Weekend!

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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26 Responses

  1. Miss Mary says:

    Vacation!!! Apparently I’m spending a few of my vacation days in the (unfortunately named) city of Placentia, CA. Sunday I fly home. Until then, it’s drinks, dining, and visiting with friends. 🙂Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Miss Mary says:

      From the Latin word for “pleasant”. Now I’m going to look up the other one… and that comes from the Latin word for “cake”. Or the Greek word for “flat, slab-like”.

      Probably shouldn’t have looked that up on the wiki during dinner, now that I think about it.Report

  2. aaron david says:

    We are now officially house hunting in a new city. The wife is now 2 weeks into the 1 1/2 hr (by train) commute, and has decided that we will be splitting the difference. So good bye Sac, hello ???Report

  3. Maribou says:

    what jaybird said except it’s block break rather than vacation, and I don’t have to go buy work clothes.

    so work tomorrow, then i am going to have the last-gasp Friday night porchsit (i hear it might snow). i have lots of homework to work on, but nothing DUE this weekend which is a nice change. i might clean the bathrooms.

    nothing fancy. 🙂Report

    • zic in reply to Maribou says:

      And I was sure it was you wearing the tie!Report

      • Maribou in reply to zic says:

        😀 I often do, when dressing up seems called for. Lately I’ve been going for the more feminine 1-2 buttons undone approach to buttondowns, mostly to show off my tattoo …Report

      • zic in reply to zic says:

        I’ve been working with a lot of natural indigo dyed yarns recently, it had a tendency to crock — to have the color come off onto my hands and needles, like a pair of new jeans will turn stuff blue.

        Most knitters hate this, but it gives me a weird joy, I get into spells where I only want to use indigo. Finally realized it was related to my childhood longings to be a painter or printmaker, not because I could or wanted to paint or make prints, but because I loved the idea of being physically stained by my work; my version of a tattoo. Blue hands.

        So yes, show it off with pride. I’m certainly proud of the blue tinge on my fingers!Report

      • BlaiseP in reply to zic says:

        The Tuareg, of whom I’ve written a few times around here, are known as the Blue People. They wear indigo-dyed cotton. Tuareg woman. Notice the hands, the corners of the mouth, the neck.Report

      • Kim in reply to zic says:

        I wore a tie to the last wedding I went to.
        (actually looked more dressed up than some people there, believe it or not).Report

      • zic in reply to zic says:

        @blaisep thanks for that photograph.

        I’m curious what the Taureg (they’re nomadic?) might ferment to make vinegars, of if they do ferment things to make vinegar? That’s what dyers normally use to set the dye so that after a first wash or two, the color is fast and doesn’t come off. That acid bath seems pretty critical.

        Much better than woad, the color is more reliable.

        Dyeing with indigo is pretty interesting. The dye vat is this sickly green yellow color. You dip what you’re dyeing into it, and as you pull it out, it reacts with the oxygen in the air and turns blue, right before your eyes. For more intense color, you do multiple dips.

        Because the color happens as the dye reacts with oxygen, you have to be careful not to drip back into the dye vat, it introduces oxygen into it, and fixes the color before you’ve actually used it.

        It’s also ammonia based, and very, very stinky to work with. An outdoor activity.Report

      • BlaiseP in reply to zic says:

        The Tuareg don’t make their cloth, they buy it from the Hausa of Kano, who have made dying, especially with indigo, into an art as arcane and secretive as blacksmithing.

        Kano, the city I know best in Africa, the “big city” of my childhood, grew up around its indigo pits.Report

      • BlaiseP in reply to zic says:

        I am sad to report the old indigo cloth trade is not doing well.

        Known as the blue men of the desert, Tuareg of Mali take their nickname from their billowing indigo robes.

        “For most customers we soak the cloth in salt and vinegar to fix the color, but for the Tuaregs we leave it natural so that when it is washed, it dyes their faces and hands blue,” said Yusuf Sani, a guide. “That is how they got their name.”

        The dying process has not changed in centuries: water and ash, to give the dye a glaze, is mixed with potassium, to fix the color. Finally, dried indigo twigs are added and the whole mixture is fermented in a six-meter deep pit for four weeks.

        The garments are then dipped in the dye for between 30 minutes and six hours, depending on the depth of color desired. Every minute, they must be taken out so that oxygen can aid the coloring process.Report

      • zic in reply to zic says:

        Ah, so like me, the Taureg find the crocking a feature, not a flaw.Report

  4. zic says:

    I will be stacking fire wood. There is four cords of the stuff in the driveway, needing to be moved into the barn.

    And baking some more bread. I promised North and Kazzy that I’d write a post on the art; and I’ve been very negligent. After a summer too hot to bake, the spirit has returned, so after I’ve gotten the feel back in my hands (and maybe a photo or two of bread in progress), I’ll share what I do for you to chew on.Report

  5. Reformed Republican says:

    Tomorrow morning I will take the car in to have a bent wheel replaced.

    In the afternoon, I will be having a friend or two over to play Descent: Journeys in the Dark with me and my son. That means there will have to be some housecleaning between now and then.

    No major plans beyond that. I may attack my junk room and start culling. It is highly likely I will be moving to Texas at the end of the year, and I plan to get rid of a lot of crap that I have kept through several moves without ever using.Report

  6. Burt Likko says:

    Finally have a docket clear enough to try GTA V. Some technical difficulties getting the game installed.

    I attempted the tutorial missions last night and have failed miserably at the “repo man” mission introducing the quite cool character of Franklin. I cannot make the hairpin turn up the California Boulevard incline without either bouncing off NPC cars or flipping the convertible off the landscape. Dropped the car into one of the canals during the chase through Venice. Somehow wound up driving a very badly-damaged vehicle into the Hollywood Bowl and getting shot by the police (until I stole a cop car and failed the mission that way since I forgot the mission was to bring the car back to the dealer). Eventually I got the car to the dealer with the entire front end torn off and massive dents and scratches down the side.

    All quite amusing, but eventually the game gives up on me instead of the other way around and just advances me to the next phase of a mission, which makes learning the controls difficult. Also, the dealer didn’t pay me for my work — maybe that’s because I banged up his car so bad!

    I’m impressed with how well the game captures the feel and the landmark images of driving in L.A., although I’ve never been able to get from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills to Downtown quite as quickly as this. If someone knows some way I can get into a mission-free mode to just do stuff and get familiar with the controls, I’d appreciate it.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Burt Likko says:

      If someone knows some way I can get into a mission-free mode to just do stuff and get familiar with the controls, I’d appreciate it.

      Oooh, jeez. My suggestion would be to just take the first mission slow and steady and after the first two missions, you get left to your own devices. DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE.Report

  7. J@m3z Aitch says:

    Blowing a Saturday I can’t really spare getting recertified as a Level II swim official. Also, daughter #1 turns 16 (well, Monday).Report

  8. NewDealer says:

    Tonight:

    https://shotgunplayers.org/Online/bonnieandclyde

    Tomorrow:

    Meeting someone I have not seen since high school for coffee (1998). We both ended up in SF and are facebook friends. I eventually decided it was silly not to meet and be in the same city.

    Sunday:

    Kicking around probably.Report