Sitemaps . I created these sites a couple of weeks ago : Evan 's blog Twins ' blog Aberdeen FC mailing list Evan 's google pages But as of today only the first one is showing up on google . So , this morning I ' ve added sitemaps . Just created basic text files with lists of urls for the googlepages sites . Neither is at all complicated . Had a bit of a blank trying to do the same for the blogs since it doesn't look like you can upload files . A quick search on google found this useful article . Turns out it takes RSS feeds so I just submitted the atom . xml files . Let 's hope it works . 
Aberdeen mailing list web pages moved . I can't easily edit the pages in their old site so I ' ve moved them to Google Pages . The new address of the Aberdeen Football Club mailing list is http : // aberdeenlist . googlepages . com / . The look is different but the content is pretty much unchanged apart from removing a few broken links . I ' ll try and find some time to bring it up to date . Btw I also briefly looked at Google Groups in case it would make sense to move the list itself . First impressions are it wouldn't be a suitable replacement but I ' ll give it a closer look some time . I would of course poll the list for opinions before embarking on such a move . 
Aberdeen Mailing List . Adding a link here to the Aberdeen Mailing List web pages because I noticed they don't show up on Google . This surprised me because they ' ve been around a long time but actually maybe that 's probably the problem . They haven't been updated for about 5 years ! Google probably thinks they 're stale and has removed them from the index . I ' ll see if I can remember how to update them when I get a chance . 
New Universal Remote . Got my new universal remote yesterday . It 's the Harmony 885 ( right ) and it replaces my old Kameleon One For All 6 ( far right ) . First of all it has a charging station so I no longer need to get the screwdriver out to change the batteries a couple of times a week . Secondly it 's really easy to use . The Activities based functions are very straightforward and useful . Just select Watch PVR and it switches on the TV ( on the right input ) , the Sky + box and the amp and switches off everything else . The feel is much nicer too . It 's nice to press real buttons again . Thirdly it controls all my kit , which is currently : Toshiba 32 WLT 66 ; D - Link DSM - 320 RD ; Sky + ; Dreambox 7000 - S ; Play Station 2 ; Sony STR - DE 495 P . Sky HD is due the week after next . Customization is a breeze compared to the Kameleon . I think I still have some more to do to get it to do exactly what I want but that 's half the fun , isn't it ? If you 're in the market for one then I highly recommend it . I got mine from Komplett for 129 . Read more about it at AV Forums . 
All change . This blog started out about the twins but I ' ve decided to move that stuff to http : // ice 00 evan . blogspot . com / because that name better reflects the fact that Janeice will want to contribute . Instead these pages will be home to any other random stuff that I want to write about . What that might be , time will tell ... 
Tony wept . We phoned Tony today to tell him about the twins . Since he has identical twins himself he found it hilarious . I think he 's probably still crying with laughter . We had been planning to turn the office into a nursery . But it may not be big enough , we might have to convert the spare room instead . 
Big news . Took Janeice to St Thomas ' for a scan yesterday . Found out she is definitely carrying twins . Identical twins ! See exhibits A and B . We had an inkling from the last scan two weeks ago so we have had some time to get used to the idea but now that it 's reality it still comes as a shock - a really good shock . Janeice 's Uncle Michael and Aunt Margaret had also told her it would be twins ( gypsy blood ) and last year a palm reader told her the same thing . I guess I ' m always the last to know ! 
Star Trek XI : Teaser poster released . STARTREK . COM : Article I know it 's probably not that big a deal for you guys , but this is the sort of announcement that makes fanboys like myself crap our collective pants . To the untrained eye , the poster looks quite innocuous , but to the staunch Trekkie it tells us a lot .1 . The insignia and colour - coding puts it in the mid 23 rd century , around the time of the Original Series .2 . The insignia is specific to the USS Enterprise , Command Division , which implies that it will be , at least partially , set aboard the Enterprise ( assuming they 're not planning on retconning the established heraldry practices of Starfleet in the 23 rd century , which isn't impossible ) . Conclusions : We 're looking at a movie about Kirk and Spock aboard the Enterprise , and that they will be played by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon respectively . Okay , I made that last part up . 
Bush stands in the way of freedom ... once again . Live Science . com - Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Bill As Promised I have mixed feelings on the subject of " freedom " . To be honest , I think real freedom is a myth , a convenient fiction that we use to tell ourselves that we really are in control of our lives , rather than being subject to the mechanics of our brains . But of course freedom comes in many guises . The American state was built around the concept of " freedom " , specifically a kind of freedom sometimes called " civil liberty " - the right to do whatever you damn - well please as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else . Personally I think that 's a bad idea ... only a small percentage of the human species can be trusted with that kind of liberty , the rest will undoubtedly abuse it . The freedom I ' m talking about in the title of this post is the freedom to decide how long you will live . Up till now , our life - spans have been dictated by , for the most part , natural factors : predators , disease , misfortune and old age . Predators haven't been a problem for some time , but the others remain . That 's about to change . Medical science is reaching a point where it will be so efficient that we will no longer be subject to those factors . New research is bringing us ever closer to curing life - threatening diseases . On a regular basis , our understanding of cancer is improving , and we 're not far off from knowing exactly how to stop it . I anticipate that within 20 years we ' ll start having some sort of " cancer vaccine " ( along with vaccines for nasty viri like HIV , SARS and Ebola ) . It 's just a matter of time . Medical science is even getting closer to porviding solutions to old age and misfortune ... we 're only decades away from being able to replace damaged or faulty body parts with new ones grown from our own DNA . There is one field of research that is central to these impending discoveries : stem cell research . Why does it not surprise me in the least that the " Leader of the Free World ( TM ) " has vetoed a bill that would send that research forward in leaps and bounds . Even though Congress passed the bill with just shy of the two thirds majority they would need to override Dubya 's veto , that goddam right - wing warmonger won't let the will of the people get in the way of him forcing his own conservative , religious fundamentalist , anti - science agenda down everybody 's throats . Fuck you , George W . Bush . Fuck you very much . 
Hypoallergenic cats . That 's right ... Hypoallergenic cats . A California - based company called Allerca has a patent pending for a technique that allows them to produce these genetically modified cats . People who are allergic to cats are actually allergic to a particular protein which is excreted through their skin and salivary glands . The ALLERCA GD cat has been engineered not to produce that protein , thus rendering them harmless to the allergy sufferer . The first batch of ALLERGA GD kittens will be shipped in October . At just shy of $ 4000 ( US ) per kitten , it 's a real bargain ! 
The Goddam IT Nazis . I know how it happens . You re the IT director of a fairly large division of a fairly large corporation . You have a few hundred users coming through your backend using email and the web . You have all the basics : email attachment size limits ( set at 10 mb a generous but reasonable size ) , random spot - checks on surfing habits ( just to make sure no - one is downloading full - length movies or gigabytes of porn ) , an adequate and inexpensive enterprise anti - virus system . Life is good . Then some idiot in upper management wants to know where your budget is going . Of course , if you tell him how you ve spent it on a server for porn , movies , games and music , LCD screens and PDAs for the IT support staff , you d be in trouble . So you have to justify all that expense by actually doing something . You set in motion an easy 5 - Step Plan . Step 1 : Increase resource utilisation ( English translation : Make your staff do some work ) . Action a task - team to prioritise a network security plan ( Translation : Get your overpaid and underworked IT ninjas to spend 6 months coming up with a list of ways of annoying the users by restricting their usage in - between their daily gaming and porn - viewing times . ) Step 2 : Implement network utilisation strategy ( Trans : Prevent users from sending email attachments larger than 3 MB regardless of file type or user . This rightfully prevents PAs and bored accounts ladies from sending cutesy Power Point slideshows , but simultaneously prevents systems engineers from sharing vital documentation like functional specifications and database table - dumps . Then buy 3 new email servers to increase storage space , and simultaneously decrease the allotted mailbox size of all users by 75 % . ) Step 3 : Upgrade network security ( Trans : Replace inexpensive , unobtrusive and adequate Anti - Virus software with ridiculously overpriced , useless Anti - Virus software that is so resource - intensive it instantly renders every machine on the domain useless . Block any and all ports that don t have any immediately apparent purpose , and blatantly refuse to re - open them , even if they are needed for operations . ) Step 4 : Upgrade network infrastructure ( Trans : Upgrade all WAN connections from ADSL and Diginet to MPLS so that everyone can fail to do their jobs with better bandwidth , and so that the useless Anti - Virus can update itself even more prolifically . ) Step 5 : Implement web restriction policy ( Trans : Prevent users from gaining access to the few websites that relieve the tedium of their work - days because those sites look too much like porn , music , violence , free - thinking , entertainment or news which might result in reducing a user s productivity thus forcing users to spend their time playing solitaire or producing cutesy Power Point slideshows just small enough to email . Also , prevent systems engineers from communicating with their counterparts in remote areas and various international support desks via IM or Vo IP networks , forcing them to use the company s phones instead , at far greater cost ) So , at the end of this process , you have not only justified the expense , you have also doubled the organisation s IT budgetary requirements , and created jobs by increasing the amount of personnel ( and hardware ) required to do the simplest tasks . Good job ! You can go home to your family knowing that you have made a difference ... right after calling the AA to rescue you after finding your car tyres slashed , obscenities spraypainted on every body panel and a small pile of what appears to be human feces on the driver 's seat . 
Why No One Want Make Hulk 2 ? | The Onion - America 's Finest News Source . Why No One Want Make Hulk 2 ? The Onion - America 's Finest News Source I couldn't agree more . I thouroughly enjoyed the Hulk movie . It wasn't perfect , but it was daring in its presentation , and treated the Hulk character with the sensitivity he needs . I really hope we ' ll get a sequel ... basing it on the look and feel of the first film , but fixing the dodgy plot elements , a second movie with a real super - villian in it could be really awesome . While I ' m on the subject , see Superman Returns . It was awesome too . I ' m hoping that it represents a rebirth of the franchise , and we ' ll see a few more of those in the coming years . What I ' d like to see there is Superman coming up against some of the super - powered adversaries he 's faced in the comics ... Lex Luther will always be his nemesis , but the " Hey Superman , I ' ve got some Kryptonite " thing gets old . What about Metallo , or the Parasite , or Braniac ? Hell , even Doomsday could make an awesome first installment of a ' Reign of the Supermen ' trilogy ... they ' ve already got a character lined up to take the Superboy spot ( imagine what they could do with Steel and the Cyborg Superman with CGI ) . I think that 's a recurring issue with most comic - based movies . In translating the character to a new medium , Hollywood producers tend to abandon the awesome story - lines in the comics in favour of bastardised , cliche - infested , regurgitated nonsense . The most notable exception to that is of course The Hulk , but the Spider - man movies have done a pretty good job of keeping it real . I think the X - men movies could have been much better if they had stayed closer to the comic stories ... there are so many brilliant story - lines in the comics that would make excellent movies ... why change them ? Can you imagine how cool it could ' ve been to have the proper Phoenix Saga in a movie , instead of the watered - down version we saw in " Last Stand " ? Not that X 3 wasn't cool , but it could ' ve been so much cooler . And another thing ... how did Ghost Rider get his own movie before Iron Man ? Don't get me wrong , the Ghost Rider movie looks like it 's going to be brilliant , but surely Iron Man is a far more popular character ? The Iron Man movie practically writes itself ! 
Battle . Last Thursday Hide s colleagues invited us out to drinks in honour of her birthday . Cool . Afterwards , in the parking lot , I had reversed out of my parking bay , and was turning my wheels so as to begin pulling off when we felt a sharp jolt . Some idiot woman had reversed into me . ( Battle Begins : 01 : 100 Health Points , 100 Attack Points Idiot Woman : 100 HP , 100 AP ) ( Idiot Woman : Drunken Cellphone Reverse Attack ! - 10 AP ) I leapt out and quickly inspected the damage . I didn t see any at first until a bouncer , who had seen it happen , pointed out that my bumper was hanging loose on the other side . There was also a little dent in the body panel under the left tail - light cluster . There was a tiny dent on her rear fender not as bad as mine . ( Idiot Woman : - 10 HP ; 01 : - 25 HP ) The idiot woman was profuse in her apologies ( 01 : + 5 AP ) . We exchanged details , I photographed the scene ( 01 : + 1 AP ) , and collected details from the bouncer ( 01 : + 5 AP ) and , after securing the loose bumper with a shoelace , we went on our way . On Friday I took my car in for a quote from the panel beater , which turned out considerably higher than I expected ( 01 : - 25 HP ) . I weighed up my options and eventually decided to go ahead and claim from my insurance . I made an appointment for a damage assessment . I went to the assessment today . I decided not to mention that she was drunk and using her cellphone when it happened , because I hadn t seen those things myself although I did have witnesses to those facts , should the need arise . They contacted her to obtain her insurance details they would need them in order to recoup my excess . ( 01 : Insurance Consultant Enquiry Attack ! - 5 AP ) She refused to give her details . She claimed that she was not at fault , and that she wanted to contact me to discuss it . ( Idiot Woman : Denial Defense ! ) The consultant assured me that their legal department would handle it and reimburse me my excess eventually , but I can see this is going to be a difficult one . I have a full arsenal of weapons up my sleeve : the + 20 Witness of Drunkenness and Cellphone Usage , my five + 20 Witnesses of Me Not Drinking a Drop and my + 5 Photos of Accident Scene not to mention my secret weapon : my + 200 Most Amazing Girlfriend in the Universe Who is an Attorney and a Witness . I m quite confident that I ll win this one , I just wish it didn t have to be a battle . I just want my car to be fixed it s bad enough I m going to have to go without it for however long it ll take to fix , but I don t want to have to pay for it as well . 
David Icke Interview : Aliens among us . David Icke Interview : Aliens among us Oi ... another idiot who doesn't know how to translate Hebrew . I love his talk about " bloodlines " ... what appears not to have taken into account is that everyone , everywhere has royal ancestry ... does that mean we 're all aliens ? Dumbass . 
Lake Shaver . This is a post I ment to publish before i left but i forgot to finish it . I am coming to you from my cell phone in my tent . And wuite frankly , i am surviving . Surviving off of forbidden objects like mt cell phone and my stash of oreos . So . Here is what i had down before i left ... ------------------ Shaver lake is the place which the camp I am going to is located . Its in central california , and it is an eight - hour drive ( great , huh ! ) . I will be there until Saturday the 29 th and it is my largest feat as the troop 's newly - elected leader - woo hoo ! Ill be hearding cats ! so . Talk to you on july 29 th ! -- KMRN VNWRKM . 
Bodies and Titanic . I went and saw the Bodies exhibit and the Titanic exhibit at the Tropicana today . There is so much to say about them ... The Titanic was realllly cool . It was like a timeline , so there was no aimless wandering among boring artifacts . The artifacts were tied to the moment or theme of the room . The reconstructions were by far the best part . Would I recommend it to a friend ? Hell yes ! Bodies was different . heh . It was wierd . I still loved it , but it is still very wierd looking at complete dead bodies that have been preserved . And when I say complete , I mean COMPLETE . There was no editing , so to speak . They even had an entire room devoted to sexual development ( very uncomfortable to have the layers of the penis and real ovaries in from of your face ) . And every model there , need I remind you , were from a real human ' d body . Man , it was fascinating . A little uncomfortable at times , but fascinating . Recommend it ? Hell yes ! And the Tropicana itself ( the resort these exhibits were featured at ) ? Ooof . That place is weird . Old and tired aside , its just weird . So , a nice day to prelude my day of hellish packing for camp . And thats another thing . I will be gone to camp from Sunday the 23 rd until Saturday the 29 th . So , don't miss me too much . But I will remind you again tomorrow so that I can leave on a corny away message . Ha ! But just in case I don't post tomorrow , see you next sunday ! 
CCSD . I have had you all suspended on my school decision for about 5 days now . Well , I have made my decision and action has been taken . So . Where will you find me next year ? Well , the answer is simple . A - Tech . But I cannot explain why I did it . No way in Hell I can ' splain . Its like that guy who gets caught cheating and says " I can explain ! " And ususually he can bullshit for a while , but I just cannot explain . Its hard to explain gut feelings . And you know what ? I don't feel like I made a mistake . For a while when I was being innundated by people telling me that leaving Meadows was a mistake , I just felt like making a mistake would be refreshing becuase I always have to be the golden child , right ! Well , not really , but ya know , after a while of trying REALLY hard to be great , doing something wrong breaks up the consistency ( sp ? ) very well . But that is not it , becuase no mistake was made . I am very sure of this . The only thing that I can say to this decision is that my compass pointed towards the school that I will be happy at . Of course , my compassed bounced back and forth like crazy , but it spent most of its time on A - Tech . So , today , I watched as my withdrawl went through the telephone line that was in my hand . It was like the Matrix when Neo gets covered by the mirror fluid and is freed into his real - life body . And ya know whats funny ? We got my schedule for Meadows today . I did not get Forensics as I had planned . In fact , I got Computer Skills which is a class that I could go and test out of tomorrow if I wanted to . I also have fewer classes than at A - Tech . Wierd , huh ... And I have this juxtaposed ( I can never use my piano teacher 's words correctly ) version of a Fiona Apple song . Its called Window , and I have this version called Meadows . To get my version , just remove the phrase " brake the window " with " leave the meadows " and it works PERFECTLY . Example : " So I had to leave the Meadows . It just had to be - it was IN my way !! Better that I leave the meadows thanforget what I had to say , or miss what I should see ... " So , naturally , my TOD is Window by Fiona Apple , the original John Brion session . Much much better than the official release . A - Tech colors , wa - hoo ! 
Why , and How . Before I get into my important post about my school decision ( that will come tomorrow ) , I want to cover something else that is important . Why I delete ( and deleted ) so much of my old stuff . There was this idea when I first started my blogging back in December . I thought that I could say ANYTHING that was on my mind so that I could get it off my mind and focus on better things . So I said ANTHING . And this is rather unfortunate , because people started reading my blog . And it is weird when unknown people start reading and formulating ideas about me when they are only reading the dregs of my thought ( ie the un - necessary - for - a - teen opinions about religion ) and such . So anyways , people start readin ' . And they begin to leave comments , so I know that people are reading . Whether I told them to , or they found it on their own , they just started coming . And soon I realized that people I know were reading ( which could have been disasterous ) and people I don't know are getting bad ideas about me . So , I made an attempt to go back and delete the really extreme posts . And soon , I realized two things ...1 . Seemingly EVERY post was somehow laced with something out - of - line 2 . I couldn't edit 210 posts . So I crapped them all . And started fresh . I have formed around some of the comments ( like Liz 's suggestion to not curse so much , which still is ALWAYS in my thoughts as I type ) . I also decided to restrict the themes to maintain a sense of decency . And because of all this , I have also stopped posting so obsessively ( meaning no more 3 - a - days ) . I also picked up on a monotonous atmosphere . That is why I have embedded track of the day and that is also why I now try to include pictures in posts . Not only does this make for fun reading , but it is also fun for me because it makes me get out and capture some great shots with my ( rather low - grade ) cell phone camera . Like all the shots in the banner at the top of this page were taken on my cell phone camer ( and edited later , of course ) . So . Anyways . I just want to appologize again to anybody who I may have offended or caused their jaw to drop . I will continue to maintain decency and I will also contiue to weed out posts that I was stpuid to create in the first place ( like " Tanta Mierda " which is Spanish for " enough shit " . It was a very weird curse - ridden blast of anger . Yeah , I got rid of it . ) And thanks again to all who comment and read . You make this really worth it ( and fun at that matter ) ! -- KMRN VNWRKM . 
Stupid Survey . I just wasted my time on this ... ( To see the words better , drag the mouse over them ) 10 % is the lowest score and 90 % is the highest . Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||| 13 % Stability |||||||||||| 46 % Orderliness |||||||||||||||||| 80 % Accommodation |||||||||||||| 56 % Interdependence |||||||||||| 43 % Intellectual |||||||||||||||||| 76 % Mystical |||||||||| 36 % Artistic |||||| 23 % Religious || 10 % Hedonism || 10 % Materialism |||||||||| 36 % Narcissism |||||||||||||||| 70 % Adventurousness |||||||||| 36 % Work ethic |||||||||||| 43 % Self absorbed |||||| 30 % Conflict seeking |||||| 23 % Need to dominate |||||| 23 % Romantic |||||| 23 % Avoidant |||||||||||||||||| 76 % Anti - authority |||||||||||||||||||| 83 % Wealth |||||||||||||||||||| 90 % Dependency |||||| 30 % Change averse |||||||||||| 43 % Cautiousness |||||||||||||||||| 76 % Individuality |||||||||||||||| 70 % Sexuality |||||||||||||| 56 % Peter pan complex |||||||||||| 50 % Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 90 % Physical Fitness |||||||||||| 50 % Histrionic |||||| 30 % Paranoia |||||||||||||| 56 % Vanity |||||||||||||| 56 % Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||| 56 % Female cliche || 10 % Take Free Advanced Global Personality Testpersonality tests by similarminds . com. 
Two Issues , No Tissues ( oh , look at me rhyme ! ) . ( grinning ) My appologies for the title . It probably made you wince . But two light issues before I post my school decision tomorrow ( yes , I have decided ) .1 . I was in the bathroom tonight and I was trimming my nails . So I was looking down and prettty focused on my hands . And then , when I finish , I look up into the mirror and my glasses had fogged up from my sweat in the steamy bathroom . ... ... ... Well , I thought it was funny .2 . There is this horrible rumor . And it had been around for a while . Its the gay rumor , and apparently , it hits ANYBODY who ever failed at football . Well , when I was 12 , I tried football and was not good . However , I stuck to my committment and finished the season . And since I was at this small private school , this became part of my identity , especially for the grade above me . And since I was at the private school , I have never escaped these people . So , now here I am , about to go into the high school where the kids have " grown years " and everything had " changed for the better " and here i am confronted with this OLD and stupid false rumor AGAIN . Thankfully , I have people who defend me and know me MUCH better than they ever will . And given , the fact that I am a sympathizer ( sp ? ) does not help and the fact that I am not a sports fan doesn't help that either . And even here , I don't innundate you with sex ( in fact I never mention it at all for the sake of decency ) . But , the hell with them ; they can blow it out there butt ! 
Mr , Hughes , the Aviator the people are so selfish ( among other things ) . They drive too many Hummers , so I have dubbed ( sp ? ) the neighborhood Hummerlin ( instead of Summerlin ) . But it is really refreshing to watch the planes go by . I think that a carreer in aviation would be really cool . But god knows what the future holds for me . And quite fortunately , I don't believe in god , so the door is WIDE open . Haha , I love saying that ! TOD : I decided not to post one , because all I can think of right now is Fiona Apple , and I appologize for this never - ending obsession - like focus on Fiona . I am really trying to move on so I don't wear her music out , cuz its been like 4 months now , and I am really afraid that I could wear it out . 
Miss Mouse , not a mouse ! This is Miss . Miss - short for Miss Mouse . She is a cat , not a mouse . And a pretty cat at that . So , where does she come from ? Well , this is wierd , but hang on ... She is the cat of my sister 's boyfriend 's sister . We are this close group of friends ( even though they are 7 - 17 years older than me ) . I don't see them often ( with the exception of my sister ; she lives at home ) . But anyways , here 's miss : She 's SO pretty ! Oh , and when I told her that she would be published online , she said " meh - mow ! " But this is her response to any talk . She 's funny . 
A Feast , A Storm , and A School . I am sorry that I haven't been around lately , but I have been burdened by my school decision . I can go to the " rubber - band " school ( I choose not to tell the name because it is so small ) , or I could go to A - Tech . Technically , tuition was due for the rubber - band school ( because it is a private school ) this monday , but they know not to pressure people for the money . Only once have they ever , and it really pissed my mom off . Its just that some people have to wait until a certain day for their bank account to have enough money , and that 's life . So they can go to Hell if they start pestering us . When I was talking to my parents about it , they described the rubber - band school as a " feast " that is hosted by wonderful people with " open arms " . The image kinds creeped me out ( teachers cooking up an enormous feast for one kid to sit down to ) , but ... it is true ! And that is what makes this decision so hard . I can go to the rubber - band school where there is PLENTY offered for me and I can return to this environment where teachers know who I am . Or I could go to the promising new school and accept the lower - scale academics and enjoy the new environment . My mom 's friend described one of her life stories about how she could have written her ticket into her carreer because of her family 's reputation , but she left for another city ( and enjoyed it ! ) . She said that she cannot explain that decision to this day ; she just felt ready for a change and it worked out great for her . Its that type of situation that I am in . And I just want to decide so that I will stop second - guessing myself . " I don't know what I ' m doing , don't know - should I change my mind ? I can't decide ; there 's too many variations to consider . // Nothing I do , don't do , no thing but bring me more to do . It 's true I do ambue my blue unto myself ; I make it bitter . " -- Fiona Apple in On The Bound . Yes , you saw it right - this is TWO LINES of music . Only 2 ! Its so awesomely written - she is a musical genius , I swear it . TOD : ( as above ) On The Bound - Fiona Apple . It has been a recent theme of mine . Oh , and about the storm . It stormed all night here and it just stopped . Lots of lightning , a little rain , and it was really windy . The airport was ( ans still is ) very backed up - Las Vegans don't know how to handle rain . Not even at the airport . 
Delightful ! My computer is ridden with a wonderful little friend that I affectionately call Backdoor . Trojan Wonderful , huh ! It is in ALL my system files , and it has installed a delightful program called " outer Info " which surprises me with wonderful pop - up advertisements . And I also get this cool bonus which doesn't allow my to access Command Prompt or Task Manager ( both tools are crucial to its removal ) . So , guess what I will be doing tomorrow ! Wo - hoo , I ' ll be re - installing Windows !! ( language warning ) Fuckn pain in the ass... Microsoft can go to hell , Im gettin a mac . 
John Nice : As Advertised . OK . Remember this post ? I was a bit uncharitable to some of the people within John Nice 's " Most Important People on the Internet . " Got this little missive yesterday ( someone 's got a Technorati tag ... ) : Hi guys , Just a quick note to say thanks ever so much for your comments about my website ! You brought tears to my eyes . It was like chewing an onion . But seriously , it 's great to get a reaction , good or bad , or hilarious in fact . I really did enjoy reading it ! Thanks again and best wishes , Euro - Sleaze John Nice So hey , give it some consideration . You , too , could be one of the most famous jerks ... dammit ... people on the internet . And you could be mocked by me on a particularly mean - spirited day ! In all seriousness , I appreciate John 's good - natured reaction and understanding that anything said here should be taken with a grain of salt and a dose of good humor . Check out John 's site here and the e Bay listing here . 
Message in a Human Bottle . Just in case heaven can't wait , this seller is offering to deliver a message to the afterlife ( although he seems uncertain as to whether it will be heavenly or hot and brimstone - y ) . " Dying person will take and deliver message to other side . I have been a good person I think I will go to heaven , but maybe not . I will take your message with me and try to deliver it for you . " Love these auctions that cannot have a return policy since their very substance cannot be verified . Clever sellers . Here 's another from many weeks ago . UPDATE : Sorry . Looks like the link has gone inactive . Listing must have been removed . 
Bearded Man Will Be Your Beard . " Remember on the Brady Bunch when Jan tried to fool everyone by having a pretend boyfriend she made up herself ? It was difficult for her having the operator call the house and pretending it was her boyfriend or writing her own love letters . Let me do that for you and more ! " 10 K . Seems a little steep for this dude who offers himself up like so : " Career Women / Lesbians I will Be Your Pretend Boyfriend . " In addition to that crazy beard ( which may or may not be present upon delivery ) , he offers the following : " 1 ) One 8 X 10 framed photo of myself ( Not Nude ) with " I Love You " inscription for your home or office . If you want me in a suit , polo shirt , T - Shirt it is up to you . I might not have a beard at the end of the auction so be aware of this . 2 ) Several 3 X 5 candid photos ( Not Nude ) of myself to carry in your purse . 3 ) One dozen romantic ( Respectful ) poems written by me to you annually . 4 ) Five messages a month left on your answering machine . 5 ) Twelve e - mails sent to your computer each month . 6 ) Five calls to your job / home asking to speak to you . 7 ) Flowers / Candy gift sent to your job for the holidays of Valentine 's Day , Christmas , birthday and anniversary . 8 ) Birthday gift . 9 ) Anniversary gift . 10 ) Intimidating phone call to a guy who is trying to ask you out or bothering you . 11 ) Option to renew at the end of one year for a fee . " The more I look at that beard , the more it wigs me out . It looks like it has nothing to do with his face and might have a life of its own . No intention initially of using ' beard ' in more than one fashion , nor using the word ' wig ' within the same sentence . 
Not Your Mother 's Barbie ( or if it was , I don't wanna know about it ) . I hardly know what to say about this . In fact , I don't know what to say about this . Have to wonder what Mattel would say about the photo above and this one as well : . 
The Real Biel . The most fantastic auction in recent weeks took place outside of e Bay . On Tuesday " Mollypalooza " auctioned off a date with Jessica Biel . Mmmmmm .... Jessica Biel .... Excuse me . Final price : $ 30,000 . If there 's two , I want the other for my birthday . Thank you . ( And yes , the picture is total cheesecake . It 's Birthday Week . Cut me some slack . ) . 
Travelin ' Fool . That would be me . That would be me if I had the loot . I got the fool part covered , but ... And just think ! e Bay offers complete travel packages to such locations as Scotland , Amsterdam , Prague , Greece and Jamaica . In regards to Jamaica , don't you find it sad that Specialist Zero has only been on one island : the island of Manhattan ? OK . He 's been to Long Island and Rhode Island , too , but those don't really count . No deals offered on trips to Machu Pichu which is moderately disappointing . 
Birthday Claus and the Value of Real Estate . Blogger B - Day Week Continues ! Remember in " The Charlie Brown Christmas Special " when Lucy complains that Santa never brings her what she wants ? And our favorite Blockhead asks what that is and she replies " real estate . " That always cracks me up . One present that is bound to increase in value is NY Real Estate . Take a gander at this lovely 5 th Avenue 1 Bedroom Condominium . Wouldn't it be even more attractive we me in residence ? Surprisingly , a very limited number of NYC apartments listed on e Bay . I expected more listings from clever real estate agents . Anyhoo ... 
Absolut Kandor . This week we will be focusing on all of the wonderful gifts that you could purchase on e Bay for your favorite blogger ( provided said blogger is Specialist Zero ) . The birthday of the aforementioned Specialist Zero falls on Saturday . First up , a scale replica of The Bottle City of Kandor . Because every aspiring super - villain needs something to shoot for . Death Rays and brain - swapping devices are one thing , but it takes more than run - of - the - mill villainy to kidnap an entire city and store it in a bottle of unbreakable glass . Some facts about Kandor from Supermanica : Originally the capital city of Krypton before Kryptonopolis . Kandor survived the destruction of its native planet as the result of having been stolen sometime prior to the cataclysm by the space villain Brainiac , who reduced the city to microscopic size and preserved it , people and buildings intact , inside a glass bottle aboard his spacecraft . It remained there for many years until July of 1958 when Brainiac came to Earth and attempted to add Metropolis to his bottle - city collection . Superman foiled Brainiac , recovered Kandor , and placed it inside his Fortress of Solitude for safekeeping . Inside the bottle city , life goes on much as it did prior to the destruction of Krypton . Although restoration to their normal size remains the heartfelt wish of all Kandorians , Superman has not yet succeeded , despite years of effort , in finding a way to enlarge the city safely . He has , however , on occasion managed to reduce himself in size temporarily for the purpose of visiting the bottle city and undertaking adventures there . Nestled securely on a niche inside the Fortress of Solitude , the bottle city of Kandor is " the most amazing exhibit in Superman 's Fortress " and " the prize of his collection " of curiosities and artifacts from throughout the universe . 
Buttons , buttons . Who 's got the Buttons ? It 's Deceased Week here at Absolute Zero . Comedian Red Buttons passed away on Thursday . And , unsurprisingly , there has been a large spike in related Entertainment Memorabilia . There 's also a mess of items that appear to actually be red buttons , but that is neither here nor there . Interestingly , I learned from Wikipedia that Red 's straight man was Alan Alda 's father . Well ... it 's interesting to me . 
The Dutch do it again ... wait , last time it was the Danes ? Whatever . Those wacky Europeans and their print media . Today 's row is in regards to a new Dutch advertisement for the Sony Playstation Portable . The advertisement to the right bears the subtitle , " Playstation Portable White is Coming . " Because it 's a slow news day , we get to hear the furor from organizations like the NAACP . Additionally , California Assemblyman Leland Yee issued this statement : I am deeply disappointed in Sony 's senseless decision to publish this racially - charged advertisement ... I can't begin to determine Sony 's motivation but I believe this marketing strategy is unnecessary and is clearly offensive to many in our community . My buddy Leroy Jarlson ( a black guy from Holland ) , had this to say , " Opneuken , stomme kutmongool ! This teringlijder from California wants to tell us how to live our lives ? Look , our country wasn't founded by Puritans . We can take a joke . Why this reetkever Asian from liberal - ass California should be commenting on advertisements in other countries is beyond me . Your position as Assemblyman in the US doesn't afford you any influence here . In closing : Je moeder is zo lelijk Dat de buren bij je inbreken om de gordijnen dicht te doen . " ( I urge you to look up some of these Dutch curse words as they are quite amusing . Horrifying and offensive , but amusing . Just be warned . ) This whole hoo - hah is just like the bit with the Dutch cartoon . Or the Danish cartoon . Hell , everybody knows that Denmark and Holland are , like , totally the same place . I mean , they may be separated by geography , language , politics and culture , but really . The only distinction everyone makes is that the Dutch make wooden shoes and windmills and the Danish make ... um ... fruit - filled pastries . Oh , and you can find lots o ' PSPs on e Bay . I want to make that perfectly clear . ( See how I hamhandedly tied that in ? ) . 
Careful with that Axe , Eugene . Pink Floyd co - founder Syd Barrett passed away recently . In a ghoulish turn that he might well appreciate , it is now time to stock up on Barrett collectibles ( 137 presently available on e Bay ) . The AP story about his passing can be read here . Floyd was a very important part of my musical diet during high school ( as it was for many ) . So , I will leave you with a brilliant little snippet from Barrett 's song " Bike " on " Piper at the Gates of Dawn " : " I ' ve got a bike , you can ride it if you like . It 's got a basket , a bell that rings And things to make it look good . I ' d give it to you if I could , but I borrowed it ... I know a mouse , and he hasn't got a house . I don't know why I call him Gerald . He 's getting rather old , but he 's a good mouse . " Shine on , you crazy diamond . 
For Sale : 24 Small Children . Ah , 1999 . When selling children on e Bay was still acceptable . The description from this classic e Bay listing : FOR SALE : 24 Small Children that come with their original warrenty papers , clothing etc.. 8 of them have over - sized heads , and were supposed to be called back , but never were . All are ages 2 - 5 , and have had as many years experience in the Japanese language . All of the children above age 3 have already had training in factories owned by Disney , making Donald Duck velcro wallets . I am asking $ 14 dollars a head for this bunch , or take them all for $ 6,000 ! Also available - GRAB BAG ! Recieve in your grab bag : 3 random children and a fun , free mystery prize . Shipping costs vary depending on order size and how large my friend Jerry and I have to make the wooden box . Boxes range from $ 35 to $ 65 dollars , food , water and airholes cost extra . The seller went on to add : The child in the first row , 3 rd in from the right has a head the size of a fairly shapped mellon . He is worth $ 10 mill . by himself , so buy NOW ! ( we will send him in a special bubble - wrap protected wooden crate . ) Sure wish that I had the original photo . I can sympathize with the melon - headed . Everyone should also visit Baby Cage . net - Infant Confinement Specialists since 2001 . 
A Polite Phone Call from Amish Steve . 10 minutes with Amish Steve ? ! ? Motherf # % $ ing awesome . The winner of the auctin gets a " polite , genteel and courteous " personal phone call from Amish Steve . Here 's what else you can expect : We ' ll talk about what YOU want to talk about ( excluding vulgarity and profanity ) ! I will not interrupt , belittle or talk over you . If I disagree with you , I will not dismiss you or excuse your position . Rather , I will give you my full attention and consider your position , while making the case for mine in a polite and gentle manner . If funny , I will laugh at your jokes , and may tell you some myself ! You may personalize the call by sending me in advance the topic ( s ) you wish to discuss and whether you wish me to become rude and surly after the 10 minutes is up and hang up on you , or gracefully end the conversation . I love the option to ask Amish Steve to become surly . It 's like Old Country Choose Your Own Adventure . 
The Most Famous Jerks on the Internet . This listing " Want FAME ? Get FAME . Surprise your girlfriend or wife ? ! " ( which is marked by an odd amount of incredulity ) never explains exactly what is being ordered . By following the link within , though , I determined that this cat is selling positions in the pyramid of " The Most Famous People on the Internet . " Famous or no , I wouldn't want any of these people to end up at my house : Not Euro - Sleaze John Nice , nor Shiny Head Chee Lo , Neither Grinny Mc Tooth Nate Webb nor Mike Ditka lookalike David Guidry , and definitely not Dick Cheney 's fat , bald cousin Shane Haase . Don't they look like a buncha jerk - asses ? Any one of them could have been my most hated junior high school teacher . Oh , and beware imitations . ' Cause a lot of folks are going to vie for position with a more famous pyramid of jerks . By being a shallow , judgmental jerk - ass myself , I may have earned a position on a competing pyramid of jerks . I am comfortable with that . 
Buffett - Style . When I first glanced at the headline , I wondered what drunken redneck had a spare $ 600 K to have lunch with Jimmy Buffet . From Bloomberg . com : Chance to Dine With Buffett Sells for $ 620,100 in EBay Bidding June 30 ( Bloomberg ) -- A chance to dine with billionaire investor Warren Buffett sold for $ 620,100 in an online auction run by EBay Inc. The previous record for the seven - year - old fundraiser was $ 351,100 . Yongping Duan , 45 , a California investor and former owner of a consumer electronics company , won the weeklong auction under the screen name " fastisslow . " Rocky Liang , a Taipei businessman with the screen name " magicyourlife , " unsuccessfully tried to outbid Duan , driving up the price by $ 70,000 in the three minutes before the auction closed 10 p.m. New York time yesterday . Duan gets to bring seven friends to a New York steakhouse to query Buffett , the world 's second - richest man , about his business strategy and investment philosophy . The 75 - year - old chairman and chief executive officer of Omaha , Nebraska - based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. transformed a failing textile manufacturer into a $ 142 billion holding company by acquiring out - of - favor securities and businesses in dozens of industries . " We didn't pay for the lunch , we paid for the fundraising , " Duan said . The Enlight Foundation , which his family founded and runs , will provide the donation , he said . " Warren Buffett chose the pocket for me to donate to . " The auction , which attracted just five bidders , raised money for the Glide Foundation , a San Francisco charity . Glide serves 700,000 free meals a year and provides dozens of other social services on a $ 12 million budget , according to Cecil Williams , the foundation 's chief executive officer and minister of the associated church . Charity Work Susan Buffett , the billionaire 's late wife , volunteered at Glide . Buffett said June 25 that he would give away 85 percent of his personal wealth , or Berkshire stock valued at about $ 37 billion , to five charities , including the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation . EBay in 2003 took over the bidding for the lunch , originally part of a live auction in San Francisco . That year , Greenlight Capital LLC founder David Einhorn paid $ 250,100 , according to Glide . The 2004 winner , Jason Choo of Singapore , won with a bid of $ 202,100 and then added a check for $ 47,900 to make the total $ 250,000 . Duan was a " proxy " bidder , meaning EBay automatically topped the highest offer by $ 100 on his behalf . The world 's largest online auctioneer was authorized to do so as long as the offer didn't exceed his limit of $ 650,000 . Mohnish Pabrai , who manages $ 300 million at Pabrai Investment Funds in Irvine , California , including about $ 30 million in Berkshire shares , stopped bidding at $ 502,300 . " My wife will treat me to a good dinner , and we will come back next year , " he said of losing , in an interview before the auction ended . Buffett 's Books Duan said he read one of Buffett 's books after he stopped running a consumer - electronics company in China , moved with his family to the San Francisco Bay Area and became an independent investor five years ago . " I mostly want to thank him " for the advice , he said . He also planned to ask what an investor without good investment targets should do with extra money and whether Buffett ever considered it wise to use debt for acquisitions . " No topics are off limits except for what Berkshire Hathaway is buying or selling , " Buffett 's assistant , Debbie Bosanek , said before the auction began . At $ 620,100 , lunch with Buffett ranks as the second - highest sale price for a charity item auctioned off by San Jose , California - based EBay . A Harley - Davidson motorcycle autographed by celebrity guests of Jay Leno 's late night talk show fetched $ 800,100 , England said . Proceeds went to the Red Cross International Disaster Relief Fund for tsunami victims . The priciest item sold on the site was a $ 4.6 million business jet , EBay spokeswoman Catherine England said . 
Fast Cars and Fast Women ? Well ... one of each . From Reuters : " Jun 29 , 7:33 AM ( ET ) BERLIN ( Reuters ) - A woman living in Germany is auctioning off her red Ferrari Enzo sports car and including a little extra in the package -- herself . The 26 - year - old has invited bids on Internet auction site ebay starting at 1.25 million euros ( $ 1.6 million ) . She said she was rich herself , liked her car and was looking for a man who could foot the bill for such a luxury . " Only a millionaire could afford such a car , " said the woman , who gave her name as Leila and said she once worked as a singer in Syria . " I want a man who doesn't like me just for my money . " Leila said she would meet with interested bidders but would need to see the bidder 's passport and proof of capital . No bids have been made yet in the auction which ends in a week . " Sadly , unable to locate the auction on e Bay Germany which makes me wonder if it was removed after gaining international press . If anyone can locate it , please let me know ! 
John Cypher . " Ulterior Motive " A pad of blue paper awaits me . The morning has barely begun but I ' ve slept longer than I usually do . I am not comfortable here . I yawn , stretch my arms , lift my legs up . My lazy eyes widen . A detatched sheet of paper reads as follows : Tell us where you come from , who you are . Be candid or as candind as you want . We ask you to do this so we can better understand and help you and so that we can assist your needs . - The staff . My stepfather was a barbarian ; he would have shot me if he could . I wasn't tought to walk , I was told he ' d chop my legs off if I didn't . My mother was a slave , only I ' m not sure she knew how bad she really had it . She numbed her sadness with Gin , with crack cocaine , with television soap operas . somewhere in my mind . Slowly but surely I won't remember who I am . I hear about religion , about destiny , the nurses even talk about Buddha , about karma and of these things I know only by sense and interpretation . My doctor talks about these things and I ' m told they can help , that they can help numb the pain I feel so intensily in my brain and in my feet , ache after ache , step after step , rigour after rigour . or rid me of demonic and irrational thought . My behaviour is what I worry about . I have hardly any control over it . A man trapped inside a hospital room , one moremotion away from padded walls or metal bars ; that is who I am . That is what the world sees , that is what my eyes see . I know what I know and I hold onto that . I have no clue how . I have no clue how and when the forgetfullness begins . Blessings in disguise ; it was eating me up . Somewhere , it was ( To be completed , touched up ) 2006 Brian Moore TM John Cypher . 
One of many lasts . I ' m so happy with my new haircut . The new guy cuts it differently . Weird . Different ways to cut hair is interesting ( to me ) . Anyways I look good . Like seriously , a good haircut changes things . Ok enough about that . Vancouver soon . Scared a bit . I ' ll be fine . We ' ll work as a team , get stuff done , do a little dance ... lol . 
doctor 's office . Something hurts and my stomach growls . A few days pass by and my heart begins to palpitate . I don't why the world messes with me but my feet are about to give out and I ' ll either fall slat on my face or drown in the pain . ... 
we 're all blood anyways . let yourself breathe . let others breathe . don't blow fire down their necks just because they don't understand the dynamics of your brain and how it works and how too fucking overloaded it is . they don't get how analytical you are or how develloped your six senses are ( when you use them ) . they 're no better than you ; they judge you too , hate you too , piss you off too , annoy you too , but as distant and detatched as you become , you are always there for them . or at least you ' d like to imagine you are . forgive . forgiveforgiveforgivealso forgive yourself for not going with the flow and for not appreciating the beautiful things as often as you should . 
Vegas + other travels . Kev has been to the southern United States several times . Did some sound engineering thing in California and interned for Trent R . in N ' Orleans in like 2002 Spent alot of time in the southern United States SO , anyways he wants to visit New Orleans , Phoenix again ( spent some time there but I have a bad memory ) and a bunch of places in the south . We 're commiting to Vegas . Jan or Feb Disneyland also in talks but I ' m thinking I ' m fine with Playland in Van for now . We 're going there the w - end I get there . If La Ronde is better , I ' ll laugh ( as long as PL has functionable rollercoasters I ' m good ) Soon he wants to drive to Cali . We ' ve talked about this a few times . He 's big on long drives and I don't mind road trips . We bonded so much just driving from Mtl to Qc city that I ' m sure we ' ll be married by the time we only enter California . Or maybe we 're already married . God forbid I love my baby but eeek at marriage FYI : we ' d be going by plane to these places . The driving to Cali is eventual . Just wanted to make myself clear : ) . 
heavy head . i stayed up monday night unable to sleep because my brain was fully loaded . i thought about alot of things . i then decided i need sleeping meds . opted for nyquil the next night . you laugh but i was knocked out . i know . positive thoughts . i need reminding and to keep telling myself my brain needs vacations . many . vancouver is a coming . rapidly . how do you say goodbye to a mother who needs you . how do you tell her you ' ll be back . how do you detach . detatch . detatch . im good at being cold . im good at physical distance . the emotional kind is a bummer tho . always a momma 's boy and i ' ll never know why : psychic bond . emotional bond . i need u only in my heart . when youre happy . 
in the making . i must confess something : i ' ve never been much of a boyfriendi didn't have the greatest examples growing upi shouldn't excuse it . but everything has a start and sometimes we 're not given the best instructionsi want love . love love . want someone . have someoneit is fate and lots and lots of dating experience that have allowed me to get to kev . thank you experience . thank you fate . thank u karma . thank you myself for the oh so dark dark dark lessons . i would do it all again . to evolve . i would do it all againim a conscious boyfriend now . conscious of his emotions and feelings too . not just my ownthis is the closest i ' ll ever be to being a good bf because this is the closest i believe i ' ll ever care for someone or give two shits wether they stay or don ' temotional . deep . sensitive . but a tough cookie . i found another cookie too . he meets me 3 / 4 of the way and waits til i catch upgratitude i guess . i think u need to have itgratitude for love lost and love found . 2 years almost . kevin . kevin . for all the nights i forgot to say i love u or didn't know how to : i love u . 
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Avail Finance Through Personal Loans . Personal loans are used for numerous purposes like for home improvement , higher education , debt consolidation , buying a car , holidays , etc. Personal loans are designed for fulfilling your personal requirements . Borrowers also face the risk of repossession of their property in case of defaults in repayment . In case of secured personal loans , lenders offer a large amount of money . The loan amount depends largely upon the value of the property plus the equity . But borrowers get large sum as compared to unsecured loans . Apart from the personal requirements as mentioned above , personal loans can also be used for business purposes . There are two main basic categories of personal loans which are secured and unsecured personal loans . The basic differences between these two are collateral . Secured personal loans require collateral as security , unlike unsecured personal loans where no security is required . In case of unsecured personal loans , though lenders do not require collateral but they offer loans at comparatively high rate of interest . Unsecured loans do not have any risk of repossession . All borrowers look for loans having lower interest rate . Lenders offer secured personal loans at low rate of interest and with a longer repayment period . Taking loans larger than the required may cause problems like debt burden , bad credit , etc. Borrowers with bad credit record can also apply for personal loans . Personal loans offer a large sum but it is preferable to calculate the amount you require . Gratify all your needs and demands with personal loans . 
Success With Secured Personal Loans . Secured personal loans can give you the right monetary support and help you achieve your targets in life . It is said that money is not everything in life . But today s world tells you a different story . You need to have enough funds to grow with the world or you may left far behind . Secured personal loans are offered at low interest rates which help you control your pocket while making the repayment in form of monthly installments . These loans let you to borrow larger amounts of money ranging between 50000 to 750000 and even more in certain cases . The amount largely depends on the value of the security offered by you . While your past credit record affects the interest rate to some extent . You can take the help of credit rating agencies to find out your credit score . These agencies maintain your financial records and update them time to time . You can always ask for the copy of your report from these agencies to know your status . The installments are spread over a longer period as compared to unsecured loans . The reason behind these easy terms and condition is that these loans are secured by the home or any other property of the borrower . The lender doesn t worry much about the money he is offering . However that doesn t mean that the possession of the collateral is transferred to the lender after taking the loan . Only the title of the property is transferred . In case you make any defaults in making payment of the loan or a part of the loan , it can cost you your property . Make sure to do proper research before applying for any such loan . The loan lenders in the market are increasing in numbers , and with them the difficulty of getting the right lender is also increasing . As more the choices , more you have to research . But don t worry , there are lot of websites which enable you to compare different loan quotes which they provide free of cost . Secured personal loans come in various flavors offering you the best deals in form of : Home improvement Debt consolidation Wedding loans Business loans Education purpose loans Buying new car , boat or any other property You have to fill certain details like your name , address and phone numbers , the loan amount you are looking for and the value of the property you are offering . The online lender will themselves contact you after getting satisfied from the information you have given to them . Secured personal loans can be the loans that can help you get money from your property without giving its possession to anybody . 
Difference Between An Unsecured Personal Loan And A Secured Personal Loan ? This is a common question that many consumers have . Many people do not realize that there are even different types of personal loans . Each type of personal loan , secured and unsecured , have different requirements . The most common forms of collateral used to secure loans are personal property such as your home , land or automobile . When your home is used as collateral , you will often hear the loan referred to as a home equity loan or a second mortgage loan . Personal loans can also be secured with stocks , bonds , certificates of deposit , a savings account , etc. We will look at the requirements for a secured personal loan first . The name secured loan pretty much sums it up , to obtain a secured loan the borrower is required to provide some kind of collateral to secure the loan . Lenders tend to be more flexible when granting secured loans . Usually the borrower is given a lower interest rate and longer terms to repay the loan compared to an unsecured loan . The downside to a secured personal loan is if you default on the loan and fail to repay it , the collateral used to secure the loan can be seized by the lender . The requirements for an unsecured personal loan rely on the borrower s credit history . Since there is no collateral securing the loan , the lender has to base creditworthiness of the borrower on his or her past credit activities . If you do not have any collateral to put up for security , then you would not be able to qualify for a secured loan . On the other hand , and unsecured loan does not require any collateral . That is why unsecured loans are a great option for non - homeowners . The higher a credit score the borrower has the more likely for approval they will be . A good credit score can also guarantee a higher loan amount and a lower interest rate . If you have poor credit , you could still qualify for an unsecured loan but expect to pay a much higher interest rate . 
Payday Loan . Are you stuck with an emergency , you need money urgently and you are waiting for your next paycheck ? Have you tried hard to find a solution to your financial trouble , but all your attempts have gone futile ? Now , you even need not depend on your family or friends for any kind of loan since an overnight cash advance facility can take care of your needs . If you require payday quick loan , you can instantly be paid the cash irrespective of how bad your credit is or how much payday loans you need on a particular day . In today s uncertain times , payday quick loan paves a way to getting loans quickly , thereby offering you a sense of security . Payday loans are small , short - term cash advances that allow you to borrow money against your paycheck . Because of this , cash advance payday loans are sometimes referred to as deferred deposit services . With the phenomenal growth of cash advance payday loans in recent years , it is no surprise that you can apply for a cash advance payday loan through the Internet these days . When getting a cash advance payday loan , you have the option of comparing interest rates to get low cost payday loans from several lenders over the Internet . Cheap payday advances are available from numerous online sources . The length of a payday advance can be two weeks to up to 30 days . Bad credit is not an issue in applying for and receiving a payday advance . Online payday advance companies do not perform a credit check . You personal information is verified , sometimes in as little as an hour , and the cash you need will be deposited directly into your checking or savings account . Fees can range from as little as $ 10 dollars per hundred borrowed to up to $ 30 per hundred borrowed . Compare the rates charged by payday advance companies . Cheap rates are available to you even with bad credit . Finding a cheap payday advance company is easy due to the many online lenders who are eager for your business . Find the cheapest rate possible , apply for your payday advance , and the cash you need will be in your hands in a short period of time . You will have up to 30 days to repay your loan and your temporary financial needs will be solved . Online payday advance companies may not require any faxing of documents such as your check stub and / or last bank statement while other require you to fax the documents in order to approve your loan . Shop for the best payday advance company with the cheapest rates . Online lenders are ready to assist you immediately . 
Personal Loan Online . A secured personal loan is a loan which is usually secured on your house or property that may include your shares and other valuables . The collateral serves as a security to the creditor and acts like an assurance of the repayments . Availing Secured Personal Loans can be a good option , if you are not in a position to spend heavily on the monthly installments to meet some of your urgent needs .. The usually longer repayment terms and no obligation quotation make secured loans a more popular loan option if you want to buy a new car , or have some home improvement plans , or to consolidate your debts , or even for taking a holiday trip you have always dreamt off . You can include bridal shopping or medical expenditures in this list too ! Secured personal loans are a good option if you want to raise a large sum of money at a comparatively lower interest rate with a flexible repayment option . Based on the needs , Secured Personal Loans may be availed as : Secured Personal Car Loans for purchasing a new car . Secured Personal Home Improvement Loans to renovate or remodel the house . Secured Personal Bad Credit Loans if you have suffered from CCJ , Default , Payment Arrear , and Bankruptcy or if you have a self - employed status . Before you make up your mind to apply for any of the aforementioned loan , you must also remember that your property is at the risk if there is any default in the repayment . Secured Personal Loans may prove themselves a great financial minister to cater to your monetary needs if you become particular about the repayment duration and repay religiously on time . 
Get Trouble - Free Secured Personal Loan . Secured personal loan needs collateral that could be in the form of your home , land , etc. Collateral as security is important for availing secured personal loan . The ownership papers for your property as collateral will be in the possession of the lender . When the loan amount is repaid on time , lender will return the documents back to you . The loan amount is determined on the basis of the valuation of your home and the equity associated with it . Secured personal loan can be used for many purposes . Secured personal loan has the potential to fulfil all the financial demands of the borrowers . For obtaining secured personal loan , you will need to pledge your collateral as security . There are so many benefits of secured personal loan , these are mentioned below : For obtaining big amount , secured personal loan is one of the best loans and also when you find difficulty in obtaining unsecured loan . Secured personal loan is easily available on easy terms and the borrowers obtain such loans at low interest rate . Easy monthly repayments and longer repayment periods are additional benefits . Lenders , in case of secured personal loan are more flexible , allows the borrowers to get loans without any hassle . Lenders feel secured against the collateral . Secured personal loan is a multipurpose loan that can be used for home improvement , debt consolidation , purchasing a car , purchasing exotic holiday package , etc. Secured personal loan helps you in obtaining equity for raising funds . Get secured personal loan and gratify all your needs and demands . 
Getting Online Personal Loan . Many people have benefited from the invention of the internet . Now it s the time for the borrowers to enjoy some of its benefits as well . The thing that is being talked about is that we better know as the personal loans . With the technological advancements made it is now available on the net and are now known as the online personal loans . People with traditional thinking always wonder as to the need for such fuss when there is an easy way of face to face interaction between the borrower and the creditor . A look at the benefits that accompany the online features will surely change your perspective on the issue of the online personal loans . Online personal loans are a similar version of the personal loans the only difference is that for the online personal loans the loans are applied to a creditor who trades on line and all the trade is done online . The process begins by first borrower estimates his requirement and then searches for an online creditor which suits his loan requirements . After all this is done the loan terms are discussed and all the other things are considered . And if all the things match the loan decision is made in a few days time . Online Personal Loans provide many benefits to the borrowers among those are : While applying for the online personal loans the borrowers get more options , than we get from the local creditors . There is more chance of negotiating a deal more suitable for us . The financial information of a client also remains safe when we apply through this channel . While on the net we can get useful information regarding different aspects of the loans and that can help us in utilizing the loan better . Along with these there are many trivial benefits that are available to the borrowers while in search of the online personal loan . Combined with the other features that have always been associated with the personal loans , features like : The option of choosing between secured and unsecured personal loans . The option of using the loan for any purpose we want to use . The availability for people with bad credit history to take the loan . These features along with the new features make the online personal loans a very attractive proposition for the borrowers of every profile . Day by day the customers are getting more and more from their creditors in terms of loans . Not only in benefits , but also in the ease with which they are available . So before the U turn comes it is advisable to apply for the online personal loans . 
High Risk Personal Loan and High Risk Loans . High risk personal loans are for people who have a troubled credit history , but need money to pay current debts or unexpected expenses . There can be advantages to taking out a high risk personal loan , including the various options they offer , depending on the borrower 's financial situation . If you are interested in finding a loan to meet your financing needs , there are various places and types of lenders that may be willing to offer you a high risk personal loan . When someone has bad credit , or no collateral that person is considered a risk for the lender . Therefore , the lender , while agreeing to finance a high risk personal loan for them , may offer the loan rates and terms at higher interest rates and with stricter terms than they would offer a loan to someone with better credit . People may have bad credit for a number of reasons . Most lenders will take into consideration the individual situation of the borrower , before offering the terms for any high risk personal loans . High risk personal loans can offer some advantages to the person with bad credit . First , that person can us the high risk personal loan to redeem or better their credit by making their payments on time and paying the loan in full . If they handle their high risk personal loan obligations wisely , they will insure better loan rates in the future . After all , there are consequences to poor financial management . But , if one pays their dues now , they eventually can find a financially free future if that is their desire . Another advantage to high risk personal loans is that they can be gotten quite easily . Even if someone does not own a home , they can qualify for an unsecured high risk personal loan . If they do own their home or have other sufficient collateral , they also may qualify for secured high risk personal loans or lines of credit to meet their financing needs . While lenders of high risk personal loans will cost more than other loans , they can help a person with questionable credit who is in need of cash quickly . If you are interested in finding out whether you qualify for a high risk personal loan , you can find information from lenders at credit unions , banks and other financial institutions . There are even lenders online that will be willing to lend you high risk personal loans . However , before you sign on the dotted line , make sure you read the fine print for any loan . Remember , if it sounds too good to be true , it probably is . 
" He smells of the ocean , of seaweed and brine . " . Yesterday 's mention of sea changes reminds me of something else . I ' d not realised until recently that the world being someone 's oyster is another one of Shakespeare 's coinages . ( I ' d be surprised if he didn't have a claim to " how strange the change from major to minor " or " I ' ve got a brand new combine harvester " , too . Or " daddy or chips ? " ) Oysters are pretty , shiny things and I ' d always assumed the phrase meant that for whichever opportunistic soul as was the subject , the whole planet seemed like a pretty bauble for the taking . If only you ' d bother to try ... You know , the heartening sort of thing they tell you in your career advice as a teenager ( along with how it 's absolutely impossible to make a living as a writer ) . But there 's more to it than that . The bloke who says it does so because he can't get any money out of his mate . " Well , " he says in Act 2 , Scene 2 of the Merry Wives , " then the world 's mine oyster . Which I with sword will open . " So people to whom the world is an oyster are less cheery doers with a bit of pluck and get - up , as violent , cut - throat thieves . Just to make the point , the bloke who says it is called Pistol . I assume that 's a nickname . It does make him sound like one of the lesser , hairyer , squawkier - laughing CB - tastic truckers in a Burt Reynolds movie . 
Production code . It was only announced last week that the guv nor is leaving his job , but I ve of course known a bit longer than that . Making me the Gary Russell of Benny was part of his exit strategy . I used to be a project manager and the skills acquired back in my youth have been dusted off , darned - where - needed and clambered into once more . But producing is , I have learnt in the last fortnight , quite a lot more work than I d expected . The Big Finish announcement says that Gary will still be on - hand to ensure an ' orderly transition ' , and that 's true . He 's already had several panicked calls beginning , Help ! What do I do ? ! ? He also picked up something calamitous that I d entirely missed . Bookings have been dealt with and double - bookings sorted out ( and a system agreed so that it won t happen again ) . Schedules have swapped round to accommodate a last - minute change ( did I mention that Dr Darlington is a hero ? ) . Someone else absolutely essential to all we do is going to be on holiday , but we ve got the perfect stand - in who s been fully briefed . An undelivered script has been traced , picked up and hand - delivered ( on foot on a baking - hot yesterday ) , lunches are sorted , trains agreed , monies and contracts all sorted , pronunciations discussed and now I m off to collect something vital , before collapsing into a heap for the night . Have also done a wealth of interviewing recently , with a wealth of more to come . And writing . And editing . And an agreed conjoinment of two persons to make one that is better than both ( a bit like those Transformers that could team up and become one , bigger robot ) . And now there s another 12,000 word commission for the end of August . And a five - day - a - week , ongoing freelancing gig in the midst of it . So you may not see me here much for a bit . 
100 things . M ' colleagues have set up a new blog about our very much forthcoming Dr Who anthology , " The Centenarian " . I have a written a long , rambly post that doesn't reveal a great deal . Hope m ' colleagues will do the same sometime soon , or else I ' ll look a right old swot . Some other anagrams of Edward Grainger : Dad grew a ringer Rearward edging Rwanda egg drier Green Wing RADAR . 
Good news and bad news . Good news first . Having blogged yesterday I popped to the shops for a copy of the Times - and was a bit surprised to find that the brother 's jaunt occupies all of page 3 . And he gets a credit for his precious photos . He 's on page 9 of today 's Metro and all ( I ' m told - haven't seen a copy and it 's not up on the site ) . Further media interest is due to follow ... As well as a paper , I also bought my first batch of Dr Who stickers , having been a bit late in the game . And I now have my first swapsies . The lucky numbers are : K ; L ; M ; 65 ; and 184 . Suspect these might not be easy to get rid of as they 're the ones free with Radio Times . Have spent a day running about not buying a chair and trying to sort other things out . Full of adrenaline and sugar as things come together , so am a bit worried that it ' ll all fall to bits the moment the pressure 's off , like the newly regenerated fifth Doctor delegating saving - everyone to K 9 , though the tin dog had left 10 episodes before ... I. has just texted to say that Syd Barrett has died , which makes me think of working into the evening on some meagre attempt at art , in a disused squash court with a wobbly tape of Relics playing over and over . And fellow ( and more talented ) artists squabbling about what they could put on instead that would be less weird , less funny and less unsettling . Went to look at the obituary and what Bowie had to say , and see there 's been more people blown up , and we 're destined for more unclear power . Hmm . Freudian typo there . I ' ll leave it . 
Quite right too . K . 's 39 th birthday ( you can trust me on this ) went smashingly on Saturday , in a lovely little pub by Euston with a DJ and dancing and lots of talking rubbish . K . had also organised big - screen Doomsday , punters assembled before a projector screen as if it were a new kind of England game . The sound popped and pixellated every now and again , but otherwise we were dumbstruck . Cor , that was a bit bloody good wasn't it ? See right for one quarter of the verdict from the Time Team . Some things do trouble me . Couldn't some Cybermen have held on to something ? And anyway , Tracy - Ann Cyberman hadn't jumped between dimensions , so wouldn't be all sticky with void stuff . ( I suppose , though , that she was built from spare parts that had been ) . Like Charlie Brooker 's not - a - review , this is not to criticise but borne out of love . Perhaps it 's just the freelance hack in me looking for ways to cash in with merchandise , but I thought , " Ooh , there 's another story there ... " I ' d also come up with a completely different reason for how the Daleks came back : we see in Bad Wolf that their teleport - wossname leaves behind dust ( so that Dr Who thinks Rose got disintegrated ) . And when Captain Jack wakes up again in Parting of the Ways , all that 's left of his executors is the same sort of suspicious white powder ... But anyway , can't wait for Christmas . Speaking of things in newspapers , the brother 's wild adventure has made it into today 's Times . 
Low expectations and a quick look at the UAB schedule . In light of UAB being picked to finish fifth in the East in C - USA , I thought I ' d run down the schedule and see what sort of shot I think we have . Sept. 2 at Oklahoma Sept. 9 East Carolina * # Sept. 16 at Georgia Sept. 23 Miss . St. Sept. 30 Troy Oct . 7 Memphis * # Oct . 14 at Rice * Oct . 21 Marshall * # Oct . 31 at SMU * Nov . 10 UTEP * Nov . 18 at Southern Miss * # Nov . 25 at UCF * # * conference game # division game Games we will win : East Carolina , Mississippi State , Troy , Rice , SMUGames we should win : Memphis , Marshall Games we have a shot at winning , but probably won't : UTEP , UCFGames that there is no way in hell we will win : Oklahoma ( duh ) , UGA ( again , duh ) , Southern Miss ( what can I say , they own us ) At worst , we win five games and stay at home in December . At best , we win 9 and get a decent bowl bid . What 's likely ? Six wins and we stay home for the Birmingham Bowl . As far as conference strandings shake out , we probably will lose to Southern Miss and / or UCF and miss out on the conference championship game . 
Blazer Names to Know : # 46 David Miller . Listed just behind Mc Elveen on the depth chart , but still certain to see playing time in all twelve games , is # 46 David Miller . The senior out of Cullman , AL has split time throughout his career with Mc Elveen , providing solid depth at the end position . In 2005 Miller played in all 12 contests , starting nine , and recorded 28 tackles with five going for a loss and two sacks . He also played in all twelve games the previous two years and redshirted his freshman year . He 's aa philosophy major , which really doesn't mean anything as far as his football career goes , but is of note since yours truly holds a degree in philosophy from UAB . If the major is still filled with the disgusting variety of conformist " non - conformists " it was riddled with when I was there then I could just imagine how they 're treating a jock . 
In part seven of the ten part " Celebrity Ass I ' m Reasonably Certain I Could Kick " series is Elvin Bishop . Pretty much everyone likes Fooled Around and Fell in Love well enough ( fun fact , that isn't him singing ) , but I lost all respect for him after hearing his awful , amaturish , blues for dummies guitar solo on Drunken Hearted Boy from the Allman Brothers box set . Seriously Elvin , if you step on a stage with Duane Allman with a guitar in your hand , you better come with it . He ain't good looking but he sure can play ... unless Duane is nearby . 
While UAB and Troy aren't necessarily rivals on par with Bama and Auburn ( or even UAB and Memphis ) , it 's still an in state rivalry that looks to heat up as both teams are scheduled to meet each year for the foreseeable future . The teams have met five times since 1993 , with Troy holding a 3 - 2 advantage over the Blazers . However , UAB holds a 2 - 1 lead over Troy since both have moved into D - 1 A ( UAB in ' 96 and Troy in ' 02 ) and looks to expand it to a 3 - 1 record on September 30 th . Considering making fun of your rivals and / or generally thinking the worst about them is one of the great thrills of college football , I have to point you in the direction of EDSBS , who has a caption contest going involving what appears to be the Trojan O - Line , a corpse , and what I hope is soapy water . 
Blazer Names to Know : # 98 Jermaine Mc Elveen . On the other end of the defensive line is # 98 Jermaine Mc Elveen . Mc Elveen has plenty of experience , starting right away in 2003 and earning a spot on the Rivals . com Freshman All America team and the C - USA All - Freshman team . Starting in 2004 he began splitting time with # 46 David Miller , racking up 29 tackles including 18 stops , 5 tackles for loss , and 3 sacks while playing in all twelve games . In 2005 he again split starting duties with Miller , playing in ten games and starting the final two contests . He concluded the season with 26 tackles with 4 for loss and two sacks . He also blocked a punt on special teams in the win over Rice and recorded an interception in the win over UTEP . While those aren't necessarily Mc Swain numbers , he 's been a solid contributor to the defense 's depth at the end position and is currently listed as the starter on the 2006 depth chart . 
Blazer Names to Know : # 44 Larry Mc Swain . A quick look at the other side of the ball ... Mc Swain is currently on the preseason watch lists for the Nagurski ( best defensive player of the year ) , Lott ( defensive impact player of the year ) , and Hendricks ( defensive end of the year ) awards and is the current C - USA preseason Defensive Player of the Year . His breakout season was in 2004 when he recorded 56 tackles ( 29 solo , 18 for loss ) including 13 sacks ( 1 st in C - USA , 4 th nationally ) and was named a 1 st team all conference selection . His production dropped slightly in 2005 as offenses paid more attention to him and Wayne Bolt ( the fattest of ALL Bolts ) only rushed four and had his linebackers dropping into covereage more often than not , allowing the opposing O - Line to better pick up the pass rush . In 10 games as a starter he recorded 53 tackles , but only five for loss and four sacks . He also returned an interception 23 yards against Troy . 
I know it 's really just a poor man 's Apprentice , but Design Star has single handedly restored my faith in HGTV after the abominations that are What 's With That House ? and The Junk Brothers made me seriously consider switching to the Food Network for all my late night " gotta have something to fall asleep to " needs permanently . Early favorite : Temple . Who doesn't love a cello playing former Miss Utah ? 
One more pet peeve about NCAA 2007 ( and the whole series , really ) . Why , under the rivalry games mode , do they still have " The Magic City Classic " played at either State or A & M 's fields ? It 's The Magic City Classic because it 's played in The Magic City ( that 's B ' ham , in case you didn't know ) at Legion Field . Can we please get this straight for ' 08 ? 
I went and picked up my copy last night at Target . The Girl was in Chicago last weekend and we hadn't gotten to see each other much the week before so we went out Tuesday instead of me sitting on my butt in front of the TV . I was quite surprised when I was able to hold out til the weekend to rush for a copy , but she needed to go to Target after we went to dinner last night and so I took advantage of the opportunity . I played a half against Auburn when we got back to my place and fought them to a 0 - 0 standstill . The defensive controls are roughly the same , though the R stick now calls defensive audibles and I kept having my DTs dropping into coverage by mistake . The offensive controls seemed weird , though they are basically the same . I gave up in frustration ( and because she was yelling at me to watch my language from the other room ) and then started back this morning with some practices . The new " scrimmage " feature was helpful , and so I started on my Bama dynasty with a 45 - 10 beat down on Hawaii . A Few Initial Thoughts : - The kicking game is annoying as all hell now . The power / accuracy meter seems lame , and returning kicks is way more difficult . Maybe if it was a first person perspective it wouldn't be as bad , but not being able to see what 's in front of your return man is idiotic . - Are defenses faster this time around , or is Bama 's O - Line just represented a little more accurately ? - Also , does it seem like the ball flies through the air a little slower to anyone else ? - All the extra graphics that flash on the screen make this look like a Fox Sports production . The " impact camera " is cool the first two or three times , but then it 's just annoying . Keep the game going already . - I ' m liking ' 06 better right now . 
Blazer Names to Know : # 34 Dan Burks . In at # 2 on the depth chart is RB Dan Burks . After an excellent performance in 2004 ( gaining 880 yards with a 5.4 ypc average , including a 69 yard TD run against Baylor while splitting time with Corey White ) Burks was hampered by injuries in ' 05 , decreasing his rushing attempts to 67 in eight games . He did manage a decent 4.8 yds per carry ( 321 yds total ) including a 115 yd performance in the loss to Marshall and 78 yards on 12 attempts in the win against Rice . If Burks can remain healthy and get back to his ' 04 form , he and White can look to dominate C - USA as the Blazers run the ball more . 
Maybe there 's something we can learn from soccer ... With all the hullabaloo over the World Cup over for four more years , there won't be a lot of talk on the various CFB blogs about how we could learn a thing or two from the soccer fans of the world about fandom / passion / whatever . I tend to disagree , since the only thing I think I could learn is how to literally live and die by my team 's performance instead of just metaphorically . And you thought burning couches to support your team was hardcore ... So the other night I was thinking about the NFL pre - season and how it would be nice if college football had something similar ; Obviously it wouldn't be feasible to play a five game pre - season schedule , but that 's where soccer comes in . Why not allow college teams to schedule a " friendly " before the start of the season ? Instead of playing an NCAA mandated 12 th game , they could schedule a friendly the week before their season opener and play a scrimmage against the cupcake they usually open with ( or in the case of the cupcake , get their lumps in from a BCS team before starting their reign of terror in the Sun Belt ) . This way banning the scheduling of D 1 - AA opponents would have even more weight ( seriously Auburn , you already played Western Kentucky once this year ) , and rules about BCS teams scheduling other BCS opponents would be an easier sell . The money 's the same for the teams involved , the only change is that it doesn't count on the regular season record . Just a thought . 
Five more days ' til Carnavas and I can't believe how excited I am . Fox Confessor is probably the only other album I ' ve looked forward to this much since The Rising , but I ' m on pins and needles wishing this damn album would drop already . Anyway , here 's the video ( quicktime format ) for " Well Thought Out Twinkles . " . 
Blazer Names to Know : Corey White . To start things off , we ' ll look at the one of the few positions that isn't a huge question mark . White is currently listed at the top of the depth chart at RB after taking over starting duties from the injured Dan Burks at the end of last season . He 's a power runner that resembles a fullback more than the running back position he plays , but he has shown good , if not great , break away speed . His 30 yard scamper in the waning seconds of the 4 th quarter against Memphis in 2004 sealed a UAB victory . Last season he amassed a respectable 632 yards on 130 attempts ( averaging 4.9 ypc ) and 7 TDs while splitting time with Burks , and also caught 10 passes for 79 yards . With Hackney 's cannon arm lost to graduation and UAB looking to move back into a power run / option offense , look for White to play a significant role . 
In an effort to give some sort of focus to this blog ( and as a coping mechanism as we near the last month before the start of the season ) , I ' ll be running down the UAB Blazers schedule and offering up my take on it and some of the players and coaches . Believe it or not I ' m pretty excited about the coming season for the Blazers . Ostensibly Watson is on the hot seat after going 5 - 6 in what should have been a breakout season for UAB ( and Darrell Hackney ) with boneheaded and baffling breakdowns in the defense and special teams . Firing DC Wayne Bolt ( the fattest of ALL Bolts ) is a step in the right direction , and some other coaching moves have me encouraged , but when the rubber meets the road on game day there 's just no telling which UAB Blazers are going to show up . Hopefully he can get us above .500 again and to a postseason appearance , but we ' ll just have to see . 
Getting There : Escentric 01 by Escentric Molecules . In May I wrote about Molecule 01 , which consists entirely of a molecule called Iso E Super . I wasn't in love with it : no development , just a sandalwood - like note which , while undeniably appealing , is too uninteresting for the price . The companion scent , Escentric 01 , is decidedly better , I ' m pleased to discover . It 's still primarily that one scent molecule , but it 's been added to ; constructed , like an actual scent . When I put my nose to my skin , my first reaction was , " Lemon pepper ! " Pretty close ; it 's actually lime and pepper , and it adds a fresh zing that the scent desperately needs . The top note also contains that soapiness that I thought I detected in Molecule 01 , so I ' m guessing it 's really there and not just my imagination or the smell of just - showered me . The sandalwood note doesn't take long to emerge , but here it 's joined by a thick orris - root note that adds complexity and nuance to the otherwise simplistic Iso E Super . ( There 's supposedly a balsamic incense note , as well , but I don't get it at all ; maybe my nose isn't sufficiently finely tuned , or maybe it 's drowned out by the other notes . ) After that , it doesn't develop or change any more ; it just stays on your skin , and stays and stays . There 's something to be said , of course , for an attractive scent that lasts a long time , but there 's a lot more to be said for an attractive scent that seems to have some real thought put into it . If a scent is a painting , then Molecule 01 is a bucket of paint -- in a lovely colour , mind you -- thrown at a canvas , and Escentric 01 is that same splashed canvas with a few complementary colours dabbed on afterwards . I like Escentric 01 , but I don't love it , and I can't see how it 's worth what 's they 're charging ; nothing about it , not even that vibrant bottle , makes me feel as if I need it , and that 's a fatal flaw for a non - essential consumer good . Nevertheless , I ' m looking forward to whatever else the company cooks up ; they ' ve apparently given us their first couple of experiments , and I want to see what they produce when they get really good at it . 
The Full Twelve Rounds : Everlast Original 1910 . It was briefly tempting to use a whole whack of boxing metaphors when talking about Everlast Original 1910 , but I managed to resist the urge . I can't even talk about the fragrance proper anyway , because I haven't tried it . I was ordering a bunch of things from Sephora and I decided on a whim to get the shower gel , mostly because I was captivated by the packaging ; instead of a big tube or bottle , the 200 m L of shower gel is divided into 10 20 - m L bottles in a clear plastic case , and the little bottles seemed like the perfect thing to toss into a gym bag . Unfortunately , the tops snap off and the bottles aren't resealable , so there goes the gym - bag idea . Still : great packaging ! ( As you can see from the above photo , the bottles nest together in the box ; each has a deep indentation in the bottom into which the top of the bottle below it fits . ) I ' m a sucker for an attractive or inventive bottle . * As we ' d expect from a shower gel , what we mostly get are top notes ; there 's no time for subtlety , because most of it 's getting washed down the drain in a matter of minutes if not seconds . The first thing that hits your skin as the product foams up -- and it 's very low - foam , no heaps of lather here -- is an explosion ( not too strong a word ) of lemon and an exceedingly herbal lavender . Officially , there are other citrus notes in there ( mandarin and grapefruit ) , but this is a very lemony scent . If you leave it on long enough , which I did just to see if it would develop , a mildly spicy note is added to the mix , which according to the official list of notes contains nutmeg and cinnamon . As I ' ve noted before , more expensive brands of shower gel leave more scent on your skin , and this one certainly does , enough that I don't feel the need to apply any kind of scent . Half an hour later I can smell a halo of that original herbal freshness plus a small but distinct woody patchouli note , which surprised me ; it really does seem as if the entire fragrance has been duplicated , right down to the base notes . I love that , and now I ' m curious about the scent itself , which I suppose I ' ll have to hunt down . * The award for cleverest high - end shower - gel packaging ever , though , goes to Givenchy 's Pi . II haven't seen it in a long time , but when the scent first came out , the line included a dehydrated shower gel in three foil pouches : you added warm water and sloshed it around to reactivate it . It was of a piece with the brand 's original astronaut advertising and it was completely brilliant . Of course I bought it ! 
Beyond the Sea : CSP Aqua Motu . A week and a half ago I got a sample of Comptoir Sud Pacifique 's Aqua Motu . I hadn't ever tried it before and I wasn't particularly interested in the sample , because I knew what it was going to smell like : fresh , ozonic , aquatic , done - before , boring . This morning I was poking around in my cabinet looking for something I hadn't worn before and there it was , so I put on a couple of spritzes , and I am the first to admit when I ' ve been wrong ; it 's gorgeous . The first things that came to mind when I smelled it were Dior 's Dune and Dune pour Homme , because they 're all meant to evoke the same things : not water , but the beach itself . Neither of the Dior scents really works on me , though I love them both , or more accurately have a love / hate relationship with them both : Dune pour Homme is too sharp and cologney despite its felicities , and Dune has a sweetness that I find aggressive and out of place among the dry licheny sand . Aqua Motu , though : that works on me , in spades . It 's as if someone had taken the Dior scents and stripped them of everything extraneous , reduced them to the pure abstract idea of the seaside . It smells marine , but not that fraudulent ozonic - oceany smell that perfumers can't seem to get enough of nowadays ; it smells instead of salt water and seaweed and the grasses and stunted little shrubs that grow above the waterline . There is a warmth to it -- one of the notes listed is " warm sand " -- and a bare suggestion of sweetness , but nothing cloying . It isn't a beach strewn with sun worshippers bathed in tanning oil : it 's a brave , barren little Atlantic seacoast populated by mussels and seabirds . It suggests my childhood in Newfoundland , and now , dammit , I have to go and buy myself a bottle . 
Summer Cold : L ' Eau D ' Issey Pour Homme . Fresh , wet scents don't usually work for me , but when I first smelled L ' Eau D ' Issey on a trip to Toronto in 1992 , I was so amazed by it that I just bought it . It was almost purely floral , containing lotus , freesia , cyclamen , carnation , peony , and lily of the valley , but I couldn't resist its remarkable transparency and otherworldliness , and its startlingly minimal bottle , like the Platonic ideal of a lighthouse . Exactly the same thing happened a couple of years later ; on first smelling L ' Eau D ' Issey Pour Homme , entranced by the scent and the bottle , a wedge - shaped monolith of frosted glass and brushed metal , I just bought the stuff . Miyake is said to hate fragrance and to have asked the perfumers in both cases to make him something that smelled like water . Obviously , neither scent does ; but they both achieve a fresh , watery effect without resorting to the ozonic fresh note that was already becoming overplayed in the 1990 s and is now ubiquitous and worn out . L ' Eau D ' Issey Pour Homme gets its freshness from , at first , a barrage of citrus notes ( bergamot , tangerine , and lemon , plus the Japanese fruit called yuzu ) and very lightly played herbal notes such as lemon verbena , tarragon , and coriander . It 's an explosively fresh smell ; it sparkles , like summer sunlight on water . The coolness gradually warms up as it 's supplanted by spice notes -- nutmeg and cinnamon , mostly -- plus the floral notes of geranium and water lily , but the sharp edge remains from the top ; it never really becomes a warm scent . Even the base , a soft , clingy haze of woods and ambergris , manages to retain a hint of sharpness from vetivert . It 's not at all what I normally wear , but it 's so intoxicating and so perfectly conceived that it wins me over every time . It 's just like the first time I smelled it ; I don't stand a chance . 
Down the Gardenia Path . Yves Rocher likes to give away free stuff when you order by mail , which is why I have a bottle of tiar shower gel in my arsenal of soaps and gels . ( Tiar is a member of the gardenia family of white flowers , strongly and exotically perfumed . ) High - end shower gels , the ones that are part of a fragrance line , tend to leave a scent on your skin ; the less expensive ones as a rule are all throw and no follow - through , and Yves Rocher 's shower gels are no exception . The aroma when you pour it out of the bottle and later it up is dramatic ; a hot white floral that conjures up memories of seventies suntan lotion , which all seemed to smell like tiar and coconut in those days . No coconut in the Yves Rocher gel ; it 's just flowers and more flowers , hot and beachy . I couldn't imagine using this at the gym ; it 's not only too floral , it 's too strong . But I used it at home this morning , with pleasure . The scent goes down the drain almost at the same time as the lather : it leaves the faintest trace of tropical warmth on your skin which is gone in half an hour , and you have to pretty much jam your nose against your skin to detect it . Mono is a skin and hair oil made in Polynesia from tiar blossoms macerated in oil , and the Canadian company Fruits searching for a coconut - scented shower gel after his favourite brand was discontinued , he was convinced by a saleswoman that the Mono shower cream was what he was looking for . It wasn't ; the coconut smell is there , but it 's joined in equal measure by the tiar , which is not to his taste , something he didn't discover until he tried to use it . But I hate to let something that smells so nice go to waste . I ' m not a fan , at all , of Fruits & Passion 's fragrances : every single one of them , men 's and women 's alike , seems to have the same base , along the same lines as the famed Guerlinade , only horrible . I hardly ever go into the store : sometimes I don't even want to walk by it because that underlying scent is so pervasive and unpleasant . Some of their shower creams , though , are pretty good , and this is one of them . Same deal as with the Yves Rocher : I wouldn't use it at the gym , but at home it 's a nice change of pace . 
Tender Kiss : Le Baiser du Dragon by Cartier . As I ' ve said before , a great many oriental scents are unisex without even trying . Unless they 're heavily floral , they contain notes that have never been assigned a gender in the Western world . Cartier 's Le Baiser du Dragon -- " The Dragon 's Kiss " -- is the perfect example ; it has floral notes , but they 're so unimportant in the grand scheme of things that anyone could wear the scent . The advertising copywriter , clearly aware of this , used such terms as " daring femininity " , but don't be fooled . There 's nothing daring or feminine about it . You ' d think a scent called The Dragon 's Kiss would be intimidating , fiercely sexual , but you ' d be wrong . The first thing out of the bottle is the warm sweet scent of almonds , as appealing and comforting as any smell I know , like a glass of amaretto by the fireside . A soft , unobtrusive floral glow soon accompanies this ; it 's mostly gardenia , which can be overwhelming ( as it is in Marc Jacobs , Elizabeth Taylor Gardenia , or most any scent which uses it as the starting point ) but here is just another thread in the tapestry . As the scent warms up even further , the glow is supplemented by a very soft iris note accompanied by warm woods , mostly cedar ; this slowly fades as the vanillic ambergris - patchouli base note takes over -- and as you might guess , it lasts a very long time , glowing the whole while . The whole thing is remarkable for what it isn't ; aggressive , fierce , or sexual . Instead , it 's sensual and welcoming . As noted by a couple of the reviewers here , Le Baiser du Dragon is in fact fairly masculine ( one even compares it to Omnia in this regard , a comparison that 's also come to my mind more than once ) . The floral notes don't make it any less so : the heat of it , the warm woods in the middle and the patchouli and ambergris in the base , make it of a piece with men 's oriental perfumery , or rather with oriental scents in general . How easy it would be for Cartier to market this to men ; tweak it slightly , maybe tone down the gardenia and add a splash of sandalwood and tobacco - leaf , so nobody accuses them of putting the same thing in a different bottle , and you 're off to the races . ( They ' d probably need to square off the bottle , too . It 's gorgeous , a big rounded mass that resembles the bottle for Panth re stripped down and ready for action , with a solid cap inspired by Chinese writing and a black dagger piercing the heart of the fragrance . But conventional wisdom has it that round bottles are for women and square bottles are for men , despite such obvious contradictions as the classic Chanel bottle and the spherical Hugo Boss bottles . ) . 
Shopping , Part 2 : CSP Amour de Cacao . There 's a Canadian chain of drugstores called Shoppers Drug Mart ( I ' ve talked about it before on this blog and on my other one ) which is has really upgraded its image in the last few years ; one of the new store designs puts a little self - contained fragrance department at the very front of the store , and it 's like a really high - end boutique . I walked into such a store this morning and just inside the door was , to my astonishment , a display of Comptoir Sud Pacifique scents . I was completely flabbergasted , because it 's just not a line you associate with drugstores . The lovely saleswoman said they ' d had them for about a week , about a dozen or fifteen of the line 's scents , including many of the newest ones , ones I hadn't even had a chance to try before : Bois de Filao , Vanille Peach , Vanille Pineapple , and Vanille Extreme , along with such standbys as Aqua Motu , Mora Bella ( the new name for the old , wonderful Fruits Sauvages ) , and of course Amour de Cacao . I tried Bois de Filao and Vanille Pineapple -- though not on my skin -- and was delighted with both of them , and though I couldn't get samples of them , I did snag samples of Vanille Coco -- I already had a tiny vial of it , but this is a nice big spray and I never turn down a sample -- and Aqua Motu . I don't even want to think about the fact that I am going to be buying a whole bunch of these fragrances in the next six months . As it happened , I ' d put on Amour de Cacao after the gym this morning . Even though it 's a hot summer day and Ad C is a warm sweet scent , I felt secure that it wouldn't be too strong or too cloying , because , amazingly , it never is . Officially , the notes in Amour de Cacao are orange peel , vanilla , and chocolate , which makes it sound like a Terry 's Chocolate Orange , but the orange note escapes me altogether . ( The new , updated version of Ad C supposedly has a starfruit note as well ; I haven't tried it , so I couldn't say . ) All I smell when I first spray it on is vanilla - infused chocolate , though not a pure chocolate - bar scent nor the dust - dry cocoa powder of Cocoon but a mixture of the two , a lush chocolate combined with a very salty , slightly dusty note of cocoa powder . The salt note is amazingly strong at first . I know ; salt oughtn't to have a smell at all . But I ' ve worked around large quantities of the stuff , thousands of pounds at a time , and trust me ; it has a smell , and that smell is in Amour de Cacao . Over the next few hours , whatever development there is in this scent consists of the chocolate / cocoa receding and the vanilla coming to the fore , and that 's it . But it 's the most wonderful simplicity ; it smells like someone 's making chocolate - chip cookies somewhere in the vicinity , and that 's such a cherished , almost universal childhood memory that Amour de Cacao can't help but bring a smile to your face . It 's a sleek aluminum can full of lovingly hand - made bakery bliss . Shopping , Part 1 is here . 
The Elements of Surprise : Very Irresistible for Men by Givenchy . As I was walking home from work tonight , a couple passed maybe ten feet in front of me ; I live downtown and a great many people were headed to the bars and restaurants on this warm summer 's night . The man , I think it 's safe to say , was wearing too much cologne : he must have applied it not fifteen minutes before , because the top notes were still evident , and it was entirely apparent at that distance . ( If someone can smell you at more than an arm 's length away , you 're probably wearing too much of whatever it is , and if they can distinctly smell the top notes , you ' ve probably left the house too soon after applying it . ) But the smell was so dazzling that I instantly forgave him . My first response was , " I know what that is ! " , but it took a few seconds longer to put a name to the delicious fresh - mocha smell ; it was Very Irresistible for Men by Givenchy . It starts with a zingy green note of mint and grapefruit , with , it seems to me , another fruit note that resembles pear . The top notes are surprisingly persistent ; they maintain their fresh edge even as the warm edible middle notes come to the fore . If you ' ve ever eaten those Sesame Snaps or , I don't know , a big handful of sesame seeds , you ' ll recognize the dry scent of sesame in the middle notes , which help to keep the other main mid - note accord from becoming too sweet . The mocha scent is irresistible indeed ; it 's not the sweet milky coffee of Comptoir Sud Pacifique 's Vanille Caf but something more grown - up , for lack of a better word , something drier and richer ; the chocolate is laid on with a light hand to keep it from being merely a confection . Some people complain that the mocha note is too fleeting , but it must be a matter of chemistry ; it lasts for hours on me . The base notes , in comparison , don't seem particularly strong or tenacious on my skin ; the hazelnut - wood note gradually moves to the fore -- I don't detect any cedar at all -- and then the whole thing just evaporates . But even without base notes , what there is of it is plenty . Everything about it is a surprise . The spectacular bottle led me to believe I ' d be getting something fresh and green ; the gourmand oriental that followed those green notes was a welcome turning of the tables , and that sense of the unexpected is what makes it one of Givenchy 's greatest men 's scents . 
Balancing Act : Allure Homme by Chanel . The publicity material for Chanel 's Allure , the women 's version , made much of the fact that it didn't develop as a classic scent does but instead showed six equal facets , like a jewel . Big deal , I thought ; they ' ve reinvented the linear scent . It turns out that what they meant wasn't that it was six accords equally balanced throughout the scent 's life , but that there were six accords that came and went in equal measure . It 's still more or less a linear scent , but a very complex one . Their men 's version , Allure Homme , is structured somewhat more classically ; and yet despite this , the composition , like the women 's , isn't just the usual top - middle - base , and is altogether more interesting because of it . One of the first things I smell in Allure Homme , after the usual fleeting shiver of citrus notes , is leather . It 's not even listed in the fragrance 's notes , and it certainly isn't as intense as the leatheriness of Chanel 's Antaeus , but it 's there : not the warm sugary leather of Stetson , but something much drier . It 's a sexy , manly smell , probably an inevitable component of anything that would dare to call itself Allure . That leathery dryness doesn't last , though . A spicy note of pepper , powerfully warm but not harsh or aggressive , soon barrels up through the top notes , taking with it a hint of vanillic sweetness which increases in intensity as the scent develops . The middle note never really settles down : the base notes just keep getting warmer and sweeter , with their quantities of woods ( mostly sandalwood ) and balsams ( labdanum and the vanilla - laced tonka bean ) sharpened a little with earthy patchouli and vetivert . It never has a chance to get cloying , despite the balsamic warmth , because there 's so much else going on in the base notes . As I wrote about before , sometimes it 's amusing when individual notes jump out at you before fading away again , and Allure Homme has this in spades : a little swirl of patchouli came out of nowhere at me this afternoon , when I ' d almost forgotten I was wearing the stuff , and then a bit later a sudden jolt of pencil - sharpener cedar . It 's the perpetual element of surprise that makes Allure Homme a winner . 
Orange , Blossoming : Boss in Motion . Yesterday morning I was showering with what 's left of my bottle of Yves Rocher 's 2005 limited - edition Christmas shower gel , Orange Vanill , which smells more of spices than vanilla ; in fact , it smells very much like one of those clove - studded oranges an aunt or a grandmother might hang in her closet . I was breathing in the luscious orange scent and knew I wanted to wear an orange - based scent that day , and I knew just the one , too . When Clinique 's Happy for Men came out in 1999 , I was instantly smitten by it . The top note is a breathless charge of citrus notes , most prominently mandarin orange , and it 's so cheerful and bright that I couldn't resist being seduced . But after wearing it for a while I noticed that , on my skin , at least , the aftermath wasn't so delightful ; laced with vanilla and creamy - sweet guaiac wood , it dried down into a thick , cloying , sherbet - like scent that was so intense as to be nearly nauseating . I think I had been ignoring this , having been so charmed by the hesperides , but after a while I couldn't ignore it any more , so I gave away my bottle and that was that . Then in 2002 , Hugo Boss launched Boss in Motion , in that smart Death Star bottle with its cleverly invisible spraying mechanism ; you form a letter C with your hand , hold the bottle with your thumb on the bottom , and press upwards . And what is the scent but a near - copy of Happy for Men without the choking sweetness ? Oh , it 's still sweet and orangey ; it still has vanilla in it , it still suggests orange sherbet , but it 's been toned down , tempered by soft spicy notes , woods , and musk notes more evident than those in Happy for Men . You want real happy ? Boss in Motion is happy . 
today 's ' fuck you ' to big business ... aah citibank ... my employer has a sweetheart deal with citi for all of us worker - proles : free checking . completely free and they wave their little penalties and such . it 's lovely . but it expires yearly and i have to remember to go in ( i could swear i put it in my outlook last year ... ? ) and renew it . but no . so yesterday , i go in there and talk to the nice lady who not only put the waiver on , but put on a permanent waiver so it won't need to be renewed , and refunded the two months of fees and penalties . can you imagine ? and she was nice about it , too . almost $ 25 ! fabu ... so , citi , i have to say , you ' ve done very well . and not paying you a cent has curbed my desires to find a more local bank to patronize . hell , i ' m all for taking advantage of big business ... 
i must live on the cleanest block in the city ... because the fucking street cleaner careens by , about 200 mph , every god damned morning . and don't get me started on the garbage trucks ... three times a week , with the squeaky breaks and the surly ( and burly ... yum ) workers . it moves fast moves fast moves fast SCREECHES ON BREAKS , they scream to / at each other , cat call those of the fairer sex , throwing crap in the truck , recyclables and non - alike ... i swear ... like something out of the simpsons . -- so in completely unrelated news ... sometimes big daddy here takes a pill to make the sheep counting that much easier . usually melatonin , it 's natural and i usually have good luck with it . ambien is a joke . and sometimes something meant for cough / achy / stuffy head / so you can rest better , like last night . but lately , in my valley of the dolls bliss , i get these rather violent sort of seizure - esque things and my heart pounds . happens more or less at the point where i go from awake to sheep counting , it jars me up , then i lay awake until i am just about asleep then it happens again , repeatedly until , i gather , the initial flow of the drug into my blood stream is , more or less , metabolized . hmm . what do you suppose THAT is about ? 
really , nysc needs to stop . so i sent them a nastygram about the locker room situation and got into an email war with sarahthewondercustomerserviceagent . ' let me start off by saying that i think nysc is great , the trainers are knowledgeable , the facility clean [ NOT ] , and i can always get a machine . while i ' m thrilled that the locker rooms are being overhauled , it 's most inconvenient that i can't use the locker room every day , and , therefore , can't workout three days a week some weeks . i ' d be most appreciative if you ' d discount my monthly rate , for going to another club isn't an option on my lunch hour . i understand that cutting my rate would be contingent upon not using another club . ' ' thanks for your email . there is nothing we can do during the renovation to your rate , and there is no way to enforce not using another club , but thanks for your patience during the renovation . ' ' if i had a regular membership , i could only use [ my club location ] . you could code the account as ' regular ' and not ' passport gold . ' ' yes , we can downgrade your options but that would have to be done at the club level and there is a fee to change statuses . ' ' no , that 's not what i mean . i mean if you can enforce non - ' passport gold ' members from using clubs , you can code my membership accordingly and give me a break on my dues for a membership i cannot use . ' ' yes , regular members only use the home club whenever they want , and other clubs during the off - peak hours of ... ' really , smartness , you 're riding my last . fucking . nerve . either you 're brilliant and parlaying this conversation into an area that is so absurd you know i ' ll back off , or you 're really that fucking stupid . ( going with the latter , no confidence in humanity as of late . ) BLAH fuck you , nysc . per my usual passive - aggressive style , i ' m going to email the fucking president of the company tomorrow . worked when cvs lost a roll of film from slovenia , worked when the cuntlet at shanghai tang wouldn't take something back , worked when the ramada was one step above hourly rates and giving me crabs , really , i could go on and on . hell , i ' m a writer : what i lack in person , i ' d like to think i can articulate in word . oh , and i ' m an angry bitch : there is that fuel , too . -- so my useless ' boss ' has been taking these lovely , extravagant lunch hours this week , and is leaving early , as our department director is away on training . ( which , i ' m sure , is code for ' rehab , ' but i digress . ) she 's not in next week ( PRAISE ALLAH ) and i think , per her usual pattern of behavior when big bossman is away , she ' ll call in tomorrow . she always calls in at least once when he 's not around , it 's wonderful : her indolence makes me look like a japanese car assembly plant worker . i love how her spotty attendance and , therefore , spotty negative vibes , are not as in - my - face as usual . i ' m so sure she ' ll not be in i ' ve got a bet - pool going on with my coworkers , i really do . the bet - pool is actually the surface manifestation of something bigger ... see , ' boss ' lady sent the three of us in her ' group ' an email that says , to the effect of , ' your day starts at 930 , ends at 530 , and if your lunch is longer than one hour , i expect to be notified . ' fine , she 's cracking the whip on our most opportunistic asses , ' i learned it by watching you ! ' [ i loved that commercial . ] i ' ll play her game , as long as craigslist is still unbanned and i can read worldwide newspapers . fine . but , as i ' m a passive - aggressive bitch , like i said , i ' m noting every deviation SHE ' S making from her own little nastygram . and i have to say , it 's not pretty .5 july , sick 6 july , sick 7 july , sick , not reported on absence chart 11 july , in at 10 , out at 512 july , out at 445 ... similar shit on and on until today ...20 july , out at ~12 , didn't notify anyonei really don't know how to say this any other way ... don't . fuck . with . me . the only question is when to bring it to auntie mame 's attention . 
77 . Nico - Chelsea Girl ( 1967 ) Track Listing 1 . Fairest Of The Seasons 2 . These Days 3 . Little Sister 4 . Winter Song 5 . It Was A Pleasure Then 6 . Chelsea Girl 7 . I ' ll Keep It With Mine 8 . Somewhere There 's A Feather 9 . Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams ( And Dream Your Troubles Away ) 10 . Eulogy To Lenny Bruce Review You either love or hate Nico , I love her and my girlfriend hates her , so big arguments have been had around this album in the last few days . Not as big as the ones on Frank Zappa though . Well , saying that I love Nico might be an overstatement , but I do love the albums she put out mainly because she was smart enought to associate ( and sometimes fuck ) the right people at the right time . This album is a perfect example of that , she takes Lou Reed , John Cale and Sterling Morrison ( a . k . a . Velvet Underground ) and makes one of the loveliest and pretiest albums ever . If you can tolerate Nico singing that is . I admit that her voice is not easy to get into , as my girfriend says she sounds like an albatross , but a lovely albatross . The way she brings bleakness and depressiveness to the very beautiful songs in this album is something to be admired . In fact I found this album to be quite in the same vein as Nick Drake 's Five Leaves Left with its beautiful but simple strings and great guitar playing . Strangely there is something of the Devendra Barnhart here as well , particularly in the first track . Even if you can't take Nico 's particular voice make an effort and repeated listenings to this will definitel improve you relationship to her . I really can't reccomend this album enough . It 's Velvet Underground and Nico doing Folk , how much better can it be ? There is one track here in the middle which goes much more to the experimental side , and that is It Was a Pleasure Then , but weirdly enough it works , it starts almost like a Sigur Ros soundscape and goes on to a feedback fest all the while making Nico shine as the most melodic tone in the song , which creates a perfect contrast to all other tracks where Nico is the perfect imperfection on the beautiful arrangements . Stream it from Napster or Buy it from Amazon UK or US . Track Highlights 1 . The Fairest of the Seasons 2 . Chelsea Girls 3 . It Was a Pleasure Then 4 . These Days 5 . I ' ll Keep it With Mine I couldn't have just four . Final Grade 10 / 10 Trivia She really can't sing ... but still there 's something there . Must be heroin . From Wiki : Musically , Chelsea Girl is best described as a cross between chamber folk and Sixties pop . The musical backing is relatively simple , consisting of one or two guitars or , alternatively , a keyboard instrument , played by either Browne or ( a combination of ) her Velvet Underground colleagues . There are no drums or bass instruments . Adding to the chamber folk feel of the music is the strings and flute arrangement superimposed over the initial recordings by producer Tom Wilson and arranger Larry Fallon without involving or consulting Nico . Nico was dissatisfied with the finished product . She had wanted more guitars plus bass and drums , but it was vetoed by the production team . Of the superimposed arrangements , she said she could live with the strings , but the flutes rendered the album unlistenable to her . Because of the Velvet Underground band members involvement and the similarities with the softer The Velvet Underground and Nico tracks , Chelsea Girl is sometimes seen by fans as a companion record to that band 's discography . Polydor ( the record label that oversees The Velvet Underground 's Universal Music Group back catalogue ) tends to agree , adding Chelsea Girl tracks to Peel Slowly and See , the 2002 Deluxe edition of The Velvet Underground and Nico and the 2005 Velvet Underground compilation album Gold . 
76 . Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba ( 1967 ) Track Listing 1 . Stay 2 . Misty Roses 3 . Face I Love 4 . Banda ( Parade ) 5 . Oba , Oba 6 . Canoeiro 7 . I Had the Craziest Dream 8 . Bossa Na Praia ( Beach Samba ) 9 . My Foolish Heart 10 . Dia das Rosas ( I Think of You ) 11 . You Didn't Have to Be So Nice 12 . N o Bate O Cora o Review Well , is this a crappy album . And I really love Brazilian music , there will be some good albums in the future and there have been some in the past . I am pretty sure the guys in the book just added this to the list because of two reasons , because they don't understand anything about Brazilian music and because they didn't even understood this album . The guy in the 1001 Albums book says that this is a great album and pays special attention to what he calls the " wordless " Canoeiro , which would be impressive if it was wordless . The sad reality is that it isn't ! It 's in Brazilian Portuguese and just because the asshole didn't get that he thought she was just scatting through the track . What a dipstick . She does scat throughout the album however , but scatting as in shitting all over it . A good example is The Parade ( A Banda ) which murders a perfectly good song . Then she decides that it is an excellent idea to make a duet with your little child . Yeah , that always fucking works . There are two not - bad songs here , the first and last one . And that 's it . The rest is frankly bad for Bossa Nova standards . And that 's another thing that pisses me off , the album is called Beach Samba and there 's not a single Samba IN THE WHOLE FUCKING ALBUM . There 's lame attempts at bossa nova murdered by Disney film arrangements try to sell a respectable and lovely music style to the frankly braindead american easy listening / lounge music market . Astrud did some good things in her life , this wasn't one of them . Don't buy it at Amazon UK or US . And don't stream it from Napster . Track Highlights 1 . Stay 2 . N o Bate O Cora o And that 's it . Final Grade 3 / 10 Trivia BLERGH ! And what the fuck is Verve doing putting this crap out ? They are a good company ... 
75 . Nina Simone - Wild Is The Wind ( 1966 ) Track Listing 1 . I Love Your Lovin ' Ways 2 . Four Women 3 . What More Can I Say 4 . Lilac Wine 5 . That 's All I Ask 6 . Break Down And Let It All Out 7 . Why Keep On Breaking My Heart 8 . Wild Is The Wind 9 . Black Is The Colour Of My True Love 's Hair 10 . If I Should Lose You 11 . Either Way I Lose Review Nina Simone has one of the best and most expressive voices in the history of the 20 th century . Not only that but she is also an amazing pianist and at times a very gifted lyricist . She has always had a problem however , she has always been too inconsistent . Simone moved from Jazz to Soul to Pop to angry intreventionism in the space of one album , this one is a good example of that . There are some truly amazing songs here , the 4 tracks that I selected for Track Highlights below are essential hearing for anyone in the world . The problem is the album consists of 11 songs . In this album Nina doesn't really come across as anything , not a thoughtful and profound singer or a poppy performer , because she changes register so fast that one song invalidates the previous one . You really come out of this album without knowing what she wants exactly . One of the reasons for this dispersion might be the fact that this is little more than a compilation of several studio and live performances artificially made into an album . But on the other hand all her studio albums of this period are equally scatter - brained . That said , when she hits her stride she is amazing but is unfortunately one of those artists for which it is better to buy a Best Of than an Album , or even better make your own Nina Simone mixed tape . On this album she is particularly good on the plaintive and sad tracks , the too happy tracks don't work as well here because it is a primarily morose album and they cut the feeling of it , they just seem out of place . Of course Nina produced great chirpy tracks outside this album ( Sinnerman , Love Me or Leave Me , My Baby Just Cares For Me ) but this is just not the album for them . If you consider an album to be something more than a compilation of songs , this one fails . I am sorry to have to say this as it is the only Nina Smone album on the list and I really love her . You can stream this from Napster or buy it at Amazon UK or US . Track Highlights 1 . Wild Is The Wind 2 . Four Women 3 . Lilac Wine 4 . Black Is The Colour of My True Love 's Hair Final Grade 6 / 10 Trivia She was an extremely gifted pianist , and you should at least get Wild is The Wind and Four Women from this album . From Wiki : At seventeen , Simone moved to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where she taught piano and accompanied singers . She was able to begin studying piano at New York City 's prestigious Juilliard School of Music but lack of funds meant that she was unable to fulfill her dream of becoming America 's first African - American concert pianist . She later had an interview to study piano at the Curtis Institute , but was rejected . Simone believed it was because she was black . 
74 . The Yardbirds - The Yardbirds ( a . k . a . Roger The Engineer ) ( 1966 ) Track Listing 1 . Lost Woman 2 . Over , Under , Sideways , Down 3 . The Nazz Are Blue 4 . I Can't Make Your Way 5 . Rack My Mind 6 . Farewell 7 . Hot House Of Omagarashid 8 . Jeff 's Boogie 9 . He 's Always There 10 . Turn Into Earth 11 . What Do You Want 12 . Ever Since The World Began 13 . Psycho Dasies Review Ok , excuse me if I don't make much sense , but I ' ve just came back from a Saturday night out and I am a bit tipsy . That disclaimer done , on with the show ! Crappy fuck Eric Clapton ( who actually plays some mean guitar ) left the Yardbirds before this album . And they replaced him just with Jeff Beck , so ... not a bad trade . Seeing as he 's great ! And this album lives off his guitar talent like crazy . This actually a pretty cool album , it is definitely rocky , but it has a lot of blues elements , Clapton actually left because he needed a more tradional Blues band as we saw in yesterday 's review . Their experimentality plays off really well here and I don't know if I am crazy but I can recognise elements here of what would later be post - punk ! You know , it 's weird post - punk a decade before punk ? But there are definitely some tracks here , particularly towards the end of the album which have a definite gothy / Joy Division type feel . If you want to check that out get Turn Into Earth or Ever Since The World Began ... or even the beggining to What Do You Want , which then moves into 60 's rock . There 's something weird here , either these guys are very ahead of their time or I ' m just crazy . My girlfriend confirms their post - punkyness however , it 's like Manchester in the early 80 's and I ' m scared . Props to The Yardbirds though ! Still , I have a problem with the album , it loses it 's greatness towards the middle , it starts and ends really well , but it isn't cohesive enough for a 10 or a 9 . Definitely buy it however at Amazon UK or US . You can also stream it from Napster . Track Highlights 1 . Turn Into Earth 2 . Eve Since The World Began 3 . Lost Woman 4 . Over , Under , Sideways Down . Final Grade 8 / 10 Trivia I hate it when albums are uneven . From Wiki : The Yardbirds ( US - and France - title : Over Under Sideways Down ) is an album by The Yardbirds , released in 1966 . It was the only Yardbirds album with all originally - written material . Although the record was officially titled The Yardbirds , it has since been referred to , first coloquially , then semi - officially , as Roger The Engineer , a title stemming from the drawing on its front cover , a cartoon of the record 's audio engineer Roger Cameron by band member Chris Dreja . Due to the influence of Jeff Beck 's experimentation with guitar distortion , the album is considered a precursor to heavy metal . 
5 . Apuleius - The Golden Ass ( 2 nd century ) . Buy It At Amazon UK or USReview Francisco : A pretty great read , The Golden Ass is at the same time funny , rude , sexy and also quite deep and meaningful . Although the deep bit is a bit tacked on at the end it still contextualises the story of Lucius from just a funny story and propells it into a deeper level . This deeper level of the novel has all to do with Isis ' mistery religion , it is actually a very interesting document from a religious studies point of view . Still , this is not the strong point of the book . The strong point is the simple fact that it is so entertaining and the main carachter is an ass , in more than one way . The story follows Lucius who is transformed into an ass and his quest to regain normality , which he eventually achieves . One criticism of the story is that it could have done with some editing , but clearly the art of novel writing wasn't fully perfected . There is for example a big interlude with the story of Cupid and Psyche , which although very good and interesting diverts the story from Lucius into a completely different field . You are reading Cupid and Psyche , but you really want to go back to Lucius . Honestly this is a compliment to the main character more than a criticism . Essential Reading . Vanda : I really , really liked this book , and it was bloody refreshing after all the tragedies that came before . It 's rather funny , enjoyable read , and pretty darn racy at times - bestiality ( the main character , Lucius , gets transformed into a donkey pretty early - hence the title - and this seems to be pretty irresistible to both catamites and society ladies alike ) and anal sex galore , including a husband who buggers his wife 's lover all through a night as a punishment . Hum. There are also plenty of different tales intermingled with the main plot , of magic and deceit , and although they seem tacked on a bit , they still make very good reading . The poor ass gets mistreated quite a lot , but this is never portrayed a big tragedy , since Lucius pretty much keeps his spirits high , due mainly to his rather curious nature ( who led to the transformation in the first place ) . The only letdown in this book is the ending , where he obtains redemption through the Goddess ( mainly portrayed as Isis ) , which leads to his transformation back into a human being , but also to a lot of gushing about divine powers and how he was so special he was initiated three times and so forth . It 's a bit of a dissapointment , but you should read the book anyway . As Mafalda put it , they were very modern , these ancients . Final Grade Francisco : 8 / 10 Vanda : 8 / 10 Trivia This title always reminds me of a Brazilian nudist beach . From Wiki : In 1517 , Niccol Machiavelli wrote his own version of the story , as a terza rima poem . In the 20 th Century , T . E . Lawrence carried a small copy of the " Golden Ass " in his saddlebags all through the Arab Revolt . It was Lawrence who first introduced the book to his friend Robert Graves , who later translated the work . In April 1999 , the Canadian Opera Company produced an operatic version of the " Golden Ass " , the libretto for which was written by celebrated Canadian author Robertson Davies . In 2002 , Shakespeare 's Globe theatre for the first time rehearsed the drama The Golden Ass or the Curious Man ( starring Mark Rylance as Lucius ) written by Peter Oswald after Apuleius ' novel , while performing A Midsummer Night 's Dream during the same season , thus showing connections , and how Shakespeare used ancient literature as a source for his comedy ( Bottom accidentally being transformed into an ass ) . 
3 . Chariton - Callirhoe ( 1 st century BCE to 1 st century CE ) . Buy it At Amazon UK or US . Review Francisco : Firstly as a disclaimer , I am calling it Callirhoe and not Chaireas and Kallirhoe because the introduction to my version makes quite a convinving case for why that should be its title ... read it if you want to know more . Well , this was an interesting read , mostly because of how modern it reads and how easy a read it is when compared to Ovid for example . In fact this was a very popular light read of the ancient world . The kind of stuff they ' d sell at the Triremeport bookstores . " I ' ll have a tzatziki sandwich and a Callirhoe to spend some time between Ithaca and Corfu " , I hear echoing down the ages . Actually It is a quite short novel as well as a light one . Callirhoe is a very funny book , but in a very unintentional way . It is basically a melodrama , but one which takes things to such a level of pathos that you can't help but snigger all the way through the book . The suicide attempts and near death experiences of Chaireas are particularly funny , as he is always very disappointed wit the fact that he survives . Also extremely funny is the notion that Callirhoe is a woman who has a very sad life by the fact that every one who looks at her falls in love with her , making for some overly dramatic moments where she bemoans her good looks . The pacing of the novel itself is very fast , and this is helped by the great amounts of direct dialogue in the novel , making the plot flow along nicely . It was an easy read then and so it is now , and I think the merit of this goes to the translation which managed to put a 2000 year old book in a register somewhat similar to the one that the literate greek would get from it . Definitely worth a read . Vanda : Well , that was interesting ! It 's not everyday that I ' m rooting for the hero of a book to die , already ! , you and your revoltingly annoying little oh - poor - me - I ' m - so - beautiful twit of a wife . I ' m sure the Other Half has already given you some plot details ( remember , we 're not discussing the books until after the reviews are written ) , so I ' ll save you having to read them twice . Let me put it this way - if you enjoy pulpy , overly dramatic stories , you ' ll love this one . If you have no patience for teeth - gnashingly absurdly over the top chest beating , hair tearing , and suicide attempting then steer well clear of this book . Yes , I ' m aware I can't be post - modern and judge this work by contemporary standards , but I ' m also aware that I genuinely didn't like it . What made Cisco laugh ( probably ) made me roll my eyes in annoyance . There wasn't one character that I liked , or even warmed to throughout the book . The plot isn't really that interesting although it advances quickly when Callirhoe isn't screaming the shopping list of abuse that befell her ( really , she keeps doing this ) , and since the book is mostly dialog , and is also mercifully quite short , so you can easily read through it in a couple of days . This could probably be turned into a successful shoujo manga . Final Grade Francisco 7 / 10 Vanda 3 / 10 Trivia The fun bit ! : The novel exists in only one ( unreliable ) manuscript from the 13 th century , and was not published until the 18 th century . Editions by J . P . D ' Orville ( 1783 ) , G . A . Hirschig ( 1856 ) and R . Hercher ( 1859 ) ; there is an ( anonymous ) English translation ( 1764 ) ; see also E . Rohde , Der griechische Roman ( 1900 ) . There is now a recent ( 1995 ) translation in the Loeb series , and a translation by B . P . Reardon in his anthology Collected Ancient Greek Novels ( 1989 ) ISBN 0 - 520 - 04306 - 5 . The main characters are soooooooooooooooooo annoying ! 
2 . Ovid - Metamophoses ( composed year 2 - 8 ce ) . Buy it Amazon : US or UKReview Francisco : Okay , this should probably have been read in Latin , and mine is a bit rusty . Well too rusty for epic poetry anyway , I can probably read shopping lists ... Ovid writes an encyclopedia of mythology in this book , connecting some 250 stories chronologically into one single story . It starts with the creation of the world and ends with the apoteosis of Julius Caesar . Ovid was an interesting guy , and in his writing there is no squemishness , the fight scenes are like a gore film . When Actaeon gets shred to pieces by his dogs after seeing the naked Artemis bathing for example . Or in several hunt scenes or battle involving Perseus where he basically kills everyone by turning them to stone in a completely disproportionate display of power . Power , along with metamorphosis , is the theme of the book itself . Power , and more important misuse of power . If I took anything away from this book it was than whenever any one or any god got a bit of power they completely fucked up . Even the supposedly heroic stories come across are barbaric acts of abuse . Even so , it reads as a very proper epic poem . It works within its formal constraints etc.. and Ovid himself comes off as a cynical narrator , as he never condems what are clearly random acts of violence , rape , vengance and so on . He does it in dead - pan style . The reader is the one that winces . This is , until you reach the last book , where Pythagoras has a monologue , which seems to state the author 's point of view . But you ' ve already endured 9 / 10 ths of the book by then . Actually this is really what I found more interesting in the book , much more than the metamorphosing quality of all the tales . Which seem to demonstrate obvious moral points more than anything . Vanda : First of all , I ' m sorry this review took so long - it was entirely my fault . There were times where I loved this book , and other times when I was so tired of it I didn't pick it up for days . It 's one of those experiences where if you actually start something , you enjoy it . It 's the starting again that is problematic . I loved this book because I love mythology , and the Roman Gods in particular were my passion as a child - it made , in my mind , more sense in terms of worldview that the gods were flawed , and cruel , and liked tricking or helping mortals according to their mood . Now , this might have had a heavy influence on the reviewing of Metamorphoses : I knew most of the stories , I already loved most of the " characters " , and so I did love the book . It is , however , bloody long . If you think you can manage to multitask , keep it by your bedside , and read it intermitently with other books . You ' ll laugh , you ' ll cry , you ' ll be surprised at the graphic descriptions of violence in battles and brawls , and you ' ll start looking at birds differently ( well , trees and other animals too , but especially birds ) . If you are a Neo - Pagan , pay attention - you ' ll enjoy this and will wonder why the hell you haven't read this book before . If you 're vegetarian , you ' ll be able to start sentences with " Yes , well , but as Ovid puts it in the last book of the Metamorphoses ... " which will undoubtedly earn you some points in cafe converstaions . I promise I ' ll try to get through the next books a lot quicker - and get Cisco off my back for 5 minutes .. Final Grade Francisco : 7 / 10 Vanda : 7 / 10 Trivia GORE GORE GORE ! Yay ! Romans made perversion like no one else ... From Wikipedia : Augustus banished Ovid in AD 8 to Tomis on the Black Sea for reasons that remain mysterious . Ovid himself wrote that it was because of carmen et error " a poem and a mistake " ( Tr. 2.207 ) . The error itself is uncertain . Ovid may have had an affair with a female relative of Augustus , or withheld knowledge of such an affair . The carmen , however , is probably his Ars Amatoria , a didactic poem offering amatory advice to Roman men and women , which had been in circulation for several years . 
1 . Aesop - Aesop 's Fables ( first edition 4 BCE ) . Buy it At Amazon UK or US Review Francisco : Fun little booky . Strangely enough I knew about 90 % of the very short tales contained in this book . You 're brought up on them , at least in Portugal . But disregarding that and looking at the book with non - 5 year old eyes I have to say it is an interesting bit of storytelling . Firstly , the tales are not all written by the same person . This happens with all these ancient collections but it is completely obvious in the Fables . There are stories which are all about freedom from oppression and bringing down the system , while others are all about upholding the Status Quo ( not the band , which is probably contemporary to Aesop ) . Of course , lefty as I am I find the " stick it to the man stories " much more interesting . In terms of form , it 's the kind of book you read in one sitting , each story is usually less than a page long and there 's about 203 of them . All stories end with a little moral teaching , either explicit in italics or implicit , some of them however just look they were written by a shroom - head . And it 's not all about talking animals either . There 's stories about people and even some about inanimate speaking objects . All in all , an easy read that is readily available everywhere ( kind of copyright free ) and that won't make you lose to much time reading it . Vanda : We all grew up with these stories , in one version or another , so it was no big surprise that I already knew most of them . I had never read them in the " original " format ( no such thing , I ' m aware , but indulge me ) , however , and what DID surprise me was how condensed they originally are . There are no embellishments , or any kind of back story - the tales are simply presented in a way that they get as quickly as possible to the moral lesson it was meant to convey . Some of them made me go " ah , yes , how true " , some of them are quite pedestrian in their obviousness , and some of them make me believe that mushrooms were in plentiful supply when of the penning of some of the tales . Some have contradictory morals , and a fairly big percentage are only concerned with perpetuating the status quo , in the " stick to your place in life , stop being uppity " sense . The best ones , however , and the most probable to have actually been written by Aesop ( if there are indeed any ) are the ones which concern personal freedom , and the sillyness and cruelty of authority figures . It has to be read , I think . It gains a new dimension with age a better understanding of human nature that comes with it . Final Grade 6 / 10 Francisco 6 / 10 Vanda ( how original ) Trivia The number of the tales is uncertain it goes form 55 in some versions to 359 in the biggest available one . I read the Penguin one , which contains 203 . For the heck of it , a William Caxton published tale ( first version in English ) here you go : Men ought not to leue that thynge whiche is sure & certayne / for hope to haue the vncertayn / as to vs reherceth this fable of a fyssher whiche with his lyne toke a lytyll fysshe whiche sayd to hym / My frend I pray the / doo to me none euylle / ne putte me not to dethe / For now I am nought / for to be eten / but whanne I shalle be grete / yf thow come ageyne hyther / of me shalt thow mowe haue grete auaylle / For thenne I shalle goo with the a good whyle / And the Fyssher sayd to the fysshe Syn I hold the now / thou shalt not scape fro me / For grete foly hit were to me for to seke the here another tyme . Wasn't that fun ? Can you tell that we ' d talked about the book before we reviewed it ? We have just now made the decision that we will not discuss the book before the next review . But hey ! Great minds .... 
Intro . I bought a book called 1001 Books You Must Read Before you Die : You too can buy it at Amazon US or UKWell in the now long established tradition of 1001 albums and 1001 flicks I ' ll do the same for books ! yay ! Should be finished in 80 years ! But this one will be different . It will actually be in two voices . Both me and my girlfriend will read the books and give two reviews for each . So under Francisco are my reviews and under Vanda are her 's ... get it ? You will . 
Jiao : Compound Defense and Attack . Eureka ! That move I said was confounding me ? I ' ve figured out a place for it in my map of the 13 cuts ! The final two deadly techniques will be considered compound actions in my theory of Tai Chi . That is , they are not a single move , but they are a couple moves strung together that may be so common in use that they are considered core techniques in Tai Chi . Hopefully my explanations will support the theory . There 's a creative pleasure that comes from deciphering martial arts. It might be similar to what sleuths feel when they 're closing in on the perpetrator of a crime or what a scientist feels like when they are unravelling a technical conundrum . Is it a mental analog for hunting ? For me it feels like when you get a case of the giggles when you 're in the library ; you 're trying to keep your composure , but the idea is bubbling up from inside you and you are fighting the impulse to overflow into the quiet civility around you . The first of the two moves is Jiao , or wrapping . Earlier , I talked about Dian and Pi as long - ranged attacks . I propose that when you 're using the long ranged attacks , a very desirable target is your opposite 's sword hand . It 's probably the part of their body that 's closest to you , and if you deliver a good hit to their hand , you ' ll probably seriously impair their ability to fight . So you 're minding your own business and your opposite goes for your hand . First , get your hand out of the way . Move your hand six inches to the right or left so their blade just misses . As you move your hand , set up your counterattack by dropping your blade tip down to the level of your opposite 's wrist . Now , with a small turn and arc of the hand , draw the tip of your blade across the hand or wrist of your opposite . The motion you trace in the air with your hand for the whole move might look like a letter D on it 's flat side if you cut by going over their hand . If you went under , it would be a D on it 's round side like a bowl . 
Jie : Way of the Intercepting Sword . I tend to be very reductionist in my learning . I try to figure out that the smallest reasonable unit of knowledge is for a subject I ' m studying and then try to group things into small , conceptual sets . For example , of the 13 cuts of Tai Chi Sword , I ' ve broken them down into eight attacks , three parries , and two add - on or miscellaneous techniques . Yet of the eight attacks , I tend to think of five of them as useful core techniques . Of those five , two are first - choice long range techniques , and three are middle range techniques . See if you can sort them out based on what you ' ve read about them . When I get beyond the core ideas , I tend to ask myself why bother expanding ? Every additional idea should add value to the whole , and we should resist adding things indiscriminately . Now we 're getting into the reeds a bit with the next three attacks . I left these out when I was describing the other attacks because they 're a little more special purpose and they 're also a little harder to use . You might call them advanced attacks . One of them , which I will describe last of these three , is particularly weird and I ' m still not sure how it fits into the pantheon of moves we 're learning . So you have some attacks and some defenses . You can move on your feet and you 're developing a good feel for position , distance and timing . Time to pull out the gutsy moves that get you bonus points during the battle . Next time your opposite winds up for a swing , either because they 're slower than you or they 're wasting energy on a big windup , hit them with Jie . Jie means to " intercept . " Imagine if you will a baseball player ready to take a swing at a fastball . Now imagine that the fastball is you and your organs are the strike zone . Now imagine that the bat is sharp . As the player takes his swing , what if you could just put out your sword so that as he moves his wrist crashes into the front edge of your blade ? You wouldn't have to do very much work and the player would probably be handless , putting him at a distinct disadvantage against your next move . This move may exemplify the saying " the kung fu man does not strike first , but hits first . " . 
You missed me ya , ya , ya ! Alright . Bad joke . Here we are at the third and final block of Tai Chi Sword . This might feel weird to you who know martial arts or fencing . In Wing Chun , there 's probably six core blocks and then a dozen additional ones . In foil fencing there are nine parries . How can Tai Chi get away with just three ? I think other systems are more mechanistic about they way they define their defenses . In fencing , you have high inside parry with palm up ( Parry 4 ) , high inside parry with palm down ( Parry 3 ) , high ourside parry with palm up ( Parry 6 ) , etc. In Tai Chi , I ' ve approached each of the techniques in a more generalized sense . Instead of high block left , high block right , high block with drooping wrist , high block with point toward the sky , etc. , we have one energy concept : carry their attack high enough to miss . Let me remind you that I ' m aiming to get to a place where I can use the gim and the general methods of the Tai Chi Sword . My interpretations may be totally non - cannonical or just plain wrong . However , if it helps us get some useful perspective on the weapon and fighting style for our own training , I think that 's valuable . My thinking on Dai ( Carrying ) is that it represents a preference for the energy of the parry while disregarding the actual move used . This might be appropriate for a style that focuses on sensitivity and harmonization . The different shapes and positions you might get yourself into during an engagment might be so numerous that it 's impractical to try to name them all . Therefore , think of the idea of guiding your opposite 's blade into a harmless empty space , or carrying it to where you want it to go with a smooth , gentle contact not a harsh block or bounce between blades . Ya is the opposite of Dai . Ya means to press . It exploits the low bridge the same way the Dai exploits the high bridge to make your opposite 's blade too short to hit you . When executing the basic Ya , rotate your sword so that the front edge is facing away from you and the back edge ( thumb side ) is facing toward you an the blade is parallel to the floow as if you were going to put it on a table . Then simply press down . I prefer not to press beyond the level of my belt . If the attack is particularly low , I will bend at my knees to lower my blade and maintain balance rather than bending over . Execute to your preference . 
The Geometry of Bridging . Back when I took Wing Chun with Stanley Jue and Jerome Majeed , Stanley brought his wife to the school because he was instructing her on Wing Chun at home . Amy was a fiesty fighter , and I discovered one day while sparring against her that while I was more than a foot taller than her , she was definitely landing more hits on me than I expected . What 's more , I found that I was having a really hard time blocking her attacks ! What turns out to have been my disadvantage was geometry . While Amy could punch straight across at my stomach , I actually had to reach down to block her , causing my arms to be shorter and throwing off my timing against her . Let 's put it another way . You 're standing opposite someone of equal height and reach to you . If you reach out and just touch them with the tip of your fingers on the collar bone and they reach out for your belt , because of the angle they must cross , they will actually not be able to touch you . This is the bridging geometry principle we will use to our advantage with the high bridge parry called Dai . Dai means " carry " and we 're going to use it to carry high bridge attacks up and away from us . If your opposite thrusts for your face , they are probably attacking over your sword and raising their attack to form a high bridge . Let the tip of your sword drop and lift your hand so that the handle moves up and the blade of the sword kind of drags behind lazily . Meet your opposite 's blade with the flat of your blade and carry it into a higher bridge just over the top of your head . Adjust the angle so you don't just slip past them and still get stabbed in the face . I like about 45 degrees . You might also rock back a little as you do this . The shortening caused by the rising angle and you slight rock back will cause them to fall short ! When you become more practiced , try lifting their blade into the space next to your head and above your shoulders . You are now able to protect yourself from high bridge attacks with Dai ! 
Ge : The First Parry of Tai Chi Sword . In Chinese martial arts there 's this concept called Bridging . It 's a model for thinking about the options available when you are attempting to connect an attack or deal with an attack during a fight . When your opposite touches you , the connection between your bodies is called a bridge . You might think of bridging as having three flavors . If your opposite reaches out and touches you and their arm is parallel to the floor , that 's a level , or middle , bridge . If they reach out and touch you and their arm is rising as might be the case if they were shorter than you or touching the top of your head , that 's called a high bridge . If they reach out and their arm is descending like if they were reaching for your belt or if they were much taller than you , that 's called a low bridge . When thinking of defense , a rule of thumb is to draw a line from your shoulder to their elbow , and then follow that line for your block . Therefore , if someone is attacking you with a high bridge , an invisible line would probably go from your shoulder to the underside of their arm . You would therefore attempt some kind of block against the underside of their arm . For middle bridge you ' d block to the sides , and for low bridges you ' d block down . Simple , right ? The thinking behind bridging is that is gives you a reliable starting point to think of your attack and defense . The actual move you use and the energy you apply is up to you . With bridging in mind , we will learn the first of three parries in Tai Chi sword : Ge . Ge means " to block . " In my interpretation of Tai Chi sword , it is a mid - level block , used to deflect attacks aimed roughly between your collar bones and your belt . Here 's how the great sword choreographer Anthony De Longis explains it : Imagine that you are in a doorway . Take a step backwards so that the frame is just in front of you . Now , as attacks come at you , gently sweep each attack with the flat of your blade just enough to the side so that the attack hits the door frame . Cool , huh ? Anthony De Longis can be seen fencing against Jet Li and his gim in the opening of Fearless . 
The Will to Live . There 's this movie you should see if you want to understand the practical underpinnings of Chinese martial arts : its called To Live . Plot summary is this : rich landowners lose everything and then some during the communist revolution in China , and in the end they 're grateful . They 're not grateful for all the terrible things that happen to them , but they are grateful that they 're still alive . I like to think of Chinese martial arts like that . In Japanese martial arts , you can see from the way many of them practice their techniques that in their martial art , it 's okay to get killed as long as you slay your opponent . Honor and victory are revered above personal safety . In Chinese life though , you have disease , raiders , invaders , natural disaster , manmade disaster , your own government , incompetence and bad luck trying to kill you on a daily basis . Therefore , the primary goal isn't to demonstrate one 's skill or to uphold the honor of a lord who feels no loyalty to you , but to make it home to your family alive and in one piece . Therefore , you should be strong and disciplined , but also open to all conceivable possibilities that may lead you to survival during a fight . Some might call certain options cheating . I tend to think of it a good sense . The connection to the 13 techniques of Tai Chi and the concept of Duifang is that you should throw out your dogma and rigid techniques , and move with the informed fluidity of wisdom , discipline , and intent to win . ( A taoist might say skip the intent to win part . Up to you . ) . 
Duifang ! You burst into the hallway , hot on the heals of the six - fingered man . Blocking your path , you see a swarthy swordsman dressed all in black leathers with a scar across one cheek and a fierce - looking sword at the ready . He raises his sword and beckons . Do you : Rush him and run him through , counting on your superior speed and training to win the match ? ( Turn to page 9 ) Wait for him to attack and defly finish him with a well - placed counter attack ? ( Turn to page 13 ) Find a new way to follow the six - fingered man ? ( Turn to page 22 ) Test your opponent , taking a moment to understand him even though the six - fingered man is putting distance between you ? ( Turn to page 49 ) I ' m going to take a brief break from describing my thoughts on deadly techniques to go on a tangent on fighting philosophy . With five blade techniques in hand , next I ' m going to teach the three basic defenses before continuing with the final five advanced techniques . First , we 're going to learn a new word : Duifang . Scott Rodell writes about this word in his Tai Chi Sword book , and he describes the word as meaning opposite . In a duel , you might have an opponent , but in Tai Chi ( which subscribes to a possibly more developed sense of energy ) insead of an opponent you have an opposite . The intent , motion , and energy of your opposite must be met with the perfectly matched response . I ' m not going to say harmony because then everyone would try to be soft and squishy when duelling . The fact is , sometimes speed and power are the appropriate ways to win the day . Sometimes they 're not . Hard , soft , fast , slow , bold or deceptive , use the technique that best matches the moves of your opponent and that will end the fight in your favor in the shortest amount of time with the least injury to yourself . In my opinion , that is the best use of Duifang . 
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Am I better off on my own ??? " Pieces " I tried to be perfect But nothing was worth it I don t believe it makes me real I thought it d be easy But no one believes me I meant all the things I said If you believe it s in my soul I d say all the words that I know Just to see if it would show That I m trying to let you know That I m better off on my own This place is so empty My thoughts are so tempting I don t know how it got so bad Sometimes it s so crazy That nothing can save me But it s the only thing that I have If you believe it s in my soul I d say all the words that I know Just to see if it would show That I m trying to let you know That I m better off on my own On my own I tried to be perfect It just wasn t worth it Nothing could ever be so wrong It s hard to believe me It never gets easy I guess I knew that all along If you believe it s in my soul I d say all the words that I know Just to see if it would show That I m trying to let you know That I m better off on my own Sum 41 . 
Spam . Si vous voyez des commentaires sur mon blog dans le genre : Greets to the webmaster of this wonderful site ! Keep up the good work . Thanks . C ' est de la marde . Du spam . a dirige vers un Casino virtuel . Je vais tenter de tout effac pcq a m ' nerve ... 
Gear plan for Saturday . No word back from the Georges Island people on possible use of their power so I ' m going to proceed with the QRP plans , at least for now . Even though the QRP stuff is smaller than the 100 watt outfit , there will still be a significant amount of stuff I ' ll need to wrestle on to the island . Here 's a rundown as I ' m considering it now : Shelter -- This is a pop - up screened in area that will keep the sun off of me during my stay . Just as I did in June , I ' ll pop this thing over a picnic table and make that my operating position . The shelter weighs about 10 pounds and collapses into a roughly three foot diameter flat bundle that hangs nicely in a nylon mesh carrying sack . Rig -- I ' ll bring the Pelican 1510 case outfitted with the Elecraft K 2 . This weighs in under 25 pounds , I think . Big Buddipole -- The Big Buddipole system discussed earlier weighs in at 12 pounds and can be slung over my shoulder . It has the tripod , 16 foot mast , and now has the triple ratio balun tucked into it so it won't be left behind like last time . Backpack -- This will hold my solar panel , charge controller , coax , enough water to last the day , a clipboard and paper for logging , compass , GPS , sunglasses , reading glasses , and any other personal comfort items I think I might need for that day in the sun . ( I should think about packing a lunch , too . ) Total weight here is probably about 10 pounds , counting the water . Freeplay Freecharge Weza -- This is the portable power device I mentioned a few days ago . This puts my weight about ( 10 + 25 + 12 + 10 + 20 = ) 77 pounds for the trip , well within my goal of 100 pounds or less . I might bring the second Buddipole and set it up for a second band ( like 15 m ) which would add just under 10 more pounds with coax . The problem on this trip won't be weight ; it will be managing the bulk and clutter ! Luckily , I just need to get it to the boat , on the boat , and then off the boat again on the other end . There is pavement for me to drag the wheeled Pelican case for nearly all of the trip . This is a pretty reasonable selection of gear for a day trip of this type . The Buddipole gives me a way of erecting an antenna in an area with no trees or buildings . The battery in the K 2 and the Weza gives me enough juice to operate for the day . And , I ' ve not forgotten the safety stuff like plenty of water , sunscreen , and shade to stave off heat and sun stroke . If I can wrangle everything there , it should be a good time ! 
Georges Island IOTA contest QTH . I just got a call from a ranger associated with Georges Island asking me about my request to operate from the island and use a little power off their generator . ( I discussed some of this in a previous blog entry ) . No promises were made but he seemed interested in helping . One of the questions he had for me was , " did I belong to a club ? " I replied , " Yes , I belong to the Yankee Clipper Contest Club , along with several other organizations including the service club in Westford called PART . " The other question he had regarded my antenna . My intention is to use my Buddipole systems on the island . ( No word yet on the Force - 12 Sigma - 5 . ) When I described the system you could sense the relief in his voice . The Buddipole is compact , reasonably small , and easy to describe : there is a tripod , a 16 - foot mast , and the antenna fits on top of the mast either horizontal or , perhaps , vertical , depending on how I set it up . I made it clear I was coming this weekend no matter what and that I ' d operated from there before with battery power . I also dropped a few details that the RSGB has on their IOTA pages and the fact that fewer than 25 % of the members have Georges Island in their logs . I ' d be sought after ( I hope ) . I don't know what will happen . Perhaps the answer will come back as " sorry " . No matter what happens , I ' m very pleased that somebody followed up on my request and took the time to talk with me . Cross your fingers ! 
Business cards and more . I solved the business card / eyeball - QSL problem . Sunday afternoon I took a few minutes and created a nice business card in Photoshop using my logo . I dropped off the artwork to a printer Monday morning and picked up the results this afternoon . The low resolution version below doesn't do it justice . I ' ll have them in my pocket at Boxboro so if you want one , ask . In other news I got a really great note from Dave ( KB 1 LKE , a fellow who started following the blog after it was featured on the ARRL Surfin ' page . Dave pitched in with lots of observations and links that were very helpful ! In case my mission here gets lost , let me repeat it : I believe anybody who is interested in traveling with the radio should try it . If you find information here that helps your first adventure be successful , I ' d be very pleased indeed . I ' ll share my experiences , good and bad , and my victories and goof - ups . Feel free to share your insights , too . Hopefully , anyone reading this will benefit from all of it . Thanks again , Dave ! 
A boat ! I had left my business cards with a couple of folks on Saturday while in Miami in hopes that somebody would help me locate a boat that would be willing to take me and a few other brave souls to Cay Sal Bank . When I arrived a work today ( Monday ) I had a voice mail from Lindsay Davis at the Florida Yacht Charters & Sales office saying she had something for me . That sounded tantalizing ! I just got a chance to call her back about 5 PM and she said that she had located a boat with somebody willing to take a group to Cay Sal . The boat is an 85 - foot Hatteras that had just gone through a $ 700 K refit . A boat that might be similar appears below ( or not similar , I know nothing about boats ) : The boat would be $ 3000 per day . Plus , I ' m sure , some gratuity for the captain of about 15 % more . So , figure 8 days and the budget will need about $ 28 K for the boat . Wow . That 's a lot . For a six person crew that would be $ 5 K a head . For a four person crew ( my original idea ) that would be $ 7 K a head ! The last group had a 55 foot troller and ( though I can't find it in my notes ) put up about $ 12 K for the trip . That was when diesel was about half the cost it is now , of course . That has to be factored in , but doesn't explain the differential . I am thinking as I type and I have a couple of observations . The first one is I don't need a boat that makes me feel like Onassis when I ' m getting to this island . Linsay was talking about plasma TVs , state rooms , circular couches that seat 20 , etc. That 's not what we 're looking for here . The second one is even more simple : this boat is almost twice the size of the one the other fellows chartered so I ' m almost certainly looking at too much boat ! All that said , I ' m extremely encouraged that in only a half day 's worth of digging I was able to find somebody interested in making the trip . Also , the good folks at Florida Yacht have done a very good thing by treating me politely during my visit then quickly locating what I asked for . I didn't set a price range as part of my criteria so they contacted me with the first thing that fit the facts as they had them . I should now think though how much I think is reasonable to spend on this part of the exercise and follow up with Florida Yacht . I might make another call to Joe ( W 8 GEX ) first , though . 
Miami trip wrap - up . Yesterday 's hunt for a boat went a little better than I had expected . I checked out of the hotel and drove to the Miami Marina about 11 AM . From there I just started looking for anybody who charters . The first place I saw was Reward Party & Fishing . Behind the window was Captain Wayne Conn. I explained I was looking for a charter to Cay Sal Bank and did he know of anybody who might be able to help me ? He nodded and said of course he knew where that was and that he has known of people taking fishing expeditions down there . But , his firm didn't have anything appropriate for such a trip . I gave him my business card and wrote " crazy ham radio operator " on the back . He gave me his card and said he ' d check around . I ' ll follow up with him in a week or so . It occurred to me that I should probably have business cards made up with the " 100 pound DXpedition " logo , my home address , email , phone , call sign , etc. on it . I ' ll likely make one up later today . I walked a few paces and found Florida Yacht Charters & Sales and the General manager Bob Everhard . Bob said that he remembered another group a few years ago making the same kind of inquiries about Cay Sal Bank . He seemed pretty positive about being able to find somebody to help but thought it might be more of a 10 day to 2 - week trip , not the 7 days I had mentioned . ( I reflected on this after the meeting and I believe he has a point . ) Again , we exchange cards and I write " crazy ham radio operator " on the back of mine . After the second successful meeting ( IMHO ) I took a walk around the marina and looked at all the boats . There were certainly some beauties there ! Which of them might be appropriate for this trip , I wondered ? On the end of the public pier I see the price of diesel fuel advertised on the pump . Of course it has gone up considerably since the last group made its run at Cay Sal . How much will this increase the cost of the trip ? At this point I ' m getting a little warm so I go look for some air conditioning . I find Hopkins & Carter Marine . As I step inside the store I see a display case full of marine radios . I ' ve been wondering how to do the island - to - boat communication and this probably makes the most sense . I should learn more about this when I return to Boston ( yet another to do item ) . Once I ' d cooled off a bit and found a cool bottle of water to down , I began walking towards the ocean . This morning 's conversations gave me a great deal to think about . Should I try something more modest in that area before making the Cay Sal Bank trip ? Perhaps I should try a place like Dry Tortugas 70 miles west of Key West . Would I do this run with the same team going to Cay Sal ? Should these trips be in two separate years ? The quick walk to the water was refreshing but the sun was beating down hard . I had a few hours before I had to make my flight -- time enough to walk along the surf but no time for swimming . After walking along the water 's edge and taking some pictures I noticed a storm front on the horizon moving towards me . Time to go ! I hustled back to the marina and reached it just as the sky opened up . Good time for lunch , I thought , and settled into a seat at Monty 's Raw Bar for some fish & chips . ( MMM good ! ) When I was finished with lunch I headed off for the airport for that 2 1 / 2 hour flight back to Boston . We ' ll see what becomes of my inquiries . 
Doing my search the " old fashioned way " . Well , I came up empty again . In last night 's post I ' d indicated that I ' d waited until the last minute to " do my homework " and locate potential candidate boat chartering companies . In actual fact , I had spent many hours over the last few weeks googling around looking for matches for things like " florida boat charter " and " hollywood florida yacht charter " and every other combination you might think would work . All I would come up with is one day fishing adventures , cocktails and shrimp cruises for my business clients , and small - boat scuba diving tours . I am such a hopeless nerd and I am so used to finding anything and everything on the web that it didn't occur to me that I might have to get out there and beat the pavement to find what I ' m looking for , but it appears that will be the case . So , I ' m going to finish packing , check out , stalk the wild breakfast , and then head to the docks and just start asking around . Of course , something else just occurred to me just now : I wonder how long it will take the DEA to hear about my inquiries and make the ( obviously false ) assumption that I ' m trying to get this boat for some nefarious reason . [ sigh ] I guess I ' ll cross that bridge when I get to it . 
Doing my homework the night before . As the meeting here in Florida was winding up the group began the usual chatter of " when does your flight leave ? " and , if leaving tomorrow , " what 's on tap for tonight ? " I tried to recruit folks to join me tonight at the Florida Marlins game but could get no takers . Tonight 's game was excellent . I also chatted to the stragglers left in the meeting ( those that were not sprinting out the door for the airport ) about tomorrow 's task of learning about the boat charter situation for my Cay Sal Bank adventure . There were no other hams in the group ( the only lapsed ham was one of those doing the airport sprint ) so I got a lot of blank stares and " you must be nuts " looks . I probably am . [ grin ] I ' m up late on Friday night surfing for candidates for tomorrow 's trip up the coast . I ' ve not really done enough research and I ' ll be scrambling tonight and early tomorrow morning to find possible charter companies to talk to -- but I have no regrets going to the ball games . I ' ll post the list that I come up with . 
I Don't Like You and Here is Why . $ 1 Beers ? You evil bastards ! Why didn't you make it $ 2 beers ? Then no one would have shown up and I would haver to stare at veloci - floosies all night !!! The title to this blog has a link to a funny article . Ciao . 
1:55 AM . Once again I return from the Ottobar fully unsatisfied . The music was shit while the company was good . Oh well . I feel like bitching tonight . I got a job offer today for a company down in Chevy Chase , MD . While I think it would be hilarious to work in a place that shares a name with a crap actor , I would like the money . All $ 30,000 of it , thank you very much . But I am holding back and going to school . Isn't that what Democrats wants us to do ? In order to fulfill the American Dream ? The American Dream is dead . It used to be get a job , work hard and get promoted , marry a nice girl and buy a house . Now all the girls are overeducated and the cost of housing is through the roof . I am not saying Republicanism is going to save us . Definitely not . i was at artscape this weekend and saw the ole T - shirt saying " stop bitching and start a revolution . " So true . We all have the right to bitch but we all have the right to do something about it and yet we don't . Politicians aren't going to do it so it is either you or me . Some people think these guys known as the Minutemen are crazy but I give them props . Sure they have left whatever it is that they do ( and I wonder ) to go guard our border with guns in order to keep out illegal immigrants . It is only a matter of time before some wacko ( percieved wacko ) comes along and does soemthing drastic and it will catch on and soon , America will crumble . I love my country because that is why we were founded . A bunch of radical dudes got together and took their lives into their own hands and stopped relying on England . I you want to make a change , just look at yourself and make that ---- change ! MJI am going to pass out now ..... 
Another Blog . I found yet another blog about architecture and architects . There are some great definityions on the banner side of the page that defines things quite well . I would be a designer / cad monkey . 
Artscape and Crabs . Yes , it was a quiet one out here in the burbs . I ventured inland to the Artscape Festival . I have not been to Artscape in some time but I was suprised to see how commercialized it became . What was once a hippy dippy gathering of the bohemian element of Baltimore has now grown into a sort of city fair with ferris wheels , corporate sponsors and live rock acts . I am not trying to be one of these " it was cool back in the day " people . It still is cool . I bought a photo of the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh so I guess I have supported the local arts scene . But $ 6 for a beer is extortion . At least I saw a Saturn Sky . This one was white . So far I have one in red , white , silver and black . So far I like black the best . Oh I ate crabs two nights in a row . Hence the title . Ciao . 
The Libertine . I saw the Johhny Depp movie last night so my post will be ye Olde English Upon waking this humid and oppressive morn , I went yonder to a cafe to wake my soul from slumber . After procuring my beverage of coffee and not ale , I sees me a carraige of some retort known as a Porsche Cayman S . I find it to be a good ride but it filled me with grief that man finds more joy in the engine that speaks nothing than the loins of a whore . A thousand Caymans could not replace the true desire for flesh . So I spat upon yon Cayman and left that wanker and poof behind . 
The Signal . My Public radio has this show called " The Signal . " I have only listened to it once and it wasn't very good . The subject of the shows are always about some wanker . This week is about rap battles . I saw 8 Mile , thank you . The show annoys me in that oozy soft NPR sort of way . Don't get me wrong . I am not going to flip on Rush or anything , but I would rather listen to news . In other news , Tiger Woods dominates again !!!! 
The American Dream . http : // www . npr . org / templates / story / story . php ? story Id = 5569913 Kevin Smith has made a sequel to his him cult film that captures a day in the life of two " slackers . " In this interview on NPR , he makes a good point about the American dream and what each person wants and needs . Check it out . 
July 27 , 1906 ( Friday ) . COULD THIS PUNISHMENT HAVE BEEN MORE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL ? As mentioned yesterday , William Lee , a 17 - year - old black boy also known as George Scott , was hung until he died Thursday morning on a marshy shore of Smith Island in Somerset County at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay . ( Smith Island is southeast of Solomon 's Lump Light ( right ) . ) The Washington Post called the hanging " a spectacle unique in the execution of the death penalty . " Lee , who was convicted in Baltimore of assaulting two white women in Somerset County , was returned to Somerset County by steamer so the death sentence could be carried out near the scene of the crime . Because officials were worried that a mob would grab Lee and burn him , they decided to bring a gallows on the boat and hang the boy secretly in that county . The ship anchored in Kedges Strait about a quarter mile off shore . Then , Lee had to watch workers row the scaffold to the shore and build it there . When it was built , they brought Lee ashore . Then they discovered that someone had left some straps on the ship . So Lee had to sit in the shadow of his own gallows as someone rowed back to the steamer for the straps . Furthermore , the ship 's iron ladder -- which was brought ashore -- was not tall enough to reach the platform of the gallows . So , deputies had to pull him up by his handcuffed wrists so he could reach the platform . They dropped his body at 8:25 a.m. He was declared dead 18 minutes later . A COURTROOM SCENE TO REMEMBER : During a wife - beating trial in East St. Louis yesterday , Magistrate Mc Kane grew annoyed by a conversation being held by two spectators . They were evidently speaking about music because the judge noticed quite a bit of humming . The judge then called the hummers -- Silas Chapin and Alexander Flannigan -- before him . He demanded an explanation . Flannigan told the judge that the two men were recalling some of their favorite tunes from their church - choir days . The judge ordered them to PROVE TO THE COURT that they could actually SING church hymns , or else he would charge them with contempt of court . The duo then turned and sang " Shall We Gather at the River " the " In the Sweet Bye and Bye " and a doxology . The article in The Atlanta Constitution ends with this statement : " The court being satisfied of their musical abilities purged them of contempt and told them to sing outside of the court room . " Evidently nobody raised any of those nettlesome church / state issues . SISTER VISITS CHESTER GILLETTE : Chester Gillette , who 's accused of killing Grace Brown in Big Moose Lake , was visited yesterday by his younger sister , Hazel . She heard about the case on Tuesday while visiting in Connecticut and came to Herkimer , N . Y . , as soon as possible . She is on her way to Chicago and might go to Colorado to visit their mother . She is finishing her final year in high school . Chester reportedly told her , " Go back to school . Don't worry on account of me . Don't tell mother anything about the case . " The illustration of Chester shown here is pieced together from a couple of torn pages . The sketch is by Victor Lambdin . CHECK , MATE : Get a load of this suit . The ad in today 's Post - Standard is a bit ambiguous , but this one might cost $ 9.50 . That 's anywhere from $ 3 to $ 6 off the regular price . These suits are available worsteds , cheviots , serges and other cool summer fabrics . It might be good for vacation wear , the ad says . Or not . In any case , if you get a bit bored , at least you can take the jacket off , spread it on the floor and play a game of checkers . The store also has 21 dozen straw hats on hand . They cost 48 cents each . 
July 26 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . THEY ' LL HANG HIM LEGALLY -- TO PREVENT HIM FROM FALLING INTO THE HANDS OF THE LYNCH MOB , WHICH WANTS TO KILL HIM ILLEGALLY : William Lee was taken from jail in Baltimore yesterday and put on board the steamer Governor R . M. Mc Lane ( named for Robert Milligan Mc Lane ) of Maryland 's " oyster navy . " Lee , who is black , faces a death sentence because he assaulted two white women in Somerset County . He was taken to the safely of Baltimore after his arrest because a crowd threatened to lynch him . He was convicted in Baltimore and sentenced to die . But he is supposed to be executed in Somerset County . Authorities fear that a mob will prevent that from happening . Many people in Somerset County want to kill him in their own special way . So , police have put an entire gallows , a coffin and other material needed for a hanging on board the ship . As soon as it crosses into the waters of Montgomery County , the captain will look for a secluded spot on shore for the hanging . That will probably be early tomorrow morning . THEY THINK THEY HAVE FOUND GOSLIN IN PARIS : Alfred R . Goslin , noted scam artist , might have turned up in Paris . It turns out a Wall Street investigator who was sent to Paris to try and find Goslin traveled on the same steamer as a stenographer whom authorities have long suspected knew more about Goslin 's whereabouts than she let on . And who was waiting on the wharf at Le Havre to meet the steamer ? Goslin ! She and Goslin are living with his mother . Evidently the mother and son have reconciled since his first gambit -- when he chloroformed her and stole her jewelry many years ago . Goslin 's tale was told at length on April 8 in the Times . It seems that the authorities are trying to keep this new development somewhat secret . One interesting part of today 's front - page story in the Times lies in this sentence : He will hardly be aware that his hiding place is known until it is too late for him to execute one of his famous disappearances for which he has been famous in the police traditions of half a dozen cities on this side of the water . So , we wouldn't want something printed in The New York Times that would tip him off , now , would we ? HIGH - FLYING DOCTORS : About 5,000 people showed up yesterday to watch two physicians , Samuel Ottinger and T . Chalmers Fulton , go up in the balloon Orient so they could monitor how each other 's heart , lungs and blood operated at various altitudes . They said they reached a height of 20,000 feet , which is apparently quite a feat . The doctors said , it was the greatest height ever attained in the skies above American soil . It 's about as high as Mt . Mc Kinley ( Denali ) . 
July 25 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BABY LIONS : The two baby lions have been accounted for -- about two weeks after they disappeared mysteriously from an exhibit at Paragon Park ( above ) , which is on Nantasket Beach -- shown here in the photograph at right of an area at the mouth of Boston Harbor . It turns out that a 12 - year - old boy smuggled the two animals out of what 's called an " animal kindergarten " exhibit and tried to keep them in a shed at the summer colony at Point Allerton ( which is at the elbow at the upper end of the peninsula ) . The boy says he tucked them under his shirt and walked out . His parents found out about this when one of the lions died . The boy confesses . The parents have come forward and returned the living lion . The father also offered to pay any damages -- to avoid persecution ( and , presumably , having his son 's name published in the paper ) . The lions ' owners settled on $ 175 . Among the other animals in the exhibit are a monkey , two dachshunds and two rabbits . That has all the makings of a nice all - you - can - eat buffet for the returning lion ( after he or she grows up a bit ) . YOU MIGHT BE BETTER OFF AT THE BATES MOTEL : Anna Nolan , a worker at the Lauderdale Springs Hotel , which is 40 miles north of Meridian , Miss . , has been arrested . Police say she tried to poison the hotel 's proprietor , some guests and fellow workers . Allegedly , she added something called Rough On Rats to the coffee that was served on the evening of July 23 . The poison didn't do as much damage as she thought it might . Only two guests became ill . Those two unfortunates must have been the only rats in the group . QUOTE OF THE DAY : " Dol gone it , why don't you fellows look out ! You ' ll hurt somebody some day ! " -- That 's what farmer James Garth , 70 , of Webster Groves , Mo . , reportedly yelled at a train crew after he was hit by an engine and tumbled 15 feet down an embankment . The crew had stopped the train and offered to help him . He declined their offer . After the train took off , Garth continued his walk -- right down the middle of the train track . 
