A Geek's Eye

Break in the Clouds

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:41:17 GMT

And, lo-n-behold, the clouds didst part allowing me to dash out into the muck and mud to plant the last of my backyard garden!

The tomatoes, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, broccoli, bell peppers, and hot chilies are all in!

I'm exhausted and, at the moment, am sitting at the Radish Tree hotel waiting for the CONvergence con-comm meeting to start. Busy-busy!

But at least the plants are down and can start growing to provide me with sustenance!

Yours,
Sylvan

Rain, Rain: Go Away...

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:46:25 GMT

Oh, who am I kidding?

It's spring: we need the rain.

But it's very frustrating when it rains on the weekends: even a guy with a black thumb like me knows you can't plant in mud. I only got three plants into the back garden, this morning, before the skies opened up and turned the garden into a mud-pit. Kale, Swiss Chard, and Lettuce are all in. Plus, I'd managed to move the wild ramps back a few inches. But, still, I've got a CONvergence meeting, today, and rain scheduled for all other times in the day. Really frustrating.

This, though, is from yesterday...

At least I'll have some basil this year.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Front Garden: IN!

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:31:44 GMT

Okay, I've got the front garden transplanted. This is despite the thunder and lightning out there. I simply know I'm not going to have much time going forward, this week, and I simply must get these plants into the ground.

Also, what better time than during a rainstorm?

Well, there are probably better times, yes.

But I got as soaked as I intend to get, today, before going to the Furry Picnic.

Yeah: picnic in the rain. Typical for Minnesota. But fun!

So, the front garden has tomatillos (and their tomato cage) in a wooden barrel placed in the sunny front corner of the yard by the fence and sidewalk. It also has nearly all my basil, my curry, the sage, the thyme, the flat-leaf parlsey, and the rosemary in the lamppost planter. My only hesitation with using the lamppost planter is that some of the bricks fell away last week while I was levering grass out of it (those roots can be nasty!). But it's been too cold and/or wet for me to patch the bricks with cement. But the plants couldn't wait.

My hope is that I'll be able to fix the bricks in the coming weeks while the plants in the planter continue to grow.

Tomorrow, unless I get totally rained out, I'll transplant the tomatoes, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, hot peppers, sweet peppers, and melon seeds next to the already-planted bean seeds and ramps (coming back from last year). Those will all be in the back garden.

I'm looking forward to a great crop this year!

Now: if only my black thumb won't kill 'em all...

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Confirmed!

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:22:16 GMT

The Minnesota State Senate voted 37 - yay / 30 - nay and Governor Mark Dayton will sign it into law, tomorrow. Marriage Equality is REAL!

After fighting both on the front lines (and on the back-burner) I can finally sit back and breathe a wonderful, satisfied sigh of relief.

I can only say thank you to those states who came before and my best hopes and dreams to those who come after us. Minnesota is Number Twelve and the first Midwestern State to accomplish Marriage Equality via legislation. It's a very happy day around these parts.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Planting Plants

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:22:08 GMT

So, this weekend is the big, annual plant sale put on by the Friends School of Minnesota. They're a private school who funds a large amount of their curriculum by selling seedlings every spring over Mother's Day weekend. I've been going to their sale for many years.

This year, I took Friday off work to purchase a ton of plants.

It's still too cold, here, to put them into the ground (stupid, Smarch weather) but I have them under a grow-light in the kitchen. I'll probably be able to transplant them next weekend. Lookin' forward to it.

This is what I'm growing this year:

Basil, Holy
Basil, Lemon
Basil, Opal
Basil, Sweet Genovese
Broccoli - Premium Crop
Brussels Sprouts - Jade Cross
Cabbage - Copenhagen
Cauliflower - Candid Charm
Cauliflower - Graffiti
Curry Plant (H. italicum)
Heirloom Tomatoes, Brandywine
Heirloom Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple
Heirloom Tomatoes, Costoluto Genovese
Heirloom Tomatoes, Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Heirloom Tomatoes, Moskvich
Heirloom Tomatoes, Nyagous
Heirloom Tomatoes, Omar's Lebanese
Heirloom Tomatoes, Red Zebra
Heirloom Tomatoes, San Marzano
Italian Parsley
Kale - Vates
Mustard Greens - Green Wave
Pepper, Hot - Fatalii
Pepper, Hot - Habanero, Orange
Pepper, Hot - Jalapeno
Pepper, Hot - Thai Dragon
Pepper, Sweet - Lady Bell
Pepper, Sweet - Sheepnose Pimento
Pepper, Sweet - Takii Ace
Pepper, Sweet - Valencia
Rosemary
Sage - Common
Swiss Chard - Bright Lights
Thyme - French
Tomatillo -Tomate Verde (green)

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Minnesota Marriage

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:36:34 GMT

It passed.

