kayray.org

Wow, this updated version of West Side Story is quite clever and very funny! It’s less than 4 minutes long, so give it a try.

“Pandora… I just found a site called Pandora…”

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

17 Sally Lays a Ghost – 00:27:28

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

I dreamt about this Sesame Street animation:

Ah, back when Sesame Street was creative and artistic and trippy and The Count was menacing and the grownups thought the Snuffleupagus was imaginary and there weren’t so many squeaky baby-talking muppets…

Back in August of 2008, Shell Crandall and I started a duet recording of a really excellent children’s history book, “The Story of Mankind.” We alternated chapters. The day after we got to Canada, Shell finished up her last few recordings, Anna proofed them, and I did the cataloging, so this fabulous book is ready for you to download!

http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/

I listened to it over and over for about three days straight, while napping upstairs in Montreal. Very soothing. If you like to read along while listening, you can get the plain-jane text at Project Gutenberg, read along with an illustrated e-text at mainlesson.com, or, best of all, buy the lovely thick paperback reprint with original illustrations from Yesterday’s Classics!

I’ll probably put this book up in my podcast feed when “The Adventures of Sally” is finished. I really think everyone will enjoy it.

Hugh and Christine are amazing hosts and always take good care of us. I thought I’d try to remember all the lovely food they made for us so that maybe I can recreate some of it at home. Most nights Hugh grilled the meat and veggies on his gas grill, which we don’t have, but we do have a regular charcoal barbecue (scavenged when some neighbors moved away) and I suppose I could learn to use it.

Let’s see, one night we had pork chops (my favorite), tiny boiled potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Another time it was lovely butcher-shop sausages with homemade crabapple jelly and grilled peppers/eggplant/zucchini and tiny boiled potatoes. I loved those tiny boiled potatoes so much that they fixed them nearly every night.

A couple times we had chicken brochettes – easy ’cause they came from the butcher shop marinated and pre-skewered with veggies. I think our market sells something similar so that would be something to try, perhaps. Dan loved those especially much.

Several times we had grilled asparagus with dinner; I didn’t think Henry would like asparagus but he did! One night we had broccoli rabe, with normal broccoli for the less adventurous. I liked the rabe a lot. I think they fixed it with lemon juice and maybe garlic?

One night Hugh made orzo with chopped tomatoes, green onion, and zucchini. I’d never had orzo before and loved it; it was so good hot for dinner and cold the next day for lunch. Funny how different shapes of pasta taste so different when it’s all just made from the same stuff.

And of course with every meal we had great conversation. Heck, we could have eaten boxed mac-n-cheese every night and if we got to talk with H and C while eating, it would have been just fine. And we always had bread and interesting cheeses after the main course, and then a sweet after that — Christine’s homemade orange cake, peach cake from Cocoa Locale, strawberries… Yum. Christine often took Henry to the cheese shop to help choose after-dinner cheeses for us. He loved that. :)

I’m sure I’m forgetting something delicious. I was feeling so ill most of the time that a lot of the trip is just a blur. Sigh.

Our own Hugh McGuire giving a talk for BooknetCanada on “LibriVox: Time, Love, and Books”

(It’s just audio until about 1:28 in, but after that you get to see Hugh.)

We flew home on Saturday. I was still really sick and constantly coughing so the flight was pretty miserable, but everything went smoothly. The cat was so glad to see us!

Sorry, dear family and friends, that you didn’t get any postcards and presents from Canada this time. I barely ever left the house, and when I did I was too busy coughing to do any shopping.

We all had such a wonderful relaxing time with Hugh and Christine! Here are a few more pictures:

Views from their roof, where they have a container garden and a gazebo. We ate several meals and played lots of games up there:

On Thursday it rained and I felt well enough to take a little walk, so we walked out to get a cake at Cocoa Locale.

Christine, Henry, and Dan:

Cocoa Locale! We bought a little peach cake and some chocolate and lemon cupcakes. YUM.

It’s just a tiny little shop, and the lady bakes right in the front room behind the counter. My flash went off by accident when I took that photo and I nearly died of embarrassment.

One more pretty street:

We played a lot of cards, euchre mostly but also elevator and some Saskatchewan cribbage. We ate and ate and ate, and talked, and knitted, and just relaxed. Christine took the guys bike riding up on Mont Royal — they rented bixis!

We can’t wait to go back someday.

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

16 At the Flower-Garden – 00:43:28

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

We’re on vacation in Montreal! We got here on Saturday but I had a bad sore throat and cough and I’ve been pretty sick ever since so didn’t manage to blog. But I feel a lot better today! We’re staying with Hugh and Christine and having a wonderful time. I’ve been feeling too awful to do much but sleep and lie around but we’ve eaten lots of wonderful food and played cards and talked, and Christine has taken Henry on bike rides and walks for provisions. And we did some knitting yesterday :)

I hope today I will be able to take a little walk in this beautiful city. Here’s the view from the front window:

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

15 Uncle Donald Speaks His Mind – 00:11:58

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

I just finished Dan’s second pair of birthday socks!

(Yeah, I ran out of green at the second toe :)

I actually knit two whole pairs in time for his birthday (back in May) but they didn’t fit so I ripped them out and started again. And then I had to finish the little quilt by fair delivery day, so the socks had to wait a bit. But now they’re all done! Here’s the first pair:

(Forgot to knit the ribbing on smaller needles)

Excuse me while I rave about this yarn again — it’s Briggs and Little’s “Tuffy”. It knits up into thick, tough, strong socks that wear like iron. Our Tuffy socks are our absolute favorites. I have two pairs, and Dan now has four! You can buy it from several online stores, but I like to get it from Halcyon. They ship *fast*. They sell it as “Canadian Sock Yarn“. You can squeeze a pair of socks from a single ball of yarn if you make shortish cuffs.

Here are my notes on how I made them:

cast on 40

(Size 1 needles) k2p2 for 8 rounds

(Size 2 needles) 18 rounds stockinet

green stripe pattern (1 green, 1 grey, 3 green, 1 grey, 1 green) then 3 rounds grey

heel flap on 20 for 12 ridges:

Here’s my new favorite heel:

knit across half the stitches from the heel flap. Knit one additional stitch, ssk, knit 1, and turn the work. On the next (wrong side) row, slip 1, purl 3, purl 2 together, purl 1, turn. On the following row, work to within one stitch of the turning point from the previous row, ssk, knit 1, turn; slip one, purl to within one stitch of the turning point from the previous row, purl 2 together, purl 1, turn.

4 more green stripes, three rounds grey, then toe.

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

14 Mr. Abrahams Re-Engages an Old Employee – 00:45:18

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

This is the opening cinematic for the upcoming Beatles Rock Band game. It starts out cute and charming and lovable, and ends up spectacularly surreal and beautiful. It made me cry.

Go to the official site to see this work of art in HD. Put it on your biggest computer screen and crank it up! Look for all the wonderful little details. You can watch the gameplay trailer there too — they’ve included vocal harmonies!

My god. We’re pre-ordering this for the Wii. How could we not? We can BE THE BEATLES. (BTW, it’s being released on 09-09-09. Number 9, number 9…)

P.S. Can you spot John’s psychedelic Rolls Royce? Henry did! Other things we noticed: the cafe with the sign listing all the Savoy Truffle treats, and a breakfast special “1 & 1 is 2” (that’s a very obscure rare old song), a yellow submarine, Lucy in the Sky, a mixing board…

Rest in peace, David Carradine; goodbye, Kwai Chang Caine. *sniff*

“…when you can walk its length and leave no trace, you will have learned.”

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

13 Strange Behaviour of a Sparring-Partner – 00:43:15

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)