Silly Site o' the Day

So, so bitter cold this morning as I traipsed to the bus stop with my laptop. Once I got to the office things were fine, and the day productive, but going out for my usual poke bowl at lunchtime was challenging! Still, a very good socializing day, got a lot done, and didn't have to schlep my laptop home as I'll be going in again tomorrow. Phil Proctor from The Firesign Theatre is also in town but I'm not sure we'll be getting together this time. At least I sort of feel his vibes, and enjoy the photos he's posting on Facebook, although he hasn't gotten into oil bottle pareidolia just yet.

Silly Site o' the Day

Today we engaged in a couple activities I would consider of medium risk COVID-wise, as we took an unexpectedly crowded express bus (I masked) into Manhattan to meet my friend Phil Proctor from The Firesign Theatre, his wife Melinda Peterson, and a few of their friends for a "we're in NY again!" lunch prior to them taking off for Europe. I felt totally outclassed among his theater friends, and a little nervous about a group setting in a restaurant with people whose whereabouts I couldn't account for, and of course I couldn't mask because Food, so we'll see if yesterday's booster protects me from whatever is to come. We came home to find my new docking station had arrived, a relief since the new laptop (which has yet to show) requires it in order for my home setup to work. Robin plugged everything in and we're hoping it works with the current daily-crashing laptop, which I'm not turning on until tomorrow morning. At this point I'm just trying not to think about the big picture of it all, and take things day to day. Or even minute to minute, like Thoughts of Dog.

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, that was a drive and a half. Not used to going all the way down to Mom's place then back by myself, but I made sure I had everything I needed in the front seat and made it home well before the storm that wound up not really materializing. The car finally hit 70,000 miles 18 years into its life, so I must be doing something right. It's also Phil Proctor's 82 birthday today, so I might as well plug his podcast, which is full of all sorts of things both fascinating and silly.

Silly Site o' the Day

An absolutely perfect day in Manhattan! Big yellow ball in sky actually showed for awhile. I traipsed down to meet with The Firesign Theatre's Phil Proctor, because these days I cherish every meeting with old friends not knowing what's coming in our future. Phil was delightful as always, and we chatted and lunched for a couple well-spent hours. I really cherish his company. And it got me out of the house, where I tried to remain safe as much as I could (forgot to mask up after lunch when we strolled the 20 feet back to the hotel lobby), particularly on NYC streets. Got my MetroCard refilled for our medical (and my office) visits next month, purchased other needed and not-really-needed goods (the latter was three pairs of earrings for $5 at the street fair across from Bryant Park, where I waited for the homebound bus), and just really enjoyed the energy of the city. So many people today! So glad I was masked. Still, the smell of now-legal pot seemed pervasive, and the cops not so much, which was also nice. After all, remember the changed words of McGruff the Crime Dog.

Silly Site o' the Day

Hoorah, so much done today! Finally got to H Mart and found eel sauce to replace the bottle I ruined, and thanks to Robin now I know exactly where to find it from now on. Got all the other usual Asian goodies as well, of course. Alas, no British cuisine:

Then onto the pharmacy to pick up some medication, then our regular grocery shopping, and home to watch Liverpool draw, find goodies like my safe driving course certificate (which I cannot figure out how to upload to my car insurance's website), the mail order med I'd been expecting so I can fill my pill box for the next week, and engage in a rapid email exchange with The Firesign Theatre's Phil Proctor, who's in Manhattan and meeting me for lunch tomorrow. Masks on for most of this stuff, no more Flonase so I think the weirdness is finally out of my system, all appropriate digits crossed!

Silly Site o' the Day

What a terrific way to end September! Phil Proctor invited us to breakfast along with his lovely wife Melinda Peterson and their friends, including Phil's Yalie buddies Austin Pendleton (be still my fangirl heart) and Bill Weeden. Yes, those are all IMDb links, that's how cool this gathering was. Hobnobbing with the well-off and famous!! And of course being Yalies, there was lots of Kavanaugh talk. Bill in particular was incensed that certain activities took place in his old dorm of Lawrance Hall. Erm, allegedly. Anyway, what better time to give another plug to Planet Proctor?

Silly Site o' the Day

Tomorrow's the "big day" as it were, my fifteenth blogiversary! In the meantime, I've been helping out a fellow Firesign fan get some snippets together for something going on at the end of this month at the Library of Congress, so I've been immersed in some of their old radio shows, much of which I'd either forgotten or never heard in the first place. They did a lot of radio in the early '70s! And influenced tons of people, it should go without saying, one group of which was Duck's Breath Mystery Theater. BoingBoing reports on a documentary covering their grand finale:



Robin, please remind me to download this to celebrate my blogiversary!

Silly Site o' the Day

Spent much of the day forcibly relaxing again, but then our friends Tom and Lili came down from Connecticut to gab and eat sushi with us, which is always a fun experience for us. As I know them from Firesign fandom, I think they're appreciate the Department of Redundancy Department's map of the Town of Redundantown (via Laughing Squid).

Silly Site o' the Day

Damn. Not feeling all that silly. We've lost another one. The Firesign Theatre's Phil Austin, Nick Danger hisself, has come out of the fog and gone into the smog. The few times I met Phil A he was always very nice and gentlemanly, with a terrific smile. And he and Oona loved their doggies, boy howdy. He'd probably think this dog who responds to a bad Liverpudlian accent is adorable.



I know I do. Via BoingBoing. Hasta la vista, Phil.

Silly Site o' the Day

I'm over at Firesign chat now, which is really hopping with at least two dozen chatters. If you can't handle that kind of heat, you might want to get out of the kitchen and do a nice one-on-one with the Awkward Chatbot (via Mike Lacher).

Silly SIte o' the Day

Wow, Firesign chat is really hopping tonight, tons and tons of people! Must have been close to 100 when I joined, most of them spouting dialogue from the albums. Tons of fun, and technical stimulation! Speaking of which:



Via The Mary Sue. "This is no movie, this is real!" "Which reel?" "The last reel of this vintage motion picture..."

Silly Site o' the Day

It's Firesign Chat night, and this evening's site suggestion comes to us courtesy of the one and only Tween - the unmotivational posters at Despair, Inc.! I'm feeling more hopeless already!

Silly Site o' the Day

We had a great time this afternoon with DocTech and Lili up in Milford, in celebration of Doc's upcoming birthday, and promising to see one another much more frequently. Until we get together with like-minded couples, we forget how precious our couple friends really are to us. Had a few bumps along the way with my new smartphone's built-in GPS, radio, etc., but I think we just need more practice with it. A bit of a bother going home, as I'm not the best night driver in the world, at least one highway had no street lights, and it rained for part of our journey... but at least we didn't see a Google Street View car taking any photos like this (via BoingBoing). Oh, and it was Robin's Dad's birthday today as well; happy birthday, Dad!

Silly Site o' the Day

The late great Peter Bergman Occupies himself.

RIP Peter Bergman

Gone to the great love-in (he coined that term) in the next world, where I hope he's not on his own. I'm devastated and stunned. One knows it's always only a matter of time before one's heroes start to pass away, but neither is one ever prepared.  Peter was so vital right to the end, constantly producing new material.  I can't imagine a world without any new Firesign Theatre offerings to make (non)sense out of it.