July 24 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . WOMAN RECALLS KINDNESS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON : About 15 years ago , Henry Ide was U.S. commissioner in Samoa . At the time , author Robert Louis Stevenson ( right ) lived there . One day Ide 's daughter , Annie , complained to the author about that fact that she was born on Christmas Day and wished she had another day for a birthday . The author promptly wrote up a legal - sounding document whereby he transfered to Annie his rights to his own birthday , which was on November 13 . The document was recently quoted in The Philadelphia North American -- and reprinted in at least one newspaper today -- because Annie Ide will shortly become the wife of Congresman Bourke Cockran of New York . The document written up by Stevenson is one one Ide 's treasured possessions . I don't have room to quote it all , but it 's really quite humorous . At one point , Stevenson says , " And considering that I , the said Robert Louis Stevenson , have attained an age when we never mention it , and that I have now no further use for a birthday of any description ... " It 's worth reading in its entirety . Before you start thinking that Stevenson was really , really old when he did this , he was only 40 years old at the time . His letter is dated June 19 , 1891 . He died in late 1894 . ROOTING FOR THEM DOWN THE HOME STRETCH : The Italian steamer Alberta Treves limped into the lower bay of New York harbor yesterday and shut down its engines and waited for the tugs America and Ferguson to push it into a berth . The ship left Almeria , Spain , on July 4 . It turns out that the trip across the Atlantic was so long and difficult that the ship ran out of coal for fuel . After burning all the wood and lumber on board ( including deck chairs ) for fuel , the captain had to search the cargo for something that could produce enough power -- any power -- to get the ship to NYC . The crew broke into the cargo and pulled out 10 large bales of licorice root ( right ) . That 's what got them as far as the lower harbor . HALT ! THIS IS THE POLICE ! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR ! STEP ... SLOWLY ... AWAY ... FROM THE DICTIONARY ! About 790 candidates recently took an examination for a spot on the Chicago police force . The test asked the candidates to define certain words that might come up during a police officer 's career . Here are some of the definitions : HOMICIDE : Leaving wife or children under 10 without a home . ALIBI : An additional name to a person . GAMING : Killing game without a license . PERJURY : Unjustly defaming the character of another . Needless to say , The New York Times was happy to put this on its front page . A KING ' S GOTTA DO WHAT A KING ' S GOTTA DO : The recently married King Alfonso XIII of Spain has evidently lost none of his boyish inclinations . A report with a Berlin dateline indicates that the king recently rode a horse up the stairs of the palace in Madrid and clop - clopped into his mother 's drawing room . She was reportedly so surprised that she fainted . 
July 23 , 1906 ( Monday ) . FINANCIER DIES : Russell Sage ( right ) , a fabulously rich financier and former Congressman died yesterday at his summer home on Long Island . He 's the one whom Henry P . Norcross tried to assassinate in 1891 . An article in today 's paper said Norcross walked into Sage 's office in New York City and demanded $ 1.2 million . Sage refused . Norcross then dropped a bomb on the floor . It " blew Norcross to atoms " and badly injured Sage . Sage was one of those men who began their careers at the bottom ( in his case , it was as a grocery clerk ) and rose to the top of the money - making pile . People estimate that his estate is worth $ 80 million or more . Many wonder what will happen to his money -- whether it will be used for good causes or not . GORKY SPEAKS OUT : Appleton 's magazine receently included some words from Russian Maxim Gorky . An excerpt appears in today 's Post - Standard . It 's noticable in light of the news of Sage 's death . Here 's a portion of what Gorky had to say : America , you who astound the world with your millionaires , look first to the children on the East Side [ of Manhattan ] , and consider the menace they hold out to you ! The boast of riches when there is an East Side is a stupid boast . 
July 22 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . LOOKING UP IN NYC : Today 's New York Times ' picture section includes this series of drawings that show plans for some remarkable buildings in New York City . Clockwise from the left , the images show the proposed Singer Building , something called the West Street Building , The Trinity and United States Realty Buildings , Building Number 1 Wall Street and two pictures ( inside and outside ) of the City Investing Co. Building . The little feature includes some interesting facts . For example the rent on EACH FLOOR of the 1 Wall Street building is expected to be $ 5,000 PER YEAR ! The 23 - story West Street Building could cost $ 2 million to build . SPREADING THE NEWS FAST IN ARGENTINA : I ' m not sure any of those buildings will be as stunning as the building that houses La Prensa , ( left ) one of the great papers in Buenos Aires , Argentina . Today 's Times has a little story about the tower on that building , which is crowned by a statue of a woman representing the Spirit of the Press . Evidently the tower has a 5,000 horse power steam - operated siren . Whenever there 's a huge disaster or death of a head of state , the siren blasts . The sound can be heard throughout the city . In addition to running the siren , the operator drapes the young woman 's torch with red velvet in the case of a catastrophe and with black cloth in the event of a death . The article says , " All this causes the most extraordinary sensation . " As soon as someone is ordered to run the siren and drape the torch , another employee is given the equivalent of $ 200 and rushes off to the courts . That happens because the government levies a fine for such a blast -- $ 100 a minute , with a minimum charge of $ 200 . WIRELESS COMMUNICATION : Civil War veteran Levi Fox has long been a character in Syracuse . Before the war , he was a crewman on one of the last slave ships to come to the United States . After the war , he was on duty in the Dry Tortugas where he helped guard some of the people who helped John Wilkes Booth assassinate President Lincoln . He 's in his 70 s . A couple of weeks ago he left town without telling his family exactly where he was going . From New York , he sent a post card to his family telling them he was heading for Brazil . Shortly thereafter , a friend in town received a parrot in the mail . It opened its mouth and said " Fox is in Brazil .. " The next message , sent to Fox 's wife , also came in the form of a parrot . When she opened the package , it said , " Fox is coming soon . " ( This is how a cartoonist in The Post - Standard in Syracuse envisioned it in today 's paper . ) He has since arrived . The family is with him in Boston . 
July 21 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . DRAMA AT THE EAST 22 ND STREET PIER : As the steamship Bridgeport ( right ) approached a pier in New York City yesterday morning , a carpenter named Bernard Bailey of Fairfield , Conn. , fell from the pier . The odds were high that he would either drown ( he couldn't swim ) or be crushed by the ship as it hove into the pier . That [ 's when two longshoremen stepped in . Martin Buckley wrapped his legs around an iron hawser bit and , holding Jeremiah Mc Carthy by the legs lowered him so he could grab the drowning carpenter . The carpenter , seeing that the steamer was only 15 feet away and closing in , didn't wait to be grabbed and hauled up . Instead he used the longshoremen as a ladder and scrambled up the length of their bodies . A patrolman showed up , reached over the side and grabbed Bailey 's collar and hauled him up to safety . Just after all three men scrambled to the top of the pier , the bow of the Bridgeport smacked into the side of the pier where Bailey had clung for his life moments earlier . The Washington Post adds , " The passengers on the Bridgeport cheered the rescue . " HE ' LL TAKE A DO - IT - YOURSELF APPROACH TO PRISON : Louis A . Gourdain is back in the news . He 's the one who was convicted of mail fraud but refuses to be incarcerated in the Cook County Jail . The warden at the penitentiary in Joliet refused to take him in . So , Gourdain tried to convince Supreme Court Justice Edward D . White ( right ) to help him out . That was fruitless . He 's in New York . He says he will approach the Supremes one more time . If that fails , he says he will return to Illinois and build his own prison , next to the Joliet facility . He will have his own warden , assistant warden and six guards . LONG ISLAND JUDGE TAKES A STAND : Magistrate Connorton got upset in Long Island City Police Court yesterday after officers of the Sanitary Squad arraigned three train engineers on a charge of using soft coal for fuel . Connorton wants the big , big , big bosses of the Long Island Railroad Company and similar enterprises to face the charges , not just the lowly engineers . Here 's what he 's reported to have said : Go and arrest half a dozen of the directors and bring them here . Stop arresting engineers and employees and get at those who are really responsible if the law is being violated .... Why not go over to Manhattan and arrest August Belmont ( left ) ? Take the millionaires into custody , not the workingmen , and bring them here and let the law deal with them . PEACE IN CENTRAL AMERICA : Representatives from Salvador , Guatemala and Honduras met on board the U.S. S . Marblehead and signed an agreement that ends their war in Central America . Mexico , represented by Senor Gambon , was helpful in pulling this one off . 
July 20 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . UP , UP , AND AWAY : The high - flying Alberto Santos - Dumont ( right ) began experiments yesterday in Paris with a new flying machine . This one is large . It 's 300 feet long and weighs about 320 pounds and is powered by a 24 - horsepower motor . It 's called the 14 - bis , and it 's similar to a box kite . Yesterday , he made flights with it as it was suspended from a balloon -- perhaps looking like the photo above . At a time approved by the Aero Club , he will try and fly his heavier - than - air machine without the aid of a balloon . As it happens , he is the perfect size for a flyer . I think he stands about 5 feet tall and weighs about 90 pounds . HE ' S SUFFERING FROM THIRD - DEGREE EMBARRASSMENT , TOO : William Stirling is probably quicker with the saw than he is with his brain . He is recovering at Philadelphia 's Samaritan Hospital with bruises on the head , shoulders and legs . He fell from a tree . But there 's more to it than that . Here 's how the front - page story in The Washington Post describes it : He forgot on which end of the limb of a tree to sit while sawing it off . Instead of taking his place next to the trunk he sat on the far side of the amputation . SHE HOPES THERE ' S SOME TRUTH TO THE " MAN - EATING " LABEL : A Miss Killner is hoping there 's some truth in the fact that the lions in the Bostock 's exhibit at Dreamland ( above ) are " man - eaters " -- and that , only . While responding to an advertisement for lion tamers , she told someone , " I guess it would be safe for me to take a job as a trainer . I ' m a woman , you see . " She was one of about 50 women who showed up to see if they could stomach the training task . The Times article said , " A trial of snapping the whip narrowed the competition down until only Miss Killner was left . She will be employed in a new act . " . 
July 19 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . LADY CURZON DIES : Lady Curzon , who was born as Mary Victoria Leiter ( daughter of a Chicago merchant ) , died yesterday after sudden worsening of her health . I think she was about 36 years old . She died at her home , Kedleston Hall . Lady Curzon , who suffered a serious illness two years ago , was the wife of the former Viceroy of India . As vicerine , she was second on the social ladder to the Queen of England . In the picture at the right , taken in India , she 's with her husband and a formerly living beast . To some , she 's known for a soup recipe and her fashion sense . The New York Times described her standing in this manner : of all the American women who have married members of the British aristocracy , it fell to the lot of Lady Curzon to fill the position of greatest prominence and real power . THE LADY IN GREEN : Some are worried about the verdigris that has appeared on the surface of the Statue of Liberty ( shown , at right , from the top ) in New York Harbor . plan to get rid of the green hue . One would think there 's not much one can do to improve the statue . Congress has appropriated about $ 60,000 for the inside - and - out paint job . The Times notes that some artists are aghast , saying that such " patina " has always been a chief attraction of bronze statues . Authorities also plan to increase the number of lights in the torch from five to 10 . NEW YORKER RESISTS THE " SPANISH SWINDLE " : Businessman Charles H . Keys received letters recently -- one from a " Luis Ramos " and another from a " Antonio Garcia . " Luis spoke of his beautiful and needy daughter named Mari . Antonio spoke of Elizabeth . Both had served in Cuba and deserted leaving $ 185,000 in banks -- Luis ' money was in London ; Antonio 's was in New York . Each one was in prison at Fort Barcelona in Spain . Each one promised Keys a quarter of the amount if he would send a few hundred dollars so their beautiful daughters could redeem some baggage , get ahold of the certificate of deposit , withdraw the money , free their father from prison and make everybody happy ever after . Keys -- wondering why he would be considered a " mark " by two people at the same time -- didn't bite on the bait . He turned the letters over to the State Department in Washington . Wonder if someone will ever try this kind of thing from a place like , say , Nigeria . 
July 18 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . SOMETIMES IT ' S A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE A WEAPON IN A CLASSROOM : Dean J . F . Downey had a little " show and tell " session yesterday at the State University Summer School in Minneapolis . While he was lecturing a class of young women on pedagogy , a mad dog burst into the room through an open door . Fortunately , Dean Downey had a " large pistol " in his classroom desk . He pulled it out and shot the dog dead with the first bullet . Maybe it was also his way of telling the students not to be late for class . A STORM PUTS THE " WILD " IN A WILD WEST SHOW : A thunderstorm struck Bayonne , N . J . , yesterday and threw Pawnee Bill 's Wild West Show into turmoil . As the main tent shuddered and eventually came down , Pawnee Bill ( left ) himself valiantly tried to keep the main tent 's main pole erect , but he dislocated his shoulder . About 10 tents came down , sending horses scurrying throughout the city . The New York Times says , " For half an hour thereafter the town was treated to a genuine wild west exhibition . Yelling cowboys raced through the streets until the last of the horses had been captured . " FIRST - PLACE CUBS THROTTLE GIANTS : The anticipated pitching matchup between Christy Mathewson ( left ) and " Three - fingered " Brown ( right ) never materialized yesterday in Chicago as the red - hot Cubs whipped the world champion New York Giants , 6 - 2 . Both pitchers were off their game a bit , with each giving up five walks . Brown " steadied when hits meant runs while Mathewson was hit hardest with men on base . " Historians might someday note that Evers and Chance made a double play for Chicago . Not sure where Tinker was on that one . Most agree that the play of those three infielders can be described as poetry in motion . PENSION OFFICE FINDS YOUNGEST CIVIL WAR VETERAN : Evidently a former Illinois soldier has surfaced as the youngest living veteran of the War Betwixt the States . Lyston ( or Liston ) D . Howe enlisted ( or enlysted ) in 1961 at the age of 10 years , 9 months . He was a drummer boy . He lasted for four months until he was discharged because of his age . ( Hmmm , it took them four months to discover he was 10 , and by then he was 11 . ) He fibbed about his age and signed up again about four months later . He served throughout the war . Recently , his request for an increased pension was granted . I hope he will be remembered . 
July 17 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . BREAKING IN IS HARD TO DO : Someone named Louis Gourdain is making quite a stir by trying to " break into " the penitentiary at Joliet , Ill. ( left ) . He was convicted of " lottery operations " according to an article in The New York Times . He was sentenced to four years and was supposed to be in the Cook County jail . He complained that the jail is too noisy for him and insists on being incarcerated in the state prison . He arrived at Joliet yesterday and demanded that the warden let him in . The warden told him it was impossible to let him in . Here 's Gourdain 's response : Nothing is impossible . It is my right as an American citizen -- a convicted American citizen , a former prisoner , who is being wrongfully kept outside the penitentiary . Stand aside . Let me pass . I am your prisoner . That unique lesson in civics was lost on Warden Murphy . He ordered Gourdain to leave . One report says he is on his way to Washington , D . C . , to meet with the Supreme Court to insist that his sentencing be enforced . The article in the Times included this description of his baggage : The baggage included a waste - paper basket filled with newspaper clippings and documents relating to the twenty - year fight between the Federal authorities and the lottery operator . Sticking from the sides of the basket were two small American flags . ARMISTICE IS LIKELY : The outlook for peace in Central America is growing brighter . Leaders from Guatemala and Salvador are expected to gather aboard the USS Marblehead for peace negotiations . Honduras and Nicaragua are also involved in the fighting in the fighting . The Marblehead has arrived at a Guatemalan port . There is confusion about the fate of Salvador 'sGen. Tomas Regalado ( right ) . Some reports say he was killed during some intense fighting . Another report says he was gunned down by his own men , who were hired by Guatemala to kill their leader . 
July 16 , 1906 ( Monday ) . A GOOD REASON WHY RUSSIAN GENERALS SHOULD WEAR NAMETAGS WITH THEIR MEDALS : News from St. Petersburg via London indicates that a General Kozlov was shot to death while he was in the park at Peterhof ( above ) on July 14 . According to the Fort Wayne Sentinel , the shooting was at 9:30 p.m. " in the presence of several thousand people who were listening to the music in the English park before the grand chateau , adjoining the park of Alexander palace , where the imperial family and General Trepoff [ sic ] ( right ) reside . " The shooter has been arrested . It 's noted that he was " well dressed . " Authorities are puzzled , however , because Kozlov was not connected with any political wranglings . Witnesses say the accused killer was staring at a photograph before shooting the general . It was a photo of Gen. Dmitri Trepov , who became -- in practice if not in title -- the dictator of Russia after the 1905 uprising in St. Petersburg . THAT ' S HIS STORY AND HE ' S STICKIN ' TO IT : Chester Gillette ( right ) , who 's accused in the killing of Grace Brown on Big Moose Lake , is in the Herkimer jail . He reiterated to the Under Sheriff that the boat in which he and Grace were rowing was accidentally capsized . The officer asked him why he didn't report the incident at all , Gillette said he was too scared to talk with anyone . One article ends with this observation : The autopsy Saturday revealed , it was stated to - day , that Miss Brown had been struck in the eye and mouth and pounded on the top of the head before she went into the water . That doesn't really sound like an accident or a suicide . The tragedy has grabbed the attention of many people and will likely be long remembered . OLD CANOE FOUND , AND DISCARDED , IN MANHATTAN : Workers from the New York Edison Co. were digging in an area about eight feet deep at the corner of Cherry and Oliver street yesterday when they came across what they thought was a log . Further examination revealed it might be an old Indian canoe . So what did they do ? They chopped away at it and removed half of it and put it on a pile of dirt beneath the Franklin Square elevated station . The canoe was probably lying in the mud 100 years or more , since the time when the river front was filled in to make more land area . The New York Times reports that the canoe was likely hewn from a single log that was 14 feet long . It says the workmen " didn't take much interest in anything pertaining to the American Indian . " . 
July 15 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . ACCUSED KILLER IS CAPTURED : Chester Gillette of Cortland , N . Y . , has been arrested and charged in the death of Grace Brown , whose body was pulled from Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks the other day . The arrest is big news in Upstate New York . The Syracuse Sunday paper includes this map that shows the before - the - killing and after - the - killing movements of Chester and , for a while at least , Grace . Authorities think he might have beat her over the head with an oar . He has told police that the boat they were rowing capsized and the best he could do was to save himself . He had no real good reason for not mentioning it to anyone for a couple of days , though . There ' ll likely be more on this one . REMEMBERING REMBRANDT IN CHICAGO : In honor of the 300 th birthday of Rembrandt -- which will be celebrated in museums around the world today -- a portrait of the painter by himself was unveiled today at the Art Institute in Chicago . It 's the property of a Frank G . Logan and has not been exhibited in public before . According to The New York Times , it 's called " Rembrandt in a steel gorget , with a cock 's feather in his cap . " It might end up not being a Rembrandt but if it is , it will be one of three in Chicago . One of them is known simply as " Portrait of a Girl " ( right ) . It was donated to the Art Institute in 1894 . BAVARIA IS ON OTTO - MATIC PILOT : There 's talk in Bavaria that officials are fed up with having King Otto ( left ) as the ruler of the state . He 's quite mad . He has been king for about 20 years and , according to an article in The New York Times , he has " resembled a wild animal " for more than a year -- subsisting on bread crumbs and dried fruit . He 's the one who replaced King Ludwig , who committed suicide . 
July 14 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . THEY THINK THERE WAS A CRIME AT BIG MOOSE LAKE : The body of Grace Brown ( right ) was pulled from Big Moose Lake in New York 's Adirondacks yesterday and taken to Frankfort by the coroner . The coroner , who has the amazing last name of Coffin , had Frank Brown of South Otselic identify the body as that of his daughter . Mr. Brown said she was with a man named Chester Gillette , but nobody is certain that he was the man who was with her when she went out for a row . A straw hat belonging to the companion has been found but the lining has been ripped out -- likely to remove any identifying markings . We ' ll have to watch this develop . It could turn into a tragedy that 's quite American . TURMOIL IN PARIS : Yesterday a law was enacted in Paris that restored Alfred Dreyfus ( right ) to the Army of France . That move was followed by a duel in which Under Secretary of State Sarraut was wounded by M. Pugliesi - Conti . Sarraut and his seconds supported the restoration of Dreyfus . Pugliesi - Conti and his seconds bitterly opposed it . Sarraut 's wound is considered serious , with penetration of the lung , but not fatal . 
July 13 , 1906 ( Friday ) . THESE WHEELS OF JUSTICE DID GRIND SLOWLY : Capt . Alfred Dreyfus was arrested in October 1894 and charged with treason . He was convicted and sent to Devil 's Island , where he remained until 1899 . Finally , his case has been reviewed and yesterday he was exonerated and restored to the French army . The New York Times offers this quote from Dreyfus : The ordeal has been long and severe -- it has above all been long . The last stage , that of the inquiry in the Criminal Chamber , seemed to me interminable , but work was for me a calming influence .... I am now at the end of my suffering . My honor is restored . NO SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL : The National Billposters ' Association decided yesterday to stop using images of Satan -- in all its forms -- in advertisements . The association will no longer distribute material with any representation of the devil -- whether with hoofs , horns and tails or more subtle kinds . The New York Times ' report , which carries a Chicago dateline , adds that , " The members did not specify their objection to pictorial representations of the evil one , but will not post bills on which he figures . " Not sure what they ' ll do when a production of " Faust " needs some publicity . AUTOMOBILISTS BEGIN TREK : The second endurance tour sponsored by the American Automobile Association and Charles J . Glidden began yesterday in Buffalo . About 60 autos will make a somewhat circuitous 1,100 mile trip to Bretton Woods ( right ) in the White Mountains . The winner receives the Glidden Trophy . It 's not based on speed . Rather it 's based on the driver 's ability to follow the tour on a certain timetable . Guess how the drivers will find their way : Two autos go ahead and spread confetti on the road to guide the competitors . That 's probably more efficient than making the drivers figure out how to fold , unfold and refold a road map . SOME CLASSIC BASEBALL WRITING : It 's probably best to just let the first part of the game story speak for itself . It 's from today 's Washington Post . The Washington Nationals lost the game to the Cleveland Naps . Here you go : The home squad 's fielding stunts were off edge again yesterday , and Cleveland 's troupe of pennant aspirants had the opener thrust upon them , making six unearned runs , while the natives quit before the championship form of " Soldier Boy " Hess ( left ) . The contest was drowsy and uninteresting , as the outcome was never in doubt after the opening round . Hess ' nickname honors his service with the Army in the Philippines . 
July 12 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . ISMAY LIKES LIFE IN THE FAST ( SHIPPING ) LANE : Bruce Ismay ( right ) , head of the International Mercantile Marine Co. , arrived in New York on the White Star ship Oceanic yesterday and talked about his plans for a set of fast ships . The New York Times reports that Ismay 's company will build a fleet of six new transatlantic liners . The article says the ships are expected to be " as fast as any vessel afloat when they take their place in the transatlantic trade . " The report says that Ismay declined to say the ships would be faster than the newest Cunarders . One can only imagine what historic events lie ahead for any one of those ships . Or , of course , for Ismay , which sort - of rhymes with " dismay . " PITCHER ' S CAREER IS A REAL SINKER : The once - remarkable career of baseball pitcher Ted Breitenstein ( right ) appears to be unwinding . In a recent game in Memphis , Breitenstein temporarily left his spot on the New Orleans roster to help umpire the game . He got into an argument with a first baseman named Scoops Carey ( left ) over a call . Breitenstein was arrested by Memphis ' chief of police and faces charges of assault and using obscene language . To reiterate -- Breitenstein was the umpire . UNION DISPUTE LEADS TO MID - AIR MURDER AT PLAZA HOTEL SITE : About 30 iron workers attacked three watchman on the eighth floor of the under - construction Plaza Hotel yesterday -- leaving one of the men dead and the other two injured . The three watchmen were at the site to protect some non - union workers who were building a stairway . The union workers cut off all escape by the watchmen by removing the ladders leading up to the eighth floor . The man who was killed ( Michael Butler ) was pelted with iron bolts , beaten and dropped onto the sixth floor . The other two were beaten but not dropped to a floor below . The New York Times says , " After all this the ironworkers resumed work as unconcernedly as if it had never been interrupted . " It looks like the attackers face murder charges . 
July 11 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . HE DOESN ' T WANT HIS MUG ON A MUG -- OR A BOTTLE : The famous Adirondack hotel man Paul Smith ( who was born as Apollos A . Smith ) is suing a Baltimore whisky maker . Smith , who 's behind one of the first wilderness resorts in the Adirondacks , the 255 - room Paul Smith 's Hotel in Brighton ( shown at right in the early 1890 s ) wants the man to stop putting his portrait and name on his bottles of Paul Smith Maryland Rye . A news item said " Mr. Smith resents being used for a whisky advertisement . " He 's suing for $ 1,000 . I ' ll drink to that . THE BRITS HAVE THEIR OWN FOOD PROBLEMS TO WORRY ABOUT : Recent complaints from the British about the quality meat coming from packing plants in America are beginning to look pretty hypocritical . The annual report of inspector of factories and workshops paints a dismal picture of how the Brits are making their own food products . For example , here 's part of a report on a jam factory . The boiling room lay between the yard and the stable and the horses reached the latter through the boiling room . The sanitary accommodation was hardly separated from the room where the fresh fruit and uncovered jam were kept and the floors were dirty and undrained . Before you pick up your English muffin , here 's more from an article out of London : Inspectors of bakeries found that it was customary to bathe children in the bakeries after the workday ended on Saturdays . And , the report says sausage factories often are " small , dilapidated , badly lit and often infested by rats . " By the way , would you like a sausage patty on that muffin ? A COMPLIMENT EVEN A DIVA WOULD LOVE : The New York World printed an item ( picked up in some of today 's papers ) about a comment actress Sarah Bernhardt ( right , as Theodora ) enjoys passing on to her admirers in Paris . It deals with something that a dry goods clerk told her in a town in the Western United States : " Madame , I learned French only to hear you ; and it was worth it . " . 
July 10 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . CAN YOU SAY " REACH FOR THE SKY , PARDNER " FIVE TIMES ? You might not have heard that five stage coaches near the entrance at Yosemite National Park in California were held up on Saturday , one after another . ( Above is a picture of a typical stage from about 1900 . ) Evidently the robber had enough time to rob each stage as it passed around a corner near Ahwahnee . He stopped the stage by pointing a gun at the driver . He demanded that passengers toss their money and jewels out on the roadway . When they did that , he ordered the driver to move on and waited for the next stage to roll by . He did this five times and then dashed into the woods . Well , now the sheriff thinks that one person committed all the robberies : " Jack " Sweet . He owns a small tract of land in the Sierras . Word that he 's been arrested is based on information from " a man named Graham from Ahwahnee . " Sweet is evidently from a place called of Grub Gulch . Really . THE MEAT ' S GOT TO BE REAL BAD IF THESE LADS DON ' T WANT IT : The British navy is turning up its well - traveled nose at canned meat from America -- inspired by the recent controversies regarding the products of Chicago 's Packingtown . Instead , the British will eat meat from Australia and Argentina . The bureaucrats evidently see no need to look any further than countries beginning with the letter A . Noted carnivore Winston Spencer Churchill -- undersecretary for the colonies -- assures the politicians that , for example , the government in New South Wales makes sure that " only absolutely healthy hooves are slaughtered for food and that every precaution is taken at freezing and canning work to insure a cleanly method . " There 's no comment from librettist W . S . Gilbert , of Gilbert and Sullivan fame on this new naval development . ( Sullivan , as you know , died about six years ago . ) . 
July 9 , 1906 ( Monday ) . MORE DISCUSSION IN BASEBALL CIRCLES ABOUT SAM CRAWFORD ' S INCREDIBLE TWO - BASE HIT : A ruling by umpire Tim Hurst in Saturday 's baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Detroit Tigers has drawn quite a bit of criticism , rightly so . During the game , Detroit 's Sam " Wahoo " Crawford ( left ) hit a high popup that went virtually straight up in the air . It hit the ground about six inches inside the first base line , near home plate . After it hit the ground , it bounced back into foul territory and rolled toward the stands -- something that normally results in a ball being ruled foul . But Umpire Hurst called the ball fair . According to Nationals manager Stahl , Hurst said he ruled it fair because it was hit SO HIGH IN THE AIR . The baseball rule says a ball that " settles on foul territory between first and home plate " is called foul . However , Hurst evidently believes that the HEIGHT of the popup meant that the ball " settled " in fair territory regardless of the fact that it bounced backward . The game is under protest by the Nationals , whose manager is absolutely stunned by the ruling . Now , it 's up to American League President Ban Johnson to decide whether or not the game should be played over . The Washington Post says , " It depends entirely on the interpretation of the word ' settles ' by President Johnson . " A HEADLINE THAT MIGHT SEND A READER SCAMPERING TO A DICTIONARY : Today 's Washington Post has an article with this headline : " Women Hobsonize Skipper . " The subhead provides a clue : " Capt . Penco , of Italian Liner , Kissed by Misses He Rescued . " It turns out that Capt . Penco of the liner Dinnamare was the one who recently towed the Fabre liner America to safety in Bermuda . Now he 's in New York City with his ship -- and its 32,000 cases of lemons . He told reporters that when he came up alongside the disabled America in mid - ocean , many of the people on board wanted to kiss him . He said , " Two of the women , one an old lady and the other a very presentable miss , did succeed in planting a smack on my port cheek , but they were the only ones . " There you have it . The two women kissed their rescuer . In other words , they " hobsonized " him . So , what 's up with that word ? It turns out that the word 's definition is based on the reactions to the exploits of Naval officer Richmond Hobson ( left ) during the Spanish - American War . To use it in a sentence : " The Washington Nationals will NOT hobsonize Umpire Tim Hurst . " . 
July 8 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . A CARTOONIST ' S VIEW OF PARIS : Today 's New York Times includes a full page of Hy . Meyer 's drawings based on a visit to Paris . I particularly liked this one that shows a tourist asking for directions : " Oo - aye La Roo de Champs Elizah ? " over the heading of " French , after all , is an easy language . " THERE ' S TALK IN THE ' WEST ' OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT : Rumors swirled yesterday that someone tried to shoot President Roosevelt while he was on vacation at Oyster Bay , N . Y . One headline in The Syracuse Herald says " Wild Story in the West : Some Papers Heard of Attempt on President 's Life . " Meanwhile Roosevelt was evidently sitting in his library reading . A gentleman named Moore , who owns the grocery at South and Main streets in Oyster Bay -- his store is under the executive offices that Roosevelt uses when he visits -- had this to say : " Toledo and Michigan papers say the President was shot by a man wearing automobile goggles and a linen duster . Its funny how papers in the West get hit by hot weather . " Here 's how one story ends : " And in the midst of the rapid fire of chronicle and comment Sagamore Hill was quiet with the somnolence induced by a warm July sun and the drone of bees . " SHAW SNARLS AT CRITICS : Here 's a bit more from George Bernard Shaw , who was happy with the ruling of a New York City judge who found that Shaw 's play " Mrs. Warren 's Profession " did not violate any of the city 's codes . ( It deals with prostitution . ) In an article with a London dateline , Shaw had this to say yesterday : The entire blame for the agitation against ' Mrs. Warren 's Profession ' lies in the heads of the New York critics . Their stupidity , inhumanity and scurrilous and obscene language in dealing with the play drove the poor , wretched little police commissioner to steps which he was reluctant to take . No words of mine are adequate to describe my feelings towards these critics . They should all be gathered in a dust pan and thrown into a dust heap . Had they any sense of decency they would make a barefooted pilgrimage somewhere or shoot themselves , but I don't suppose they will . 
July 7 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . MR. SHAW ' S TRIUMPH : The Justices of the Court of Special Sessions in New York City ruled yesterday that the production of " Mrs. Warren 's Profession " by George Bernard Shaw ( right , in 1908 ) did not violate the city 's penal code . Police commissioners ordered the play discontinued last season and charged Arnold Daly and Samuel Gumpertz with the violation . They have , in this ruling , been acquitted . When the play -- which deals with organized prostitution -- opened in the fall of 1905 , the New York Herald complained about the " superabundance of foulness . " The judges had a hard time seeing any . The news article in The Washington Post says , " The court rules that there is nothing in the words themselves or in any particular phrase or expression in the play which can be said to be indecent . " DIAMOND GIRL : On a Saturday in late May , Mae Thomas swallowed a $ 350 diamond in an Omaha jewelry story . While looking at a tray of diamonds in the store , she popped one in her mouth . When she was searched , she swallowed the gem at the Coombs jewelry store . An X - ray located it lodged an inch above her appendix and encased in a membrane clinging to her intestines . News reports in June said a police judge told the jeweler : " The diamond is yours . Take it , but If you resort to a surgical operation against the prisoner 's will and she dies , you can be held for murder . " Thomas refused to allow a surgeon to operate on her and recover the gem for the shop owner . She was sentenced to five years in jail yesterday . I suspect there will be plenty of inmates who will volunteer to clean the chamberpots or toilets once Thomas arrives at the penitentiary . 
July 6 , 1906 ( Friday ) . NO , NOT THAT WINSTON CHURCHILL : The news out of New Hampshire is that Winston Churchill ( right ) is a likely candidate for governor of the state . This is not the British Winston Churchill ; rather it 's the popular novelist from the States . He makes it clear that he 's sick of the influence at least one railroad has in the state . He is quoted in The New York Times today as saying that " the broad issue and general platform should be the non - interference of the Boston & Maine Railroad or of any other corporation in the politics and government of the State . " That certainly flows with the point he made in his most recent novel . SCAM ARTISTS SCORE IN CANADA , BRIEFLY : Canadian wire tappers pulled a fast one on the some bettors yesterday . Evidently a gang intercepted and CHANGED the results of the second race at the Windsor , Ontario , track . Bettors were in on the scam in Cincinnati , Chicago , Louisville and other cities throughout the U.S. They won lots of money by betting on the horses that the wire service listed as winners . A sharp wire operator at the track noticed something was amiss and prevented the third race from being corrupted . LITTLE WOMAN MAKES BIG SHIP WAIT .... AND WAIT : This headline in today 's Syracuse paper demanded a closer look : " Tiny Fan Stops 10,000 - Ton Ship . " It 's true -- sort of . But it has nothing to do with mechanical engineering . Yesterday , the " demure and petit " Lucille Farnois was on board the Lorraine , a French liner , which was ready to leave the dock in New York City . Just as the ship was about to leave , she dropped her four - ounce hand fan over the edge . It fluttered to a spot between the planks of the pier , at the shore end of the gangplank . As the ship whistled for its departure , Mlle . Farnois spent some precious time fishing for the fan . The liner held fast to the pier , whistling a bit impatiently . Once she got it , she crossed the gangplank , which was hustled out of the way and the ship -- under the thrust of some of its 15,000 horsepower engines -- immediately backed away from its berth and headed for Europe . 
July 5 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . NATURALIST FACES AN UNNATURAL DEATH : Professor Henry Augustus Ward stepped in front of a car yesterday in Buffalo and was run down and killed . Ward ( shown with a buckskin - clad Buffalo Bill ) was one of the country 's best - known naturalists . He once worked with Louis Agassiz at Harvard and owns the largest private collections of meteorites in the world . The Washington Post says that Ward " built up what was said to be the greatest natural history establishment in the world " in Rochester , the city where he was born . His body will be sent to Rochester tomorrow . He was 72 . He was walking to the railroad station after dining with a friend . He was planning to catch a train to Wyoming , N . Y . , where he has a summer home . The driver of the car , Alex Gunnell , a real estate broker , claims Ward stepped in front of his vehicle . He is scheduled to be in Police Court tomorrow to face a manslaughter charge . PRESIDENT IGNORES THE RAIN : President Roosevelt was undeterred by the rain when he gave a 45 - minute talk at Oyster Bay yesterday in honor of the Fourth of July . By the time Roosevelt ( shown with his family at right ) got to the grandstand to speak , there was a puddle around his feet . The New York Times notes , " The President never noticed that his feet were getting wet . " A downpour came as he began to speak , and , the Times said , " the Oyster Bay umbrellas went up like a field of mushrooms . " But Roosevelt , uncovered , went on . And on . And on . The rain " pattered on his head , washed his hair over his forehead , sent streams down his back , and the louder he talked , the more rain came down . He interrupted himself a couple of times . At one point , he was distracted by a conversation at the edge of the crowd . The Washington Post reported the exchange in this way : " Will you please stop talking over there , " he interrupted himself to say , pointing as he did so to the offenders . " Is he deaf ? " queried the President with his peculiar cluck of humor in his voice . " Please make him dumb also . " An excerpt , courtesy of the Post : Distrust as a demagogue the man who talks only of the wrong done by the men of wealth . Distrust as a demagogue the man who measures iniquity by the purse . Measure iniquity by the heart , whether a man 's purse be full or empty , partly full or partly empty . WALKER GETS CLOSER TO MANHATTAN : ? Long - distance walker Eddie Adams is nearing the end of his " Minneapolis - to - New York " walk . He hopes to earn $ 3,000 for the effort $ 2,500 to complete the walk and $ 500 if he breaks the world s record . He s averaging nearly 50 miles a day , meaning he s sure to set a record . He is expected to arrive in Syracuse today . On this tramp , he is accompanied by four dogs . He says the St. Bernard is the best walker . If he wins the $ 3,000 , he will have earned about $ 1.58 per mile -- enough to buy the dogs plenty of meat . AMERICA IS SAFE : Many are relieved to learn that the immigrant steamer America -- and her 110 passengers -- is safe . A wireless report from Bermuda indicates that the ship was towed to that island by another steamer after its machinery had become crippled . The America was expected in New York about two weeks ago . Many feared the worst . But it was towed to Bermuda by another steamer , the Dinnamare . 
July 4 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . READY FOR THE FOURTH : In New York City , 24 anti - toxin inspectors are ready to work their magic today , in anticipation of the usual damage caused by fireworks and other explosives in the hands of foolhardy celebrants . Fireworks manufacturers say that demand for Fourth of July materials is 25 percent greater than it was in 1905 . The anti - toxins are designed to prevent lockjaw . ( The magazine cover at right is from last year . ) That news reminds me of something that was printed recently in the Brooklyn Eagle and reprinted over the weekend in various other papers : To those who are to die by fire and bullet on Wednesday -- and there will be scores of them -- we bid farewell , and wish that they might perish in a worthier cause than that of perpetuating the present way of celebrating the Fourth of July . WHERE IS ' AMERICA ' HEADED ? People on both sides of the Atlantic are worried right now about the fate of the immigrant steamer America , which is run by the Fabre Line . It left Marseilles on June 3 with about 150 on board . It left the Azores on June 11 and should have arrived in New York about June 20 . The Germania and the Madonna have each arrived in New York since that time , covering the same route . Neither reported seeing the America . Worries increased yesterday because the Hydroraphic Bureau reported there was a derelict ship adrift in the ocean about 400 miles west of the Azores . It 's the dismasted schooner Lizzie Chadwick and it is considered a hazard to navigation . Could the America have collided with the schooner ? The head of the Fabre Line implores people not to worry . THE DANGERS OF SPEED : Speaking of ocean - going safety , an editorial in Syracuse 's Post - Standard weighs in on the ongoing Europe - to - America speed race between the liners Deutschland and Provence . The editorialist says such recklessness about safety will eventually catch up with the steamship lines . The closing lines : It the effort to make new speed records is pursued without restraint , another and more sinister record will be made sooner or later in an unprecedented ocean calamity . I guess we can only wait to read about some deep - sea disaster that lurks in the future . 
July 3 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . LONGTIME AUTOMOBILIST WORRIES ABOUT LIFE IN THE FAST LANE : The man who claims to have owned the third American - built automobile is in Syracuse . C . R . Wooden , one of the country 's most avid automobilists , recalls he drove a Winton touring car through the city back in 1897 -- " to the great wonderment of crowds that collected to see the machine . " Here 's what he told a reporter yesterday : I don't think that Syracuse people knew what an automobile was at that time , for hundreds surrounded our machine all the time we were here . I found the car unsatisfactory for climbing hills , and as I live in a very hilly ocuntry in Pennsylvania , I ordered a new machine of Mr. Winton the following year . I received the seventeenth car they turned out . ( Later , Alexander Winton had a famous race against Henry Ford . The photo above is from the 1901 race . Ford , on the left , is gaining ground on Winton . Ford went on the win the race . ) He adds that SPEED is taking away some of the fun and appeal of driving an automobile . " I can imagine no greater enjoyment that going through the country at a rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour . " ' HUMAN ENIGMA ' WAS AMONG VICTIMS OF SALISBURY TRAIN WRECK : Today 's New York Times has a small article on one of the people killed in the train wreck over the weekend in Salisbury , England : Julius Keller . He 's also known as " The Human Enigma . " News of his death has caused plenty of mourning among youngsters on and around Morgan Avenue in the Williamsburg section of the city . Keller , who was 38 , had some remarkable mobility even though his LEGS WERE PARALYZED . He used his hands and arms to get around . He walked and climbed stairs on his hands . He liked to race firemen up their pole in the fire house of Engine Company No. 137 . Kids loved to race him ; they ' d run on their legs , he ' d " run " on his hands . ( They usually gave him a half - block head start . ) He had gone off to England for a vaudeville performance . HOW TO STEAL A BAG FILLED WITH $ 500,000 WORTH OF JEWELS : A Paris jeweler named Goldschmidt lost $ 500,000 worth of jewels in London . Here 's what happened : He and a customer were having lunch yesterday in the Cafe Monaco . Mr. Goldschmidt left the table at one point to go to the lavatory to wash up . He took his bag of jewels with him . He placed the bag in front of him as he washed up . When he had his hands immersed in water , a man knocked into him . Another man grabbed the bag . Goldschmidt chased them out of the room . But he failed to catch the crooks because a third man fell in front of him , blocking his way . What was in the bag ? About a dozen pearl necklaces and more than 1,000 loose stones . 
July 2 , 1906 ( Monday ) . HUGE TRAIN WRECK IN ENGLAND : A train ferrying passengers from the steamer New York from Plymouth to London left the rails and smashed smashed into a milk train , leaving a couple of dozen dead . Many are from the United States . After picking up passengers from New York , ( this was a so - called " boat train " ) , the train started on the 230 - mile run to London and was soon going at least a mile a minute . The train went too fast into the curve in the track at Salisbury , which some consider one of the most dangerous curves in the world . At least 23 Americans were killed in the wreck . New York City Mayor George B . Mc Clellan narrowly escaped death . He had planned to leave the steamer and take the train to London but his wife , with the help of a steward , convinced him to travel with her to Cherbourg ( she was on her way to Paris ) and then head to London . They assured him he would still keep a certain appointment he had . So , he was not on the train . MARK TWAIN EXPLAINS HOWELLS ' STRENGTHS AS A WRITERMark Twain praises the writing of W . D . Howells in the current issue of Harper 's . Here 's how he describes the way in which Howells stands out from other writers : There is plenty of acceptable literature which deals largely in approximations , but it may be likened to a fine landscape seen through the rain . The right word would dismiss the rain , and then you would see it better . It doesn't rain when Howells is at work . 
July 1 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . PEOPLE SEEM SYMPATHETIC TO THAW : Articles about the killing of Stanford White continues to fill columns of newspapers . These circular images stretch across the width of a page of today 's Syracuse ( N . Y . ) Herald . Accompanying these is this caption : " Episodes in the life of Evelyn Nesbit , the little Pittsburg ( sic ) girl whose great misfortune it was to be beautiful . " The disc at the right shows a straw - hatted Thaw shooting architect Stanford White , whom many believe contributed greatly to the moral demise of many young women . The headline for the story says " The Street Car Juries have Already Acquitted Thaw . " To illustrate the impulsiveness ( and wealth ) of Thaw , the story repeats the tale that he once wanted a certain kind of cigarette so badly that he did something that was utterly absurd . Here 's the story : " He is perhaps the only man who ever raced to Europe for a box of cigarettes . This is what Harry Thaw did in 1889 , while a student in Wooster , O . Thaw had been sent by his mother to that school , and he did not like the brand of cigarette in the Ohio town . He left , saying he had gone to Europe to look up a brand of cigarettes which he had smoked there a year before . Thaw was gone three weeks , and came back with several trunks full of cigarettes and tobacco . " ONE MORE THING ABOUT THIS THAW - WHITE CASE : It just keeps coming and coming . A story in the Washington Post deals with tales that " girls " are telling about how they are treated by " wealthy and influential men " in New York City . These tales , which have been whispered since the shooting , now have the backing of sworn testimony . Young women are telling authorities that Stanford White was a major promoter of orgy - like gatherings . Here 's a glimpse of a trick that one of the men would often play with the young women : He would pack $ 10 and $ 20 gold pieces in ice until they were as cold as the ice itself . Then two other men would hold a girl fast while the first man dropped the chilled coins down the back or front of her frock . Her struggles and screams as the icy metal touched her flesh were supposed to be almost as good fun as the sight the victim afforded the company when she proceeded to disrobe to find the money . CONGRESS GOES OUT ON A HIGH NOTE : As the 59 th Congress drew to a close yesterday , the politicians broke into song , and not a few Rebel Yells . At one point , after some renditions of " The Battle Hymn of the Republic , " Republican whip Jim Watson of Indiana led " Dixie . " Southern Democrats punctuated that with " the wildest chorus of " rebel yells " ever heard in the National Capital . " Mississippi 's John Sharp Williams took the tune of " Everybody Works But Father " and rewrote the lyrics to poke some gentle fun at speaker Cannon : Everybody works but Cannon , He sits around all day Talking in his office , In his fascinating way ; He 's supposed to be our Speaker , But Hinds really makes things go . Everybody works in Congress But good old " Uncle Joe . " . 
June 30 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . MAN CLAIMS TO HAVE MARIE ANTOINETTE ' S HARP : The owner of a music store in Syracuse , N . Y . , has put on display a harp that was supposedly strummed and plucked by Marie Antoinette ( right ) , the wife of France s ill - fated King Louis XVI. After the revolt in 1789 , the harp was lost . Then it ended up in the hands of the queen s former music teacher . From there it evidently passed to a family with the last name of Kendallbeck , who settled in Ithaca , N . Y . Architect William H . Miller bought it at an estate sale in that city . He did not know the harp 's value . If it did belong to MA , it could be worth $ 12,000 -- unless , of course , he 's stringing everyone along HOW A YOUNG REPORTER CAN GO OUT IN BLAZES : The Washington Post , on its editorial page , offers a humorous look at what might be the first story turned in by an inexperienced reporter . It 's called " Work of the Cub Reporter : What the City Editor Got in a Fire Report . " It 's way too long ( perhaps the first problem a reader might notice ) to reproduce here . But it 's quite literary . Here 's the first paragraph : The angels of night had spread their ebony wings over the vast city , and a stillness as deep and profound as that which envelope the starlit , trackless prairie was brooding over the red - tiled cottages of Kimberly Crescent , wherein the weary workers worn out by their herculean labors , were snatching an all too brief interval of repose on the lotus - scented bread of Morpheus , when from out the void of silence there rang forth , with paralyzing suddenness , a stentorian shout of " Fire ! " And so in goes , and goes and goes . The news is , as they say , buried . A more typical beginning is not offered , but it might go something like : " A firefighter climbed to the second floor of a burning cottage and carried a woman to safety in Kimberly Crescent Friday night . " CONGRESSMAN DRAWS A KNIFE : Rep. George Southwick of New York and Charles Bartlett of Georgia had an argument that got serious in the House . It ended up that Bartlett brandished a pen knife when he thought Southwick was coming at him . The men were separated and no further damage was done . The Washington Post notes that " no arrests were made , nor was it necessary to take from its perch the silver mace , ( right ) which is the emblem of the majesty and the power of the House of Representatives . " . 
June 29 , 1906 ( Friday ) . STORIES ABOUT THAW CASE BRING A CHILL : The leader of New York City 's Society for the Suppression of Vice ( Mr. Anthony Comstock , left ) plans to meet with accused killer Harry K . Thaw tomorrow morning . About 18 months ago , Thaw had a number of interviews with Comstock regarding the deeds of Stanford White , the architect Thaw shot on Monday night . Comstock and others investigated White . Yesterday , Comstock -- who 's known for his hyperventilating -- unloaded on White . Here 's a sample of what Comstock said : During our many interviews Mr. Thaw told me of many young girls and women who had been ruined by the moral perverts who , clothed in respectability , were protected by an armor which was almost impossible to pierce .... Family influence barred our investigation .... Since I have been interested in this work I have found that the blackest mud is to be found behind the trees on which the sun shines brightest . In that shadow the slime lies thick . Comstock says this case should lead to an investigation that " will cause one of the greatest scandals that New York has known in a generation . " As you probably remember , Comstock was severely criticized by George Bernard Shaw , who called Comstock 's urge to censor " Comstockery . " THEY WERE SURELY FLOORED BY CONVICT ' S ESCAPE : On June 15 , the guards in the penitentiary in Richmond , Va. , wondered what had become of a prisoner named Walter Stiars . They were sure he was still in the building and looked all over for him . They never found him . He had accumulated enough provisions and hid under the floor of one of the shoe factories in the penitentiary . Eventually , the guards gave up . The prisoner broke through a wall and escaped last night -- after about 12 days in his own kind of solitary . THE RACE IS ON : The French steamer La Provence and the steamship Deutschland each left Europe yesterday . That means a race . Those knowledgeable of maritime matters say that this trip will be the supreme test of these " ocean greyhounds . " On the last trip , the Deutschland averaged about 22.63 knots ; La Provence averaged about 21.46 . 
June 28 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . RUMOR CHURNS THINGS UP IN NYC : Eighteen New York City schools were closed yesterday thanks to some East Siders who feared for their children 's safety . A rumor spread among parents that someone was systematically cutting the throats of children in the schools . Thousands of angry and panicky parents showed up at the schools , fought their way inside and demanded that their children be brought to them . Here 's how the rumor got started : It appears that many children in the schools were suffering from adenoids , " a fungus growth which affects the hearing , speech and sight . " The Board of Health decided that physicians ( with the approval of children and parents ) should operate . Yesterday , many children were treated . Here 's the key paragraph in the story : It is supposed that the children told their parents that they had had their throats cut , and that some ignorant person started the rumor among the parents to the effect that the children 's throats were being cut in the schools . Add to that some possible translation problems and the fact that many of the residents -- living in an area bounded my Mulberrry Bend and Astor Place -- were already familiar with the tendency of a government to commit such atrocities . Evidently , many felt there was a plan to massacre all the Jews in New York , " on the Russian plan . " ( To the right is a picture from last year of some killings in , I think , Ekaterinoslav . ) Those who stormed the schools thought that the governmental authorities had decided to simplify that plan and focus the efforts on killing the children in the schools . A CHINESE JUDGE COMES UP WITH A VARIATION ON THE DEATH PENALTY : In news out of Tientsin , viceroy Yuan Shin Kai put an interesting spin on a death - penalty sentence that five men faced . He thought about the extreme drought gripping the land and decided the men should pray for rain . He told them they would be set free if their prayers were answered -- by rainfall within three days . If it stayed dry , they were to die . Well , there was a small rainfall . Because of that success , five other men have received a similar chance . I guess the legal term would be that they faced an a - rain - ment . HOW TO PROLONG YOUR LIFE , TIP No. 247 -- NEVER SHOOT A BULLET AT A SHACK FULL OF EXPLOSIVES : An Explosion at the mouth of the Detroit River blew Theodore Perry and Harry Rogers out of their sailboat . The blast turned the boat into kindling . Perry 's clothes were stripped off his body ; Rogers lost some of his clothing . The blast was felt as far as Amherstburg . So what happened ? The two men were sailing along , shooting at objects along the shore of Fox Island . They did not know that the shack one of them targeted was filled with explosives used in dredging and blasting . WHAT ' S UP WITH HARRY K . THAW ? Authorities are gathering evidence in the Sanford White killing . Harry K . Thaw is in custody . Plenty of stories are circulating about his life as people try to figure out why he shot the architect and try to discover the nature of the relationship between Mrs. Thaw ( the actress Evelyn Nesbit ) and the dead man . One article describes an ocean trip Thaw took in April and May -- to England -- without his wife . He evidently told his sister ( the Countess of Yarmouth ) , who made the trip with him to England , that he had left his wife " for good . " Evidently , he drank constantly on the way over , and gamblers fleeced him of $ 14,000 . He came back on the steamer Kaiserin Auguste Victoria ( right ) on its maiden voyage , landing in New York on May 19 . 
June 27 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . I CAME , I THAW , I CONQUERED : If you think the shooting of architect Stanford White didn't amount to much news , here are the front pages from yesterday ( left ) and today 's ( right ) Oakland Tribune newspaper . This is clearly something that will grip most newspaper readers during these days and weeks . An item from the article in today 's Oakland paper mentions that yesterday morning 's mail brought 17 letters to Thaw , who by then was in jail . " Most of them were from women , " the article says . Some are wondering how to get word to Thaw 's mother , who is on her way to England on the Minneapolis . The ship was about a third of the way to England at the time of the shooting and was probably out of range of the wireless at Sable Island yesterday . Authorities are trying to get word to her via cable to London and then by wireless transmission from he White Star Liner Majestic , which leaves Liverpool at 5 p.m. today . That ship should be within wireless distance from the Minneapolis on Friday . Wouldn't really want to be the steward delivering that message to her . For those who want more information about this case , there 's plenty on hand . A STORY OF HOW A PENNILESS AMERICAN TRIED TO DAZZLE SOME EUROPEANS : Some papers have reprinted an item from Ladies ' Home Journal under the headline " A Clever American . " I won't quote it all , but it describes what happened when a Frenchman , a German , and Englishman and an American got carried away bragging about their respective countries . To make a point , the Frenchman rolled up a dollar bill , held it to the coals of a fire and lit his cigar . That impressed the others , each of whom sought to outdo the Frenchman . The German lit his cigar with a $ 10 bill . The Englishman , despite thinking that the whole exercise was foolish , knew he couldn't afford to have the others think England wasn't the richest company in the world . So , he took a deep breath , rolled up a $ 100 bill and lit his cigar . Then they all looked at the American . The trouble was , he had NO MONEY in his pocket . How could he outwit them ? His solution : He quietly drew forth a check book , wrote a check for $ 10,000 on a prominent New York bank , duly signed it , rolled it up , touched it to the coals and lighted his cigar with it , while his confreres watched him curiously and intently . 
June 26 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . A SHOCKER IN NEW YORK : Today 's front pages drip with news of a stunning killing in New York City . Noted architect Stanford White ( right ) was shot on the roof garden of the Madison Square Garden last night . The shooter was Harry Thaw , ( left ) a Pittsburgh clubman . The killing took place during a performance of " Mamzelle Champagne . " Many in the crowd thought the shooting was part of the performance . It wasn't . Thaw was arrested . This is likely to generate LOTS of interest throughout the country . Thaw shocked " society " about 14 months ago when he married actress Evelyn Nesbit ( above ) . Thaw said White deserved to die because of the way he treated Nesbit . Witnesses aren't clear about exactly what Thaw told the policeman who arrested him . It was either " He ruined my LIFE and then deserted the girl " or " He ruined my WIFE and deserted the girl . " Thaw also evidently handed the arresting police officer a $ 10 bill and asked him to let Andrew Carnegie know about the shooting . Thaw 's father , a railroad magnate , left an estate of $ 40 million . Looks like Thaw could spare the $ 10 . There 's likely to be more news about this one . Wish I had space to tell you more . Something tells me this crime will interest people for a long time . Maybe a book . Maybe a film . WHY PEOPLE GET A KICK OUT OF FOOTBALL : One paper reprinted an editorial in The Reader that points out why Americans like the game of football -- and why it will survive : " Destructive as football has been to life , limb and scholarship , it remains one of the chief baits of the colleges . " People need something to yell for , the editorial says . It closes this way : And the real reason that the public hangs on to football the way it does , in spite of the fearful tragedies associated with it , is because for the moment , every mother 's son , on the grandstand or bleachers , feels the heart of youth leaping in him as he watches , breathless , the hotly contested game . 
June 25 , 1906 ( Monday ) . A NOVEL LOOK AT WRITING : There was a delightful item in yesterday 's New York Times that I didn't have time to get to . That 's why I ' m mentioning it today . It 's a very funny " expose " of the production of Dime Novels in New York . The writer , whose byline here is " The Author of ' Slick Parker ' , " compares the styles of a novice writer with a veteran . It 's worth a look : The Novice Dime - Novel Writer : " We were pursued by Broncho Bill , " Red Dave suddenly gasped . " Broncho Bill ! " hissed Shang Martin . " I ' ll get squar ' with that man yet . " Still fleeing for their lives , they suddenly came upon a strange hut , through the door of which they unceremoniously burst . Inside a strange sight awaited them . The Veteran Dime - Novel Writer : " Curse ! " gasped Red Dave suddenly . " What is it ? " Shang Martin asked quickly . " We are pursued . " " What ! Pursued ? " " Yes , curse the luck . " " Who is it ? " " I know him . " " You do ? " " Yes. Broncho Bill ! " " Broncho Bill ! " Shang Martin almost shrieked . His face turned pale , even beneath the tanned skin . " Ay , curse him ! " hissed Red Dave ( note : actually , I think the writer meant " Shang Martin " ) , with mighty oath . " But I ' ll squar ' him yet . " Suddenly there burst upon their view a low log cabin , built in an open glade , under a cliff covered with furze brush and pines . " What is that ? " Shang asked quickly . " A hut , " answered Red Dave . " Whose is it ? " " I do not know , but there is no time to lose . " " What shall we do ? " " We must go in . Broncho Bill is closing in on us . We must make a stand in yon hut and fight till the last drop . " Without stopping to inquire if any one lived in the hut Red Dave and his companion burst open the door with the stocks of their rifles . Red Dave stepped inside . Suddenly he started back with a hoarse cry of horror . " What is it ? " asked Shang Martin . Inside the hut a horrible sight awaited their gaze . A NEW METHOD FOR CATCHING SPEEDERS : Here 's a headline that will stun you : " Police Using Autos to Catch Speeders . " Why not ? Bicycles have done the trick so far , but this might do the trick . The four - wheeled police officers nabbed 16 on the city 's West Side . In most cases , the chauffeurs thought the police were simply fellow speeders . And , in a total disruption to High Society , a New Rochelle judge kept some speeders waiting so long that they had to miss their high class dinners . The article says , " The Judge was out for a spin on the police motor cycle , and the fact that several of the offenders were wealthy did not hurry him a bit . ' One of those detained with the implausibly named Witherbee Black of Black , Starr & Frost , jewelers on Fifth Avenue ( see the firm 's silver mark ) . Another , E . M. Willer of the New York Yacht Club was so upset that his chauffeur had been detained that he said he would spend $ 10,000 to contest the arrest . When Judge Van Auken returned at about 7 p.m. , he heard the prisoner grumbling about the delay and the loss of their dinners . He said : " What did you expect me to do to get back -- violate the speed laws ? " . 
June 24 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . ' ROCKET ' LANDS IN NEW YORK : James Whistler 's famous nocturne ( right ) in green and gold ( familiarly known as " The Falling Rocket " ) is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art . It was bought recently by Harric C . Fahnestock , a museum trustee . It was hung yesterday in Gallery 12 by Bryson Burroughs , assistant curator of paintings . The article says the painting " depicts dancers and spectators in Cremorne Gardens appearing against the dark tones of a sombre London sky on a summer night . " The article does not include what critic John Ruskin said about the painting years ago : I have seen , and heard , much of Cockney impudence before now ; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public 's face . That led to a famous libel trial . Whistler won the trial but was awarded a mere farthing . A NEW WEAPON FOR WAR : Here 's an automobile with a distinctive feature . The Mc Clean Arms Co. of Cleveland had developed an automobile battery that 's capable of moving an automobile forward about 50 mph AND firing 100 shots a minute through a gun . The shells are 1.5 inches in diameter . A chauffeur operates the battery from a position where he 's safe -- in the rear of the car . An article in The New York Times says , the " device is expected to make the automobile a popular engine of war . " Of course , the popularity depends on which end of the gun barrel you find yourself . CHECKING THINGS OUT IN THE LIBRARY : Puzzled about word that Russian secret service agents are watching New York City libraries for signs of people who are interested in topics such as anarchy , a New York Times reporter headed yesterday to the Astor Library . The reporter found books on explosives , biographies of dead anarchists and histories of revolts and displayed them openly on a table . But , this happened " without bringing forth any one who might be suspected of being a spy . " Nor did it attract a spy watcher . He asked the librarian about any such spying within the library . " As a matter of fact , " the librarian said , " all the big libraries of the world are watched and probably there are spies about , but I never get acquainted with them . " SOCIETY WOMEN TAKE UP THEIR PENS : There 's a new society weekly being published in London . The name is spectacular : It 's called the Throne . It 's " for society women by society women . " Evidently , two editors are assigned to each page . Portraits of 27 of them appear in the first edition . Among them are a couple of princesses and a duchess . Others from lower levels are countesses and a few other worthies and a smattering of madams . One news article sniffs , " It cannot be said that the quality of the matter is as high as that of the editresses and contributors . " . 
June 23 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . MAKING HIS BONES : The future of the late , great race horse Sysonby might lie in science . Owner James R . Keene seems interested in having the body exhumed and the skeleton saved and articulated , so the bony frame could be presented to the Museum of Natural History . this would not be unusual . The great English horse Ormonde is at the British Museum . And Lexington and American Eclipse are at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington , D . C . THE RUSSIAN SECRET SERVICE BECOMES A LITLE LESS SECRET : Individuals in the Russian Secret Service are at work on these shores in some curious places . Among them : the libraries of New York City . There , they are looking for Russians who are interested in books dealing with anarchy . The Washington Post says , " The chief Russian agent in each large library has at command a corps of skilled spies , one of whom follows a suspected person as soon as hi is indicated by a nod from the chief . In this manner the home , habits and occupations of suspected Anarchists are learned , and if the suspicons are verified , a report is made to the Chief fo the Russian Secret Service . This came up after Henry Melnek , 19 , was arrested and charged with stealing books from the famous Astor Library . Melnek has expressed interest in books that deal somewhat with anarchy , including Perez ' " Schriften , " which deals with travels in Siberia . He also had a German translation of Jules Verne 's " Around the Wrold in 80 Days . " Russian agents also try to find out who buys books related to anarchy . 
June 22 , 1906 ( Friday ) . HOW SOME LABORERS USED THEIR HEADS TO FIND MRS . WHITNEY ' S DIAMOND RING : For a week , Tiffany and John Deverett , Thomas Griffing , and John Griffin , all of whom are gardeners . After they heard that Mrs. Whitney ( who was born as Gertrude Vanderbilt ) recalled having the ring on her finger while walking across the lawn of her own estate last Saturday , they decided where to focus . They made a pact that they would share the reward if either man found the ring . The four men borrowed a diamond ring last night and dropped it on the Whitney lawn . While shining a lantern light at the ring , they discovered that it threw its rays about 10 feet . The men then started walking systematically across the lawn , each about 10 feet apart . In a half hour , Deverett saw something shining in the grass . It was the missing ring . The story is on the front page of today 's New York Times . Let 's just call these men the " Lords of the Ring . " SENATOR FINDS A STRANGE TIME TO CLAP : Recently U.S. Sen . Anselm Mc Laurin ( Dem . of Mississippi ) spoke on the Senate floor about a measure that would set aside money for the expenses of the president . He said , " If we pass it now it will be the law when in 1909 our next President enters on his term of office , and William Jennings Bryan .... " At that point everyone heard a loud clapping that filled the hall . Everyone turned to see the source and find out who had the courage to applaud the name of Bryant , or " the peerless , " on the Senate floor . They saw the monstrous Sen . James Henderson Berry ( Dem . of Arkansas ) ( left ) . It turns out he was walking out of the chamber at the time and realized he had forgotten something . To get the attention of a page , he started clapping -- just when Mc Laurin mentioned Bryant 's name . LOCKED IN ON PANAMA : The Senate passed a bill that calls for a series of locks to be used on the Panama Canal , ending a protracted debate . The sea - level alternative -- which was the recommendation of the Interoceanic Canals Commission -- lost by five votes . President Roosevelt is pleased . The Washington Post described the type of order that Roosevelt is likely to give in the next day or so : " Cut loose now , and build the canal . " This is a look at what the Culebra Cut looked like in 1904 . 
June 21 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . WILD RUMOR FROM MICHIGAN : Paul Jones , the Western Reserve University coach , has returned from a visit to Ann Arbor , Mich. , with word that the University of Michigan is considering the unthinkable -- releasing coach Fielding H . Yost . Jones says the university 's board of control wants to put a graduate coach in charge this fall , even though Yost has another year on his contract . Yost has said that the board dealt one of the worst blows ever to the Michigan football team by abolishing the training table . Even so , the board better slow down before they do something drastic with the coach known as " Hurry Up " and the man behind the distinctive pronunciation of the school 's name -- MEE - shu - gun . THE HUMAN SKYSCRAPER COMES TO D . C . : Yost , or any football coach for that matter , would likely be quite interested in checking out Feodor Alexiovitch Machnow ( right ) , who met President Roosevelt yesterday at the White House . The Russian is a giant -- reportedly standing 9 feet 3 inches tall , but that seems highly unlikely . He and his wife took the train from New York to Washington , with a number of companions . When Machnow got to the White House and was shown a picture of Roosevelt , he doubted he was about to meet the man . His reason ? He had not seen soldiers in pretty uniforms and had " observed a lack of ceremony . " Everything was in great contrast to his visits with the emperor of Germany and king of England . He was surprised when he saw Roosevelt . The article says , " He had looked for a man in splendid uniform but had met a man in summer white . " Roosevelt said when he met him , " He is the biggest man I ever saw . " Evidently , Bat Masterson helped arrange the meeting . 
June 20 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . JUSTICE AT HIGH SPEED : Yesterday 's report included an item about the arrest of Joseph Kean for the abduction of little Freddie Muth of Philadelphia . Kean has already been sentenced for 20 years . Here 's a timeline , as presented by The Washington Post : June 12 ( afternoon ) : Kean lures Muth from his school . June 12 ( night ) : A baker notices Kean and a strange boy sitting in an oyster bar . June 15 : Kean sends a letter and threatens to harm the boy . June 18 : Kean is captured and the boy is rescued and returned to his parents . June 19 ( 10 a.m. ) : Kean is measured by the system developed by Alphonse Bertillon ( right ) . --- ( 10:20 a.m. ) Kean is committed to court without bail . --- ( 11 a.m. ) : Kean is indicted by a grand jury . --- ( 11:20 a.m. ) : Kean is arraigned before a judge . --- ( 12:05 p.m. ) Kean is sentenced to prison for 20 years . --- ( 1:30 p.m. ) Kean is behind prison doors in a penitentiary in Cherry Hill , the famous Eastern State Penitentiary , which made such a big impression on Charles Dickens about 60 years ago . A TALE OF TWO THIEVES : Two men went to court in New York City yesterday . One , Henry Birschman , confessed to a financial swindle that amounted to grand larceny to the tune of $ 100,000 . His creditors praised his attempts to pay the money back . He promised to make reparation and was released . The other many , John Clark , is on his way to jail for six years . His crime ? Well , first , it 's good to know that he 's 45 and he has already served two sentences in Sing Sing . Back to his crime , the way it 's described in the news article : Clark was walking up the Bowery a week ago when he saw a barber standing in front of his shop flipping a quarter in the air . Clark seized the coin and started for the nearest saloon . To sum it up : Steal $ 100,000 , and you get set free ; steal 25 cents and get six years . Wonder how long the jail term would have been if Clark had stolen a dime . THE BALL WASN ' T JUICED , EXACTLY : The center fielder for the Southern League 's Montgomery Senators , a former Georgetown University player named Apperious , thought something looked a little funny when the ball left the bat of a New Orleans player . He caught the fly ball for the last out in the game on Sunday . As he left the field , he played his own " hidden ball trick " and snuck off the field with the sphere . He showed it to his manager , Mullaney . When the team got to Shreveport , Mullaney opened up the ball in front of the Shreveport manager . They discovered the ball was made almost entirely of rubber and plastic , with plastic wrapping in place of regulation twine . Mullaney and the Montgomery team plan to lay this out for Judge Kavanaugh , president of the league . 
June 19 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . PHILADELPHIANS CAN BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF : Freddie Muth , the son of a wealthy jeweler , has been returned to his family , seven days after he was lured from the safety of the Muhlenburg Public School . It turns out a baker at 60 th and Haverford avenue recognized the picture of the 7 - year - old boy that the police had distributed . He recalled seeing a man with the boy at an oyster bar at 1613 Haverford Avenue sometime after midnight last Wednesday . That helped the police in their search . They tracked the kidnapper and boy down to in the city . The accused man , John Joseph Kean , is " a member of a respectable New York family , one - time bookkeeper of the Harlem Bank , a stock broker and more recently a real estate agent . " Evidently he needed the money . Police were able to identify him by comparing handwriting on the ransom notes with some material presented by Keene 's former boss , who claims the man had embezzled $ 400 from him . Word spread quickly about the arrest . About a thousand Philadelphians were at the Muth residence by the time Freddie was returned to his family . He still had his school book under his arm . PRINCESS CHECKS IN WITH FORMER LOVER : Princess Chimay , formerly known as Clara Ward , has put gypsy violinist Rigo , in a difficult position . Rigo , who is leading a Hungarian Band at the Harlem Casino , has in his hands a $ 100 check from the woman , whom he has abandoned . ( The couple , shown at right , eloped a couple of years ago . ) She has continued to declare her love for the musician . He , evidently , demurs . The article ends with this statement : " Rigo had not decided tonight just what he would do with the $ 100 check . " Maybe he thinks that cashing it reveals a token of his affection for the woman . ONE WAY TO PROTEST AN UMPIRE ' S CALL : center fielder Charlie Jones ( left ) of the Washington Senators is in trouble . He got upset after he was called out in the ninth inning yesterday on a " doubtful third strike . " So , Jones threw a glass at the grandstand at the St. Louis stadium . It so happens that the glass landed near a box occupied by the wife of the secretary of the St. Louis Browns . The husband , named Rickert , has sent a strong letter to league president Ban Johnson asking for punishment of the player . If Jones had hit the woman , maybe the Senators would consider making him a pitcher . 
June 18 , 1906 ( Monday ) . GREAT HORSE LOSES RACE WITH DEATH : Sysonby , whom some consider to be the greatest race horse ever , died yesterday . Rumors had swirled for months that the horse was sick . But people held out hope for the horse , which won about $ 178,000 in stakes during the past two years . Evidently , it died of blood poisoning . The horse was beautiful . It makes you wish you had some kind of vision that would allow you to peek inside . Eventually the horse will be buried at Castleton -- beside Domino , the other favorite of owner James R . Keene . THEY TIMED THEM WITH A CALENDAR : Speaking of racing , two of the oldest citizens of South Waterloo , N . Y . , had an exciting foot race on June 16 along South Washington Street . The competitors were former Judge Rufus B . Cole , 88 , and Jacob Pontius , 90 . The route went from the Virginia Street bridge to the Lux Hotel -- about an eighth of a mile . Plenty of village residents were on hand for the race . Mr. Pontius set the pace at the beginning and led for about 100 yards . Then he had to stop for a moment and catch his breath . The judge overtook him . Mr. Pontius started up again . When the dust had settled , the judge was the winner by six feet . The article says they ran " with the zest and eagerness of two school boys . " Both survived the race in good order . As it turns out , Judge Cole had been rejected for service in the Army in 1861 . He tried to enlist in Grand Rapids , Mich. Officers told him that the Army " did not want any cemetery men , " presumably meaning someone who was likely to die . As all of us know , the Army ended up being filled with plenty of " cemetery men . " HE ' LL BE OUT OF JAIL IN THE YEAR 2905 : A black man named Snow Williams was sentenced to 999 years in a Texas penitentiary this week , according to a notice in today 's Washington Post . The dateline is Fort Worth , Texas . The scene of the crime was Belton , Texas . What did he do ? Evidently , he entered a woman 's room a few nights ago and grabbed her by the foot . She screamed , and people came to her rescue . Oh yes . She is a white woman . A grand jury happened to be sitting at the time . Justice moved quickly . One wonders what the sentence would have been had he grabbed both her feet ? 
June 17 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . WOUNDED KNEE SURVIVOR : A reminder of Wounded Knee surfaces today with news out of Beatrice , Neb . Yesterday , the Sioux chief Little Cloud and others came to the residence of Gen. L . W . Colby . They were looking for Lost Bird ( right ) . Defying the odds , she survived the massacre in 1890 . Colby raised her as his own . But now the chief , who says he is Lost Bird 's father wants to see her . Evidently , she 's in Washington , D . C . , with Gen. Colby 's ex - wife . Colby was conveniently not at his Nebraska home yesterday , when Little Cloud visited . Lost Bird is about 20 . Her saga must be an incredible story . There 's got to be a way to find out more about her . OUTSTANDING ( hopefully ) IN THEIR FIELD : Things are getting desperate in Kansas . The wheat harvest begins tomorrow and the state 's farmers are looking for 25,000 men to help in the fields . Fewer than 5,000 have come from the East . So , farmers are getting a bit desperate , evidently . In Salina , farmer John Freeman was searching for four men . He had no luck . Then he thought of the city jail . He found out that two prisoners were still in jail because they lacked the $ 5 fine for being drunk . Freeman paid their fines and " took them home with him to help save the wheat , " an article said . The farmer probably reminded the formerly inebriated souls that wheat has at least one very interesting byproduct . AN EAGLE MIGHT BE FEELING A LITTLE PAIN , BUT MANY IN OKLAHOMA ARE HAPPY : Yesterday , President Roosevelt signed the bill that clears the way for statehood for the combined Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory . The measure also allows for Arizona and New Mexico to be admitted as the State of Arizona . ( Of course , the people in those two states still have to vote on it . ) That 's why Roosevelt used two pens . He wrote his first name with a gold pen , presented by people from Arizona . He scribed his family name with a quill , snatched from an eagle in Oklahoma . 
June 16 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . SUFFRAGISTS CREATE A ROW : A group of suffragists tried to break up a meeting in Northampton , England , yesterday that featured a speech by Herbert Asquith , chancellor of the exchequer . Just wen he began to speak , three women , Misses Kenny and Billington and Mrs. Rawood , stood and started screaming . When stewards rushed to quiet them , Miss Billington pulled a short whip from under her cloak and swung it wildly at a man 's head and shoulders . ( a Washington Post headline said she was " fighting like a tigress . " The trio waved flags with the inscription " Votes for Women " ( right ) . After the three were taken out of the hall someone referred to only as " Mrs. Pankhurst , " presumably Emmeline , " came to the front of the women 's gallery and started making demands . " She was drowned out by shouts of " Throw her out . " Asquith made his speech , but the news report neglects to say what he said . GANS AND LEWIS EXCHANGE BLOWS : Maybe the suffragists could have used some help from someone like Joe Gans ( left ) . But the boxing star was busy in Philadelphia yesterday , in a match with Harry Lewis . The two fought at the National Athletic Club . The news report says , " There was lots of action in every round , with both men exhibiting far more cleverness in getting away from blows than in delivering them . " The six - rounder ended in a draw . The article added , " Although Gans put up a fast fight , he was a little bit slower than he usually is . " Hope he 's not getting ill or something . SCHOOL vs . CIRCUS : Remember the dispute between the mayor and school board in Haverhill , Mass. ? Well , Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge Hammond suggested on June 14 that Haverhill close its schools as the mayor wants . The mayor figured he had the authority . And , heck , the circus is in town . The school board didn't listen . The schools were open on June 15 . And guess what ? They were empty . Where were the kids ? At the circus , or nearly 3,000 of them , anyway . Not surprisingly , " occasionally small groups of them were heard cheering the Mayor . " . 
June 15 , 1906 ( Friday ) . EVERYTHING ' S NOT QUITE OK WITH OKLAHOMA STATEHOOD BILL : The Statehood bill passed the House yesterday , but the debate got heated . The New York Times called the session " the bitterest fight that Congress has known in many a day . " The bill , which would make a state of Oklahoma ( combining the Oklahoma and Indian territories , right ) and , pending some voting , would lay the groundwork for Arizona and New Mexico to enter the union as one state , prompted the delegate from Arizona to imply that House Speaker Joe Cannon had handled the proceedings in such a way that he would have been thrown in jail in Arizona . He implied that Cannon had made a deal that would link Arizona to New Mexico . The Arizonan hinted at a $ 5 million bribe and vowed that Arizona and New Mexico would never enter the union as one , unified state . JUST DON " T ASK US OVER TO EAT AT YOUR HOUSE : A committee from the National Association of Manufacturers has filed its own report about the cleanliness of the packinghouses in Chicago . Not surprisingly , the group finds very little wrong in the conditions in the big Chicago plants . A news story quotes from the group 's statement , a portion of which says that the conditions , " were far better than the average hotel kitchen or even the kitchens of a large percentage of private residences . " One newspaper calls this the " Whitewashing Committee . " WAITRESSES HAVE A TIP FOR RESTAURANT OWNERS : Waitresses are fed up in Chicago -- not with the meat packing plants , rather with rudeness . They seem to be getting it from their bosses . The Waitresses Union put a sheet with typewritten demands on the desk of the manager of every restaurant in the downtown area on Wednesday . It read : " Employers shall ot use profane language to waitresses . Waitresses shall not be reprimanded in the presence of guests . " . 
June 14 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . BRYANT TAKES A TUMBLE , BUT WHAT DID HE REALLY SAY : William Jennings Bryant , who 's looking to run for president as a Democrat in 1908 , continues his world tour . He is in St. Petersburg , Russia , where he will remain until tomorrow . He will give a Fourth of July speech in London . Meanwhile , his son has discontinued his travels with his dad and arrived yesterday in New York , aboard the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm II. Junior told fellow passengers some stories about his father , including a tale of the elder Bryant 's encounter with a donkey in Manila . Evidently , Bryant fell off the beast . Passengers emerged with three versions of what the golden - tongued Bryant said after he smacked the ground -- and bear in mind that the donkey is emblematic of the Democratic party , and that he has already lost two strong bids for the presidency : Version 1 : " This is the third time I ' ve been thrown by a donkey . " Version 2 : " I hope this is not prophetic . " Version 3 : " I think I won't ride the donkey again until I have clothes of a different color . " HE IS WHAT HE EATS : The sideshow act of the " Human Ostrich " has caught up with him . A performer who 's also known as E . Wallace was operated on at City Hospital in Minneapolis -- to find some relief for a stomach ailment . Surgeons removed 57 nails , three or four pieces of glass and five pieces of wire . Wallace has said that he 's been doing his I ' ll - eat - anything ostrich act for years and never felt any ill effects until recently . He 's expected to recover , and there 's no report that he asked a surgeon to leave the scalpel inside the stomach . The news item raises questions about the habits of ostriches ( right ) . I also wish I knew more about how these glass - chewers do it . THIS CIRCUS HAS A DISTINCTIVE SIDESHOW : Speaking of circuses , the mayor of Haverhill , Mass. , has curried favor from school kids in his community by saying the schools should be closed tomorrow -- because the CIRCUS is COMING TO TOWN . The city 's school board has asked the state 's Supreme Court to prevent Mayor Wood from making such a move . 
June 13 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . CIVIL WAR VETERAN MYSTERY No. 1 : The Civil War keeps surfacing in the news . When the New York State Battlefields Commission visited the site of the Antietam battlefield recently , members got ahold of a badge that was dug up about four years ago . ( That 's the Antietam cemetery at right . ) The badge is inscribed " S . Zielle , Company F , Forty - fourth New York Volunteers . " State officials are hoping to locate Zielle or his heirs . They do know that Zielle was wounded at Fredericksburg about three months after Antietam . CIVIL WAR VETERAN MYSTERY No. 2 : While it might be tough to track down Zielle , authorities had little trouble finding R . D . Thomas of Rensselaer County in New York . He was drafted during the Civil War and hired a substitute . A couple of years ago , he found out that his substitute had died and that his own name was still on the rolls of the army . So , being a good patriot , he obtained a pension . He 's been found out and he pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court yesterday . FAMOUS DETECTIVE DIES : Canada has lost one of its great crime fighters , John W . Murray , chief detective for Ontario . He died suddenly yesterday . He wrote a very interesting memoir . The most noteworthy crime he dealt with was the killing of Benwell a young Englishman . Reginald Birchall was hanged for the crime . He also helped solve the Luke Dillon case . He dynamited the Welland Canal . TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO NEWS ABOUT WHEREABOUTS OF COMPOSER : Chauffeur August Pin was stopped by a police officer for speeding on New York City 's Riverside Drive on the evening of June 11 . The arraignment has revealed that he was driving Mrs. Reginald de Koven and others to a sanitarium in Yonkers to see composer Reginald de Koven ( left ) , who 's widely known for his light operas such as " Robin Hood , " " Rob Roy " and " Happyland . " Patrolman Goldman caught the speeders -- while riding his bicycle . He said they were going 20 mph . The chauffeur contended he never drives faster than 18 . The judge , however , said he recalled a previous appearance by Mr. Pin in his courtroom for a similar charge . The judge held Pin for $ 500 . 
June 12 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . DID THEY ' DRINK LIKE A FISH ' ? More than 18,000 gallons of whisky leaked Sunday from a distillery near Frankfort , Ky . Much of it ended up in Benson Creek . Soon , farmers living at the creek noticed many fish floating lazily on the surface or leaping playfully on the surface , according to The Washington Post . The farmers harvested bushels of the fish and were puzzled about what they ' d seen . Then they learned what had happened upstream at the distillery . They concluded the fish were drunk . It happened on a Sunday , but presumably no liquor ban was violated . I wonder what a drunken fish might taste like . UP , UP AND AWAY , ALMOST : Aeronaut Walter Wellman expects to lead his expedition from Paris on Thursday or Friday . The group will go to Spitzbergen for final preparation for the dash to the North Pole . Test firings of the balloon s engine went well on Saturday . The balloon , however , has not yet been inflated . This is one trip to keep an eye on , but don't hold your breath . It 's getting late in the season for such an expedition . TRY , TRY AGAIN : Despite efforts to convince Gov . Curtis Guild ( right ) to intervene , the state of Massachusetts successfully electrocuted Charles Louis Tucker at 12:12 a.m. today . Well , that 's when they shot the first current through him . Prison doctors pronounced the convicted murderer dead at 12:19 . One article says , " Three applications of the current were made . " Here 's a more detailed description : After the first application of the electricity , Dr. Joseph Mc Laughlin , the prison surgeon , made an examination and announced that the pulse was still beating . After a current had been applied a second time , the surgeon detected a movement of the heart , but when the current was applied a third time Tucker was prounounced dead . Tucker was convicted in the murder of Mabel Page in her home in Weston on March 31 , 1904 . 
July 11 , 1906 ( Monday ) . NOTE : There was so much news in yesterday s papers that I feel compelled to offer some spillover news . KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL AND THE MALLET : Robert J . Collier ( of the Collier s Weekly publishing family ) was hurt badly in a June 9 polo game at New York s Meadow Brook Field . During the match , Harry Payne Whitney ( left ) swung his mallet at the ball . He missed . But in his follow through , the head of the mallet smashed into Collier s face . According to The New York Times , Collier s eye was torn from its socket and he was stunned by the blow . He was treated at Nassau Hospital in Mineola . Evidently , being born with a silver spoon in your mouth can t protect you from getting a polo mallet in the head . SOMEONE SHOULD BUY EACH JUROR A NICE , TALL COLD ONE : The Rev. A . H . Seechel s plan to expose a Sunday beer - selling scandal in Appleton , Wisc . , has fallen flat . Evidently , he set aside some time on a recent Sunday and went to a saloon and bought some beer . He did this to provide evidence against a salon keeper , who had thereby violated a Sunday - closing law . Well , on June 9 , jurors found the clergyman guilty of violating the Sunday labor law . They decided that the purchase of beer is , indeed , a form of work . This will be appealed . PACHYDERM MAKES EM SCATTER AT G . O . P . CONVENTION : Somebody had some fun over the weekend with attendees of the Republican County Convention in Fairfield , Ia . , on Saturday . Some jokesters hired an elephant from a local circus , draped a G . O . P . banner over it and led it to the door of the convention hall , which at the time was full of delegates . The trainer then coaxed the animal to trumpet . The elephant then marched through the door . The delegates reportedly hastily left via the windows . Many were bruised . One man suffered a broken arm . Once the hoax was revealed and delegates discovered that the animal was under a trainer s control the whole time , they returned . Some laughed about it . For the purposes of the exercise , the elephant was named Teddy Roosevelt . The lesson : The Republican party is afraid of him . 
Jan . 10 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . EUROPE READY TO TAN OUR HIDE : The scandal regarding Chicago 's meat - packing industry is confirming some of the worst fears some Europeans have of Americans and the way business is done in the U.S. An article by the New York Sun 's London correspondent has some interesting observations : It is frequently said here that American memories are short and American public the most tolerant of abuses of any in the world , but the manufacturers of American food products will not find either of those characteristics among European consumers . and The old world has come to believe in general terms that American business methods are rotten . It is a sad thing to write of the reputation of one 's counry , but it is the simple truth and the truth better be told without disguise . It will take more than paper reorganization of the great life insurance companies and a cleaning of the Augean stables at Chicago to restore European belief in American honesty and fair dealings . It will be a long time before public opinion on this side of the Atlantic will have any confidence in American corporate reform . SPEAKING OF BRITISH SENSIBILITIES : Reports from New York to London seem to indicate that British readers think women in this country are dressing in " Godiva - like simplicity . " Here 's more , from those wild and crazy New York Sun correspondents : These lurid reports of " peekaboo " blouses have caused anxious eyes to be cast at the costumes of British girls . The result is a report that what used to be known as the " pneumonia blouse " is practically extinct . High collars with less and less transparency below seem to be the order of the day . Well , if they 're upset by those " peekaboo " blouses and if the " pneumonia blouse " is giving them a fever , I hope they don't see how we are advertising our " undermuslins " ( below ) . 
June 9 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . EXCUSE ME , COULD YOU PLEASE PASS ME THE BALL ? Amos Alonzo Stagg ( right , when he was a student at Yale in the 1880 s ) , football coach of the University of Chicago , has come up with a plan that he thinks will help take some of the vicious edge off the game of college football . Some are calling it " new football . " The rules will basically stay the same . He 's looking to change attitudes . One thing he 's working on is to have a dinner the night before the Minnesota - Chicago football game . At the banquet , players from opposing positions will sit next to each other . And there 's supposed to be no talk of " conflicts in financial matters and eligibility questions , " according to an article in the Washington Post . Wonder how the game will turn out this fall . SECRET SERVICE HELPS " FURST " FAMILY : As the Roosevelt children headed from Washington to Oyster bay yesterday , some fur began to fly over the travel arrangements for the family 's gray and white kitten named Posey . At the Baltimore and Ohio Station , the Pullman conductor refused to allow the kitten to be taken on board the special car . He told the children that the cat had to travel with the baggage . Quentin , who 's 6 ( right , in 1904 , with his dad ) was holding the kitten . He told the conductor that the trip would have to be postponed indefinitely until the arrangements were made so Posey could travel with dignity . Sensing trouble , a Secret Service guard named Connell stepped in and figured out how to avoid the situation that threatened " to upset the juvenile ship of state . " He got ahold of a small pasteboard box , cut a hole in it , and put the kitten inside . At that point , the conductor stepped aside and the Roosevelts stayed on schedule . I liked reading about Quentin 's spunk . Makes me wonder what will become of such a man when he grows up . THANKS , CAP ' N : Passengers of the steamer Chicora ( right ) of the Niagara River Line had a rough passage on a trip from Toronto to Lewiston , N . Y . A storm struck in the middle of Lake Ontario and heavy seas repeatedly swept the ship 's decks . Eventually , Capt . Smith steered the ship into the river and safety . The grateful passengers passed a hat and presented the captain with $ 200 . A BRUTAL KILLING IN A BRONX MANSION : Evidently , 40 - year - old widow Alice Kinnan was sitting in her house with her mother , Mrs. Louis M. Stanton , when she heard a knock on the front door . She went to the door , exchanged words with someone . Then her mother , nearly 90 , heard a sound like a body hitting the floor . It turns out it was Alice 's body . The police are stumped . Here 's how the last paragraph in the Washington Post story goes : The house where the murder was committed is known as the Stanton mansion , and is one of the oldest in the Bronx . According to the neighbors , Mrs. Stanton is quite wealthy . It is said the she was a great friend of the late Commodore Vanderbilt , and that he aided her at one time when her home and fortune were in danger of being swept away many years ago . Might want to keep an eye on this one . 
June 8 , 1906 ( Friday ) . A SHIP WITH A FUTURE : The 790 - foot - long Lusitania was launched at Glasgow yesterday . The launching at Clyde Bank was witnessed by thousands . It 's the largest liner in the world . The picture at right shows the business end of the ship . Don't know why I think it 's important , but I thought a view from below the waterline would be of interest . It 's expected that the Lusitania will be able to scoot along at about 24 or 25 knots . The crew will number about 800 . There 's room for 550 in first class , 500 in second class and 1,300 in third class . This probably won't be the last we hear of this great ship . Cunard expects to launch her sister ship , Mauritania , in a month or so . DON ' T READ THIS BEFORE YOU EAT THAT HAMBURGER : Labor Commissioner Neill faced some rough treatment at the hands of Congressmen yesterday during hearings about the quality ( or lack thereof ) of meant - packing . Some representatives questions Neill 's ability to evaluate what he saw . According to The Washington Post , Neill said , " I claim that any man can tell dirt and filth when he sees it . " He was forced to back up his claim that he saw men with tuberculosis spin on the floor of the packing houses . A BIBLICAL REFERENCE IN A BASEBALL STORY : Syracuse Stars pitcher Willie Mains ran into trouble in the ninth inning yesterday . He lost a 5 - 2 lead and gave up some hits in the process . The article put it this way , In the ninth they fell upon him and smote him hip and thigh . Wonder if the hitters were swinging a " jawbone of an ass. " ROOSEVELT ' S LASTING IMPRESSION : A sculptor ( The Washington Post says it 's " K . E . Frazer , " but I think it 's probably J . E . Fraser ) is working on a bust of President Roosevelt , reportedly in the East Room at he White House . It 's open to the public for a couple of hours each day , and plenty of people are watching the artist at work . It 's supposed to be a likeness of TR when he was VP ; I think it 's supposed to be placed with other vice presidents in the Capitol . Here 's what I think it 's going to look like when it 's finished . 
June 7 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . June 7 HOW THEY CAUGHT ' OLD JACK ' CANNON : New York police finally nabbed " Old Jack " Cannon . The widely known burglar was spotted by someone when he was taking money from a room in the Astor House in New York City . He admitted early yesterday that he is , indeed , Cannon , whom an article called " one of the cleverest ' underworld ' workers in this country . " To back that up , the article in the Washington Post says Inspector Byrnes ( meaning Thomas Byrnes , pictured at right , a NYC inspector who was fired by Teddy Roosevelt in 1895 -- Jacob Riis mentioned him in Chapter 13 of his book . ) included him in his book on criminals . One of Cannon 's early crimes was about 30 years back , when he shot detective Patrick O ' Neil in Detroit 's Cadillac Hotel . In the 1860 s , he robbed a jewelry story of $ 50,000 in diamonds ; he later stole $ 90,000 worth of jewels from a store in Mobile , Ala . He 's pretty old now , but it apparently it took three men to subdue him . A TICKLE IN THE THROAT LEADS TO A ' MIRACLE ' IN CHICAGO : Louis Mendelson , who 's 38 , walked into his family 's wholesale liquor store on Halstead Street in Chicago two days ago , and said , " Hello . Is this hot enough for you ? " The comment stunned his brother Samuel so much that he failed to answer the question . Instead , he called two other brothers into the room so they could hear Louis repeat the question . They were stunned . That 's because Lewis had not said a word for more than 20 years -- since he was 17 . At that time he had contracted a fever . Somehow his vocal chords were paralyzed . Doctors couldn't explain it . It all changed on Tuesday . Samuel is quoted as saying , " I never expected to hear him utter a word again . If miracles are possible in these days I guess this must be one of them . " An article in The Lincoln ( Neb . ) Evening News says , " He told his brothers he had felt a sudden tickling in his vocal chords and the impulse to attempt speech had grown so strong that he could not resist it . " He left the business to take a walk and came back talking . And the topic , not surprisingly , was the weather , about which " everybody " talks . A DEAL IN D . C . : Here 's a semi - detached house ( right ) that 's for sale in the Washington Heights area of Washington , D . C . Each has a servants ' stairway and other distinctive interior features . A group is being sold , and each one costs $ 8,000 . This is a good deal , the ad in today 's Post says . " They cannot be duplicated for less than $ 10,000 . " . 
June 6 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . ANCHORS AWAY , AWAY , AWAY : The Senate passed the Navy bill , which allows for the construction of a large battleship . Senator Bacon worried how expensive it would become if we kept trying to keep pace with Great Britain . Senator Tillman said the Navy has been so careless or unlucky with its operations that he thought it unwise to make the ships too expensive . He took a deep breath and drew from a fable of Aesop ( right ) to express his worries : We are getting bigger and bigger like the frog that tried to emulate the ox and if we don't look out we ' ll pop . It would be nice to get my hands on Townsend 's translation of the fable . One version of the moral : Not all creatures can become as great as they think . ONE PERSON ' S MEAT : All this talk about bad meat coming from Chicago packing houses is having an effect on restaurants . One article says , with a New York dateline , " Pork products have been taken off the bills of fare at even the cheapest restaurant . " The beneficiaries are the " physical culture and vegetarian restaurants . " One manager of a vegetarian eatery told a reporter , " The recent revelations about the conditions in Chicago has been the entering wedge for people who were inclined to a vegetarian diet but who were ashamed to forsake meat for fear that they would be dubbed odd . " TAKE A JOKE AT BEDTIME ; CALL ME IN THE MORNING : Here 's a little joke printed in today 's Washington Post , which got it from Puck : Medical student : What did you operate on that man for ? Eminent surgeon : Five hundred dollars . Medical student : I mean , what did he have ? Eminent surgeon : Five hundred dollars . 
June 5 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . WHEN YOUNG WAS YOUNG : There 's a fascinating tale in today 's Post - Standard about the very beginning of the pitching career of Cy Young ( right ) -- back in 1890 when he was trying to get a chance to play with Canton ( Ohio ) of the Tri - State League . The writer of the little story , George Geer , was manager of the rival Mansfield team . One day , Mansfield visited Canton and an untried Young -- who was signed as a catcher -- was languishing on the Canton bench . Geer recalls : During preliminary practice Young was seated on the bench wearing a very funny makeup in the way of a baseball uniform . The outfit was much too small for his big frame and as his spirits were at a low ebb the expression on his face tallied with his uniform . Altogether he was a forlorn looking individual . Then the Mansfield catcher , named Fitzsimmons , stepped in . Geer recalls , " He was a good fellow who was always willing to do anyone a good turn . " Fitzsimmons tried to cheer up the opposing team 's player , but he didn't get far . Young told him he wanted a good tryout but was awfully homesick and was ready to retire before he even began his career . The next day , the Mansfield team showed up at the ballpark and noticed Young throwing to a catcher near the grandstand . They were amazed at his speed . When Canton 's Manager Morton arrived , the Mansfield catcher ( Fitzsimmons ) took it upon himself to encourage Morton to give Young a tryout as a pitcher . A couple of days later , word came over the wires that Young had shut out the Wheeling team -- limiting them to one hit . This marked the beginning of a remarkable career as a baseball pitcher . The writer says that catcher , Fitzsimmons , deserves credit for getting Young 's career started . Here 's how Geer ends the article : Manager Morton assured the writer that he had fully determined to send Young home , and Young has said numerous times that had he been released by the Canton Club he would have in all probability remained on the farm for the rest of his life . That 's a chilling thought to baseball fans everywhere . I ' m not sure if this story is commonly known about Young 's beginnings . If true , it 's pretty neat . ROOSEVELT REVEALS REVOLTING REPORT : President Roosevelt has sent to Congress the report of Charles P . Neill and James B . Reynolds that describes some of the horrid conditions at Chicago 's stock yards . " Conditions are revolting , " Roosevelt wrote . He points out that U.S. laws protect meat destined for other countries much better than they protect meat that 's eaten domestically . This brings the meat - packing controversy to a new level . To help make the point , The Washington Post recently published a little poem that was reprinted in today 's Post - Standard : Mary had a little lamb , And when she saw it sicken She shipped it off to Packingtown , And now it 's labeled chicken . THE CASE OF THE DUNNING DOCTOR : A Newark , N . J . , doctor is in trouble . He was fined $ 50 yesterday in U.S. District Court for using the mails to send a threatening postal card . What was the threat ? It turns out he sent a notice to a patient who owed money for treatment and threatened legal proceedings unless the account was settled . What 's someone supposed to send to a debtor , flowers ? 
June 4 , 1906 ( Monday ) . TIGHT SECURITY IN MADRID : On Sunday , King Alfonso and Queen Victoria headed to the opera . That meant security would be tight -- in light of the recent assassination attempt on the couple . Authorities kept careful track of each ticket , making sure they knew who got one . At one point , they discovered that one of the tickets was missing . An article said , " This had a suggestive meaning . " The king 's protectors did not want the ticket to end up in the hands of a bomb thrower . So , a whole new set of tickets was printed up for the opera -- using a different color . All went well at the opera . But I must say that the production was a strange choice for newlyweds . They saw " Lucia di Lammermor " ( right ) . In it , the bride kills her groom . PROTECTING THE BORDERS : In light of recent anarchist attacks , the U.S. is stepping up its vigilance on its borders -- or so says Joseph Murray , assistant commissioner of immigration . He states , " The immigration laws provide that any anarchist can be deported solely because he is an anarchist . " That 's enough to make anyone feel safe . So , how does he know they 're an anarchist ? They don't all walk off the boat with a lit bomb in their right hand , do they ? MORGAN ' S NEW MASTERPIECES : Word from Paris yesterday indicates that J . P . Morgan has paid $ 5.5 million for a stunning art collection that used to belong to Rodolphe Kane . His latest haul includes paintings by Rembrandt , Van Dyck and Rubens as well as 18 th - century furniture and some tapestries and sculpture . It also includes the " Rest on the Flight to Egypt " ( right ) . I wonder where that one will be 100 years from now and how it got there . 
June 3 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . AN ADE TO DIGESTION : Today 's Washington Post has a delightful tale by the very funny George Ade ( right ) He is among one of the great humorists of the age . This piece is typical . The title is " In and Around Luxor , with a Sidelight on Rameses the Great . " He has the right tone from the first sentence : Until we arrived at Luxor we did not know the total meaning of the word old . The ruins , which are the stock in trade of this ancient City of Thebes , date so far back into the dimness of Nowhere that all the other antiquities of earth seem as fresh and recent as a morning newspaper . Above , I ' ve included one of the illustrations , which goes to the heart of his essay . He writes , In old Egypt every king was his own press agent . These rulers could have written some dandy ' personal recollections ' for the magazines , because they remembered all the incidents that brought them to the center of the stage with the calcium turned on , and wisely forgot all details calculated to injure their standing with posterity . To show that Ramses had a sense for his place in history , Ade " found " a parchment in a " mummy . " He provides an inter - linear translation . If you can't read it in the image above , here it is in type : Rameses Second is a Smooth Citizen . His Foxy Scheme is to bunko Posterity . His Soldiers go out and put up hard Scrap and do up the enemy and he hires a Stonecutter to give an Account of it on a Granite Rock and hand all the Bouquets to Ramses . He is building many Temples . The Architects draw the Plans . The Laborers do the Work . The Public foots the Bill . Ramses and the local Deities are the only ones who butt into the Inscriptions . He has the future doped out as follows -- Three thousand years from now when Cook 's Tourists see my Pictures all over the Shops , they will conclude that I must have been the real Works and they will call me Rameses the Great . BACK TO ' NORMAL ' IN MADRID : Many newspapers in this country put on their front pages today a story about King Alfonso and Queen Victoria 's trip to a bullfight in Madrid on Saturday . About 60,000 people were in the ring . ( The picture at right shows the results of one fight in Madrid in 1905 , I think . ) The Washington Post noted the queen 's reaction ( or lack of reaction ) in a headline : " Young Queen Unmoved When Horse Was Torn to Pieces . " The article said it this way : The bull fight itself was a disappointment to the Spaniards , as some of its usual blood - curdling features were omitted probably as a concession to the Queen . She viewed the gory spectacle without the least outward evidence of emotion . One maddened bull literally tore a horse to pieces under the railing of the royal box from which Victoria looked down without shrinking . Another headline , referring to the assassination attempt on May 31 , said " National Sport Takes People 's Thoughts from Tragedy . " Wonder how any of the horses or bulls ( of whom eight were killed at the event ) would have worded that headline ? 
June 2 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . BERTHA HAS A BEAU : Bertha Krupp , the owner of the Krupp works in Essen and supposedly the richest woman in the world is engaged to Gustav Bon Gohlen Und Halbach . Her income from the Krupp iron works last year was about $ 3,000,000 . The only picture I could find is a rendering of what the couple might look like in , say , 21 years or so ( right ) . Gustav will likely resign from his diplomatic post at the Vatican and take over the operations of the Krupp plant . Bertha 's famous . I wonder exactly how she will be remembered . LEAGUE PRESIDENT DEPLORES BASEBALL ROWDYISM : Jake Wells , the president of the Virginia League , is upset about ongoing rowdiness in recent baseball games . He says , " The next player who assaults an umpire or even lays his hands on one of them in any manner will be suspended . " I don't know if he 's trying to make the umpires feel better , but he wrote a letter to them and said in his 15 years as a player he never saw an umpire killed . Yes , killed . Among the umpires he praises is Bob Emslie who has had to deal with some interesting situations in the past . SWIFT JUSTICE : It took a jury only 16 minutes to acquit Josephine Terranova , the teen - age girl who was on trial for the killing of her aunt . She still has to face a charge related to the killing of her uncle . Here 's how a newspaper article described the scene at The Tombs , when she returned : Outside the Tombs cheers were raised by a throng of hundreds of Italians , to whom the news of the acquittal was made known by the prisoner waving her handkerchief as she crossed the " Bridge of Sighs " leading to the Tombs . I ' m certainly no legal scholar , but it 's likely that this case will be remembered for a long time , based on her stories of abuse at the hands of her uncle and aunt and the involvement of the alienists who tried to test whether or not she was sane -- using Inquisition - like methods . 
June 1 , 1906 ( Friday ) . THE DUST SETTLES IN MADRID : More is known about yesterday 's bombing in Madrid . The king and queen ( Alfonso and Ena ) are safe . But about 16 people were killed in the attack . Evidently , somebody tossed a bouquet of flowers at the king 's carriage . The bouquet hid a bomb . That 's what some witnesses say . They also say that the bomb , hurled from a balcony , might have hit an electric wire . The royal carriage was damaged by flying splinters . The crowd was outraged by the attack . One article says , " Some French detectives were almost lynched merely because they had a foreign appearance . " At least one man has been arrested . FAMOUS FACE : Industrialist John D . Rockefeller sailed for Europe yesterday on the Deutschland , which is known for its speed and is the current holder of the Blue Riband as the fastest ship in the Atlantic . ( It 's also known for its excellent cafe , right . ) A " battalion of photographers encountered him at the gangway , and Rockefeller actually chatted with them . He suggested to them that they take a photo of a bystander . The cameraman said he wasn't famous . To this Rockefeller said , " Make him prominent by putting him in the newspapers . Then everybody will get to know him and point at him and say , ' That 's Smith , he 's a tough customer . ' " Rockefeller then chuckled and winked at his secretary , " whose face was as serious as a sprinter doing the last few yards of a dash . Reports last week indicated that Rockefeller would have modest accommodations . But now , the word is that he paid $ 1,150 for the " chamber de lux . " TAMING A TIGER : A headline in The Washington Post uses one of the more colorful phrases in the crime - fighting world : Raided " Blind Tiger " . It 's talking about a sensational raid on a bar near Danville , Va. A police officer had to climb a telephone pole to break into the place -- through a second - floor window . Lots of beer and whiskey was confiscated . A mixed crowd -- blacks and whites -- had to appear in court . A " blind tiger " is a place where liquor is sold illegally . Wish I knew the origin of the phrase . UPDATE : An alert reader ( thanks , Molly ) asked for the results of the Cornell / Harvard crew race , which was held on Friday May 25 . ( A preview was in the posting for May 23 , 1906 . ) As it turned out , Cornell beat Harvard by three lengths . The race conditions were less than ideal on the Charles River . The wind was running against the tide and there were some bad swells caused by " pleasure boats which the police had failed to cleaar from the course . " Cornell 's Coach Courtney was upset by the presence of the other boats . The coach " declared that the conditions had afforded no satisfactory test of what either crew could do because of the interference by the pleasure craft . " . 
May 31 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . WHO IS SANE ? The murder trial of teenager Josephine Terranova is taking a wild turn . Here 's an artist 's rendering of some of the tests that " experts " conducted on the girl to find out if she 's sane enough to stand trial for killing an oppressive uncle and aunt in New York City . The experts shot electricity through her body , jabbed needles into her cheeks , hit her ankles with steel and drop stones on her toes . She begged , " Let me go back to the Tombs . I am not crazy and I am not afraid . " Needless to say , some people are horrified by this . It makes you wonder if the experts would like to prove to their colleagues that they are , in fact , sane . SHIP TO SHORE : The British battleship Montagu hit some rocks yesterday off Lundy Island ( left ) . The Duncan class ship cost $ 5,000,000 to build , and now her hull is pierced with rocks . It 's not likely that the Navy is going to salvage it . If people can ever figure out how to stay underwater for a while , that might be the only way to visit the Montagu from now on . MADNESS IN MADRID : Today 's afternoon newspapers have a stunning bulletin : A bomb was thrown in Madrid at King Alfonso and his bride Ena ( right , during their engagement ) shortly after their wedding . Several people were killed in the attack and lots of details need to be rounded up by the news agencies . The couple did reportedly make it safely to the palace . 
May 30 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . THE BRITISH MIGHT HAVE A BEEF , TOO : Members of the House of Commons are prepared to take up the matter of the quality of meat imported from the United States . This morning 's London papers praised President Roosevelt for his intentions to investigate the meat - packing industry . I would think that the Lords of Packingtown won't be too inclined to worry about the British . Remember , Great Britain includes some people whose idea of a good meat dish is a pie ( right ) containing four and twenty blackbirds . A HUNDRED BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE ( Climbing ) WALL ... : A report out of Germany attempts to pinpoint one reason that the Germans didn't do well in the recent Olympic games in Athens . The focus is on BEER . An article blames " the beer drinking habit , which is greatly sapping the national vigor . " It looks as though the Germans should consider testing athletes for beer . Hmmm , if that happened , maybe an enterprising trainer would have to come up with something that could trick the testers . Why not call it , say , beeroids . ANOTHER REASON TO COVER YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SNEEZE : The authorities in the Muhlhausen in Prussian Saxony are pursuing gross misdemeanor charges against Johann Furtman , acording to a report in at least one newspaper today ( The Gleaner in Kingston , Jamaica ) . The gentleman got the attention of town officials because he SNEEZED TOO LOUDLY on a city street . Not sure why a loud public sneeze is sneered on in Muhlhausen ; maybe it 's because of the town 's place in musical history . A policeman arrested him on charges of creating a disturbance . To line up witnesses , the police officer stopped a street car and got names of people who heard the " ahhhh - choo . " In the first trial , the street sneezer was acquitted . But authorities have launched an appeal . Wonder if anyone who said " Gesundheit " would be charged as an accomplice . PERHAPS THE MOST BRAZEN LYNCHING YET IN THE SOUTH : About midnight on Monday night , a group of about 25 men , got ahold of a special train in Monroe , La . , and headed to Tallulah in Madison parish . There , they broke R . T . Rogers ( a white man ) out of jail and hung him from a telegraph pole about a half mile from the courthouse . Rogers had been convicted of the murder of Jesse Brown , but courts declared him free last week because of a double - jeopardy situation . Brown was killed in February 1904 . An article in today 's Oakland Tribune calls this " one of the boldest lynchings in the history of lynch law . " It seems to me that Tallulah had another spectacular lynching some time ago . President Mc Kinley even mentioned that one in his state of the union address in December 1899 . 
May 29 , 1906 . A MEATY TOPIC : Upton Sinclair is at it again . Sinclair , who exposed problems with the meat - packing industry with the February publication of " The Jungle , " warns that the killing of diseased meat is still going on . He wants stronger measures in place than the Beveridge amendment . He wants the Neil / Reynolds report to be made public by the White House . He said yesterday , " There must be publicity , so that people of every community where cattle are killed will be made acquainted with the facts and will themselves apply the remedy . " Sinclair said an employee of the Armours in Chicago had offered to sell him -- for $ 2,500 -- some documents and letters dealing with the conditions of Chicago 's Packingtown . However , Sinclair said , somebody intervened and offered the man $ 11,000 for the same documents . LAND OF 10,000 FAKES : Minnesota is evidently trying to take the lid off the patent medicine racket . The State Dairy and Food Department announced yesterday that department employees are gathering samples of all kinds of cure - alls and potions . The department will analyze the contents and publish the results in a weekly report . The effort is particularly geared toward alcohol and opiates . The testing might be done better in a saloon than a laboratory . Come to think of it , I wonder if they ' ll test Coca - Cola . FATE OF LYNCHERS HANGS IN THE BALANCE : The federal government is evidently trying to figure out a way to punish the people who lynched Ed Johnson near Chattanooga , Tenn . , in March . You might remember a headline about the lynching from March 20 of this year . One that I saw said , " Man Reprieved Then Lynched . " Evidently , Johnson was lynched hours after the U.S. Supreme Court granted an appeal . About 75 men ( " of mature years " ) were so upset about the decision that they quietly went to the jail , which had only one guard , plucked Johnson from his cell and hung him from a bridge . One more thing : The rope broke , so they riddled him with bullets . He was to have been hanged the next day . Anyway , federal officials want to punish the lynchers , who were fully aware of the Supreme Court 's action that day . People in Chattanooga are pretty surprised . After all , a local grand jury had failed to find any reason to indict anyone in connection with the lynching . PHONES GIVE FAST NEWS : The Bell Telephone Company in Syracuse begins today a new service for baseball fans . If someone wants to know the score of any baseball game played by the local Empire State League team ( the Syracuse Stars , which is sometimes referred to in headlines as the " Twinklers " ) all they have to do is call " information " and the operator will provide an inning - by - inning score . This is perfect for those who can't wait for the next day 's paper .... or the invention of radio or television . 
May 28 , 1906 ( Monday ) . A LAST - MINUTE PARDON : The future queen of Spain , Ena of Battenberg , has made a huge impression on Spaniards . She 's in Spain now , in preparation for the marriage . She received a petition from some citizens and convinced the king ( Alfonso ) to pardon a man who was on his way to the gallows . A telegram from the king reached the prison at Badajoz a half hour before the execution . The article says , " The march to the gallows was about to begin when a messenger brought word of the pardon . " The lucky man is Fernando Levera . AN AMERICAN HERO OF THE BOER WAR : An editorial in today 's Post - Standard devotes quite a bit of space to an American named George Labram . His name comes up because of a reference to him in Arthur Conan Doyle 's " The Great Boer War . " He played a key role in the resistance of the siege of Kimberley . I ' m not sure what prompted the editorial . It seems as though the writer felt that it 's taken a long time for people to realize the key role Labram played . Labram 's heroism was legitimate , the writer said , " and it ought not to have taken the world seven years to find it out . " But he was known in England , I think . 
May 27 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . WONDER WHAT OPUS DEI THOUGHT OF THIS DOCUMENT : Here s an interesting notice that s from the Orient correspondent of Berlin . " Supposedly , it s a letter from someone in Pontius Pilate s court . The document was reportedly discovered recently in the library of the Lazarist Fathers in Rome . If this is authentic , it will be the most imporant historical document ever discovered that deals with the personality of Jesus , a news article says . According to that article , the text runs about 15 paragraphs . One section deals with Jesus ' physical looks , saying his shoulder - length hair was the color of ripe walnuts . The most intriguing passage : His mother is the best looking woman in these parts . SUMMER VISIONS : With warm weather coming , some Sunday papers are running a feature called The Beauty Ideals of the Summer Girl . Here s the subhead in one paper : She Bathes in the sea to develop the chest , Goes wading to become graceful , Goes loafing to improve her complexion And sleeps on the roof to cure Rheumatism . The picture on the right must be an example of the woman who bathes in the sea . Another suggestion , illustrated on the left : " The girl with weak lungs can go hunting . " Get enough women out there hunting and , who knows , men might even grant them the right to vote . OFF THE ISLAND : Eddie Guerin might have turned up in London . If the story is to be believed , he escaped from Devil 's Island , where he was serving a life sentence for dynamiting a strong room of the American Express in Paris . He and a couple of other escapees covered 200 miles of ocean in a raft or dug - out canoe to make their getaway ( as depicted at right in a French publication of a week ago ) . The French are trying to extradite the man who might be Guerin . He was in a London police court last Monday . 
May 26 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . A HIGHLY TRAINED ACTRESS : The special train carrying Sarah Bernhardt ( left ) ran into a snag . Near Mankato , Kansas , the train carrying her and her company had an accident on the way to a performance in St. Joseph s , Mo . The accident sent the actress into a bit of a tizzy . The news report says she seemed much excited and ran back and forth between her car and the locomotive . Even after workers had put her engine back on track , she demanded a new locomotive for her train . She said the old one was hoodooed . It had run along on railroad ties for about a half mile before leaving the tracks altogether . The delay blocked the Chicago , Rock Island they are a living protest against the prevailing moral staleness . 
May 25 , 1906 ( Friday ) . May 25 IT WAS NECK - AND - NECK , OR BOW - AND - BOW : The race is nearly over , and the winner is .... Private Enterprise , by an anchor length . People with nothing better to do have been keeping a spyglass on the building of two battleships , the Connecticut ( above , upper ) and the Louisiana ( above , lower ) . The Louisiana , built by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. , was delivered to the government on Tuesday in Norfolk . It 's finished . This ends a three - and - a - half year race with the Brooklyn Navy Yard , which has been building the Connecticut . Apparently , a private yard can do a faster , and less expensive , job building one of these big ships than the government can . The Louisiana 's keel was laid on Feb. 7 , 1903 , about a month before the Connecticut . It looks like the Connecticut is still some months away from completion . The cost is revealing , if news articles are to be believed . The Louisiana cost $ 3.992 million . The Connecticut has cost $ 4.212 million and the builders want an additional $ 380,000 . Not sure what the U.S. would even need to do with a bunch of battleships . THE MAN WHO USED HIS CHILDREN TO PULL HIS PLOW : A farmer living about five miles southwest of Neenah , Wisc . , has attracted the attention of the authorities , including Dr. Wilkie of the Fox River Valley Humane Society . After receiving a tip , Wilkie confirmed a story that the man has been plowing his 10 - acre plot of land with the help of four of his seven children . He harnessed them to a heavy plow and guided it along its way as they pulled it . Of his seven children , most are girls and none is older than 14 . Five are school age -- but don't go . They can't read . Officials are making him send those five to school . Not sure what he ' ll do with the other two . Guess he ' ll have to buy a smaller plow . CONGRESSMAN WAXES ELOQUENT AND MAKES A CLASSICAL ALLUSION : A news report in the Atlanta paper says Congressman Charles A . Towne of New York was " in splendid voice " in yesterday 's session in Washington . How splendid ? Well , he flayed President Roosevelt over , among other things , his position on the railway rate measure . Towne drew from some history of ancient Rome : This vauntedly nonpartisan rate legislation became a partisan Republican bill as far as they could make it one , and the president of the United States , shorn of his barbaric , oriental powers , like another Caratacus , manacled and humbled , followed the chariot of the duke of Rhode Island . " ( Who writes his stuff ? ) I wish I knew more about Caratacus ( right ) . The " duke of Rhode Island , " by the way , must be Sen . Aldrich . 
May 24 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . NORWAY LOSES A LITERARY GIANT : Today 's morning papers say Norway 's greatest dramatist , Henrik Ibsen ( right ) , , has died . It happened peacefully yesterday afternoon . He was 78 . His wife , his son , Sigurd , and his daughter in law were with him . All theaters were closed in Christiana last night . The slorthing ( or parliamentary body ) " formally recorded the national grief at the loss of this foremost figure in the literary life of the nation . THERE WAS A FINE SHOW OUTSIDE THE THEATER : Some guests at the White House used the President 's carriage and coachman to go to a performance at the Belasco Theater in Washington , D . C . , last night . During the performance , the manager of the company playing in the theater , Clarence T . Boykin , asked the coachman to move the carriage because the sound of the hoof beats on the street was disturbing the performance . The driver ( obviously having learned something about stubbornness from the president ) refused to budge . Boykin dragged the coachman from the seat and began to fight with him . Police intervened . YOU ' LL NOTICE THEY DON ' T CALL IT CANCERNO : Here 's a big four - column ad for Scrapno chewing tobacco . It 's kind of clever . " Scrapno " means " no scrap " in the wad of tobacco . Just good , old , healthy tobacco . I particularly like the claim on the lower right of the package : " No Scraps , Waste or Sweepings . " What a thing to brag about -- no " sweepings . " At least that distinguishes it from anything that comes out of the meat - packing plants in Chicago . 
May 23 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . ARTIST ' S LAST STAND : The body of John Mulvaney , the painter of this 1881 painting called Custer 's Last Rally ( above ) , was pulled out of New York 's East River on May 21 and identified yesterday . His picture was exhibited in almost every major city in the country . His sister said the painter had been missing since the first of the month . The painting drew plenty of favorable comments . SPORTING GESTURE FROM HARVARD : The Cornell crew ( above , upper ) is on its way to Cambridge for a meet with Harvard ( above , lower ) . Cornell is at a bit of a disadvantage . That team 's stroke , E . T . Foote , is not with the team due to illness in his family . ( There was a front - page story in the Middletown , N . Y . , paper on the 18 th saying that Foote -- stroke for Cornell for two years -- had to go home to Bridgeport , Conn. , because his mother was ill . ) The manager of the Harvard crew , Emerson , telegraphed Cornell and offered to postpone the race until Foote was ready to row . Cornell sent a three - word telegram back to Cambridge : " Unnecessary to postpone . " The Cornell crew passed through Syracuse at 11:10 on the way to Cambridge . They were in two sleepers on Train No. 36 . The Cornell - Harvard meets have become significant since Cornell 's spectacular upset of Harvard and Yale in 1897 . BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE : Three inmates of the Orleans County , Vermont , jail found a noteworthy method of busting through the wall for a taste of freedom yesterday . John Jenkins , Joseph Mc Donald and William Irving , who were awaiting trial for robbing the post office at Nortons Mills , sang and shouted boisterously as they broke through the wall . The sounds they made with their mouths covered up the noise they were making breaking through the wall . The four prisoners weren't noticeded until they were seen strolling down the street in Newport . After they were spotted , they ran and melted into the surrounding woods . 
May 22 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . THE CYCLE OF LIFE ROLLS INTO THE GLOBE OF DEATH : The Globe of Death has rolled into Syracuse . It 's kind of hard to understand exactly what 's going on without seeing it , but here 's how it 's described in the paper : A globe or sphere of latticed ironwork sixteen feet in diameter ( right ) is fastened securely to the stage , with a door in front just large enough to allow Dr. Clarke and his daughter to enter with their bicycles . Once inside the sphere they ride around at a rapid rate of speed , circling this way and that and avoiding a collision in a skillful manner . The climax of the act comes when , after Miss Clarke and the bicycles have been removed , a motor cycle is introduced . Mounted on this , Dr. Clarke starts on a circular tour of the sphere , pedaling slowly at first . Then the gasoline motive power is applied and the audience catches its breath as the rider , gaining sufficient momentum , suddenly swoops to the bottom of the globe and loops the loop time after time in a vertical circle . Dr. Clarke clearly has a dash of daring in him . I wonder what his future holds . IF YOU ' RE GOING TO HAVE NINE LIVES , YOU ' VE GOT TO START WITH ONE : A fire in a commercial district of Hartford City , Ind . , threatened a mother cat and her four kittens -- who had made their home in the back of a store . As the room filled with smoke , she carried two kittens over counters and shelves to reach a window sill . There , she let them down . Then she went back for the other two . By that time she was soaked with water . She could only manage to bring one of them to the safety of the window . Firefighters , who were watching the feline rescue , took note . They rescued the fourth kitten . IMPORTANT , IF TRUE : This might be true . Then again , it might not . But word out of St. Petersburg is that a tribunal investigating some of the unfortunate events surrounding the Russo - Japanese War has decided that Baron Anatoli Stoessel ( left ) , the general who surrendered Port Arthur to the Japanese in the beginning of 1905 has been sentenced to death . The article begins this way : " It is rumored that .... " So , we ' ll just have to wait and see . The same report says that Rear Admiral Nebogatoff ( right ) is also sentenced to die -- for surrendering part of the fleet . I ' m pretty sure that none of the men sitting in judgment were among the soldiers or sailors whose lives were spared because the commanders had the good sense to quit while they could . Here 's how the fall of Port Arthur was described in an Australian paper in January 1905 : The escapers who reached Chi - fu describe the state of Port Arthur as terrible . " A living hell , " they call it . Many of the hospitals were destroyed in the bombardment , and when the surrender took place there were 15,000 sick and wounded men , many of whom were sheltered only from the bitter cold of the winter among the debris of ruined buildings in the streets . Some of the wounded soldiers , delirious with fever , staggered back from their lairs to the front , and getting into the fighting line madly hurled stones and shouted defiances at the enemy until they themselves were either captured or killed . General Stoessel , it is stated , had only 5000 able - bodied and convalescent soldiers to man the whole of the forts when he capitulated . 
May 21 , 1906 . ANOTHER REASON TO THINK TWICE ABOUT TAKING THOSE BALLROOM - DANCING LESSONS : Shocking news arrives from Vienna . It turns out the famous dancer Rosario Guerrero is in an asylum . The alleged cause of her insanity ? " Excessive dancing . " People here might remember her American debut at the Lyric Theater in New York in November 1903 . She gave a pantomine titled " The Rose and the Dagger . " Evidently it was always a pretty good idea not to follow her too closely . When she moved from Paris to Vienna , three young noblemen followed her . One committed suicide . The other two died in a duel . The report says , " She even rises in the middle of the night to dance until she falls exhausted on the floor . " A NICE GAME OF SUNDAY BASEBRAWL : Teams from the Ohio towns of Mansfield and Sharon squared off yesterday , which was Sunday . About 2,000 people watched . So did Constable Buck and Deptuy Harris . Once the game began , they strolled onto the field with warrants , intending to arrest the players for playing on a Sunday . The fans stormed the field , grabbed the officers and " beat and cuffed and jeered them . " Then , " The officers escaped under police protection . " ( Huh ? ) The crowd then turned its attention on the judge who had issued the warrants . The judge , evidently without police protection , was surrounded as he sat in his buggy . The crowd removed the wheels from the carriage . That meant the judge got an intentional walk . 
May 20 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . SIZE MATTERS ; The largest passenger ship in the world , Kaiserin Auguste Victoria of the Hamburg - America line , landed yesterday in NY . It was her maiden voyage . The ship is about 700 feet long . She was not built for speed . , Comfort , rather , was the point . That 's why it had a dining room inspired by the Ritz Carlton ( right ) . The maiden voyage had a probloem . Just before it sailed from Hamburg , a huge fight broke out among the crew . One was killed . Nine were hurt badly . The tussle was related to lingering disputes over a strike . OF MICE AND SUBMARINE MEN : Some of today 's editions included an item about the valuable service white mice play on British submarines . Each boat has the animals on board because even the slightest gas leak will cause them some discomfort and they will squeak -- serving the purpose of being an alarm to the crew , who will head for some fresh air . The sensitivity to gas means the mice would be horribly squawky in Parliament . BEDDE SYDE MANORS : There 's a big change afoot in the royal household in Britain , evidently . Whereas Queen Victoria ( right ) was a stickler for maitaining tradition , King Edward might be loosening things up a bit . There 's a report in the papers today , by " special cable " from London that the old rules for royal bed - making may be on the way out . Here 's a section of the instructions that used to be posted as a guideline for making the sovereign 's bed . ( I ' m picking it up in the middle of the instructions , so DON ' T TRY THIS AT HOME ) : .... Then shall squyers of ye bodye laye handes thereon and laye it streight upon ye bedde without any wrinkles and ye sheets in samewise . Then take bothe sheetes and fustian by ye bordure and put them in under ye fether bedde at both ye sydes and at ye feete also . Then laye on ye over sheetes and go to ye bedde 's head and shake down ye bedde ..... You don't even want to know what they do with the holy water ! Rewards await , the bed makers , however , because " all that were at ye making of ye bedde muste have bred and ale and wyn . " It might just be me , but do you get the feeling that American newspaper readers are being snookered ? 
May 19 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . CARRYING NO STICK BUT SPEAKING UN - SOFTLY : Sen . Isidor Rayner is the latest politician to take a big stick to President Teddy Roosevelt . Rayner , from Maryland , says TR flip - flops on his positions on the railroad - rate bill ( which I don't understand , either ) . Rayner 's comments impressed the Atlanta Constitution so much that the editors put this drawing ( left ) on today 's front page . He looks like he 's either trying to give the bunt sign to a batter or doing a bad job trying to do a flash - in - the - pan dance of the future . Anyway , last month 's eruption of Vesuvius and earthquake in San Francisco provide some backdrop for Rayner 's comments on the president . Let 's call this our Quote of the Day : This is a great era for natural disturbances , and the president seems jealous of the earthquakes and volcanoes . He goes tearing through space oblivious of where he came from and with no conception of where he is going . DEATH OF A MARKSMAN WHO WAS WAY OFF THE MARK : Former Confederate soldier Peter E . Miller died of tuberculosis today at his home near Findlay , Ohio . He was 66 . He was one of those Southern sharpshooters who were REAL GOOD at a REAL BAD time . They were the ones who shot General Stonewall Jackson ( right ) at about 9 p.m. one May night in 1863 . They thought he was part of a federal detachment . One news account says Miller thought it was his bullet that killed Jackson . That might be a bit of a stretch . But his was evidently one of three bullets that hit the general . HAPPY 275 th : The Chelsea Ferry Company celebrated 275 years of service yesterday . The company , formed in 1631 , is believed to be the oldest business in the country . It runs three ferries between Chelsea and Boston . To mark the day , receipts from the ferries yesterday were presented to the Rufus S . Frost Hospital . Frost was in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1875 - 76 from the 8 th district of Massachusetts , a fairly famous district . 
May 18 , 1906 ( Friday ) . PREACHERS AND THE PRESS : Speaking at the evening session of the general council of the Reformed Episcopal Church in Philadelphia , Bishop Samuel Fallows ( left ) said sermon - writers could learn something from news writers . The bishop said ( and this is a paraphrase ) that " the press in some respects had superseded the pulpit and now exercises many of the functions which the pulpit has lost . " No , he wasn't caught up with the fire - and - brimstone coverage of the San Francisco earthquake of April . He seemed to be talking yesterday about the manner in which information is communicated . Here 's how he was quoted in an article this morning : The preacher of today can learn many valuable lessons from the modern newspaper . He should emulate it and catch its style . The ideal newspaper articles are sharp , short , pungent and to the point . The sermon should have all of these characteristics . MRS . DAVIS RALLIES : The first lady of the Confederacy , Varina ( Mrs. Jefferson ) Davis ( left ) , is fighting for her life in Manhattan at the Hotel Girard , a far cry from the Davis ' Beauvoir home . She turned 80 recently . After being given some oxygen yesterday morning , she improved . Her daughter and grandchildren , one of whom -- Jefferson Hayes Davis is a student at Princeton -- are at her side almost constantly . VALET PARKING WITH A TWIST : Automobile manufacturer J . H . Clarke , pulled over his car on Broadway , near 42 nd street early today . He stepped into a nearby restaurant . While he was inside , somebody jumped into his automobile and started it up . Clarke heard the puffing and raced outside , only to see the car drive off . This is a problem . For one thing the auto is worth an incredible $ 10,000 . To make matters worse , Clarke had left $ 2.4 million in bonds , scrip and valuable papers in the car , too . Somebody should invent a way to get food from a restaurant without having to get out of your automobile . Now , that 's a $ 2.4 million idea waiting to happen . ANOTHER LYNCHING : Last night , a mob got into the jail at Inverness in Citrus County , Florida , got ahold of the keys from the jailer and pulled Frank Jordan from his cell . Jordan , a negro , was in jail facing charges of robbing and killing a white peddler two weeks ago . The mob hung Jordan from a tree . One news article ends with a curious sentence : The body was not mutilated in any way . Hmmm . And that 's supposed to reflect well on the lynchers ? 
May 17 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . SENATOR KNOCKS PAPERS : The Atlanta Constitution goes right to the point with its front - page presentation of a conflict that 's brewing in Congress . Sen . Joseph W . Bailey ( left ) of Texas has essentially called President Roosevelt a liar . He is furious about a couple of articles that have appeared in newspapers in Chicago and New York that , he says , misrepresent his efforts regarding the railroad rate bill . He said the correspondents writing the articles are simply doing Roosevelt 's bidding . He said , I state that the two chief cuckoos of this administration are the correspondents of The New York Tribune and The Chicago Tribune . And therefore it seems to me conclusive that this slander proceeds from the White House . I hope for the honor of my country that it does not proceed from the President himself . He has challenged Roosevelt . He better have a fairly clean closet . Wonder how his career will turn out . NOTHING TO DREAD BUT DREAD ITSELF : The huge Navy appropriations bill includes money for a new battleship . Politicians want it to be the biggest one in the world , wanting to trump Britain 's Dreadnought , ( above ) which was launched in February . The House Minority Leader , whom I think is John Sharp Williams ( right ) , light - heartedly proposed an amendment to name it " Skeerd o ' Nothing . " I think he 's from Mississippi . FERRY GOOD JOB , CAPTAIN : I hope the new battleship will float better than the ferry Baltimore . It sank last night at the slip at the Desbrosses Street docks in Manhattan . The captain is to be praised . The double - decker ferry collided with a ship in the middle of the North River . The captain ordered full speed ahead and zipped into the slip . By the time all 150 passengers and horses had gotten off , the ship sank at the dock . 
May 16 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . IT TAKES A LOT TO REPEL A BUSINESSMAN : Here 's a great illustration that goes with an advertisement for something called Cascaret . The ad appeared in today 's Atlanta Constitution . Cascaret is something to take " When You have a Bad Breath . " ( That heading implies that bad breath is singular , but it usually surfaces in a series of breaths . ) The afflicted man in the middle repels the titans of business , who are doing a little gag - and - flee routine . I like the subtlety . That 's the hindquarters of a little dog that 's heading off the frame in the lower left of the drawing . Even a dog can't stand this man 's breath . Cascarets was made by the Sterling Remedy Company . That 's the outfit that , I think , made No - To - Bac , designed to cure someone of a craving for cigarettes . An artist named Maxfield Parrish made a drawing for that product in the 1890 s . That would be a neat item to buy . FALLOUT FROM ' FRISCO : Actuaries usually traffic in numbers . Miles M. Dawson , of the New York Legislative Insurance Investigating Committee , made an impression yesterday with his words . While testifying regarding the status of insurance vis - a - vis the San Franciso earthquake and fire , he said , There is not a fire insurance company in this country that knows whether it will be solvent or not when it pays its San Francisco losses . This " somewhat startled " the members of the House Committee on the Judiciary . He then explained what happened to U.S. insurance companies after the great Chicago fire . It wasn't pretty . TUMULT IN ATLANTA : The Atlanta paper roils with news about the hunt for , and death of , James H . Clark . He was a " love - crazed , whisky - maddened telegraph operator " from Chamblee , Ga . A posse of 200 tracked him down until Clark shot himself . This was after he killed one man and wounded five others . The first sentence of the article , by Gordon Noel Hurtel , sums it up : Foiled in his lovemaking with a 14 - year - old girl , with his brain weakened by recent illness and with his imagination fired by whisky , James H . Clark , night operator at Chamblee , shot and killed one man and wounded five other persons Monday night and early yesterday morning . That 's right -- a 14 - year - old girl . The paper names her ( Nellie Gay ) and prints a picture of her , among classmates . There 's also a group picture of many of the helpful men who tracked down Clark . YOU PROVIDE THE ENDING TO THIS JOKE : The Birmingham Post recently printed this little item , which was then reprinted in the Syracuse paper today : One day a husband returned from a short business trip and found his recent bride crying . " Oh , George , " she blubbered , " such a dreadful thing has happened . I made you a beautiful pie all by myself , and Fido went and ate it . " " Well , never mind , my dear , " he said cheerfully . " We can easily buy another dog . " OK , now . What 's a good next line ????? 
May 15 1906 ( Tuesday ) . A RIDDLE FOR BRITAIN TO PONDER : One of India 's great princes , Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda is in New York City . He had an interesting exchange with journalists . Here 's how it was captured in a news article : In reply to a question as to whether Great Britain ever interfered with him , he said , " It is simply a case of a brass vessel and an earthen pot and affairs must be so regulated that they don't break . " What does the earthen pot represent ? inquired one of the newspaper men . " Why the weaker power , " the Prince quickly replied . And then he broke into a heavy laugh . One headline writer was attracted by that exchange . The result : " compares England and India to Earthen and Brass Pots , but Refuses to Say Which Is Which . " THEY WON ' T NEED INTRODUCTIONS IN THIS COURT CASE : I hope I can get this straight .... There 's a court case coming up in Gainesville , Ga . It seems that the superintendent of schools , Professor Garner , has been charged with assaulting a 10 - year - old , Harvey Brittain Craig . Forty school children have been subpoenaed for this . Now , the prosecutor is W . H . Craig , who happens to be the FATHER of the assaulted boy . Craig is also the editor and manager of The Gainesville Eagle newspaper . The judge is secretary and treasurer of the city school board . The prosecuting attorney is a member of the school board and Professor Garner 's lawyer is Col . H . H . Dean , who is president of the Eagle Publishing Co. , which owns the paper that W . H . Craig edits and manages . Maybe this should just go to the 1906 equivalent of Judge Judy . A FOND FAREWELL : We ' ve known for a couple of days that journalist and politician Carl Schurz was ill . Well he died at about 4:30 a.m. yesterday . He was a well - known publicist and Cabinet member ( Dept. of Interior under Rutherford Hayes ) . He died in his New York home due to " a complication of diseases following an attack of stomach trouble . " His son , Carl L , and daughters Marianne and Agatha were present with him . So , too was his business partner , Edward Pretorius . I hope he 's remembered for his interest in the outdoors . 
May 14 , 1906 ( Monday ) . GAPON MYSTERY SOLVED : Word out of St. Petersburg and Finland indicates that the fate of Father Georgi Gapon ( right ) has been determined . His corpse was found hanging from a nail in the upper chamber of a villa in Finland . Some man had rented the villa on April 8 but the landlord hadn't seen that person since April 11 . So , she told the authorities , who entered the building recently and found the corpse . Authorities are certain that Gapon was killed before he was hung on the nail . The face had decomposed but other evidence indicates they found the body of the missing labor leader , who was linked with last year 's Bloody Sunday . Revolutionists have suspected that Gapon has been spying for the government . That 's the current thinking , anyway . ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE TALE THAT CAN GIVE YOU A SHUDDER : Sad tales continue to trickle in from San Francisco , nearly a month after the earthquake struck . E . T . Johnson , part owner of a restaurant that was destroyed has finally found what he thinks are the bones of his partner , Theodore Hansen . Here 's how Johnson tells what happened : On the morning of the earthquake , I was just getting up . My partner was lighting the fire in the front part of the restaurant . When the shock came the front part of the building collapsed . I was able to escape the back way . I at once sought to rescue Hansen . I called for him , but there was no answer . I madly tore away the debris hoping that I would find him and be able to drag him to a place of safety . The fire came so rapidly that I was driven away and was compelled to leave poor Hansen under the collapsed building . He had returned to the site every day , looking for any sign of Hansen . He found the bones yesterday . I hope that he was killed outright and did not have to suffer the torture of being burned to death , Johnson said . A CHAMP WITHOUT A CHOMPER : Boxing champ Tommy Ryan ( left ) visited briefly with friends in his former hometown of Syracuse . He was riding the Lake Shore Limited from his farm in Michigan to New York City . As he talked with friends yesterday as the train paused at the station , he kept his hand over his mouth , explaining he had lost his false teeth . It didn't happen in the boxing ring . It happened yesterday morning in the bathroom on the train . He said , When I was making my toilet in my state room this morning I laid my teeth on the wash stand . It was one of those bowls that fold up , and when I finished washing , I punched the button and modern mechanism did the rest . When he lowered the bowl , the teeth were missing . He 's still a champion , I think . He 's gotta be about 36 . He spoke of a possible match with " Philadelphia Jack " O ' Brien . Someone asked where he got his tan . He reminded them that he was farming , near St. Joseph , Mich. He also spoke of his fondness for Syracuse as the train pulled out and he waved to people on the street and at hotel windows . I tell you , Syracuse is all right . You can't get away from it . Nearly every time that I have come home from the Pacific coast I have met a person or two from Syracuse on the Overland . Wherever you go you meet a Syracuse person or hear something about the town . If I wasn't farming I guess I would live here . SCHOOL FIGHT TURNS DEADLY : Seven - year - old William Songrin died at his home in Schenectady yesterday , about two weeks after getting into a fight " with several little boys " on their way home from school . Doctors say the cause of death is peritonitis . Despite his bruises , his parents thought the injuries weren't all that bad . A physician was called to the school May 10 . ( The fight was May 2 . ) By that time the boy was beyond saving . The coroner might make an arrest . 
May 13 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . THE FOUR TOPS : Get a load of these women . No , this is not a look at a new singing group . Instead , it 's the lineup of ladies who are showing off the " exquisite lingerie waists " that are on sale at the J . M. High store in Atlanta . They fill a large section of the front page of today 's issues of The Atlanta Constitution ; not surprisingly , they are " above the fold , " which might help single - copy sales . The store has about 1,000 waists , which normally cover the neck - to - waist areas . Styles available include " sheer Batiste , French Lawns and Persian Lawns . " Waists that normally cost $ 2 and $ 3 are going for $ 1.75 ; waists worth up to $ 3.50 and $ 5 are selling for $ 2.75 . Don't know if this includes the shoulder pads , which must account for the upper dimensions on these wasp - waisted women . Come to think of it , if they were a singing group , they could be called The Four Wasps . OUT , OUT DAMNED SPOTS ! Some fashionable women in London are having trouble trying to keep up with the speckled beauty of Queen Alexandra ( left ) . Evidently , she returned from a vacation a couple of years ago with some freckles on her cheeks . That prompted numerous keep - up - with - the - Joneses types to have some artificial freckles added to their faces . A report printed in the Atlanta paper ( via " special cable " from London ) says that women are trying now to get rid of the freckles . It 's not all that easy ; the article says : Many painful operations have been submitted to without the desired result . Princess Victoria claims to have a recipe that might do the trick on the spotted cheeks . The concoction comes from an " obscure woman in Sandringham . " Probably someone who 's at home in the beginning of " Macbeth . " . 
May 12 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . ABOUT THAT ' FLAG ' COMMENT : Bishop H . M. Turner , the first man of color named a chaplain in the U.S. military , is in Syracuse for some medical treatment . Turner , who lives in Atlanta , spoke at length about his recent comments about the U.S. flag . He had been criticized for saying , in February , that the flag was a " dirty rag . " He told a reporter , " I never said the flag was a dirty rag . What I did say was that since the government could not protect the negro and give him his rights the flag to him was nothing but a ' dirty flag ' . " He pointed out that - in the past 13 years -- about 2,700 colored men " have been put to death without judge or jury by miserable drunken , lawless mobs . " A PRESSING TIME FOR SCHURZ : Carl Schurz , one of the remarkable German - Americans of our time , is near death , according to reports out of New York City . I ' ve got to get to work , so I don't have time to describe all his accomplishments , which are numerous . One quote attributed to him is " My Country ! When right keep it right ; when wrong , set it right ! " I think that 's a little off . Here 's what I think he said , in the Senate in 1872 : The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming , My country , right or wrong . In one sense I say so too . My country ; and my country is the great American Republic . My country , right or wrong ; if right , to be kept right ; and if wrong , to be set right . BIG PROBLEMS UNDER THE BIG TOP : It was a tough night for circuses last evening . In New Rochelle , a lamp exploded and shot flames into the top of a tent that covered about 2,000 people . Circus workers hustled to cut open the walls of the tent so people could flee . A large number of people were injured but nobody was killed . Another circus had a problem in Columbia , Mo . , where university students and circus employees got into a brawl . The students even went to far as to grease the rails of a train track , forcing one of the circus cars to jump the track . The problem started when students refused to leave the tent after a show . STRANGE TIMETABLE FOR TRAIN TRIAL : I don't know much about it , but what sounds like a really interesting trial ended yesterday in Albany . The decision in favor of Edward Johnson , a colored man , comes two years AFTER HIS DEATH . He had sued New York Central Railroad , saying that he was kicked off a passenger train in 1900 and lost his arm in the process . Yesterday , a jury awarded his attorney about $ 4,000 . This ends the sixth trial . Charges of jury tampering dogged this one . The articles says , " The case is one of the most remarkable in the history of civil actions in this country . " That 's right . It says " country , " not " county . " Wish I knew more . 
May 11 , 1906 ( Friday ) . NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY CALL IT ' THE DIP OF DEATH ' : Miss Isabelle Butler is drawing some attention for her driving . She is driving a car through the " Dip Of Death , " which is part of the Barnum & Bailey 's circus . It 's really hard to describe what she does . But seeing a poster ( above ) can help . It 's traveling around the country and arrives in Syracuse at the end of the month . At its highest point , this structure is 60 feet high . The gap is 40 feet . The trick takes a little less than four seconds . A helpful , thickly - brained journalist calculates that Butler earns a little less than $ 100 a second ( which might approach JP Morgan territory ) . Butler 's act is also called " L ' Auto Bolide . " One thing is for certain : It 's easier to do this with a car than a horse . Isn't progress great ? By the way , another show in the circus is called " The Twirls of Terror . " I wish I had the space to show you more of an early 20 th century circus . FINALLY THE TITLE MEANS SOMETHING : I spotted an ad for " The White House Cook Book . " The compilers are Hugo Ziemann and Mrs. F . L . Gillette . The F . L . stands for Fanny Lemira . I don't know much else about Mrs. Gillette , but I think she was the lead author and first came out with this about 20 years ago . She used the White House name in the title , but it gained some legitimacy when Ziemann got involved . He used to be the steward at the White House . I think he was the mastermind behind President Grant 's birthday celebration , which featured 1,000 guests . The book has got more than 500 recipes and it 's selling now for 51 percent off the regular price . That makes it 69 cents . The book could stand to be modernized a bit . Can't tell if it has President Mc Kinley 's last meal or not . A HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE : Massachusetts legislators look to be in a bit of trouble . Speaker Cole wants all members to cooperate with a grand jury as part of an investigation into ( gasp ! ) corruption . Numerous esteemed members of the House avoided the corridors of power because they didn't ' want to be on the receiving end of a summons . Some representatives can be easily seen by the bailiffs , but they are protected by a line over which only politicians and some officials are permitted to step . Evidently the boundary is called the " dead line , " which must make the journalists feel quite at home . BETTING ON LIVE BIRTHS : The American Birth Insurance Company of Boston has been charged with mismanagement of funds . Evidently , promoters of American Birth Insurance say , and this is quoted from the news story , the laws governing birth were as stable as those governing mortality , upon which life insurance is based , and statistics were carefully compiled . The company was conducted on mutual lines and by its means the policy holders who paid a small sum monthly received , upon birth of a living child , a cash benefit of from $ 50 to $ 500 depending upon the class of policy and the number of payments before the time of birth . Clearly the operative word is " living . " Certainly don't want one of those insurance salesmen wandering loose around someplace like the old Boston Lying - In Hospital or the Boston Hospital for Women or some such place . 
May 10 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . PRICELESS WORDS : The word is that eskimos have lots of words for snow -- because they are surrounded by it and because there are lots of subtle distinctions . I like the many words we might have for " embezzlement . " One little article today talks about a brokerage - firm clerk named Edwin S . Greenfield who absconded with $ 175,000 . The article -- with a Philadelphia dateline -- uses these two synonyms : defalcation and peculation . The article notes that Greenfield lost the money by " investing " in bucket shops . WHO ' S MINDING THE ASYLUM ? A congressional panel got an earful yesterday during testimony about the treatment of patients at the government 's asylum for the insane . Could it be talking about the place that Civil War soldiers called St. Elizabeths ? I think so . One person who testified , a tailor named Joseph A . Kensey , had been an inmate in the institution twice . He said he was told that , in the words of the reporter , " choking was the surest remedy for insanity . " . 
May 9 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . HARRIMAN ' S RECORD RUN : Railroad magnate E . H . Harriman ( right ) has set a record in his cross - country train trip ( from San Francisco to New York ) . He arrived in Manhattan on the Empire State Express of the New York Central & Hudson Rail Road at 10 p.m. yesterday . That ended a trip that took 71 hours and 27 minutes . One of the fastest sections was covered in Nebraska , between North Platte and Grand Island . His train covered the 138 miles in 114 minutes . When his train paused for three minutes in Syracuse , two reporters jumped on board and chatted with him . He was reading a novel in a drawing room car . To illustrate the extent of the damage done by the earthquake in San Francisco , he said , " If you can imagine that part of New York city from Fourteenth Street to the City Hall all torn down and charred , then you have a picture of San Francisco . " A LYNCHING FOR A HORSE : A report from Mississippi states that a mob lynched a negro named Sam Sims six miles from that state 's capital . Evidently the man was resisting arrest and killed a horse that , at the time , was being ridden by Constable Lamar Hendricks . That enraged friends of the constable . They tied the constable to a tree , so he wouldn't interfere . Then they lynched Sims . To avenge a horse . THAT WOULD BUY AN AWFUL LOT OF CLARINETS : Former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra , Arthur Nikisch , ( left ) has a suggestion that might help the BSO land a first - class conductor . His idea : Bring him back to the podium . Nikisch , who was with the BSO from 1889 to 1893 , is willing -- if he gets paid $ 50,000 and has a $ 125,000 life insurance policy while he 's in this country . 
May 8 1906 ( Tuesday ) . OLD BOYS NETWORK HONORS " UNCLE JOE " : " Uncle Joe " Cannon ( left , in 1904 ) , speaker of the House of Representatives , was the honored guest at a reception yesterday marking his 70 th birthday . The party was at Washington 's Arlington Hotel . Most of the influential leaders in Washington were there , including all Cabinet members who were in town , most members of the House and Senate and the members of the Supreme Court . The party lasted from 9 p.m. to midnight . President Roosevelt showed up at 10 and stayed about an hour . The final tally indicates that 1,200 were there . One news article adds this incredible observation in its last sentence : " There were no ladies present . " TIL INDICTMENT DO US PART : The Rev. J . B . Dosier of Ashburn , Ga . , is a little embarrassed . Evidently he read a notice in a matrimonial paper that Miss Lucile Patterson of Lewiston , Pa. , was looking for a loving husband . So , he wrote to her . They exchanged numerous letters . He proposed marriage to her . She accepted , on one condition . Could he please send here $ 30 for train fare from Lewiston to Ashburn . He sent her the money . That was the last he heard of her . He told postal authorities in Washington about the situation . The article says that an investigation has led to the arrest of Patterson and her " pretty niece , " Edna Kirk . They are charged with fraudulent use of the mails . Evidently , " a large number of other victims to the tune of from $ 20 to $ 35 each have complained to the postal authorities of Mrs. Patterson 's matrimonial negotiations . " . 
May 7 , 1906 ( Monday ) . GAWKING IN ' FRISCO : It had to happen . Tourists are beginning to show up in the streets of San Francisco . The streets were crowded yesterday with rubber - neckers . A report from San Francisco says , " Every train from nearby towns and every ferryboat was packed with people eager to get a glimpse of the city 's devastation . " Also , one out of three carried a camera . The atmosphere seemed nearly carnival - like . Street vendors made lots of money selling refreshments . Also , the coroner now reports that 134 bodies have been identified ( out of 319 bodies found to date ) . FRAUD IN OREGON : More than 20 people have been indicted in Oregon in a land - fraud investigation . Federal authorities say there was a conspiracy afoot to acquire 200,000 acres in Crook , Lake and Klamath counties in that state . Yes , appropriately , that 's " Crook County . " Even better -- one of the accused is D . F . Steffa , the editor of the appropriately named " Crook County Journal " in Prineville , Ore . I don't know many details , but I liked the headline that appeared in one paper : " Men Range from Saloonkeepers to Editors . " Some might wonder just how big such a range might be . UPSTATE FARMER WOULD REALLY PREFER TO GO WIRELESS : David Follett , who runs a farm near Weedsport , N . Y . , was upset that the Independent Telephone Company was erecting poles and stringing wires along his property line yesterday . He wanted $ 10 per pole for damage to his property . The company offered $ 3 . He tried to drive the linemen away by firing shotgun blasts in the air . That didn't work . So Follett and some of his own hired men started cutting down poles as fast as they were being put up . One fell on a horse . Another fell to the ground -- with a man on top of the pole . ( He wasn't injured because he fell into a tree . ) The phone company manager -- at gunpoint -- forced Follett to turn over his saws and axes . He did . Those tools ended up in the Seneca River . The article says . " The men were then enabled to erect enough poles on which to string their wires although some were little over seven feet tall , having been sawed off two or three times . 
May 6 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . DERAILING TRAINS : Officials in Nordhausen in Prussian Saxony now prohibit women from allowing the trains of their dresses to drag on the street . The fine is $ 7.50 . This is a more stringent measure than the law currently on the books . Until now the ban applied only to the sidewalks of the Friederich Wilhelm Platz and streets adjoining to it . Now the entire city is in the banned - train zone . Can a mini - skirt be far behind ? STUBBORN STENOGRAPHER : Miss Horas , a stenographer in the office of Corporation Counsel of Chicago is sticking to her post . She has been discharged and workers have removed her desk . Still she refuses to leave the office and remains in her chair in the center of the room during the work day . She reads a book and claims that her job is protected by the Civil Service Commission . LIBEL IN VERMONT : Percival W . Clement , a former candidate for governor of Vermont has been found guilty of libel in U.S. Court . Jurors awarded Samuel D . Wilson $ 1,000 . The suit stems from the fact that Clement publicly called Wilson a murderer . Yes , Wilson had killed someone . When he was acting as a detective on behalf of Prohibition interests , he shot and killed Edward Goeben in White River Junction . Wilson was indicted on a manslaughter charge but was eventually acquitted , on a self - defense defense . As for Clement , my hunch is that he will someday be governor , but not for , oh , say , another 13 years or so . 
May 5 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . NEITHER RAIN NOR SLEET ... A New York city mail carrier made postal history the other night when he delivered a letter to someone who was sitting in the audience of an opera . The show was Victor Herbert 's " Mlle . Modiste , " which opened at the Knickerbocker last Christmas night . The recipient was a visitor to New York who had contacted some friends prior to coming to the city but had neglected to say where he was staying . He did , however , tell them he had a ticket to the opera , and happened to mention his seat and row numbers . The news item says , The New York postal authorities say the instance is the first on record where a special delivery letter has been addressed to a patron of a performance with a theater seat ( as ) the address . SAUSAGE MAKING : Now I know why Bismarck said what he did about the relationship between law - making and sausage - making . The Constitution in Atlanta mentions that Germany 's sausage makers used 97,000 horses last year . So , horses should worry about more than the glue factory . MAY TRIUMPHS IN ' MAYFAIR ' : Actress Edna May ( at center in the picture ) has wowed them again in London . She is performing in " The Belle of Mayfair " and sent a clipping from the London Daily Express to her parents in Syracuse . Here 's what part of the news story says : On the first night of " The Belle of Mayfair " the scene in this alley was most remarkable . A huge crowd waited for Miss May , and received her with as great enthusiasm as that with which they greeted her when she smiled upon them through the window of the Chaldicott mansion in the closing picture of the play . The crowd waited and compelled Miss May to make a speech to them before she left the theater . It was an unusual demonstration and a fine testimonial to the actress . 
May 4 , 1906 ( Friday ) . 10 YEARS , COUNT ' EM : Michael Angelo Mc Ginnis is heading in the right direction if he wants to write another popular mathematics text book -- to prison . In Kansas City yesterday , he was sentenced to 10 years for forging a deed to a city lot . Maybe he ' ll do what he did the last time he was in jail . A couple of years ago , he was jailed for misusing the mails ( while publishing a newspaper in Newton County , Kansas ) . Instead of scratching marks on the cell wall to count the days , he wrote " Algebra , the Universal Solution for Numeral and Lateral Equations . " The book was popular among mathematicians around the world . Wonder what he ' ll come up with now . Mc Ginnis , we 're told , is a direct descendant of Scotland 's John Napier , ( right ) the inventor of logarithms . QUIETLY CONNECTED : Miss Nannie Langhorne Shaw ( right ) of Virginia married Waldorf Astor , the oldest son of William Waldorf Astor , in a quiet ceremony at All Souls Church in London . They wanted a quiet ceremony because some members of the clergy in London had threatened to disrupt the ceremony . They object to the marriage of people who are divorced . DON ' T ASK : A director of the Bronx Zoological Garden in New York has come down with a case of tonsilitis . The word is that he caught it from a monkey , which has a sore throat . 
May 3 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . HOW LITTLE JAKEL GOT INTO THIS COUNTRY : A mother from Austria outwitted officials on the steamship Pannonia ( right ) by smuggling an 18 - month - old baby named Jakel Slotervyk into the country . Her husband , who lives in Patterson , N . J . , sent only enough money for his wife 's passage . He thought the child could sail for free . She found out different and tucked Jakel in a covered wicker basket . She kept him under cover throughout the trip , which ended yesterday . Nobody suspected anything until she got off the ship and met her husband . When he rushed up to hug her , he jostled the basket . That 's when Jakel yelped . That got the attention of an immigration inspector . The parents pleaded their case , and here 's what the inspector said to the interpreter , according to the article from The New York Sun : All we have to do is see that no undesirable aliens pass us , and Jakel looks desirable enough , I think . Tell them we ' ll have to take the little one back to the registry room and have his name recorded , but that after that they can have him back . Call it the Day of the Jakel . A WARNING TO JOURNALISTS : Here 's a comment from a daily newspaper worker " whose hair has whitened in long service " to the field of journalism : I have tried to keep in touch with life -- and I have never written a line that anybody will remember after I am forgotten . Yet I love my work . It is the breath of my nostrils . I could not abandon it if I would . It has kept me poor ; it will leave my family poor . " This anonymous comment was printed in today 's issue of The Post - Standard in Syracuse , N . Y . Rest assured , it won't be posted in the entranceway of any journalism school anytime soon . But it sounds honest enough . Still , that comment sits in contrast to a notice lower in the page , that The Evening Georgian , which is Atlanta 's newest paper , has insured the life of its editor for $ 75,000 . TRUST US ON THIS LEAD PAINT THING : Looks like pure white lead is coming into its own in the world of house paints . This ad ( right ) touts the combination of Pure White Lead with Pure Linseed Oil . If you 're looking for a brand , why not try Brooklyn ? It is , after all , " made by the Old Dutch Process . " The Dutch certainly must know paint , after all . And this stuff apparently lasts about three years longer on the house . It certainly will have a legacy . 
May 2 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . GO , CANADA ! A Canadian runner , William Sherring , won the marathon race at the Athens Olympics yesterday . Evidently he had some strength left at the end . One news article says he " joked and laughed with his Greek attendant and returned the salutes of the cheering crowd . When he entered the stadium , Prince Constantine ran alongside him . Sherring , from Hamilton , Ont. , is 27 , stands about 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 115 or 120 pounds . IS PARIS BURNING ? Paris teetered on the edge of revolt yesterday during May Day or Labor Day or whatever they 're calling it . The main focus of the demonstrations seems to be an eight - hour workday . The hardest workers in Paris yesterday might have been the dragoons , though . They drew their sabres . That helped keep order -- or at least confine the rioting to certain neighborhoods . About 1,000 people were arrested . Here 's how one report described what happened : At no time did the demonstration reach the magnitude of a revolt , but was rather a leaderless tumult to which the serious labor element , struggling for a principle , was hopelessly confused with violent agitators , anarchists , revolutionists , roughs and a large number of the curious . POWDER BLUES : The Liscum family near Ogdensburg , N . Y . , had a close call with death shortly after moving into a new town . The mom , planning to make some pancakes , ran out of baking powder . She found another can , labeled " baking powder , " and completed the cooking . It was , indeed , a white powder . But it turned out to be arsenic -- something they kept in an old baking powder can in the stable in their former house . The parents , their son and a family friend immediately became ill . The family is out of danger now , thanks to " strong emetics freely administered . " . 
