Word Slingers, Thursday September 10, 2020

Some Word Slingers product from this morning's session and their associated prompt.

Position 9828, Kama Sutra Records Archive, September 10, 1987

Initially a vertical joining, with a consensual dip into a semi-horizontal posture. Vocalizing stops and is replaced by rapid shallow breathing, followed by a glance at the supplied lyric sheet, and a 2nd glance to the left, at the evening's setlist. Attention refocused, eye locking, the previous established rhythm suddenly stops and the position held until the lights drop. Returning to vertical, the partners turn to their right and bow at a 90 degree angle, several times, until the applause diminishes and the band strikes up the next number. 

Barry delivers a warm "Thank you" and Manilow returns "The pleasure was all mine."

Prompt: Barry Fuckin' Manilow

* * * * *

I took the fire stairs. The elevator was too slow, crowded and I didn't want to run into coworkers. 13 flights can take a few minutes and I was already running behind according the real-time updates on the Glendale Today app.

Pope mobile passing Colorado and Brand. Perhaps the waving and flower throwing would slow the procession. I still had a chance to see the Pope. It'd be third Pope sighting in the lifetime of this elapsed Episcopalian. Still, the record would be impressive for some States-bound non-believer who's never been to Rome

Exit door - Alarm will sound. 

Prompt: A Missed Opportunity

* * * * *

Danced around? Danced over? Danced through? Just danced. If you're going through hell, just dance - or so says a dub-stepping Winston Churchill. Usually in the kitchen and it was always alone, to some saltwater dub or down tempo retro-mix. "But there's booze in the blender, and soon it will render..." the lyrical hooks that "let it all hang out" welling up with the bottomless bass and layers of skittering guitar. How many times, how many ways can you be seduced to dance alone to the ridiculous? 

Prompt: I had never danced like that before

Word Slingers, Saturday September 5, 2020

 

Some Word Slingers product from this morning's session and their associated prompt.

The commander would not be happy. The hab was a shambles and most of the guests had flown off, flapping their wings. Not really what I expected - this reversion to arm-flapping flight, but Titan did offer that. That and lots of methane and organics readymade for plastic habs and and other structures.

The party was for teams arriving and departing. What a mix! These are long deployments and expectations and disappointment had to be strictly managed. But the camaraderie was real and the food and beverage selection was above par thanks to the arriving team and the tradition of stowing rare Earth delicacies.

I'm staying another deployment due to a resource constraints and I'm happy for that. I could do without the jealousy of those who were departing but would have liked to have stayed over. And I'll miss my bunk buddies. 

Prompt: A Party on the Moon

* * * * *

Better late than never. Oh boy, and how.

The concert was a one-off, a one time only event of a lifetime, and the featured artists, all of them, were retiring together, going into the Hall of Memories, preserved for all time, encapsulated individually in polished brass banks that lined the walls like a 20th century mausoleum.

How could I miss this? The City has ways and it's own memories to impose on even a determined traveler. By the time I was able to extricate myself from the tube the marquee was dark. I continued my fast pace stroll up to the doors but they were locked.

A small figure in the shadow of the loading door stirred. Even with the passing years I recognized him right away. Topo Gigio, Ed Sullivan's famous sidekick. 

[To be continued? Abandoned sidekicks in the shadows. Senor Wences' Pedro and Johnny? "Deefeecult For You-Easy For Me"]

Prompt: When being late led to a positive if unexpected outcome.

* * * * *

Quantum Crayola: Diagramming made easy for 7th, 8th and 9th dimensions.

"That's not what my box says!"

"What version?"

"7.007.3"

"There you go, try one of mine. I've been modelling with just the flesh-colored one. Ha, that what I like to call the blue-green one. Reminds me of blue-green algae and soil crust."

"Thanks! Let me have that blood red one - I know what I need to do and it's not going to be pretty."

"Be my guest. Actually, keep it. I never work with blood."

Prompt: A box of crayons... possibly having a discussion

* * * * *

Eight minutes. Baby Jane Doe.

A handful of breathes, and then the long wait. Three years for the pauper grave at Evergreen, the County's own cemetery. The annual December ceremony has really grown over the last 8 years and all denominations are now well represented.

But you're a date and almost a name. One of 1400 or so others interred, the others mostly named and definitely dated as in years. But eight minutes, or the eight plus months earlier. 

Missing you.

Prompt: Write about someone you've not known personally, but has made an impression on you

Word Slingers, Saturday August 22, 2020

Some Word Slingers writing workshop products from this morning's session and their associated prompts. 

How could she walk away from a Popsicle in August in the desert?

It wasn't a survival course and she had to pee. Setting it down on a stack of napkins she walked swiftly to the restrooms.

The swamp cooler was blowing chilled air and invisible smoke ash gently over the paddle shaped treat that was already descending into a swampy puddle.

Balance, that was what was needed. An exchange of molecules, pro's and con's, options with a reasonable chance to resolve into a happy compromise. Can I respect the urgent demands of my bladder while sustaining a frosty and refreshing mouth engagement. Certainly there's no Popsicle holders in the ladies room.

When she returned it was gone, only a slight stain on the counter.

Prompt: Single word "Popsicle"

* * * * * 

Grow Houses I Have Known.

We kept putting up signs - Fresh Tomatoes, with a red arrow pointing down the dirt road that ran perpendicular to the two lane highway.

I think the water haulers thought it was funny and we never heard from the tourists again, but I suspect we'll have to be more stealthy putting up new signs to replace the ones torn down by the grow house help.

It was a shining example of the grey economy and was clearly another ephemeral extraction industry for these parts. Jobs for a few and quick profit for backers willing to gamble against blistering winds and marauding dust devils.

