An Elegant Timewaster - Lovecraftian Lore ~ Early AFternoon Thoughts

It's VERY hot here today - just the kind of day to stay inside and get all those nagging things done that I have been putting off doing . . . and after discovering -->this delightful site<--, will put off even further ... The site is devoted to those dark and deadly seeming card games. Somewhat like playing Dungeons and Dragons, but it moves much more quickly and even somewhat darker. Alas, no gnome tossing or princess rescuing ...

The start of the game looks like this ....



And once you press start game (I would suggest reading how to play first!!!) you will see this --


Nice creepy music and sounds accompany the game play, and no I've lost each time I've played, but there's always the next time

To play the game .... --> CLICK HERE <-- and as always, I'm not responsible for lost time, jobs or - in this case - sleep!!

A Not So Elegant Timewaster ~ Mid-Morning Thoughts

Are you really frustrated? Is someone in your office driving you nuts? Are the kids driving you absolutely wild? This should take care of all that!! My youngest grandaughter introduced me to this "game" and I have to say ... it's very funny.

If you are at work, you might want to turn your speakers down a little for this one ~ people might wonder exactly what you are doing ....

http://www.simonpanrucker.com/beans.html

Enjoy and feel better .... OK, just enjoy!!!

Potporroui ~ Early Evening Thoughts

Tomorrow I promise to tell several of the "complex stories," including the almost indestructible lock story. But for tonight ~ a couple of items:

First of all ~ One of the bright lights of the performing world is (at last report) gravely ill with cancer. Beverly Sills (AKA Bubbles - her childhood nickname), conquered the opera world opera house by opera house. It's ironic that she didn't perform at the Metropolitan Opera House until shortly before her retirement. She was an amazing performer, but more important she was a wonderful person as well. When she retired from singing she became a force for all the performing arts. She was heavily involved with the New York City Opera and the Met, but she also championed all the arts.

One story concerns her debut performance at one of the most legendary opera houses in the world ~ La Scala. The performance venue was known for "diva" behavior by its stars and those who performed. As a matter of fact it was expected. There is probably no person less like a diva than Ms. Sills.

As the story goes - there was a problem with one of her costumes ~ as in ugly, didn't fit, etc. She made several attempts to work with the costumer to no avail. At this point, evidently, a hush fell over the rehearsal as people watched to see what she would do - and establish herself as a true diva.

In typical Beverly Sills fashion, she took the costumer's scissors and proceeded ~ without a word ~ to cut the dress into shreds. She then handed the scissors back to the costumer and hung up the costume on the rack. Still without a word, she restarted rehearsal. Legend has it that there was applause from cast and crew - and she cemented her place as a La Scala Diva.

My thoughts and prayers are with her ... and here is a performance from 1976 - singing Una Voce Poco Fa!!



Oh, and there was nothing "stuffy" about her either ~ here she performs with Danny Kaye and managed to completely "break him up" at one point:



She also performed with Carol Burnett as well as the Muppets. I couldn't find a clip of her duet with Carol Burnett, but I did find this Muppet show clip (it's not in English ~ so the speaking (not singing)is dubbed.

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I really should save this for an afternoon -- but it's just too funny to pass up. This really is a Late Evening Time Waster and I'm not responsible for lost sleep as you continue to --->press the button<---- ~over and over and over .... (thanks to the thinking blog)

And with that - the almost last doses of medicine have "wiped me out" ...

---More tomorrow

Flying Spaghetti Monster ~An Elegant Timewaster

I found this elegant game one afternoon, and spent quite a bit of time playing it.

As you can see from the picture - the method of playing is quite simple -- But getting to the end? Ah, that's another story ...



Oh - If you are at work, you might want to turn the sound down on your computer ...

To start getting caught-up enjoying a break -

--->CLICK HERE<--

According To Einstein ~ An Elegant Time Waster

Normally, the timewasters postings like these involve the computer. You can solve this one on paper, but I think a computer spreadsheet might make it a little bit easier. I am not responsible for nibbled pencils, too many cups of coffee or the fact that you might growl at people as they try to talk to you while solving this puzzle.

According to legend/myth - Albert Einstein wrote this as a small boy, and 98% of the world can not solve it.

Two things wrong with that sentence - 1) if I remember rightly he was too busy getting in trouble as school to be this creative and 2) I would imagine that 98% of the world would simply be uninterested in the puzzle. This puzzle has also been attributed to Lewis Carroll, and various other authors.