April 29 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . SHAKEN , NOT STIRRED : To honor the spirit of the people of San Francisco , who have had to deal with the devastating earthquake , the Syracuse Herald printed a large rendering of the poem " Unconquerable " by William Ernest Henley . It seems appropriate in light of the emphasis on self - reliance . The last lines are , " I am the master of my fate , I am the captain of my soul . " Henley died a couple of years ago , but this poem is likely to remain a favorite , and will likely show up in some very strange contexts . THE ARSENIC - MINDED PROFESSOR : Police in Cambridge are on the lookout for Erich Muenter , who teaches German at Harvard . His wife died about a week ago . Before the body was cremated in Chicago , an alert medical examiner sent Leona 's stomach to Harvard professor Whitney . On the 27 th , the professor announced that he had found traces of arsenic in the stomach . Muenter has disappeared . Maybe he will remain hidden . Who knows ? He might pop up again and again . 
April 28 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . A BURNING TRIAL IN ATLANTA : Jurors in Atlanta found Mrs. M. L . Standifer not guilty . She had been charged in the shooting death of her sister who was having an affair with Mr. Standifer . The front page of The Atlanta Constitution included a drawing of Mrs. Standifer in the courtroom . She 's shown with her little boy . The paper also included a facsimile of the last page of her statement . One article says she went into the witness box with the babe in her arms , which is sure to make an impression on a juror . The verdict ends what the Constitution calls " one of the most pathetic tragedies that ever occurred in Atlanta . " LOCKED IN A DISPUTE : A London lawsuit pits Charles M. Schwab against an art dealer named Rothschild over the selling price of John Constable 's " Dedham Lock " ( right ) Evidently the owner 's asking price was about $ 4,250 and the dealer offered it to Schwab for $ 25,000 . They agreed on $ 15,000 . When another dealer offered it to Schwab for $ 10,000 , Schwab canceled the sale . Hence , the court date . JUBILEE FOR ACTRESS : Actress Ellen Terry passed a milestone yesterday in London . She celebrated her 50 th year on stage . She 's 58 . Here , she 's pictured as Lady Macbeth . The celebration was memorable . A men dressed as Falstaff recited an ode that congratulated the actress . Then a dove fluttered down to her , carrying a scroll . A " dainty fairy " plucked the scroll from the dove and presented it to Terry , who read the words . Then the Playgoers Club presented her with a silver casket . The production for the evening was " The Merry Wives of Windsor . " She portrayed Mistress Page . She played most of her important female Shakespeare roles with Sir Henry Irving . 
April 27 , 1906 ( Friday ) . SENT BACK HOME : Yesterday , the Hamburg - American steamer Moltke ( right ) headed back to Europe with more than 200 Italians and Poles who have been deported . Immigration officials say this is a record number of rejections for one ship . Reasons are scanty . Here 's what one news article says : " One Pole was excluded because he was unfit for manual labor . He asked in vain that his wife might stay here and work to bring him and five children back from Russia . Some of those excluded were without underwear or clothes . One of them had but two cents upon arrival . This was part of a dime which he borrowed from one of the stewards of the Moltke . " Wonder what they ' ll be thinking as they go back past the Statue of Liberty , with that wonderful poem . I don't remember much of it . The last part , however , is hard to forget : " Give me your tired , your poor , Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free , The wretched refuse of your teeming shore . Send these , the homeless , tempest - tost to me , I lift my lamp beside the golden door ! " OLYMPIC CONTROVERSY : A Greek man named Demetrios Tofalos won a weight - lifting event , beating an " Austrian giant " named Josef Steinbach yesterday . The crowd was angry at the Austrian because of talk that he is a professional . When he got ready to lift , the crowd hooted him mercilessly . So , he left the platform , leaving Tofalos with the first prize . Here 's what happened next , according to a news report : " The Greek flag had been raised amid tremendous cheering when Steinbach calmly re - entered the arena and picked up the weight which Tofalos had raised with difficulty and raised it above his head several times with the greatest ease . Then he left the stadium with a sarcastic bow to the wondering audience . " Another dispute arose yesterday regarding the Irish athletes . The program lists them as coming from England , and the organizers plan to count any of their victories toward Great Britain 's total . Peter O ' Connor , a jumper , has protested . He has brought a large green streamer with a golden harp on it , which he plans to wave at the top of the Stadium when an Irish athlete scores . It 's in the hands of the International Committee . CHECK THIS OUT : I ' m looking at an ad for The Rambler Automobile , which includes a picture of one ( right ) . The prices range from $ 1,250 to $ 2,500 . That 's a lot of money when you consider you can buy a nice suit for $ 8 to $ 15 . But , heck , it 's got four cylinders . You can't help but get a feeling that this kind of vehicle will be around for a long , long time . 
April 26 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . YOU ' RE ON YOUR OWN IN VIRGINIA : The Massachusetts Senate yesterday rejected an appeal by colored men who have been lobbying for a special provision regarding the upcoming Jamestown Exposition that 's planned for 1907 to celebrate the 300 th anniversary of the founding of the British colony in Virginia . The men wanted a state grant of $ 50,000 that was to support the event to be " contingent on the governor receiving assurances that colored citizens of Massachusetts will not be discriminated against in case they visit or participate in the exposition . " The odds are , this won't be the last we ' ll read of the controversies regarding the exposition and its relationship with " colored citizens of Massachusetts " and other states . CLOSE CALL IN THE ALPS : The Washington Post has a remarkable tale of a man and woman and two guides who survived an avalanche on Pointe d ' Orny ( right ) in the Pennine Alps . On their descent , they accidentally started an avalanche , which swept the four of them along . The guides yelled to the Americans to keep their feet and not sit down . Here 's how one of the survivors , an American named Kenrick , described it : I thought every moment that we would be dashed to pieces , as I know the big precipices on the flank of the mountain . I was in front , then came a guide , then my wife , and then the other guide . Suddenly I brought up with a jerk which shook the breath out of me . We had stopped on a ledge three yards from the brink of a fathomless depth into which the avalanche rolled with a roar . I turned and saw my wife lying motionless . A guide was rubbing her face with snow . We owe our lives to Guide Dupras , who had dexterously clasped a projection of rock and clung to it , thereby bringing us up with a tremendous jerk on the rope which , fortunately , did not break . When the avalanche had passed and my wife had recovered , we clambered to safety , but he was pleased when my wife kissed him gratefully . 
April 25 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . NEW BERTH FOR OLD ADMIRAL : In an impressive ceremony at Annapolis , the remains of John Paul Jones ( left ) were placed in a crypt beneath the marble stairway of Bancroft Hall at the Naval Academy . They will stay there until they 're moved to the chapel , which is under construction . At the ceremony , there were about 1,500 sailors , 200 of whom are from France , the most recent resting place of the naval hero . Theodore Roosevelt , not surprisingly , talked at great length to mark the occasion . About 10,000 people were in the Armory to hear him . He spoke quite a bit about the War of 1812 and tilted it heavily toward military readiness . He reminded listeners that the British took Washington during that war . Then he said , I am sorry to say that those of our countrymen who now speak of these deeds usually confine themselves to denouncing the British for having burned certain buildings in Washington . They had better spare their breath . The sin of the invaders in burning the buildings is trivial compared with the sin of our own people in failing to make ready an adequate force to defeat the attempt . Sorry I don't have time to give you the whole speech . Interestingly , and appropriately , Roosevelt was introduced by the secretary of the navy , whose last name is -- no kidding -- Bonaparte ( right ) . I think he 's the grandson of Napoleon 's brother , making him Napoleon 's great nephew . REPORTS OF FATALITIES ARE SCALED BACK , FOR NOW : Now the latest figure for the people killed in the earthquake in San Francisco stands at 277 . But I ' ll say about 277 . The same day that figure is announced , there 's another article out of San Francisco that says that stray packs of dogs are running loose and are gnawing at corpses that lie half burned in ruins . Sailors not lucky enough to be an Annapolis for the JP Jones ceremony had the distasteful duty of finding the dogs and shooting them . An article says , " It was not believed that there were so many dead in the ruins of Telegraph and Russian hills until the dogs were found there digging for the bodies . " . 
April 24 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . TEEN FASHION : Here 's a look at the type of suits that are being sold for spring . This one is " cut after the latest Spring 1906 models . " It 's designed for young men , which means between the ages of 14 and 18 . That 's high - school age , or course . This illustration is " an exact copy of our suits , " according to an ad for a clothing store published in today 's editions of The Post - Standard in Syracuse . There , customers will see suits with " every detail of fashion . " That means " snug fitting collars , broad lapels , deep vents , pear shape trousers . " That last element sounds like a fashion statement that 's here to stay . The prices range from $ 6 to $ 8 . Not sure how much more it will cost to get the total package as shown in the drawing -- adding the cane , hat or handkerchief . OVER - THE - TOP JOURNALISM : Walter Wellman , former journalist , has evidently found an outlet for his energies and his hot air . He is attempting to discover the North Pole with an airship . The New York Motor Club gave him a farewell reception yesterday at the Waldorf - Astoria . He leaves for Europe tomorrow on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. There will be five men in the airship . Among them : Major Henry Hershy ( or Hershey ? ) of the weather bureau and the American Geological Society , and William Smith , who will oversee the wireless device on the ship . They expect to set out from Norway on June 20 in a steamer . They will launch the airship -- called America -- from North Spitzbergen . FAST - AGING PROCESS : An article with a dateline of Pueblo , Colo . , puts a bit of a twist on how the San Francisco earthquake affected someone . In this case , it was B . K . Coffman , a traveling salesman from Fort Worth . He talked with a reporter after he arrived in Pueblo on the 22 nd . Here 's how the short item ended : " ... when he looked out over the city and saw the falling buildings and the flames shooting into the sky , he fell upon his hands and knees and buried his face in the sand , believing that the end of the world had come . As a result of the strain to which he was subjected , Mr. Coffman 's hair is now almost perfectly white . " . 
April 23 , 1906 ( Monday ) . HANGING IN THERE : There 's a new painting in the American Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan . It 's Theodore Robinson 's painting of a girl and a cow . I think it 's this one on the right . A brief article in the New York Times says it 's " an unusually good example of this artist 's work . " It was a gift from William T . Evans . Several hundred visitors saw the painting yesterday . MEATY ARGUMENT : Upton Sinclair surfaces in a recent copy of Everybody 's magazine . According to a news report , the issue includes a reply Sinclair has made to meat packer Ogden Armour ( right ) . Sinclair , of course , wrote " The Jungle , " which exposed wrongdoings in the meat - packing industry . In this issue , he replies to Armour 's contention that government inspectors ensure that meat is pure . " Mr. Sinclair 's evidence as to the truth of this statement is pretty clear , pretty specific and considerably unpleasant to persons who are not vegetarians . " COOL CASH IS THE BEST CASH : Alfred Castle , a former Chicago banker , has wired some advice to San Francisco Mayor Schmitz . He warns that the officials in the quake - ravaged city should let the bank vaults cool off before opening the doors . If the air is still hot when the oxygen rushes in from the outside , everything could combust spontaneously -- and the money could burn . Castle says that 's what happened after the Chicago fire of about 35 years ago . 
April 22 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . BRAINS OR BRAWN ? Here 's an interesting pitch in The New York Times . Coyne Trade School is trying to convince graduates of Yale , Harvard , Princeton and Columbia that riches lie in a job like plastering . Too many graduates are earning $ 1 or $ 2 a day . Greater things await the smart person who knows a trade : " $ 5.00 per day in your hand is worth forty libraries in your head . " LET THE GAMES BEGIN : The Olympic Games in Athens begins today . Most all events will be in the Panathenic Stadium ( right ) , which is made of " snow - white marble , " according the The New York Times . It 's a very different looking arena than the one used in 1896 . This seats 70,000 people . The Times is fairly confident of a certain result : " Among the athletes of other countries , there appeared occasionally a performance of especial merit in an individual event , but the Anglo - Saxons show a general proficiency that is astounding to the Athenians . " Wonder how many medals those U.S. and English athletes will win . TIP O ' THE HAT : The summer games might be one sign of warm weather coming . There 's another one , closer to home , according to The New York Times . The FIRST STRAW HAT of the SEASON turned up yesterday at Times Square . Here 's the description : " It was worn by a serious - looking young man , who was attired in blue serge and a neglige shirt , in harmony with his headgear . " When someone chided the man for being a bit ahead of things , the straw man replied , " To - day is as warm as many days in June will be . You outght to be wearing the same thing . The diffference between you and me is that I have the ocurage to assert my convictions on comfort and you haven't . " . 
April 21 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . UNDERGROUND : The earthquake and flames have exposed an underside of San Francisco 's Chinatown ( right ) that baffles some observers . The disaster has exposed a warren of tunnels under the area . " Men , white men , never knew the depth of Chinatown 's underground city , " said W . W . Overton , an earthquake survivor who was interviewed in Los Angeles . He continued : " Now that Chinatown has been unmasked , for the destroyed buildings were only a mask , men from hillsides have looked on where its inner secrets lay . In places they can see passages 100 feet deep .... They show depths which the police never knew . " MEDIA CRITICISM : One witty paragraphist has a little dig at some of the news coverage of the San Francisco earthquake : " By filling up all the upper half of the page with large headlines some ingenious contemporaries have avoided the necessity of printing any great amount of San Francisco news . " A BOLD PREDICTION : The Hartford Courant isn't too worried about the possibility that people will be elected to the United States Senate by a popular vote . The paper says " it will never be adopted because it depends upon a constitutional amendment which must pass the Senate itself . That body will never destroy its own distinctive feature . " The writer sounds so sure of himself ( or herself ) . Wish there were a way to see if that kind of change will ever happen . COSTLY CAMPAIGNS : Speaking of politics , New York Congressman Sulzer has presented to the House a report that lists the amount of money spent on each of the presidential elections since 1860 . Money , he says , is clearly playing too big a role in the election . An article in The Washington Post sums up Sulzer 's position by saying " as Napoleon remarked about Providence being on the side that had the heaviest cannon , fortune smiled upon that party which had the biggest fund . " ( Wish the writer had given a quote for Napoleon 's comment ? ) Sulzer wants the Mc Call bill passed , which requires detailed reports on the costs of presidential or congressional campaigns . The Republicans spent $ 4.5 million in the 1904 campaign ; Democrats spent $ 1.25 million . It 's enough to take your breath away . When will it stop ? 
April 20 , 1906 ( Friday ) . EXIT STAGE LEFT : Some are wondering what happened to several members of the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York . Some of them were in the St. Francis Hotel , which was damaged in the earthquake in San Francisco . According to early reports , the artists lost virtually everything . As of this morning , their whereabouts are unknown . Among the missing is Enrico Caruso ( right ) . The company has lost costumes , scenery and equipment . Director Nathan Franko thinks the stars have found refuge with friends . THANKS FOR THE NEWS : An editorial in The Post - Standard in Syracuse praises The Associated Press for its reporting on the disaster in San Francisco . Here 's how it begins : " The miracle of our American efficiency in news - gathering and news - giving has never been more signally illustrated than in the speed and accuracy and fullness with which , all over this land , news concerning the San Francisco horror has been published . " Despite broken telegraph wires the news somehow kept coming from San Francisco , mostly via Oakland . Some papers have actually listed the names of the usually anonymous members of the Associated Press workforce in San Francisco . One headline accompanying the names reads : " Men who Risk Lives to Gather and Send News . " MAXIM ( um ) DEFENSE : Maxim Gorky 's ( right ) interesting visit to the United States continues . His friend Leroy Scott has gone to some lengths to minimize the outrage some feel here about Gorky 's arrival in the U.S. with a woman who is not his wife . Scott points out that Mrs. Gorky No. 1 is living reasonably happily in Russia and is , herself , with a man . The Times says she is now a " Mrs. Somebody - or - other - ending - in - vitch . " The Times also says that Gorky is a bit hypocritical when he appears to be sensitive to the scolding he has received here : " Gorky has done a good deal of scolding himself , and he should not be seriously disturbed by that . " . 
April 19 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . QUAKE NEWS : The news out of San Francisco is absolutely stunning . According to early reports , an earthquake has left more than 500 dead and left nearly half the city in ruins . Fire is the big problem now . The water supply has failed . Dynamite is being used to interrupt the progress of the fire . The New York Times has produced an incredible issue , devoting numerous pages to yesterday 's quake . One image on the front page was interesting ( above ) . It shows how the shock waves appeared on a seismograph machine in Albany , about 3,000 miles from the quake . It took 10 minutes for the vibrations to travel across the continent . One article ( " New York Stunned by Disaster News " ) describes how people in Manhattan , especially those from California or with relatives in San Francisco flocked to newspaper offices for any word of the tragedy . One particular bit of news brought relief , or , as the article says , " served to allay the fears of many who were anxious about relatives or friends in San Francisco . " Here 's the notice that had a calming effect : " Nearly all the those killed or injured were men and women who lived in the cheap lodging houses of the city . " Will it be this way for all major disasters ? THE REPORTER ' S TASK : The Associated Press had difficulty getting the word out about the damage . Here 's a neat excerpt from an article that 's on the front page of today 's Times : " The Associated Press established a temporary station in The Bulletin editorial room . Then the latter place was closed , and this dispatch is written on a doorstep near Chinatown , the illumination of the burning buildings furnishing light for the writer . " MOVED BY QUAKE NEWS : One more thing on the earthquake . Today 's Times has an ad that actually plays off the news from the earthquake ( right ) . How quick is that . It 's a little one - column add on column five of page 13 . The heading is " Death by Milk Or by Earthquake ? " The text is provocative enough : " Jacob Riis says , " You can kill a man with a tenement as well as with an axe . " So babies can be killed by bad milk as well as by earthquake or volcano . Thousands died last summer in New York because of inadequate inspection of milk . " The ad was placed by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor . Regardless of how good the milk tastes , I think this was in pretty poor taste -- using the earthquake as a springboard for the ad . But that 's just me . 
April 18 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . SHAKEN : The morning papers missed it , but the San Francisco earthquake , which struck about 5 a.m. California time today , filled the pages of afternoon newspapers across the country . Here are examples from Syracuse , N . Y . , and Oakland , Calif. Some telegraph workers are risking their lives to get word to the outside world . A report that was filed at 10:15 a.m. Pacific time ( about five hours after the quake ) , praised the men trying to move information , saying , " The Postal Telegraph operators who are at their posts are taking their lives in their hands as the building is collapsing and the fire within half a block . " BIRTHDAY FOR BEN : They 're celebrating the 200 th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia . The four - day celebration opened last night in Witherspoon Hall . In honor of the occasion , Andrew Carnegie conferred yesterday an honorary doctor of laws degree on Miss Agnes Irwin , the dean of Radcliffe College . She is a great great granddaughter of Franklin . Carnegie made the presentation on behalf of Scotland 's University of St. Andrew 's . He noted that this is only the fourth time in the 500 years of St. Andrew 's history that the school has granted the degree to a woman . IMMIGRANTS ON HOLD : Ellis Island has become a bit of a choke point for immigration . The place is equipped to handle about 5,000 immigrants a day . Because of the recent influx , there are about 16,000 waiting in steerage of various ships moored in New York harbor . RUMORS IN RUSSIA : The Washington Post notes that rumors were flying around St. Petersburg on the 16 th -- that someone in the royal family might have died . The rumor began because police went through the city taking down flags that people had put up outside their homes for the holidays . Many thought that this was being done because of a tragedy and that the government was withholding a formal announcement until after the holidays . That isn't the case . Evidently , the prefect of police had given people permission to put up decorations for the holidays but neglected to list FLAGS as one of the decorations he permitted . The police , therefore , went about their work , according to one article , " on the old theory that WHAT WAS NOT PERMITTED WAS PROHIBITED . " They told homeowners to take the flags down . REMEMBER BOOTH : The Players Club in New York City has raised $ 6,000 to build a monument to the actor Edwin Booth . The group wants to set up a committee of 100 to pull this off . No decision has been made regarding the appearance of the memorial . Will any decision ever be made ? I mean , a committee of 100 ? That 's absurd . Can this possibly work ? Wonder if it such a statue will ever be built . 
April 17 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . MAXIM ( um ) EXPOSURE : Some in Russia are a little irked over the incredible reception that Maxim Gorky has received in this country . An unnamed high official made this statement : He is certainly a writer of talent , perhaps even a genius , and much that he says regarding the conditions in Russia doubtless is true ; but it should be made clear that his object is not reform but revolution . The official also wanted people to know that his traveling companion , Mme . Andreeva , ( she 's on the left in the photo here ) is not his wife . ( Some papers spell it Andreleva . ) Evidently , he s been living with her since he separated from his wife three years ago . On the passenger list on the ship she was listed as Mme . Pleshkoff or Pleshkov , the author s real last name . The manager of the Hotel Belleclaire in New York City was alarmed at reading that the two were not husband and wife . He asked them to leave the hotel . They are now staying in apartments at 12 Fifth Avenue . Forget about the distinction between revolutionary or reformer . Most people in America seem likely be more worked up about the distinction between husband or boyfriend . RELICS IN SPRINGFIELD : Reaction to the lynchings in Springfield is widespread , even if it does nothing to save the lives of the three men who died over the weekend at the hands of an out - of - control mob . One editorial is called A Missouri Disgrace . It points out that the reaction is too late . This sentence , if true , paints a chilling scene : " In this case [ the reaction ] did not set in until time had been given for the Sunday school children of Springfield to carry away specimens of the charred wood which had burned the flesh of the negroes . Reportedly , four of the weekend lynchers are in jail . 
April 16 , 1905 ( Monday ) . RECORD DAY FOR IMMIGRANTS : Nine ships arrived yesterday at New York and another eight are expected today . Yesterday s ships brought in about 11,870 , which would be a new one - day record . The picture above shows graphically where some of the people came from during a day in March in which more than 11,000 immigrants arrived . AGAIN , IN SPRINGFIELD : Evidently a third negro was lynched in Springfield , some hours after the other two . Very early on the 15 th , members of the same mob that lynched Horace Duncan and Jim Copeland went back to the jail and grabbed Will Allen , who faced murder charges . The crowd forced him to climb a tower and put a rope around his neck . The rope broke as he dropped . So he ended up falling into the pyre that contained the charred remains of the other two men . He was pulled out and brought back to the top of the tower . Another rope was tied around his neck . Then he was hung again and riddled with bullets . Gov . Folk of Missouri says he wants to bring the lynchers to justice . It 's the " show - me " state , so we ' ll wait for proof of that . UP FROM A TOMB : Easter got a bit cheerier under the gray shroud of Vesuvius . In Ottajano , two elderly women were pulled from the rubble after six days of entombment . Rescuers had given up hope of finding anyone . Evidently , they were protected by the rafters of the house in which they were trapped . Somehow , they managed to survive on morsels of food . 
April 15 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . STUNNING JUSTICE IN MISSOURI : I ve got to get out of the way and let the first paragraph of this story simply speak for itself . The dateline is Springfield , Mo . The dateline is April 14 . Here goes : " A mob of 3,000 men to - night took Horace Duncan and Jim Copeland , negroes , from the county jail , hanged them to the Goddess of Liberty on the Court House and built a fire under them and roasted them to death . The men were charged with assaulting Mabel Edwards , but it is said they were probably innocent . " MEMORABLE WORDS : Finally , President Roosevelt gave his Man with the Muck Rake speech . He spoke at the laying of the cornerstone of the new building for the House of Representatives ( right ) . I have no time nor space to quote it all here , but I do think it s worth reading . Here s an excerpt : " I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker , every man who , on the platform , or in book , magazine , or newspaper , with merciless severity makes such attack , provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful . The liar is no whit better than the thief , and if his mendacity takes the form of slander , he may be worse than most thieves . It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest man , or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with untruth . An epidemic of indiscriminate assault upon character does not good , but very great harm . The soul of every scoundrel is gladdened whenever an honest man is assailed , or even when a scoundrel is untruthfully assailed . " BOY SPARKS PANIC : About 400 people were gathered in a Roman Catholic church in Chicago yesterday , when a boy opened the church door and yelled FIRE . The crowd tried to rush out . Some jumped through windows . Most everyone rushed to the center aisle . Some of the floor joists cracked , and that added to the panic . Four people were killed . There was no fire . The boy who cried Fire will likely never be found . How could someone do that ? Boy , there s a lesson in there somewhere . I guess the only thing you can do when someone cries fire in a theater is to stand up and yell water louder . 
April 14 , 1906 ( Saturday ) . UP AND AWAY : Four men will try and set some records today when they take off in the biggest balloon in America from Pittsfield , Mass. The balloon holds about 53,000 cubic feet and can easily hoist a car that can carry four people . They hope to set a height record and make it to Boston or some other spot on the Atlantic coast . Ballooinst Dr. Julien F . Thomas will keep an eye on the effort . Earlier this week , he and his wife made a trip from Pittsfield in Count de la Vaux 's balloon called " L ' Orient . " Thomas claims he will outdo whatever todays travelers accomplish . He and his wife are the current holders of the record for height . Thomas said , " If they go high , I will go higher ; if they go far , I will go further . " We will have to wait and see if this is just so much hot air . DEFENSE RESEARCH TAKES A DEADLY TURN : Prof. Frantz Wurtenberger might have made progress in his attempts to find a better explosive than dynamite . He has spent a lot of time in his laboratory in some salt meadows two miles from East Chester , N . Y . , because the U.S. government has offered $ 1 million if he succeeds in making something that is 20 times more powerful than dynamite and which can be ignited by an electric spark ( as opposed to a fuse ) . Well , yesterday , there was a terrific explosion in his lab , and now the professor is in horrible condition in Mount Vernon Hospital . The article in The New York Times ends with this paragraph : " Prof. Wurtenberger , his friends say , realized that the first test of the electric spark might result in his death , but rather than give up his life work , he decided to go ahead . These friends declared that he had an idea his explosive would revolutionize the warfare of the world . " To me , the only way to truly revolutionize warfare would be to end it . TROUBLED BREWING IN PITTSBURGH : Officials at Carnegie Institute of Technology are furious with a brewer in Pittsburgh . He is marketing something he calls Tech Beer . They are upset because they think it reflects badly on Carnegie TECH . He doesn't seem to care . The billboards remain . 
April 13 , 1906 ( Friday ) . PLAY BALL : The National League opened its baseball season yesterday . The average duration of the four games was a snappy 1 hour 49 minutes , and that included a 12 - inning game . Attendance ranged from 3,500 to 17,000 . Before the Philadelphia Quakers and world champion New York Giants squared off in Philadelphia , a band led the players across the field . All joined in and raised the U.S. flag to the top of the pole . ( That 's Roger Breshahan of the New York Giants on the left , in 1905 . ) The ceremonial " first pitch " went like this : Philadelphia Mayor Weaver tossed a ball onto the field from the upper pavilion of the stands . An umpire caught it . Papers pointed out that the teams from the " West " played each other . The " West " matchups pitted Chicago v. Cincinnati and St. Louis v. Pittsburgh . Evidently , nobody in baseball has looked at a map of the country . Granted , it 's as far West as the teams go , but did anyone hear of Oregon ? ASHES TO ASHES : More word drifts in from Vesuvius . It looks like about 5,000 homes have been destroyed . Lots of people have headed to Italy to help out . Among them is the Princess of Schleswig - Holstein . She set off in an automobile to visit people in hospitals in desolated towns . Her auto got stuck in the ashes . She had to walk 12 MILES in ash that was about 3 - feet deep . Here 's how one news writer describes the scene in today 's Post - Standard : " Above , the heavens are gray like the earth beneath , and seem as hard and immovable . In all this lonely waste there is no sign of life or vegetation and no sound is heard except the low mutterings of the volcano . One seems almost impelled to scream aloud to break the horrible stillness of a land seemingly forgotten both by God and man . " Sure wish there was a way to see more pictures of the blast . SECOND THOUGHTS : Everything was pretty normal yesterday when Judge Mc Mahon of General Sessions court in New York City got ready to step off a Broadway trolley at its rear door . Briefly , a couple of men blocked his way . He instinctively checked for his watch . It was still in his pocket . Then he reached for his hip pocket . His wallet was gone . He spotted the thief and watched as he dropped the wallet on the ground . A newsboy picked it up and returned it to the judge . It turns out that the thief was the same pickpocket that the judge had shown mercy on a couple of days ago by giving him a suspended sentence . The judge believes that the thief realized who owned the wallet and decided to show some mercy of his own . The money was intact . 
April 12 , 1906 ( Thursday ) . THE DRUNKARD ' S CURE : J . W . Haines of Cincinnati is still at it . Here 's part of an advertisement that was in today 's editions of The Post - Standard in Syracuse . He 's pitching a concoction called Golden Specific . If you send in your address , he will mail to you a sample -- in a plain wrapper . Evidently you can add some of this to milk , tea , soup etc. and after a couple of days " he will be cured in a few days and cured so he will never drink again . " He might want a fifth of Golden Specific , though . I hear it 's got plenty of alcohol in it . I wish I knew more about Haines , but I can't help with that . He says , in the ad that , " The drunkard can't save himself , you women have to do it for him . " It doesn't say what to do if the woman is the one who likes to drink . VESUVIUS COOKED THINGS ' EL DANTE ' : There seem to have been plenty of writers in the Naples area when Vesuvius exploded . Nearly every day there seems to be an eloquent description of what happened in one of the papers . In today 's Washington Post , there 's an item by Robert Underwood Johnson , associate editor of the Century Magazine . Here 's an excerpt : " On arriving at Torre del Greco , the heavens seemed to open and we were soon half buried in ashes and hot cinders . The train drew up in total darkness , relieved only by lightning flashes . Thus we waited events . Soon the darkness took purple and yellow tinges , the detonations became louder than the loudest thunder clap , and the ashes burned our eyes . It was a perfect picture of Dante 's Inferno . The train could not proceed so thick were the ashes on the track , and just at this point the train broke in half , and the poor women fugitives , thinking they were about to lose their lives , began to chant litanies for the dead , giving a last weird touch to the infernal scene . " At one point , Johnson walked a couple of miles in ashes that were 2 to 3 feet deep . 
April 11 , 1906 ( Wednesday ) . MAXIM ( um ) SECURITY : Russian writer Maxim Gorky ( right , in 1900 ) arrived in New York yesterday ( Hoboken , actually ) . The Times has quite a long story about his arrival . I liked the description of how he gazed at the Statue of Liberty as his ship , Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse , slid by on its way to the pier : " Gorky paid renewed homage to America when the Kaiser came abeam of the Statue of Liberty . He had just fled from a swarm of interviewers and sought the seclusion of his cabin when the band on deck struck up Sousa 's march , ' Hands Across the Sea , ' by way of greeting the goddess ... For fully two minutes ( Gorky and his wife ) stood there with the delegation waiting at the door and looking on . Gorky seemed fascinated by the giant figure that held the torch of liberty over everything within sight . " He was greeted by thousands at the Hoboken pier . He had a hard time making it through the crowd , until " a flying wedge of customs officials , Hoboken police , and pier hands sallied into the crowd Cossack fashion , and pushed it bodily back sufficiently to make a passage for Gorky and his party to the elevator . " THE MUCK RAKE ' S PROGRESS : Norman Hapgood , editor of Collier 's Weekly since 1903 , yesterday stole the march a bit on President Roosevelt . In anticipation of Roosevelt 's criticism of investigative journalism in " The Man with the Muck Rake " speech scheduled for Saturday , Hapgood defended his work during a speech before the Phillips Exeter Alumni at the Hotel Manhattan . Here 's how the New York Times quotes him : " To my mind , this temporary reaction against disclosures of public corruption is entirely without significance . It only points out slight and necesssary exaggerations which are necessary when any good work like this goes on . " Among the good works was a story in Collier 's a year ago , by Upton Sinclair about the Chicago meat packing industry and one by Samuel Hopkins Adams , who exposed patent medicines with " The Great American Fraud . " Without these exposes , Congress probably wouldn't be looking into a food and durgs act or a meat inspection act . EARTHSHAKING PREDICTION : I ' ve been ignoring the eruption of Vesuvius , which really got going in the first week of the month . The eruption has been devastating . Maybe 500 are dead . The Times printed a cable from the author F . Marion Crawford . Here 's a passage : " I saw men , women and children and infants , whose mothers carried them at the breast or in their aprons , fleeing in an endless procession . Dogs , too , and cats were on the carts , and sometimes even chickens , tied together by the legs , and piles of mattresses and pillows and shapeless bundles of clothes . All were white with dust . Under the lurid glare I saw one old woman lying on her back across a cart , ghastly white and , if not dead already of fear and heat and suffocation , certainly almost gone . We ourselves could hardly breathe . " I forgot to mention that Sunday 's New York Times ( April 8 ) had a long article titled " Earthquake May Ingulf all Europe , Says German Scientist . " ( Yes , it was spelled " Ingulf . " ) He says the eruption at Vesuvius and the explosion in March of the mine in Courrieres in Northern France indicate that earthquake - related disaster lies ahead in the Eastern Hemisphere . If he 's right , it 's a good idea to get as far away from Europe as possible , like maybe to San Francisco . 
April 10 , 1906 ( Tuesday ) . THE DOME OF THE ROCK ( efeller ) : The reporters and photographers in New York City were kept busy yesterday . Here 's the news : Billionaire John D . Rockefeller emerged from his Lakewood , N . J . , estate . It was front page news in The New York Times and hit Page 3 of The Washignton Post . He has been hunkered down in Lakewood trying to avoid process servers from Missouri , which is investigating Standard Oil . Here 's how the Times described the stakeout of " the swarm of photographers " at his 54 th Street residence : " They surrounded the ... homes , with lenses adjusted , and braved out a shower of sleet and rain all day in the hope that ... Mr. Rockefeller would suddenly appear disguised to the taste of a dime novelist and make a mysterious trip from house to house . " Speaking of disguises , both the Post and Times mentioned the gray wig that Rockefeller began wearing last September . Remember how that really caused a stir ? The magazine cover shown here was printed shortly before he began the wig - wearing , I ' m pretty sure . I think it came out last July . He was evidently tired of the way that cartoonists and others polished up their humor on his bald head . I ' m sure this kind of celebrity - hunting journalism that focuses on businessmen will fade in time . MUCKING ALONG : People seem to be looking forward to President Roosevelt 's speech on Saturday . The title is " The Man with the Muck Rake . " He ' ll make the address to mark the laying of the cornerstone of the new building of the House of Representatives . The title comes from Pilgrim 's Progress . Congressman Nicholas Longworth , the son - in - law of the president , got a jump on it yesterday with a speech to the Hamilton Club in Chicago . He agrees that there 's too much criticism of government in the press . Here 's a sentence : " It seems to me that the fashion of assailing public men is amounting almost to hysteria . " HEALTH WARNING FROM THE DEEP SOUTH : The Times reports that a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama in Mobile -- Seale Harris -- says consumption is ravaging blacks in the south . The article says , " He said it was the opinion of medical men generally in the South that the negro race was likely to become extinct in this country through the ravages of disease , especially consumption . " There 's no mention in this article of any cure needed for some ongoing man - made ravages , such as lynching . A QUESTION OF ROYAL STATURE : The Washington Post prints a notice that was spun by the Boston Globe that points out many of the kings in Europe come up short when compared with their queens . Alexandra is taller than Edward ( England ) ; the Czarina looks down on the Czar ( Russia ) ; the Kaiserina is taller than the Kaiser ( Germany ) ; and the shoulder of Queen Helena is the ending place for the top of the head of her king ( Italy ) . The Globe points out that the Kaiser won't be photographed with her unless she sits and he stands . And no amount of medals can make him any taller . In fact , the baubles might pull him down a couple of centimeters . 
April 9 , 1906 ( Monday ) . IMMIGRATION MATTERS : An editorial in the Atlanta Constitution got me going a bit . It 's titled " Immigration as a Problem . " To set the stage , the writer quotes from the London Daily Mail , which calls the population movement from Europe to the U.S. a " human Niagara . " In 1904 , the inflow averaged more than 2,000 a DAY . The main point of the editorial , I gather , is that the writer deplores the fact that immigrants remain in colonies within the large cities . My thinking has changed about the immigration problem . I have read a collection of the stories told by regular people , some of whom were immigrants . The pieces were originally published in The Independent newspaper , I think . Now , Hamilton Holt has gathered them in a book that has either just been published or is coming out sometime in 1906 . I just can't for the life of me remember the title of the book ; it 's kind of long . But I do remember something from one story about a Lithuanian who ended up working in the Chicago stock yards . I ' ll never forget what he said : " My brother 's eyes were always dull and sleepy . Men like him stay in Lithuania . " Since then , I ' ve looked for the sparkle in the eyes of some immigrants . It 's there . And it 's good . I hope that lamp remains lit -- both the one in the hand of the Statue of Liberty and the one in the eyes of the people on board the ships . A TRUE SIGN OF SPRING ( COUGH , HACK , GAG , SPEW ) : Smokers in Atlanta are looking forward to a big event this week . Sometime soon , the Georgia Railway and electric company is about to reinstate the " smoking privilege " in its trolley cars . That means smokers won't have to stand on the rear platform of the car , smoking away as the trolley moved . The company 's General Manager T . K . Glenn says he expects that this week -- thanks to the warm weather -- the company will post the notices that permit people to light up in the cars . The move is linked to the onset of warm weather . At the same time , the company will open the windows and doors of the cars , and there are plenty of windows . FEW ARE CALLED , NONE ARE CHOSEN : A black man in Alabama , whose name has not been released , found out his name had been drawn for service in a grand jury in Montgomery County . He found out that he had not been summoned to duty , but he wanted to serve . He spotted his name in the paper on April 6 , as being part of the jury , so he hustled to get to Monroeville . It wasn't that easy . He had to swim across a river to get there . He was not chosen and was told the judge would release him from his responsibility if he so desired . The man declined and said he wanted to serve . Someone , evidently , took him outside and whipped him . The Atlanta Constitution says he was " whitecapped . " He showed up the next day and showed his bruises to Judge Lackland and told him what happened . He immediately called a grand jury and instructed them to indict the people responsible for the beating . Some praise the judge for taking a stand . But here 's the last paragraph of the article : " However , the feeling is high , and in some parts of the county , the negroes have been ordered to move out and not allow night to catch them there . " . 
April 8 , 1906 ( Sunday ) . NEW YORK TIMES FINDS A RAT : Finally , I got a chance to get my hands on a copy of The New York Times . It 's perfect for a Sunday . Today 's paper has a fantastic tale about the swindler Alfred R . Goslin . The story fills more than one page ( right ) of the magazine section . I had never heard of him . But The Times says that the authorities who have tracked the man say " he is the worst thief and most absolutely wicked man in all his relations that New York has ever had to reckon with as a public menace . " That 's pretty extreme . I can't get into all that he did , but he swindled people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars . One of my favorite sections of the article , written by " H . A . B . , " is this description of Goslin : " Goslin is about 5 feet 2 inches in height , and weighs perhaps a hundred and forty pounds . His under jaw recedes so that his upper teeth stick out like those of a rat , and the fuzzy beard that he has worn most of the time for the last few years fails entirely to destroy the resemblance . His watery eyes bulge out in a way that makes more noticeable his low forehead , and altogether he is a loathsome looking person . But he has never minded this , for it has served to make people turn their glances on some one else when he has been around . " For a closer look , here 's the profile that the Times printed on that page ( below ) . WIRED FOR ' FAUST ' : The National Opera Company performed " Faust " yesterday in Cheyenne , Wyo . , much to the enjoyment of participants at a convention of electricians . That group of listeners was in Salt Lake , Utah -- about 600 miles away . It wasn't a deal with the Devil that did the trick . Rather , it was some long - distance telephone wizardry did the trick . The Rocky Mountain Telephone Company rigged three transmitters on the stage in Cheyenne and set up three intensifiers in the hall in Salt Lake . According to The New York Times , " The orchestra , the voices , and even the applause could be distinctly heard . " Now , who 's going to get the bill ? THROUGH THE AIR TO EIRE : It 's funny . The Times put the opera - transmission item on the front page and put on an inside page a story with this headline : " Oversea Wireless Is a Fact , Says De Forest . " Evidently , the De Forest Wireless Telegraph Company sent word that it has achieved a wireless transmission sent from Manhattan Beach to Cork , Ireland . It shouldn't alarm anyone that the claim came from Ireland by CABLE . Evidently the equipment in Ireland is set up to receive only , not to send . In any case , congratulations to Lee De Forest . Evidently the soon - to - be - built Hotel Belmont at 42 nd and Park will be equipped with wireless telegraphy . The building will be well over 300 feet tall . The staff on top will be 150 feet tall . It will be the first hotel to offer the service to guests . I guess that 's one more way to order room service . CHOIR BOYS GO ON STRIKE : Things are touch and go at the Tremont Methodist Episcopal Church in Manhattan today . Evidently the 40 choir boys might not show up . On Thursday , they reported to the concertmaster , Frank White , as usual . Then they walked out before rehearsal was to begin . They have refused to return to the church . Evidently they are upset because one of the girls in the choir was receiving " too much praise . " The concertmaster should be happy for at least one thing : At least the boys are singing the same tune . 
April 7 1906 ( Saturday ) . A PAPER TRAIL TO RICHES : For years , Benjamin F . Ellis of Peoria , Ill. , put his return address ( 400 North Avenue ) on envelopes before sending a letter in the mail . That simple act has helped authorities settle the estate of Miss Susan Ellis Murdock of Carver , Mass. Miss Murdock died at 90 without a will . A search of her belongings turned up an old envelope with Ellis ' name in the return address . That 's how authorities tracked him down . It turns out that he is a first cousin of the dead woman . The estate was in dispute in the courts for more than three years , and about 100 distant relatives had come forth as claimants . Ellis and another first cousin have been recently declared by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts the lawful heirs to Miss Murdock 's estate . They will split $ 600,000 . That 's an incredible amount of money . A PREDICTION WORTH BALKING AT : American League president Ban Johnson ( right ) is putting a good spin on the upcoming season . In a story with a New York dateline , he claims the league has never been so well balanced . Furthermore , he says he makes the claim without " any desire to introduce a little press agent tonic into winter baseball gossip . " He says " I believe the eight clubs in the league are so near together from a championship standpoint that the race among them will be one of the best contested in the history of baseball . " That sounds impressive , but when it comes to the American League , the word " history " barely applies . Its first season was 1900 . Anyway , Johnson qualifies his prediction a bit : " And yet , you can never tell . " Wouldn't it be great to know the final standings for 1906 now , so we could see if it was as close as he thought ? Or maybe we could tell if someone had spiked his " press agent tonic . " BY DAWN ' S EARLY LIGHT , THE ANTHEM ' S STILL THERE : The Washington Post comes down hard on " The Star Spangled Banner , " saying it is " perhaps the most lugubrious , dismal , and unlovely tune that was ever wrung from the quivering bowels of a horn . " Audiences try to look enthusiastic when singing it , The Post declares . Singers can't hide their true feelings , the paper says , adding , " the fact that they were bored has always been the one dominant and unmistakable feature of the occasion . " The Post offers no suggestion . Surprisingly , the paper doesn't mention John P . Sousa 's The Washington Post march ( above ) . 
April 6 , 1906 ( Friday ) . VESUVIUS RUMBLES : People living near Mt . Vesuvius are a little nervous . Explosions have been heard from 20 miles away . And villagers are leaving their homes near the mountain . Five streams of lava are rolling down the mountain . Experts aren't too worried . Prof. Matteucci , director of the observatory on the mountain , thinks the ashes will stop falling in another day . Some ashes and smoke have reached Naples . The Washington Post says , " The Neapolitans are not alarmed -- in fact they are rather glad , saying that the new eruption of Vesuvius is in preparation for the arrival of King Edward , who left Marseilles April 2 on the royal yacht Victoria and Albert , accompanied by Queen Alexandria , and who is expected here soon . " Something tells me he ' d prefer to be greeted by an eruption of trumpets . A HORROR NEAR AMITYVILLE : More is coming to the surface in the investigation of the death of French balloonist Paul Nocquet . His body was found on the muddy shore the south side of Long Island , between Amityville and Jones Beach . Nocquet , a well known sculptor and aeronaut , had evidently taken off from the Bronx earlier in the day , intending to ride his balloon to Philadelphia . Instead , he was whisked in another direction and lost his anchor . He managed to land his balloon safely on shore , but it was after dark and he was trapped by marshland . He struggled to get by foot through the marshland and knee - deep mud to Amityville , which he could see in the distance , but he evidently collapsed and died from exhaustion . Searchers found his will in his pocket . A SIGN OF SPRING : Seasonal advertisements are surfacing . How about the pitch for Dr. Greene 's Nervura . It 's called " the True King of Medicines . " And , why stop there ? Take a look at the illustration in the advertisement , which brings to mind Germany 's Kaiser Wilhelm , and you ' ll see why another pitch is , " More Powerful Than the Most Absolute Monarch , for it Creates Health and Strength . " And , " the Greatest Cure Known to Man. " It 's called a " spring medicine . " There 's a reason why this " spring medicine " has a kick . Sources tell me that it 's about 17.5 percent ALCOHOL . IRONMASTER AT TUSKEGEE : Andrew Carnegie is spending today in Atlanta . The paper certainly thinks it 's big news , withy a front - page package that includes a three - column illustration . The Ironmaster will be the main girder at a reception at 4 p.m. He told a reporter he is particularly looking forward to meeting " Brer Rabbit Remus , " by which he means author Joel Chandler Harris . The two will meet about 2 p.m. Carnegie was at the Tuskegee Institute yesterday and gave a long speech , which was recapped at length by The Washington Post . Carnegie said , " I say to my colored friends , ' Seek ye first education and all right will soon be added to you in this country ' . " Yes , that 's right . He used the word " soon . " . 
April 4 1906 ( Wednesday ) . ANOTHER SARAH , PLAIN AND TALL : The great Sarah Bernhardt has been on tour . A description of her recent performance in Convention Hall in Kansas City ( written by Ed . H . Smith ) has been picked up in numerous papers . Mr. Smith originally wrote it for the Chula News in Missouri . It 's the Show - Me state , and Sarah surely showed Smith something . Here 's some of what he wrote : " Making love and dying are Sarah 's two long suits . She may be better at dying than she is at making love , but if she ever wants to give me a private demonstration of her art I shall not ask her to die . That 's sure as God made little apples . " NO , HE ' S NOT THE TEA GUY : Earl Grey , the governor - general of Canada , and his wife , the countess , visited the White House yesterday . They came from New York , where he had made an eloquent speech dealing with the close relationship between the U.S. and Canada . Evidently nobody ruined the mood by reminding him that we in the south have tried to invade Canada quite a few times -- in the Revolutionary War , in the War of 1812 , in the Patriot and Aroostook wars in the late 1830 s and in 1866 . FATAL SHOOTING IN ATLANTA : This paragraph from today 's front page of The Atlanta Constitution says it all : " The story of the shooting , the fight , the death and the love of the dead man for the woman he attempted to kill is one of the most dramatic that has been brought to light in Atlanta for a long time . " It 's talking about the death of L . Ben Wilmouth , who was stabbed to death by Walter Hightower , who was enraged at the injury to his sister Carrie Bryant , who was shot in the hip at the boarding house of her mother Mrs. Joe Johns , who had offered room and board to L . Ben Wilmouth , who was stabbed to death by ..... Well , you get the idea . It was dramatic . Wilmouth , 30 , was a night watchman for the Southern railway . He had loved Carrie when she was little . After she married W . L . Bryant , Wilmouth ran off to join the Army . He returned about three years ago and was an occasional boarder at the home of Carrie 's mother . Recently , Mrs. Johns had fallen ill and Carrie had been helping out at the house . That was OK , because Carrie was estranged from her husband . ( It 's amazing what the " Constitution man " -- e . g . , reporter -- discover while sitting at Carrie 's bedside after the shooting . ) Sensing a romantic opportunity , Wilmouth -- especially when drunk -- would warn Carrie not to return to her husband ; otherwise , he ' d have to kill her . ( OK , that 's NOT the best pick - up line , but it 's a start . ) Well , according to police , he tried to do just that -- kill the woman he loved . Yesterday evening , as Carrie Bryant and her brother Walter Hightower and another boarde were sitting in a room reading the afternoon paper ( evidently , they were reading about the strike of Atlantta painters ) , Wilmouth walked in . He nodded at Carrie , aimed a pistol and shot at her . The article says " THE SHOT STRUCK AN ORGAN . " Fortunately for Carrie it was an organ of the musical kind . Carrie ducked behind a chair . The ailing Mrs. Johns rushed in ; the shooter pushed her aside and fired again . This shot hit Carrie in the hip . Walter Hightower , enraged , then chased Wilmouth from the house . Wilmouth fired at him . In turn , Hightower emptied both barrels of his derringer at Wilmouth . No bullets hit their targets . Hightower caught him about 100 yards from the house . Put simply : " When Hightower had wore himself out in stabbing and cutting Wilmouth he rose . The man was dead . " Hightower surrendered to Deputy Chastain and is now behind bars in the Tower . Coroner Thompson will hold an inquest today . 
April 3 1906 ( a Tuesday ) . ENOUGH IS ENUF : The Carnegie Simplified Spelling Board has published a couple of circulars , one of which contains a list of suggested spellings . The Post - Standard ( Syracuse ) provides some examples : confest , tho , thoro , cutlas , discust , fantom , thoroly , thru , thruout , altho and kist . It 's suggested by Andrew Carnegie ( shown here ) , or as one wag puts it , ANDROO KARNAYGEE . Xtra letrs won't be mist . It mite work . BIG HEIST IN MINNEAPOLIS : One of the nation 's slickest thieves has evidently been apprehended , police say . For now , he is known as Thomas J . Wainwright . The victim was Dr. Nicholas Pinault of Minneapolis . It turns out that the doctor hired Wainwright to take care of his mansion while he ( the doctor ) went south to Pass Christian , Miss . , during the winter . He said Wainwright 's credentials were impeccable and that he told him he was a lawyer who was out of practice . Once the doctor headed south , Wainwright went to work . He emptied the mansion of diamonds , silverware , rubies , antiques , laces , pearls , paintings and a gold watch that was evidently once owned by Cardinal Richelieu . That 's the cardinal in the picture . It certainly could be his watch . A careful look at the wrists reveals NO WATCH . That means it could have been stolen from him BEFORE he posed for the painting . Or , maybe that is a watch peeking out from under the sleeve on his left hand . Hmmm . Investigators will have to look into it . Police have been looking for Wainwright for about four weeks . They found him in New York , heavily armed . 
April 2 1906 ( Monday ) . THAT ' S ONE SMART DOG : The Washington Post begins a story with this sentence : " Apropos of nothing in particular , Alexandria wishes to arise and announce to the world that a resident of this ancient and honorable municipality owns the smartest dog in the world . " The proof ? Well , it turns out the dog , belonging to Mr. A . Powell Brookes of Alexandria , Va. , became sick about two months ago . Someone ( the paper notes it was " a negro " ) took him to Creighton 's drug store . After an examination , he was given some capsules and was carried home . Two weeks after that , the same dog showed up at the drug store -- alone . He sat by the door and slipped in when a customer opened it . He sat near a counter and wagged his tail . Finally , Mr. Creighton took a look at him and found the dog was ill once again . He gave " Sank " the same medicine , and the dog walked home . This happened one more time . Critics might say that the dog returned because the medicine was tasty . The people of Alexandria , however , are certain that this is not the case and that the dog is , indeed , the smartest dog in the world . If the dog really wasn't sick , he was still smart .... smart enough to fool those Alexandrians . GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT : The soldier who took the family Bible from a home in Fredericksburg , Va. , during the Civil War has returned it -- about 40 years later . Or maybe it was a relative or friend of the Union soldier . The Washington Post says that someone named R . R . Riddell of Albany , N . Y . , contacted the clerk of Fredericksburg , saying they wanted to return to Bible to the family that owned it . The clerk did some research . Now , the Bible is on its way to Miss Fannie Nash of Carters Wharf in Richmond County , Va. She 's the granddaughter of William O . Belderson , who owned the Bible at the time of the war . Evidently the plundering soldier -- or R . R . Riddell -- is a slow reader . It sure took the thief a long time to get to Exodus and the " thou shalt not steal " part of the book . A LOOK AT LANGUAGE : One of the headlines in The Post - Standard ( Syracuse , N . Y . ) uses an intriguing word for a story of a fatal drunken fracas among miners in Charleroi , Pa. The phrase goes , " End of Orgy in Woods . " It 's not what someone might think . There were not females , or sexual activity , mentioned in the story . The definintion of " orgy " is simply " a frantic revel ; a drunken revelry . " One wonders : When did the word get sexy ? 
April 1 1906 ( Sunday ) . NOT JUST A PASSING FAD : It might be April Fool 's Day , but this is no joke : The American Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee announced yesterday that it has come up with some new rules for the 1906 season . ( That 's the 1882 Rutgers team in the picture , by the way . ) The biggest change is that a FORWARD PASS will be allowed . Also , the offense must gain 10 YARDS for a FIRST DOWN , not just five yards . The Daily Nevada State Journal ( Reno ) put the story on the front page . The Syracuse ( NY ) Herald has a pretty complete story . Some of the rules are geared to player safety , which shouldn't surprise those of you who recall the death of Harold R . Moore of Ogdensburg , a halfback for Union College . He died Nov . 25 , 1905 in a game against New York University . Here 's one way a player can get disqualified : " striking a runner carrying the ball in the face with the heel of the hand on defense . " That 's probably illegal in boxing , too . Player behavior is part of the focus . The rules now say a player will be suspended who uses " abusive or insulting language to opponents or officers . " No mention of any concern about endzone celebrations . BE NICE TO YOUR BILL COLLECTOR : Here 's a shocker out of Lowell , Mass. A man shot and killed the man who ran his boarding house . He also shot and injured the dead man 's brother - in - law . Why ' d he do that ? Arthur Lafond " told police that he had become exasperated over the continual nagging " of the two men because of his outstanding board bill . The total came to $ 11 . He didn't want to pay for the food he ' d eaten . He did , however have enough money to buy a revolver shortly before the shooting . IS IT A MARRIAGE BOND OR A MARRIAGE NOOSE ? Mr. and Mrs. J . W . Mc Ewen are back together after a separation of almost 20 years , according to a report out of Savannah , Ga . , and printed in today 's Washington Post . They were married in 1887 . Their parents intervened at the time and forced them apart . At the time , the bride was , er , 14 ( remember , that 's in Georgia Years ) and the groom was 18 . The couple lost track of each other . They 're back together now . She has been married two more times since then . She outlived husband No. 2 and , presumably , outran No. 3 a couple of months ago after learning that husband No. 1 was , in fact , still alive . Now , they 're back to Square One . They ' ve evidently learned something . The article says , " They will live together now without the formality of another marriage . " . 
Nothing Like A Cute Waitress . So we go to our favorite Italian restaurant , and not only is our new waitress a real cutie , she has the nicest ass that I have seen in a long time . I was never any good at flirting with women , but being married for 12 years in August , I like interacting with women when I am with my wife . I know it sounds strange , but it 's like I ' m saying , " if I wasn't married .... but I am happily married , so no thanks " For some strange reason my wife doesn't mind . As a matter of fact she seems to enjoy it . So I ' m in rare form with our cute waitress with the sweet ass , when she proceeds to tell us about a jazz bar that we should check out , my wife says " only if you come with us " . Holy crap !!!! After I got past how corny her line was , and the initial shock , I found myself extremely excited . Our cute waitress with the sweet ass politely declines , and then proceeds to give us the best service from a waitress that we have ever had ( which is not that hard to do because most of the time service in restaurants sucks . For the record , we are very good tippers . We usually leave at least 20 % , most of the time more than that . We leave our cute waitress with the sweet ass a ten dollar tip on a $ 30 bill . Believe it or not , the large tip was for being a really good waitress , not for being cute and having a sweet ass. But , there 's nothing like a cute waitress . 
Losing Weight . The pounds are definitely coming off . It has been 1 week and I have dropped 4 pounds . So far it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be . The midnight snacks were killing me , let alone adding pounds . My biggest problem was sweets , chocolate cake , cookies , you get the idea . I have rediscovered fruit , and it has made all the difference in the world in my diet . Dark plums and strawberries are my new found treasures . Strawberries with whipped cream are as good as it gets . I can't believe it took me all this time to find that out . My exercise program consist of a stationary bike and weight lifting which I have been doing at least 5 days per week . If I can give any advice , I would say that if you want to lose weight , make sure you tell someone , that adds extra incentive to do what you said you would do . It is amazing how hard it can be if you let society pressure you into eating more than you should . With the convenience stores , the fast food joints on every corner , you can't get gas without be tempted to get a snickers bar that happens to be right in front of the cash register . Being that I work at home , it does make it easier to eat right . 
Always say Thank you . I have been ordering Chinese food for as long as I can remember . Mainly from the same place over the years . Recently a new take out restaurant opens up , and as usual , we get a menu stuck between our front door . I decide to give them a try . I place the order and the delivery guy shows up promptly , I pay him for the food along with a $ 3 tip on a $ 15 order . The guy make an about face , gets in his car and drives away . I have to say , when it come to being polite I am a little uptight , it drives me crazy when people don't say thank you when they should . So when the delivery guy didn't say thank you , I definitely noticed . The side note of the story is , the food was great . The second time we call for delivery , we get the same guy , I give him the same tip and the same thing happens . Nothing . Now I realize that this is this guys way of operating . But again , the food is great . The third time we call , I ' m ready for him , I tell my wife that he not getting a tip at all . The bill is 16 and change , I hand him a 20 and wait for my change . With a very dumbfounded look on his face , he actually says " No tip ???? " . I say " no tip " , I have to give him credit because he says " why not ?? " . This was the opportunity that I had been waiting for all my life , I say " I ' ll tell you why no tip , you never say thank you , that 's why no tip " . He looks me right in the eye and says " thank you ? " So I tell him no tip this time , maybe next time . As he is walking down my walk way , he looks back as if to say mother ..... . Needless to say we didn't order from there for a while . A few weeks pass , and now it 's time to give my boy another chance . That egg foo young is calling me . Here he comes " hi , how are you " I reply " great " . 16 and change , I give him a 20 , " thank you , ......... thank you " . He has been saying thank you ever since . 
Bird of Prey . Every now and then you come across something that you don't see everyday . I wander into Target to pick up some golf balls , I am headed towards the sports department , when I happen to notice a crowd of people gathered around something . I make my way thru the crowd only to come across a full grown bald eagle . There was a animal handler standing with him but he wasn't in a cage , even though he did have a chain around his neck to keep it from flying thru the store looking for lunch . I can't express how impressed I was . I have been seeing eagles on TV and pictures all my life , but I have never been within 5 feet of a full grown American Bald Eagle . The thing that I was impressed with the most was how big it was , this one , Frank , had to be at least four feet tall . That doesn't seem like much , but I can assure you , when you see a bird that large , it 's impressive . Come to find out , Eagles need donations to help protect their existence . Frank had a broken leg and was being nursed back to health , which explained his gig at the local Target . They had a rope around him so you couldn't get too close , but from where I was standing he looked like all business . I can clearly see how he got picked to be our countries symbol of freedom . 
Goal : Lose 37 Pounds . Alright , so I let myself go a little . It 's time to get off the fat train . I have been putting it off for months , and now I am at the heaviest I have ever been . The electronic scale that I have needed a battery , which for some reason took me a few weeks to replace , today I finally replace the battery , only to find out that I gained 5 pounds from that last time I stepped on it . Talk about a rude awakening . My biggest problem , just like millions of others , is that I really like food . I have the terrible habit of eating everything on my plate , no matter how much food is on it . All you can eat buffet ??? Let the feast begin !! Well those days are stopping right now . This goal is attainable and definitely within reach . The big problem now is food peer pressure . Going out for dinner with the mrs . , a few beers and some wings with the boys . NO MORE . I read once that discipline is just a matter of remembering what you want . I just have to remember . 
My latest venture . I would have to call myself an opportunity seeker . That being said , I have tried more money making programs then I would like to admit . My latest venture seems at the very beginning , to be one of the best programs that I have seen in a while .1 . An exclusive product that is delivered instantly without physical inventory 2 . A video that does the " selling " for you .3 MLM 4 Solid company 5 Free to join 6 VERY minimal investment monthly . ( $ 10 ) 7 . Upline support 8 . Great earning potential .9 . Income for life I could make the list longer , but you get the point . I signed up today , and have been telling anyone that would listen to get in NOW ! INCOME FOR LIFE . 
Why 10:20 PM ?? I don't know how or why , but I have a digital clock that is within eye site of my lay z boy chair , at least 3 times per week I happen to look at the clock and it says 10:20 . I find it incredible every time it happens . 
Three Dollar Reviews ! A new section ' ll be coming to 10 - 4 GB soon , and not just the new films available on the site . I ' ve been purchasing a lot of $ 2 - $ 3 DVDs at record stores , yard sales , video rental places , etc. , and the ones that I purchase at one place usually end up being the same price pretty much everywhere I go . Which also means that where ever you are , the same movies will be available to you for about the same price . Tbat 's why I ' m starting the Three Dollar Review section ( catchy , huh ? Wanna know where I got the name from ? ) . I ' ll review these films as I get them , then place ' em in the sidebar . If you see one while browsing through a DVD store , you ' ll already know whether it 's worth buying or not , or if it 's so completely not worth buying that it actually becomes worth buying . It also gives me a chance to finally write the From Justin to Kelly review . 
Blog of the Day ! A few days ago I uploaded a good deal of video to the site ( it ' ll be in the sidebar soon ) , then proceeded to cover my tracks by switching all the new video with older posts . I called it " The Best of 10 - 4 GB , " which is code for " couldn't write enough new posts to fill the big space I created . " One of the posts I put up was from about this time last year in Romania , and my unnerving experience at a waterpark in Oradea . Well , some browsing bloglord happened across it and was intrigued enough to name 10 - 4 GB Blog of the Day ! This only goes to prove my theory that my genius will never be appreciated in its time , but needs time to distill before it sees its full flowering . I figured it would be posthumous , but it 's apparently about 12 months . A year from now you 're gonna be in stitches about this . 
I Hope One Story Explains Everything . A longtime friend and I went out to visit a mutual friend out at her lake house this weekend . I don't want to slag the weekend , I had by and large , a pretty good time . But I think this story is a fairly accurate cross - section of what my weekend was like . The girl that we went to visit had snagged a couple of the burned CDs from my car to listen to on the trip out . She still had them in her 6 - disc changer while we were out there , and as it was flipping through , one of them came on . As Sufjan Stevens started playing " Chicago , " she suddenly noticed it . " Oh , I forgot to tell you , " she said , turning to me . " I listened to your CDs on the way out , and there 's ... I dunno , one or two good songs on them , but mostly it was all just pretty lame . " She hit the " Disc Change " button , and the Dixie Chicks ' Fly came on and " Goodbye Earl " started up . " Oh my God , I know every word to this song ! " she squealed , pounding me on the arm . " Hey , is this the Dixie Chicks ? " asked my friend excitedly from the backseat , leaning forward between the seats . " This is amazing ! " They both begin singing loudly and bopping their heads along to the rhythm , raising their hands to the ceiling . " She held Wanda 's hand As they worked out a plan And it didn't take long to decide That Earl had to die ! " " Woo ! " screams my friend , grabbing my arm as the song reached the bridge . " Why aren't you singing ? Don't you know the words ? " . 
Makeover ! I ' ve done some remodling , as you can clearly see . 10 - 4 GB has finally gotten a makeover . The new site was almost completely designed , but it became troublesome to work the blog into the site , and so the compromise was to work the movies into the blog . All of my movies will be in the sidebar and on the site quite soon . Because of all the additional video , I ' ve run a " Best of Wyman " through the month in order to cover the tracks of adding all these videos onto the site . I tried to find posts that people might find interesting a second time through , though a few of them are very topical . The last five or six , posts , though , are all brand new , and worth a gander . I put a lot of effort into those . Enjoy the new look ! I ' ll be working out the kinks for a week or so , so stick with it . 
George Lucas In Love . It also occurred to me that some people out there still might not have seen George Lucas In Love , probably the finest short student film ever made . God bless you , USC film nerds . God bless you , You Tube . 
This Week 's Sign that the Apocalypse Is On Us . This piece of news is so incredible that I ' ll need to lead up to it with a bit of history . During the filming of 1959 's Plan 9 From Outer Space , director Ed Wood - generally considered ( okay , unanimously considered ) to be the worst director in the history of film - lost his main actor , Bela Lugosi early on in shooting due to his untimely death . Not to be dissuaded , Wood wrote a script around the footage he had already shot and finished the film with his wife 's chiropracter , Tom Mason , in the role , a man considerably taller than Lugosi . Mason acted the entire film with a cape over his face . This is generally considered the low point in film history . We may have to reconsider . During the filming of 2007 's Postal , director Uwe Boll - generally considered ( okay , unanimously considered ) to be the worst director alive today - announced recently that he 's decided to fight the harsh criticism that his films have quite appropriately received . * Well , he 's not actually going to fight the criticism . He 's going to fight the critics . He 's invited his five worst critics to fly out to the location of where he 's shooting his latest atrocity , Postal , ** where he has volunteered to put them up in a hotel for a night , and then they are welcome to climb into a boxing ring with him and actually box him . I guess he 's finally answered his critics . * His latest , Bloodrayne , was so mind - blowingly bombastically terrible that Imdb 's only user comment simply says : " Man , this movie blows . " ** Starring - get this - Gary Coleman . 
Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Cameras From Friends . A friend of mine sold me a complete dud of a digital camera . It 's a Canon Powershot A 70 which I purchased from him for about $ 45 , which is fifteen bucks more expensive than Ebay . But he was offering it , and I wanted a digital camera . Let 's pretend , for a moment , that you were the one who bought the camera . You 're anxious to try it out , but when you turn it on , the screen is completely black . You might think that this is just the screen malfunctioning , but when you take a picture in this mode , you discover that your image looks like this : * Now , just as your seller ( who will never be invited to your wedding or the bar mitzvahs of your children ) explained to you , you hit your camera on the side . The screen gives you a couple different views of purple lines across a black screen , like so : As you continue to pound the camera , you get your very own private and extremely frustrating performance of " Fantasia 2000 . " After seven or eight pounds , the camera turns off . You turn it back on and give it another try . A few pounds later , the screen shuts off off again . Anywhere from seven to ten minutes later , a vague , purple - ish image appears on your screen . You excitedly snap a picture . Not so good . You keep pounding . The screen switches back to black , to purple lines again , then back to the purple - lined image . Then it switches off again . You think you 're back to square one , but you soon learn that - you 're not ! You 're actually even further away ! The camera begins to shut off every three or four pounds at this point . Suddenly , though , the screen snaps into focus . A few short seconds later , you ' ve taken your first real photograph . ** Naturally , of course , whatever big event you were prepping the camera for documenting has long since past . So you 're left to take pictures of whoever happens to be around , which is usually no one , because nobody hangs out with a guy pounding a camera for more than five minutes . Therefore I ' m launching a photo gallery called Pictures In And Around The Room . I ' ll post some up tomorrow sometime . It 's a whole different school of photography : the ease of use of digital cameras with the set - up time of a 1920 's film camera , except without hand - loading flash powder . Though I ' m not opposed to it . * Ah , a visual aid for those of us who can't imagine what a perfectly black rectangle looks like ! Let it never be said that I don't have faith in my readers . ** Those two photos are at least 15 minutes apart . I can't tell the difference either . 
There 's Hope Left On Those Airwaves . I heard Finger Eleven 's " so - last - year " hit " One Thing " on the radio the other day , and it occurred to me that , while it 's not a bad song at all , it says a lot about the state of radio today . Because everyone who hears that song knows ten songs just like it , in a very similar style , by all kinds of artists , which are much better than " One Thing . " To make things worth , this was followed up immediately by the latest Paris Hilton single ( from a debut album subtly title Paris ) . Take me now , Lord . My cup overfloweth . Most people who know me have heard me rant about radio , Clear Channel , the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , and the vibe - killing actions of The Man. But it 's summer , it 's time to drive around with the windows down , blaring your AM / FM radio ( and cassette player ) and blowing out your factory speakers . So here 's good news about the radio to brighten your summer : 1 . Those of you who caught my bit on John Mayer and Keane last week should know that both artists have singles out on the radio , and both seem to be at least marginally following my advice . All the guitar I ' ve heard so far on Keane 's recently - released Under The Iron Sea album is positively incidiary , and while Mayer 's announced his new album is " a little John Mayer Trio - ish , " that first song , " Waiting on the World to Change , " is just brilliant .2 . Thanks to Shakira , " Hollaback Girl " is no longer the most played single in American radio history . Thank you , Shakira . As a sign of our gratitude , you can have Texas .3 . And while Sufjan has yet to hit mainstream radio , a song about Sufjan has arrived , as Snow Patrol 's newest single , Hands Open , talks about driving around and playing " Chicago , " which isn't a bad idea .4 . While we 're at it - the radio 's playing new Snow Patrol , which is another thing to look forward to . They 're also playing O . A . R . , which I never expected to happen .5 . Chad Kroeger was arrested for drunk driving in Canada , which might , maybe , just maybe , decrease Nickelback 's air time on national radio . As a sign of our gratitude , Canada can have Texas if Shakira doesn't want it .6 . Bow Wow has decided to retire from the rap game ( when did he start ? ) . I ' m assuming , offhand , that he 's doing this in order to focus on his acting , which just go a huge boost in " Fast and The Furious : Tokyo Drift . " At least , I ' ll assume it did . I ' d rather not see it just to check .7 . In a response to having an American Idol hit the top 20 with a karaoke cover of " Wanted Dead or Alive , " John Bon Jovi has released yet another single into Top 40 radio . I haven't heard it yet , but I ' m going to bet it 's gonna sound a good deal like " Wanted Dead or Alive , " only with a female vocalist accompaniment . Any takers ? Didn't think so . Sure , the list 's a little thin , but hold on as best you can . The Fray and Panic ! At the Disco are climbing the charts . Guster has a new album out . There 's hope left . And whenever that runs out , there 's always Sirius . 
Indie Cred . Want to prove your indie credentials ( or lack of them ) to your snobby friends ? You 're probably not indie if you do tests like this . But onward ! I am a mix taper ! You 're really enthusiastic about the music that you like . You attempt to discover your new favourite band every week . You continually try to get your friends into the music you like , which annoys the # % $ out of them , but you don't know it . Hey , at least you 're not arrogant about it . 
Top Ten Dorkiest Things that I do . I thought that everyone might enjoy this . I compiled this list in a couple of minutes , which probably means I ' ll have to make an addendum later , as more dorky things that I do occur to me . Also - and I ' m playing with fire here - if anyone has any dorky thing that I do to add to the list , I ' m more than willing to hear it . 10 . I get really riled when friends diss an artistic movie by comparing it to a less - than - artistic movie . A sampling : Friend : " Oh , yeah , I couldn't stand Eternal Sunshine . It was terrible . Really disappointing for a Jim Carrey movie . Now - Ace Ventura - now , that 's just a classic . " Me : Are you kidd - I mean , that was brill - ( sputter ) how can you even say that Ace Ventruruaa - Ventrurur ( sputter ) - Venn - shurr - ah is even in the same - whaaaa ? Whaaa ? 9 . I have seen every episode of Family Guy multiple times , and when someone quotes it , I can tell which episode the quote is from .8 . I talk to all animals as if they understand exactly what I ' m saying . Then I really expect them to go check and see who 's at the door when I ask them to ( " All right , all right , I ' ll do it myself . Sheesh . " ) .7 . When surrounded by uber - dorks , I will attempt to fake dorkiness , and feign knowledge of anime , or Tron , or RPG games , so that they ' ll think that I ' m cool .6 . I wear leather , in order to look tough .5 . I wear pleather , in order to look tough .4 . When singing along to a song , I ' ll pretend I ' m holding a microphone in my hand and close my eyes and see myself singing in a huge auditorium , like the Paladium . I often do this while driving .3 . I have thought out every detail of what life would be like if someone performed surgery so that I had the metal skeleton and retractable claws of Wolverine .2 . Whenever I have a knife , I will toss it end over end to see if I ' ve suddenly got the hang of catching it by its handle .1 . If I ' m standing across the room , and there 's something on the other side that I need , I ' ll sometimes reach out and check , one more time , to see if I ' ve got the Force . 
Thongs on Parade . I was told once that if you go to a European waterpark , everyone - men and women - arrive wearing only a thong . I heard this a long time ago , while still in the throngs of puberty , when such news made Europe sound like a little piece of paradise . Since I was probably only thirteen or fourteen , the story unsurprisingly stuck with me . Maybe you heard such rumors yourself at a young age . If so , I want to take this moment to relieve you of whatever Bacchanalial images you might have . Fact : a European waterpark is a terrifying thing . I warn you : do not try to picture this . There are sixty - year - old women in string bikinis . There are seventy - year - old women sunbathing topless . And every single male , from the toddlers to the centurians , are wearing Speedos . Usually thong - style Speedos . Now , if I were to be parading around often in a Speedo , I would likely pay closer attention to things like my weight , my muscle tone , and the evenness of my tan . While it is to their credit that the Romanians don't hassle themselves with matters like this , it is still the most petrifying sight I have ever witnessed . I have never been so happy to take off my glasses in my life . 
Dates and Superpowers . Your Results ... Your dating skills are AVERAGE ! You scored a 69 out of a possible 100 points . You re pretty good with the ladies , but you can be intimidated by a woman who is exceptionally attractive . There are some women out there that you consider to be out of your league . Sometimes when you see a woman you d like to approach you become immobilized with fear , and by the time you figure out what to say , she 's gone Your Superpower Is : Super - Strength Hercules . He - man . You . That 's right , welcome to the pantheon of unbelievably strong folks . The good news is there 's nothing you can't lift / break / crush / mangle / throw / generally destroy . The bad news is that you ' ll immediately be the first one people will call to move any single thing around their house . Hey , I ' ve heard that before ... 
Hola ! This is one of the latest Spamusement posts - I thought it might amuse . Spamusement , remember is a website dedicated to taking the subject lines of spam , and drawing a cartoon to fit the scenario . This one is " Hola ! " In addition , I also enjoyed this post from Exploding Tim ( just like Exploding Dog , but not as depressing ) . It 's called " This Is A Lot of Pressure . " . 
I ' d see it . I suppose after two weeks away , I should update about important things : how the films are coming , how life is out here , funny anecdotes . Instead , here 's this : a trailer for Kubrick 's " The Shining " like you ' ve never seen it before . * I ' ve watched it three times , and each time I can't stop laughing hysterically when Peter Gabriel starts playing . * Keep in mind , it 's actually only funny if you have seen it before . 
Promises , Promises . I ' ve decided that if I make enough promises on this blog , someone will hold me to them , and I ' ll finally get some more content up on this blog . With that said , here 's the list : 1 . I promise to write a great deal more faithfully on this blog over the course of the summer , at least up until the point where I leave for Romania 2 . I promise that I will faithfully review From Justin to Kelly , Kingdom of Heaven , The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy , Breakfast at Tiffany 's , The Aviator , and so on . I said I would do more reviews and I mean it . 3 . I promise to do a really complete piece on the Asbury Film Festival , including my thoughts on winning , whether or not I really deserved it , and a review of every piece in the festival , and an update on the soon - to - be - rescored Leaves . 4 . I promise to correspond more with other blogs , especially the exceptional Random Neural Firings . I haven't been there in a coon 's age .5 . I promise to actually finish lists when I start them . 
Friends and Fun . I have a number of new links in the sidebar , mostly to various friends who also have their own e - worlds . You 're more than welcome to check out all of the sites , but a couple of them haven't posted in a while and so their sites are a little dated . I ' m adding them onto the site to encourage them to get their e - lives back on track . You can give their sites some traffic and maybe encourage them to keep their sites up - to - date . Otherwise , I ' m kicking them off the sidebar . Which is about as bad a threat as I can muster . By the way , one of the links is my brother 's site , Wyman Family History , which is going to be stories about our family . He hasn't actually made any stories yet , so I ' d advise you to pay him a visit and maybe get him to start posting , or maybe post a story of your own . The site has zilch content so far , so anything you can do would be an improvement . 
Romaniafest . We had a crew of Romanians over here a few nights ago to complement the set that we already have , and it further convinced me that I am going to be a complete wreck when I get over to Romania . I cannot speak Romanian whatsoever , and what 's more , show no natural ability to learn the language . I mean , six years of Spanish already taught me that my natural linguistic talents are ... well ... lacking - oh , why bother to be polite about it ! I can't speak Spanish ! I never could ! And I ' m even worse now , and I ' m trying to pick up some rudiments of Romanian based off of my understanding of the Spanish language . So you see what kind of downfall I ' m looking at here . I ' m destined to be that hapless traveller who spends three hours at each border , attempting to communicate through a lot through arm - waving and shouting very slowly in English . And I ' m already that effortless linguist who finds what he wants to say in the phrase book , is incapable of understandably pronouncing the Romanian , even though it is written phonetically in the phrase book , and must resort to pointing to the entry in the phrase book so they can read it themselves . The world is my oyster . While we 're on the subject , I ' ve also decided that my spare time in Romania will , to a large extent , be spent writing several short screenplays . That way , I ' m able to spend a good deal of time working on each script , so that I can strengthen each one , spend some time away from them , and then come back and edit them with fresh eyes later . That 's a luxury I ' ve never had when shooting during the school year , and I think that the effort should do me some good . Even if I only get one finished - that 's a huge head start once I get to Los Angeles . By the way , I got a job - I ' ll be working for a banqueting company . More details as time goes by . 
Heathens and Heretics . A few of you noticed the ad in my last post , which is nothing if not heretical , but rather funny , proving the point that : If you 're gonna piss the church off , at least have a good laugh doing it . It 's part of larger website who 's chief purpose seems to be to offend every Christian ever , which I wouldn't applaud if they weren't so good at it . One of my professors continually rails against the " trinketizing " of the Gospel , putting God into little packages that can be sold for profit . I ' m not opposed to Christian T - Shirts or bumper stickers , in general - after all , if your life isn't going to reflect Christ , at least your car will ( I know , you 're offended already . Stick with me ) . It 's reached a point in Christian circles in which people simply don't have contact with the outside world , and everyone has their sanctified version of society : you can listen to your Christian music , hang out with your youth group , and never really leave your Christian box . And here 's the thing : everyone knows someone like that , but nobody is like that . Nobody wants to be part of the problem . Well , I ' m part of the problem . I go to a Christian school , in which virtually everyone I have contact with is a Christian . I work for the campus Christian radio station . I don't spend a lot of time off campus doing mission work , instead I spend my time on campus , spending time with other Christians . It 's almost like a monastery , except there 's girls . I ' m not saying there 's not justification for the time I spend here : I ' m here for a reason , I ' m learning how to do the work I want to do , and I believe that God can do amazing things through the media , and I ' m excited to be a part of that . But I ' m not there yet . I ' m still here , and while I ' m here , I ' m part of the problem - A Christian absorbed in his Christian world , completely separate from that " secular " world that 's out there . Somewhere . I don't have the time , energy , experience , or wisdom to follow this argument to its logical conclusion about faith , works , the need for Christians to live their faith in the " real world , " Christianity 's lack of relevance in our current culture , and the way the Church has watered down its message in order to try to be relevant in our current culture . I don't want to come across as being too cynical : I truly believe that a generation of world - changers is flooding the job market , and revival is coming . So , instead , I ' ll leave you to visit the site , learn why Jesus cut his hair so he wouldn't look like a homo , and maybe buy yourself a " What Would Jesus Do ? " thong . You ' ve earned it . 
Pentecostal Fireworks . This post is left over from Memorial Day . I thought you might still like to read it . " Last night , I watched the Memorial Day fireworks from right under the bridge they were launched from . The rockets would climb into the night sky and explode straight above us , so that you d get a crick in your neck from staring straight up . Then the flaming trails would drift down to the pavement , and sometimes the crowd would shuffle out of the way to dodge them as they landed in our midst . The ashes would float down , stinging our eyes and powdering our faces . Sometimes a larger piece would float down , and a dozen hands would rise into the air to receive it . It would drift around wildly in the night air before finally nestling in someone s hands , a charred present from heaven . Sometimes the smoke would be so thick we couldn t see the fireworks beyond , just the flashes of light through the cloud - like an old Charleton Heston movie , where God is veiled , with only flashes of lightning to hint at His power . My older brother , who apparently has no soul , complained that it was dangerous . I thought it magnificent . And so - and I know this is ridiculous , but - I ve decided that fireworks are the only generally accepted religious event in America . People gather together and gaze at the sky , waiting for a display of power , and when it finishes , they all forget about it and go on with their lives . In Sunday School , we always ridiculed the Israelites for lacking faith while struggling through in the wilderness , even though God appeared and demonstrated his power time and again . But you can't keep faith in God just because miraculous events keep happening . When you 're still stuck eating bugs in the desert , it seems a million years ago that God blew from Heaven and divided the waters . Expecting them to keep faith for it is like expecting my life in December to be still be impacted by July 4 th . No matter how breathtaking the display , it seems you still always go home the same that night . " . 
He 's Alive and In Perfect Hibernation . Let 's try again . I want one of these , life - size , for my room . I saw Revenge of the Sith again tonight . I finally understand the movie now . A review should be coming shortly . 
Logo . So I was editing my logo , and when I saved the file , it told me that I might lose some color quality . Well , not a big deal , right ? Back to the drawing board . I should have this crazy thing up here by tonight . 
My Own Personal L . A . Weekly . I actually sat down and finished two screenplays last night , and so I think I deserve a little hard - earned respect , huh ? Thank you . I re - wrote the coffeeshop piece , now tenuously titled " Hating the Player and the Game . " Since I was struggling creatively , I thought it would be better if I found a new location and maybe then sat down to work . After all , I finished my eight - minute script while sitting in the noonday sun in the middle of a travelling carnival that had set up right outside my building . Water loss + bright colors + loud music = creativity , but it 's the sort of creativity that doesn't read that well when you look it over that night ( " Why did I write in so many dream sequences ? Why did I decide that so many of the characters should speak Portuguese ? " ) . I figured a change would do me good . I tried to get up on the roof , but the door was alarmed ( in answer to your question , no , it wasn't trial - and - error . I read the sign . I have some sense ) . So , instead , I wrote the next draft in my bathtub . I heartily recommend it as a writing strategy . Lots of people have written great works in their bathtubs , like that sick guy who was murdered after the French Revolution . Marat . Everyone remembers him . So it 's a great approach . I also re - wrote " Stage Three , " which was later re - titled " Wednesday night , " and is currently called " Apology . " I ' ll be posting that one soon enough . It 's pretty rough right now , but I ' m very excited about it as a visual story . It 's got some real potential . If you ' d care to take a look at the new screenplay and give me your comments , here it is . Let me know what you think . 
Sandtroopers of the 104 th Moisture Farm Patrol - Roster . TD 1009 - Luke Harris - Evans " Rogue " TD 4120 - Matt Moews - ' Fin Zissou / 4120 ' TD 0600 - Paul Seward " 0600 " TD 2187 - Ward Jones - ' Terek Deckard ' TD 1255 - Lee Wilcox - ' Engedi Etz ' TD 6829 - John Mayes - ' Topolev Mayevkin ' TD 8733 - James " Ross " Rosster - ' Folson Danz ' TD 0582 - Chris Loving - ' Ardan Drone / Blade ' TD 1344 - Allen Slonaker TK 1265 - ( TD Status Pending ) - Eric Meadows TD 3195 - Owen Morgan - ' Ddraig ' . 
Home Briefly . We delivered our load to Ontario on time and I was able to get home for about 3 1 / 2 hours . Just enough time to wash a load of clothes , take a shower , eat lunch , and update my blog . Unfortunately Karen was at work so we didn't get to see one another . We have a new load to pick up this afternoon in Vernon and then we are off once again to Atlanta Ga . We should be in Atlanta late Thursday night or early Friday morning . I ' m sure we will hit a lot of traffic trying to get out of Los Angeles County . It was nice to be in California for a few hours as it is the first time in a week my wrist watch has been correct . : - ) More later . 
At it again . We 're back at it again . We picked up a new load at the Swift terminal outside of Atlanta and are now west bound at just over a snail 's pace . Actually I just finished my ten hour shift of driving and am headed to bed shortly . I have to say it 's pretty exciting trying to sleep in the sleeper while the truck is moving . We are swapping ten hour driving shifts and should be in Ontario on Tuesday morning . As I type this entry we are about 150 miles east of El Paso , Tx . We hope to pick up a new load Tuesday and head back to Atlanta again . I hope to get a couple of days off after our next return from Atlanta . I am becoming much more comfortable behind the wheel and I ' m not grinding as many gears as before . My Cingular wireless card for my lap top is working real well . We are out in the desert and still picking up a signal . More later . 
Laying over . I am sitting in a hotel room in the outskirts of Atlanta Ga . Michael and I delivered our load on time earlier this morning . The location where we dropped our trailer was deserted so I got to do a couple of practice backings . It 's a real job backing a 53 ' long trailer into a skinny space . I got it in both times , but it was a battle . I have caught myself driving down the freeway just thinking how cool it is " it doesn't get any better than this " to be driving a big rig down the road looking at the countryside . I praise God often for giving me this opportunity . I am also thankful to my family , especially my loving wife , for allowing me a chance to follow my dream . We now have to do what is called a 34 hour reset . We cannot drive or work in any way for 34 hours straight to reset our 70 hour maximum work week clock . We are scheduled to pick our next load tomorrow after 10:00 a.m. and head back to California . Yesterday I drove across the Mississippi River , on a bridge of course , and into Vicksburg Ms. It was pretty impressive . I do like bridges , and this one was an older steel one . It 's nice to cross a bridge and see water under it , not something seen often in So . Cal. The scenery got a lot greener once we got into east Texas and on into the South . We saw a few deer along the road just before dark . I haven't had a chance to take any photos yet but will include them as time goes on . It 's hot and muggy hear in Atlanta and there is a threat of thunder storms . That would be pretty cool . We don't get to see many thunder storms in So . Cal. I ' m trying to find a baseball game on the TV . I am a big baseball fan and follow the trials and tribulations of the Minnesota Twins , California Angeles , and Los Angeles Dodgers . I ' ll probably have to watch the Atlanta Braves , but baseball is baseball . That 's about it for now . Thanks for tuning in !! 
East Bound out of Texas . We are cruising through East Texas and what a difference . There are green rolling hills and lots of trees . It is a bright sunny day , with just a few patchy clouds . It is a bit warm and muggy . I am sitting in the front seat writing this before it is my turn to drive . We should be traveling through the rest of Texas and then through Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama , and then into Atlanta . I ' ve been having a good time and learning a lot . My trainer , Michael , is a good guy and we get alone very well . He has been driving for about five years . I am learning to sleep with the engine running and the vibration of the cab . More later . 
I hooked up with my new trainer on Tuesday and we were off to San Diego to pick up a load . We are now on our way to Atlanta Ga . We are stopped for the night in Demming NM . I drove for about four hours today and it was pretty cool . We came across a really neat lightning storm outside Tucson , Az and got a little bit of rain . I am off to bed . More later . 
Blogging . Hello to all . I have decided to start a blog to post my trucking adventures . Those of you interested in my adventures can be updated at your leisure as to my progress in my new chosen field . I started my new career by completing a four - week truck drivers school and getting my commercial drivers license . I went through two days of orientation with Swift Transportation and was assigned to a trainer . I met my trainer and we took a trip to Phoenix and back . We didn't get along too well , so I have requested another trainer . My trip from Phoenix to Riverside was pretty cool . I ' ll continue to post as my adventures occur . 
Account Still Suspended ... After a few rounds of clarifications , e Bay seems to temporary accepted my appeal regarding my dropshipping supplier ( after submitted the emails for purchase and activation of my online store ) . Now they need my evidence of registration ( name and address ) . Sigh ... got to wait for more days before my account reinstated . What a lousy e Bay experience so far ... By the way , my dropship supplier has partnered with another up and coming auction site . Looks promising . Will sign up for it soon . In the meantime , looking for ways to promote my online store . It seems like linking to the shopping malls will be the way to go ... Dat 's all for today . Till next time ... Cheers ... 
My Account Suspended by e Bay ! Alas , e Bay suspended my account indefinitely . the reason being I have listed 5 new items at one go and they are suspecting whether I owned the items in the first place . EBay is asking for proof of ownership . This is a big headache to me as I don't own these items at all because I use dropshipping service . Hopefully my supplier is able to provide some documentation to prove it to e Bay that I ' m real for my business ... sigh ... Don't worry , I ' m not going to give up so easily ... will press on and get creative to get my business online again . In the meantime , will press hard to promote my web store www .108 - unimall . com Till next time ... 
My Own Shopping Mall ... At last , I have my own personal store carrying more than 35,000 highly demand mechandise . My store also come with e Bay wizard which help me to list the items for auction within few minutes at my finger tips ... Yesterday , I put up a total of items for auction at e Bay ( 2 Xbox systems and 3 watches ) . Looking forward to see the results . I ' m planning to put up more for auction soon . Currently , I ' m holding a Great Summer Sales at my store with up to 45 % discounts storewide . Here is my store address : www .108 - unimall . com By the way , the name of my store is 108 Uni MALL . That 's all for today 's update . Will post more soon .. so come back to check out my progress ... Cheers ... 
Searching for e Bay Mentor ... After my virgin sale last week , this has rocket boosted my confidence in ebay business . My days to quit my full time job is not very far away anymore . Now I ' m determined to make ebay as my main stream of online income ... but first , I ' ll need to look for a ebay mentor to coach me so as to shorten my learning curve . After searching high and low for the past few days , managed to locate a few good one ... Derek Gehl 's ebay Millionaire System ( $ 197 ) and Dustin Cannon 's no BS 7 - weeks ebay Success University ( $ 197 ) . Both offer money back guarantee within 90 Days . Derek Gehl system will be delivered in CD - Roms while Dustin Cannon will be delivered in soft . Both look good ... still don't know which to decide . Will take a few more days to roam around for more choices and start comparing again . That 's all ... till we meet again . 
I made my VIRGIN sale today ! I couldn't believe my eyes ... I made my first sale in ebay today ! I thought my last digital item was closed without any sale but it was a mistake . It was my virgin sale with only 2 items listed . I made it . Wow ... this is going to be a big motivation for me . Cheers ... Here I come , ebay !!! 
No bid for my 2 digital products ... After 3 days of fever , I ' m back to action again . Quickly log in to my ebay ... no taker for my digital products . What a disappointment . As someone who is persistent , this small setback will not stop me from trying again . By the way , I have managed to locate a drop - shipper in US . Will be signing as a member and start selling in US using this service . I think this will provide me with much better product option . Until next time ... 
Another Product For Auction ... Today , I added another digital product for auction ... the Adsense Revenue . Just to have more products to test the market . Still getting myself familiar with the ebay system ... seems like can't change the currency to be used within 12 months . Think will spend some time to dig out my junks and start taking pictures of them . Want to try real physical products auction in my next auction . Dat 's all for today activities in ebay . Cya ! 
NBA Live 07 Cover is Wrong . Oh my goodness . Mc Grady is a terrible player to have on the cover of NBA Live 07 , the NBA is headed into a new direction and Mc Grady is not part of that movement in any way . They had it right last year with D - wade on the cover but Mc Grady is two steps back . I know its a cover and not a big deal but lets get serious and put some solid NBA talent on the cover of the NBA game that will be on most all next - gen consoles . Better choices would have been : Le Bron ( Surely EA of all people could afford him ) , Steve Nash , Elton Brand , Kobe , and Dwight Howard . They may as well have put Steve Francis or Kevin Garnett on the cover again . Not a knock against KG but again , Old NBA vs . New NBA . 
SOUL PATROL SOUL PATROL SOUL PATROL ! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!! Ladies and Gentlemen ! For the first time in my LIFE . The American Idol contestant that had been my favorite since I saw them audition ACTUALLY WON . Let 's recap my heartbreaks : Season 2 - Clay Aiken Season 3 - Jon Peter Lewis Season 4 - Anthony Fedorov And now FINALLY my favorite , Taylor Hicks , has WON the competition . I am very excited for him . I ' m hoping he gets to sing songs that don't eat it hard . The " Do I Make You Proud " song is a steaming pile dude . Like really . Anyway props to Taylor ! SOUL PATROL ! 
I ' VE HAD IT . Get your copy of the player here For those of you wondering , this is footage from the upcoming classic to be " Snakes on a Plane . " I believe the unofficial tagline for this movie is " I ' ve had it with these motherfuckin ' snakes on this motherfuckin ' plane !! " I may not know who you are or what your background is but I think you can feel fairly certain that you can't write a movie with a better premise than snakes being on a plane and Samuel L . Jackson apparently trying to stop them . I like plot twists . Maybe in the end Samuel L . Jackson IS a motherfuckin ' snake on that motherfuckin ' plane . WHO KNOWS ! My point is this movie is going to kick ass all up and down the street it 's not even funny . I mean did you watch that footage ? They couldn't even cut a real trailer it 's so awesome ! It wasn't even a teaser either ! It was just shots ! Clearly Mr. David R . Ellis knows that snakes being on a plane is something we all legitimately fear and if you are too terrified of the snakes we might miss the story . So they eased back a little on the snake effects . Such a good move . Basically , if anyone pans this movie before or after it 's release they are unamerican AND in my eyes are committing several acts of treason against their fellow man . I wish I had thought of this movie . Next summer myself and Matthew Kennedy will be making a spinoff sequel entitled either Pelicans on a Yacht or Bears on a Bus . Sweet . 
I mean I ' m not bragging but ... Educated Group You scored 100 smartness ! You are what the average American should be ! I suggest you get out of this country before it collapses and spread your smartness to others ! My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender : You scored higher than 79 % on smartness Link : The R U Smarter than Avg . American Test written by yoninah on Ok Cupid , home of the 32 - Type Dating Test . 
You see to the heart of me . Hephaestus Gods ! You scored 45 ! You are most like Hephaestus , the god of fire and craft ! Hephaestus was a patron of blacksmiths . Hardworking , incredibly clever , though a bit of a loner . Known for forging incredible gifts and clever traps . Achilles ' armour at the battle Troy is attributed to him , as is Pandora 's Box . Unfortunately , while he was off toiling , his beautiful wife Aphrodite was cheating on him with Ares . So while you 're into making things and are a straightforward genuine person , don't forget to pay attention to your loved ones from time to time ! My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender : You scored higher than 58 % on Godliness Link : The What Greek God Are You Test written by mellyelf on Ok Cupid Free Online Dating , home of the 32 - Type Dating Test . 
Where do you go ... AFTER DARK ??? Well today begins the start of production for " After Dark . " Oooh let 's do a cool imdb style cast and crew list . Greg Maheu ... Ben Travers Holly Hansen ... Angela Mark Brewin ... Kenny Sean Hennen ... Writer Bryan Kernodle ... Producer / DPScott Eikenberg ... Cameraman / Lead Editor Butner Brimberry ... Director Cool Daddio ! So yeah we start filming tonight and even though it never does , I hope things go smoothly . Ok Rock Lobsters , go dangle those flippers . - Jeremiah Paddywack . 
Geriactrics is that you ? Wow . Today was a woozer . First off Scott Eikenberg and myself are work machines . The filming of " After Dark " begins Monday so this will be a manic week for us . I watched Arrested Development last night and if you are one of the many who have never seen this show . Do yourself a favor , no wait , do ME a favor and go rent , no , go BUY the first season on DVD . You will laugh , you will cry , and you will want to become a magician . What a hooty hoo . Hooty hoo . Hooty .... you know the rest . - Love Butner . 
Weekend at Jac Beach . I made it home alive from my first vacation in Costa Rica . One of the greatest things about Costa Rica is that within 6 hours you can be anywhere in the country seeing one of the thousands of amazing places here , and you only have to pay less than 5 bucks to get there ! I am really glad that public transportation has kept its prices really low . I suppose that 's why Costa Rica is really popular among backpackers . Great prices on transportation , food , and hostels . So when you get robbed it balances right out , I guess . The bus ride out to Jaco Beach offers some amazing views of the countryside . Actually , I have a feeling that the views were nothing compared to what I am about to see when I go on the famous Canopy Tours in the rainforest . I snapped the picture below while riding on the bus . It offers a nice view of the countryside with a nifty fence in the foreground . For some reason I really like the idea of making a fence out of a row of trees and stringing wire between them . It ' ll be a long time until that fence falls down ! Life in the tropics sure is beautiful , but it comes with a few costs . For example , there is always the fear of being bitten by a mosquito that is carrying dengue , malaria , or some other type of scary disease . I believe the risk is relatively small , but it is a scary thing to think about . Also , they don't call ' em rainforests for nothing ! The rain in San Jose forces everyone to learn the habit of carrying an umbrella with them wherever they go . It seems to me to be intelligent rain . Not only is it very punctual , never missing an afternoon , but it also waits right until you walk out the door and have to be somewhere really soon to start pouring rain ! I have to admit , it is kind of exciting , though . Along with the rain come huge cracks of thunder that shake the ground . I wish there was a way to take a picture of the experience . Ok , now for the pictures of the beach ... Jaco is a little surfing town pretty much directly west of San Jose . Even though it is looks really close to San Jose on the map , it is a 2 1 / 2 hour bus ride , but its beauty and relative proximity to the city make it a touristic hot - spot . Don't be fooled by the picture above , it is usually full of surfers and sun - bathers . I took this picture this morning right before I had breakfast at a cafe just to the right of the tree in this picture . Sitting right on the beach every day is a group of kids around my age who will rent you a surf board for 10 bucks a day . I declined the offer of a lesson for an additional 35 , but after all the bruises from getting beat up by the waves I ' m thinking maybe I should have accepted . Yep , that is really me surfing in Costa Rica ! I really couldn't believe it myself ! When I was heading out into the water for the first time I couldn't stop laughing ! I just couldn't believe where I was ! Back in San Jose at the bus station I saw one of the most original musical instruments in the world . A super smiley Caribbean guy provided us with some awesome Bob Marley music while we waited for the bus . He played a wooden box , attached to a string , tied to a stick . I think this picture is priceless . I think I ' ll call it the Poor Man 's Bass . Until next time ... Pura Vida ! 
An outdated blog ... 21 July , 2006 I wrote this the other night and couldn't post it until today ... Here you go ... The travel books warned me that electricity was " erratic " and to be prepared with a flashlight . Well , this morning I found out theat the power was out at the hostel when I couldn't get hot water in my shower . I had a good laugh when I learned the reason for which we had no power ... someone had stolen the power line running to the hostel ! Hahaha ! Appearantly the power lines are made f bronze , and so people steal them just for the metal . Crazy , huh ? So it 's now night and there is still no electricity here . It makes for a pretty cool atmosphere with candles set up in every room . It 's really peaceful , too , ' cause there are fewer people here and everyone went to bed early with nothing to do . So I decided this morning to stay in the city one more night because I wasn't going to be done with stuff at the school until late . I just barely decided that I am going to hit a beach on the Pacific side tomorrow morning and stay in a town called Jac . I ' ll have to be back Sunday night for more stuff at the school on Monday morning , so it will just be a nice weekend vacation . I can't wait to see outside of the city ! The climate here is really fascinating . The mornings are really hot and sunny , and then each afternoon clouds roll in , thunder strikes , and San Jose gets soaked in rain . That 's how it happened today ... I got off the bus heading towards the school , there was no rain ... then there was a loud crack of thunder , and before I knew it I was completely soaked ! That lasted for just about 15 minutes and all went calm again . Well , I got my shower today after all . 
Another day ... I think my biggest compliment today was from the taxi driver ... he actually believed I was from the " Mother Country " , from Spain . A couple of other drivers had tried to rip me off by asking for 1,500 colones ( $ 3.00 ) up front when the trip should have only cost 350 ' cause it was so close , so I had to find another taxi . I didn't want the driver to think I was just another gullible American , so I made a quick lie . Hehehe . The taxi system is pretty good here . It 's really quite affordable . They are all regulated by the government , and that keeps the prices reasonable and the customers relatively safe . Any travelers are advised to make sure that the taxi is a registered taxi so that if anything happens they can make a complaint to the city . I don't really know what that would do . This afternoon all the taxis were actually on strike . It was really quite funny to see . They had blocked up a huge part of the main street causing all kinds of chaos . They were all mad because the city was being too easy on the " pirates " , or unlicensed illegal taxis ( the ones known to rob tourists , etc ) . I wonder what will come of it . It 's a pretty cool feeling right now to not know where I will end up sleeping tomorrow night . I went to a dive shop today to ask for some suggestions of where to head off to , and so now I have some ideas . It 's really interesting that even though Costa Rica is such a small country there is so much to see ! I don't even know where to start ! There is a sign here in the hostel that quotes Saint Augstine of Hippo that says , " The world is a book , and those who do not travel read only a page . " I think it would be more accurate to compare the world to an extensive library . It really is impossible to read it all ! That 's a frustrating feeling to deal with . Everything I ' ve seen so far has been so exciting that I want to make sure not to miss a thing . Yet I know that even if I were to spend my entire life traveling I would only be able to scratch the surface . 
Life in San Jose begins . Today was the first orientation meeting for International students at the University of Costa Rica . After a couple hours of sitting and listening in the auditorium to all the technical aspects of the registration process , etc. we finally broke for lunch after which we met again for a bus tour of the city of San Jose . Any guide book will tell you that when visiting Costa Rica not more than 2 days should be dedicated to seeing San Jose - there 's just not much here worth seeing compared to the rainforests , beaches , etc. But , it is my new city of residence , and so a bus tour was a nice experience . After the tour I spent some time talking to the guy who guided it . Turns out he is from an organization called " Sur " . I am a bit unclear of the details , but they are a group of diverse scientists who do " Environmental Consulting " with projects concerning anywhere from reforestation , environmentall impact , organic farming , or , apparently , giving international students tours of the city ! At any rate , the tour guide asked me what I studied , and when I replied that I am studying GIS and have worked as a cartographer he told me that he might be interested in me working for him and gave me his card for me to contact him ! Yeah ... so it 's extremely difficult to keep from getting my hopes up too high . In fact , I better quit talking about this because I get more excited the more I do ! Standing next to us when we had that conversation was a member of the Universityfacultyy who works with study abroad . I mentioned that I was interested in helping out with a volunteer program started by international students here that is involved in all types of projects serving in the community . She was really excited about my interested and invited me to help out with a national science fair for elementary school kids . I am really excited to find out more about that ! On my way home I had a huge smile on my face and stopped by a " soda " or cafeteria for dinner . I really can't say enough about how much I like the food here . For about 4 bucks I had a huge plate of beans , rice , amazinglytastyy cabbage salad , friedbananass , and fried cheese . All that , and super nice service . Actually , I think it would be impossible for a Tico to provide anything but super nice service . They are all so friendly ! Well , I better get back to enjoying chillin ' with all the other travelers here at the hostel . See y ' all later ! 
Chillin ' with the hostel 's cat . I am sitting here in the San Jose Backpackers hostel chillin ' on the couch in the computer lobby . Though I am inside , directly in front of me is the pool . There is no wall or door - the air is naturally air conditioned by the sea . The sea also brings with it plenty of rain , feeding a plethora of plants all around the city . Back behind the pool is a path leading to a cafe that is part of the hostel . There is a projector in there where you can watch movies , or just sit and play a guitar they have sitting around in there . I am amazed at the diversity of people in this hostel . It is such a cool environment and everyone is so nice . Last night I ended up chatting for a couple hours with a Canadian hippie who has been funding her travels by making and selling rather impressive jewelry and selling it on the streets . Also at the table were two French Guys , a guy from Germany who will be studying at the University with me , a guy from Israel , and another guy from Russia . Tonight I met two guys from Spain , near Barcelona . Oh , and I ' ve met plenty of other gringos like myself . Today I met up with someone I had met on Myspace who also goes to the University of Costa Rica . Like all " Ticos " she was very willing to show me around and gave me a nice tour of my new school . I was slacking on my camera shooting during the tour , but I get a nice shot of the inside of the Arts building , designed to resemble Greek culture . After the tour we went for a bite to eat . I was amazed at how inexpensively I was able to get a nice meal ! For a little over a dollar I was able to get a plate of beans and rice with a fried egg , which I enjoyed inside by the window ... Or rather by the wall that wasn't really there . It started pouring rain by the time we finished eating , so I got to walk back to the hostel under my newly purchased umbrella . I coulda taken a cab , or a bus ... but I wanted to take the chance to get to see the city a bit . An interesting thing about the city of San Jose is that they have a very logical numbering system for their blocks . For example ... the hostel is at Avenida 6 , Calle 21 - 23 ... Avenidas run east - west and are even numbers south of the central Avenida , and Calles run north - south and are odd numbers east of the central Calle . So my hostel is 3 blocks south of the center , and on the block between 21 and 23 . The funny thing is , the streets are not marked and no one ever knows any of the names ! I guess I felt somewhat justified in getting lost when I went into a produce shop asking where I was and one persona said I was at calle 31 while the other said I was most definitely on 26 ! On my way back I was able to find my favorite Spanish delicacy , jamon serrano - cured ham - at a supermarket I ran into . I hadn't had jamon serrano in about 3 years , and so I was ecstatic when I was able to make a bocadilla espanola with jamon , cured cheese and tomatoes . I ' ve been pleasantly surprised at how nice the people are here . Everywhere I go I am able to talk to the people and they are always so friendly and willing to answer any questions . A simple question can easily turn into a nice little conversation and a pleasant friendship . The same hospitality goes for this hostel where the employees treat you like guests in their own home and are more than willing to lend you a towel if you forgot one , or let you borrow a knife from the cafe 's kitchen if you need to cut the cheese . So I am really loving life in Costa Rica so far , and I haven't even left the city yet to see all of nature 's marvels that fill up this entire country . Just wait until I make it to the beaches or the rainforests ! 
Arriving in San Jose . ( Posted on myspace blog on July 17 th at 11:20 pm ) Just a couple of hours ago I stepped off a plane and set a record for the farthest south I ' ve ever been . The sun had gone down long before so after breezing through customs and catching a taxi into town I was only able to see by the light of the city . The cabbie was a nice guy . I prepaid at the airport 15 bucks to get into town , and the driver took me to one place that turned out to be too expensive . When I didn't want to stay there he took me to another place , which turned out to be a nice hostel . I paid 9 bucks for a shared room with a locker . ... But there is a lounge with cable TV , a computer room with free internet access , a game room , and tons of people from all over the globe ! I ' ve really never stayed in a place like this ! I suppose I should post this and go get to bed , or perhaps go meet some of the other people here . I ' ll sure have a lot more to post tomorrow ! 
the challenge ... Goal : convert a $ 10 poker bankroll into a $ 1000 poker bankroll .. Thoughts : this blog will serve as an online portal for me to share my embarrassing experience of trying to turn $ 10 into $ 1000 by playing poker .. i ' ve been playing poker on and off for about a year now so i ' d still consider myself to be a bit of a fish online .. i ' m hoping over the course of this challenge and blog i can take my game to a new level and play comfortably and profitably at the medium limits with a half decent bankroll .. although my monetary goal is to take the $ 10 and turn it into $ 1000 my overall goal is to transform myself into a decent poker player .. at the moment , i ' m probably naive as to how difficult this is actually going to be but it 's only $ 10 and i ' m certainly going to give it a good go .. Games : my initial bankroll is a free $ 10 at pitbullpoker . com.. the terms are that i must earch 200 ' competition points ' in order to withdraw the cash and move on to another site .. i ' m hoping this doesn't take long as the software look absolutely dreadful and i ' m not looking forward to using it .... those articles i read on bankroll management can't help me now ... 
The Trouble with Lying . When you tell one lie , it leads to another So you tell two lies to cover each other Then you tell three lies and , oh brother You re in trouble up to your ears ! So you tell four lies to try to protect you Then you tell five lies so folks won t suspect you Then you tell six lies and you ll collect A life filled with worries and fears Cause you can t remember how many lies you ve told And half the things you say aren t true And sometime you ll slip up , you ll trip up and then Whatever will become of you ? So you lie and lie without even trying And each lie you tell will keep multiplying Till the whole wide world will know you re lying Then you ll be Suspected Detected Rejected Neglected Disliked And you should ! When you lie , you re closing the door On everything good I remember this song , mostly becasue it had always applied to me . The Church of Latter DAt Saints meant it as a PSA to keep kids from lying . I always was kind of fond of the little jingle . I guess the message was lost on me . Here I am now , 31 years old , and I still lie to pretty much everyone around me , and fucking effortlessly too . I will admit , its more to strangers and people I have just met than to my family and friends ..... but still ... I guess Im just a liar at heart . Thats why I am such shit , and hate myself . Im going to try to be more truthful .... which means hurting some people .... probably to the point in which they will never speak to me again . Tarnishing my reputation and making me an asshole in the eyes of many internet friends . Sad thing is , some of these people are better than my real life friends ... what have I done ? 
Neil Gaiman knocks on my door ..... Have you ever been in love ? Horrible isn't it ? It makes you so vulnerable . It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up . You build up all these defenses , you build up a whole suit of armor , so that nothing can hurt you , then one stupid person , no different from any other stupid person , wanders into your stupid life ... You give them a piece of you . They didn't ask for it . They did something dumb one day , like kiss you or smile at you , and then your life isn't your own anymore . Love takes hostages . It gets inside you . It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness , so simple a phrase like ' maybe we should be just friends ' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart . It hurts . Not just in the imagination . Not just in the mind . It 's a soul - hurt , a real gets - inside - you - and - rips - you - apart pain . I hate love . Neil Gaiman I had to put this up .... its such truth , its like a fucking prime number . Its the skeleton of love in words .... thanks Neil ... you fucked me up a little with this one . 
Redemption . " It 's never too late to be who you might have been . " George Eliot English novelist ( 1819 - 1880 ) For a long imte , I ' ve been feeling like I ' m in a rut , like I ' ll never be able to amount to more than I am now . That thought it kind of depressing , becuase it means there is no where for me to go but down . I cant handle the thought of being less than what I am now , because currently I ' m underpaid , tired , unhappy and pretty much convinced I am a total waste . Yes , I can provide for my family what we need , but Im not a fucking chinese dirt farmer ( No offense to chinese dirt farmers ) , I should be able to provide what we WANT as well . A lot of this stems from the fact that my dumbass brother , whom I love dearly , seems to be able to buy whatever fucking toy catches his interest of the moment , while I subsist on what I got . OK , so dont cry for me , Im certainly not living in poverty , but why dont I get to have a giant screen projector TV , and a boat , and all the other assorted crap that this kid gets to buy . Couple that with the fact that none of it is cared for , and when it breaks ( and it always does ) , he just buys some more shit to fill his place with . Oh and thats the best part .... he has a " mortgage " with my mother . Which means he pays her when he feels like it , and if he misses a few months , no big deal . While I had to get a mortgage from a bank , and if I miss a few payments , well , the bank comes and takes my house away . Sweet . Still , I cant complain , because I was given my house for waaaaaay below market value . I should be grateful . Right ? Even though Im the one trying to raise a family , and stays out of trouble . Im the one that does the right thing time and time again . Whats my reward .... self satisfaction ? Fuck that . I want the door prizes . I want to be able to fuck up and steal money , get arrested , get in fights , and still have everything handed to me . But thats not me . I hate taking from my family . I fucking hate it . Therein lies my problem . I want it all , and I dont . But I digress .... I saw the above quote , and it gave me a glimmer of hope .... maybe its not too late for me to be what I might have been . Maybe I ' m not wasted potential like I always have thought . Perhaps there is a chance for redemption after all , and I can reap the rewards of being a basically good person . Or maybe nice guys do finish last , and Im wasting my time not murdering people . 
Taking Time off from Obsessions . I have a problem . I get obsessed with things very easily , and I devote all my time to one thing , until I find something else to be obsessed about . Its like every few weeks , Im doing something new . Heres a brief rundown of my latest obsessions . Nicaragua Halo 2 MLGSpriting MSN Chat Zombies Freerunning Game Design Comic Writing Music Creation Kite Surfing Okay , thats in the last 6 months .... I jump around to each . I trained my ass off for the MLG Tourney in Halo 2 , only to not go . I started writing again , hoping to work with a published artist , only to drop the ball and never complete my script . The I spent the better part of a few weeks cruising the game design circuit . Then on to spriting for MUGEN for a few months . Then searching for Freerunning stuff , then comic collecting , then back to spriting , and on and on and on . Do I have ADD or something ? Its fucking up my work , because I ' d rather be chatting all day than to be doing my work . Its a miracle I havent been fired yet . I think I need to stop this shit , and get my head straight before I can even think about getting back to any of it . No more MSN , no more spriting , no more finding new shit to obsess over . My wife hates it . No surprise there . She hates almost everything I do . Yet she does nothing ? Unless you count reading and Su Doku . Props to her for raising the kid though . My new obsession should be shutting the fuck up , and finding out who I am , being honest with myself and those around me . Hey , at least Im sticking to the blog this time around ..... right ? 
The Big Cosmic Joke ... but not funny when its on you . So , this guy I know knows this girl .... and she is super cool and perfect and blah blah blah . So one day he 's talking to her via internet message service x and she is drunk as shit , and on her webcam , and telling him how hot and horny she is and making herself and him crazy . Playing with her tits , talking dirty , telling him how she wants to fuck the shit out him and that she has never wanted to fuck a guy so bad in her life . He 's losing it , knowing this is a girl he can never physically touch or have a relationship with becasue of location and other mitigating factors . So he cries and bitches about it to me and I dont care , because I have my own problems . I cant help this guy out , I dont know what to tell him .... fuck it , just stop talking to her , its a waste of time and energy ... or go for it , keep tortuing yourself because eventually it will pay off .... I know Im lying if I tell him thats the way to go . Maybe its all just a joke ... a big fucking joke on him , and he ' ll never get it . Does anyone ever get it ? Isnt that what life is , a big joke ? A joke , and you never find the punchline . 
You can say anything you want when you talk to yourself ... How many blogs are there in the world ? How many people sit in front of a computer and type away about crap either no one cares about , or that no one reads . I feel like my blog falls into the latter catagory . No one reads this . I can type whatever I want here , free of reprocussions . Here watch . I frequently masturbate to beheading videos and fantasize about raping nuns . Sometimes I pick up hitch hikers ..... I wont disclose what part of the woods I drop them off in . I like to swindle the elderly and use the money on hookers . Sometimes I give tabs of acid inside a grilled cheese sandwich to homeless people . I enjoy peeping on my neighbors when they have sex , or when he beats his wife . Either way I smile . Kidnapping is more fun than murder , mostly because it involves brainwashing and isnt as messy . Okay , so none of that shit is true ( or is it ? ) , but the fact that I can just put it up on the internet and someone may read it is kinda cool , but with all the other blogs full of crap out there ... well , the chances are slim that anyone will actually find this stuff . If you do , please leave a comment . Especially if you want to be kidnapped . 
Coldplay + Depression = Madness . See my math up there ? I cant stop listening to Coldplay ..... but in my current state of unrest , It makes me want to jump in front of a train . Songs of love are only good if your heart isnt broken , not that mine is or anything , but it makes you feel like it is . I still love it . No end in sight . 
Crushed . You ever wonder why they call it a crush ? You know , that giddy little feeling of being smitten with someone else . You like them soooooo much you want to write their name in a spiral notebook a thousand times .... The dictionary defines this kind of thing like this : Crush - Informal - A usually temporary infatuation . More times than not , it actually ends up feeling like this : Crush - To break , pound , or grind into small fragments or powder . Thats how you feel when someone you crush on ends up with someone else . Even if youre just friends and there is no possiblity of romance , you still get fucked all to hell emotionally . Even when you actually are kinda happy for them , for finding someone .... you still wish them bad mojo . A crush is a selfish thing . It serves no purpose other than to torture us most of the time . The worst part is , you usually know whats going to happen , but you fool yourself into thinking otherwise , and are actually surprised when it doesnt work out . I dont thing a crush has anything to do with love either . A crush is not in the love family of emotions . I actually think its closer to obsession , in the greed family . Its about possession , not unity . There is no beauty in a crush . Lesson learned , only not for the first time , and certainly not for the last . 
Unhealthy Stress Management . I ' m not good with dealing with my problems . I dont like to talk about them , and I dont enjoy having people know that I am feeling anything other than happiness . I bury my problems . Waaaaaaay down deep . Once buried , I can go about my life like nothing is wrong , like everything is good and well and fucking wonderful . There is only one problem with this method .... I am running out of room . My deep dark pit of hatred and anger is all filled up , and I ' m finding it increasingly difficult to keep my cool . Anyone who knows me , knows I am a pretty even tempered guy . Those unfortunate to know about my rage have dubbed it " Hulking Out " . This is where I release all my anger and frustration at once , lose myself in a blind fit of fury , and basically destroy all control over my rational mind . I cant turn it off , and I cant control it . I wish I could get all my pain off of my chest . Talk it out and let the people in my life know how I feel . Unfortunately , I know i will never do that . I ' m feeling hopeless lately , like my life will just drift along at this pace and I will have not lived any of it , just existed through it . Time is against me . I know this , and yet I waste it every chance I get . I am not happy , and there is no one thing that makes me feel this way . Just an ever expanding list of complications , and situations that I have no idea how to deal with .... I feel like Im coming apart at the seams . I worry about losing my job , my family , my friends .... and at the same time , I just want to leave my whole life behind and start new . You get one shot at life , its short and then its over . When you make mistakes , it doesnt just effect you , you effects all of those around you . People are interdependant , everyone lives intermingle , cause and effect on personal levels . So we are forced to live with those mistakes , like it or not . Starting over is hardly ever an option without damaging the social environment that surrounds you . Maybe thats why I am always feeling like shit . I know I cant do anything to fix my situation , and Im a prisoner of my own life . 
The Eye of the Beholder . Do you recognize what this symbol represents ? I read somewhere that the human mind ( in cooperation with our eyes ) is trained to recognize and remember patterns . Everyday around us we see things that allow our memory to associate or connect an image to a certain idea . Click on the Swoosh logo above and download the excel file so you can test how many of these symbols you recognize . NOTE : It 's not as easy as you think . Have fun ! Just as a bonus , here 's the ship song from Trumpets ' puppet musical Mr. Noah 's Big Boat : . 
Fujitsu 's 10 th . Just a few pics from our event last Wednesday July 12 ( I took these pics using Maits Nikon D 50 - a very good and reliable camera ) : Front view of the set Audie Gemora singing with Maits Teacher Lionel serenading Maria ( West Side Story ) Ponce doing the Pose . 
Knick knacks . On Missing Persons Last week my dad and I brought my mom to the airport where she left to go visit our sister who now lives in Canada . We had barely left the airport when he said to me " I miss her already . " I know what he means ... On Mixed Emotions Last night we dropped by the wake of Robbie Guevara 's mom at Santuario de San Jose and he was relating to us the moment of her death . He told us that he was at her side for the past few days and he would constantly watch the monitor and see her heart rate going down steadily until eventually it flat - lined . This brought on tears of course and as they were crying and the resident was called in to pronounce the official time the monitor started recording a pulse again . The resident then was caught in a dilemna on whether to pronounce or not . Robbie said that although they were in tears , this curious situation actually put a smile on their faces . On Wholeness I ' ve had a chance to chat with Crisel several times recently and we ' ve been talking about past and ended relationships . We came to the agreement that coming into a relationship when you are lacking inside puts an immediate handicap on things . It 's actually best to be whole and secure by yourself first so that when you do walk into a commitment , you are not focused on what your partner can give to you but on how you can give and take care of him / her . On Doctors . 
Likes 71 - 80 . 71 . HBO The main reason that I have cable is HBO . From back in the day when they aired the Larry Sanders show I have been a fan of their original programming . Without a doubt when it comes to quality TV , HBO is the leader . 72 . Artie Lange He is more then likely the reason I started listening to Howard Stern . Hearing Artie s Vegas exploits and his love of all things food and booze are hilarious . My favorite was when he ate two loves of his Mom s Sausage bread at four in the morning in a drunken eating binge . 73 . Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Jewel As I have often stated I am an Oatmeal Raisin guy . In the Jewel bakery they have these cookies which are like crack . I could eat the entire package of them in one sitting if I wanted to . Trust me , if you are a fan of the genre at all , pick these up . 74 . Fantasy Baseball OK , I am a baseball nerd . And as such there is no better outlet then playing fantasy baseball . It keeps me interested in every game and each morning when I grab the paper I head right to the box scores to check on my players . It is a harmless hobby that gives me a ton of joy and allows me to trash talk with my friends . 75 . The Chicago Pedway Once I found the pedway I was a new man . Now when it is cold or raining I can just hit the pedway to escape from the weather outside . I usually enter at the corner of Dearborn and Madison which is one short block from my building . I then can get all the way to the State of Illinois building which has a food court and suddenly I can enjoy a nice lunch . 76 . Rolling Stone Records Located right by the Harlem and Irving Park mall this record store should just give me my own wing , I ve spent so much money there . It was on the brink of closing earlier this year and then miracles of miracles it got saved . Trust me this is a good thing as there are very few independent record stores left and this has always been one of the best . 77 . Bag s No , not fun bags . I am not sure of the official name of the game but everyone knows what I am talking about . It is the game with the beanbags and you toss them into the wooden object with a hole in the middle . I first found this game at the Old Barn s beer garden and have been playing ever since . A great backyard activity that I seem to get better at the more I drink . 78 . Craigslist If there is a better site to buy and sell shit I haven t found it . The best thing about the site is that it is free to post there . Meaning if you want to sell that old exercise bike that you never use just put an ad on craigslist and you are done . A great site and I hope that it can survive without charging . 79 . Conon O Brien I remember watching those first shows and thinking that guy has a lot of work to do . Well , he has done it and now hosts the best late night talk show of them all . A naturally funny guy who has a great writing team and has against some pretty big odds found his own voice and his own niche . 80 . Ben and Jerry s Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch It is so good that it should be illegal . I never buy it because it won t last more then ten minutes in my freezer . I can not describe just how good this ice cream is . I am glad it is out there yet , for the good of my gut I wish that they didn t make it . 
Likes 61 - 70 . 61 . Urbandictionary . com Where else could I learn what a Hot Karl and a Cincinnati Bow Tie are ? At what other site could I find the definition for a Rusty Trombone and Jack Burn ? I can guarantee that you won t find what a Louisville Plugger and a Dirty Sanchez are anywhere else . 62 . Peterson s Salted Nut Roll No that is not an act of perversion but a tasty treat . Basically it is peanuts with nugget in the middle . Not being much of a chocolate guy I got into the nut roll for a treat and have never looked back . If you have never had one , give it a whirl you might like them . 63 . Neil Diamond OK , bring it on all you haters . Liking Neil is so un - hip that it has become hip to like him . A great performer and song writer , his songs are filled with sing along lyrics and catchy hooks . Is he a musical god or musician s musician , no . What he is , is a balls to the walls performer who knows how to write a good pop song . 64 . Baking Soda Here is a product I am convinced will cure cancer , because it does everything else . You can cook with it . You can use it as an antacid . You can use it as a deodorant . You can brush your teeth with it . You can use it to keep your refrigerator smelling fresh . There is nothing that this product can not do . 65 . Stadium Movie Seating How or why did we ever watch movies without stadium seating ? No longer do you have to worry about someone sitting in front of you at a movie . I admit going to the movies can be a pain in the ass but this one invention has made the experience a lot more enjoyable . 66 . Curb Your Enthusiasm After watching this show you now know who the brains behind Seinfeld was . This show , which is completely unscripted , is consistently funny . Can Larry David be annoying or irritating , yes . But isn t that the point ? I find his antics to be hilarious and can t wait for the new season . 67 . Sprint Wireless PC Card One of the cool things about my new job was they sprung for a wireless card for my laptop . With it I can get internet access wherever I am in the world . I know I sound like a geek , but it is pretty sweet . Now , when I am on the train I can fire up the laptop and surf the bestiality pages while riding home . 68 . Potbelly s I have become a fan of this sub place . I used to always be a Jimmy Johns guy but , at some point I turned into a Potbelly s man . My favorite being either the Wreck or the Italian sub. Also , the PB & J is a nice treat . All their sandwiches are good and heated and quite tasty . 69 . 500 Rummy I have been playing this game since I was in the womb . It is one of my favorite card games . It takes skill to be a good player and you also need a little luck . It is a game that rewards having balls . It also happens to be one of the card games that I am best at . In college my roommate and I would just keep playing an on - going game . I think we were up to like 15,000 by the end of the semester . 70 . Miniature Golf Back in the 80 s if you wanted to date Nick , more then likely you were going miniature golfing . Why , I still don t know but it became like a ritual of mine to hit Haunted Trails and play some putt - putt . Why I thought the place was like Spanish fly I don t know . I think because it involved doing something together with my date and if the conversation hit a lull I could always discuss the next hole or show my companion how to hold my club . 
Likes 51 - 60 . For those bored of my likes , I am over half way home . 51 . The Police The band not the law enforcement agency . I would give almost anything to see these three reunite and tour again . Sting , however has become a dick and wants no part of a reunion tour . Which is too bad because for my money nobody was doing it better in the late 70 s and early 80 s then the Police . They didn t release one bad record . Which is quite an accomplishment . 52 . The Plush Horse Located in Palos Heights this place makes the best homemade ice cream . They have a ton of flavors with my favorites being the apple pie and the mint chocolate chip . A great place to spend a summer night . 53 . TQ 3 Navigant Have I mentioned just how much I like my new job . It is such a night and day difference in attitude and culture from the bank . I don t mind getting up for work . I like my boss and I like my co - workers . I am a new man and am so thankful that I landed on my feet here . 54 . Savage Love I am a Savage love junkie . It is a weekly must read for me . I have never been much of an advice column guy . However , reading about other people s off the wall sexual questions and experiences and then Dan s responses are a guilty pleasure of mine . 55 . Wrigley Field I know I am biased here but there really is no better place to watch a baseball game . No where else that I have been , ( and I have been to my fair share of ballparks ) comes close to the experience of watching a game in the friendly confines . It is the last stadium left without a jumbo - tron and an applause meter . I know Sox fans hate it but that is all just jealousy . 56 . The Soprano s Has the show lost some of its luster , yes . With that said it is still one of the best programs on television . The first three seasons were just incredible , with out a bad episode in the bunch . While I have some criticisms over the last two seasons , the quality is still there and it is must see veiwing for me . 57 . Super Pretzel s Microwave Pretzels I am a fan of the baked pretzel and Super Pretzel makes a good one that is available in most of your grocer s freezer . In 40 seconds you will have yourself a good and filling treat . Don t add any salt and it isn t that bad for you either . 58 . Paul Giamanti Another actor who is always good . I first noticed him in Private Parts of all things , as he stole every scene he was in . From that point on I have followed his career . It is comforting to me that a man with his looks and his stature can be a leading man . That gives me some hope for modern cinema . 59 . Rolaids If you eat like I eat and have a stomach like I have then Rolaids are a necessity . Almost instant relief from most digestion issues that I get . I am a fan of the cherry flavor but any will do the trick . 60 . Firedustybaker . com A therapeutic website . I have been calling for Baker s head since he blew the NLCS in 2003 . I am so sick of the Baker lovers out there who continue to make excuses for him . I found this website and it has become therapy for me as I read the rantings of another like minded individual who watched Dusty continually get out - managed and continues to retard the progress of young players . 
Like 's Continued . I continue 31 . Water When I gave up drinking pop a few years ago I thought it was going to be tough . I must say that now , I really don t miss it . The reason for this is that I really enjoy drinking water . It is refreshing and it doesn t fill you like a soda will . Plus it is really good for you and you should drink as much of it as you can . 32 . Ankle Socks I ve been rocking the ankle socks now for over twenty years , even in the winter . If I could I would wear them with dress shoes . They are comfortable and my feet don t get hot in them . I hate long or tube socks because the elastic eventually fades and you are left with a droopy sock . With ankle socks you don t have that problem . 33 . Primo s The best soft serve ice cream on the planet . I ve tried a number of soft serve places and no one can hold a candle to Primo s . I am a fan of the soft serve and as my Uncle Dan says they have chocolate , vanilla , and chocolate and vanilla . That is all that they need . 34 . Law and Order I am a sucker for a good courtroom drama . This is why I have been a fan of this show for so long . Sure , I realize that a real courtroom is nothing like the one on L & O but so what . It makes for good drama and I like guessing along with the show . Some day I will write a blog on my favorite Law Order cast . 35 . Rob Neyer Probably , my favorite baseball writer currently working . Neyer is a new school thinking man who analyzes the stats to back up his arguments . He has written a number of books on baseball and his column on ESPN . com is a must read for a baseball geek like me . 36 . Billy Bob Thornton A completely underrated actor . I ve seen him in bad movies but I have never seen him be bad . He has range , and can do almost anything . His performance in a Simple Plan is to me the most unappreciated acting jobs I have ever seen . Maybe he is weird in real life , I don t care . This man can just plain act . 37 . Step Down Golf Tee s One of the biggest problems I have had with my golf game is consistency in my drives . Part of that was due to my placing the tee at different heights at each hole . However , ever since I went to step - down tees I no longer have that problem . Each tee allows me to place the ball at the exact same height which makes my swing a lot more consistent . 38 . The Who I ve wavered over the years between the Who and the Beatles on which was the best rock and roll bank ever . I think I have finally settled on the Who . Quite simply they never put out a bed record . Townsend , the musical God , who was a brilliant writer and musician . Entwitstle is quite possibly the best R & R bass player ever . Keith Moon , and his frantic , out of control drumming and of course Rodger Dalutry . Quite possibly the best vocalist for any band of that era . 39 . Golden Grahams A nice big bowl with ice cold milk , there is nothing better . With my digestive issues with milk , I don t eat as much of it as I used to , still there is always a box of it at home . I have always been a fan of cereal and this is my favorite . 40 . IMDB . com I am a movie junkie and as so , IMDB has become a daily visit . So many questions have been answered thanks to this site . Movie Quotes , ratings , and reviews this site has it all for a film geek like me . 
Like This . Here are the like s of Nick continued . 21 . Mozilla Firefox Firefox is so much better of a browser then Internet Explorer it is not even a competition . With a built in pop - up blocker and a better way of saving history , Firefox blows away IE . If you are not using it start , it is free to download and is very user friendly . 22 . Kevin Smith What can I say , the guy makes me laugh . His movies for the most part are low budget and have a lot off sophomoric humor . Laughter is just that , it can t be faked . I like crude humor , sue me . With that said , there is always a heart to any View Askew film . Kevin Smith is a down to earth guy living the American dream . He took a huge gamble by making a movie , using credit cards and it paid off . I say good for him and I can t wait to see Clerks II on July 21 st . 23 . Levi s The most comfortable pants on God s green earth . Without Levi s I would walk around naked . I love my Levi s jeans and could give two shits how they look . They are comfortable as hell , and they last forever . 24 . Seinfeld Reruns - I ve seen them all at least ten times and yet , I still watch . I could watch each episode another hundred times and it would not matter . Too me this may be the best non - animated show in television history . Sure other shows were smarter but , there is something about the chemistry of those four characters that Seinfeld and David created that was amazing . 25 . Dean s Popsicles Man do I love popsicles . Joyce has gotten me to start buying Dean s with real fruit juice in them and they are just as good , if not better . A nice summer treat , and while they do contain a lot of sugar they are still only 40 calories per serving so they aren t going to kill you . 26 . Tenacious D For sheer musical enjoyment , there is nothing that gets me in a better mood then the D . From the first time I put it into my cd player I was hooked . The songs are surprisingly catchy and the music is fun . I can not put a number on the amount of smiles that Jack and Kyle have given me . 27 . Whiffle Ball If there is a better game for backyard fun I have not found it . If there was a pro league , I would have been in it . I can still make a whiffle ball dance and stymie a hitter . You must use the original skinny yellow bat and only the official ball can be used . The game is great because kids and adults both can play and you can make the rules up depending upon where you are playing . Also , you need a good lawn chair as the proper strike zone . 28 . Lindy s Chili The best chili I have ever had . Spicy but not to spicy this stuff is like crack . They offer it with beans or no beans . ( I prefer the no beans . ) You can also get onions , cheese or macaroni with it . No matter how you get it , it s damn tasty . Just put some oyster crackers in there and you have yourself a meal . 29 . Las Vegas How could a non - believer like me not like a place called sin city . Gambling , hookers , one pound hot dogs , and Wayne Newton , Vegas has it all . It so is so trashy and so elegant all at the same time . When you are in Vegas , time means nothing . I can stay up all night playing blackjack , sleep for an hour and be at my make your own omelet breakfast in the morning . So much to do and best of all there are not a lot of kids running around . It may be the last place on earth for adults to go to have adult fun . 30 . Ace Hardware The local hardware store is about as rare as a good Ben Affleck movie , but there are still a few left . If you want to have a question answered by someone who knows what they are talking about go to Ace Hardware . While Menards might be cheaper and Home Depot might have more selection , Ace has a much more knowledgeable and helpful staff . I try to go there as often as I can for my hardware needs . 
Goal 36 ( In Progress ) - Have Multiple Streams of Income . So this one is not happening - yet , but I am in the process of getting it started . It is high on my list of things to do and at this point , I am on my way . I read the book One Minute Millionaire and it talked about how there are more ways to earn income then through your job and real estate . When I thought about multiple streams on income , I always figure that I had to get into real estate and begin investing . I talked to a few realtors and looked at 8 or 10 houses here in a college town , but I never felt totally comfortable . I think that one day I will explore it more fully , but now is not the time . Which leads me to what I have been working on the last couple weeks . I have thought a lot about what I could do to earn multiple streams of income . I have thought about it from my own industry ( financial ) and also from outside industries . First for ways in my own industry : Most financial advisors ( myself included ) have been taught that the way to make money is through the sell of products to consumers . I am learning that there are many more ways to earn money in the financial industry then just through the sell of products . I am currently working on creating multiple ways of gaining clients , which converts to additional sources of income . One of the ways is through my goals numbered 16 ( Money Makeover ) and 40 ( Online workshops ) . There are more that I am going to add to my list to be sure , but as the list currently stands , those are a couple that I have . From my last post , I talked about what I am currently doing with the Money Makeover . I am still a few months away from the online workshop ideas , but am working to get there . I need to get a few processes in place before I start the workshops . Now for outside my industry : I listened to a podcast that I subscribe to by Scott Patton called Internet Marketing Unleashed and his guest was Dave Watson of www . websitearticlewizard . com. It was interesting and they talked about the importance of creating a product or ebook that you would have to create once , but could sell over and over again . I though about that most of the day and it hit me that there are a lot of people in my profession that need certain things that are not being offered . Our business has created an excel document that tracks commission , clients , source , company and many more things . I think that there could be a market for selling this type of product and have begun thinking about how to go about it . I submitted a couple proposals to www . elance . com and www . rentacoder . com. I have gotten a few bids in and am excited to see what happens over the next few days . I am going to get it built and begin selling it and see what happens . So while they are not yet completed , I thought that I would at least post about what I have been thinking about the last couple days . There are a few other things I am thinking about , but nothing as exciting as these concepts . 
Goal 16 - Get " Money Makeover " Series Started . Even though I am still compiling my list of 111 Things to do Before I die , I am activley working on a few of the goals and think that it is time to become accountable for my progress . Goal Defined : Have a Money Makeover article in a local newspaper by January 2007 . I have a few that I am working on for my business in the last few months and one of them is an idea that I had about a year ago that I is called the " Money Makeover " . The idea came last summer when I was reading an online newspaper that was talking about how they do a regular feature called the " Money Makeover " . I read the article and found it very intriguing . The premis is that there is a groupd of financial professionals that alternate giving free advice for clients in exchange for a feature in the paper . It plays off of the whole reality show / makeover type shows and has some appeal with consumers . I have talked to a bunch of different people , consumers of all sorts and they all think that it sounds like a great idea . There is no one here in Northern Colorado that is doing this type of a feature . This is good if I can get it rolling . I talked to a few newspapers around town and have met with a few that seem mildly interested . I talked with one of the reporters at a local paper and we decided to go forward with it . She interviewed me and got the initial story in the paper and we created a way that readers could call and request to be featured . The story ran and we had three people call and request information , leading to the selection of one candidate . I met with the client and photographer / journalist and had a couple meetings that went pretty well . Then the paper decided to stop returning phone calls and I could not get in touch with them for anything else . I had a hard time getting the finishing touches on the story . The client changed jobs and everything kind of fell apart . Not to worry because I am persistant . I tried to get in touch with another one and had a meeting with a reporter there and she seemed excited , but said that it was the editor 's call and that he would give the final stamp of approval . Well , he didn't and we had to move on . I was beginning to see that I should stay away from the main newspaper in town . I needed to find a smaller niche paper that was more liberal and willing to take a little risk . I recently had a meeting with just such a paper and they loved the idea . I told them about the idea and how we would need to get a few other planners in the area involved to be able to provide a different perspective in each edition . We were going to have 8 - 10 guys ready to meet and hash out the details . I got a call from the editor yesterday saying that they were a little concerned about tsome of the details and how it was going to work and that we needed to re - think the overall strategy . They felt ( and I concurred with them ) that coming right out of the shoot and advertising the program might not be the best way to go about getting good , qualified people interested in participating . What we decided to do was to get one of my current clients ( or veru near future clients ) and feature them in the January / February issue of the paper . This way they can get a good story out and have people experience what it will be about before they decide to participate or not . I think it makes great sense . I know that you were thinking at the top in the goal definition that having it run by January seemed like a long time off , but this is why , we are just waiting for the new year and we are waiting to get the space in the issue that they told me I would get , which is 2 full pages worth ( roughly $ 3200 of free advertising ) so I am not complaining at all . I will update progress as time goes on . 
Making a new page . I am a little unsure how to best accomplish this and am hoping for some comments or suggestions . How can I make a new page on this blog to host THE LIST of 111 ? Is there a way to make a new page ? Do I have to make it in a new post that is linked to on the sidebar somehow ? I have created a new blog to hold nothing but the list . I am not sure if this is the best way to do it so I am asking for suggestions . Please let me know . 
The Principles of Success . I have many people that I turn to for inspiration and advice . The most successful people have coach 's , mentor 's and just people that they turn to for advice . The source that I draw much of the advice and guidance is through books . One that I read on a regular basis , I have 3 or so that I read over and over again in addition to new ones that I read is Jack Canfield 's " The Success Principles " . The 7 th Principle is called Unleashing the Power of Goal - Setting " and it talks about having clarity and definition to your goals . In other words , saying that I want to lose 10 pounds is a good idea , but writing down and saying on a regular basis I will weigh 150 pounds by October 1 , 2006 is a clearly defined goal . In the next few posts I will define some of my goals and objectives and begin to build my list . I have 45 - 50 written down so far and will continue to build upon it as time goes on . Here 's to your success ! 
First Post . I read a book called " 100 Things To Do Before You Die " by Dave Freeman and Neil Teplica and found it exciting . Therefore I have decided to chronicle my adventures as I set out to fulfill my list of 111 Things I want to do before I die . This blog is devoted to keeping a journal about what those things are and experiences of accomplishing them . Will I succeed ? I hope so . Will I learn something about myself and others ? Most certainly . Check back often and see what I am up to . What I want to know is , what are some funny , outrageous , silly things that you want to do before you die . 
Ferris and Shooting Soundtrack . Here is an example of your current blog task ... but I have used next week 's subject matter : A shooting script is a version of a script from which a movie is actually shot ; it includes scene numbers , camera angles and certain directors ' notes -- and it is generally fiercely marked up by the script supervisor and other production workers , while the writer 's draft is simply the skeleton around which the production is built . If you haven't seen the film , basically it is about one high school student 's attempts to remain sane through his high school experience . I found a student re - production of the film that is fairly faithful here : here . I ' m sure that they would have used the shooting script for the film found at this address ( look at number 9 ) . 
Some terminology . Here are some camera movement terms : Dolly Movement of the camera towards or away from the subject ; and the support on which the camera is mounted . Pan To move the camera left to right or right to left on a horizontal plane . Tilt To move the camera up or down on a verticle plane Track To move the camera parallel to the moving subject Angle The line along which the camera looks at the subject POVPoint of view . Shows what the actor / audience would see . 
Casablanca and Master and Commander . Today we got through most of Casablanca - while we skipped many chapters , it was not the story that I wanted you to consider , but rather , the film 's techniques . Casablanca is not only a classic Hollywood film , it is also a great example of Hollywood 's dedication to the seamlessness of its story telling . The only thing that the viewer notices is the plot and the actors and this is due to a combination of film techniques that include : . close ups . sound . reverse shots . angles . eye line connections The next few lessons we will be looking at Master and Commander : the far side of the world . This will be our primary focus for assessment . So rather than getting lost in the plot , you need to identify possible connections to the Classical Hollywood genre and its seamlessness . 
Choice of homework task . Gentlemen , you have been given a list of Hollywood related items ... I will be interested to read what you have found out about your choice . Have this done by Monday please . 
First lesson navigated . I am happy with the progress within our initial lesson together . We were able to successfully set up over half of your blogs . Your blogs should now contain at least a rudimentary first post . I will be reading them regularly ... try to make them interesting . These Blogs now should also have the comment facility removed in order to protect you from any unwanted spam or possible abuse . Please remember that a blog is a public document and thus , there should be no identifiable disclosures - such as names etc. At all times you are to show due respect as dictated by the school rules . We will be recapping your lessons from last term ( the Hollywood studio system ) and then we will look at Hollywood as a genre and style . I will notify you of your assessment requirements by - most likely - the end of the week . 
Halo freakness . Did I tell you , beloved readers , that I am A Halo freak . Yeah , it 's the sad truth . Questionably the best FPS game on the planet , Halo ROCKS . Halo , Halo 2 , and Halo 3 , ( Halo 3 will be out in 2007 ) , all rock . ^^ . 
Wish me luck . Why ? Simple . I ' m going to spend the day at my friends house . So what you say ? Well it so happens they have six children , and only two are my age . Scary . Oh , did I mention they live in a mobile home ? Yeah . Scary . 
Blimey ! Did I mention London ? Let 's see , I ' l sum it up in one word . BIG . B - I - G , Big , 1 ) , Large in size , 2 ) Bulky , Fat . Yeah . Never da less , twas ' fun . But twas ' not the night before xmas . Ha ha ha , whatev . 
Housness ? Yeah .. Turns out we moved to Hippie - ville , aka Rosswood . Scary . We have a three storie house . But , there is one minor complication . It 's half finished . Okay , more than half finished now . You can see the house blog @ http : // www . anotherbuckinthewall . com. So I beg you beloved readers , SAVE ME FROM ETERNAL HIPPIEDOM !!!! ^^ . 
Wootness . Okay I guess I ' m better now . Yeah , I ' ve pretty been better for about a month . I just haven't been updating my blog . I write this at my uncle and auntie 's house , ' cause were in town . ( MAD ) And , were going to London . And Kelowna . w 00 t . 
Mother nature has a kooky sense of humor . Okay , so first , we get 3 , mabey 4 days of non - stop SUN ! Pure bliss . Then , IT DUMPS SNOW . And its cold as heck . Yeah , weird . The north has been known for weird weather , but this is kinda extreme . Okay .... I ' m done now .... BYE ! - Ben . 
Am I getting better ? What ? No ! Noooo ... ! No. No ? Yes ! Yes I am . I think . Yeaaaa .... Whatev . Anyway Im ' a all like " Mama mia , I think I ' m getting better ! " and Moms all a like " Yeah you already said the twice today ! " and Im ' a all like " h ' Okay whatever eh . " > _ ( NEG ) and drink tea , ( whatev ) and taking baths . ( AAAAA SCALDING ! ) Soooo ... Yeah . ( . 
Well I don't approve much of this .... What ? Would YOU approve of yourself being sick ? Yeah , didn't think so . So , all I ' m doing pretty much is coughing .... But it still sucks . Will I live ? Most likley . I mean jeez , it 's not like i have bubonic plauge or anything . ( although it feels like it ) And did I mention coughing ? Oh right . I did . Whatever . OK ..... So ... BYE ! - Ben . 
What a great idea ..... I wonder who thought up the idea for music ? Probably some cave man who thought banging a rock on his head sounded good . Then singing . That was probably some other cave man who thought a few grunts and a bonk on the head for emphasis sounded good . Put it together , and Voila ! : Grunt bonk bonk grunt clunk grunt bonk bonk . Radio guy : " And that was the ' Bonkers ' and their new hit single , " Grunt Bonk " ! And now , for some more grunting action , here is ' Bonker Grunt ' and their No.7 # hit , ' Bonker Clonk ' ! Scary ... 
The English Show Thomas Smith , Alex Agnew and Nigel Williams are big in Belgium . Usually these Brits perform in Dutch , but for JUST TWO NIGHTS they return to their roots and perform in English . They re joined by Australian Damian Clark and Englishman Marc Blake . Don t miss this unique show . 
Good news for people who like bad news . Well , first the bad news . My company ( which has heretofor been unnamed ) has decided to significantly reduce the size of its Vancouver operation and relocate all displaced staff to Washington , DC . Although the announcement was made internally last week , I ' ve been pretty choked about the whole thing up until now . Now the good news . I ' m one of the fortunate few who will not be losing his job in Vancouver . There are about two dozen of us who get to stay , but we ' ve all been given the option of moving to DC . I ' m starting to take the very generous offer seriously , which scares me . I ' d be leaving Lotusland for the violent crime capital of the United States in cities of 500 000 residents or more , DC places third for most dangerous city in the USA after Detroit and Baltimore . And if I were given an offer to move to Detroit , I ' d have to think a lot harder about it . So I get a free trip to DC out of all of this sometime within the next few weeks to scope it out ... I guess I ' ll learn more then - ish . 
The Syrah Experience . I had an absolutely amazing meal this evening at Syrah in Santa Rosa , CA . I started with the watermelon gazpacho , then the grilled thick pork rack chop with crispy polenta , green beans , and cherries , and wrapped up with the peach the daily specials aren't decided on the whim of an executive chef who loved the flowers in the window box so much she picked them to add a bit of sunshine to my salad . Instead , dishes are decided by teams of chefs in test kitchens based on marketing department robo - directions . The love of the craft is completely removed from the dining experience . Instead , you 're just left with the act and , just like bad teenage sex , it 's not that good and it 's over too quickly . And you bet it 's over quickly . There 's definitely a rush to get you in and out as fast as possible so that the restaurant can turn the next customer around . Sure , it just seems like you 're getting attentive service , but there 's always the implicit understanding that if they bring you your food quickly , you ' ll vacate their table quickly . They don't want you there but for your wallet . It 's really sad that the state of dining in a lot of towns has been reduced to this level . Whenever I ' m in a small town or suburb , and ask about local restaurants , I inevitably get the same list : " We ' ve got Applebee 's , Carlos O ' Kelly 's , TGI Friday 's , Ruby Tuesday , Chili 's ... anything you could want . " What if that 's not what I want ? What if I ' m looking for the Syrah experience ? I walked into the very busy restaurant this evening with no reservation , and asked to be seated at the bar . The " bar " wasn't really a bar , but a counter behind which the chefs prepared the meals . I felt like the most important person in the restaurant , which was very full . And I got to speak with the head chef / owner while he cooked for the rest of his guests , and devour with my eyes every dish to go by . Believe me , I wished it hadn't just been my eyes . Alltogether , my meal was a two hour affair . And it was wonderful . I can't wait for the next one , but having previously been to Dallas and Stephenville , TX , I doubt I ' ll find it there . 
A nice relaxing Vancouver day . It 's really nice to have a relaxing day at home every now and again . Yesterday , a buddy and I hit up the beach at English Bay and generally had a great , relaxing afternoon of brunch , window shopping , beaching , patio - relaxing , and dinner . 
Man , what a trip . First of all , let me say that this blogging thing is harder than it seems at first . Not hard because I have nothing to write about ... hard because I ' ve just spent the last 6 days on the free - alcohol bender of my life . Chicago was wonderful . I ' ve always said that it 's one of my favourite cities in the US . Chicagoans have this wonderful attitude , beautiful architecture , and amazing shopping . Oh , and the FOOD ! This trip introduced me to the Portillo 's Italian Beef sandwich , which I am still craving . And I ' m extra - glad that I got to go back to my favourite Chicagoland restaurant , Irazu , for their crazy - delicious oatmeal shake and burritos . Mr. Pibb and Red Vines has nothing on this . 
You have the right to remain ... You have the right to remain ... Originally uploaded by jon 1204 pdt . Jesse ( my co - worker partner in crime ) and I hit up Chicago 's Magnificent Mile for some shop - o - rific deals . Nordstrom was having their Anniversary sale , and my wallet came out all the worse for wear from it . Jesse and I hit up the men 's furnishing departments and tried on ridiculous glasses and hats for the afternoon . 
Bowling Shoes . Bowling Shoes Originally uploaded by jon 1204 pdt . Those are my feet on the left , Jenn 's ( a customer ! ) in the middle , and Jesse 's on the far right . We took Friday night off and hit up Lucky Strike Lanes next to our hotel for some drinks , Bit - O - Honey , and a round of the Noble Game . 
Policemen in Heaven . St Peter is standing at heaven 's gate when a man walks up . " Welcome to heaven my son . What did you do with your life ? " " I was a policeman , " he responded . " What kind of policeman ? " St Peter asked . " I was a vice officer . I kept dangerous narcotics out of the hands of kids . " " Wonderful my son , welcome to heaven . Pass through the gates . " A few moments later a second man walks up . " Welcome to heaven my son . What did you do with your life ? " " I was a policeman , " he responded . " What kind of policeman ? " St Peter asked . " I was a traffic officer . I kept the roads and highways safe for travelers . " " Well done . Pass through the gates into paradise . " A few moments later a third man walks up . " Welcome to heaven my son . What did you do with your life ? " " I was a policeman , " he responded . " What kind of policeman ? " St Peter asked . " I was a Military Policeman , Sir . " " Excellent my son , I have to leave for a bit , watch the gate will you ? " . 
The Big Boss . When the body was first made , all the parts wanted to be Boss . The brain said , " I should be boss because I control the whole body 's responses and functions . " The feet said , " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go . " The hands said , " We should be the boss because we do all the work and earn all the money . " And so it went on and on with the heart , the lungs , and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up . All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss . So the asshole went on strike , blocked itself up and refused to work . Within a short time the eyes became crossed , the hands clenched , the feet twitched , the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered . Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the boss , so the motion was passed . All the other parts did all the work while the boss just sat and passed out the shit ! Moral of the story : You don't need brains to be a boss - any asshole will do . 
The Proxy Father . The Smiths had no children and decided to use a proxy father to start their family . On the day the proxy father was to arrive , Mr. Smith kissed his wife and said , ' ' I ' m off . The man should be here soon . " Half an hour later , just by chance , a door - to - door baby photographer rang the doorbell , hoping to make a sale . ' ' Good morning , madam . You don't know me but I ' ve come to .... ' ' ' ' Oh , no need to explain . I ' ve been expecting you , " Mrs. Smith cut in . ' ' Really ? " the photographer asked . ' ' Well , good ! I ' ve made a specialty of babies . ' ' ' ' That 's what my husband and I had hoped . Please come in and have a seat . Just where do we start ? " asked Mrs. Smith , blushing . ' ' Leave everything to me . I usually try two in the bathtub , one on the couch and perhaps a couple on the bed . Sometimes the living room floor is fun too ; you can really spread out . ' ' ' ' Bathtub , living room floor ? No wonder it didn't work for Harry and me . ' ' ' ' Well , madam , none of us can guarantee a good one every time . But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles , I ' m sure you ' ll be pleased with the results . ' ' ' ' I hope we can get this over with quickly , " gasped Mrs. Smith . ' ' Madam , in my line of work , a man must take his time . I ' d love to be in and out in five minutes , but you ' d be disappointed with that , I ' m sure . ' ' ' ' Don't I know ! " Mrs. Smith exclaimed . The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures . ' ' This was done on the top of a bus in downtown London . ' ' ' ' Oh my god !! ' ' , Mrs. Smith exclaimed , tugging at her handkerchief . ' ' And these twins turned out exceptionally well when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with . " The photographer handed Mrs. Smith the picture . ' ' She was difficult ? " asked Mrs. Smith . ' ' Yes , I ' m afraid so . I finally had to take her to Hyde Park to get the job done right . People were crowding around four and five deep , pushing to get a good look . ' ' ' ' Four and five deep ? " asked Mrs. Smith , eyes widened in amazement . ' ' Yes , " the photographer said . ' ' And for more than three hours too . The mother was constantly squealing and yelling . I could hardly concentrate . Then darkness approached and I began to rush my shots . Finally , when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment , I just packed it all in . " Mrs. Smith leaned forward . ' ' You mean they actually chewed on your , eh ...... equipment ? ' ' ' ' That 's right . Well madam , if you 're ready , I ' ll set up my tripod so that we can get to work . ' ' ' ' Tripod ?? ' ' , Mrs. Smith looked extremely worried now . ' ' Oh yes , I have to use a tripod to rest my Canon on . It 's much too big for me to hold while I ' m getting ready for action . Madam ? Madam ? ..... Good Lord , she 's fainted ! ' ' . 
From the Word Perfect Help Desk . This is a true story from the Word Perfect helpline . Needless to say , the help desk employee was fired ; however , he / she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for " Termination without Cause . " Actual dialogue of a former Word Perfect Customer Support employee with a caller : " Ridge Hall computer assistant ; may I help you ? " " Yes , well , I ' m having trouble with Word Perfect . " " What sort of trouble ? " " Well , I was just typing along , and all of a sudden the words went away . " " Went away ? " " They disappeared . " " Hmm . So what does your screen look like now ? " " Nothing . " " Nothing ? " " It 's blank ; it won't accept anything when I type . " " Are you still in Word Perfect , or did you get out ? " " How do I tell ? " " Can you see the C : prompt on the screen ? " " What 's a sea - prompt ? " " Never mind . Can you move the cursor around on the screen ? " " There isn't any cursor , I told you , it won't accept anything I type . " " Does your monitor have a power indicator ? " " What 's a monitor ? " " It 's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV . Does it have a little light that tells you when it 's on ? " " I don't know . " " Well , then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it . Can you see that ? " " Yes , I think so . " " Great . Follow the cord to the plug , and tell me if it 's plugged into the wall . " " ....... Yes , it is . " " When you were behind the monitor , did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it , not just one ? " " No. " " Well , there are . I need you to look back there again and find the other cable . " " ....... Okay , here it is . " " Follow it for me , and tell me if it 's plugged securely into the back of your computer . " " I can't reach . " " Uh huh . Well , can you see if it is ? " " No. " " Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over ? " " Oh , it 's not because I don't have the right angle - it 's because it 's dark . " " Dark ? " " Yes - the office light is off , and the only light I have is coming in from the window . " " Well , turn on the office light then . " " I can't . " " No ? Why not ? " " Because there 's a power outage . " " A power ... A power outage ? Ah , Okay , we ' ve got it licked now . Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in ? " " Well , yes , I keep them in the closet . " " Good . Go get them , and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it . Then take it back to the store you bought it from . " " Really ? Is it that bad ? " " Yes , I ' m afraid it is . " " Well , all right then , I suppose . What do I tell them ? " " Tell them you 're too stupid to own a computer . " . 
