I've seen others do this and thought it was probably about time I did something similar. Thusly, this post shall stay permanently at the top of my LJ as a sort of 'hello' post.

So... hello! *waves* You have reached the Blog of Boz and, frankly, I'd run screaming in the opposite direction as fast as possible, if I were you. However, if you feel up to dealing with the rambling inanity of the terminally addled, by all means stick around. All are welcome! XD

Friend away! I do friend back (unless you strike me as a troll or, a spam-bot). You can use this post to say hello and introduce yourself. :)


As of March 2007: I am officially 'Not Here'. What this means is I might pop up from time to time with the odd post, but otherwise I'm trying to use whatever limited computer time I have to write (whilst dealing with an increasingly insane RL). It also means keeping up to date with my flist is difficult - I manage sometimes, but also go through periods when it's all but impossible. Apologies!

Been an AGE since I inflicted a piece of 'Boz doggerel' on you, but when the mood/muse strikes, what can you do?

( Today is a day for chocolate )

:P

7 icons, 5 of them quotes from peeps on my flist. Also 4 bases that you are welcome to nab if they are of use to you.

Teasers:

a. b. c.

The rest are HERE on bozicons

Just FYI people on my flist quoted are: book_eater, teh_elb, little_baldwin, moralanqua and morgulq.

New chapter of FMA?! WHY DID NO-ONE TELL ME!

*runs to read Chapter 84*

XD

Normally this is the sort of thing I annoy Elb with, given she invariably knows (for she is Teh Tolkien Nerd *grin*) or knows where to look to find the answer(s). However right now Elb is still gallavanting round Jerusalem living the life of Riley (just received an e-mail from her, and I quote: "We have climbed every bloody mountain in the Holy Land" and "The Dead Sea was EBIL" apparently).

ANYway, to get back to the point:

Birthdays.

Specifically: elvish begetting days.

Now, I know such things are mentioned (which is why we know they are called 'begetting days'), but do we know anything of the ritual or celebration surrounding them or even how often they were celebrated? I somehow doubt that they would be celebrated every year, but I don't want to plump for that option only to discover there's some obscure note about this in HoME somewhere.

Hobbits give other people presents on their birthdays, this we know. Wonder if elves would do the same or get presents? Hum, hum.

I have my own ideas of what I want/would say in the event of there being no information at all on this, but just wanted to pick people's brains to see if anyone remembers seeing anything anywhere about this.

Thanks. :)

Work, damn you! *shakes fist*

Well, it seems ff.net is not working properly (as per usual). People are posting reviews (many thanks! :D), but I'm not getting notifications that they are doing so. Got notifications for the first couple for the latest chapter, but that was it.

Also makes me worry that perhaps my reply to the PM I got will not have got through. So, in the off-chance that the person who sent it (who prefers to remain an anonymous reader so I shall not name them) reads this post: I did reply! And you had no need to be anxious, I was most interested in your thoughts, comments and views. :)

*kicks ff.net once more just because it deserves it* Grrr.

Never done one of these before, so bear with me...

( cut for spoilers )

O_O

Well, after a flurry of chapters and one small batch of iconses, I reckon it's easily time for a News-Spam, don't you? :D

EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Music officionados have decided: the worst ever cover song was 'You Shook Me All Night Long' (originally by AC/DC) by Celine Dion. The best ever was, of course, Jimi Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" (originally by Bob Dylon). My thoughts: "ZOMG NIRVANA DID A VERSION OF 'THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD'?! WHY DID NO ONE EVER TELL ME THIS?! *FLAIL*" ¬¬

A trip down memory lane for me (and an education into seriously old British cars for some, perhaps). We had one of these when I was a kid! XD! It was pale blue and called 'Doris.' We also had one of the 'estate' ones with wood down the sides which was called 'Edwin.' I've always, ALWAYS wanted one. *folorn sigh*

We need a cure for asthma and anaphylactic shock and the answer could be CHICKENS! ... But of course.

What must this do for your self-confidence? "We'd rather vote in a dead man as mayor than you." O_o

Gordon Ramsey is a foul-mouthed man who apparently embarrasses his mother no end (she keeps getting accosted by friends in the street complaining about his language). Well now even the country that seems to barely bat an eyelid at swearing for the most part finds Gordon Ramsey a step too far. *rofl*

And while we're 'Down Under': Why does a farmer even HAVE a jet-ski in the first place?

