Larkin was sitting at the kitchen table, writing out the recipe for Lara Bars to put in our box of favourite recipes.
Larkin: In one third, the one goes on the top and the three goes on the bottom, right?
Me: Yep. You know, there's a fancy word for that.
Larkin (ever a big fan of big words): What?
Me: The numerator is the number on top; the denominator is the number on the bottom.
Larkin: I'm going to have a hard time remembering which is which.
Emile: Just think about Aragorn... would he be on top or on bottom?
Me: ...
Larkin: ...
Emile: On top! You know, he's victorious and the high king and everything.
Me: Right. So Aragorn's a top...
Emile: And he's Numenorean. So the numerator is on top.
Me: ...
Larkin: ...
Emile: I am the master of mnemonic devices.
Ten minutes later, after the conversation had long since moved on:
Me: So Larkin, do you remember the name for the number on top?
Larkin: ...Aragorator?
Monday, September 28, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Music Lessons
This month, Larkin, Finn and I (and friend John) went to TWO live concerts. First, we went to see Weird Al Yankovic, which, as it happened, was Finn's very first big live music event (other than assorted lawn-style hippie-fests).
It also happened to be Larkin's very first brush with celebrity-induced addlepation when Weird Al came right up to our row. She remains undecided as to whether he pointed to me or her as he sang the line, "You must have fallen from heaven... that would explain how you messed up your face."
I figure any event that leaves you with sore stomach muscles from laughing so much was successful.
I think we can all agree that the natural follow-up show to Weird Al is... Primus!
Finn was outraged near the end of their set: "But they haven't done 'Tommy The Cat' yet!" Unfortunately, they never did, but they DID do "Too Many Puppies" which was the one song both Finn and Larkin specifically mentioned wanting to hear at the beginning of the night.
John (who knew what was coming) made sure Larkin was looking through the binoculars when Les Claypool came onstage in his Mr. Krinkle mask:
Her response? "I'll never forget the horror." She was equally horrified to discover that the person in the seat next to us had a 10 year old at home who refused to come to the show with him.
John and I have competing theories on how Les Claypool makes those sounds come from his bass. John postulates that he's actually playing the bass like a banjo, a technique which apparently involves a great deal of plucking and slapping. That explains a lot. My theory is that if you slap an instrument around long enough, eventually you break its will and it will produce whatever sounds you demand. A deal with the devil may also be involved. I'm pretty sure that explains even more.
We also noticed the audiences for the two shows were quite different. There were only a handful of kids watching Primus, although that might be partly explained by the fact that it was a school night. The short among us were somewhat chagrined to discover that everyone stood up for the whole Primus show (understandable, though... I would have been hard pressed to sit still), while the audience mostly sat for Weird Al.
I figure any event that leaves you with sore stomach muscles from laughing so much was successful.
I think we can all agree that the natural follow-up show to Weird Al is... Primus!
John (who knew what was coming) made sure Larkin was looking through the binoculars when Les Claypool came onstage in his Mr. Krinkle mask:
John and I have competing theories on how Les Claypool makes those sounds come from his bass. John postulates that he's actually playing the bass like a banjo, a technique which apparently involves a great deal of plucking and slapping. That explains a lot. My theory is that if you slap an instrument around long enough, eventually you break its will and it will produce whatever sounds you demand. A deal with the devil may also be involved. I'm pretty sure that explains even more.
We also noticed the audiences for the two shows were quite different. There were only a handful of kids watching Primus, although that might be partly explained by the fact that it was a school night. The short among us were somewhat chagrined to discover that everyone stood up for the whole Primus show (understandable, though... I would have been hard pressed to sit still), while the audience mostly sat for Weird Al.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
He's A Lumberjack And He's Okay...
I'm not sure this is how *all* computer nerds spend their vacation... er, I mean time between jobs, but this is how it's done around here.
Yep, Emile was laid off about a week and a half ago and we're thinking we just might try to stretch this time off out for a bit. We have a few projects planned that require beams and Emile has been eyeing some dead trees both on our property and at Jim and Mary's place.
Jim got all excited about using his wildlife motion-activated camera to capture part of the process.
Emile got all excited because the motion sensor meant that all the time he spent standing around hemming and hawing and wondering what the heck he was doing wasn't recorded.
Meanwhile, Larkin, Finn and I are at home wondering how much time we can buy with Emile if we are very, very frugal. Life has been an odd combination of stress and relief lately.
Jim got all excited about using his wildlife motion-activated camera to capture part of the process.
Emile got all excited because the motion sensor meant that all the time he spent standing around hemming and hawing and wondering what the heck he was doing wasn't recorded.
Meanwhile, Larkin, Finn and I are at home wondering how much time we can buy with Emile if we are very, very frugal. Life has been an odd combination of stress and relief lately.
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