Computer Diagnosis . One day Bill complained to his friend that his elbow really hurt . His friend suggested that he go to a computer at the drug store that can diagnose anything quicker and cheaper than a doctor . ' ' Simply put in a sample of your urine and the computer will diagnose your problem and tell you what you can do about it . It only costs $ 10 . " Bill figured he had nothing to lose , so he filled a jar with a urine sample and went to the drug store . Finding the computer , he poured in the sample and deposited the $ 10 . The computer started making some noise and various lights started flashing . After a brief pause out popped a small slip of paper on which was printed : " You have tennis elbow . Soak your arm in warm water . Avoid heavy lifting . It will be better in two weeks . " Later that evening while thinking how amazing this new technology was and how it would change medical science forever , he began to wonder if this machine could be fooled . He mixed together some tap water , a stool sample from his dog and urine samples from his wife and daughter . To top it off , he masturbated into the concoction . He went back to the drug store , located the machine , poured in the sample and deposited the $ 10 . The computer again made the usual noise and printed out the following message : " Your tap water is too hard . Get a water softener . Your dog has worms . Get him vitamins . Your daughter is using cocaine . Put her in a rehabilitation clinic . Your wife is pregnant with twin girls . They aren't yours . Get a lawyer . And if you don't stop jerking off , your tennis elbow will never get better . " . 
Mighty Mouse Three mice are sitting at a bar in a pretty rough neighborhood late at night trying to impress each other about how tough they are . The first mouse orders a scotch , gulps it down and slams the glass on the bar . He turns to the second mouse and says , " When I see a mousetrap , I lie on my back and set it off with my foot . When the bar comes down , I catch it in my teeth , bench press it 20 times to work up an appetite , and then make off with the cheese . " The second mouse orders two shots of bourbon , slams them down and nearly breaks the glasses on the bar . He turns to the first mouse and replies , " Yeah , well , when I see rat poison , I collect as much as I can , take it home , grind it into a powder , and add it to my coffee each morning so I can get a good buzz going for the rest of the day . " The first mouse and the second mouse then turn to the third mouse . The third mouse lets out a long sigh and says to the first two , " I don't have time for this bullshit . I gotta go home and screw the cat . " . 
Primer . Yesterday and today I primed the scooter using a paint gun and air compressor . I applied an epoxy primer , making sure to wear the correct safety equipment . As a point of comparison , painting with this nasty stuff feels like working in a cloud of atomized nail polish . I suspended the frame from the rafters of my ersatz painting booth ( the soon to be demolished shed ) in order for the paint to reach all of the curves . Once I had applied the primer , I let it dry and then wet sanded with 600 grit sandpaper . It 's difficult to get all of it on the first pass , so I applied two thin coats . The weather is turning humid , so my drying time has unfortunately lengthened ... 
Paint stripping . This is a short post since about all I did was drop off work - I had the frame expertly sandblasted by Tom at TPC Painting in Bloomingburg , NY . The holes were welded by Straub Welding in Chester , NY . Very smooth - next , metal prep and sanding in prepartion for priming . 
Splitting the cases . Once the piston is successfully out of the engine , splitting the cases is the next order of business . In order to split the cases , you need to remove : on one side , the flywheel ( wedge a screwdriver between the fins to keep it from rotating while you undo the castellated nut . Below this is the stator plate and its backing plate ; on the other side is the rear hub - removing this hub will reveal the clutch side case . Once open , you will see ( flywheel side ) ( clutch side ) My goal is to completely disassemble in order to replace the seals and clean the cases . I ' m having some trouble getting the crank and gears off , so I ' m going to remove the primary gear next . 
A few words about painting . After a frustrating day of disassembly , culminating in my using an acetylene torch and brute force to remove the steering cone and dust cover from the fork , I thought it might be interesting to review everyone 's favorite topic in Vespa renewals , painting . I ' ve decided to go with a 2 - pack process of PPG primer , color coat and clear coat . The full process is to : sandblast the frame , headset , engine door and front fender to remove the old paint ; bodywork , including spot welding of drill holes . Any imperfections will show once it 's painted ; wet sanding and metal prep to prepare the metal for a primer coat ; application of primer ; color coat ; clear coat , wet sanding ... All of this seems a bit overwhelming , so I decided to take care of something a little easier . The exhaust on my scooter at some point had been thoughtfully upgraded to the ET 3 - style Sito pipe . However , years of neglect had allowed it to develop a lovely rusted patina . To fix this , I sanded the paint and rust off using a wire brush attached to a drill and applied several coats of high temperature black spray paint . I ' m not sure this will prevent the rust from returning , but superficially it 's a big improvement . Of course , until I can add the Polini pipe ... Now , back to painting the scooter ... A search through Gervic Paint 's color cards uncovered the perfect shade of kelly green , from Porsche 's 1992 selection - " signal green " . Research is saying 2 quarts should be sufficient . More on this once the frame is prepared . 
Taking it all apart ( engine removal ) . I haven't been able to post lately , but work has continued ... The engine of a smallframe Vespa is usually accessible by a small door on the right cowl . Unlike other models , the cowl itself is not removable , which means that there is very little room to get your hands on the engine . To do any major work , you need to remove the engine itself . The first step is to remove the carburetor . It 's attached only by a single clip , but to get to it , you need to remove the small bucket under the bench . Detach the choke and throttle cables , and you 're done . In brief , you next detach all of the cables ( brake , gear , clutch ) on the engine , the wiring at the junction box near the engine , the exhaust , the rear wheel and the long retaining bolt . 
Taking it all apart ( trimmings ) . Over the last few weeks , I ' ve been continuously taking the Vespa apart . In order to strip the existing paint , I ' m going to need the frame , headset , and front fender ( as well as the engine and glovebox doors ) free of all attachments . I began by drilling out the floor rail rivets , then removed the center mat , trim and badges . I also pulled off the legshield trim with WD 40 and pliers ( as in the photo ) . The process was a little annoying because it 's actually crimped to the legshield around a small lip . I ' m replacing it , so at least I didn't need to pull it off intact . Once this was done , I began the removal of the headset and handlebars . To do this , you must first disengage all the cables ( inner and outer ) . Vespa smallframes have a few - there is one throttle , two gear selectors , a clutch , a choke , a front brake , a rear brake , a speedometer and the wiring harness for the lights , horn , etc. At least most are accessible from behind the headlight . Once the headset free of connecting cables , I detached one bolt from the rear of the steering column and pulled upwards ... Vespa decapitation ! I always imagined it was attached more securely As an extra step , I dismantled both the gear selector and throttle units of the handlebars . While even the Haynes manual suggests that it s rarely necessary to so , I d like to attempt to replace the gear selector and tube . As shown in the below photo , someone drilled three holes to attach an indicator switch box . It would be possible to weld them , but I d rather not add to the already sizeable workload for the body shop . 
A good plan is hard to find ... but deceptively simple .1 ) Complete disassembly ; 2 ) Body : - Paint removal ; - All bodywork , including welding of those holes ; - Priming and painting 3 ) Engine , carburetor and front suspension rebuild ; 4 ) Parts replacement ( all cables and probably the rear shock , exhaust , and taillight as well ) ; 5 ) New badges , floor rails and steering column lock ; 6 ) Reassembly and engine tuning . Did I miss anything ? 
" Before " . Some more information on the condition ... Above is a closer illustration of the body condition . Note : - Two holes just above the hexagonal Piaggio badge ; - Three holes under the Vespa badge ; - Rust visible near the legshield trim ; - Dent beginning near the three holes . With a little effort , it kicked over and started . Along with a very patient friend , I decided to take a tour of nearby Red Hook . Riding around an area with little traffic was a smart choice . To start , the Primavera proved difficult to shift . Neutral was next to impossible to find , so I held the clutch in first gear at any stop . It was emitting whitish smoke from the rusty exhaust ( a Sito , upon closer inspection ) and responded sluggishly to the throttle . I hit a large pothole which launched me airborne . My landing rattled the spark plug cable loose - unfortunately I assumed I had run out of fuel and walked it for 30 minutes to the nearest gas station . I continued to use the Primavera over the following days . After a Wednesday NY Scooter Club gathering at Abilene , I even ambitiously offered a ride home . Small mistake . With a passenger , the already pokey scooter slowed to a moped - like crawl and nearly couldn't climb the hill between Fourth and Fifth Avenues in Park Slope . To which I say - real men don't have to prove anything . At least I have a starting point to which I can later measure my progress . Next , a plan . 
Worship Style : other than traditional , contemporary , or blended . Last week I was asked if our church was " Traditional , contemporary , or blended " ( meaning our style of worship ) . I didn't honestly know how to answer them ... because I don't think we 're any ; or maybe we 're all of the above . I assume " traditional " means singing hymns . Well , there are old hymns and new hymns ; you can sing hymns slow or how they 're supposed to be played ( which is sometimes slow ) ; there are a variety of different kinds of hymns ; you can play hymns with just an organ , a piano , a guitar , or a full band . So ... I don't know what " traditional " means . As for " contemporary " ... that 's even worse . Does contemporary mean you sing praise choruses from Bill Gaither ? From the seventies ? Does it mean you have a band ? Does it mean you sing Hillsong , Maranatha , or whatever other names their are ? Ultimately , is it THE lastest , or does it just mean ' later than the old hymnal we used to have ' ? And if the first two weren't confusing enough , try blending them . What in the heck does this mean anyway ? I knew what it used to mean , but the worship wars seem so far removed . When I came to the little country church I am presently at , it had an organ and a piano . They used a hymnal and a chorus book . I planned to eventually have a band - maybe in like 3 years . But within a year we had drums , guitars , and a keyboard ... and the organ was shipped out . I didn't intend for that to happen , it just sorta did . Now we 're probably heavy on the Chris Tomlin stuff , with a Rich Mullins feel . But we do lots of hymns and stuff from worshipleader / songdiscovery too . This fall we will most likely lose our drummer , bass player , and electric guitarist . While I am sad ( mostly because these guys are incredible musicians , and one is my son ) , it will also be an opportunity for us to maybe change directions . Some people think I need to go out and find " replacements " for them . Just plug new people into the band . In most churches , this is probably what would happen . In fact , many already have more than one band just for this reason . But our church isn't really about that . We have become " a group . " Shoot , we don't even practice anymore . And there is no way I am going to replace these three guys . I don't WANT to replace them . They are special . I can still play guitar ; my wife plays the keyboard very well ; we do have another guy that can play the drums . But what I would like to do is find someone else to lead worship - someone who plays the guitar or piano , or both - and who would just lead us himself . Sure , we could have another singer ; maybe some hand drums ; even the kit , and bass , and other stuff . But I would like to kind of scale back . I think we need to . People get so uptight when we don't have the full band , and that 's not good . My question is ... how do I advertise for a worship leader like this ? How do I classify our worship style ? I can't say , traditional , contemporary or blended ... right ? So what do I say ? I was thinking I could maybe find someone at Taylor - Ft . Wayne U . or Huntington U . , or maybe one of the bigger churches around . But I don't want just anybody , you know what I mean ? I would seriously appreciate any input anyone can offer . Sure , my wife or I could handle it , and we have singers ... but I ' m thinking it would be better for the church for Jane and I to step out of this area . So ... I ' M LOOKIN ' FOR A WORSHIP LEADER WILLING TO WORK FOR LITTLE OR NO PAY , BUT WITH GREAT BENEFITS ! : ) Peace . Revolution ( ate ) . 
50 Most Influencial Churches . Thechurchreport has listed the 50 Most Influential Churches ( apparently in the U.S. ) , and ... once again they overlooked MY church . I don't know how they keep doing this . At any rate , I think it 's interesting that there is 1 woman pastor . And I don't know if it 's interesting because there is " only " 1 , or because there even " is " 1 . But I like the name of her church : " Without Walls Church " . I don't suppose anyone is ever mean enough to substitute a " B " for the second " W " . That would not be nice at all , but for some reason it popped into my head . Sorry . I know it 's not true . Maybe it 's things like this that keep them from listing Fairview Church of God in their top 50 . Hmm . On a more serious note ... I have only attended two of these churches : Willowcreek ( many times ) and Ginghamsburg ( several times ) . I have heard several of these pastors speak in person : Hybels , Ed Young , T . D . Jakes , Erwin Mc Manus , Michael Slaughter , Tony Evans , John Ortberg , and Kirbyjon Caldwell . I have listened to or read many of the rest . I used to like listening to other preachers . I don't know why I don't so much anymore . ( another hmm ) . Peace friends . Revolution . 
The average american blogger . USA Today has an article on the average American blogger : " Today 's blog : More creative , less political " . So how average are you ( even if you 're not american ) ? I like the snippet they start with from Scottish artist Momus , who said in 1991 , " In the future , everyone will be famous for 15 people . " Hmm ... 15 might be a tad high , but ... 
Random Thoughts ... This post is going to have some teeth in it . SNARLING DOG / NEEDY PEOPLELast night I was trying to brush our dog . He didn't feel good and his hair was all messed up - which is so unlike him . Anyway , Bogie was aactually snarling at me while I brushed him , so I thought he must not like it . But if I would stop , he would come over and sit right in front of me again . So I would brush him again , and he would start snarling again . Like , he couldn't decide if he liked it or didn't like it . It ' hurt so good , ' apparently . So it got me to wonderin ' ... is that how people are ? I ' ve been a pastor for seven years ( this week is my anniversary ) , and if there 's one thing I ' ve learned ... it 's that pastors need to have thick skin . Because I really think people want someone to tell them things they don't want to hear sometimes - to call them to live better ; make better choices ; do what they know they should be doing - but they also want to gripe about it . Now , this can certainly be abused , but I think to back away from it you are not really ministering to people . They want to be brushed but they want to be able to complain . This isn't the case with everybody , but it is with some . And I need to grow much thicker skin . SO LONG IE ; HELLO MFI made the switch today to Firefox . I haven't figured it out very well yet , but my oh my , how it made a difference in some of the blogs I read . Several of them have the sidebar at the bottom in IE , but they are fine in firefox . Seems to drive pretty good so far . DENTISTMore teeth . I had to go to the dentist yesterday . Actually , it 's more like - I had to go to the dental assistant yesterday ( saw the dentist for 2 min . ) . Got my teeth cleaned - and NO CAVITIES !!! I don't know why I hate going to the dentist so much . Especially since I have the sweetest little dental assistant . Sarah is always so calm , and polite . While laying there with her hands in my mouth , I wondered ... is this what church is like ? You know , as soon as they get your mouth open and they start working on you , they start asking you questions . How are you supposed to answer ? Do people in church feel like that ... like , we 're asking people questions , but they 're not really able to answer ? The worship leader does all the talking and leading ; maybe someone else stands and gives announcements or reads something or prays ; the preacher preaches AT the people ... and if you have a question , or something to say ... what are you supposed to do ? I realize some people have addressed this in their worship services . I need to do a better job in mine . Sometimes I do give people the opportunity , and they don't respond ... but is it still because they feel like they 're strapped down in a dental chair and way uncomfortable ? I dunno . GIFTSYesterday I ordered Scot Mc Knight 's book " The Jesus Creed " . Paraclete Press is running a special right now where if you order 1 copy , you get 2 more for $ 1 . I told the two pastors that I meet with on Wednesday mornings that they could each have one . Of course they both had a smart remark ready for me . : ) I think that I don't give enough gifts though . I know I don't give my wife and kids enough gifts . I wonder why ? I think probably because it takes time and effort to think about others in a conscious way . I need to do that more . And I need to find friends that give more gifts too ! : ) ONE LAST THINGJust for the record ... I have the BEST kids in the world . My daughter made me cry yesterday with an email containing more kind , and wise , words than I have read in a long time . And it was largely due to something my son had written . Anyway , I am glad their mother rubbed off on them so well . I love you two ( and you too dear ) ! Peace , friends . Revolution ( ate ) - any way you can . 
Vacation ( holiday ) . " Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you ' ve been taking any longer . " ~ Cowardly Lion ( Wizard of Oz ) Can you tell where my mind is ? : ) I found that quote on Wikipedia ( so I ' m sure it 's legit ) . Also , listed under " VACATION " they have the Minimum vacation times around the world . It 's quite interesting . Many places require 3 , 4 , 5 weeks or more of vacation per year . South Africa 's is 21 CONSECUTIVE days , even . I ' m no economist or sociologist , but I wonder if the length of vacation time is in any way associated with capitalism or not ? Just wonderin ' . At any rate , I won't be leaving until Monday , and I ' ll be back the following Monday . So maybe I ' ll think of something else to write about before then . : ) Peace , peeps . Revolution ( ate ) . 
Soul - Deep Preaching . Yesterday was not a good day for me . I am still somewhat overwhelmed from seeing my post about the EC linked all over . Plus I am having some frustrations at my church - too much to do and not enough time , energy , or desire at the moment . And ... I could really use a VACATION ( which I will be on next week , thankfully ) . I was pretty stressed from the start yesterday . Then I had a few comments made ; a few snubs ; had a couple kids come and get cookies and then leave ; a nursery worker " snuck out " and went home instead of coming into the sanctuary since we didn't need an extra . And I kinda blew it during the service . Not in a " big " way , but bad enough . As usual , I messed up a song ; I made the usual fool of myself at different times ; but what I regret is that I preached from my frustration rather than any sort of passion . I don't know , maybe they 're linked . But it didn't feel like it . It felt bad . There was a serious weight over the place yesterday . There was a serious weight on ME yesterday . I guess the good thing is that it was one of the lowest attended Sunday mornings we have had . So ... this morning I rearranged my reading order and began reading " Simply Christian " by N . T . Wright . I think I ' ve been worrying about too many things that I shouldn't be worrying about lately . And , for those of you that are preachers yourself , I read a great article by Gordon Mc Donald ( see it here ) entitled " Soul - Deep : Part 1 " . Gordon says he heard this message from heaven : " Don't preach ; just talk out of your heart to them about what you ' ve been hearing me say . You 're prepared ; you 're ready ; just talk to them . " It is a good article ( if you 're a preacher anyway ) . That 's what I want to do - just talk about what I hear God saying . My fear is ... do I hear God saying anything ? Maybe I need to quit worrying about what " I ' m " going to say , and start concentrating more on LISTENING . okay . peace . revol ... 
Love Minus Zero ... Can you complete the song title ? Yessir , that 's my ticket to go see Bob Dylan in September . I hope the night 's not as blurry as this pic of my tic . : ) Me , Jane , Carrie & Isaac are all going . I don't anticipate it being a very good show - that way if it IS good , it will be a real treat . Isaac saw him with Willie Nelson a couple of years ago in one of these small baseball stadium shows . He said it was pretty bad . But , you know , you don't go see Dylan to see if he does a good show or not . He 's Dylan ! With no conditions , there is no limit to what love can do . : ) Peace , my friends . There 's a revolution at hand . 
Note to self ... A couple of things I want to remember .1 ) From Brother Maynard at subversive influence : " Live your faith ... share your life . " I like that .2 ) From Tom Ponchak , off of alan creech 's blog : The first three steps of Emerging Churchers Anonymous : - Admit that you 're tired of always emerging . - Accept that there 's ' nothing new under the sun ' so don't take yourself too seriously . - Understand that the church won't destroy itself if you take a week off . Very nice as well . Peace , friends . Revolution ( ate ) . 
Oh no ... Sometimes I need to just learn to keep my mouth shut , you know . Now I see I made Scot Mc Knight 's blog for ' lobbing bombs ' at the emerging church . Man... I don't want to be known as the guy who doesn't like the ec ( can I emerge from this ? ) . For those of you who know me , you already know it has more to do with me just bein ' a complainer . So I repent . I ' m going to start looking at things more positive ( from the ground up ) . I need a change of perspective ( and I ' m trying , but first I gotta get my head outta my ... ) . Last night Jane and I were at Friday Nite Live at Jefferson Pointe in Fort Wayne . Chris Dodds and Mike Conley were doing an acoustic show . During their version of Simon take notice of more . I took a picture of the moment - maybe I ' ll post it later . Anyway , I ' m going to try to quit making excuses ; stop whining & complaining . I say I want a revolution . And it needs to start here . Peace , friends . 
Phone pic . I ' m being lazy today . Still sittin ' around in my pj 's ( it IS my day off , and I ' ve already cleaned the house ) . Thought I would try to post a pic from my phone . God knows I don't use it to talk to people ( not that I ' m complaining ) . : ) This is son Isaac ( on left ) and Graham playing at Isaac 's girlfriends surprise birthday party . Yes , that is Danica Patrick staring over their shoulder . Drummer couldn't be there so it was an acoustic show . Very nice at any rate . 
Maybe I still am emergent , but just ... My fifteen minutes of ( blog ) fame came about with the post " Why I Am No Longer Emergent " ... and you know what ... maybe I was wrong . There 's a chance I might still be emergent ( if they would have me back ) . I mean , I even SAID I was yesterday : a denominational exec . called and asked me to do a survey . He wanted to know how I would describe our church : traditional , contemporary , or blended ? Hmm ... how do you answer a question like that when 1 ) I don't think those are valid descriptions of " church " , and 2 ) I don't think those are valid terms anymore ( at least not in my church ) . So ... I said we would probably be considered more along the lines of " emerging . " Sorry , it slipped out . I know I probably look like a big weasel and all , but now I know that emergent isn't a movement , but it 's more of a value . Besides , I didn't know what else to say . ( What would you have said ? ) Okay , so , I say all that to bring up something that Alan Creech brought up in his post entitled emerging church burnout . Maybe I ' m not near as fed up with the emerging church , as I am just BURNED OUT . And I don't know if I ' m burned out " on it " or " with it . " Alan listed some very good signs and causes , and I ' m wondering if another isn't simply the " keepin ' up with the Jones 's " ( nothing against Andrew my apologies if you 're burned out ; my apologies if you don't want me back among the emerging . What I really want to do is just emerge from this " funk " and find the " joy of the Lord . " I think I see it up ahead ... I think ... if I can just ... Peace , friends . Revolution ( ate ) . 
Praying With The Church ( 11 ) . I finished Scot Mc Knight 's book " Praying With the Church " this morning . Good book . I liked how it made me feel when I read it . Kind of like when I read " The Sacred Way " by Tony Jones . A good summation is found on p .158 - Scot is talking about finding a " place of silence " ... " not in the sense of the absence of noise but in the sense of attentiveness to God . " Then he tells this story : Ruth Haley Barton uses a potent image in describing what this place of silence is like . Her spiritual director , when she realized how disjointed Ruth 's life really was , said this to her : ' Ruth , you are like a jar of river water all shaken up . What you need is to sit still long enough that the sediment can settle and the water become clear . ' And that is what a sacred space of silence is : It is simply a place where the distractive sediments of our own life can settle long enough for us to see who we are so we can come to God in utter honesty . Isn't that good ? Sometimes I loathe spending most of my time alone - studying , praying , reading , writing . But what a privelege it is . Thank you , Lord , for allowing me the silence to find you ... and to find me . Perhaps the best contribution I make to this world is the time I spend each morning praying for the people in my church ( plus a few others ) ? I currently have a prayer list of roughly 170 people , and some " issues " and desires as well . I ' m not bragging , and there is probably much more I should be doing , but I feel like that not only helps my friends and family , but it helps me -- praying for someone pretty much makes it impossible to be angry or hold grudges ; it keeps me in tune with these people 's lives ; it helps me stay focused on my place before them and with God . At any rate , that 's not really what " Praying With the Church " is about . It is more about learning the sacred prayer rhythms ; using prayer books ; the importance of corporate prayer ; etc. I have to admit , my prayers usually become pretty dry and mundane after awhile . And using the Psalms and other traditional prayers can add so much richness to ones prayer life . Plus , one of my favorite lines in the book is , " Prayer , like love , seeks intimacy through variety in constancy . " ( p .161 ) Yeah ... ' intimacy through variety in constancy . ' I like that . Great book , Scot . I give it my hearty recommendation . It 's not a thriller , but it should help you find a place of sacred silence . And we all need some of that ! I will now be purchasing Phyllis Tickle 's " The Divine Hours " to use as my prayer book ( or one of them ) . Peace , friends . Revolution ( ate ) . 
Emerging As A Value ... I want to thank all of the fine ' emerging ' folks who offered wisdom , encouragement and insights to me lately . I just checked out Will Samson 's article Emerging As A Value , and I have to say ... very well put . Here is a blurb : As I consider the word emerging , I am much more comfortable with it as a value than I am with it as a movement . Now I know how these things get named . Truth is that unlike the Reformation the name emerging didn t come about in quite the same organic manner . Someone somewhere came up with it as a branding exercise . But I happen to think that they got this one very right . The article is a couple of years old , but still very true . Thanks , Will . Yes , I like the idea of emerging as a value more than a movement ( but that 's just my op. ) . Also , a note to my good friends at the emergingcggc blog ... My post on the emerging church has nothing to do with that blog . I think we are having some of the finest discussions we have ever had right now . I just don't feel there is anything I can add to it . So ... keep it up ! Peace . Revolution ( ate ) . 
The Power of Words . I have to say , I ' m a little reluctant to post today . I... I ' m not used to having the traffic I ' ve had recently . I ' m pretty humbled right now , and that 's probably a good thing . I didn't expect more than a handful of people to read my thoughts from yesterday . But ... if any of you are back ... I ' m glad you 're here ! Sometimes I ' m not aware of the power my words can have . Not just the ones that are here on Al Gore 's internet , but every word I say . I usually start writing my sermons on Tuesdays , and I ' m having quite the time getting going today , because I ' ve just come to realize that sometimes people do listen . What bothers me are all those times I FAILED to realize the power my words had . Yes , there have been times I ' ve said things from the pulpit as a way to " get back at someone . " I feel terrible about that . There have been a few meetings where I kind of lost my cool . It 's hard to take those things back . Even in my dealings with my wife and kids ... ouch . Those are maybe the worst . One little comment can slip out and it gets imbedded for good in someone 's mind . It 's really good that God can CHOOSE to forget . How about you ? Are there things people have said to you that you ' ve been holding onto for far too long ? Have you TRIED to forget ? I ' m not saying it 's easy ( it 's not ) , but sometimes I don't think we WANT to forget . What I really wish is that we could go in and delete things we ' ve said to others . Apologies are just not the same . Anyway ... since words do have great power ... what kind of words do you feed your eyes and / or ears ? I AM CURRENTLY READING : - Praying With The Church , by Scot Mc Knight ( should finish it tomorrow ) . A great book for someone like me who is ignorant about prayer books and fixed - hour prayers . - Pocket Guide To The Bible , by Jason Boyett . Pretty funny , but haven't gotten too far into it yet . - Kierkegaard For Beginners , by Donald Palmer . Interesting , pretty brief , funny pictures . ON DECK : - You Converted Me ( Tony Jones ) - Story ( Steven James ) - Simply Christian ( NT Wright ) Rock on , friends . Peace . Revolution ( ate ) . 
Maybe I Should Have Said ... Regarding my earlier post " Why I Am No Longer Emergent " ... maybe I should have said , " Why I DON ' T WANT TO BE Emergent . " After receiving a few emails , I guess it does sound a little like I ' m pointing fingers , and I didn't mean to do that ( I was really just whining ) . The truth is , it 's not that I have anything against the emerging church ( whomever they are ) . I think maybe I ' m just tired of the " conversation . " Which isn't entirely true , but , you know , I don't know why we can't just be " the church . " The truth is ( and everybody knows it ) there are people who call themselves Christians that we would just as soon not be associated with . People say stupid things , make wild claims , wear ugly clothes and have bad breath . But you know what ... Even if we try to only stick to those like us , there will always be people around us that bug the snot out of us . So ... how cool is God to love us all ? To put up with our crap ? To be there , and care , and stick with us ? When I say I don't want to be emergent , it 's not that I dislike certain people so much ( even though I do ) . It has more to do with not liking the labels . And you can call them something else , but it 's nothing short of taking sides to me . I am a follower of Jesus . I have certain virtues and values that are dear to me . I do things in a particular way , and try to respect that others might do things in a peculiar way ( to me ) . I still think , at some point , it 's got to come down to ... " Love Jesus and do what you want . " So , if I offended any of you , I ' m sorry . If I didn't offend you ... just wait , I ' m sure I will eventually . : ) Yes , I want to be liked by everyone , but I want to be right with God . I would rather be known as a ' friend of sinners ' than a ' friend of emergent . ' That 's not anti - emergent , but pro - Jesus . Let 's be Christians boys and girls . Peace . Revolution ( ate ) . 
Why I Am No Longer Emergent . I honestly don t know if I am emergent or not , or if I ever was . But I used to have a Friend of Emergent button on my blog ; I used to tell people that I was with the emerging church people ; I used to feel a connection with the things I read and saw from those who say they are part of the emerging church . However , I removed my Friend of Emergent button today . Why , you ask ? Well , probably several reasons and I don t know that any of them are necessarily good . It probably has more to do with why I root for one sports team over another , or one player against another . Maybe it s just a feeling , I don t know . But - I don t smoke a pipe or have any facial hair in odd places . - I m not young and hip and I really hate going to coffee houses , because I don t know their lingo and feel stupid just ordering decaf coffee ( and why can t I just get a large and have it be the biggest size ? ) . - I am not well read in philosophy and church history , etc. ( I just bought Kierkegaard For Beginners and if it weren t for the pictures I wouldn t have bought it ) . - Honestly , and I don t know how to say this in a nice way , I don t mean to be mean , but most of the people I know who call themselves a part of the emerging church seem very arrogant to me . Like , they have the answers even though they aren t going to share them but you certainly don t know anything . Maybe smug is a better word than arrogant . - I used to think it was the emerging church that was being attacked by other Christians , but somewhere along the way it seems the tide has changed . Now the emerging side seems to be on the attack , or maybe it s more of an aggressive defense . I don t know , at any rate , this having - to - prove - we re - right - and - you re - wrong thing really brings me down anymore . As does the making fun of others . - Perhaps the biggest turn - off for me is a bit more personal . I guess I ve always felt myself to be somewhat emerging , or an emerging thinker anyway . I ve always resonated more with postmodern s or Gen - Xers or whatever you want to call them but , quite honestly , I just don t seem accepted by them . In fact , I feel downright rejected . Maybe it s just because I m too much of a simpleton , or maybe I m a complete fool , but for some reason my emails never seem to get responded to , my comments go unnoticed , and whenever I am at gatherings of church leaders , I always feel left out . Actually , it s more like , Oh no , here he comes . Let s find someplace else to go talk . So , I guess it boils down to I am no longer emergent because of the emerging church people . Sorry . I realize it is probably mostly my fault that darn lack of self - confidence and all . But it also raises the question of motive for me . Why do people want to be aligned with a specific part of the church ? Why can t it just be the Church ? Is it because they really don t like some people ; they want to have their own thing ; they just want to hang with the cool crowd ? I don t think that is it for most people emerging but it can certainly look that way to some . At any rate , I understand there are only a handful of you who read my blog . And I hope you know by now that I don t really know much of anything about anything . My thoughts are fairly simple , rarely coherent , and largely biased by my severe lack of self - esteem and knowledge . So , don t go thinkin this has near as much to do with the emerging church as it has to do with my own state of mind . It s just me , you know . I will continue to read things from Mc Laren , and the Jones boys , and others , but I don t think I m emergent anymore . I m just a follower of Jesus . Okay ? This is what I think : We are all messed up . God is wayyyy patient with us . I like Tombstone frozen pizza s ( deluxe ) . I hope Jesus accepts me . 
July 19 th 2006 - The gurning championships , etc. Sometimes photos get taken and people go as far as to shoot people to stop them coming out . You know the type of thing - Posh Spice pissed up with big hairy black spiders hanging out of her knickers and a visible moustache ... Here 's a couple of recent Bad Habits pics to show that I am not precious : . 
May 7 th 2006 : Downtime for Bonzo . Well , as one of our number in in sweaty Spain on holiday , we are out of action for a short while . What to do in his absence ? One Bad Habits gig . Redesign The Kerbcrawlers website and do some work on my own small web design business ' website I have been down with a bad cold over the last couple of weeks too , so I guess the break has come at what is just about a good time . I have a couple of weeks holiday from work booked at the beginning of June and I am not going away . The band is out of action again at that time , as someone else is on holiday , so I will hopefully manage to get some new demos recorded at home . That 's something I have been saying I will do for ages , but I haven't got round to it yet . I am a lazy bugger sometimes ( especially when it means working out how to use the home studio again after all this time ) and I ' ll need a kick up the arse to get me going on it . 
March 6 th 2006 : Getting into Bad Habits .... I posted not long since to say we were about to play in Altrincham . We did the gig last Thursday and it went down very well indeed . Here 's a photo from the event .. A really good night . We will be going back there . 
February 28 th 2006 : A little news ... The Kerbcrawlers have great difficulty with playing midweek shows , as one of our number teaches guitar for a living and if he doesn't work - he doesn't eat . Simple as that . We can only play round the Wigan area , as he finishes work at about 9 pm . We have had to pass over a number of midweek gigs we had booked in at a nice small place in Altrincham ( The Wheatsheaf ) to our very good mates in Bad Habits , who I ' coincidentally ' play bass with sometimes . The first one is this Thursday , when we cover a sudden cancellation . It will be nice to pick up a guitar with them again . Hopefully some photos will emerge from this gig . The Kerbcrawlers are working on some more songs for the set - ' Money ' by Pink Floyd and ' Always with me , always with you ' by Joe Satriani are just two of them . We also intend to get ' Everyday ' by Slade in there and return ' No more Mr Nice Guy ' by Alice Cooper to its rightful place . The threat of playing a few of our own songs looms somewhere off in the distance .... 
2 Days to go ... and Im not doing myself any favours . I have 2 days till kick off and I have noticed I seem to be eating more unhealthy than ever , is it a hidden feeling that I am doing this , I didnt realise I was till it was mentioned to me . I have been dining on burgers , steaks and a few beers but alas it 's just going to make my 12 weeks ahead even more difficult , I will need to change my diet drastically and start eating fresh veg , lean meat , fish and any other foods that are good for you : o ) I am looking forward to eating healthy as I know it can make you feel better within .... without going into too much detail lol . 
3 days to go .... and my life is moving fast . Well , my wife is back on Saturday and I start the fitness regime on Sunday but now on top of this Im moving flat next weekend sooooo my regime will change slightly to compensate . I have cancelled the gym membership I was just about to start and will concentrate on running in the mornings till I move to the city and sign up for a gym there . They always say life throws alot at you when you least expect it but I never knew I would be moving home ...... about time though there is not enough space where I am . I think moving into a new space thats only 15 minutes walk from work rather than travelling an hour each way on the bus will actually help my cause as I will have more time to concentrate on training and making sure I eat healthy . I know how difficult it can be to push yourself when work takes alot of time out of your life but you have to strive ad reach your goals .... this is what I am about to do , and you can see it happen RIGHT HERE ( Can you see how positive I am being today hehe ) . 
4 Days to go ....... I have been having problems with my stomach over the last 24 hours , I believe it is due to my own diet . Because my wife is away I have not been eating well and I am paying for it .... I am longing to start my campaign and reach my goal where I can sit back , feeling fit , with an increased metabolism where I wont feel like a lump of concrete is embeded inside me . I cannot wait to prove to myself and every one else out there that you can get fit and look great in 3 weeks . 
5 Days to go and what a challenge i have ahead . I am getting nervous about the start date that is looming , it wouldnt be such a problem if you guys weren't going to be following my every move . I think that when I look at my decision to undertake this venture , I did it because I knew my own motivation needed something to help drive it , what better way to do it than put myself in a position where anyone in the world can see what I am doing so I have to make sure I achieve my goal lol .... I dont want egg on my face ( an English saying meaning I don't want to fail after building it up ) . It would be nice to get some comments from you folks who are reading my blog ... any words of encouragement will help : ) . 
6 Days .......... not long now . You may be wondering why I am waiting for 6 more days , the truth is that my wife is away at the moment seeing her parents and has the Digital Camera so I cant take a photo of my big stomach lol . In 6 days you will see the stomach that has to go , you will see my weight and measurements and you will also see my despair as I write them down lol . Now many of you will be thinking , how can we be sure this is him on the photos ... well I have a tattoo on my right arm which is a big giveaway and like previously stated I will also be holding a newspaper of the day to show the date so you know this is not an old photo . I have told my wife about this blog and she thinks it 's a good idea , but also thinks I ' m a bit shamless to be showing myself on the Internet in all my glory ( waist upwards ) but I explained that I want to give a morale / confidence boost to all the other people out there who , like me , wish to get in shape . 
7 days to go .... creating the hunger to succeed . I have mixed feelings about my up and coming plan , I feel great that finally I will be going back to the gym , a place I once loved so much , but , I also feel a pang of nervousness about going back because I know how unfit I am going to be and how my strength will not be as great as it once was . I am a person who gets frustrated , and knowing how strong and fit I used to be I am sure to get annoyed with myself at first , but then we all have to start somewhere and this is where the hunger to succeed will kick in . One of the most difficult times for people who wish to start going to the gym is convincing themselves to go and once they have started , managing to push themselves for the first 4 weeks or so . The first 4 weeks are the most difficult when training as i is the time when your body has to wake up and get used to the movements you are carrying out and increase your fitness levels . I have an opinion that as long as someone can push themselves for the first 4 weeks , once they have passed that point it is a mile stone that will mean they will carry on training . 
The count down ....8 Days to go . In 8 days I am going to embark on a 12 week journey to lose my stomach and get fit . I am experienced in fitness and weight lifting as I used to be an avid gym goer ... some would even say I used to be obsessive but since 2004 the love of a good woman and my own laziness has put an end to this . My plan is to go from FAT to FIT in 12 weeks , I will talk about my highs and lows , my eating habits and exercise rituals throughout the 12 weeks with any audience who wishes to follow me on my journey . I decided to share this with the world as I know this is a subject most of us have an interest in , some of you may wish to lose weight but need a proverbial kick up the back side , some of you may wish to learn how you can achieve this yourselves .... some of you may be just laughing at the size of my stomach . In 8 days I will post a picture of my stomach from the front and side ... with a newspaper of the day to prove the date and I will also write down my starting measurements and weight , then after 12 weeks I will post my picture measurements and weight again so you can all see the improvements ( if there is any ) I have made . Weight loss should not be a subject you have to be coy about , if you admit you need to lose a few pounds then you can gain the drive to succeed in your goals . 
No no , pepper spray hurts ... We have been working in Forst Grove this week , which is always an experience in and of itself . As if the faint sound of duelling banjos and smell of cow dung thick in the air weren't enough , you can , and often do , run into some pretty goofy conversations from time to time . Quizno 's is a favorite lunch time destination of mine , and when I got wind that there was one such destimation to be found next to Pacific University , I was well inclined to investigate any and all claims . Said place was sought , found , and the premises entered in search of food . And food is what we found ... but that 's not the story . This particular location offers discounts to Pacific students , and the owner asks every person if they have a Pacific student ID . The guy in line behind us decides to strike up a conversation with the owner of the store and , not in as many words , asked if he had ever taken classes at the University . The owner then replies that he had not until this summer semester , but he claimed he was taking a class for the first time . This is where the story gets to be pretty funny ... trust me , it 's coming . The owner of the store quickly changes the direction of his story and admits that he is not actually taking any classes , but rather is volunteering in in some kind of emergency medical response course . What did he volunteer for you ask ? To be tazered ! That 's right ... he volunteered to be tazered so the students could practice their medical response on a live person who has been shot and subdued with a tazer gun . The guy he has been talking to goes on to ask if the tazering is all that he has volunteered for , or if there are other non - lethal detention tactics that he would be volunteering for , like pepper spray . " No no , pepper spray hurts . I won't do that . " As if tazering doesn't hurt , right ! It 's at this point that Nate drops the sandwich that is at his mouth and simply asks , " Where in the world are we ? " Welcome to Forest Grove , where people willingly get tazered to avoid the pain of pepper spray , cow dung odors are thick in the air , and all of it is set to a soundtrack of dueling banjos . 
Pray for Ethnos ... Anything you can come up with would just about cover it . In the last 48 hours there has been a suicide attempt , a miscarriage , and a dream internship lost 2 WEEKS before it was to start , and that 's just in the last 2 days . All of this comes in addition to the normal life of a community with it 's stresses and pressures of the community as a whole and for the individuals and families within the community . I know that those who read this blog are mostly from Ethnos , but if you aren't , please leave a comment and let us know your praying . I will be passing any and all comments on to the community so we all know who is joining us in prayer . Your prayer is greatly appreciated . Thank You . 
The Dilema . So , what do you do when you have a big vision for your life that your living out today in addition to a big vision you feel called to in the future ? You would be happy , fullfilled , and God - honoring either way , but your present reality obviously seems more likely than your future hope . The more I pray and think through what ministry means for me and Jenn , the more convinced I become that we will be planting achurch at some point in the future . Not sure when , or where , but I am more than reasonably convinced that we will . So , the dilema . I love and believe in what I ' m doing now . I believe that what I ' m asked to do is run a God - honoring business , be a source of hope and encouragement for those who live in the margins , and fabricate products to the very best of my ability . This is where I ' m at now . It 's certainly not without it 's trials . There have been a couple of points in the last couple weeks where I have been ready to quit it all , but that 's going to have to be another post . But I not only want to be faithful to God 's leading , but in all honesty , I want to be a part of leading a community to growth and vitality as we all discover who Christ is , what he wants for our lives , and then moving together and encouraging each other as we act on our discoveries . Present reality intersects with future hope ... I wonder if it 's possible to do both ? Be part of drumming up new work , client relations , and trade training , and leading a community of faith as well . Does the " lead pastor " have to be a full - time salaried position ? It certainly takes time to keep a finger on the pulse of the community , developing vision and motivating action among the community , and teaching the Scriptures to God 's people so we have a solid direction , but I still wonder .... What to do ? Keep being faithful and working hard at this business , and all the while continuing to be faithful , as hard as this may be sometimes , to continue preparing to lead a church and serve in and to and through the church . 
Dogs ... If your a reader of Jenn 's blog , you know by now that we are going to be adopting a couple of canine 's into our family . Meet Druk ( drook ) and Ashi ( awshi ) . Our friends Jesse and his wife Sarah have had to make the difficult decision to find another home for their beloved pups . Jesse was recently accepted into a Master 's program in Winipeg at the University of Manitoba , which he starts in the fall . The Montes ' are also expecting their first child in July . Long story short , Druk and Ashi are moving to Oregon . We are both looking forward to having these guys at home with us . 
ENTP . Ciara indirectly inspired me to post this stuff . I ' m not a huge fan of personality tests because some people might tend toward boxng you into that personality , or even worse , label you as needing help if you don't have " desirable " characteristics . With that to say , they are fun to see just how accurate they can actually be , and it 's always a little fun to see where other people land . I " score " as an ENTP ( Extroverted , Intuitive , Thinking , Percieving ) . The " extrovert " can be a little misleading because I sway back and forth between extro and intro , but the rest of the stuff is less than ambiguous as to where I land . Some of the descriptions of how these personality traits play out is pretty interesting . EInterested in external happenings . fatigued by steady reading and studying ; needs a break to talk to people . Opens mouth , then engages brain . Leaves wishing he hadn't said that . Expensive and unloading emotions . Living life to understand it . Scanning the environment for stimulation . Using trial and error with confidence . ( An " I " is pretty much the exact opposite ) NPerceiving with memory and associations . Patterns and meanings . possibilities for the future . Looking for the big picture . Head in the clouds . Carving inspiration . Restless . Imaginative . Hunches . Impulsive , spontaneous . Picks up only what fits the preoccupation . TUses objective and impersonal criteria . Draws cause and effect relationships . Firm - minded . Skeptical . Analytical . Truthful . Relating to things , ideas , and concepts . PFlexible , adaptable , tolerant . curious , tentative . seeks out experience . Aims to miss nothing . Adapt as we go . Respond to the situation . Curious an interested . Adapting and changing . I especially like " Opens mouth , then engages brain " and " Leaves wishing he hadn't said that " . If you want a quick description of my last week , there it is ! 
RHCP . So I got the new Red Hot Chili Peppers this week . I ' ve never really got too much into these guys , but something must have been off for me . I listen to some stuff from Californication , but that was usually about it . I could sit and listen to this all day long . Frusciante is quite good , and Flea is , well , Flea . I must say I like it very much . In fact , I ' m glad I got rid of my guitar . When crappy guitar playing intersects with amazing riffs , frustration ensues . 
Really valuable podcast . If you lead , have led , or will lead in the future , any manner of organizations or groups , there is a couple of podcasts that will be invaluable . All of these can easily be found on i Tunes . The Accidental Creative is great for learning a bit or getting a new perspective on walking through a creative process in order to maximize your level of creative output . And The Accidental Leader is along the same line , only for those who lead creative organizations . ... " But I work in accounting " ... You still have to maximize conceptual measures like value , efficiency , and customer satisfaction , so I would say you 're in a creative organization and could benefit from some of what is here . Some of this stuff is great . Apparently an organizational proctologist is also known as a consultant , organizational dissonance is a serious organizational cancer , and creative breakthroughs first require creative break - with . Good stuff . 
How we own our love ? Old one , edited .... I stand before you with a springbrewing in my heart ; we bare all , in haste : a naked secret , old loves , ribs , navel , and breasts . I free your tresses from the grip of a cheap plasticand let them flow over your shy eyesivory shoulders , Hepburn neck I press your warming body , hard against mine ; and between your chuckles , moans ; I wet your temporalis , maxilla , zygoma , with my beer beaten tongue . In a mad dance , I sin you , you sin me , not two sins , Just One for a small history , only for us . Then after a cigaretteand several turns ofthe swirling fan blades , I gaze at your Rodin head in my arms , lost in deep soulful sleep , I know it is only now ; I can claim you as mineand mine alone When you wake upyou would start about with goingto a movie and shoppingwhile I just want tolaze around reading ole books . 
Yellow pages ... Was looking for Zadie Smith s White Teeth for J who has been bugging me for it for sometime now and as I was rummaging through the book hill , I found a few old and precious ones , which like many old and precious ones unlocked a prison house full of memories . A snap and a few lines in a journal over a cup of tea would at least record the moment if not do it any justice . ~ Journals , Kurt Cobain Though the book is a capitalistic marketing of an icon I could not resist buying it . I wanted to know if he was the same person I had reckoned him to be through his songs . When I finished the book , I had realised how incredibly daft and supremely beautiful was his passion for music . The book is an excellent journey of affect through passion and how it burns you out if left on its own . ~ The Diaries , Franz Kafka Hmm the man ! the mystery ! This book personally represents so much confusion and lack of direction . I remember first reading it for 36 hours flat through two nights and a day . More importantly , as you can see , it is the only book I have nicked off a public library !! I had made several positively conscientious attempts to return it back and in fact had successfully done so on one occasion but it found me too irresistible . Once after returning it I remembered how beautifully he had described the scene of waiting in a train station and wanted to read the passage again but couldn t manage to find the book . After several weeks I accidentally discovered the book misplaced in a geography section of the library and I instantly knew two things . One -- that the book was mine and Two -- that I m not going to heaven . Also reminds me of reading many passages to S all through the night and how when we broke up she took it upon herself to return it back stating it was her duty to return the book to its due and sole owner in spite of having to resist owning it herself . The Story Of Philosophy , Will Durant This book is amazingly cheap priced for the wisdom is bestows . I remember - Me and C bought a copy each and started the reading sessions alternating with discussions during long walks , drives and evening teas during our internship days . I m yet to find a better primer for philosophy than this book written by the delicately humorous Durant and whole - heartedly recommend it to anyone who wishes to acquaint with the schools in philosophy . Personally I cherish my copy with all the wild and illegible scribbles and highlighting . For me and C It is a symbol of growth and a visage of what a concerted and collective human exploration means . Invisible Cities , Italo Calvino Who would have known this tiny self help kind of looking book would charm the world out of you ! I think I found it at the right time , just when I was developing interest in the anatomy and physiology in the life of the city , Calvino showed the beauty of metaphysics in the cities chronicling each one as a flag hoisted through the travels all across eternity . Also , it affirmed my conviction that nothing equals the beauty of the abstract . Besides , this is the copy for which I almost went to war against A for forgetting it in Italy . For you A , Yes I know its kalveeeeeeeeno and not Calvino but in return I ve made you more professional with the book returns . I think I should leave you with the words of Richard De Bury from - Of the Love of Books : How highly we must estimate the wondrous power of books , since through them we survey the utmost bounds of world and time , and contemplate the things that are as well as those that are not , as it were in the mirror of eternity . 
India - Border Roads Organisation .... You have barely heard of the name Border Roads Organisation as you start off on the highest motorable road * in the world . And as the ascent begins it would not escape your eye how the road has been cleverly carved through the ruggedly masculine and majestic Himalayas , widening when needed and arching into a narrow and lengthy curve where appropriate . The road undoubtedly is treacherous , but you never feel unsafe even for a moment . The scene that flanks you beside is a textbook fairly tale image which would never fail to marvel or move any heart . You climb along the misty trails and through the progressively dropping temperature to find your lungs pumping the freshest of fresh airs . There is no civilization in near sight , only the pure white sky and the near bit of road ahead . The far distant peaks promise panorama and peace . The drivers communicate in their own language , dippers , honks , unfathomable gestures etc all through the demanding drive . It is then you begin to realise , how hard it could be to manage and maintain the road throughout such harsh weather and uninhabitable terrain and as you continue wondering about it you start to notice heavily clothed men and bulldozers working to clear off the fresh snow from the road , often holding traffic . As you drive further higher up , the signboards marked Border Roads Organisation become more frequent guiding you through to safer futures . Somehow as you manage through a bumpy ride on one unhealthy segment of a longish curve with its metalling worn out off the road , you are greeted to a better maintained segment with a board which reads Inconvenience is Regretted , BRO . In a nation that is India , to find such a courteous signboard here , in this desolate corner , at an altitude of 15000 feet or so above the sea level under such rough conditions melts your heart away . As they say great deeds go into history books but its the smaller gestures that find their place in the heart . And as I think of that road and Border Roads Organisation now , I can only infer how it is a rare symbol of what a spoonful of will and discipline can do to India . On their site Shramena sarvam sadhyam reads the sanskrit motto of Border Roads Organisation , i . e With hard work every thing is possible . Indeed . * Highest motorable road - Connects Manali to Leh through several passes inc , the famous Rohtang and Khardung La . 
Where 's the Mustard ? I once made a decision that whenever I got into an argument with my parents , I would always go down fighting rather than sit and be quietly dismissive . There 's a point where while I had patience with everyone else except my immediate family . I know it 's a very immature choice , but I felt like I had to make them realize that I ' m no longer going to just lay back and take it . One of us is going to break sometime , and I ' m a lot younger . Immature ? Indeed it is . The scary part ? It 's feeding into other parts of my life . They say best indication if what kind of person you ' ll be is by looking at your parents . I never thought I ' d come close , but I ' m starting to realize I am . As much as my interests differ from anyone else in my family , my personality comes frighteningly close . Perhaps acting as a reminder that I still am a part of that family . I ' m trying to change here , I really am . It 's hard and tiring though . I mean , I ' m not even going through tough times right now with them . Things are relatively great . It 's in this calm that I start to see them in my reflection rather than myself . My inner child is probably pretty upset at me . Come on , man , figure it out . Going to a lighter topic , I started cooking yesterday . My family doesn't eat that well usually , and I ' d really like to turn that around . It sort goes along with my whole transformation into a cycling fanatic ( and then consequent health nut ) . I told my sister about it , and she sent me a couple cookbooks a month ago . They 're aimed for people my age who eat out a lot and really can't do much more than boil an egg . Also for those with their own apartments , but I don't fall into that category yet . Someday I will , and this is going to be great preparation .... well , we ' ll see . While I don't know the nutritional facts of what I ' m making though , I know it 's a lot healthier than Arby 's , Mc Donald 's , or the nearby Chinese restaurant that my parents like to order from . Last night I made Egg and Onion soup , Greek roast potatoes , and a slice of baked ham ( my parents aren't big on meat , fortunately ) . Tonight I made Beef Strogonaff served with mash potatoes . Tomorrow I plan on making Spicy Bean Dip ( as an appetizer , of course ) and Chicken Fajitas . Should be good times . I ' ve cooked a couple of these before several years ago , which is why I picked them . I know they ' ll taste decent , and I ' ll get practice at preparing things more quickly , which is my real goal . Well , I ' m tired . Stay frosty , y ' all . 
I Change My Mind . I don't like the heat . A couple days ago , the high shot straight to the 90 s , and I can tell you for sure that my body hates it . It hasn't left me lethargic , but I ' ve been sitting around doing a lot of nothing . Well , that 's not true . I guess I have been able to practice drumset a bit , but that 's about it . Otherwise I just do a lot of writing and a lot of tv - watching . It 's pretty ... nice actually . Minus the heat part . I feel a little pathetic though , because I did grow up in AZ . This shouldn't even compare . Maybe it 's the moisture . Arizona tends to be a lot dryer . Whatever . Wow , I didn't even feel like blogging right now . I ' m practically sweating just sitting here . Even with the cool breeze coming in from my open window ... ooh , there 's a nice one ... I need AC . Seattle is perfect for me three out of four times of the year ... or maybe I just need to get outside . 
I Lie To My Dreams . I had two dreams last night , and neither of them were really epic , but it 's been a rare occurence when I actually do remember my dreams , so I feel like I should right them down . In my first dream , there was some sort of military operation going on . I had some role in it , but it was all pretty unclear . For some reason , I went to a mall and into a shop that was run by a kindly old couple . It must have been a stationary shop , I think , and for some reason I was intent on stealing a bunch of journals and diaries . I stacked as many as I could in my arms to the point where I had a hard time carrying them . The old man noticed and offered to help . I ended up dropping the book . When his back was turned and his wife had gone away , I walked out . There was an alarm , because suddenly tons of security kept rushing to the store . It would appear that no one noticed me , because I kept walking down the escalator and eventually out the door . Every person who ran past me looked at me and I gave them a friendly nod . They did the same . When I arrived outside , my parents were being kept in some compound being guarded by a soldier . I went up to the soldier and said , " What are you doing ! ? I ' m in the army too ! " He just laughed a me , and then I started yelling at him . I eventually pinned him down and lectured him . " You know what the problem with our society is ? No respect . No one respects each other . Oh , sure there was a time when everyone respected each other , and were a bunch of wusses . He laughed at this . " But now no one respects each other , and that 's a problem . Because stuff like me kicking your ass happens . Here 's where the lie comes in ... " My dad was in the Chinese army , he could kick your ass too . " In my dream , I ' m pretty sure even though I thought that I had been in the army , my dad certainly hadn't been . I weas fully conscious of the fact that I was lying . For some reason this bothers me . My dream ended there . I don't remember exactly where my second dream starts either . I was back in AZ with a close friend of mine . I saw him when I went back to AZ last year ... I think girls ruined his life , but hopefully he won't read this . I was making some plans with him , and I ' m not sure what happened afterwards , but suddenly I was in a gym that had one open wall and faced a concert stage . Everyone there were fictional and non - fictional people alike . All people that I either watched on tv or have been at least briefly acquainted with . Most noticeably was a friend ( not a very close one , but still a friend ) from the UW drumline , and a couple of sisters who I had really given no thought to until this dream . I ' m not sure if we were waiting for something , or watching something , but I was content to amuse myself . Playing silly games or doing impressions . Something or other like that . Maybe I was trying to impress someone . All of a sudden though , I ended up in my old kitchen in AZ . The water was leaking from the refrigerator and I had been fortunate enough to discover . TIme fast - forwarded and suddenly my dad , or a figure like my dad had already removed all the electronic objects near it . I open the refrigerator and find some pizza that I think was supposed to be like Peter Piper Pizza , but since WA doesn't have it ( even though we were in AZ , that 's just how my dream worked ) , it was whatever the equivalent ( even though there is none ) up here is . I wanted to heat it up , and then I woke up . Strange and vague dreams ... 
Today Has Been Emotionally Draining . ... and sometimes , there 's no solution . You just have to move on and hope the next day goes better . This has nothing to do with the above , but for some reason , I ' ve been thinking about it recently . Well , maybe it has a little to do with it . It 's a quote from Sleepless in Seattle where the main character played by Tom Hanks is talking to a host of a radio show . Doctor Marcia Fieldstone : " What are you going to do ? " Sam Baldwin : " Well , I ' m gonna get out of bed every morning ... breath in and out all day long . Then , after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breath in and out ... and , then after a while , I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while . " Source : IMDB . 
This Will Be Fun . ... or exhausting . Most likely both . More of the latter I ' m sure . The Seattle - to - Portland Bike Classic is this coming weekend , and my training has suffered a small setback . I ' ve been in Canada the past week vacationing with my parents ( much to my reluctance ) and don't feel like I ' m in the greatest shape for this 200 - mile race . I ' ve gotten a little running in ... about 30 - 40 kilometers over the past 5 days , but 1 - 2 hour runs don't exactly compare to a two - day ride . I ' m in shape ... just not in super athletic shape quite yet . Oh boy . My plan is to run about 12 miles 10 miles today , which I think will help with my cardio . I ' ve been biking with this cross country dude I met at my friend 's birthday dinner , and we did a pretty rigorous 45 - mile bike ride a week and a half ago . He said he was tired , but it certainly didn't show . He was breathing fine while I was gasping for breath after our first big hill climb , and he says it 's because he has deep lungs . I attribute that to the X - country , which I haven't done in a long time . Since I wasn't able to bring my bike to Canada , I just ended up running , which I think has helped . Just not enough . We ' ll see . Stay frosty , y ' all . 
Wednesday - The Humanity . It 's a relentless grind at the moment , up at seven then back at six and doing nothing on an evening . Todays thought is that if I am going to do nothing then make it a productive nothing by reading while sitting in garden or see people while aimlessly doing nothing . Got to get something out of this summer , it 's too long a time to waste . Feel like if only the heat would break then it would the turning point but its hard to find the energy when you are living in sweat and not sleeping well . 
Start of Week 5 . Put in the hours required this weekend and got the website work to the point where I can almost wipe my hands of it . It is certainly down to manageable chunks now . Hopefully I can manage 30 minutes a day to get the project finished which will be a major hassle off my mind . Having received a tax rebate at the weekend the 800 from the website is now pure froth on the summers champagne . Last week went by in a blaze of sunshine and the weekend was spent at the Americana Music Festival at the Sage and a trip of unusual pubs on saturday night . Have enjoyed myself enough now to want to get back to some work . The gardens and the house are in a state and that has to be a priority this week . Not planning on going out at all until Newcastle Races on saturday . Done well on not wasting money and eating and drinking has not been out of control at all . If the heat would just subside so I could add a bit of jogging then it could be a great 4 weeks before our holidays . Have to accept that the best I can do with this time is endure it until September when things will get back on track again . Really , all i can do is prepare for September . Earn some money , read some teaching manuals , get the house sorted until next summer and make sure Joanne is healthy and happy . I can listen to podcasts and music which is a cheap pleasure and drink beer in the garden and try and get my own confidence and organisation up . Make sure I am healthy and happy . In the meantime have to look for small victories like not running up debt , eating healthy meals and doing some reading . The history of the world and the history of modern philosophy will make a good start , in fact that might be all given how much this job takes out on the eyes . Never mind , 4 weeks and 1000 to go . 
Thursday - Cool Down . Weather is changing but the summer isnt going anywhere . Want to do more reading and studying but worried that this job is taking is training my eyesight already . Hopefully a cool down will man can do a few more physical things . Its been nice to sit in the garden but its not a patch on actually doing something whilst outdoors . Had 3 bottles beer and a half bottle of wine last night which was ok . Been eating healthily this week so it wasnt a blowout night . Going for a few pub drinks tonight though which is over the top . Need to get some exercise . Priority this weekend though is getting the South Shields CC website finished and get in touch with mark to tell him that . Wish there was something more to this time than just treading water but maybe that will prove to be the lesson of the summer . 
Wednesday - Summer Time . Feel like just avoiding the sumer instead of doing anything with it . Need to do more but work takes up such a chunk of the day . Need to do dome summer things whatever they might be or else this working then home , computer , tea and housework then 3 hours telly will be the story of this summer . 
Monday - The Heat Is On . It is week 4 of the summer and the heat is so strong its just a case of getting by in one piece . Today was just a day of putting up with work and then doing the few unavoidable jobs around the house . Didnt do anything of not and that might be setting the trend for the week ahead . Think with this free time would get some readnig done though , perhaps thats what could concentrate on this week . Get something finished and something new read . 
3 Weeks Down Already . 3 weeks of the summer gone already , where did the time go . This weekend I went to a friends house for s drink on friday ( a few ) and then saturday I worked on a website for about 5 hours then it was the holy trinity of cricket club , rugby club and the 3 Tuns to see The Happy Cats . Sunday has been a hangover day sitting in the garden and reading newspapers . Suppose it has been relaxing but in the last week I have done nothing but work and then enjoy myself . It 's the usual problem that i would like to be progressing towards something . But what ! Why can't i just relax and enjoy things why is it that enjoyment is unfulfilling . Am I depressed again ? Lets be a bit more positive . List the good things this week Saw friends at the weekend Good day out on saturday Earned 250 Watched some quality - Munich , Theatre , Philosophy Programme , Cock and Bull Read some history , philosophy and news Ate quite well for the majority of the week 17 st 3 lbs this week which is better than 17 st 7 lbs a few weeks ago . Now list the bad things No jobs done on the garden and house and things are a bit of a mess Drank too much in 24 hours on friday and saturday Not enough exercise So to correct this Straight after work , have to do something physical like jogging , gardening etc. Drink less next week Try and finish a book and focus on one intellectual item at a time . Plan the website and college work that you have to do .... er thats it . As its summer and the weather is great I think have to concentrate on doing things and being busy and being outdoors and active as much as possible . 
Friday Afternoon - Week 3 . Working in an office is causing two reactions , both predictaqble but also compelling . The first is that I have a desperate need to get out and about and do things and go places . It 's obviously a raction to sitting on the same seat for hours at a time . Secondly , due probably to the mundane nature of the work , I am ravenous for facts and figures , history and philosophy and all forms of intellectual stimulation . Last 3 nights have been culture nights . Munich on DVDStrangers on a Train at the Little Theatre The Perfect Home - Alain De Boton documentary I tthink that there has been an overindulgence in brain food and now I need the weekend to give the body a bit of a workout . I need to work on a website this weekend however so its going to be a difficult to mix the two . The general aim for the next week is to do less inactivity and more physical work . Primarily the garden and the house but also some running would not go amiss . 
Girl Dies In Elavator Accident . 	 WWAY TV 3 A Wilmington child is dead after a horrifying accident involving an elevator . It happened Sunday night at a house off Pinfish Lane in Carolina Beach . According to investigators , the 10 - year - old girl was celebrating her birthday with friends at her mother 's boyfriend 's house when things took a deadly turn . Investigators say around eight p.m. Sunday night the girl went to play in an elevator that was recently put into the house . Police did not say who pushed the buttons in the elevator but at some point the girl was hanging out of the front , from her shoulders up , when the elevator began to move up to the next floor . The girl did not get out of the way in time and got crushed . This is terrible and my heart felt sympathy goes to this little girl 's family . 	 Read more ! 
One That Got Lost In The System . 	 WRALSome say an overwhelming caseload was a factor in why an illegal immigrant charged in what investigators have called a violent case of road rage was not deported after a prior conviction for a Mc Donald 's shooting . Joel Ortiz was arrested in April in connection with the shooting at the Raleigh restaurant and was under investigation by local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement . But when there was not enough evidence to support a felony conviction , according to prosecutors , a plea bargain was reached with Ortiz and the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor . Although a misdemeanor - assault charge is a deportable offense , according to immigration attorney Lynn Calder , immigration officials said that because the charge was reduced , the case became a low priority . " If they got something more serious going on at the time , I don't think they ' ll get to them , " Calder said . That procedure , referred to as a detainer , is now under way for Ortiz after he was arrested last Thursday in a series of incidents in which he allegedly chased down motorists , rammed their vehicles and shot at them . He is currently in jail under $ 407,000 bond . But Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said on Monday that he had hoped immigration agents would have taken a serious look at Ortiz 's immigration status after the first arrest in April . " Anytime someone is in this country illegally and gets arrested for a felony with a firearm , it ought to get reviewed by ICE , " Willoughby said . Willoughby , the police , as well as many other people , have said they realize and understand how overwhelmed immigration agents are . For example , the local immigration office covers 31 counties . The enormous amount of work , in part , has prompted state lawmakers to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration . On Monday evening , they unanimously passed a resolution to pushing for an immigration court in North Carolina , which is one of three states under consideration for the court . North Carolina 's illegal - immigrant population is estimated at about 300,000 and is the eighth largest in the United States . Currently , the closest immigration court is in Atlanta . The resolution also urges the U.S. Congress to make a driving - while - impaired conviction a cause for deportation , and it calls for the expansion of Homeland Security to give local law - enforcement officers the authority to identify people who have previously been deported . An Elon University poll released in April shows that 71 percent of North Carolinians believe illegal immigration is an important issue , but those who responded are split as to whether it has helped the state . Of the 677 participants , 44 percent said illegal immigration has been bad for North Carolina , while 43 percent said it has been good or has not made much difference . Participants were asked their opinions about a variety of statements to determine what makes immigration an important issue to them . More than 70 percent agreed that providing school , health care and similar services for illegal immigrants costs too much and 72 percent said such immigrants do not pay their fair share of taxes . 	 Read more ! 
State House and Senate Fight Over Sex Offender Tracking . 	 WRALState lawmakers were poised on Monday evening to move forward with a bill that would better track sex offenders , but the House rejected the Senate 's version of the bill . 	 Read more ! 
Easley Says Give It Back . 	 WRALGov . Mike Easley demanded Monday that the state 's Ports Authority repay nearly $ 4,000 of taxpayer money used to make a state ferry available for an invitation - only boat party during a sailing festival . " I want to be crystal clear with you : this type of activity should not ever occur again , " Easley wrote in a letter to Ports Authority officials . " State agencies and their employees are stewards of the public 's money and trust and our actions should reflect the highest of standards . " The cruise gave about 200 passengers -- including Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and other elected lawmakers -- an up - close view of the Tall Ships Festival in Beaufort and Morehead City on July 1 . While officials dined on seafood and enjoyed the music of a steel drum band , others fought crowds and congestion . The ferry was replaced on its route by a smaller ship , leading to delays for passengers trying to cross the river . " It is absolutely indefensible that a ferry was taken out of service to transport dignitaries while the general public battled traffic and stood in stifling heat for hours to get a glimpse of the ships , " Easley wrote . Easley found that the Ports Authority , which is a state agency but runs on its own revenue , paid almost $ 25,000 out of its budget to host the event . The Department of Transportation added about $ 3,800 , which is taxpayer money . Most of the $ 3,800 was used for paint and cleaning supplies to renovate the Floyd Lupton , additional staffing and personnel to cover the costs of two ships , fuel and a photographer to document the event , said DOT spokesman Ernie Seneca . " To cover the costs borne by the taxpayers , I am directing the State Ports Authority to reimburse the Department of Transportation for the costs of using the ferry , " Easley wrote . 	 Read more ! 
Watermelon Festival . 	 Fair Bluff 's annual Watermelon Festival kicks off this weekend . I ' ve never been to it before , but this year my daughter is a Melon Belle , so I must throw in my support of this local festival . Also my 6 year old is really looking forward to the seed spitting contest , he keeps telling me he has to practice before the big day . Hope to see you there . 	 Read more ! 
Offensive Jokes . 	 I found this list of jokes at Boortz Something To Offend Everyone ! What do you call two Mexicans playing basketball ? Juan on Juan . What is the difference between a Harley and a Hoover ? The position of the dirt bag . What do you see when the Pillsbury Dough Boy bends over ? Doughnuts ? Why is air a lot like sex ? Because it 's no big deal unless you 're not getting any . What do you call a smart blonde ? A golden retriever . What 's the difference between a girlfriend and wife ? 45 lbs . What 's the difference between a boyfriend and husband ? 45 minutes . What 's the fastest way to a man 's heart ? Through his chest with a sharp knife . Why do men want to marry virgins ? They can't stand criticism . Why is it so hard for women to find men that are sensitive , caring , and good - looking ? Because those men already have boyfriends . What 's the difference between a new husband and a new dog ? After a year , the dog is still excited to see you . What makes men chase women they have no intention of marrying ? The same urge that makes dogs chase cars they have no intention of driving . What did the blonde say when she found out she was pregnant ? " Are you sure it 's mine ? " Why does Mike Tyson cry during sex ? Mace will do that to you . Why did OJ Simpson want to move to West Virginia ? Everyone has the same DNA . Did you hear about the dyslexic Rabbi ? He walks around saying " Yo . " Where does an Irish family go on vacation ? A different bar . Did you hear about the Chinese couple that had a retarded baby ? They named him " Sum Ting Wong . What would you call it when an Italian has one arm shorter than the other ? A speech impediment . What does it mean when the flag at the Post Office is flying at half - mast ? They 're hiring . What 's the difference between a southern zoo and a northern zoo ? A southern zoo has a description of the animal on the front of the cage along with ... " a recipe . " How do you get a sweet little 80 - year - old lady to say the F word ? Get another sweet little 80 - year - old lady to yell * BINGO * ! What 's the difference between a northern fairytale and a southern fairytale ? A northern fairytale begins " Once upon a time ... " A southern fairytale begins " Y ' all ain't gonna believe this s .... t . " Why is there no Disneyland in China ? No one 's tall enough to go on the good rides . 	 Read more ! 
Easley Blocks Attempt To ID New Marina Leaseholders . 	 Carolina Journal Gov . Mike Easley , saying proper procedure had not been followed , thwarted Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry s attempt in a Council of State meeting Tuesday to learn the identities of the individuals awarded a new lease for the state - owned Southport Marina property . When Berry tried to raise the issue at the meeting , Easley would not allow it . He told Berry that she didn t allow enough time for her request to be put on the agenda , though she said she had made the request five days in advance of the meeting . Easley indicated that her request would be taken up in August . Berry said she wanted the individuals involved in the marina deal identified because she said the public has a right to know . She also said full disclosure is necessary so state officials can avoid a conflict of interest when voting on real estate matters . Berry , Carolina Journal , and other media organizations have tried unsuccessfully to identify the leaseholders since Easley coaxed the lease though the approval process in January . Neither Easley s office nor the North Carolina State Ports Authority , the agency that controls the property , will identify the new owners of the marina operating company . This was a shady deal from the get go . A lot of Southport residents are upset at how this process was handled . They really feel betrayed by Easley and the state . A lot of questions have been brought up about who holds the lease and what their relationship to the governor is and with why the deal was made without giving residents input but so far very few answers have emerged from Raliegh . 	 Read more ! 
What the Heck ? ! ? 	 Myrtle Beach Online Seeking to patch any holes in North Carolina 's criminal justice system , the state Senate approved a bill Monday to create an " innocence commission " that could override a court to free a prisoner . The eight - member commission would conduct inquiries into claims of innocence . A convicted criminal would have to petition the commission , citing new evidence that may prove a new verdict . " It would restore the integrity and the public 's confidence in the process , " said Sen . Dan Clodfelter , D - Mecklenburg . A criminal justice task force recommended the panel . The task force was formed in part because of the murder case of Darryl Hunt , who spent 18 years in prison for the slaying of a Winston - Salem woman before DNA evidence exonerated him . If five of the eight members agree there is enough evidence , the case would be sent to a three - judge Superior Court panel . Charges would be dismissed if the judges unanimously determine there " is clear and convincing evidence " that the defendant is innocent . Only one senator - Hugh Webster - dissented in the vote . He said lawmakers should work on fixing the justice system as it is now . " We 're saying it 's not working , so we have to have this commission to catch and correct errors , " said Webster , R - Alamance . The Senate version , slightly different than a House bill passed last year , would bar defendants who pleaded from going before the commission . And while the House would allow a split decision of a three - judge panel to be appealed to the state Supreme Court , there is no such provision in the Senate bill and provides for no additional appeals . The measure now returns to the House for concurrence . So after going to a jury of his peers and being found guilty a panel can recommend an inmate to be set free . This is bull crap . This is wrong . An appeals process is set up for this and no panel is needed to second guess a jury . 	 Read more ! 
NC Moves To Break Law . 	 NBC 17 . com North Carolina is following the lead of other Southeastern states in proposing tolls for Interstate 95 to help pay for repairs and expansion . I - 95 needs about $ 4 billion in repairs in North Carolina , state Department of Transportation officials said . That includes replacing dozens of bridges and adding lanes to the highway 's 182 miles of asphalt across the state . DOT officials have discussed the toll - road plan with federal highway officials . But North Carolina law prohibits tolling an existing road , so the General Assembly would have to approve the change . " This follows the plan of Virginia , South Carolina and Georgia in making those improvements . The study is underway , and it no way implies you ' ll see construction equipment in the next few months , " state Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett said . South Carolina wants to start collecting tolls in 2009 . Virginia lawmakers have already passed a bill that would allow the state to share tolls collected at the state border with North Carolina . Drivers said Wednesday that they don't like the idea . " I ' m already paying lots of money , " said Wilmar Pinargote , who noted he would look for another route from Florida to New York if tolls are levied . " I try to save money . I need to save money for my family . " Our state law states that an existing road can not be made into a toll road . The law does allow tolls on new roads being constructing . But it doesn't suprise me that our state legislature is considering breaking the law or changeing to so that they can collect more taxes . Yes a toll is a tax . And don't believe that if tolls are set up that they will be used just for repairs on that road . The money will be pulled for whatever the legislature wants . Don't believe me , what about the lottery ? Remember it wouldn't replace any existing education money , but within a week it was . 	 Read more ! 
Senate Votes To Protect The 2 nd Amendment . 	 I ' m very very happy to see this . My Way - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to prohibit the confiscation of legally owned guns during an emergency like last year 's Hurricane Katrina , marking another victory for the gun lobby . By a vote of 84 - 16 , the Senate embraced an amendment by Sen . David Vitter , a Louisiana Republican . He attached his measure to a domestic security spending bill for the fiscal year starting October 1 that the Senate is expected to pass soon . The U.S. House of Representatives has passed its version of the spending bill and negotiators will have to decide whether to keep the gun provision . The House is usually sympathetic to gun owners . Citing the constitutional right to bear arms , Vitter said that during an emergency people should be allowed to hold onto " legally possessed firearms to defend your life , your property " at a time when telephone lines and cell phones probably are not operating and victims " can't reach out to law enforcement authorities . " Vitter said 10 states have passed similar laws . Louisiana is one of them . Following Hurricane Katrina last August , some emergency workers expressed fears about guns being looted from stores and first - responders being threatened by gun proliferation . Sen . Edward Kennedy , a Massachusetts Democrat , called the amendment " pay - back time by the National Rifle Association , " a powerful lobbying group that opposes gun controls . Sen . Richard Durbin , an Illinois Democrat , added , " You send the National Guardsmen in ... and then snipers start shooting at them and the police make it known this is going to be a gun - free zone . We don't want any National Guardsmen killed because of this national emergency , this disaster . Is that an unreasonable thing ? " Vitter countered that the " declaration or state of emergency in and of itself does not give anyone the right to confiscate guns " and local law enforcement officials should not " trump " the Constitution . Last month , gun lobbyists won another victory when the House voted to overturn a recently enacted law requiring safety trigger locks on all hand guns sold in the United States . That measure , attached to a law enforcement spending bill , awaits Senate action . 	 Read more ! 
Senate Doing A Kerry . 	 The US Senate has voted not to fund a fence on the southern border just two months after voting to build the 370 mile fence . The Washington Times Less than two months after voting overwhelmingly to build 370 miles of new fencing along the border with Mexico , the Senate yesterday voted against providing funds to build it . " We do a lot of talking . We do a lot of legislating , " said Sen . Jeff Sessions , the Alabama Republican whose amendment to fund the fence was killed on a 71 - 29 vote . " The things we do often sound very good , but we never quite get there . " Mr. Sessions offered his amendment to authorize $ 1.8 billion to pay for the fencing that the Senate voted 83 - 16 to build along high - traffic areas of the border with Mexico . In the same vote on May 17 , the Senate also directed 500 miles of vehicle barriers to be built along the border . But the May vote simply authorized the fencing and vehicle barriers , which on Capitol Hill is a different matter from approving the federal expenditures needed to build it . 	 Read more ! 
Hazleton , PA Gets Tough On Illegals . 	 News Max The Hazleton , Pa. , City Council approved a law Thursday night designed to make this small city in northeastern Pennsylvania among the most hostile places in the U.S. for illegal immigrants to live or work . The 4 - to - 1 vote came after nearly two hours of passionate debate . Opponents argued it was divisive and possibly illegal , but supporters argued illegal immigrants ' growing numbers have damaged the quality of life here . " We must draw the line , and we are doing it tonight , " Mayor Lou Barletta told a packed council chambers . Barletta proposed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act last month as a response to what he said were Hazleton 's problems with violent crime , crowded schools , hospital costs and the demand for services . The ordinance would deny licenses to businesses that employ illegal immigrants , fine landlords $ 1,000 for each illegal immigrant discovered renting their properties , and require city documents to be in English only . Good job . 	 Read more ! 
Johnston County Elections Director Stole Funds . 	 WRALThe Johnston County elections director resigned Friday after an investigation linked her to missing cash from the office -- more than $ 6,000 over five years . County attorney Mark Payne said Teresa Davis , who had been director since 1998 , was expected to begin repaying the money soon . He said his office would notify the county prosecutor . An internal investigation showed the missing money included filing fees from candidates and notary fees . Deputy director Leigh Anne Price was selected as interim director while the county elections board decides on a permanent replacement for Davis . Davis was paid about $ 52,000 a year and had experienced financial problems , filing for bankruptcy last year . 	 Read more ! 
House Passes Voting Rights Act Renewal . 	 Did you know that there is no federal right to vote . That 's constitution of the US does not grant you the right to vote . There are amendments that prevent the discrimination when granting the franchise , but they do not automatically give you the franchise . People mistake this state granted right as the law of the land when it 's not . The VRA is no longer needed . Heck it wasn't truely need in 1965 . Just read the 15 th amendment and you will see that blacks have same right to vote as whites . The 19 th amendment stated that a woman has the same right to vote as a man . Then the 24 th amendment stated that poll taxes are illegal ( voter id is not a poll tax ) . The 26 th amendment gave every citizen ( it does state citizens , not guest workers , illegal aliens , undocumented workers , etc ) equal right to vote . It should have been allowed to die . Why do we need bilingual ballots ? Why do some southern states still need DOJ approval of voting practice changes 40 years later ? Why ? 	 Read more ! 
Jugde Says No To Voter ID Check . 	 WSAV . com Georgia voters won't have to show a government - issued photo id when they go to the polls . That 's because of two rulings issued Wednesday . One denied the state 's appeal to an earlier ruling that blocked enforcement of the new law during next week 's primary . The other decision blocking enforcement came from a federal judge . Critics -- who believe the law will keep Georgia 's elderly , low - income and minorities from voting -- are relieved . " It 's logical . Because when people went to get the photo id , the same 17 pieces of identification they needed to get the photo id -- they can't use to vote ! So it really didn't make any sense at all , " says Democratic State Senator Regina Thomas . Law proponent , Republican Senator Eric Johnson , who sees photo id 's as a way to fight election fraud , issued a statement saying , " Democrats have found a way to allow Illegals and the dead to have a say in next Tuesday 's primary . Every registered voter should be outraged . " Georgia voters won't have to show a government - issued photo id when they go to the polls . That 's because of two rulings issued Wednesday . One denied the state 's appeal to an earlier ruling that blocked enforcement of the new law during next week 's primary . The other decision blocking enforcement came from a federal judge . Critics -- who believe the law will keep Georgia 's elderly , low - income and minorities from voting -- are relieved . " It 's logical . Because when people went to get the photo id , the same 17 pieces of identification they needed to get the photo id -- they can't use to vote ! So it really didn't make any sense at all , " says Democratic State Senator Regina Thomas . Law proponent , Republican Senator Eric Johnson , who sees photo id 's as a way to fight election fraud , issued a statement saying , " Democrats have found a way to allow Illegals and the dead to have a say in next Tuesday 's primary . Every registered voter should be outraged . " I don't see where it 's illegal or un - constitutional to require you to prove you are you to vote . Photo IDs aren't hard to get ( just ask any illegal alien here in NC ) . 	 Read more ! 
Lebanon Grabbed the Tiger By the Tail . 	 Washington Post Israel imposed a blockade on Lebanon by land , sea and air on Thursday , striking the capital 's airport twice , cutting off its ports and wrecking bridges and roads in attacks that killed at least 47 people in the last two days , nearly all of them Lebanese civilians . Israel said the radical Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah fired 150 rockets into northern Israel , including two that reached the port city of Haifa . Israeli jets repeatedly crossed over Beirut before dawn Friday . At least two explosions were heard , and antiaircraft fire and flares lit up the night sky . 	 Read more ! 
Minuteman Project Slowing the Border Drug Trade . 	 KVOA News 4 This intelligence report obtained by News 4 says that the Minuteman Project had an impact on drug trafficking in Cochise County in 2005 . DEA officials say bulk loads of marijuana crossing the border dropped siginificantly . Anthony Coulson , with DEA says , " When you have eyes on the border -- I think any law enforcment will admit this -- you have a great deterrent effect of keeping things away . " . 	 Read more ! 
Easley Signs Minimum Wage Bill . 	 WRALGov . Mike Easley Thursday signed into law a bill that will increase the state 's minimum wage by $ 1 . House Bill 2174 raises the hourly minimum pay rate from $ 5.15 to $ 6.15 per hour and also ties North Carolina 's minimum wage to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act . If the federal minimum wage is raised , employees in North Carolina will receive whichever wage is higher . The federal minimum wage is currently $ 5.15 an hour and has not been raised in nine years . At a news conference Thursday , Easley said the bill is just one step in changing the state 's economy . " We are not trying to build a low - road economy based on low wages and low skill . Those days are gone , " Easley said . " We are building a better workforce by providing the knowledge , talent and skill our citizens need to succeed in the global marketplace , " he added . " This higher level of education is bringing in high - paying jobs but raising the minimum wage helps our people make the needed transition to this new economy . " Several state and community leaders , including bill sponsor Rep. Alma Adams , D - Guilford , who worked to get the bill passed in both the House and Senate . " Raising the minimum wage by this first dollar is a small but significant step in the right direction toward a living wage , " she said . " It sends a powerful message that North Carolina values hard work and is concerned about working poor families and the ' least of these ' among us who need a lift up . " An estimated 139,000 workers will benefit from the law , which goes into effect Jan . 1 , 2007 . How much skill does it take to say , " hi welcome to Wal - Mart , wanta a sticker ? " or to flip a burger or sweep a floor . Mr. Easley , I have to inform that bio - tech engineers , nurses , doctors and teachers aren't makeing $ 5.15 per hour . 	 Read more ! 
Higher Minimum Wage For Illegals . 	 The Washington Times The Senate immigration bill would require that foreign construction laborers here under the guest - worker program be paid well above the minimum wage , even as American workers at the same work site could earn less . The bill " would guarantee wages to some foreign workers that could be higher than those paid to American workers at the same work site , " says a policy paper released this week by the Senate 's Republican Policy Committee . " This is unfair to U.S. workers , inappropriate , and unnecessary . " The 11 - page , harshly critical analysis of the Senate immigration bill on this one point reveals how torn Senate Republicans are over the larger issue of immigration . Though the bill was supported by Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Majority Whip Mitch Mc Connell of Kentucky , it was opposed by the rest of the Senate Republican leadership and a majority of Republicans in the chamber . And despite the support of Mr. Frist and Mr. Mc Connell , this week 's policy paper critical of the wage guarantees for foreign workers marks the official stance of the Republican Policy Committee , which formulates and implements the policies of the caucus . The Senate is really getting ourt of sync with the American people . 	 Read more ! 
The old entry way hall closet is gone . 1 st picture - Hallway closet has been closed off .2 nd picture - A look down to the entry way from our hallway .3 rd picture - The view from the living room into the kitchen with the new Pantry . 
INTRODUCING ........ ERGO - SPLIT KEYBOARDCompare to Kinesis Maxim - Similar in Style - Better Price !! FEATURESThe Ergo Split Keyboard offers the best in workstation ergonomics . Knowledge gained from extensive ergonomic studies has allowed us to acheive an optimal customization capability that can meet the physiological and anatomical requirements and habits of each individual user . Compare to Kinesis Maxim Keyboard . Palm rests can be individually adjusted to conform to the ergonomic and therefore the natural position of your arms and hands . Adjustment of the keyboard slope . Adjustment of the hand / arm positioning " splitting of the alphanumeric keypad " . Adjustment of the lateral slope . PC - USB port required . Would work with USB / PS 2 adapter Supports all Microsoft Windows OS , Windows 9 x , NT , ME , 2000 , XPApple Mac Intosh USB port , 9.0 , OS X ( 10.1.5 ) or later . Sun Micro Systems with USB Port . Keyboard Dimensions Height - 42 MMWidth - 383 MMDepth - 166 MMAdjustment Range Splitting of alphanumeric keypad 0 to 30 degrees Keyboard slope 6 and 12 degrees Lateral Slope 9 , 10 and 16 degrees Be sure to check out all of our other " ergonomically " correct computer aids - all at www .14 ushop . com / ergorest . 
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Ahoy Maties !!! Wooden Toys are the rage and you will find this play Pirate Ship at 1 shop 4 u . com along with a myriad of other wood toys for both girls and boys . The Pirate Ship Playset consists of a large wooden Pirate ship with hull that lifts for storage , 3 pirates and one Captain , cannon , and more !! While checking out this unique kid 's playset , check out all of our children 's furniture including beds , foam furniture , Game Loungers and mats , Bean Bags clothes poles , toy bins , sheepskin gloves , mocassins , hats and wool organic mattress pads for comfort and warmth . Kid 's Room Lamps and a vast array of other items to not only fit their room , but also their daily needs and enjoyment . 
Pacific Northwest Summers ... I grew up in Tacoma , went to highschool and junior college in Portland Oregon and have lived in Salem for a couple dozen years . A typical summer brings a few days in the 90 's and once in while cracking the 100 degree mark . But the hallmark of living here is that only once or twice in a summer does it fail to cool off in the evenings . Not this year . Last night was the first night in a week that the house cooled off by morning . With all the world 's troubles , I hate to complain about such a small thing as a few extra decrees of heat . But I must say this is a welcome relief . 
Oregon Blueberries , what could be better ? " Eat close to home " is the best new healthy eating advice . Don't eat foods shipped great distances , or overly processed . Eat food grown and / or processed nearby . It benefits local growers and keeps them in business and it benefits you because it 's better quality for the money . And it didn't take lots of fossil fuel to get to you . Well , here in the Willamette Valley , life could not better be . This is blueberry season . There are plenty and they are easy to pick . 
Blue - Baby Syndrome . Once a week , an employee of the City of Salem Oregon unlocks a metal jacketed post a few houses north of us . Inside is a water spigot and water valve . The employee then goes to his van and gets out his test gear . What is he testing ? Water . Oregon is blessed with wonderful life - giving mountain stream water . Our water is of the highest quality . But we keep testing it , just to be sure . Well , you say , isn't that the case throughout the United States ? No. For example , should you live in Iowa City , Iowa , you would be very concerned about Methemoglobinemia , also known as Blue - Baby Syndrome . Nitrates in drinking water have the potential of killing infants under six months . When the concentrations are high , pregnant women , nursing mothers and infants under six months are advised to drink bottled water . Nitrates come from fertilizer and feed lot runoff . The ground water and river system of the mid - west are full of it . Actually , we don't get off scott free in Oregon , either . Even lawn fertilizers can contaminate ground water . Our growers use nitrogen fertilizers , too . We just don't have the high intensive farming they have in the mid west . Nitrogen fertilizers keep food prices down . But as it turns out , we end up paying the price somewhere else . 
High Fructose Corn Syrup . One of the benefits of listening to podcasts is discovering new roads one had no intention to explore . Today , for example , I listened to Terry Gross ' interview of Michael Pollan , author of The Omnivore 's Dilemma . He and his book are also featured in the current Smithsonian Magazine . Both the interview and the Smithsonian article have to do with corn . As it turns out , corn dominates Iowa , our food system , and a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico , where no fish can live . The place where we are likely to meet corn on a very regular basis is not in corn on the cob , the delight of folks the likes Garrison Keillor of Lake Woebegon . We meet it as high fructose corn syrup . Go to your pantry and look at the ingredients panel of the foods you have on hand . I would be very surprised if you didn't find high fructose corn syrup , often as the second or third ingredient . This stuff goes back only as far as the seventies . And , it pays a big role in making people fat . So you might want to take a closer look . Here 's the podcast . 
Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce . Europeans came to the land we now call the United States under the delusion that no significant groups of people were living here and that all land was free for the taking . In fact , there was a considerable population of Native Americans . Some estimate 12 million or more . From Atlantic to Pacific , immigration , the United States government and the United States military defrauded them of their land . Our annual Thanksgiving mythology might make it seem that Native Americans approved of the coming of the white man . Such is not the case . There were plenty of battles . We ' ve been reading the ever so tragic story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce . The Nez Perce were a people which comprised many bands of Native Americans . Principally , their home was the Wallowa Mountains of Northeast Oregon . The concept of private ownership of property was foreign to them . The annual progression from summer to winter meant their moving to take advantage of the weather . Immigration plays its part in the story . People moved into their lands . The US government stole the land and used the army to move them elsewhere . They were hunted and hounded from Oregon through Yellowstone National Park to the Canadian border . There seems no promise of the US government made them that it ever kept . The truly sad part is that generally , their story only repeats the experience of other Native Americans through out American history . The Declaration of Indepedence ideal that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights of life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness has not and still in some cases does not extend to blacks , Native Americans , Chinese , or Japanese . 
The Springfield Fourth - Something for Everyone . Last night 's Springfield Fourth of July had something for everyone . For those who like culture , there was the Youth Bach Choir under the direction of St. Olaf College Director Anton Armstrong . Food ? Twelve venues . Special effects ? Special glasses which turn fireworks into wierd shapes . All in all , a wonderful evening ! The Light of Liberty . 
Bad Day to own a Bicycle . Bicycle chain sitting right in the middle of the bike lane . Unless this person was only going to be heading downhill from here , this would be the end of their ride . But it didn't have to be . Carrying a chain tool is a simple way to avoid such a predicament . Some bicycle multi tools have a chain tool built in . Chain tool : . 
Bad Day to own a Shopping Cart . This was just outside of my place of employment . You could still smell the burnt remains of the wheels , and the other combustible items that were in the cart . This cart probably contained the sum total of someone 's material possessions before it got torched . A likely " before " picture below : . 
At Home in the House of the Lord . At Stern Grove , the hawks still cry out . The trees harvest rain from the misty fog off the ocean . The dragonflies arrive seasonally , to dance on the air currents . The Earth 's heartbeat echoes through the drummers on the land . Needing no instruction , Children climb piles of rocks . Making offerings of grass and pebbles to a spirit alive . We see , and remember that we too know this game . Thank you to the children . Reminders from once we came . Guides to where we strive to return . Blessings on Mother Earth , and all her creatures seen and felt . Album art from Led Zeppelin 's " Houses of the Holy . " Coincidence ? * Dedicated to PDL for teaching me how to get the Led out . * . 
build - ering .. in vancouver . Buildering is described as an energetic mix of bouldering , parkour , gymnastics , stage fighting , and the style of BMX riding / skateboarding and seems like Vancouver is a hot spot for this crazy little twist on going for a leisurely stroll .... maybe I ' ll do the next set of City Surf tours around the best Buildering sites in a city !! .. might be too niche at this point -- check out the rough video ( which seems more like parkour to my amateur eye ) .. via psfk . 
my biz - 2 . .. don't intend to make this blog about my new business but I would like to occasionally use it as a place to hear what people think , want and don't want in a service like this .. so far for toronto I ' ll have audio walks designed for kensington , chinatown , st lawrence market , yorkville and the annex .. if you know of any cool little hidden - away places in these hoods let me know .. if you think I ' m missing an area of toronto entirely , let me know too .. gracias amigos .. ps . also , don't mean to sound like a rookie , but getting a business off the ground is SO HARD ! ( and SO AWESOME !!!! : ) . 
new biz .. my biz !! CITY SURF . ... for those who are wondering why I ' ve been somewhat of a slacker on the blog lately , I have a very good reason .. I ' ve been working away on a business idea for some time now , and I ( soft ) launched it recently !! Check out City Surf audio walking tours --- www . city - surf . cahow does it work ? simple - you download the tour and map of a neighborhood , listen to the tour when you 're there , and find out all about the cool local spots that half of us normally miss when we 're traveling ... the site is not loaded with the full range of tours yet , but gives you an idea of what the concept is all about . Take a look and listen to the sample tours ! would love to know what people think so feel free to send all and any feedback !! if you decide to prchase the tours that would make me happy too : ) . 
.. dance badly .. travel lots .. become famous .. ... 39 countries on all 7 continents ... lots of the same bad dance , but the video has an amusing feel to it , maybe it 's the music .. I miss traveling .. 
biz --- office for the office - less . .. the coffee office - a place for those poor / annoying people who make starbucks their office .. first canadian location is in windsor - I imagine toronto is not far behindtim , maybe you should have started this : ) via springwise . 
biz --- ikea ' d coffin . innovation in a space that is probably the most outdated industry in the world .. as creepy as it can be , this is a pretty cool product . count on the dutch to rethink the box we all end up in . coffins for everybody .. shows you can add creativity to any business .. 
Graham Rahal to Test for Newman Hass Racing . Robin Miller is reporting that Graham Rahal will participate in a test session with Newman Hass racing , with the possibility that it may lead to a Champ Car deal for 2007 . " Right now we 're just talking about it , " he ( Carl Haas ) said . " But that kid is pretty damn good isn't he ? " . 
Danica Patrick to AGR . Click here to read the full story . Basically , Danica Patrick is switching to AGR racing , in the midst of rumors that Rahal Letterman may switch to Champ Car for the 2007 season . Franchitti appears to be out and looking for a ride in either Champ Car or the IRL , and Herta 's contract is up as well . Who will Danica 's primary sponsor be ? Klein Tools ? Vonage ? XM Radio ? Jim Beam ? 7 - 11 ? All have an established relationship with AGR , but my prediction is that either 7 - 11 will sponsor Danica and continue to sponsor Kanaan , or Klein Tools will sponsor her . She could also bring ito AGR a new , big money sponsor . Go Danica Go !!! 
Silly Season So Far . Silly Season recap : Nascar Brian Vickers --- Out of the # 25 and looking for options . Casey Mears --- Out of the # 42 and into the # 25 . Juan Pablo Montoya --- Out of F 1 and into the # 42 with Nascar Dale Jarrett --- Out of the # 88 and in with Michael Waltrip racing ( still has UPS as a primary sponsor ) . Elliott Sadler --- Out of the # 38 and looking for options . Possibly could take over the # 19 from Jeremy Mayfield . Bill Elliott --- Could come back and run full - time for team Red Bull Racing . IRLDanica Patrick --- To Andretti - Green Racing in 2007 . Felipe Giaffone --- Out of the # 14 car midseason , replaced by Jeff Bucknam . Buddy Lazier --- Out of the D E # 5 midseason , replaced by Ryan Briscoe Jr. for 3 races and ??? ( possibly Sarah Fischer ) for other 3 races . Eddie Cheever --- Called it quits for remainder of 2006 season , and may not be back in 2007 . Dario Franchitti --- Looking for a ride in 2007 with either the IRL or CCWS . CCWSGraham Rahal --- Rumored to replace Bruno Junquero at Newman Haas . A . J . Allmendinger --- Out of the # 10 car midseason , now in the # 7 car with Forsythe Racing where he has won 3 in a row . Christiano De Matta --- Went to the # 10 Rusport car midseason . Mario Dominguez --- Out of the # 7 car midseason , riding in the # 19 for now . 
Is the Switch On in Open Wheel ? When I was a kid , I remember Burger King having their big promotion called " The Switch is on Week . " when everyone was supposed to switch from Mc Donald 's tp Burger King .2000 - 2002 saw 5 Champ Car teams defect to the IRL . These teams no comprise 13 of the 19 regular IRL drivers . Rumors abound that most of these teams have considered switching back to Champ Car racing . They could still use their IRL chassis to run at Indy . When they left , Champ Car racing ( then known as CART ) was a series with no vision for the future , other then to try to somehow hold off Tony George . But now things are different . Kevin Kalkhoven has infused the Champ Car Worl Series ( CCWS ) with a vision and a winning formula . He has erased all of the debt he inhereted when he took over what was left of CART , and in 2007 he should see the CCWS earn a profit . The new cars he has developed are 30 % cheaper than the current IRL car , and he will leave May open on the race schedule so that teams can race at Indy . Rahal is already heavily considering a switch . Their are rumors of Penske switching , especially if Marlboro ends its racing sponsorship program . Michael Andretti and Chip Ganassi were seen meeting with Kalkhoven in April at the Long Beach Grand Prix . Fernandez Racing will most likely follow the heard . If all of these teams defected back to Champ Car , the IRL would be left with 5 cars , 2 of which are with teams that are struggling to stay afloat financially ( D & R and Panther Racing ) , and 2 of which are funded directly by Tony George . Eddie Cheever might come back , to bring the total to 6 entries , but you can't run a series on 6 entries . So the magic question is , is the switch on ? We should find out more during the offseason . 
Rahal to switch to Champ Car ??? This story ( Link Here ) in the Edmunton Sun is suggesting that because of his son 's invlovement in the Champ Car Atlantic series , Bobby Rahal is considering switching back to the CCWS . Part of this deal is that his son , Graham Rahal , who by the way is a very talented young driver , may be replacing Bruno Junquero at Newman Haas to give the CCWS its second American driver . Given that merger talks seem to be breaking down , again , this is a very real possibility . 
Milwaukee Observations . I made it the the Milwaukee IRL race , and have a few observations . Before the race , a comment the announcer made really hit a nerve with me . The comment was to the effect of : " For decades the weekend after the Indy 500 was when open - wheel racing came to Milwaukee . Would you like to see it return to that date ? " The audience was supposed to cheer at that point , but hardly anybody did . The announcer seemed to completely ignore that there is an open wheel race that weekend --- It 's just not one that is run by King George . I was really disappointed by this comment because i know the IRL is trying to push the CCWS out of Milwaukee so they can get their race date , and because if they are putting that much effort into battling for the right to run at Milwaukee the weekend after Indy , they aren't talking with the CCWS about a merge . The race itself was good . At the end , Danice and Schekter had fresh tires and a big advantage over the rest of the field . I thought it was funny that Schetker was ignore in the post race media interviews despite his podium finish , especially since he drives for King George 's Vision Racing Team . 
IRL to Have Troubles Fielding Cars in 2007 . This year ( 2006 ) the IRL has 19 ( 18 w / o Cheever ) cars . They barely had 33 cars for the Indy 500 . Next year , they are in bad shape . Here are the potential problems : Cheever may not run a car in 2007 . D & R racing is struggling to find sponsorship to run more than 2 of the remaining 5 races in 2006 . Crash Dummie Ryan Briscoe will increase the rate with which their funds dissappear , as he crashed ( Again ) in Milwaukee and will crash in at least one of the 2 remaining races . Panther Racing still has no primary sponsor and almost didn't run in 2006 . Rahal Letterman is considering running just 2 cars in 2007 with the hope of making them more competitive , and is considering moving to Champ Car. If all of these scenarios play out in the worst case , the IRL could be down to 15 cars next year . At the same time , Champ car could increase to 22 - 24 cars if Stoddart starts a team , Polestar upgrades to Champ Car , and Rahal defects from the IRL . 
Paul Stoddart to Champ Car ? This article ( click here ) makes reference to exploratory work Paul Stoddart is doing on the possibility of running a Champ Car team for 2007 . Stoddart was the tea manager ? for the F 1 team Minardi , and owns the rights to use the name Minardi . Having the name Minardi in Champ Car could help provide more credibility to the sport . 
Champ Car CCWS Gets Las Vegas Race . This is good news for the CCWS , who will probably loose the Montreal race after this year . Read the full story here ( link here ) . This will be the opening race for the 2007 season , and should be a big success . The next step for their 2007 season should be to secure the Milwaukee Mile event and get back some of the old venues like Laguna Seca , Detroit , and Mid - Ohio . 
Walmart to Sponsor a Champ Car. It looks like this is basically a one race deal . Walmart 's Canadian division will sponsor Canadian driver Andrew Ranger . It looks lik eit is basically a one race deal for the Grand Prix of Montreal in August . Still , it is encouraging to see a big corporation jump in to sponsor american open - wheel racing . 
Bye Bye Eddie Cheever . Eddie Cheever called it quits earlier this week due to " a lack of funding . " ( Link here ) . Truth be told , this strengthens the IRL field , as it weeds out a guy who shouldn't be driving . In other news , Danica had a strong showing at Nashville , finishing 4 th . She has also hinted that she may finalize her ride for 2007 within the next week . 
Danica States Nascar Interest is Legit . In this article ( click here ) Danica Patrick states that she is looking at all of her options , including Nascar . " My biggest thing in everything is that I want to win , and I don't care who it 's with . " Of course , if it is just a ploy , she would certainly not admit it publically . 
Danica --- Nascar interest a ploy ? This story ( link here ) suggests that Danica is not interested in switching to Nascar , only in using the threat of leaving to get a better contract in the IRL . Paul Tracy is used as an example . A plausible scenario , but it is fun to think about Danica driving the number 6 Viagra car . 
Espresso or wampum , anyone ? We actually drove back from the next town to get this one . The teepee is concrete . Click on it and read about the door . Talk about the American Melting Pot . This sure ain't no Starbucks ! 
Chilly Willy . Hye all , Sorry I have been away from the blog the last few days . Jos and I have been hitting the Gymboree as much as we can , and I had a couple of shoots , and a gallery opening , so it has been pretty hectic . I am not done with the pretty pictures from Montana yet , but I would like to show you a little side project that I did while I was there with the Holga . We found the oddest things on the side of the road up there , and I shot them with the Holga . Here is the first . This is also the first image I made on that entire trip ! Cut Bank , Montana is the coldest city in the nation , as the sign says . Our little friend here is just a quiet reminder of that wonderful fact ! Rosa wanted to give him a hug ! 
Happy Birthday , Alex Smith . This is Avalanche Lake . It is one of the most beautiful places I have seen on Earth . Five waterfalls coming down the mountains into the lake . Chipmunks running around begging for food . Deer walking around and drinking from the lake . I counted 4 deer that I could see on the edge of the water . What a beautiful place . So I photographed it with a toy camera . I am an idiot ! I like the result , though . 
Heaven 's Peak . It may be obvious where I got the title for this one . This was shot on the Going - To - The - Sun Road at one of the turn - outs . There isn't too much to say about it . The picture pretty much sums it up . I guess , as a photographer , I finally did my job . 
Off in the distance ... I made this image on the way out of the park . One thing I know about the way Rosa and I travel . We never go back to the same place twice . So I was sad to be leaving all that beauty . I am sure that we will go to other great places , but man , it is such a beautiful world . I wish I could see it all . I scanned this one a little larger than the last panoramic . Clicking on it should give you a better payoff . I do hope you enjoy it . 
The Valley Below . Happy 4 th of July ! I hope you are having a great day , you are enjoying our freedom , and you use that freedom to eat far too much at the family barbaque . This one I think is a decent picture , one of my better ones of the trip . The Horizon version is much better , but I am saving that one . I will show it to you later . I ' d like you to see this one for now . This view was taken from the Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park . The road was closed for several weeks . It opened two days before we left . We drove it just to see things like this . As nice as the picture is , it isn't anything like being there . It reminded me of the book title , Their Eyes Were Watching God . I hope you enjoy this one . I hope you click on it to make it big and just enjoy it for a little while . Dave . 
Deer at St. Mary Falls . This was the deer that I was telling you about last time . I shot this with my long lens on the 10 D , but I was only about 8 feet away . I even followed the deer up the trail to get the shot . She was just happy to keep eating out of the tree . I wasn't too much of a bother to her . We saw so many deer at Glacier that we actually stopped taking pictures of them . The first deer that I saw , I broke out three cameras and shoved lenses into my pockets and my wife 's hands . By the end of the trip , we were like , " Oh . Cute . A deer . That 's nice . " I did get a GREAT Holge picture of a deer slipping in the water and almost falling down . I wasn't even responsible . 
St. Mary Falls . My buddy Eugene made a great point . I never said where I was going , and what I was doing there ! My wife and I made the trip to Glacier National Park in Montana . We were there for 6 days . We hiked 7 miles the first day , 4 miles the second day , we went whitewater rafting the third , took a bus tour ( bad idea ... ) the fourth , drove around , shot photos and hung out the fifth , and stayed at the B B on the sixth . It was a great trip . I took four cameras with me . The Canon EOS 10 D with a wide , normal , and telephoto lens . I took two Holgas , one for color , the other for black and white . I also took the Horizon 202 , my seldom used panoramic camera . This is the camera that got me the best results . I ' ll be posting from all three of the cameras over the next few days . I hope you enjoy them . This is St. Mary Falls . It was a short hike in to get to the falls . We did it mostly as an after dinner walk . What a beautiful place that this is the result of your after dinner walk . While we were walking , there was this deer that followed us up the trail . It didn't move , even when I walked up to about 6 feet away from it . My next post will be a picture of that deer . 
18 ++ 17 July 2006 . A man goes to a psychiatrist and says , " Doctor , you must help me . Every night I dream that I ' m driving a truck from Pittsburgh to New York . I ' m so tired I can hardly get up in the morning . " The doctor says , " Tell you what . Next time you have this dream , just call me and I ' ll come over and drive the truck for you . " The man tries it , and is cured . Another patient tells the doctor , " I have this same dream everynight . I ' m making love to four beautiful women , and by morning I ' m totally exhausted . Can you help me ? " The doctor says , " Tell you what , next time you have this dream , just call me and I ' ll come and take a couple of them off yourhands . " Two weeks later the man goes back to the psychiatrist and says , " Doc , you gotta help me . Now these women are bringing theirfriends , and they 're all getting so demanding . I ' m so tired I canbarely get through the day . Can't you do something ? " " You should have called me . " the doctor replied . " I told you I ' dtake a couple of them off your hands . " " But Doc , " he said , " I ' ve been calling you every night , and yourservice keeps telling me you 're out driving a truck from Pittsburgh to New York . " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
18 ++ 6 July 2006 . Two Dogs , Please Two Scottish nuns had just arrived to the US by boat when one said tothe other , " I heard that the occupants of this country actually eatdogs . " " Odd , " her companion replied , " but if we shall live in America , we mightas well do as the Americans do . " Nodding emphatically , the mother superior pointed to a hot dog vendorand they both walked towards it . " Two dogs , please , " said one . The vendor was only too pleased to oblige and he wrapped both hot dogsin foil . Excited , the nuns hurried over to a bench and began to unwraptheir ' dogs . ' The mother superior was first to open hers , then , stared at it for amoment , leaned over to the other nun and whispered cautiously , " Whatpart did you get ? " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
18 ++ 26 Jun 2006 . You don't want the usual ? A bartender was working the late shift . While he was working , abeautiful blonde woman walked in and took a seat at the bar . She ordered up a Coors and sat there drinking for a while . Suddenly , the woman passed out cold on the stool . The bartender had asudden thought , and so he cautiously looked around . Seeing that no one was around , he closed up the bar , and took advantageof the situation . The next night , the bartender was , again , working the late shift , butsome of his friends stopped by , so he told themabout the previous night and his good time with the blonde woman . All ofa sudden , the blonde walks in again . The bartender motions to hisfriends that she is the same lady . Thelady sits down at the bar and orders another Coors . Eventually , shepasses out . The bartender closes up shop , and him and allhis friends take their turns . The next night , the bartender is working the late shift . His friendsshow up , with all of their friends , and so there is a huge crowd in thebar . The woman walks in again , orders a Coors , drinks it , and then passes out . So , the barender closes up shop , and everyone has a turn . The next night , even more people are waiting at the bar . The woman walksin and orders a Budweiser . The bartender , his plans foiled , asks , " You don't want the usual ? " She looks at him for a minute and shakes her head . " No. Coors makes mypussy sore ! " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
18 ++ 23 Jun 2006 . White as a Ghost Two men were out playing golf on a nice Saturday afternoon . They weregetting frustrated , though , because the two women who were playing rightin front of them were quite slow , and were holding up the men 's game . " Don't they know they 're supposed to let us play through ? " asked thefirst man . The other man shook his head . " I ' m going to go ask them if wecan play through , " said the first man , emphatically , " Enough is enough . " He started walking over toward the women , but as he got close , hesuddenly turned around and came back , white as a ghost . " Oh God , " he said to his friend , " This is awful . You 're going to have toask those women if we can play through . You see , oneof them is my wife , and the other is my mistress . " The other man shrugged , and said " No sweat . " He walked overtoward the women , and just as he was getting close , turnedaround and came running back to his pal . His eyes wide open , hesaid , " Small world ! " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
18 ++ 22 Jun 2006 . A man meets a gorgeous woman in a bar . They talk , they connect , they endup leaving together . They get back to her place , and as she shows himaround her apartment , he notices that her bedroom is completely packedwith teddy bears . Hundreds of small bears on a shelf all the way alongthe floor medium sized ones on a shelf a little higher , and huge bearson the top shelf . The man is kind of surprised that this woman would have a collection ofteddy bears , especially one that 's so extensive , but he decides not tomention this to her . He turns to her ... they kiss ... and then they ripeach others clothes off and make love . After an intense night of passion , as they are lying there together inthe afterglow , the man rolls over and asks , smiling , " Well , how was it ? " The woman says , " You can have any prize from the bottom shelf . " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
18 ++ 13 June 2006 . Can't Your Father Do That Little farmboy comes in late for school . Teacher asks why he 's late . Farmboy replies that he had to take the family cow over to theneighbour 's to get her bred by a bull . Annoyed , teacher demands , " Can't your father do that ? " Little farm boythinks for a moment : replies , " Well , sure ... but the bull can do itbetter . " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
18 ++ 7 June 2006 . A Male Whale and a Female Whale A male whale and a female whale were swimming off the coast of Japanwhen they noticed a whaling ship . The male whale recognized it as thesame ship that had harpooned his father many years earlier . He said to the female whale , " Let 's both swim under the ship and blowout of our air holes at the same time and it should cause the ship toturn over and sink . " They tried it and sure enough , the ship turned overand quickly sank . Soon however , the whales realized the sailors had jumped overboard andwere swimming to the safety of shore . The male was enraged that theywere going to get away and told the female " lets swim after them andgobble them up before they reach the shore . " At this point , he realized the female was becoming reluctant to followhim . " Look , " she said , " I went along with the blow job , but I absolutelyrefuse to swallow the seamen ! " ------------------------------------------------------------------ YOUR 18 ++ , IS JUST A BLOG AWAY @ 	 http : // 18 plusplus . blogspot . com / SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE FOR THIS MAILING LIST @ 	 http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / 18 Plus Plus ALSO PLAYING AT A MAILING LIST NEAR YOU : : QUOTATION OF THE DAY -------------------- They inspire , they motivate and at times they tickle your funny bone . But they never miss to touch your heart . Your daily supply of chosengems from the world of literature , ancient proverbs , poetry and sayingsfrom great leaders . Join the Quote A Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Quotation Of The Day Or simply Blog it @ http : // quotationoftheday . blogspot . com / JOKE OF THE DAY ---------------- As wise men say , a joke a day keeps the doctor away . So step into thehealth zone by sharing a hearty laugh . A variety of jokes that areludicrous and trivial , witty and wacky , spontaneous and sportive . Wishing you a laugh riot . Join the Joke of the Day mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Joke Of The Day Or simply go Blogging @ http : // joketimefolks . blogspot . com / WORTH READING ------------- Things they do not teach you at college ! Life 's puzzle unfolded . Wordsof wisdom that motivate you to introspect and reflect . Here 's yourchance to question the priorities of existence and also to get theiranswers . Join the Worth Reading mailing list @ http : // groups - beta . google . com / group / Worth Reading Or simply go Blogging @ http : // readingtimefolks . blogspot . com / ********************** Legal Disclaimer **************************** " This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient . Any unauthorized review , use or distribution by others is strictly prohibited . If you have received the message in error , please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message . Thank you . " ********************************************************************** . 
Kinski - Alpine Static . Artista : KINSKI T tulo : Alpine Static A o : 2005 Sello : SUB POP Estilo : ROCK Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 16,95 ....1 . Hot Stenographer 2 . The Wives Of Artie Shaw 3 . Hiding Drugs In The Temple ( Part 2 ) 4 . The Party Which You Know Will Be Heavy 5 . Passed Out On Your Lawn 6 . All Your Kids Have Turned To Static 7 . The Snowy Parts Of Scandanavia 8 . Edge Set 9 . Waka Nusa . A mi me gustan . Hacen ROCK instrumental pero su fuerza es demoledora . Quiz s jam s sean reconocidos como " unos de los grandes " pero no hace falta . Se nota que disfrutan con la m sica que hacen y para m , eso es m s que suficiente .. Gran disco .. 
Matt Elliott - Drinking Songs . Artista : MATT ELLIOTT T tulo : Drinking Songs A o : 2005 Sello : ICI DAILLEURS / ACUARELAEstilo : POP ROCK Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 17,95 ....1 . C . F . Cundy 2 . Trying To Explain 3 . The Guilty Party 4 . What 's Wrong 5 . The Kursk 6 . What The Fuck Am I Doing On This Battlefield ? 7 . A Waste Of Blood 8 . The Maid We Messed . Tremendo y atormentado disco de este m sico sin parang n . Los temas que componen este segundo lbum de Matt Elliott son tan oscuros y depresivos que el tema The Kursk es el efitafio definitivo para la opresi n , el terror y la desesperanza .. Pese a todo lo anterior , es una obra maestra sin discusi n posible . Si no lo has escuchado a n , te has perdido algo grande .. 
Elliott Smith - From A Basement On The Hill . Artista : ELLIOTT SMITH T tulo : From A Basement On The Hill A o : 2004 Sello : EPITAPH Estilo : POP ROCK Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 17,95 ....1 . Coast To Coast 2 . Let 's Get Lost 3 . Pretty ( Ugly Before ) 4 . Don't Go Down 5 . Strung Out Again 6 . A Fond Farewell 7 . King 's Crossing 8 . Ostriches Chirping 9 . Twilight 10 . A Passing Feeling 11 . Last Hour 12 . Shooting Star 13 . Memory Lane 14 . Little One 15 . A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free . Disco p stumo de Elliott Smith . Lamentablemente ya nunca podr vbolver a emocionarnos con su m sica . Quedan sus discos y ste su epitafio sonoro . Realmente es hermoso y grande , ntimo y atormentado , nost lgico y sensual .. Descanse en paz .. 
Telephon Tel - Aviv - Map Of What Is Effortless . Artista : TELEFON TEL AVIV T tulo : Map Of What Is Effortless A o : 2004 Sello : HEFTY Estilo : ELECTRONICA Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 16,95 ....1 . When It Happens It Moves All By Itself 2 . I Lied 3 . My Week Beats Your Week 4 . Bubble And Spike 5 . Map Of What is Effortless 6 . Nothing Is Worth Losing That 7 . What It Is Without The Hand That Wields It 8 . What Is Was Will Never Again 9 . At The Edge Of The World You Will Still Float . Extra o grupo quue no se puede ni debe describir pero que si puedes y debes descubrir . Electr nica experimental con ritmos pop . Dulces y amargos a partes iguales . Recuerdan situaciones complicadas . Especie de banda sonora de la irrealidad cibern tica aunque claro , eso no es del todo cierto . Yo te lo digo , mejor los descubres .. Muy recomendables .. 
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem . Artista : LCD SOUNDSYSTEM T tulo : LCD Soundsystem ( 2 CD ) A o : 2005 Sello : CAPITOL Estilo : ELECTRONICA Formato : CD Edici n : 2 CD Precio : 17,95 .... DISCO 1 : 1 . Daft Punk Is Playing At My House 2 . Too Much Love 3 . Tribulations 4 . Movement 5 . Never As Tired As When I ' m Waking Up 6 . On Repeat 7 . Thrills 8 . Disco Infiltrator 9 . Great Release . DISCO 2 : 1 . Losing My Edge 2 . Beat Connection 3 . Give It Up 4 . Tired 5 . Yeah - ( crass version ) 6 . Yeah - ( pretentious version ) 7 . Yr City 's A Sucker - ( 12 " version ) . Disco del que ya se ha dicho casi todo . Electr nica - dance de lujo . Ritmo , ritmo y m s ritmo . . 
The Dream Syndicate - The Days Of Wine And Roses . Artista : THE DREAM SYNDICATE T tulo : The Days Of Wine And Roses ( Remaster ) A o : 1982 Sello : RHINO Estilo : POP ROCK Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 18,95 ....1 . Tell Me When It 's Over 2 . Definitely Clean 3 . That 's What You Always Say 4 . Then She Remembers 5 . Halloween 6 . When You Smile 7 . Until Lately 8 . Too Little Too Late 9 . Days Of Wine And Roses , The 10 . Sure Thing 11 . That 's What You Always Say 12 . When You Smile 13 . Some Kinda Itch 14 . Too Little Too Late 15 . Definitely Clean 16 . That 's What You Always Say - 15 Minutes 17 . Last Chance For You - 15 Minutes . Esta m sica me hac a y me sigue haciendo vibrar . Rock , pop , furia , sutileza y mensajes subliminales de uno de los grandes m sicos de nuestro tiempo Steve Wine .. Suena este disco hoy como lo hizo en el 82 aunque claro , remasterizado ... ampliado ... liftin sonoro que no estil stico . He recorrido muchos kil metros con l sonando en el radio - casette del coche y ahora en el radio - cd .. Grande , muy grande .. 
Low - A Lifetime Of Temporary Relief : 10 Years Of B - Sides & Rarities . Artista : LOW T tulo : A Lifetime Of Temporary Relief : 10 Years Of B - Sides Jude 17 . Cheek . DISCO 2 : 1 . Venus 2 . Boyfriends Ladders . Disco 4 : DVD - Documentaries : Closer Than That ( includes live videos for Will the Night , Weight of Water , Don't Understand , Immune , Home , Dinosaur Act , Words , Shame , Over The Ocean , Canada , Looking Out For Hope ) , In the Fishtank , and Making of Trust . 
The Mercury Program - A Data Learn The Language . Artista : The Mercury Program T tulo : A Data Learn The Language A o : 2002 Sello : TIGER STYLE Estilo : POP ROCK Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 16,95 ...1 . Tequesta 2 . Fragile Or Possibly Extinct 3 . Slightly Drifting 4 . Egypt 5 . To / From Iceland 6 . You Yourself Are Too Serious 7 . Gently Turned On Your Head 8 . Sultans Of El Sur . 
The Cinematic Orchestra - Man With a Movie Camera . Artista : The Cinematic Orchestra T tulo : Man with a Movie Camera A o : 2003 Sello : NINJA TUNE Estilo : ELECTRONICA Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 16,95 1 . Projectionist , The 2 . Melody 3 . Dawn 4 . Awakening Of A Woman , The - ( Burnout ) 5 . Reel Life - ( Evolution II ) 6 . Postlude 7 . Evolution - ( Versao Portuense ) 8 . Work It ! - ( Man With The Movie Camera ) 9 . Voyage 10 . Odessa 11 . Theme De Yoyo 12 . Magician , The 13 . Theme Reprise 14 . Yoyo Waltz 15 . Drunken Tune 16 . Animated Tripod , The 17 . All Things . 
Mojave 3 - Puzzles Like You . Puzzles Like You A o : 2006 Sello : 4 AD Estilo : POP ROCK Formato : CD Edici n : 1 CD Precio : 16,95 ....1 . Truck Driving Man 2 . Puzzles Like You 3 . Breaking The Ice 4 . Running With Your Eyes Closed 5 . Most Days 6 . Big Star Baby 7 . Ghost Ship Waiting 8 . Kill The Lights 9 . You Said It Before 10 . To Hold Your Tiny Toes 11 . Just A Boy 12 . The Mutineer . 
Finally . Well you saw what it looked like before so heres an after . Still more work to do before the car is finished . Pictures don't do this paint justice " you must it see in person " but if you don't get a chance trust me it 's beautifull . 
More Parts Ready . Hood and bumpers ready for paint . Hood was flawless till somebody ran into it today so I had to make some last minute repairs . A shop and stupid people just don't mix . O well he learned his lesson I hope because when he ran into the hood the corner caught him and gave him about a 1 inch cut so he had to get stiches . May he will pay attention now . 
End of Week 1 . This week I Sand blasted the fenders , Cut out rust welded in new patches , Shot on etch primer , and a couple coats of regular primer on insides . Still have to massage out a couple dents then they will be ready to finish . 
In Training . Our little girl keeps on amazing us . This is her on the 4 th of July . Last week , she had started crawling , and we lowered her crib down a notch . Now she is very sneaky . My wife looked in on her at nap time , and she was pulling up on the bars . So , a week later , we had to lower her crib to the lowest notch . I swear this little girl is getting some Pink Ninja training camp stuff sent to her somehow . lol ... 
Discovery Oddity ( from Transbuddha . com ) . I waited until the Discovery landed safely before posting this video . It is the work of alphamonkey over on Transbuddha . com. It is a wonderful rendition of the launch video , sped up in a few ' boring ' places to make it fit in time with the song , ' Space Oddity ' by David Bowie . You know , " This is ground control to Major Tom , ... " Lyrics The video was shot from the right rocket booster looking down past the right wing of the shuttle . It is timed for certain parts of the song to fit the right mood . If you like flight or space , I think you will enjoy this . Click on the picture for the video . More ' plain jane ' videos of the shuttle are here : LINK . 
Is it the weekend already ? I can't believe how incredibly short and long this week was . I am looking forward to some family time . The weekend is good for that . Still no new offers on the house . The realtor company is dragging its feet in letting us go . They have until Monday and then I will be going one step up the food chain to get away . Sorry for my erratic posts . 
Kids Say The Funniest Stuff . Some humor to start the weekend . Never trust a dog to watch your food . - Patrick , age 10 When your dad is mad and asks you , " Do I look stupid ? " don't answer him . - Michael , 14 Never tell your mom her diet 's not working . - Michael , 14 Stay away from prunes . - Randy , 9 Never allow your three - year old brother in the same room as your school assignment . - Traci , 14 Puppies still have bad breath , even after eating a tic tac . - Andrew , 9 Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time . - Kyoyo , 9 You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk . - Armir , 9 If you want a kitten , start out by asking for a horse . - Naomi , 15 Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick . - Lauren , 9 Don't pick on your sister when she 's holding a baseball bat . - Joel , 10 Never try to baptize a cat . - Eileen , 8 . 
Crawling along . Our little girl decided to give us two presents over the weekend . On Friday night , her second tooth broke in , and she didn't even fuss over it . Then on Saturday , while I was letting my wife get her ' away ' time in , our daughter crawled for the first time ever . It blew my mind watching her go from a sitting position to a three stride crawl on her knees . I think she has been practicing behind our backs . Maybe she has been taking secret ' Pink Ninja ' training camp articles to bed with her . 
Realtor Update . Anyone out there ever tried to " extract " themselves from a realtor not living up to the standards set forth in a contract ? It 's kind of like a no win situation . There were some things about the buyer 's of our house that our realtor failed to mention to us . Then the contract for them to buy the house fell through . We submitted a request in writing to be " unconditionally released " from our brokerage agreement " with the realtor selling our house . Now it feels a little tense as people are still looking at our house , since it has to remain under the current agreement until the top dog in the company " lets us go " or what have you from our contract . In the meantime , it is a little awkward dealing with our realtor . To make matters worse , someone vandalized the sign in our front yard . The part that was vandalized was our realtor 's face , which now resembles Bill Gate 's reflection in a mirror . * see Devil * I don't know who did it , but that could make the situation even more tense . This is really getting old . The couple who was buying our house is now ' unreachable ' . It looks as if the money they put down as a ' good faith fee ' is going to be in limbo for a while . We could care less about it at the moment , we really just want the house sold for the price listed . I know God is taking care of us , it is just hard to let go of the illusion of control we think we have on the situation . 
Breathe ... OK ... I need to breathe a little here . Bad news last night , the couple who was ... ( that 's right , was ) buying our house decided to NOT buy our house two days before closing . More to follow on this late breaking news . Breathe ... breathe ... 
It 's Official ... Our daughter just cut her first tooth , my wife just called . She also said ' ma ma ma ' for the first time today . I apologize for not writing alot lately . Bad manners , me not being around much . I have been in San Diego since the 18 th , and working over 60 hours since then . I will be in San Diego until the 2 nd of July . My wife is still at home in KC MO , visiting our family . ALot has happened this week . My wife found an awesome house to move into , and the couple who owns it accepted our offer . This will be our 10 th time moving in the 9 1 / 2 years that we have been married . All of them are directly related to the military . No complaining here , we love moving and all , but now that we are civilians , it 's alot more stressful . AWTM wrote about her little road trip / adventure , and I am sure my wife can directly relate to that . 15 hours in a minivan with a 8 month old , and a 5 and 6 year old boy can make for some interesting travel time . Schedules are way disrupted by events like this . They are supposed to return to Louisiana on the 29 th , a day before we close on the house we are selling there . Please pray for her and the kids , it 's gonna be a rough few days for them . I wish I was back before they were . We ' ll all be re - adjusting to the ' normal schedule ' for at least a week . 
And now , this fine dining tale . It 's 8:45 am . I ' ve forgotten to bring my packet of oatmeal to work ( and besides , how many days in a row can a person eat oatmeal , even if it is of the maple and brown sugar variety ? ) . A brisk walk up Wisconsin Avenue to the Milwaukee Bagel Company . There 's a handlettered sign on the door , noting they 're closed for the week . I kind of appreciate the fact that there 's a bagel place in the middle of downtown that 's small and funky enough that the owner can take off for a week , but for Pete 's sake , I forgot my oatmeal this morning . So I go next door . Okay , next door is a tanning salon . I go one more door down . Dunkin ' Donuts . Get in touch with my inner New Englander . Shades of " Good Will Hunting " along the Milwaukee River . Whatever . I order an iced French Vanilla coffee . Large . I ' m given the option of cream and sugar . I opt for both . Extra sugar , actually . It comes back a lovely tan color . The first sip comes through the straw accompanied by a healthy measure of sugar crystals . It takes just one more sip for me to figure it out . I ' m drinking liquid donut . This is the most perfect drink ever concocted . Of course , I ' m never allowed to drink it again . 
A low interest rate . One of the spiffy things about being a journalist is getting to ask nosy questions . Or at least feeling empowered , when I see something that piques my interest , to ask what the heck is going on . I do this , as long as I have a microphone with me , or at least a notebook that says " NEWS " in large letters . Otherwise , I feel like just another schmuck bugging people to know what 's going on . Anyway , the side effect to this is my inability to countenance a lack of curiosity . I don't understand the mindset of someone who - given a situation in which there are barricades , dozens of emergency vehicles , protesters holding signs , and traffic backed up for miles around - goes about his business seemingly oblivious to the scene unfolding around him . And yet , that was the scene on the bus the other day ( and here you thought I was constructing a brilliant - yet - hypothetical scenario ) , as several people approached the driver to ask a ) why the busses were all running so late , and b ) why the route had been moved to a different street than usual . The answer , of course , was that the President of the United States was going to a fundraiser at a downtown hotel ( which for some reason necessitated closing a street on one side of the hotel , but not the other ) . The driver claimed to have no idea what was going on - leading me to believe he either thought he was performing some sort of national security - related function by not divulging his knowledge of the situation , or he honestly hadn't bothered to ask why his route had shifted and the traffic had backed up and the protesters were spilling into the street and there were a thousand police cars with their lights flashing just down the block . One of the less - spiffy things about being a journalist is feeling the need to inform strangers on a bus when you actually know the answer to what 's happening around you . But there are plenty of would - be reporters out there , and so I let one of the would - be journalists on the bus handle the situation . I thought about giving him my notebook that said " NEWS " , but then he got the facts of the story wrong . 
In case you weren't streaming . We get plenty of e - mails here in 19 Minutes World Media Headquarters via that spiffy e - mail link that shows up on my profile page . Most of them , of course , are for offers for Cialis - or , as the e - mails like to call it , C ! @ l 1 s ( as though spelling the name of a prescription drug with an at - sign and an exclamation point makes it seem more legitimate ) . But in our parallel e - mail universe , our readers are clamoring to learn what 's happening in the interview wing of the 19 Minutes office complex . This is especially key since our departure from our past headquarters rendered our podcasts inoperative . One of these days we ' ll get the 19 Minutes technical team to remove the outdated links . In any case , to appease the screaming and teeming masses from our parallel universe , here are some of the highlights from our radio existence in the past few weeks : Pauls Toutonghi has written an entertaining , mainly fictional account of a first generation Latvian - American growing up in 1989 Milwaukee . He was also a terrific interview , especially as he read from his book , " Red Weather " , noting his interpretation of the protagonist 's mother was based on his own mother 's accent , which he conceded sounded a little too much like Count Chocula . Hazel Barton is something of a rock star in her field , which of course you already know is the microbiology of caves . She 's one of the cave explorers featured in the Imax film , " Journey Into Amazing Caves " , and speaks articulately about why studying organisms called " extremophiles " is important . But she 's equally eloquent about why caving will never be an " extreme " sport - mainly because no one can see your brightly colored spandex when it 's underground and covered in mud . And she notes that scientists can also wear nice clothes above ground , too . Really . She said that . In an effort to interview only people with " Hazel " in their names who like nice clothes , we also spoke with Robin Hazelwood , a Wisconsin native who managed to attend an Ivy League school while simultaneously working as a fashion model . She 's also written a mainly fictional book called " Model Student " about , well , a Wisconsin native who manages to attend an Ivy League school while simultaneously working as a fashion model . To my knowledge , the book 's not nominated for a Pulitzer , but it is most definitely an engaging read , and Hazelwood was a witty , candid , and thoughtful interview . We 're thinking of instituting a new policy of only interviewing former fashion models . Richard Russo 's " Empire Falls " did win a Pulitzer . He was a fantastic interview , and one of the rare people who 's done a million interviews and still manages to remain introspective , or at least pretends really well . I ' m sure it wasn't the first time he ' d noted that " the first thing an author does when he wins a Pulitzer is get Caller ID , " but it still sounded fresh . We 're rerunning the interview tomorrow , but if you just can't wait , the original interview is still archived , along with its spiffy picture of Russo with me . Plus , the movie adaptation of " Empire Falls " is worth checking out , though unlike our streaming audio , it 's not free . And also in recent weeks , we interviewed Minneapolis - based musician Brianna Lane , who stresses the word " music " is at the end of her URL , so that it 's not confused with a former porn site . Unfortunately , the part of the interview where we attempted to justify the music wee had on our respective i Pods was lost to the cutting - room floor . But her album , " Radiator " , is fantastic if you 're into acoustic guitar - based stuff ( actually , it 's fantastic regardless of your tastes ) , and the interview 's music clips should at least whet your appetite . From there , we 're on to other important topics , like figuring out how to use " whet " in another context . 
Looking for some surreal estate . Sunday 's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an article about a new trend in the real estate industry - wherein home - building companies , to show off their model homes , hire actors to portray a " typical " family living in those homes . The idea , presumably , is to help potential buyers better visualize what living in these homes would be like , at least if they were better - looking and had nicer taste . It kind of surprised me to read this story , because it was a tactic that seemed decidedly un Wisconsin - like , unless things have changed radically in the four months since I moved here . But a closer inspection revealed it was a reprint of a New York Times article , datelined Santa Clarita , California . This was less surprising , considering current trends in the California real estate industry include charging $ 950,000 for a refrigerator carton under the 405 Freeway , plus forcing prospective buyers to write a love sonnet to the current owners , plus free pedicures for life , plus the sellers get to jump up and down yelling , " Big money ! " , as though they 're on " Wheel of Fortune " . ( My wife and I considered all these options when we were considering a job in California last year , and decided moving to Jupiter was a more cost - effective option , especially considering I ended up not getting the job . ) Of course , hiring actors to hang out in Wisconsin houses might be a shrewd move , when you consider some of the houses we looked at in the Milwaukee area . For example , there was the house that was still being used as a " day care center " , which meant as we were looking in the linen closet , the woman who owned the house was hanging out on the couch , smoking a cigarette and watching soap operas while the two kids in her charge slept on the couch next to her . Most of the houses we looked at were empty , though , which meant that there would have been plenty of room for actors to ply their trades . And so in case we decide to look at houses again in the near future , allow me to help the real estate actors of the world find their motivation , because acting like the 19 Minutes household would require some specialized acting talents . For starters , the husband and wife would need to spend much of their time debating whether it would be worse to have lace curtains in their bedroom , or no curtains at all . The husband would spend the rest of his time on the front steps , playing an incomprehensible game with his two - year - old daughter . The game basically involves taking small rocks and placing them in a plastic cup - but God forbid he tries to put the wrong rock in the plastic cup , because then all the rocks are dumped back out on the ground and the game starts over . The wife would also be in the yard , pulling weeds , then second - guessing whether they were weeds or plants that would have yielded beautiful flowers , had they only stayed in the ground for another week . For her part , the two - year - old would divide the rest of her time between discovering the miracle of sock fuzz between her toes , and asking her dad to tell the " t - shirt story " , which was the exciting story he made up on the spur of the moment about his t - shirt ( " Once there was a mommy and a daddy . And one day they went to a store called ' Sam 's Club ' in a place called Flagstaff , Arizona ... " ) . But there 's probably a good chance that whenever we go house hunting again , the trend of hiring actors will likely have passed . And that 's why I ' m polishing up my sonnet writing , just in case . 
Not soaring gently into that dark night . And speaking of the Copper Peak International Ski Flying Facility , we ' ve recently learned that the eagles and raptors are apparently the only ones enjoying the hill 's updrafts , since skiers haven't launched themselves off the jump since 1994 . There 's an interesting website that decries that fact , noting that Copper Peak should be the US ski jumping equivalent of Yankee Stadium , Lambeau Field , Churchill Downs , or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . Meanwhile , the organization that maintains Copper Peak as an observation tower in the summer has its own website , with an important message from its president . If nothing else , at least it 's not the ski jumping equivalent of Tiger Stadium . 
Soaring gently into the collection . I have some strange hobbies . Most of them don t take up much time . My business card collection , for example , continues to exist much as it did when I was 15 , only now it 's in the basement of my own home , rather than taking up bookshelf space in my highschool - era bedroom between the Bloom County books and Spenser novels . ( As an actual working person , I tend to accumulate more business cards than I did at age 15 , but I ' m not considering the cards strewn around my desk as part of my collection yet . ) But the more relevant hobby ( to this column , anyway - it 's not really relevant in any other way , shape or form ) reared its head over the weekend on a trip to the western edge of Michigan 's Upper Peninsula . I like picking up the tourist guides printed by local chambers of commerce . Partly , this is to find interesting stuff to do when you 're in a place like Ironwood , Michigan . But more frequently , they provide a great opportunity to peruse some of the most tortured syntax in the history of the English language . Today 's entry comes courtesy of the Adventure Guide published by the aforementioned town in Michigan : On any given day , one may see a pair of Eagles or other Raptors soaring above the hillside of Copper Peak International Ski Flying Hill . Regardless of the direction of the wind , there is always a gentle updraft on the 600 foot landing slope of the only ski flying facility in the Western Hemisphere which enables these birds of prey to capture air under their wings and soar gently above the hillside . ( There are countless other ski flying facilities in the Western Hemisphere , of course , which allow the birds to soar aggressively above their respective hillsides . ) . 
And now for something vaguely different . I was never really part of the drug scene at any of the colleges I attended . This was largely because I never actually used any drugs . But I had friends in college that experimented with a variety of controlled substances ( including one who used his occasional marijuana use as an excuse to his parents for his poor grades , despite the fact that the real reason was that he was spending too much time with his girlfriend . But I digress . ) , and they often liked to have me around as they were going through whatever they were going through . That 's because I had , and continue to have bizarre thoughts like these : It 's time for Chinese restaurants to freshen up their placemats with some new zodiacal years . I ' m tired of having been born in the " Year of the Rooster " , though it was nice of them to swap out the word " cock " and thus eliminate 90 percent of the fun junior high school students have at Chinese restaurants . But if they can make that change , there 's no reason they couldn't do something more radical . And that 's why I ' m proposing the following new Chinese years over the next decade : 2006 : Year of the Anvil .2007 : Year of Top Soil .2008 : Year that Won't Stick to Most Dental Work 2009 : Year of the Bug that 's Flying Around in My Floor Lamp 2010 : Year of Excedrin 2011 : Year of Mucilage 2012 : Year of Hogan 's Heroes reruns 2013 : Year of the Al Stewart hit , Year of the Cat 2014 : Year of farfel 2015 : Year of Pueblo , Colorado We ' ll wait a little while before we propose the drawings that ' ll appear on the placemats . Bizarre Thought # 2 : Imagine you 're from a country with no tradition of cable TV . Say , Burkina Faso . Now , pretend you ' ve traveled to the United States and are looking for educational programming on television . And now , imagine that you get confused and believe QVC is actually a university , and not a shopping channel . Think of all the wackiness that ensues when you write to pitchman Bob Bowersox and suggest he ask for a sabbatical . ( And just a reminder that rum and Cokes were the strongest thing to enter my system in college ... ) and finally , Bizarre Thought # 3 : Wouldn't it be just incredible if Kenneth Lay died mysteriously before he could be sentenced for his role in the Enron debacle ? I think that would be terrific , because it would give people something to talk about with the Vincent Foster conspiracy buffs . But that one 's way too far - fetched . 
34 : the sky 's a - growin ' darkas the storm pushes in , this late july dayis about to explode to an end . and i look aroundat the clouds hangin ' low , thinkin ' what the windsbegin to sew . wonder and wanderabout who we are , am i sure 100 % that i should take this road this far ? look at me thinkin ' actin ' on life with folley , by droppin ' tokensinto the 34 trolley . like it ? made it up on a whim . i live on the 34 trolley and i figured to memorialize that and my thirty - fourth entry with something special . 
33 : i have been poking my nose all around the internet today and i found that this weekly venue called " buzz " in d . c . has closed . the significance of this is great to me . when i was younger , in my wild teenage years , i used to frequent buzz a lot . buzz was one of the largest weekly parties ( or raves if you want to call it that ) in the country . when i was in high school , i had developed a great love affair with two things : acid and electronic music . if it were house , breakbeat , industrial , drum n ' bass , jungle it didn't matter as long as it had a keyboard and / or turntables i loved it . i would drop a bunch of acid , maybe smoke some weed and make my way down to southeast d . c . on fridays and let the drugs and music take hold of me . the closing of buzz is a blessing and a curse . although i have no problems with people taking recreational drugs that aren't addictive , i am glad to be through with that phase of my life . i was young back then and like everyone else that age , i was in a serious indentity crisis . i have come to realize who i am now and what i am meant to accomplish with my term on earth . on the flipside , thinking about buzz and how much of a mainstay it was for me in my youth has only reaffirmed my feelings of aging . 
32 : for the past two weeks , israel has been bombing the hell out of lebanon . this must stop at once . ever since its independence in 1946 , israel has been throwing its weight around sort of like the U.S. does . we are allowing israel to bomb residential sections of beirut and lebanon hitting non - military targets . that sounds a lot like terrorism but it 's not because the U.S. and the U . K . governments back israel . that lonesome fact is what must separate terrorism from " self - defense " i am not anti - semitic but i have a very big problem with the country of israel . maybe i am anti - zionist , maybe i am more sympathetic to the arabs and muslims , i don't know but i know what is going on right now over there is not right . if you agree with what i ' m saying , please check out the link and sign the petition . thank you . http : // epetitions . net / julywar /// . 
31 : here 's some of my latest art. enjoy . ( i took my art away from my paranoia that some bastard will save it on thier harddrive and claim it as thier own . what does it matter ? no one fucking reads my blog anyway ) . 
30 : to say that i am in a good mood is an understatement . yes , i know that i am still peeved about the goddamn italians winning the world cup but tonight i can go to sleep with sincere satisfaction . i have just finished writing for the day and that day started 10:30 yesterday morning and finished at 12:30 this morning . i wrote twenty - nine pages and figured out that i am less than a hundred pages from finishing my first draft . the first draft is the hardest . it takes the longest to complete simply because i must get all the ideas in my head into order , make them coherant , keep track of character names and various dates , do research , bug my girlfriend about ideas and plot changes and at last , sit down and write . but once i have the first draft written , it 's easy - peasy - japanesey editing and wearing out my spell and grammer check . from there it 's time to print it up , read it as a hard copy , send it off to my girlfriend , followed by my other friends and family and back to me . i read it again , sit down with my girlfriend and we edit it and voila , i have finished my book . very long process but i am nearing the end of the hardest part . thank god . 
29 : to say that i am in a bad mood is an understatement . i have just wasted the past month of my life to watching the goddamn italians win the world cup . fuck them . it 's as bad as the yankees winning the world series , the cowboys winning the super bowl , the red wings winning the stanley cup ; it is by far one of the most horrible things to happen . now i have to wait four years until the cup goes to south africa to see someone beat the shit out of the fucking italians . at least one good thing came out of the game yesterday : zidane 's head to the chest of that fucking italian . it was beautiful . ( yes , i have bad sportsmanship ) . 
28 : well , i live in philly ( that 's philadelphia , pennsylvania if any one needs clarification ) and i get inundated with " patriotism " around this time of the year . if any of you know me , you can probably feel it coming but no , i ' m not going to start ripping this country a new one . not on it 's birthday at least . i understand that on this date in 1776 a bunch of rich white aristocratic males declared their freedom from england but forgot about the blacks , the women , the minorities , the jews , the catholics and of course the original inhabitants of this land , the native americans . the point that i ' m trying to make is this : i feel grateful that i was born here . there are other great countries in the world , many other governments that i respect ( canada , sweden and switzerland to name some ) but i was born here and i feel lucky . i understand that this country isn't perfect . that this government is fucked in the head and the very foundation in the declaration of independence and the constitution nine years later were discriminatory and unfair at the time . to this day there are groups of americans being denied rights but at the same time , there are many countries in this world that even fighting for rights can land a person in jail . do you want an example ? look at nelson mandela in south africa . look at gandhi in india and south africa . look at lumumba in the belgian congo . look at the dalai lama in tibet . look at aung san suu kyi in burma . these are or were people that fought for change in their homeland . whether it was independence or social change , they had been imprisoned or exiled for their beliefs . here i am , i philadelphia on july 4 th , 2006 writing this entry . here i am in philadelphia writing a novel as crazy as i can imagine . here i am able to watch porn , drink alcohol , eat shellfish and write words in a book that could land me in jail or have a death hit put out on me . ask salmon rushdie , it happened to him . the point i ' m making is this : yes , this country can be fucked up and breaking it 's own back but we have so many things that we take for granted in this country that many don't . there is no such thing as a perfect country or the perfect government but we must know that we have fairly well off in this country . i believe when you can appreciate that , then one can begin to seriously question what is going on here . 
God will come with vengeance ! ISRAEL COMES HOME GETS TOUGHIsaiah 351 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice , and blossom as the rose .2 It shall blossom abundantly , and rejoice even with joy and singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it , the excellency of Carmel and Sharon , they shall see the glory of the LORD , and the excellency of our God .3 Strengthen ye the weak hands , and confirm the feeble knees .4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart , Be strong , fear not : behold , your God will come with vengeance , even God with a recompence ; he will come and save you .5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened , and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped .6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart , and the tongue of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness shall waters break out , and streams in the desert .7 And the parched ground shall become a pool , and the thirsty land springs of water : in the habitation of dragons , where each lay , shall be grass with reeds and rushes .8 And an highway shall be there , and a way , and it shall be called The way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; but it shall be for those : the wayfaring men , though fools , shall not err therein .9 No lion shall be there , nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon , it shall not be found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : 10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return , and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and gladness , and sorrow and sighing shall flee away . 
A man of many needs . Today , I realised I am a man of many needs . It 's easy to forget I have these needs when they 're being taken care of by people . But without these people , these needs resurface . The sooner I realise I need people , even to enjoy my individual life , the better . God has given me some really good people in my life . It 's amazing how these people have contributed to the man I am today . These people I will always treasure : Daddy , Mummy , and Jan . I will never walk away from the destiny you have for me , Lord . To learn contentment , that 's all I ask . To be settled and still where I am , knowing you are the one who can truly push me forward . I hope my needs will be fulfilled one day . They seem to be a bottomless pit . Maybe they are . Maybe they are why I need people . Maybe they will also be the reason why I can finally stay still . Sometimes I wonder why some initiatives seem like bashing my head upon the wall . I was not cut out for it . Really . I try , but I ' m just not cut out for it . I ' m too emotionally needy to be able to stand on my two feet . Maybe this neediness will never stop . But I will be content . And I will say of the Lord , " You are my shield , my strength , My fortress , deliverer My shelter , strong tower , My ever present help in times of need . " I am strengthened . My self - image is up . It stops being bashed . It is now renewed . I will stop relying on the praises and attentions of others . May his strength be more than enough . To stop relying on the wayward support of man that needs striving . To have faith , not desperation . To move , resting . These are the sayings of King Lemuel , an oracle that his mother taught him . " O my son , son of my womb , O son of my promises , do not spend your strength on women , on those who ruin kings . And it is not for kings , O Lemuel , to guzzle wine . Rulers should not crave liquor . For if they drink , they may forget their duties and be unable to give justice to those who are oppressed . Liquor is for the dying , and wine for those in deep depression . Let them drink to forget their poverty and remember their troubles no more . Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves , ensure justice for those who are perishing . Yes , speak up . " Yes , I will do so . Abandon foolishness for the perishing , but for me who is rising , to follow wisdom . To stop chasing after the wind . My heart tears at this nonetheless . But it is for the good of my esteem . And it is the will of the Lord . 
Found a new grace ... Amazing Grace . Seriously , truly , amazinggg . Nothing that I could do to prove anything to you , dear Lord . But you have given me everything . Today I draw . Draw upon your love , and your amazing security and grace and freedom for me . Amazing love , how can it be That you my King would die for me Open up the gates and let the King of glory in Fill this house with praises as we lift our hands and worship you ... King of Heaven we dance before your throne . Grace ... I am charged up and ready to meet the day . = ) . 
One stupid post to squash them all . Welcome to this post : a one - in - a - million post in which Daniel gets a chance to release / sublimate his stupidity . Don't say you weren't prewarned . Ok , the stupid but thrilling things that have been happening in my life : 1 . Attachment @ Bowen : recently , I got a chance to work pretty closely with this really chio ( in my opinion ) teacher . I had to teach in her class , so we had to work on that together , plus she 's also helping me to get my project done . Ha ha . Me being the silly guy that I am , am swooning every time I need to discuss things with her . ( So stupid right ) Why -- you may ask : well , the reasons are few ( and superficial ) : 1 . She has a crooked , but utterly heartwarming smile .2 . She has this really cute demeanour and behaviour , the little bit crazy kind that just lightens everybody 's day . She has a real talent in making people smile ; : ) 3 . She 's like this superteacher : handling so many projects at a time , doing so many things at one time -- yet , she never loses her sense of humour / smile .4 . She has these beautiful legs that seem to stretch forever whenever she sits down . I ' d rate her personality as Sanguine + Phlegmatic ( primary ) + Choleric ( secondary ) . But in case some people are seeing green , she is a bit of the " lao chio " . Ha . And ' cos she 's so Phlegmatic , it 's hard to really know her lor ( at least in a short period of time ) , other than this cute sweet nice teacher that brightens up everybody 's day . So there . AND she 's married . So let 's just fuhgeddaboutit . : D 2 . Daniel has also been enjoying this attachment ' cos of the amount of boh - liao - time that the " scholars " ( frankly , I don't feel very scholarly , I feel like the Ah Beng of the grp ) enjoy . Sometimes , like today , it 's plain boring . Other times , I ' m trashing girls ( sorry la , not that I chauvinistic or wat , it 's just that there are no other guys around ) in Chinese chess , playing UNO , listening to Simple Plan , and writing poetry . Very very fun . I got inspiration for a poem from hearing some sentimental music in an art class ... and guess what ? Out came a love poem from nowhere ... and I managed to use it to teach poetry ! The best part is that the students loved it ! ( Oh , sidenote : We scholars have been found out . My chio teacher told me that she went into the conference room for a mtg and saw on the laptop what our REAL schedule was like -- she saw " youtube . com " on the web browser . HIAK HIAK . ) 3 . Other thrilling thing is that the sec 1 s are beginning to recognise a Mr. Ng and always greeting him profusely when he is near . Hallelujah . Even the sec 1 s who had tried to be mischevious in my class wanted to have lunch with me . A great compliment for any teacher , I must say ( altho the popularity charts usu don't last long in a Secondary Sch ) .4 . Ps Dex is gone ( sigh ) but hey , Ps Roger is here . Will need to set aside time to entertain him ... Anyway .... I ' m feeling very stupid , yet I kinda like the stupid side of me . : P The superficial , fickle side had been buried for very long . Now that it is resurfacing , I keep it within wraps , but don't wanna smother it altogether . It really can be quite fun .... so long I keep it under control = )) And for friends of the bride , don't worry : my heart still remains with my Dearie alone . Just musings from the immature side that needs to grow up . = ) P . S . My Dearie is being interviewed tonight for a Youth Pastor 's position . Pray . = ) . 
A teensy weensy upd 8 since my attachment ... Hi everybody ! ( esp my fan club ) 1 . Ok , I ' ve started my attachment at this sec sch called Bowen Sec . It 's an attachment I ' ve had to do ' cos MOE pays for my school fees and gives me cash , so these three weeks , I ' m required to work for them for free . Lol . Actually , it 's not really work la , more like a training programme put together for the load of us . So far , God 's been good , and it 's been real fun .2 . Besides that , my usual routine of tuitions etc has been going on , plus my business . Wah , really not ez . The business is like a baby , I can't leave it hanging , but have to take as much care of it as I can . So I ' ve been doing so . Wanna thank God for making the impossible a possible . I don't know how to explain it . When I first looked at the stats , it was real bad . Like unsellable . Then left the matter to the Lord , received new faith , and after 3 - 4 days of prayer looked at the figures again . Suddenly , something clicked . It 's possible ! : D 3 . Thank God for Ws 's call yesterday . That girl will not be reading this , but she has no idea how much her call encouraged me that day . Somehow , I needed reassurance that my work for God means something to the people I minister to . And I felt very very reassured by her call yesterday .4 . I think the one need in my life has been a need for security , for acceptance for who I am , and I think me being who I am , this kind of blessed assurance can come only from God . Felt this today as I was going home from school ( Bowen ) and thinking on the day 's events . And I think sometimes subconsciously I can perform what I do for the sake of receiving assurance , hoping to get some kind of encouragement for what I am doing . That 's not very healthy . I need to place my boast in Christ alone , not in my gifts , talents , and a whole load of superficial stuff . And I know I need encouragement . I will find that encouragement by humbling myself before people , and receive the encouragement that comes from them and from the Lord . Amen .5 . Some more notes on the ministry . I felt so broken on Mon - Tue . I don't know why . I had an excellent time of experiencing the Lord and of moving in His Spirit , but I felt very empty . Jan says it 's a spiritual attack . I agree . When I took arms and rebuked the stronghold of doubt , I received more and more strength from the Lord . When Jan talked to me that night , I felt more strengthened , though still broken . And when the Lord just gave me more grace on Tue , I felt a breakthrough . A breakthrough that happens because of faith and not because of other feelings .6 . Some more notes on work : I hope to come to that place where I am fully reliant on God for success at work . I am heading there , and I will reach there soon . Amen .7 . ( sings ) Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom Nor let the strong man boast in his strength Let not the rich man boast in his riches But let the faithful come and give thanks To the one who made us The one who saved us I will boast in the Lord my God ! I will boast in the One who 's worrrrrr - thy I will boast in the Lord my God ! I will boast in the One who 's wor - thyyyyyy He 's worthy ! ( Low tone ) I will place my trust in Christ alone I will place my trust in Christ alone ( One octave higher ) I will place my trust in Christ alone ! I will place my trust in Christ alone ! I will boast in the Lord my God I will boast in the One who 's worthy ! I will boast in the Lord my God I will boast in the One ... Who 's worthy . = ) 8 . I wrote a poem today , but I shall not upload it ' cos it 's one of those reminiscent poems which can lead to a lot of misunderstandings if not properly understood ( the last part of that sentence was SO duhh ) . Ya . So I shall not upload it .9 . And yes : I broke a new record today ! 15 laps continuous freestyle ! Wooohooohooo ! 
Been real busy . To all my friends : 1 . Pls pray for my business and ministries . The business has lots of stuff to do , but very little time given to me to do it . And a lot of things I ' m not very confident of doing .... : ( 2 . We 're embarking on Proj Y again ! YAY ! Pray that we ' ll have another harvest of souls . Looking forward to another exciting season . 
Me Jean , You Tarzan ? You scored as Jean Grey . Jean Grey is likely the most powerful X - Man. She loves Cyclops very much but she has a soft spot for Wolverine . She 's psychic so she can sense how others are feeling and tries to help them . She also has to control her amazing powers or the malevolent Phoenix entity could take control of her and wreak havok . Powers : Telekinetic , Telepathic Jean Grey 85 % Storm 70 % Cyclops 70 % Iceman 70 % Wolverine 60 % Nightcrawler 55 % Rogue 55 % Beast 40 % Colossus 35 % Gambit 35 % Emma Frost 15 % Most Comprehensive X - Men Personality Quiz 2.0 created with Quiz Farm . com. 
As the Lee and Lee family have demonstrated ... ... defamation is a very SERIOUS offence . To * ahem * a particular someone who has defamed me by suggesting - indirectly - that I am some hua xin ren who has some other sweetheart tucked in my heart and that I regret being with my current sweetie , REPENT OR THOU SHALT FEEL THE POWER OF MY WRATH ' Cos my heart belongs to my Dearie and my Dearie alone . : D . 
Welcome to " Survivor : Singapore " . Yes , that 's how I felt just before service started today . Felt a terrible spiritual heaviness I knew not what . Felt so weak I thought I couldn't song lead . So spent time in prayer , and realised that we were battling spiritual forces . So I whacked them in the name of Jesus . Felt a tremendous freedom after that . Song leading was good , but felt directionless until Pastor took over . Ya . I was glad he took over . I felt like I was in a hazy room , with no clear direction . Felt very strengthened by watching Edmund Chan 's msg today during service . Just felt like bursting out and just crying out to the Lord . But didn't want to make a scene ( is it a good thing ? bad ? ) . But I just felt like crying out to the Lord . Take it all .... take my business , my life , my relationships , my ministry , my churches ... just take it all . 100 % . Just reached home after comforting my dear . And read through my journals . Wooooohoooo . I feel so strengthened after reading it . And yes , it definitely gave me the thought that I want more and more ministry from others . So I ' m gonna seek it , not on a regular basis , but whenever there are new people in town , I definitely want to benefit from their ministry . ' Cos one of the reasons why the ministry was so dynamic in Cebu was ' cos I had benefited from Bro Kubus ministry in COOS at that time . The man had laid hands on me for 2 seconds .... but it was enough for me to know that it 's not the man , it 's Jesus , and this is how the Master feels like . And I think one can't get enough of such touches from God . Felt so strengthened with a new strength ( hate repeating words but no choice ) at that time . And I think my memory is short , you know , after a while I forget that it was ' cos someone ministered to me in the first place . So I need people to minister to me . So guys , if you 're reading this and you know some good ministers are in town , page me ya ? Many thanks in advance . 
