Buy a pig with hairclips on

[lathany]

Ryan has now picked up enough language to fill the gaps in his favourite songs. However, he doesn't always get it right - hence the pig with hairclips on.

Little things from the last few days:
* What sex is Demogorgon?
* I found my write-ups of the Final Fantasy prequel. They are here and here.
* Last night I watched Final Fantasy: Advent Children for the first time. I liked the graphics for the different characters (particularly Tifa, Rude and Aeris), although I'd have preferred a closer look at Elena and Tseng (and, by the way, shouldn't he be dead?). Actually, I also liked the background graphics (and recognised various places immediately) and the monsters (although it took us ages to realise that a certain creature was Bahamat rather than Weapon). The music was great and recognisable. The way that the plot was handled was also good; although I'd have also liked a lot more plot. I also thought that the treatment of Aeris and Zack was right - although Sephiroth's appearance was a little fan-satisfying (and the same could be said of the almost-constant presence of the motorbike). I didn't like the fights so much - a bit too 'Matrix' and confusing for my tastes (with the possible exception of Tifa's where her 'martial arts' style was more suited to it). Also the other characters made more of a cameo appearance than I would have liked (with the exception of Tifa). Finally, when it came to the Turks I felt that they were much less cool and much more of a joke than they should have been. Overall, however, I enjoyed it (and loved that 'mobile phone' moment) and will be watching it again sometime (along with all the other bits that are on the DVDs).
* Due to a late parcel from Marks (and, thus, re-ordering) I have a choice of two swimsuits for Bea (and will then send the other one back). Which of the Stripy Tankini and the Rainbow Halterneck Swimsuit on this page looks better?
* I have just started my first packet of Machu Picchu coffee (first recommended by smiorgan) - decent (I'm reserving judgment on whether I consider it outstanding until I've drunk a bit more of it) and my sort of mild/medium taste. Ever since quisalan bought me a present of a set of nine coffees (the Kenyan was my new favourite) I've realised I need to try a few more types and expand my range a bit.
* To treat myself on the way home on Friday I bought some strawberries and asparagus (both of which had to wait until Saturday because bateleur had already bought tea), a pound's worth of each from the little market under Vauxhall station puts the likes of Tesco to shame.
* Bea and Ryan have each had their third and final egg today (presents from Uncle chrestomancy and Aunty TheHattedOne). Postman Pat and Spiderman. No prizes for guessing who wanted what.
* I now have a new backdrop for the summer months; 'Orchids' courtesy of leathellin. Up until now I've used the standard 'Autumn' and 'Tulips' pictures each for half the year - now I'll be moving to three pictures each for four months. I think I might plan to eventually go to a picture for every month of the year.
* bateleur and I have a difference of opinion on what is more stressful - a process that one can affect and a process that one can't. I go for the former (because - if I can make a decision, I can also make the wrong decision) and he for the latter (because - there's nothing he can do about it). Sometimes the difference is difficult to spot though; I tend to stress more than bateleur in general.

Comments

Advent Children... Also Spoilery

[ao-lai.livejournal.com]

I too got hold of this yesterday.

The bit with Sephiroth seemed... Unnecessary...
I thought Cloud's sword was quite a nice touch. It's not one ridiculously big sword, it's actually about six swords clipped together!
And one thing that really seemed memorable - The bit with the sunglasses. I quite liked that bit. :)

Re: Advent Children... Also Spoilery

[lathany.livejournal.com]

Yes, good point. I liked the 'multiple sword' thing too. And the sunglasses bit was amusing.

It should have arrived earlier this week - but there was a little problem delivering (not unrelated to the Marks parcel mess).

Did you re-read the Final Fantasy prequel? I hadn't remembered that we'd already fingered Arabella as the big bad.

Re: Advent Children... Also Spoilery

[ao-lai.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten that as well... It's also nice to be reminded about the finding of the Mysterious Green Gem!

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Rainbow! Rainbow! Rainbow!

A piece of research on the BBC website last year seemed to suggest that a process that one couldn't affect was more stressful. They found that sitting in traffic on the M4 was more stressful than being a fighter pilot in combat.