The version below is quoted from the first known publication in Life International magazine on December 17, 1962.

1. There are five houses.
2. The Englishman lives in the red house.
3. The Spaniard owns the dog.
4. Coffee is drunk in the green house.
5. The Ukrainian drinks tea.
6. The green house is immediately to the right of the ivory house.
7. The Old Gold smoker owns snails.
8. Kools are smoked in the yellow house.
9. Milk is drunk in the middle house.
10. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
11. The man who smokes Chesterfields lives in the house next to the man with the fox.
12. Kools are smoked in the house next to the house where the horse is kept.
13. The Lucky Strike smoker drinks orange juice.
14. The Japanese smokes Parliaments.
15. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.

Now, who drinks water? Who owns the zebra?

And before I get strung up on a yardarm - let me offer a couple of "clarifications":
Each of the five houses is painted a different color.
Their inhabitants are of different national extractions,
own different pets,
drink different beverages
and smoke different brands of American cigarettes.
One other: In statement 6, right means your right.
One more: The houses ARE in a row.

As always, I have been known to be bribed talked into sharing the solution via email.

Boomshine ~ An Elegant Timewaster

It's been awhile since I posted one of these...and this one really is elegant and a massive timewaster good way to build your computer skills.



The premise is deceptively simple ... click the ringed dot to allow it to engulf the required number of dots to make level 12.

This is screen one:



And please remember the words deceptively simple ....

To start the game ---->CLICK HERE<-----
It may take a few moments to load the game - it is a flash game.

Note: I did make it through level 12 - but I'm not going to admit how many tries it took ...

An Elegant Timewaster ~

Thanks to the folks at durnMoose blog I have been wasting a lot of time perfecting my computer skills with this delightful game.


I have to admit I thought getting the "treasure" would be quite a bit easier than it has turned out to be.

The object is to make squares of matching symbols -- the larger the squares the better.


So -- Enjoy the game!!! Click --->here<--- to play . . .

Double Wire ~ An Elegant Timewaster

For a lazy Sunday - Here is a wonderful game based on physics:


To quote the designer of the game:

"Swinging titles are a common theme in physics games, for whatever reason. Personally, I think the attraction is two-fold. One: Actually swinging around on stuff—in real life—is a lot of fun. But, it’s damn hard. While your imagination may have you gliding from object to object with the greatest of ease, in practice it’s slow, clunky, and rather inelegant (plus, it requires a fair bit of strength, and sitting around on computers all day isn’t exactly building up that requirement). Two: There’s a primal attraction to the activity. I was watching an episode of the excellent Planet Earth with some great chimpanzee and monkey footage. I really did have the urge to spend the rest of the day in the jungle canopy, swinging carelessly from one branch to the next." (emphasis mine)

Enjoy swinging from one branch to the next. I'll be interested in just how far you make it ....

The Three Cups ~ An Elegant Timewaster

The Three Cups

Thanks to the folks at Durnmoose I have spent a lot of time with this game.



The object is quite simple - turning two cups at at time, get all three cups upright.



Oh, and they are so helpful, they even show you how to do it before you start to play.

I am not responsible for frustration, throwing things at the monitor, broken keyboards from having heads banged on them in irritation.

You were warned!!!

An Elegant Time Waster ~

The purpose of this game is quite simple. Balance and collection. No, really ... it's very simple. OK, really - it's simply interesting.

It's called Tilt - And you can play it here.

Something Fun For The Afternoon ~ An Elegant Time Waster

I found this little quiz on a blog I had never read: Squirl's Nest. It only takes a few moment, but the results are quite fun!!!

Click HERE to start the quiz ... it will only take a few moments....

wd took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test!

...

Not An Ed Wood Space Movie ~ An Elegant Time Waster

The folks at Game Show Network have "launched" this fun little game - just to make sure you don't get everything done today you're supposed to ... and a little space love thrown in for good measure ... oh, and of course, it's not as simple as it looks!!!! (oh yes, click on the sound button to get rid of the space sounds ..)

My thanks to one of my favorite blogs: The durnMoose blog.

(UPDATE: A technical problem developed with the game, it has been "retired" for a bit, until I can solve the issue ... :( )

For now -- GO HERE to play this delightful space(y) game!!!

enjoy!!!!