Back in Singapore .... A few thoughts after spending my 2 nd night in Singapore : 1 ) Welcome back to such a boring place : P 2 ) I miss the students . Esp their fellowship and their laughter . Sometimes boring after a while , but still .... it was chao fun .3 ) Miss the crying of the 2 kids ... each taking turns to wail and driving their parents up the wall .4 ) Miss my hotdogs .5 ) Miss the 2 good friends I made there : Judy Ann and Boyet . Miss the long chit - chats .6 ) At least ... I ' ve come back to my Dearie and the churches I missed here ! : D . 
Long Time No See A | . I Q _ A ~ y A A M ] b h e J A b p A C O o } l C u U q X j big brother ...... v N O o A P ` N O l L G u D D h r W s h R @ | A Y r A n h J A ...... v o O q H u A O o O A p A p C v b C ~ Y A { F C g L H b ~ N P A | n w [ _ O p A w L H N q ucut u v A h o q A H b } e N H M u L } H n F L A a M s @ N L Y t A O M v ( o I H ) G k C n w p A E @ A j a a A F h q A N O y C R n w H A Y e a H ~ A M w V A B R F C ] u @ Y A @ o O H L i ` G } } N ( n w Y Fan ) @ j A p B X B x n w H A M C A Q h ~ e i O s o D ` s b A O n O q ~ @ H o @ H o } } N n w _ C _ } } N A S u g L n w N ~ H A u | L u R v b W A O Webay H N c ...... o k M O L ` F A | V u R n w S R ~ Fan D p C Q R n w s A S F n @ } l A ] L q h A O M n C O _ j L N A Q o l n L A O Q W H { O u H { v C g P q R Y A O v v A Q } } N O o w _ a I A n H F H ^ q A g L @ i ~ A G j a A @ ~ M i O H v l A O H S F A B n a o O H [ C H R O D m p n A q H ( j a ) u @ e K o A L i A s D OSigur Ros F i u I A N O t Post Rock A o @ ~ { t C m Y Y { n Y ^ B L B ^ Q A O Linkin Park In The End S A q u } v q A D [ { u ] P s t v s i q D A C mencore n O L p m y n g q @ ~ A s M q { t k A N OBeastie Boys Benny And The Jets A s M X { ^ A [ J q g N Benny And The Jets G C x X w P T @ ~ A Y H q X o A ] } C . 
your mark . } U j y x A X Z P H j g T Swatch h C @ Blue Man Group X @ p C Blue Man Group A { A D O X S | v W @ } t w F " Swatch x Blue " O @ Y A S h j C o O D ~ A @ z Y m n } l C O o ~ p | w b Y x X A n v S Y Suede @ ~ A M Coming Up T O D ` C b X L A o { p @ F @ Beautiful Ones x @ ~ m n F P A ] @ s Blur To The End D ` m K E n C p @ areferences P A ] ~ C A @ x o B @ ~ A ] A P q C Q C q A p o l ^ D G u I A } A S n } A n m A Y A n } A N v T C ` A v A A N q H | Heart C v q S h d N A u v o S A O m n C B q Y f o ( F T Y ) A Blue Man Group Sing Along D ` A A d ASing Along OBMG j W Dave Matthews X @ @ ~ C w m n A p H m n B m Made In Hong Kong n B m @ n B m p G o @ A A R n M m @ ] S n o S o h d N q C u Q g X A @ ^ Q v g A A W d \ U u A ~ o { a u v A d D ` s A H p a Z y W A r s L N C O @ @ m @ n D ` A O Super Furry Animals Dim Bendith A S O l h O m h F n C n h H ^ Gorillaz Feel Good Inc. q m h F n A H { O ( ] Feel Good Inc. X { ) C O { u a A NU 2 @ ~ Staring At The Sun MLast Night On Earth @ @ ~ F _ q ~ ( p | w ) @ A Misia m F p p n M m O L h l n u X v @ m R O j v Q n ...... p G q s v v DMisia @ A ] n D u C H U O @ ~ H { u v O H @ ~ a q ( I / Q @ ~ ) G - h F ( I ) / U 2 - Staring At The Sun - h F ( II ) / U 2 - Last Night On Earth - @ / Super Furry Animals - Dim Bendith - / Blue Man Group - Sing Along c - N / Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head p K - / Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You a - a / 2 Pac - To Live And Die In L . A . a - Y v Y / R . Kelly - Thoia Thoing Ping Pung - R O j v Q ( I ) / Misia - F p p Ping Pung - R O j v Q ( II ) / Misia - O L h l L p - U ~ o / N . E . R . D . - Lapdance ( n n J ) L p - U ~ o / N . E . R . D . - Lapdance L p - B / Linkin Park - Faint G - R o @ / Missy Elliot - Get Your Freak On X - / Beyonce - Crazy In Love ] S h j d N p a Z @ ~ A Q F i s H U } Ghttp : // www . xanga . com / anti _ mark _ lui b P n A j a r g C . 
} O ...... j a x j a d Y B A Q @ e h g ~ d A H P h l D L _ ...... DXbox 360 Play Station 3 A ] O @ N A u L O p o L p ~ } F C q e p A A A S h R A j a u O _ ^ a Y B q w a h M j W o o M D F l n Y ] o Z P p l A I I M w C u t z h a H R @ A q L O u t A u O j a @ H a H w F I d U I a L D A h g h @ h _ _ U C L G u S A a H v M S F A O L h h ...... Y Y n a A | a W ~ h B F ~ H ~ \ Q H | G q C L A O N a u u v C C n F n A u U h N L @ H a B n F A a p h O H Q a C . 
n u ^ M l . @ M A k j N j Q A N j Q b Q @ P n p U ( q U j p a } X v i ) N A H A O C j { @ A N @ y Q G X A o e l a C a w } ( Francesco Totti ) A R _ F ( Gianluca Zambrotta ) M ( Mauro Camoranesi ) R I u ...... n D u I v o r q n N j Q W X { C Gwww . worldcup . com H z z D A O H I ( Zinedine Zidane ) | u I v A Y V S ( Marco Materazzi ) f H Q y X A H H Q D S s F A O s I V ~ | N } C D ~ A ^ m n ( The Guardian ) S b I u l v ( terrorist ) C m n v A F u A q @ A u l v O _ i j C i A u l v u X v O W d U A y W g I I | j x A S D ] L k J H j q ] _ G 1 . S O N j Q H A N j Q C 2 . I B H | Q l H z u T P _ A i H V X z A _ ( Wayne Rooney ) MC . ( Cristiano Ronaldo ) l f A O p j C G M v D A { u i j i p A _ U a S H w ] _ A I T p f A m n ] usurely been provoked - there were suggestions last night that Materazzi had called him " a terrorist " - but Zidane will be right to curse his stupid reaction . v u He had surely been provoked but Zidane will be right to curse his stupid reaction . v Y i Q C p G A I | T i A _ _ j d A @ j O S o W H Q @ P X L L A G ~ O | ...... j O L A l Y A W v A F H O L k z C G z o o O Y S h j F A _ L X | A I @ L E A w F L a C Rock Star I O 2006 ~7 13 I w V j S T X V d M n n A ] F e @ O ] C p G f b A f X c ] A o D { I S C . 
Glog Glog . 10.09.2005 i ' m clueless . people don't take me seriously . they think i ' m some kind of a joke . i don't know why . can somebody tell me ? what did i do wrong ? have i said anything offensive ? i really can't remember if i did . tell me ... it 's unfair when people just stop talking to you . people you care about . i thought they care for me too . but i guess i was wrong . i thought they do care . but they really don't . sad ... but true . you invest so much that non is being reciprocated . it seems unfair . i know it is . but i guess that 's just the reality . it does hurt . you give it out without expecting anything in return . you love because you wanted to . it 's not wanting anything back . it just hurt most of the times . maybe i expect too much . that 's why oftentimes i always get disappointed . maybe i expedite things too much . somethings just doesn't go as i want them to . maybe they 're right . maybe i ' m wrong . maybe things are not really meant to be . although i try to refuse that part . i believe if you don't try , things would really won't work out . nothing will happen if you 're just going to sit and wait . do the initiative . don't wait . if you get rejected , who cares ? at least you tried . you can die saying at least you tried . you could have done harder , but if the feeling is not mutual , just learn how to move on . or better move on . like what most people say , " there are a lot of fishes in the ocean " dig deep . or swim deep ? you ' ll never know what you ' ll find out at the bottom . 
. Cars play d ? ( ) d Starbucks d The Horse Whisperer ( ) bye bye e ( ) man d 7 d To : ! !! To Sam D . : We ' ll be fine . 
I will drop a bomb if ya ' ll dont turn some AC on !!! Dont ya ' ll believe this is the sentiment of half of the people living and fighting in the Middle East . " If there was some AC on somewhere , anywhere I would be cool ( literally ) " I know how it is when I get hot ... Let the Ac go off in my crib ( even here in IL ) I am ready to kick sombody 'sass. Imagine living in that constant heat all of your life .. hell yes I ' d be ready to fight !! I heard someone say .. open a water park up over there .... fighting would cease immediatley , blast the Electric Slide in the middle of a battle ... guns would hit the ground before the first turn and dip ... We have ways to stop the fighting over there , who is willing to bet that this is what Condi is thinking this week while she is over there ... " Fuck all this fighting ya ' ll , let 's have a barbecue . " Not making light of these situations at all ... just trying to lighten up a dark situation .. Keep Blogging ya ' ll ... dont forget to reciprocate . 
Reciprocation . Happy Friday Blog World !! Wikitionary defines reciprocation as a mutual giving and returning ; as , the reciprocation of kindness . First of all ( ladies ) I don't do anything for the purpose of receiving anything in return , I do it ' cause I want to and I love something about yo fonky ass. Just think though you just put in major work on your man .. I ' m talking about hooked him UP ... balls and all ... after you finish he just sits there looking at the fukin wall or something . You my friend will be in need of reciprocation .. Fellas stop being so damned selfish .. hook your ladies up occasionally , ' cause you know you are gonna want her to smell your NUSTY MUTS sooner or later .... RECIPROCATION .. one good turn deserves another . Ladies tell that Monkey Quid pro Quo ... Fellas learn what that shit means . One more thing ladies dont wait until ya ' ll are just about to almost maybe get down to do the ' ol nasty rug burn dance ... surprise his ass grab that thang , take it out and handle your business ... finish it up ... and calmly tell that Monkey you want ..... RECIPROCATION ..... Have a good weekend ... and get out there and reciprocate . 
?? Why Are These Bitches So Nosey ?? Why are these bitches so nosey ya ' ll .... talking about these " folks " I work with . I have a female friend here at work , she 's new here , fine as hell , has more sense in her little toe than these big Sophia from the Color Purple looking .... that is neither here nor there .. I digress .. back to the question " why " damnit " why " . I am a friendly guy , so what I am friendlier to females more so than males ... the thing is I am friendly on damn near the same level with all these females in here as I am with ( what shall we call her ) ... Track Star ( more on that as we progress ) . My professionalism can only go so far , two weeks ago BDO ( Big Dark One ) has the nerve to call me aside and ask me what 's up with me and Track Star , I proceed to tell her that nothing is going on we are merely friends and that is it , she then asks me " Do you think I am stupid " in my mind " The Donkey " was telling me to say " Hell Yeah , monkey you have to be stupid to have the nerve to just come out and ask me that " ... but my Mom taught me to be respectful to my elders so I stuck with my original answer of " nothing " . Yesterday Track Star tells me that another of " The Goonies " asked her what 's up with us ... to which she gave the same reply .. Goonie then tells her .. just watch yourself girl I have heard that he messed with another girl here that got fired ... My response was ... WTF !!!!! Goonie has been here less than a year compared to my 5 yrs ... we speak when we cross paths ( me being friendly ) so I ' m thinking what do YOU know about ME . Sidenote : BDO also came up to me regarding said female from last paragraph to ask the same question .. it was almost an instant replay of this situation with Track Star .... Last female was " just a friend " attractive and younger than these other crows ... Why can I not be friends with an attractive , younger female at work ? I have had similar relationships with older women at work and not a damn thing has been said .. why the hate ladies , and gentleman ( only one ) . Be aware co - workers >>> Professional 1 In The Same has left the building ... Stay the FUCK UP OUT MY BUSINESS !!! 
1 In The Same 1 In The Same ... This has been a title that I have tried to avoid my whole life of being 1 In the same . I spent most of my high school years , all of my college years and a majority of my adult years not so much trying to convince others but trying to convince my self that I AM NOT 1 in the same . Dont get me wrong Blog world there is nothing wrong with being one of the crowd when I say 1 in the same I am comparing my self to influences in my life , i . e . my Dad , my grand pa ( both of them ) , various Uncles and various friends . When I say I have had some PISS poor male influences ... damn ya ' ll I have had some piss poor male influences . I am sure over the course of our time together I ' ll share some stories for yo ' ass. Long story short because of the way I have seen most of my male family act I have spent years trying not to be like " THEM " and convince myself that I am not 1 in the same . Regardless of these things I still find myself doing the Generational thing my folks are doing and have done ... WTF I know better ... Stay Tuned ... 
Long Time Coming . Well here we are post # 1 ... not sure what I plan to accomplish by this Blog ... I just know that after reading the adventures of Slish , R Mack and Zed .. I thought I might have a story or two to tell .. Stay tuned we ' ll see what turns up . 
How your Senator Voted on tax payer funding unethical , unproductive Human embryo experiments . Click below to see how your Senators voted on taxpayer funding for human embryo experimentation : http : // www . grassfire . org / 21 / senate _ vote _ hr 810 . htm After reviewing the list , we encourage you to contact your Senators and let them know how you feel about the way they voted on this legislation . For those here in Indiana , it is just another example of how both Lugar and Bayh have let the losing proposition of California go national . More info on the ' experiments ' here if you can view flash . 
Destroying vulnerable young to assist wealthy old . To show my support for the unborn , I have signed Grassfire . org 's " Petition for Life " petition calling on our legislative leaders to respect and protect the rights of the unborn in our nation who are being threatened by abortion . A recognized grassroots leader in the fight for the unborn , Grassfire has rallied more than half - a - million citizens with their national petition -- a petition that has already been presented to many key leaders in Washington and beyond . Right now there are a number of key Pro - Life pieces of legislation in Congress -- notably the suspension of RU - 486 , and the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act . In support of these and other critical Pro - Life issues Grassfire is calling on Pro - Life citizens to help them rally an additional and mobilize an additional 30,000 citizen signers in time for our next petition presentation . Please use your voice to support the rights of the unborn by adding your name to this important Grassfire petition : http : // grassfire . org / 21 / life . asp ? PID = 10343786 & NID = 1 Sincerely , Mr. Joe Whitchurch . 
Is the Jack Bauer of ' 24 ' a type of Christ ? I guess I ' m not the only one who likes ' 24 ' but alas , Jack as a type of Christ ... ? You decide and I ' d appreciate your comments too after you skim this blog . 
4 th of July Courage on the Home front and abroad . This TV ad is short and to the point and a wonderful response to ' move on with cut n run dot extremists ' . First view and enjoy it . Then think of those who may be strengthened and encouraged to see examples of such in public proclamation . Don't spam people but do send to friends by forwarding graciously ' outside the choir ' and ' outside the committed ' circles you normal post to . The other voices drone - on perpetually by the left , liberal , moral - equivocating mainstream media , university newspapers , and many of the same classroom captive audience of leftist authoritarian soapboxes . Why not graciously share another viewpoint ? Enjoy and forward as led . http : // www . youtube . com / watch ? v = Qvf RCwk 8 edg And for the genuine risk takers , check out this political ad and ask yourself why such ads are not legion . Could it not be partly because so few are taking a stand for righteousness outside our little choirs . At least when someone runs for office they MUST go public but this gentleman really deserves some encouragement imho . Take a risk and view this one too , it is fabulous . You simply have to see this ad before it is censured . http : // vernonrobinson . com / twilightzone 3 . shtml These are not endorsements but HEY , aren't these some of the issues we feel strongly about because they are rooted in our understanding of Biblical truth and Biblical revelation ? And isn't it refreshing to see people in the public square being clear and not as namby pamby and hyper nuanced as some of our super sensitive church services ? Rather , declaring truth clearly and setting it before peoples ' consciences as per 2 Cor 4:1 - 4 1 Therefore , since through God 's mercy we have this ministry , we do not lose heart . 2 Rather , we have renounced secret and shameful ways ; we do not use deception , nor do we distort the word of God . On the contrary , by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man 's conscience in the sight of God . 3 And even if our gospel is veiled , it is veiled to those who are perishing . 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers , so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ , who is the image of God . 
The best web streaming Chicagoland talk radio . Bill Bennett , Laura Ingraham , Dennis Prager , Michael Medved , and also a guy who is too far over the edge for me , Michael Savage . Bennett , Ingraham , and Prager are top drawer scholars and frequently have distinguished guests who do not double - speak and they are clearly functioning from a Judeo - Christian understanding of rationality and justice . Quite refreshing . Here 's the link . 
Cool , cell phone charger . Here 's a tiny item from hi - tech & cheaper than cell phone accessories I ' ve seen . One AA battery in a lipstick - sized case for the low side of $ 30 with shipping . Not bad for battery hogging treo 's , the camper , hiker , frequent flyer , campus or board meeting cell phone frequent caller .. for i Pods soon . See it here http : // tinyurl . com / eo 8 sk I ' m checking it out . 
Fun and Funny Birthday and other Greetings . happy birthday from " the minister farrakhan " happy conservation birthday from " al gore " this ones more iffy but yes " the clinton / s " are running for high office again . 
Books of Note : Godless , America , and Showdown . Why does it take an outsider to reveal political correct nonsense in the church ? That title is ' godless ' not ' goddess ' . LOL . Some appreciate Ann a bit too much . But sure , you can click here to get her book . And why not ? She hasn't started calling the Presidents , former Presidents and / or her detractors ' Nazis ' like so many other ' more respectable ' books by media elites , and posturing , popular , political leftists , and university professors are doing . Bill Bennett for President ! Not likely but he is a good man and a clear thinker . Like the Ann Coulter book , if you buy this one for me , I will read it gladly . And yes , you can click here to buy it . I ' ll admit it . I like Laura Ingraham 's radio show and this is where I heard about this book . From the interview it sounds like another I ' d love to read . Can someone tell me why our major media and a major political party want Bush censured but have nothing to say when China uses Yahoo and Google to censure Chinese access to democratic principles and resources on the web . Where is the library association 's ' death cry ' ? Why isn't the ACLU going after Google and Yahoo ? I didn't think there was any way to stop ( porn ) the internet information from coming into a country . Simply impossible . But not for the Chinese with the help of Google and Yahoo . I suppose they are just keeping their CNN office open in Baghdad so they just HAVE to censure freedom . Click here to get the above mentioned book . Speaking of censureship , here 's one that seems reasonable for Jimmy ... Carter . Though George W . Bush isn't running for President again ( someone tell the liberals ! ) Al Gore might be . Here is a very fun tribute to the main who rants and raves with the best of them . Click here for a 30 second ride with Al . Enjoy ! 
David Warlick Responds . 2 Cents Worth DOPAmatic ! Man , do I respect David Warlick . Check the comments in his blog . We have a little dialogue going on . He posted the following : Point well taken Jim . I had exactly the same reaction when I first read the bill weeks ago . However , it is its vagueness that worries me , because many could interpret it to include Class Blogmeister . CB is not commercial now , but I , as a business man ( boy it scratches my throat to say that ) have the right to start charging and start advertizing . No plans to do that !!!! I m sure you would agree , that if the law also stated that children must learn with and within digital networked information , that we are required to teach them contemporary literacy skills and a curriculum that is tailored for the needs to today s children , and not for the students we wish we were teaching , then I would feel easier about HR 5319 . Thanks for your perspective . Balance is always good and I appreciate it , sincerely . And here is my response : Dave , thanks for taking the time to respond . I know you are a busy guy . I was really impressed with you when I met you at the Support Blogging get together in San DIego . You have created a great product in Class Blogmeister , and I do hope that you can profit from it someday . You have created it in a way that is safe for children and easy for teachers to administer . I cannot think of a way your product could ever be blacklisted by the feds because the outcry from this community would be deafening in DC . You have put a lot of thought into the issues the fed want addressed in DOPA , namely the potential unsolicited contact of a child by a sexual predator , and have created a model for how - to battle those issues . The bill is an extension of the CIPA law . As we have moved into Web 2.0 , so does legislation need to move with the times . To say that the laws of justice should stand pat and watch the world whiz by is dangerous and leads to knee - jerk reaction legislation ( an extreme example of which is the Patriot Act ) . This is a good sign that the government is taking an interest in the social landscape of the Internet . I agree with your statement about children learning with and within digital network information , but it cannot be whilly - nilly . And a statement such as that should be in the National Education Technology Plan , but cannot be legislated into law unless you want to amend NCLB . In my opinion and perspective , the bill doesn't go after the networked learning environment , but rather the openess of that environment after the learning is done ( is it ever done ? ) . It states in the bill that as long as something is done for educational purposes or under adult supervision , then it is OK to allow access . So there is that " out " should something come along as the ideal product for a lesson but is currently blacklisted . Where we agree is the vaguenes of the bill . I would feel more inclined to support or not support this bill if I could see a list of the sites that could potentially be blocked . Because there is that vagueness , and my distrust of Big Brother , I do not support this bill . Funny how we ultimately agree , but our reasons and the way we get there differ . 
Has the Bill been read ? 2 Cents Worth Outlaw Teachers Outlaw Learners Ungh , David . Have you read the bill yet ? Have you broken it down without relying on the opinion of another blogger ? Blogging isn't banned . Learning Blogmeister will not go away . The commercial sites will be filtered in schools . Commercial chat services will be filtered . The list of sites will be provided to schools and libraries . And , according to Section 2 - Part ( d ) of the bill , as long as there is adult supervision and for an educational purpose then go ahead with using the services . I think the spirit of the bill is not to stiffle legit teaching , but unfettered student access to commercial social sites . Interestingly , I am against the bill , but because I am a local / state rights guy and am always wary of the long arm of the feds . 
The Wonders of Derby Tech . One of the issues I walked into with the 1:1 program in Palos Heights is how to filter student content outside the school . Our current iteration of our firewall seems to have the solution . The CIPAFilter we use has the ability built into it to proxy filter on both the inside and outside of the network By setting up a local username and password on the filter , and forcing the proxy settings to the outside firewall IP of the student laptops , students now have to use the content filter to surf the Internet . This is still a testing phase , but it is one that looks promising if my initial findings workout . What will make this perfect is to have Derby Tech complete their work with Open LDAP authentication . Once Open LDAP is completed , I can then tie all student activity to a web usage report and really see who is going where and at what times . This is the kind of data that will give better insight into how 1:1 are used outside the building , something that many 1:1 studies only speculate on through surveys . 
Software for our 1:1 . As I begin my first year as a 1:1 Technology Coordinator I have compiled a list of software we will be using on our laptops . If there is anything glaring that is missing , please let me know !!! As soon as Apple 's WWDC is finished next week I will begin creating the final image ( hopefully , they will announce a 10.4.8 update available that day ) . Accelerated Reader v 6.36 Address Book Adobe Reader 7.0.8 Apple Works 6 Art Rage 2 Free Automator Calculator Chess Div X Player File Maker Pro 6 Flip 4 Mac WMV Player Freeopardy Google Earth Google Sketch Up Homework Hand Ini Cali Chat ( maybe . ) i Movie HDInspiration 7.6 i Photoi Tunesi Work 05 ( 06 on our Mac Books ) Journler Macromedia Contribute 3 Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Macromedia Fireworks 8 Macromedia Flash 8 Magic Word Converter Mail Movie Works Deluxe 6.1 Neo Office Preview Quick Time Player Safari Sound Studio Time Liner 5.0 Ultra Key 4.0 VLCWindows Media Player . 
Attempted Pod Casting . Alright , I had my Mac Book Pro ... I had my good USB headset ... I had notes on a yellow tablet ... I had Garage Band 3 all fired up and ready to podcast . Problem ? Yeah . I babble too much . A lot of " uhs " and " ahs " and that is not the quality of a podcast that I want . I don't want to do a bad podcast . Maybe doing things solo isn't such a good idea . A group podcast using Skype ( oh , free calls to Mexico from July 22 - 23,2006 ! ) to conference everyone ( who everyone is , I have not figured out ) , might be the way to go a la TWIT . I need to think this podcasting thing through a little better . Maybe 5 minutes is better than 30 ? 
UN Standards for Open Source . Hmm . UN Standards for open source software . Well , I guess I should have more faith in the UN to think things through than anyone else . Right ? RIGHT ? ! { not much of a post , I know , but I am just throwing this out there } . 
What a Mesh . Yeah , bad pun . Whatever . Mesh networks . Negroponte talked about them as the way the OLPC laptops will connect with each other . Shared broadband . The hype is great . Just piggyback from one router to the next until you get out onto the Internet . Sounds fantastic for basic surfing . Probably should have setup a mesh ( ad - hoc ? ) network at NECC in the Westin seeing as the Wi - Fi worked great downstairs , but was kludgey in upstairs . Anyway , I found this explanation about mesh network here and here . Then there are these guys who are helping to wire up US cities with mesh networks . Will fiber to the curb even be an issue in the future if we can grab the Internet out of the air like a radio station ? There is a debate about mesh technology and just how good it can be , but also its potential limitations ( left out of the three articles above ) as shown in this ongoing blog debate here . There are also debates about the best way to implement a mesh network , whether ad - hoc or structured . The OLPC actually touts an ad - hoc network structure to have students hook into the Internet . The laptops will have wireless broadband that , among other things , allows them to work as a mesh network ; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors , creating an ad hoc , local area network . When these machines pop out of the box , they will make a mesh network of their own , peer - to - peer . This is something initially developed at MIT and the Media Lab . We are also exploring ways to connect them to the backbone of the Internet at very low cost . This could be scary and ugly if what I am reading about simple ad - hoc networks are true . I seem to remember Negroponte talking about a simple , portable , solar - powered repeater , but again , if it is simply ad - hoc the signal could degrade . Upon further digging into the OLPC site , I find no specific information about how the students will click into the Internet over miles of hops . It is MIT though , and maybe I should have faith that one of the premier technical institutes will work this through ... either that our lean on the India Institute of Technology to really find the answer . 
Fluff and no Stuff ( except Will Richardson ) . Just finally got around to reading Brazilians with tiny orange laptops vs . entertainment - addled game boyz and girlz ? by Bob Sipchen and was disappointed in the total lack of substance in this article . Here , Bob has an opportunity to delve into some of the controversy behind the OLPC and instead I get a grabber of an opening , four fluff paragraphs about the fluff vendor hall at NECC , followed up with unfocused ramblings that move from Ian Jukes , to the way kids pull info off the Internet , to Negroponte 's presentation that was covered in many newspapers , to spinning moral compasses , to conference rollings and the takes of Don Knezek and Will Richardson . Will is always good for a quote , but his was more of a stand on Web 2.0 and not the $ 100 laptop . Where the heck did this posting go ? It started out like a laser beam and finished up like the flash of a camera in a large arena . So , no stuff to this article . Makes me wonder why Lauer , or Jakes , or Jukes , or Richardson don't have space on the LA Times website and Sipchen does . 
The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat . In yet another sign that I might be getting older more quickly than I thought , I caught myself half - asleep - on - the - couch head - bopping to Lionel Richie and " Dancing On the Ceiling " during last night 's Philly July 4 th concert . My deterioration has gone from steady to rampaging ... I have been disgusted with myself since Monday night . I surprised everyone by actually showing up for poker night in Berwyn . I really need to get myself out more . When the host of an event says " Vince ! Oh My God ! I can't believe you came ! I mean , I ' m really glad to see you . But , wow ! " , it generates mixed feelings . On one hand , it feels good to be greeted warmly by your friends . On the other hand , it shows that you aren't getting out to see them nearly enough . I did myself no favors heading into the night 's poker action . I severely damaged myself with a lunchtime Burger King run , and followed that with a rushed ring bologna , potato salad and corn on the cob dinner . My stomach was a mess as I headed north on Rt . 202 , and it got worse as things went along . I started the night by winning a nice - sized pot , but I found it tougher and tougher to maintain my concentration and patience as my stomach rebelled against me . Failure to procure allergy medicine prompted a most nasty allergy attack that set in early in the night - which didn't help matters either . We played most of the night 11 - handed , $ 1 - $ 2 no - limit . A game that size no - limit requires patience and intelligent playing of position . I had three wild players on my left , and this hurt me throughout the night . As is the case with a no - limit game , I had up - and - down swings all night . I ' d be up $ 75 , and then lose $ 30 right back . I played very well for a lot of the night , but off - set my good play with some truly stupid decisions , including one that will stand out for a long time that cost me almost $ 40 . In fact , it might have been the worst hand of poker that I have ever played . I ended up buying in for $ 100 , and cashed out $ 50 for a minus - 50 night . I will do better next time I play with those guys . I will say it was worth $ 50 to see everyone on Monday night . Sometimes you don't realize how much you miss people until you are around them again . As I wrote in my last entry , I was locked - in for yesterday 's Italy - Germany World Cup semi - final . There were many times during the contest that it looked like I would be on the wrong end of the result ( and my bet with Herr Maert ) , but Italy scored twice in the final minutes of the second overtime , and exultation exploded across Italy and the Blando living room . After I calmed down my shrieking and blasting of the Italian national anthem , some guilt crept in . Here I was , on the 4 th of July , wildly celebrating a goal scored by the national team representing a country I had never stepped foot in . I felt very much like a poseur . My father is from Italy , and I grew up watching the games with him , cheering on the blue - clad Italian national team , and rooting for Napoli in the Italian Serie A . I am proud of my Italian heritage , but I have never truly immersed myself in it - I never studied the language , and I have never visited my Father 's homeland . Let it be said that I am newly motivated . I WILL visit Italy . Once we get caught up on some finances , I am going to start putting money away so I can see my Dad 's hometown , and as much of the middle - to - south of the country I can . I will climb Mt . Vesuvius as my Father did when he was a boy , and I will visit Naples and Rome . I will attempt to time my visit so I can attend a Napoli soccer match ( that is , if they have climbed back into Serie A by then ) . [ Currently Listening : Cyrkle - " Red Rubber Ball " ] . 
E , cominci ! While I am the first to admit that I have serious problems with our current governmental system , I am very much an American patriot . You do not have to support every decision made by the people running the country in order to love your homeland . I am an American , and proud to be one . So , Happy Birthday America ! Here 's hoping the next year brings you closer to what the Founding Fathers had in mind when you were born , instead of the rich - get - richer society subjugated by Big - Business and a " culture " dominated by the comings and goings of celebrities . As most of you know , my father is from Torre Annuziata , Italy , and while I have never been to my father 's homeland ( at least not yet ) , I am very proud of my Italian heritage . The highlight of my 4 th of July holiday will not be fireworks , beer or a cookout - but the FIFA World Cup semifinal match between Italy and Germany . My parents and niece will be coming over tomorrow around 2 , and while the girls will most likely go up to the pool , I will be riveted to the television with my Dad , rooting like crazy for the Azzurri . Making the game even more exciting is a bet I have going with my uber - good friend of German descent , Herr Maert . He floated the idea of putting national team jerseys on the line for the game . If Italy wins , he has to buy me an XXL Italy jersey , and I will buy him a Germany jersey if they win . This might go down as one of my poorer sports betting decisions , as the Germans ( with homefield advantage ) are heavily favored . I mis - read one online betting house I visited this morning on which I interpreted Italy as a 1.5 - to - 1 favorite , temporarily alleviating my fear that I might be on the wrong side of the odds . Oops . And , begin ! The " holiday " weekend was okay on my end . Friday night I played the card game " a $$ hole " for the first time in ages . My reputation as a beer pong player is legendary , but my prowess at the a $$ hole table is equally potent . I am a vicious bastard when I play that game . I doubt my neighbors will play with me anymore after Friday night . I was very cocky and mean , after quickly ascending from the bottom spot after joining the game late - as I was rocking the baby to sleep . Playing again made me nostalgic for the 7749 and " Westgate " Eras . A $$ hole was a staple of our weekends back then , especially when a lot of our crew lived at Westgate . We ' d play for a few hours , walk across the street to Maddie 's , stay there for a couple hours , come back and play some more . Always a great time . Speaking of cards and the old Westgate crew , I am very eager for tonight 's card game in Berwyn . I haven't played in a little while , and I ' m looking forward to sitting down and seeing what I can do . More importantly , I am looking forward to seeing some very good friends that I haven't been able to spend much time with over the last couple of years . I am thankful that I still get invited to card games , and that they haven't written me out of the will ( or the fantasy football league ) yet . [ Currently Listening - Neil Diamond - " Cracklin ' Rosie " ] . 
Going to California ... Hmmmm .... What else is new . I really have nothing new to say . I just wanted to post something so that my birthday post went away ! Kinda white trash to leave that up when my birthday has come and long gone . I just got back from California . My best friend got married in Sacramento , Calif. I was the best man ... in more ways than one ( if you know what I mean . And , if you do let me know because I don't ! ) . I had a good time ... catching up with him and his family . I ' m really glad I was invited and was really happy that I got to go . I finally started sprucing up my moutain bike . My brother - in - law tripped it out with new handlebars , breaks and a rear derailer . But , my doting girlfriend got me some clipless pedals . I had never used them before and have spent the last couple days trying to learn how not to fall on my ass ! Needless to say , it must have been an entertaining show for the people who had a view of the quad I was practicing . I also got new shoes to go with my pedals . Ooop ... Family Guy is on TBS . Must be entertained ... Peace out ! PS - Only 22 days until The Simpsons : Season 8 comes out !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Happy Birthday !! That is a picture of the flower cake my wonderful girlfriend sent me today ... TODAY IS THE 10 - YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MY 21 st BIRTHDAY !!! Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me ( editor 's note : sung to the tune of " Happy Birthday " ) Here 's what other magical things happened on July 17 ! And , if you 're into the whole entertainment mumbo jumbo ... here are some famous things that happened again on this magical day ! Have a good day ... only 28 days until the DVD Release of The Simpsons : Season 8 . 
Happy Bastille Day !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Bastille Day to my French friends ( I don't have any ) . Bastille Day is actually a funny thing ... the liberation of its prisoners in 1789 by revolutionaries began the French Revolution . But , it was practiacally empty . A mere seven people were imprisioned ! Imagine 100 's of people storming a prison to liberate all these wrongfully jailed people ... and there 's only seven there ! Ha , ha , ha ! Speaking of France .... vive le Tour de France . American Floyd Landis still dons the maillot jaune . U - S - A , U - S - A !!! One of my co - workers lost her husband to Cancer on July 11 . The funeral was today ( July 14 ) . I went . So , that was my second funeral ever and I don't think I ' m going to do that anymore . That 's just some sad stuff . I say no more dying . I haven't thought about the logistics of eternal life ... and the drag it will be on economic and natural rescouces . I mean , a lot of people are employed because of the whole " death industry . " So , all you all that read this ... no dying because I sure as hell am not going to another funeral ! But , you all are invited to mine and mandated to attend ! = ) God willing , that 's still a number of years away ! I finally got to go out mountain biking today .... after an unsettling two week hiatus . My " in - shapeness " hadn't deteriorated as much as I thought . I ' m still really liking the whole mountain biking thing . When you 're in shape and finally get the hang of it ... it 's actually quite a rush ! I like it . Hmmmm ... what else .... my birthday is in three days . That 's pretty exciting .... to me . 
Vegas , baby ! Vegas ! Hello everyone . I made it through the weekend in Las Vegas . It was my best friend 's bachelor party and we all rented a house in one of the ' burbs and spent our evening on the strip . I know y ' all are like , " Bust out some pictures , man , " but I was not the trip historian . So , I took no holiday snaps ! And if you think I was the locus of exciting doings .... well , I wasn't . I was merely an innocent bystander just tagging along for the ride !! It was awesome seeing my best friend . We ' ve known each other for a mere 26 years ! The one thing I enjoyed was one of the people we hung out with was a government spook ! Good thing I decided to pay my taxes last April , eh ? ! While he didn't speak about specifics , it was interesting to hear the things he could talk about . It certainly made my job look mundane ... Some good news ! My girlfriend is getting out of the hospital after nine months in there . She 's been fighting cancer and completed her chemo treatments while I was in the City that Never Sleeps . When I was in Boise , Idaho , over the Fourth of July , my brother - in - law saw someone wearing a cool shirt that said , " Beat Cancer ? Hell , I kicked its ass ! " I thought it was appropriate . Anyhoo , I ' m very proud of my girl ... and am anxious to get busy livin ' life with her ... Speaking of girlfriend , I have to thank her for figuring out how to get a pic on my profile . Some bad news . My last post I was talking about how me and my girlfriend were gonna get a dog and name him / her Premysl . I found out that I have to name him / her Oscar . PS - Only 36 days until The Simpsons : Season Eight is released on DVD !!! Yeah , I can't wait either !!! 
Puppy Love ... So , here 's a picture of my two favorite pups . The one on top is Brit and the one on the bottom ( looking half - dead ) is Sasha . They 're vizslas ! I love vizslas . Had two growing up ... Fritz ( who died of cancer in 1985 at three years old ) and Whiskey ( who died of old age in 1996 ) . I ' m looking forward to getting a house with Ms. Humble and getting me a vizsla . I wanna name him Premysl ( pronounced : Preh - mish - elle ) . I got the name from the Austro - Hungary history class I took at Colorado State ( I know ... snore ! ) . Wenceslas Premysl is the patron saint of the Czech Republic and was one of the first enlightened despots . This same despot was also the inspiration for the Christmas Carol " Good King Wenceslas . " While I have Prague on my mind ... if you don't like your government , throw them out the window on to a huge stinkin ' pile of CRAP ! Ha , ha , ha !!! This event perhaps rates as one of my favorite in history . Anyhoo , those are my sister 's vizslas ... I was visiting her over the Fourth of July holiday . It 's nice to get out of the Mormon stronghold every once in a while and get normal - strength beer ! I was very happy with my Fourth of July trip . My brother - in - law took me on a couple of good mountain bike rides .... effectively whipping my ass in to A LOT better shape . I finally figured out why I got into mountain biking . Took long enough but now it doesn't kick my ass anymore ! Well , I haven't seen anything worthy of a WTF nod this week , sadly . But , it is only Wednesday . And , I am heading to Vegas for my best friend 's bachelor party . To quote Vince Vaughn in " Swingers " ... " Vegas , Baby ! Vegas ! " I ' m sure Vegas will be full of WTF 's ? In fact , I know it is . The fact that I ' m making my fourth trip there this year is a WTF moment in and of itself . Well , I ' m gonna log off here ... but before I off .. I ' d like to welcome my mom to the blog portion of the information superhighway . Her slice of internet is right here ! PS - if my mom is a DAR - ling .... does that make me a SAR - ling ? Methinks that 's a question without an answer like , " What 's the sound of one hand clapping ? " . 
So far , so good ... I ' m on day three of owning a blog and so far , so good . I haven't crashed the Internet and no government spooks showed up at my door . Sorry that my blog isn't aesthetically pleasing just quite yet . I ' m still trying to build upon my basic knowledge of HTML programming so that I can add pictures and whatnot . I haven't really seen anything for my " WTF Moment of the Week " nod . Although , the story on cnn . com about Rush Limbaugh smuggling Viagra was the Web site 's most popular story on Tuesday . That is a good front - runner for a WTF acknowledgement . I didn't know that ultra - right - wing Republicans had " casual carnal relations " ... so I ' m wondering what Rush was doing with all those Viagra pills ! Maybe ultra - right - wing Repbulicans do have " casual carnal relations " but living in Utah , all I hear is the WWJD - CTR . I ' m pretty sure that if you apply that little acronymn to casual sex , it means " relations for procreation only . " See ... CTR is a Utah thing . It stands for " Choose the Right . " Now , I haven't decided if that 's a " good - evil " reference or a political statement . Methinks that while it means " choose to do good " , me also thinks that the subliminal message is to " choose the far right of the political spectrum . " I mean , Utah is , afterall , an EXTREMELY red state . Well , as I said earlier .... no government spooks have shown up at my door ... but I ' m sure the religious majority in Utah will draft a " cease and decist " order and send hired goons to rough me up over questioning the whole " CTR " thing . At any point , why Rush 's sex life was the No. 1 story on cnn . com is dissapointing to me . I mean , there are people losing their homes to flood in DC and Pa. , and Hamas recognized Isreal ( on some diplomatic level ) yet more people were interested in Rush smuggling / ingesting pills so he could get his little soldier to salute on command !!! Ugh ! 
Hello world ! So , I have decided to try and venture into the blogging world .... with the hopes that it 's a succussful one ! I ' d like to begin with my " WTF Moment of the Week . " Now , it happened last week but it still irks me .... and since I didn't have a blog back then , I thought I ' d share it : So , those of you who live in the Beehive State and are avid hockey fans may have been dissapointed two Saturdays ago when they sat down to watch game 6 of the Stanley Cup 's Oilers v. Hurricanes . The idiots who run the NBC affiliate here decided to show Real Salt Lake ( MLS ) play at Houston in hockey 's stead ... now RSL is like 3 - 6 - 1 . The only reason they 're not the worst team in the league is because the Cheevas own that dubious distinction . I was so happy to watch a meaningless regular - season MLS game when the Stanley Cup was on the line !!! What sucks is that the quick - thinking , oh - so - intelligent management at said local affiliate didn't make arrangements to show the hockey game on a different outlet . The only thing that would ' ve made it worse is if the same station opted out of the Stanley Cup to show General Conference .... but I ' m sure that day 's in the not - too - distant future !! 
Exodus from Michigan Medical School ? I just got an email from Uof M saying that four deans , Allen Lichter , Daniel Remick , Maya Hammoud , and Brian Zink , all recently left the school for other positions . The letter assures us that they have " over 1800 remaining faculty " committed to my education . Makes me wonder who they ' ll bring in as the new dean and if they 're as committed as they should be to keeping this a top - notch research institution . 
Michigan Medical Schools Joke ( warning : joke is not that funny ) . This was told to me by one of my physicians who went to Michigan State when I told him I was going to Medical school at Uof M. There are 3 med schools in Michican -- Michigan , Michigan State , and Wayne State . A patient walks into the doctors ' office presenting with a rare condition . The first doctor , who graduated from Michigan says , " Well , I ' ve never seen this condition before but I ' ve read a number of articles on it , and I did some research on something similar when I was in school . " The second doctor , who graduated from Wayne State says , " Well , I ' ve never researched this and I don't know what the current literature says , but I ' ve actually seen a couple of cases of this . " The third doctor , from Michigan State says , " I ' ve never seen this before and I don't know of any research on the topic , but I can tell you how the patient probably feels . " Get it ? See , because Michigan is known for its research , State for its primary care , and ... oh , never mind . 
" The higher the gas prices , the more profits we should make , right ? " . In the times of high gas prices , Exxon Mobil is apparently keeping its profit margins even higher . Exxon today posted near record profits . I like this gem from the above linked article : But the industry has said that oil prices fluctuate widely over time and that , over the long run , its actually less profitable that several other sectors . Update : That 's the second largest quarterly profit by a publicly traded American company ever . It 's up 40 % over same time last year . 
A little puzzle 4 U . Jody belongs to a a group called SCBWI , which is some sort of authors of children 's books group . They 're having a conference in October called " SCBWI Solves the Mystery of Writing and Illustrating for Children " . The whole conference has a big mystery theme to it . Today Jody received the brochure for the conference that was titled " Featuring the Case of the Missing National Executive Director . " I guess during the course of the conference they 're going to to have people solve clues and figure something out . And the brochure had the first clue in the form of a puzzle . So Jody asked me to help her work on it -- it 's basically a cryptogram with a few oddities . I ' ll give you the exact text of the brochure . In the comments section , I ' ll give you two hints in comment 1 and the solution in comment 2 . So , don't look at the comments until you think you ' ve solved it . Or if you hate puzzles you can just go straight there . " We need all of the detectives we can get for this fall 's conference . Solve the following message to get your first clue . Look for more clues at the conference ! AGD QJQOGFUHQ PUDQOFAD VME NQQZ WUPZMBBQP . TQXB GE RUZP FTQ AKEFQDK EB QMWQD . K " . 
Google coming to Ann Arbor . Which will be great to make Ann Arbor more of a high tech area and great for jobs in Michigan in general . Google is planning on bringing in 1000 jobs in their Adwords division . If anyone I know at Google is moving to Ann Arbor , let me know . Two sites proposed are south of Briarwood Mall near the municipal airport or up by Domino 's Farms off of Plymouth . Google has stated a desire for something in downtown . 
How do you say " have a nice day " in Norse ? Norway , with all of its wealth from oil exporting , is trying to find ways to invest its huge pension fund . They divested over $ 400 M worth of Walmart funds citing " serious and systematic " labor violations . Walmart stock fell on the news . 
As Andrew Sullivan Says , King George Watch . The Republican senator from Pennsylvania , Arlen Specter , prepares to introduce a bill allowing congress to sue Bush over his use of signing statements ( giving him wiggle room around laws he signs , such as the anti - torture amendment ) . These same statements that the ABA called unconstitutional in yesterday 's news . 
Well , now I know what I ' m doing this summer . The new movie from Broken Lizard , the comedy team that brought us the astoundingly good " Super Troopers " and the astoundingly mediocre other movie . 
Southern Belle Syndrome . " Dear Diary , today is day six of my strange malaise , this light - headed weakness that afflicts me ever so terribly . I feel as if I could just die . Oh , and that Rhett is such a terrible ass. " Meena calls my dizziness my Southern Belle Syndrome as if I ' m about to place the back of my hand on my head and swoon over . So , I went to see the doctor today as this thing isn't getting any better . Before I went I looked up dizziness on Web MD . It turns out there 's two types of dizzy -- vertigo , where the world spins around , and pre - syncope ( or light - headedness ) . I have the latter . According to the interweb this can be caused by any number of things -- stress , depressions , shortness of breath , low blood pressure , vitamin deficiency , and viruses . Basically anything . I took the girls with me to the doctor as Jody is at work . After waiting a few minutes the nurse took my blood pressure and then I saw the young Dr. Lim who asked me a few questions and then basically told me , You 're young , you 're healthy , you have no other symptoms , I don't think there 's anything else we need to do for you right now . He said to come back in a week or so if it gets worse . I asked him what I do if in a week it 's exactly the same . He said that in all likelihood he wouldn't do anything then anyway . This sounds like the beginning of one of those stories that old people tell where someone has a rare and terrible disease that the first six doctors miss until some wise specialist hits on the right answer but by then it 's too late . Don't be surprised if I turn up with a brain tumor . Either that or this new corset is too tight . 
Oxfam urges changes in the way food aid is distributed . While emergency spending by donor nations has gone up for developing nations , the amount invested in agricultural production has actually dropped 43 % . The report argues that food aid - led emergency interventions are often only a partial solution , and that increased long - term support of agriculture , infrastructure , and social safety nets in vulnerable countries is vital .... Conflict , HIV and climate change compound Africa s food crises : * Africa s conflicts are the cause of more than half the continent s food crises . The current situation in Darfur , where 3.4 m people are dependant on food aid , is a classic example of the devastating humanitarian emergency that conflict creates . * HIV / AIDS is exacting a terrifying toll on one of Africa s key resources for food production people . By 2020 a fifth of the agricultural workforce in Southern African countries will have been claimed by AIDS . [ Josh : emphasis mine ] * Climate change is wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of small landholders and nomadic pastoralists in Africa . Researchers predict that about 60 m more Africans will be at risk of hunger by the 2080 s because of a rise in global temperatures . Oxfam suggests the following steps to improve the situation : # Donor governments , particularly the US , must re - examine their food aid policy , untie their contributions , and look to increase the proportion of locally purchased food . They must also ensure interventions work more to support livelihoods of those most at risk . # African governments should adhere to the commitments made at the 2003 African Union summit for national governments to increase agricultural spending to 10 % of budgets . Governments should also establish long - term social protection schemes for people affected by chronic food insecurity and make available resources for a predictable need . # Aid agencies , donors , UN and governments should increase their use of innovative alternatives to food aid such as cash - based programming to ensure that Africa s poor are given more sustainable and flexible assistance . 
Abbott is refusing new AIDS drugs to developing nations . A newer version of the AIDS drug produced by Abbott Labs requires fewer pills and no refrigeration ( a huge advantage in tropical countries ) because it appears that the old drugs make them more money . Quotes from this article : However , Abbott refuses to sell the drug to MSF for use in its programmes in Thailand and Guatemala and has dragged its feet with registering it in developing countries . The result is that the new formulation of lopinavir / ritonavir remains unavailable and unaffordable for the vast majority of patients who need it .... " Instead , Abbott says we can make do with the older drug that is no longer even on the US market , but this is clearly a second - best product and it is sold here at a price that is anyway not affordable . By limiting its $ 500 price to the poorest of developing countries , Abbott is adopting a policy that deliberately excludes people living with HIV / AIDS in other developing countries . " ... In Thailand , Abbott charges at least $ 2,800 for the old version of lopinavir / ritonavir , which means that it costs roughly ten times more to treat a patient who needs to be switched to a second - line regimen containing this drug . 
Still a go for my vacation . Concerned with the level of unrest in Oaxaca this past few days I called the American embassy in the city . I asked the guy who answered if I should be concerned about being down there right now , if there were any roads closed , etc. He told me that it 's relatively calm right now and that most activity is confined to the Zocalo ( city center area ) . When I told him that I would be staying at the Hotel Monte Alban , which is located right on the Zocalo he said that the main thing I would have to worry about is the inconvenience of stepping over people . Apparently there are thousands of strikers literally camping out on the streets and in the square . I moved my reservations to be a little further out . So , we have a fun week planned looking at ruins , eating lots of Mexican food , doing a little shopping . We 're planning a few - day excursion over to the Pacific coastal town of Huatulco . Although I don't remember it that well we used to go down to the beach when we lived there when I was younger . You used to be able to rent a hammock under a shelter right on the beach . They would make a fire and cook fish up for you right there and serve it to you with the head on . I ' m told we would have to go poop in the bamboo grove . We might opt for indoor plumbing this time . 
Escuela m dica . Brian passed me this link to this article about poor American students who go to medical school in Cuba . Castro specifically set the program up with the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus to educate inner city U.S. students who could not otherwise afford to go to medical school . Students accepted into this program violate U.S. travel bans to Cuba . But they receive free tuition , room , and board ( such as it is ) . In return they commit to working in underserved populations back in the U.S. Select quote : Medicine has long been Castro 's most effective foreign policy tool . According to Cuba 's foreign ministry , this year alone Cuba is training 20,000 foreigners to be doctors , nurses and dentists , most free of charge . More than 2,500 Cuban doctors are treating earthquake victims in remote parts of Pakistan . In the past two years , the ministry says , Cuban specialists have performed eye surgery on 209,103 foreigners , including 157,000 from Venezuela , whose leftist president has forged close ties to Castro and sells Cuba cheap oil . Thompson mentioned that some areas of his district in northwestern Mississippi were woefully underserved by doctors , and he remembers Castro saying : " We would love to help you address some of those inequities . If the Black Caucus can identify students who are willing to come and attend medical school , we make that offer free of charge . " Soon afterward , Castro announced he was offering up to 500 scholarships for American students who were committed to serving impoverished U.S. communities but were unable to afford medical school . The article profiles one American student named Melissa who is going through the program . What struck me about her circumstances was the prohibitive expense even of applying to these schools , something I thought as I was making my rounds . I ' m fortunate to have had a job to pay for this . At her high school in Houston , Melissa loaded up on as many science courses as possible . She won a full scholarship to Howard , where she graduated as a premed student with a 3.2 grade - point average . She ' d saved $ 1,600 from a part - time job at Howard to pay for the Medical College Admission Test and a prep course . The prep course turned out to be a study in disillusionment . " They recommended we apply to no less than 14 schools , and each school application costs at least $ 200 . I ' d just spent two years saving the $ 1,600 , and now I need another $ 2,800 just to apply to schools ? Then , if you 're lucky and a school calls you , you have to fly there and stay in a hotel . They even had the finite details about what to wear , and you ' d have to buy a business suit , and everything was more money and more money and more money , and even then maybe you wouldn't get in . " . 
Do you think this will change anything ? A bipartisan panel from the American Bar Association criticizes Bush for ignoring parts of bills he signs ( including the ban on torture ) with the use of more " signing statements " than all other presidents combined . In doing so , he is ignoring constitutionally mandated checks and balances . 
A little something silly . It 's Sunday afternoon , and I ' ve been working most of the day on a white paper for work . So , as a diversion , here 's a silly poem by ee cummings . the way to hump a cow is notby ee cummingsthe way to hump a cow is notto get yourself a stoolbut draw a line around the spotand call it beautifoolto multiply because and whydividing thens by nowsand adding and ( i understand ) is hows to hump a cowsthe way to hump a cow is notto elevate your toolbut drop a penny in the slotand bellow like a boolto lay a wreath from ancient greathon insulated brows ( while tossing boms at uncle tomsis hows to hump a cowsthe way to hump a cow is notto push and then to pullbut practicing the art of swotto preach the golden rullto vote for me ( all decent memand wonens will allowswhich if they don't to hell with them ) is hows to hump a cows . 
" War on Terrorble Diseases " . Jon Stewart slams the Bush stem - cell research veto here . The best part is when he shows the clip of Bush saying something to the effect that every life is important , every human being counts . Then Stewart cuts to a different clip where a reporter asks Bush how many civilians have died in Iraq so far and Bush says , " Oh around thirty thousand , more or less . " . 
How about an i Pod 5 to get the day started ? I slept for 11 hours last night . My dizziness is gone , and I feel great . How about an i Pod 5 to get my day started .5 at random from my i Pod : " Il Barbiere Di Siviglia " , by Rossini " Down To the River To Pray " , by Alison Krauss ( from the O Brother , Where Art Thou soundtrack ) " International Bright Young Thing , " by Jesus Jones " New Amsterdam " , by Elvis Costello the Attractions " Mi Sentimiento " , by Manitas De Plata . 
More CO 2 means more plants . It 's a good thing . Yeah , that 's the ticket ... Mom the other day asked if I believe in global warming , which seems to me like asking if I believe in Canada or in voles . I think what she meant to ask is whether I believe that global warming is caused by human activity , which I do believe is beyond reasonable debate . I think Mom ( and a lot of other Christians ) believe that we 're living in the end times . She 's said as much and I ' ve heard the same from others . But here 's my question -- and I ' m going to try to be careful how I ask this because I ' m not trying to ridicule , but I ' m sincere in asking : if you 're a Christian and you believe that you 're living in the end times and that the world 's about to end ( as evidenced by wars , famines , and terrible natural disasters ) , and if as a Christian the end times mean that you 're closer to eternal bliss , do you do anything to change the state of the world ? Seriously . Do you stop driving gas - guzzling SUVs that contribute disproportionately to global warming ? Do you vote for politicians who will fight for scaling back on pollution or developing alternative engergy sources ? Do you work ( or vote for representatives who will work ) to end violence in the Mideast ? Or do you pretty much live as if there 's not many more tomorrows ? See , this is what scares me -- as a person who doesn't believe in the end times , and as a person who does believe that how I live my life has long - lasting consequences on the welfare of the world , I get nervous that our country is being led by the kind of Christian who just may believe that we don't need to make a strategy to take us beyond this generation or the next . Please , someone , disabuse me of this belief . Update : Re - reading this post , it sounds maybe a little harsher than I meant . Sorry . It was late , and I was beyond tired . Let 's just move on . 
Sleep Deprivation . I just finished watching Dick Linklater 's most recent move , A Scanner Darkly with the Kramarts and Meena . The movie was based on a Philip K . Dick story about a dystopian future where drugs are the prominent part of life ( yes , the only reason I typed this sentence was to use the word " dystopian " ) . The most interesting part of the movie to me was the style . The movie was filmed with live actors but the frames of film were painted over by hand . So , it looks animated but with realistic people . This technique is used in a series of commercials hawking some sort of financial services . You may have seen them . The first time I saw this technique was in Waking Life , a very good movie that explored the nature of consciousness and dreams . I was telling Krameda tonight that it 's the kind of movie that captures those coffee - shop , pot - induced conversations you had when you were in college . I meant it as a recommendation . Anyway , this film technique is successful in presenting a realistic subject in a disjointed style , which was fitting for a drug movie or a dream movie . My problem is I can't handle extended dream sequences , drug trips , or crazy - person point of view in a movie . I mean , it 's okay as a device , but to make a whole movie about it just makes me mad . And I ' m not a traditionalist when it comes to story - telling techniques . I don't mind disjointed time or point - of - view styles . I just don't like disjointedness for its own sake , and that 's what this movie felt like to me . The bummer was that the movie had an interesting plot ; it just felt like they crammed the plot into 20 minutes at the end of a 70 minute drug ride . Still , the movie resonated with me strangely tonight . I wrote before that I ' ve been having dizzy spells recently , and tonight they were worse . I thought I was getting the flu or something , and I may be , but I think it 's actually exhaustion . Right now the clock in my computer says 1:54 AM , but that 's not the time where I ' m at right now . I still have another hour to wait for my flight , four and a half hours on the plane , and then I arrive in Detroit at 7:30 AM ready to start the day . I ' m glad to be finishing this because I don't think I can keep this pace up much longer . The most interesting thing about being sleep deprived is how my priorities change . The first thing I lose is the ability to care what other people around me think . I don't care if I cut them off in traffic or I ' m rude to them in line . I don't care that I think the guy behind me is reading this over my shoulder ( yeah , you , asshat ) . I don't care when the smelly guy next to me is complaining about all the travel he 's been doing and the flight delays he 's had . I wonder if this is what it 's like to be a crazy person . Update : Huh , I just looked up Waking Life and learned that this was also directed by Linklater . No wonder the styles were similar / identical . I wonder if he 's the first to use it . 
Vacation next Thursday . We 're planning on traveling to Oaxaca , Mexico next Thursday for vacation . Erik points out what a terrific travel destination this is because of the riots and the civil unrest going on right now . If I get kidnapped , someone please pay the ransom . 
Too tired to blog . I ' m too tired to do a post this morning . Besides the time zone difference , which wakes me up out in California at 4:30 AM , I think I ' m sick . I don't feel naseous at all , but I ' ve been getting dizzy spells for the past 2 - 3 days . Meena says it 's because I ' m getting so tall . Plus , last night , we went down to Dan & Jordan 's and drank some beer , so I ' m a little out of it from that . We were going to play Karaoke Revolution , and I was going to wow everyone with my rendition of Janis Joplin 's " Bobby Mc Gee " , but Meena couldn't get the machine to work . So we just sat around all night watching Meena take the disk out and put it back in ( literally for 3 hours ) . And I ' m too tired to blog about how Dan pulled a classic Krameda move when he looked at his watch to check what time it was and spilled the drink he was holding in his watch - hand all over his pants . Just like old times . 
Celebrity sighting in Arkansas ? Okay , here 's the story . When Meena and I were last in Bentonville we were hanging out in the town square waiting for our flight and we saw a couple of dudes ( not in the cowboy sense ) who looked totally out of place . There were four guys , three totally grunged out -- wearing black , tattoos , long greasy hair , one was smoking a stumpy and fat cigar -- and the fourth had long hair but was wearing a button - down shirt . Meena and I were cracking up at these guys , who we considered locals who were trying to be rebels . But we kept making fun of their posturing . Well , we later saw them at the airport when we were catching our flights . We passed them unloading a van and getting ready to go on their own flight . We also see them in the airport where one gets into an argument with a TSA guy ( these rockers like sticking it to the Man ) . And Meena says she saw someone come up and greet them as if they were celebrities . Okay , here 's the thing -- sounds totally like a band , right ? We think so ( and shirt - guy was the manager ) , but the equipment they were unloading didn't look like band equipment . It looked more like photography equipment , and the manager guy was carrying some sort of camera bag . Anyway , here 's the mystery : if these guys were celebs , find out who they were . This was the week after July 4 , and this airport serves Bentonville , Fayetteville , and Rogers , Arkansas . The guys were all white and looked to be in their 40 s ( a washed - up band if anything ) . I looked for music schedules for Northwest Arkansas on Google and found some stuff , but nothing about these dudes . 
Bush vetoes stem - cell bill . I ' m sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane to San Francisco . I ' m watching on the airport CNN how Bush has just vetoed the stem cell bill . Man , that pisses me off in so many ways . I don't even know where to start . Okay , how about this -- he uses his first veto in five years on a bill that would advance scientific research . He 's never once blocked a spending bill before , but now he thinks he 's making a moral stand . That 's the other thing . He 's saying things like , " This is crossing a moral boundary ... " or " I will not allow American taxpayers to pay for the destruction of human embryos . " Don't you think this is a little ironic from the man who started a war which has cost tens of thousands of civilian lives and who presided over how many executions as governor of Texas . And then there 's the whole absurdity of the situation . The birth control pill can cause destruction of a viable embryo for crying out loud . As a matter of fact you can argue ( and I ' ve seen it argued in a medical journal ) that the rhythm method causes destructions of embryos by reducing the chances of implantation in the uterus as well . So , not only are potential medical and scientific breakthroughs delayed because of his misplaced fit of morals , but now we 're also depriving the country of a thriving biomedical industry . I can see the brain drain starting . How can this president be so wrong on every single issue ? 
Before / After Pictures of Josh ( quiz at the end ) . A while ago when I was testing out search engines ( see my post on Yahoo ! vs . Google ) , I discovered the only picture of me on the internet . This was taken about 9 years ago when I was working at Oracle in Redwood Shores , CA . Well , obviously a lot has changed since then . Here 's the quiz for those of you who know me in person . Find six things that have changed between then an now ( no peeking until you 're done ) . Ready ? Okay , let 's see how you did : In this picture , I don't have the excess kidney fat that I have today , which some people cruelly call " love handles . I no longer shop at the House of Denim ( cred to Eugie - bear ) . Shaved the beard long ago . I no longer wear Joseph Mc Carthey - style glasses . My state of mind is much improved now that I ' m no longer working in that cesspool of a company . I hated that place . Here 's two representative stories . 1 . When I first joined Oracle , I had to sit through orientation . I was in a room with about 30 other neophytes when the lights were dimmed and a large projections screen descended from the ceiling . The flickering image of Larry Ellison soon appeared just like that hologram of the emperor appearing to Darth Vader . He began telling us about how gold and silver no longer mattered , how the number one asset in the new millenium will be information . And because Oracle would control information , we would be the most powerful entity in the world ( and , thus , he would be the most powerful man ) . I ' m not sure , but I think I may have signed away rights to my firstborn . 2 . Way back in 1998 when I was there , Oracle was planning on releasing something they called the network computer which was basically a light computer with very little processing or memory . All of the memory would be on huge , Oracle - controlled servers on the internet . This was a big deal to the company . They came out with a marketing campaign that had 4 major selling points which they wanted every employee to memorize . They printed up t - shirts , fliers , mousepads , and everything . HR would even call up random people at their cubicle and ask them what point # 3 or point # 1 was , and you were supposed to know it . Anyway , the idea bombed , and a month later , no mention was ever made of it . I ' m at least half an inch taller than in this picture . 
Besides spiders and Gary Busey , I mean . You know what scares me ? Have you ever seen that movie The Trigger Effect with Kyle Mac Lachlan ( he of the prominent chin ) ? In this movie Mac Lachlan plays a typical suburbanite in LA or somewhere with his wife and little baby . The power goes out for a few days and the whole city slides into chaos . It 's based on a Twilight Zone episode called " The Monsters are Due on Maple Street . " In the movie , Mac Lachlan has to go to a grocery store to get his baby some medicine , but no one can ring him up and people are looting , and his baby is crying ... so , he steals the medicine . And after a few more things happen , a suspicious person ends up getting shot on his quiet little cul - de - sac in the ' burbs for no other reason than looking suspicious . When the cop comes out Mac Lachlan asks , How are things going out there ? and the cop says , Out where ? Anyway , I ' ve seen the movie and the Zone episode , and they both scare the bujeezus out of me . However you want to label that -- mob violence , mass hysteria -- it basically amounts to a breakdown of civilization , or at the least , society . And here 's the problem , here 's why it probably scares me more than most people -- I think it 's a distinct possibility . First off , in a major catastrophe , I wouldn't trust my fellow human being further than I could loot them . Secondly , I think that there are many paths to that state . I mean look around us . We have terrorists , global warming , ever - deadlier natural storms , massive heat waves , the Bush administration . I was reading a scientific article the other day that was saying that if the ice caps melt a certain amount the salinity of the oceans could change just enough to start reflecting more sunlight back into the atmosphere and trigger a whole new ice age . Really , how do you think people are going to start treating other people once there 's shortages of food , medicine , money , shelter ? Exactly . They 're going to treat them the same way they do today . Have you been to a ghetto in Detroit recently ? Do you remember how it was in New Orleans during Katrina ? It 's going to be every man for himself . And really , if it were just me , I think I could survive an apocalypse . I ' d wander around the waste having adventures just like the six - string samurai . But I ' ve got a family , and I think about how it would be if I couldn't get enough food or care for them . I really do . These things occupy my thoughts . Which is why I ' ve planned my life for this kind of occasion . Remember in Dr. Strangelove when a nuclear disaster is imminent , what do they do ? Or in that movie where Morgan Freeman is president and the asteroid is about to hit the earth ? That 's right , they select a representative sample of people to move them into caves to survive and to propagate the species . Well , every decision I make I ask myself , Is this going to increase my chances of making it into the cave or decrease my chances ? Really . What kinds of people do you think they 're going to put in the caves -- scientists , leaders , artists , doctors . Most importantly , they 're going to pick people who can breed . This was the main reason I decided to switch careers . I mean , really , if they 're going down the cave - candidate list and they get to a taxonomist do you think they ' d even consider me ? Not likely . But , I have proven I can breed , and I ' ll also be a doctor . I just have to round it out by publishing a novel . I ' m not kidding . 
Jody and I must have been doing it the hard way . A government study reported by the Washington Post has found that " abstinence only " programs are misleading and sometimes outright lying to students . The report studied 13 curricula and found that 11 of the 13 contained false or misleading information , including these gems : genital touching can lead to pregnancyhalf of the gay male teenagers tested have tested positive for HIVabortion can lead to sterility and suicide HIV can be spread through sweat and tears . 
Euthanasia during Katrina . Three medical workers were arrested Monday for allegedly euthanizing patients duing Katrina . Forget the whole question of euthenasia in general ( although , I think we could stand to revisit it again ) , I would have a hard time putting myself in the position of those doctors who were working in unbearable heat with no electricity and food running low . Remember , there were reports of snipers and looters and there was no government response for , what , 4 days ? Anyway , I can't unilaterally condemn those doctors , who are usually by nature compassionate people . If I were in their shoes , I don't know what I would have done . I think that a merciful death may sometimes be more humane than keeping a person alive . 
David Berkowitz vs . Bob Cobol . This website ( sent to me from Dunka G this morning ) tests whether you can tell the difference between serial killers and inventors of programming languages . I only scored 6 of 10 . 
Uof M Ropes Course . I have to sign a waiver prior to med school orientation week . It 's a liability waiver for the " University of Michigan Challenge Program . " Apparently , during orientation week all of the incoming students have to participate in a Dilbert - esque team - building course , which involves -- and I quote -- " simple ball tossing activities to more complex challenges involving larger and sometimes fanciful props such as ropes , boards and cables . " But , the letter assures me , if I find any of these activities too stressful or straining , at the Challenge Program they abide by a " Challenge by Choice philosophy . " Whew , I ' m relieved . Does this sound gay to anyone else ? Oh , wait , Krameda says I ' m not supposed to use the term " gay " in a pejorative sense . Does this sound homosexual to anyone else ? ( Gay friends feel free to respond ) . 
Yahoo ! vs . Google . So , Yahoo today announced the release of their " Web 2.0 " powered webpage . I mentioned in a previous post that Yahoo maps , in my opinion , were slightly better than Google maps . Well , now with this new front page , I think Yahoo could be giving Google a run for their money . Today , I played around with their respective search engines ( after all , that 's supposed to be Google 's bread and butter , right ? ) . I tried various searches including , " Tablus " ( the name of the company I work for ) , " Josh Mugele " , and " monkey keyboard " ( without the quotes ) . I searched images and webpages . What I found , surprisingly , was that Yahoo was actually very comparable to Google in the search department . There were a few things I liked about Yahoo -- when I searched on my name , I got my " Linked - In " page , which didn't show up in Google , and Yahoo had search suggestions for my " Tablus " query ( see image below ) . And there were some things I liked about Google . For example , Google seems to always rank Wikipedia pages highly , as when I searched for " Monkey Keyboard " . Google 's first hit was the Wikipedia article about the infinite monkey theorem ( Yahoo also found it , but ranked about 5 spaces lower ) . But all in all , they were comparable . Most of the hits were the same with a little bit of differences in the rankings . Which do you prefer ? I may end up using Yahoo more now , if only because they found three more websites with my name in it ( which just means that their index is bigger , not that they necessarily have a better algorithm ) . 
August 2006 Harper 's Magazine Excerpts . Excerpts from Harper 's Index : Ratio of the estimated U.S. cost of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol to the cost of the Iraq war so far : 1:1 Portion of all fuel consumed by the U.S. government that is used by the Air Force : 1 / 2 Estimated amount the U.S. military has spent since 1994 to replace service members discharged for being gay : $ 364,000,000 Number of films since 1960 that feature an evil albino : 55 Chance that a member of an all - white jury decides a black defendant 's guilt before deliberating , in a recent study : 1 in 2 Chance that a white member of a racially mixed jury does : 1 in 3 Amount that a randomly chosen Arizona voter will receive after each election , if a November referendum passes : $ 1,000,000 Number of African giant pouched rats that Belgian researchers have trained to sniff out explosives : 36 Number of wasps that a Georgia engineering professor says he has trained to do this : 3,000 Seconds he says it takes to train each wasp : 30 Price , from a North Carolina company , for a charcoal - filled seat cushion that absorbs the odor of flatulence : $ 21.95 Percentage of the odor that the cushion absorbs , according to an outside survey : 20 Percentage absorbed by the company 's $ 64.99 carbon - fiber underwear : 99 Excerpts from Harper 's Findings : ... Gene experts said that we are not entirely human . " We are somehow like an amalgam , " said one molecular biologist , " a mix of bacteria and human cells . There are some estimates that say 90 percent of the cells in our body are actually bacteria . " ... A new vaccine seemed to be effective in preventing Alzheimer 's in mice ... Overweight children are more likely to break their bones , strict disciplinarians are more likely to raise fat children , and British children could face obesity tests at school ... Hungry polar bears were eating one another in Canada . 
Overheard in NY . Have you seen this website ? It 's where people post random things they ' ve heard in and around New York . Here 's a sample : Saleslady : Where are you from ? Tourist : Kansas City . Saleslady : There 's a city in Kansas ? Like with buildings ? Tourist : Yes. Saleslady : Tall ones ? 
I ' m a ninja . If I ' m working upstairs in the office late at night I ' ll sometimes turn off all of the lights before walking down the stairs , through the living room and dining room , and then into my bedroom . It 's practice in case , you know , I ever become blind or have to battle ninjas who have cut off the power supply . Last night I smacked my head into a door . 
Sunday morning musings . If you could take humans and genetically alter a single , specific characteristic , what would it be ? I always thought it would be cool if we had opposable thumbs on our feet . You know , to grab and pick stuff up with . I already have hideously long finger toes ( I can pick up a baseball between my first two toes ) . So , if you know any boys about my daughters ' ages with large , splayed big toes , let me know . I ' m all about arranged marriages . I figure 4 - 5 generations , tops . 
Raymond Chandler . I think the single best prose writer ( not necessarily best novelist ) I ' ve ever read is Raymond Chandler , author of The Big Sleep , Farewell , My Lovely , and The Long Goodbye among others , all with the private detective , Philip Marlowe . I think I ' ve read every one of his novels . I can't remember plot details from any of them , but I do remember the sheer joy I ' d get at reading them . Here are some quotes from him and his books ( I googled these rather than digging through my own copies ) : Alcohol is like love . The first kiss is magic , the second is intimate , the third is routine . After that you take the girl 's clothes off . Everything a writer learns about the art or craft of fiction takes just a little away from his need or desire to write at all . In the end he knows all the tricks and has nothing to say . From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class . From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away . I guess God made Boston on a wet Sunday . I think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle , so he won't let himself get snotty about it . It is pretty obvious that the debasement of the human mind caused by a constant flow of fraudulent advertising is no trivial thing . There is more than one way to conquer a country . She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket . She jerked away from me like a startled fawn might , if I had a startled fawn and it jerked away from me . The streets were dark with something more than night . Woe , woe , woe ... in a little while we shall all be dead . Therefore let us behave as though we were dead already . 
Right around the corner . I got my pre - orientation packet from Uof M today , orientation beginning with the white coat ceremony on August 6 . The packet containeda list of recommended / required textbooks . This should set me back about $ 500 . a list of all of the different student organizations I could join . Ones that I might be interested in -- an AMA student branch , a neurology interest group , and international medicine interest group , and a service group ( they go around and help homeless shelters take medical histories ) . Groups I ' m not interested in -- the gay / lesbian / transgender medical student society , the Asian - American medical student society , the African - American medical student society . I assume orientation week has some sort of rush party thing . a reminder to update my immunizations . I got my Hepatitis B shots earlier this year . I went in this morning to get my TB test . an invitation to contemplate my upcoming experience in gross anatomy and to express those thoughts with words or pictures which will be presented to the student body ( anonymously ) during orientation . Me ? I think anatomy 's gross ( ha ha ) . 
Plug for Ann Arbor . Meena was in town the last few days for work . Unfortunately , she was sick much of the time and stayed locked up in her room . When she was able to come down we went into my office , which is located directly above an Irish pub called Conor O ' Neils on Main Street in Ann Arbor . While she was here , we had a job candidate named Heather come in for an interview . On Thursday night , Jody , Meena , Heather , and I went out for dinner and a stroll around downtown . We ate at a sidewalk table of a very posh Asian fusion place called Pacific Rim where I was able to take my shoes off and eat like a civilized person . We all liked the restaurant , and I recommend it to anyone who comes into town . I was telling John ( a current co - worker ) the next day how much I enjoyed the evening , eating outside , walking down to the diag and watching the students , and what a wonderful town Ann Arbor is . But he called me on it . He said I ' m just trying to psych myself up for living here for four more years . Maybe so , but there is a lot to like about this town . The art fair for one . The film festival , which shows indie films at the historic theaters on State and Liberty , for another . 
Doctors in the arts. Who 's your favorite physician / artist ? Michael Crichton doesn't count . Mine is William Carlos Williams . My first introduction to him was in college with " Queen - Ann 's - Lace " . I think Krameda 's favorite poem is also by him , " This is Just to Say . " But I think Krameda likes it the way an absurdist likes reality . I sincerely like Williams ' poetry and think it 's very profound in a kind of Zen way . My beat - up copy of Norton 's says of him , " ... Williams has attracted more followers in the last forty years than has Yeats or Eliot . " For whatever that 's worth . Queen Anne 's Lace Her body is not so white asanemone petals nor so smooth - norso remote a thing . It is a fieldof the wild carrot takingthe field by force ; the grassdoes not raise above it . Here is no question of whiteness , white as can be , with a purple moleat the center of each flower . Each flower is a hand 's spanof her whiteness . Whereverhis hand has lain there isa tiny purple blemish . Each partis a blossom under his touchto which the fibres of her beingstem one by one , each to its end , until the whole field is awhite desire , empty , a single stem , a cluster , flower by flower , a pious wish to whiteness gone over -- or nothing . This Is Just to Say I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox and whichyou were probablysavingfor breakfast Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold . 
JPod . Meena passed along this book to me by Douglas Coupland because she thought I would like it based on the fact that I want to write a book based in the cubes and this novel is supposed to be similar , I guess . Coupland wrote a book in ' 91 about generation X , kind of defining the movement , so I guess he feels he has a corner on pop culture or something . But I ' ve read half a dozen writers who are more pop - culture savvy than him and who are better writers too . I got halfway through the book , but I don't think I " m going to finish it . He 's obviously proud of writing a pop culture novel , he 's gimmicky , but worst of all , his characters are stupid and flat . Any author who sums up each main character in the first few chapters ( and by actually just describing them rather than having them do anything ) is definitely a hack . And talk about gimmicks , the narrator 's mother is a pot dealer , his father is a wannabe actor , and his brother is involved in smuggling Chinese immigrants . I mean it 's as if he takes this cube setting rich in human drama ( however trivial ) and comedy and then decides it 's not enough so he 's going to throw in not one but three B - movie subplots . No thanks . 
Sarah Silverman . I watched Sarah Silverman 's Jesus is Magic last night ( Sarah Silverman is a comedienne who appeared in School of Rock as the bitchy girlfriend . That girl is crude . She had some pretty funny bits , but I got tired of her toward the end . I ' d repeat some of her jokes , but the funny would get lost in the delivery . Plus , I can't think of a single inoffensive thing she said ( as if she was trying really hard to offend ) . But I did laugh . That either means I have no taste or no sense of humor . Dunno . 
Last Night . I woke up last night at 3:00 AM because I thought I heard one of the girls coming into the room . I ' m a deep sleeper , so when I wake up I ' m usually pretty dazed . It took me a few minutes to realize that nobody was in the room and that I was hearing sounds from outside my window , which is on the ground floor opening out to the back deck . I rubbed my eyes and tried peering through the darkness . There were , I could just make out , two somethings -- raccoons ? -- one on the deck , the other perched on the top of the trashbag , which itself was stuffed on the top of our garbage can like a scoop of ice cream on a cone . This bears some explanation . In Michigan , apparently , landfill is at a premium mostly because we store a lot of Canadian trash in our state . Michigan requires that we dispose of our house waste in bright orange bags that we have to buy from the state for two and half bucks a pop . This leads to stuffing the bags as if our budget depended on it . One bag can hold at least two tall kitchen garbage bags along with a couple of pizza boxes , a bathroom trash can , and a bunch of junk mail . In short , these bags get too big to easily fit in the trash cans . I ' m always nagging Jody to stuff the bags down in the cans , but really , I ' m the one who bought the cheapest cans I could find at Lowe 's . Anyway , the lid doesn't fit , and of course , not having a lid attracts the trash - eaters . So , at 3 AM , I ' m banging on the window , trying to scare the shapes away , but the shapes just look at me . So , I went out the back door , and the one on the deck runs away . But I could still see the shape on the trash can . And that mofo was huge . I ' m not kidding . He was probably as big as my 5 - year - old . And then I started thinking , what if this is a skunk ? I mean we have those . What if I got sprayed ? So I stood on my deck in my underwear not wanting to get close , stomping my feet and waving my arms and hissing , I ' m a human , goddammit , you 're supposed to be afraid of me . He ended up being a raccoon after all ( my eyes finally adjusted ) , and he stared at me laconically for a while then decided to leave . Me , I ended up picking up chewed up trash at 3 AM and stuffing it down into the can . 
Ulysses . One of my favorite poems of all times is Tennyson 's " Ulysses " , even if it is a little Dead Poet 's Societyish . It 's narrated by Odysseus near the end of his life when he 's getting restless and a little scared of dying , or at least of obsolescence . My favorite lines from the poem : " Some work of noble note , may yet be done , / Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods . " Speaking of Odysseus , and I know it makes me a huge nerd , but The Iliad and The Odyssey are two of my favorite stories . The best translation I ' ve ever read is by Robert Fagles . The first begins , " Rage , goddess . Sing the rage of Peleus ' son , Achilles , murderous , doomed , who cost the Achaeans countless losses ... " Woof . Ulyssesby Alfred Tennyson It little profits that an idle king , By this still hearth , among these barren crags , Match ' d with an aged wife , I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race , That hoard , and sleep , and feed , and know not me . I cannot rest from travel : I will drink Life to the lees : all times I have enjoy ' d Greatly , have suffer ' d greatly , both with those That loved me , and alone ; on shore , and when Thro ' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vest the dim sea : I am become a name ; For always roaming with a hungry heart Much have I seen and known ; cities of men And manners , climates , councils , governments , Myself not least , but honour ' d of them all ; And drunk delight of battle with my peers ; Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy . I am part of all that I have met ; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro ' Gleams that untravell ' d world , whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move . How dull it is to pause , to make an end , To rust unburnish ' d , not to shine in use ! As tho ' to breath were life . Life piled on life Were all to little , and of one to me Little remains : but every hour is saved From that eternal silence , something more , A bringer of new things ; and vile it were For some three suns to store and hoard myself , And this gray spirit yearning in desire To follow knowledge like a sinking star , Beyond the utmost bound of human thought . This is my son , mine own Telemachus , To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle - Well - loved of me , discerning to fulfil This labour , by slow prudence to make mild A rugged people , and thro ' soft degrees Subdue them to the useful and the good . Most blameless is he , centred in the sphere Of common duties , decent not to fail In offices of tenderness , and pay Meet adoration to my household gods , When I am gone . He works his work , I mine . There lies the port ; the vessel puffs her sail : There gloom the dark broad seas . My mariners , Souls that have toil ' d , and wrought , and thought with me - That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine , and opposed Free hearts , free foreheads - you and I are old ; Old age had yet his honour and his toil ; Death closes all : but something ere the end , Some work of noble note , may yet be done , Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods . The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks : The long day wanes : the slow moon climbs : the deep Moans round with many voices . Come , my friends , ' Tis not too late to seek a newer world . Push off , and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows ; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset , and the baths Of all the western stars , until I die . It may be that the gulfs will wash us down : It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles , And see the great Achilles , whom we knew . Tho ' much is taken , much abides ; and tho ' We are not now that strength which in the old days Moved earth and heaven ; that which we are , we are ; One equal - temper of heroic hearts , Made weak by time and fate , but strong in will To strive , to seek , to find , and not to yield . 
Oh to be a child again ... I just read this post over on Av Canada ... reminded me of the reason I got into flying in the first place . I remember the first time I took the controls of a plane and how much my cheeks hurt from the grin on my face . It really wasn't that long ago , but I have a hard time imagining my life without a place in it for flying . Yeah , awful pic , but it has good memories attached ... ! 
How many ... ? # 470021 + ( 1045 ) - [ X ] how many emo kids does it take to change a lightbulb ? HOW MANY ? ! none they just sit in the dark and cry # 540211 + ( 487 ) - [ X ] how do you create a user in linux ? you can't , if you use linux you 're going to live alone forever # 14500 + ( 187 ) - [ X ] @ ( F | uid ) candlelight dinners suck @ ( F | uid ) i cant see my food Warning , if you do decide to check out bash . org , a lot of the quotes are not safe for work and typically aren't exactly ... mature . 
Patience . I was just going through some old poetry I ' d written a couple of years ago and found one I thought I ' d share . Perhaps I ' ll share some more in the future ? We ' ll see . This is entitled " Patience " . Make of it what you will . Patience -- Gord Spence When will it be ? This room smells like new carpet The walls are freshly painted , but already worn Red , white , chipped drywall We wait The garbage can shines with irony Denying its nature in the bright fluorescent light People stand Lingering Conversing aimlessly Quietly drifting in and out Why isn t she here yet ? Stomach knots Pulse races Patience runs thin Would eat But I can t Would walk But I can t I want this to be over now . 
Best picture all week . I don't know if you ' ve ever heard that cats can be somewhat territorial . There is a story here about a little tabby named Jack . He met a bear . He didn't like the bear being on his property . So he chased him up a tree ! Want proof ? Voila : Jack don't take crap from nobody . 
Mountains ! I forgot that you could see the mountains from Calgary until about the second or third day we were there , and I saw them off in the distance . Before we left yesterday , I made sure to grab a couple of shots while we were at the airport ! A free ... uh ... cookie , to the first person to correctly name the three aircraft types in those pictures !! A beautiful city . It was a pleasure to visit it for a week , but I don't think I ' d want to live there long - term . Especially since the rent is actually higher on average than in Rome ! How 's that for crazy ! ? 
New toy ! And you thought me and pointy things was a bad idea !! " Bah ! " I say ! Bah ! I ' ve been looking for a good camping knife for a while now . Today I passed on getting a replica of Excalibur and went with something a little less flashy , but perhaps a wee bit more useful . Oh , and I ' m in Calgary right now . 7 % sales tax is teh r 0 x 0 r . I ' m doing training with my company and it 's going fairly smoothly . I ' ve been looking forward to this trip for a while now , so it was a bit of a surprise to me when I wasn't all that happy about leaving on Monday morning . This past weekend was London Conference , which was an absolute blast . I love being able to reconnect with my friends who are scattered about the province and I rarely get to see them . This means that I got about 8 hours sleep over the two nights of Conference . Then Monday I left for the airport at 5:00 AM after about 5 hours of sleep . I tried to sleep on the plane but didn't have a lot of luck . So , I was exhausted last night , and now that I ' ve caught up with the timezone I ' m just now starting to feel tired ( it 's 23:00 MDT [ 01:00 EDT ] ) . I ' ll try to do a bit of a followup post on Conference when I ' m feeling up to it ( tomorrow I should think ) . Oh , and I saw Over the Hedge tonight . Funniest movie I ' ve seen in a long , long time . See it , you ' ll like it . Dwayne : [ after shooting the head off a plastic flamingo ] Arrrgh ! Not again ! Those things are so lifelike ! Curse you , plastic moldsmen . 
Toronto Section - km 1.2 - 21.5 . Tim , Val and myself started the hike at km 1.2 ( Campbellbille Rd . ) of the Toronto section of the Bruce Trail . The forecast threatened a 60 % chance of rain but we lucked out as a high pressure system seemed to be moving in and blew the clouds away early in the day . Of course , this high pressure system brough with it high winds . We were fortunate to be in the woods most of the time , so they didn't really affect us too much , except when crossing out in the open . There was a fairly rough section between km 10 and 12 , which was quite hard on our ankles . The trail was more or less littered with smallish loose rocks ( 15 - 20 cm on a side ) . The size of the rocks meant that our ankles were constantly being bent in odd directions , as well it put a lot of pressure on our knees in a sideways direction . Not so happy . I was leading during this point and elected to set a fairly quick pace , but it still took about an hour to get through . All three of us were fairly winded when we reached the end , just prior to Speyside . At km 17.4 , we started through a trio of farmer 's fields . The first and third were wet , but mostly hard - packed for walking on . The second was planted fairly recently , which meant the earth was extremely soft . This brought back memories of my very first hike ( Arkona - Grand Bend ) and my shoes probably won't forgive me for a while . The trail then brought us through the Limehouse conservation area where the " Hole in the Wall " is located , as well as a number of crevasses . The terrain is similar to that of Singhampton , though on a smaller scale . The deeper crevasses here were 20 feet deep as opposed to Singhampton 's 50 or more in some cases . It was still quite impressive to be climbing down through these gigantic rock formations . All that was left after this section was a short bit of road - walking , which led us to Limehouse and the car ! ( km 21.5 ) Many thanks to Tim 's sister , Julie , for giving us a lift to the trailhead so that we wouldn't have to retrace our steps along the trail to get back to the car . Here 's a map Timmy made of the trip . 
I recognise Israel 's right to exist , but I also recognise the rights of Palestinians to their own state . I wish I could come up with an amicable solution for both sides in this conflict . I see that both sides have a point , and both sides have done irreparable harm to the other . Why must the violence and hatred continue ? When will it all end ? Three years ago , when I attended General Council 38 in Wolfville , NS , we had a Jewish rabbi and a Palestinian scholar speak about the situation in Israel / Palestine . I remember the feeling of tension in the room was unbearable . I literally had to stand up and walk out of the room after they spoke because I couldn't breathe anymore . The stories from both sides were heartbreaking and convincing . Neither more important than the other , both painful and unimaginable to myself , a young Canadian who has never experienced real violence first - hand . I don't know where I wanted to go with this , but I want for people to think about situations around the world and realise that they 're not black and white . The world is a place full of shades of grey ... blacks and whites exist only on paper ... in fiction . Stay well , my friends . 
" Quarter - life Crisis " . I ' ve joked with some people lately that I must be going through my " Quarter - life crisis " . I was mostly joking , but in a lot of ways it 's true . I caught this bit of prose on a forum that I frequent , and I thought I ' d share it with my other twenty - something friends ... We 're not alone , guys . BEING TWENTY - SOMETHINGThey call it the " Quarter - life Crisis . " It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like . You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two , but then get scared because you barely know where you are now . You start realizing that people are selfish and that , maybe , those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met , and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones . What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too , and aren't really cold , catty , mean or insincere , but that they are as confused as you . You look at your job ... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing , or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you . Your opinions have gotten stronger . You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't . One minute , you are insecure and then the next , secure . You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life . You feel alone and scared and confused . Suddenly , change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life , but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away , and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward . You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you . Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better . Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person . One night stands and random hook ups start to lookcheap . Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic . You go through the same emotions and questions over and over , and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision . You worry about loans , money , the future and making a life for yourself ... and while winning the race would be great , right now you ' d just like to be a contender ! What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it . We are in our best of times and our worst of times , trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out . Maybe this will help someone feel like they aren ' talone in their state of confusion ........ I know I ' m not the only one who 's been feeling lonely and confused of late . If you need an ear , I ' m around . Everything 's going to be alright . 
there was a rhyme called ... A Poem for Silence I am sitting down to start writing a column When I realize the house is nice and quiet No screaming , crying , fussing or whining Only the hum of the A / C unit No sounds of monster trucks or videos No baby rattles or little fartos Sometimes the silence is maddening Am I typing too loud ? I m wondering . It only takes that one dog bark To break the silent hour I swear if another train goes by My moment of peace will go sour I check to see if the phone is turned off No calls will awaken my angels If you really need to talk to me Send me some quiet emails I usually get work done when they nap Some days I just can t do it Enjoying the stillness of the house Makes it very hard to commit I guess I had better stop typing now And make good use of this time Like start some laundry , then take my own nap Instead of writing this silly rhyme . 
it was TGIF ... which is the day after Thursday ... when a new issue of Quirkee . com came out ! You shouldn't miss this one , or any of them for that matter . You could go as far as making it your home page . I did . But then again , I may be a little more quirky than the rest of you . 
it was " Daddy Dressed Me Funny Day " ... again ! I think I might be enjoying this too much ! But like I said before , my days of getting to dress this child are running out . I have to take advantage of it now ! Next week I ' ll get big brother to help me dress her . That should be interesting , especially since he is wearing all of his clothes backwards right now . Even his underwear . His new superhero name is Captain Backwards Underpants . You have to admit she is pretty darn cute in these duds ! 
a Monster Truck Rally came to our house ! Gunslinger , Grave Digger , Cremator , Dragon Slayer , Blue Thunder , Wild Thang , Pouncer , and many more go Monster Truckin ' around our house all day ! How cool is that ? Pretty cool I must say . You see , we have spent the last couple of weeks bribing Coan to use the porcelain throne by purchasing the Hot Wheels Monster Truck Series . We put them on the mantle still in the package and when he " drops the kids off at the pool " he gets to open a new one ! We started this collection last year and had about 6 of them already . He 's now up to 13 and working his way to collect them all . He has a case that they go in that holds 15 , but there are at least 25 in the series . I guess we ' ll have to get another case . If there were 300 monster trucks in the series I would buy them all and 20 cases to put them in ... if it meant one less poopy diaper every day . I love the boy , but those diapers were getting messy ! I can't wait until we get the whole series so when he goes to sleep at night I can have them all to myself ... 
it was Thursday again ! That means another fun filled day of reading the articles up on Quirkee . com ! You know you want to read them but you are afraid your boss might catch you . Beware ! Some of the content could be harmful to the frown on your face . 
there was " Daddy Dressed Me Funny " day . Fathers are notorious for not being able to dress their kids very well . Not me ! Julia has so many cute little matching outfits that are paired together on hangers in her closet that it makes it almost impossible to dress her funny . Well , since she won't let me dress her forever and neither will her Mommy , I ' ve decided to have a " Daddy Dressed Me Funny " day about once a week . Sometimes it 's good to throw a wrench into the system of matching clothing and let the creative juices flow . I couldn't resist putting her in the Dallas Cowboys onesie again before she outgrows it . I also came across these socks with a bunny and a kitty rattle on them that were hiding at the bottom of her sock container . Hmm , I think I wasn't supposed to find those . I topped her off with a Gilligan hat to keep her cool and safe from the sun . Now I need to go find a busy public place to show her off . The park ? Mommy will be so proud . Let 's go ! 
Teaching at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Sunday , July 23 . If you are interested in learning of the some of the amazing evidence for the divine origin and historical reliability of the Bible , then join us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills ( Pastor : Jack Hibbs ) this Sunday morning . I ' ll be addressing this topic and employing a very visual Power Point presentation , jam - packed with images of archaeological discoveries , amazing scientific discoveries , and more . If you have a friend or family member who is a skeptic or unbeliever , this would be a great study for them to hear . Pray about inviting them , and we ' ll be praying that God will do a great work in their life . For more details , call 909 - 393 - 7100 or click here for map / directions . Service times are at 7:30 , 9:30 and 11:30 AM . Hope to see you there . Stop by my table and say hi . 
A New Chapter in Ministry . For the past nine years I have served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel in Vista , California . With my pastor 's approval , words of encouragement and blessing , I am now launching out on my own into a full time itinerant teaching ministry . Of course , I won't be on my own . Jesus said , " I am with you always , even until the end ( Matt . 28:18 - 20 ) . " I look forward to having more time now to devote to developing new studies , researching , writing , teaching , and blogging ! May the Lord bless all of you who enjoy this blog and the www . Always Be Ready . com website . I covet your prayers . 
Dead Sea Scrolls Coming To San Diego . Someone at Calvary Chapel San Diego yesterday was kind enough to inform me that the Dead Sea Scrolls ( ancient hand - written manuscript copies of the Old Testament that help verify that the Old Testament has been accurately preserved down through the centuries ) are coming to San Diego in 2007 . Click here for more information ! 
Problems with the So - Called Gospel of Judas . I have been traveling around extensively teaching on The Da Vinci Code for the past two months , and one question , more than any other , continues to arise in Q & A 's after the study . This is the question : " What do you think about the Gospel of Judas ? Is there any chance that it is true ? " The answer is no .1 . It contradicts authentic , divinely inspired revelation .2 . It was written in the second century , by a Gnostic , * long after the time of Judas . Even National Geographic acknowledges this on their website , even clearly stating that the only surviving manuscript copy we have dates to the third or fourth century . Is there even a small chance this was written by Judas , one of the twelve disciples ? No. * Gnosticism was a philosophy that developed over several centuries before Christ . Some of its core teachings are : 1 . All matter is evil , and the non - material , spirit - realm is good .2 . There is an unknowable God , who gave rise to many lesser spirit beings called Aeons .3 . One evil , lower spirit being is the creator who made the universe .4 . Gnosticism does not deal with ' sin ' , only ignorance .5 . To achieve salvation , one needs to get in touch with secret knowledge . 
Has Noah 's Ark Been Found ? Bob Cornuke of the BASE Institute has brought back some very interesting photographs of what is possibly Noah 's Ark mentioned in Genesis , chapter 6 and 7 . Click here to see the photographs and read more about this developing story . 
Sale on " The Da Vinci Code Examined " DVDs !! An hour long DVD refutation of the so - called facts in The Da Vinci Code is on sale for only $ 3.00 each on my website , www . Always Be Ready . com. Click here and then scroll down in our shopping cart to see more details . 
Archaeological Excavation Aims to Unearth the City of Jesus ' First Miracle : Cana . The Washington Times reports today on the ongoing effort to excavate the ancient Biblical city of Cana , where Jesus performed His first miracle . Click here to read the story . 
The So - Called Gospel of Judas Discovered . Foxnews . com reports today on the recent discovery of a document in Egypt being called " The Gospel of Judas . " Unsuprisingly , this Gnostic writing from the second or third century , contains a differing account of the details surrounding the betrayal of Jesus by Judas , than that which is contained in the four authentic gospels written in the first century by eye - witnesses to the events . Click here to read the full story . 
Testing Darwin 's Teachers . The LA Times has an article online today about students in Kansas who enjoy asking sophisticated ( sometimes ) , challenging questions of their biology teacher regarding evolution . 
New Photo Resparks Interest in Looking for Noah 's Ark . A new , high - resolution digital image of what has become known as the " Ararat Anomaly " is reigniting interest in the hunt for Noah 's Ark . Click here to see the photo and read the news . 
Darwin Smacked in New U.S. Poll : 69 % of Americans want alternate theories in classroom . Worldnetdaily . com reports today that a new poll shows 69 percent of Americans believe public school teachers should present both the evidence for and against Darwinian evolution . The Zogby International survey indicated only 21 percent think biology teachers should teach only Darwin 's theory of evolution and the scientific evidence that supports it . A majority of Americans from every sub - group were at least twice as likely to prefer this approach to science education , the Zogby study showed . Click here to read the rest of the article . 
Dr. Henry Morris Home With the Lord . The Institute for Creation Research said , " After a series of minor strokes in recent weeks , Dr. Henry Morris , founder and president of the Institute for Creation Research , was peacefully ushered into the presence of his Creator , Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Saturday , February 25 , around 6:30 p.m. He was 87 years old . Henry Morris was considered the " father of the Modern Creation Movement " , authoring well over sixty books on Biblical Creationism , Scientific Creationism and commentaries on the Bible . His most recent work was the New Defenders Study Bible ( released last month ) which contained several thousand additional annotations . Dr. Morris was a brilliant scholar and theologian who was used by God in many marvelous ways to launch and encourage the Modern Creation Movement on a global scale . But for those of us who had the privilege of working with Henry Morris , he was a gentle , humble and faithful servant of God who modeled what it means to finish well as he consistently looked unto Jesus and ran with patience the race that was set before him ( Hebrews 12:1 - 2 ) . Plans for a memorial service are being arranged for this Thursday ( 3 / 2 / 06 ) at Shadow Mountain Community Church . Please pray for the Morris family and the entire staff at ICR during this transition . " . 
The Victory of Reason . Charles Colson 's writes today , " At the heart of the furor over Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad are the different values and ideals of two civilizations : one shaped by Christianity , the other by Islam . Of course , it 's seldom put that way , especially in the elite media . Instead , the values being defended are called " Western , " as if a compass point produced the freedoms we today enjoy in the Western world . Fortunately , there 's a new book that sets the record straight . The book is called The Victory of Reason : How Christianity Led to Freedom , Capitalism , and Western Success by Rodney Stark , who is not a Christian believer . In fact , Stark set out to refute German sociologist Max Weber 's famous thesis that attributed the rise of capitalism to the Reformation . Instead of refuting it , however , he wound up doing just the opposite , writing about how Christianity 's emphasis on reason led to the rise of Europe . Click here to read the rest . 
500 Doctoral Scientists Skeptical of Darwin . Worldnetdaily . com reports today that more than 500 scientists with doctoral degrees have signed a statement expressing skepticism about Darwin 's theory of evolution . Many of these scientists are professors or researchers from prestigious institutions such as the Smithsonian Institute , Cambridge University , UCLA , Princeton , Berkeley , etc.. The statement , which includes endorsement by members of the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Sciences , was first published by the Seattle - based Discovery Institute in 2001 to challenge statements about Darwinian evolution made in promoting PBS 's " Evolution " series . The PBS promotion claimed " virtually every scientist in the world believes the theory to be true . " " Darwinists continue to claim that no serious scientists doubt the theory and yet here are 500 scientists who are willing to make public their skepticism about the theory , " said John G . West , associate director of Discovery Institute 's Center for Science Culture . Click here to read the rest of the story at worldnetdaily . com. 
Goliath 's Name Discovered in Ancient City of Gath . There was recently an interesting discovery made in Israel . Reuters reports , " An Israeli researcher said he has made a Goliath of a find -- the first archaeological evidence suggesting the biblical story of David slaying the Philistine giant actually took place . A shard of pottery unearthed in a decade - old dig in southern Israel carried an inscription in early Semitic style spelling " Alwat and " Wlt " , likely Philistine renderings of the name Goliath , said Aren Maeir , who directed the excavation . " This is a groundbreaking find , " he said of the rust - coloured ceramic . " Here we have very nice evidence the name Goliath appearing in the Bible in the context of the story of David and Goliath ... is not some later literary creation . " Maeir , head of the archaeology department at Bar - Ilan University near Tel Aviv , told Reuters that his excavators found the shard , possibly part of a bowl , about two metres ( 6.5 ft ) underground at Tell es - Shafi . The mound where the dig took place is widely believed to be the site of the ancient city of Gath , which the Bible calls Goliath 's hometown . Click here to read the rest of the story . 
Is Reincarnation Compatible With the Bible ? There are many Biblical problems with believing in reincarnation . First , Second Corinthians 5:8 says , " We are confident , I say , and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord . " At death , the Christian goes into the presence of the Lord , not into another body . Secondly , Luke 16:19 - 31 tells us that unbelievers , upon death , go to a place of suffering , not into another body . Thirdly , Hebrews 9:27 assures us " it is appointed unto man once to die , and after that to face judgment . " Each human being lives once as a mortal on earth , dies once , and then faces judgment . He does not have a second chance by reincarnating into another body . Reincarnation is a heretical , unbiblical doctrine . 
The Privileged Planet : Our Special Place in the Universe . I came across this short write up today by Charles Colson called , " The Privileged Planet : Our Special Place in the Universe " ( Nov . , 2004 ) . Do you ever find yourself saying , I wish so - and - so were still around ? Well , I wish the astronomer Carl Sagan were still around . He died in 1996 , but had he lived , he would have found an extraordinary book , The Privileged Planet , by astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and philosopher Jay Richards , deeply challenging maybe even disturbing . Here s why : In his frequent appearances on the Tonight Show , and in his public television series Cosmos , Sagan was presented as the visionary sage of science . He spoke cheerfully of being inspired by the vastness of the universe and our growing scientific knowledge of our place in it . Ironically , however , Sagan s cheerful demeanor didn t fit his message of cosmic loneliness . Earth has no special significance , he said it s merely one tiny planet going around an unremarkable star , in an equally unremarkable galaxy , adrift in a universe filled with billions of such galaxies . Our planet , he wrote , is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark . In our obscurity . . . there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves . Sagan s picture of an insignificant , almost accidental Earth reflects a widely held and rather bleak assumption in modern science . Called the Copernican Principle , or the Principle of Mediocrity , this assumption says that the Earth isn t special at all . Now , the Bible places a high value on the virtue of humility , so Christians might be tempted to agree with this picture : Maybe we re not so significant after all . But there s all the difference in the world between seeking real humility ( indeed a virtue ) and arguing , as Sagan did , for human insignificance by assuming the universe exists for no purpose . Furthermore , the first question anybody should ask ( Christian or not ) about assumptions like the Principle of Mediocrity is this : Is it true ? Or is a materialistic philosophy being promoted in the name of science ? That s exactly the question that Gonzalez and Richards pursue in The Privileged Planet . And now their book has inspired a stunning new science documentary . What makes the production so wonderfully refreshing is the spirit of scientific freedom and open intellectual inquiry motivating it . Using state - of - the - art computer animations , awe - inspiring astronomical footage , and interviews with leading scientists , including Robert Jastrow and Paul Davies , the documentary draws a strikingly different picture from the Sagan image of mediocrity . We learn how many things you need to get a planet , like Earth . It takes just the right atmosphere , plate tectonics , a large moon , well - placed planetary neighbors , in the exact right location in a spiral galaxy , and much , much more . That alone is interesting . But there s another surprise . Earth also provides the best conditions for scientific discovery . Did you catch that ? The very place with intelligent beings is also the best place for scientific discovery . According to the evidence marshaled by Gonzalez and Richards , the universe is , literally , designed for discovery . Young Carl Sagans need to consider The Privileged Planet . And believers will be encouraged that science is finally discovering what we knew all along we are a specially blessed people . -- Charles Colson , Breakpoint radio broadcast , November 24 , 2004 . 
What About Those Who Have Never Heard of Jesus : Will They Be Condemned to Hell ? This is a common question that unbelievers have . The Bible says that God is loving ( Psalm 103:8 , 1 John 4:10 ) and that He is not willing that any should perish ( 2 Peter 3:9 ) . If a person has never heard of Jesus , the Bible says that God is going to be absolutely fair with them ( Psalm 98:9 ) , and that He will judge them based on what they do know through the testimony of creation and their conscience ( Romans 1:20 , 2:12 - 15 ) . If a person responds favorable to the testimony of his conscience or the the testimony of creation and truly seeks to know God , the Bible says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him ( Hebrews 11:6 ) . God has many ways of getting the truth about salvation through Christ to those who seek Him . He can send them a missionary ( Acts 10 ) , allow them to hear a radio broadcast , give them a dream or vision ( Daniel 2 , 7 ) , send them an angel ( Revelation 14:6 ) or a Bible ( Psalm 119:130 ) , direct them to a website , etc. so that they can know the truth . 
Interview with Charlie Campbell on CSN . Tune in Sunday , January 29 at 2:30 PM ( Pacific Time ) and 5:30 PM ( Eastern time ) to CSN online to hear a half hour program regarding the new book , ONE MINUTE ANSWERS TO SKEPTICS ' TOP FORTY QUESTIONS . For more on the book click here . 
Should the Apocrypha be in the Bible ? Evangelicals believe that the Bible is made up of sixty six books . ( If you want to read about how the church discovered the Books that God decided were to be included in the Bible , I would encourage you to purchase a copy of Norman Geisler s book From God to Us , How We Got the Bible ) . The Catholic Church , in 1546 , at an event known as the Council of Trent , added eleven Jewish writings to the Bible known as the Apocrypha to Protestants and the Deuterocanonical books ( lit . second canon ) to the Catholics . What is the Apocrypha ? The Apocrypha is a collection of fourteen Jewish writings that were written down between 200 B.C. and A . D . 100 . Eleven of those fourteen books were accepted by the Catholic Church as God - inspired Scriptures and were placed in the Catholic Bible . If you were to open up a Catholic Bible today you would see books in there with titles like Tobit , Judith , First and Second Maccabees and Baruch . Could these books be God inspired Scripture ? Not a chance . There are numerous reasons why the early church and believers down through the centuries have rejected the apocryphal books as authoritative or divinely inspired . 1 . Neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers ever quoted from the Apocrypha as Scripture .2 . The Apocrypha contains numerous historical , geographical and chronological errors .3 . The Jews themselves never accepted the Apocrypha as inspired . 4 . The Apocrypha contains no predictive prophecy to help substantiate it s claims .5 . The Apocrypha never claims to be the inspired Word of God .6 . The Apocrypha was rejected by many of the leading early church fathers .7 . Jerome rejected the Apocrypha and left them out of His Latin translation of the Bible ( the Vulgate ) .8 . The Apocrypha contains numerous non - biblical and heretical doctrines .9 . The Apocrypha was not formally declared to be authoritative and inspired by the Catholic Church until 1546 . For more explanation on each of the nine reasons above see my study on Roman Catholicism here . 
Museum in Florida Displaying Pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls and 1611 Version of the King James Bible . If you live in or near St. Petersburg , Florida , this will be of special interest to you . CNN reports today that , " The Bible 's evolution from ancient Hebrew to modern languages and from clay tablets to printed books is a rich lesson in the history of civilizations , the origins of the written word and the revolution of printing . The story of how the text of the Bible has been written and disseminated over the centuries is recounted in a new exhibition at the Florida International Museum that boasts artifacts as rare and priceless as they come , among them bits of the Dead Sea Scrolls , a fragment of the Gospel of John dating to about 250 A . D . , a 1455 Gutenberg Bible and a first edition of the King James version from 1611 . " Click here to read the rest of the story . 
An Argument for God 's Existence From Desire . Here is an interesting , thought provoking argument for God 's existence : 1 . Every natural , innate desire in us corresponds to some real object that can satisfy that desire . 2 . But there exists in us a desire which nothing in time , nothing on earth , no creature can satisfy . 3 . Therefore there must exist something more than time , earth and creatures , which can satisfy this desire . 4 . This something is what people call " God " and " life with God forever . " C . S . Lewis , who used this argument often , summarizes it with these words : " Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists . A baby feels hunger ; well , there is such a thing as food . A duckling wants to swim ; well , there is such a thing as water . Men feel sexual desire ; well , there is such a thing as sex . If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy , the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world . " ( Mere Christianity , Bk . III , chapter 10 , " Hope " ) . 
The Fanciful , Deceptive Imagination of Dan Brown . In his popular , yet highly inaccurate novel , The Da Vinci Code , Dan Brown asserts ( through a character named Lee Teabing ) that the the deity of Christ was an invention of the church at the Council of Nicea . Here is an excerpt right from the book , At this gathering [ the Council of Nicea ] many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon the date of Easter , the role of the bishops , the administration of sacraments , and , of course , the divinity of Jesus . until that moment in history , Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet , a great and powerful man , but a man nonetheless . A mortal . Jesus establishment as the Son of God was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea . A character by the name of Sophie says , Hold on . You re saying Jesus divinity was the result of a vote ? Teabing says , A relatively close vote at that . ( p . 233 ) Dan Brown suggests here that the deity of Christ was a late invention by the church , it was proposed at the council of Nicea , and that it barely passed . For the person who is unfamiliar with the Bible , church history , or what happened at the council of Nicea this might easily be believed . What was the council of Nicea ? The council at Nicea in modern day Turkey was a gathering of 318 Bishops ( church leaders from all over the Roman Empire ) in A . D . 325 to discuss doctrines related to the person of Jesus . This meeting was hardly the place where it first proposed that Jesus was actually God , as Brown suggests . That belief was already firmly in place as the popular teaching of the church ( e . g . , John 20:28 , Titus 2:13 ) . In the fourth century there was a man by the name of Arius ( 256 - 336 ) who was causing some disputes throughout the Roman Empire as it related to the person of Jesus . Arius reasoned that since Jesus was begotten , ( Jn . 3:16 ) He must have had a beginning . His false teachings regarding Jesus became known as Arianism . Arianism denied the eternality of Jesus . Followers of his teaching , known as Arians , held that the divine nature of Christ was similar to God , but not the same . The Council of Nicea , this gathering together of the Bishops , condemned this teaching in 325 A . D . and reaffirmed what the Bible already taught , that Jesus had the very same nature as God . Was it a close vote ? You tell me . There were 318 bishops that were called to the meeting in Nicea . As for the vote that was finally taken , only five out of 318 dissented ; and only two of those five refused to sign the resulting resolutions , which reaffirmed the prevailing view of the church : Jesus was , and is , God . Hardly a close vote , as Brown suggests in his book !!! Can you imagine a basketball team being beaten 316 to 2 and then the losing team telling people afterwards that , " It was a relatively close game ? This is just one of many inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code . The movie comes out in May , 2006 . For a more thorough treatment on these errors , you can purchase an hour long teaching I did on this topics by clicking here ( DVD cost : $ 12.00 ) . 
Is There a Contradiction in the Accounts of the Women at Jesus ' Tomb ? Someone emailed me yesterday who was troubled by the apparent contradiction in the Gospels regarding the women at Jesus ' tomb on the morning of His resurrection . Mark 16:2 says , " And very early on the first day of the week , they came to the tomb when the sun had risen . " John 20:1 says , " Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb , while it was still dark , and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb . " So , " Which was it ? Did they go to the tomb ' while it was still dark ? ' or ' when the sun had risen ? ' " The difficulty is solved when we realize that the women , whether they had stayed in Jerusalem or Bethany , had to walk quite some distance to reach the grave . It was dark when they left the place in which they were staying , but when they arrived at the tomb , the sun was beginning to shine . John was referring to their DEPARTURE ( " still dark " ) . Mark was speaking of their ARRIVAL ( " sun had risen " ) . This is one of a couple of plausible solutions . For more help with apparent contradictions in the Bible , I highly recommend everyone own a copy of When Critics Ask by Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe . This book addresses just about every apparent contradiction , or error in the Bible . It is excellent . 
Why Didn't God Preserve the Original Writings of the Men Who Penned the Bible ? There are thousands of partial and complete handwritten manuscript copies of the Old and New Testament . These manuscripts are on display today in places like the Smithsonian Institute , the Cambridge University Library , the British Library , etc. These manuscripts have allowed scholars to verify that the Bible we have today is the same Bible the early church possessed 2,000 years ago . To our knowledge though , none of the autographs ( the originals ) of any of the sixty six books of the Bible actually survive . Someone asked me a while back , " Why didn't God preserve the originals ? If we had the originals , then we could know for certain that the Bible hasn't undergone corruption ! " Could we know for certain ? I don't believe we could . I believe that God has purposely allowed the originals to disappear so that we could actually be more certain that we have a trustworthy copy of the Bible . What are you saying Charlie ? Hear me out on this . Let 's imagine the originals were allowed to survive . Let 's imagine that they were in someone 's possession back in the second century or third century . We ' ll call him Joe the Scribe . Joe could have changed them ! And who would know ? Perhaps nobody . But if the original is quickly copied numerous times and these copies are then spread all over the ancient world , and then the original is lost or destroyed , there 's no way that Joe could alter the Word of God . Someone might try to sneak an error into a manuscript copy , but the thousands of other copies in circulation would quickly allow the church to cross - check and compare them with one another . The result of the cross - checking ? The variants ( small slips of the pen , grammatical errors ) that anybody tried had tried to sneak into their manuscript would be spotted and the church could come away with great confidence that they have a highly accurate copy of the original . I believe that God , in His perfect wisdom and foresight , knew the danger of leaving the originals intact and in the possession of any one person or group . Ironically , by allowing the originals to disappear , His Word has actually probably been better preserved . 
Mormon Mind Control . I talked with a woman named Jennifer today who was baptized last week into the Mormon Church . I got to dialog with her about some of the differences between Biblical Christianity ( and it 's view of the Scriptures , God , Jesus , Man and the Gospel ) and what the Mormon Church teaches . She seemed interested to hear . When I told her that I would love to give her a book on Mormonism ( Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Mormons by Ron Rhodes ) so she could do a little more investigation , she said that she was told not to read any literature by those critical of the Mormon church . Isn't that a convenient and easy way to keep your members ? Sadly , that is common within all of the cults . I explained to Jennifer that this close - minded , uncritical attitude toward faith is exactly the opposite of what the Bible advocates . I told her that 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to " examine all things " and to hold fast to that which is good . I told her of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and how the Bible commends them for daily examining the teachings of the apostle Paul and critically holding them up the light of the Scripture . God wants us to question what we hear and what we are taught . The apostle John said , " Beloved , do not believe every spirit , but test the spirits , whether they are of God ; because many false prophets have gone out into the world ( 1 Jn . 4:1 ) . " How do you test the spirit of one who is making some spiritual claim ? Isaiah tells us how . He says , " To the law and to the testimony ! If they do not speak according to this word [ the Word of God , i . e . , the Bible ] , it is because there is no light [ truth ] in them ( Isaiah 8:20 ) . Hold up everything you hear to the inspired , infallible Word of God , and you ' ll quickly discern truth from error . Jennifer was excited to hear these Scriptures and then gladly accepted the book and some of my notes on Mormonism . Say a prayer for Jennifer tonight . 
Need Help Understanding the Problems With Calvinism ? Click here to listen to an hour long teaching by Dr. Norman Geisler entitled , " WHY I ' M NOT A FIVE POINT CALVINIST . " You will have to register to use the site by providing your email address and creating a password . Then in the media section , type in GEISLER in the " Search for Sermon " and it will pop up for you to listen to . Norman Geisler was formerly the professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary , is the author of more than sixty books , and is today the President of Southern Evangelical Seminary . For a more in - depth treatment of this issue , I ' d encourage you to pick up his book Chosen But Free . To see a collection of tape recorded teachings by Norman Geisler including , " FIVE MORE REASONS I ' M NOT A FIVE POINT CALVINIST " , and " WAS CALVIN A FIVE POINT CALVINIST ? " click here . 
The Statement That There Are No Absolute Truths Is Self Defeating . A popular saying or belief amongst skeptics of the Christian faith is , " All truth is relative . " With this statement many skeptics seek to justify , in their own minds , that there are no absolute truths , including those truth claims put forth in the Bible . Yet , when the skeptic says , " All truth is relative " they are , perhaps unknowingly , making a claim that they believe is absolutely true . If what they are saying ( " All truth is relative . " ) is absolutely true , then not all things are relative and the statement that " All truth is relative " is false . Another closely related and popular sentiment in our society today is , " There are no absolute truths . " Yet , this statement , " There are no absolute truths " is an absolute statement which the skeptic claims is true . If their statement is true , it is an absolute truth and there " There are no absolute truths " is false . Both statements ( " All truth is relative " and " There are no absolute truths " ) are self defeating . If you have the opportunity to talk to someone who thinks this way , point out to them that the logical end of their beliefs is that they cannot believe anything at all , including that there are no absolute truths . Nothing can be true for the relativist , including relativism . 
Actor Stephen Baldwin Standing Up Against Pornography . Actor and Christian , Stephen Baldwin is on a crusade against pornography . Click here to read today 's article at World Net Daily . com. If you struggle with online temptaion , may I suggest that you download a FREE software called X 3 at xxx . church . com that will help do away with the temptation ? It documents any questionable websites you visit and mails a report once every two weeks to your wife , friend , accountability partner , or whomever you designate . Knowing that someone is going to see where you ' ve been on the internet is a great deterrent against temptation . 
Debating the Age of the Earth . There are of course a few different views regarding the age of the universe . I personally don't think it is all that necessary that Christians debate this issue . Discussing the age of the universe ( or the earth ) can be an interesting theological discussion , but the more important fact to keep in mind and rally around is not WHEN the universe was created but THAT it was created . 
Maybe My Kindergarten Teacher Was Right After All . Ron Carlson , a Christian apologist and author , said , " In grammar school they taught me that a frog turning into a prince was a fairy tale . In the university they taught me that a frog turning into a prince was a fact . " Funny how university professors , with a pair of glasses , a beard and a lab jacket can get intelligent people to believe in fairy tales . 
Was Jesus ' Resurrection an Idea Stolen from Pagan Religions ? More and more lately I am bumping into comments online from skeptics of the Bible who are saying that the authors of the New Testament stole the idea of Jesus ' resurrection from ancient pagan sources . This theory is interesting for tickling ears , but goes against the facts . As Dr. Norman Geisler writes , " The first real parallel of a dying and rising god does not appear until A . D . 150 , more than a hundred years after the origin of Christianity . So if there was any influence of one on the other , it was the influence of the historical event of the New Testament [ resurrection ] on mythology , not the reverse . The only known account of a god surviving death that predates Christianity is the Egyptian cult god Osiris . In this myth , Osiris is cut into fourteen pieces , scattered around Egypt , then reassembled and brought back to life by the goddess Isis . However , Osiris does not actually come back to physical life but becomes a member of a shadowy underworld ... This is far different than Jesus ' resurrection account where he was the gloriously risen Prince of life who was seen by others on earth before his ascension into heaven .... even if there are myths about dying and rising gods prior to Christianity , that doesn't mean the New Testaments writers copied from them . The fictional TV show Star Trek preceded the U.S. Space Shuttle program , but that doesn't mean that newspaper reports of space shuttle missions are influenced by Star Trek episodes ! " [ Norman Geisler and Frank Turek , I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist , p . 312 ] . 
C . S . Lewis on Hell . C . S . Lewis said , " I believe that the damned are , in one sense , successful rebels to the end ; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside . " According to Lewis , there are only two kinds of people -- those who say to God , " Thy will be done , " and those to whom God says , " Thy will be done . " A person 's lostness doesn't stem from any unfairness in God but from their own stubborn rejection of Him . As was the case in Stephen 's day , some " are always resisting the Holy Spirit " ( Acts 7:51 ) . 
Philosophical Evidence That The Universe Cannot be Eternal , and Therefore Uncaused . Imagine with me for a couple of minutes that you are holding a copy of THE DA VINCI CODE in your hands which you have been reading . Suppose that before you reached the page that lies before you ( let 's call it page Z ) , you had to first read the page before it ( page Y ) . And before you read that page you had to read the one before it ( page X ) , and so on , going all the way back to the first page . Since the book has a first page , your coming to the current page ( Z ) requires that you first read only a finite number of pages . More pages could be added to the front of the book to lengthen the time it would take for you to get to page Z . ( Hopefully Dan Brown won't read this and get any ideas for a prequel . ) Let us suppose that you are a better than average reader and that it takes only one minute to read each page ; and let us supppose that you read non stop until you get to page Z . Then , if there are only ten pages to complete before page Z , it will take you ten minutes to get to page Z . How long will it take if you must first read twenty pages ? 20 minutes . How about fifty pages ? 50 minutes . A hundred pages ? A 100 minutes . Ten thousand pages ? You can do the math . The important thing to realize is that in every case , no matter how long the book is , there is always only a finite amount of time that it will take to read it . But let 's suppose we add an infinity of pages to the front of this book . When will you get to page Z if you must first read all of those pages ? The answer is : Never . So if you find yourself reading page Z after completing all the pages before it , you know you ' ve read only a finite number of pages . The same sort of thing holds for the series of events making up the total history of the universe . Take some event in the actual history of the universe , like your birth . That event can occur only if a finite number of events must occur first . If an infinite number of events must occur before your birth , then you would never have been born . So , either we are halluncinating regarding the fact of your birth , or only a finite number of events occurred prior to your birth . If only a finite number of events occurred before your birth , then the universe has not always existed but had a beginning . Since we are not hallucinating , the universe must have had a beginning . This poses a problem for the atheist . How does something that begins to exist come into being apart from a creator ? ( Thank you to R . Douglas Geivett for his helpful insights on this topic in TO EVERYONE AN ANSWER , edited by Francis Beckwith , William Lane Craig , and J . P . Moreland , chapter 4 , 2004 , p . 65 ) . 
A New NBC Show Starring Jesus ? Did anybody watch the premiere of the new NBC television show last night , THE BOOK OF DANIEL ? If you did , what did you think about it ? Is there anything about the show that you think Christians could use as a springboard for conversation with unbelievers ? If you haven't heard about it , you can read a short World Net Daily . com article on it here . 
The Fine Tuning of the Universe . Astrophysicist Hugh Ross estimates that there are " twenty - nine characteristics of the universe that must be fine - tuned for any kind of physical life to be possible " and that the solar system we live in has forty - five characteristics that are necessary for human life to arise in it . Given the individual and collective probabilities for these characteristics to all arise by chance with precisely the correct values to make human life possible , Ross estimates that there is much less than 1 chance in one hundred billion trillion trillion trillion that there exists even one planet on which life would occur anywhere in the universe . Is it reasonable to believe that the fine tuning of the universe requires a Tuner ? Paul Davies , Ph . D . , believe so . He is an internationally acclaimed physicist and author who has held an academic appointment at the University of Cambridge . He said , " There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all .... It seems as though somebody has fine tuned the nature 's numbers to make the Universe .... The impression of design is overwhelming . " [ The Cosmic Blueprint , 1988 , p . 203 ] . 
I Don't Have Enough Faith to be An Atheist . It seems absurd to the highest degree to think that nothing can do something , let alone create , but that is exactly what atheism requires nothing to be able to do . Perhaps this is why God says , in Psalm 14:1 , that it is the fool who has said in his heart that there is no God . If we reject the idea that there must be an uncaused cause , or Creator , of the universe , we are left with having to believe that everything that exists came into being from nothing and by nothing . But this is absurd . Even atheists have problems with the absurdity of this . Atheistic philosopher , J . L . Mackie , from Oxford said , " I myself find it hard to accept the notion of self - creation from nothing , even given unrestricted chance . " David Hume , one of the most ardent skeptics of Christianity ever , said , " I never asserted so absurd a proposition as that anything might arise without a cause . " Things that arise , or begin to exist ( i . e . the universe ) , must have a cause . Everybody intuitively knows this . Faith in an uncaused , eternal , power outside of the universe , that brought the universe into existence is absolutely reasonable . I don't have enough faith to believe that nothing brought the universe into existence . I don't have enough faith to be an atheist . 
New Book Now Available Through Amazon . You can support the ministry of Always Be Ready and be equipped to respond to skeptics ' top forty questions about Christianity at the same time by purchasing my new book , ONE MINUTE ANSWERS TO SKEPTICS ' TOP FORTY QUESTIONS ( Paperback , 138 pages ) . It is now available to purchase through Amazon . com for just $ 9.95 . Click here to go right to it . If you have already purchased the book , perhaps you might post a quick review at the same site . 
Philosophical Evidence for God 's Existence . Philosophically , it seems very reasonable to me that a Creator of the universe must exist . Here 's why .1 . Something exists .2 . Nothing does not produce something .3 . Something must have always existed .4 . The universe has not always existed . The background radiation echo , the motion of the galaxies and the second law of thermodynamics all point to the fact that the universe began to exist at a finite point in time . 5 . Therefore there must be an eternal power beyond the uinverse that caused the universe to come into existence . If you were a skeptic , or are a skeptic , how might you seek to refute this line of reasoning ? I ' d be interested to hear . For more on God 's existence see my study here . 
Put the Burden of Proof Back on the Skeptic . Has a skeptic or unbeliever ever told you something like : - " Jesus never said He was God . " - " All religions are basically the same . " - " The Bible has undergone corruption and cannot be trusted . " - " The Bible is full of contradictions . " - " Darwinism has disproved God 's existence . " Many Christians are left speechless at such words . This need not be the case . Rather than go into defensive mode ( i . e . trying to explain the ways that Jesus did claim to be God , or how the manuscript evidence proves the Bible has not undergone corruption ) , go on the offense . Put the burden of proof back upon the person who is making the assertion . Ask a simple question or two like , " How did you come to that conclusion ? " or " Why should I believe that to be the case ? " or " What evidence do you have that that is actually true ? " Simple questions like these can accomplish three things : 1 . They help build relationship . Nobody likes to sit through a one - sided monologue .2 . They help buy you some time to think of how to respond to the issue .3 . They help expose the fact that most skeptics and unbelievers do not really know why they believe what they believe . Once they see that that is the case , they may be more open to hearing what you have to say . For more help answering skeptics genuine questions see my new book , ONE MINUTE ANSWERS TO SKEPTICS ' TOP FORTY QUESTIONS . Click here . 
Judge Orders Priest to Prove Christ Existed . The TIMES ONLINE reported today that an Italian judge has ordered a priest to stand trial and prove that Jesus ever even existed . This raises a question . If somebody were to ask you to state your reasons why you believe that Jesus existed , what would you say ? Think it through , do some research , and share your answer by clicking on the comments link below . Keep your answer to a minute long and we ' ll post the best answer in about a week . If you need help with this issue , Gary Habermas has written a great book on this topic , THE HISTORICAL JESUS : Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ . Click here to buy from Christianbook . com. 
Two Mormon Missionaries Shot While Witnessing . CHESAPEAKE - A 21 - year - old Mormon missionary died Monday night after he and his partner were shot while going door - to - door in the Deep Creek area . Read story here . 
Artifacts With Links to Bible Unearthed . The Washington Times reports today that , " Israeli archaeologists , screening tons of rubble scooped out of this ancient city 's sacred Temple Mount , have discovered hundreds of artifacts and coins , as well as jewelry , some with biblical links dating back more than three millennia . " Click here to read the rest of the story . 
A Word For Defenders of the Faith by C . S . Lewis . To be ignorant and simple now not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground would be to throw down our weapons and to betray our uneducated brethren who have , under God , no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen . Good philosophy must exist , if for no other reason , because bad philosophy needs to be answered . C . S . Lewis . 
What Did Jesus Teach About the Bible ? Jesus affirmed that the Bible was : 1 . Without Error ( John 17:17 ) 2 . Historically Reliable ( Matthew 12:40 , 24:37 - 39 ) Jesus affirmed as historically true some of the most disputed passages of the Old Testament , including the story of Jonah in the whale ( Matthew 12:40 ) , the destruction of the world by a flood in the days of Noah ( Matt .24:37 - 39 ) , and others 3 . Divinely Authoritative ( Matthew 4:4 - 10 ) 4 . Scientifically Accurate Regarding the Origin of Man ( Matthew 19:4 - 5 ) For example , when He taught on marriage He referred to the literalcreation of Adam and Eve ( Matthew 19:4 - 5 ) 5 . Infallible ( John 10:35 ) 6 . Indestructible ( Matthew 5:18 ) If Jesus was a prophet of God , as even the Qur an teaches , or even if He was a good teacher ( as so many are willing to believe today ) it would be wise for us to take His Word on the matter . 
Anyone Can Say They Are God . Anyone can say they are God , but Jesus did more than claim to be God , He backed up His claims . He proved that He was the Son of God ( equal with God , John 5:18 ) by : 1 . Fulfilling hundreds of Old Testament prophecies 2 . Performing numerous miracles 3 . Living a sinless life 3 . Resurrecting from the dead It 's one thing to make grandiose claims , it 's another thing to back them up . 
The Existence of Evil and Suffering Actually Turns Out to be a Strong Evidence for God 's Existence . The very thing that the skeptic says disproves the existence of God ( the existence of evil and suffering in the world ) is actually a strong evidence that there must be a God . Here is how we might reason this to be the case : 1 . Evil exists in the world .2 . Evil is a departure from the way things ought to be .3 . If there is a way things ought to be , there must be a designed plan ( or designed standard ) for the universe . Peter Kreeft said in his book , Handbook of Christian Apologetics , ... the very fact of our outrage at evil is a clue that we are in touch with a standard of goodness by which we judge this world as defective , as falling drastically short of the mark ( p . 123 ) .4 . There cannot be a designed plan for the universe without a designer of the universe .5 . Evil is mankind s departure from this designer s standard and that designer is God . For more help on the compatibility of evil and suffering with a loving , all - powerful God , click here . 
THE DA VINCI CODE : Examined and Refuted . The Da Vinci Code is adversely affecting the way millions of people around the world view the Gospel , the church , Jesus and the Bible . Written by Dan Brown , the book has sold more than 25 million copies since it was first published in 2003 . If you are like most Christians , you don't have the time , or the desire , to read the book . Unfortunately , your friends , family members and coworkers do ! If you ' d like to know a little about the book and some of the problems with Dan Brown 's erroneous claims , we have put together a short article here that we believe will be helpful to you . With the movie coming out May 19 , 2006 , it is important that Christians be prepared to answer the questions that people will have . I would be happy to come and speak to your church on this topic . If you , or your pastor , are interested , you can email Always Be Ready at Info @ Always Be Ready . com. I do not charge for guest speaking . Contact me soon , my calendar is filling up as we get closer to the movie release date . We also have a DVD on this topic . 
Charles Spurgeon on the Book of Mormon . One of the most modern pretenders to inspiration is the Book of Mormon . I could not blame you should you laugh outright while I read aloud a page from that farrago . Charles H . Spurgeon ( 1834 - 1892 ) , British preacher . 
National Geographic Society Comments on the Book of Mormon . Archaeologists and other scholars have long probed the hemisphere s past , and the Society does not know of anything found so far that has substantiated the Book of Mormon . The National Geographic Society , August 12 , 1998 . View actual document here . 
The Amazing Influence of that Babe in the Manger . This Jesus of Nazareth , without money and arms , conquered more millions than Alexander , Caesar , Mohammed , and Napoleon ; without science and learning , He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined ; without the eloquence of schools , He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since , and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet ; without writing a single line , He set more pens in motion , and furnished themes for more sermons , orations , discussions , learned volumes , works of art , and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times . Philip Schaff ( 1819 - 1893 ) , historian ; The Person of Christ , 1913 , pp . 29 - 30 . 
Do You Need Help Sharing the Truth With Someone Involved in Scientology ? John Weldon , a Christian apologist and author , has written a good article on Scientology . He examines the origin of the religion and how their beliefs compare with Biblical teaching . Click here to read . 
So Much for Free Speech in North Dakota : Students Forbidden From Debating Intelligent Design . So much for free speech in North Dakota . Science Daily reports that , " Students in North Dakota debating programs have been banned from broaching the topic of intelligent design . " Click here to read the Science Daily article . This is actually going to be detrimental to the Darwinist camp . The last thing I would want do , if I did not want my children to take interest in the intelligent design movement , is tell them they cannot talk about it ! We pray that this decision will result in more kids investigating the compelling evidence for a Designer . 
20 Reasons To Believe That Jesus is God . There are a variety of different beliefs amongst the different religions as to who Jesus was and is . Some say He was an enlightened man . Others say He was an an angel or just a good teacher . Christians affirm that Jesus was , and is , God the Son , coequal in nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit . But on what grounds do we believe this to be so ? The answer is the Bible , the inspired , infallible Word of God . That is our authority on the issue . If you are unsure of what to believe about Jesus -- perhaps a Jehovah 's Witness or Mormon has confused you on this issue -- please click here . I outline , on one easy - to - read page , 20 reasons why Christians believe Jesus is God . Hope this helps you . God bless . 
Do You Love the Truth ? Blaise Pascal ( 1623 - 1662 ) said in his day , " Truth is so obscure in these times , and falsehood so established , that , unless we love the truth , we cannot know it . " Of course , the same is true today . How is one to know the truth ? The answer is found in the Gospel of John , chapter 8 . Jesus said , " If you abide in My word , you are My disciples indeed . And you shall know the truth , and the truth shall make you free " ( John 8:31 - 32 ) . 
New DVD : The Bible vs . Book of Mormon . Living Hope Ministries in Utah has just produced and released an amazing new DVD entitled THE BIBLE vs . THE BOOK OF MORMON . Comparing side by side the claims and evidences of both the Bible and the Book of Mormon , this DVD clearly and powerfully demonstrates the truthfulness of the Bible and the fiction of Joseph Smith 's Book of Mormon . Always Be Ready has this DVD on sale right now for just $ 14.95 . Click here to see our DVD section . This is a great DVD to give to your Mormon friend , coworker , or family member . For more on Mormonism , we also have the DNA vs . THE BOOK OF MORMON DVD in stock , also produced by Living Hope Ministries . You can read more about it when you view our DVD selection . God is using both of these resources to lead many Mormons out of darkness and into the light . 
Darwinism : " Masquerading As Science " . Dr. Jonathan Wells , who earned two doctorates , one in molecular and cell biology from U . C . Berkeley and another from Yale recently said , " My conclusion is that the case for Darwinian evolution is bankrupt . The evidence for Darwinism is not only grossly inadequate , it 's systematically distorted . I ' m convinced that sometime in the not - too - distant future -- I don't know , maybe twenty or thirty years from now -- people will look back in amazement and say , ' How could anyone have believed this ? ' Darwinism is merely materialistic philosophy masquerading as science , and people are recognizing it for what it is .... When you analyze all of the most current affirmative evidence from cosmology , physics , astronomy , biology , and so forth -- well , I think you ' ll discover that the positive case for an intelligent designer becomes absolutely compelling . " ( Interview with Lee Strobel , The Case for a Creator , 2004 , p . 65 - 66 ) . 
How NOT to Witness to a Jehovah 's Witness . Many Christians aren't sure how to go about witnessing to Jehovah 's Witnesses on their doorstep . Here is an example of how NOT to do it . The L . A . Times on December 9 , 2005 reported : " A woman who used a butcher knife to beat a Jehovah 's Witness who knocked on her door on Christmas Day was sentenced to three months in jail .... The Jehovah 's Witness had shown up at Infusino 's [ the woman with the knife ] apartment by mistake and was looking for a neighbor who was interested in the religion . She apologized for the error and tried to leave , but Infusino grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into the apartment . " Do you need help with witnessing to Jehovah 's Witnesses ? Click on the JEHOVAH ' S WITNESSES link on ABR 's homepage www . Always Be Ready . com. 
Are You a College Student with Liberal Professors ? Sean Hannity Wants to Help You . Sean Hannity ( a conservative Christian talkshow host for Foxnews ) wants to help expose liberal propaganda and intimidation by university professors . Here is an excerpt from World Net Daily who has an article on this today . Sean said , " All you college kids out there , check your state laws , check your campus laws ... Get your little tape recorders if legal , and I want you to start recording these left - wingers . Bring it to this program [ Sean 's radio program ] and we ' ll start airing it every single time on this program .... whenever you have the left - wing professors that are abusive to conservatives , that degrade you , that call you names , that use ad - hominem attacks , that are punishing you for your political point of view , that are purposely trying to indoctrinate you with extremist left - wing views if it is legal , tape them . If it is not legal , take verbatim notes , get witnesses , bring these articles to the school newspapers , bring it to the local media . Expose these people for the abusive professors that they are , and I guarantee you when there 's a series of these instances where we expose these people , I guarantee you this indoctrination process is going to stop dead in its tracks .... Fear is a great motivator , and the fear that these left - wingers are going to get fired or be held accountable for their mean - spirited comments against people or their indoctrination is going to be the single - biggest motivation we ever see to get them to stop doing what they 're doing to college kids around the country . " Read the entire article here . 
How Americans View Muslims Post 9 - 11 . " Just before the September 11 attacks , a Gallup survey showed that 45 percent of Americans had favorable views toward Muslim - Americans . Today , 59 percent do . Imagine it -- Islamic extremists attack America , and we think more of Islam than before the attack ! " - Charles Colson , Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture , p . 356 , 2005 . 
Do You Have Kids ? Help Them Know Why They Believe What They Believe . " Studies have shown that when students lack good defenses , their faith erodes . And two - thirds will forsake Christianity by their senior year of college . " Read the rest of this article from THE CHRISTIAN POST here . Reading this article , I was again reminded of the importance of parents training their kids , from a young age , to know why they believe what they believe . Many parents , who simply tell their kids what to believe , are brought to tears when their college - age kids walk away from the Lord . Do you have young kids ? Do you have grandkids ? Look for opportunities to talk to them about some of the evidences for God 's existence , the trustworthiness of the Bible , etc. Do you need help preparing or learning about some of those evidences ? See our notes on our main page at www . Always Be Ready . com. 
Seventy Percent of Americans Believe Jesus is the Son of God . THE WASHINGTON TIMES reports today that , " Traditional religion is still the bedrock of America , with " very large majorities " of the public steadfast in their belief in God and the birth and Resurrection of Jesus Christ -- with belief in astrology , ghosts and other New Age hallmarks lagging behind . Overall , 82 percent of Americans believe in God , according to a recent Harris poll , which also revealed that 73 percent also believe in miracles , 70 percent in life after death , 70 percent in the existence of heaven , and 70 percent that Jesus is the Son of God . In addition , 68 percent believe in angels and 66 percent in the Resurrection of Christ . Six out of 10 believe in the devil and the existence of hell . " Click here for the rest of the article . 
Famous Atheist Abandons Atheism for Belief in Intelligent Designer . This is no longer news to some of you , but worthy of posting here for those of you who haven't yet heard . Antony Flew , a world - renowned atheist , author and debater , has abandoned his atheism in light of the latest scientific evidence . Read about his change of mind here . He is not yet a Christian , only a theist , but we pray that God will continue to lead him into the truth . 
Scientists Who Are Critical of Darwinian Evolution . Did you know that some of the brightest scientists in the world , from some of the most prestigious institutions in the world ( including Cambridge University , Stanford , Cornell , MIT , Princeton , Harvard , etc. ) , are critical of Darwinian evolution ? Often times the liberal media seeks to portray Christians as uneducated , uniformed idiots for believing in a Creator . If you have ever been tempted to feel this way , know that when you affirm a belief in a Creator , you are actually standing with a group of very educated scientists who hold Ph . D . s in a plethora of different fields . To see a list of scientists who are critical of Darwinian evolutionary theory click here ( pdf file ) . 
Easy Way to Inoculate Your Neighbors Against Cults . Have Mormon missionaries or Jehovah 's Witnesses been through your neighborhood ? Here is a great and easy way to warn your neighbors about both groups and at the same time share what the Bible really teaches . Go to this link over at the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry and download a free door hanger warning tract that you can print out . These work great ! Help spread the truth . 
Exciting New Archaeological Discovery . We know from the New Testament accounts and extrabiblical literary evidence ( Flavius Josephus , the Babylonian Talmud , etc. ) that Jesus lived . We also know that the early church believed that Jesus was God long before the Council of Nicea in A . D . 325 ( e . g . , John 20:28 ) . ( In The Da Vinci Code , Dan Brown asserts that the deity of Christ was a fourth century invention by the church . ) A recent archaeology discovery in Megiddo helps verify , not only that Jesus lived , but that the early church also viewed Him as God long before the fourth century . See both installments of the story at : www . foxnews . com / story / 0,2933,174685,00 . html and : www . foxnews . com / story / 0,2933,174772,00 . html . 
Is it Reasonable to Believe that God Exists ? What evidence is there that the God exists ? Well , for starters , we might point to the very existence of the universe itself . Let s think about this for a moment . There are only three options for the existence of the universe . One , that it has always been . Two , that it came into being by itself . Three , that it was created . The first option ( that the universe is eternal ) has been utterly rejected by the scientific community . An overwhelming amount of evidence has ruled out the notion that the universe has always existed . The motion of the galaxies , the background radiation echo , and other evidences all point to the fact that the universe sprung into existence at a particular point in time , something scientists call the Big Bang . Option two , that the universe created itself , is impossible . It would be impossible for the universe to have created itself . Before the universe existed there would not have been anything around to do anything . And we all know that nothing can not do anything . Nothing is nothing . It ( if we could even call nothing an it ! ) can t see , smell , act , think . Nothing is nothing ! So option one and two can be thrown out on scientific and philosophical grounds . Option three , that something or someone outside of the universe created the universe , is the only reasonable option . When you see a painting on a wall , what proof do you need to establish the fact that a painter exists ? Nothing else besides the painting itself . The painting is absolute proof that there was a painter . You don t need to see the painter to believe that he exists . The painting is all the evidence you need . The painting would not be there if the painter didn t exist . And so it is with the universe . The existence of the universe itself proves absolutely that there is a creator . 
New Apologetics Book Now Available . We are excited to announce the completion of a new apologetics resource , written by Charlie H . Campbell , that is sure to strengthen your faith and be a great resource to give to unbelievers . Here is what some well known Christian thinkers are saying about it : " I hope many seekers will give serious consideration to the thoughts so well expressed in this timely and pithy book . Well worth reading . " - CHARLES COLSON " This is a handy book with helpful answers for busy people . " - Dr. NORMAN GEISLER " The Christian faith is the most reasonable faith in the world , and Charlie Campbell shows that in a straight forward and down to earth way in this book . I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and plan to give it away to as many people as I can . " - BRIAN BRODERSEN In this book Charlie Campbell tackles forty of the most popular questions that skeptics and unbelievers ask Christians . Questions like : How do you know that God exists ? Hasn't the Bible undergone corruption as it was translated down through the centuries ? What evidence do you have that the Bible is actually true ? How can a God of love allow evil and suffering ? How can a God of love send people to hell ? And more ! Click here to purchase . $ 9.95 for individual copies . $ 35.00 for a bulk pack of five copies . 
Preterism : A Review of Hank Hanegraaff 's THE LAST DISCIPLE by Dr. Norman Geisler . Dr. Norman Geisler , President of Southern Evangelical Seminary and author of more than sixty books , tackles and refutes many of the problems with Hank Hanegraaff 's peculiar view of the end times expressed in THE LAST DISCIPLE series . Click here . 
Did Jesus Ever Exist ? For a great examination of the extrabiblical , historical evidence for Jesus ' existence pick up a copy of THE HISTORICAL JESUS : ANCIENT EVIDENCE FOR THE LIFE OF CHRIST ( College Press Publishing Company , 1996 ) , by the first rate Christian scholar Gary Habermas . This is a fantastic reference book jam - packed with quotes and references to Jesus from sources outside the Bible . It utterly demolishes the foolish idea that Jesus never existed . 
Dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls . Someone emailed us today and asked how we know that the Dead Sea Scrolls actually date back to the time before Christ . That is a great question . First off , why is this important to know ? The Dead Sea Scrolls , discovered in 1947 , in Qumran , Israel , help verify that the Old Testament we have today has not undergone any significant corruption . The Dead Sea Scrolls represented every book of the Old Testament , except for the Book of Esther , and date as far back as the third century B.C.. How do we know that these scrolls are this old ? Teams of scholars determined the scrolls age by examining . . . 1 . The pottery that housed the manuscripts 2 . The weave and pattern of the manuscript cloths 3 . The form of the characters 4 . The spelling of the words 5 . The coins found alongside the manuscripts 6 . They also used Carbon - 14 Dating For more on the reliability of the Bible , see the link BIBLE at www . Always Be Ready . com. 
Wednesday 's Random Thoughts . I saw this dumb question on the yahoo page when I started it up this morning - How do you prepare a live chicken to cook ? - I suppose you send it to cooking school . Random annoyances : 1 . What is it with raisins in cinammon rolls ? I mean , they reall don't add anything besides an inappropriate surprise to the taste . You bite in to the cinammon roll and they hide the raisins inside . So you aren't expecting it . So there is this little squishy sweet flavored thing that just appears in your mouth . Now if you aren't expecting it , my first reaction is that I wonder if a bug or something is in there . Then I realize it is a raisin , so I am only annoyed . Of course , I saw raisins in a fruit salad at the DFAC ( dining facility ) - raisins ? It isn't trail mix , grapes belong in fruit salad , not raisins . The unltimate disappointment , when you see a cookie in low - light conditions and bite into that chocolate chip cookie , only to find it is an oatmeal and raisin cookie ... ugh !! 2 . Web pages that jump up on top when they finish loading . What is with that ? You hi - speed users probably don't have this problem . But since I often use NO speed internet , I will do a search or whatever , and open a page that I am typing on , like ... uh ... now . See , I don't really know how to type , so I have to watch the keyboard as I type . So I look up and see - wham ! some dumb page when I was searching for whatever , and now I am typing in the search for blank for who knows how long ... Who is the obnoxious person that came up with that ? Oh , and it happens as I am trying to log into something too . Or I am typing in the password space , and since the page actually ' finishes ' loading it jumps to the user or ID space or whatever it is . So I end up typing half of my password in the ID space . How dumb is that ? This only happens about every 3 rd time I try to log into something . That is totally annoying !!! 3 . Useless search engine ' finds ' ... what is with it when you search a topic , so you click the link and wait ( remember , NO speed internet ) and it is one of those NON - page pages . you know , it lists a bunch of links to ' advertisers ' but has absolutely NO useful information . I mean does ANYONE click one of the advertisers links ? I wouldn't buy from anyone that promoted such nonsense .4 . Java Script pages that load everything under the sun first , before the useful and pertinent information . In the Old days when most of these pages were good old HTML without Java , they loaded faster and displayed as many pictures , and as much information as the new - fangled Java Script ones . As far as a user perspective , I have not seen and advantages to a page being done in Java Script . I know ! , they take longer to load , use more memory , and make people buy more powerful computers and hi - speed internet ! 5 . When you add a site to your favorites or log on to some sites , they change your internet settings . I hate having to reset my address bar to NOT to search . Sheesh !! , there are a gazillion search options out there , why would I search from the address bar ? It just uses someone else 's search engine anyways . When search is on , I have had it tell me there is no such pace on some addresses , and then turn off the search part , type in the exact same address and amazingly , like magic , the site appears . Search engines nowdays have so much crap built in they cannot find the obvious . OK , I vented . Why I felt compelled to post this stuff , I have no clue . 
Ewwwww ! I was Tagged by a Flea ! Ok , it was probably a good thing that I was tagged by Flea . I was in a really bad mood and was about to post some junk that would have just pissed people off , etc , etc. So thanks Flea ! 5 Things always in my purse ( hey ! I don't have a purse ! ) backpack : 1 A towel or rag 2 AFEES Pogs 3 A USB cable 4 Some keys to I don t know what 5 550 Chord 5 Things always in my wallet : 1 - Permanent TCLEOSE Peace Officers License 2 - Yugoslavian Dinars ( I have no Idea why they are still in there ) 3 - Guitar Picks 4 driver s license 5 a few small pieces of paper with various information on them 5 Things always in my refrigerator : 1 Some unknown items stuck in the frost in the freezer 2 Iced tea 3 25 + of bottles of water 4 At least one energy bar 5 - At least one individual Cereal ( why in the fridge I really don't know ) 5 Things always in my closet : 1 - A duffle bag full of issued army gear I will never use that I have to turn in when I leave here 2 One of those folding canvass chairs 3 A mop and bucket ( does this count as 2 ? ) 4 A big black storage box mostly filled with stuff I should just get rid of .5 An extra duffle bag 5 Things always in my car : 1 Bullet holes 2 At least one copy of Stars and Stripes ( usually old ) 3 My IBA ( bullet proof vest and helmet ) 4 Ammunition 5 - Rope 5 ( or more ) Things always on my desk ( not really a desk but I share a long counter thing with 2 other guys ) : 1 A stapler that doesn t work why do I keep it ? 2 At least one bottle of water 3 Wet Wipes 4 Hand sanitizer 5 Several sticky notes of various size and color most of which I should just trash . Anyways , I don't feel like tagging anyone right now , but feel free to tag yourself . ( That almost doesn't sound right ! haha !!! ) See my mood is better already : P . 
How I got my job - Part 1 . Note : I am breaking this up into parts ( probably 5 ) , as I don t like to read long posts , so I won t post a long post . I know I don t talk a lot about my specific job and work for various reasons . I decided to try to tell all of you how I got the job I now have . Now I will not go into too many details about how I got to working in Iraq . You can go here to see what they look for now . I will go back waaayyyy back , to when I was working as a cop . Somewhere way back then in 1998 or 99 , I had seen an ad on the internet looking for cops to monitor police in Bosnia . I knew nothing about Bosnia , except that it used to be part of Yugoslavia , and there had been a war there . There were photos of blown up buildings , talk of hard living conditions , and of great pride in doing the work in that Mission . I felt led to apply , so I did . Later I get a call from the company , and they asked if I wanted to go to Kosovo . Well at the time we were still dropping bombs on Yugoslavia AND Kosovo . I said well , not right now , and they said , we mean when the smoke clears I told them I was interested . I don t hear from these guys for months , and in June while celebrating my youngest son s birthday ( but not on his birthday ) I get a call and they basically ask if I am still interested . I tell them I am . They said they would let me know when they would need me . They sent a list of what I would need to pack , etc ( little did I know that they had NO idea as to what to pack ) . Unlike here in Iraq I would be living off the local economy . Now , I was expecting a call saying the training will start next week , or in a couple of weeks , etc. So I get this call at 530 PM one Friday afternoon , telling me they have tickets waiting for me at the Airport for an 830 AM flight to Dallas , we were going to be trained at the American Airlines Training Center . So I start trying to pack , and late run to Wal - Mart to buy my 1 year supply of stuff . I do a pretty good job of packing considering I packed a lot of stuff I did not need . 
How I got my Job Part 2 . We go through the training which by the way they had no idea what to train on because they had only trained people for Bosnia ( an unarmed monitoring mission ) and we were going to be the police in Kosovo . Now as cops we asked the obvious question : can we get a copy of the law ? Well , we couldn t as no one had any . Besides that they didn t know which laws we would be enforcing . We were going to be armed with a 9 mm Beretta . Oh , and pepper spray , and an Asp baton . So after our training and our psychological testing ( I know , I know how come they passed me is still a mystery ) Sometimes I think the guys that failed are the ones that get sent ! So we sneak into DFW International Airport just after midnight and line up to get on an old Russian airliner http : // en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Il - 62 ( OK technically Ukrainian : Eastline Airlines ) . Ok , nothing suspicious here , 110 armed civilians getting on an old Russian plane at midnight heading to Yugoslavia . This plane is obviously put together from 3 or 4 planes . You can see several layers of cords in the tires . They use dry ice for the air conditioner . And a mechanic crew flies with them . As we seat ourselves on the plane , they hand out lighters ( not quite like today ) . Now this plane can t make it straight over without refueling , so we lay over in New Foundland for a refuel stop . We Arrived in Macedonia , because the mines had not been cleared fro the Airport in Pristina yet . The Ariport at that time was obviously used as much as a military base as a civilian airpoirt . It was loaded with transport planes and helicopter gunships . OK , Ok I know I haven t got to Iraq yet - I am getting there though ! .. 
How I got my Job Part 3 . Ok , I won t go into detail about how we had to wait three days in Macedonia , while the Nepalese and Pakistani Police contingent wrecked the cars in the driving test and nearly shot the range officers in the firearms qualification . We smuggle our weapons into Kosovo and get set up at the training center . We were greeted with garbage piles on street corners that were 20 feet high , most of them burning . At night there were constant gun battles , helicopters at rooftops and several explosions across the city . Anyways , we go through orientation , and we were told to wait for our assignments . I decided to go through the police HQ and ask around as to who needed what . I came across the SIU . They needed someone who could make a database on a computer for tracking all the cases . I was the first one in our group to get assigned to a job . Later on SIU was changed to CCIU and was responsible for War Crimes and cold cases across Kosovo . I worked for two years with CCIU , more in administrative side , but I was involved with investigations , which included exhumations and small mass graves 7 or less people buried in one location . We had no high tech equipment in the beginning so that meant we did the digging and bagged these bodies in makeshift body bags . The morgue did not have a refrigerated unit and we would deliver the bodies to a shipping container just outside the morgue . Later on , when it was time for autopsy , we would have to go in to the container and find the right bag and take it inside . By the time I was done with Kosovo , I had definitely had my fill of death . ( Note : some time after that I was watching Behind Enemy Lines with my sons , and I could literally smell the scene when the pilot hid in the mass grave ) After Kosovo , I thought I would make big money and tried to sell cars . Actually I was OK , not great , I even made salesman of the month one month . I got a call from Dyn Corp asking me to go back to Kosovo . I wasn t making much money , and I knew I liked the work , so I went back . 
Zidane 's head butt and Sachin Tendulkar . Just a thought occured to me - What Zidane did in the final against Italy was a very serious offence . There are no two ways about it . Even the French media and public admitted it and felt the punishment he received ( Red Card ) was well deserved . But at the same time , they still respect him for what he has achieved although this incident would go down as a blot on record of their national hero . Few years back we had a similar incident ( although some might argue not quite that serious ) with our national hero - Sahin Tendulkar . Sachin was shown on television to be doing something with the seam of a cricket ball - a punishable offence in the game . And although the player claimed he was just cleaning the seam , the offence nevertheless deserved to be punished ( no player is going to go out and admit that he did wrong ) . The Indian media and public however were not ready to accept that what Sachin did was anything wrong and then there were cries of differential treatment and harsh puinishment being meeted out etc etc etc. There was a huge public outcry when punishment was handed out to him . Now here 's the difference - both Zidane and Sachin are national infact global incons in their own rights . But one is respected the other is idolized . One makes a mistake , pays for it and the fans accept the punishment as deserved and move on . Their respect for him is not diminished . However the fans of the other do not accept the fact ( playing with the seam of a cricket ball is a crime in the game period ) and make cries of partiality etc. Its time we became more mature and stopped godifying people . If a person makes a mistake , he pays for it and life moves on . Everyone makes a mistake . Life goes on . Let life go on .. Thats it for now ... 
