That is a picture of horseshoe crabs being drained of 30% of their blood (which the article says is 'not usually fatal'). Sherlock read this to me and then asked me a number of questions I couldn't answer, including 'Why does our blood use iron and theirs uses copper and how can I make mine use copper so that it's blue?' If you would also like to turn your blood blue, I'm sorry, I can't help you.
The barber (this was while we were both getting our hair cut) wanted to know what would make Spock's blood green. I couldn't help him either. Maybe that's why I've ended up with a haircut that makes me look like a deranged squirrel. Sherlock speculated nickle, or a different sort of iron. (His hair looks fine.)
Greg laughed when he came home and then kissed me and then laughed some more and asked if I wanted curry, so it must be bad. Still, curry.
118 comments:
It's not bad!
Although it's set to be the warmest hallowe'en on record, so you can't really hide under a hat... perhaps pretend it's part of a deranged squirrel costume*??
*my husband does not actually resemble a squirrel, deranged or otherwise.
tomorrow we have to buy pumpkins and carve pumpkins and you could put a pumpkin on your head.
Do you make pumpkin seeds for later, Sherlock? That's what I'm doing tonight, after I carve my pumpkins. It sounds like you're going to have a fun Halloween! What are you dressing up as?
So does John's haircut really look bad, Sherlock?
That article is fascinating, btw.
I wish a decent haircut were not as important to my vanity as it is. So I feel your pain, John, possibly more keenly than you do. I hope that your haircut is better than you think. Fortunately, hair grows.
fA
Idle inquiry: When did Halloween become a "thing" in Britain? Or has it always been, just not as big a deal as in the U.S.?
fA
no his hair is okay but when I don't like my haircut everyone tells me it's nice even more than when I think it's nice so if he wants to hide he should definitely hide in a hallowe'en way and Lestrade said maybe he could be a dwarf wookie and I don't really know what that is but now John's trying to hit Lestrade with a bag of frozen peas.
Well observed, Sherlock, about how people react to less-than-excellent haircuts!
A pumpkin head would definitely be a Hallowe'en way to disguise a haircut. Do you do the costume thing for Hallowe'en?
Wookies are very large furry creatures in the Star Wars movie universe, and Ewoks are sort of the dwarf version--they look a bit like large animated teddy bears (http://www.starwars.com/databank/ewok), and that's probably what Lestrade meant.
tomorrow we have to buy pumpkins and carve pumpkins and you could put a pumpkin on your head.
Maybe I can dye it orange and say my costume is a pumpkin.
You could do: http://www.partycity.com/product/orange+hair+spray+3oz.do :D ... They have purple, too!
the only people you're trick or treating, Sherlock, will be Mrs H, and next door, if they don't mind. And there will be no tricks. So essentially, it's business as usual for you, attempting to charm people into feeding you.
fA - it's always been a 'thing' in as much as kids have carved pumpkins and told scary stories. Dressing up etc. is generally the preserve of students, and for drunken parties, not for trick or treating. But it's definitely not a big 'thing', it could easily pass you by unnoticed. Bonfire night is the big event in our calendar.
We can always just shave your head, John, and get Maftet to sit on it until some hair grows back.
Ha. As a wig or because the constant licking would stimulate hair growth?
As a wig/headwarming device.
Plus she wouldn't care about being laughed at.
Might be awkward under a helmet.
I feel certain she would obligingly hop off when you wore your helmet, and sit on your fuel tank, with her own helmet on.
I like it. This is clearly the way to go. She'll need goggles too.
I fear she'll get involved in the pumpkin carving tomorrow - fall asleep in one, or get slimy guts on her in an orange patch of fur which we won't notice until she's spread it everywhere.
Not everywhere, probably just on you :)
probably just on your head.
It's great that you all have a few days off together now to enjoy some Halloween activities and museum visits.
Good luck with the pumpkin carving later, let's hope everyone stays mess free. ;)
Enjoy your day. :)
I trust someone will carve Maftet her own small pumpkin, with a suitable Egyptian goddess expression.
SH, you have the right idea! Maf clearly deserves her own pumpkin.
There's a liink to a 'make your own monster' page on Google this morning: www.madewithcode.com/project/animation.