It passed the Minnesota State House.

Now the Marriage Equality bill goes on to the Minnesota Senate where it's expected to pass even more easily. Then the legislation goes to our Governor, Mark Dayton, where he's promised to sign it.

It's so funny, though: I've been fighting for this for so long I don't know what to do. (Well, tonight I know: I'm going out with friends to buy a big steak.) But when I was younger, I sort of assumed I would get married: that's what adults did. But in my young college days, I never found a woman I really felt "right" with. I met a couple, but something was wrong ... something was amiss. Eventually, I called myself "bi" and, honestly, I probably still am. I just haven't been attracted to any women in a long, long time. So, for all practical purposes, I'm gay. And as a gay man, I fought for the right to marry ever since the late 90s.

I haven't always fought like the best of the activists. I got very tired of carrying signs (although I did that) and writing essays (did that, too). I donated money, signed petitions, talked to my relatives, talked to co-workers, talked to strangers, wrote letters, and even worked as a reporter for a GLBT newspaper. But I still didn't do as much as many. This was because, as time went on, I felt like I was fighting a losing battle. I felt like it would never come to pass.

And so, as time went on, my hopes and dreams of the inevitability of getting married, faded. I stopped looking at it as something I had to do and started asking myself (about two or three years ago, now) if it was something I really wanted to do. I'm still not sure. The time delay in getting from there to here allowed me to get all turned around and question myself.

Am I really suited for marriage?

Can anyone really be "Mr. Right" for the rest of my life? Can I really be a "Mr. Right" for anyone else for the rest of their life?

I honestly don't know.

That's what this legislation means: suddenly, I'm free. To quote the NASA ants in "the Simpsons", "Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!" Once this passes the Minnesota Senate, once this passes the Governor's desk, everything changes. And, honestly, I hadn't expected it. As much as I had worked for this, I didn't really expect it ... not down deep in my heart-of-hearts. I can already feel it: a shift in my view of the world. My expectations are changing and it's frightening.

But it's a good kind of "frightening".

This is a good day.

And, now: steak.

Yours,
Sylvan Scott

We're Number 12!

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:17:54 GMT

This is what #equality looks like: it looks like Minnesota, today. #MNUnited #MNLeg #Time4Marriage #GLBT #LGBT

Yay: 75
Nay: 59

Next: the MN Senate!

There, it is expected to pass and our Governor, Mark Dayton, has promised to sign any such legislation!

The only downside to this is now I'm going to have to start hearing from my Aunts, "Oh, when are you going to get married?"

Nice problem to have...

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

PS - Anyone wanna get hitched?

What's My American Dream?

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:03:18 GMT

British citizens, I am fairly certain, can ask the same question as Americans: "What is my version of the American Dream?" The French and Italians, too. Probably the Russians, these days, or any human being on Planet Earth. Instead of "American", however, they would insert the nation or philosophy of their choice. Or, perhaps, it's time to retire the phrase "American Dream" and, instead, just say, "What is my Dream"?

It varies from place to place and time to time.

"The Great Gatsby" is a condemnation of the classic observation of the American Dream of excess and hedonistic fulfillment during the Roaring Twenties.

But what is the Great Dream, nowadays?

I can't speak for anyone but myself but I keep seeing conspicuous consumption everywhere in the fantasies on TV and in books. Security of life, as embodied by spouses and money, is everywhere, too. Let's not forget "Being Your Own Boss" or "Having An Assured Job": both of those are interpretations on the theme of "Security".

And, when you boil it down, that last one is what most appeals to me. I want a life free of unnecessary worry. The key word in that phrase is "unnecessary". Whether or not I have a job, what I feel my Dream has become is having all my basic needs and likes met. Excessive sex, food, clothes, and those things which most people (including myself) fantasize about, are -at their core- not as fulfilling to me as being able to live my life in a reasonable environment without fear of losing it.