The Mittal Saga . I must say , I am very puzzled with the way the whole Mittal episode was handled not just by the media but the politicians and also public at large . Yes , Mittal owns the largest steel company in the world and yes , he is an Indian . But let us get our facts straight Mittal has lived outside India for more than 3 decades Mittal has no business interests in India His company is not an Indian company His retaining Indian passport is also likely due to the tax status ( I happen to know another ' Indian ' who lived whole of his life outside India but retains Indian passport solely due to tax purposes ! ) He has never publicly championed the cause of either India and Indian business He is a very ruthless businessman ( for which I respect him ) Yet , inspite of this the issue was talked about as if we were referring to a person next door - a person who is a national hero . Sample this We believed ( rather convinced ourselves ) that the hostility to his take over bid was his ' race ' , rather his being an Indian - without knowing that over the last few months there have been objections to take over of European companies by Europeans as well . Our Commerce Minister ( Mr. Kamal Nath ) believes that it is his conversation with the Luxemburg head of state that ensured that Luxemburg did not oppose the deal - Who is Kamalnath ? We believed that Mr. Mittal is a shining of modern Indian businessman - bold , audacious , ambitious etc etc etc - what 's the relation ? How convenient of ourselves ? As the famous Mc Enroe saying goes , I wish to ask people - You are not serious . Don't get me wrong , I have lots of respect for Mr. Mittal . But there is not need to eulogise him . I am proud of his being of Indian origin and I wish him luck , but I don't godify him . Lets not go overboard .. That 's it for now ... 
Signed up for the 1 Step System - Initial Observations . Hello all ! This is my very first blog and I hope you find this information useful . For the last few months I have started to research and test the online business marketing , Internet home - based businesses , adsense and even e Bay auctions . I figured it would be best not to reinvent the wheel . I purchased John Reese 's Internet Traffic Secrets and I ' m currently studying his system . During one of the video presentations , Jeff Alderson was featured and so were some of his products . I checked out his sites and ran into a link to the 1 Step System http : // 14327.1 stepsystem . com. The 1 Step System website was nicely created , very professional with video and sound . I signed up to listen to the 37 live teleseminar . Jeff Alderson is a well know guru in Internet Marketing and I figured this would be a great opportunity to have him as my sponsor . I took the plunge and paid the $ 597 . I know it seems like a lot , but Google searches showed many satisfied business owners and if it can change my financial future , I just have to give it a try . I also ran into an e - book that very nicely explains the system and how to make money . If you want to check it out , go to http : // www .1 stepsystemrevealed . com and download your FREE ebook . Enter your name and e - mail and the PDF downloads immediately . No SPAM and your information will not be shared or sold . Have you had success on the 1 Step System ? Would you be willing to share your ideas or thoughts in general ? I will make entries to my blog as soon as my business begins to take off . I ' m still going through my Traffic Secrets and my back - office of the 1 Step System which has many hours of video , audio and PDF e - books covering many topics that will help expand my business . While I expect to post weekly , it could happen daily if new and exciting developments happen . I look forward to sharing my experiences with you . 
balance in design . Balance in desin . 
Good Denim . It 's important to have good denim . Good , strong denim that suits you and will last long and wear well . According to the tag on the Levi 's I ' m wearing , denim was created in 1873 -- or it was first sold in 1873 . " May 20 , 1873 . " The Levi 's store in San Francisco is like Oz , resplendent . The Mother of the City . When I ' m drunk in my room I like to lay my head on my desk and study the texture on my jeans . It 's important to keep a journal . But , I sometimes wonder if journals give it all ; or , if they do , isn't it a shame ? So , a writer or politician or artist dies and they publish their journals . The journals maybe give some context to what the person did . Keats once ate a handful of cayenne pepper at a party ; another example of the passion in the early poems , the bright - eyed boy ! But what did the writer / politician / artist think that he or she didn't write ? That 's what I want to read . There 's that poem by Heather Mc Hugh where she lays it out . Reading through some of my old journals tonight , I was impressed by the emotion and nakedness , but I can't help but wonder excitedly , what didn't I say ? It 's important to have good shoelaces , an often overlooked fact . I just assume shoelaces will always work . I never realized how important shoelaces are until I had a bad set . On my brown Eccos in Boston . To be fair to the laces , Boston will wear on anything . It 's important to attach the appropriate adjectives to light . Everything happens inside of light . This is especially apparent when I ' m under the influence of something -- alcohol , weather . e . g . Grape light . e . g . Dusty light . e . g . Amber light . e . g . Steel light . Using your own adjectives is seeing things purely , is thinking for yourself . Priscilla remember when it had just finished raining and we drove to Costco and the light was shivering , the light was jewelled ! It 's important not to tell the truth . The truth is obliterative . It 's important to meet someone you respect who does something that you do that you 're embarassed of . It 's important to eat well -- it 's what you put into your body . It 's also important to drink enough water . It 's important to experience different climates . It 's important to hide your sources , it 's important to fuck and fuck and fuck and fuck ! , it 's important for me to remember that my mom reads this and I should stop writing before it gets even more out of hand . 
I ran into my primary reader at the Elbo Room tonight !! John Wheaton -- I mentioned him in this post . We were in a poetry writing class together senior year and were responsible for reading each other 's poetry and exchanging letters every week . It was us and this girl Lulu , a graduate student in I think Chinese literature . I don't know what happened to her . & Cody bought me beer and pizza ! & I met a singer - songwriter from Madison who does country / Americana stuff and I ' m going to her CD release party next week ! We split a veggie slice . Are you out there Lulu ? 
[ Big Ocean . Haven't had a car to go to any more lumber stores + hosted a friend + interviewed and taught a demo lesson at KIPP Bayview + no money = bookcases temporarily on hold . The ocean is big it makes the noise of me waiting ] . 
The Quest for Lumber , Day 1 . Evening . Walked to Cole Hardware . Windy . Salespeople tell me they don't usually do cuts this late but Okay , hurry up , what do you want ? Tell them I need 1 X 10 pine . Salesman tells me they only have 1 X 12 . Anything else ? Nope . Salesman leaves , and I discover the 1 X 12 is mislabelled , should be labelled 1 X 10 , but on measurement is more like 1 X 9 1 / 3 . Frustration . 
Mike Fauteux is a tool . I need to be more resilient . Tonight my dad told me that I need to fly out to San Francisco ( I ' m moving to San Francisco ) rather than drive . I was really looking forward to driving out there on my own . He was going to let me take one of our cars since they need to get it out there eventually anyway ( my parents are moving to Reno ) and it would be convenient for me to drive it out for them . I was really looking forward to the drive . Not in any kind of romantic way , but I just think it would have been soothing in a way that I need right now , after being social in Boston and being stuck at home this week , and before the whirlwind of moving into my apartment and finding a job , etc. I was especially looking forward to stopping in Park City . I ' ve been to Park City a few times -- I was there for Sundance in 2003 , which was one of the coolest things I ' ve ever done , then I stopped there once with Adam and once with Stefanie on the drive from / to California . With Adam we fought about what kind of food to buy at Albertson 's for the rest of the trip and with Stefanie we had a little fight about my intolerance of fat people . But yeah , resilience . It was such a letdown when my dad told me I have to fly . That drive is exactly how I needed to relax right now . It would have been really soothing , but I guess it 's kind of immature for me to pout about it . All right , this little example seems insignificant but I kind of had a realization that I ' m not very resilient . I get all excited about driving to California , and then I find out it 's not going to happen and I ' m way down . I do it with anything that upsets me , to varying degrees , where I kind of go into shock for a while and need to be alone and I become really unmotivated and there 's a lot of self - loathing going on . Phone call with Michelle tonight in which we talked about the idea of " selling out , " which is a common and kind of ironic idea from people who ' ve gone to schools like Stanford or Harvard . We also talked about this kid Mike Fauteux from HGSE and how he 's a complete tool . Hey Michelle : MIKE FAUTEUX IS A FUCKING TOOL . I think that should be the title of this post . Apparently I also get hostile when I ' m upset . Long phone call with Brianna made me happy . She brought up the point that she has read / seen / listened to anything I ' ve ever recommended to her , yet she 's asked me to watch one movie ( Sense & Sensibility ) for about three years and I haven't done it . I told her not to take it personally -- I don't do a lot of things that people ask me to do -- and that I will watch it this weekend . It 's 4 a.m. now so I should go to bed . I have to get a good night 's sleep so I can watch World Cup games and eat and nap all day tomorrow . I hate being at home . 
PM 's response ' unacceptable ' . What is ' unacceptable ' is that we have a member of our government that is so uniformed of what a ' peacekeeper ' can actually accomplish that he would think the PM is wrong on this . These soldiers were being allowed to be used as ' cover ' by a terrorist organization , they were unarmed ... and truthfully should have been pulled out once their position was compromised . The Sec Gen of the UN should apologize , for some reason I don't think we will see that . I am so glad we finally have a PM that is right at least occasionally . js . 
A difficult lesson . I saw things like this when I was a young man in the military , you cannot reason with bullies ( or terrorist , which are the same thing ) . Let us hope the world can stand back and let this be sorted out . js . 
The New York Times - Memorable Photographs . Remember when the Globe and Mail published those pictures of the snipers in Arnhiem picking off Canadian Paratroopers in 1944 ? Neither do I... HT to 4 Mile Creek . js . 
Anti - Idiotarian Rottweiler Blog Archive More News From the Tiny Minority of Extremists Hijacking Peaceful Islam . " At one point he announces dramatically that the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center changed many people s lives . After a pause , he brings the house down by adding : Especially those inside . " This is what we are up against , some do not ( or do not want to ) realize it . js . 
Democratic Underground - Can a jet fuel / hydrocarbon fire collapse a steel structure ? An experiment . So apparently , in some circles , this ' proves ' that the WTC did not collapse from the two airplanes ( one that we saw on videocam feed and the other that was watched world wide ) but from some conspiracy , this in a country and a government that can't keep a secret for more than ten minutes . There are some loonies here . js . 
. Bright Eyes Lua Sweet Illusion Decemberists - We Both Go Down Together Franz Ferdinand Walk Away Chelsea Burns Eels Understanding Salesmen Madrugada Hold On To You The Everthere Brendan Benson Biggest Fan Radio Campaign Jeff Klein Red Lantern Unisex Pigs And Their Farms Roddy Frame - " Marble Arch " " Dirty Secret " Ry Cooder - " Poor man 's Sangri - La " Belle " Monster Ballads " Ed Harcourt - " You only call me when you 're drunk " comment , cd mp 3 . 
Cape Flowers 2 . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 Cape Flowers 2 , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 Well ... I ' m making so much money with my job ... I ' m thinking about going for the 20 D . or 30 D . but then there 's tax , the CF card , and the kit lens ... ah . 20 D it is . I don't need a bigger screen . If you have better ideas , just leave comments on this post . 
Prancing up the Stairs . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 Prancing up the Stairs , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 
While Drawing . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 While Drawing , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 
Cape Lily . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 Cape Lily , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 
Stars , Stripes . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 Stars , Stripes , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 
Spring Has Sprung . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 Spring Has Sprung , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 Happy Father 's Day ! 
Sprinkler . . flickr - photo { border : solid 2 px # 000000 ; } . flickr - yourcomment { } . flickr - frame { text - align : left ; padding : 3 px ; } . flickr - caption { font - size : 0.8 em ; margin - top : 0 px ; } 	 Sprinkler , originally uploaded by ramzidreessen . 	 For some reason , this is my favorite photo of the month . Maybe it 's because it 's so sharp , or maybe it 's just the direction and movement of the water ... or maybe it 's because I don't usually convert things to black and white . 
MTV on plagiarism . Good article about plagiarism was posted at MTV . Strange thing , as Shana Leonard put attention on plagiarism verification programs on musical site , which in fact MTV does . " For topics that aren't available or for cheaters who are a bit more cautious students can buy custom essays that are written on demand and tailored to specific requirements . " Personally I don't see also any problems . ... " for a nominal fee , students can purchase prewritten essays on almost any topic from virtual paper mills " , say HQessays . com , and that leave them more usefull time for studying or fun . Concerning Music Television , I would ask , - in visual space of TV , are there thieves ? Sure . 
High Heat and Tough Week .. Along with the rest of the country experiencing heat .. car is taking a back seat while I deal with the weather .. Will add more later .. did have the Insurance adjuster look at my wrecked car ( previous post ) .. so I ' ll let ya know how that goes .. Les . 
Actually got more then one day off Lol . I took a couple and it 's good to get the rest I needed but also being gone from work let them notice how valuable of a person I am . It suxs that my knee still hurts today , but making the best of it . Have some plans for tomorrow .. still need to make the engine build vid .. just thinking on the best way . See ya ! Les . 
Farris Buler 's day off . Hey , that 's a movie .. but in my case I ' m not having fun on my day off . I twisted my knee last Sunday and it was hurting a little yestersday morning . About lunch time I couldn't even stand on my right leg . I went home early and by 5:00 o ' clock my knee was swolen to the point it looked like doubbled in size . So today I ' m off of work flipping thru the TV chanels .. that suxs . I have to keep my leg up in the air and stay off of it . Well I hope I feel better soon .. I can't stand ( pun ) to sit around .. Lol . See ya , Les . 
Just another day of work for me . Well it was getting late so I took a quick pic of the Mustang to upload .. I did manage to get the Capri engine & Trans cleaned up today so next weekend I ' ll install it . I don't have a bunch of cash right at the moment so I ' m just working on stuff .. I have an updated pic of the Capri below .. I was thinking of using the Capri to tow my Mustang to the track .. so maybe they will be painted identical .. still thinking about that tho .. Well st least I ' m making some progress ( Hoot ) even if it 's over 100 degrees out .. uck weather anyways .. I didn't make my Video but will try this week ? Maybe ? See ya , Les . 
Once again time flys . Can't believe this week has went by so fast .. sheesh .. I ' ll put up some pictures of my car tomorrow . I have to finish the cowl area ( just in front of the windshield ) so that 's my next part of the project . I ' m going to the shop tomorrow to clean an engine & trans for my Capri convertable . After I get that finished I ' ll add a video " Part 1 " on how to build a race engine on my You - Tube account .. I ' ll post a link to it . Les . 
Having some fun . Well It was hot outside today again .. but made the best of my workday . Got home and had to cook on the grill . Made some Hot Wings for dinner but first I sat down with a wine cooler under the celing fan . The cat climbed onto my lap and stretched out . I had put one more wine cooler in the freezer .. Well it was the fastest nap I ever took .. The cat still in my lap but the wine cooler in the freezer was frozen .. Ummm !! So I got my buti going and cooked the chicken and took the frozen drink out with me to defrost , and it did rather quickly .. Dinner was good ! Lip 's are still burning Lol ! Used Hot sauce with BBQ sauce .. Feeling much better today I rolled the car outside in the evening breeze and reinstalled the Mustangs doors and rear bumper .. I need to remove again for final painting but at least the car is one again .. ; = ) .. Thank God . Well I ' m more happy today then have been in awhile soo see ya later ! Les . 
Back to Normal next week . Whatever that is .. the shop owner returns from his vacation .. Means a ton more work in this heat for me . I don't mind being busy but it 's tough because I worked and he is comming off a vacation .. I ' m still bummed because the Police report is not ready and my car is still sitting in my driveway destroyed by that Drunk Driver . My insurance company won't do anything untill they have a police report . I feel like a Mouse in a MAZE !! The money I invested in that car that got hit was suppose to turn a profit and make me more money .. It 's a nightmare .. I guess I ' m trying to feel better by talking about it is all .. Later , Les . 
More progress . I now have most of the car ready for paint . Been busy the last few evenings .. It 's still very hot out in the evening but I work anyways .. Here is a couple of pic 's from a day ago .. Take care , Les . 
Happy 4 th to ya ! Well I ' m adding some information on my engine and car . Hope you can see it . Over to the right is dyno run that I did on my computer . I have used this program in the past and it was pretty close to what the engine was . It calculates my 545 cubic engine to be Peak HP of 663 and Peak Torque of 730 That is about what I ' m shooting for . : = ) On the left is a computed 1 / 4 mile run data sheet . I add all the factors of my car and it tells me what it may run in the 1 / 4 mile in X conditions . It says that I should be able to obtain 10.006 @ 133 Mph .. Again that 's what I ' m shooting for . So it appears to be a good combination of Engine and Chassis .. Well I ' m back in the garage today so I ' m hoping to make some progress .. Take care , Les . 
Long lost Pal . Back in the day while I was in the Navy I had a good friend and I lost touch with him . One day while checking on some information about my old squadron I found a link to be reunited with some of the members . I tryed the e - mail addy of my friend and he wrote me back .. That 's great .. hopefully I can get caught up on what he 's been doing the last zillion years .. See ya , Les . 
Need to chat with God . Hey , Man sorry to post some bad news but the car I just fixed to sell got hit by a Drunk Driver while parked .. damn ! The dude is suppose to have insurance but .. it just suxs .. I had about $ 1000 invested and now it 's gone .. If you go to my Fathers day post you can see the car before it got wrecked .. Well I ' m bummed for sure .. See ya later ! 
Went Shopping Lol ! I ' ve been balancing my funds and finally got some $$ to get some parts . These parts will complete the lower half of the engine .. Whoohoo ! Shop owner went on vacation today . I had thought I was getting a week off , at least that 's what was going to happen , Not ! Instead I got a weeks worth of work .. Ugh .. ; = ( I don't know .. sheesh ! No matter I guess , I ' ll get some time off when he gets back I guess .. Well got to go ! Les . 
Friggin Hell of a Day ! I ' m pissed .. not only did I have a bad day but my friggin computer is fighting over home pages and I don't care ! Stupid Yahoo .. anyways .. All I wanted to do is add to this page and it keeps askiing me if I wanted a different home page .. Gerrr .. I had to go a different way to get to here .. Friggin computer .. cut me and just add some salt .. I ' m mad ! Bye ! 
It 's Sunday already . Wow , I pretty much slept all day . Yesterday I worked on my 1984 Mustang convertable at the shop . Being in the heat caught up to me .. Regardless of the heat this week I need to get the racecar finished as far as body work goes . I ' m gonna have to push myself .. The best part is having that part of the car behind me . I ' m sad because the car is behind schedule and should be done .. but .. it 's going to be finished this year so I know I ' ll be ready for next year .. It will at least allow me to do some testing this year .. See ya , Les . 
Blue Sun Queen Part three . Ambassador Mansur Al - Zawahri Stood watching troop transports landing at various strategic sites throughout the capitol city from the embassy s rooftop garden . He wore the new dark blue with gold trim shalwar kameez that his sister had sent him from Kashmir prime . The Kashmir Tiger roses were in bloom , their orange and black flowers the size of dinner plates . Ambassador Al - Zawahri had brought them from his family s home back on Kashmir Prime and had planted them himself . He had given several away in pots to the nodeceaseded Taoiseach and to several members of the Oireachtas , the legislative branch of Nuadh Eire s government , he had recently been informed that all members of the Oireachtas had been placed under house arrest . When the coup had started tintelligencence unit had to inform the Ambassador that the self - proclaimed Blue Sun Queen s , Dr. Karen O Brien head of the Blue Sun Corporation , military was much larger than they had ever suspected and while most of the soldiers appeared to be 14 or 16 years old the assault rifles that they carried were quite real and you would be just as dead if they shot you as you would be if shot by an older soldier . Also as they had feared top ranking miliofficersciers had apparently been bought off and many of them had been given various titles , Sir this , Baron that and Duke who ever , and put in charge of various regions of Nuahd Eire . One military base seemed to be a site of fighting but it was brief . officersciers loyal to the republic seemed unable to launch any type of resistance . The Embassy grounds were jammed with over two thousand Confederate citizens whom had either been studying , Visiting or doing business on Nuadh Eire when the coup had been launched . There were also nearly a hundred locals whom had asked for asylum including two members of the Oireachtas and their families . All of the locals had made it to the embassy before the blue army had parked several armored vehicles around the Confederate embassy . While the embassy guards were on high alert and carrying loaded weapons , they assured the Ambassador that it seemed to them that the new blue army was trying to stop local people from getting to the embassy for sanctuary . They noted that the armored vehicles weapons were all pointed away from the embassy and that all confederate citizens had been stopped and questioned but allowed to continue on to the embassy . After two days Ambassador Mansur Al - Zawahri and various other ambassadors were invited to an informal dinner and meeting with the Blue Sun Queen . Ambassador Al - Zawahri was told to inform her that the confederation viewed the change in power on Nuadh Eire as an internal matter of the citizens of Nuadh Eire and one that they should resolve on their own . 
The Blue Sun Queen . Seamus Finnigan , star reporter for the New Belfast Times , leaned against the cold dingy red brick wall disappearing into the long shadows cast by the street lights . He had one hand clutching to his tattered leather brief case stuffed full of printouts and the other held an old green bandana against the gun shot wound in his side . His fingers becoming sticky as more blood seeped through the bandana . He knew that no periodical on Nuadh Eire would publish what he had found . They had all been bought out right or compromised in less than civilized ways . He had been running and bleeding since they had ambushed him at Merchants Quay . Seamus knew it was a minor miracle that he had gotten away , but he had managed to give them the slip on the poorly lit streets of New Dublin and get on a cross town train . He also knew that he was very tired and had lost a lot of blood . It was only two more blocks and then across Clanbassil St. to make it to the Confederate Embassy . From the Confederate Embassy he could get an off - world news agency to publish his story , maybe something on New Caledonia or High Wales . He tried to block out the pain and stumbled down the road , leaving a small pool of blood on the pavement behind . It was 4 am when Seamus collapsed in the middle of Clanbassil Street . His dying gasp for help brought two of the Confederate embassy guards running out into the deserted street , they slung their G . A . R - 17 s grabbed Seamus and carried him quickly into the embassy grounds , to the embassy s well equipped infirmary . While they waited Sgt. Hassan military training kicked in and he started looking for intelligence , he looked through the tattered and stained brown leather briefcase and he took Seamus s flash drive off of his bracelet . That along with Seamus s PDA he turned over to the embassy s chief of intelligence , Col . Tarik Mubarak . While Col . Mubarak started to go through the computer printouts they had found in Seamus s briefcase , Seamus died on the operating table , leaving a lot of questions behind . 
All the earth a place to pray . The Prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him ) said : " Wherever you may be at the time of prayer , you may pray ( there ) , because ( all the earth ) is a mosque . " Fiqh - us - Sunnah , Volume 2 , Number 67 . 
PRAISE GOD EVEN IN ADVERSITY . The Prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him ) said : " The first to be summoned to Paradise on the Day of Resurrection will be those who praise God in ( both ) prosperity and adversity . " Al - Tirmidhi , Hadith 730 . 
Assault part 9 . Confederation forces fought their way to the gates of the capitol , paying for every meter with blood . Bahamut class battleships , outfitted with mass drivers , maneuvered into low orbit firing on the unity forces north of the capitol with devastating effect . Confederation troops , who could feel the explosions caused by the mass drivers from kilometers away , joked that next year they would fish in the lakes being created north of the capitol city . The destruction of the Unity forces north of the capitol left the Unity defenders with out hope of reinforcement . After three days of ferocious fighting the Unity defenders retreated into the city , abandoning the few armored vehicles that had not been destroyed . The Unity defenders hoped to delay the invading confederate forces long enough for reinforcements to arrive from the southern continent . Unfortunately for the defenders any relief would have to be air - lifted to get to them in time to help and the C . S . S . Musa , a Zaratan class carrier s Buraq fighters were destroying anything that the Unity tried to put into the air . After two days of attempting to negotiate surrender , the Confederate assault troops were given their orders and attacked the city blasting the airlocks and simply cutting through the city s walls . Fierce house to house fighting raged for 5 days and while the Unity troops had the will to fight , they found themselves out of ammunition and low on bottled air and filters . And so they finally surrendered . The leader of the Unity of Saints , who went by the title of prophet , was captured and announced the unity s surrender . The surrender was recorded and broadcast all over the planet . Soon confederate ships were being dispatched to all Unity controlled star systems with recordings of the Unity of Saint s prophet surrender . In one bold remove the Unity of Saints was removed as a military threat . Omar can you give me a hand over here ? I need and Hamza to bring those welders over to gate station 4 , so they can get started on repairing it said the captain . Sir why can t we just get a bio - lab to create a retro - virus we can give these people so that they can be enhanced and able to breathe the air here ? Can t be that hard , they possibly even have the original retro - virus used on Hausa World that enabled to breathe back home and here on Zarahemla prime still sitting in storage in some lab somewhere . Asked Hamza . The saints have some type of religious beliefs that do not allow them to gene - modify themselves . Their cattle are in the fields around the city so they obviously know how to do it . We cannot enforce our beliefs on them it just isn t right . Replied the captain , Now get those welders over to gate station four , so we can get this city depressurized . . 
Assault part 8 . Confederate Armored vehicle fires at Unity para - military forces in support of confederate assault troops . Soon they had new orders , ground radar had triangulated where the sporadic rocket fire that was hitting them was coming from , but as they still could not find the mortar teams , Omar was told to take his men and spot the rocket launchers . Moving carefully through the forest looking out for booby traps and Unity Para - military snipers , an hour later they started taking fire , they could also hear the whoosh of the out going rockets . Hamza s hit , yelled Jakir as he returned fire at the Unity defenders . I m alright shouted Hamza after rolling behind a tree , Alhamdulilah I m alright , but the laser spotter is broken . Omar fired two grenades from the under slung grenade launcher on his G . A . R - 17 and made a mad dash towards Hamza . While Hamza zeroed in on the Unity defenders and started putting 14 mm rounds into them , Omar tried to see if he could fix the laser spotter . He quickly came to the irrefutable conclusion that he could not . The laser spotter had been hit by a round meant for Hamza and had broken in to two pieces , electronic components inside were shattered . Omar looked at Hamza and announced It looks like the spotter has given its life for the Confederation . We don t have another one , do we ? Nope Didn t think so . Alright we have to come up with another plan . Said Omar glancing around the huge tree he and Hamza were using as cover . He had come to realize that in the last few minutes that the Unity return fire had significantly dropped off . Look I took out the machine gun they had with my grenades , how many do you think you have you gotten ? I put down maybe 5 or 6 . Alright listen up ; I want you to get over there with Jakir . You two will fire all 5 of your grenades in rapid succession and then start firing 3 round bursts . Hussian and I will charge them . If there are as few of them as I think we should be able to over run them and then hit the rocket tubes . And if there isn t a few of them but a whole company back there guarding the rocket tubes , then what . Then it nice knowing you and I die with wudu Right , right The plan went off perfectly as there turned out to be only two unity defenders left . They moved up towards where they heard the rockets firing from . They crawled up a small hill which the rocket tubes were set up behind and fired down on the Unity unit killing them all before they could get off even one shot . Eight hours later the Confederate Assault infantry was able to hook up with the armor units that were waiting to press on to the capitol city of Zarahemla Prime and all of the Unity . 
Assault part 7 . The pod hit the ground with a heavy thud , the iris door spun open and the straps holding Omar in the pod released . Omar activated his body armor s chameleon skin and as trained moved twenty meters away from the pod took and took cover before activating his locater , so that he could find the Lt . When he picked up the Lt . s signal flash he locked its location on his map read out and started moving towards it , as it was the units rally point . Moving cautiously through the forest it took him only a few minutes before he came upon the rally point . The Captain was there giving out assignments . Omar get over ordered Captain Khalid , don t have a mortar with you ? No sir You did not happen to see any of the mortar teams when you were making your way here , did you No sir Alhamdulilah ! Where are those mortar teams , listen Omar I want you to grab Hamza , Takir and Hussain and try to get up to the road . Hamza has a Laser spotter and we got Jinn Bombers entering the atmosphere now . They are going to do us a fly over . There is a Unity armored column coming down the road and you guys are going to spot it for the bombers , alright . Yes sir Omar found the other men and they started towards the road . Hamza explained to him that something with the drop pods navigation systems had malfunctioned and they were twenty kilometers south of where they were supposed to be . So , while they had been screaming through the atmosphere hoping their feet did not burn off , the drop ships had unloaded the armor in the right place . The eyes in the sky had discovered that there was a Unity armor unit between them and the confederate armored unit whom they were supposed to be scouting a path towards the capitol . They could hear gunfire erupting south and west of them as Unity Para - military forces engaged the invading confederate army . It wasn t long before they saw the enemy tanks moving down the road towards them . Hamza trained the laser spotter on the second tank as Takir made a radio flash signal to the Jinn attack bombers . 10 seconds later the whole road seemed to explode as hundreds of bomblets rained down on the armored column . They never even saw the Jinn bombers . 
Assault part 6 . Drop pods photographed by a Unity Officer in command of a AAA unit .12 hours later they emerged from the wormhole and slid into the Zarahemla star system , and while the confederate 4 th fleet finished wiping the Zarahemla defenders from the sky , the Assault group traveled through the star system to take position in orbit of Zarahemla Prime . As every minute ticked by Omar and the other men felt the tension rise . Men cleaned their weapons , made dhiker , or read to try and pass the time . As they got closer and closer to their objective , more and more of the men made dhiker . The order was given , Omar and the rest of his company assembled outside of their drop pods with all of their equipment . The captain then ordered them into their drop pods and then added , Remember your training and you will survive . Remember Allah and you will be victorious regardless of the battle s out come . Omar got into his drop pod and strapped himself in . He read the engraved plate , which was just above the go no - go lights in his drop pod . It was a hadith and read The Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) once saw the corpse of a woman who had been killed during a battle . He disapproved of it and forbade the killing of women and children . It was a final reminder to the assault troops of how they were expected to conduct themselves during combat . The green go light came on and Omar feeling his stomach doing flip - flops recited the basmallah as he pressed the launch button . The steering rockets fired and he felt the drop pod hit the atmosphere . The pod started to heat up for a short time and then the jerk of the main shoot being deployed , activated automatically by the pod s altimeter . During this stage Omar knew he was most vulnerable , for even with the pod being invisible to radar and as the heat shield fell away , invisible to infrared the pod could still be seen by the naked eye . The shoot was sky blue but the pod was a dark grey . Attempts at painting them just had the paint burn off during entry . 
Assault part 5 . After several days of leave spent mostly playing soccer and computer games , Omar and Hamza reported back to base and assembled with the rest of the third assault division in a huge cavernous hanger . When General Al - Jaber walked into the hanger 20 thousand men snapped to attention . The General walked slowly across the stage to the podium , looking out at the faces of men whom he was about to order into combat . They are so young he thought . At the age of 63 , General Al - Jaber was old enough to be the grandfather of most of the men in the 3 rd Assault Division . He still kept his 2.1 meter frame in trim fighting shape by jogging and swimming every day , but even with that age had caught up with him some what and took out the reading glasses , that he hated that he had to have , to read his speech notes . Assalam Alaikum Said General Al - Jaber . Alaikum Assalam replied 20 thousand soldiers . Bismillah Rahim Raham , five months ago military vessels belonging to the Frankish Empire attacked the Confederation , but they were not being content with destroying the military sites in the New Palestine star system . Oh no , they also nuked the eight largest cities on the prime planet . Now since that time we have fought two major battles and several smaller skirmishes , with raids going back and forth . The last major battle was a major attack by the Franks on New Kelantan and gentlemen , the Franks were crushed . All of the Frankish capitol ships participating in the raid were destroyed . A complete victory for the Confederation . Now the Franks are still in the fight and they have just finalized an alliance with the Unity of Saints . An Alliance , which we shall nullify with one bold strike . You will leave this assembly gather your gear , for in 6 hours you will be taking the elevator up to a top of the line Crocotta class assault troop transport the General paused looking up from his notes at the sea of faces and exclaimed Takbir 20 thousand voices replied Allahu Akbar Takbir Allahu Akbar Takbir Allahu Akbar You are dismissed . Omar and Hamza crowded on to the elevator car with a thousand of their fellow soldiers , combat armor on and packs on their backs . They would have their G . A . R . - 17 s issued to them once they got on board the C . S . S . Cairo , The Crocotta class assault ship which would transport them . Once they and the rest of the assault divisions were loaded onto the transports , each platoon gathered around its Lieutenant who then ripped open their sealed orders and read them to the men . The Confederation High Command was making an attack on Zarahemla prime . The 7 th fleet would slide into the Zarahamla Star system first and then they , 250,000 assault troops being escorted by 2 Bahamut class battleships and 4 Quyata class heavy cruisers , would come into after most of the Unity system defense ships had been destroyed or disabled . The assault ships were then to establish a low orbit and the assault troops would go down in drop ships . The soldiers also learned that the assault troops from Hausa world had been chosen to make the assault on Zarahemla Prime for a very special reason . Zarahemla Prime s air was of a similar composition as Hausa world , 50 % Carbon Dioxide . As all of the Hausa had been genetically modified generations ago so that they could breath the air , they would not have to wear any special type of respirators . The Unity defenders would be wearing such devices , as genetic modification of human beings was illegal in the Unity . All the cities and towns on Zarahemla Prime were domed .86 hours after receiving their orders the lead battleship , the CSS Kuwait led the assault group to their slide point and opened up a worm hole which the group slid through to the Zarahemla star system . 
Assault part 4 . When they got off the train , they were hustled on to a bus with other recruits and in short order were driven to the training base , where they met training Sgt. Abdulkhareem . A man whose 2.2 - meter tall frame seemed to bulge everywhere with muscles and he howled at them in a thick New Daura accent pegging him as an off worlder . He seemed to spend the entire training time either in their faces or behind them kicking their butts . Listen up , I am not your friend , I am not your mama , I am not your daddy , I am your training Sgt. I will be training you how to be Confederate Assault troops , the greatest type of soldier there is . I will train you how to use all sorts of different killing devices and in battlefield tactics . But most importantly I will teach who the enemy is , so that when you go into battle you will not hesitate , because if you hesitate you die , roared training Sgt. Abdulkhareem . Over the next several months Omar , Hamza and the other recruits learned how to use the G . A . R . - 17 ; gauss assault rifle , as well as the V. R . F gauss gun . They learned to use grenades , mines , and seemingly every confederate infantry weapon in use . Spending hours each day on the firing range , with the hot sun beating down on them . When it rained , as the military did not want to run the firing range in the downpour , they did physical training and practicing marching in formation . The military did not seem to care how wet they got . They practiced hand - to - hand combat , knife fighting and use of the garrote until every muscle ached and they could do the movements in their sleep . Drop the garrote over his head and around his neck , partial twist of your body and pull . Done correctly the enemy s head will come off , barked Training Sgt. Abdulkhareem white teeth gleaming . Omar and the other recruits could hear training Sgt. Abdulkhareem in their sleep howling at them , Wrong , now you are dead . Do it again ! After graduation from the weapons school they went straight to drop school . They did parachute jumps and specialized HALO jumps for 3 weeks , then after a week of classroom instruction they went up the space elevator , they climbed aboard the C . S . S . West Wind , loaded into drop pods and made their first orbital assault insertion . They made one more drop and then had their graduation ceremony . Omar s Mom and sisters came with Hamza s parents and brother . They all remarked how they looked older and seemed more mature . Mostly Omar and Hamza just felt tired , but they also felt confident in their new abilities and skills . 
Assault Part 3 . Abu Hurairah , may Allah be pleased with him , reported : A person came to Allah 's Messenger ( may peace be upon him ) and said : Who among the people is most deserving my companionship ( of a kind treatment from me ? ) He said : Your mother . He , again , said : Then who ( is the next one ) ? He said : It is your mother ( who deserves the best treatment from you ) . He said : Then who ( is the next one ) ? He ( the Holy Prophet ) said : It is your mother . He ( again ) said : Then who ? Thereupon he ( The Prophet ( peace be upon him )) said : It is your father . YOU DID WHAT !!! yelled Khadija , Omar s mom a tall thin woman wearing a black and gold outfit , at him . Hamza and I went down to the recruiter s office and signed up . Replied Omar nervously ; this was not going at all as he had seen it in his mind . He had envisioned hi mother crying and grief stricken but proud , not blazing with anger . When you say recruiters , you mean you have signed up as dutronic robotic gardening equipment salesmen . Said his mother with just a hint of sarcasm . No mother , Hamza and I went and signed up with I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN BOY , I AM NOT STUPID . Hamza and I I don t care what Hamza does , I am not his mother . Now I forbid you to join the military . I have just lost your father , I am going to need help with your sisters , she said gesturing to the 3 little girls who were sitting quietly on the living room s old and worn couch . Mom , we already signed up . We are to report back to the recruiting station next Thursday to ship out for training . Khadija collapsed into the big black leather chair next to the couch , her head in her hands . It seemed that her anger had evaporated away and with it her strength . Her husband of twenty - four years dead and now her only son going off to fight in a war that had taken her by surprise . This was not how her life was supposed to be going , she thought . She had been inquiring about brides for her son and had expected to have him introduced to a few prospective brides when her husband had returned in 6 months . Now all her plans were shattered . Khadija had Omar home for ten days and she made the most of it . Cooking all his favorite foods and letting him spend his days drinking tea and playing mancala with his sisters and friends . Omar figured he had gained two kilos by the time he reported to the military recruiter s office , where they were given train tickets . 
Assault part two . It is narrated on the authority of Tariq b . Shihab : It was Marwan who initiated ( the practice ) of delivering khutbah ( address ) before the prayer on the ' Id day . A man stood up and said : Prayer should precede khutbah . He ( Marwan ) remarked , This ( practice ) has been done away with . Upon this Abu Sa ' id remarked : This man has performed ( his duty ) laid on him . I heard the Messenger of Allah as saying : He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand ; and if he has not strength enough to do it , then he should do it with his tongue , and if he has not strength enough to do it , ( even ) then he should ( abhor it ) from his heart , and that is the least of faith . Hamza plucked his red tinted glasses off his face and turned to his best friend , since 2 nd grade , and stuttered Omar , cousin I am so sorry , I mean I am sure that he wasn t there . He was probably in the field . You know how he is always out getting rock samples . Omar isn t your dad on New Palestine ? Asked Zainab a young co - ed that Omar and Hamza had in their Neo - Quantum Trigonometry class . Yeah his dad is on New Palestine , teaching geology at the university at Ramallah by the Sea . Now could you give us a moment . Replied Hamza who now had taken Omar s arm in his hand and was directing him out the door . More of their classmates started to offer words of sympathy or encouragement . Omar s tall and lanky frame came to a sudden halt . Causing an un - alert Hamza to almost trip over him . The time stamp on the pictures show that it was a weekday morning . He is teaching classes mornings during the week . He was there when Ramallah by the sea was hit . Stated Omar adding We are at war Hamza , and I am going to go down and to the military recruiter s office and sign up . We will sign up together said Hamza with a big smile braking across his face . , because there is no way I am going to let you go off and get all the glory . When they got there they found the recruiter s office was full . 
Assault . The Amarya Zazzau University Student Union cafeteria was filled with the sound of students talking about the latest soccer match , exams , what they were going to do this weekend and the smells of rice and lamb . While the cafeteria was co - ed , male and female students sat at different tables . Male and female students would talk to each and occasionally romances started in the cafeteria they always sat at different tables , no one was really sure if this was a university rule or just tradition , but it was always done . Suddenly one of the students whom were watching one of the vid screens on the wall shouted for every one to be quite . Soon everyone in the cafeteria was glued to the broadcast . CINN NEWS FLASH CINN NEWS FLASH CINN NEWS FLASHThe Frankish navy has made a surprise attack on New Palestine . Initial reports are telling us that the orbital shipyards at New Palestine have been destroyed , along with all orbital defenses and system defense boats . CINN has just received word that the attacking Frankish fleet also dropped thermo - nuclear bombs on several cities on New Palestine . The list we are reading to you now are of the cities that we know have been hit , but it is not to be assumed to be a complete list . Arafat city , New Jericho , Ramallah by the Sea , and Druze Colony . The Confederation military is calling up all reserves and canceling all leaves . You are to report to your unit right away . In planetary news The Hausa world Military High Command is also calling up all reserves and canceling all leaves . If you are in the military you are to report to your unit commander immediately . The Picture is our first visual of the Nuclear strike on Ramallah by the sea . It was shot by the medical transport vessel Um Musa as it descended towards the planet . 
Quran . Qur ' an , Al - An ' am , Surah 6:163 - 164 I ask whether I should seek any god besides God -- when he is the Lord of all things . All people will reap the harvest of their own deeds ; no one will bear another s burden . Ultimately , all of you will return to your Lord , and he will resolve your disputes . - Qur ' an , Al - An ' am , Surah 6:163 - 164 . 
New Kurdistan badlands Marathon . Based roughly on the quote from Caliph Umar , that all Muslims should learn to ride a horse , shoot a bow , and swim , the New Kurdistan badlands marathon is one of the most grueling races in the C . I. W . The race kicks off with an archery contest . The score in the archery contest determines the racers starting position in the 2 nd stage of the race . The 2 nd stage of the race is horseback riding . The competitors race their horses through over 100 kilometers of difficult terrain . The third stage of the race is the swimming and competitors swim must swim across the Shin Derayace , a one - kilometer swim . Racers emerging from the water immediately are in the 4 th and final stage of the New Kurdistan badlands marathon . The 300 - kilometer foot race through dangerous desert terrain . The temperatures in the New Kurdistan Badlands can shoot up to 40 c and plunge to 4 c at night . Nor does bad weather stop the race . In the 178 years the race has been run flash floods have killed 27 racers . The race starts every year after Eid - al - Fitr . In fact the first non - Kurd to win the race Abdulrahman Muhammed of New Malaysia , arrived on New Kurdistan two days before the start of Ramadan and walked the course twice before Eid . Many series competitors now do this ; even some non - racers will do it . Walking the course during the day and reading Quran and performing Tarawih prayers at night . They call this performing Abdulrahman s quest . Some racers have started to pick up the tactic of running at night , navigating by the stars and sleeping during the day . Some racers from new Tajikistan , whom lay out during the day allowing their skin s chlorophyll to rebuild their bodies energy reserves , have used this tactic very effectively . A tactic made even more effective by the fact that the racers must carry all their own food and water . There are only four water stations along the racecourse , not including the lake they must swim . The entire race is broadcast 24 hours a day for the entire 15 days it normally takes the last runners to make it to the finish line , on New Kurdistan channel seven . During the race much of the planet will be glued to the coverage cheering on their favorite runners . All along the racecourse you can see the channel seven monitoring drones hovering above the ground . They also allow race officials to monitor the race for safety concerns and to make sure there are no rule violations . On occasion racers have tried to bury food and water supplies in violation of the race rules . 
The Flu . Hi everyone sorry about not posting anything this week i have been down with the flu , but as i am finally feeling better i hope to be able to post some pictures and stories this up coming week . now i just have to get ready for the kids getting out of school for the summer . Salam . 
Lupursus . Dear Abdulrahman Assalam Alaikum We went to the Planetary zoo . It was Huge . They have a Monorail to help visitors get around . We saw the pair of Lupursus that they have there . The male is the black one with the green stripes and the female one is the pink and black one . They can run up to 80 kilometers a hour and they weigh 300 kilos . The most dangerous thing about them is they have no fear of man . We also saw a really nice Walid Monkey habitat . It donned on me while we were looking at it that I have never seen Walid Monkeys outside a zoo , even back home . So Inshallah , when we get back as soon as I can I am going to take the mag - train down to the southern Hutan park and observe some Walid Monkeys in their natural Habitat . Give everyone our Salams and Inshallah we will be Home in 3 weeks . Wassalam Your Cousin Muhammed . 
Floaters and South Islands . Bismillah Dear Abdulrahman Assalam Alaikum Well we just got back from our fishing trip . It was great . We caught a lot of the local fish , one of which has tentacles . I even hooked this massive thing called a horned trout . It must have weighed a hundred kilos , almost pulled me off the boat . After fighting it for 45 minutes , seemed like days , it managed to tear out of the hook . We fished in an area called the southern teeth . It is called that cause of the shape of the little islands that that dot it , and it is in the southern ocean . The Captain said that if we had been fishing out there in the winter we would have seen chunks of ice in the water . But while we were there it was warm and plenty of sunshine . Oh and I am 2 shades darker now . Alhamdulillah , we saw the giant floating fishers , in my last picture you can see two of them . They were enormous , the size of those advertising zeppelins you see flying at sporting events back home . The captain told us that they suck up water in drinking tubes that they drag in the water and that special bacteria that live in them break the water down into hydrogen and oxygen . The floaters absorb the oxygen into their blood and that the hydrogen goes into their balloon sack . I ask about storms and apparently the lower themselves into the water during storms . Also their skin has some special property , which redirects lighting strikes down into the water . Well Jamila and I are going to go to the new Benjarmasin Zoo and Aquarium tomorrow . Should be a blast , the hotel clerk told us that they have a mated pair of Lupursus there . Oh yeah , last night we went out and had a local dish which was battered fish served over rice with some sort of yogurt sauce . It was delicious , so we bought a cookbook . So when we get back we will be cooking a big dinner for everybody . Wassalam Your cousin Muhammed . 
Formation of the Confederacy . Even though the Chattergee - Haque fast as light drive had allowed humanity to settle over a thousand star systems by 1800 A . H . because the Drive was limited to the speed of light and the vast distances between star systems , Interstellar government was impossible and each star system was on its own . Even trade between star systems was out of the question . Then on the Planet Kalimantan Prime in the year 1837 A . H . all of this changed . Professor Hassan Nashashibi of the university of New Benjarmasin completed the greatest invention in transportation science since the wheel , the Nashashibi Worm drive or as it is more commonly known as Worm Drive . The Worm drive powered by a Sun burst fusion reactor allowed man to travel distances in mere hours that had taken years by opening up a worm hole between two points in space . The first trip was to the nearby star system of New Malaysia . The Authorities on New Malaysia were amazed by this new star drive . The First Citizen of New Malaysia , Zainab Muhammed , quickly got the crew of the ship to agree to carry back several representatives of New Malaysia , who upon arriving on Kalimantan Prime negotiated a trade agreement and a mutual defense pack . This was followed several months later by a technology exchange program . This was the beginning of the Confederation of Islamic Worlds . Within several years the Confederation had all the ethnic Malay worlds and had devised a standard treaty for each world to ratify to join the Confederation . Afterwards The Confederation sent representatives to New Kurdistan , Turkmen Prime and hundreds of other predominantly Muslim star systems . The urge to reconnect with humanity and the prospect of trade and new technology and all but a very few joined . Soon ships with worm drives were sliding into star systems nearly everywhere that Humanity had settled . At first the Confederation exclusively had the worm drive , but this was not to last for more than a dozen years . Scientists on New Guangxi by carefully monitoring star ships every time they activated their worm drives were able to conclude how the drive worked and in seven years they successfully tested their own worm drive . The leaders of High Aquitaine were not so subtle and simple seized one and reversed engineered the worm drive . Later agents of Nuevo Amazonas were able to steal plans for the worm drive from Aquitaine Prime . With the Genie out of the bottle scientists and engineers were able to compare notes and even more powerful and efficient worm drives were built . This of course also led to the formation of the Celestial Alliance , the Frankish Empire , the Nuevo Federation , and numerous smaller interstellar groups like the Shiite systems Alliance , the Unity of Saints and the Federation of Free Worlds . The invention of the worm drive also led to a huge amount of trading in technological and scientific information and the 3 rd expansion of humanity into space . 
Vacation Pictures . Bismillahir - Rahmanir - Rahim Hey Abdulrahman Assalam Alaikum Just got to New Samarinda , The Hotel here is great , I actually have a whirlpool in my bathroom and the view from my balcony is of the Imam Hassan Memorial flower garden . The Garden looks spectacular from up here . Your Mom would love it . Remember when we were in school , all those times she had us digging flowerbeds and planting flowers . Well here are some pictures I took while on my extreme backpacking group trip . We were in the Kalimantan Prime northern national park . There are no facilities at all in the park , not even trails . If trails start to form the park officials will put that area of the park off limits until it recovers . That and they only let five thousand people into the park every year . We got to spend two weeks hiking and camping . The park is over 20,000 square kilometers and the terrain was formed by glaciers that pushed through the area over ten thousand years ago during New Kalimantan s last ice age . Most of the fauna that we saw was bipedal , kind of neat huh . We saw a herd of Kiki deer must have been three or four hundred of them , they were so graceful , we all just watched them run by nobody remembered to pull out a camera . There is also a species of predator called a Lupursus that lives in the park , but we never saw one . Part of our gear were these neat collapsible kayaks , they were so cool . We used them to cross a couple of lakes and we went down a river in them and rode some small rapids . Thinking of buying one for myself . Of course the park is closely monitored and if we would have found ourselves in any real danger we just have to activate our emergency transponder and one of the park ranger spheres would have swooped down and rescued us . I got a few pictures of them as well , they are the big gold globes in the pictures . They were cool o watch to as they simply glide through the air silently . They are silent as no to disturb any of the wildlife . We are going to do some shopping and sight seeing in the city but next week we are going deep sea fishing . And get this the captain of the boat is giving us a discount cause we are from off world . I love this planet . Wassalam Your cousin Muhammed PS give my Salams to your family and tell Aisha that Inshallah she should be getting a post card from me soon . 
Dracheufer . One of the worst Confederation military disasters of the Grand War was the failed assault on New Prussia . It should be remembered that New Prussia had been conquered by the Franks 10 years before the start of the Great War . Confederation Intelligence stated that the civilian population of New Prussia was unhappy with the empire and either would be indifferent to the invasion or would welcome the Confederation Military as liberators . It was based on this Intelligence that such a small invasion force was sent . Yet most military historians agree that it was not the size of the force that caused the failure of the assault but the botched landing . In an attempt to render ineffective the Frankish mobile surface to air missile batteries , It was that while armor would go down on traditional landing craft , that the infantry would use the new I. A . D . P . or Individual Assault Drop Pods . The I. A . D . P . s were nearly invisible to radar and as each one only contained one soldier the use of Surface - to - Air missiles would be cost prohibitive to the Frankish defenders . Unfortunately not all the kinks had been worked out of the guidance system so they would land anywhere within a kilometer of their landing target . So when the landing zone was picked many believe that deciding on Dracheufer could be a mistake and they were correct . While Dracheufer was only 20 kilometer from New Berlin and appeared on the map to be flat it turned into a disaster . For the Appearance on the map was correct except for a massive cliff , which separated the beaches from the fields above . So while many drop pods only missed their target - landing zone by a few meters , they landed on the beach . This trapped over half of the infantry troops whom had dropped , as they faced a 200 - meter cliff , which they had to climb to be able to link up with the rest of the assault force . When Frankish reconnaissance drones discovered this , the Franks were quick to dispatch every naval vessel they had in New Berlin and these ships chewed up the Confederation troops trapped on the beach . Over 30,000 died in a matter of hours . While The Confederation troops found themselves tangled up in this combat and unable to make the rapid assault on New Berlin . The Frankish defenders put into action a new mine laying machine which in short order turned every field between New Berlin and the Confederation Invasion force into a mine field . The light Confederation force found itself engaged in heavy combat and moving forward through mine fields that soon decimated its ability to fight . General Mustafa Abdulqadir was forced to offer surrender after only 120 hours of landing on the planet or face complete annihilation . After the War a monument to those who died at the battle of Dracheufer was erected . 
Chattergee - Haque Fast - as - Light drive . The Invention of the Chattergee - Haque Fast as light drive was a huge break through in science and herald the beginning of man s break out from the solar system and into interstellar space . The Chattergee - Haque drive was designed by Dr. Sujana Chattergee and Dr. Khadija Haque while serving on the Calcutta Research Station . The Station was a large asteroid that the government had set up for the conducting of what it deemed dangerous experiments . The Station was unfortunately destroyed during an experiment on a new cold fusion technique . When the two scientists realized that their fusion shielding experiments was leading to , they quickly changed the objective of their research and with in a year the Chattergee - Haque fast as light drive was a reality . Probably the most amazing thing about the drive was not that it allowed man to go fast as light , but that it allowed him to do so relatively cheaply . Very soon over ten nations launched interstellar probes using the Chattergee - Haque drive , and before any of them had sent back data huge colony arks were being built . The first group to leave the solar system was sponsored by the Confederation of Islamic States . Over a million Kurds went up the Space elevator in Kenya and boarded 4 great space arks . This was soon followed by two Arks carrying half a million Palestinians and several Arks carrying a quarter of million each of Indonesians and Malays all who took the Indonesian space elevator . Not long after this the North American Alliance launched an Ark carrying Cherokees , Arapahos and Mohawks . The French Government launched one Ark a year for several years of a hundred thousand each , though sometimes they had to draft colonists . It was this way that mankind colonized and explored the stars for nearly 300 years , until the discovery of the worm drive . 
Changes . Being interested in science fiction is not just an interest in what the world will be like 400 years from now but how will the world have changed in my lifetime . One of the things that got me very interested in Science Fiction was not simply star trek , star wars and battlestar galactica but a story my mom told me . I have no memory of my great grand mother as she died when I was one year old at the age of 96 . Now I was born in 1387 A . H . ( 1968 AD ) so yes she died in 1388 A . H . ( 1969 AD ) . The Year she died she watched a man walk on the moon , when she was born , the year 1290 A . H . ( 1873 AD ) , there were horses and carriages on the streets of New Orleans and the quickest way to travel was either by steam ship or train . The changes she saw in her lifetime were phenomenal ; In my lifetime I can remember going to a friend 's house who had a PC which used cassette tapes then computers started to use floppy disks , right now most computers use CDs , and on my key chain I have a 1 gig flash drive . My first computer did not have a 1 gig hard drive . I can only imagine what everything will look like at the end of my lifetime or what my children will see during their lifetime . So before you start to scoff at some idea as being implausible remember my great grandmother . 
Blender . Assalam Alaikum Sorry about taking so long between posts lately I am trying to learn blender and flash right now , and that is taking up a lot of my time but as I think knowing blender and flash will allow me to greatly enhance the story telling here , I am really motivated to learn them , which also means if you know any good tutorial sites feel free to post them to me here . Oh and that combined with the fact that the schools out so the kids are all home right now means I am doubly busy with that . Trying to keep the little guys busy and not just sitting in front of the TV all week . Salam . 
Spike back cats of New Kurdistan . The Spike back cats of New Kurdistan are that worlds planetary animal . There is a wonderful display of the creatures in front of the Pesh Merga command center , which is a must see tourist attraction . A dangerous predator an adult spike back weighs upwards of 70 Kg and has 10 - centimeter razor sharp claws . While they are jungle dwellers and decent climbers , in the open they can run up to speeds of 100 Kph . They normally live in packs of 6 to 8 adults . They are matriarchal with the lead female leading the hunts and eating first . As pack hunters they can bring down prey 4 to 5 times larger than themselves . The Spike back s feline appearance is deceiving as while they are warm blooded the have far more in common with reptiles . They are egg layers and begin to reproduce in their 5 th year of life laying 3 to 4 eggs at a time . The newly hatched spike back does not suckle but eats meat , which its mother brings it . They learn to hunt in their 2 nd year of life and are on their own by their 3 rd year . Contrary to popular opinion their spikes are not poisonous . 
Primer sa 2001 Mga Tiyak na Tuntunin sa Gamit ng Walong Dagdag na Letra . ( Bahagi ng 2001 Revisyon ng Alfabeto . at Patnubay sa Ispeling ng Wikang Filipino ) . Unang Bahagi . Ang Kaligiran sa Pagbalangkas . Ng 2001 Mga Tiyak na Tuntunin sa Gamit . Ng Walong Dagdag na Letra . ( To be continued ) . 
Appendix / Apendise . Dr. Nita P . Buenaobra , Commission Chairman IV , Tagapangulong Komisyoner , Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino . Dr. Rosario E . Maminta , Director ng Proyekto . Teknikal na Komite Primer : Tagapangulo : Dr. Rosario Alonzo Raportyur : Dr. Narciso Matienzo Mga Miyembro : Dr. Pamela Constantino , Dr. Clemencia Espiritu , Dr. Galileo Zafra . Patnubay sa Ispeling : Tagapangulo : Dr. Jesus Fer . Ramos Raportyur : Dr. Teresita Fortunato Mga Miyembro : Dr. Marietta Reyes - Otero , Dr. Enedina Villegas , Prop. Melanie Donkor , Dr. Fely Castillo . REPUBLICA NG PILIPINAS . Republic of the Philippines . KAGAWARAN NG EDUKASYON , KULTURA AT ISPORTS . Department of Education , Culture and Sports DECS Complex , Meralco Avenue Pasig City , Philippines . Tanggapan ng Pangalawang Kalihim Office of the Undersecretary . Agost 17 , 2001 . Kautusang Pangkagawaran Blg . 45 , s . 2001 . ANG 2001 REVISYON NG ALFABETO AT PATNUBAY SA ISPELING NG WIKANG FILIPINO Sa : . Mga Director ng Kawanihan , Mga Director ng Rehiyon , Mga Superintendent , Superbisor , At Pinuno ng mga Paaralan , Iba pang Kinauukulan . Kaugnay ng itinatadhana ng Konstitusyon ng 1986 hinggil sa patuloy na pagpayabong at pagpayaman ng Filipino bilang wikang pambansa at pampamahalaang wika , at bilang tugon sa mabilis na pagbago , pag - unlad , at paglaganap ng wikang pambansa , ang Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino , sa tulong ng mga dalubwika , manunulat , editor , tagapaglimbag , propesor / guro , at mga kinatawan ng samahang wika , ay nagsagawa ng pagrevisa sa mga alituntunin sa ispeling at primer hinggil sa wikang Filipino . Kalakip nito ang 2001 Revisyon ng Alfabeto at Patnubay sa Ispeling ng Wikang Filipino na binuo ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino . Simula ngayon ay gagamiting gabay ang 2001 Revisyon ng Alfabeto at Patnubay sa Ispeling ng Wikang Filipino sa pagtuturo , pagsulat ng teksbuk at korespondensyang opisyal , at iba pang gawain ng Departamento . Hinihiling ang pagpaabot ng Kautusang ito sa lalong madaling panahon sa lahat ng mga kinauukulan . ( Sgd . ) . ISAGANI R . CRUZ , Pangalawang Kalihim Kalakip : . Gaya ng nasasaad . Sanggunian : . Kautusang Pangkagawaran : Bld . 81 , s . 1987 ; 14 , s . 2001 at Memorandum Pangkagawaran : Blg . 207 , s . 2001 . Pamumunod : 1 - ( D . O . 50 - 97 ) . Ilagay sa Palagiang Talatuntunan sa ilalim ng mga sumusunod na paksa : CHANGE , LANGUAGE , POLICY . Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino Lupon ng Sekretaryat Dr. Rosalina C . Matienzo , Tagapangulo . Pinky Jane S . Tenmatay , Rosie A . Martinez , Ka - Tagapangulo . Miriam C . Palawan , Manuel A . Cusi , Sr . , Tomas T . Ocampo , Jr. , Enrico B . Reyes , Julio A . Ramos , Kagawad . 
Zidane Interview . 	 I have heard about the Zinedine Zidane ( Zidane 's home page in French ) interview , however I had not had a chance to see it . I ' m not sure if any of the Canadian networks broadcasted it in full or if they just presented the " important " parts . For those of you who may not be aware , during the World Cup 2006 final between France and Italy , Zidane was sent off with 10 minutes left in extra time for a head butt delivered to the chest of Italian player Materazzi ( through the great and all powerful youtube , here is the hit ) . The hit was allegedly in return to comments Materazzi made about Zidane 's mother and sister . italy went on to win the World Cup ( as if you didn't know already ) in penalties . Zidane gave an interview to the French channel Canal + explaining his actions . Here is the interview given . For those of you who don't understand French , he says that he would have rather received punches instead of those words about his mother and sister and that Materazzi repeated the insults a few times . He does apologize to everyone watching , especially to the kids around the world . He does NOT however regret the hit . He says that regretting what he did would be the same as admitting that the words Materazzi spoke were true and he would never do that . Zidane is a great soccer player . He has retired from soccer after a long and great career ( yes a video will come later on ) . It is sad that his retirement has been marked by such an ugly incident but one must not forget that he , as everyone else , is a man first and a soccer player second . Yes insults are part of the game and yes there are very disgusting things coming out of the mouths of soccer players . However everything has a limit and Zidane 's actions prove that . You can't just go around insulting people and not expect there to be consequences just because it is on the field of play . I do not condone Zidane 's actions by any means , and I hope FIFA does come down at least on him if not on Materazzi as well . Ah well , the world cup is over and now we wait for UEFA 2008 and then WC 2010 . ~ ERTW . 
Fun with Underwear . 	 I ' ve seen these commercials a few times over the past week . It seems Fruit of the Loom has come out with a new commercial campaign and it 's pretty catchy . It features the Fruit Guys , a music group that dresses as the fruits in the Fruit of the Loom bunch : Apple , Green Grape , Purple Grape , and the Leaf . I must say that the commercials are very entertaining . One of them is along the lines of Coldplay 's " Yellow " video / song [ insert " 40 Year Old Virgin " reference here ] . Apple is walking down the street singing about blue underwear and such . It is really catchy . Unfortunately I have not been able to find an online video of these commercials as of yet . The Fruit Guys do have a video of their song ( MP 3 ) " You can't overlove your underwear " put online so that 's the best I can do for now . As soon as I can , I will be posting a video of the commercials . Until then just make sure you keep an eye out for them . ~ ERTW . 
Piaggio MP 3 . 	 So I was reading through my monthly copy of Popular Mechanics and came over this short news brief about the Piaggio MP 3 three - wheeled scooter . ( I couldn't find a link to the article online ) Basically it 's a normal scooter , except that it has three wheels . One in the back and two on the front . Something like the following : ( my ASCII drawing skills are a bit out of practice but you get the point . { } { } | | | { } Here is a picture of what it looks like from the Italian newspaper la Repubblica . This is a better picture of it ( one of the largest I could find short of copying what 's on the official site ) from the article at Moto Corse ( in Italian ) . I found a couple of You Tube videos on it , though the quality is really low . Here 's a 5 minute video and a 2 minute video . According to PM it comes in a 125 cc and 250 cc model and the latter starts at around $ 6400 US . Unfortunately it is currently available only in Italy . I encourage you to check the official Piaggio MP 3 site . They have loads of cool stuff there . ~ ERTW . 
WC ' 06 Winding Down . 	 I ' ve been following the world cup on and off . I watched all the games I could no matter who was playing really . One team that I was looking for , improvement wise , was Portugal . I figured that maybe after so many years on the international soccer field they would have learned to play fair and to actually play without diving whenever an opposing players just runs by them . Boy was I wrong ! ~ ERTW . 
Spiderman 3 trailer . 	 I can't wait for the latest instalment to come out . May 4 th , 2007 is the release date and it 's TOO far for me . Here is a teaser trailer I could find . Good ol ' You Tube . In other news , I ' m going to Montreal for the weekend so I will be pretty much incomunicado . I will have my cell phone so those of you who have me on your MSN or know my number can text me . Enjoy the trailer , et au revoir . ~ ERTW . 
Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger ... 	 Ok I know I ' ve posted a lot tonight but this one I just HAD to post about . A baseball team in the States ( Gateway Grizzlies ) have just unveiled a new burger ... they teamed up with Krispy Kreme to bring you ... a cheeseburger whose buns are Krispy Kreme doughnuts ... yeah ... I ' ll let you decide ~ ERTW . 
A quick note from Chris Moiser . Hi , mega probs in getting reports off to you today . Ollie is currently on the other machine here doing it now . Went to the Gambian Daily observer today and gave our story to the security man , the editor , and a reporter . The reporter we found out to be the agricultural correspondent . It all was treated with much more interest when the senior reporter came in and asked if we had heard about the report on the BBC about Ninki nanka . We then pointed to Richard and said it was him . We were then taken to a nearby internet cafe with a memory stick so that we could donwload the CFZ site report for them . We ended up paying for the internet cafe ! and then back to the observer office for a photograph . We had the photograph done on the balcony there , under a mango tree . I pointed out to the reporter that Lisa loves mangos , so the reporter picked her one ! As the Agriculture correspondent I believe that it was a good mango ! We may be in tomorrows paper which we will try and get before we get taken to the airport . If not it may be under Gambia on www . allafrica . com There is also a Gambia Daily Observer website , but I do not know its address . Chris . M. 
Richard 's thoughts after ten days ... The habitat of Armitage 's skink Day 10 , 13 th July I was interviewed by a man from BBC World Service Africa . He asked all the usual questions : why are you here ? What is Ninki - Nanka ? Have you seen it ? He also said that some listeners might think it was just an excuse for a holiday . I explained that our group counted among it a zoologist , an archaeologist , a biologist , an ecologist , and even an astrophysicist . Later that day we travelled down to Gunjur Beach . Luke had told us that a couple of Rastafarian men who owned a beach bar had provided him with two specimens of Armitage 's skink . After traversing a foul smelling fish market we came upon the bar . It was a tumbled down wooden shanty , festooned with wind chimes created from sea shells . They jangled eerily . The owner was a friendly guy . We ordered a round of soft drinks and then asked him about the skink . He confirmed that he had caught two in his toilet and passed them on to Luke at the Gambian Reptile Park . He described them as around 10 inches long , as thick as his finger and sandy brown with a black stripe . We asked him about Ninki - Nanka and he said that it was an animal so powerful that those who saw it died . He had known people who had seen it but they were ' no longer conscious ' . We walked along the beach towards the grassy dunes that Luke had told us were the skink 's habitat . A local beach bum and his dog started to follow us quite unbidden . He trailed round after us where ever we went . Suzi asked him to leave and he ignored her . I asked him why he was following us and he said he wanted to ' help us ' ( i . e . get some money off us ) We told him we were scientists looking for lizards and that his dog was scaring them away . Finally he left . We searched the dunes as the temperature became cooler but found nothing . We began to walk back along them , looking for a suitable area to sit quietly as the sun set and watch for the skinks . Unfortunately the pestering beach bum reappeared ( this time sans dog ) and proceeded to attach himself to our group . He claimed to have seen a snake beside the road 4 years previously , but he said it was green . Hunting for the skink At this point it may be useful to look back on the descriptions of Ninki - Nanka that we have received : Baka Samba , Mr Fixit , whose uncle saw the dragon : Huge and terrible , has fire in the mouth . Musa Jatta , guide at Abuko : It is like a huge python . It is big enough to swallow a whole cow . It has legs , and wings like a bat 's . It breathes fire . Hassan Jinda , grandson of victim Papa Jinda : It is unimaginably big . If you see the front of it you cannot see the end . It has a crown of fire on its head . Male and female have different crowns . Its scales glitter . Dodgy fishmarket guy 1 : It is like a snake , but it can grow as big as a palm tree . Its scales are like mirrors and you can see yourself in them . When it grows big it goes into the sea . Dodgy Fishmarket guy 2 : It has a snake like body and a face like a kangaroo . It has a forked tongue . Momomudu park ranger at Kiang West , and so far our only first hand witness : It has a face like a horse . A feather like crest falls down over its face . Its scales are reflective like mirrors , mainly black and green . 50 meters long by 1 meter wide . Snake like body . None of the descriptions match up . Crests , reflective scales and a snaky body do seem to be constants , as does the idea of seeing a Ninki - Nanka leading to death . I am considerably less convinced of the existence of this creature than other beasts I have hunted such as the Naga , Orang - Pendek , and the Mongolian Deathworm . 
This is getting weird ............... The media around the world are getting wildly excited about the expedition , just as the supply of news is beginning to dry up ! Yesterday we got a double page spread in The Independent , and today we have been on the BBC Online website ... The problem that we have is a technical one . We received this email from Chris Moiser earlier today : " Hi , Power off all day and the internet people do not use the computers on their own generators ( too dangerous voltage surge ) " . As the world becomes more technical , and we find that we are living in one great multimedia circus , sometimes it is easy to forget that the vast majority of the human race are not able to make instantaeneous contact with one another . Even at the CFZ it is easy to forget that even two and three years ago during the Sumatra expedition , the boys were out of touch for the entire time they were there . I had a telephpne call from Richard on arrival at Singapore airport on both the outwards and return journeys and that was it ! This time life has been much easier ... But it 's so bloody frustrating ! And it is so easy to misinterpret what the expedition is actually doing . Take Bungalow Beach for example . The bulletins suggest that the area where ` Gambo ` was buried has been built over completely . But has it ? We only have one way communication with the boys ( and girls ) , and whilst this certainly seems likeley , we don't know whether they have managed ( or are going to manage ) to do some exploratory digging or not ... And the interview with Baka , that I posted earlier . As one correspondent so writely says , this proves that dead and dying animals ( including a large cetacean without a back fin ) do , indeed , get washed up on that beach . But was it the same incident ? Is there any way of telling ? Until the team , return next week , the answer is sadly , NO . Until then , I suggest that you do what me and Mark are doing back at CFZ Mission Control . Pour yourself a Margarita , sit back and enjoy the ride .... 
INTERVIEW WITH BAKA SAMBA . Interview with Baka Samba One one of the first blog postings made after their arrival , the team told us about their encounter with a local shopkeeper , Baka Samba . What we at CFZ base have been waiting for , however , is this following testimony .... Richard : Was your shop here in 1983 ? Baka : Yes R : Do you remember a large animal being washed up on the shore in 1983 ? B : Yes , it was a big dolphin R : How large ? B [ pointing from where he was to a breeze block lying on the floor , approximately 10 feet away ] : From here to there R : What happened to it ? B : It was alive when it washed up . Some white men came with a boat and tried to save it , but it was very ill and it vomited and then it died . It was left on the beach . Oll : Could you draw a picture of it ? Baka : I can't draw Oll [ pointing to a silver pendant of a dolphin ] : Was it like that ? B : Yes O : I ' ll draw it , and you tell me what it 's like [ Oll drew out a picture , following Baka 's directions and asking the locations of the fins as he went ] O : Does it have a fin on the back ? B : No , it had no fin on the back When Richard visited the fish market he drew a picture of what Gambo was supposed to look like and took it with him . He showed it to a fisherman , told them what size it was supposed to be and asked them if they ' d ever seen anything like it . They identified it as a sawfish . We will be returning to Bungalow Beach very soon to interview Baka again . 
Debt Diet . http : // www 2 . oprah . com / money / debtdiet / money _ debtdiet _ main . jhtml Anyone want to start a debt diet club ? It would be cool to escape the rat race and encourage each other with healthy money matters ... hit me back if you are interested . Cheers ! Reid . 
A Recap ... I have been moving forward with my workout . For the first time I am really enjoying it REALLY enjoying it . I am not allowing the small set backs this time and I find it very freeing as I am ' resting ' into it . " I " want to be healthy and I am learning to make it MINE , not because someone else says , but because I want to . You will see some guns on me soon who hoo !! Welcome to the gun show ! and my energy returning ( don't be too scared about that one ) ... I was actually able to RUN for my part of my cardio on Thursday , I was shocked , I have not run that long since I was in track in High School ... WHOO HOOO !! I never really understood the power of music being a motivator during cardio , I took that for - granted as I am a dance instructor , I used the music ( Meatloaf believe it or not ) to push me past the time I was planning to run ... Bow chick a bow wow , no more forgetting the earphones ! I went hiking this week with Jeramy and Ryan on Independence Day , how I take for - granted how awesome it is we live in Colorado . Anyone up for some day hiking ??? Let 's pack a picnic lunch and go experience ! God did a pretty good job on some of these views I will say lets enjoy them together sometime ... sometimes they are breath taking because there is no oxygen , but it is fun ! I have learned that I am a bit afraid of heights I would like to work to get back to a healthy balance ... so I am going back up ! Not so good with the finances this week ... looks like I will be revisiting that one soon ... just say ugh , don't let the castle fall and get back on track ! I think that my issue is beyond the savings and I need to know what is going out ... back to the basics . Goal , let my assets pay for themselves , know where my money is going and plan accordingly . I did make a couple of good decisions about spending ... I downgraded my Netflix , Cancelled a gym membership I did not use , and got all my stuff out of storage ( just in time to not pay this month 's fee ) . It is kinda funny , I held on to spending my money on the 24 hour fitness membership because it was a good deal and I would be able to use it , well I was not using it -- so what is so good about that . I am learning that saying NO is OK for deals that you will not use ( just because it is on sale does not mean you need it ) ... some of you might say " duh " but I knew that , but it never really sunk in till now .... 
Again from Paul ... Here 's the excerpt from Marianne Williamson 's book A Return To Love : Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles . ( One more for my book list ) " Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate . Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure . It is our light , not our darkness that most frightens us . We ask ourselves , Who am I to be brilliant , gorgeous , talented , fabulous ? Actually , who are you not to be ? You are a child of God . Your playing small does not serve the world . There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you . We are all meant to shine , as children do . We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us . It is not just in some of us ; it is in everyone . And , as we let our own light shine , we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same . As we are liberated from our own fear , our presence automatically liberates others . " . 
Movement . I hope you agree this message is dead - on and is something we all need to think about more ... It 's never virtuous to keep your music bottled up inside of you -- never ensuing your REAL desires ... because ... you 're afraid you ' ll make mediocre " friends " feel uncomfortable , or because you 're scared of what might go wrong , or you 're afraid you ' ll fail , or because you don't know where to start . You have one life to live and nothing to lose . Instead of being afraid to tell someone you love them because of what they ' ll think , TELL them . Instead of procrastinating because you don't have all the answers , JUST DO SOMETHING . You don't get inspired to do the thing ; you do the thing and then you ' ll feel inspired . The bottom line is : Will all the trivial things you fear or worry about matter when your time is numbered in hours -- not days and years ? ( I saw this on my friend Paul 's My Space Posting , and it is so on time ) . 
Oh my legs !!! Wow what a first day working out ! I am really going to like my trainer well sometimes I won t ( like trying to walk this morning Oh dear ! ) I will have to say that I have waited TOOO long to get something like this started again and I am WAAAYYYY out of shape for me . I could not even finish the routine he was giving me ! UGH , and he was not trying to make me over do it ! I am however excited and motivated and in a good non - over - obsessive way for this . I have tried a couple of times to replicate the training I did when I was doing the body for life program , but it was not motivating anymore and I felt sort of empty doing it . This time it seems simpler and I am moved with it ( if that makes sense ) PLUS , I have a great coach to help me along theway ( I see where this helps ) . He has a knack for encouraging and has a great attitude ! We are starting out rather simple , even though it killed me yesterday , we will change up the routine a bit as the training progresses . I liked starting simple ( Ah the things you learn as you get older ) I have a bit to go with all this , after all it is about continuing and pushing throughboundaries , but watch for more updates on the hunkification of Reid ! 
1 st Fitness . Ok , here I go with another division of the Reid s Life Pie . This is the section that has to do with fitness I turn 36 this Friday ( June 30 th ) , and I am always bitching that I need to have a smaller gut . Well , action more than words right ?? Time to become physically the hunk I already am on the inside ! Tonight I meet for the first time with a personal trainer and someone that will hold me accountable for the goals I set with him . I will keep you posted on some of the goals that I will be setting and the progress of my training goal not too fall off the horse too much with this . I will probably meet with them 2 times a month for technique check and accountability . If you live in Denver I am going to post their link here http : // www . definefit . com / they use a private studio of course let them know you are coming through me ! If any of you have extra time and want to work out ( weights , dance , cardio , bike riding , let me know ) I would love to share some of this with you ! 
Worry . One of the interesting things about me , it I find myselfgetting worked up over little things , and what I am realizing is that I WORRY !! Especially with small things and I make up what I think the perceived outcomewill be and I work myself into a tizzy Part of the problem is my empathic nature , those of you who know me understand , I get the feelings and I canfeel what your emotion is when I am talking to you , OK they are a bit like Spidey Senses however , I a not good at predicting outcome ( I tend to fantasize ratherthan realisize ( my word )) , I just understand what is going on , make sense ? I do this with work , relationships , and goals it is part of the reason I sometimes let my castle fall . Since I have learned that I do this , it helps me breathe , think , and realize all is ok J and I can still move . 
Help Me Replace My Camera . Turning a new leaf , maybe begging for help , not quite ontrack , but I do want this as I document my life ; - ) I lost my brand new camera in February , and I have been looking to replace it . A couple of friends of mine ( for real ) have used this method for free electronics and they have received them ... cool thing is they are offering the same camera I lost a Power Shot SD 550 ... it would be so nice to get it back I need six friends to sign up and complete one of the offers , they are not horrible ( Blockbuster or Netflix Trial ) and I get my camera ... then we can pose for pictures !!! YAY .. just be sure to cancel the deal after the trial period if you really dont want it ... Here is a link for my referral , if you want me to e - mail you this let me know and I will send it to youhttp : // digitalcameras . freencome . com / ? r = 30955247 Just putting it out there , thanks for reading : - ) . 
Good Advice From a Stranger . 1 . There are at least two people in this world that you would die for .2 . At least 15 people in this world love you in some way .3 . The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you .4 . A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone , even if they don't like you .5 . Every night , SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep .6 . You mean the world to someone .7 . You are special and unique .8 . Someone that you don't even know exists loves you .9 . When you make the biggest mistake ever , something good comes from it .10 . When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look .11 . Always remember the compliments you received . Forget about the rude remarks . Makes me think of those spamming e - mails , but I like what this had to say . 
gioved , luglio 20 , 2006 . 	 Bouldering . Angela Eiter Bouldering At The XX Winter Olympics Originally uploaded by Reindert Lenselink . da http : // www . flickr . com / photos / 67773910@ N 00 / Reindert Lenselink During the XX Olympic Winter Games - Torino 2006 some of the best world climbers have been invited by the City of Bardonecchia to climb together on a new facility purposely designed . 
Condo - Sears Tower - Family Party - Palmers . Vandaag uitchecken in de hostel om de laatste nacht in Chicago bij Dave Colleen en Donna Cheryl , Kyle , Steve , Andrea and Justin , Donna Rich , Gary and Colleen . We appreciate it !! 
A Stirling Performance . My various rantings on Scottish football have probably been boring all you bar one person all week ( and there 's every chance that they 're boring him too ) , but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to give a mention to East Stirlingshire - possibly the worst team in the history of British senior football . This is a team that has amassed a grand total of 66 points in the last four seasons , has a wage cap of 10 per week , and has the only unpaid manager in the whole of British football . Clearly , there 's something going on here that deserves my further attention . They 're so bad that the story goes that the other Scottish League teams are trying to get the League to bring in promotion and relegation just to get rid of them . But , having said all of the above , one can't deny that there 's something inherently charming about a team that is completely wretched , week in week out , and that just doesn't seem to really care . Also , their website ( although it has one or two irritating noises on it ) is humourous and good - natured ( if you want to check this for yourselves , I ' d suggest a quick visit to their Player Profiles section , where right - back David Harvey names " scoring two own goals against Queen 's Park " as his " Most Memorable Moment " ) . It 's also notable that only one of the players isn't single . It would appear that the chat - up line of , " hey , baby , you might have heard of me - I play for East Stirlingshire " doesn't work . Mind you , on a maximum wage of 10 per week , they ' d hardly be able to keep the average gold - digging WAG in the syle to which they ' ve become accustomed . Of course , East Stirlingshire 's one big contribution to world football is that they gave Sir Alex Ferguson his first break as a manager . Ferguson was paid 40 a week when he joined them in 1974 , and when he joined them they had just eight players , and no goalkeepers . Unsurprisingly , he lasted just six months at Firs Park before being tempted away to the bright lights of St Mirren ( funnily enough , East Stirlingshire were above St Mirren at the time that Ferguson jumped ship , but you see what I mean ) . During the 1970 s and 1980 s , Meadowbank Thistle earnt a cult support for their ineptness ( which dried up when they got fed up with being rubbish , changed their name to Livingston and moved thirty miles from their Edinburgh base ) . In the 1990 s , Cowdenbeath were nicknamed the " Blue Brazil " in the 1990 s and the same phenomenon happened ( in case you were wondering what happened to them , they won the Scottish League Third Division under the managership of the former Bolton , Wolves and Hibernian striker Mixu Paateleinen - he must occasionally wake up wondering how his career ended up with this bizarre outcome ) . East Stirlingshire , for whatever reason , don't seem to inspire the same amount of affection . It 's a pity . Players who play for ten pounds a week and a ground with a sheer brick wall at one end of their ground ... Such eccentricities should be nurtured and encouraged . If you lived there , wouldn't you rather be involved with this sort of thing than the underlyingly sectarian , money - drenched nonsense that follows Rangers Celtic around ? 
Say Hi - Hi To Your Mom . I thought I ' d continue with my Caledonian theme , what with the Scottish League starting this weekend and everything . The plight of East Stirlingshire to follow tomorrow ( or maybe later tonight ) , but tonight I ' d thought I ' d focus on Glasgow 's long - forgotten " third " club ( and I say this in full knowledge of the existence of Partick Thistle ) : Third Lanark . Third Lanark were formed before either Celtic or Rangers . 1872 , to be precise . As you may have gathered from the name , they were initially connected to the military , but the link soon ended , and the Hi - His ( so nicknamed because their ground was an altitude which meant that it overlooked the rest of Glasgow ) became one of the powerhouses of early Scottish football . They won the Scottish League in 1904 and the Scottish Cup twice . As Celtic and Rangers cemented their stranglehold on the Scottish League , though , Lanark struggled . They yo - yoed between the two divisions of the Scottish League in the 1920 s and 1930 s , but settled again in Division One in the mid - 1950 s , and reached the final of the Scottish League Cup as recently as 1959 . During their last great period , a number of ( relatively ) well - known players played for them . Bobby Craig , who would go on to star for Newcastle and Celtic , was one . Ally Mc Leod ( best known for his magnificently deluded management of Scotland at the 1978 World Cup ) both started and finished career playing for them . A total of of eight years . It wasn't enough . In the early 60 s , they took the financially ruinous decision to build a new stand at a time when their crowds were tumbling . By April 1967 , just 297 people turned up to see one of their last matches , a home match against the newly - formed Clydebank . They went into liquidation that summer . A subsequent Board Of Trade report showed considerable financial mis - management on the part of the club 's directors , including a rumour that the club 's final chairman had attempted to manipulate the club 's difficulties in order to personally profit from any sale of the ground . There was a certain irony that it was development of their ground that turned out to sound their death knell , because it is the ground itself that they are now probably most famous for . Initially known as Hampden Park , it was passed to them from Queens Park , who even now play at the current Hampden Park ground . They soon changed its name to Cathkin Park , and it was one of Scotland 's biggest grounds , with a capacity of 50,000 . After the club folded in 1967 , Glasgow City Council took it over , and it is still used for schools football matches today . Somewhat remarkably , they didn't landscape the area , and it makes for quite an eerie sight . The supporters largely preferred to transfer their support to a Scottish Junior League side Pollok , who even now get by far the biggest attendances in their league ( and , at around 600 , considerably more than many lower division Scottish League clubs ) . Pollok 's best days could yet be ahead of them . The Scottish League is currently debating whether to introduce re - election or promotion and relegation from the bottom of Division Three , and they would surely be amongst the favourites to make the step up . Might I suggest that , should they ever manage this , they change their name to Third Lanark and their colours to red and white ? Either tonight or tomorrow , I ' ll be taking a look at the team that they ' d be most likely to replace . 
Who Are They ? Was there ever a more ridiculous advert than the Milk Council 's " Accrington Stanley " one of the mid - 1980 s ? " Accrington Stanley ? " , bellowed a dreadful little Scouse kid , apparently spurred on By Ian Rush , " Who are they ? " . " Exactly ! " , spat his equally obnoxious little friend . I know that it was all just a joke , made partly because of Stanley 's hilarious name , but as a supporter of a club as small as theirs at the time , I was indignant about it . As you may have noted , I still am . It was , I guess , the inherent snobbery of the top of the English game . The smaller clubs don't don't matter . They 're an irrelevance . It would be better not to play football at all than to play for them . It 's a large part of the reason why I cheer every time a small club dumps one of these supposed " giants " on their arse in the FA Cup . So ... a quick re - cap : Accrington Stanley were Football League members from 1922 to 1962 . They became the first club in the history of the League to resign in mid - season , after a financial implosion ( two more have followed - Aldershot & Maidstone United , in quick succession in the early 1990 s ) . After limping on gamely for three years , they folded , and their ground fell to ruin . You can read more about them here . A new club , with the same name , were founded in 1968 , and as you know , last season they won the Nationwide Conference to win promotion back into the League . With pleasing symmetry , they replaced Oxford United - the team that took their place forty - four years ago . In 1985 ( which was , I think , the year that the aforementioned advert came out ) , they were promoted from the North West Counties League to the Northern Premier League . A somewhat higher level than any of us have ever played at . I mention all of this because of something I was researching last night . I was reading about the quite fabulously bad East Stirlingshire ( more on them later this evening ) , and it became apparent that their players earn a flat wage of 10 per week each . Now , whilst such a wage structure may not be particularly conducive to success , even in the Third Division of the Scottish League , it 's certainly bold . One of my old bosses was a centre - half for Leverstock Green in the heady heights of the Herts Senior County League about five or six years ago , and even he got 40 a week . What I ' m trying to point out is that you have to be reasonably good at football to get paid to do it , and that shows a fatal flaw in the Milk Marketing Board 's advert . Only good enough to play for Accrington Stanley ? I wish . East Stirlingshire to follow . 
Sunday Sunday . Apart from watching a torpid five minutes of Celtic - Everton on Channel 5 this afternoon , I ' ve had a relatively football - free weekend . This is what the end of July should be like . A bit of golf on the television , enough cheap Tequila last night to floor an elephant . Lazy days indeed . A time to feel footloose and fancy - free before the stomch - knotting domestic season begins in earnest again . We become , for a few weeks , fully rounded human beings . Of course , it 's not quite as simple as that . I ' ve spent some time downloading bits and pieces over the weekend , and I ' m currently girding myself to torrent two hours worth of highlights of the 1979 / 80 Scottish Premier League . I know that this is alarmingly geeky , but I also know that at least some of you will be insanely jealous . However , the opportunity to own highlights of ( amongst other things ) Rangers playing in front ot a crowd of 12,000 at Ibrox was just too good to pass up . I ' ve also stumbled across the Celtic - Rangers match from 1987 that ended up with four players being charged by the police . I ' m not watching that until I ' ve got a big tub of popcorn , though . Of course , the television coverage of football is the one thing that has changed more than anything else over the last twenty years or so . I have something in the pipeline about ITV 's regional coverage of the 1970 s & 1980 s ( and bemoaning the terrible waste of their back catalogue - all the matches that they covered are sitting gathering dust somewhere . Why haven't they been made available on DVD or to download ? ) , so I ' ll stay away from that subject for the time being , but Channel 5 's coverage of Celtic - Everton reminded me of the extent to which it is possible to argue that there simply is too much football on the television these days . A pre - season friendly between Celtic and Everton , not even part of a pre - season tournament , could be of very little interest to anybody other than , well , Celtic & Everton supporters , so why did Channel 5 decide to pack John Helm and chums off to Glasgow ? Well , this sort of football is still cheap broadcasting . To actually produce it costs next to nothing . Five will have bunged Celtic a few quid for the rights , but to actually show it costs them next to nothing . It fills a couple of hours in their schedule at a time when they would be expecting an audience of no more than a few thousand people and , most importantly of all , they know that there are enough people like you and I that will slump down on the sofa at this time of year and watch any football that 's put in front of them . It 's the reason that Channel 5 shows highlights from the Eriedivisie at two in the morning on Fridays ( and very good it is , too ) , and why Channel 4 occasionally sneaks something from Le Championnat into its late night schedule . If nothing else is on , who amongst us doesn't flick onto Sky Sports News when there 's nothing else on and stare vacantly at the Welsh Premier League 's top goalscorers until we realise that we should be doing something altogether more constructive ? All of which reminds me ... I really need to get a HD recorder before the middle of August . 
A Friendly Word . First up , we passed 10,000 visitors yesterday . So , thank you for stopping by ( again ) . The new season starts next week in Scotland , and I daresay that there ' ll be a full preview of that on here at some point over the next seven days ( unless I can find someone to write it for he it ' ll have to be done by me - I should probably start researching it ) , but in the meantime it 's more friendlies today , most notably between Arsenal and Ajax at Ashburton Grove ( on a point of principle , I ' m not calling their new stadium by its sponsors ' name ) . It 's Dennis Bergkamp 's farewell , and I think it 's fair to say that he has probably been the most successful import ever into the Premiership . Seven million quid exceptionally well spent ( and , as someone that is fairly scared of flying , it 's nice to know that there 's someone even more spacky about it than me ) . It also marks the final farewell to Highbury . Much as I hate Arsenal ( and I really , really do , at a very profound and occasionally profane level ) , I ' m going to miss the old place . It may have become the Highbury Library in it 's final years ( when the truth was that it wasn't that much worse than anywhere else ) , but one has to say that two of the stands were stunning pieces of architecture and , as listed buildings , can't be demolished ( they 're being converted into flats ) . One by one , the famous stadia of England are being demolished - Spurs are talking of moving out of White Hart Lane , and Everton and Liverpool are desperate to move out of Goodison Park and Anfield - and , I have to say , it upsets me somewhat . I made reference to the demolition of the Trinity Road Stand at Villa Park . Football clubs really should take more care of their legacies in this respect . Elsewhere , there are a number of other friendly matches going on this afternoon . I wish there was another competition that brought forward fixtures like Dunfermline vs Carlisle , Rochester Raging Rhinos ( they 're American , not from the Medway towns ) vs Sheffield Wednesday , Northampton Spencer vs Peterborough and Manchester United vs Kaiser Chiefs ( the team , not the band ) . The thing about friendlies is ( and it took me about the age of 16 to realise this ) that they 're never going to be as good as you hope they will be . The people that go to them are the football equivalents of heroin addicts . So desperate for their fix that they ' ll travel to to Hitchin from Bristol on a Saturday afternoon in July ( as I daresay at least some Bristol Rovers fans will be doing as I write this ) , they have my complete admiration . I can only aspire to such dedication . Finally , the Intertoto Cup . It 's , well , the finals today . Newcastle , like pigs snuffling for truffles , are in Norway needing to beat Lillestrom for a place in this year 's UEFA Cup . I daresay that Damien Duff , who is apparently in the process of joining the long and illustrious list of players to snub Spurs in order to join Newcastle . So : turning down Martin Jol , fighting for a place in the Champions League and with one eye on winning a cup or two , in favour of Glenn Roeder , and the once - in - a - lifetime to play Michael Owen and Kieron Dyer at cards on the St James Park injury table . What a great career move . 
Coke Is The Real Thing . So , Shaun Newton ... busted . The biggest surprise of the whole story to me wasn't that he ' d been caught having taken the old Bolivian Marching Powder , rather that he was playing at West Ham when he was . Most Wolves fans will tell you that he spent much of his time at Molineux as if under the influence of a very heavy dose of mogadon . That he was in a Premier League club 's squad having spent a few seasons singularly failing to be Wolves ' long - term replacement for Steve Bull was something of a shock , I can tell you . I ' m struggling to see how a seven month ban is proportionate , especially when compared with the recently - retired Zinedine Zidane 's three - match ban for head - butting someone for insulting his mother in the World Cup final . Zidane is , of course , an icon . A role - model to millions . To see him commit such an act of violence on a football pitch was shocking . He ' ll spend three days ( yes , that 's three days ) doing community service , because his international career is over . Newton , according to tabloid rumour , isn't even much of a role - model within his own family at the moment . If the authorities ( and , presumably , the clubs ) really wanted do something about recreational drug use in football , presumably they ' d be better advised to not pay their young players thousands of pounds a week for a couple of days work , and then leave them to their own devices for the rest of the time . This , though , is the paradox of the harsh sentencing of drug offenders . It tackles those unfortunate enough to get caught , without actually tackling the problem itself . Just like in wider society , funnily enough . It 's difficult to see how cocaine could be regarded as a performance - enhancing drug in any case , of course . If football required players to talk too much , sweat profusely , gurn and grind their teeth , then I can see how it would be performance - enhancing ( and it would also explain something about Paul Gascoigne 's problems - how did they not spot that earlier ? ) , but I can see no real benefit to him disappearing for the whole of the half - time break with a rolled up twenty pound note . Steroids are a different matter , but coke ? Pull the other one . In other news , Spurs will pull off the transfer coup of the summer if they can prise Damien Duff away from another season on the bench for Chelsea . It 's a sign of how far they ' ve come in such a short period of time that they can be seriously linked with a player of his calibre . They 're the favourites to get Pavel Nedved in the great Juventus fire - sale , too . Meanwhile , Quinton Fortune has got got to suffer the indignity of playing a trial match for Bolton against Burnley at the weekend ( this amuses me for a reason that I can't quite put my finger on ) , and , finally , Liverpool are set to pay 6 m for Jermaine Pennant from Birmingham City . Hopefully they ' ll take more care of him than they did of the " Spice Boys " in the 1990 s . Finally , because I can't leave a post on here without a link , I ' d recommend that you all take a look at this blog about the MLS in America . It 's rather good . The owner of it , for reasons that I haven't fully fathomed yet , also supports Ipswich Town . It takes different strokes to move the world . 
Keep on Truckin ' Things are still a little tough for me . I woke up late this morning and spent some time cleaning up the loft . Times like this really make you take stock . I ' ve always considered things like my microsuede sectional sofa as more than a piece of furniture , as a symbol of my success . Yet after the Delrayo Rancho disappointment , I sort of wonder about that success . I mean what is success ? Is it simply being able to make the payments to Art Van for the sectional ? Well I can do that . Sure sometimes at the end of the month my diet has to be Ramen heavy but I make my payments . But is that success ? Really ? Delrayo Rancho was supposed to be success . I thought about selling the sectional , that I didn't deserve it , that someone who fails like I failed with Delrayo Rancho doesn't deserve a microsuede sectional sofa . But then I thought that everyone has setbacks . I need to use these feelings as motivation . So I curled up on my sofa with a Tony Robbins book and an hour or so later I new what I had to do ! I HAVE TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE MICROSUEDE SECTIONAL SOFA ! No one can keep George Babbitt down except for George Babbitt . Oh sure U.S. Steel can throw a roadblock on the path to my dreams and maybe Delrayo Rancho won't happen but GEORGE BABBITT IS A SUCCESS AND GEORGE BABBITT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL ! So today was all about getting back on track . After finishing the book , I got up off my ass I did some serious cardio work on my elliptical machine ... mind / body connection . Then I took a shower and went out to face the world . I grabbed some lunch downtown at Subway ( I try to support Subway because they ' ve always invested so heavily in Detroit ) and it hit me ... Delrayo Rancho wasn't the end . It was just a means to the end . The end was Detroit . And I ' m going to keep working for Detroit . Every time I exchange a business card at a networking mixer or participate in a sales seminar , it will all be to improve Detroit . Maybe that means demonstrating the incredible cleaning power of the Kirby Home Cleaning System to Detroiters or something else . I don't know . The sky is the limit ! As I said yesterday , I ' m headed out of town to review some interesting opportunity businesses they might help me help Detroit . Setbacks are just another opportunity to move forward ! In a weird way , U.S. Steel gave me a gift by refusing to sell Zug Island . I mean the plans for Delrayo Rancho are still around . If they change their minds , we can hit the ground running and restart the project . But in the meantime , I ' m going to explore all kinds of super cool new ways to help Detroit . And I can't wait . And of course , wouldn't you know it ; Billy Joel wrote a song that reflects my mood today . God damnit that guy is so awesome ! Everybody Has A Dream The Stranger Released : 1977 While in these days of quiet desperation As I wander through the world in which I live I search everywhere for some new inspiration But it 's more than cold reality can give If I need a cause for celebration Or a comfort I can use to ease my mind I rely on my imagination And I dream of an imaginary time I know that everybody has a dream Everybody has a dream And this is my dream , my own Just to be at home And to be all alone ... with you If I believe in all the words I ' m saying And if a word from you can bring a better day Then all I have are these games that I ' ve been playing To keep my hope from crumbling away So let me lie and let me go on sleeping And I will lose myself in palaces of sand And all the fantasies that I have been keeping Will make the empty hours easier to stand I know that everybody has a dream Everybody has a dream And this is my dream , my own Just to be at home And to be all alone ... with you Everybody has a dream ... my dream is to be helping Detroit . 
A Message for the Youngsters Every so often a youngster , a graduating high school senior or a college student , looking for advice on how they can start building wealth in their spare time , contacts me . As many of you know , I was part of the Kirby Home Cleaning System team through most of my college years and even a couple years afterward . However often times students just don t have the time to commit to a sales program like Kirby . That s ok because Don Lapre has an opportunity for you ! Don of course is famous for his amazing Making Money package that taught ordinary folks how to make extraordinary wealth by selling through TINY CLASSIFIED ADS ! Well Don has a new program THE GREATEST VITIMAN IN THE WORLD ! So if you are looking to make a little bit of money part - time this is something to check out . From some of the success stories , you might just want to quit you job and work as an independent marketing associate for THE GREATEST VITIMAN IN THE WORLD full - time . Let me tell you Don Lapre know how to make you money . When I was with Kirby , a colleague of mine , Kyle Rourke , pulls me aside and asks me if I want to make a little extra cash . Naturally , I said yes . Opportunity doesn t knock twice so I never turn down an opportunity to create wealth . That s when Kyle tells me all about Don Lapre s system . Kyle was confident he could succeed in the system but to do it part - time and to do it right , he wanted a partner and he believed I had the killer sales instinct to be an asset to his venture . Let me tell you we followed Don s advice to a tee and we made money ! A few hours a week and suddenly six months later , I ve made $ 8000 ! I put a down payment on a brand new 1996 Ford Probe , paid for a spring break trip to Cancun , and even had enough left over to purchase my first sectional sofa , it wasn't microsuede but it was a start . All without touching my commissions from Kirby . my first sectional ! I d probably still be working Don Lapre s program if I wasn t so committed to Delrayo Rancho and using the no money down techniques to revive Detroit . So my advice for the young people looking to get their feet wet in the exciting fields of opportunity business and entrepreneurship , go with Don Lapre and THE GREATEST VITIMAN IN THE WORLD ! 
Happy Fourth of July - Detroit style ! God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwoodre - written for Detroit by George Babbitt If tomorrow all the things were gone , I d worked for all my life . And I had to start again , with just my loft and my wife . I d thank my lucky stars , to be livin here today . Cause the fist still stands for real , and they can t take that away . And I m proud to be a Detroiter , where at least I know I m real . And I wont forget the men who died , who gave that right to me . And I gladly stand up , next to you and defend her still today . Cause there ain t no doubt I love this land , God bless Detroit YEAH ! From the lake on Jefferson , to the ski hills of Grand Circus Park . Across the plains of the east side From East Grand Blvd . to shining West Grand Blvd . From Rosedale Park down to Delrayo Rancho , and Corktown to the CBDWell there 's pride in every Detroit heart , and its time we stand and say . And I m proud to be a Detroiter , where at least I know I m real . And I wont forget the men who died , who gave that right to me . And I gladly stand up , next to you and defend her still today . Cause there ain t no doubt I love this land , God bless Detroit YEAH ! And I m proud to be a Detroiter , where at least I know I m real . And I wont forget the men who died , who gave that right to me . And I gladly stand up , next to you and defend her still today . Cause there ain t no doubt I love this land , God bless Detroit YEAH ! 
BRANDINGI ' ve had a busy day today meeting with our marketing department and conducting marathon conference calls with nationally recognized branding consultants . Needless to say , it has been an exhaustive day and after I finish this short post and grab a quick Cobb Salad and mineral water ( I love Cobb Salad 's because it shares its name with Detroit 's greatest baseball player Ty Cobb ! ) for late lunch it will be back to the grindstone for old Babbitt . That 's fine by me , I love my job and like being busy . I know when I ' ve got a load of paperwork on my desk or bunch of meetings scheduled that I ' m doing good things for Detroit . Anyway some good news , the branding and marketing people are really gung - ho about the blog and believe my blog will be essential in building the word - of - mouth organic advertising Delrayo Rancho will need to really be successful . They have decided to get in here with me and help ensure that we maximize the 2026 Loft brand ! You may have noticed a few changes here lately . We ' ve been playing around with fonts and colors to hopefully create a blog that it is both interesting and visually appealing . Hopefully we will develop a consistent style for Loft 2026 very soon . Until then be prepared for a Todd Jones - style roller coaster ride ! Isn't that a create line , Bill from Marketing came up with that and we all got a big laugh out of it . We just love Todd Jones ' go for broke pitching style . Anyway let us know what you think by posting comments on the blog itself or through email ( georgebabbitt 2026@ hotmail . com ) you can text message me as well if you know my number . And before I forget , big Delrayo Rancho branding news will be coming very soon ... 
NOW THIS IS VISION ! Kansas City is doing something really revolutionary . This is a picture of the new arena that city is building downtown to spur economic growth . This is from the Wall Street Journal via The Sports Economist : Complete with a glass exterior and terrazzo floors , the $ 276 million Sprint Center is scheduled to open next year in this city 's downtown . The 18,000 - seat arena is designed to help anchor a massive project that includes nine blocks of retail , residential and office space that local officials say will revive Kansas City 's faltering central business district . Already , there 's a waiting list for luxury suites . " It was what we needed to do , " said Wayne Cauthen , Kansas City 's city manager . There 's just one problem : Kansas City has no major - league team to play there . The city is hoping for a National Hockey League team , but so far it doesn't even have a minor - league tenant for its new venue . Now we have heard all of the talk about a new Red Wings arena or maybe bringing the Pistons downtown where they belong or even getting a Major League Soccer team and building a new facility for that team . However all those plans are always based on the team making the plans and Detroit following along . Well that 's ass backwards and Kansas City has figured it out . They are building the arena and setting the terms ! Always bargain from a position of strength . That 's how I work in my business and that 's how Detroit should work in its business . We should just build a new arena and let the Pistons and Red Wings and MLS fight over who gets it . Maybe near a bustling new development complete with time - share condos and a ski hill ? he he he Of course it would be great to have this new arena near Delrayo Rancho but I don't care where they put it in the city because it could do so much good . And why does there have to be just one new sporting facility . Build two or three ! This is Hockeytown after all , there 's no reason Detroit can't support two NHL teams . I mean the Vipers did Ok and they were way out at the Palace . Somebody needs to DO SOMETHING here and get this kind of project off the ground . Maybe at Tiger Stadium ... unless Quicken Loans or the Cheesecake Factory already has dibs on that site . Sometimes there is just so much awesome development going on in Detroit I can't keep track of it On another subject , I see where John Ferchill is saying the restored Book - Cadillac will be the nicest hotel in Detroit . Heh . Apparently he hasn't seen the hotel / resort / convention center / ski lodge we are building at Delrayo Rancho . Why do these out - of - state developers think they are so great they can belittle us local guys ? Just because he has a track record of completing several successful major urban projects in others cities doesn't mean he 's all that . I mean I ' m glad the Book - Cadillac is getting restored but why act like your project is so much better than everyone else 's development ? 
INTRODUCTION . Expect a little chaos in the first days and weeks of this new blog ! I ' m getting it in order slowly . Welcome to MFBQ ! I want to begin with some of the most frequently asked questions that " Newbies " ask on the Blogger Help Group . Mama Mouse , who participates in the Help Group , suggested the idea of stickyposts , which made me think of a bulletin board with them on there . There 's no way to stick them to the top of Blogger Help Group if you 're not Blogger , so it turns out that I ' m another impudent pill who 's decided to start a blog just to explain how Blogger works and how it doesn't work ! Of course , sometimes I want to say , " It doesn't work that way ! " just to shut people up , not because it 's true . I try not to say provocative things , but sometimes I fail . Now I still can't get these posts to stick where I want them to go , so I ' m the man with sticky posts all over him ! A change : By Archiving by weeks , there are not as many posts on the front page or any page to come . If you will be prepared to use the Categories over in the sidebar to the right , it will find the right post for you . I also want to emphasize that your chickenshit advisor ( me ) has been as angry as you and it didn't work . My anger hasn't worked on Blogger and yours certainly won't work here at MFBQ ( unless it just makes me violently track - you - down - and - kill - you angry ) . So bring it down a notch . It is incredible how angry new Bloggers get . Once here , though , all Bloggers are in the damn soup together ! Except for the maniacs and the quitters ! They go elsewhere . Who cares where ? The comments on this blog were only half - likely to be seen by me . so I got rid of them ! If you have a question , click on the MFBQ box in the sidebar and Email Me ! The above date is phony to keep the post at the top . 
Write Blogger Support . Inform Blogger Support of your problem . If they don't help you instantly , they may help the group in the end . Blogger is Slow Poke Blogger Support . Be sure to read the input at the bottom of the page where you can send them your message ! You probably have to keep notifying them ; Their first response is always an automated reply . If their first response gives you a number , reference it every time you write back ! This date is phony to keep the post near the top . 
Asking Questions Here . Email Me ! Sometimes I could never discover questions that people leave in my comments for a long while , so I squealched them ! If you see the button in the sidebar , it lets you email me and I ' ll be sure to see that more quickly . I love the comments , but I don't always notice them ! This date is phony to keep the post near the top . 
Copyright . A lot of crap about copyright and so forth goes around . I ' m no expert in it . But check these out . Digital Millennium Copyright Act . Google statement about copyright . According to this , your work , if legitimate , is copyrighted even if you don't copyright it . But do you have the big bucks to enforce it against some large entity or big damn bastard who 's stalking you in some manner ? There 's the rub . 
Clear Cache . You may need to clear your cache , delete temporary files and cookies , refresh or restart your computer . Sometimes our computer will hold an old memory of our blog and won't spit it out ! See if you can shake it loose . Of course , it may just be a Blogger Quirk due to your server being disrupted or worked on . You have my pity , but that 's not worth much . I don't use Firefox , so I can't tell much about it . It 's different from IE , obviously . Check with Chuck or Peter ( see my sidebar ) for their advice on this . For more information on how and why to clear your cache , see : Windows IE Clear Cache . 
Low Sidebar . These are my rote instructions when sidebar nosedives happen , which mostly occur in the Internet Explorer browser . I don't know that it happens at all in Firefox , but I know other horror stories about Firefox , so don't get excited ! But , on to our problem ! Sometimes it 's simple , sometimes not . Your sidebar may be going to the bottom because your server is crazy due to being worked on by Blogger . Your sidebar doesn't begin at the top like it 's supposed to . Wrong codes , or missing pieces of codes , sometimes cause this kind of jump or abberation . It is possible you have posted too large a photo or too long a link . Change that and it might go back to the top of the page . Look for a misstated IMG code . Possibly your main column width and sidebar exceed allowable Content width or header width . Sometimes one of the " floats " in the template will get changed for some reason and be wrong . Investigate . Options are " left " , " right " , and " none " . If you suspect it may be caused by something in a particular post , you could Save as Draft to remove it temporarily and see if it was the cause . Then you can Publish it again later to put it back in place . Also , sometimes I ' ve found it to be caused by just getting some wrong or missing code in the template or in a recent post . You might have one tag or symbol too many or too few . If you ' ve deleted some things , maybe you left one little piece of nonsense code behind that 's confusing the template . Once it was caused in a friend 's site by a -- > , the closing tag for hiding a comment ; it had no start tag , was just wrongly there ! . Play Sherlock Holmes and test some changes without saving them until you use Preview and see that the change works and does no harm . It 's hard , but I don't know any easy way . To hear it put another way , go to Peter 's post about it or Chuck 's post . 
Strange Symbols . Clean MS Word Gobbledegook ! Word has formatted lettering . In short it introduces some gobblydegook and symbols that will screw up templates and sometimes posts . I write often in Word , but I " clean " it by copying and pasting into Notepad , then copying that again before pasting it into the Blogger editor . You CAN sometimes get away with it and think Word is okay . But then it will trip and stumble and screw up your blog ! Apostrophes or quotation marks will create havoc , and question marks will replace hyphens ! I ' ve found that the quotation marks in Word will screw up a link code because the machine is seeing it differently ! Remember , it 's not worth being careless ! 
Line Breaks . When " Enter " doesn't make a new line : go to Dashboardclick " Change Settings " click " Formatting " find " Convert line breaks " and click it to " Yes " go to bottom and Save your change . Beware of cached versions , either in your computer memory or elsewhere . Delete the cookies , clear the cache . If the above doesn't work , there may be times when a quick and dirty fix will do , that is , to make lines break with br . No closing tag is required . 
Your " posted by " Or Display Name . To change the name : Go to Dashboard . Go to Edit Profile . Go down to Display Name . Fill in your name , your nom de plume , or your fake signature . Go to bottom to Save Profile . Be sure to republish after this is done . 
Links As Code . Every site you visit or create has a link name . you can find mine at http : // rodentia . blogspot . com / However , in a template , the link would read : a href = " http : // rodentia . blogspot . com / " The Rat Squeaks / a and the code would be unseen except for " The Rat Squeaks " . If you 're in a site and want to link back to it from your own site , put the cursor up in the Address window , right - click the mouse and then click Copy in the menu that appears closeby . When you get to your template or to your temporary file ( wherever ) , you can Paste what you copied before . Then you ' ll have to work it out like the formula shown above . Permalinks If you want to be able to point to a specific post , rather than just to the front page of the blog , find the bottom of the post and hover your cursor over things until the time indicator or some other item shows the term " permanent link " . Then you can keep the cursor on that and right - click . The menu will show , among other things , Copy Shortcut . Click on that . Now you have the link you want in this case . Again , you have to insert it into the formula . like so : a href = " url " > Title / a . 
My Influences F 3 . 7 - 27 - 06 My Influences F 3 FAUST 71 MINUTES OF - THE LAST ALBUMFAUST FAUSTFAUST FAUST IVFAUST FAUST TAPESFAUST RETURN OF A LEGENDFAUST SO FARFAUST / TONY CONRAD OUTSIDE THE DREAM SYNDICATEFAUST / TONY CONRAD SLAPPING PYTHAGORASI went down the Faust path because you could find copies of The Faust Tapes at a stupid record store called The Wherehouse for less than $ 1 . Nobody told me to buy it , but I sure told a lot of people about Faust . Love em . My brother is who sent me my first Clear Faust 1 st LP on Polydor Records . Only one I bought new was Faust IV. Darrell liked Faust , Paul liked Faust everybody liked Faust . The 4 x Faust LP s saw me through junior high and high school . FAUVES , THE DRIVE THROUGH CHARISMAIt s major label Aussie rock music ; found this and a bunch of CD EP s for real cheap , covers looked good etc. For me , their shining moment is Everybody s Getting a 3 - piece Together . FELDMAN , MARTY I FEEL A SONG GOING OFFFELDMAN , MARTY MARTYI saw him on the TV ; found these UK LP s in New Zealand in the 80 s ; I didn t know about his Monty Python connection , or that he wrote novelty hits for Charlie Drake . FERON , LOUISE LOUISE FERONFrench female vocalist ; I bought it because it was cheap and on Virgin France records ; also John Cale s on it . FETUS PRODUCTIONS FETUS PRODUCTIONSFETUS PRODUCTIONS LUMINOUS TRAILSRecords that I got just because they were from New Zealand . Got em in NZ . FIANCEE DU PIRATE , LA TA GUITAREI think Bob Gaulke found this one , and a cheap CD of it turned up at La Cite , the late , much - lamented French store on Westwood Blvd . in Westwood . FIDDY , JOHN PLASTIC POPSICLEBritish production music , probably purchased because it was with a bunch of UK Easy Listening LP s @ Poo - Bah s . FIFTH DIMENSION AGE OF AQUARIUS , THEFIFTH DIMENSION GREATEST HITSFIFTH DIMENSION STONED SOUL PICNICHeard em on the radio , and probably saw em on the TV . Working On A Groovy Thing ! ( Bill Inglot loved them ) . FINCH BEYOND EXPRESSIONFINCH GALLEONS OF PASSIONFINCH GLORY OF THE INNER FORCEInstrumental Dutch 70 s band , but never my favorite . All were inexpensive , and bought because of the covers . FINGERPRINTZ DISTINGUISHING MARKSSaw em live once , never cared at all . Bought this LP 25 + years later . I think I also have videos of them . FIRE MERCHANTS LANDLORDS OF ATLANTISGiven to me by Mr. Mike Kelley , who released them on his Renaissance Records label . FIREFALL FIREFALLThis record used to get played at the very first hippie record store job I ever had , likely by Wild Bill Evans ; in the 90 s , when LP s got real inexpensive , I decided to try and buy a bunch of the records that I used to hear in the late 70 s . 
My Influences F 2 . 7 - 26 - 06 My Influences F 2 FAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER CHAPPOFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER MAIL ORDER MAGICFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER MANGO CRAZYFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER SHADOW KNOWS , THEFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER TECHNO - PRISONERSFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER ZIPPERFAMILY / STREETWALKERS LIVEFAMILY / STREETWALKERS STREETWALKERS ( Phonogram ) FAMILY / STREETWALKERS STREETWALKERS ( Reprise ) FAMILY / STREETWALKERS VICIOUS BUT FAIRI bought all of these because of my Family fandom . My favorite post - Family Roger Chapman moment is his vocals on Mike Oldfield s Shadow On The Wall . Somehow , I missed out on most of the Streetwalkers albums in the 1970 s I got the first one on Reprise UK , then I stopped . Probably it was that I wanted more European music , and couldn t be bothered with British music anymore attitude that I had for a while . FAMILY TREE MISS BUTTERSI sometimes go on rampages where I try to hear albums that I have never heard before , after looking them up in a Schwann catalogue , Phonolog or Music Master book . Didn t know what this was , won it on e Bay , a sealed copy . It s the Segarini guy , a Canadian who recorded tons of stuff under a lot of different names . FANNY FANNYAlice de Burgh used to rep A & M Records , at the distributor I worked at , in the late 70 s . Somebody ( Dana ? ) whispered to me , That s the drummer of Fanny ! . I remembered Fanny , they were the all - girl ( L - word ) group on WB / Reprise FANTASTIC EXPLOSION FANTASTIC EXPLOSIONFANTASTIC EXPLOSION FANTASTIC EXPLOSION 2 I might ve seen this recommended online , at some electronic music forum or another . But I found em used in Tokyo . FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINEFANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE LUXURYMr . Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzicato Five gave me a 45 by Tomoyuki Tanaka ( Mr. FPM ) before the first album was released , but I think the first I actually heard of them was on the Pussyfoot Label collection Fish Smell Like Cat promo CD that Toshio Nakanishi sent me , Dear Mr. Salesman ( with the goofball Jonathan Winters sample ) . FAR EAST FAMILY BAND CAVE DOWN TO THE EARTHFAR EAST FAMILY BAND CAVE DOWN TO THE EARTH ( wka NIPPONJIN ) FAR EAST FAMILY BAND PARALLEL WORLDFAR EAST FAMILY BAND TENKUJINFAR EAST FAMILY BAND / MIYASHTA , FUMIO FUMIOMr . Tony Harrington was who held this up to my mirror , without a doubt . Saw em live , interviewed Fumio etc. FARINA , MIMI SOLOFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI CELEBRATIONS FOR A GREY DAYFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI MEMORIESFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI PACK UP YOUR SORROWSFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI REFLECTIONS IN A CRYSTAL WINDI first knew of Richard Farina when Ian Matthews covered his songs on If You Saw Thro My Eyes and Tigers Will Survive LP s on the Vertigo label . I love his books . FARLOWE , CHRIS ART OF CHRIS FARLOWE , THEI wanted this because of the Rolling Stones connection and finally found an LP of it in New Zealand , in the 80 s . FARR , GARY ADDRESSED TO THE CENSORS OF LOVEI only know of Gary Farr because he was on the flip side of a Soft Machine LP on Byg Records , from France . FARYAR , CYRUS CYRUSFARYAR , CYRUS ISLANDSI wanted these because Cyrus spoke the words on Cosmic Sounds of the Zodiac and had produced The Firesign Theatre . 
My Influences F 1 . 07 - 25 - 06 My Influences F 1 F . F . F . BLAST CULTUREF . F . F . F . F . F . ( 3 rd Album ) F . F . F . FREE FOR FEVERI think Chris Padrick at Bay Cities Disc was who found the Bill Laswell connection interesting . FABARES , SHELLEY SHELLEY ! Johnny Angel is a deeply buried single in my subconsciousness . Perhaps my sisters were responsible for this ? FABULOUS POODLES FABULOUS POODLESFABULOUS POODLES MIRROR STARSRecommended to me by numerous people , but it was Greg Stewart who gave me both of these LP s . My GF likes em ! FAHEY , JOHN REQUIAAfter he died , I decided to try this . I LOVED his stuff on the previously - unreleased Jack Nitzsche album ( Rhino Handmade ) . FAIR WEATHER BEGINNING FROM AN ENDOn the Neon label , from England , early 70 s but little to recommend it otherwise . Uh , nice cover . FAIR , JAD BEST WISHESSolo album from Mr. Half Japanese . Is he half Japanese ? Lo - fi is as lo - fi does . Tom Recchion said Yes. That . FAIRPORT CONVENTION FAIRPORT CONVENTIONFAIRPORT CONVENTION WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYSMark Moerman has always been their big champion but I bought it because it is on Island Records , from England . FAITH , PERCY BEATLES ALBUM , THEFAITH , PERCY BLACK MAGIC WOMANTop drawer kitsch Easy Hits . I wanted to hear Percy s version of Black Magic Woman , with an orchestra . FAITHFULL , MARIANNE BROKEN ENGLISHFAITHFULL , MARIANNE CHILD ' S ADVENTURE , AFAITHFULL , MARIANNE DANGEROUS ACQUAINTENCESFAITHFULL , MARIANNE SECRET LIFE , AFAITHFULL , MARIANNE STRANGE WEATHERFAITHFULL , MARIANNE TROUBLE IN MIND ( O . S . T . ) - Various Artists FAITHFULL , MARIANNE VAGABOND WAYSHer 60 s stuff never did it for me . Probably , it was seeing the Broken English LP stickered with an Offensive language sticker that made me curious then I actually heard it ! Wow . And I love anything with Wally Badarou keyboard playing . FALCONER , RODERICK NEW NATIONFALCONER , RODERICK VICTORY IN ROCK CITYThese came to me from my sister Marilyn . I have no idea at all why she had em . FAME , GEORGIE GEORGIE FAMEFAME , GEORGIE YEH YEH IT ' S GEORGIE FAMEGeorgie Fame s big fan is Mr. Tom Meyer ; I found some UK 60 s 45 s and took it from there . FAMILY ANYWAY ... FAMILY BANDSTANDFAMILY FAMILY ENTERTAINMENTFAMILY FEARLESSFAMILY FROM PAST ARCHIVESFAMILY IT ' S ONLY A MOVIEFAMILY MUSIC IN A DOLL ' S HOUSEFAMILY OLD SONGS , NEW SONGSFAMILY SONG FOR ME , AFAMILY STRANGE BAND pirate There used to be a small hippie record store in North Long Beach I liked this place because it had very inexpensive used LP s . Once ( 1970 ? ) , I chanced upon a 98 cent UK copy of Music In A Doll s House and decided to try it because of the cover and , to a lesser extent , because it was on Reprise Records . Well , it s probably my # 1 favorite UK psychedelic hippie record of all - time . Also got lucky with Family Entertainment found an inexpensive copy with the poster in it , which hung on the back of my bedroom door for 20 + years . Roger Chapman is the best . 
My Influences E 3 . 7 - 24 - 06 My Influences E 3 ENEMA PROJECT ENEMA MUSICNice Japanese indie band I must admit : tried this one because of the name / title . What can Enema Music sound like ? ENID , THE AERIE FAERIE NONSENSEENID , THE IN THE REGION OF THE SUMMER STARSENID , THE TOUCH MEENID , THE / GODFREY , ROBERT JOHN FALL OF HYPERIONI believe Philip Page first said You must hear In The Region Of The Summer Stars . Jim Hresko knew that , too . ENO , BRIAN ANOTHER GREEN WORLDENO , BRIAN BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCEENO , BRIAN DISCREET MUSICENO , BRIAN HERE COME THE WARM JETSENO , BRIAN TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN ( BY STRATEGY ) ENO , BRIAN / DAVID BYRNE MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTSENO , BRIAN / JOHN CALE WRONG WAY UPENO , BRIAN / SCHECKLEY , ROBERT IN A LAND OF CLEAR COLOURSHe was in Roxy Music , on Island Records so I was going to try it anyway . I like the Island LP s better now than I did then . EPIDAURUS EARTHLY PARADISEAs they re neo - prog , it might ve been David Overstreet who first told me this was any good . EROC WOLKENREISEI never bought their LP s in the 70 s there were just too many German LP s to buy then . The name never left my brain , and I once found an inexpensive CD at Rockaway , obviously traded in by a publisher or something . ESCROCS , LES FAITES - VOUS DES AMIS ? I saw a video for Assedic on Boulevard Des Clips , merci , Gilles Yepremian . Bob Gaulke got this message solid . ESPERANTO DANSE MACABREESPERANTO ESPERANTO ROCK ORCHESTRAESPERANTO LAST TANGO Produced by Pete Sinfield ( of King Crimson ) . And the cover of Danse Macabre was excellent . ESQUERITA CAPITOL COLLECTOR ' S SERIESEd Winfield was always who sung Esquerita s praises ; this may have been the title to get him to buy a CD player ! ESTER , PAULINE DE L ' AUTRE COTEESTER , PAULINE LE MONDE EST FOUI was just trying anything that looked good , on a visit to Paris , 90 . I really liked Le Monde Est Fou , 2 nd one not as much . ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN BATELAGESETRON FOU LELOUBLAN LES TROIS FOU ' S PERDEGAGNENT ( AU PAYS DE ... ) ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN NOS TROIS AMIS DEBARQUERENT A NEW YORKProbably sold to me in a catalog via Archie Patterson , likely described as Rock in Opposition - style music . Why I bought three of them is anybody s guess ! Uh , because they re French ? Not exactly , too early for that . EULENSPYGEL AUSCHUSSThis has the coolest cover Auschuss means trash and the cover is a piece of discarded cardboard . Also , good label : Spiegelei Records . EUROPEANS EUROPEANS LIVEEUROPEANS RECURRING DREAMSEUROPEANS VOCABULARY Animal Song 12 came in to the distributor I was working at in 82 , great stuff . I made sure I found all their other titles . EURYTHMICS IN THE GARDENHolger Czukay was who first told me about Eurythmics and he s on this album . I did not follow their popularity . EVANS , BILL / HALL , JIM UNDERCURRENTSimply one of the best albums covers of all time . Jazz . EVEN / ODD LOUD AND CLEARMy friend Dana Madore ! EXPRESSION , THE EXPRESSION , THEMark Moerman was who told me to try this ; Aussie 80 s , and I missed it at the time . 
Yard List . I have been reading a book called " To See Every Bird On Earth " by Dan Koeppel ; it strikes me that there are a myriad of parallels between bird - watching and record collecting . As you can see , I am presently going through my ' 20 th century full - length ' titles , my " Life List " , if you will . In the birding community , I would be known as a " Big Lister " , except ... I am not in the birding community , I am a record collector . And record collectors are not organized in the same way as the birding community . Sure I make my lists ... but my aim is to retain the specimen , for further examination at an as - yet - undetermined later date . I snapped this photo of a bird on a vacation to Hawaii , a few year back . I have no idea what it is , apart from being a pretty bird . No , I do not have bird lists ... yet . I suppose I could become one of those guys who wants to make digital recordings of bird vocalizations - out in the musty jungle , with my Sony Mini Disc and directional microphone ... But I ' m a record collector . I ' m a reasonable guy - I won't buy records if it 's too hot out , or if I don't have an easy way to get th records back to he hotel room ( or car ) . Yes , I ' ve spent " food money " on records , and am damned proud of it . I ' ve traveled to New Zealand , Finland , Japan , Italy , Canada ... Portland , Las Vegas , Berkeley ... all in search of phonograph records . A " Yard List " in record collecting would be maddening - the equivalent of counting CD - R 's in your " Life List " , I suppose . For a title to count towards the " Big List " , does it have to have artwork ? What about splits and lumps ? Seriously , folks - time to plan for my dotage . Bird - watching or record collecting ? 
My Influences E 2 . 7 - 21 - 06 My Influences E 2 EIGHT SECONDS ALMACANTAR Produced by Rupert Hine . Joe Castle is who found it for $ 1 . EILIFF EILIFFGerman early 70 s band that I found in New Zealand in the 80 s . I bought it because it was cheap and I liked the cover . EINZELGANGER EINZENGANGERWow , how easy are they going to make it ? A German word for the band name let s see synthesizers EIRE APPARENT SUNRISE Produced by Jimi Hendrix . AND a Soft Machine connection . Doesn t get any better recommendation than that ! EKOVA SOFT BREEZE AND TSUNAMI BREAKSI believe Nancy X @ Sony NYC sent me a promo of this , but I might ve tried it anyway , because of who was remixing them . EL CAMINOS REVERB EXPLOSION ! A promo CD from Elliot Kendall ; Japanese whammy - bar twang - fest . Bullseye ! EL GENERAL MUEVELO CON EL GENERALI saw a video for Muevelo on either Much Music or Musiq ue Plus probably on Clip Trip ! ELASTICA ELASTICASaw em on Later with Jools Holland and was mightily amused . Thank you , Terry Greenhill ! ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA BALANCE OF POWERELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA DISCOVERYELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ELDORADOELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ELO IIELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA FACE THE MUSICELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA NEW WORLD RECORD , AELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA NIGHT THE LIGHT WENT ON IN LONG BEACHELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA NO ANSWERELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA OLE ELOELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ON THE THIRD DAYELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA OUT OF THE BLUEELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA SECRET MESSAGESELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA TIMEI was ready for E . L . O . , having been a big fan of The Move s Looking On . Mark Moerman is the big fan , however . ELECTRONICAS DANCE LITTLE BIRDI spotted this monstrosity at the Pasadena swap meet in the junk section , not the record section . I knew the song from having visited Europe ( Holland , mostly ) at various times in the 1980 s . ELLISON , HARLAN ELLISON READS ELLISONELLISON , HARLAN JEFFTY IS FIVEELLISON , HARLAN ON THE DOWNHILL SIDEELLISON , HARLAN ON THE ROAD WITH ELLISONI used to hear Mr. Ellison rant and rave on Hour 25 , on KPFK , and always loved it . Delighted to find he had made records ! EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER BRAIN SALAD SURGERYEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER EMERSON , LAKE & PALMEREMERSON , LAKE & PALMER IN CONCERTEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER LOVE BEACHEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITIONEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER TARKUSEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER TRILOGYEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER WORKS , Vol. 1 EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER WORKS , Vol. 2 EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER / EMERSON , KEITH INFERNOEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER / LAKE , GREG MANOEUVRESI probably didn t know at the time that EL & P were an amalgam of The Nice and King Crimson . It wouldn t have mattered to me anyway , it was on Island Records UK . Bought the first album first , 70 . Also bought Tarkus when it was new , too . 
My Influences E 1 . 7 - 20 - 06 My Influences E 1 EARTH AND FIRE ANDROMEDA GIRLEARTH AND FIRE ATLANTISEARTH AND FIRE EARTH AND FIRE ( 1 st ) EARTH AND FIRE FRAMES - Earth & Fire Orchestra EARTH AND FIRE GATE TO INFINITYEARTH AND FIRE IN A STATE OF FLUXEARTH AND FIRE PHOENIXEARTH AND FIRE REALITY FILLS FANTASYEARTH AND FIRE SONG OF THE MARCHING CHILDRENEARTH AND FIRE TO THE WORLD OF THE FUTUREEARTH AND FIRE / KAAGMAN , JERNEY MADE ON EARTHEARTH AND FIRE / KAAGMAN , JERNEY RUNI am certain I saw the UK copy of Atlantis , noticed that they had a mellotron Charlie Miller was probably who told me they were good . EARTH OPERA GREAT AMERICAN EAGLE TRAGEDYPurchased because of the presence of Mr. John Cale . EARTH , WIND & FIRE STAR BOXHeard em a lot while I was in high school . Heard em on the radio , saw em on the TV . EARTHY SIDE , THE EARTHY SIDE , THEI think this record came with a sticker advising that it had adult content . Also probably heard something from it on KPFK . EAST OF EDEN MERCATOR PROJECTEDEAST OF EDEN SNAFUI found Mercator Projected in a $ 1 bin , at a record store in L . B . and I liked the Deram label a lot . Dave Arbus = Baba O Riley . The locking groove at the end of Side One of Snafu is my favorite , bar none . EDDY , DUANE BIGGEST TWANG OF THEM ALL , THEPresumably purchased because of the tenuous Lee Hazlewood connection . EDMUNDS , DAVE BEST OFEDMUNDS , DAVE GET ITEDMUNDS , DAVE INFORMATIONI heard him on the radio a lot but I had been a Love Sculpture fan since 70 or so . EDWARDS , JONATHAN JONATHAN EDWARDSEDWARDS , JONATHAN LUCKY DAYEDWARDS , JONATHAN SAILBOATAlways liked Sunshine , but my friend David Zimelis recommended him to me , and I tried some others . EDWARDS , TEDDY MISSIPPI LADThis CD features Tom Waits on vocals and rather good vocals , as it were . Dale Bailey @ Bay Cities Disc noticed , too . EFRON , MARSHALL NUTRINO NEWS NETWORK , ABYSMO , NEW JERSEYI bought this because of the cover it looked crazy ( it is crazy ) . From a long - forgotten $ 1 bin . EGG CIVIL SURFACE , THEEGG EGGEGG POLITE FORCEEGG / HATFIELD AND THE NORTH AFTERSEGG / HATFIELD AND THE NORTH HATFIELD AND THE NORTHEGG / HATFIELD AND THE NORTH ROTTER ' S CLUB , THEEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH D . S . AL CODAEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH MISSING PIECESEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH NATIONAL HEALTHEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH OF QUEUES AND CURESEGG / STEWART , DAVE / BARBARA GASKIN BIG IDEA , THEEGG / STEWART , DAVE / BARBARA GASKIN SPINEGG / STEWART , DAVE / BARBARA GASKIN UP FROM THE DARKEgg were just one of those groups you were supposed to try it was probably sold to me as They re a cousin band of Caravan by Steve Zepeda , about 73 or 74 . Likely , I went for Civil Surface ( 74 ) instantly , as Henry Cow people were on it . The Hatfields , Nat l Health and Stewart & Gaskin all come naturally , after initial Egg fandom . The Canterbury door was held open for me by Steve Zepeda , however I was already a Soft Machine fan , having found a copy of Vol. 2 in a $ 1 bin somewhere . 
My Influences D 9 . 7 - 18 - 06 My Influences D 9 DRISCOLL , JULIE / BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY STREETNOISETook me a few years , but one day I realized that I d never heard this . I also didn t know ( then ) that Julie Driscoll and Julie Tippett were the same person . I never cared much for Brian Auger s later stuff , even though a collection got released on the Trattoria label , in Japan ( a label that I collect ) . D ' SILVA , AMANCIO INTEGRATIOND ' SILVA , AMANCIO KONKAN DANCEI m a new / recent fan of Amancio D Silva , but I remember the Integration LP ! It s been British jazz time for a few months now . DUB MASTER X DMX IIDUB MASTER X DUB MASTER XDUB MASTER X SIDE JOBMr . DMX was involved with both Mute Beat and Pizzicato Five . I think I even met him once ( 89 in L . A . Mute Beat live show ) DUCK ' S BREATH Mystery Theatre BORN TO BE TILEDDUCK ' S BREATH Mystery Theatre OUT OF SEASONI think it was Warren Bowman that had the cassette of these guys I like Merle Kessler ! Any other LP s or CD s ? DUDZIAK , URSZULA FUTURE TALKDUDZIAK , URSZULA MAGIC LADYDUDZIAK , URSZULA MALOWANY PTAK ( THE PAINTED BIRD ) DUDZIAK , URSZULA NEWBORN LIGHTDUDZIAK , URSZULA NIGHT RAINDUDZIAK , URSZULA URSZULAI found an LP of Newborn Light for a mere 10 cents , at a record store in Downey ( Middle Earth ) , the price was written in black felt - tipped pen on the front cover . Later , I found a 99 cent promo of Urszula , and loved it to death . Now I mail - order her CD s . DUFFY , STEPHEN BECAUSE WE LOVE YOUDUFFY , STEPHEN DESIGNER BEATNIK - Dr. Calculus DUFFY , STEPHEN DUFFYDUFFY , STEPHEN I LOVE MY FRIENDSDUFFY , STEPHEN MUSIC IN COLORSDUFFY , STEPHEN THEY CALLED HIM TIN TINDUFFY , STEPHEN UPS AND DOWNS , THEDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME & LOVE FOR ALLDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME ASTRONAUTSDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME LILAC TIMEDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME LOOKING FOR A DAY IN THE NIGHTDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME PARADISE CIRCUSI think the first time I connected with Mr. Duffy , it was on the TV Music Box , in Henk Hofstede s home in Amsterdam . They were showing the Icing On The Cake music video . London Girls really kicks my ass , too . DUKES , THE ( UK ) DUKES , THEPurchased because of Jimmy Mc Culloch s involvement . My late sister Susie was all into Jimmy Mc C / Thunderclap Newman . DUNBAR , AYNSLEY BLUE WHALEHmmm how did I know about him ? I think I bought this because it was on the Byg label and I liked that label largely because of the Gong LP s ( which were horrible pressings ) . I think Juicy Lucy s Paul Williams is on this LP . DUNBAR , SLY SLY , WICKED AND SLICK - EXTRA VERSIONThis is almost like saying How did you discover reggae ? I loved Sly & Robbie s contributions to Grace Jones Nightclubbing LP , so I suppose that makes Dennis Duck indirectly responsible . The first person who ever discussed reggae with me was Mike Mc Goldrick . At the end of the 70 s , my brother was a big reggae fan ( and still is ! ) . DURAN DURAN DURAN DURANDURAN DURAN RIO 1981 was a neat time . Lots of new stuff was happening . Sometimes , we could read about it in Melody Maker or NME ( before ever hearing the band in question ) and I think Duran Duran was one such band . It s like we were waiting for them without ever having heard them . I was working at a small importer / record distributor in 1981 often , I would take home a stack of 45 s on Friday , just to see what the heck the stuff was . Duran Duran was a keeper an example of dumper fodder = Culture Club . I think Duran Duran was also produced ( or recorded ) by a guy who worked with Magazine , so that was a vote of confidence . Sometimes with a band s first record , you can tell that they re going to be big other times , not . 
My Influences D 8 . 7 - 17 - 06 My Influences D 8 DORAY , PHILIPPE NOUVEAUX MODES INDUSTRIELSAnother good label : Invisible Records , from France . I think Mike Mc Goldrick is who found this , however . DOUBLE BLUEI think I saw the music video for Captain Of Her Heart on Much Music from Canada . Or was it Woman Of The World ? DOURADOS , LOS INTRODUCING I bought this because there is a cover version of an Amancio D Silva song on it . Otherwise , UK easy listening Latin kitsch . DR . DOPO JAM ENTREEDR . DOPO JAM FAT DOGS Gary Steel sent me the CD s . DRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANSDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE DRIFTWOOD AT SEADRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE SONGS OF BILLY YANK AND JOHNNY REBDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE TALL TALES IN SONGDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE VOICE OF THE PEOPLEDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE WESTWARD MOVEMENT , THEDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE WILDERNESS ROAD , THEWhile thriving on C & W discoveries , I stumbled across a mint ( minus ) copy of Driftwood s debut LP at Logo s in Santa Cruz . It s charming , if cornball stuff . I heard he lived to be nearly 100 years of age . 
My Influences D 7 . 7 - 14 - 06 My Influences D 7 DOG THAT BIT PEOPLE DOG THAT BIT PEOPLEI think Jim Hresko was who found this for me ; he knew I was a fan of Locomotive & The Norman Haines Band etc. DOLBY , THOMAS FLAT EARTH , THEDOLBY , THOMAS GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS , THEWhy did I first try the 81 Europa 12 single ? He was very obscure , before he became popular and had US releases . Maybe Peter Dyer of Caroline Exports had given me the Urges 45 by Dolby , as a promo , before he signed with EMI ? DOLLY DOTS AMERICAN DREAMDOLLY DOTS DISPLAYDOLLY DOTS DOLLY DOTSDOLLY DOTS IN CONCERT - LIVE IN CARREDOLLY DOTS P . S . WE LOVE YOUDOLLY DOTS TAKE SIXDOLLY DOTS / ANITA ( Heilker ) GIRL IN BLACK , THEReally mysterious . My serious music friends in Holland would never have recommended this fluffy band to me . Maybe I bought a picture disc 45 in 79 ? Or did the Japanese exporter send me a promo 45 of Radio in 80 ? DOMINO , FATS BEST OF - MY BLUE HEAVENHeard him on the radio , Blueberry Hill . DONAGGIO , PINO BRIAN DE PALMA FILMSI liked the Brian De Palma films DONOVAN 7 - TEASEDONOVAN BARABAJAGALDONOVAN COSMIC WHEELSDONOVAN DONOVAN ( RAK / Arista ) DONOVAN DONOVAN IN CONCERTDONOVAN ESSENCE TO ESSENCEDONOVAN FAIRYTALEDONOVAN FOR LITTLE ONESDONOVAN GIFT FROM A FLOWER TO A GARDEN , ADONOVAN GOLDEN HOUR OFDONOVAN GREATEST HITSDONOVAN H . M. S . DONOVANDONOVAN HURDY GURDY MANDONOVAN LIVE IN JAPAN : SPRING TOUR 1973 DONOVAN MELLOW YELLOWDONOVAN OPEN ROADDONOVAN SLOW DOWN WORLDDONOVAN SUNSHINE SUPERMANDONOVAN THIS IS DONOVANDONOVAN UNIVERSAL SOLDIERDONOVAN WEAR YOUR LOVE LIKE HEAVENDONOVAN WHAT ' S BIN DID AND WHAT ' S BIN HIDDONOVAN / LEWIS , VIC DONOVAN MY WAYEarliest Donovan memory : hearing Sunshine Superman on the AM radio . My brother had Donovan LP s . My friend Cameron Hand liked Donovan a lot and I helped him collect all the variant pressings . In 2006 , I think it s hip that Donovan worked with British jazz guys like Ronnie Ross and Harold Mc Nair . Epistle To Dippy is one of my all - time favorite 45 s . I ve seen Donovan live before , but I think Cameron was who got all of his records signed . DOO - DOOETTES LOOK TO THISI am friends with Tom Recchion , either he gave me this , or I bought it because he s on it . DOORS AMERICAN PRAYER , ANDOORS DOORS , THEDOORS L . A . WOMANDOORS MORRISON HOTELDOORS OTHER VOICESDOORS SOFT PARADE , THEDOORS STRANGE DAYSDOORS WAITING FOR THE SUNDOORS WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINEDOORS / KRIEGER , ROBBIE ROBBIE KRIEGER & FRIENDSDOORS / KRIEGER , ROBBIE ROBBY KRIEGERDOORS / MANZAREK , RAY CARMINA BURANAProbably it was hearing Light My Fire or Break On Through on the radio . I got the first album when it was new - ish . My brother , Gilles , Ida and Yael all love The Doors . 
My Influences D 6 . 7 - 13 - 06 My Influences D 6 DIP IN THE POOL AURORAEDIP IN THE POOL DIP IN THE POOLDIP IN THE POOL RETINAEMMM I met them at an in - store performance at HMV Shibuya , in Tokyo ( at the old location , downstairs ) . DIRTY THREE DIRTY THREEDIRTY THREE HORSE STORIESDIRTY THREE OCEAN SONGSDIRTY THREE SAD I visited NZ in 81 and heard Dobbyn s solo debut Lipstick Power while staying at Chris place on Nairn Street in Wellington , probably on Radio Windy . I also was first taken to see D . D . Smash by Gary Steel . The last time I saw D . D . Smash was the Aotea Square ( Auckland ) riot , in 84 to get away from the rioting , I went to Murray Cammick s Rip It Up office , which was nearby . In the John Dix book about New Zealand music , my entry is in regards to my having witnessed the D . D . Smash riot . I always have time for Dave Dobbyn . 
My Influences D 5 . 7 - 12 - 06 My Influences D 5 DEVO DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTUREDEVO FREEDOM OF CHOICEDEVO NEW TRADITIONALISTSDEVO OH , NO ! IT ' S DEVODEVO Q : ARE WE NOT MEN ? DEVO SMOOTH NOODLE MAPSDEVO / MOTHERSBAUGH , MARK JOYEUX MUTATODEVO / MOTHERSBAUGH , MARK MUZIK FOR INSOMNIAKS Vol. 1 DEVO / MOTHERSBAUGH , MARK MUZIK FOR INSOMNIAKS Vol. 2 I worked at a record distributor in 78 ; a guy there ( Mr. Phil Culp ) had a Devo license plate ( that kept getting stolen ) but who told me first about going to see them at the Starwood ? It might ve been Mike Mc Goldrick . Mark M was nice to me on the phone . D - GENERATION BREAKFAST TAPES ( 1988 - 1990 ) D - GENERATION SATANIC SKETCHES , THEI may have first seen their Australian TV show before I knew Ken Grady . But who sent me that tape ? Robert O ? DIBANGO , MANU AMBASSADORDIBANGO , MANU ELECTRIC AFRICADIBANGO , MANU GONE CLEARDIBANGO , MANU HOME MADEDIBANGO , MANU LIVE ' 91 DIBANGO , MANU POLYSONIKDIBANGO , MANU SEVENTIESDIBANGO , MANU SOFT & SWEETDIBANGO , MANU SOUL MAKOSSADIBANGO , MANU WAKA JUKUDIBANGO , MANU WAKAFRIKAI never thought I d be giving credit to this place , but I used to work at a CD store in Hermosa Beach , CA called Bay Cities Disc . It was a take the discs out of the cases store , so we could play anything in stock . I think Chris Padrick put either Ambassador or Gone Clear on one day . Now I am a Manu Dibango maniac I love his autobiography Three Kilos of Coffee read it ! DICKSON , BARBARA BARBARA DICKSON ALBUM , THEWell , it was the single January February that caught my ear but can t remember where I first heard it . Somebody may have suggested her to me , after my initial spate of Kate Bush fandom no , they re not similar singers . Philip Page , perhaps ? DIE DORAUS UNE DIE MARINAS BLUMEN UND NARZISSENGiven to me by the members of the Japanese synth - pop group Motocompo . DIED PRETTY FREE DIRTDIED PRETTY LOSTDIED PRETTY PRE DIETYDIED PRETTY TRACEI think it was Mike Chunn , the former bass player for Split Enz that first told me they were worth listening to . DIESEL WATTS IN A TANKI picked this up because of their connection to Kayak Dutch bands . DIETHELM / BRANDENBERGER DIDI L ' AMOURDIETHELM / FAMULARI DIETHELM / FAMULARIDIETHELM / FAMULARI VALLEYS IN MY HEADDIETHELM BAND , THOMAS BIG SHAKEDIETHELM BAND , THOMAS MEMORY GAMESDIETHELM BAND , THOMAS PENGUIN IN LOVEDIETHELM , THOMAS 82 - 89 DIETHELM , THOMAS SHAVEDMr . Philip Page of Austin , TX ( currently resident in Helsinki . Finland ) that asked me to see if I could find Valleys In My Head for him , on compact disc about 84 or so . It blew me away , changed my life . Warren Bowman had a CD player before I did , so I used to listen to it at his place . Two other Diethelm facilitators : Hildegard Schmidt put me in touch with Mr. Diethelm , and Brigitta S . brought me some of his CD s ! Mr. Diethelm is recording again in 2006 , let s hope he releases a new CD soon ! DIK DIK , I AMICOThis came from the Buy anything Italian phase but I bet I found the Obsessoni 45 at an Italian deli in San Pedro , CA . DIMITRI FROM PARIS SACRE BLEUI saw the music video for Sacre Francais on Boulevard Des Clips courtesy of Gilles Yepremian . DION DION ' S GREATEST HITSI think my older brother was who had the I Wonder Why 45 . 
My Influences D 4 . 7 - 11 - 06 My Influences D 4 DELANEY R . I. P . Lizzy ! DESIRELESS FRANCOISOoh , French CD s ! Buy anything French ! But I probably also saw her video for Voyage Voyage , so I knew her already . DETECTIVE DETECTIVEOh , I heard this back in my first hippie record store Is this Led Zeppelin ? Not quite . Found the LP in the $ 1 bin . DEUTER , GEORG CELEBRATIONDEUTER , GEORG CICADADEUTER , GEORG HALEAKALAI tried this about 76 or so thinking it was more German space rock ( The Kuckuck label is German ) . Pre - New Age ? DEUTSCH NEPAL TOLERANCEI had visited the Staalplaat shop in Amsterdam , in search of Boyd Rice material and I bought this there . DEVIANTS , THE DEVIANTS # 3 DEVIANTS , THE DISPOSABLEDEVIANTS , THE PTOOFF ! DEVIANTS , THE / FARREN , MICK MONA THE CARNIVOROUS CIRCUSWell , I liked the name Deviants , and I found Ptoof ! in a $ 1 bin ; I also liked the Sire label in 70 72 . DEVIL DOLL GIRL WHO WAS ... DEATH , THEDEVIL DOLL SACRILEGIUMI think it was either David Overstreet or Mike Kelley who said , You really should hear Devil Doll . DEVIVO , JENNY MY DADToshio Nakanishi sent me a promo CD of this . He produced it . It s cool . 
My Influences D 3 . 7 - 10 - 06 My Influences D 3 DAVIS GROUP , SPENCER AUTUMN ' 66 DAVIS GROUP , SPENCER BEST OFDAVIS GROUP , SPENCER GIMME SOME LOVIN ' I heard Somebody Help Me or Keep On Running on the radio I do not think I knew who Steve Winwood was . DAVIS JR . , SAMMY SAMMY DAVIS JR . NOWDAVIS JR . , SAMMY SOMETHING FOR EVERYONEWell , I saw Sammy on the TV . I heard Shelter Of Your Arms on the radio but after seeing I Love You , Billy Baker ( an episode of the late 60 s TV show The Name of The Game ) in the early 1980 s , Sammy became a bit of a figure of fun for me . He was so OUT , he was IN . I even saw him perform live a couple of times ! I was in England when he died , so I missed all of that . Years later I even got to see Sammy s record collection at an antique store in Venice , CA . DAVIS , MILES ASCENSEUR POUR L ' ECHAFAUD ( O . S . T . ) DAVIS , MILES KIND OF BLUEDAVIS , MILES SKETCHES OF SPAINWho told me to listen to Kind of Blue ? Maybe Jay Green of Poo Bah Record Shop said , Try that , and if you like it , he has about a hundred other really good ones . Jay used to display actual Miles Davis autographs in his store . I have also enjoyed drinking at Milestones , a jazz bar in Takadanobaba , Tokyo . DAVIS , SKEETER BLUEBERRY HILL AND OTHER FAVORITESDAVIS , SKEETER CLOUDY , WITH OCCASIONAL TEARSDAVIS , SKEETER END OF THE WORLD , THEDAVIS , SKEETER HERE ' S THE ANSWER - Various Artists DAVIS , SKEETER I FORGOT MORE THAN YOU ' LL EVER KNOW DAVIS , SKEETER I ' LL SING YOU A SONG AND HARMONIZE TOODAVIS , SKEETER WHAT DOES IT TAKEWow , those double - tracked harmonies ( with herself ) are awesome . I remember End of The World from the radio . DAVIS , TYRONE TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIMEI remember him from the radio If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time , and I have a 45 of it from the time . DAWE , TIM PENRODObtained because it was on Straight / Bizarre Mr. Zappa s label . DE MICHELE , GRAZIELLA LE CLOWN D ' ALICANTEFrom the age of trying anything on the Virgin France label . Great female pop vocal CD ! DEAF SCHOOL DON ' T STOP THE WORLDDEAF SCHOOL ENGLISH BOYS - WORKING GIRLSDEAF SCHOOL SECOND HONEYMOONThere was a promo double 7 EP for Deaf School , from Warner Brothers records that was going around . I got one , 77 . DEAN , JIMMY BIG BAD JOHN ... I knew of him from the TV . I also knew that Don Bolles & his friends had teased Mr. Dean on the radio . DEBILE MENTHOL EMILE AU JARDIN PATROLOGIQUEThis came out of the used LP bin at Moby Disc , in Van Nuys . I bought it because it has a cool cover , and was French , 81 . DEBRIS STATIC DISPOSALThis came into the hippie record store where I was working in 76 . Mike Mc Goldrick & I played it in the store . DEEE - LITE INFINITY WITHINDEEE - LITE WORLD CLIQUEOh , I definitely saw them on the TV they were coming up while I lived in England , 90 . DEEP PURPLE FIREBALL ( Anniversary Edition ) DEEP PURPLE HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTDEEP PURPLE IN ROCK ( Anniversary Edition ) DEEP PURPLE MACHINE HEAD ( Anniversary Edition ) DEEP PURPLE PERFECT STRANGERSDEEP PURPLE SHADES OF DEEP PURPLEDEEP PURPLE WHO DO WE THINK WE AREDEEP PURPLE / GILLAN BAND , IAN CHILD IN TIMEDEEP PURPLE / GILLAN BAND , IAN CLEAR AIR TURBULENCEDEEP PURPLE / GLOVER , ROGER MASKI remember Hush being played on the AM radio next thing I remember was the Into The Fire 45 , about 70 . Saw ' em live in New Zealand , too ! 
My Influences D 2 . 7 - 7 - 06 My Influences D 2 DANCE MACABRE LAST REQUESTI got their Between The Lines 12 EP on my first visit to NZ . I was just buying anything I could find . DANGERFIELD , RODNEY I DON ' T GET NO RESPECTDANGERFIELD , RODNEY LOSER , THEDANGERFIELD , RODNEY NO RESPECTI think I saw him on the TV the records came long before he was in movies . DANIELE , PINO BELLA ' MBRIANADANIELE , PINO CHE DIO TI BENEDICADANIELE , PINO E SONA MO ' DANIELE , PINO FERRYBOATDANIELE , PINO MASCALZONE LATINADANIELE , PINO MUSICA MUSICADANIELE , PINO NON CALPESTARE I FIORI NEL ... DANIELE , PINO PINO DANIELEDANIELE , PINO SCHIZZECHEA WITH LOVEDANIELE , PINO SOTTO ' O SOLEDANIELE , PINO UN UOMO IN BLUESDANIELE , PINO VAI MO ' DANIELE , PINO YES I KNOW MY WAY - THE BEST OFI first heard Tutto Nata Storia ( from Bella Mbriana ) while sitting in a small Italian restaurant in Paris Latin Quarter , probably 85 . I asked them who was on the stereo , and they showed me the album cover . Schizzechea With Love kicks my ass , too . DANNY & THE JUNIORS ROCKIN ' WITH DANNY & THE JUNIORSI actually chased this because they have a song called Dotty ( the diminutive of the name Dorothy , my GF ! ) . DANSE SOCIETY HEAVEN IS WAITINGAnother one likely sold to me by a salesman from a record importer , when I was working at a record distributor . DAOU , VANESSA DEAR JOHN COLTRANEDAOU , VANESSA PLUTONIUM GLOWDAOU , VANESSA SLOW TO BURNDAOU , VANESSA ZIPLESSDAOU , VANESSA / DAOU , THE HEAD MUSICThank you , Joe Castle . He had pulled a U - Matic videocassette of The Daou s Surrender Yourself out of somewhere , and we quickly found their sole CD at a local cheezy record store , in the $ 1 bin . Wes Oishi gave me the Slow To Burn promo CD . D ' ARIANO , RAY ARE YOU ON SOMETHING ? I definitely heard this on The Sunday Gummies , a comedy radio show on KPFK - FM . So , thanks to Joe Adams . DARIEN SPIRIT ELEGY TO MARILYNIt was on the Charisma label . That was enough . That , and the cover had 3 - D lips on it ! DARLING BUDS CRAWDADDYDARLING BUDS EROTICADARLING BUDS POP SAID ... I think I found a UK promo 45 of Burst at Rockaway in Los Angeles . It looked cool , and was $ 1 , 1988 . DASSIN , JOE GOLD Vol. 1 DASSIN , JOE GOLD Vol. 2 DASSIN , JOE LA DEMOISELLE DE DESHONNEURDASSIN , JOE LES DALTON ( Vol. 3 ) DASSIN , JOE L ' ETE INDIENNancy X , then @ Sony NYC sent me some promo CD s of Mr. Dassin and I loved Les Daltons . DAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH GOLDEN HITS OFDAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE , PREPARE FOR INDIGESTIONDAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH LEGEND OF DAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH VERY BEST OFI remembered Bend It from the radio and it took nearly 20 years to find If Music Be The Food Of Love in NZ . DAVIES , PETER MAXWELL EIGHT SONGS FOR A MAD KINGDAVIES , PETER MAXWELL VESALII ICONESI wanted Peter Maxwell Davies LP s because of the Ken Russell film , The Devils ( he had done the music ) . = = = What about the artists that I love that do not have full - length titles ? Tomorrow , I will post a list of artists that only have singles , that will otherwise not appear in my " Big List " ! - Ron . 
My Influences D 1 . 7 - 6 - 06 My influences D 1 D . A . F . DIE KLEINEN UND DIE BOSEND . A . F . FUR IMMERD . A . F . / GORL , ROBERT NIGHT FULL OF TENSIONI heard Der Mussolini being played in the Blue Shell nightclub in Koln , Germany in 1981 . DADDY LONGLEGS HORSEOn the Pussyfoot label , and I believe Howie B is directly involved with this CD . I first tried Howie B because of his use of Toshio Nakanishi cover art. British electronica . DAFT PUNK HOMEWORKI first saw Daft Punk on Boulevard Des Clips , the video for Around The World , about 96 . Thanks , Gilles Yepremian . DAHO , ETIENNE COLLECTIONDAHO , ETIENNE DAHO SINGLESDAHO , ETIENNE DAHOLYMPIADAHO , ETIENNE EDENDAHO , ETIENNE LA NOTTE LA NOTTEDAHO , ETIENNE LIVE E . D . DAHO , ETIENNE MYTHOMANE ( CD mix ) DAHO , ETIENNE MYTHOMANE ( LP mix ) DAHO , ETIENNE PARIS AILLEURSDAHO , ETIENNE POP SATORIDAHO , ETIENNE POUR NOS VIES MARTIENNESDAHO , ETIENNE / BAKER , ARTHUR MERGEHe was a line in a catalog ; the idea of a Virgin Records in France was exciting to me , so a copy of La Notte La Notte was requested from an exporter about 84 . I really liked it a lot . DALEK I COMPASS KUM PASDALEK I LOVE YOU DALEK I LOVE YOUEric Heuseveldt of Boudisque in Amsterdam told me about his group & their debut single in 1980 . DAMNED ANYTHINGDAMNED BLACK ALBUM , THEDAMNED DAMNED BUT NOT FORGOTTENDAMNED DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED ( 1 st ) DAMNED DAMNED pirate DAMNED FINAL DAMNATIONDAMNED GIVE DADDY THE KNIFE CINDY - Naz Nomad DAMNED LIVE IN NEWCASTLE ( THIS ONE ' S FOR THE FANS ) DAMNED MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTEDAMNED MCA SINGLES A ' S & B ' SDAMNED MUSIC FOR PLEASUREDAMNED NOT OF THIS EARTHDAMNED OFFICIAL FAN CLUB MEETING pirate DAMNED PHANTASMAGORIADAMNED SESSIONS OF THE DAMNEDDAMNED STRAWBERRIESDAMNED WORST OFDAMNED / CAPTAIN SENSIBLE POWER OF LOVE , THEDAMNED / CAPTAIN SENSIBLE SENSIBLE SINGLESDAMNED / CAPTAIN SENSIBLE WOMEN AND CAPTAINS FIRSTDAMNED / JAMES , BRIAN BRIAN JAMESDAMNED / PHANTOM CHORDS / VANIAN DAVID VANIAN / PHANTOM CHORDSI was working in a hippie record store in 77 . The punks in the store kept asking , When are we going to get in some punk rock ? Can we order it ? . I had just moved stores ( following my manager ) , so I was inclined to try and help the nascent punks find their nectar . I liked Fan Club the first time I ever heard it , sometime late in 1977 . At my first record store job , I met a guy named Jordan Shroyer . I do not know how / why . But he was all into The Damned . So was Mott , but maybe not exactly at first . DANCE EXPONENTS AMPLIFIERDANCE EXPONENTS EXPECTATIONSDANCE EXPONENTS PRAYERS BE ANSWEREDDANCE EXPONENTS / EXPONENTS BETTER NEVER THAN LATEDANCE EXPONENTS / EXPONENTS SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH CDANCE EXPONENTS / LEGIONNAIRES LIVE AT MAINSTREETProbably first heard em on my second visit to NZ the Airway Spies 45 , 82 . I liked the All I Can Do 45 even better . I think their 12 of S * x & Agriculture is amazing . Still ! 
