As Christmas is Monday, and I'm getting a visit from Momzerduck and Ph.Duck after we do Christmas at The Old Homenest, today I'm going to be up to my wingpits in cleaning products.

I've been awake for a half-hour and I've already cleaned the bathroom sink, mirror and loo, and have the shower 'soaking' in something that is supposed to be able to remove water stains (had a dripping faucet a few months back that wasn't fixed very quickly).

Need to: swiffer the floor, clean the kitchen (oy!), polish the computer desk, and then dust and vacuum. But my duster has fallen apart, sigh.

I summon Mikuru-Meido-chan!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 111 words, total size 1 kb.

In recent conversation via e-mail with a reader I shall leave unnamed, there was shock and surprise that the above picture was of my collection of rubber duckies.

Believe me, nobody is more surprised than myself at the size of my flock... but how did it start? Ah, now THAT is a fine question. I remember that day as if it was yesterday...
(cue 'flashback' music)

I was a senior at Duck U., the very place I work at now, and one of my friends had had a death in the family. She was quite saddened by the loss, and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. I nipped off to We 'b Toys to look for something silly and cute... and found a duckie. It just yelled "I'll help her," so it made the trip back to the dorm and found its way into her hands.

She carried that duckie with her EVERYWHERE for the next week. After the funeral, she presented me with, as she put it, a "thank you duckie." That duckie, named "Scooter," is still in my flock, as a matter of fact... here's a not-so-great photo of him, from the original used above:

After that, people began to give me duckies... for Christmas, my birthday, as a thank you for a 'job well done' after a difficult lighting design, whatever.

That's how the flock began... but it really took off just a few years ago. For example, in one year, I added nearly 50 duckies to the flock. It went from a small group that fit on a single shelf to what you see up top. Nowadays, it takes nearly two hours to clean them; about a third of them need to be cleaned with a (really) soft toothbrush.

So, that's the story of The Pond's Flock. They never fail to bring a smile to my face after a long day, and isn't that the point?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:50 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 325 words, total size 2 kb.

I find that I don't have much to write about right now... not even last Tuesday's Anime Night inspires me to florid prose. The highlight of the night had to be The Librarian's new hairstyle: short. I've known her for close to 10 years, and her hair has always been longer... I was so surprised that I actually burst out with "My god! Your hair! It's gorgeous!!!"

Surprisingly, the kaiju didn't come out and savage me.

Anyway, CardCaptor Sakura is great, there's a lot of unintentional humor ("Bow-chicka-bow-bowwwww." "Shut up, 'duck." "Nice hair." "Shut up, 'duck."), you should really watch it, Robert's Anime Corner Store has a great deal on the entire series, blah blah blah. Same old same old.

Except for one sentence that I THINK is going to be a major plot point: "People with power are attracted to people WITH power." It was almost a throwaway line in the episode, but something tells me that it explains a lot... such as why Li and Sakura both have the hots for for Yukito (even though we've not seen any sign of magical ability from him... unless you count his skill at carnival games), why Sakura gets all squishy around the new teacher, yadda.

Guess it's that time of year... the holidays have never thrilled me. I'll try and get more motivated later.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:59 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 227 words, total size 2 kb.

Wow, musta been tired. Last night I decided to take a nap around 8pm.

It's 9am and I just woke up. Guess I needed the sleep.

Should probably think about posting something or other here at The Pond, too...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:25 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

"You! You are NOT Devin Hester!"

Just amazing, he is. New rookie record for kick/punt returns for TDs, with six.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 26 words, total size 1 kb.

Fourteen shopping days before Christmas. I was at the grocery store, picking up some Crack for Ducks (aka 'rye bread'), and what do I see?

Some human screaming at a cashier, just going off on her. "I'm not paying that much, that's not what the sign said, you f(censored)ing c(censored)t!"

...and on, and on. Once the store manager got over, he started ripping on him.

Dude obviously had never worked retail.

Look, I know you humans are excitable, particularly at this time of year, but you're not even CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. You're picking up stuff for watching the football games today. Relax. Calm down. It's not that big of a deal.

And, everybody? Heed my words: don't yell at the cashier. For one thing, you look like an idiot. For another, the cashier is able to help you and if you piss them off they're less likely to do so. Remember: the cashier is a person, not your servant.

Nothing you can get in a store is THAT important. It just isn't. And grow the hell up, will ya?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:54 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 180 words, total size 1 kb.

"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. "
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

It's no great surprise that I'm fascinated by Japan. More specifically, I'm fascinated by Japan's reaction to World War II, and the incredible recovery they have made from their crushing defeat.

