Raisin Bran Box Back Translation

Above: the back of a Raisin Bran Box in Canada right now. I understand that the government is trying to educate people how to read nutrition tables, but I can’t help but think there must have been a better way. Basic message of all the text above seems to be (at least at first glance, and who’s going to read the back of a cereal box that closely??):

15 is a bigger number than 5.

I wonder how many tax dollars went into the planning and execution of this project.

1997 April Blatherings

1997-04-06 14:02:09 - First blathering!

It's our beloved sound engineer's birthday today! Please do send David Goulden birthday greetings this week! Okay, I'm hooked on caramel dip. Does everyone know what I'm talking about? Caramel dip is the stuff that comes in round plastic containers and is very gooey and caramelly and supposedly used to dip apples in (making it much healthier to eat, of course!). I ate two apples this way, loading up each piece with as much caramel as possible. Finally I gave up all pretense and just shoveled it in with a spoon. Yum. Learning about server-side includes today. Added one to the main UT page that automatically prints out when my blatherings were updated (as if you all really care). Very cool.

1997-04-08 14:03:26 - Rand's birthday

Rand Bellavia's birthday is today! Feel free to hassle him with birthday messages. :-) Had a UT practice last night and got to see Jodi's new place! And lastly but not leastly...here's my own font. :-)

1997-04-09 14:04:24 - FKO package

Put together a package for the FilKONtario package today consisting of a tape made from the CD master, liner notes, and a print of Beckett Gladney's cover art. Paul Kwinn is visiting tomorrow night. He's bringing Beckett's original painting (Jeff bought this for me for my birthday :-))...can't wait to see it! Nice to see Terry Kennedy in the blatherchat.

1997-04-11 14:05:56 - Chicken cacciatore

Made chicken cacciatore (sp?) for Paul & Jodi last night. :-) Allison couldn't make it :-(...she must know about my cooking. Beckett's painting looks great!!! I'm putting it up in my office. Spending today with Paul; Rand's showing up this afternoon. Can't wait to see the new Ookla CDs. :-) Hope to see you all at FKO! (we'll miss you, Coz)

1997-04-14 14:40:16 - FKO

FilKONtario was hugely fun! More details in Allison's upcoming con report (you ARE doing a report, aren't you, Allison? :-) ). Gotta go out today, but more later. Site of the day: Steve Simmons' home page.

1997-04-15 14:41:09 - Joke

Allison's confirmed she's doing a FKO report, yay! By the way, does anyone out there know Talis Kimberly's snailmail address? Amazing lady (and I covet her flute holster! :-) ) Site of the day: Watchmen Studio's Ookla The Mok page. Joke of the day (thanks to David Barker):

A panda bear walks into a bar, sits down and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter dead. As the panda stands up to go, the bartender shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!" The panda yells back at the bartender, "Hey man, I'm a f--kin' PANDA! Look it up!" The bartender opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for panda: "A tree dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves".

1997-04-16 14:42:10 - Forums

Thanks to Steve Simmons for pointing out that my blatherchat wasn't working. Ran out of disk space, ick. Anyway, I've nuked some of my old blatherings because the links weren't working (they referred to the old server and I can't be bothered to update them). In case any of you didn't know, my site is co-sponsoring a bunch of forums for writers. I tend to hang out in the Writer's BBS Chat.

1997-04-17 14:42:57 - Milky way spread

Okay, I have a new food obsession...MILKY WAY SPREAD. This amazing concoction is a sort of swirly mixture of chocolate and hazelnut, and tastes deadly on toast. With no nutritional value whatsoever, I'm pleased to say. Diana and Shelby gave me a jar at OVFF, and I am hooked. In fact, the situation is so bad that I've actually asked them to give an extra jar to Rand at Marcon (um, hope this is okay, Rand) so he can pass it on to me next month. Hey, maybe if I plug his CD he'll be more amenable...everyone! Buy Ookla The Mok's new CD, Less Than Art! It's great!!! (howzat?)

1997-04-18 14:43:37 - Sick

Yuk, I'm sick today. (no comments, Allison & Jodi :-)) Sympathetic vibes welcome! Thanks.

1997-04-20 14:44:21 - Milky Way sandwiches

Still sick. Doubleyuk. Had a Milky Way sandwich the other day for lunch, yum. (I said that purposely for Beckett's benefit >:-) ) Updated some of the UT song links as well as adding one for the Evil Song my conspiring music partners surprised me with at FKO, It's Always The Quiet Ones. Site of the day: Philosophical Phrase Generator.

1997-04-23 14:45:02 - Cowboy

Went out with friends Craig White & Luisa Perrella yesterday to buy the newly released Erasure album (Cowboy). We're going to the concert next month! I'm also going to The Who concert with Allison & John...mainly for the experience than because of being a major Who fan. Allison has promised to properly educate me before the big event. :-) Sorry for the blatherchat problems...that's what comes from trying to work on one's site with a 101 deg. temperature. :\

1997-04-24 14:45:38 - Offline

Busybusybusy. Jeff and I both stayed off the computer yesterday evening...the first time in a long time (we're both such geeks, aren't we?). And we actually survived. Went to a sushi restaurant with floating boats (very cool, but it's too easy to spend a lot of money that way), played guitar (it's the first time I've seen Jeff with a 12 string in his hand in years), listened to some music. Perhaps I should make a habit of this (staying off the computer at night, that is, not all this parentheses stuff). Website of the day: Fox's homepage! Check out the comic strip by Fox and Talis Kimberley.

