You Tube MUST DIE

Profuse, profuse apologies to everyone who just got slammed with emails from me. Apparently YouTube auto-grabbed my ENTIRE contact list of 500+ email addresses (which includes mailing lists), and kindly told all those people that I want to share a YouTube video or videos with you.

This was by no means my intent and goes to show the horrible implementation of the hundreds of social networks out there. I should control all information up until the point *I* choose to email people.

I am now preparing for the entirety of the Net community to come crashing down my door. I can't remember the last time I made such a netiquette mistake of epic proportions.

Anti-FCC Humor - Video

This was absolutely hi-larious. And as an added bonus, the singing is incredibly crisp, beautiful a capella.Makes me want to break out my holiday madrigals CDs.

MeNow-like service goes to production; Stupid Humor

Many of you know I complain A LOT about the lack of interchange between all the social network & blogging sites out there. In fact, while I'm posting this on my main blog at BrainStream, it will only get crossposted to LiveJournal. I decided to cut-and-paste it to MySpace and Yahoo! 360 as I have quite a few friends who are on the service.

Back in May 2004 I was heavily into the whole FOAF/MeNow thing - the idea of posting a live RDF stream of what everyone was doing at any given time.

Enter Twitter. It allows one to keep a site updated via email, IM, SMS, and the like. Then one can post a widget to their site which will host the info.

So, I went ahead and setup an account, (http://twitter.com/bkdelong), to fill with meaningless drivel as I commute on the train, go through my workday and sit in front of my computer. Weeee! ;)

This may be pretty fun during the holidays as I go from place to place.

It's a bit frustrating that this wasn't a feature of any number of the other social networks out there. Why can't I add a location name to where I'm going so people know where I'm posting from? Why don't I have more control over the users I add as "friends" ? Being able to define my relationship with those contacts and control who gets to se which posts.

When will they get it right?!?

Anyway, if you join on Twitter - please add me and help entertain my long commutes. ;)

On a completely other note, (NSFW) I wanted to share some incredibly awesome "stupid humor" YouTube clips my brother introduced me to: Washington & Korgoth of Barbaria. I hope the latter, (a pilot of a show for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim), gets picked up. Beware, they are NSFW.

Thankfulness

There's a lot of talk these days about thankfulness for obvious reasons. It's a great shame that the whole purpose for our holiday centers around being thankful for something we turned around and jammed into someone like a knife.

The first Thanksgiving was the result, (abridged version), of the Native Americans saving a group of Pilgrim colonists who were on the brink of starvation due to a famine. They were taught to farm and hunt the land and whilst stocking up as a result of their newfound skills they decided to give thanks to their God for their bounty.

Then, (long story short), we took their land and wiped them out.

But, I think if anything that's a lesson learned. There is a reason for the holiday beyond thanking our chosen deityfor the bounties of the past year. I think it's a time to reflect on that which has befallen us and be thankful for that which has both benefited and been estowed upon us.

I'm thankful for such a wonderful, supportive, truely beautiful and loving wife to whom I need to offer more reciprocity.

I'm thankful for having such a sweet, healthy, intelligent, good son who continues to surprise and amaze me hourly.

I'm thankful and eternally grateful for my mother-in-law who spends several days watching after my son and instills him with manners & politeness, happiness, and a joy for life, through her love for him.

I'm thankful for my father-in-law - one of the most tireless hard workers I know and he has the graciousness to be on his own after very long days while his wife is gone during the week.

I am thankful for my mother showing me, despite being my senior, that learning should be a lifelong joy and trying new things can be fextremely fulfilling.

I'm thankful that my brother Jon is back safely from Iraq for an indeterminate amount of time and I honor his service and support for our country and its peoples.

I am thankful for my "younger" brother Nate's role as my life counselor, emotional guide and fellow technological futurist.

I'm thankful to be employed, to have a job with amazing coworkers who challenge me and keep me incredibly busy everyday, to be able to contribute to and help support my family, while doing something I enjoy.

I'm thankful for my friends who constantly and consistently make an effort to engage my oft grumpy, curmudgeonly, hermitistic self to check-in on me, ask me what I've been doing and unconditionally make themselves available regardless of my infrequent contact and lack of return fealty.

I'm thankful for those in the world who seek all that is good, believe in karma and seek to right the balance of that which is light from that which is dark. Those who see the darkness in people and work to help them keep it in check and immediately notice those stricken with deep sadness and unconditionally aim to do all they can to restore the balance to happiness.