Recent Items . Found on my recent visit to PORTLAND , OR . ( Hit single : Canada ROSETTA STONE ROCK PICTURES , PRIVATE ST UK LP Ex - B.C. R . TROWER , ROBIN CARAVAN TO MIDNIGHT , CHRYSALIS UK LPV . A . SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE UPTOWN , ATLANTIC US LP mono 64 ; Live recordings of Wilson Pickett , The Drifters , Patty yes , there was an Alex Harvey LP after The Mafia Stole My Guitar ! LENNON , JOHN WALLS AND BRIDGES , CAPITOL US CD ; not re - mixed ! LEVEL 42 TRUE COLOURS , POLYDOR DE CD w / bonus track ; Wally Badarou ! Mc CARTNEY , PAUL UNPLUGGED ( Official Bootleg ) , CAPITOL US CD Numbered edition MITCHUM , ROBERT THAT MAN , BEAR FAMILY DE CD 50 s & 60 s recordings , incl. The Ballad Of Thunder Road and all of his Monument sides ! MOMUS CIRCUS MAXIMUS , CHERRY RED UK CD w / bonus tracks PABLO , AUGUSTUS MELODICA KING , OCHO UK CD dub reggae PABLO , AUGUSTUS / V. A . CLASSIC ROCKERS , ISLAND US CD dub reggae PETER , PAUL & MARY VERY BEST OF , WARNER AUS CD 25 tracks ! SCHULZE , KLAUS PICTURE MUSIC , THUNDERBOLT UK CDV . A . MOJO : REVOLVER RELOADED , MOJO UK CD The Beatles Revolver ( UK version ) re - recorded by contemporary artists V. A . MOJO : TRASH ! THE ROOTS OF PUNK , MOJO UK CDWATTS , ALAN THIS IS IT , LOCUST MUSIC US CD early 60 s esoteric nonsense WIRE DOCUMENT & EYEWITNESS , MUTE UK CD 80 The Swimmer + live material ZAPPA , FRANK THE ARK JULY 1968 , FOO - EEE US CD Beat The Boots Live CD " D " starts tomorrow ! 
My Influences C 15 . 7 - 5 - 06 My Influences C 15 CROCODILES LOOKING AT OURSELVESCROCODILES NEW WAVE GOODBYECROCODILES TEARSDoubtlessly sent to me in the mail before my first visit to NZ in 81 by Chris Ward ( now Chris Clement ) . Fane Flaws ! CROSBY , STILLS & NASH CROSBY , STILLS & NASHCROSBY , STILLS , NASH & YOUNG 4 WAY STREETCROSBY , STILLS , NASH & YOUNG DEJA VUCROSBY , STILLS , NASH & YOUNG SO FAR - GREATEST HITSI went for CS & N because of my interest in Buffalo Springfield . I think my sister Marilyn had their debut LP . CRUCIFERIUS NICE WAY OF LIFE , AThe cover is die - cut , and I found a copy in the used LP bin at Moby Disc in Van Nuys . Nobody told me to buy it . CRUEL SEA DOWN BELOWCRUEL SEA HONEYMOON IS OVER , THECRUEL SEA ROCK ' N ROLL DUDSCRUEL SEA THIS IS NOT THE WAY HOMECRUEL SEA THREE LEGGED DOGI saw a video for Better Get A Lawyer , on a videotape of Rage , from Australia thanks to Ken Grady . The Cruel Sea eventually came and played in Los Angeles ! Tex played the whole show bare - foot . CRYSTALS , THE SING THEIR GREATEST HITS ! Heard em on the radio . CURE , THE 17 SECONDS ( Deluxe edition ) CURE , THE BOYS DON ' T CRYCURE , THE HEAD ON THE DOOR , THECURE , THE JAPANESE WHISPERSCURE , THE KISS ME KISS ME KISS MECURE , THE MIXED UPCURE , THE STANDING ON A BEACH - THE SINGLESCURE , THE THREE IMAGINARY BOYS ( Deluxe edition ) CURE , THE TOP , THEI probably didn t hear The Cure until 17 Seconds came out their 1 st album singles didn t look too interesting to me . I really liked A Forest , and bought the 12 . CURRAN , ALVIN CANTI E VEDUTE DEL GIADINO MAGNETICOCURRAN , ALVIN FIORI CHIARI , FIORI OSCURICURRAN , ALVIN FOR CORNELIUS - ERA ORACURRAN , ALVIN WORKS , THEI just ordered Fiori Chiari , Fiori Oscuri out of a catalog that I saw at the record distributor it was merely a line in a catalog . Just decided to try it , no reason . What a great electro - ambient album it is , too . CURTIS , SONNY BEATLE HITS - FLAMENCO GUITAR STYLEFor the Easy Hits kitsch collection . CURVED AIR AIR CONDITIONINGCURVED AIR BEST OFCURVED AIR LOVECHILDCURVED AIR PHANTASMAGORIACURVED AIR SECOND ALBUMI wanted the debut Curved Air LP because it was a lovely picture disc ! Did I buy it before hearing them on a Warner Brothers sampler LP ? I don t think so . CUTLER , IVOR AN ELPEE AND TWO EPEESCUTLER , IVOR DANDRUFFCUTLER , IVOR GRUTSCUTLER , IVOR JAMMY SMEARSCUTLER , IVOR LIFE IN A SCOTCH SITTING ROOM Vol. 2 CUTLER , IVOR LUDOCUTLER , IVOR PRINCE IVORCUTLER , IVOR PRIVILEGECUTLER , IVOR VELVET DONKEYCUTLER , IVOR WHO TORE YOUR TROUSERS ? I first heard Mr. Cutler on Robert Wyatt s Rock Bottom . It was Mike Mc Goldrick who played me the Dandruff LP . When I lived in England in 1990 , an Ivor Cutler show got scheduled in Bristol , near where I lived . When I went to the venue to inquire about tickets , I was told his show had been cancelled , due to poor health . Mr. Cutler lived another 16 years . He died earlier this year , 2006 . CUTUGNO , TOTO L ' ITALIANOI heard this Italian pop male vocal gem sitting in an Italian restaurant in Paris , Latin Quarter 85 ? CYBOTRON COLOSSUSCYBOTRON CYBOTRONCYBOTRON IMPLOSIONThe importer I worked for used to import LP s from Australia the guy at the exporter used to be in this band ! CZERKINSKY CZERKINSKYI was given a promo CD of this by Mr. Kajino at Nippon - Columbia Records main office in Tokyo , 97 ? = = = So , there we are , finished with C ! 
My Influences C 14 . 7 - 4 - 06 My Influences C 14 Since " Re - starting " my blog , this is the 500 th entry . COWBOYS INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL SIN , THECOWBOYS INTERNATIONAL / LOCKIE , KEN IMPOSSIBLE , THEProbably sold to me by a guy at an LP importer ; perhaps I tried it because of the gimmix cover ( orange plastic sleeve ) . COWSILLS COWSILLS IN CONCERT , THEI remember their radio hits ; I picked up the Concert CD because of the non - LP bonus tracks , I also have another CD COX , MICHAEL BEST OF ( JOE MEEK # 4 ) Joe Meek ! COXHILL , LOL DIGSWELL DUETSCOXHILL , LOL DIVERSECOXHILL , LOL EAR OF BEHOLDERCOXHILL , LOL FLEAS IN CUSTARDCOXHILL , LOL INIMITABLE , THECOXHILL , LOL JOY OF PARANOIACOXHILL , LOL LOL COXHILL + TOTSUZEN DANBALL 2 COXHILL , LOL TOVERBAL SWEETCOXHILL , LOL / MORGAN - FISHER SLOW MUSICCOXHILL , LOL / STEPHEN MILLER COXHILL / MILLERCOXHILL , LOL / STEPHEN MILLER STORY SO FAR ... OH REALLY ? , THEI believe there were copies of Story So Far in a local record store for $ 1 , and I could see Robert Wyatt s name on it . CRACK THE SKY ANIMAL NOTESCRACK THE SKY CRACK THE SKYCRACK THE SKY LIVE SKYCRACK THE SKY SAFETY IN NUMBERS Animal Notes was a promo , when I was working in a hippie record store , 76 Mike Mc Goldrick gave it to me . CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 65 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 65 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 66 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 67 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 68 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 69 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 70 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 71 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 72 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 73 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 74 we imported lots of Japanese - pressed reissues of US 50 s jazz LP s I remember one of our reps got excited when he saw these on the release sheet they d never been re - issued before , since their original release in the 50 s . I have always enjoyed instrumental music , so Jazz U.S.A. sounded good to me . The rep ? Fred Norsworthy , I believe his name was . I wonder if he still walks the Earth ? CRISTINA CRISTINACRISTINA SLEEP IT OFFLike many people I first heard her on KROQ - FM Is That All There Is ? , the rather rude and amusing version . The record for that was completely unavailable in L . A . but I found it on one of my first visits to London . I think Jim Donato still cares . = = = Back from PDX - interesting place ... - Ron . 
My Influences C 13 . 6 - 23 - 06 My Influences C 13 COSBY , BILL 200 M. P . H . COSBY , BILL 8:15 ; 12:15 COSBY , BILL BILL COSBYCOSBY , BILL FOR ADULTS ONLYCOSBY , BILL I STARTED OUT AS A CHILDCOSBY , BILL IS A VERY FUNNY FELLOW - RIGHT ! COSBY , BILL IT ' S TRUE ! IT ' S TRUE ! COSBY , BILL REVENGECOSBY , BILL TO RUSSELL , MY BROTHER , WHOM I SLEPT WITHCOSBY , BILL WHY IS THERE AIR ? COSBY , BILL WONDERFULNESSMy brother was who had the Bill Cosby LP s . Remind me to ask him where he heard of him . COSMIC OVERDOSE 4668 COSMIC OVERDOSE COSMIC OVERDOSEI liked the name and the label ( Silence Records , of Sweden ) , perhaps purchased from a mail - order catalog ? COSMIC VILLAGE NICE AGEYMO cover versions , via David Ponak . I also like the solo works of Hajime Yoshizawa , the guy from this group . COSMOS FACTORY BLACK HOLECOSMOS FACTORY JOURNEY WITH THE COSMOS FACTORY , ACOSMOS FACTORY METAL REFLECTIONCOSMOS FACTORY TRANSYLVANIAN CASTLE [ 1 st ] Some of these were imported into the U.S. by Captiol / EMI , no idea why . Japanese prog seemed to hold some water in those days , what with Chronicle and the Far East Family Band . I didn t get the 1 st album until much later , and I like it ! COSTA , DON INSTRUMENTAL VERSIONS OF SIMON & GARFUNKEL Easy Hits , kitsch collection I think my dad had other Don Costa records COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH C . J . FISHCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH ELECTRIC MUSIC FOR THE MIND & BODYCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH HERE WE ARE AGAINCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH I - FEEL - LIKE - I ' M - FIXIN ' - TO - DIECOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH LIFE AND TIMESCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH REUNIONCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH TOGETHERCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH / COUNTRY JOE INCREDIBLE ! LIVE ! My sister Marilyn played me Electric Music for the Mind & Body , The Masked Marauder etc. Country Joe was great in Woodstock . I remember trying to play the fish game as a kid . We laughed at Harlem on Together . COUP D ' ETAT COUP D ' ETATNZ band , found em on my first visit in 81 . Mmmm Hello Sailor involvement ? COUTURE , CHARLELIE 3 FOLIES - LIVECOUTURE , CHARLELIE ART ET SCALPCOUTURE , CHARLELIE CASQUE NUCOUTURE , CHARLELIE CROCODILECOUTURE , CHARLELIE DOWNTOWN PROJECTCOUTURE , CHARLELIE LE PECHEURCOUTURE , CHARLELIE LES NAIVESCOUTURE , CHARLELIE MELBOURNE AUSSICOUTURE , CHARLELIE MODERNS , THE ( O . S . T . ) COUTURE , CHARLELIE POCHETTE SURPRISECOUTURE , CHARLELIE POEMES ROCKCOUTURE , CHARLELIE QUOI FAIRE ? COUTURE , CHARLELIE SOLO BOYSCOUTURE , CHARLELIE SOLO GIRLSCOUTURE , CHARLELIE SOUDE - SOUDESCOUTURE , CHARLELIE TCHAO PANTIN ( B . O . F . ) COUTURE , CHARLELIE VICTORIA SPIRITCOUTURE , CHARLELIE / ELIANE , PIERRE LITERATURECOUTURE , CHARLELIE / NOVEMBRE , TOM L ' INSECTEI started with Crocodile , so no wonder I bought all the rest of these ! It was a line in a catalog , from a distributor and it s designation told me it was on Island Records , from France . I d seen his debut Island label LP when I visited Paris for the first time in 79 it has a striking new wave cover . I ve seen him live , in Malakoff C est deja la sud ! a suburb of Paris . He answered me when I wrote to him . He sent me CD s , I sent him clove cigarettes from an Indonesian restaurant . = = = I ' m away until Tuesday July 4 th . Taking a break , but I ' ll pick up right where I left off ! When I post on Tuesday July 4 th , it will be the 500 th post in this incarnation of my blog . Thanks for reading my stuff . Be seeing you , Ron . 
My Influences C 12 . 6 - 22 - 06 My Influences C 12 COOPER , ALICE BILLION DOLLAR BABIESCOOPER , ALICE EASY ACTIONCOOPER , ALICE GOES TO HELLCOOPER , ALICE GREATEST HITSCOOPER , ALICE KILLERCOOPER , ALICE LACE AND WHISKEYCOOPER , ALICE LOVE IT TO DEATHCOOPER , ALICE SCHOOL DAYS ( EARLY RECORDINGS ) COOPER , ALICE SCHOOL ' S OUTI first heard Vince on Zapped , the Frank Zappa Straight / Bizarre label sampler LP , about 1970 . Then I saw them in Diary of a Mad Housewife and on TV in a show called Mid - summer Rock ( which also had Grand Funk and Iggy in it ) . COOPER - CLARKE , JOHN DISGUISE IN LOVECOOPER - CLARKE , JOHN ME AND MY BIG MOUTHCOOPER - CLARKE , JOHN OU EST LA MAISON DE FROMAGE ? COOPER - CLARKE , JOHN SNAP , CRACKLE [ & ] BOPCOOPER - CLARKE , JOHN WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS ( 10 " ) COOPER - CLARKE , JOHN ZIP STYLE METHODGimme the gimmix ! I tried JCC when they released that clear 10 record , about 79 . I really liked Disguise In Love and his movie Ten Years In An Open Necked Shirt . The Innocents single EP is indie groovy , too . Neat guy . COOPERTEST COOPERTESTMmmm given to me by Fay Losvky ( and she guest stars on this CD ) . CORDUROY CLIK ! CORDUROY DAD MAN CATCORDUROY HIGH HAVOCCORDUROY NEW YOU ! , THECORDUROY OUT OF HEREI saw the music video for Motorhead by Corduroy on Rage about 94 , so Ken Grady , once again . COREY , PROF . IRWIN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ... METRIC SYSTEMCOREY , PROF . IRWIN I FEEL MORE LIKE I DO NOWCOREY , PROF . IRWIN WIN WITH IRWINCOREY , PROF . IRWIN WORLD ' S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ... AT LE RUBAN BLEUI remembered him having been a nut on TV , and was delighted to find that he d made records . Is he still alive ? ( Yes ) CORNELIUS 69 / 96 CORNELIUS 96 / 69 CORNELIUS CM & FMCORNELIUS FANTASMACORNELIUS FIRST QUESTION AWARD , THECORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR CAMERA TALKCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR COLOUR ME POPCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR DOCTOR HEAD ' S WORLD TOWERCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR ON PLEASURE BENTCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR THREE CHEERS FOR OUR SIDEKen Heaton was who first sent me Flipper s Guitar stuff , on cassette ! I found Keigo Oyamada via David Ponak , Tom & Terry , Yasuharu Konishi met Corny in Tokyo in 96 , at Trattoria s office , so thanks also to Hiroko Wayama , who was always my Trattoria facilitator . Saw him live several times , both here & in Japan . CORTE DEI MIRACOLI CORTE DEI MIRACOLII just bought this again recently , having sold my original copy 20 + years ago . It s not Grade A Italian prog rock COS PASIONESCOS POSTAEOLIAN TRAIN ROBBERYCOS SWISS CHALETCOS VIVA BOMACOS / SCHELL , DANIEL & KARO IF WINDOWS THEY HAVEI tried Viva Boma because of the LP cover . I found it in a record store bin in Los Angeles , about 76 . I like it better now than I did then . COSA ROSA COSA ROSACOSA ROSA KEIN ZUFALLPromo CD s from Nancy X @ Sony NYC . Cosa Rosa kind of reminds me of Marianna Rosenberg ( German female vocalists ) . 
My Influences C 11 . 6 - 21 - 06 My Influences C 11 COMELADE , PASCAL PARALOLOLikely from the age of mail - ordering European LP s , must ve been a line in a catalog . I don t remember . COMIC STRIP / Various Artists COMIC STRIP , THESaw em on the TV ; Rik Mayall , Adrian Edmundson , Nigel Planer et al. COMMANDER CODY / LOST PLANET AIRMEN LOST IN THE OZONEI heard Hot Rod Lincoln on the radio ; I really dug this when it was a new release . Great songs . COMMITTEE , THE WIDE WIDE WORLD OF WARThe Little David label was making some spiffy comedy LP s in the 70 s . This was one of em , from the $ 1 bin . COMPANYIA ELECTRICA DHARMA L ' OUCOMBALLACOMPANYIA ELECTRICA DHARMA TRAMUNTANASpanish artist , likely purchased because of the cover and / or ease of availability ( i . e . in a used LP bin , cheap ) . COMUS FIRST UTTERANCECOMUS TO KEEP FROM CRYINGI tried First Utterance because of the cover and label ( Dawn Records ) , it reminded me of Roger Chapman . CON FUNK SHUN BEST OFHeard em on the radio . Funky stuff . CONCEPTION CORPORATION CONCEPTIONLANDCONCEPTION CORPORATION PAUSE IN THE DISASTER , APerhaps I heard these guys on KPFK - FM , on the Sunday Gummies Sunday morning comedy show . CONGRESS OF WONDERS REVOLTINGCONGRESS OF WONDERS SOPHOMORIC ( see listing above , it was Radio Phil that I first heard , I still love it ! ) CONTE , PAOLO JIMMY , BALLANDOI think Fay Lovsky told me about him , when I was visiting Holland . She admired that he was a little old man . CONTORTIONS BUY CONTORTIONSGot this one because I liked the James White & The Blacks album . COODER , RY BOOMER ' S STORYCOODER , RY CROSSROADS ( O . S . T . ) COODER , RY INTO THE PURPLE VALLEYCOODER , RY PARIS , TEXAS ( O . S . T . ) COODER , RY RY COODERCOODER , RY WHY DON ' T YOU TRY ME TONIGHTCOODER , RY / TOURE , ALI FARKA TALKING TIMBUKTUI was sold on Ry Cooder by the cover of the first album . Later , I found out that he was a Rising Son & Rolling Stone . COOK , PETER MISTY MR. WISTY , THECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE BEDAZZLED ( O . S . T . ) COOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE BEHIND THE FRIDGECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE CLEAN TAPES , THECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE DEREK & CLIVE ( LIVE ) COOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE DEREK & CLIVE AD NAUSEUMCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE DEREK & CLIVE COME AGAINCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE GOOD EVENINGCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE GOODBYE AGAINCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE NOT ONLY PETER COOK ... BUT ALSO DUDLEY MOORECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE NOT ONLY ... BUT ALSO ... COOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE ONCE MOORE WITH COOKCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE WORLD OF PETE & DUDCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE etc. BEYOND THE FRINGECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE etc. BEYOND THE FRINGE - ORIGINAL BROADWAY CASTCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE etc. BEYOND THE FRINGE ' 64 I ve liked British comedy & comedians since the 60 s . I saw Bedazzled on TV about 1970 , and searched until I found the soundtrack LP for it . Then came Good Evening , then the Derek & Clive albums . I got the Decca LP s in NZ . - Ron . 
My Influences C 10 . 6 - 20 - 06 My Influences C 10 COLD CHISEL CIRCUS ANIMALSIn 2006 , I have a lot of time for the Aussie working band ethic . It s just Rock Music , but I know they worked hard at it . COLE , B . J . TRANSPARENT MUSICI remembered him from the 70 s , steel guitarist on many assorted LP s . I got this because of his work with Luke Vibert . COLEMAN , ORNETTE DANCING IN YOUR HEADYou only have to hear this once , huh ? Then it s never forgotten . Thank you , Jay Green of Poo Bah Record Shop . COLLIER , GRAHAM NEW CONDITIONSI got this at Mole Music in London , Pete Brown took me there . I knew Collier had British 70 s jazz LP s that I wanted , but this was what was on offer . Lately , I am so into British jazz of the 60 s I got What s Bootsy Doin for the Bill Laswell vibe . COLLINS , EDWYN GORGEOUS GEORGEI prefer Edwyn Collins as a solo artist to his work with Orange Juice . My GF was who has been playing to me . COLLINS , GLENDA BEEN INVITED TO A PARTYGot it when I lived in England produced by Joe Meek . Thank you , Jim Blake . COLLINS , JUDY # 3 COLLINS , JUDY COLORS OF THE DAY ( BEST OF ) COLLINS , JUDY FIFTH ALBUMCOLLINS , JUDY GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUNCOLLINS , JUDY IN MY LIFECOLLINS , JUDY JUDY COLLINS CONCERT , THECOLLINS , JUDY LIVINGCOLLINS , JUDY MAID OF CONSTANT SORROW , ACOLLINS , JUDY WHALES & NIGHTINGALESCOLLINS , JUDY WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES ? COLLINS , JUDY WILDFLOWERSMy sisters played me Judy Collins albums . My mother liked Someday Soon . I liked Both Side Now . I read her book . COLLINS , SHIRLEY & DOLLY ANTHEMS IN EDENBecause it was on the Harvest label . COLOMBIER , MICHEL OLD FOOL BACK ON EARTHBecause he was an arranger for Serge Gainsbourg . COLONEL JUBILATION B . JOHNSON MOLDY GOLDIESOddball novelty LP that featured a whacked - out cover version of Dylan s Rainy Day Women # 12 & # 35 . Thanks , Bob ! COLOSSEUM COLLECTOR ' S COLOSSEUMCOLOSSEUM COLOSSEUM LIVECOLOSSEUM DAUGHTER OF TIMECOLOSSEUM GRASS IS GREENER , THECOLOSSEUM THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE SALUTE YOUCOLOSSEUM VALENTYNE SUITECOLOSSEUM / HECKSTALL - SMITH , DICK STORY ENDED , ACOLOSSEUM / HECKSTALL - SMITH , DICK WOZA NASUI probably first bought Colosseum albums because of the heavy duty Cream vibe . I started with The Grass Is Greener . COLUMBUS , RAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCK ' N ' ROLLCOLUMBUS , RAY HIS 14 GREATEST HITS ( 1964 - 1974 ) COLUMBUS , RAY JANGLES , SPANGLES AND BANNERSCOLUMBUS , RAY RAY COLUMBUS ALBUMCOLUMBUS , RAY & THE INVADERS ANTHOLOGYCOLUMBUS , RAY & THE INVADERS ORIGINAL NUMBERSCOLUMBUS , RAY & THE INVADERS TILL WE KISSED ( GREATEST HITS OF ) When I first got to NZ in 81 , it was like greeting a new vista of music . OMG , NZ 60 s music ! And Ray is King . COMATEENS DEAL WITH ITCOMATEENS PICTURES ON A STRINGPurchased after the fact found em in the 99 cent bin . I believe there s some Etienne Daho connection here . 
My Influences C 9 . 6 - 19 - 06 My Influences C 9 CMU SPACE CABARETCMU SPACE CABARET / OPEN SPACESI heard Space Cabaret LP playing in Tower Records in Hollywood , when it was a new release . I liked the electric piano . COASTERS , THE COAST ALONG WITH THE COASTERSCOASTERS , THE COASTERS , THECOASTERS , THE GREATEST HITSCOASTERS , THE JUST COASTIN ' COASTERS , THE ONE BY ONECOASTERS , THE THUMBIN ' A RIDECOASTERS , THE WAKE ME , SHAKE MECOASTERS , THE WHAT IS THE SECRET OF YOUR SUCCESS ? The other night we painted posters , we played some records by The Coasters from Status Back Baby by Frank Zappa I understood the synergy between Joe & Leon Russell etc. Rock music . COCONUT ROUGH COCONUT ROUGHCOCONUT ROUGH / NARCS WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORKI was already a Pop Mechanix fan and a Blam Blam Blam fan . I was waiting for this group ! COEUR MAGIQUE WAKAN TANKAGreat cartoon cover , French band , on Byg all stuff that I like . And it was in the $ 1 bin . COHEN , ADAM ADAM COHENSon of Leonard . COHEN , LEONARD COHEN LIVECOHEN , LEONARD DEATH OF A LADIES ' MANCOHEN , LEONARD FUTURE , THECOHEN , LEONARD I ' M YOUR MANCOHEN , LEONARD LIEBESTRAUME ( Collection ) COHEN , LEONARD LIVE SONGSCOHEN , LEONARD LIVE ! FROM THE COMPLEX 4 / 93 COHEN , LEONARD NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONYCOHEN , LEONARD RECENT SONGSCOHEN , LEONARD SIX MONTREAL POETS - Various Artists COHEN , LEONARD SONGS FROM A ROOMCOHEN , LEONARD SONGS OF A SERIOUS OLD MAN pirate COHEN , LEONARD SONGS OF LEONARD COHENCOHEN , LEONARD SONGS OF LOVE AND HATECOHEN , LEONARD VARIOUS POSITIONSCOHEN , LEONARD ZURICH 1993 pirate My sister Susie played me L . C . even before I saw his songs used in Mc Cabe & Mrs. Miller . The debut album breaks my heart , New Skin lights my fire I love his work , and am truly glad he still walks the Earth . Seen him live , I have his autograph , I ve read his books . 
My Influences C 8 . 6 - 16 - 06 My Influences C 8 CLARKE , JOHN / BRYAN DAWE ANNUAL REPORTCLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG FRED DAGG ANTHOLOGYCLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG FRED DAGG LIVECLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG FRED DAGG TAPES , THECLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG GREATEST HITSChris Ward ( now Chris Clement ) told me about Fred Dagg ( comedian John Clarke ) and his sons named Trevor , 1980 CLASSICS IV VERY BEST OFHeard em on the radio my mother always liked Traces . CLAW BOYS CLAW ANGELBITECLAW BOYS CLAW CRACK MY NUTCLAW BOYS CLAW HITKILLERS - THE BEAST OF C . B.C. CLAW BOYS CLAW SUGERI saw a music video for So Mean , and liked the groove . I once met Piete Te Bos of CBC , in the street in Amsterdam I was walking to / from an Indonesian restaurant with Henk Hofstede of The Nits . Might ve been the Utrechtsestraat , near the Tempo Doeloe restaurant right by the Concerto Record Shop . He was holding a pair of crash cymbals . CLEAN , THE GREAT SOUNDS GREAT ... CLEAN , THE MODERN ROCKCLEAN , THE UNKNOWN COUNTRYCLEAN , THE / GREAT UNWASHED CLEAN OUT OF OUR MINDSCLEAN , THE / KILGOUR , DAVID HERE COME THE CARSI tried their Boodle Boodle Boodle EP on my first visit to NZ 81 ; maybe next visit I was recognized in Queen Street by Hamish Kilgour , the drummer of The Clean . Maybe Chris Knox told him about me ( visiting NZ , looking for music ) I m not sure . We became friendly , I eventually went and stayed with Hamish at his home in Christchurch but that wasn t until 85 or so . Hamish also came and visited Los Angeles . I think he lives in NYC now . My emails to him bounced , recently . Phone home , Hamish ! CLEAR LIGHT CLEAR LIGHTI bought it because it was on Elektra Records ; a Paul A . Rothchild production ! I love their She s Ready To Be Free 45 . CLEARLIGHT SYMPHONY CLEARLIGHT SYMPHONYCLEARLIGHT SYMPHONY DELIRED CHAMELEON FAMILY ( B . O . F . ) CLEARLIGHT SYMPHONY FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLESI tried em because of the Gilbert Artman connection . Pierre Clementi ! CLIMAX BLUES BAND GOLD PLATEDHeard Couldn t Get It Right on the radio and always rather liked it . I don t know much about their stuff , however . CLINTON , GEORGE BEST OFOn the funky funky radio . Do Fries Go With That Shake ? ( I will never forget Flooky s in Hollywood ) . Earth calling George ! CLOSE , DEL / JOHN BRENT HOW TO SPEAK HIPMy brother told me about this album , maybe 35 + years ago . More recently , Japanese DJ s have sampled it . CLOUD NINE WATERLANDThis is the band of the one - time female vocalist of The Nits . CLOUDS COLLAGECLOUDS OCTOPUSCLOUDS PENNY CENTURYCLOUDS THUNDERHEADI probably saw a Bower Of Bliss video on Rage and found the CD s in the bargain bin . Thanks to Ken Grady , once again ! CLOUDS U . K . CLOUDS SCRAPBOOKI am still looking for their other albums ! I was always curious , what with them being an Island UK 60 s act . CLOVERS , THE DOWN IN THE ALLEYI ve been a Coasters fan since I was 10 so , naturally , I investigated other Atlantic R & B acts . CLUSTER CLUSTERCLUSTER CLUSTER IICLUSTER ZUCKERZEITCLUSTER / KLUSTER KLOPFZEICHENCLUSTER / KLUSTER ZWEI OSTEREICluster comes very close to the beginning of my interest in German bands . I think Cluster II was first for me , and I probably bought it solely because it was German and it had a cool cover it is the LP spine you can see in a wall of records from across the room ! But did I buy it at Moby Disc ? Did my brother send me this ? Been too long can t remember everything ! 
Recent items . 6 - 15 - 06 I m going to take a breath the large alphabet will continue tomorrow . Here is a partial list of what I have been listening to / considering for the last few weeks ARTHEY ORCH . , JOHNNY GOLDEN SONGS OF DONOVAN , RCA US LPWow , this is the second Donovan Easy Hits album ( the other one is by Vic Lewis ) BARDOT , BRIGITTE BEST OF , PHILIPS JPN CDJapanese CD purchased as much for the Serge Gainsbourg content . BASIA LONDON WARSAW NEW YORK , EPIC / SONY JPN CDFor some reason , I always like finding Japanese versions of common CD s . BEDFORD , DAVID / V. A . TWO POEMS FOR CHORUS , DEUTSCHE G LPI have been fond of the classical works of Mr. Bedford for some time ; Soft Machine - related . BEE GEES / V. A . SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER ( O . S . T . ) , RSO US CD re Yes , the re - mastered CD for $ 3 ! BOWIE , DAVID MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD , TOSHIBA JPN CD re BOWIE , DAVID / TIN MACHINE RADIO SESSION , VICTOR JPN CD single One more Bowie CD to the collection and I always check out Tin Machine train wrecks . CAPALDI , JIM SHOE SHINE , RSO US 12 promo Solo 12 from the drummer and back - up vocalist of Traffic . I am always interested CARNIVAL , THE THE CARNIVAL , VIVID SOUND JPN CDPerverse Japan - only CD L . A . session musicians trying to sound like Sergio Mendes / Brasil 66 . DAVIES , PETER MAXWELL IMAGE BAIRNS RUNES , UNICORN UK LPDAVIES , PETER MAXWELL MAVIS IN LAS VEGAS , COLLINS UK CDMore 20 th century classical music always did like his Ken Russell film scores DOLDINGER , KLAUS DAS BOOT ( O . S . T . ) , ATLANTIC US CDI never saw Das Boot , but I understand it is a decent movie . And I like Doldinger . DURAN DURAN / ARCADIA ELECTION DAY , PARLOPHONE UK 12 W / PS 3 / 5 of Duran Duran as arcadia in 85 OK . Why ? Not a bad song , actually . HECKSTALL - SMITH , DICK A STORY ENDED , ARCHIVE JPN CD re Japanese little album cover of one of my all - time favorite albums ; 5 x bonus tracks ! KINGS OF CONVENIENCE / V. A . VERSUS , ASTRALWERKS US CDRemixes / reworkings I picked this up because of the presence of Alfie I love his songs on You Are What You Eat . Probably time for me to finish up my Peter Paul & Mary collection . = = = Back with more alphabet tomorrow ! - Ron . 
My Influences C 7 . 6 - 14 - 06 My Influences C 7 CHRISMA CHINESE RESTAURANTCHRISMA HIBERNATIONCHRISMA / KRISMA CATHODE MAMMACHRISMA / KRISMA CLANDESTINE ANTICIPATION Chinese Restaurant came first it was Italian , so I was naturally interested , but it s not progressive rock . I kept it . I was somewhat validated when Cathode Mamma was really good with Hans Zimmer etc. CHRISTMAS , KEITH BRIGHTER DAYPurchased because it was on the Manticore label ; and 30 + years later , I had never heard it . Tenuous King Crimson connection . CHRONICLE ... LIKE A MESSAGE FROM THE STARSCHRONICLE IMAWA TOKINO SUBETECHRONICLE LIVE AT THE WHISKY A - GO - GOTony Harrington walked into the hippie record store I was working at , sometime in early 1977 , with Like A Message From The Stars under his arm he gave copies to myself and Mike Mc Goldrick . Tony we had been friends for nearly 30 years . And it started with Chronicle . CIBO MATTO SUPER RELAXCIBO MATTO VIVA ! LA WOMANI was given promos of these 2 x CD s by David Ponak we were doing Japanese music together for most of the 1990 s but I think he was more of a fan of New Rock , Cibo Matto and Buffalo Daughter , than I was . Still , funny stuff . CID , JOSE 10000 ANOS DEPOIS ENTRE VENUSMr . David Overstreet of Art Sublime Records turned me on to this Portugese 70 s progressive rock ! CINE TECHNO YUKIHIRO SELECTIONI believe the Yukihiro in question is YMO s Yukihiro Takahashi synthesizer versions of film themes . Found it in Tokyo . CITIZEN BAND CITIZEN BANDCITIZEN BAND JUST DROVE THRU TOWNCITIZEN BAND PIRATECITIZEN BAND RUST IN MY CARWhen I first hit NZ in 81 , I was amazed at how many records seemed to have people from Split Enz on them . Citizen Band were probably the best link to what I liked about Split Enz , with only The Swingers being more on target . CITY BOY DINNER AT THE RITZCITY BOY YOUNG MEN GONE WESTI started picking these up when I realized that Van Der Graaf Generator people were side men to this band . CITY BOYS LIFE OF CITY BOYS , AGot this as a promo at Trattoria Records in Tokyo arigato gozaimasu to Hiroko Wayama ! FPM & P 5 connections . CLARK FIVE , DAVE 25 THUMPING GREAT HITSCLARK FIVE , DAVE BEST OFHeard em on the radio Can t You See That She s Mine was likely first . I used to have a Session UK LP long gone . CLARK , ANNE PRESSURE POINTSProduced by John Foxx . CLARK , DOUG / HOT NUTS ON CAMPUSLooked smutty . Mike Mc Goldrick was probably who first told me about this band . CLARK , ROY ENTERTAINER , THECLARK , ROY SUPERPICKERI saw him on Hee Haw ! CLARK , SONNY COOL STRUTTIN 're CLARK , SONNY DIAL ' S ' FOR SONNYCLARK , SONNY SONNY CLARK TRIOCLARK , SONNY STANDARDSWhen the CD of Cool Struttin first came out , I was standing in Logo s Records in Santa Cruz so , the very first time I ever heard this monumental jazz hard bop classic , it was all 6 cuts as found on the Blue Note CD . So , late 80 s for me . Cool abum . 
My Influences C 6 . 6 - 13 - 06 My Influences C 6 CHAPPIE NEW CHAPPIEI bought it in Tokyo , because of the Groovisions cover art , and tenuous FPM and P 5 connections . CHAVIN , CHINGA COUNTRY P * RNCHAVIN , CHINGA JET LAGThis came out when I was working in a record store ; I loved anything smutty then , so I tried it , and I even saw him live ! CHEAP TRICK AT BUDOKANI remember the Cheap Trick mania and I eventually got to go to Budokan in Tokyo myself to see Cornelius . CHEDID , LOUIS BIZARCHEDID , LOUIS BRAVO A LOUID CHEDIDCHEDID , LOUIS CES MOTS SONT POUR TOI ... CHEDID , LOUIS ENTRE NOUSCHEDID , LOUIS GOLDCHEDID , LOUIS ZAPI think Bob Gaulke told me to buy Bizar or did I merely find a cheap CD of it ? No , Bob told me about Revolution . CHERRY , DON ART DECOCHERRY , DON BROWN RICECHERRY , DON DON CHERRY ( ORIENT / EAGLE EYE etc. ) CHERRY , DON HOME BOY - SISTER OUTCHERRY , DON MU , FIRST PARTCHERRY , DON MU , SECOND PARTCHERRY , DON ORGANIC MUSICCHERRY , DON / PENDERECKI NEW ETERNAL RHYTHM ORCHESTRA Brown Rice was definitely my first Don Cherry LP I checked it out because it was produced by Corrado Bachelli , a guy who was working with some Italian bands that I liked . I was likely made aware of this fact by Armando Gallo . CHERRY , NENEH RAW LIKE SUSHII always did like Kisses On The Wind she s Don Cherry s daughter , too . CHICAGO CHICAGO AT CARNEGIE HALL ( 4 LP boxed set ) CHICAGO CHICAGO IICHICAGO CHICAGO IIICHICAGO CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITYCHICAGO CHICAGO VCHICAGO CHICAGO VII heard South California Purples on the FM radio , about 70 . I ve known a few Chicago fans over the years . CHICKENMAN BEST OFCHICKENMAN CHICKENMAN RETURNSCHICKENMAN PUFFY SLEEVES AND OTHER EXQUISITE FOOLISHNESSI wanted the Chickenman LP because it appeared on the Atco Records innersleeve . Took me a few years to find it . CHICKS , THE CHICKS SECOND ALBUM , THECHICKS , THE C ' MON CHICKSCHICKS , THE LONG TIME COMIN ' , ACHICKS , THE SOUND OF THE CHICKS , THEI picked these up in New Zealand , because they looked funky in an NZ 60 s sort of way . Nobody told me to buy em . CHIHUAHUA NOMAD LANDI saw Chihuahua perform as the band behind the Archaos Circus , when I lived in England in 1990 . They re like Mano Negra . CHILLS BRAVE WORDSCHILLS KALEIDOSCOPE WORLDCHILLS SOFT BOMBCHILLS SUBMARINE BELLSI think it was the Rolling Moon 45 that piqued my curiosity I bought it in a store on Queen Street in Auckland . Seen ' em live . CHINA CRISIS DIARY OF A HOLLOW HORSECHINA CRISIS WHAT PRICE PARADISECHINA CRISIS WORKING WITH FIRE AND STEELJim Donato always talks these guys up am I missing the really good one , or what ? CHOCOLAT ONE TOO MANY CHOCOLATPicked up because of the Hideki Kaji connection ( he wrote or produced or played on this ) . 
My Influences C 5 . 6 - 12 - 06 My Influences C 5 CELENTANO , ADRIANO HIT PARADE : LE VOLTE CHE ... CELENTANO , ADRIANO I MALI DEL SECOLOCELENTANO , ADRIANO IL FORESTIEROCELENTANO , ADRIANO IL RAGAZZO DELLA VIA GLUCKCELENTANO , ADRIANO IL RE DEGLI IGNORANTICELENTANO , ADRIANO IO NON SO PARLAR D ' AMORECELENTANO , ADRIANO LE ROBE CHA HA DETTO ADRIANOCELENTANO , ADRIANO NON MI DIRCELENTANO , ADRIANO NOSTALROCKCELENTANO , ADRIANO SUPREMOCELENTANO , ADRIANO SVALUTATIONCELENTANO , ADRIANO TI AVRO ' I found a Non Mi Dir CD at Rockaway Records in L . A . I was dismissive of Celentano in the 70 s it wasn t prog rock ! But in the 80 s , Italian pop male vocals were just FINE with me . The next person I met who liked Celentano was Constantin Andrei . CELESTE CELESTEFrom the age of automatically buying anything new from Italy it s on the Grog label , a good label . The cover isn t much , but that looks like some New Trolls guys ! Self - referential by 76 . CELIBATE RIFLES BLIND EARCELIBATE RIFLES MINA MINA MINACELIBATE RIFLES SIDEROXYLONCELIBATE RIFLES SOFACELIBATE RIFLES SPACEMAN IN A SATIN SUITI never listened at the time , but I saw videos from these guys on Rage and liked them , thanks to Ken Grady . Tick Tock ! CENTRAL BROADCASTING ORCH . PHASES OF THE MOONI think I picked this up in New Zealand , for some reason . Perhaps it merely looked out of place Chinese music in NZ ? CERVELLO MELOSThis had such a great cover ! I may have heard it from Greg Stewart on KPFK - FM , but or maybe Jim Hresko told me about it ? Or did I figure out on my own that guys from Osanna were in this band ? Would I still have bought if I knew that this record doesn t have a keyboard player ? It s a great album , and I frequently tout it as the best Italian 70 s prog rock record without a keyboard player I have an autographed copy ! ( Got it signed when Nova came to town ! ) CHACKSFIELD , FRANK PLAYS THE BEATLES ' SONGBOOK Easy Hits , kitsch collection . Tony Harrington was always amused that I knew who Mr. Chacksfield was . My dad told me . CHAGRIN D ' AMOUR CHAGRIN D ' AMOURCHAGRIN D ' AMOUR MON BOB ET MOII got a promo 45 of Chacun Fait from the Japanese record distributor , about 81 got the rest in France . Slim Pezin ! CHAMBERS BROTHERS , THE TIME HAS COME , THEHeard it on the radio ! 35 + years later , I got a CD of it for $ 3 , to see if it was a psychedelic as I remember it being . It was . CHAMFORT , ALAIN AMOUR , ANNEE ZEROCHAMFORT , ALAIN DOUBLE VIECHAMFORT , ALAIN MARIAGE A L ' ESSAICHAMFORT , ALAIN NEUFCHAMFORT , ALAIN PERSONNE N ' EST PARFAITCHAMFORT , ALAIN POSESCHAMFORT , ALAIN ROCK ' N ROSECHAMFORT , ALAIN SECRETS GLACESCHAMFORT , ALAIN TENDRES FIEVRESCHAMFORT , ALAIN TROUBLEI bought a CD of Tendres Fievre in San Francisco ( at Rooks I saw a Wally Badarou production credit . That was all it took . What a bonus I later discovered he had been a Gainsbourg collaborator ! CHAPMAN , MICHAEL FULLY QUALIFIED SURVIVORCHAPMAN , MICHAEL LIFE ON THE CEILINGCHAPMAN , MICHAEL RAINMAKERCHAPMAN , MICHAEL WINDOWCHAPMAN , MICHAEL WRECKED AGAINI tried a cheap LP of Fully Qualified Survivor ( with Mick Ronson ) because it was on the Harvest label , probably about 71 or so . I was stoked to discover that members of Spring were on Wrecked Again . 
My Influences C 4 . 6 - 9 - 06 My Influences C 4 CARLOS , WALTER CLOCKWORK ORANGE , AI knew this was synthesizer music ( same guy as Switched On Bach , right ? ) I wanted to see the film because of the music . CARMEL STRINGS / LARRY KNECHTEL BOSS BAROQUEKitsch collection , Easy Hits . L . A . session musicians . CARNIVAL , THE CARNIVAL , THEMy dad had this record . Grade A kitsch , Easy Hits . I just found the Japanese CD of this album !! Fake Sergio Mendes ! CARSON , JOHNNY HERE ' S JOHNNY - MAGIC MOMENTS from ' TONIGHT SHOW ' CARSON , JOHNNY INTRODUCTION TO NEW YORK AND THE WORLD ' S FAIRI saw him on the TV , and liked him a lot . Late night TV has never been th same , without Mr. Carson . CARTHY , MARTIN SHEARWATEROn the Mooncrest / B & C label , a cousin to Charisma and the cover was good . UK folk music . CASH , ALVIN / REGISTERS TWINE TIMEI heard Twine Time on the radio when I was about 7 or 8 years old I even made a tape recording of it , off of the radio ( something my father showed me how to do ) . I found the LP about 20 years later , and a whole gang of 45 s . Alvin , R . I. P . CASH , JOHNNY AT FOLSOM PRISON AND SAN QUENTINCASH , JOHNNY BEST OFCASH , JOHNNY BLOOD , SWEAT AND TEARSCASH , JOHNNY CHRISTMAS : THE JOHNNY CASH FAMILYCASH , JOHNNY EVERYBODY LOVES A NUTCASH , JOHNNY FABULOUS JOHNNY CASH , THECASH , JOHNNY HOLY LAND , THEI saw him on the TV . The Holy Land had a 3 D cover ! Boy Named Sue was omni - present in elementary school . CASSIDY , SHAUN WASPI was definitely working in a record store or distributor this album walked down the pike and immediately , we knew something was up look at those songs ! Oh , wait a minute . Produced by Todd Rundgren . Maybe we should play it ? It is a strange record . Pyramid parties in Marina Del Rey ! WTF ? Yes , this is Shaun s last album . CASTRO - NEVES , OSCAR TROPICAL HEARTThe piano player for Sergio Mendes I tried this because it is an audiophile ( JVC XRCD ) disc . CAT MOTHERS / ALL NIGHT NEWS BOYS STREET GIVETH AND THE STREET TAKETH AWAY , THEProduced by Jimi Hendrix . I want to get some of their other albums ! CATALOGUE ANTWERPEN LIVE 11 AUG 1979 1.30 H BELGIECATALOGUE INSOMNIEGiven to me by either Gilles Yepremian or Jean Francois Pauvros or Jac Berrocal . CATAPULT CATAPULTI knew Let Your Hair Hang Down from a sampler LP , and I found this LP on a visit to Holland . Dutch glam rock ! CATHARSIS Vol. 1 MASQCATHARSIS Vol. 2 LES CHEVRONSCATHARSIS Vol. 3 32 MARSCATHARSIS Vol. 4 ILLUMINATIONSCATHARSIS Vol. 5 BOLERO DU VEAU DES DAMES , LECATHARSIS Vol. 6 ET S ' AIMER ... ET MOURIRCATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND LA BALANCE ( B . O . F . ) CATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND PARADIACATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND ROBOT BLEUCATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND ROBOT ROSEI think I got Paradia first , about 77 . I love that album . On my first visit to Paris in 79 , I looked him up in the phone book . I had mail - ordered maybe one or two Catharsis LP s from Intergalactic Trading Company in Portland and I found the rest in record stores in Paris . Roland gave me lots of neat records singles by Henriette Coulouvrat that he produced , tapes of unreleased albums ( Atlantide ) and later he sent me the Robot Rose and Robot Bleu LP s . Last time I sent him a New Year s card , it came back about 6 months later so I ve lost his address . Roland ! Please phone home ! CELEBRITY SKIN GOOD CLEAN FUNI ve known Don Bolles for over 25 years and the Celebrity Skin records make me laugh . 
My Influences C 3 . 6 - 8 - 06 My Influences C 3 CANNED HEAT BOOGIE WITH CANNED HEATCANNED HEAT UNCANNED ! - THE BEST OFI heard Goin Up The Country on the radio . CANNON , ACE ACE OF SAXCANNON , ACE BABY DON ' T GET HOOKED ON MECANNON , ACE CANNON COUNTRYCANNON , ACE COOL ' N SAXYCANNON , ACE SUPER SAX COUNTRY STYLECANNON , ACE TUFF - SAXMy Bill Black Combo fandom lead me to Ace Cannon . CANNON , FREDDY BEST OFMy brother ( ? ) had a 45 of Way Down Yonder In New Orleans , which I found in my home , as a kid . CAOLI , CANO EXTRA BRIGHTCAOLI , CANO FAMILIACAOLI , CANO FINECAOLI , CANO HADAKA DE AIMASHOUCAOLI , CANO OH LA LACAOLI , CANO / CIOCCOLATA CIOCCOLATACAOLI , CANO / CIOCCOLATA L ' ALMA BELLACAOLI , CANO / CIOCCOLATA SPECIALI bet I got a promo of her TRA Project Cioccolata cassette from the Japanese exporter , liked it and ordered her stuff as it came out . I had no idea she had re - positioned herself as a solo artist in the 90 s I found that out upon my first real visit to Japan in 94 . CAPABILITY BROWN FROM SCRATCHCAPABILITY BROWN LIAR ( Collection ) CAPABILITY BROWN VOICECAPABILITY BROWN / KRAZY KAT CHINA SEASCAPABILITY BROWN / KRAZY KAT TROUBLED AIRI was liking the Charisma label Genesis , Monty Python etc. It was easy to spot From Scratch in the 50 cent bin , at my local hippie record store . Less than a year later , I found a $ 1 promo of Voice , which I think is incredible . I got to tease Armando Gallo about taking photos of Capability Brown , when he published a big book of photos of Genesis When s your Capability Brown book coming out ? . I found the Krazt Kay LP s when working at the record distributor we probably tried a copy of the first one , just because it was new I saw who they were , and CAPLAN , JIL A PEINE 21 ANSCAPLAN , JIL AVANT QU ' IL NE SOIT TROP TARDCAPLAN , JIL JIL CAPLANCAPLAN , JIL LA CHARMEUSE DES SERPENTSI believe Jil Caplan came from the French book store La Cite on Westwood Blvd . , which is , sadly , long gone . I was looking at the new French CD s , and saw that A Peine 21 Ans was produced / written by Jay Alanski , the man who did Lio . That was all it took . CAPTAIN BEYOND CAPTAIN BEYONDHey , man this had a 3 D cover ! Then I heard Thousand Days Of Yesterday on the FM radio CARAVAN BBC 1969 - 1973 pirate CARAVAN CARAVANCARAVAN CARAVAN & THE NEW SYMPHONIACARAVAN FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHTCARAVAN IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN CARAVAN IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINKCARAVAN WATERLOO LILYCARAVAN / SINCLAIR , RICHARD CARAVAN OF DREAMSI think Steve Zepeda tried to turn me on to them , but I was more interested in Robert Wyatt . How did I come back around to Caravan ? An inexpensive copy of In The Land of Grey & Pink , perhaps ? CARLIN , GEORGE CARLIN ON CAMPUSCARLIN , GEORGE CLASS CLOWNCARLIN , GEORGE EVENING WITH WALLY LONDO ... , ANCARLIN , GEORGE FM & AMCARLIN , GEORGE OCCUPATION : FOOLECARLIN , GEORGE ON THE ROADCARLIN , GEORGE PLACE FOR MY STUFF , ACARLIN , GEORGE TAKE - OFFS & PUT - ONSCARLIN , GEORGE TOLEDO WINDOW BOXI saw him on the TV , and probably read an article about The 7 Words You Cannot Say on Television . 
My Influences C 2 . 6 - 7 - 06 My Influences C 2 CAMP , HAMILTON WELCOME TO HAMILTON CAMPI heard this on a Warner Brothers sampler LP ! CAMPBELL , ARCHIE ARCHIE CAMPBELLCAMPBELL , ARCHIE BEST OFCAMPBELL , ARCHIE COCKFIGHT AND OTHER TALL TALES , THECAMPBELL , ARCHIE GOLDEN YEARS , THECAMPBELL , ARCHIE / LORENE MANN TELL IT LIKE IT ISI saw him on Hee Haw ! CAMPBELL , JIMMY HALF BAKEDI bought this because it was on the Vertigo label . 30 years later , I found out who he was a Liverpool singer / songwriter and not a progressive rock artist ( which was what I was hoping / expecting ) . Decent singer / songwriter stuff . CAN CANCAN CANNIBALISMCAN CANNIBALISM 2 CAN CLASSIC GERMAN ROCK SCENECAN DELAY 1968 CAN EGE BAMYASICAN FLOW MOTIONCAN FUTURE DAYS re CAN GERMANY 1976 Vol. 1 pirate CAN GREAT BRITAIN 1977 Vol. 2 pirate CAN LANDEDCAN LIMITED EDITIONCAN MONSTER MOVIECAN OPENERCAN OUT OF REACHCAN RADIO WAVES pirate CAN RITE TIMECAN ROCK IN DEUTSCHLAND Vol. 6 CAN SACRILEGE ( Remixes ) CAN SAW DELIGHTCAN SOON OVER BABALUMACAN SOUNDTRACKSCAN TAGO MAGOCAN UNLIMITED EDITIONCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER CANAXIS 5 CAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER DER OSTEN IST ROTCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER FULL CIRCLECAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER MOVIESCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER MOVING PICTURESCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER ON THE WAY TO THE PEAK OF NORMALCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER TECHNICAL SPACE COMPOSER ' S CREWCAN / KAROLI , MICHAEL / POLLY ELTES DELUGECAN / PHANTOM BAND FREEDOM OF SPEECHCAN / PHANTOM BAND PHANTOM BANDCAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN ANTHOLOGY - SOUNDTRACKS ' 78 - ' 93 ( 3 CD boxed set ) CAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN FILMMUSIK Vol. 1 CAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN FILMMUSIK Vol. 2 CAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN FILMMUSIK Vol. 3 but the first one I tried was Unlimited Edition , which I found for $ 3 ( a promo copy , even ! ) at Moby Disc in Van Nuys , California . I went to Germany in 1979 and met Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit , thanks to an introduction by my former drummer ( John Payne ) . A year or two later , I went and visited Holger with Andreas Thein , from the group Propaganda . I ve written to Hildegard Schmidt , wife of Irmin Schmidt asking about Swiss nylon - string guitarist Thomas Diethelm ( who Irmin produced ) . Start with Soon Over Babaluma , then buy Landed , then get Czukay s Movies if you re still in the pool , get Schmidt s Soundtracks 78 - 93 3 CD anthology . 
My Influences C 1 . 6 - 6 - 06 My Influences C 1 CABBAGEBOY GENETICALLY MODIFIEDGary Steel told me about this , standing in Amoeba Records in Hollywood fall of 05 . CACCIAPAGLIA , ROBERTO GENERAZIONI DEL CIELOCACCIAPAGLIA , ROBERTO SEI NOTE IN LOGICACACCIAPAGLIA , ROBERTO SONANZE Sonanze came first , and I probably picked it up just because it was an Italian record , nobody told me it was good . CAF CR ME CAF CR MEWell , it certainly looked interesting a French band on the Harvest label , doing a Beatles medley ! CAFE TACUBA REVES / YOSOIDavid Ponak hipped me to this , good and proper . A fantastic CD that more people need to hear . CAGE , JOHN EXTENDED VOICES - Various Artists CAGE , JOHN INDETERMINACYCAGE , JOHN JOHN CAGE - CHRISTIAN WOLFFCAGE , JOHN NOVA MUSICHA N .1 CAGE , JOHN VARIATIONS IV Vol. 2 CAGE , JOHN / BABBITT , MILTON NEW ELECTRONIC MUSIC FROM LEADERS ... CAGE , JOHN / JAN STEELE VOICES AND INSTRUMENTSCAGE , JOHN / TUDOR , DAVID SECOND WIND FOR ORGAN , AAs an 11 / 12 - year - old , I went to the Thrifty Drug Store a lot sometimes along , sometimes with my dad . They had a cheapie bin of records , what we would come to know as cut - outs , where records would have a hole drilled in the cover , and as cheap as 57 cents ! The top price for the cut - out bin was $ 1.98 at this time ( roughly 1970 ) . I consider myself pretty fortunate to have found a $ 1.98 copy of Indeterminacy , when I was about 12 years old in just such a bin . A 2 LP set in a box , $ 1.98 . It looked interesting . No , I did not know who he was . I did not know it was a spoken word album . Hoping that it has some synthesizer music on it , I plunked down my meager allowance for this unknown album . It changed my life . CALE , JOHN ACADEMY IN PERIL , THECALE , JOHN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCECALE , JOHN CALE STREET pirate CALE , JOHN CARIBBEAN SUNSETCALE , JOHN DOWN AT THE END OF LONELY STREET pirate CALE , JOHN DRIFT STUDY pirate CALE , JOHN EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUESCALE , JOHN FEARCALE , JOHN GUTS ( Collection ) CALE , JOHN HEAR " FEAR " - interview CALE , JOHN HELEN OF TROYCALE , JOHN HONI SOITCALE , JOHN JOHN CALE COMES ALIVECALE , JOHN MUSIC FOR A NEW SOCIETYCALE , JOHN PARIS 1919 CALE , JOHN SABOTAGECALE , JOHN SEDUCING DOWN THE DOOR ( Collection ) CALE , JOHN SLOW DAZZLECALE , JOHN VERY DEAD CHICKEN pirate CALE , JOHN VINTAGE VIOLENCECALE , JOHN WALKING ON LOCUSTSCALE , JOHN WORDS FOR THE DYINGCALE , JOHN / REED , LOU SONGS FOR DRELLAI heard Paris 1919 on the FM radio , and went in search of the least expensive copy I could find . I did not know he had anything to do with the Velvet Underground ( a group I had tried because they were on Verve Records , but I didn t keep their stuff ) . I later bought Fear because of how much I liked Paris 1919 . By the end of the 70 s , I got to see him live ; I met him in the 80 s , got everything autographed etc. ( I have Mike Mc Goldrick to thank for that ! ) . Jordan Shroyer really liked John Cale , and made a great Sabotage T - shirt that I wore for years . CAMEO ALLIGATOR WOMANCAMEO CAMEOSISCAMEO CARDIAC ARRESTCAMEO SECRET OMENCAMEO SHE ' S STRANGECAMEO SINGLE LIFECAMEO WORD UP ! I heard em on the radio , and they made me laugh . Word ! Also saw them on Goodnight L . A . , the KABC video show . 
My Influences F 3 . 7 - 27 - 06 My Influences F 3 FAUST 71 MINUTES OF - THE LAST ALBUMFAUST FAUSTFAUST FAUST IVFAUST FAUST TAPESFAUST RETURN OF A LEGENDFAUST SO FARFAUST / TONY CONRAD OUTSIDE THE DREAM SYNDICATEFAUST / TONY CONRAD SLAPPING PYTHAGORASI went down the Faust path because you could find copies of The Faust Tapes at a stupid record store called The Wherehouse for less than $ 1 . Nobody told me to buy it , but I sure told a lot of people about Faust . Love em . My brother is who sent me my first Clear Faust 1 st LP on Polydor Records . Only one I bought new was Faust IV. Darrell liked Faust , Paul liked Faust everybody liked Faust . The 4 x Faust LP s saw me through junior high and high school . FAUVES , THE DRIVE THROUGH CHARISMAIt s major label Aussie rock music ; found this and a bunch of CD EP s for real cheap , covers looked good etc. For me , their shining moment is Everybody s Getting a 3 - piece Together . FELDMAN , MARTY I FEEL A SONG GOING OFFFELDMAN , MARTY MARTYI saw him on the TV ; found these UK LP s in New Zealand in the 80 s ; I didn t know about his Monty Python connection , or that he wrote novelty hits for Charlie Drake . FERON , LOUISE LOUISE FERONFrench female vocalist ; I bought it because it was cheap and on Virgin France records ; also John Cale s on it . FETUS PRODUCTIONS FETUS PRODUCTIONSFETUS PRODUCTIONS LUMINOUS TRAILSRecords that I got just because they were from New Zealand . Got em in NZ . FIANCEE DU PIRATE , LA TA GUITAREI think Bob Gaulke found this one , and a cheap CD of it turned up at La Cite , the late , much - lamented French store on Westwood Blvd . in Westwood . FIDDY , JOHN PLASTIC POPSICLEBritish production music , probably purchased because it was with a bunch of UK Easy Listening LP s @ Poo - Bah s . FIFTH DIMENSION AGE OF AQUARIUS , THEFIFTH DIMENSION GREATEST HITSFIFTH DIMENSION STONED SOUL PICNICHeard em on the radio , and probably saw em on the TV . Working On A Groovy Thing ! ( Bill Inglot loved them ) . FINCH BEYOND EXPRESSIONFINCH GALLEONS OF PASSIONFINCH GLORY OF THE INNER FORCEInstrumental Dutch 70 s band , but never my favorite . All were inexpensive , and bought because of the covers . FINGERPRINTZ DISTINGUISHING MARKSSaw em live once , never cared at all . Bought this LP 25 + years later . I think I also have videos of them . FIRE MERCHANTS LANDLORDS OF ATLANTISGiven to me by Mr. Mike Kelley , who released them on his Renaissance Records label . FIREFALL FIREFALLThis record used to get played at the very first hippie record store job I ever had , likely by Wild Bill Evans ; in the 90 s , when LP s got real inexpensive , I decided to try and buy a bunch of the records that I used to hear in the late 70 s . 
My Influences F 2 . 7 - 26 - 06 My Influences F 2 FAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER CHAPPOFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER MAIL ORDER MAGICFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER MANGO CRAZYFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER SHADOW KNOWS , THEFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER TECHNO - PRISONERSFAMILY / CHAPMAN , ROGER ZIPPERFAMILY / STREETWALKERS LIVEFAMILY / STREETWALKERS STREETWALKERS ( Phonogram ) FAMILY / STREETWALKERS STREETWALKERS ( Reprise ) FAMILY / STREETWALKERS VICIOUS BUT FAIRI bought all of these because of my Family fandom . My favorite post - Family Roger Chapman moment is his vocals on Mike Oldfield s Shadow On The Wall . Somehow , I missed out on most of the Streetwalkers albums in the 1970 s I got the first one on Reprise UK , then I stopped . Probably it was that I wanted more European music , and couldn t be bothered with British music anymore attitude that I had for a while . FAMILY TREE MISS BUTTERSI sometimes go on rampages where I try to hear albums that I have never heard before , after looking them up in a Schwann catalogue , Phonolog or Music Master book . Didn t know what this was , won it on e Bay , a sealed copy . It s the Segarini guy , a Canadian who recorded tons of stuff under a lot of different names . FANNY FANNYAlice de Burgh used to rep A & M Records , at the distributor I worked at , in the late 70 s . Somebody ( Dana ? ) whispered to me , That s the drummer of Fanny ! . I remembered Fanny , they were the all - girl ( L - word ) group on WB / Reprise FANTASTIC EXPLOSION FANTASTIC EXPLOSIONFANTASTIC EXPLOSION FANTASTIC EXPLOSION 2 I might ve seen this recommended online , at some electronic music forum or another . But I found em used in Tokyo . FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINEFANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE LUXURYMr . Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzicato Five gave me a 45 by Tomoyuki Tanaka ( Mr. FPM ) before the first album was released , but I think the first I actually heard of them was on the Pussyfoot Label collection Fish Smell Like Cat promo CD that Toshio Nakanishi sent me , Dear Mr. Salesman ( with the goofball Jonathan Winters sample ) . FAR EAST FAMILY BAND CAVE DOWN TO THE EARTHFAR EAST FAMILY BAND CAVE DOWN TO THE EARTH ( wka NIPPONJIN ) FAR EAST FAMILY BAND PARALLEL WORLDFAR EAST FAMILY BAND TENKUJINFAR EAST FAMILY BAND / MIYASHTA , FUMIO FUMIOMr . Tony Harrington was who held this up to my mirror , without a doubt . Saw em live , interviewed Fumio etc. FARINA , MIMI SOLOFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI CELEBRATIONS FOR A GREY DAYFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI MEMORIESFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI PACK UP YOUR SORROWSFARINA , RICHARD & MIMI REFLECTIONS IN A CRYSTAL WINDI first knew of Richard Farina when Ian Matthews covered his songs on If You Saw Thro My Eyes and Tigers Will Survive LP s on the Vertigo label . I love his books . FARLOWE , CHRIS ART OF CHRIS FARLOWE , THEI wanted this because of the Rolling Stones connection and finally found an LP of it in New Zealand , in the 80 s . FARR , GARY ADDRESSED TO THE CENSORS OF LOVEI only know of Gary Farr because he was on the flip side of a Soft Machine LP on Byg Records , from France . FARYAR , CYRUS CYRUSFARYAR , CYRUS ISLANDSI wanted these because Cyrus spoke the words on Cosmic Sounds of the Zodiac and had produced The Firesign Theatre . 
My Influences F 1 . 07 - 25 - 06 My Influences F 1 F . F . F . BLAST CULTUREF . F . F . F . F . F . ( 3 rd Album ) F . F . F . FREE FOR FEVERI think Chris Padrick at Bay Cities Disc was who found the Bill Laswell connection interesting . FABARES , SHELLEY SHELLEY ! Johnny Angel is a deeply buried single in my subconsciousness . Perhaps my sisters were responsible for this ? FABULOUS POODLES FABULOUS POODLESFABULOUS POODLES MIRROR STARSRecommended to me by numerous people , but it was Greg Stewart who gave me both of these LP s . My GF likes em ! FAHEY , JOHN REQUIAAfter he died , I decided to try this . I LOVED his stuff on the previously - unreleased Jack Nitzsche album ( Rhino Handmade ) . FAIR WEATHER BEGINNING FROM AN ENDOn the Neon label , from England , early 70 s but little to recommend it otherwise . Uh , nice cover . FAIR , JAD BEST WISHESSolo album from Mr. Half Japanese . Is he half Japanese ? Lo - fi is as lo - fi does . Tom Recchion said Yes. That . FAIRPORT CONVENTION FAIRPORT CONVENTIONFAIRPORT CONVENTION WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYSMark Moerman has always been their big champion but I bought it because it is on Island Records , from England . FAITH , PERCY BEATLES ALBUM , THEFAITH , PERCY BLACK MAGIC WOMANTop drawer kitsch Easy Hits . I wanted to hear Percy s version of Black Magic Woman , with an orchestra . FAITHFULL , MARIANNE BROKEN ENGLISHFAITHFULL , MARIANNE CHILD ' S ADVENTURE , AFAITHFULL , MARIANNE DANGEROUS ACQUAINTENCESFAITHFULL , MARIANNE SECRET LIFE , AFAITHFULL , MARIANNE STRANGE WEATHERFAITHFULL , MARIANNE TROUBLE IN MIND ( O . S . T . ) - Various Artists FAITHFULL , MARIANNE VAGABOND WAYSHer 60 s stuff never did it for me . Probably , it was seeing the Broken English LP stickered with an Offensive language sticker that made me curious then I actually heard it ! Wow . And I love anything with Wally Badarou keyboard playing . FALCONER , RODERICK NEW NATIONFALCONER , RODERICK VICTORY IN ROCK CITYThese came to me from my sister Marilyn . I have no idea at all why she had em . FAME , GEORGIE GEORGIE FAMEFAME , GEORGIE YEH YEH IT ' S GEORGIE FAMEGeorgie Fame s big fan is Mr. Tom Meyer ; I found some UK 60 s 45 s and took it from there . FAMILY ANYWAY ... FAMILY BANDSTANDFAMILY FAMILY ENTERTAINMENTFAMILY FEARLESSFAMILY FROM PAST ARCHIVESFAMILY IT ' S ONLY A MOVIEFAMILY MUSIC IN A DOLL ' S HOUSEFAMILY OLD SONGS , NEW SONGSFAMILY SONG FOR ME , AFAMILY STRANGE BAND pirate There used to be a small hippie record store in North Long Beach I liked this place because it had very inexpensive used LP s . Once ( 1970 ? ) , I chanced upon a 98 cent UK copy of Music In A Doll s House and decided to try it because of the cover and , to a lesser extent , because it was on Reprise Records . Well , it s probably my # 1 favorite UK psychedelic hippie record of all - time . Also got lucky with Family Entertainment found an inexpensive copy with the poster in it , which hung on the back of my bedroom door for 20 + years . Roger Chapman is the best . 
My Influences E 3 . 7 - 24 - 06 My Influences E 3 ENEMA PROJECT ENEMA MUSICNice Japanese indie band I must admit : tried this one because of the name / title . What can Enema Music sound like ? ENID , THE AERIE FAERIE NONSENSEENID , THE IN THE REGION OF THE SUMMER STARSENID , THE TOUCH MEENID , THE / GODFREY , ROBERT JOHN FALL OF HYPERIONI believe Philip Page first said You must hear In The Region Of The Summer Stars . Jim Hresko knew that , too . ENO , BRIAN ANOTHER GREEN WORLDENO , BRIAN BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCEENO , BRIAN DISCREET MUSICENO , BRIAN HERE COME THE WARM JETSENO , BRIAN TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN ( BY STRATEGY ) ENO , BRIAN / DAVID BYRNE MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTSENO , BRIAN / JOHN CALE WRONG WAY UPENO , BRIAN / SCHECKLEY , ROBERT IN A LAND OF CLEAR COLOURSHe was in Roxy Music , on Island Records so I was going to try it anyway . I like the Island LP s better now than I did then . EPIDAURUS EARTHLY PARADISEAs they re neo - prog , it might ve been David Overstreet who first told me this was any good . EROC WOLKENREISEI never bought their LP s in the 70 s there were just too many German LP s to buy then . The name never left my brain , and I once found an inexpensive CD at Rockaway , obviously traded in by a publisher or something . ESCROCS , LES FAITES - VOUS DES AMIS ? I saw a video for Assedic on Boulevard Des Clips , merci , Gilles Yepremian . Bob Gaulke got this message solid . ESPERANTO DANSE MACABREESPERANTO ESPERANTO ROCK ORCHESTRAESPERANTO LAST TANGO Produced by Pete Sinfield ( of King Crimson ) . And the cover of Danse Macabre was excellent . ESQUERITA CAPITOL COLLECTOR ' S SERIESEd Winfield was always who sung Esquerita s praises ; this may have been the title to get him to buy a CD player ! ESTER , PAULINE DE L ' AUTRE COTEESTER , PAULINE LE MONDE EST FOUI was just trying anything that looked good , on a visit to Paris , 90 . I really liked Le Monde Est Fou , 2 nd one not as much . ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN BATELAGESETRON FOU LELOUBLAN LES TROIS FOU ' S PERDEGAGNENT ( AU PAYS DE ... ) ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN NOS TROIS AMIS DEBARQUERENT A NEW YORKProbably sold to me in a catalog via Archie Patterson , likely described as Rock in Opposition - style music . Why I bought three of them is anybody s guess ! Uh , because they re French ? Not exactly , too early for that . EULENSPYGEL AUSCHUSSThis has the coolest cover Auschuss means trash and the cover is a piece of discarded cardboard . Also , good label : Spiegelei Records . EUROPEANS EUROPEANS LIVEEUROPEANS RECURRING DREAMSEUROPEANS VOCABULARY Animal Song 12 came in to the distributor I was working at in 82 , great stuff . I made sure I found all their other titles . EURYTHMICS IN THE GARDENHolger Czukay was who first told me about Eurythmics and he s on this album . I did not follow their popularity . EVANS , BILL / HALL , JIM UNDERCURRENTSimply one of the best albums covers of all time . Jazz . EVEN / ODD LOUD AND CLEARMy friend Dana Madore ! EXPRESSION , THE EXPRESSION , THEMark Moerman was who told me to try this ; Aussie 80 s , and I missed it at the time . 
Yard List . I have been reading a book called " To See Every Bird On Earth " by Dan Koeppel ; it strikes me that there are a myriad of parallels between bird - watching and record collecting . As you can see , I am presently going through my ' 20 th century full - length ' titles , my " Life List " , if you will . In the birding community , I would be known as a " Big Lister " , except ... I am not in the birding community , I am a record collector . And record collectors are not organized in the same way as the birding community . Sure I make my lists ... but my aim is to retain the specimen , for further examination at an as - yet - undetermined later date . I snapped this photo of a bird on a vacation to Hawaii , a few year back . I have no idea what it is , apart from being a pretty bird . No , I do not have bird lists ... yet . I suppose I could become one of those guys who wants to make digital recordings of bird vocalizations - out in the musty jungle , with my Sony Mini Disc and directional microphone ... But I ' m a record collector . I ' m a reasonable guy - I won't buy records if it 's too hot out , or if I don't have an easy way to get th records back to he hotel room ( or car ) . Yes , I ' ve spent " food money " on records , and am damned proud of it . I ' ve traveled to New Zealand , Finland , Japan , Italy , Canada ... Portland , Las Vegas , Berkeley ... all in search of phonograph records . A " Yard List " in record collecting would be maddening - the equivalent of counting CD - R 's in your " Life List " , I suppose . For a title to count towards the " Big List " , does it have to have artwork ? What about splits and lumps ? Seriously , folks - time to plan for my dotage . Bird - watching or record collecting ? 
My Influences E 2 . 7 - 21 - 06 My Influences E 2 EIGHT SECONDS ALMACANTAR Produced by Rupert Hine . Joe Castle is who found it for $ 1 . EILIFF EILIFFGerman early 70 s band that I found in New Zealand in the 80 s . I bought it because it was cheap and I liked the cover . EINZELGANGER EINZENGANGERWow , how easy are they going to make it ? A German word for the band name let s see synthesizers EIRE APPARENT SUNRISE Produced by Jimi Hendrix . AND a Soft Machine connection . Doesn t get any better recommendation than that ! EKOVA SOFT BREEZE AND TSUNAMI BREAKSI believe Nancy X @ Sony NYC sent me a promo of this , but I might ve tried it anyway , because of who was remixing them . EL CAMINOS REVERB EXPLOSION ! A promo CD from Elliot Kendall ; Japanese whammy - bar twang - fest . Bullseye ! EL GENERAL MUEVELO CON EL GENERALI saw a video for Muevelo on either Much Music or Musiq ue Plus probably on Clip Trip ! ELASTICA ELASTICASaw em on Later with Jools Holland and was mightily amused . Thank you , Terry Greenhill ! ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA BALANCE OF POWERELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA DISCOVERYELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ELDORADOELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ELO IIELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA FACE THE MUSICELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA NEW WORLD RECORD , AELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA NIGHT THE LIGHT WENT ON IN LONG BEACHELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA NO ANSWERELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA OLE ELOELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ON THE THIRD DAYELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA OUT OF THE BLUEELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA SECRET MESSAGESELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA TIMEI was ready for E . L . O . , having been a big fan of The Move s Looking On . Mark Moerman is the big fan , however . ELECTRONICAS DANCE LITTLE BIRDI spotted this monstrosity at the Pasadena swap meet in the junk section , not the record section . I knew the song from having visited Europe ( Holland , mostly ) at various times in the 1980 s . ELLISON , HARLAN ELLISON READS ELLISONELLISON , HARLAN JEFFTY IS FIVEELLISON , HARLAN ON THE DOWNHILL SIDEELLISON , HARLAN ON THE ROAD WITH ELLISONI used to hear Mr. Ellison rant and rave on Hour 25 , on KPFK , and always loved it . Delighted to find he had made records ! EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER BRAIN SALAD SURGERYEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER EMERSON , LAKE & PALMEREMERSON , LAKE & PALMER IN CONCERTEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER LOVE BEACHEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITIONEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER TARKUSEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER TRILOGYEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER WORKS , Vol. 1 EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER WORKS , Vol. 2 EMERSON , LAKE & PALMER / EMERSON , KEITH INFERNOEMERSON , LAKE & PALMER / LAKE , GREG MANOEUVRESI probably didn t know at the time that EL & P were an amalgam of The Nice and King Crimson . It wouldn t have mattered to me anyway , it was on Island Records UK . Bought the first album first , 70 . Also bought Tarkus when it was new , too . 
My Influences E 1 . 7 - 20 - 06 My Influences E 1 EARTH AND FIRE ANDROMEDA GIRLEARTH AND FIRE ATLANTISEARTH AND FIRE EARTH AND FIRE ( 1 st ) EARTH AND FIRE FRAMES - Earth & Fire Orchestra EARTH AND FIRE GATE TO INFINITYEARTH AND FIRE IN A STATE OF FLUXEARTH AND FIRE PHOENIXEARTH AND FIRE REALITY FILLS FANTASYEARTH AND FIRE SONG OF THE MARCHING CHILDRENEARTH AND FIRE TO THE WORLD OF THE FUTUREEARTH AND FIRE / KAAGMAN , JERNEY MADE ON EARTHEARTH AND FIRE / KAAGMAN , JERNEY RUNI am certain I saw the UK copy of Atlantis , noticed that they had a mellotron Charlie Miller was probably who told me they were good . EARTH OPERA GREAT AMERICAN EAGLE TRAGEDYPurchased because of the presence of Mr. John Cale . EARTH , WIND & FIRE STAR BOXHeard em a lot while I was in high school . Heard em on the radio , saw em on the TV . EARTHY SIDE , THE EARTHY SIDE , THEI think this record came with a sticker advising that it had adult content . Also probably heard something from it on KPFK . EAST OF EDEN MERCATOR PROJECTEDEAST OF EDEN SNAFUI found Mercator Projected in a $ 1 bin , at a record store in L . B . and I liked the Deram label a lot . Dave Arbus = Baba O Riley . The locking groove at the end of Side One of Snafu is my favorite , bar none . EDDY , DUANE BIGGEST TWANG OF THEM ALL , THEPresumably purchased because of the tenuous Lee Hazlewood connection . EDMUNDS , DAVE BEST OFEDMUNDS , DAVE GET ITEDMUNDS , DAVE INFORMATIONI heard him on the radio a lot but I had been a Love Sculpture fan since 70 or so . EDWARDS , JONATHAN JONATHAN EDWARDSEDWARDS , JONATHAN LUCKY DAYEDWARDS , JONATHAN SAILBOATAlways liked Sunshine , but my friend David Zimelis recommended him to me , and I tried some others . EDWARDS , TEDDY MISSIPPI LADThis CD features Tom Waits on vocals and rather good vocals , as it were . Dale Bailey @ Bay Cities Disc noticed , too . EFRON , MARSHALL NUTRINO NEWS NETWORK , ABYSMO , NEW JERSEYI bought this because of the cover it looked crazy ( it is crazy ) . From a long - forgotten $ 1 bin . EGG CIVIL SURFACE , THEEGG EGGEGG POLITE FORCEEGG / HATFIELD AND THE NORTH AFTERSEGG / HATFIELD AND THE NORTH HATFIELD AND THE NORTHEGG / HATFIELD AND THE NORTH ROTTER ' S CLUB , THEEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH D . S . AL CODAEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH MISSING PIECESEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH NATIONAL HEALTHEGG / NATIONAL HEALTH OF QUEUES AND CURESEGG / STEWART , DAVE / BARBARA GASKIN BIG IDEA , THEEGG / STEWART , DAVE / BARBARA GASKIN SPINEGG / STEWART , DAVE / BARBARA GASKIN UP FROM THE DARKEgg were just one of those groups you were supposed to try it was probably sold to me as They re a cousin band of Caravan by Steve Zepeda , about 73 or 74 . Likely , I went for Civil Surface ( 74 ) instantly , as Henry Cow people were on it . The Hatfields , Nat l Health and Stewart & Gaskin all come naturally , after initial Egg fandom . The Canterbury door was held open for me by Steve Zepeda , however I was already a Soft Machine fan , having found a copy of Vol. 2 in a $ 1 bin somewhere . 
My Influences D 9 . 7 - 18 - 06 My Influences D 9 DRISCOLL , JULIE / BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY STREETNOISETook me a few years , but one day I realized that I d never heard this . I also didn t know ( then ) that Julie Driscoll and Julie Tippett were the same person . I never cared much for Brian Auger s later stuff , even though a collection got released on the Trattoria label , in Japan ( a label that I collect ) . D ' SILVA , AMANCIO INTEGRATIOND ' SILVA , AMANCIO KONKAN DANCEI m a new / recent fan of Amancio D Silva , but I remember the Integration LP ! It s been British jazz time for a few months now . DUB MASTER X DMX IIDUB MASTER X DUB MASTER XDUB MASTER X SIDE JOBMr . DMX was involved with both Mute Beat and Pizzicato Five . I think I even met him once ( 89 in L . A . Mute Beat live show ) DUCK ' S BREATH Mystery Theatre BORN TO BE TILEDDUCK ' S BREATH Mystery Theatre OUT OF SEASONI think it was Warren Bowman that had the cassette of these guys I like Merle Kessler ! Any other LP s or CD s ? DUDZIAK , URSZULA FUTURE TALKDUDZIAK , URSZULA MAGIC LADYDUDZIAK , URSZULA MALOWANY PTAK ( THE PAINTED BIRD ) DUDZIAK , URSZULA NEWBORN LIGHTDUDZIAK , URSZULA NIGHT RAINDUDZIAK , URSZULA URSZULAI found an LP of Newborn Light for a mere 10 cents , at a record store in Downey ( Middle Earth ) , the price was written in black felt - tipped pen on the front cover . Later , I found a 99 cent promo of Urszula , and loved it to death . Now I mail - order her CD s . DUFFY , STEPHEN BECAUSE WE LOVE YOUDUFFY , STEPHEN DESIGNER BEATNIK - Dr. Calculus DUFFY , STEPHEN DUFFYDUFFY , STEPHEN I LOVE MY FRIENDSDUFFY , STEPHEN MUSIC IN COLORSDUFFY , STEPHEN THEY CALLED HIM TIN TINDUFFY , STEPHEN UPS AND DOWNS , THEDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME & LOVE FOR ALLDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME ASTRONAUTSDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME LILAC TIMEDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME LOOKING FOR A DAY IN THE NIGHTDUFFY , STEPHEN / LILAC TIME PARADISE CIRCUSI think the first time I connected with Mr. Duffy , it was on the TV Music Box , in Henk Hofstede s home in Amsterdam . They were showing the Icing On The Cake music video . London Girls really kicks my ass , too . DUKES , THE ( UK ) DUKES , THEPurchased because of Jimmy Mc Culloch s involvement . My late sister Susie was all into Jimmy Mc C / Thunderclap Newman . DUNBAR , AYNSLEY BLUE WHALEHmmm how did I know about him ? I think I bought this because it was on the Byg label and I liked that label largely because of the Gong LP s ( which were horrible pressings ) . I think Juicy Lucy s Paul Williams is on this LP . DUNBAR , SLY SLY , WICKED AND SLICK - EXTRA VERSIONThis is almost like saying How did you discover reggae ? I loved Sly & Robbie s contributions to Grace Jones Nightclubbing LP , so I suppose that makes Dennis Duck indirectly responsible . The first person who ever discussed reggae with me was Mike Mc Goldrick . At the end of the 70 s , my brother was a big reggae fan ( and still is ! ) . DURAN DURAN DURAN DURANDURAN DURAN RIO 1981 was a neat time . Lots of new stuff was happening . Sometimes , we could read about it in Melody Maker or NME ( before ever hearing the band in question ) and I think Duran Duran was one such band . It s like we were waiting for them without ever having heard them . I was working at a small importer / record distributor in 1981 often , I would take home a stack of 45 s on Friday , just to see what the heck the stuff was . Duran Duran was a keeper an example of dumper fodder = Culture Club . I think Duran Duran was also produced ( or recorded ) by a guy who worked with Magazine , so that was a vote of confidence . Sometimes with a band s first record , you can tell that they re going to be big other times , not . 
My Influences D 8 . 7 - 17 - 06 My Influences D 8 DORAY , PHILIPPE NOUVEAUX MODES INDUSTRIELSAnother good label : Invisible Records , from France . I think Mike Mc Goldrick is who found this , however . DOUBLE BLUEI think I saw the music video for Captain Of Her Heart on Much Music from Canada . Or was it Woman Of The World ? DOURADOS , LOS INTRODUCING I bought this because there is a cover version of an Amancio D Silva song on it . Otherwise , UK easy listening Latin kitsch . DR . DOPO JAM ENTREEDR . DOPO JAM FAT DOGS Gary Steel sent me the CD s . DRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANSDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE DRIFTWOOD AT SEADRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE SONGS OF BILLY YANK AND JOHNNY REBDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE TALL TALES IN SONGDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE VOICE OF THE PEOPLEDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE WESTWARD MOVEMENT , THEDRIFTWOOD , JIMMIE WILDERNESS ROAD , THEWhile thriving on C & W discoveries , I stumbled across a mint ( minus ) copy of Driftwood s debut LP at Logo s in Santa Cruz . It s charming , if cornball stuff . I heard he lived to be nearly 100 years of age . 
My Influences D 7 . 7 - 14 - 06 My Influences D 7 DOG THAT BIT PEOPLE DOG THAT BIT PEOPLEI think Jim Hresko was who found this for me ; he knew I was a fan of Locomotive & The Norman Haines Band etc. DOLBY , THOMAS FLAT EARTH , THEDOLBY , THOMAS GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS , THEWhy did I first try the 81 Europa 12 single ? He was very obscure , before he became popular and had US releases . Maybe Peter Dyer of Caroline Exports had given me the Urges 45 by Dolby , as a promo , before he signed with EMI ? DOLLY DOTS AMERICAN DREAMDOLLY DOTS DISPLAYDOLLY DOTS DOLLY DOTSDOLLY DOTS IN CONCERT - LIVE IN CARREDOLLY DOTS P . S . WE LOVE YOUDOLLY DOTS TAKE SIXDOLLY DOTS / ANITA ( Heilker ) GIRL IN BLACK , THEReally mysterious . My serious music friends in Holland would never have recommended this fluffy band to me . Maybe I bought a picture disc 45 in 79 ? Or did the Japanese exporter send me a promo 45 of Radio in 80 ? DOMINO , FATS BEST OF - MY BLUE HEAVENHeard him on the radio , Blueberry Hill . DONAGGIO , PINO BRIAN DE PALMA FILMSI liked the Brian De Palma films DONOVAN 7 - TEASEDONOVAN BARABAJAGALDONOVAN COSMIC WHEELSDONOVAN DONOVAN ( RAK / Arista ) DONOVAN DONOVAN IN CONCERTDONOVAN ESSENCE TO ESSENCEDONOVAN FAIRYTALEDONOVAN FOR LITTLE ONESDONOVAN GIFT FROM A FLOWER TO A GARDEN , ADONOVAN GOLDEN HOUR OFDONOVAN GREATEST HITSDONOVAN H . M. S . DONOVANDONOVAN HURDY GURDY MANDONOVAN LIVE IN JAPAN : SPRING TOUR 1973 DONOVAN MELLOW YELLOWDONOVAN OPEN ROADDONOVAN SLOW DOWN WORLDDONOVAN SUNSHINE SUPERMANDONOVAN THIS IS DONOVANDONOVAN UNIVERSAL SOLDIERDONOVAN WEAR YOUR LOVE LIKE HEAVENDONOVAN WHAT ' S BIN DID AND WHAT ' S BIN HIDDONOVAN / LEWIS , VIC DONOVAN MY WAYEarliest Donovan memory : hearing Sunshine Superman on the AM radio . My brother had Donovan LP s . My friend Cameron Hand liked Donovan a lot and I helped him collect all the variant pressings . In 2006 , I think it s hip that Donovan worked with British jazz guys like Ronnie Ross and Harold Mc Nair . Epistle To Dippy is one of my all - time favorite 45 s . I ve seen Donovan live before , but I think Cameron was who got all of his records signed . DOO - DOOETTES LOOK TO THISI am friends with Tom Recchion , either he gave me this , or I bought it because he s on it . DOORS AMERICAN PRAYER , ANDOORS DOORS , THEDOORS L . A . WOMANDOORS MORRISON HOTELDOORS OTHER VOICESDOORS SOFT PARADE , THEDOORS STRANGE DAYSDOORS WAITING FOR THE SUNDOORS WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINEDOORS / KRIEGER , ROBBIE ROBBIE KRIEGER & FRIENDSDOORS / KRIEGER , ROBBIE ROBBY KRIEGERDOORS / MANZAREK , RAY CARMINA BURANAProbably it was hearing Light My Fire or Break On Through on the radio . I got the first album when it was new - ish . My brother , Gilles , Ida and Yael all love The Doors . 
My Influences D 6 . 7 - 13 - 06 My Influences D 6 DIP IN THE POOL AURORAEDIP IN THE POOL DIP IN THE POOLDIP IN THE POOL RETINAEMMM I met them at an in - store performance at HMV Shibuya , in Tokyo ( at the old location , downstairs ) . DIRTY THREE DIRTY THREEDIRTY THREE HORSE STORIESDIRTY THREE OCEAN SONGSDIRTY THREE SAD I visited NZ in 81 and heard Dobbyn s solo debut Lipstick Power while staying at Chris place on Nairn Street in Wellington , probably on Radio Windy . I also was first taken to see D . D . Smash by Gary Steel . The last time I saw D . D . Smash was the Aotea Square ( Auckland ) riot , in 84 to get away from the rioting , I went to Murray Cammick s Rip It Up office , which was nearby . In the John Dix book about New Zealand music , my entry is in regards to my having witnessed the D . D . Smash riot . I always have time for Dave Dobbyn . 
My Influences D 5 . 7 - 12 - 06 My Influences D 5 DEVO DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTUREDEVO FREEDOM OF CHOICEDEVO NEW TRADITIONALISTSDEVO OH , NO ! IT ' S DEVODEVO Q : ARE WE NOT MEN ? DEVO SMOOTH NOODLE MAPSDEVO / MOTHERSBAUGH , MARK JOYEUX MUTATODEVO / MOTHERSBAUGH , MARK MUZIK FOR INSOMNIAKS Vol. 1 DEVO / MOTHERSBAUGH , MARK MUZIK FOR INSOMNIAKS Vol. 2 I worked at a record distributor in 78 ; a guy there ( Mr. Phil Culp ) had a Devo license plate ( that kept getting stolen ) but who told me first about going to see them at the Starwood ? It might ve been Mike Mc Goldrick . Mark M was nice to me on the phone . D - GENERATION BREAKFAST TAPES ( 1988 - 1990 ) D - GENERATION SATANIC SKETCHES , THEI may have first seen their Australian TV show before I knew Ken Grady . But who sent me that tape ? Robert O ? DIBANGO , MANU AMBASSADORDIBANGO , MANU ELECTRIC AFRICADIBANGO , MANU GONE CLEARDIBANGO , MANU HOME MADEDIBANGO , MANU LIVE ' 91 DIBANGO , MANU POLYSONIKDIBANGO , MANU SEVENTIESDIBANGO , MANU SOFT & SWEETDIBANGO , MANU SOUL MAKOSSADIBANGO , MANU WAKA JUKUDIBANGO , MANU WAKAFRIKAI never thought I d be giving credit to this place , but I used to work at a CD store in Hermosa Beach , CA called Bay Cities Disc . It was a take the discs out of the cases store , so we could play anything in stock . I think Chris Padrick put either Ambassador or Gone Clear on one day . Now I am a Manu Dibango maniac I love his autobiography Three Kilos of Coffee read it ! DICKSON , BARBARA BARBARA DICKSON ALBUM , THEWell , it was the single January February that caught my ear but can t remember where I first heard it . Somebody may have suggested her to me , after my initial spate of Kate Bush fandom no , they re not similar singers . Philip Page , perhaps ? DIE DORAUS UNE DIE MARINAS BLUMEN UND NARZISSENGiven to me by the members of the Japanese synth - pop group Motocompo . DIED PRETTY FREE DIRTDIED PRETTY LOSTDIED PRETTY PRE DIETYDIED PRETTY TRACEI think it was Mike Chunn , the former bass player for Split Enz that first told me they were worth listening to . DIESEL WATTS IN A TANKI picked this up because of their connection to Kayak Dutch bands . DIETHELM / BRANDENBERGER DIDI L ' AMOURDIETHELM / FAMULARI DIETHELM / FAMULARIDIETHELM / FAMULARI VALLEYS IN MY HEADDIETHELM BAND , THOMAS BIG SHAKEDIETHELM BAND , THOMAS MEMORY GAMESDIETHELM BAND , THOMAS PENGUIN IN LOVEDIETHELM , THOMAS 82 - 89 DIETHELM , THOMAS SHAVEDMr . Philip Page of Austin , TX ( currently resident in Helsinki . Finland ) that asked me to see if I could find Valleys In My Head for him , on compact disc about 84 or so . It blew me away , changed my life . Warren Bowman had a CD player before I did , so I used to listen to it at his place . Two other Diethelm facilitators : Hildegard Schmidt put me in touch with Mr. Diethelm , and Brigitta S . brought me some of his CD s ! Mr. Diethelm is recording again in 2006 , let s hope he releases a new CD soon ! DIK DIK , I AMICOThis came from the Buy anything Italian phase but I bet I found the Obsessoni 45 at an Italian deli in San Pedro , CA . DIMITRI FROM PARIS SACRE BLEUI saw the music video for Sacre Francais on Boulevard Des Clips courtesy of Gilles Yepremian . DION DION ' S GREATEST HITSI think my older brother was who had the I Wonder Why 45 . 
My Influences D 4 . 7 - 11 - 06 My Influences D 4 DELANEY R . I. P . Lizzy ! DESIRELESS FRANCOISOoh , French CD s ! Buy anything French ! But I probably also saw her video for Voyage Voyage , so I knew her already . DETECTIVE DETECTIVEOh , I heard this back in my first hippie record store Is this Led Zeppelin ? Not quite . Found the LP in the $ 1 bin . DEUTER , GEORG CELEBRATIONDEUTER , GEORG CICADADEUTER , GEORG HALEAKALAI tried this about 76 or so thinking it was more German space rock ( The Kuckuck label is German ) . Pre - New Age ? DEUTSCH NEPAL TOLERANCEI had visited the Staalplaat shop in Amsterdam , in search of Boyd Rice material and I bought this there . DEVIANTS , THE DEVIANTS # 3 DEVIANTS , THE DISPOSABLEDEVIANTS , THE PTOOFF ! DEVIANTS , THE / FARREN , MICK MONA THE CARNIVOROUS CIRCUSWell , I liked the name Deviants , and I found Ptoof ! in a $ 1 bin ; I also liked the Sire label in 70 72 . DEVIL DOLL GIRL WHO WAS ... DEATH , THEDEVIL DOLL SACRILEGIUMI think it was either David Overstreet or Mike Kelley who said , You really should hear Devil Doll . DEVIVO , JENNY MY DADToshio Nakanishi sent me a promo CD of this . He produced it . It s cool . 
My Influences D 3 . 7 - 10 - 06 My Influences D 3 DAVIS GROUP , SPENCER AUTUMN ' 66 DAVIS GROUP , SPENCER BEST OFDAVIS GROUP , SPENCER GIMME SOME LOVIN ' I heard Somebody Help Me or Keep On Running on the radio I do not think I knew who Steve Winwood was . DAVIS JR . , SAMMY SAMMY DAVIS JR . NOWDAVIS JR . , SAMMY SOMETHING FOR EVERYONEWell , I saw Sammy on the TV . I heard Shelter Of Your Arms on the radio but after seeing I Love You , Billy Baker ( an episode of the late 60 s TV show The Name of The Game ) in the early 1980 s , Sammy became a bit of a figure of fun for me . He was so OUT , he was IN . I even saw him perform live a couple of times ! I was in England when he died , so I missed all of that . Years later I even got to see Sammy s record collection at an antique store in Venice , CA . DAVIS , MILES ASCENSEUR POUR L ' ECHAFAUD ( O . S . T . ) DAVIS , MILES KIND OF BLUEDAVIS , MILES SKETCHES OF SPAINWho told me to listen to Kind of Blue ? Maybe Jay Green of Poo Bah Record Shop said , Try that , and if you like it , he has about a hundred other really good ones . Jay used to display actual Miles Davis autographs in his store . I have also enjoyed drinking at Milestones , a jazz bar in Takadanobaba , Tokyo . DAVIS , SKEETER BLUEBERRY HILL AND OTHER FAVORITESDAVIS , SKEETER CLOUDY , WITH OCCASIONAL TEARSDAVIS , SKEETER END OF THE WORLD , THEDAVIS , SKEETER HERE ' S THE ANSWER - Various Artists DAVIS , SKEETER I FORGOT MORE THAN YOU ' LL EVER KNOW DAVIS , SKEETER I ' LL SING YOU A SONG AND HARMONIZE TOODAVIS , SKEETER WHAT DOES IT TAKEWow , those double - tracked harmonies ( with herself ) are awesome . I remember End of The World from the radio . DAVIS , TYRONE TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIMEI remember him from the radio If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time , and I have a 45 of it from the time . DAWE , TIM PENRODObtained because it was on Straight / Bizarre Mr. Zappa s label . DE MICHELE , GRAZIELLA LE CLOWN D ' ALICANTEFrom the age of trying anything on the Virgin France label . Great female pop vocal CD ! DEAF SCHOOL DON ' T STOP THE WORLDDEAF SCHOOL ENGLISH BOYS - WORKING GIRLSDEAF SCHOOL SECOND HONEYMOONThere was a promo double 7 EP for Deaf School , from Warner Brothers records that was going around . I got one , 77 . DEAN , JIMMY BIG BAD JOHN ... I knew of him from the TV . I also knew that Don Bolles & his friends had teased Mr. Dean on the radio . DEBILE MENTHOL EMILE AU JARDIN PATROLOGIQUEThis came out of the used LP bin at Moby Disc , in Van Nuys . I bought it because it has a cool cover , and was French , 81 . DEBRIS STATIC DISPOSALThis came into the hippie record store where I was working in 76 . Mike Mc Goldrick & I played it in the store . DEEE - LITE INFINITY WITHINDEEE - LITE WORLD CLIQUEOh , I definitely saw them on the TV they were coming up while I lived in England , 90 . DEEP PURPLE FIREBALL ( Anniversary Edition ) DEEP PURPLE HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTDEEP PURPLE IN ROCK ( Anniversary Edition ) DEEP PURPLE MACHINE HEAD ( Anniversary Edition ) DEEP PURPLE PERFECT STRANGERSDEEP PURPLE SHADES OF DEEP PURPLEDEEP PURPLE WHO DO WE THINK WE AREDEEP PURPLE / GILLAN BAND , IAN CHILD IN TIMEDEEP PURPLE / GILLAN BAND , IAN CLEAR AIR TURBULENCEDEEP PURPLE / GLOVER , ROGER MASKI remember Hush being played on the AM radio next thing I remember was the Into The Fire 45 , about 70 . Saw ' em live in New Zealand , too ! 
My Influences D 2 . 7 - 7 - 06 My Influences D 2 DANCE MACABRE LAST REQUESTI got their Between The Lines 12 EP on my first visit to NZ . I was just buying anything I could find . DANGERFIELD , RODNEY I DON ' T GET NO RESPECTDANGERFIELD , RODNEY LOSER , THEDANGERFIELD , RODNEY NO RESPECTI think I saw him on the TV the records came long before he was in movies . DANIELE , PINO BELLA ' MBRIANADANIELE , PINO CHE DIO TI BENEDICADANIELE , PINO E SONA MO ' DANIELE , PINO FERRYBOATDANIELE , PINO MASCALZONE LATINADANIELE , PINO MUSICA MUSICADANIELE , PINO NON CALPESTARE I FIORI NEL ... DANIELE , PINO PINO DANIELEDANIELE , PINO SCHIZZECHEA WITH LOVEDANIELE , PINO SOTTO ' O SOLEDANIELE , PINO UN UOMO IN BLUESDANIELE , PINO VAI MO ' DANIELE , PINO YES I KNOW MY WAY - THE BEST OFI first heard Tutto Nata Storia ( from Bella Mbriana ) while sitting in a small Italian restaurant in Paris Latin Quarter , probably 85 . I asked them who was on the stereo , and they showed me the album cover . Schizzechea With Love kicks my ass , too . DANNY & THE JUNIORS ROCKIN ' WITH DANNY & THE JUNIORSI actually chased this because they have a song called Dotty ( the diminutive of the name Dorothy , my GF ! ) . DANSE SOCIETY HEAVEN IS WAITINGAnother one likely sold to me by a salesman from a record importer , when I was working at a record distributor . DAOU , VANESSA DEAR JOHN COLTRANEDAOU , VANESSA PLUTONIUM GLOWDAOU , VANESSA SLOW TO BURNDAOU , VANESSA ZIPLESSDAOU , VANESSA / DAOU , THE HEAD MUSICThank you , Joe Castle . He had pulled a U - Matic videocassette of The Daou s Surrender Yourself out of somewhere , and we quickly found their sole CD at a local cheezy record store , in the $ 1 bin . Wes Oishi gave me the Slow To Burn promo CD . D ' ARIANO , RAY ARE YOU ON SOMETHING ? I definitely heard this on The Sunday Gummies , a comedy radio show on KPFK - FM . So , thanks to Joe Adams . DARIEN SPIRIT ELEGY TO MARILYNIt was on the Charisma label . That was enough . That , and the cover had 3 - D lips on it ! DARLING BUDS CRAWDADDYDARLING BUDS EROTICADARLING BUDS POP SAID ... I think I found a UK promo 45 of Burst at Rockaway in Los Angeles . It looked cool , and was $ 1 , 1988 . DASSIN , JOE GOLD Vol. 1 DASSIN , JOE GOLD Vol. 2 DASSIN , JOE LA DEMOISELLE DE DESHONNEURDASSIN , JOE LES DALTON ( Vol. 3 ) DASSIN , JOE L ' ETE INDIENNancy X , then @ Sony NYC sent me some promo CD s of Mr. Dassin and I loved Les Daltons . DAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH GOLDEN HITS OFDAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE , PREPARE FOR INDIGESTIONDAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH LEGEND OF DAVE DEE , DOZY , BEAKY , MICK & TICH VERY BEST OFI remembered Bend It from the radio and it took nearly 20 years to find If Music Be The Food Of Love in NZ . DAVIES , PETER MAXWELL EIGHT SONGS FOR A MAD KINGDAVIES , PETER MAXWELL VESALII ICONESI wanted Peter Maxwell Davies LP s because of the Ken Russell film , The Devils ( he had done the music ) . = = = What about the artists that I love that do not have full - length titles ? Tomorrow , I will post a list of artists that only have singles , that will otherwise not appear in my " Big List " ! - Ron . 
My Influences D 1 . 7 - 6 - 06 My influences D 1 D . A . F . DIE KLEINEN UND DIE BOSEND . A . F . FUR IMMERD . A . F . / GORL , ROBERT NIGHT FULL OF TENSIONI heard Der Mussolini being played in the Blue Shell nightclub in Koln , Germany in 1981 . DADDY LONGLEGS HORSEOn the Pussyfoot label , and I believe Howie B is directly involved with this CD . I first tried Howie B because of his use of Toshio Nakanishi cover art. British electronica . DAFT PUNK HOMEWORKI first saw Daft Punk on Boulevard Des Clips , the video for Around The World , about 96 . Thanks , Gilles Yepremian . DAHO , ETIENNE COLLECTIONDAHO , ETIENNE DAHO SINGLESDAHO , ETIENNE DAHOLYMPIADAHO , ETIENNE EDENDAHO , ETIENNE LA NOTTE LA NOTTEDAHO , ETIENNE LIVE E . D . DAHO , ETIENNE MYTHOMANE ( CD mix ) DAHO , ETIENNE MYTHOMANE ( LP mix ) DAHO , ETIENNE PARIS AILLEURSDAHO , ETIENNE POP SATORIDAHO , ETIENNE POUR NOS VIES MARTIENNESDAHO , ETIENNE / BAKER , ARTHUR MERGEHe was a line in a catalog ; the idea of a Virgin Records in France was exciting to me , so a copy of La Notte La Notte was requested from an exporter about 84 . I really liked it a lot . DALEK I COMPASS KUM PASDALEK I LOVE YOU DALEK I LOVE YOUEric Heuseveldt of Boudisque in Amsterdam told me about his group & their debut single in 1980 . DAMNED ANYTHINGDAMNED BLACK ALBUM , THEDAMNED DAMNED BUT NOT FORGOTTENDAMNED DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED ( 1 st ) DAMNED DAMNED pirate DAMNED FINAL DAMNATIONDAMNED GIVE DADDY THE KNIFE CINDY - Naz Nomad DAMNED LIVE IN NEWCASTLE ( THIS ONE ' S FOR THE FANS ) DAMNED MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTEDAMNED MCA SINGLES A ' S & B ' SDAMNED MUSIC FOR PLEASUREDAMNED NOT OF THIS EARTHDAMNED OFFICIAL FAN CLUB MEETING pirate DAMNED PHANTASMAGORIADAMNED SESSIONS OF THE DAMNEDDAMNED STRAWBERRIESDAMNED WORST OFDAMNED / CAPTAIN SENSIBLE POWER OF LOVE , THEDAMNED / CAPTAIN SENSIBLE SENSIBLE SINGLESDAMNED / CAPTAIN SENSIBLE WOMEN AND CAPTAINS FIRSTDAMNED / JAMES , BRIAN BRIAN JAMESDAMNED / PHANTOM CHORDS / VANIAN DAVID VANIAN / PHANTOM CHORDSI was working in a hippie record store in 77 . The punks in the store kept asking , When are we going to get in some punk rock ? Can we order it ? . I had just moved stores ( following my manager ) , so I was inclined to try and help the nascent punks find their nectar . I liked Fan Club the first time I ever heard it , sometime late in 1977 . At my first record store job , I met a guy named Jordan Shroyer . I do not know how / why . But he was all into The Damned . So was Mott , but maybe not exactly at first . DANCE EXPONENTS AMPLIFIERDANCE EXPONENTS EXPECTATIONSDANCE EXPONENTS PRAYERS BE ANSWEREDDANCE EXPONENTS / EXPONENTS BETTER NEVER THAN LATEDANCE EXPONENTS / EXPONENTS SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH CDANCE EXPONENTS / LEGIONNAIRES LIVE AT MAINSTREETProbably first heard em on my second visit to NZ the Airway Spies 45 , 82 . I liked the All I Can Do 45 even better . I think their 12 of S * x & Agriculture is amazing . Still ! 
Recent Items . Found on my recent visit to PORTLAND , OR . ( Hit single : Canada ROSETTA STONE ROCK PICTURES , PRIVATE ST UK LP Ex - B.C. R . TROWER , ROBIN CARAVAN TO MIDNIGHT , CHRYSALIS UK LPV . A . SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE UPTOWN , ATLANTIC US LP mono 64 ; Live recordings of Wilson Pickett , The Drifters , Patty yes , there was an Alex Harvey LP after The Mafia Stole My Guitar ! LENNON , JOHN WALLS AND BRIDGES , CAPITOL US CD ; not re - mixed ! LEVEL 42 TRUE COLOURS , POLYDOR DE CD w / bonus track ; Wally Badarou ! Mc CARTNEY , PAUL UNPLUGGED ( Official Bootleg ) , CAPITOL US CD Numbered edition MITCHUM , ROBERT THAT MAN , BEAR FAMILY DE CD 50 s & 60 s recordings , incl. The Ballad Of Thunder Road and all of his Monument sides ! MOMUS CIRCUS MAXIMUS , CHERRY RED UK CD w / bonus tracks PABLO , AUGUSTUS MELODICA KING , OCHO UK CD dub reggae PABLO , AUGUSTUS / V. A . CLASSIC ROCKERS , ISLAND US CD dub reggae PETER , PAUL & MARY VERY BEST OF , WARNER AUS CD 25 tracks ! SCHULZE , KLAUS PICTURE MUSIC , THUNDERBOLT UK CDV . A . MOJO : REVOLVER RELOADED , MOJO UK CD The Beatles Revolver ( UK version ) re - recorded by contemporary artists V. A . MOJO : TRASH ! THE ROOTS OF PUNK , MOJO UK CDWATTS , ALAN THIS IS IT , LOCUST MUSIC US CD early 60 s esoteric nonsense WIRE DOCUMENT & EYEWITNESS , MUTE UK CD 80 The Swimmer + live material ZAPPA , FRANK THE ARK JULY 1968 , FOO - EEE US CD Beat The Boots Live CD " D " starts tomorrow ! 
My Influences C 15 . 7 - 5 - 06 My Influences C 15 CROCODILES LOOKING AT OURSELVESCROCODILES NEW WAVE GOODBYECROCODILES TEARSDoubtlessly sent to me in the mail before my first visit to NZ in 81 by Chris Ward ( now Chris Clement ) . Fane Flaws ! CROSBY , STILLS & NASH CROSBY , STILLS & NASHCROSBY , STILLS , NASH & YOUNG 4 WAY STREETCROSBY , STILLS , NASH & YOUNG DEJA VUCROSBY , STILLS , NASH & YOUNG SO FAR - GREATEST HITSI went for CS & N because of my interest in Buffalo Springfield . I think my sister Marilyn had their debut LP . CRUCIFERIUS NICE WAY OF LIFE , AThe cover is die - cut , and I found a copy in the used LP bin at Moby Disc in Van Nuys . Nobody told me to buy it . CRUEL SEA DOWN BELOWCRUEL SEA HONEYMOON IS OVER , THECRUEL SEA ROCK ' N ROLL DUDSCRUEL SEA THIS IS NOT THE WAY HOMECRUEL SEA THREE LEGGED DOGI saw a video for Better Get A Lawyer , on a videotape of Rage , from Australia thanks to Ken Grady . The Cruel Sea eventually came and played in Los Angeles ! Tex played the whole show bare - foot . CRYSTALS , THE SING THEIR GREATEST HITS ! Heard em on the radio . CURE , THE 17 SECONDS ( Deluxe edition ) CURE , THE BOYS DON ' T CRYCURE , THE HEAD ON THE DOOR , THECURE , THE JAPANESE WHISPERSCURE , THE KISS ME KISS ME KISS MECURE , THE MIXED UPCURE , THE STANDING ON A BEACH - THE SINGLESCURE , THE THREE IMAGINARY BOYS ( Deluxe edition ) CURE , THE TOP , THEI probably didn t hear The Cure until 17 Seconds came out their 1 st album singles didn t look too interesting to me . I really liked A Forest , and bought the 12 . CURRAN , ALVIN CANTI E VEDUTE DEL GIADINO MAGNETICOCURRAN , ALVIN FIORI CHIARI , FIORI OSCURICURRAN , ALVIN FOR CORNELIUS - ERA ORACURRAN , ALVIN WORKS , THEI just ordered Fiori Chiari , Fiori Oscuri out of a catalog that I saw at the record distributor it was merely a line in a catalog . Just decided to try it , no reason . What a great electro - ambient album it is , too . CURTIS , SONNY BEATLE HITS - FLAMENCO GUITAR STYLEFor the Easy Hits kitsch collection . CURVED AIR AIR CONDITIONINGCURVED AIR BEST OFCURVED AIR LOVECHILDCURVED AIR PHANTASMAGORIACURVED AIR SECOND ALBUMI wanted the debut Curved Air LP because it was a lovely picture disc ! Did I buy it before hearing them on a Warner Brothers sampler LP ? I don t think so . CUTLER , IVOR AN ELPEE AND TWO EPEESCUTLER , IVOR DANDRUFFCUTLER , IVOR GRUTSCUTLER , IVOR JAMMY SMEARSCUTLER , IVOR LIFE IN A SCOTCH SITTING ROOM Vol. 2 CUTLER , IVOR LUDOCUTLER , IVOR PRINCE IVORCUTLER , IVOR PRIVILEGECUTLER , IVOR VELVET DONKEYCUTLER , IVOR WHO TORE YOUR TROUSERS ? I first heard Mr. Cutler on Robert Wyatt s Rock Bottom . It was Mike Mc Goldrick who played me the Dandruff LP . When I lived in England in 1990 , an Ivor Cutler show got scheduled in Bristol , near where I lived . When I went to the venue to inquire about tickets , I was told his show had been cancelled , due to poor health . Mr. Cutler lived another 16 years . He died earlier this year , 2006 . CUTUGNO , TOTO L ' ITALIANOI heard this Italian pop male vocal gem sitting in an Italian restaurant in Paris , Latin Quarter 85 ? CYBOTRON COLOSSUSCYBOTRON CYBOTRONCYBOTRON IMPLOSIONThe importer I worked for used to import LP s from Australia the guy at the exporter used to be in this band ! CZERKINSKY CZERKINSKYI was given a promo CD of this by Mr. Kajino at Nippon - Columbia Records main office in Tokyo , 97 ? = = = So , there we are , finished with C ! 
My Influences C 14 . 7 - 4 - 06 My Influences C 14 Since " Re - starting " my blog , this is the 500 th entry . COWBOYS INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL SIN , THECOWBOYS INTERNATIONAL / LOCKIE , KEN IMPOSSIBLE , THEProbably sold to me by a guy at an LP importer ; perhaps I tried it because of the gimmix cover ( orange plastic sleeve ) . COWSILLS COWSILLS IN CONCERT , THEI remember their radio hits ; I picked up the Concert CD because of the non - LP bonus tracks , I also have another CD COX , MICHAEL BEST OF ( JOE MEEK # 4 ) Joe Meek ! COXHILL , LOL DIGSWELL DUETSCOXHILL , LOL DIVERSECOXHILL , LOL EAR OF BEHOLDERCOXHILL , LOL FLEAS IN CUSTARDCOXHILL , LOL INIMITABLE , THECOXHILL , LOL JOY OF PARANOIACOXHILL , LOL LOL COXHILL + TOTSUZEN DANBALL 2 COXHILL , LOL TOVERBAL SWEETCOXHILL , LOL / MORGAN - FISHER SLOW MUSICCOXHILL , LOL / STEPHEN MILLER COXHILL / MILLERCOXHILL , LOL / STEPHEN MILLER STORY SO FAR ... OH REALLY ? , THEI believe there were copies of Story So Far in a local record store for $ 1 , and I could see Robert Wyatt s name on it . CRACK THE SKY ANIMAL NOTESCRACK THE SKY CRACK THE SKYCRACK THE SKY LIVE SKYCRACK THE SKY SAFETY IN NUMBERS Animal Notes was a promo , when I was working in a hippie record store , 76 Mike Mc Goldrick gave it to me . CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 65 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 65 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 66 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 67 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 68 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 69 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 70 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 71 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 72 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 73 CRAMER , FLOYD CLASS OF ' 74 we imported lots of Japanese - pressed reissues of US 50 s jazz LP s I remember one of our reps got excited when he saw these on the release sheet they d never been re - issued before , since their original release in the 50 s . I have always enjoyed instrumental music , so Jazz U.S.A. sounded good to me . The rep ? Fred Norsworthy , I believe his name was . I wonder if he still walks the Earth ? CRISTINA CRISTINACRISTINA SLEEP IT OFFLike many people I first heard her on KROQ - FM Is That All There Is ? , the rather rude and amusing version . The record for that was completely unavailable in L . A . but I found it on one of my first visits to London . I think Jim Donato still cares . = = = Back from PDX - interesting place ... - Ron . 
My Influences C 13 . 6 - 23 - 06 My Influences C 13 COSBY , BILL 200 M. P . H . COSBY , BILL 8:15 ; 12:15 COSBY , BILL BILL COSBYCOSBY , BILL FOR ADULTS ONLYCOSBY , BILL I STARTED OUT AS A CHILDCOSBY , BILL IS A VERY FUNNY FELLOW - RIGHT ! COSBY , BILL IT ' S TRUE ! IT ' S TRUE ! COSBY , BILL REVENGECOSBY , BILL TO RUSSELL , MY BROTHER , WHOM I SLEPT WITHCOSBY , BILL WHY IS THERE AIR ? COSBY , BILL WONDERFULNESSMy brother was who had the Bill Cosby LP s . Remind me to ask him where he heard of him . COSMIC OVERDOSE 4668 COSMIC OVERDOSE COSMIC OVERDOSEI liked the name and the label ( Silence Records , of Sweden ) , perhaps purchased from a mail - order catalog ? COSMIC VILLAGE NICE AGEYMO cover versions , via David Ponak . I also like the solo works of Hajime Yoshizawa , the guy from this group . COSMOS FACTORY BLACK HOLECOSMOS FACTORY JOURNEY WITH THE COSMOS FACTORY , ACOSMOS FACTORY METAL REFLECTIONCOSMOS FACTORY TRANSYLVANIAN CASTLE [ 1 st ] Some of these were imported into the U.S. by Captiol / EMI , no idea why . Japanese prog seemed to hold some water in those days , what with Chronicle and the Far East Family Band . I didn t get the 1 st album until much later , and I like it ! COSTA , DON INSTRUMENTAL VERSIONS OF SIMON & GARFUNKEL Easy Hits , kitsch collection I think my dad had other Don Costa records COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH C . J . FISHCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH ELECTRIC MUSIC FOR THE MIND & BODYCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH HERE WE ARE AGAINCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH I - FEEL - LIKE - I ' M - FIXIN ' - TO - DIECOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH LIFE AND TIMESCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH REUNIONCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH TOGETHERCOUNTRY JOE & THE FISH / COUNTRY JOE INCREDIBLE ! LIVE ! My sister Marilyn played me Electric Music for the Mind & Body , The Masked Marauder etc. Country Joe was great in Woodstock . I remember trying to play the fish game as a kid . We laughed at Harlem on Together . COUP D ' ETAT COUP D ' ETATNZ band , found em on my first visit in 81 . Mmmm Hello Sailor involvement ? COUTURE , CHARLELIE 3 FOLIES - LIVECOUTURE , CHARLELIE ART ET SCALPCOUTURE , CHARLELIE CASQUE NUCOUTURE , CHARLELIE CROCODILECOUTURE , CHARLELIE DOWNTOWN PROJECTCOUTURE , CHARLELIE LE PECHEURCOUTURE , CHARLELIE LES NAIVESCOUTURE , CHARLELIE MELBOURNE AUSSICOUTURE , CHARLELIE MODERNS , THE ( O . S . T . ) COUTURE , CHARLELIE POCHETTE SURPRISECOUTURE , CHARLELIE POEMES ROCKCOUTURE , CHARLELIE QUOI FAIRE ? COUTURE , CHARLELIE SOLO BOYSCOUTURE , CHARLELIE SOLO GIRLSCOUTURE , CHARLELIE SOUDE - SOUDESCOUTURE , CHARLELIE TCHAO PANTIN ( B . O . F . ) COUTURE , CHARLELIE VICTORIA SPIRITCOUTURE , CHARLELIE / ELIANE , PIERRE LITERATURECOUTURE , CHARLELIE / NOVEMBRE , TOM L ' INSECTEI started with Crocodile , so no wonder I bought all the rest of these ! It was a line in a catalog , from a distributor and it s designation told me it was on Island Records , from France . I d seen his debut Island label LP when I visited Paris for the first time in 79 it has a striking new wave cover . I ve seen him live , in Malakoff C est deja la sud ! a suburb of Paris . He answered me when I wrote to him . He sent me CD s , I sent him clove cigarettes from an Indonesian restaurant . = = = I ' m away until Tuesday July 4 th . Taking a break , but I ' ll pick up right where I left off ! When I post on Tuesday July 4 th , it will be the 500 th post in this incarnation of my blog . Thanks for reading my stuff . Be seeing you , Ron . 
My Influences C 12 . 6 - 22 - 06 My Influences C 12 COOPER , ALICE BILLION DOLLAR BABIESCOOPER , ALICE EASY ACTIONCOOPER , ALICE GOES TO HELLCOOPER , ALICE GREATEST HITSCOOPER , ALICE KILLERCOOPER , ALICE LACE AND WHISKEYCOOPER , ALICE LOVE IT TO DEATHCOOPER , ALICE SCHOOL DAYS ( EARLY RECORDINGS ) COOPER , ALICE SCHOOL ' S OUTI first heard Vince on Zapped , the Frank Zappa Straight / Bizarre label sampler LP , about 1970 . Then I saw them in Diary of a Mad Housewife and on TV in a show called Mid - summer Rock ( which also had Grand Funk and Iggy in it ) . COOPER - CLARKE , JOHN DISGUISE IN LOVECOOPER - CLARKE , JOHN ME AND MY BIG MOUTHCOOPER - CLARKE , JOHN OU EST LA MAISON DE FROMAGE ? COOPER - CLARKE , JOHN SNAP , CRACKLE [ & ] BOPCOOPER - CLARKE , JOHN WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS ( 10 " ) COOPER - CLARKE , JOHN ZIP STYLE METHODGimme the gimmix ! I tried JCC when they released that clear 10 record , about 79 . I really liked Disguise In Love and his movie Ten Years In An Open Necked Shirt . The Innocents single EP is indie groovy , too . Neat guy . COOPERTEST COOPERTESTMmmm given to me by Fay Losvky ( and she guest stars on this CD ) . CORDUROY CLIK ! CORDUROY DAD MAN CATCORDUROY HIGH HAVOCCORDUROY NEW YOU ! , THECORDUROY OUT OF HEREI saw the music video for Motorhead by Corduroy on Rage about 94 , so Ken Grady , once again . COREY , PROF . IRWIN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ... METRIC SYSTEMCOREY , PROF . IRWIN I FEEL MORE LIKE I DO NOWCOREY , PROF . IRWIN WIN WITH IRWINCOREY , PROF . IRWIN WORLD ' S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ... AT LE RUBAN BLEUI remembered him having been a nut on TV , and was delighted to find that he d made records . Is he still alive ? ( Yes ) CORNELIUS 69 / 96 CORNELIUS 96 / 69 CORNELIUS CM & FMCORNELIUS FANTASMACORNELIUS FIRST QUESTION AWARD , THECORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR CAMERA TALKCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR COLOUR ME POPCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR DOCTOR HEAD ' S WORLD TOWERCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR ON PLEASURE BENTCORNELIUS / FLIPPER ' S GUITAR THREE CHEERS FOR OUR SIDEKen Heaton was who first sent me Flipper s Guitar stuff , on cassette ! I found Keigo Oyamada via David Ponak , Tom & Terry , Yasuharu Konishi met Corny in Tokyo in 96 , at Trattoria s office , so thanks also to Hiroko Wayama , who was always my Trattoria facilitator . Saw him live several times , both here & in Japan . CORTE DEI MIRACOLI CORTE DEI MIRACOLII just bought this again recently , having sold my original copy 20 + years ago . It s not Grade A Italian prog rock COS PASIONESCOS POSTAEOLIAN TRAIN ROBBERYCOS SWISS CHALETCOS VIVA BOMACOS / SCHELL , DANIEL & KARO IF WINDOWS THEY HAVEI tried Viva Boma because of the LP cover . I found it in a record store bin in Los Angeles , about 76 . I like it better now than I did then . COSA ROSA COSA ROSACOSA ROSA KEIN ZUFALLPromo CD s from Nancy X @ Sony NYC . Cosa Rosa kind of reminds me of Marianna Rosenberg ( German female vocalists ) . 
My Influences C 11 . 6 - 21 - 06 My Influences C 11 COMELADE , PASCAL PARALOLOLikely from the age of mail - ordering European LP s , must ve been a line in a catalog . I don t remember . COMIC STRIP / Various Artists COMIC STRIP , THESaw em on the TV ; Rik Mayall , Adrian Edmundson , Nigel Planer et al. COMMANDER CODY / LOST PLANET AIRMEN LOST IN THE OZONEI heard Hot Rod Lincoln on the radio ; I really dug this when it was a new release . Great songs . COMMITTEE , THE WIDE WIDE WORLD OF WARThe Little David label was making some spiffy comedy LP s in the 70 s . This was one of em , from the $ 1 bin . COMPANYIA ELECTRICA DHARMA L ' OUCOMBALLACOMPANYIA ELECTRICA DHARMA TRAMUNTANASpanish artist , likely purchased because of the cover and / or ease of availability ( i . e . in a used LP bin , cheap ) . COMUS FIRST UTTERANCECOMUS TO KEEP FROM CRYINGI tried First Utterance because of the cover and label ( Dawn Records ) , it reminded me of Roger Chapman . CON FUNK SHUN BEST OFHeard em on the radio . Funky stuff . CONCEPTION CORPORATION CONCEPTIONLANDCONCEPTION CORPORATION PAUSE IN THE DISASTER , APerhaps I heard these guys on KPFK - FM , on the Sunday Gummies Sunday morning comedy show . CONGRESS OF WONDERS REVOLTINGCONGRESS OF WONDERS SOPHOMORIC ( see listing above , it was Radio Phil that I first heard , I still love it ! ) CONTE , PAOLO JIMMY , BALLANDOI think Fay Lovsky told me about him , when I was visiting Holland . She admired that he was a little old man . CONTORTIONS BUY CONTORTIONSGot this one because I liked the James White & The Blacks album . COODER , RY BOOMER ' S STORYCOODER , RY CROSSROADS ( O . S . T . ) COODER , RY INTO THE PURPLE VALLEYCOODER , RY PARIS , TEXAS ( O . S . T . ) COODER , RY RY COODERCOODER , RY WHY DON ' T YOU TRY ME TONIGHTCOODER , RY / TOURE , ALI FARKA TALKING TIMBUKTUI was sold on Ry Cooder by the cover of the first album . Later , I found out that he was a Rising Son & Rolling Stone . COOK , PETER MISTY MR. WISTY , THECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE BEDAZZLED ( O . S . T . ) COOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE BEHIND THE FRIDGECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE CLEAN TAPES , THECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE DEREK & CLIVE ( LIVE ) COOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE DEREK & CLIVE AD NAUSEUMCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE DEREK & CLIVE COME AGAINCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE GOOD EVENINGCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE GOODBYE AGAINCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE NOT ONLY PETER COOK ... BUT ALSO DUDLEY MOORECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE NOT ONLY ... BUT ALSO ... COOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE ONCE MOORE WITH COOKCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE WORLD OF PETE & DUDCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE etc. BEYOND THE FRINGECOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE etc. BEYOND THE FRINGE - ORIGINAL BROADWAY CASTCOOK , PETER / DUDLEY MOORE etc. BEYOND THE FRINGE ' 64 I ve liked British comedy & comedians since the 60 s . I saw Bedazzled on TV about 1970 , and searched until I found the soundtrack LP for it . Then came Good Evening , then the Derek & Clive albums . I got the Decca LP s in NZ . - Ron . 
My Influences C 10 . 6 - 20 - 06 My Influences C 10 COLD CHISEL CIRCUS ANIMALSIn 2006 , I have a lot of time for the Aussie working band ethic . It s just Rock Music , but I know they worked hard at it . COLE , B . J . TRANSPARENT MUSICI remembered him from the 70 s , steel guitarist on many assorted LP s . I got this because of his work with Luke Vibert . COLEMAN , ORNETTE DANCING IN YOUR HEADYou only have to hear this once , huh ? Then it s never forgotten . Thank you , Jay Green of Poo Bah Record Shop . COLLIER , GRAHAM NEW CONDITIONSI got this at Mole Music in London , Pete Brown took me there . I knew Collier had British 70 s jazz LP s that I wanted , but this was what was on offer . Lately , I am so into British jazz of the 60 s I got What s Bootsy Doin for the Bill Laswell vibe . COLLINS , EDWYN GORGEOUS GEORGEI prefer Edwyn Collins as a solo artist to his work with Orange Juice . My GF was who has been playing to me . COLLINS , GLENDA BEEN INVITED TO A PARTYGot it when I lived in England produced by Joe Meek . Thank you , Jim Blake . COLLINS , JUDY # 3 COLLINS , JUDY COLORS OF THE DAY ( BEST OF ) COLLINS , JUDY FIFTH ALBUMCOLLINS , JUDY GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUNCOLLINS , JUDY IN MY LIFECOLLINS , JUDY JUDY COLLINS CONCERT , THECOLLINS , JUDY LIVINGCOLLINS , JUDY MAID OF CONSTANT SORROW , ACOLLINS , JUDY WHALES & NIGHTINGALESCOLLINS , JUDY WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES ? COLLINS , JUDY WILDFLOWERSMy sisters played me Judy Collins albums . My mother liked Someday Soon . I liked Both Side Now . I read her book . COLLINS , SHIRLEY & DOLLY ANTHEMS IN EDENBecause it was on the Harvest label . COLOMBIER , MICHEL OLD FOOL BACK ON EARTHBecause he was an arranger for Serge Gainsbourg . COLONEL JUBILATION B . JOHNSON MOLDY GOLDIESOddball novelty LP that featured a whacked - out cover version of Dylan s Rainy Day Women # 12 & # 35 . Thanks , Bob ! COLOSSEUM COLLECTOR ' S COLOSSEUMCOLOSSEUM COLOSSEUM LIVECOLOSSEUM DAUGHTER OF TIMECOLOSSEUM GRASS IS GREENER , THECOLOSSEUM THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE SALUTE YOUCOLOSSEUM VALENTYNE SUITECOLOSSEUM / HECKSTALL - SMITH , DICK STORY ENDED , ACOLOSSEUM / HECKSTALL - SMITH , DICK WOZA NASUI probably first bought Colosseum albums because of the heavy duty Cream vibe . I started with The Grass Is Greener . COLUMBUS , RAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCK ' N ' ROLLCOLUMBUS , RAY HIS 14 GREATEST HITS ( 1964 - 1974 ) COLUMBUS , RAY JANGLES , SPANGLES AND BANNERSCOLUMBUS , RAY RAY COLUMBUS ALBUMCOLUMBUS , RAY & THE INVADERS ANTHOLOGYCOLUMBUS , RAY & THE INVADERS ORIGINAL NUMBERSCOLUMBUS , RAY & THE INVADERS TILL WE KISSED ( GREATEST HITS OF ) When I first got to NZ in 81 , it was like greeting a new vista of music . OMG , NZ 60 s music ! And Ray is King . COMATEENS DEAL WITH ITCOMATEENS PICTURES ON A STRINGPurchased after the fact found em in the 99 cent bin . I believe there s some Etienne Daho connection here . 
My Influences C 9 . 6 - 19 - 06 My Influences C 9 CMU SPACE CABARETCMU SPACE CABARET / OPEN SPACESI heard Space Cabaret LP playing in Tower Records in Hollywood , when it was a new release . I liked the electric piano . COASTERS , THE COAST ALONG WITH THE COASTERSCOASTERS , THE COASTERS , THECOASTERS , THE GREATEST HITSCOASTERS , THE JUST COASTIN ' COASTERS , THE ONE BY ONECOASTERS , THE THUMBIN ' A RIDECOASTERS , THE WAKE ME , SHAKE MECOASTERS , THE WHAT IS THE SECRET OF YOUR SUCCESS ? The other night we painted posters , we played some records by The Coasters from Status Back Baby by Frank Zappa I understood the synergy between Joe & Leon Russell etc. Rock music . COCONUT ROUGH COCONUT ROUGHCOCONUT ROUGH / NARCS WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORKI was already a Pop Mechanix fan and a Blam Blam Blam fan . I was waiting for this group ! COEUR MAGIQUE WAKAN TANKAGreat cartoon cover , French band , on Byg all stuff that I like . And it was in the $ 1 bin . COHEN , ADAM ADAM COHENSon of Leonard . COHEN , LEONARD COHEN LIVECOHEN , LEONARD DEATH OF A LADIES ' MANCOHEN , LEONARD FUTURE , THECOHEN , LEONARD I ' M YOUR MANCOHEN , LEONARD LIEBESTRAUME ( Collection ) COHEN , LEONARD LIVE SONGSCOHEN , LEONARD LIVE ! FROM THE COMPLEX 4 / 93 COHEN , LEONARD NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONYCOHEN , LEONARD RECENT SONGSCOHEN , LEONARD SIX MONTREAL POETS - Various Artists COHEN , LEONARD SONGS FROM A ROOMCOHEN , LEONARD SONGS OF A SERIOUS OLD MAN pirate COHEN , LEONARD SONGS OF LEONARD COHENCOHEN , LEONARD SONGS OF LOVE AND HATECOHEN , LEONARD VARIOUS POSITIONSCOHEN , LEONARD ZURICH 1993 pirate My sister Susie played me L . C . even before I saw his songs used in Mc Cabe & Mrs. Miller . The debut album breaks my heart , New Skin lights my fire I love his work , and am truly glad he still walks the Earth . Seen him live , I have his autograph , I ve read his books . 
My Influences C 8 . 6 - 16 - 06 My Influences C 8 CLARKE , JOHN / BRYAN DAWE ANNUAL REPORTCLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG FRED DAGG ANTHOLOGYCLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG FRED DAGG LIVECLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG FRED DAGG TAPES , THECLARKE , JOHN / FRED DAGG GREATEST HITSChris Ward ( now Chris Clement ) told me about Fred Dagg ( comedian John Clarke ) and his sons named Trevor , 1980 CLASSICS IV VERY BEST OFHeard em on the radio my mother always liked Traces . CLAW BOYS CLAW ANGELBITECLAW BOYS CLAW CRACK MY NUTCLAW BOYS CLAW HITKILLERS - THE BEAST OF C . B.C. CLAW BOYS CLAW SUGERI saw a music video for So Mean , and liked the groove . I once met Piete Te Bos of CBC , in the street in Amsterdam I was walking to / from an Indonesian restaurant with Henk Hofstede of The Nits . Might ve been the Utrechtsestraat , near the Tempo Doeloe restaurant right by the Concerto Record Shop . He was holding a pair of crash cymbals . CLEAN , THE GREAT SOUNDS GREAT ... CLEAN , THE MODERN ROCKCLEAN , THE UNKNOWN COUNTRYCLEAN , THE / GREAT UNWASHED CLEAN OUT OF OUR MINDSCLEAN , THE / KILGOUR , DAVID HERE COME THE CARSI tried their Boodle Boodle Boodle EP on my first visit to NZ 81 ; maybe next visit I was recognized in Queen Street by Hamish Kilgour , the drummer of The Clean . Maybe Chris Knox told him about me ( visiting NZ , looking for music ) I m not sure . We became friendly , I eventually went and stayed with Hamish at his home in Christchurch but that wasn t until 85 or so . Hamish also came and visited Los Angeles . I think he lives in NYC now . My emails to him bounced , recently . Phone home , Hamish ! CLEAR LIGHT CLEAR LIGHTI bought it because it was on Elektra Records ; a Paul A . Rothchild production ! I love their She s Ready To Be Free 45 . CLEARLIGHT SYMPHONY CLEARLIGHT SYMPHONYCLEARLIGHT SYMPHONY DELIRED CHAMELEON FAMILY ( B . O . F . ) CLEARLIGHT SYMPHONY FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLESI tried em because of the Gilbert Artman connection . Pierre Clementi ! CLIMAX BLUES BAND GOLD PLATEDHeard Couldn t Get It Right on the radio and always rather liked it . I don t know much about their stuff , however . CLINTON , GEORGE BEST OFOn the funky funky radio . Do Fries Go With That Shake ? ( I will never forget Flooky s in Hollywood ) . Earth calling George ! CLOSE , DEL / JOHN BRENT HOW TO SPEAK HIPMy brother told me about this album , maybe 35 + years ago . More recently , Japanese DJ s have sampled it . CLOUD NINE WATERLANDThis is the band of the one - time female vocalist of The Nits . CLOUDS COLLAGECLOUDS OCTOPUSCLOUDS PENNY CENTURYCLOUDS THUNDERHEADI probably saw a Bower Of Bliss video on Rage and found the CD s in the bargain bin . Thanks to Ken Grady , once again ! CLOUDS U . K . CLOUDS SCRAPBOOKI am still looking for their other albums ! I was always curious , what with them being an Island UK 60 s act . CLOVERS , THE DOWN IN THE ALLEYI ve been a Coasters fan since I was 10 so , naturally , I investigated other Atlantic R & B acts . CLUSTER CLUSTERCLUSTER CLUSTER IICLUSTER ZUCKERZEITCLUSTER / KLUSTER KLOPFZEICHENCLUSTER / KLUSTER ZWEI OSTEREICluster comes very close to the beginning of my interest in German bands . I think Cluster II was first for me , and I probably bought it solely because it was German and it had a cool cover it is the LP spine you can see in a wall of records from across the room ! But did I buy it at Moby Disc ? Did my brother send me this ? Been too long can t remember everything ! 
Recent items . 6 - 15 - 06 I m going to take a breath the large alphabet will continue tomorrow . Here is a partial list of what I have been listening to / considering for the last few weeks ARTHEY ORCH . , JOHNNY GOLDEN SONGS OF DONOVAN , RCA US LPWow , this is the second Donovan Easy Hits album ( the other one is by Vic Lewis ) BARDOT , BRIGITTE BEST OF , PHILIPS JPN CDJapanese CD purchased as much for the Serge Gainsbourg content . BASIA LONDON WARSAW NEW YORK , EPIC / SONY JPN CDFor some reason , I always like finding Japanese versions of common CD s . BEDFORD , DAVID / V. A . TWO POEMS FOR CHORUS , DEUTSCHE G LPI have been fond of the classical works of Mr. Bedford for some time ; Soft Machine - related . BEE GEES / V. A . SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER ( O . S . T . ) , RSO US CD re Yes , the re - mastered CD for $ 3 ! BOWIE , DAVID MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD , TOSHIBA JPN CD re BOWIE , DAVID / TIN MACHINE RADIO SESSION , VICTOR JPN CD single One more Bowie CD to the collection and I always check out Tin Machine train wrecks . CAPALDI , JIM SHOE SHINE , RSO US 12 promo Solo 12 from the drummer and back - up vocalist of Traffic . I am always interested CARNIVAL , THE THE CARNIVAL , VIVID SOUND JPN CDPerverse Japan - only CD L . A . session musicians trying to sound like Sergio Mendes / Brasil 66 . DAVIES , PETER MAXWELL IMAGE BAIRNS RUNES , UNICORN UK LPDAVIES , PETER MAXWELL MAVIS IN LAS VEGAS , COLLINS UK CDMore 20 th century classical music always did like his Ken Russell film scores DOLDINGER , KLAUS DAS BOOT ( O . S . T . ) , ATLANTIC US CDI never saw Das Boot , but I understand it is a decent movie . And I like Doldinger . DURAN DURAN / ARCADIA ELECTION DAY , PARLOPHONE UK 12 W / PS 3 / 5 of Duran Duran as arcadia in 85 OK . Why ? Not a bad song , actually . HECKSTALL - SMITH , DICK A STORY ENDED , ARCHIVE JPN CD re Japanese little album cover of one of my all - time favorite albums ; 5 x bonus tracks ! KINGS OF CONVENIENCE / V. A . VERSUS , ASTRALWERKS US CDRemixes / reworkings I picked this up because of the presence of Alfie I love his songs on You Are What You Eat . Probably time for me to finish up my Peter Paul & Mary collection . = = = Back with more alphabet tomorrow ! - Ron . 
My Influences C 7 . 6 - 14 - 06 My Influences C 7 CHRISMA CHINESE RESTAURANTCHRISMA HIBERNATIONCHRISMA / KRISMA CATHODE MAMMACHRISMA / KRISMA CLANDESTINE ANTICIPATION Chinese Restaurant came first it was Italian , so I was naturally interested , but it s not progressive rock . I kept it . I was somewhat validated when Cathode Mamma was really good with Hans Zimmer etc. CHRISTMAS , KEITH BRIGHTER DAYPurchased because it was on the Manticore label ; and 30 + years later , I had never heard it . Tenuous King Crimson connection . CHRONICLE ... LIKE A MESSAGE FROM THE STARSCHRONICLE IMAWA TOKINO SUBETECHRONICLE LIVE AT THE WHISKY A - GO - GOTony Harrington walked into the hippie record store I was working at , sometime in early 1977 , with Like A Message From The Stars under his arm he gave copies to myself and Mike Mc Goldrick . Tony we had been friends for nearly 30 years . And it started with Chronicle . CIBO MATTO SUPER RELAXCIBO MATTO VIVA ! LA WOMANI was given promos of these 2 x CD s by David Ponak we were doing Japanese music together for most of the 1990 s but I think he was more of a fan of New Rock , Cibo Matto and Buffalo Daughter , than I was . Still , funny stuff . CID , JOSE 10000 ANOS DEPOIS ENTRE VENUSMr . David Overstreet of Art Sublime Records turned me on to this Portugese 70 s progressive rock ! CINE TECHNO YUKIHIRO SELECTIONI believe the Yukihiro in question is YMO s Yukihiro Takahashi synthesizer versions of film themes . Found it in Tokyo . CITIZEN BAND CITIZEN BANDCITIZEN BAND JUST DROVE THRU TOWNCITIZEN BAND PIRATECITIZEN BAND RUST IN MY CARWhen I first hit NZ in 81 , I was amazed at how many records seemed to have people from Split Enz on them . Citizen Band were probably the best link to what I liked about Split Enz , with only The Swingers being more on target . CITY BOY DINNER AT THE RITZCITY BOY YOUNG MEN GONE WESTI started picking these up when I realized that Van Der Graaf Generator people were side men to this band . CITY BOYS LIFE OF CITY BOYS , AGot this as a promo at Trattoria Records in Tokyo arigato gozaimasu to Hiroko Wayama ! FPM & P 5 connections . CLARK FIVE , DAVE 25 THUMPING GREAT HITSCLARK FIVE , DAVE BEST OFHeard em on the radio Can t You See That She s Mine was likely first . I used to have a Session UK LP long gone . CLARK , ANNE PRESSURE POINTSProduced by John Foxx . CLARK , DOUG / HOT NUTS ON CAMPUSLooked smutty . Mike Mc Goldrick was probably who first told me about this band . CLARK , ROY ENTERTAINER , THECLARK , ROY SUPERPICKERI saw him on Hee Haw ! CLARK , SONNY COOL STRUTTIN 're CLARK , SONNY DIAL ' S ' FOR SONNYCLARK , SONNY SONNY CLARK TRIOCLARK , SONNY STANDARDSWhen the CD of Cool Struttin first came out , I was standing in Logo s Records in Santa Cruz so , the very first time I ever heard this monumental jazz hard bop classic , it was all 6 cuts as found on the Blue Note CD . So , late 80 s for me . Cool abum . 
My Influences C 6 . 6 - 13 - 06 My Influences C 6 CHAPPIE NEW CHAPPIEI bought it in Tokyo , because of the Groovisions cover art , and tenuous FPM and P 5 connections . CHAVIN , CHINGA COUNTRY P * RNCHAVIN , CHINGA JET LAGThis came out when I was working in a record store ; I loved anything smutty then , so I tried it , and I even saw him live ! CHEAP TRICK AT BUDOKANI remember the Cheap Trick mania and I eventually got to go to Budokan in Tokyo myself to see Cornelius . CHEDID , LOUIS BIZARCHEDID , LOUIS BRAVO A LOUID CHEDIDCHEDID , LOUIS CES MOTS SONT POUR TOI ... CHEDID , LOUIS ENTRE NOUSCHEDID , LOUIS GOLDCHEDID , LOUIS ZAPI think Bob Gaulke told me to buy Bizar or did I merely find a cheap CD of it ? No , Bob told me about Revolution . CHERRY , DON ART DECOCHERRY , DON BROWN RICECHERRY , DON DON CHERRY ( ORIENT / EAGLE EYE etc. ) CHERRY , DON HOME BOY - SISTER OUTCHERRY , DON MU , FIRST PARTCHERRY , DON MU , SECOND PARTCHERRY , DON ORGANIC MUSICCHERRY , DON / PENDERECKI NEW ETERNAL RHYTHM ORCHESTRA Brown Rice was definitely my first Don Cherry LP I checked it out because it was produced by Corrado Bachelli , a guy who was working with some Italian bands that I liked . I was likely made aware of this fact by Armando Gallo . CHERRY , NENEH RAW LIKE SUSHII always did like Kisses On The Wind she s Don Cherry s daughter , too . CHICAGO CHICAGO AT CARNEGIE HALL ( 4 LP boxed set ) CHICAGO CHICAGO IICHICAGO CHICAGO IIICHICAGO CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITYCHICAGO CHICAGO VCHICAGO CHICAGO VII heard South California Purples on the FM radio , about 70 . I ve known a few Chicago fans over the years . CHICKENMAN BEST OFCHICKENMAN CHICKENMAN RETURNSCHICKENMAN PUFFY SLEEVES AND OTHER EXQUISITE FOOLISHNESSI wanted the Chickenman LP because it appeared on the Atco Records innersleeve . Took me a few years to find it . CHICKS , THE CHICKS SECOND ALBUM , THECHICKS , THE C ' MON CHICKSCHICKS , THE LONG TIME COMIN ' , ACHICKS , THE SOUND OF THE CHICKS , THEI picked these up in New Zealand , because they looked funky in an NZ 60 s sort of way . Nobody told me to buy em . CHIHUAHUA NOMAD LANDI saw Chihuahua perform as the band behind the Archaos Circus , when I lived in England in 1990 . They re like Mano Negra . CHILLS BRAVE WORDSCHILLS KALEIDOSCOPE WORLDCHILLS SOFT BOMBCHILLS SUBMARINE BELLSI think it was the Rolling Moon 45 that piqued my curiosity I bought it in a store on Queen Street in Auckland . Seen ' em live . CHINA CRISIS DIARY OF A HOLLOW HORSECHINA CRISIS WHAT PRICE PARADISECHINA CRISIS WORKING WITH FIRE AND STEELJim Donato always talks these guys up am I missing the really good one , or what ? CHOCOLAT ONE TOO MANY CHOCOLATPicked up because of the Hideki Kaji connection ( he wrote or produced or played on this ) . 
My Influences C 5 . 6 - 12 - 06 My Influences C 5 CELENTANO , ADRIANO HIT PARADE : LE VOLTE CHE ... CELENTANO , ADRIANO I MALI DEL SECOLOCELENTANO , ADRIANO IL FORESTIEROCELENTANO , ADRIANO IL RAGAZZO DELLA VIA GLUCKCELENTANO , ADRIANO IL RE DEGLI IGNORANTICELENTANO , ADRIANO IO NON SO PARLAR D ' AMORECELENTANO , ADRIANO LE ROBE CHA HA DETTO ADRIANOCELENTANO , ADRIANO NON MI DIRCELENTANO , ADRIANO NOSTALROCKCELENTANO , ADRIANO SUPREMOCELENTANO , ADRIANO SVALUTATIONCELENTANO , ADRIANO TI AVRO ' I found a Non Mi Dir CD at Rockaway Records in L . A . I was dismissive of Celentano in the 70 s it wasn t prog rock ! But in the 80 s , Italian pop male vocals were just FINE with me . The next person I met who liked Celentano was Constantin Andrei . CELESTE CELESTEFrom the age of automatically buying anything new from Italy it s on the Grog label , a good label . The cover isn t much , but that looks like some New Trolls guys ! Self - referential by 76 . CELIBATE RIFLES BLIND EARCELIBATE RIFLES MINA MINA MINACELIBATE RIFLES SIDEROXYLONCELIBATE RIFLES SOFACELIBATE RIFLES SPACEMAN IN A SATIN SUITI never listened at the time , but I saw videos from these guys on Rage and liked them , thanks to Ken Grady . Tick Tock ! CENTRAL BROADCASTING ORCH . PHASES OF THE MOONI think I picked this up in New Zealand , for some reason . Perhaps it merely looked out of place Chinese music in NZ ? CERVELLO MELOSThis had such a great cover ! I may have heard it from Greg Stewart on KPFK - FM , but or maybe Jim Hresko told me about it ? Or did I figure out on my own that guys from Osanna were in this band ? Would I still have bought if I knew that this record doesn t have a keyboard player ? It s a great album , and I frequently tout it as the best Italian 70 s prog rock record without a keyboard player I have an autographed copy ! ( Got it signed when Nova came to town ! ) CHACKSFIELD , FRANK PLAYS THE BEATLES ' SONGBOOK Easy Hits , kitsch collection . Tony Harrington was always amused that I knew who Mr. Chacksfield was . My dad told me . CHAGRIN D ' AMOUR CHAGRIN D ' AMOURCHAGRIN D ' AMOUR MON BOB ET MOII got a promo 45 of Chacun Fait from the Japanese record distributor , about 81 got the rest in France . Slim Pezin ! CHAMBERS BROTHERS , THE TIME HAS COME , THEHeard it on the radio ! 35 + years later , I got a CD of it for $ 3 , to see if it was a psychedelic as I remember it being . It was . CHAMFORT , ALAIN AMOUR , ANNEE ZEROCHAMFORT , ALAIN DOUBLE VIECHAMFORT , ALAIN MARIAGE A L ' ESSAICHAMFORT , ALAIN NEUFCHAMFORT , ALAIN PERSONNE N ' EST PARFAITCHAMFORT , ALAIN POSESCHAMFORT , ALAIN ROCK ' N ROSECHAMFORT , ALAIN SECRETS GLACESCHAMFORT , ALAIN TENDRES FIEVRESCHAMFORT , ALAIN TROUBLEI bought a CD of Tendres Fievre in San Francisco ( at Rooks I saw a Wally Badarou production credit . That was all it took . What a bonus I later discovered he had been a Gainsbourg collaborator ! CHAPMAN , MICHAEL FULLY QUALIFIED SURVIVORCHAPMAN , MICHAEL LIFE ON THE CEILINGCHAPMAN , MICHAEL RAINMAKERCHAPMAN , MICHAEL WINDOWCHAPMAN , MICHAEL WRECKED AGAINI tried a cheap LP of Fully Qualified Survivor ( with Mick Ronson ) because it was on the Harvest label , probably about 71 or so . I was stoked to discover that members of Spring were on Wrecked Again . 
My Influences C 4 . 6 - 9 - 06 My Influences C 4 CARLOS , WALTER CLOCKWORK ORANGE , AI knew this was synthesizer music ( same guy as Switched On Bach , right ? ) I wanted to see the film because of the music . CARMEL STRINGS / LARRY KNECHTEL BOSS BAROQUEKitsch collection , Easy Hits . L . A . session musicians . CARNIVAL , THE CARNIVAL , THEMy dad had this record . Grade A kitsch , Easy Hits . I just found the Japanese CD of this album !! Fake Sergio Mendes ! CARSON , JOHNNY HERE ' S JOHNNY - MAGIC MOMENTS from ' TONIGHT SHOW ' CARSON , JOHNNY INTRODUCTION TO NEW YORK AND THE WORLD ' S FAIRI saw him on the TV , and liked him a lot . Late night TV has never been th same , without Mr. Carson . CARTHY , MARTIN SHEARWATEROn the Mooncrest / B & C label , a cousin to Charisma and the cover was good . UK folk music . CASH , ALVIN / REGISTERS TWINE TIMEI heard Twine Time on the radio when I was about 7 or 8 years old I even made a tape recording of it , off of the radio ( something my father showed me how to do ) . I found the LP about 20 years later , and a whole gang of 45 s . Alvin , R . I. P . CASH , JOHNNY AT FOLSOM PRISON AND SAN QUENTINCASH , JOHNNY BEST OFCASH , JOHNNY BLOOD , SWEAT AND TEARSCASH , JOHNNY CHRISTMAS : THE JOHNNY CASH FAMILYCASH , JOHNNY EVERYBODY LOVES A NUTCASH , JOHNNY FABULOUS JOHNNY CASH , THECASH , JOHNNY HOLY LAND , THEI saw him on the TV . The Holy Land had a 3 D cover ! Boy Named Sue was omni - present in elementary school . CASSIDY , SHAUN WASPI was definitely working in a record store or distributor this album walked down the pike and immediately , we knew something was up look at those songs ! Oh , wait a minute . Produced by Todd Rundgren . Maybe we should play it ? It is a strange record . Pyramid parties in Marina Del Rey ! WTF ? Yes , this is Shaun s last album . CASTRO - NEVES , OSCAR TROPICAL HEARTThe piano player for Sergio Mendes I tried this because it is an audiophile ( JVC XRCD ) disc . CAT MOTHERS / ALL NIGHT NEWS BOYS STREET GIVETH AND THE STREET TAKETH AWAY , THEProduced by Jimi Hendrix . I want to get some of their other albums ! CATALOGUE ANTWERPEN LIVE 11 AUG 1979 1.30 H BELGIECATALOGUE INSOMNIEGiven to me by either Gilles Yepremian or Jean Francois Pauvros or Jac Berrocal . CATAPULT CATAPULTI knew Let Your Hair Hang Down from a sampler LP , and I found this LP on a visit to Holland . Dutch glam rock ! CATHARSIS Vol. 1 MASQCATHARSIS Vol. 2 LES CHEVRONSCATHARSIS Vol. 3 32 MARSCATHARSIS Vol. 4 ILLUMINATIONSCATHARSIS Vol. 5 BOLERO DU VEAU DES DAMES , LECATHARSIS Vol. 6 ET S ' AIMER ... ET MOURIRCATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND LA BALANCE ( B . O . F . ) CATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND PARADIACATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND ROBOT BLEUCATHARSIS / BOCQUET , ROLAND ROBOT ROSEI think I got Paradia first , about 77 . I love that album . On my first visit to Paris in 79 , I looked him up in the phone book . I had mail - ordered maybe one or two Catharsis LP s from Intergalactic Trading Company in Portland and I found the rest in record stores in Paris . Roland gave me lots of neat records singles by Henriette Coulouvrat that he produced , tapes of unreleased albums ( Atlantide ) and later he sent me the Robot Rose and Robot Bleu LP s . Last time I sent him a New Year s card , it came back about 6 months later so I ve lost his address . Roland ! Please phone home ! CELEBRITY SKIN GOOD CLEAN FUNI ve known Don Bolles for over 25 years and the Celebrity Skin records make me laugh . 
My Influences C 3 . 6 - 8 - 06 My Influences C 3 CANNED HEAT BOOGIE WITH CANNED HEATCANNED HEAT UNCANNED ! - THE BEST OFI heard Goin Up The Country on the radio . CANNON , ACE ACE OF SAXCANNON , ACE BABY DON ' T GET HOOKED ON MECANNON , ACE CANNON COUNTRYCANNON , ACE COOL ' N SAXYCANNON , ACE SUPER SAX COUNTRY STYLECANNON , ACE TUFF - SAXMy Bill Black Combo fandom lead me to Ace Cannon . CANNON , FREDDY BEST OFMy brother ( ? ) had a 45 of Way Down Yonder In New Orleans , which I found in my home , as a kid . CAOLI , CANO EXTRA BRIGHTCAOLI , CANO FAMILIACAOLI , CANO FINECAOLI , CANO HADAKA DE AIMASHOUCAOLI , CANO OH LA LACAOLI , CANO / CIOCCOLATA CIOCCOLATACAOLI , CANO / CIOCCOLATA L ' ALMA BELLACAOLI , CANO / CIOCCOLATA SPECIALI bet I got a promo of her TRA Project Cioccolata cassette from the Japanese exporter , liked it and ordered her stuff as it came out . I had no idea she had re - positioned herself as a solo artist in the 90 s I found that out upon my first real visit to Japan in 94 . CAPABILITY BROWN FROM SCRATCHCAPABILITY BROWN LIAR ( Collection ) CAPABILITY BROWN VOICECAPABILITY BROWN / KRAZY KAT CHINA SEASCAPABILITY BROWN / KRAZY KAT TROUBLED AIRI was liking the Charisma label Genesis , Monty Python etc. It was easy to spot From Scratch in the 50 cent bin , at my local hippie record store . Less than a year later , I found a $ 1 promo of Voice , which I think is incredible . I got to tease Armando Gallo about taking photos of Capability Brown , when he published a big book of photos of Genesis When s your Capability Brown book coming out ? . I found the Krazt Kay LP s when working at the record distributor we probably tried a copy of the first one , just because it was new I saw who they were , and CAPLAN , JIL A PEINE 21 ANSCAPLAN , JIL AVANT QU ' IL NE SOIT TROP TARDCAPLAN , JIL JIL CAPLANCAPLAN , JIL LA CHARMEUSE DES SERPENTSI believe Jil Caplan came from the French book store La Cite on Westwood Blvd . , which is , sadly , long gone . I was looking at the new French CD s , and saw that A Peine 21 Ans was produced / written by Jay Alanski , the man who did Lio . That was all it took . CAPTAIN BEYOND CAPTAIN BEYONDHey , man this had a 3 D cover ! Then I heard Thousand Days Of Yesterday on the FM radio CARAVAN BBC 1969 - 1973 pirate CARAVAN CARAVANCARAVAN CARAVAN & THE NEW SYMPHONIACARAVAN FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHTCARAVAN IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN CARAVAN IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINKCARAVAN WATERLOO LILYCARAVAN / SINCLAIR , RICHARD CARAVAN OF DREAMSI think Steve Zepeda tried to turn me on to them , but I was more interested in Robert Wyatt . How did I come back around to Caravan ? An inexpensive copy of In The Land of Grey & Pink , perhaps ? CARLIN , GEORGE CARLIN ON CAMPUSCARLIN , GEORGE CLASS CLOWNCARLIN , GEORGE EVENING WITH WALLY LONDO ... , ANCARLIN , GEORGE FM & AMCARLIN , GEORGE OCCUPATION : FOOLECARLIN , GEORGE ON THE ROADCARLIN , GEORGE PLACE FOR MY STUFF , ACARLIN , GEORGE TAKE - OFFS & PUT - ONSCARLIN , GEORGE TOLEDO WINDOW BOXI saw him on the TV , and probably read an article about The 7 Words You Cannot Say on Television . 
