New Poll: How do you celebrate Easter? Are you all about the religious side of it, or do you revel in chocolate and bunnies? I’m happy to report that I haven’t received a single dreaded Peep this year. (The fam seems to have finally gotten the message that I loathe the buggers.) I really wish I had one of those Jello Jigglers egg molds though.

Ebert has posted the second part of his review of Birth of a Nation. I think he makes some good points about why it’s worthwhile to study art that is considered objectionable by today’s audiences. In Griffith’s time, people glossed over the racism and gasped at his cinematic innovations. Nowadays it’s the reverse, but that doesn’t mean the film shouldn’t be studied and understood within context.

Craft Backlog.
I am not allowed to start anymore new crafts until I finish the old ones. Seriously. Right now I have on my list:

• My first sweater, which is about 1/4 done.
• About a foot of scarf made from some gorgeous red mohair.
• A baby blanket for my little brother, of which I have, like, six blocks out of fifty.
• A rugby scarf, which is currently just in the “piles of wool” stage.
• Knitted socks for the Snook, of which I have only wool and a vague idea.
• Record albums waiting to be turned into bowls. (see above)
• Album covers waiting to be turned into purses.
• Half a dozen pairs of socks waiting to be turned into monkeys.
• A couple groovy old tins waiting to be painted and decoupaged.
• My “Storm at Sea” quilt, still waiting to be finished and edged.
• “Hello Kitty” images ready to be printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto my underpants.
• A pile of miniature Harry Potter scarf bookmarks to be fringed and finished.

See? Lots. I keep thinking of new things I want to try, though! I’ve been eyeing the resin supplies at the local casting shop. I have no willpower.

Belated Friday Five:

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
My first “real” rock concert was when I saw Bryan Adams play in Cologne, Germany during the summer of 1994. I was sixteen. I was there for a study trip and my host sister and her friends took me. I wasn’t the hugest Bryan Adams fan, but every German there knew all the words and that made it so much fun. And come on, “Summer of ’69” is a GREAT song.

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
Hmmm. Well, historically I always answer R.E.M. to this question, but I haven’t actually been listening to them a lot lately. I think Dar Williams probably gets the most iPod playage these days.

3. What’s your favorite song?
I don’t think I have an absolute favorite. I tend to hear a song on the radio and get obsessed with it, only to drop it two weeks later. Enduring favorites include U2’s “One”, Ani Difranco’s “Both Hands”, and Blondie’s “The Tide is High”.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
I used to play the trumpet in school, which was a lot of fun but – let’s be honest here – isn’t the sexiest talent to boast. I think secretly I’d love to play something difficult, like the violin or the cello. I’d be afraid to try to learn now though. I have this idea that if you haven’t been playing those since you were three, you’ll probably never get very good.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
I don’t think I’d want to meet any of my musical heroes, because they’d probably be really obtuse or confrontational or uncool and then I’d be heartbroken. So I’ll go the starf**ker route and say Elton John. Seriously! We could become best friends and then he’d invite me to fabulous gay costume parties and introduce me to Geri Halliwell and send me thousands of dollars worth of flowers. That’d be neat.

Break out the black armbands, low-carbers. Dr. Atkins is in critical condition after slipping on ice and banging his head. Ouch.

Whoa! The Millionaire cougher was found guilty! I figured they’d get off. Fortunately for us (if we ever get on) the Australian host is such a complete tool that he gives away the answers.

Another second place trivia finish… but I’m unhappy with my own performance. As the American, I’m expected to get pretty much all the U.S. questions. Going into the second round tonight, we were trailing considerably and needed to make up ground. The first question: “Name the five baseball players to hit more than 60 home runs in a season.” Everybody turned to me. I said triumphantly, “Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, and… Oh God. That guy. The one that got the death threats and his hair fell out. DEAR GOD, WHAT WAS HIS NAME?” And there I was stuck for the next thirty minutes. I agonized. I paced. I tore my hair out. I could not dredge that name up from my brain. I kept thinking “Roger”, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall his last name. I seriously almost threw up I was so pissed off.

I did manage to redeem myself slightly though, by knowing who says the words, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” So maybe I’m not completely useless.

Have you heard about the TV show about blogging that is supposedly in production? I got an e-mail from these folks yesterday, who thought my “web site
seems like a potentially great fit for the show”. Of course, the fact that I’m in Australia and not bloody likely to send a “miniDV-format” video of myself to the US to be on a TV show I’ll never see seems to have escaped them. Looks like they’re just googling and spamming. Idiots. I wouldn’t waste your time on that one, folks.

Update: Looks like at least one other person got it too.