"Yes, your honour, I am listening, but let me just finish this grid first..."

Remember that really rather grim story about feet washing up on Canadian shores? Well, it's still happening, and now they reckon they know why: sneakers perserve the feet for longer. Which is all fairly 'ew' and 'ick', but it still doesn't explain why only right feet are washing up. o_O *does the wiggly 'doo-doo-doo-doo' Twilight Zone fingers at you all*

"We do not pay you to pee."

Snail e-mail. I LOVE THIS IDEA! XD

I know handbags are IN and some will pay ridiculous amounts for them, but this is just daft.

Man survives 100ft drop off a cliff in a car. Thankfully his dog survived too.

Okay, this one is just amazing: woman gives birth after not even knowing she was pregnant... while out on a hen night dressed as a bumble bee. Would I lie to you? And I cannot now find the story, but a little while back there was a woman who gave birth to a baby that had actually been an ectopic pregnancy! The docs didn't even know until they opened her up for a C-section! O_O

"WE'RE IN THE TORNADO! WE'RE IN THE TORNADO! ... WE'RE IN THE TORNADO!" (I think they're in the tornado)

Ah, see, that's what makes Britain great. Olympics? Schmolympics! :P We have a giant jigsaw to finish!

A lovely mini-documentary piece on the last of the debutantes

A pig which is mud phobic? Give it some wellies!

The 'office-speak' we love to hate

And in Boz's Science Nerd Corner this News-Spam we have: Mars probe discovers ice (which is no great shock, but is still SQUEE), martian soil could support life asparagus and an asteroid called John

After a man was found guilty for dangerous driving after being found with 13 people in his car, a BBC journalist tries to recreate this... and fails. If you're interested, the full story is here: here.

It's that time of year again! The Ugliest Dog competition and the 41st World Custard Pie Throwing Championships. Meh, what is this 'Bejing' you speak of?

This is me. No, really. It's also my father. It's genetic. No, really. ¬¬

Alas, I end with a tale of woe. Poor, rude, gigantically endowed Dorset Man needs a trim. But, woe, thrice woe, there are not enough sheep to nibble at his unmentionables. Poor, rude Dorset Man

:P

Okay, so I suddenly remembered that sometimes the new chapter is up by this time on a Friday night so I checked and it is and...

Chapter 316!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! KUBO I KILL YOU DED WITH KILLING THINGS! FLAIL!

Grr. I never thought, given the way that arc started, I'd actually be FUMING with rage that it's now stopped.

I have yet to read the chapter, might I add, so it may be it's full of glorious kickassedness (in which case my ire will be somewhat cooled). If it's damn Ichigo saving Orime AGAIN, though, I might have to do something horribly violent. *eye twitch*

*clicks on Page 1 with wary trepidation*

ETA - Okay, according to the translators, this chapter's called: "Swang The Edge Down." ... ROFLMAO! *bangs fist on table* BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

ETA #2 - ( cut for potential plot spoilers )

Bah, I say, Kubo. BAH WITH BELLS ON!

Well, here it is. With many thanks to Mums. *hugs and cookies*

Chapter 55: "Pear Shaped"

In which Penny comes to a decision.

Okay, this is VERY odd.

Yesterday Elb posted all the way from Jerusalem. I just randomly went to see who else had commented on her post to find I was the only one! O_o I thought 'That can't be right' and THEN found that it doesn't appear on the top of her LJ as the latest post because for some reason it's dated 8th June (instead of the 25th). o_O Thus I don't think it would have appeared on anyone's flists - I only knew about it cos I got an e-mail notification.

So, for anyone on Elb's flist who is at all interested in a brief post of squeeage and awesomeness (SHE FELL INTO AN AQUEDUCT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That is SO Elb! *ROFL*), mainly involving JEDI!priests and Elb-as-Lawrence-of-Arabia (but of course):

Elb PWNS The Holy Land - will it ever recover?