1997-04-25 14:46:22 - Sushi

Went out for sushi last night with Allison & Jodi (yum). Allison's finished her FKO report...I'll post it on the web after I've had a chance to HTMLize it. Last night we did some prep for our concert at Keycon in Winnipeg. Dave Clement and Tom Jeffers called a couple nights ago to confirm flight arrangements, etc. We're very excited about our Winnipeg visit! We also did some prep for the Performance Workshop we're doing at The Second ConCerto.

1997-04-26 14:47:00 - Sugar Mountain

Went to an amaaaaaaaaaaaazing place called Sugar Mountain yesterday - tons of Pez and chocolate bars and candy I remember from when I was a kid. Candy necklaces! Popeye candy cigarettes! Fun dip! And they have SEA MONKEYS! I was in heaven. I bought two Curly Wurlys (Fox says these are available in Britain), Terry's chocolate orange bar, two pkgs Maltesers (Rand's never heard of these! I can't believe it!!), Fun Dip, one box Cadbury Astros, three Penguin milk chocolate bars, one box Nerds (Allison would be horrified I only got one, I'm sure).

1997-04-26 14:47:00 - Sugar Mountain

Went to an amaaaaaaaaaaaazing place called Sugar Mountain yesterday - tons of Pez and chocolate bars and candy I remember from when I was a kid. Candy necklaces! Popeye candy cigarettes! Fun dip! And they have SEA MONKEYS! I was in heaven. I bought two Curly Wurlys (Fox says these are available in Britain), Terry's chocolate orange bar, two pkgs Maltesers (Rand's never heard of these! I can't believe it!!), Fun Dip, one box Cadbury Astros, three Penguin milk chocolate bars, one box Nerds (Allison would be horrified I only got one, I'm sure).

1997-04-27 14:47:42 - Like the Dorsai

Added Allison's Like The Dorsai song to the archives. I've been invited to a writer's conference in West Virginia in October to be a sort of electronics publishing resource person for the weekend...should be lots of fun. :-) ( 4:39:59 PM ) I've finally assembled my Indoor Herb Kit, a Christmas gift from relatives. Up to now I've been a bit fearful since I have a very non-green thumb when it comes to indoor plants. Jeff won't let me go near any of the household greenery. Anyway, I'm going to give it a last shot. I've planted chives, parsley, dill, and basil. Wish me luck!
1997-04-28 14:48:46 - SOTD

Site of the day: Common Problems In Web Design, and how to avoid them.

1997-04-29 14:49:54 - Tonsil joke

Visited Allison last night, spent most of the evening gabbing. :-)
Forgot to water my seedlings yesterday; this does not bode well for their future survival. Rand and I are discussing an intriguing writing project for the UT site...stay tuned for details!
Site of the Day: Demon Possession Handbook (though this Chatbot page is also interesting and one I'm checking out today) The Joke of the Day is courtesy of my 7-year-old friend, Michael:

What did one tonsil say to the other tonsil?
Get dressed, the doctor's takin' us out!

( 5:41:09 PM ) Hey, found out part of the reason my Inklings subscriber rates have more than doubled recently...Internet Underground magazine did a review of it in their May issue.
Check it out here.

1997-04-30 14:50:36 - CILB form

Site of the day:
(be sure to read to the end of the license application form :-))

ookla news

Huge congrats to Ookla the Mok for being invited to be GoHs at Marcon next year!!!! Site of the Day:
Ye Olde English Sayings (where did "son of a gun" come from?) Also, check out
Paul Kwinn's new (and totally unauthorized) website!
And last but not least, don't forget that the deadline for submitting your online Pegasus ballot is May 15th!

guest blather: andrea dale

SPECIAL GUEST BLATHERER TODAY!

Arg, I'm having major problems picking up my email today. Hope it
clears up soon. Andrea Dale's coming to visit today! I'll try to
get her to be a Guest Blatherer, of course. [ 3:34 PM ] GUEST
BLATHERER: Take it away, Andrea... heh, heh heh, what can I stick
on here while deb is not looking . . . Did you hear about the
chocolate duck and . . <br>. Anyway, I am sitting here in
Debbie's lovely office above the busy streets of Toronto. This
morning, I drove up from Rochester, NY where I visited Mark,
Kathy and Biko. Debbie and I are having a wonderful time eating
(what did you expect?), listening to music, and planning the rest
of my day. I'll be seeing Allison this evening for dinner (yes,
eating again ) after I give a Contra Dance lesson to Debbie.
From here I'll be taking my filk road trip to Clif and Carol's in
Ann Arbor for a housefilk on Friday night.
My warm and heartfelt thanks to Debbie and Jeff for their hospitality!!

allison bdy

Happy Birthday, Allison!!!!!! Please send her an obnoxious birthday message. Had fun at The Keg last night with Allison and Andrea, spent a lot of time eating and talking.