I'm thankful for peoples of all religions and dogmas that seek to follow the path of true goodness in their practices and see many of the negative and oft exclusionary artifacts as merely a difference in interpretations.

I know deep down I'm continually thankful for countless other reasons and people but in my state of triptophanic soporificness I can't bring them to mind at the moment.

Selfishly, I'm thankful for my health despite the state & treatment of my body and that I was finally able to quantify one of my long-time skills of intuitive orthogonal researching as it has allowed me to better know myself and be proud of what was once seen a lack of focus, concentration and specialization.

I am thankful for our rememberance of Thanksgiving and all that it reminds us.

Coffee, Tea and Gourmet in Wellesley

I think I've mentioned Dorset Tea & Coffee here before as it's run by one of my business partners - Sally Khudairi - along with her sister, Sue. I am also their Webmaster.

However as an amateur gourmand, I can't recommend the place enough. Many of you may know Sally has a solid foot in all things luxury and her commitment to superb food and atmosphere is intense. Even the sandwiches - a roast beef with tomato and boursin on a brioche roll - is to die for. Both the tea AND coffee is top notch - the former coming from Mark Mooridian's MEM Tea Imports and the latter George Howell's Terroir Coffee.

Recently, Sally has become frustrated with her inability to get soups worthy of her standards so she's started making her own and in light of the coming holiday season, she's offering special catering options.

Now, I've known Sally to always have a way with words but ever since I sent out this month's Dorset Dispatch newsletter, I've been drooling over the holiday fare:

Canapès such as Proscuitto-wrapped Roasted Asparagus Spears, Country Patè with Mushrooms on Mini Toasts, Smoked Salmon Mousse on English Cucumber with Créme Fraiche, Spanish Brandied Blue Cheese Dip with Marcona Almonds on Water Crackers, and Wild Mushroom and Leek Bundles.

Soups such as Velvety Butternut Squash, Creamy Wild Rice and Turkey, Crécy Carrot, and Lobster Bisque with Créme Fraiche.

Sides and Accompaniments such as Traditional Creamed Spinach, Savory Apple-Corn Pudding, Yukon Gold Boulanger Potatoes, Maple-glazed Carrots, Apple-Cranberry-Cointreau Chutney, and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables.

Sweets and Pastries such as Spiced Pumpkin Tartlets with Vanilla Panna Cotta, Almost-Flourless Chocolate Tortes, and Caramelized Cranberry-Walnut Tartlets with Traditional English Custard.

Confections and Fancies such as Dark Chocolate-Espresso Cream Diablos, Vanilla-Caramel-Pecan Turtles, Chocolate-dipped Strawberries, Assorted Petit Fours, and Milk Chocolate-enrobed English Toffees with Toasted Almonds.

Yum.

Off to Chicago; SCA Name

Good eve to you all. I'm up late, (for me), having just completed packing for my trip to the Windy City tomorrow. I'll be at the Lincolnshire Mariott Resort Mon - Wed night working on the IANS Midwest Information Security Forum. I won't really be leaving the show at all nor will I have time to get out and socialize except, perhaps, after our faculty dinner late Tues. night or some socializing during the day on-site.

If you want to stop by, text or call my cell, (see previous entries for the number or check my email sig), or feel free to send an email as well. I'll be heading into Boston via train at, *sigh*, 5:45am tomorrow.

On another note, I think I came up with an SCA name. I've done it in a bit of a weird way - I've chosen the name and have loosely verified the region and time period. Though I have contacted the Society of Saint Gabriel and requested some research.

The name will be Arthur Le Bruyn or possibly Arcturus. The surname has appeared around Bruen-Stapleford, Tarvin, Cheshire, England around the late 13th century. Though given the name of the parish, it could well be Arthur Le Bruen as well. Those who know my "spirit animal" will not be surprised.

Please do send me lots of texts in the AM to entertain me on my journey to my flight. Thanks in advance.

SCA: East Kingdom Crown Tourney report

Well, it's time I actually write something in this journal about my involvement in SCA rather than lazily talk about it in the various voice posts in the past few weeks - maybe then it will show up in the search engines and aggregators.

So....I'm hooked. I had been loosely following the exploits of my good friend aka Lady Sibella Denton of Talmere who has become quite involved in both her Shire and Kingdom.

Finally, I decided to try and go to an event- "Falling Leaves" held at Wellesley College a few weeks back. Becoming involved in the SCA seems like natural progression for me. I am an Eagle Scout and spent my first 14 years living in Southern Maryland, (Atlantia), with *10* acres of gulleys, creeks, streams, hills, trees and woods to explore. I've always been enthralled by history and since I graduated from college, I've finally gotten the bug for life-long learning.

