound) "That'll teach 'em."
-- While watching Buffy . . . Xander remarks during a vampire attack that "Maybe we shouldn't have taken a shortcut through the cemetery." (pound pound pound) "That'll teach 'em."
-- While waiting for the bus, we notice a car has speeded up to pass another, only to wind up behind an even slower car. (pound pound pound) "That'll teach 'em."
Note that "That'll teach 'em" should be directed at third parties who cannot overhear you. Saying "That'll teach ya" to someone present is being judgmental and unfeeling and is probably best avoided.
It amuses us now whenever we hear someone besides ourselves (or my family) saying "That'll teach 'em."
(pound pound pound)
qbear's birthday on Saturday, Sunday was fairly quiet. Woke up earlier than expected and was full of energy, so I went downstairs and tackled cleaning out the pantry and the kitchen food cabinets. Jack came downstairs just as I had stacked the last of the canned goods on the counter, so after a startled scream, he said, "Wake me when it's over!" and went back upstairs. An hour later, all our canned goods and pantry staples were sorted out, with soups on one shelf, pasta on another, rices on another, couscous on another, beans of various kinds on another, etc. It was very gratifying -- our under-the-stairs storage shelves were gleaming and organized like a supermarket aisle. Also mopped the kitchen while I was at it, then made a bacon-peppers-and-mushroom scramble to fortify us before we headed out to spend Jack's birthday gift certificates.(Jack said he wished he had a camera, while I was cleaning and cooking ... I was cleaning wearing only tighty-whitey underwear, a pair so old that they're practically see-through (but oh-so-comfortable), but I didn't want to be spattered by bacon grease, so once I started cooking I threw on a white cooking apron with Sylvester the Cat on the front. Jack pointed and laughed . . . what a ridiculous sight I must have been.)
Anyway, our first stop was Target in South San Francisco, where we bought the cheapest VCR possible ($39.99!) to replace the defective one we'd bought at Fry's the previous week. (The defective one played tapes OK but screwed up the cable system so we couldn't get channels 2 or 5, and as we had thrown out the box we could hardly take it back. We're down on Fry's and might not shop there again, except for computer components.) The new VCR appears to work fine, and the defective one is heading for the guest room, where we don't have cable installed (since we don't want guests to get too comfortable.) Also dodged the multitudes of back-to-school shoppers and purchased a retro touch-lamp for the wet bar.
Next stop was Tower Records in Stonestown, where Jack had $50 to blow. He headed straight for the DVDs, where he picked up Paper Moon, an IMAX-y macro-to-micro documentary, and at my suggestion, Kiss Me Stupid, a black comedy by famed director Billy Wilder that almost ended his career for being too black. He finished up his gift certificate with a public-domain cheapie DVD of a Flash Gordon serial from the '40s. Personally, I really don't like public domain CDs, as their only benefit is their low price. Other than that, the picture and sound quality usually sucks, there are usually no added DVD extras, and their art direction is so poor that they look terrible sitting there on your DVD shelf. And their very presence sometimes offends me -- for example, Charade with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn is an enjoyable romantic thriller from 1963, but the presence of so many cheap public-domain versions makes the quality version (from Criterion) hard to find.
Over on the CD front, I picked up the Junior Senior CD (only $10), the Dandy Warhols' Come Down, and Cat Power's You Are Free. Also picked up the first Fountains of Wayne and the latest by the British band, The Music, but put them down again while I was waiting for the cashiers in the slow-moving line. If I'd had to wait in line much longer I might have put everything back. That'll teach 'em.*
_______________________
* Here's how Jack makes fun of my family's supposed judgmental nature.
1. Open left palm.
2. Make fist with right hand.
3. Pound fist lightly into left hand three times fast while stating flatly, "That'll teach 'em."
Good for many scenarios:
-- While watching TV . . . a newscaster reports on a mugger who tried to hold up a group of karate black-belts. (pound pound pound) "That'll teach 'em."
-- While watching Buffy . . . Xander remarks during a vampire attack that "Maybe we shouldn't have taken a shortcut through the cemetery." (pound pound pound) "That'll teach 'em."
-- While waiting for the bus, we notice a car has speeded up to pass another, only to wind up behind an even slower car. (pound pound pound) "That'll teach 'em."
Note that "That'll teach 'em" should be directed at third parties who cannot overhear you. Saying "That'll teach ya" to someone present is being judgmental and unfeeling and is probably best avoided.
It amuses us now whenever we hear someone besides ourselves (or my family) saying "That'll teach 'em."
(pound pound pound)