So, yes: I want a home and a means of transportation. I want the freedom to express myself freely, accepting the repercussions of that freedom. I want to experience new things in travel, food, entertainment, writing, art ... I want to move around and see what's out there.

Most of all, though, I want friendship.

Closeness is crucial to me. I want to be around people who make me feel good and who, in return, I make feel good. Please note I did not say "without arguments or disagreements". Nor did I say "and we'd all live happily ever after". I value friendship, close companionship, more than almost anything else. Even without food or a home, friendship would be the one thing I want more than anything.

But let's not get caught up on false choices, here: my Dream doesn't demand that I sacrifice one for the other. To suggest such is the automatic gain-saying of those who seem to want nothing more than raise arguments for their own sake.

In my Dream, I can own a home with enough space for many guests. I do not need or want a jet. No fancy car would be in my garage. I would have space to grow vegetables and fruits along with places to explore the art and games I love. I would be free to travel, unconstrained by money, and able to create to my heart's content. I don't need or want copious expanses of property. I don't want power over my fellow human beings.

Is this a good Dream?

I don't know.

But when I think about it, when I see stories in which the Dream is massive amounts of power and influence, I shudder. I want control over my own life but within the framework of society and friendship. No, I don't want to live in some "Libertarian Paradise". Regulations are just fine by me; they are used as the foundation of societies. So that's where I'm coming from.

My Dream is, I think, modest by comparison to some of what I've seen in the world these days. I don't know if that makes my Dream good or bad, informed or naive.

But writing it all down, I do see that it says something about me.

It says something about my values.

And that's true of everyone's Dreams.

What are your values? What is your Dream?

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Iron Man 3 - On Reflection

Wed, 08 May 2013 02:27:00 GMT

I originally wrote these thoughts upon returning home, last Thursday, from seeing Iron Man 3. It was an okay film. Below the cut, I explain why.

Here there be spoilers!!!

Iron Man 3 was a disappointment. Granted, I'd allowed myself to be swayed by public opinion into thinking the movie's predecessor, Iron Man 2, was better than it was, too, and only just allowed myself to admit this fact. "Iron Man 3", while avoiding some of the traps of the previous installment, created some of its own.

I'm not sure what I think about the Mandarin not really being the Mandarin; that the ostensible terrorist was just an actor hired by the "true" Mandarin (the founder of A.I.M.) who wasn't at all in it for political ideology but, rather, power (by exploiting international fears over terrorism). It seems odd that this character would have created the Ten Rings organization we see in Iron Man (and which is also hinted at in "Iron Man 2"). If he got his start down his path of darkness in 1998, how did he craft his uber-military scam so quickly such that the Ten Rings would be a major force by the time Tony Stark was first kidnapped?

Actually, come to think of it, I think it's a cool plot twist that the Mandarin wasn't really the Mandarin. My problem comes that it doesn't really sync up with the world the other two films presented to us. It almost feels as if the first two films hinted at the Mandarin but they didn't really know what they were going to do when they reached the third movie. Then, they came up with this cool idea but hoped it wouldn't feel too "shoe-horned-in" when added to what they'd already created as background information.

By the way, a friend of mine thought that this character was supposed to be the minor Iron Man villian, "the Melter". Thanks to another friend of mine, I found out he was not. He actually was from a comic book arc called "the Extremis" in which he sells this powerful bio-weapon and commits suicide out of fear and shame over what he did. The movie, "Iron Man 3", keeps him alive and makes him the primary villain. That's a good adaptation element.

But I did have other issues with the movie.

I had a problem that a broken gas line was used to blow things up but only after a spark set it off ... in a room full of open flames and an advancing villain with a surface skin temperature hot enough to melt steel alloys (which, somehow, did not destroy her clothing ... nor even the much milder flames that she'd just crawled through ... I blame the movie's rating, I guess.)

That they drew attention to "realistic" issues such as ammo clips not being interchangeable, they still don't explain how Tony could build his little arsenal in what seems to be a single night.

