Uniquities meme

[cjsmith]

I just made up that word. You can tell, can't you? Okay, okay. It should be taken out back and shot.

Anyway, here goes. Most recently seen in the journal of mactavish.

Name a CD you own that no-one else on your friends list does:
This CD is either named "The Yang Qin Erhu" or "The Beijing Brothers" depending on whether you look at the face or the spine. The artists are two Chinese men, currently street performers in Edinburgh. They're playing the bamboo flute, a hammer-dulcimer-like instrument called the Yang Qin, and a tall stringed instrument called the Erhu. Most of the music is traditional Chinese music, although there's also the William Tell Overture. It's really nifty.

Name a book you own that no-one else on your friends list does:
Fundamentals of X Programming by Theo Pavlidis. It was late on the tail of the X-programming-book market. I own it because I did some technical editing and my name is in it (oooooooooo).

Name a movie you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that no-one else on your friends list does:
I doubt I have such a movie. My best shot at it might be "Hopscotch".

Name a place that you have visited that no-one else on your friends list has:
Darn. dceder went with me to Egypt and rfrench has gone with me almost everywhere else I've ever been. Even my Half Dome hiking partner is on my friends list. I'll have to get obscure. A women's restroom in Finland? All right, that's cheating. The inside of the offices of Crédit Lyonnais in Paris? Is that cheating too? Um, okay, the driver's seat of an Army tank?? [edit: Oh wait! None of my FAMILY is on my friends list! Okay, the roof of St. Peter's in the Vatican.]

Comments

[yoak.livejournal.com]

Durn. My tech book collection recently suffered a purge in which I eliminated books that after a serious, hard look I realized I would never use again. (And that had no sentimental value, as silly as that is... but I wasn't emotionally prepared to get rid of Camel 1 and Llama 1.) There was a book suspiciously close in title to Fundamentals of X Programming. I'm not sure whether it was that one specifically or not. A lot of those books have very similar names.

In any event, I no longer own it, so you're safe, at least by me.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think I have a few books with similar titles. If you had one that actually taught you how to write a toolkit widget, and it wasn't an O'Reilly book, it was probably Pavlidis. (Frankly I'd purge it too if it didn't have my name in the credits.)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

It should be taken out back and shot.

I don't know if it would show up on film, though. ;-)

*scampers off*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Uniquity number five: no other friend is quite like indyansel. 8-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

*bows* :-)

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Thank $deity!!

I don't think anyone could handle more than one like that ;-)

[firecat]

The OH and I don't own Hopscotch, but we watched it recently.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I like that one. It definitely has its funny moments.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Any womens' rest room, or a particular one? ;-) I spent a day in Finland several years back, and it's likely that I paid a visit to a womens' restroom somewhere in there...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes, likely ;-)

I should probably pick a particular one. I can remember visiting the women's restroom in the restaurant by the old copper mine at Outokumpu, so I'll pick that one.

Were you in Helsinki? What brought you to Finland?

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

I was in Helsinki, where we stopped for a brief tour en route to the then-USSR.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh coooool. I've never been to Russia or, with the exception of a day in Tallinn, anything that was once USSR. Where did the tour go? What are you gladdest that you saw?

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

We saw Tallinn, which was my favorite. I love the old-town part, with the winding cobblestone roads. I also went to Moscow and Leningrad (this was 1986) and I liked the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad a lot. I found Moscow dreary - everything seemed drab and gray.

Where have you travelled?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I loved Tallinn too. There's a place along the outside of the wall -- you see it on the way up to the Alexander Nevski Cathedral -- where there's a bit of an arch between two parallel bits of wall. Under that arch there is flowstone growing and some small stalactites can be seen as well. That awed me.

I've travelled throughout the continental US, but never set foot in Hawaii or Alaska. I've seen quite a bit of western Europe, Scandinavia, Finland, and the touristy bits of Egypt. That's about it. No Asia or the Orient, no Southern Hemisphere, no Pacific Islands, no poles, no Africa except Egypt. You?

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

In addition to the aforementioned Estonia, Russia, and Finland, I've been to France, Belgium (brief stop-over), China, Japan (brief stop-over), a few places in Canada, a hop over the border to see Tijuana in Mexico, and lots of the USA (but not Hawaii or Alaska either).

I'd like to see Ireland and Greece, and Mom is dropping hints that she wants a Hawaii trip.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I didn't mention England and Scotland - but I've never seen Ireland. I've seen a few places in both Canada and Mexico, but none very far from the border, so it's not like I've really gotten to know the places. :-)

I too would love to see Greece. Perhaps the islands - they looked stunningly lovely when I last flew over them (granted I hadn't seen enough green or wet for way too long). I'd love to see Macchu Picchu before it slides off the hill.

My mom tends to drop hints about India, but fortunately my dad's the one who gets to go with her there. The jet lag alone would be long enough to quit my job and find another. :-)

[katestine.livejournal.com]

oops... I've been to the roof of San Pietro. Twice. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Aw dang! Okay, how about inside the crater of Vesuvio?

[katestine.livejournal.com]

You got me there :)

Chinese music

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

That's the trouble with this meme ... you never know. While it's true I don't have that particular Chinese music CD, I do have several (um, five -- three in a boxed set and two additional ones) CDs of Chinese music, with erhu, yang qin, pipa, and other classical Chinese instruments. The boxed set (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000006BEU/qid=1097892586/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-9736605-8220667?v=glance&s=music) is especially cool -- it comes with a 56-page booklet that introduces all the songs, describing the artist and the instruments and explaining the meaning. You'd like it.