I think it's meant to be a conceptual introduction to coding, though it is a bit simplistic tor a kid like Sherlock. Several of my coworkers are pretty entertained, though. (It didn't load properly for me.)
fA
Maftet would certainly need goggles, but perhaps would prefer the helmet to the fuel tank: http://www.longbraid.com/ComedyCorner/images/BikerCat.jpg
Thanks for the info about Halloween, L. No matter how much pop culture we swap or how many ex-pats one knows, there's a surprising amount of day-to-day information about life in another country which one never thinks about - until one does.
fA
Hmm, RR. That's one tolerant cat!
fA
Heh, fA--and one chill biker! I don't know that I'd want claws that close to my eyes. (But I do like the goggles. :))
There is a lot of pumpkin...everywhere.
My mom JUST came back from the grocery with pumpkin...donuts. Really. (They are quite orange, but they taste like regular donuts.)
L - there are times when I'm happy to watch pumpkin carving through the internet ;)
Did the pumpkin innards spark a round of that childhood song which begins "Great green(or "big") gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts . . .?" There are many variations, but the one from my childhood is similar to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDcFvnUsMZo
Yah, no need to thank me.
fA
Hey gents. Happy early halloween!
Lestrade, saw this and thought of you: http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-not-himself-until-he-has-so-much-coffee-he-fee,36933/
Ella
Not a song I'm familiar with, fA.
It was good. Maftet has a pumpkin with a cat on it, we have various gruesome faces carved in, ready to light on our window ledge tomorrow. Or...later today.
And now I'm wondering whether the dogs or degus have their own pumpkins...
Hey, fA, do you know the Hearse Song? There are a bunch of versions of that around, too, but I can't find the one I learned as a kid!
Huh. I thought I made a comment earlier, but it's not here. Hello? Can anyone hear me?
Ella
Hi, Ella! (I'm guessing your comment got misclassified. I'm sure it will be fished out of the spam filter in the morning!)
Hey, rere! I also have a new phone that I'm still learning, so it's possible I did something silly. It was not a comment of great substance, so if it's gone, we need not mourn overmuch.
Ella (new phone capitalizes my name, how strange)
RR, I do NOT know the Hearse Song! I must google.
When I googled the great big globs of greasy etc. song, a Smithsonian Folkways recording of "children's songs" from 1958 or 1959 was the earliest reference. So perhaps it's an American thing.
Hey Ella! Hope you can bend your new phone to your will, soon.
Tomorrow (today) is going to have too much Halloween in it. Most fun is handing out candy & a neighborhood garage rock band (adults between mid 30s and 60s) that serenades the trick or treaters with Halloween themed novelty songs, till it's late enough & some have drunk enough to lose focus and start playing the garage band chestnuts for Persons of a Certain Age and Not Much Time to Practice. I like my neighborhood.
Onward to sleep, here.
fA
RR: is the Hearse Song the one with "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on my snout?" My dad used to sing that to us, on occasion, but that's all I remember of it.
fA
Happy Halloween guys, I hope you have lots of fun planned and that sweets are in good supply later :-D
I've had a few comments disappear when I clicked the 'preview' button too... hoping this one doesn't.
now that I'm basically an empty-nester I don't do pumpkin carving or trick-or-treating, but I will go out tonight with my morris lads to dance the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance on/near the spot where we dance the sun up on May morning. I may even get to be a character, since I have a nice Robin-Hood jerkin and hat. It's a nice way to mark the turning of the year. I'll sing Alouette Iselin's song, Until The Dark Time Ends, and others will probably have songs too.
fA, I like your neighborhood, that sounds like fun!
and I love the thought of Maftet in biker gear. :D
S
That's the song, fA--only in camp (where I learned it) it went "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, they chew up your guts and they spit them out." ...We must have been delightful at campfire singalongs!
Hey, SH, I hear it's your birthday--have a very happy one! (Is your birthday cake orange and black? :D)
And this is for everyone: Happy Hallowe'en!
Our pumpkins are happily lined up on the window ledge. Mrs H has been thoroughly fleeced of all treats.
A successful Halloween, then. :)
Yeah. Feels weird though, with it being so warm. Today was like a summer day in the park earlier.
Nice for trick-or-treaters, I guess. (It's chilly and raw here today.)
24 degrees here earlier. Cooling down now, but still very pleasant.