How long was Tony Stark in Tennessee? He fly halfway across the country, injured, half-unconscious, uncovers the whole back-story to the plot, gets into a fight with two Extremis agents, befriends a kid with a sad back-story, and builds a small arsenal (including a single-shot repulsor unit) all by dawn, the next day. Look, I know he's a "super-genius" but this really violated my suspension of disbelief. Why not just say he lay low for a couple weeks? The plot didn't require it to all happen in 24 hours! (Or could have been easily modified so it wouldn't.)

Tony just sort of stumbled across plot point after plot point.

Then there were the trailers.

By all that's holy: kill the people who authorized and cut-together these damn trailers.

By my count there were three big "revelation" events in the movie; scenes that give the audience a "gosh-wow" moment as payment for seeing some really big fights or exciting lead-ins. These revelation events are, more or less, the denouement of their respective scenes ... and each is spoiled in the damn trailers:

The destruction of Tony's house
The rescue of the falling people from Air Force One
The arrival of all the extra suits of armor for the final battle

The reward, the big "gosh-wow" moment, which is supposed to be the dessert for the audience, was given to us in the fucking trailers, months ahead of time. As a result, I didn't get any emotional reaction from those scenes; in fact, my mind was waiting for them to happen. This means that, since I was primed for it ahead-of-time, when these spoiled scenes did show up, each lacked any real resonance or lasting power.

And then there was the fighting and battle/siege choreography.

Whoever was responsible seems a fan of "shakey-cam" and "blow things up before the audience can get a feel for the landscape". Each fight was so confusing, I couldn't follow half of each and the dizzying battle scenes were twisty and turny to such a degree, there was no sense of what was connected to what. It was exactly the same problem as "Transformers": I can't care about characters who get into a fight in such a way as I can't tell them apart. There's no emotional investment is the scene is so badly shot that I can't make out who's doing what to whom! I didn't care if something blew up because I had no grounding in the scene: it hadn't been set. I had no cause to feel alarm or thrill or curiosity because no one had properly shown us the setting to the point that I knew "x" was next to "y" and if "a" was poked "b" might fall down. Rather, we see suits of armor in aerial acrobatics, at night, badly lit, soaring between highly-contrasted explosions that leave the viewer in a blur of motion and color and sound.

The plot was okay; the acting was fine. The story was forgettable: it was a vendetta story dressed up as something more profound and far-reaching. But without any real political statements (on any side of any argument) all the political posturing felt hollow and meaningless. They stood out as red herrings because they never existed beyond the level of a facade.

It was an okay movie. But given the character, giving last year's The Avengers, I expected a lot more.

The one really good thing, even great thing that the movie had was that this was, essentially the classic Iron Man "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. The difference was that, instead of alcoholism, Tony's self-created "demon" was his armor. It was Iron Man, himself. He suffered from anxiety, cloaked himself in layer upon layer of high-tech protection, and only ended up getting worse. This was excellent story-telling and something completely unexpected.

So, yes, that much was good. But compared to all the rest?

I can only say, in whole, I thought the film was only "okay". That's it.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Paisley Jesus

Wed, 01 May 2013 01:30:48 GMT

Being sick does things to a man.

In my case, it gave me time to reflect on my life and realize that I am ... divine. In fact, I have become Paisley Jesus!

ADDENDUM: Just found out that my brother also got sick this weekend. We think it was a "gift" from our nephews who had Norovirus this past week when we all got together for birthday dinner on Friday.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Ugh.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:16:07 GMT

Well, after the nightmare, I got food poisoning.

Yeah: good day, today.

-Dave

Not Dying ... Stupid Brain

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:05:06 GMT

I am happy to say I am not dying.

But to hear my brain tell the story, I was just told by my doctor that I only have a few months to live. I woke up at 3:30am from a dream that felt completely realistic. Now, I'm reflecting on my mortality. It's painful and annoying and frightening. I hate it.

These are the nightmares that I loathe. Unlike those which scare me at the time but are cool to look back upon in retrospect, the "realistic nightmare" dreams fit horribly into my life and could potentially come true. Furthermore, in their wake -in the moments after my eyes open and my brain starts to adjust to the surrounding world- their impact is just as real as anything I have really experienced.

Worse, I'm already working to improve my physical life. I've been working out, eating better, losing weight, and improving my work habits. I'm already doing all the stuff you should do to make up for being aging and overweight. So by my brain haunting me in this fashion, I'm sitting here with a feeling of pointlessness: like everything I've been doing to improve myself is without merit or hope.

