The Second Day Of Duckmas 2012

Just as much a tradition as the "duckie in a fir tree" is the big bowl of Christmas candy for the Duck U students during finals week.  Just part of what we do to help them through the stressful time, add a bit of holiday cheer to the proceedings... and just maybe find a photo-op or two.

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The First Day of Duckmas 2012

There is only one way to begin the annual event known as the Twelve Days of Duckmas, and that's with the traditional "duckie in a fir tree"!

This is the fourth year running that I've used this particular duckie for the picture.  There's a really good reason for that, too: he's cute and easy to work with! 

Tune in every day between now and December 25th for a new entry in the Twelve Days of Duckmas!

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Gashapon In The Post

There are days where I love blogging, and days that I hate it.  Then there are days like today, where I'm terribly, terribly conflicted about the whole thing.  Sometime last week, I got an e-mail from fellow blogginator Ben from the mysteriously monikered Midnight Tease, saying that he's got something to send me and asking for my shipping address.  Being the trusting duck I am, I provided it, and a few days later I got another e-mail saying that he'd sent me a package and that he was "sorry". 

As one can imagine, I was both perplexed and terrified by this, and when a small box at the Duck U Bookstore with my name on it, I contemplated calling the campus bomb squad.  Saner heads prevailed, however, as it was pointed out to me that Duck U doesn't actually have a bomb squad.  Resigned to a box full of spring-loaded custard pie, I retreated to my office and opened it.

What was inside was worse than I imagined.

more...

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Ben-To Ep03

Well.  It HAS been a while, hasn't it?  Nearly three months since I did the last episode, I'm back with Ep03 of Ben-To!  For those of you who've forgotten just what this series is about, and I can hardly blame you considering how much time has passed, the first episode writeup is here, the Ep02 missive can be found at this link, and here's sixty pounds of bacon on a counter.  Now that you've gotten yourself caught up on our little martial-arts-meets-prepackaged-food series, let's get onto some new content: Episode 03!

As you may remember, in Ep02 Our Hero officially joined the Half-Pricers Club, learned the rules of bento battlin', and took home a miso-mackerel bento for his first victory.  Right, that's where we stand.  Let's see what wonders the show shall bring us next, shall we?

Oh, this can't be good.  The school incinerator, surrounded by police tape and guarded?  What, did Dale Sveum walk by and decide to end it all or something?  Yes, it's a Chicago Cubs reference, even though it's December.  At the time I wrote it, it was interesting and topical... or at least topical.

Oh god, no, it's worse than the Cubs' 2012 record.  Our hero comes charging out of the school dressed only in his skivvies for reasons we're... apparently not going to be let in on, because suddenly the credit sequence begins. 

Well.  Okay then.  If that's the way you want to play it, Ben-To, fine.  I'm game.  And while I'm at it, camouflage boxers?  What, are there Vietcong in your shorts?  Is that what kids are calling it these days?  "What were you and Jill doing, Bob?"  "I had Vietcong in my shorts."  So wacky, these kids.  Next you're going to tell me that somewhere there's a recipe for White Castle Sliders Stuffing... but I'm cheating, because I knew about that one already.  Maybe not as good as 60 pounds of bacon, but it still sounds pretty tasty.

more...

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That Wasn't So Hard...

As the long-time readers amongst you may remember, a year ago today I had a tooth pulled.  The extraction was nice and easy, it was the recovery that didn't go all that well.  "Great, Wonderduck," I hear you saying which is weird since I'm alone in Pond Central, "but what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"  Which is approximately 1.5 yuan/gram, by the way.

Well, nothing.  Except tangentially, because something else happened one year ago today.  One year ago today was the last time I had a cigarette.  It was surprisingly easy to quit, to be honest.  It only took about six months for the urge to kill everybody I laid eyes on to fade.

However, this past Friday afternoon proved to be the toughest test of my anti-smoking resolve, and it happened completely by accident.  I was just standing outside the Duck U Bookstore, enjoying the crisp and cool December air, when one of my friends joined me.  We discussed football, as we always do, and she casually lit up a smoke.

Oh my, but it smelled goooooooooood.  So good, in fact, I had to leave immediately.  For a half-hour or so, it took everything I had NOT to go back outside and light one up myself... the worst urge I've had in months.  But I didn't.  It was close, but I didn't.  Yay me.

One year down, the rest of my life to go.

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Merry Christmas From Kimi Raikkonen!

Lotus F1 posted this today.

If you didn't know why I transcribe all his interviews as "mrmrnnbdbfmrlkmlbb mmlrlrbrlrmrrl mrlrmrmrbrlr," you do now.  That first ringtone... that was my main alarm on my last cellphone; freaked me right the heck out.

Merry Christmas, Kimi.

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71 Years

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R.I.P. (In 5/4 Time)

After 91 years of insane time signatures, legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck took five today.

He wasn't the first jazz artist I was a fan of.  Heck, he wasn't even the second or third, and to be honest, while I loved "Take Five", both the single and the album, I thought he was a gimmick.  "Oh, hey, watch me play songs in a completely bizarre time that nobody other than beatniks and jazz critics can comprehend."

If you needed proof that I was an idiot when I was young, too, there you go.  Yeah, he could follow beats that would make strong musicians weak and weak musicians want to be somewhere else in a hurry, but on top of that was always a masterful melody.

It's hard to believe that "Take Five" hit #25 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1961.  Times have changed so much... musical talent isn't much appreciated anymore.  But I'll tell you this: guitar god Chet Atkins decided to take a shot at the song and declared it the most difficult piece of music he'd ever played.

...and the most entertaining. 

Dave Brubeck.  He was an artist, a pioneer.

He'll be missed.

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Bad Timing, I Guess

I have an ick.  I've had this particular ick since last Thursday, and it just will not go away.  It's the worst type of ick, in that it's a non-specific ick which just makes me feel icky.  Gatorade is my friend right now, that and generic tylenol.  About half of the building the Duck U Bookstore has the same non-specific ick, and is probably about to start a round of ping-pong with the other half.  Just in time for Finals week to begin in a few days, and you know what that means!  If it's Finals week, that means it's BUYBACK WEEK AT THE DUCK U BOOKSTORE YAYYYYYYYY!

Posting might be a little bit light for a while whilst I deickify myself.

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Ducks In Anime: Bubble Bubble...

-Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb, Ep09

Looks like SHAFT discovered the special effects filters in their copy of Premiere.

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It's A Streetlight!

There are times where I'll just get remarkably lucky when I point my camera at things.  Like this:

There is no photomanipulation of any sort involved, other than reducing the size to fit The Pond's formatting.  This is exactly how it came out of the camera.  Go ahead, try and figure out what it is.  Good luck at that!

UPDATE: Here's the great reveal...

It's the reflector from a non-functional Infocus LitePro 550 projector, sitting on an eight-LED flashlight.

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