And of course, every piece of research quoted on the BBC website is in every respect perfect...

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

in every respect perfect

They've demonstrated that being out of your skull on adrenaline is less stressful than dying of heatstroke and CO poisoning in a small box in Berkshire. What more do you want?

[lathany.livejournal.com]

A different choice?

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

What, taking advantage of new research, which shows that processes which don't suck are less stressful than processes which do?

[lathany.livejournal.com]

That would be a start...

[lathany.livejournal.com]

That may be the winning vote!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_kent/]

According to his Wiki entry, Demogorgon is a hermaphrodite. I'm not entirely clear how one goes about breeding Demon Princes anyway.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

There's probably an AD&D module including how to do it. They did some weird modules back in the early nineties.

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

I'd vote for stripy tankini. I personally don't like the straps on the rainbow halter. They don't seem very supportive. Granted, Bea doesn't have much to support right now.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

The straps were my main concern; although really from a comfort viewpoint. Bea doesn't have much sense of personal modesty yet and, as you say, has little that requires support!

[sumbitch.livejournal.com]

i personally prefer the stripey tankini, but i suspect that a small princess might like the rainbow halter better.

i'm with you on the stress thing. when i'm a passenger, literally or figuratively, and i know i can't affect the outcome, i'm relatively good at relaxing and figuring out how i'll deal with what comes next. when i know it's up to me i'm much more likely to be a mess. i'm sure this has to do with relative levels of self-confidence.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

Certainly I thought that the rainbow aspect might appeal to the curly one!

Glad I'm not alone in enjoying the passenger aspect (I like the choice of word btw :-) ) - I was starting to think I might be. And, yeah, self-confidence levels would certainly fit the bill.

[cardinalsin.livejournal.com]

There's an interesting bit of research somewhere on the control/no control subject. A bunch of monkeys did some task or other, and got punished when they got it wrong with an electric shock. Pretty stressful. However, there was another set of monkeys who were in charge of administering the electric shocks. It was this latter set who were found to be the most stressed.

...all of which is obviously in need of a lot more experimental detail before one can be sure whether it was a decent experiment. Sadly I don't remember any of it, and I'm not sure I ever knew in the first place. Might try looking it up though.

[cardinalsin.livejournal.com]

After a quick bit of googling, it looks as though this result is now believed to be artefactual. The study is by Brady (1958) and gave rise to the term 'executive stress' to describe the stress of those in control. However Brady selected his 'executive' monkeys from those who had earlier learned the electric-shock-task most effectively. It turns out these monkeys get the most stressed. Once you control for that factor, the monkeys who aren't in control are more stressed than those who are. Incidentally, stress was measured by the development of ulcers, which itself might be considered of doubtful value now.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Although it doesn't quite tally. You really need two sets of monkeys - one set with controls and one without - and both can get electric shocks.

[cardinalsin.livejournal.com]

It's a well known fact that in the latter case (getting electric shocks with absolutely no way to prevent it) animals will typically go into an inert state that some have compared with depression.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

That's not what I mean though. To be comparable the situation would need to be non-random. That is, using the controls properly can prevent electric shocks - but you have to monitor the stress levels before the monkeys are perfect on the control system.

those who had earlier learned the electric-shock-task most effectively

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

That's more or less the way human executives get selected too, in some workplaces.

Re: those who had earlier learned the electric-shock-task most effectively

[lathany.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I've worked for people like that too.

[condign.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the control/no-control question, though perhaps for a different reason. Making a decision implies responsibility for anything that goes wrong, and in my experience that means one is responsible for the effects of the wrong decision on other people. No control, on the other hand, immediately shifts one into 'damage control' mode, in which just about anything one does is a victory. (And again, since most of those situations also involve effects on others, they're usually quite pleased when any bit of damage control, no matter how unlikely, pays off.)

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

Buy a pig with hairclips on ...

...We'll all have tea?

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

My greatest stress tends to come from situations over which I have no control, but for which I have responsibility.

Worst of both worlds.