But before THAT, I was (and still am) amazed and fascinated by the men, machines, scope and scale of the Pacific War. I've replayed the war dozens, perhaps hundreds of times in games such as Victory In The Pacific (usually in The Game Room at Vaucaunson's Duck's house), and more recently via Pacific War on the computer.

I've read dozens of books, hundreds of websites, and written some long papers on the topic.

But nothing could compare to the half-hour talk I had with a Pearl Harbor survivor that walked into my bookstore some five years ago. I was having a lousy day, up to my wingpits in stuff, and this very elderly gentleman walks in wearing a USS Downes ballcap. I recognized the name from having seen the picture linked to above many times, and he was gracious enough to talk to me about his experiences that day ("lots of noise, lots of smoke, and a helluva lot of bullets...") Unfortunately, his name escapes me now, and considering his age when I met him, I'm fairly sure that he's no longer with us.

He had never managed to forgive the Japanese, and I fear that he would be very angry if he knew of my fascination. I can't help that, but he was pleased to know of my interest in that period of his life. He pointed out that "...kids these days don't know, or don't care, about the history of their country." I'm afraid that he's right.

So in a real sense, this blog stems from that awful day of 65 years ago. The anime and pocky, the faltering attempts to learn the language, the appreciation of the art, theatre and food, all ultimately came from that "Day of Infamy."

May the sacrifices of the servicemen of both sides never be forgotten, so that, perhaps we can learn from them. I saw a story today, relating that there won't be any more Pearl Harbor Survivor reunions, due to their age and dwindling numbers.

I hope that, years from now, people will realize what the USS Arizona memorial means, and that it doesn't become just a tourist spot.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 430 words, total size 3 kb.

As you may have seen once or twice, The Pond is hosted by MuNuVania, which is run by a swell guy (for not being a duck) in Australia named Pixy Misa.

Pixy just announced that he's going to be creating a commercial version of MuNu, and finally will be paid for his efforts! This is fantastic news, and a huge round of applause and congratulations need to go out to Big Daddy Pixy!

I've been a denizen of MuNuVania for about 18 months now, and I thank my lucky stars that Pixy invited me in, and away from the evil Bloggermonster.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:44 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 104 words, total size 1 kb.

As regular readers know, The Pond is located near Chicago. If you believe the forecasts, we're currently staring into the barrel of Snowmageddon. A foot or more of the white stuff by noon on Friday, with the worst hitting in the morning.

In preparation for this beast, United Airlines and American Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights into and out of O'Hare for Friday. I saw some quasi-panic buying at the grocery store on the way home from the Duck U. Bookstore this evening ("The End Is Nigh... I need 48 cans of Red Bull!").

This looks like a bad one, but nothing will equal the worst storm I was ever in. Back 15 years ago, I was attending grad school in Minnesota. I Was There during the Great Halloween MegaStorm. The link shows the official numbers, but the real numbers are worse: The Pond (Northern Edition) got 24-1/2 inches of snow in 12 hours.

And after that, the wind jumped to 40-50mph, picked up the top inch or so, and caused blizzard conditions despite it not snowing at the time.

Ever since then, I've not been intimidated by any Illinois storm... but this one looks naughty.

UPDATE 827am: There's six inches or so on The Pond's balcony, and the worst of the storm is reportedly still yet to come. Duck U. is opening at noon.

ANOTHER UPDATE 1101am: Duck U. isn't going to open today, which is smart. Took 'em long enough to decide that, considering that there's another three inches of snow on my balcony since the last update. The town of Duckford has declared a 'State of Emergency'. I think that's a little extreme, but then, I haven't left The Pond at all. Nor do I have a particular desire to do so. Maybe to brush off the Duckmobile later.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE 1235pm: And the snow stopped, as predicted, at noon. Now the shoveling begins...

STILL YET ANOTHER UPDATE 110pm: The Duckmobile is cleaned off, but I'm not going anywhere. The parking lot of The Pond hasn't been plowed yet, and the idiots around here can't understand that if they try to get out of the KNEE-DEEP SNOW with their riddly-plink POS cars, they're gonna get stuck... and they have. The way to get out is to take it in small bites, a foot at a time or so, not to take it all in one go.

And to wait for the plow. Now, if the internet goes out, or even worse the power, I might be able to get out, but only in that level of an emergency. more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:27 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 486 words, total size 3 kb.

From sunny and 70 degrees on Thanksgiving to 35 and pouring tonight. And Thursday?

Snow.

Ah, Midwest, could I love you more?

For what it's worth, Anime Night (featuring The Librarian) is Tuesday night; another CCS update should follow along shortly thereafter.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 46 words, total size 1 kb.