Things that made me ridiculously happy today: Sherlock getting excited about the eyeball soup I made for pudding. :)
that sounds delicious!
its amazing watching little people be excited about weird things ;-)
What did you make the eyeballs from? Tapioca, or something bigger?
Happy Halloween to everyone in my timezone, where it's just getting underway!
fA
Lychees, in a mix of nerve bundles and brains.
Or jelly strands, crumbled up sponge cake and whipped cream.
Lychees are brilliant! Sounds very suitably creepy.
fA
Neighborhood garage band + cute children trick-or-treating + alcohol + neighbors sharing startling things about their lives. Hope everyone else had a good evening as well.
Hope people aren't feeling too sick this morning after all those sweets on top of eyeballs & brains. ;)
Are you off out & about today? We're coming down to see the poppies & then on to a show so looking forward to a great day.
Enjoy yourselves. :)
I daresay we'll end up going somewhere!
Good luck with the poppies - they've been having to shut half the roads around there because the crowds have been so massive. Have a great day.
I got a new jumper it's red and black stripes with a skull with an eyepatch on it.
That is a very cool jumper, Sherlock. No one could possibly fail to notice it.
We have fabulous weather today, so it's all about running and yard work and I think I'll get Thai curry for dinner. Hopefully that'll match the weather for fabulousness.
Hope everyone else has a good day.
fA
Thank you for the birthday wishes RR. I didn't have a cake at all, although I'm hoping that I'll have one at work on Monday.
WHY didn't you have cake??????? You should have cake we could have made you one.
The horror of a cakeless existence... Happy birthday, SH :)
Yeah, happy belated birthday! And I hope you get belated cake.
We've been putting the allotment to bed for the winter...gets dark so early now, feels like a bit of a race.
Happy Birthday SH! If work doesn't come up with cake, I think you are authorized to take matters into your own hands!
fA
Thank you all for your birthday wishes!
Sherlock, maybe you could ask Lestrade to help you make me a cake and then you could eat it for me ;)
...i reserve the right to delete that comment before he wakes up. ;)
Halloween night turned out pretty low-key since there weren't enough guys to dance, but we had a great tour today with four teams, mostly before it got wet. A song at each stand too, and lots more at the pub at the end of the day. If I had instant-transport, I'd be at another birthday party, but I'm saving my strength for tomorrow, when I will get to see my daughter and her/boyfriend's little one. :)
all this talk of cake though... tempting...
S
Sherlock, your jumper sounds cooool. It made me think about my lunchbox, which has pirates on it. The pirate captain has curls like you! (But he has a parrot instead of degus).
And something happened to the beginning of my comment ... which was: Happy belated birthday, SH! I hope the cake situation is remedied ASAP.
What an excellent-sounding jumper, Sherlock, I love red and black together. Is the skull on it white?
Birthdays should have cake (or a preferred equivalent), SH! I would be happy to make you one, myself. :)
My puppy is having his first snow today. He's enjoying it much more than I am. It's heavy and wet and I don't want to play in it because we've lost power so there's no way to get warm after.
Yikes, Kholly, I hope you get your power back soon.
I want snow because it's still hot here and but I hope you get power back because otherwise it's hard to cook and do things so it's better to have nice snow and power definitely.
I agree Sherlock. It's better to have snow and power. Then you can go out to play and come in and make hot chocolate and stew for supper. Now all I can do is pile the blankets on my bed and eat a granola bar. Can't even go someplace because the whole town is dark.
How goes the day guys? Did Sherlock get back to school ok? We seemed to have the worst nights sleep of the whole holiday last night which seemed a little unfair when we had to get up at a ridiculously early time this morning!
I hope the day treats everyone well :-)
Yeah, he's gone back, I'm back, Mycroft and John have the place to themselves today!
For all those who are interested, I did have cake at work. We cut it into 6 and each had a good sized slice.
Yay! (And it also means you got a longer birthday celebration, which is a Good Thing. :))
How much mess had John and Mycroft made when you got home Sherlock? Have you got them sorted out ready to make dinner for your DI or is he doing that when he gets home?
I hope works been productive Greg and that you and Mycroft had a good day together, or not together, John :-)
I'm glad you got cake SH :-)
There was dinner! And it was lovely.
It's got cold here now - about 20 degrees colder than hallowe'en was!
Sherlock is still protesting the unfairness of longer holidays for big brothers, but there we go.