:P

Well, this is Niggsy's fault. She wanted a gardening icon and I had an idea and thus... well, there you are. :P So, Niggsy, mi-dear, this is for you:



I've done seven more icons all focused on gardening and/or wellies (or 'gum boots') which I've posted on bozicons.
Teasers:

1. 2. 3.

You can find the rest here.

:)

Okay, so I lied. ¬¬ Well, actually, I realised I'd arrived a good stopping point for Chapter 55 and thus it is done (even if in first draft form) and thus, I bring you... this! XD

Chapter 54: "Drawing Lines"

In which... well, I'll leave you to read it and find out for yourselves. :P

( The author's response - perhaps best only read AFTER you've read the chapter... )

With many thanks to Mums for her speedy beta-ing and Absent!Elb for telling me to 'go ahead and post.' *HUGGLES*

So I'm about 14 pages in to Chapter 55 and it's not gone as I intended. And yet I think I like it. Even if it's different from what I planned. ¬¬ I suspect I shall have to write a second version closer to my original plan, then utterly fail to be able to choose between them and shall dump the decision on my betas (*sticks tongue out at Mums*).

Definitely get to Imladris by the end of the chapter and, given I've got far further on in this chapter than I thought I would (which makes a change - it's usually the other way round), I might well FINALLY be able to move on several weeks at least by the end. Going to be rather strange to get back to Imladris life (been literally YEARS since I last wrote it, lol), but I think it will, weirdly, feel a bit like 'coming home' for Penny, at least compared to living in a damn tent for weeks on end.

Anyway, that will take me longer than I'd thought if only because I'll be going further than I realised (need to think through the homecoming, hobbits greeting Bilbo, Bilbo's b'day, etc). Don't want to post Chapter 54 till 55 is done (or as near as dammit). Gimme a week and we'll see where we're at then. Hopefully. ¬¬ No promises, though.

First reaction: um, is that it? *blink*

( cut for spoilers and much ranting in ALL CAPS )

*is still in WTF mode* Let's just hope that Kubo goes BACK to the plot and the next chapter is -96. Unless we go straight to kickass kickassedness (though I suspect it will be back to Ichigo once again, alas).

So, yesterday Kitten Cat caught a pigeon.

Or at least we think he did.

Kinda hard to tell, to be honest, because if he did he ate most of the evidence other than half a ton of feathers all over the lawn. Hubby went out to investigate once we'd spotted them and, not finding any 'bits of bird' or a carcass, then wondered if it had 'got away.' I said that if it had it was 'one very bald pigeon.' :P Anyway, since in my limited experience of such things you usually find some of the carcass - the head and feet, for example - I did phone Dad just to see if that was usually the case or if a fairly determined puss-puss could, as I suspected, even crunch their way through those too.

Boz: So, do cats sometimes eat everything, even the head and feet?

Pa Boz: *pause* Well it depends if it's a particularly delicious birdie or not.

*snigger* Yes, folks, that's where I get it from. :P

Of course, the other two were FASCINATED. Much prowling round the lawn and sniffing at every feather, with Kitten Cat chasing them off ("MY delicious mid-afternoon snack! Catch your own damn birdie!").

Anyway, my only concern was that, having potentially eaten every part of a disease-infested London 'rat with wings' that Kitten Cat would have a horrific attack of the squits in the night, but it seems we are safe. Constitution of an ox, apparently. That or there really IS a very bald pigeon folornly flapping its way round the city being mercilessly mocked by its peers. :P

In other news, Boz had a rare culinary disaster last night. I will admit that I might not be good at much, but cooking I'm relatively okay at. We shall not mention the 'Moroccan fish soup' that was served to guests nine years ago and no one could eat. We will also skim quickly over the particular recipe of my mother-in-law's that after three goes at I've now given up on, even if it IS hubby's favourite, if only because it's become progressively more and more inedible every time I've tried. No, instead we shall focus on the baked custard/egg tart/custard tart/whatever you want to call it that I attempted for the first time last night.

I had made a batch of 'pate sucree' and it needed using. Hubby has a thing for tarte aux bananes, so I thought I'd try a baked custard (since he insists on buying the things and, I reasoned, they must be dirt easy to make) and put bananas in it as a layer on the bottom, thus making a sort of English version. Easy? Well, so you'd think.