So, yes: fuck you, brain. I'm exhausted and scared and depressed, thanks to you.

Gonna shower and then go in to work.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Gamer Chow: the Lay's Edition

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:37:20 GMT

#1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/14764346@N00/8687908331/in/set-72157626667174242/
#2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/14764346@N00/8687908181/in/set-72157626667174242/

At our bi-weekly tabletop gaming session, we eat. We have fun with food. This week, the inspiration of Lay's new potato chip combinations (a recent contest by the company to find which they'll release, full-scale, on the market) led to my roommate, Mike, creating our dinner menu from that.

The chip flavors?

"Chicken-n-Waffles", "Sriracha", and "Cheesy Garlic Bread".

So, after having those three chips in the afternoon for snacks, we dove in to their real-world analogs for dinner.

Gotta say, this was a lot of fun and all three chips have promise. The "Chicken-n-Waffles" were ... weird, but good. Really weird. Upon eating them your tongue will probably do a double-take. The "Sriracha" had a mild burn and not much flavor. My favorite were the "Cheesy Garlic Bread" chips: but I could see any of these going to market.

As for the real-world analogs, they were as good as could be. Yeah, this is the sort of gamer food I love!

What are your gaming food traditions?

Yours,
Sylvan

Playing Footsie

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:02:12 GMT

So, today I finally tried chicken feet in a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Very tasty; very soft and gelatinous with flavor like the very best chicken wings. I didn't expect all the tiny bones but, hey, those were easy to suck the meat off of and move on. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to order them again but I'm glad I tried 'em.

Yours,
Sylvan

No, My Computer's Fine

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:50:59 GMT

So, we got a call, tonight, from another one of those damn scammers who try to get you to give them personal information because they claim you have a virus on your system. This one, who got my roommate instead of me, asked for me by name. This made me paranoid as I had just downloaded and installed a new piece of software from an unknown source (but one I was inclined to trust). So, the timing was ... weird.

I went upstairs and immediately bought Malwarebytes and scanned my drive.

I'm safe!

I may be paranoid, but I'm safe!

Sometimes, these bastards are just lucky I don't have a baseball bat that can strike through time and space with impunity.

Yours,
Sylvan

No: I'm Not Fired

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:17:04 GMT

Trust me, short of a headache the worst way to wake up is after a nightmare in which you've been fired from your job. I was bleary and honestly believed it for about fifteen minutes; I started making plans to apply for Unemployment and updating my resume. I was crushed.

I wish I knew why my brain would do this; it serves no purpose other than to freak me out. I'm still rattled.

Yours,
Sylvan

Wong Comfort

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 02:35:37 GMT

I really did need some comfort food, tonight. I worked my ass off, this weekend, and was also sneezing up a storm. Unlike the cold I had for two weeks, this (I think) was just allergies. I'll hopefully know more as the week wears on.

As for food, I went to House of Wong (where I always go when I need comfort food).

And now: bed.

Yours,
Sylvan

Working Overtime

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 01:20:03 GMT

Well, I got decent amount of my work done at the office but I still need to create the interactive interface with jQuery, tomorrow. This is not my strong suit but I'm gonna give it my all. I don't work late or on weekends that often but when I do, I'm all there.

I'll wake up when I wake up, drive down to the office, and see what I can accomplish.

The CSS and XHTML framework was what has occupied most of my time for the past 48 hours.

Hopefully I can get the rest done, soon.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Roger Ebert

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 02:21:55 GMT

I'll miss Roger Ebert and not just because of his film reviews. I didn't always agree with him but I never failed to respect the fact that he could explain why he reviewed something the way he did. On top of that, in recent years, his blog and online essays proved just how caring and good-hearted he was.

I'll miss that, most of all.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Run, Hillary, Run!

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 02:34:18 GMT

I read an opinion piece over on CNN.com about how the Media has got to stop trying to "crown" the heir apparent, Hillary Clinton. My immediate thought wasn't on the merits of the article or any of the dozen-or-so knee-jerk counter-arguments my brain dredged up. Rather, it was a "meta" response ... as meta, one might say, as an opinion piece on CNN.com criticizing the media for talking about opinions. My thought was that, right or wrong, the odds of any media outlet, of any person in our modern and connected world, not promoting something they think or believe in is about as close to naught as to not exist. In short: zero percent.