Don't Press - But You Know You Will ~ An Elegant Timewaster

Don't press the button - unless you want to be taken to a very interesting AND frustrating game. Guaranteed to keep you occupied for awhile. Perhaps a LONG while.

Never let it be said that my elegant time wasters had to be either elegant or easy.

Time Wasters ~ Elegant or Not

I don't usually post clips here, but this one really caught my attention. It may have something to do with my birthday celebration yesterday (OK, OK -- I'll stop mentioning it!), but I have now vowed to never again complain about backache, headache or sore shoulders! By the way, as you watch this clip - remember that toe shoes have a steel plate in them!! Just so you know!!!




And now it's possible for you to release your inner Jason Pollack - instead of doodling on that important piece of paper you're supposed to be reading - you can doddle in a bright color right on your screen....



Just move the cursor around and/or pause it. To clear the screen for a new creation, all you have to do is click the mouse. -- 0h yes, your screen will remain blank UNTIL you move the mouse.

YOUR INNER POLLACK

And who knows - maybe there's going to be a famous painting from your doodles!!!!

For The Fun Of It ~ An Early Evening Timewaster

This game based on Boggle is still somewhat in developement, but is quite fun to play.

WordHunter Xtreme was created for the Google Gadget University Awards, and won for Most Addictive. It was made during the numerous Google Gadgets workshops that I held for UPE in the fall. I'm proud to say that USC won for top university submission in the awards, and that another USC student, Ryan Brown, won Most Useful gadget with his WebClip gadget that lets you turn any webpage into a gadget.

Anyway, WordHunter Xtreme is inspired by the classic word game, Boggle, where you scramble up a bunch of letters in a grid and try to find words in connected chains of letters. It's got a twist though-- it uses the WordNet and UrbanDictionary APIs, so it lets you guess slang/acronyms/etc., and shows you the definitions for each. Seeing the definitions is the best part for me-- the UrbanDictionary definitions are hilarious. There's a user preference for showing the WordNet or the UrbanDictionary definition first, and I recommend choosing UrbanDictionary for a good time.

When you start the game - there are two games one allows you to use the urban dictionary, and the other has a regular dictionary focus ... although "urbanisims" are still allowed.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY ~

CLICK HERE TO PLAY ~

Enjoy!!!

Another Elegant Timewaster ~

Here is another wonderful timewaster workday distraction called Catch-Thirtythree. It doesn't take long to learn, but to get your score where it should be? That's another issue!!



The objective is quite simple. Roll your cursor over the numbers (no clicking involved) IN ORDER from 1 to 33. Should be easy enough,right? Let me know your times.

Catch-33

thanks to Zon for showing me this game!

An Elegant Timewaster ~ Distraction

Here is another timewaster momentary diversion from the tasks at hand. It's called very simply diversion, and not only is it fun to play, it's very humorous as well. And speaking from personal experience, it does get more difficult at you play on -- there's a double meaning to the word distraction..

Click here to play ... and enjoy!!!!

Lions and Brains and Sex ~ Oh My!

Since we as humans want to place everything in categories - neat, compartmentalized and easy to deal with. It comes as no surprise that people would be worried about the gender of their brains ... LOL

Want to know what your brain gender is?

Your Brain is 53% Female, 47% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Give it a try...you might be surprised! ...

An Elegant Time Waster ~

It's Friday...and the Friday before a holiday no less; and you've got to be at work. You have to appear to be at work anyway. The folks at eyemaze have come to your rescue. They make some of the most elegant, frustrating and at the same time enjoyable short games I've seen. None of them take long to play - but can take a LONG time to "master."

Since they offer NO explaination for their games, I'm going to offer a little help.... When you click on the link at the bottom of this post, you will be presented wth this:

The objective of the game, in it's devilish simplicity, is to drag each of the ten items to the cube in such a way that they "max" out and complete the puzzle. Yes, there is an order to them. Yes, there is a surprise at the end if you max out all ten items. Yes, it is possible to complete. No, I will not post the solution. I have been known, however, to supply the solution via e-mail - .

As you face the holiday weekend, enjoy this moment ... and prepare for the moments to come!!!

THE GROW CUBE by EYEMAZE

There is a tip system on the game, which would allow you to send the desgner a dollar or two if you enjoyed the game ....