Thermal Eye on America

…I’m fairly sure at least 10 people think I’m still under the table in the Great Hall.

Also, I have come to believe that my heritage includes at least a bit of imp.

That is all.

Al⁷

Alex⁸

Xander⁹

Lex¹⁰

Xan¹¹

Lexan¹²

⁷ e.g. Haig; Four-star general, U.S. Secretary of State 1981-1982. (back)

⁸ e.g. - Haley; Author of Roots, Collaborator on The Autobiography of Malcom X. (back)

⁹ e.g. - Harris, one of the “Scoobys” on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (back)

¹⁰ e.g. - Luthor; Tall, bald, highly intelligent supervillan, Nemesis of Superman, very evil (back)

¹¹ e.g. - Karn; Tall, bald, highly intelligent historian, Friend of Thermaleye, not overly evil (back)

¹² e.g. - Polycarbonate resin thermoplastic manufactured by General Electric, used in numerous products worldwide (unconfirmed) (back)

I just installed a plugin that should let me use one of my greatest joys in writing¹ .  I don’t have a specific use for them at the moment, but they are a necessary component for to let me write the way I think² but still allow for some semblance of clarity³.

¹ Subtitles⁴ (back)

² Disjointedly (back)

³ Aside from the content, of course (back)

⁴ Or, for those of you who prefer to use the words that actually have the meaning you are trying to convey⁵, “Footnotes”. (back)

⁵ A category I myself belong to when I’m not being inexplicably⁶ stupid. (back)

⁶ No, my use of “inexplicable” to describe my stupidity was not another example of my using a word incorrectly, wiseass! (back)

Pointless musing of the moment: DUring my time in Australia, I realized that it is absolutely impossible for me to encounter the words “Botany Bay” without hearing them said by Checkov when they discover Khan’s ship in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 

(puzzled, recognizing the name but not remembering the context)  “Botany Bay…?” (with dawning realization of how totally screwed they now are)  “Botany Bay!“

Every single time.

So, I’m going to try and do a better job this time of keeping things up to date, instead of allowing another 7-year gap to somehow creep in to things.  I guess a good step in that direction is to mention that I’ve been back from my trip for about a week now.  I think I’m finally re-adjusted to the time difference.  Currently I’m sorting through my photos to get them ready for posting, and I’ll be writing up the details of the rest of the trip (and the highlights of the time since then) soon.

I hope.

Anyway, I’m back.

So, the good thing about my company sending me around the world for work is that they are paying to get me here, paying for my expenses, and that it does not eat in to my vacation time.  The bad thing about it, of course, is that I am in fact being sent around the world for work, and that decisions about where I will go and when are not of my making.  For example: If I had been planning a 2-week stay in Australia by myself, it would have included more time down south, or maybe a snorkling trip to the barrier reef, and certainly I would have gotten in to the outback.  Now, the thing is, I still could have covered at least one of those things if  chose to do so.  Unfortunately, it would mean checking out of a hotel, getting on a plane, flying where I was going, checking in to a new hotel, seeing it, and repeating the whole process in time to get on my plane back to L.A. in a few days.  Which, again, probably wouldn’t be so unappealing if it weren’t coming at the end of several weeks of doing exactly that every couple of days.  So, instead, in a few hours I am going to check out the hotel here in Manly (home of the game “which sign has the most amusing instance of the word ‘Manly’ “.  These can fall into categories of both “appropriate”, e.g..: 

• Manly Parasail
• Manly Bike Tours
• Manly Kyokushin Karate & Fitness
• Aloha Surf Manly Style
• Manly Blades (it’s a skate shop, but with an awesome name)

Or in to the more “Ironic” category:

• Manly Art and Framing
• Manly Laundry and Dry Cleaning
• Manly Jeweler
• Manly Secretarial Services

and, of course, the “Vaguely Homoerotic” category:

• Manly Beach Babes
• Manly Fruit Market
• Manly Bungalow

Full disclosure - I have not personally seen all of these signs, but got many of them of a Google maps search of “businesses”.  Anyway, what was I saying again?) and catch the ferry in to Sydney, where I’ll check in to another hotel (but no plane ride in between!) (and the ferry is supposed to be a great way to see the harbor), then walk around Sydney and see the sights there.  A couple days checking out Sydney, then I’ll rent a car and drive (on the left, for my first time ever) in to the mountains to do some hiking about there. Also, I need to buy some new shoes.  All of this walking around on worn-out shoes ($10 shoes at that) is not doing my feet or legs any favors, especially since I tend to fall in to a pattern of “go as far as I can, until I feel like I can’t really walk any more, then turn around (the more astute of you will see the problems with that plan.  I have a tendency to forget every time, though). 

Ok, look, I like odd variations on common snacks as much as the next person.  In fact, I could make a pretty strong argument for me liking them more than most of the next people.  But still, Nestle needs to be stopped.  Specifically, Im referring her to the KitKat.  In America, we mostly have just the normal chocolate KitKat, with a couple of minor variations (one with caramel, one giant variation, and maybe one more).  I suspect this is because, due to a licensing agreement that predates Nestle purchasing the inventor of the KitKat, the U.S. is the one place that Hershey makes and sells the KitKat.  Apparently, Hershey has a much better idea than Nestle when to leave well-enough alone.  Nestle, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to know when to stop.  

    I first became aware of the problem when I saw a post on Peter Lynn’s blog Man vs. Clown.  I’ve followed his blog for a while, and find him one of the more entertaining writers out there; I was therefore quite happy to see him writing from China about trying a few of the foods I know quite well, such as Pocari sweat, and okonomiyaki-flavored potato chips.  Then, later in that post, he said “green-tea Kit Kat really just tasted like a regular Kit Kat, except a little more synthetic.”  As it happened, I’d bought some green-tea KitKats at the airport in Tokyo the night before (green tea outside, red bean inside), and that hadn’t been my impression at all.  Still, realizing I could have just been uncritical due to my hunger at the time, I tried some again, and did find them significantly different, at least in aftertaste.  I posted a comment to this effect, then walked to the zoo (but that is a story for another time….).  On my way back, I stopped in a convenience store, and looking through the odd snacks I found the chocolate-outside, green tea inside ones he had been referring to (and yeah, they didn’t taste very different at all).  I also picked up some chocolate outside-apple inside ones which I haven’t tried yet.  I then went to a site listed on the side of the package, www.breaktown.com, and got a glimpse of some of the variety available (I have also gotten the 3rd variety of green tea KitKat, green tea both outside and inside - definitely the best of the three).  Then, here in Australia, I picked up a giant KitKat, of the “Cookie Dough” variety.  And yes, granted, it was one of the best candies I’ve ever tasted (thick wafers, cookie dough and caramel, coated in chocolate), but honestly, there’s such a thing as trying too hard.

  (anyone interested in even more varieties of KitKat can check the Wikipedia entry on them. Personally, I think that would just be encouraging them) 

As I sit here waiting for the steam to dissipate so I can finish my shaving touch-up, I miss my heated bathroom mirrors.