My first warning should have been the difficulty I had in even tracking down a recipe (to get the proportions). I should explain that I have so many cook books I can't actually tell you how many I have - but they are a LOT. And I finally found a recipe in the Summer Pudding Club book. Eggs, sugar, heat milk and pour over pastry shell, bake.

Followed the instructions, even turned down the temperature after 10 minutes. Came to take the thing out of the oven, opened the door, looked... and promptly collapsed into hysterics. My tarte had cooked. My custard had cooked. However, they had cooked in entirely separate parts of the oven. ROFL! I had a tarte tin with a layer of bananas in it and a thin veneer of custard over them all, and below them in the roasting tray was a great pool of baked custard! Tasted very nice, though. ... Even if I did have to scrape it off with a spatula. LOL!

Eeee! I can't get enough of Bernard Cribbins, I really can't. Mr Cribbins wearing reindeer horns FTW. In fact wearing two pairs AT ONCE, ftw, especially as refusing to take them off. *grins and chortles*

I liked this, liked the idea of it - ( spoilers behind the cut for this episode and for Midnight )

*kicks LJ* You're being damn slow this morning - what's wrong with you?

After several days of not managing much, I've managed to get half of Chapter 55 done. It will need seriously reworking - not happy with the emotion/thought processes just yet - but it's a first draft at least. If I manage to crack at it over the weekend, you never know it might be done by mid-week at the latest. All depends, though. ¬¬

Meanwhile, while washing the kitchen floor yesterday I had my first Doctor Who bunny. I know! Kind of odd I've never had one before, really, but there you are. A small bunny of the drabblet sort. No significant plot as such, but a moment-in-the-life sort of thing. In fact, thinking about it, do you know what it is? It's Donna. I love Donna. I think Donna is blooming fantastic. THAT's what's triggered a bunny at long last. My memories of Old Who are too rusty and faded (though I am slowly reacquainting myself when I can find time, and that's not been for a while now), though one day I'd love to write a Four moment involving something particular dense that Harry Sullivan has done yet AGAIN, for I do love Harry Sullivan so (and Four, obviously). But, yes, to get back to the point: Donna/Ten interaction is made of so much win I cannot begin to express it. And that's what was jiggeting about in my brain: Donna and Ten running down various corridors with Ten being all gleeful and 'isn't this fun?' and 'meh, I've seen worse' and Donna being all 'eyebrow, WTF' and 'WILL YOU JUST STOP AND SAVE OUR BUTTS ALREADY'. XD

Which reminds me: opheliastorn - did you ever get to see 'Terror of the Zygons' and the smexy gloriousness that is Evol!Harry?

Oh, and a thought occurred to me and I is a doofus for not thunking it before now. Those of you who were reading this drivel back at the end of 'season three' of New Who will remember my rant at RTD when I finally decided the 'experiment' of exploding Gallifrey and killing off all the Time Lords had FAILED (for those who might have missed it). Specifically how leaving him bereft of context and history (other than for it give him angst and pain) and how that changed the entire nature of the Doctor. Anyway, it's only just occurred to me that this season they've clearly realised the same thing and gone out of their way to find REPLACEMENTS for the context that RTD destroyed, namely: ( cut for those who have not yet seen any of this series, but those who have can click without fear ) they serve a similar function. Just interested me that.

(Of course, I'm still hoping for 'speshul magical enclave of Time Lords squirrelled away in some void/vaccum/life-saving exercise' that will appear at some point in the future... What? Don't look at me like that! If they can do it with the bloody daleks, they can do it with the Time Lords. :P And now we know the Face of Boe is possibly Jack, I think we can discount any predictions of 'you're all alone except for one other' whith a massive pinch of salt. I mean, this is Jack we're talking about for crying out loud. :P)

Okay, looks like this ended up being a post about Doctor Who for the most part. Hum. *toddles off into the ether*

I'm really sorry - I completely forgot to post about this prior to the broadcast and then forgot afterwards too! *hangs head*

Stephen Fry presented an hour-long tribute to Humph from fellow panelists on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (which ran for 37 years - that's longer than I've been alive... just. ¬¬) and Radio 4 bods. It's available on Radio 4's 'Listen Again' feature until at least this Sunday. Sorry for the short notice!

Linkie!

Includes classic clips from the show, of course.