As young as I can remember we were always going to Celtic Festivals like the Virginia Scottish Games and the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival. We spent several years going to the Maryland Renaissance Festival in garb, no less. My mother played fiddle and eventually harp with such luminaries as Cathy Palmer, Sue Richards, and Maggie Sansone. I even dared, in my gawky teenage body, to bring out my fiddle and play a bit there - I think there's a picture of it.

So the SCA being next on my "list" was a wonderful thing, but I wanted to make sure my wife, () got involved and this was something we all, (Will, , included).

Today we went to the East Kingdom Fall Crown Tournament held in the Barony of Stonemarche. The actual event was at the Lone Tree Scout Reservation.

We got there about noon and parked way at the "top" of the entrance area. We headed down and found friends Dave the Piper and Sioux the Artist - the two of whom I met at Falling Leaves. They were incredibly accommodating, helpful and friendly so I thought I would seek them out first. They graciously let us keep our stuff behind a table in their lean-to and we went down to the field to look for Baroness Böll von Bayer, (), (with whom I participated in a butchery workshop a few weeks back), as well as Baroness Johanna who has graciously acted as a deputy chatelaine in answering my questions about the Canton of the Towers - a subgroup of the Barony of Carolingia for those of us in the north region.

After a few minutes of chatting we all headed over to the lodge for a lunch feast. There I met Baroness Mairi Asan T'eilean Sgithenach aka Ruadh and her *5* children! They were incredibly well-behaved. We partook in the wonderful fresh cheeses, bread, meats, and pies going back for more when they brought out hot chicken drumsticks and chicken stew. I poked my head into the kitchen to offer huzzahs to the cooks and do so again here. Yum.

Will got antsy pretty fast so Kirky brought him over to the table behind us which had crayons, coloring books & paper, and yarn and felt for making hand-puppets. It was wonderful watching Kirky get so excited both with Will and Ruadh's children helping them with their puppets. I joked with Cassandra that we had found our next Youth Officer of sorts. However, I was careful not to "abandon" Kirky and wanted to make sure she felt free to go off and do other things if she wanted to but she appeared to be having a great time.

We milked the warmth of the lodge a bit longer and headed back out to the field. I stood around for a bit and decided to trudge back up to the car only to realize the car was locked and I had left the key back at the camp. Twenty minutes later, I was back at the car with keys and decided to drive all the way down to the very edge of the path to the field, where I found a parking space in the lot there. Phew.

I setup the chairs in front of the unofficial Canton of the Towers area and looked for my wife. Turns out she was right on the edge of the fighting area with Will asleep in her lap and him wrapped under the folds of her cloak. He actually slept for 45min - very cute.

I'm afraid I missed a great deal of the tourney due to the car mishap and Cassandra tried to fill me in a bit when I was asking questions but I think I need to hit a practice after work some week.

We decided to skip Court because it was getting late for Will and we headed out a bit early - another thing I have yet to see. I've watched a Baronial Court but not a Royal Court or Kingdom Court or whatever the differentiation is.

We had a sleepy ride back to the house, and Kirky was asking lots of questions about the SCA and next week's event - East Kingdom University. She's hooked as well. So I hope we'll go to events once or twice a month and get her involved in some Guilds. I'm so excited - a family activity!!

So I'm home, writing this and responding to some of the new LiveJournal posts of people I've become acquainted with through SCA. I added them to my "friends list" as well as a few Flickr photo tag feeds to my RSS Reader so I can see any pictures tagged with "eastkingdom" or "carolingia". I also have plans to hook my mother, brother and new sister-in-law. They're in Western Mass. where I grew up and would be in the Barony of Bergenthal. I made a point to join their email list and introduce myself since I feel WMass is still "home" for me.

Alas, I'm still truly struggling on a name right now as well. MacIntyre is the Scottish clan I'm a part of through my father's line as well as Dutch. I've got some good English stock in the Strongs. I just don't know what speaks to me...what to be. The strict canonist in me wants to choose a legitimate ancestor right down to the name and town, as well as the dates he lived. So it's still a bit slowgoing. Kirky wants to use Kiekre claiming it's Welch or Gaelic. It's really based on how Nate pronounces her name when he's being all Scottish - "Keer-keh". I don't think it has any historical validity.

A name, a name....my kingdom for a name. I just keep hitting dead-ends in the late 1600s which drives me crazy. I don't have the time to add genealogy to my already large list of interests and hobbies but if I want to go back deeper, I'll have to use my intuitive research-foo.