Everyone who has a blog, Facebook account, or Twitter feed does it already. Why would we expect journalists to refrain from something that has emerged in human social-space as a huge mode of communication? Whether or not they should is irrelevant. It's to be expected that anyone who views the world with something other than dull resignation expound upon those views.

That's the thing the Internet has done: given us the expectation of talking about what we think, no matter how cosmic, silly, or mundane. It can be in rambling encyclopedias of raw data or pithy 140-character snippets. It's all the same.

So, will Hillary run for the Presidency? Will it matter how she goes about it, if she chooses to go that route? Do I care?

In order: "I don't know", "yes", and "no".

It's even news! But it's not news yet.

Perhaps that's where this opinion piece has a leg to stand on that's not ironic: the media is trying to manufacture news on this subject ... they aren't reporting on it. Mind you, that's what opinion pieces are in the first place: manufactured news. So, yeah, I guess the CNN.com article is still ironic (if not hypocritical). And, yes, the media has been inventing news since there's been a media to report on it. Still...

So, for myself, I'll care when it becomes news.

But what I care about, more, is finding it amusing when people criticize people doing the same thing they, themselves, are doing. It's amusing that way.

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Lots of Film

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 02:59:14 GMT

I keep updating my old LJ post: the listing of every film I can remember having seen.

The latest was "Cowboys and Aliens" (from 2011).

It was pretty good but had a flimsy premise despite being kinda cool. I mean "gold"? That's what the aliens are after? That's what an interstellar race capable of traveling light years across space came to Earth to get?

Okay, once that's over, it's a fun movie. But gold-digger aliens really is my "Flying Snowman", I think.

Well, nearly...

I still liked the movie but the gold-motivation really did strain my like.

Oh, and if you want to see my list, it's here: http://joshuwain.livejournal.com/966489.html

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Minister versus Ded Moroz

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 03:56:34 GMT

Mob war in "Vanguard: Synthesis"!

The game continued with repercussions from the PCs taking down the villain group, "Labyrinth" several months before. Now a West Coast mobster known as "Minister" is moving into the area as well as a Russian gangland figure known as "Ded Moroz". The PCs were dragged into it by an underworld fixer known only as "the Coordinator" as the various gangs and gang-leaders in the midwest feel the squeeze between these powerful forces...

This is a new adventure in my bi-weekly, tabletop RPG.

"Ministering to Shadows" is this latest adventure and things are spinning delightfully out of control.

Yours,
Sylvan

What's The Next Dish?

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:27:11 GMT

Just realized my next recipe on Food.com will be my 50th. What should it be?

http://www.food.com/recipes.php?chef=209280

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Supper With Shakespeare

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 19:23:05 GMT

I just got back from the Minneapolis Institute of Art where I saw the lovely exhibit of Shakspeare-period food and cookery, "Supper With Shakespeare". The intent of the exhibit was to display, in the Tudor Room, a sample banquet table (where "banquet" meant the after-dinner course of sweets, partly for display and partly for consumption) that Shakespeare would have recognized. It was set with the refined sugar treats of the day. Apparently, refined sugar was brand-new at the time.

Sugar banquet table circle William Shakespeare's era

The rest of my photos can be seen at my Flickr account, here.

I also snapped a picture of this, my favorite painting at the MIA, "Cottage on Fire" (1786/87) by Joseph Wright of Derby. I'm so glad the Institute has such a liberal and generous photography policy. I just wish my little camera could do justice to the rich, dark colors in this fabulous painting. I stand and stare at it for many long minutes during each visit.

"Cottage on Fire" (1786/87) by Joseph Wright of Derby

A really nice, artistic day!

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Psychopathogen Continues

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:00:50 GMT

Today, the campaign "Vanguard: Synthesis" continues as the adventure, "Psychopathogen" rages on. The telepathic disease, unleashed by the nihilistic Stygian Crusade is seeping into Fae and threatening to drive humanity mad at its core by perverting its collective dreams and legends. The heroes gather at the mansion of Doctor Malachus to prepare to enter the realms of myth and nightmare.