Glad you got your cake, SH. And everyone got dinner.
Life isn't fair, more's the pity, Sherlock. It know won't make it much better, but you do get a great deal more time with John than Mycroft does, and it must be nice for them to have a little extra while you're in school.
fA
I've got to work nights on Friday and Saturday :(
But the boys have picked us a good fireworks display t go to tomorow :)
Oh dear, Greg, hope you have something interesting to do so it isn't too boring for you. Will Sal be keeping you company this time or does she get a reprieve from night duty. ;) I hope you don't come back and find your place taken by a little ginger furball. ;)
Is your display a nice local one or is it a big official thing. Hope it has lots of the fountain ones, they're my favourite; those and the ones that have a secondary explosion at the end of the first one.
We have an op, yeah. I don't think I'm with Sal though, think I'm with one of the boys. Don't tell her (or the husband), but I quite enjoy nights with Sal! She tells me the office gossip ;)
Fireworks are quite big, I think! Not much small and local in these parts, that's also official.
We won't tell Sal :) Is she still dating her mystery man?
I got a job offer. It's for fewer hours and less pay, so I'm not sure I'm going to take it, but it is a job offer.
Meanwhile my PTSD has given me a few rough days. I know it'll pass, but it's the kind of thing that gives me doubts about holding a job down.
Mum's the word, Greg, I'm sure neither of them will notice. ;)
Sorry to hear you're suffering, Becca. Hope you feel better soon.
Maybe you could take the job for now and it will at least give you something to keep you going for the time being and you'll be in a better position to be looking for something else with more money and the hours you would prefer.
Small firework displays have a charm of their own--but the big ones have more of the wow factor, so you can hardly go wrong with (safely and well-organized) fireworks!
Sorry for the night shifts, L, even with the exciting lead up to. :)
Hope everything works out for you, Becca.
Best wishes, Becca. I can understand the dilemma - *waves pompoms anyway*
Ah, Becca, sorry you've had some bad days. Can't say anything useful about the job, sometimes it's easier to find a new job when you have one, but not always. And scheduling and/or affording your surgery is another complicating factor. Hope things become more straightforward for you in the next few days.
If you (or Sally) thought the entertainment value you provide for each other was somehow unnoticeable, you were mistaken, L. And it's nice how you each try to look out for each other amidst the mild abuse, though neither of you take too well to being looked-out-for.
fA
Sorry to hear you're having a rough time, Becca. And yes, Sal is still dating her man. I'll see if i can get any details ;)
Did you manage? I'm not sure it's all that safe to report on your sergeant on here I suspect she'll get you when you least expect it ;-)
I hope you've all had good days :-)
FIREWORKS ARE THE BEST
Well, that was fun. Drink and food and bonfires and fireworks.
And Mycroft has been kind enough to invite us to a display he was invited to, at the weekend, too. So we'll drop him off to a background of explosions and flames ;)
:)
Interesting that Sherlock put fireworks first and only, while you had...other priorities. ;)
Happy approval of fun and family and friends coinciding.
fA
managed to see some more fireworks!
I sometimes forget other dogs even get worried by the noises, ours are so calm - presumably because they were..er..gun dogs, of a sort? Maf, on the other hand, goes wide eyed and clings to John.
She's still just a baby really. She might grow out of it. Deimos hardly ever hides under the bed during thunderstorms now.
ha, she won't grow out of it because you give her cuddles and ear scratches and she loves every moment.
I daresay tomorrow night when I'm out on the mean streets she'll be loving every moment of having you to herself ;)
More fireworks is better than fewer fireworks!
(Or is it less? Are fireworks countable? Mycroft? Anyone?)
I love fireworks, but I startle at the bangs anyway. :)
I'd say fewer. But I don't know why. It just sounds right.
You'd be fine here, anyway - there aren't so much bangs as a constant rumble of explosions which sound like thunder for about 4-5 hours a night.
I'm fine so long as it keeps going. It's sudden noises--even when I'm expecting them--that I jump at. (It's involuntary, don't judge me!)
If you're working tonight does that mean you've spent today in bed with a hot doc Greg? ;-)
Not quite! We’ve been out for a jog, had coffee with Mycroft and made biscuits so far...
That sounds very restful ;-)
I'm glad you're having a good day :-)
Hope you are too.