Something to shake your head about while offering a slight chuckle when gathered with neighbors.

It's legal and it's not. We grow some of the finest tomatoes here! 

Prompt: Single word "Marijuana"

* * * * *

ONE STAR. Wouldn't Recommend. See photo gallery (21 pics)

If you're looking for a good time look elsewhere. He was a stone cold blank. Seemingly wordless, even his mumbles lacked conviction. I think he might have drooled once when my Festival Chili Dog was placed in front of me (see surveillance pic 7-9, thanks Arbys!) The dating app clearly needs to update it's liability terms. Maybe they did and the brain-dead have slid into the 'available for fun and food adventures' tier. If that was so, why Arby's for our meetup? Look elsewhere.

Prompt: Write a Yelp-like review of a date. 

Local Playwright Arrested on Opening Night

Dale Basin Times-Dispatch  (XP Wire Services) - Chambless, CA, Thursday 14, 2019

Local area playwright Cefin Tarsus was arrested by San Bernardino Sheriff's Thursday evening on opening night of his play "Over Herd: The Bartender's Trap" The play was being staged at the Salt Cedar Saloon where Tarsus is a bartender and event planner. Deputies declined to enumerate the charges but indicated they involved multiple violations of privacy, unauthorized used of personal data and aggravated identity theft.

Bar regular Red Farnham witnessed the arrest as startled actors, patrons and employees hastily retreated to the bar as the deputies left with Tarsus. "He'd been working really hard on this piece. Ever since those Marines from the base gave him the idea, it's been his sole outside project. The guy works his fingers to the bone at the bar and gets up early to pound out his plays." 

Asked about the Marines, Farnham added "these two jarheads who work on swarm robotics lent Cefin some machine learning software he needed for speech analytics. Cefin has been processing huge data sets of audio, parsing linguistic blocks, tuning models, filtering and training data for deep learning."

Recently retired as a registered ethicist for San Bernardino County, Farnham enjoys afternoons at the saloon where discussions between locals and base personnel frequently diverge into advanced subjects like neurotechnologies, artificial intelligence and Red's own 'Farnham Equation,' an updating of the famous Drake Equation about the density of intelligent life in the universe.

One saloon regular who requested his name not be used said Cefin would pause to scribble in notebooks and scratch pads throughout his bartender shifts but abruptly abandoned the practice after installing a series of small ceiling devices he claimed were remote controlled air fresheners. "He seemed to lose interest in some conversations but would suddenly interject unusual and provocative subjects and personal stories that we'd never heard before."

While Sheriff's Deputies declined discussing charges, saloon owner Larry Sable who arrived after the arrest volunteered his thoughts. "Cefin is a smart guy but works too much. Too much on his own stuff that is! Once he got all digital and mixed up with smart ass Marines he'd come in for his shifts all bleary eyed and distant."

"Started telling me how he could peer into things, know ahead of time what's going to be said. Started finishing people's sentences for them. Not great for business! Might work for a Tarsus play but obviously not tonight!" 

The Salt Cedar Saloon was briefly shuttered for a few days last Spring when it was learned that the recently installed Pabst Blue Ribbon beer sign contained facial recognition software that collected data over an unencrypted wireless link. Owners promptly apologized and the beer distributor claimed no knowledge about the device, its purpose or the fate of the visual data collected.

-30-

NOTES: Transataumancy is divination by interpreting something seen or heard accidentally or unexpectedly, such as snatches of speech and conversations while walking through a crowd.

This 'news article' was prepared to illustrate a scenario intended for a local bartender who is also an event planner playwright.

Happy New Year 2011

We've already launched but it's nice to look back at the preparations.

Lots of catch up on when the time is right. Been on a Ernest Jünger jag for much of the year, sort of a literary complement to my obsession with bergfilme

Veterans Day lunch

Santa Ana winds are back with bitter chill and everyone is sneezing and bundling up. Still recovering from the daylight-to-standard "fall back" and now Veterans Day has thrown off my weekday rhythm with school and government offices closed.

Hustling to get out of the house and off to the office I managed to water some of the more vulnerable plants and containers. Then it was back to the kitchen to assemble a quick lunch - toasted Teff focaccia with smoked Hungarian bacon, Harvard cheese, and red lettuce. How beautiful!

And starting work tonight on the curing the ~4 lbs of olives I bought last weekend at Super King market! Will posted a step-by-step once it's underway.

Halloween Shipkas Olive Tapenade

Back home from taking Grandma to her first West Hollywood Halloween carnival. She's been eager to attend one since seeing a slide show of grandson Elliott's success as Lady Gaga in 2009. Quite the trouper for someone in her mid-seventies - she hiked down from the parking lot on Sunset and almost the entire length of the event - and of course back up again.

And so October is now minutes away from exiting the stage. For all the experience of acceleration this year has entailed, this Fall has packed a lot in. For starters we rediscovered (recovered) a couple of seasons - just days apart - from blazing recording-breaking heat a few weeks back (the official weather service thermometer in downtown went offline or "broke" upon reaching 113F) to a 5-day patch of monsoonal soaks. And that's leaving out the gorgeous "segues" between these weather events - stunning skies that capture your attention when you least expect it.

Halloween is the bow on this package and I finally got around to making more black olive and Shipkas pepper tapenade. I finished a cache of a green olive version (a not unsuccessful experiment, but no rival to the original) a week or so ago and have made my lunches with German mustard and Avjar.

While pitting the semi-cured black olives I decided to "go large" and doubled the recipe. The orange and black was just so damn Halloween!