...from the entire Wonderduck family!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:26 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 7 words, total size 1 kb.

Back in mid-October, I threw up a post entitled "...Just Nod If You Can Hear Me...", which consisted of a lyric from Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, to whit: "...is there anyone at home?"

SDB replied, "Ain't nobody here but us chickens, Boss."

Flash-forward to today, mid-November. I'm notified that there's a new comment to that post... which these days usually means 'oh boy, new comment spam, whee." But no! It appears to be a real person named Jody, who asks:

"Can anyone tell me where the quote "Nobody here but us chickens, boss" comes from?"

Which I can answer! It's from a song (though the saying probably predates the tune) called "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens." Which, it goes without saying, has been done numerous times by numerous bands, my favorite of which is The Bobs... aka "The World's Greatest Acapella Band." You can see a video of them doing "Chickens" RIGHT HERE!

Actually, the only videos of The Bobs that I can find online truly don't do them justice. For example, I first saw them perform in 1995 or so (at which point, I'd been listening to them for 10 years), with their best lineup: Janie Bob, Joe Bob, Matthew Bob, and Richard Bob. Seeing Janie and Joe just shred on their cover of "White Room" (done without any microphone tricks) was amazing.

And puts THIS version of "White Room" to shame. Amy Bob and Dan Bob are quite good, but watching Joe Bob Finetti do the guitar solo without any electronic trickery (or Janie Bob slamming her mic stand to the ground as she tore into the lyrics) was a special treat.

For more info on The Bobs, go to www.bobs.com, or search myspace for them.

You'll be glad you did.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:45 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 302 words, total size 2 kb.

Steven had some time to kill today, and in doing so, asked this:

*Look out the window and wonder why there aren't any ducks out there today

It's Sunday... they were all watching football.

By the way, Bears win over the Jets, 10-0. 9-1, baby!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 48 words, total size 1 kb.

I'm not really blogging a lot right now. Lack of motivation, mostly. I AM working on an AMV post, but that won't go up until Sunday, like as not.

Just don't have a bunch to say these days, I guess.

I know quite a few peope who would be cheering after reading that last sentence...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:28 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 56 words, total size 1 kb.

20061116.1155: Canada detained a man at the Montreal airport that is thought to be a Russian spy. My question is this: what has Canada got that anyone would want to spy on?

Beer.
Moose.
Hockey.
Spider Robinson.
Trees.
Did I say 'Beer'?
Half of Niagra Falls.
Loonies.
...and, most importantly: YOUPPI!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 53 words, total size 1 kb.

I've gotten nigh on 60 pieces of comment spam here at The Pond today. This is frickin' ridiculous.

Hey, Comment Spammers... Osaka's got something for you:

Bastiches! All of 'em, bastiches!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 35 words, total size 1 kb.

There was a post here about something, but I've taken it down. In exchange, here's a picture of my favorite moment from Kanon 2006 so far.

Treehugger? Nope, just Ayu.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 33 words, total size 1 kb.

No Anime Night with The Librarian this week. Not much going on, actually, and I've got no particular hankerin' to blog anything at the moment.

I'm open to suggestions, though. Got anything you folks would like The Pond to look at?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 45 words, total size 1 kb.

Yep, it is. 365 days ago I got the scare of my life.

So in my mind, I'm one year old today.

The Librarian is coming by this evening for Anime Night (more Cardcaptor Sakura!). It's fitting, I think, because other than my folks and my boss, the only other person that got updates on my condition as it was happening was her.

So remember what I told you a year ago: IF YOUR HEART IS DOING SOMETHING ODD, CALL YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY NUMBER IMMEDIATELY.

Don't drive yourself to the hospital. Don't have someone drive you. Let the ambulance do it. Let the EMTs work on you while you're there. Because otherwise, you WILL DIE.

Right... it's noisemaker-and-funny-hat time!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:01 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 122 words, total size 1 kb.

I noticed that Steven was talking about the marraiges of, amongst others, some of the members of Monty Python.

That was just the hook I needed to throw this bit of terrible news to the wall:

Terry Jones has been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

If there's anything good in this, it's that the doctors believe they found it early, and they've a good chance of 'curing' him. They'll know more after the exploratory surgery.

I grew up watching The Pythons on WTTW, out of Chicago. I was horribly saddened when Graham Chapman died, was shocked when I discovered that John Cleese was no longer allowed to 'silly walk', due to his hip replacement, and now this.

For some reason, I suddenly feel remarkably old...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:35 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 127 words, total size 1 kb.