Mycroft has hinted that he might be willing to have Sherlock stay over at school with him on Saturday night....
Murray has hinted he might kidnap John to the pub, given he's free for once!
N t that I'm jealous, much...
I can see why you're not at all jealous of you're boys weekend plans ;-)
We're having a lovely day, the kids waved flags at a countess earlier and the second school finishes we're away for the weekend :-) the only downside to today is I can't work out how to use my new phone so this message may make no sense or my disappear any second ;-)
I hope sherlock had a good day at school :-)
Sounds like a pretty nice weekend in store, considering work must be attended to. I would love to hear Sherlock's report on staying with Mycroft. He is such an excellent big brother, that young man.
I'm being taken to see a good singer/songwriter as a late birthday gift, which I intend to enjoy thoroughly. Especially since he (Rufus Wainwright) falls into the large category of excellent performers whose ticket price outstrips what I am willing to pay to see them.
And our weather continues to be enjoyable, I do love autumn.
Hope everyone is doing well, or better, or has hopes.
fA
Well, the entire city still seems to be exploding, but here we are, on nights...
Glad that we're running another guns and ammo amnesty - a very good way of getting them off the streets. Had quite a few in already! And a few phonecalls from American news agencies being completely confused about what we're doing...
I feel like we've done similar things in America, in the cities at least. So why's it confusing?
I've no idea! Its a pretty simple idea :)
I think people think we should be giving people something to encourage them to give up the guns? Money or something? I don't know.
Becca! Good to "see" you. Hope this is a good weekend for you.
(& you're right, similar programs have been done here, in big cities, mostly. )
fA
And did people hand guns over? Last time we did this we got a decent haul.
Seen some good fireworks tonight - shame it's not what we're supposed to be watching! And now it's getting cold... I'm lucky to have a husband who can pack a bag to satisfy...almost...every desire.
Those pesky limitations on which desires it's advisable to satisfy at work!
People do turn in weapons, ammo & "explosive devices" (often illegal fireworks) but not, apparently, in impressive numbers compared to the number of guns in circulation. There ARE programs which offer sports tickets in exchange, or pay (I saw "up to $250" cited several times) for guns turned in, and they are some of the more successful.
More than you wanted to know, from press reports that came up in the first 2 pages of an unscientific Google search, follows:
Omaha, a city of about 300K, has several amnesty days a year (no payment in exchange) and collects 20-50 weapons on any single day; Newark, a city of about 240K paid an average of $200 & collected 175, Union County, NJ, population a bit over half a million, collected about a thousand guns in 2013 on amnesty days & paid up to $250.
Interestingly, most of these are set up in church parking lots or other community friendly paved places. Apparently, participation rate is much lower if people have to walk into a police station!
fA
Guys! Guys! If Sherlock hasn't found this already: www.compoundchem.com. The 10/28/2014 post is "The Chemistry of the Different Colours of Blood" and 10/30/2014 post is "The Chemistry of the Odour of Decomposition" !!!
(I don't know why the spelling is British and the date convention is American. Maybe the blog template is American.)
Rufus Wainwright was great. I love the sounds he makes with his voice & piano, even though I like him best when he's singing someone else's songs.
fA
Hope the night went smoothly, L, and that you are managing to get some sleep.
It wasn't too bad. Although I'd rather not work on nights when all the kids are armed with explosives! Did you see a firework was thrown into a police car the other week? Give me a motorbike any day ;)
It was cold, and once again, criminals lead very boring lives. I even took paperwork to do!
Hope I don't get a call tonight to two drunken medics causing mischief somewhere ;)
"Two drunken medics of London" is the first line of an awesome limerick, or twelve.
Just sayin'
Off to drum up student support for my library by giving away free food.
fA
Love to Maftet! She is lucky to have you all and you are lucky to have her! Cats are really babies for about 2 years, even though they are physically grown by 1year or so, they are still growing in every other way. So Maftet may grow and change a lot over the next year or so. Some things she will grow out of and some she never will.
John, wanted to say happy Veterans Day (in the US). I am really happy you are home and safe now. And have lots of respect for you for everything you did overseas. Same to Desert Wanderer and the other vets we have on the blog!
Should clarify, November 11 was veteran's day. It's just half past midnight now, on Nov 12. But John's in my thoughts.
And Maftet could be the subject of her own blog! kitty pics FTW!
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