My Influences C 2 . 6 - 7 - 06 My Influences C 2 CAMP , HAMILTON WELCOME TO HAMILTON CAMPI heard this on a Warner Brothers sampler LP ! CAMPBELL , ARCHIE ARCHIE CAMPBELLCAMPBELL , ARCHIE BEST OFCAMPBELL , ARCHIE COCKFIGHT AND OTHER TALL TALES , THECAMPBELL , ARCHIE GOLDEN YEARS , THECAMPBELL , ARCHIE / LORENE MANN TELL IT LIKE IT ISI saw him on Hee Haw ! CAMPBELL , JIMMY HALF BAKEDI bought this because it was on the Vertigo label . 30 years later , I found out who he was a Liverpool singer / songwriter and not a progressive rock artist ( which was what I was hoping / expecting ) . Decent singer / songwriter stuff . CAN CANCAN CANNIBALISMCAN CANNIBALISM 2 CAN CLASSIC GERMAN ROCK SCENECAN DELAY 1968 CAN EGE BAMYASICAN FLOW MOTIONCAN FUTURE DAYS re CAN GERMANY 1976 Vol. 1 pirate CAN GREAT BRITAIN 1977 Vol. 2 pirate CAN LANDEDCAN LIMITED EDITIONCAN MONSTER MOVIECAN OPENERCAN OUT OF REACHCAN RADIO WAVES pirate CAN RITE TIMECAN ROCK IN DEUTSCHLAND Vol. 6 CAN SACRILEGE ( Remixes ) CAN SAW DELIGHTCAN SOON OVER BABALUMACAN SOUNDTRACKSCAN TAGO MAGOCAN UNLIMITED EDITIONCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER CANAXIS 5 CAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER DER OSTEN IST ROTCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER FULL CIRCLECAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER MOVIESCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER MOVING PICTURESCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER ON THE WAY TO THE PEAK OF NORMALCAN / CZUKAY , HOLGER TECHNICAL SPACE COMPOSER ' S CREWCAN / KAROLI , MICHAEL / POLLY ELTES DELUGECAN / PHANTOM BAND FREEDOM OF SPEECHCAN / PHANTOM BAND PHANTOM BANDCAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN ANTHOLOGY - SOUNDTRACKS ' 78 - ' 93 ( 3 CD boxed set ) CAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN FILMMUSIK Vol. 1 CAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN FILMMUSIK Vol. 2 CAN / SCHMIDT , IRMIN FILMMUSIK Vol. 3 but the first one I tried was Unlimited Edition , which I found for $ 3 ( a promo copy , even ! ) at Moby Disc in Van Nuys , California . I went to Germany in 1979 and met Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit , thanks to an introduction by my former drummer ( John Payne ) . A year or two later , I went and visited Holger with Andreas Thein , from the group Propaganda . I ve written to Hildegard Schmidt , wife of Irmin Schmidt asking about Swiss nylon - string guitarist Thomas Diethelm ( who Irmin produced ) . Start with Soon Over Babaluma , then buy Landed , then get Czukay s Movies if you re still in the pool , get Schmidt s Soundtracks 78 - 93 3 CD anthology . 
My Influences C 1 . 6 - 6 - 06 My Influences C 1 CABBAGEBOY GENETICALLY MODIFIEDGary Steel told me about this , standing in Amoeba Records in Hollywood fall of 05 . CACCIAPAGLIA , ROBERTO GENERAZIONI DEL CIELOCACCIAPAGLIA , ROBERTO SEI NOTE IN LOGICACACCIAPAGLIA , ROBERTO SONANZE Sonanze came first , and I probably picked it up just because it was an Italian record , nobody told me it was good . CAF CR ME CAF CR MEWell , it certainly looked interesting a French band on the Harvest label , doing a Beatles medley ! CAFE TACUBA REVES / YOSOIDavid Ponak hipped me to this , good and proper . A fantastic CD that more people need to hear . CAGE , JOHN EXTENDED VOICES - Various Artists CAGE , JOHN INDETERMINACYCAGE , JOHN JOHN CAGE - CHRISTIAN WOLFFCAGE , JOHN NOVA MUSICHA N .1 CAGE , JOHN VARIATIONS IV Vol. 2 CAGE , JOHN / BABBITT , MILTON NEW ELECTRONIC MUSIC FROM LEADERS ... CAGE , JOHN / JAN STEELE VOICES AND INSTRUMENTSCAGE , JOHN / TUDOR , DAVID SECOND WIND FOR ORGAN , AAs an 11 / 12 - year - old , I went to the Thrifty Drug Store a lot sometimes along , sometimes with my dad . They had a cheapie bin of records , what we would come to know as cut - outs , where records would have a hole drilled in the cover , and as cheap as 57 cents ! The top price for the cut - out bin was $ 1.98 at this time ( roughly 1970 ) . I consider myself pretty fortunate to have found a $ 1.98 copy of Indeterminacy , when I was about 12 years old in just such a bin . A 2 LP set in a box , $ 1.98 . It looked interesting . No , I did not know who he was . I did not know it was a spoken word album . Hoping that it has some synthesizer music on it , I plunked down my meager allowance for this unknown album . It changed my life . CALE , JOHN ACADEMY IN PERIL , THECALE , JOHN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCECALE , JOHN CALE STREET pirate CALE , JOHN CARIBBEAN SUNSETCALE , JOHN DOWN AT THE END OF LONELY STREET pirate CALE , JOHN DRIFT STUDY pirate CALE , JOHN EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUESCALE , JOHN FEARCALE , JOHN GUTS ( Collection ) CALE , JOHN HEAR " FEAR " - interview CALE , JOHN HELEN OF TROYCALE , JOHN HONI SOITCALE , JOHN JOHN CALE COMES ALIVECALE , JOHN MUSIC FOR A NEW SOCIETYCALE , JOHN PARIS 1919 CALE , JOHN SABOTAGECALE , JOHN SEDUCING DOWN THE DOOR ( Collection ) CALE , JOHN SLOW DAZZLECALE , JOHN VERY DEAD CHICKEN pirate CALE , JOHN VINTAGE VIOLENCECALE , JOHN WALKING ON LOCUSTSCALE , JOHN WORDS FOR THE DYINGCALE , JOHN / REED , LOU SONGS FOR DRELLAI heard Paris 1919 on the FM radio , and went in search of the least expensive copy I could find . I did not know he had anything to do with the Velvet Underground ( a group I had tried because they were on Verve Records , but I didn t keep their stuff ) . I later bought Fear because of how much I liked Paris 1919 . By the end of the 70 s , I got to see him live ; I met him in the 80 s , got everything autographed etc. ( I have Mike Mc Goldrick to thank for that ! ) . Jordan Shroyer really liked John Cale , and made a great Sabotage T - shirt that I wore for years . CAMEO ALLIGATOR WOMANCAMEO CAMEOSISCAMEO CARDIAC ARRESTCAMEO SECRET OMENCAMEO SHE ' S STRANGECAMEO SINGLE LIFECAMEO WORD UP ! I heard em on the radio , and they made me laugh . Word ! Also saw them on Goodnight L . A . , the KABC video show . 
Deep breaths .. Serenity now .. serenity now .. Ok maybe I was a little too harsh in my last posting . Im feeling alot better now . I just get so frustrated when I see my stepson ( whom , believe it or not , I do love very much ) going down such a path . Im so afraid he is going to end up like his POS bio - dad and I seem to be the only one that seems to give a damn . His mom has always too busy and too self - absorbed in her own life and lets him make all the decisions and tries to be his friend and not his parent . I worry that i ' m going to see him on Maury one afternoon getting a DNA test because he may have got some teenage girl pregnant . Im so concerned that he is going to be just like his dad . Live in a trailer with 3 illegit kids by 2 momma 's and smoke weed all day and drop out of school . To be in and out of county jail and not seem to care . How I got mixed up in all this all those years ago i ' ll never know - im not these kind of people . I seem to be the only one that thinks about the future and who he is going to be . I guess the bottom line is that HE isnt my responsibility and who he turns out to be isnt my problem . All I can do is be the best person I can be with him and try and show him a path , if he chooses to go a different way I have to accept that . I have done all I can do with the limited influence I have . 
Ok , I ' m a racist ... You know I really dislike blacks ... I know in this world of ' Political Correctness ' im supposed to be tolerant and accepting and all that . Its just so damn hard when I watch Maury and see the vile things these people do . Or when I watch the news and all the crime and death these people cause . The convience store clerk that gets killed for 68.00 and change , The teenage girl that is raped and left for dead , etc etc. Its just so damn hard to be ' tolerant ' when my stepson and I go to the mall and I see a cute teenage white girl with some black ' gangsta - thug ' with the do - rag and the pants half - way down his ass. Cole and I were walking along and the couple was walking towards us and the guy just stares right into my eyes . We end up almost running into each other because we are heading towards each other . We barely miss our shoulders bumping together and I whisper under my breath - ' fukin Niggers ' and shake my head . What happened to common courtesy ? I made an effort to make room for him and it seemed like he moved over more to make more of an attempt to run into me . What kind of shit is that ? Dont they realize that when they act like assholes and try and be all gangsta in front of their white ' ho 's they only perpetuate the opinion us whites have of them ? And what would have happened if I hadnt made room at the last minute ? Would he have started some crap over something as stupid as someone bumping into him at the mall ? Probably , just to look cool in front of his white girl , who was obviously a rich white girl that is just trying to piss her dad off . Another case in point , as I sit here and type this there are no less than 8 blacks in the pool hollering and making all kinds of noice . Its 1:30a.m. !!! And I dont mean a little noise now and then , I mean I can hear almost every word they say . Granted I have a pool view apartment , but there isnt supposed to be anyone in the pool after 11 during the summer . Its fucking ridicilous !! I like to go out to the pool late at night sometimes and im always careful not to make noise and to be as quiet as possible and to be considerate of people that might be sleeping . Im just sick to death of them and how they are . Im sick of all of us people quietly shaking our heads in quiet indignation while they walk all over us . We shouldnt have to live like this in a civilized society . Now the P . C . crowd will chirp in and say " not all blacks are like that , there are some good ones . " Yea well , its been my experience that there are far more inconsiderate , baby - makin , stealing , crack - smoking ones that dont give 2 shits about anything but themselves . Im sick of carrying them , im sick of my taxes giving them a big bonus every year because they had 5 kids and I dont have any . I pay over 600.00 a month to live in a decent , but very small 1 bedroom apartment . I dont pay 600.00 to listen to blacks scream at each other at the pool at 1:30 . Im tempted to go to the office tomorrow a.m. and complain , but what will that do ? Then the office will send around some note like they always do with the pool hours and all that . Or the office will tell the security guard to run off people in the pool after 11 , so the fukin niggers fuck it up for everyone . Thanks !!! we appreciate it !!! Id even be willing to bet that these people dont even live here . I mean whats to stop a group of people from coming to the apartments after going out partying and just going for a swim ? Everyone knows that you can just follow behind someones car into the gates . The pool fence does have doorknob lock on the gate , but once someone is on the other side it can be opened without a key . All they would have to do is get one person to jump the fence and then let the rest in . ARGH !!!! 
Smoke ' em if ya got ' em . Ok so ive got an interview with a software company on Monday . I was talking with the HR girl yesterday for an initial phone interview and she asked me if I smoked . I said no , just because I dont think its any of their f ' in business . Then she goes on to tell me that they dont hire smokers and theres no smoking anywhere on the property and you cant even be a smoker on you own time or at home - absolutely non smokers only . EXCUSE ME ? 1 . Who the FUK are you to tell me what I can and cant do on my own time . Its a damn cigarette , its not like I smoke crack or meth or something . So if I go to a bar and get a DWI on the way home , id still have a job ? If in my spare time I like to go to peep shows and topless bars and 24 perv stands and I like to masturbate feverishly 20 times a day on my own time I ' d still have a job ? But if I smoke a few cigarettes in the evenings at home while watching TV I could be fired ? 2 . So how come its illegal to discriminate based on age , race , sexual preference , etc. but its ok to discriminate against smokers ? I know one day smoking is probably going to kill me , but it takes years off the END of your life , and really those are the diaper wearing drooling Alzheimers years anyhow and its MY choice to smoke or not . 3 . If someone is working for you and they contract AIDS or some other illness its illegal to fire them . Yet if someone decides to take up smoking thats grounds for getting fired ? 4 . How come every other malady that strikes people these days is a ' disease ' ? Thats what really pisses me the fuk off . " Alcoholism is a disease " " Addiction is a disease " " Mental Illness is a disease " " Obesity is a disease " THESE ARENT DISEASES PEOPLE !!! SHIT !!! But then homosexuality isnt a disease its a ' life - choice ' . I dont have anything particularly against gays . Im just illustrating a point . Polio is a disease , AIDS is a disease , the black plague was a disease , congestive heart failure is a disease . If we have to classify homosexuality as a ' life - choice ' why cant smoking be classifed as a ' life - choice ' ? It REALLY doesnt hurt anyone but the smoker . All this second - hand smoke nonsense and the little bitches that cry ' im allergic ' waaaaaaaaa is a load of crap . These are the same fukers that sit in traffic for an hour every day and suck down exhaust fumes and talk on their brain - tumor inducing cell - phones . But GOD forbid if a wisp of my cigarette smoke drifts their way . And for a company to REQUIRE that you dont smoke , even in your off time is absurd . If im the best employee they have ever had and I make the company millions of dollars they would fire me because I smoke ? Thats just nucking futs ! I just really get in a wad when I am supposed to be tolerant of everything and not be prejudiced , or judge people blah blah .. yet its ok for these bastards to be intolerant of MY ' life - choice ' and make judgements about me and my character just because I have a vice . Screw You !!! 
Pop - up blocker BITCH ! So ive been watching " The Chapelle Show " lately . There was one episode where he does a skit that if the internet was like the mall we would all be disturbed and close it down . So he goes to the mall and there is a dating service and a free music store and porn shops and all this stuff right . So hes walking along and these 2 guys keep bugging him to enlarge his penis or consolidate his debt with a mortgage blah blah . He finally punches them , and says pop - up blocker , BITCH ! So that got me thinking .... Ive been going to the mall alot here lately to get out of the house and all that . And ive noticed all those little kiosks are just like those damn pop ups on the internet . Youre just walking along thinking about stuff and people watching and then these little fukers jump out in front of you . " Hey buddy , how much do you pay for your cellphone ? Dont you need a new cellphone ? we ' ve got a special on 500 minutes for 49.95 !! " I tell them I have a prepaid phone that I barely use anyways , but that doesnt seem to register with them . I tell them I dont have a job right now , I dont really need a cellphone , blah blah . But they just keep on with their pitch . Ive gotten to the point where I just walk past and dont even acknowledge they exist . Then I come to the hot chick with the nail products kiosk . She jumps out and says " Hey , do you have a girlfriend ? " for a split second I think she is hitting on me - yea right . Before I even answer she grabs my hand and pulls me in and starts filing the top of my fingernail with some sandpapery board thing . Then she buffs it to a mirror - like finish and tells me . " Doesnt that look nice , maybe you can get a girlfriend if all your nails looked like this , or if you have a girlfriend she would love to get this special buffing board as a gift , its only 19.95 ! " LOOK BITCH IM NOT PAYIN 20 BUCKS FOR SANDPAPER !! So now im walking through the mall and ive got one shinly nail and 9 normal looking ones . Im going to have to 1 . rough up the shiny one so it matches the rest . Or 2 . get caught up in her schtick 9 more times dammit . And I dont care what anyone says " Real " men dont buff their nails or get manicures or whatever . " Real " men have rough man hands with callouses and chipped nails and bleeding cuticles . So my idea of the week is to design a T - shirt to wear to the mall . Kinda like the Dave Chapelle idea . A pop - up kiosk blocker T - shirt that is universally recognized by all these poeple and lets them know to screw off . It should say something like " If you work in a kiosk - leave me alone ! " or maybe something more direct like " The voices in my head told me to come to the mall and shoot the second mother - fuker that speaks to me , do YOU really want to risk it ? " . 
Economics 101 . Minimum - wage push focusing on state level Just another reason Democrats are short sighted . Democrats are always saying that ' people need to earn a livable wage ' that the poor and uneducated need a higher minimum wage because of inflation and blah blah . Well heres the REAL scoop . Raising the minimum wage actually contributes to inflation and unemployment . Its simple business economics , the democrats are just trying to reach out to their main constituents and kiss their asses because most of them are low - wage earners and are too uneducated to see the big picture . IF the Democrats really wanted to help the people they would come up with programs to get them to stop having 5 kids by 4 dads and to get an education . But I digress .... Ok so lets say ABC company has 15 employees that make 5.15 an hour . That makes their weekly payroll 15 x 40 x $ 5.15 = $ 3090.00 . Now lets raise the minimum wage to 6.95 , 15 x 40 x 6.95 = $ 4170 . A difference of $ 1080.00 . Thats an extra 1080.00 the company has to come up with to cover payroll every week . Now what will ABC company do to cover the difference ? There are only 3 things they can do . 1 . Raise prices for their goods , which contributes to inflation and makes ALL the consumers pay . 2 . Lay off an employee , which contributes to unemployment . or 3 . reduce the hours of some of the employees to the point that they payroll can be covered , which contributes to what is called ' underemployment ' The fact is the extra cost has to come from somewhere . Imagine how much the problem is compounded if you have thousands of employees . Say like Mc Donalds or Burger King or Wal - Mart ? Now compound it more by thinking of all the companies that supply these places and pay THEIR employees minimum wage . The increased cost is passed on to Mc Donalds , Burger King , Wal - Mart , further compounding the amount these companies must increase their prices , lay off or reduce the hours of their labor to cover the costs . The fact is that raising the minimum wage only hurts people more . Especially the middle class , who dont get a raise proportionate to the raise in the minimum wage . We ALL have to pay higher prices for goods because ABC company needs to make more money to cover its payroll . So essentially its the same as our Robin Hood tax system that gives money to the poor for having 5 kids and no education . We have to pay for Sheniqua that decided to drop out of High School because she had 3 kids already and now cant make enough to support them . Its redistribution of wealth , a Socialist based economic idea . I ' ll agree 5.15 an hour is an impossible wage to live on . But raising the minimum wage isnt the answer . People need to get educated or get a skill and make something of themselves . You can actually chart over the decades how every increase in the minimum wage has caused an immediate increase in inflation . So the net result is a wash . The people make slightly more money , but the price they have to pay for rent , groceries , etc is higher . 
Im going insane . Ive been out of work for 4 months now and im losing it . Ive only recently had a few interviews out of the hundreds of resumes ive sent out . I am going completely and utterly nuts ! I sit here at home day after day and wait for the phone to ring . I stay up too late and sleep too long and sit on the couch all day and smoke . Ive gone up to almost 2 packs a day and my chest hurts and im always hot . Im just so insanely bored and stressed out . My nerves are shot and I cant concentrate . I just keep replaying memories in my head of things that have happened and choices I ' should ' have made in the past and how I ended up in this situation . I play the few interviews back in my head over and over and im so full of anxiety that I didnt say this right or I should have said that or maybe they didnt like my tie or maybe I came off as an idiot . Last week I had two second interviews with two companies and I think I blew them both . I know I blew one definately because there was a message on the machine when I got home that said , " Thank you for coming in , we appreciate the time you took to speak with us , however weve narrowed the candidates down to 3 and im afraid you werent one of them . " ARGH !!!! But at least they called and let me know . The other company hasnt called me back yet and I dont think they will . I met with the VP of Sales and Marketing and it just seemed like he thought I was trying to hard to be everything they were looking for . At the end of the interview he said , " Well I like what you had to say , were just looking for someone with at least some experience in the foods industry " To that I said , " Well I have some experience , I mean I waited tables at Landry 's in college for a while . " And he just gave me a look like ' yea , sure , ok , youre just full of it and trying to say something to get in the door . " I just cant get a damn break for anything . My unemployment benefits are going to run out soon and I have nothing going for me . I just dont understand what the problem is . I went to college like I was supposed to . I earned 2 degrees , which is more than 80 % of the workforce out there has . I just wish I had picked a better Major , or went to a different school or learned a skill or something ! The truth is that I never really liked college . I didnt even really want to go to college , but I had it programmed into me that if I didnt go to college I wouldnt be successful . I went because my parents had drilled into my head since I was in elementary school that if I didnt go to college and get a degree I would always struggle . HOW IRONIC !!! All I have ever done is struggle !! The degrees havent made a pot of piss worth of difference . Ive always had financial troubles . Im 34 fuking years old and have 1.09 in my savings account . What about a 401 k or and IRA ? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!! Im going to be a fuking ward of the state when I retire !! I finished college in 99 , after graduating High School in 1990 !!! I had alot of setbacks and alot of starts and stops but I finally did it . And what the hell has it done for me ?? NOT A FUKING THING !!! Ive got to do something soon , I guess i ' ll go back to work at Best Buy or some such shit . Evidently the degrees I have are make me qualified to say " Would you like the extended warranty for your ______ ? " UGH . 
CCAAASSSHH !!!!! Wanna make some cash ? $ 75 bucks is on the line for the month of August . There will be a post everyday of August to this blog . If you respond with a comment within 8 hrs . of the posting , that 's a point ! The person that has the most points at the end of the month wins the cash . It 's that simple ! The posts ' might be serious , silly or funny ... stop by and find out . - P . Chuck . 
Back from the country ! Hey guys , Pastor Chuck here , just saying , " Hi ! " The fam is back from Tennessee and we 're excited about this Fall , and the end of summer of course . I ' m sure you are all PUMPED to go back to school ! Anyway , I ' ll see you all Sunday ! Peace ! 
Don't Stop Fighting . 1 Timothy 6:12 says , " Fight the good fight for what we believe . " and also says , " Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has fiven you . " Sometimes we may feel like life isnt worth fighting for ... People give up everyday .. There are many reasons why we give up everyday ... - death of a loved one - Divorced parents - wasnt pretty / skinny enough - Cant make any friends - Boyfriend / girlfriend broke up with them - Family moved and lost all old friends Exodus 14:14 " The Lord will fight for you ; all you need to do is be still . " How to fight the good fight : 1 Let Jesus Fill the Void - There is an emptiness inside our hearts that only God can fill - God created us with the ability to choose life with Christ or death with this world , but He also created us with a longing and an emptiness that only He can fill . 2 Dont Stop Fighting - When your tired or lonely , dont give up on God - Dont give up on your family - Dont give up on your friends - Dont give up on school - Dont give up on relationships - Fight to remain faithful 3 Let God Fight For You - Moses and the Israelites weree escaping slavery from Egypt . The Egyptian armies were closing in on the Israelites and they began to become afraid . Moses tried to encourage them to be strong . He told them that the Lord would protect them . And of course , God did . He had Moses lift his staff toward Heaven and God parted the Red Sea . - Moses encouraged the Israelites . Some of you may want to give up of this life . Some of you may want to five up of your family , friends , and school dreams .. please dont and keep on fighting ! Bryon Keiths song , " Fight " says , " Dare you to fight , dare to you bleed . Dare you to live what you believe . Dare you to stand , dare you to scream . Dare you to be all that you can be . ' Cause when will becomes a might , fight . " Jesus offers so much , so much love , acceptance , peace , safety , friendship and much much more !! Dont stop fighting !! 
The Key to being Carefree . Hey guys , We had a great service last night . I appreciate all that came . I ' ve got a couple of 212 events I ' ll give dates and times for at the end of this post . Last night we talked about King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah . The Assyrians army and there King Sennecherib were coming for Jerusalem . Hezekiah tried twice in his own power to solve the problem at hand . Both times he failed , and then Isaiah came with a word from the Lord . He said , " The Sovereign LORD , the Holy One of Israel , says , ' Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved . In quietness and confidence is your strength . But you would have none of it . ' " ( Isaiah 30:15 ) The prophet was telling the King to rest and wait in the Lord , and he ' ll come through for Jerusalem . If you read the rest of the story you ' ll see that Hezekiah took Isaiah 's advice and relied on the Lord , and the Lord didn't let him down . If you are going through something in your life and don't know what to do - give it to the Lord and rest in Him . You ' ll find peace and rest from your stresses if you ' ll rely on the Lord and trust His wisdom for your life . We can't always see what He sees and don't always know what He knows , so TRUST HIM ! ______ Friday , May 26 , 6 PM @ church We are going to go to Traxx @ Jungle Villagefor some post - school fun . They ' ve got mini golf , an arcade , go carts , batting cages , etc. Saturday , June 3 , 9 AM - 1 PM " City Reach " Carwash We ' ll be raising money for the groupgoing on our summer missions trip . Everyone is invited to help ! 3 B ' 06 June 29 - July 1 Bible / Bike / Beach Youth Retreat Cost : $ 40 for everything It 's gonna be fun !!!!!!! 
Our God is a Consuming Fire . What 's up ? Wed . night was a blessing to me and I hope it was to you , too ! If you missed it - we missed you . I just wanted to write a little note on the Lord today as a consuming fire . If you are reading this and live in Brevard County , then you know what it 's like to live near fire ... danger , smoke , roads closed , etc. Fire is nothing to be messed with . As long as we have it contained , we love it . A campfire , the fireplace , scented candles , these are all great things , but a fire that takes on a life and will of its own is a fiercely scary thing . God is compared to a consuming fire in the Bible . The Lord is not a game to be played with , much like fire is not a toy . The Lord is passionately and fiercely loving , caring , just , merciful , kind , angry at times , and many other things . God wants to consume all of you . He wants to have the first place in your life , not the second , third or tenth place . The Bible also calls our God a jealous God , and not jealous in a possessive boy / girl - friend kind of way that is petty and mean , but in a fantastically loving way . He is jealous for my time and your time , our affection , our ear . He wants to have a place of honor in our lives . He DESERVES a place of honor in our lives , b / c the Bible says that , " while we were still sinners Christ died for us . " That means that He died for me and you , before we even had a chance to accept of reject Him . He loved us so much that He would have done it for just one of us . If you have some time , search for the word fire in the Bible and see how God is described . It will be a cool study . Have a blessed day ! In His Grip , Pastor Chuck . 
Guilt . Hey 212 ers , Last night was a great night in the Lord 's presence . If you couldn't be there , we missed you . If you were sick , we prayed for you to feel better . I hope you are . Guilt is a tough subject to deal with . No one likes to feel guilty ! There are two kinds of guilt - feelings of guilt because you are indeed guilty or feelings of guilt over something you had no control over . Let 's deal with the guilty guilt first . I believe that in the life of a believer , guilt or your conscience is the work of the Holy Spirit , gently nudging us when we get off the path . Guilt is like an alarm sounding in our hearts . We ' ve done something that we know we probably shouldn't and the Lord is letting us know that it needs to be dealt with . As Doug Fields puts it , when we feel guiltly about something we should " GO " two places . The first place we should GO is to God . The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 , " If we confess our sins , he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness . " That 's a great promise . Secondly , he says we should GO to someone else . You need to find a peer of your same gender that will help keep you accountable . Someone that will ask you how you are doing and if you 're being strong in that area of tempation or sin that you are weak in . I believe you will stay straight when you know someone you care about ( and don't want to lie to ) is going to ask you hard questions about your walk with the Lord and how you are doing in certain areas . The second kind of guilty feelings can feel just as bad . They torment you and make you feel like dirt , but often are things that you could not have stopped from happening . Your parents divorce was not your fault ... The loss of a loved one was not your fault ... many things make us feel guilty , but it 's not the Lord trying to tell you something , it is the enemy of our souls trying to make you useless to God . If he ( satan ) can make you feel like you 're not worth anything , and that God is disappointed in you , then he can render you useless to God . You won't feel like God can use you , when God wants nothing more than to use you ! If you ' ve done something wrong , and confessed it to God , and asked for forgiveness , let it go ! God has forgive you and forgotten it , so you should do the same . That 's it for now ! Peace ! - P . Chuck . 
Fine Arts , etc. What 's up peeps ? Just a couple of reminders . This Saturday , March 25 , we are doind a Saturday Mission . We will be handing out lightbulbs to some of the churches neighbor 's and telling them Jesus loves them and that He is the light of the world . Meet at the church at 1 PM . Bring a few bucks and we ' ll get some food or doing something fun afterwards . Also , Fine Arts practice is this Sunday , March 26 , immediately following the morning service . Lunch will be provided so you don't have to go hungry . Everyone that wants to be involved in the Human Video needs to be there if possible . Have a great day ! - Chuck . 
What next for the Presbytery of East Iowa ? The Presbytery of East Iowa ( PEIA ) 217 th General Assembly commissioners have issued a call to the churches of our presbytery to engage in discussions , education and prayer before accepting the conclusions of others as to the meaning and implications of the Peace , Unity and Purity task force report . The PEIA commissioners , Ron Lewis , Rose Taul , Nancy Olthoff , and myself , who represent a diversity of understandings on this issue , are united in our commitment to lead the presbytery in an intentional and timely process to fully understand the implications of this decision in the life of our churches and presbytery . We will begin this process at the September 12 th Presbytery meeting and will insure that all voices in our churches have an opportunity to be involved in understanding the recommendations and seeking God 's leading . At that meeting a recommendation for a continuing process and timeline will presented . Many groups within the Presbyterian Church ( USA ) have made strong statements for and against the actions that were taken by the commissioners at the 217 th General Assembly . Some are even beginning a time of discernment as to how they should move forward . There have been many things that have caused conflict in the church over the past 2000 years and while the reasons have varied there is one thing that has not . God is still God and it is only by His grace through the death of His Son Jesus Christ that we can know Him . We need to come together regardless of personal views and let God will make a way where there is no way . Because of Him , Terry . 
A New Low : Blocking Blogging . The idioic " leaders " of the UPA Government just cannot stop making one mistake after another . Times of India reports : The Department of Telecommunications in an order to all leading Internet Service Providers ( ISP s ) ordered the blocking of popular Internet blogging sites . The premise for such a move was that that blogs were spewing communal hatred and some indulging in anti - national acts and writings . The order is not only absurd in its approach towards emerging changes on the web ; it is in fact against the entire idea that is the Internet . The Internet , the great knowledge tool , which knows no boundaries , was envisioned as the great leveler . The ability to access any information anywhere in real - time revolutionized not only the world but helped in flattening the world thereby giving developing nations like ours the competitive edge to showcase our talent and entrepreneurial skills . The web - log or blog was the natural extension of this phenomenon that extended its reach to the common user to put his thoughts and ideas out into the infinite space of the Internet . Blogging took off after the Iraq war in 2003 and has not looked back ever since . In fact , in the West , blogging has become the first source of news and information for many readers who are moving from the traditional media , whom they see as biased in their leanings and motives . The world of blogs really got recognition when Yahoo decided to introduce a news search that included blogs , thereby giving legitimacy to what was viewed earlier by mainstream media as armchair journalists trying to become the real thing . Closer home , the paranoia that has set in the government in the aftermath of the criticism it received for policies like being soft on terror , foreign policy flip - flops and reservations has made it take this rather draconian step . It seems that the government instead of trying to listen to the voice of the people wants to gag it . This is not the first time that the Congress has tried to breach the freedom of speech . The Indira Gandhi government was notorious for what it did to the media during the emergency . With remnants of the Young Turks of the time still very much present in the decision - making of this government , it is easy to see where the idea got its origins . The government fears that the communally loaded messages of some blogs are detrimental for the nation s fragile communal harmony . While one must concede that there are a few rotten apples in every sphere , to typecast blogging , per se , as being anti national , is a bit over the top . If anything , blogging initiates healthy debate , which must be encouraged in every democracy . And if the government cannot stand the heat of what its citizens have to say , then they should do a rethink on their policies rather than go after the voice that has raised an opinion . The government has also pointed out to the banning of blogs that can cause damage to relations with other nations . The reality is that a blog is just an opinion ; it does not have the power to alter the mood of a foreign nation to become hostile towards us . Rather it is politicians on both side of the divide that spread hatred towards our own citizens or other nations , a vitriolic Narendra Modi or Pravin Togadia , or a narrow minded Arjun Singh are more detrimental to this country than any blog . The UPA with this order to gag the web and trying to alter the Broadcast Bill to make it more stringent towards the media is unnecessarily venturing into areas where it is bound to face tough resistance . This at a time when they should be more concerned about the nations security and the rising tensions within its own alliance . By trying to curb freedom of expression they might ultimately manage to antagonize the last remaining support for itself and thereby hasten the downfall of its very existence with out of sync policies like blocking blogging and gagging the media .... Read more ! 
Indian maid raped for a week by Singaporean employer . As I had reported in this post one more Indian woman committed suicide in the Persian Gulf . Indian women working as maids in more civilized countries , like Singapore , are often in trouble too . Being a foreigner , not knowing who to contact to get help in times of trouble , financial pressures back home in India and the need to keep the job , and the stigma surrounding rape make Indian women an easy target for overseas employers . If India is to consider herself an emerging superpower , or at least a major Asian regional player , she has to take concrete steps to protect her people from helplessly suffering indignities of this kind . Times of India reports : Singaporean on trial for raping Indian maid SINGAPORE : An Indian maid has accused her Singaporean boss of raping her , said media reports on Tuesday . She alleged that he raped her every day for a week and threatened to strangle her and throw her down from the flat , The Straits Times reported . Sudarsanan Margasagayam , a 48 - year - old former building safety officer , faces five counts of raping the woman . The maid , a mother of three in her late 30 s , told an employment agent who placed her in the job what happened from June 1 - 7 , 2004 . A police report was made , and Sudarsanan , married with two children , was arrested . Jerome Goh , a psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health , diagnosed the maid with post - traumatic stress disorder and depression after the alleged attacks .... Read more ! 
Modi says terrorists have no religion . Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said that strong laws are needed to fight terrorism , India should learn something from Israel about how to respond to terror attacks , and that the UPA Government has no clue how to fight terrorism . All three points are correct . He also said that terrorists have no religion . This statement is simply garbage . Islamic terrorists do have a religion , and they follow it very carefully . If you read the Koran , you will understand this . Every act of killing , rape , kidnapping , terror and mayhem the Islamic terrorists commit is committed because the Koran very explicitly calls for acts of such kind . It is useless to deny the truth . Rediff reports : Terrorists have no religion : Modi Sumit Bhattacharya in Mumbai | July 17 , 2006 In Mumbai to address a Bharatiya Janata Party anti - terrorism public meeting , Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that " terrorists have no religion . " " Jihadi terrorism is not Islam . Jihadi terrorism is an international threat , " the senior BJP leader insisted at a meeting to condemn the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last Tuesday that killed 200 people and left about 700 people injured . In a speech that was more like a mature statesman and less like a firebrand right - wing politician -- the Press Trust of India reported that the Maharashtra state government had warned Modi not to make any ' objectionable ' statement -- the senior BJP leader emphasised the need for strong laws to tackle terrorism . " If you ( the United Progressive Alliance government ) cannot enact POTA ( Prevention of Terrorism Act ) , allow the states to do it , " Modi said , adding that he had sent the proposal of a law for Gujarat on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in 2004 , and that Union Home Minister " Shivraj Patil has been sitting on it . " Modi pointed out that the United States -- which he called " the drum - beater of human rights " -- had introduced the Patriot Act , the Financial Anti - terrorism Act and the Homeland Security regime after 9 / 11 , and that France and " even Japan " had enacted special laws to deal with terrorism . Modi -- who was equated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and hailed as the only Indian leader to have fought terror by each and every speaker at the meeting from Maharashtra BJP unit chief Nitin Gadkari ( second from left ) to former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde ( fifth from left , beside Modi ) -- questioned the UPA government 's " will to fight terrorism . " The Gujarat chief minister insisted that POTA -- which the UPA government scrapped as soon as it came to power in 2004 , saying the law was ' draconian ' and a ' weapon ' to target the minority community -- would boost the morale of the security forces , and send a message to the terrorists that the government was " serious about the serious issue . " " These people ( the Congress - led UPA government ) cannot send a strong signal to terrorists , let alone fight them , " Modi thundered to rousing applause from the 3,000 - strong crowd at the Shanmukhananda Auditorium . He launched a scathing attack on what he called " five - star activists " and people " brought up with foreign values , " saying , " they paint as communal whoever speaks up against terrorism . " Modi , dressed in all white , wondered when India would be " like Israel , where everyone has a fire inside him . A dream of fighting for the country . " His 90 - minute speech also focused strongly on those killed in the terrorist attacks on Mumbai . " I have come to Mumbai with a heavy heart , " the chief minister during whose reign over 1,000 people were killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots began . Towards the end , he said , " I cannot watch 200 people die . It 's not what my politics is about . " Text : Sumit Bhattacharya Photograph : Arun Patil ... Read more ! 
Israel launches ground war on Lebanon . Hats off to Israel ! They have shown the rest of the world ( especially countries with stupid and cowardly Governments like India ) that there are limits of the patience of the Civilized world with Islamic intolerance and terrorism . Hezbollah is a terrorist group based in Lebanon , armed and supported by Islamic terrorist countries Syria and Iran . Six days ago Hexbollah captured two Isralei soldiers . They thought Israel would negotiate for their release , and make some concessions . This hope was born out of Israel 's recent troubles with Palestine , where the terrorist group Hamas ( which lists the destruction of Israel as one its declared aims ) won the elections . Israel stopped paying money to the Palestine Authority ( controlled by Hamas ) , and this led to a lot of unrest . So the Hezbollah guys thought that Israel in its present weak and vulnerable position would be a good target . They were wrong . Israel values human life . The lives of their captured soldiers are important to them . They refused to take the easy way out : giving up on the soldiers ( something India has done on multiple occasions , when Indian soldiers have been captured , tortured , and killed many times by Pakistani Army , and of late very disturbingly with increasing frequency , also by Bangladeshi paramilitary forces ) . Israel pounded Hezbollah positions in Lebanon with aerial bombardments for six days . And now its has launched a full - fledged ground assault against Hezbollah . This will show the Islamic terrorists that the rest of the world will not sit quietly and silently watch them commit one outrage upon another . Their outrageous conduct will lead to swift and sure retribution . Hats off to the brave Israeli political leadership , and the brave soldiers of Israel ! May God be with you ! May secular humanist moderate liberal and modern Civilization win this grave struggle against the deadly and dangerous forces of the Medieval Age . Times of India reports : Israel changes gear , sends in ground forces BEIRUT / JERUSALEM : Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah bases on the border , a government spokesman said on Monday , even as Hezbollah patron Iran said a cease - fire and a prisoner swap were possible . Israel 's six - day - old offensive against Hezbollah following the capture of two Israeli soldiers has been an aerial campaign . The government spokesman , Asaf Shariv , said the Israeli army chief of staff confirmed that ground troops were also in Lebanon briefly . Israel has been reluctant to send ground troops into southern Lebanon , an area that officials say has been heavily mined by Hezbollah and could lead to many Israeli casualties . The militant Islamic group , meanwhile , fired rockets that flew farther into Israel than ever before . Iran 's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said a cease - fire and a prisoner swap would be " an acceptable and fair " deal to resolve the conflict . " In fact , there can be a cease - fire followed by a prisoner swap , " he said after talks with Syrian vice president Farouk al - Sharaa . ... Read more ! 
Until further notice , 21 Seconders is on hiatus . In the meantime , be encouraged to e - mail all of your favorite episodes to your friends and family . Thank you for all of your support . Sincerely , Skyler Saunders . 
21 Seconders Is On Break . For the remainder of this week , 21 Seconders will be on break . Do not fret , though , for all new episodes will appear next week . In the meantime , feel free to view all of the past episodes . Thanks for all of your support . Sincerely , Sky . 
My Memories of Being Homeless Of Hope . In this civilization that we have created and , of which we are caught in its momentum , can we ever completely do away with homelessness ? I doubt it , because who must we actually blame for the conditions leading to homelessness ? Ultimately , both society and the transient individual bear responsibility for homelessness . No society can claim to be so perfect , that none of its citizens are omitted from its success . On the other hand , and with the exception of children , no mentally - sound individual can escape the reality that they also play a crucial role in controlling their own aspirations and indulgences . There is no such thing in this world as a utopia and no such thing as a saint . We cannot always rely on the kindness of people , such as Mr. Behi and his wife or Gail Sacco , to alleviate the pains of homelessness . What we can do , is to be comfortable demanding , and paying , a livable wage to people so that they remain a viable economic unit in our society . Additionally , having strong federal programs to aid homeless shelters , along with their affiliated medical programs , is just as important . You understand , of course , that a federal program is our way of expressing compassion . It is our way of acknowledging that not all members of society benefit from our economic endeavors but , we will certainly provide them sustenance , if only they will remain hopeful of , and strive for , a better future . Is this just wishful thinking ? Perhaps but I think I ve earned it . - Just a peasant Previous posts on homelessness : The Predators - Of Food - Of Life - Of Despair Soup kitchen line in the US , during the Great Depression , 1932 . From the Civilian Conservation Corps . 
Collective Punishment . " To kill the big rats , you have to kill the little rats . " - Hutu radio political commentator in Rwanda - 1994 . Collective punishment is not self - defense . Collective punishment is an act of violence propagated against an entire local population for the acts of a few of its members . Collective punishment is also the automatic dismissal of due process of law which requires that the individuals responsible for an act of violence are actually the ones prosecuted for said act . Collective punishment allows destroying the property of people and killing them , although they may have had absolutely no knowledge of the crime . Collective punishment is certainly not new as ancient religious texts are decorated with stories of collective punishments and the modern examples are also quite plentiful . The Germans collectively punished Jewish people , as seen in the Warsaw Ghetto pictured above , on a massive scale during the years of World War II. The Germans also collectively punished the civilians of Oradour - sur - Glane for the actions of the French resistance in 1944 . In the 1950 s , the British used collective punishment against civilians in Cyprus and Malaysia . Economic sanctions are also a form of collective punishment since it is the civilians that will suffer for the transgressions of those in power who inevitably remain secure by force of arms . Yet governments are not the only groups guilty of the tactics of collective punishment . In Rwanda , armed Tutsi groups used collective punishment against Hutu men , women and children . The attacks on the World Trade Center , Madrid , London , and Mumbai are all forms of collective punishment . The point being , that even if every single person killed or maimed , had been guilty of the crimes of which they were accused by Al - Qaeda and others , not a single one of them was given due process of law and therefore , their human rights were violated . Even the Oklahoma City bombing was a collective punishment as it is highly unlikely , that the 19 children killed in the blast , had participated in any FBI enforcement operations that were so offensive to the convicted bombers . Let us try to move past the obvious point of Israel s latest aggression which is that , it is a clear violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention , specifically forbidding collective punishment . Let us try to move past the fact that suicide bombers , associated with Hamas and Fatah , are guilty of collective punishment when they kill Israeli civilians . And of course , we must move past the fact that Hezbollah is also guilty of collective punishment when they fire missiles into Israeli towns . All modern warfare is collective punishment . Prior to the 20 th century , civilian casualties , related to an actual set - piece battle , were approximately 1 in 10 . By World War II , one - half of conflict casualties were civilians , and by the 21 st century , 90 % of all casualties were civilians . These numbers do not include all the civilians affected by ruined infrastructure , latent unexploded ordinance , starvation , and disease . This is of course , influenced by the increased destructive capabilities of weapons and the uniform acceptance of urban centers as valid military targets . Therefore , all modern warfare is collective punishment because , any time a modern weapon is applied for the purpose of inflicting collateral damage , every civilian killed is cheated of due process of law and of their human rights . They are paying for the transgressions of others . To embrace collective punishment as a form of self - defense against an opponent is to validate its use by an opponent against you . Plain and simple . - Just a peasant . 
Old Dog . In a single remark , without malice , he reminds me I am no longer young ; my words can no longer seduce . I am an old dog , lying quietly , refusing to chase cars ; and by this I am judged . For every love he has dreamed , I have lived seven . But what use are the stars when my eyesight has failed ? My friend s years are marked by candles in a cake ; mine - by faces of lovers forever gone by . To potential mates he brings wilting flowers for a vaseor scented candles for their kitchen counter . He does not know , to their hearts , I once brought fire ; and even recklessly brought despair . Does he know their eyes when trust has been betrayed ? Does he know the pain to see them in another s embrace ? Will he sacrifice everything for them just to win nothing ? Could he ever know how often this has been me ? To some woman , he will still give confident speecheson the proper conduct for her humor and her discontent . While I myself , have become speechless before her kindness ; as I am speechless before her fury . Removing her soft dress with a kiss in the dying shadows , he will believe that making love begins in the bedroom . Yet I have seen , it is in the dancing lights of the other roomswhere her passion for you truly takes root . To most men , the only important words a woman desires , will simply and always be - I love you . But I have learned , the hard way , the most important wordswill always be - I m sorry . - Just a peasant . 
When Love Dies . When we are young we seldom realize that , for as many loves we create , just as many will die . We do not reflect on all those things that must come to an end . I am no exception . A single phrase I mentioned to a friend the other day suddenly brought back a long lost memory . It stemmed from a robbery at a sandwich shop I was working at when I was about twenty - five . However , it s actually not the robbery that I wanted to speak of , but of something more important that happened afterward . I walked home that night after the robbery and , when I came into the apartment , my girlfriend said a detective had called . I think she was a bit concerned that I had somehow caused some trouble somewhere . That was not the case of course , and it was simply that I was the store manager that night and , besides the one hostage , I was the one who had dealt with the gunman . The call was from the police detective who had questioned me after the robbery and he was just following up on a question . When I got off the phone I went into the room where my girlfriend was sitting on the couch and the conversation went like this : Girlfriend : What happened ? Me : I got robbed at the store tonight . Girlfriend : Oh . And that was it . She turned back to the television and never asked me another thing about that night . It was clear that she was not interested or concerned . I suppose I could have asked her if she wanted to know more , but I didn t say anything . After a while , I just stared at the floor - and reflected . As is usual for me it seems , during robberies or facing the perils of love , I was not outwardly upset , but I think most people reading this would understand what I must have felt like inside . It is hard to face the dawning realization that the person you hold so dear , does not really care too much about you any more . There is an awful taste , when love dies , that seems to suddenly swell up inside of you or maybe it s just the salt in all those tears that you keep inside and refuse to cry . Either way , I still stuck around with her for a couple of months afterwards , trying to convince myself that I was wrong . You have to understand robberies happen all the time , but Love doesn't . Nonetheless , I had been correct on the night of the robbery and I should have realized it then . Eventually , I quietly went my own way . - Just a peasant Photo from the galleries of Wade Heninger . 
In My Middle Years . In my middle years , on the air of the fading summer , I can still smell the immortalityof my shallow adolescence . In my middle years , on the air of the fading summer , I can still hear the whispersof heroic deeds never performed . In my middle years , on the air of the fading summer , I can still taste honeysuckle leaves , sweet with delusions of uniqueness . In my middle years , on the air of the fading summer , I m forced to seek melancholy comfortin wild blackberries and dusty grapes . In my middle years , on the air of the fading summer , I vainly grope for tomorrow 's dewdropsbecause I cannot touch yesterday 's river . - Just a peasant Painting : Wheatstacks ( End of Summer ) by Claude Monet . 
I ' m Going To Hell . Today , I was thinking about intolerance here in America and in other places . It has so many flavors but where does it come from ? During my life , I have been damned to biblical Hell , not once , not twice , but four times . I have been damned to Hell for being a heavy metal musician , a scientist , a humanist , and even a Dungeon Master . The need to feel unique is what drives people to believe that they are on the cutting edge of civilization s progress and that they , alone , are capable of understanding and protecting the institutions of their society . It is from this lust for uniqueness that people draw their human identity . Intolerance is born from their efforts to insulate these institutions from change because any people , that are physically or intellectually different , are considered a threat to the survival of the institution . These different people are then dehumanized so that either , they cannot reasonably participate in the institution or , so that they can be more easily isolated and eliminated . Intolerance therefore , is the manifestation of dehumanizing people . We do not tolerate those who are not human . The first time that I was damned to Hell , I was just seventeen years old . A girl that I had dated , just twice , declared that I was going to Hell because I played Dungeons Dragons BEST GAME EVER ! 
Israel s new war . Yossi Halevi writes a good article in The New Republic about the current military actions of Israel . ( http : // www . tnr . com / doc . mhtml ? i = w 060710 s = halevi 071206 ) I support the current Israel policy of unilateral disengagement and this article talks about very solid arguments in support of such policy . Hamas and Hezbollah clearly want war with Israel and Israel is working on what they want . But as this article and many media stories have reported , the real enemy this time is Iran . The end game of this new war is likely to be in terms of confrontation of Israel with Iran . High oil prices have emboldened Iran to pursue now aggressive policies and attacks of Hamas and Hezbollah are likely to have complete backing from Iran . The key question is what would America do to contain Iran . As of now , America s pre - occupation with Iraq war and unwillingness of Russia and China to help in any way to evolve consensus to deal with Iran ; chances are dim . This mean Israel will eventually act on its own . But it is not clear whether strategic balance is there in today s world where Israel can pull off victory like 1967 in today s world . In other words , comparatively Israel does not seem to have enough military power to take on Hamas , Hezbollah and destruction of Iranian nuclear weapons program and their active help . This means decks are lot against Israel this time and there will be no other option for USA than to get involved in this conflict eventually possibly to face Iran head on . The problem will be that participation of USA will be more of forced one at late stage rather than pre planned involvement to drive maximum resolution of the conflict . Hence , neglect of USA involvement and lack of explicit backing to Israel will eventually cost USA and the world lot . It is imperative that USA gets involved in this conflict decisively and quickly . Umesh Patil San Jose , CA 95111 July 12 , 2006 . 
2006 FIFA World Cup Conclusion . Slowly Europe and rest of the world will come to senses now that the party is over . All praise to Germany for what seems like hosting a great tournament . What is the beef with that guy named Franz Beckenbauer ? Seems like he is always on the positive and winning side of the great game called football ! Other games would envy when would they get their Beckenbauers . German team also achieved great success and the whole feel about the team , the nation and the game was very positive and refreshing . Rarely a sports phenomenon has achieved such a positive spirit . Hopefully Chinese organizers attain some of that positive spirit in Beijing 2008 Olympics . Unpredictability in football is the only predictable thing . French played all through a great game in the final , but could not lift the trophy . Two chances late in the game were sensational for French one just before Ribery came out when he took the shot at the goal post and the second chance of Zidane s header . Buffon made great save and in a sense Italy won their cup right then and there . Great deal of media ink and attention will be spilled about Zidane s red card . But it is pretty obvious that missing the header moments before made him frustrated and angry . Of course there is no way to justify his behavior . Hitting the player in chest was senseless and that was the psychological blow French were unlikely to overcome , for that matter any team . What a sad spectacle for Zidane , French and in the end for World Football . FIFA would have had an egg on it 's face if Zidane was not expelled at that time . It is quite likely that he may be further punished or prosecuted . The only thing it demonstrates is in the end hero s are humans too who can make mistake . Hopefully the world media does not go overboard in berating Zidane and gives due credit to what he has achieved in his life time . The incident was bad but that single incident does not erase all of his achievements over many years . FIFA needs to worry about what is a better way to avoid penalty kicks in the final . It is disgrace to decide the final in penalty kicks . Hopefully as the FIFA management has said , they would brain storm and come up with better solutions to this problem . Other than that , FIFA stock is rising and at the moment it is at the zenith of its popularity , power and sheer afterglow . We will see what happens in next 4 years when FIFA kicks the next world cup in S . Africa . One thing will be sure - Europeans will unlikely to dominate that tournament . As England team said , cup in Europe was the best chance for England and European teams to win . Italians clinched it . Their defense , as usual , was great and they won that basis . Something is quite electrifying in staging a physical activity of 22 players which is watched all over the world by Billion people the game in the same stadium where Hitler organized his 1936 Olympics . Rest of the world does get the message Germany , Europe and the whole world has come a long way on a better road . Let us keep walking on this good road . Umesh Patil San Jose , CA 95111 July 9 , 2006 . 
Global Warming and Conservative Response . It has been very shameful on respected columnists like George Will and Charles Krauthammer who have been doubting the science behind the Global Warming . What is bad is for these intellectuals there is no reason to be blind towards developing challenges apart from simple ideological biases Global Warming is an issue earlier raised by Environmentalists and Liberal and that is it it must be wrong then for these ideologues . Now that Congress authorized body National Science Foundation has come up with the clear scientific report ; it is hard for Congress to ignore this developing crisis . ( http : // news . yahoo . com / s / ap / 20060622 / ap _ on _ sc / global _ warming and http : // www . sfgate . com / cgi - bin / article . cgi ? f = / c / a / 2006 / 06 / 23 / WARMING . TMP type = science ) Congress asked that body specifically to guide and now they have spoken . Hopefully all these conservative columnists now realize their foolishness and start working on how to address the problem on hand . There in lies the fundamental problem . Before scientific community to come back with emphatic evidence , these intellectuals doubted the science . Now they are going to doubt about any remedy proposed . Their argument will what Pres . Bush has been arguing jobs will be lost and average Americans will suffer if we start to address the Global Warming issue . As if there are no sane policies with minimal to zero job impact . Otherwise also , what do you do then ? Keep allowing this catastrophe to develop and blame it on Liberals and Sinners of this world ? It is quite possible that Pat Robertson will soon issue fatwa to kill all Gay people as a remedy to avoid Global Warming . So the way political story is going to develop in next few years is Conservatives as the true care takers of general employable people of America and Karl Roves of the world will portray Democrats as job killers ! It will not stop there as is the wont of Norquist politicians ; Republicans will find more avenues of Tax Cuts under the pretext of combating Global Warming . It is bound to happen . What needs to happen is to explain American public whose profits may get impacted by policies to combat Global Warming and what adjustment common Americans will have to do . Common people will do what is needed , provided all the ideological debates and wasted interests are bare open . That is the need of the hour going forward now that science behind Global Warming is on solid grounds . Umesh Patil San Jose , CA 95111 June 25 , 2006 . 
Advani Hammers . As decades and time passes , we are having less and less leaders who fought Indira s Black Hole Emergency Rule . It is like what it used to be when I was in schools slowly and but surely all the Freedom Fighters were going away . With that India slowly forgot or put their heroic struggle in the collective history consciousness depending upon your perspective . We are witnessing similar march of Time regarding India s leaders who fought against Indira s Emergency . Thus Advani hammering Congress during the Save Democracy Day comes at appropriate time . One does not need to remind his qualifications to hammer his criticism of Congress in this regard . His point is essentially true Congress is incapable of thinking rulers away from Nehru - Gandhi family . True India had Rao and Dr. Singh is the current Prime Minister . But overwhelming power today still vests with Sonia . Dr. Singh is modern day avatar of appointed vazir of Her Majesty , Empress Sonia in this case . Add to this pathetic clamor of Congress people for Rahul and Priyanka and then Advani s argument rings the bell . There is political tone to Advani s talk , but that is what we want from our Opposition Party fearless criticism of the ruling class . BJP leaders were right to point the heavy handed way of Congress Government in regards to last year s Bihar Assembly fiasco . Congress has a long way to get away from these imperial tendencies which it exhibits on many occasions . We all are waiting for a day when Congress Plenary Session passes the resolution to condemn emergency ; apologies to masses for all those oppressive acts ; renounces such dictatorial policies ; vows never to repeat such actions in future and lays down concrete organizational measures to avoid such pitfalls in future ( to the extent possible ) . Congress must create an organization environment where those who do not come from Nehru Gandhi family are not handicap in pursuing legitimate leadership aspirations . Till then India needs from time to time reminder about emergency as how Advani spoke . The worry is whether we will have young Indian population enough learned about this thing called emergency and true significance of that ? With all the hallabol of Globalization , Money and Mandal ; one wonders if that precious little we always remain vigilant for our rights , freedom and Democracy will be lost on India s young and energetic youth . On this day we pray that it does not happen . As they say , we should never forget what happened 23 years back . Umesh Patil San Jose , CA 95111 June 25 , 2006 . 
Better Party to Execute the War . If Republicans and Karl Rove were to have maturity in not bragging Zarqawi killing as proof of working of Pres . Bush s Iraq war , America would not have come to this not so happy stage . Karl Rove and House Republicans are back to the game of equating Iraq war as larger War on Terrorism and exploiting electoral advantages there off . Let us look at the big picture of what America has achieved so far in this Iraq war : Positives : - Saddam gone and one remote possibility of nuclear proliferation contained . Negatives : - Loss of 2500 American lives and many more possibly to come in future . - Loss of around Half Trillion dollars ( $ 500 Billion ) on the avoidable war . - Dropping of a ball from the larger picture of War on Islamic Fundamentalism and War on Terrorism . - Degradation of American Army . - International loss of America s credibility and no attention to many other pressing Foreign Policy issues . With this balance sheet , for any political leadership to contend that Iraq War has been beneficial to America is plain simple wrong . By now the original Neo Con thesis of Democracy in itself good and answer for rogue states is enough discredited that no one believes this thesis . Further , whom are we kidding if we say that Iraq is well on the path of stable Democracy ? The country still has the same danger of civil war and division what it was before Zarqawi killing . The road is long and mostly actions are on the part of Iraqi s themselves . And of course , while all the cost benefit analysis is going on ; how do you account for the false premise ( of WMD ) on which the war was sold principally to American people and then to the world ? Explaining all this to American people is the only way to call the bluff of Karl Rove : - The war was started on wrong premises , by deceiving America . - Purported benefits do not justify the cost paid so far . - Equating Iraq war with War on Terror is wrong since these two are different things . The question is what do we do now . Rove is hammering Democrats by portraying them as the political party which does not have gumption to execute the war ; they want to cut loose and run and only Republicans can do this job . The way Democrats need to reply is yes , America will not cut and loose as long as Iraqi s do not engage in Civil war but do Americans want to trust Republicans to run the remaining war again ? It needs to be reminded that inability of America to wind up Iraq war is squarely fault of Pres . Bush and then why Americans in right mind want to trust Republican leadership in prosecuting the remaining war ? Even after all the lying and bad execution ? The only way a right political opposition can rise to Rove s games is when alternating political force convinces public of it s savvy to execute the remaining Iraq war ( and to pull out if Iraq Civil War starts ) and the overall War on Terrorism . What Americans need to know is Pres . Bush s insistence in continuation of Iraq policy and backing of Republicans to that policy is more a function of keeping up their political power rather than any welfare of America . There is no other alternative other than questioning Pres . Bush s integrity here . In absence of that Rove s cunning ploy will succeed yet another time . Since many political opponents of Pres . Bush backed his Iraq policy at start , even at some political cost ; it will be hard now to label these opponents as political opportunists . Political opportunism is more manifested by Pres . Bush and his party . Umesh Patil San Jose , CA 95111 June 17 , 2006 . 
THE DEAF JEDI DUELS WITH TIME . THE DEAF JEDI DUELS WITH TIMEMy good friend Stephen Newell , ( a . k . a . " The Deaf Jedi " ) author of the blog entitled " The Silent Holocron , " aparently thinks silence is the cure all for everything -- including aging . In a last ditch effort to save planet Youth , the Deaf Jedi employed the oft - tryed and oft - foiled strategy of remaining silent about his birthday yesterday . But who could blame him ? He 's 29 years old and the " Big Three - O " looms ominously on the horizon ( a scary thought for any mortal ) . Not to mention the fact that the aging warrior probably felt ill - equiped to deal with the onslaught of years -- especially in light of the fact that Southern doesn't offer a class in geriatrics . In the end , however , April 25 th came and went , and time won . Nothing but wheelchairs and shuffleboard from here on out brother . But seriously folks , this light saber wielding UPSer is awsome !! He 's just no match for the Sith Lord Father Time . But I have an idea that might make him feel better . Let 's all sing a song to commemorate his time here on planet earth . Ready . . . . . . And : Happy Birthday to you ! Happy Birthday to you ! Happy Birthday dear Stepheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen !! *** GAAASP ! *** Happy Birthday to you ! Grace and Peace , Shane Morgan . 
I heard Hasselhoff is going to release a record with Ice - T as producer . In that spirit , I am going to republish my KITT facts -- . Related news : Hasselhoff : Too drunk ?? Or too sick ??? to fly ... I would think he would not drink after that Palm Springs ordeal ... ( Inspired by the Web page , " K . I. T . T . Is the One . " ) Photo of K . I. T . T . available HERE . Blogger is hosing me again !! ) 1 ) There were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq . KITT detonated them them -- with a crash in the desert . Due to KITT 's " Molecular Bonded Shell , " he received only two paint scratches . He took himself to Earl Scheib the next day and had them fixed with touch - up paint .2 ) KITT went to Jiffy Lube and got an oil change and a new air filter . He then decided to go all out , and get his fuel injection cleaned for an extra $ 20 . Three miles away , a sleeping Michael Knight got a hard - on .3 ) Rocco Siffredi drove KITT to a porn set . The actresses said they would perform for free , if they could drive KITT for just five blocks afterwards . The movie won 6 AVN awards , due to the enthusiasm of the performances .4 ) The city of Berlin , Germany has passed a law making it illegal for KITT and Hasselhoff to sing a duet in the city limits . They are afraid the rocks of the Berlin Wall will reassemble themselves .5 ) When KITT turns on the " Turbo Boost , " a nun driving him will have multiple orgasms .6 ) KITT went to the Baywatch set with Hasselhoff , to audition for a role as a dune buggy . The producers were afraid the Baywatch Babe lifeguards would leave a drowning man in the water , to give KITT mouth - to - mouth resuscitation by popping his hood and sucking on his carburetor .7 ) KITT and KARR ( his evil twin ) used to be friends . Their favorite prank was to take turns having sex with a Buick Elektra ; not telling her they are two different cars .8 ) If Michael Knight calls a " 900 - number " on the " Comlink wrist communicator , " the phone sex operator pays him ...9 ) KITT told Mac Gyver he was feeling sick . Mac Gyver took his temperature -- with a thermometer he has in his Swiss Army Knife . Mac Gyver gave KITT a tune - up . He made the spark plugs out of two wire coat hangers , a plastic milk carton , a cigarette lighter , and five cans of strawberry Fanta .10 ) KITT told Mac Gyver his show was about to be cancelled . So Mac Gyver made the Stargate . Out of some baling twine , three wire coat hangers , a broken radio , some duct tape , and six cans of grape Fanta .11 ) Rocco Siffredi drove KITT from California to Indiana to pick up chicks , in " Super Pursuit Mode . " The number of female orgasms produced the first day Rocco Siffredi and KITT were there inspired a race : " The Indianapolis 500 . " 12 ) Every time KITT skids in the California desert , a baby angel is born .13 ) YOU take Viagra . KITT takes Gumout with an STP Gas Treatment - chaser .14 ) People say , " All roads lead to Rome . " KITT knows , " All roads lead to a crash in the desert . " ( Taken from , " K . I. T . T . Is The One . " ) 15 ) The US Civil War did not OFFICIALLY end until KITT got the General Lee ( from Dukes of Hazzard ) to sign surrender papers at Appomattox . They toasted the agreement with a case of chilled STP Gas Treatment , served in champagne flutes .16 ) Feeling guilty he was injured in a car wreck , KITT gave Esteban 12 free guitar lessons .17 ) Mac Gyver and KITT had a child through artificial insemination . We know him today as Mr. Goodwrench . 
Today 's topic : . Can you trust your mistress ?? ( The Hottest Female in the United States , bar none !! Don't even try -- Ms. Hottie Mc Hottenstein -- to be hotter than this Hottie !! Nobody 's mistress , but after the makeup , wardrobe , and lighting team get there , we wish !! Wait -- she 's holding a dollar . I would park her car , for one thing , if that 's a tip !! ) ( Erratum : I stated above that Eva Longoria is the Hottest Woman in the United States . She is really the Hottest Woman ALIVE ... my apologies ! I am working with a limited research team here -- Rosie Palm and her five daughters . DEAD Women who are hotter than Eva Longoria include , but are not limited to : Jayne Mansfield , Mae West , Dorothy Dandridge , Josephine Baker , and Lillian Gish . God forbid , if something should happen to Eva Longoria ; Jessica Alba will become the Hottest Woman Alive . Should something happen to Jessica Alba , U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert will become the Hottest Woman Alive . After that , consult the U.S. Constitution ... ) . 
Effective Hummer Commercial ( But Aren't They All ?? ) . Hummers interest me as a marketing guy for the same reason that Jeeps and Tang Breakfast Drink and Space Food Sticks do : They are a successful product wholly researched and designed by the US government , with no market testing , focus groups , demographic research , or any of the other " bells not Ruben Studdard in an Escalade ... I mean , I don't even want to think about a Mack truck ... ) I assume that you would want to put premium gasoline in a brand new Hummer , and at the last Georgia Texaco pump I drove by , that 's $ 3.25 per gallon . And Georgia is one of the better states to buy gas in , due to low tax and proximity and piping to New Orleans . And a Hummer gets -- what -- 9 miles per gallon ? " Wait , " you say , " it says 16 miles per gallon on the sticker ! " If you believe that sticker , you will believe that Santa Claus fills your gas tank at night while the Easter bunny checks your oil and the Tooth Fairy leaves a quarter in your seat cushion . That " 16 miles per gallon " means that a professional driver driving one of the three stick shift Hummers they made , on a level closed course in Pahrump , Nevada in the Winter with only a lizard to stop for and no traffic lights . And the air conditioner off ... and the wind blowing behind the Hummer . So selling Hummers -- barring a picture of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad giving Ehud Olmert a " hummer " on the front page of tomorrow 's New York Times -- means " working for a living . " In that context , the current Hummer commercial in heavy rotation is interesting : A limousine liberal , Caucasian upper middle - class woman is waiting with her daughter at a bus stop . She practically has " I Voted for Kerry " tattooed on her forehead . But then again , she would not think of ever getting a tattoo ... The bus pulls up and daughter starts getting on . Rude passenger butts in front of Mommy . Mommy says , " Hey , I was in line ! " Passenger employs that famous urban Darwinian skill of " pretending she didn't hear something . " It 's up there with " pretending not to look at anyone . " Is the " friendly " bus driver going to sucker punch the rude passenger and give her a lesson in etiquette ? I am not holding my breath ... that bus driver will close the doors and look straight ahead if Mommy has a coronary . Will Mommy even make it on the bus ? If not , will Little Muffy make the ride alone ... the ride to the white slave market in Kathmandu , I guess ?? Where she will be auctioned off to turn six tricks a day for the rest of her life ?? Cut to Mommy and Muffy riding in a new Hummer . I guess Mommy made it on the bus -- then made it straight to a Hummer dealership the next day . Mommy turns and smiles at Muffy , her hands on the cushioned leather steering wheel -- inches from the climate control and the quadrophonic stereo -- whose Bose speakers are gently bumpin ' Lite Soft Rock All - Fleetwood Mac 99.9 FM . The rude Proletariat bitch at the bus stop will not penetrate this Hummer -- not even with a hand grenade tossed under its chassis . Oh , yeah -- and if there is any piss on the seats in the Hummer , it is Muffy 's and not some wino who went a little heavy on the Wild Irish Rose . ( Read that link . Wild Irish Rose is now available in , " Wild Fruit with Ginseng . " Why , exactly , do we want to give schizophrenic winos an aphrodisiac ?? ) Message ? " We know you want to save the planet , Mommy . But do you and Muffy really want to travel with the ' Great Unwashed ' every day , when you could be bumpin ' in a Hummer ? " It 's one thing to attend some rally and hug a tree . It 's another thing to rub elbows with the Untouchable caste on public transportation when you are a Brahmin . Or at the very least a Ksatriya ... ( The Zen Wizard is a Brahmin , but was a Ksatriya in a previous incarnation . ) . 
What is your favorite opening paraph from any work of fiction ? I saw this on someone else 's page ; I think it was Pomgirl 's . Anyway , when you do this , you get some really cool stuff . What is your favorite paragraph from any work of fiction ? Are you stuck ?? START HERE ... Here 's mine : " There was a desert wind blowing that night . It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch . On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight . Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husband 's necks . Anything can happen . You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge . " It 's from " Red Wind , " by Raymond Chandler -- a short story . What 's YOURS ?? " Copy " " Paste " it in the " Comments ! " Parenthetically , a while later a bartender gives Marlowe a full glass . This dialogue ensues : The kid said : " I don't like drunks in the first place and in the second place I don't like them getting drunk in here , and in the third place I don't like them in the first place . " " Warner Brothers could use that , " I said . " They did . " ##### . 
Whats on in July . Music nights for the rest of July are Jules Barnes Tuesday 18 th Helen Wednesday 19 th from 8 pm - 11 pm Kirsty Baird Wednesday 26 th from 8 pm - 11 pm Steve Wilson Thursday 27 th from 8 pm - 11 pm Jed Monday 31 st 8 pm - 11 pmand on Monday the 24 th Pub quizfrom 8 pm . 
Steve Wilson Live . Thursday night at the Hogshead , Castle Street was busy . The mix of regulars and tourists in almost equal numbers . One couple I spoke to were up from Birmingham for a weeks holiday and it was their second night in the pub . They had been drawn in by the fact there was live music on . ( They had been in on Tuesday listening to Jules . ) Steve Wilson was the draw for a lot of customers last night . With a standard of delivery of a true professional Steve entertained his audience with a mix from one of the largest range of covers I ' ve ever known a pub singer to perform . From Lynard Skynard to Coldplay Steve will probably know it , sing it , and most of all sing it well . Truth be told I hadn't expected music last night , I ' d gone in for one beer on a hot night on my way home . But I stayed well past the time I should have been on my way home . I ' m certain I ' ll make a date , and I ' ll advise you to do so to for the next night Steve Wilson 's on at the Hogshead . 
Jules Barnes Live . Jules Barnes singer / song writer once again wowed another audience . This time The Hogshead Castle Street . With her great personality , style and incredible voice Jules once again had the people watching and others not , taping along to her own songs and her covers of popular songs to numerous to mention . Lets just say Michael Jackson , Don Mclean , Dido and Sarah Mclaughlin all were given the Jules Barnes touch . Even the German tourists stayed after their meal and enjoyed another couple of drinks , and the music on offer on Tuesday night . A few beers later I could so easily got up there to to sing , and I definately shouldn't . Such is the way the night went . Look forward to Jules in the future I ' m sure she ' ll be back with avengance . 
A Photographic Invasion . ( The Last Picture Show ) . August 2006 . The 60 th anniversary of the Edinburgh Fringe . The sixth year of Smallbrowns photographic exhibition and the second in the Hogshead Castle street . All the hustle and bustle of life on the High street captured on film and displayed on the walls of the Hogshead Castle Street . From the famous to the imfamous all there to be seen . If you ' ve not seen it , this is your last chance , don't miss it ! Scared to venture down the High street at Festival time , see it all in one exciting venue . The pick of stage and street shows captured on film . A visual feast for anyone with an interest in photography , and even those that aren't . All photographs Andrew Brown . 
Emily 's New Gaff ! Greetings from The Hogshead , Castle Street . Emily Harvey of The Chanter fame is now the new manager of the Hogshead , Castle Street . All her staff and regulars from Bread Street I ' m sure would like me like to wish her well in her new , but not to far away to pop in for a drink , pub . 
With a Castle View . Earlier this year following Ireland 's lead Scotland became a smoke free zone in all places of business . For those of us who still love the French Cafe society the Hogshead , Castle street offers out door seating , with an incredible view of the Castle and the hustle and bustle of life on Castle Street , Rose Street and Princes Street . And covered seating when Scotland , just doesn't live up to the French Riviera . 
What 's on the menu ? Well the Hogshead , Castle street offers not only the standard of food you come to expect at one of their great pubs , but a traditional Scottish menu for those from all over the world who fancy the chance to try something a little different like Haggis , neeps and tatties . And the Fantastic Meal Deal is again another great reason to stop off and try pub fare in the Hogshead Castle Street . Two Meals for 6.95 * * selected menu . 
This thing called life is really something . Tuesday after work I had another interview , for another position . This time though , I think I have a bit of an edge on the rest . You see , the company I am applying to work for used to be merged with my dad 's company , House of Graphics . They were in the same building for the longest time , and all treated me like family . The interview was great , somewhat of a reunion with those fellas . The facility is brand new , with state of the art equipment . The attitude of the company and it 's employees is completely positive , which is a huge contrast to the current environment I am in . They offer a 401 k plan and benefits , it 's like heaven ! After we talked for almost an hour and a half I thanked him , jumped in my car and drove home . He called me back yesterday afternoon and had one question for me ... Are you dependable ? I quickly answered yes , and he followed by telling me that they are extremely interested in having me work for them . Then he asked me to come in Monday when I get done working , to see if we can't help each other and work something out ! Needless to say I squeezed out a few more thank yous , hung up the phone and started dancing around like a little elf ! I am usually one who doesn't like to buy the whole ' things happen for a reason ' theory ... But at times like this I have to wonder . I mean it turns out that not getting the last job I applied for could have been the best thing that happened to me . Hindsight is always 20 / 20 I guess . 
Pink everywhere , and I am starting to like it ! My fiance had her shower this past weekend and now my house is invaded by groups of pink dresses and outfits , pink car - seats , pink bags - you get the idea . We found out officially that we are having a baby girl last Friday , which cost me $ 100 dollars ( we had a small side bet to try and lighten things up a bit ) but brought me an overwhelming amount of happiness ! I wasn't set on know what the baby 's sex is , but my better half thought that it would be nice to know to avoid all yellow gifts and such . I just want the child to be healthy , all 10 fingers and all 10 toes ! In spite of the pink invasion , Jordan and I will be making a stop by the brand new Super Walmart ( like most are , conveniently located 2 blocks from the old Walmart that is now empty - another day another blog ) to represent our hood . 
I ' m typically not one to give advice on how to pick up women . This morning I came into work and had a huge stack of papers in front of my computer with a sticky note from my boss that read : Chase , please see me on this right away . It 's not as bad as it looks . Assuming that I ' d be doing 4 hours of typesetting I slowly dragged my body to my boss ' office . However she was right , there was just a few lines here and there that needed re - typed . The booklet is called " Wedding Alternatives " and it a guide to planning your wedding without using the commercially prescribed aspects that seem to distract from the truly important things about marriage and a wedding . It brings up a lot of good points , so if you 're getting married this is definitely worth checking out . Saturday I stopped by a friends wedding reception for a few hours , to find all of my high school friends drunk as could be ! The reception area was decorated nicely , with plenty of snacks and alcohol . One of my best friends , Jon , was pretty intoxicated to say the least . I made the mistake of telling him a friend of my fiance was in town and staying at my place . He has had a little crush on her for a while , and that can be trouble when a guy has had as much as he had to drink . After relentless requests from him to go out to my house with me , I caved in . We got to the house and I told him , " Just play it cool ... She 's sober as a nun right now , you don't want to do anything stupid . " . Jon gave me a look as if he were saying , " Chase , would I do that ? " and yes , he would .20 minutes into our little party , we were in the middle of a conversation I hear Jon say , " I think I could puke " . Now , I didn't really have a set of rules of what not to say that I followed when hitting on women , but I am positive that if I did this would be at the top ! Needless to say , Jon went home alone that night . 
Note to self - Get running shoes . Do you ever wish that you could see things before they actually happen ? You know , to stop something bad from happening ? I do . Last night was one of those nights . As mentioned before I was subbing for a friend at golf league , and it was great ! We were having a blast , I played fairly well and it was beautiful weather for golfing . Afterwards we had a little food and another beer inside and somehow it started . A friend who applied for the same position I had , and didn't get the job either was constantly talking about how ' he ' got robbed . Finally I just said ( regrettably ) that I was confident when he told me that it was between us , because I know quite a bit more about graphic design and marketing than he does . I couldn't have said anything worse . We had both been drinking and after I said that the night took a turn for the worse . Long story short - there was a big argument , a lot of shit was said and we ending up going at it for a second . I had a friend pick me up because my car wouldn't start ( my security system is messed up , sometimes it thinks the car is being stolen and doesn't allow gas to pump out ) and went home . After venting on the phone , trying to call and explain that I didn't mean it as a malicious attack on him I decided to take a run and get my car . Some might say , " Chase , running at 1 in the morning after you ' ve been drinking isn't probably the best idea . Especially because you haven't ran since high school P . E . ! " Nonsense I say . It was great , it was exactly what I needed . I did stop and walk 2 times during the 3 mile jog , but I still completed it in just over 30 minutes . When I got to my car and got inside , it wouldn't start again ... So I had to wait 10 minutes before my car will start ( in case someone were actually stealing the car , they ' d have to wait 10 minutes before the system will bypass the alarm and pump out gas ) . By this time my buzz had more than worn off , and I was covered in sweat from head to toe . I have 2 huge blisters on my feet , next time I think I ' ll wear socks . I got home around 1:45 and called it a night . Of course I feel bad about what happened ... I shouldn't have said what I did . But until I graduate from Superhero school and can go back in time I ' m just going have to live with it . 
It 's 100 degrees and I get sick ... Go figure . Last Wednesday night I started to feel a little tickle in my throat . Eight days and several new symptoms later , the little tickle is starting to look like an inevitable doctors visit . There were good days when I didn't feel a thing during the past week that kept me from making a visit . Besides that I really don't like going to the doctor . I haven't since I was a young lad . The reasons why have drastically changed however . For example , I used to fear the doctor because he ' d poke me with a needle ... Now I fear him because I don't have health insurance and he will cost me a bunch of paper . My fiance and I ( jokingly ) said we were going to head to the courthouse and get married today so I can get on her health insurance plan . Today isn't that bad however . I have my Alka - Seltzer and we got a brand new Kandiyohi water dealy right in front of my office , so I ' m totally hydrated . I was starting to think I was getting worse and I ' d need to stay home this afternoon but then I got a text from a friend who needs a sub in his golf league ... And suddenly I feel quite a bit better ! 
Nothing like the smell of gas and grass ! I enjoy mowing . Which is pretty funny because I can remember for the longest time dreading it ! But now it 's somewhat therapeutic , almost like meditating . Saturday morning I decided to gas up the mower and get my yard mowed . I was thinking if I started early enough I ' d escape the heat . I was wrong . But still I pulled the string and started walking . About 5 1 / 2 neatly aligned rows into my massive back yard I happened to look down and see a little bird ... Six inches in front of my still running mower . I then shut it off , and the bird still just sat there . As I looked closer I realized that the bird 's eyes were not exposed , and it couldn't see ( apparently by the way it sat in front of my loud mower , it couldn't hear either ) . I moved it aside , about 2 rows over so it could keep me company during my walking . In addition to the relaxation I also like messing with my neighbor a bit . We live in a duplex and so the I mow from the sprinklers ( center of our 2 places ) straight back ... Most of the time . The last 2 times I have mowed I leave an extra 2 or 3 strips , and I am sure he appreciates it . Besides , his yard isn't as big as ours . 
False alarm . My interview Friday afternoon went great , for those who care . So great in fact that I thought I ' d be getting a call this morning with a job offer . Come to find out the interview Friday was a waste of my time . A friend of mine who owns an agency here in town said that an intern he had working for him got a call Friday early afternoon ( mind you BEFORE my interview had even took place ) with the job offer . Thus the reason only 1 lady was present instead of 2 , when I was lied to and told it was because the head of it all was busy in meetings . Bull shit . I am beginning to wonder if I just SUCK that bad and everyone I am surrounded by is just too nice to tell me . Seriously . *** 10:40 PM Central *** Just to be sure though , I am going to call them in the morning to make sure this chick isn't full of poop . : ) . 
finish it . Finish the sentence : 1 . My ex is .... doing something , I guess . She won't tell me anymore .2 . Im listening to .. Family Guy 3 . Maybe I should ... figure out my life .4 . I love ... music , beer and dogs .5 . My bestfriend ( s ) ... live too damn far away , and we don't talk enough .6 . I don't understand ... why my boss hasn't been fired yet .7 . I lost ... my virginity to a slut .9 . People say .... I ' m an asshole , until they get to know me .10 . Love is ... lost right now .11 . Somewhere , someone is ... eating a pizza and thinking about sex .12 . I will always ... believe in love .13 . Forever seems .... a long time to be alone .14 . I never want to ... be like my boss .15 . My mobile phone ... is a pain in the ass.16 . When I wake up in the morning ... i curse the air conditioner that keeps tripping my circuit breaker .17 . I get annoyed when ... I don't have anyone to drink with .18 . Parties are ... a thing of the past , for the most part .19 . My pet ( s ) are / is ... the fly that won't die in my apartment . It 's been in here for five days now .20 . Kisses are the best when ... they are meant .21 . Today I... recovered from a massive bender with co - workers .22 . Tomorrow I will ... walk five miles , sweating a lot , go to work , write a story or two and then come back home and do it all over again on Friday . Then go on vacation . Ahhhh ... the beach ! 23 . I really want ... a new job . 
a fitting song . After last night 's debacle of beer , beer , stumble footing and talks of blow jobs , I figured this song would make for a good memory of what I can only imagine ? I realize I missed a day But I ' m too wrecked to care anyway I look around and see this face What the hell have I lost my taste Don't want to find out Just want to cut out My head explodes , my ears ring I can't remember just where I ' ve been The last thing that I recall I got lost in a deep black hole Don't want to find out Just want to cut out Blackout I really had a blackout Blackout I really had a blackout Blackout I really had a blackout Blackout I really had a blackout I grab my things and make my run On the way out , another one Would like to know before I stop Did I make it or did I flop Don't want to find out Just want to get out Blackout I really had a blackout Blackout I really had a blackout Blackout I really had a blackout Blackout I really had a blackout Don't want to find out Just want to get out Blackout I really had a blackout ! 
a new obsession . 10 days solid now I ' ve had one cassette tape in my car -- " This Year 's Model " by Elvis Costello and the Attractions . It 's not an album I just bought or anything . There doesn't seem to be any overwhelming reason for me constantly listening to it . But it is a kick - ass piece of plastic . There isn't a bad song on it . I ' m completely sold . Not until these two weeks had it dawned on me just how good this album is . In fact , this album is so damn good it has forced its way into my top 10 . I ' m wondering when I ' ll finally get tired of it , if ever . Who knows ? I may never listen to another tape / cd again in my car ... 
A Sam Raimi moment , Chapter 2 . With beers in hand , Josh and I eye the bar . It 's empty for the most part . That 's good . It 's one of those places that Applebee 's tries to be . Or maybe , it 's a place that 's trying to be the " real " place that Applebee 's business model is structured after . I don't know . It 's just boring . It 's cliched and it 's got a lot of neon beer signs . It 's called " Jerry 's Place . " A couple of booths have some tourists . Well , I assume they 're tourists -- a mom , dad and two kids . Out at 9 p.m. in the club area . Plus , the kids got a Pokemon shirt on . Of course , we 're tourists too , me and Joshy . Ha . Joshy . If only he knew I called him that all the time . Just not to his face . The only person I ever heard call my bud that was my ex . She didn't take no shit , but loved to give it . Fuck . Now I ' m thinking about her . I always do , even though I don't let on . My girlfriend thinks about her . I know it . How the hell did I start thinking about this ? Oh yeah , Joshy . " Where ya wanna sit ? " I say in my newly re - acquired Southern drawl . " Let 's hit the end of the bar , " Josh says . The far end , near the front door is empty . Except for the only guy more out of place than us . With Jam shorts and a button up shirt , this guy is out of more than just place . We sit down , and share a stare at the television . The Twins are playing the Royals . Who the fuck would watch this on a Friday night ? Degenerate gamblers and fat chicks , I think . " Sumasnski 's got a grand on this game , " Josh says suddenly . Took the over and the Royals . Says Mac Dougal will come in and give up five , six runs in the eighth when the Royals look to close . It 's 1 - 0 in the ninth . We share a chuckle . Then I order another round . A short , kind of pudgy girl walks up to the jukebox . I hadn't noticed it when looking around earlier . I ' m a fan of the JBox . I have a serious itch to buy one . So much of an itch , I buy 45 s all the time . " One day , I ' ll have a bar on the beach , " I always tell people . " I ' ll sell shitty beer and have an old 45 s jukebox . " I ' ve been telling that story since I was 19 . Sixteen fucking years . The girl is now choosing her tunes . I hope for anything but Shania Twain . This place seems like the kind of place where Toby Keith and Co. , would dominate the set list . Then something strange happens . The opening cords to Guns on the Roof by the Clash start up . I take a second look at the girl . All of the sudden , she 's not so pudgy . It 's more of a Thora Birch in Ghostworld kind of vibe now . I ' m a little happier now . The bartender gives us two more beers -- still Budweiser . " Shit , " I say to Josh . He just cracks a smile and says , with his eyes " you 're a jackass . Drink your fucking beer . " We clink bottles and drink . Mr. Jams all of the sudden starts cussing up a storm . " Fuck George Bush . Fuck AIDS . Fuck death . Fuck this beer . Fuck this bar . " Josh turns to him and says " How you doing today ? " The fucks stop momentarily . Mr. Jams squints and gives us the up and down . He slumps back into his stool and says " This place used to be run by niggers . Not the bad ones , but some bad - ass muther fuckas . They 're dead now . Now it 's run by him . " He points at the bartender . He 's obviously a college student . Probably flunked out the first time , but now he 's back . All 24 years old . Just out of the parent 's house again . " Can you not use the N - word ? " He says with a shaking his finger at you attitude . " And the F - bomb . Stop dropping it . " Josh and I say collectively , once again without words " This oughtta be good . " It 's 9:27 and the Iron Maiden boys don't go on until 11 . After the opening band at 10 . We order another round and settle in for the show . To be continued ... 
Goldley and Cream . I think that was the name of those songwriters ? right ? Anyway , I was cleaning out some cabinets and i just broke down all of the sudden . For what ever reason , my depression just showed up in full force . I hadn't cried in a long while , but it was good . I got it out and went on with life . I ' m reading my old diary from 1993 to 2001 . It 's interesting reading , and kind of sad . I ' m repeating a lot of bad things . I guess that 's what people do . They repeat . Whether it be successful endeavors or failures , they tend to happen over and over until something is done about them . I do see a theme in my life , that I ' ve alluded to in here , or maybe even flat out said it before : Bad things happen with my relationships , they end , or they suck and most of the time , there is someone that steps in after a while to make things cool again . Of course , I could just be looking at it with 3 - d glasses and hoping it means something . Plus , I ' ve drank a lot of beers and written a lot of silly stuff while drunk over the years . I just wish mom hadn't thrown away my old word processor . I have disks of my diaries from college that I can't ever read again ... Of course , why I feel the need to read it all is a confusing topic ? Oh well . I ' m off to digest the trout I cooked tonight . Trout and brocoli . Not too shabby a dinner . 
song words for a dull day . Tell me one more time as I hold your hand , that you don't love me Tell me one more time as teardrops start to fall Shout it to me and I ' ll shout it to the skies above me That there was nothing after all Baby , baby , tell me that you never wanted my loving Baby , baby , tell me that you never , tell me , tell me , One more time , one more time , say you 're leaving , say goodbye One more time , one more time , say you 're leaving , say goodbye Tell me one more time that we never had a thing in common Tell me one more time as you turn and face the wall Tell me I should know you were never my kind of woman Tell me we were fools to fall . 
Cassette Review No. 22 . Oh boy . This is one of those embarrassing moments of youth . Kind of like an old prom photo , but since I didn't go to my prom , that doesn't exist . Only cassette tapes of shame ... The fact I own this one is reason enough to call me a number of names . But damn proud of my upbringing I am despite how horrid some parts of it may be today , indeed . But honestly , the few memories I have of this thing are listening to it 1 . by myself in my old pale blue painted with beer and metallica posters room in Hopewell , and 2 . the two times I tried to convince others at school that it was ' worth a listen . ' Kingdom Come : " In Your Face " With a groan you say that now . But in 1989 , a senior in high school -- still a virgin too ! -- that 's just an awesome thing . Think Beavis and Butthead before they existed . Pick which one you want me to be , most likely Beavis , but hey , I ' m not picky . Song No. 1 , " Do You Like It " Why would you ask a question like that to open your second album . Especially after being dogged by metal fans as being at best a Zep rip off , at worst a Whitesnake rip off ? This is horrible . Track 2 : " Who Do You Love " There you go , Robert Plant Jr. , asking questions again . Stop it . This is bad . That keyboard buried in the mix , is tacky now and was then . Sidebar : Did i actually think some chick would go -- " Kingdom Come ! Yeah ! Let 's fuck ! " Back in 1989 , I guess it worked for someone ??? The Wind : " And still the wind is going to blow sometimes fast and sometimes slow . " Jesus .... did you really write that ? Sidebar No. 2 : This may be the one time Chris Tres was right and I was wrong about music . Yes , he had G ' n ' R before anyone I knew , but he also had NKOTB and Winger . He didn't dig this . Good job C ... Tres ! BTW , where the hell are you ? We haven't even traded X - mas cards in three years ? Track 4 : Gotta Go ( Can't wage a war ) : boring enough to let me type all the above . Track 5 : Highway 6 : Generic pap . Waaahhhh ... Wreeehhhhh .. stop now .... side two : ( aka , can i make it ? ) Perfect ' O ' : I hear you moan Oh perfect ' O ' God damn that is faq u ing bad . I really wonder how many times this tape 's b - side has really ever been played ? b / c this sucks ... anyone out there own this ? Did you play it much ? Just Like a Wild Rose : Was this a single ? I vaguely remember it . It sounds vaguely familiar , or maybe that 's just the bad Zep thing going on ? Overrated : Now I like songs taht call out critics . " Garageland " by the Clash is the standard in my mind , as feeble as it is . But come on , Kingdom Come , should you really do this ? Oh wait , it 's about a fuking hoe . Boy , that 's swell . Mean Dirty JOe : I won't listen to this , sorry . Stargazer : Meet the maker ? Oy vey ! Sorry Lenny ... What 's my rating ? Well , it 's better than Winger .. So I ' ll give it a 1.4 out of 10 . 
A Sam Raimi Moment ... A Sam Raimi Moment : We pulled into downtown Richmond at about 8 o ' clock . My buzz from the beers at the biker bar benefit had long ago went away . It kind of sucked . Replacing it was that dull headache that comes with drinking Budweiser . It 's why I never drink Bud , unless I ' m with Josh . It takes about 10 minutes to find a parking spot . It 's Friday , so that 's no surprise . But what is surprising is that Josh has such a tough time finding his way around . I always remembered him being a much better driver . But of course , 9 times out of 10 I was drunk when I was with him in a car . Except for the cross country road trip . Then it was sober and sights . Now , it 's one - way streets and handicapped parking spots . By my inside clock , I never wear a watch and loathe looking at my cell phone every five minutes to see what time it is , it 's 8:15 . The opening band is probably going on . Shit . Finally , we find a spot . It 's a few blocks away from the Gun , a local dive that has shows . I haven't been since it was called something else back in the 1990 s . No biggie . We get to the Gun . The girl a the front , she 's smacking on some Dentyne Ice and talking on a GD cell phone . Plus , she 's got three bars in her nose . That 's attractive . But shit , she does have great drug - addled eyes . I just can't stop falling for girls with those . She 's probably a great lay , I think to myself . In between yaps and snaps of gum , she says " 5 bucks . " That 's odd , it was supposed to be 6 . Oh well . Save a buck , cool . Three of them equals a beer . As we walk into the club , something odd is going on . Josh and I look at each other but don't say anything . We 're just trying to figure out exactly what we ' ve stepped into . At most of the booths are folks about 10 years our senior . Being 35 , it 's not a surprise to be " that guy " at most pubs and clubs . But these tables are full of 45 year old moms and dads . We amble up to the bar and order two beers . Budweiser . " Shit . " After a quick half beer swig , a nearly naked girl pushes her way by . Nice . Then a double take , as she is probably 15 . Maybe 16 . Then a bunch of dudes amble by . All 15 or 16 . A band comes on stage . They have mohawks and stupid t - shits with snarky comments on them . One guy has a CCCP shirt on . Then I spy some brass . No , not the big wigs , but the instruments . Next thing you know , bad ska music is filling the venue . I finish my beer and go back for another . By then , I ' ve found a concert flyer . " All ages show , 6 to 9 , " it says . I drink some more . I show it to Josh . We both take a drink and look around . " Well , chief , " Josh says , " you only live once . " We finish our beers and get another . Then it dawns on us . We ' ll have to pay another cover to see the band we came to see -- an Iron Maiden cover band . We drink our beers and have another . Soon , the band is done . The crowd leaves . We try to order another round , " Get out of here , " the barkeep with bleach blonde hair and a black soul patch says . We do . Next door is a swanky bar . We go in . Get a couple more Buds . Too be continued .... 
advise from a " sage " . the other day , the genius at work , otherwise known as mullet , gave some sound advise to us who toil with unstable pagination systems . " Don't save as often as you have been . " Wha - what ? Now I know that there is nothing there . Nothing . Nothing . Nothing . Nothin . Nothi . Noth . Not . No. N . . But of course , it was what came right before it that made it even more priceless . " Don't work on more than one page at a time . If the power goes out , you ' ll only lose a little bit of work , instead of a lot . " But don't save often . What parallel universe did i step into back in 2001 . And why did I think it was a good idea ? 
lyrical on this day . A double shot of my second favorite song writin ' duo ... Last night I was woken by my cry Had a dream just as plain as you and Iand ... People don't changejust overnight It ain't natural . 
Cold turkey . today marks the two - year anniversary of my going cold turkey with soda . i have not had a sip of the elixer of the gods in 730 days now . i ' m surprised i ' ve made it that far , but simply put , i don't really even remember what it tasted like . about the only thing that sucks about it right now is that bottle of So Co that has been sitting on my counter for that entire time . since i used to mix it with dr . pepper or coke , i can't drink it . so it just sits there . sadly looking at me and my beers . i ' m wondering if i ' m going to go for beer next . try to kick that habit . eh . probably not . i ' m still trying to get under 200 pounds . i was down to 200 a couple days ago . this morning after working out , it was 201 again . been that way for a couple of days now . i ' m guessing tomorrow won't be one for the 1 's as i ate almost a complete bag of " munchies " the doritoe / cheeto / etc. treat . did not , eat dinner however , so maybe they will balance out ( ha ! ) . i ' ve only got nine days till my goal needs to be met . guess we shall see ? well , i have to be up early in the morning today to do an interview . yippie . 
The Mating Game . ....... [ c ] 2006 by DOMINO ....7.24.06 ........... Last night I saw an vintage movie from 1959 called " The Mating Game , " It starred , among others , Tony Randall and Debbie Reynolds . In the movie the IRS sent an ivestigator to a farm and through their own figures , decided that the people owed $ 50,000 in back taxes . The man was going to lose his farm that had been in the family for generations . One person remarked " once the IRS decides that is what is owed , then it is the end . " In the movie , of course , the family does not lose the farm because it turns out the US owes them 14 million because of some horses that were taken from the ranch back in the Civil War ( interest added up nicely ) . What I found interesting , anyway , was that even back in 1959 it was clear of how cruel the IRS is . They create figures and then just steal , plunder and destroy in ordere toi get what they believe is theres . And they are agents of the US government !!! IRS bothering you ? Consider yourself lucky . They are not out to bother ... they are out to destroy !! 
The Following Kansas Senators are Not Getting Paid Enough to Take Email Concerns When they are " on break " : . ....... [ c ] 2006 by Richard L Zorek ......7.18.06 ........... David Wysong , Dennis Wilson , Susan Wagle , Dwayne Unbarger , Roger Reitz , Kay O Connor , Barbara Allen , James Barnett , and Carolyn Mc Ginn . I sent off 40 emails tonight to all the Kansas Senators . These aforementioned Senators have a autoresponder which says their email is shut off . Only four had an autoresponder that actually indicated it was receievd . That leaves 27 in question . The issue I was writing about had to do with health care issues and all the dead ends I am finding in the medical system , only to find more deadends in the political end . 
All I See Are Ideas . ....... [ c ] 2006 by Richard L Zorek .....7.18.06 ........... Ideas are fine . They are most often the root and foundation of great inventions and plans . But in Kansas , Missouri , and throughout most of the country , when it comes to health care ... all I see are ideas . And I am pulling them up off the internet with dates that go several years back . The ideas produced no fruit . People are still getting sick and dying for lack of health care . I see whole organizations formed with what might even be paid committe memebers getting together task forces to look into the subject .... but then see no end result or answer to the problem . The committees seem to be started to find out how big of a problem it is . Then the information disappears and so , it seems , does the organization . But the organization will get note if a member runs for office . Congresssmen and comittee members : we don't want your big ideas ! Your big ideas aren't helping people get healthy and they aren't helping people to not die !!! 
If I Were an Apple , I would Have Arlen Spectors Attention . ....... [ c ] 2006 by Richard L Zorek ......7.09.06 ........... On April 15 th , 2003 , Sen Arlen Specter ( R - PA ) , a senior member of the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture , Joined 24 of his fellow senators in a bipartisan letter to the Dept of Agriculture , urging the department to improve the crop insurance policy for apples throuhgout the country . These improvements include options to upgrade coverage from the cider grade and would provide adequate coverage against unpredictable weather and volatile markets What Sen Arlen Spector did not do that year was ask for any insurance polcies , coverages or issues realting to insuring the people of the United States . They signed off the letter by saying " We thank you for your timely attention to the concerns of apple farmers across the country regarding their crop insurance needs . " If I were an apple , or an apple farmer , I guess I might get his attention . 
Tax Burden ? I will Send you My Bill . ......7.07.06 ........... I lost my insurance coverage over a year ago after pretty much having it most of my life . I can see now that i took it for granted . Recent experiences have opened my eyes to the " other " side of the American medical system . And it is a mess . The insurance companies aid in deciding what medicines and doctors should charge ( and even , in some cases , what they can prescribe ) . . When the insurance companies say they can raise the price , most do . So , it has nothing to do with " real " cost . Hospitals are businesses for the most part . There are people who work for them who have a sincere desire to help people , but the entity is a business . And they will not hesitate suing anyone for money they didn't get because they overcharged or you did not have insurance . And they do not care . It is now becoming more and more common place for people to have very large medical debts on their credit report . I worked very hard to keep my credit report clean . It is destroyed now . I have to wonder how many people die , or how many people are suffering from inadequate or no health care . I was given a list of " free " clinics ( or ones that will work with those who don't have insurance ) from two local hospitals ( one in Independence and one in Shawnee Mission ) , but after calling them could not get in unless I had AIDS or was pregnant ( which neither is a problem for me ) . And that was a general response from those that actually answered the phone . Then I was referred to doctors that i could not afford ...... and that list is very long . American politicians want to spend time debating issues like a war across the ocean , the price of gas , and their own salary increase while there are many Americans across the country that just want to be healthy . And , anyone who says that health care for everyone is just to much of a tax burden is more than welcome to pay my medical bill . 
Medicaid ? For Who ? medicaid protest .....07.06.06 ..... In order to make it even more difficult for the people who need help from Medicaid to get the help they need , Federal legislators have passsed a law requiring more ID : A birth certificate . When you are poor , do you carry one around with you ? Do you have one handy ? But even more important .... can you afford to get one ? You came to get help through Medicaid because you don't have the money to afford medical help . Now you have to come up withmore money you don't have . Just more indication of how far out of touch most legislators are with the subject of health care . 
American Health Care : A good Way to Die . ....... [ c ] 2006 by Richard L Zorek ......7.05.06 ........... That 's just the way it is . There may be people on the staff that have true compassion for people and their health , but the hosptal as a whole it nothing more than a business out to make money . And not just a little money . A lot of money . An overnight visit at Shawnee Mission Hospital here in Kansas City cost $ 15,000 . That didn't include the tests or doctors .... that was just the stay . Shouldn't I have gotten room with a fridge and a pool and suana for that ? Ot steak dinner with wine ? I could have gotten the same care at the Motel 6 and just walked over for my tests . That would have only cost me about $ 60 . 
Too Big ; Too Busy : Goodbye ! .... [ c ] 2006 by Richard L Zorek ......6.30.06 ..... I have a lot of complaints about the medical community . I am uninsured and cannot get proper medical help even if my life depended on it , it seems . But , that 's a whole other article ( which will be forthcoming ) . There are organizations that should be easier to access : churches . I just quit going to the church I was going to : First Family Church in Overland Park . Though I usually enjoy the message of Pastor Johnson , in my time of need I could not get anyone to respond . Couldn't get an " appointment . " And it 's a rarity that anyone returns an email , in fact I have never had anyone return one except for once when I begged them to respond . So , I went to another church that 's closer , thinking I might get someone to talk with me there . I was dissapointed to find it was the same thing . No one in the office today . Call and get an appointment . That was Antioch Church of Overland Park . I remember attending a mega - church in Aurora , Colorado back in the early 90 s and in my time of real need I went to the church to find someone to talk to . I remember over hearing someone say " does he have an appointment ? " How disheartening it must be for people in need to come to a church looking for help , spritual guidance , anything .... only to hear that . Apparently , the churches are becoming too slick and too business like to be of much good to a hurting world . They seem too busy doing their church thing to be helpful . That 's a strong accusation . But it is what I am feeling today . 
Why 239 Capitol Street ? - By any objective measure , it was the worst of the places I ' ve called " home " . I am drawn back to it like a moth to flame , though it hasn't existed for over forty years . When I returned from Korea in the Spring of 1964 and stood in my hot green wool uniform on the raw ground where the Capitol Apartments had been for all the days of my life , I thought my heart would stop . I can't ever know this , but I believe my life changed course on that day . Whoever ( or whatever ) I was to become when I left home in October of 1962 was just a wisp of smoke in the still air . For awhile , I could see it , or sense it , hanging semitransparent in the air , but becoming more disorganized and distant by the day . Life has taken me into the path of many interesting events , some quite spectacular and seemingly momentous . But that May day in 1964 was the nexus for me ; all the eighteen years of my life seemed buried in the dirt at my feet , along with the old , crumbling bricks of the Capitol Apartments . That was my Day in the Yellow Wood . Perhaps , somewhere in the varied halls of the universe , the Capitol Apartments yet stands guard on Electric Alley , and raucous Saturday night music from the open doors of the Ko Ko Mo Club and the El Borracho still drifts through the summer night and into the second - floor casement window of a thirteen - year - old boy , lying awake in bed , wondering about tomorrow , the world , and his place in it . Perhaps that boy is me . Oh , I hope so . I am 58 years of age , the lifelong mate of a sweet woman I would never have aspired to , had I been a seriously thoughtful person . I am the father of a beautiful and intelligent daughter . I have also , with my mate , favored the world with three bright , funny , and loving sons . I have grandchildren out there ... my daughter made them and pampers them and grows them . I hardly know them . New York may as well be Antarctica , for all the likelihood that I will go there . All in all , I am a happy person . I may die before I write here again , so I can't leave this unsaid : It 's a Wonderful Life . It 's therapeutic , making these scatchings , and disconcerting at the same time , not knowing if or when they will fall upon someone , or whether they will land like stones or like snowflakes if they do . 
Champ Car World Series - Edmonton . Well the weekend isn't over yet but so far the races this year have been great ! On Friday I took my mom with me , and I didn't put any sun screen on ....... can you see where this is going ?? Yeah so I got sunburnt in an interesting Tiger pattern ! The racing was good and there were even a few crashes that happened right in front of us ! Nancy was the best Friday night , taking care of me with ice cold towels on my burn . hehe oops ! Thanks Nancy !! Today I took my dad with me , but today I wore sunscreen ! OMG , it was still 36 C today and sitting on aluminum stands at a race track made it " all " the better ! So so hot ! But just like yesterday it was a great day . Lots of racing , lots of sun , good times ! This year they are doing a demo of the sport of drifting . You know the stuff in the movie Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift .... SO COOL !! ...... But sometimes things in this sport don't go as planned ... Turns out this guy had a passenger with him on this ride . They did 3 good drifting laps and then ended up smoking the wall on the final corner of the lap . Pretty good ride so the driver said ! haha ! I guess tomorrow is going to be sweet and they are going to destroy a car . Should be cool ! Tomorrow is the finals for the Champ cars as well as the Atlantic class cars ( beginner Champ cars ) I am taking Nancy to that , she has never been to a race like that so it should be extra special . I just hope she likes it as much as I do !! I just hope that Paul Tracy and Katherine Legge do well tomorrow . They are my favorites ! Either way I am sure it will be just as good of a day as the last 2 days have been , only better because Nancy will be there ! : o ) I have a ton of videos of the past few days but I can't figue out how to load them on here , but they are pretty cool ..... if you want to see a few let me know and I can send you some . That is all for now ........ 
Good weekend ! Well been a while since I posted an entry on here so I figure I should let you all know how the weekend went . It all started with taking the day off on Friday to go golfing with everyone for James ' " last free day " before getting married to Tasha . We couldn't have scripted a better day to go golfing . There were no clouds , no wind , and was about 24 C when we got off the course at about 12:30 . Everything for some reason was going in my favor that day ...... I started the round with 7 pars on the front 9 and ending up with a final score of 85 , but easily could have got under 80 . Oh well it was still a GREAT round , and I wasn't at work so it was even better ! The wedding was on Saturday , I was taking video footage of their special day and didn't get much for pictures but here are a few that I was able to get ..... I invited Nancy to go to the wedding with me and she did come but wasn't able to go to the actual wedding because she was going to paintball with guys from work . Well look where that got her ..... But she did come to the reception and had the unfortuneate task of meeting all my friends . Sorry Nancy ! She says it wasn't too bad and they were really nice but I know my friends ! haha ! Thanks again for coming to the wedding Nancy , I had a great time ! 
My First Post . Well I figured that I would get with the times and actually make a blog to keep people up to date with me and my life journies ! So what is new in my life ...... well as most of you know by now I have been transferred back to Edmonton and have been back here for about a month now . I am living back with mom and dad right now but they will be moving to Athabasca here in a month or so . So far it hasn't been too bad but after being on my own for 3.5 years while up in Mc Murray , it is a little different to get used to . Two weeks ago I finally went and got checked out to fly here and all went well so I can fly here now ! So far I have only flown out of Cooking Lake that has Cessna 172 's and a 152 , I want to get over to the Edmonton Flying Club where they have a Diamond which looks really cool and I wouldn't mind having a go at flying that ! Anyway like I said I have only flown out of Cooking Lake and the plane that I have flown has the best call sign I have seen yet ! Have a look at the pics below and you will know what I mean ... So now that I got all checked out to fly here and I know that a lot of people here would like to go for a flight and see what it is like .... well Jen ( my office mate at work ) was my first " victom " to take advantage of having Friday afternoons off and we went for a local flight . Here are a few quick snapshots I was able to get off in between the turbulant air that day . The scenery is SO much different than it was in Mc Murray , I was blown away ! Still very beautiful though . For those of you that don't know yet , Jen is also the one that set me up on a blind date here 2 weeks ago with a really awesome friend of hers . So far we have only gone out twice , but I enjoy spending any time I can with Nancy ! She is a really down to earth , intellegent , fun to be with person and I think our personalities match pretty well ...... oh and did I mention that she is cute too ! : o ) Anyways for a first blog post I think this is pretty good . Hopefully this works and I can keep this up for all to enjoy . 
Cool SEO tool . Came across this excellent link last night that gives a visual representation of the top 100 links in Google and Yahoo for any one search term . It also displays links that appear in both and where they position . It 's really useful , especially if like me , you 're trying to optimise your site for specific high volume search terms . Have a look at the tool here . It 's incredibly useful for a company in travel as there 's so much competition online , not just from competitors but from affiliates etc as well . For example try ' dubai holidays ' ; you can see that the Dubai Sands hotel does incredibly well for that term as they position top in both . But then try ' dubai holiday ' and the Dubai Sands is 4 th in Google but doesn't even show in Yahoo ( so maybe they 're not quite so good ) . Then try ' all - inclusive holidays ' and there is still quite a lot of crossover ( although not as much as the Dubai term ) . But if you change that to ' all - inclusive holiday ' there are only 3 sites that appear in both , so potentially an opportunity for others to focus on that term for both engines and get good coverage . For an example of someone who 's doing this pretty well try ' package holiday ' and ' package holidays ' . You ' ll see that www . holiday . co. uk position high up for both ! Anyway , enough of that , I need a holiday now ... 
Holiday reviews , good or bad for business ? These days whenever I book a hotel , holiday or pretty much buy anything else I check the web for reviews and people 's experiences . In travel this is especially prominent with the rise and rise of Trip Advisor and tour operators allowing customers to post reviews on their websites it 's only going to get bigger and bigger . My personal favourite review site has to be Holiday Watchdog . They saved me from a holiday from hell last year , I read a review on their site which made me nervous about the hotel in question , after much digging around and emails I managed to track down the person who posted the review and they confirmed that the hotel wouldn't have been for me . They even recommended a more suitable hotel in the same resort which I then booked and had a fantastic time . So I owe Holiday Watchdog a big debt of gratitude . Check them out by clicking the logo below ! 
Unfortunate domain names ... Just got sent this list of domain names and thought I ' d share , unfortunate or just plain stupid ?? A site called Who Represents where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity . Their domain name wait for it iswww . whorepresents . com Looking for a pen ? Look no further than Pen Island atwww . penisland . net Need a therapist ? Try Therapist Finder atwww . therapistfinder . com And now , we have the Mole Station Native Nursery , based in New South Wales : www . molestationnursery . com Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church . Their website iswww . cummingfirst . com Then , of course , there s these brainless art designers , and their whacky website : www . speedofart . com Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe ? Try their brochure website atwww . gotahoe . com. 
Holiday anyone ??? Thought it was about time I put up this little holiday search which was on another of my personal sites and has been doing quite well . It 's on the right hand side , right down the bottom ( click here ) so it 's not in your face or anything , but it is worth a try as there 's some really good last minute holiday deals available ! Yes , you guessed right it 's an affiliate search engine but all in a good cause as my employers product is listed on it ( along with a lot of competitors ) . Anyway , I can highly recommend it , I even booked my own package holiday through this very search engine ! There 's a great range of package holidays on offer . Caribbean holidays are particularly well represented also Florida and Orlando holidays . So if you 're looking for a late deal holiday and are having difficulty elsewhere give this a try ! 
SEO in the travel industry . It amazes me everytime I visit Google just how many major travel companies don't appear when I perform the most basic of searches ! For example I search for ' holiday in spain ' and only one of the companies I ' m expecting appear in the top 20 natural results . Change that to ' holidays in spain ' and it 's slightly better ( two more appear ) . The same applies for terms such as ' caribbean holiday ' , again some of the big players are no where to be seen ( again , change that to ' caribbean holidays ' and they fare slightly better ) . So I go off to have a look at some of the big players websites ..... So many of them never change their page titles as you browse through the site , it 's constantly ' such and such , the number 1 for holidays ' or similar . A simple change to make the page title specific to the destination a user is browsing would help dramatically ( eg. ' such and such , the number 1 for Florida holidays ' etc ) . There 's so much that these companies could do to position better in the major search engines both quickly and easily . It 's certainly not rocket science , it 's actually very easy to get yourself at least in the top twenty for most of your terms and not impossible to get top ten ! 
Google accessible search . labs . google . com / accessible This is really good news !! Google is testing a version of it 's search for users with sight difficulties or disabilities . Basically it prioritises results based on whether the mark - up used is deemed accessible or not . In their words ' In its current version , Google Accessible Search looks at a number of signals by examining the HTML markup found on a web page . It tends to favor pages that degrade gracefully --- pages with few visual distractions and pages that are likely to render well with images turned off . Google Accessible Search is built on Google Co - op 's technology , which improves search results based on specialized interests ' . There are two reasons why this excites me : The travel website I manage positions amazingly well for all our key search terms in this engine ( eg. for some destination names we position 1 st when in normal Google we position in the 60 's ) . This is a real testament to the quality of the code and the developers involved and makes me very happy : ) I can see other uses for this type of search . There is the potential to extend this kind of results parsing and filtering to push sites that look like they are advert filled to the bottom , or to pick out phishing sites and not display them , or to get spam and gateway pages out of the results altogether . It would be fantastic if Google are working on some ways to clean up search results in the Labs . While I love Google and it 's my starting place of choice I ' d really like to have more relevant results and less dross ( affiliate sites , spam , gateways etc ) and this could be a step towards being able to filter those out ( or at least drop them down the list ) . 
The Glade . I was lucky enough this weekend to tag along with some friends to the Glade Festival . My friends were playing live at the event so I managed to blag a free VIP pass to the event . Had a fantastic time . Many years ago I spent most of my summers following artists from festie to festie but now with work and family responsibility I don't get the chance to do it as often as I ' d like . It was really refreshing to see that the artists I met were still as up for it as they were in the 90 's and the music itself is as fresh and exciting as ever . Saw some excellent bands and heard some fantastic dj 's over the weekend . It was great to meet up with people I hadn't seen for years ( bumped into one DJ I used to know and hadn't seen for 11 years ) . Would highly recommend the festival to anyone who likes electronic music and is familiar with the Glade area at Glastonbury . 
Web 2.0 design and style . There appears to be an emerging style associated with web 2.0 sites . The large text , drop shadow , curved edges approach while clean and definately easy to read is getting a bit stale in my opinion and seems to be a safe option being taken by many designers . Could this be due to designers spending more time with developers and taking usability a little too much to heart ( sites can be usable and still inspiring in design ) ? I ' d like to see a bit more variety and invention in the designs appearing at the moment . I like designs to be edgy and different , while still usable and sticking to standards . All this is possible but seems to be getting overlooked at the moment . 
Accessibility in the clothing industry ... So , first it was River Island with their Flash only site with no alternative for those of us who cannot view sites in Flash and now Diesel , one of my favourite brands , have done the same . Diesel however , have performed the cardinal sin of not only making it Flash only but also not implementing it very well ! I have Flash player 9 on my laptop and 8 at home , it doesn't work with either if you go to www . diesel . com in either IE 6 or Firefox . However if I enter the direct address of the SWF file it works fine ( although pretty slowly ) . Now I find it extremely narrow minded of these brands not to consider the disabled or blind user by not giving an alternative format , but to then not implement their sniffer code as well is unforgiveable for such high profile sites . I ' m amazed Diesel haven't been picked up for this as River Island got such a slating , I ' m expecting all you bloggers to make sure people know ! Have a look at the Diesel site and let me know if you see any more than this : . 
It 's all over so lets book a holiday ... So the world cups just about finished and suddenly traffic to travel websites has rocketed ( or at least ours has ) . I find it hard to understand why people have waited and booked later this year , there seems no sense in it as it 's just people booking for the school hols so that wouldn't have been affected by the WC . Bookings have increased in the last three days due to this new influx of people with strange booking habits , which is great , but it would be nice to not have these unexpected lulls in volume . The lates booking season has started with earnest and everyone has sales and excellent deals on offer . Within an hour of England being kicked out the world cup one well known tour operator sent out an email newsletter using the sad exit of England as a headline to grab attention ( amazing the impact footie can have ) . 
Innovative hoteliers ??? Look at this , a real breath of fresh air from a hotel chain online ! Sheraton hotels and resorts have updated their website and included user generated content in their offering . It 's been designed to give a community feel and allows people to submit guest reviews and photos which are then attached to hotels . You can browse a nice Flash rendering of the globe to see reviews that have been left by others and the site uses AJAX to pop - up hotel details which can be closed again easily and quickly . All around a nice piece of functionality and a great effort of jumping on the web 2.0 bandwagon ! See the site here ! 
A quote from my favourite author ... I ' ve been a fan of Robert Anton Wilson since I discovered the Illuminatus Trilogy in the 90 's . His mix of psychology , philosophy , personal experience and wit makes for addictive reading and I ' ve yet to be dissapointed by anything he 's written ... IN DEFENSE OF PAT ROBERTSON Just as a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day , even a Christian Fundamentalist gets a savvy notion every now and then . I think rev. Robertson had a good idea when he suggested replacing war with assassination in one case , on economic grounds . He merely didn t carry the concept far enough . I suggest that we should abolish war utterly and replace it entirely with selective assassination . Think about the savings this would mean , in this age when even our little wars cost billions of dollars a year , and rememer the cogent observation of the late Senator Dirkson : A billion here , a billion there pretty soon you re talking about REAL Money . We ve already gotten our national debt so high that our posterity unto the seventh generation will never pay it off ; do we really need to enslave the whole future to the international bankers ? On the moral side , killing a few dozen foreigners a year instead of a few hundred thousand should seem less messy , to say the least of it , especially when you consider the collatarel damage to our own side . How much blood and death do we need ? Reversing a sentimental error of the 60 s , the new anti - war slogan should be MAKE ASSASSINATIONS , NOT WARS . And , best of all , if this idea catches on internationally we can expect at least 50 contracts on George Bush the first week . 
Is My Space the devils work ??? By the time you come to read this My Space will have been officially named as an invention of the devil if the general hysteria and poor journalism continues . Now personally I ' m not a huge fan of My Space . I find it clunky to use , ugly to look at and full of people I don't generally want to have as part of my social network . However it 's certainly a major force on the web today ! With so many users it 's going to be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come ( until someone sells it , or something less clunky and more functional takes off ( Bebo ?? )) . The press of the moment is getting ridiculous . Any netowrk with that many members is going to have a few nutters in it 's midst . I believe the problem lies in people who aren't savvy enough to spot the wierdos and who aren't techy enough to protect themselves . Parents have a job to do these days to educate their kids in the ways of the predators so they can protect themselves . Yahoo Chat used to generate the same kind of stories and hysteria and thats now dieing a death and is full of spam bots and pervs . Will we see My Space go the same way ?? 
The weather . How nice wasthe weather in Sussex yesterday ? Beautiful ! Had a glorious day on the beach , spending more time in the water than out of it . I love the hot sultry weather although the nights play havoc with my asthma . And suddenly , out come the heatwave warnings ... Too late as usual , they were needed last week if they were to prepare anyone who may find the heat difficult . You would think that in this age when we can predict weather pretty much accurately ( accurately enough to predict a heatwave ) that warnings would go out in plenty of time so that the vulnerable can prepare . With global warming increasing we really don't want to end up in a situation like France where people die every year from the heat . 
Cheating ... What has the world come to when a professional footballer who 's most likely paid in excess of 40 k per week spends half a game attempting to get people sent off . Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is well known as a drama queen , diver and all round slimey player , but his behaviour during the England game was outrageous . I ' ve never seen a player get someone sent off and then wink at his bench as if to say ' See , I told you ... ' ! It 's dissapointing that one player like him can affect a game so dramatically . Having said all that , England actually played better once they were ten men and Beckham and Rooney were off the pitch . It seemed to give them some heart , something they ' ve been sorely lacking in all their previous games . The performance though was not goood enough again , a team with players of the calibre of England should be playing more coherently and creating better chances . Players like Lampard should be able to finish at least one of the 21 shots on goal he had during the tournament . Is it the management ? The hype ? Too many games in the premiership ? Not enough time spent together as a national squad ? I don't know , but something is going to have to change before Euro 2008 , possibly our attitude to the game ! 
Superfast broadband in a cafe ??? Only in Cornwall ... In the news today , a story about an internet cafe which is offering connection speeds around 50 times faster than normal broadband . The Goonhilly Downs satellite station near Cornwall is plugged directly into BT 's global IP network so now you can enjoy hugely productive download speeds while sipping coffee , eating cake and marvelling at the satellite dishes . How long till we all have this sort of speed ?? Probably not until either the local loop is sorted out ( could be years ) or some other transmission medium ( fibre ? ) is laid in it 's place . Read more here . 
A new competitor comes to market ... There 's a new operator in town and their taking the web by storm . We in the industry are all quaking in our boots at the prospects of our customers moving over to the new entry . They seem perfectly placed in the market to target the average Orlando holiday goer . See the new entrant to the market here . 
Car boredom . At the start of the year I sold my pride and joy , a Nissan Skyline ( see pic below ) . I replaced it with what I thought was a practical alternative ( cheaper to run ) but that would still be fun and inspiring to drive , a Civic Type R . All the reviews I ' d read on the Civic were great and said it was a real drivers car . Having had it for nearly six months I ' d have to disagree ! It 's not inspiring to drive , it feels small , bouncy and slightly unstable at higher speeds so I ' m going to change again . I ' m considering a Subaru Impreza WRX as an alternative , it would seem a good compromise as it 's a smaller engine than the Skyline , slightly better fuel consumption and 4 wd ( so safer in the winter ) . Now just need to find a good one !! 
Hayfever . The bain of my life at this time of year ! Today I ' ve woken to red eyes , itchy throat and runny nose . For 6 weeks of the year I look like I ' ve rubbed my eyes or been washing my face with pollen . It 's tiresome , some days you just don't feel like going outside as you know it ' ll be worse outdoors than in . If it wasn't for antihistamines and eye drops I don't know how I ' d survive !! 
England do it again ... Another world cup and another opportunity for the England team to raise stress levels nationwide through their inability to look at all convincing . Last nights game with Sweden ( while a fantastic match to watch ) was typical England , spells of brilliance and moments when they appeared to be a group of lads playing down the local park . Whenever a major tournament comes around you England get hyped up by the press to the point that people expect them to obliterate the opposition but that never happens . I can't remember us ever having an easy route through to the knock out stage of the world cup and this time has been no different . Sometimes I wish they ' d live up to their promise just to give my nerves a break ! Fantastic goal by Joe Cole although I do think he got a couple of Swedes booked through his diving ( he 's always been a bit of a showy player in that way ) . And I feel really sorry for Micky Owen who just doesn't seem to be having any luck this year ! 
Hurricanes . Having worked in the reinsurance industry and been exposed to hurricane research and presentation of data on the web I ' m pleased to see someone has created a mashup with Google Maps . This valuable ( and freely available ) tool will be of great interest to anyone in the insurance or reinsurance industry and also to anyone living in a hurricane exposed area . A very professional mashup and most impressive to someone like me with a slightly geeky interest in extreme weather . Give it a try here . 
Trip to Rhodes . Just returned from a fantastic week in Rhodes , Greece . Having been all round the meditteranean but never to Greece it seemed like an opportunity too good to miss when a 5 * offer to Rhodes was available dirt cheap on Lastminute . com. A quick pointer for bargain hunters here , while you may think Lastminute and the like to be the cheapest , I actually booked direct through the tour operator and got it cheaper than any online agent was offering it ! Anyway , the hotel ( Atrium Palace , Kalathos ) was amazing . Definately the best hotel I ' ve ever stayed in ! And Greece itself is a beautiful place and I ' ll definately go back . The weather was perfect ( 32 C and clear blue skies ) , food is delicious ( and very cheap ) and the scenery and sights to see are wonderful . Highly recommended to anyone looking for a break ! Photo 's below : Panorama of the hotel pool ( taken from our rooms balcony ) : The main pool : The Acropolis of Lindos ( a lovely village 10 minutes from our hotel ) : Rhodes Old Town ( taken from the harbour ) : Have a load more photo 's which I ' ll upload onto Flickr or Zoomr sometime soon ... 
Remiss ... Okay , I ' ve been slack , it 's been an incredibly busy six months and my ideas of keeping a blog had to take a back seat . Have a bit more time available to me now so hopefully I ' ll be able to start posting regularly . The new site is still performing well , and the trainers are wearing nicely : ) More soon ... 
Site launch successful !! So we finally got our spanking new website launched ! After all the problems with hosting etc we ended up diagnosing the problem ( which turned out to be caused by the hosting provider ) . They had various issues with the way they had set up their blade servers : They ' d left paging turned right down so worker processes were causing the servers to hang instead of restarting gracefully They ' d left many system processes running which were using up CPUAnd they ' d left backups scheduled for evening time when the site is always busiest ! So now these issues are overcome it 's running nicely with no problems . I ' m still not convinced by the utility model and the servers in question aren't really up to the job that we 're doing ( remember they are not the spec I requested ! ) . So we will most likely need to throw another couple of servers into the farm to keep things stable as traffic increases . But the main thing for me is the relief ( and proud feeling ) at seeing another site I ' ve managed the build of come to fruition . 
Internet business models . In a world of fast moving , ever changing business models it was really refreshing to meet up with an old colleague who still runs a business using pretty much the same business model we used 10 years ago . He 's successfully making money year on year and the business model is one that evolves naturally and can take advantage of new technologies as they come up . Too many people jump from model to model and don't really put the time or effort into making their initial idea work for them . Congrats to them ! He was an inspiration when he first employed me all those years ago and still is today ! 
Line outages . Get into the office this morning to discover our 10 mb line had been down since 4 am . Being a high turnover ecommerce site that 's cost us a significant amount of business ( 8 hours downtime ) . Needless to say we ' ll be interrogating our provider to try and get some compensation ! 
Trainer junkie . It 's official , I am a trainer junkie . I ' ve just reached 11 pairs which are all in use ( on different days obviously ) . My latest , a great pair of Globes ( my fav skate shoe ) , very cool but also very practical . Here 's a picture of the beauties : . 
Disturbing events in China . Disgusted to hear that Yahoo are under suspicion for disclosing the details of a chinese writer to the Chinese government which has ended up in a prison sentance for him . He 's not the first either according to the article . It worries me as actions like this will only lead to more oppression within countries such as China and where we should be encouraging responsible freedom Yahoo appears to have made things worse . 
Utility hosting . Utility ... a word that brings ideas of convenience , ease of use and overall suitability .... Utility hosting however ... a different story . Imagine this , building a new website for a client using all the whizzes and bangs that . Net gives to us and we need new servers before going live . So we deliver a desired spec to our IT guys 4 months before the expected live date . Said IT guys decide that they can get a good deal on some new fangled blades attached to a SAN ( network storage device ) . Now I ' d heard lots of horror stories about SAN 's and possible difficulties with . Net and IIS 6 , but assumed that our IT and infrastructure guys would check that out and ensure it was suitable . So , launch day approached , the site was load tested ( by IT ) on the new platform and seemed fine . Site launches and half an hour later the event log is full with perfmon messages , CPU keeps maxing out and worker processes recycle continuously for no reason . So back to the old site as quick as we can ..... So we try all sorts of different load testing and manage to kill the new platform within 5 minutes . We try the same load testing against the same site on a normal server ( non - utility ) and it 's fine ! Ok , so getting closer , it 's looking like the platform . I speak to one of the engineers at the hosts and they say they may have to rebuild the blades , but it 's too late now , confidence in that platform has disappeared . So we 're now going back to the platform I ' d requested in the first place ( thank god ) . The moral of this story ? Stick to your guns , if you know you ' ve made a good choice don't let others change that decision ( even if they are best mates with a director .... ) . A lesson learned ! 
The great software rip off ... ( sort of ... ) . Once again I ' ve found that I don't need to spend hundreds on a full featured piece of software from a massive software house . I ' ve needed a decent piece of software to create flowcharts for a while now and had been looking at Visio amongst others . As fantastic as Visio appears , it 's far too full - on for my needs and I never would have used all it 's features . So I ' m pleased to bring this little beauty to your attention ... EDraw Soft . It does everything I need , seems a very light weight app , makes full use of the XP interface , offers a 30 day trial and only costs $ 30 for a license which includes free updates for life ! Great result and a lost sale for Microsoft I ' m afraid . When will large software houses learn and start offering slimmed down versions of their expensive apps ..... ( wishful thinking , they ' ll probably never need to ! ) So not really a rip off , rather a few saved pounds , but either way I ' m happy as I have the tool I needed and haven't broken the bank ! 
Pragmatism . I ' ve never been a huge fan of techy books , finding them either too removed from real world experience or never getting to the meat of a subject . Recently I came across Pragmatic Programming and all that changed . This refreshing collection of programming titles are available in Beta as PDF 's ( and once you buy a beta copy you can download subsequent editions free ) and cover topics such as programming , AJAX , Ruby , agile development and more . Would highly recommend these to beginners and seasoned pro 's as the titles I ' ve bought have something for everyone . 
New beast from the east . Being a fan and long time owner of JDM ( Japanese Domestic Market ) cars , I ' m getting very excited about the launch of the new Nissan GTR ( due on ' 07 ) . As an owner of a Nissan Skyline ( and having had two others in the past ) I ' m fully aware of the pedigree that this vehicle will have to live up to . So far there 's a concept which has been shown at the Tokyo motor show and a website which is currently locked down while they are finalising the design http : // www . gtrproto . com / . Rumours are rife about the technical spec , ranging from a 4 wd 3.5 twin turbo to a twin charge 4 litre ( turbo and supercharger ) . Nissan are keeping a lid on any leaks about the cars technical prowess but it should come out as a competitor to Porsche etc and if it 's anything like my old R 32 GTR then it should be an incredible driving experience . For pictures of the concept see Dino 's J - Style blog http : // blog . gtroc . com / dino / which is a great source of info and some fantastic pictures of JDM cars and life . Dino 's a photographer living in Japan and takes some of the best photos of cars and motorsport I ' ve seen . 
Take it seriously ..... please !! Why don't people ( read business owners ) take the web and the opportunities it presents us seriously yet ?? With all the talk of Web 2.0 ( coming soon .... ) and online retailers coining it in over Xmas you ' d think senior management of commercial ventures would be keen to find out how the web can help grow their bottom line . Sadly thats just not true yet . No matter how embedded in our daily lives it is , some people still haven't grasped the benefits they could glean from using the web to their advantage . The question is ; do these people just have blinkers on or are they getting the wrong advice ? My advice to all senior management of large enterprises is ; if you 're not getting advised to investigate how the web could help you by your employees then get in touch with an expert to do some feasibility studies . You never know it could be the difference between another average trading year and an extraordinarily good trading year ! 
dear joanne , finally u will be back tomorrow . i guess the dark green leaf of the gerbera will bring u smile = ) i watered them daily and hope u can continue for mi . once in a while i will come and watered them too . please deweed them as weed grow extra fast on that gerbera patchi really do hope u can call me when u are back and talk for a long long time . but i guess most likely u will be tired ... i will wait patiently for ur call . somehow i guess u dread coming back to singapore . most likely u dread facing the pestering and irritating jack , dread the FYP , dread everything that will be coming in full force . everytime when i see you , i just really wanna spend some happy quiet time with u . everytime when i call u , i really hope u can have a conversation with mi happily . i really hope to hear ur gentle voice and see you . luckily u gotton XM 2 , or else i will not forgive myself . praying for u everyday at the quiet , lonely carpark . 
always feel happy when u sms mi even though u forbid mi to call u . i am so happy that u say XM 2 is travelling with u . i am sorry that i cant get XM back . call them everday but he is not there . i will not ever take XM 2 from u again . but will visit him as often as u allow mi . today bought 2 baby blue tangs . they are so cute . sorry that i spend money again . simply irresistable . the ham hams are sleeping at this very moment when i am writing . they are happy to see each other . u are coming back soon . love , jack jack . 
today is friday . wow . time flies . i have not heard ur voice for almost a week . i love ur voice . it comfort mi and put mi to sleep easily too . i love to hear u sing though u dun like to sing to mi . i am sorry that i cant help but trying to call u twice . even though i know that you would not ans , but if i dun try , i dun even have the chance = ) if u look into all the food tray of the 3 hammies , they have already finished the sunflower seeds . love . 
sorry that i was busy the last few days when u are away . guess when school reopen , u will be more busy than i do . i miss u . in fact more than ever before . ur sms and email brought mi lotsa joy and thanks . my driving was good . although the instructor was fierce and i acted like a mouse , yes yes yes sir , they always pass my subject even my assessment . but i feel very very tired . still have 2 more lessons . i will take 2 days rest firsy . the hammies are great companion . can i dun return u ahhahahhahha . probably i will be punch by u blue black . just submitted ur project , binded and changed the numbering already . i know tah china is very hot , i always pray that u enjoy ur time over there and not fall sickdun even know how to tell u to drink water . miss u . love , jack jack . 
kk is looking at mi at the spiderman position . he just stay put there behind the wheel haning at the bars , so funny . thanks for ur sms . it really make my day . sorry that i call . binding is so expensive that u own mi a meal hee hee . 
receive ur email . so so so happy to know that u bought shirt and short for mi . it 's been sometime that i have a new shirt and short . hopefully u can remember my size . heh heh . pray that it will be cooler as the days goes by . even if i wanna cheat by not watering ur plant also cannot as this few days are very hot too . haven been raining for a long time . will deliver ur report to ur prof tomolo after my driving . hope to see u soon dear . 
the 3 of them are so funny . all of them are in the wheel running at the same time . i cant sleep tonight , so decided to blog a bit more tonight . kk 's wheel is not so noisy after some adjustment and he is the most active among the three . went to the driving centre just to book some lesson and walk to ur place from the driving centre . i remember there is once u are so angry with mi that u walk back from driving school after ur lesson . ya , it is quite a distance . but i enjoy the walk . watered the plant and there are 4 flowers . a pity u cant see . just pluck out all the weeds and they are just fine . it 's amazing what pple actually use blog for ? some use it for advertisments , some use it for life story aka diary ... but as for mi , it is a e - letterbox from mi to you . something personal and something from my heartdear joanne , you are one of the most precious gal who has a special place in my heart . hope that u will call mi on fri . 
http : // www . chinaren . com / 20050513 / n 225546150 . shtmlfound this online while trying to search for the lyrics . ya i know this is a very old song . probably only oldman like mi can remember this kind of song . but old song is just nicer i thinkmiss u . 
i do miss u a lot and hope u can give mi one more chance . just clean all their cages and i realise they like it . at the moment , big hand is sandbathing . kk is making his comfy bed with the cotton wool and one dot is cleaning herself . one dot is not as fat as before i realise and kk is the most active among them three . big hand is the cutest haha because he seem to know what i am talking about . later i will be going to ur place to water the plant and hope there will be more flower to come when u are back . somehow i hope u can call mi up when u reach china . hope u enjoy urself . miss u . 
more often than not , when i am blogging , i do hope that u can read it at the very next minute . sigh , u are going to china soon . maybe u can bring back more XMs and a cheap pair of watch for mi . someone once say coincidences and destiny differ by just a thin fine line . and the one who dwell on the past has no future . i believe our destiny is not finished yet . how about u ? i can see that i do have a psychological problem . i am not normal . many things in life actually differ by just a thin fine line , however they can be world apart to cross the thin fine line . i remember that u told mi the story of val broke off with her bf , i remember how you and her scolded her bf jerk . probably she is scolding mi jerk for not taking good care of u . probably all your friends are laughing at mi too . have u ever seen fireflies trying to outshine each other in the night skyhave u ever seen them light up the sky like star in the universe . i promise u that one fine day i would take ur hand and witness the scene if u allow mi . i do realise i can be quite romantic and faithful . not just to God , but to you . dun lose faith in relationship . because i never really let u go . because i believe . 
u X y [ X v. l K X y [ X A L X ` R } [ N B ? Tell whom it is . Can the one which is hidden in the negative space of the kisses chocolate mark be seen ? 
yes , yes , and oh yes . 125 : Samurai Rebellion 126 : Samurai Spy 127 : Kill ! How do you follow up terrible movies ? You watch some swingin ' 60 's samurai movies ! These three , along with Sword of the Beast , are part of Criterion 's " Sixties Swordplay Classics " box set . All four are by unique Japanese directors who challenged the status quo in different ways . As an added bonus , three of them feature the yielder of the Sword of Doom , Tatsuya Nakadai . Samurai Rebellion is a slow burner . I believe Toshiro Mifune doesn't really even take out his sword until well past the 100 th minute . But this is a prime example of a long - stewing , well set - up conflict that prepares you for an awesome finish . Of the three , this one comes closest to resembling older , more conservative samurai classics ( like Akira Kurosawa movies ) . In a different vein is Samurai Spy . From the first shot , there is nothing but clan warfare and mind - blowing theatrical samurai spy stuff . I wish I could find a better picture of the white - robed Sakon Takatani ; he 's on the cover of the movie , but that picture doesn't do him justice . As with most spy movies , there is a lot of cross - espionage going on , and at times it 's hard to keep track who is who ( especially since two of the warring characters are named Tatewaki and Takatani ) . Anyway , this kind of movie is almost the opposite of Samurai Rebellion : it ran full blast throughout the whole movie , but the ending was weak and disappointing . Finally there 's Kill ! Obviously , this is the best one - word name any samurai movie could ever hope to have . The exclamation point at the end is just gilding the lily . Kill ! is the clever one in the set -- and I would say it 's also the most fun to watch . It 's based on the same source as Kurosawa 's Sanjuro , though I have a hard time recalling the plot of Sanjuro ( only the blood - splattering finale ) . Anyway , Tatsuya Nakadai is a former samurai who joins the plight of seven samurai who were deceived after an assassination plot . He plays both sides of the game , ultimately finding out what he missed out on by quitting the samurai life . Overall , I have a difficult time picking out which one I liked best . The direction style was top - notch in each one , the acting was awesome , and any shortcomings any movie had was made up by other , stronger aspects . I really could watch stuff like this all day , every day . 
criterion releases bad movies , too . 123 : Do the Right Thing 124 : Time Bandits These movies are terrible . Both are made by acclaimed directors , although thankfully they have never won Oscars . Do the Right Thing is full of horrible actors ( Martin Lawrence , Rosie Perez , Spike Lee ) . Only John Turturro and Ossie Davis escape with any dignity . If this is supposed to be one of cinema 's paramount statements on racism in America , then I ' m of the opinion the portrayal of racism is worse than the subject itself . Time Bandits is a worthless movie and an unfortunate product of the same man who directed Brazil , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , and the Monty Python movies . This might have been fun to watch as a kid , like a third - rate Labyrinth or The Never Ending Story , but for a movie about time travel , it sure hasn't aged well . 
preludes to classics . 121 : The Most Dangerous Game 122 : The Lady Vanishes The Most Dangerous Game is a 1932 flick made by many of the same people who went on to create the landmark King Kong the following year . Though there is no monstrous beast in this movie , it follows a similar plotline : a ship wrecks near a deserted island , the survivors stumble to land to find a savage world . Here , a wealthy man lives in the jungle and plays host to the survivors . Later , he takes them on a deadly hunting adventure that is perhaps the most dangerous game anyone could ever play . I enjoyed this short movie ; it was able to pack in a good bit of action in a scant 63 minutes . Also , it sets up high expectations for King Kong , which I have never seen . The Lady Vanishes is an early , British Hitchcock movie . It started off in a strange manner -- the real meat of the film doesn't get going for a good 30 minutes , but once it started , it was really enjoyable . Margaret Lockwood is the confused damsel in search of an older woman and Michael Redgrave is a wise - cracking Cambridge boy trying to calm her down . Of course , there are plenty of twists as they try to discover then uncover a mystery . The more movies of his I watch , the more I ' m inclined to favor the British Hitchcock movies over his later Hollywood ones ( although North By Northwest is my favorite and it 's undoubtedly the most ' Hollywood ' movie he made ) . Go figure . 
halfway point . For the record , a list of the 12 books and 120 movies I ' ve gone through so far : 01 : Maus I - Art Spiegelman 02 : Herzog - Saul Bellow 03 : Anthology of American Literature - Neal Pollack 04 : The Spy Who Came In From The Cold - John Le Carre 05 : The Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons 06 : Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris 07 : 32 Stories - Adrian Tomine 08 : Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S . Thompson 09 : The Filth - Grant Morrison , Chris Weston Gary Erskine 10 : Pushing the Limits : New Adventures in Engineering - Henry Petroski 11 : Levels of the Game - John Mc Phee 12 : The Environmental Policy Paradox - Zachary A . Smith 001 : Salesman 002 : Secret Honor 003 : No Direction Home 004 : Le Samourai 005 : Big Deal on Madonna Street 006 : Three Days of the Condor 007 : Sword of the Beast 008 : The President 's Analyst 009 : Withnail and I 010 : Mishima : A Life in Four Chapters 011 : George Washington 012 : Rio Bravo 013 : Short Cuts 014 : They Live 015 : Tunes of Glory 016 : Hopscotch 017 : The Fearless Vampire Killers 018 : Band of Outsiders 019 : Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 020 : Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 021 : Peeping Tom 022 : Das Boot 023 : Fitzcarraldo 024 : Burden of Dreams 025 : Downfall ( Der Untergang ) 026 : Jeremiah Johnson 027 : Gods and Monsters 028 : The Last Temptation of Christ 029 : The Maltese Falcon 030 : Aguirre , Wrath of God 031 : Bill Hicks : Sane Man 032 : Seven Up ! 033 : Seven Plus Seven 034 : Repo Man 035 : Death Wish 036 : American History X 037 : Brokeback Mountain 038 : Twenty - One 039 : 28 Up ! 040 : The Professionals 041 : The Comedians of Comedy 042 : Capote 043 : Bad Day at Black Rock 044 : Five Easy Pieces 045 : Pirates of the Carribean 046 : Wedding Crashers 047 : The 40 - Year - Old Virgin 048 : 35 Up 049 : 42 Up 050 : Freaks 051 : Miller 's Crossing 052 : Safe 053 : The Sweet Hereafter 054 : Bukowski : Born Into This 055 : Grizzly Man 056 : Chungking Express 057 : Pink Flamingos 058 : The Spy Who Came In from the Cold 059 : Searching for Bobby Fischer 060 : Heavenly Creatures 061 : Lone Star 062 : Fearless 063 : Cape Fear ( 1991 ) 064 : Cape Fear ( 1962 ) 065 : Dead Man 066 : Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid 067 : The Thin Blue Line 068 : Thelonious Monk : Straight , No Chaser 069 : Soylent Green 070 : Lord of the Flies 071 : The Horse 's Mouth 072 : The Killers ( 1946 ) 073 : The Naked Kiss 074 : Pepe le Moko 075 : Touchez pas au Grisbi 076 : The Lower Depths ( Renoir ) 077 : United 93078 : An Inconvenient Truth 079 : And God Created Woman 080 : Contempt 081 : F for Fake 082 : Mr. Arkadin 083 : Shock Corridor 084 : Shoot the Piano Player 085 : Mon Oncle 086 : The Long Good Friday 087 : Walk the Line 088 : The Devil in Daniel Johnston 089 : The Da Vinci Code 090 : House of the Dead 091 : Crumb 092 : American Splendor 093 : Orwell Rolls In His Grave 094 : Some Like It Hot 095 : Blade Runner 096 : One Day in September 097 : Band of Brothers ( Currahee / Day of Days ) 098 : Band of Brothers ( Carentan / Replacements ) 099 : On the Waterfront 100 : Tokyo Drifter 101 : Branded to Kill 102 : Band of Brothers ( Crossroads / Bastogne ) 103 : The Proposition 104 : The Squid and the Whale 105 : Rebecca 106 : Strangers on a Train 107 : Eyes Without a Face 108 : The Testament of Dr. Mabuse 109 : Crazed Fruit 110 : Fighting Elegy 111 : Thieves ' Highway 112 : Night and the City 113 : Fat Girl 114 : Hearts and Minds 115 : I Am Curious ( Yellow ) 116 : I Am Curious ( Blue ) 117 : Sisters 118 : Carnival of Souls 119 : Grand Illusion 120 : La Bete Humaine . 
not about magic tricks , surprisingly . 119 : Grand Illusion 120 : La Bete Humaine After Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman , director Jean Renoir has the third - most Criterion movies , yet the only one I had seen was The Lower Depths . So now I ' m getting around to watching a few of his films , starting with Grand Illusion . Some of my favorite films are set in prisoner - of - war camps , but this is the first one I ' ve seen set during World War I. Gabin and other officers build a tunnel ( with techniques similar to The Great Escape ) but they are transfered to another camp before they can use it . Later , they plot another scheme to get out , this time with more success . Unlike other escape movies , this one follows two characters once they get outside . Next up was La Bete Humaine or ' the human beast ' -- which for the most of the movie I assumed was a woman . Turns out it 's about the main character , again played by Jean Gabin . Really , though , the woman is the beasty one , always trying to plot murders and thievery . Renoir 's directing style is not showy or flashy ; it 's just crisp and professional . There are a few lighting techniques in the night - time scenes that look better than anything else in 1938 . And like Kurosawa with Mifune or Scorsese with De Niro , certianly he found his perfect actor in Jean Gabin . Perhaps now that I ' ve seen a few Renoir films , I ' ll summon the courage to try The Rules of the Game . 
the movie that wouldn't die . 118 : Carnival of Souls Ahh , what better way to follow up a weak horror movie than with a macabre cult classic . Carnival of Souls is a 1962 movie filmed in Kansas . Early in the movie , three women are wildly driving across a bridge when their car loses control and dives into the river . One survivor , Mary Henry , emerges from the muck . She moves out of town and tries to get on with her life . On the road , she sees the eerie face of a man . Director and producer Herk Harvey cast himself as the silent ghostly character that haunts poor Mary . There is no blood nor gore in the movie , but it excellently conveys an uneasy feeling throughout . What the zither did for The Third Man , the organ does for Carnival of Souls . Mary 's occupation is a church organist , but the haunting theme is like that from a carnival organ . The score and the direction both contribute to a memorable movie experience . It 's hard to characterize , as it 's not campy , serious , or really that scary -- it 's just a unique movie definitely worth watching . 
canadian siamese twins . 117 : Sisters I ' ve never been much of a fan of Brian De Palma and this movie didn't change my mind . It 's not that there 's anything really bad about his directing , it 's just that it 's just mediocre with a few hints at competency . Also , he seems to take the road more traveled -- he rarely comes up with fresh , exciting ideas . Sisters seems like a rehash of plots that are already familiar . Any suspense is ruined by knee - jerk expectations which are quickly proven correct . On the plus side , it stars a young Margot Kidder , before she went on to play Lois Lane in the Superman movies . All of the other characters are poorly acted with the exception of character actor Charles Durning . Bernard Herrmann 's score is overwhelming here , perhaps because De Palma relies on it too much . Overall this fits in pretty well with De Palma 's works and I don't mean that as a compliment . ** After watching this movie , I am at a new benchmark : I ' ve obtained over 50 % of the Criterion collection and watched 50 % of the ones I have . ** . 
i am bi - curious . 115 : I Am Curious ( Yellow ) 116 : I Am Curious ( Blue ) If you watch two movies , both called I Am Curious , does that make you bi - curious ? If I make a bad pun in a forest and there is no one there to laugh , then how pathetic am I ? Anyway , I watched these two movies . They are not two versions of the same movie , nor is one a sequel or prequel to the other . Basically the director originally intended to have one three and half hour movie , the result of his ambitious project filmed without much of a script or budget . He later broke it up into two films : Yellow and Blue ( the colors of the Swedish flag ) . The Yellow part is the more famous of the two . It was banned in several countries and later was the focal point of a landmark court battle over free speech in cinema and literature . The movie has lots of nudity and sex , but it probably would ' ve still been banned without that , as it also focuses on the negative aspects of class society and Swedish people 's perceptions of their own nation . Oh , and there 's some anti - American sentiment thrown in for good measure The movies have the same quirky feel as a French New Wave , but switch between documentary and drama without ever being a docu - drama . There are also bits of meta - realism when the camera turns on itself and shows the film 's creators as part of the film . Some parts work better than others ; the two films could ' ve easily been cut down to a concise piece about a third as long . Still , it 's worth watching just to see what the controversy was all about . 
what is this great evil . 114 : Hearts and Minds The title derives from the Lyndon Johnson quote concerning the Vietnam war : " The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live there . " More than any other film , this movie explores the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese . It also spends considerable time with soldiers who have returned from battle and even one who avoided it entirely . This amazing documentary surprisingly won the 1975 Academy Award for Best Documentary . Hearts and Minds shows what a significant turning point the war was in American history . Some of the interviewees still exhibit complete faith in their political leaders , a concept that is mostly alien to generations since Vietnam . Of course , it 's disappointing to watch this and be reminded that , over thirty years later , we still haven't learned the lessons we were taught at such a cost . Oh well . U - S - A ! U - S - A ! 
nobody puts piggy in the corner . 113 : Fat Girl Overweight 12 - year - old Anais has body issues . To make matters worse , her older sister is thin and attractive . And it certainly doesn't help when her sister has sex while Anais is trying to sleep . Most people have to wait till college to put up with that . Fat Girl is about as hard to watch as something like Happiness , without the black humor . The part with Anais swimming around her pool and making up affairs between the post for the diving board and the side ladder sums it up pretty well . The movie explores sibling issues , adolescence , and the good old fun of being a fat girl . As tough as the movie is , the ending still manages to step it up to another level . But in a way , it ends on a good note , almost like , " You go , girl ! " The final shot and exit music combine in a surreal fashion , leaving you confused and somewhat appauled . All in all , it 's pretty brutal but definitely worth watching . 
dassin double feature . 111 : Thieves ' Highway 112 : Night and the City About half a decade before he made Rififi , Jules Dassin made two similar movies , Thieves ' Highway and Night and the City . Thieves ' Highway is the story of a man who returns home to his family , only to find that his father , a truck driver , has been wronged . Richard Conte , who played mob boss Brazini in the original Godfather , is the young man . Here , he sets out to settle the score and he ends up coming into love and money along the way . Lee J . Cobb ( 12 Angry Men , On the Waterfront ) turns in a memorable performance as a con - man grocer , the one who Conte hopes to avenge . Night and the City follows a similar path , except the main guy is a bit less virtuous than Conte . Harry Fabian , played by ( Richard Widmark , Judgment at Nuremberg ) is the lead here -- a man who is always on the lookout for the ' sure thing ' or any way to quick money . His schemes end up backfiring and his demise ( shot mostly at night in London ) is thrilling to watch . Of these two , I ' d have to pick Night and the City as the slight favorite , mostly for the sharp , nocturnal cinematography and Widmark 's performance in the last twenty minutes . 
tennis matchbook . Book # 11 : John Mc Phee - Levels of the Game While in Knoxville , I picked this up at my favorite bookstore , the Book Eddy . The manager had a whole shelf devoted to John Mc Phee books and they all came highly recommended . I wasn't familiar with Mc Phee , but apparently he has been a writer for The New Yorker for years . He absorbs himself so much in short articles that they eventually turn into novellas . Such is the case for Levels of the Game . The book describes a US Open semifinals tennis match between Clark Graebner and Arthur Ashe . It goes back and forth between shot - for - shot accounts of the match and profiles of the two atheletes . Although they shared much in common , Graebner and Ashe had different socioeconomic backgrounds . Mc Phee explores these differences and connects them to the players ' tennis philosophies . I really enjoyed this book and will likely search out other Mc Phee works , especially Encounters with the Archdruid , his book about the different perspectives of the American environmentalism movement . 
euphamisms all over the place . 109 : Crazed Fruit 110 : Fighting Elegy I didn't indend to watch these two back - to - back . Not only do they have very similar covers , but the movies themselves explore some of the same themes . I really didn't think too much of Crazed Fruit for the first 83 minutes . It was apparently pretty racy for its time ( 1956 ) -- heralded as one of the best depictions of the postwar sexual revolution for Japanese youth . Basically two brothers are fighting over the same girl . The younger one is especially frustrated , as he was deemed too young to take seriously . Well , little brother proves them both wrong in the last minutes of the movie . This is one of the times where the last scene makes up for the rest of the movie being a bit slow and tame . After enjoying so many Seijun Suzuki movies , I opted to watch his Fighting Elegy . In Japan , the word ' elegy ' must be a synonym for ' erections ' because that 's the main thing that the lead character fights in this movie . Basically he turns his intense sexual frustration into martial arts violence . I didn't really care for this one as much as the other Suzuki movies . It was decent enough , but I can't say it stuck with me too much . I just watched it yesterday and today I had difficulty remembering how it ended . Apparently this is a case where the ending fails to justify the rest of the movie . 
judging movies by covers . 107 : Eyes Without a Face 108 : The Testament of Dr. Mabuse The Criterion Collection is known for doing a terrific job of restoring old films and preserving classics that otherwise would have been overlooked ( or worse , lost forever ) . But their graphic arts department deserves a lot of credit for making these movies look so attractive . Both of these movies have amazing cover images -- simple portraits that both focus on the strange eyes of their subjects . Both movies were absolutely incredible . Eyes Without a Face is elegantly eerie ; there are several shots that are so hauntingly memorable . I think this Halloween , I ' d love to have a double feature of this movie and The Vanishing . The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is prefaced by an explanation of how the 1933 movie was banned in Germany until 1951 ; when it was finally shown , it was an edited version . Criterion found other original negatives and was able to restore this ( nearly ) to its intended length . Director Fritz Lang is best known for his masterpiece M , but I thought this movie was equally fantastic . There are several shots and scenes that seem so ahead of their time . Again , Criterion 's cover art makes everything they release look terrific , but these two movies deliver on that promise much more than I expected . 
state of the june . Well , I ' ve made it halfway chronologically , but still a bit behind my midpoints on both books and movies ( 12 120 ) . I ' ve been doing significant traveling lately , so perhaps when I am able to settle somewhere , I ' ll be able to catch up . I ' m reading three or four books simultaneously now and I ' m bound to finish at least two before July is over . I would really love to end June with both categories above 90 % of my goal -- a benchmark I haven't achieved since February . At this point : 106 movies watched ( Goal : 120 ) 10 books read ( Goal : 12 ) Usually I tack on five albums I ' ve enjoyed over the course of the past month , but I ' m so far behind in that respect I won't bother listing anything . 
Few words changes all . Dear JEesus , I am a sinner . I believe You are the son of God and Died for my sins on the cross . F 0 rgive me . Jesus , I repent . I ask You to have mercy in me , A sinner , And come to my life . Give me your spirit and power . So i can be like YO \ ou Help me to follow and obey Your commandments , and live for You . Jesus , I give You my life . Thank You for hearing my prayer . Thank You for coming to my life . I pray all this in Your most holy precious name , ~ AMEN ~ . 
testimony of my spiritual life . Spiritual Life This is testimony of my spiritual life . Through all this there 's many up 's and down But i ' ve choosen Christ from other many other Idols or Self proclaim " God " .. I was born in a Christian family and parents was Christian Catholics .. I was baptize by father raymond peter in 18 / 10 / 1990 I went to Sfx ( saint francis xaviar ) Church from around 1995 - 2002 When i was there i always thought there 's no such thing as God Cause that time i was a " see to believe type " so i ' didnt saw any God Or stuff caused me to not believe Christ and stuff .. My friends talk about Jesus Christ nearly all the time and i do wonder who is this Jesus Christthey talked about .. Mostly i thought he was a tv fiction character " power - rangers " fame ? cause they always talk like " Jesus ask us to friend each other " " Jesus love all " , Jesus will help us .. and many more . At 21 st november 1999 on 8.30 am me and my best friend that time sarah Recieved the eucharist for the first time .. And i went to few Churches many times .. one at taman sri muda From 5 / 3 / 1998 till somewhere in 2000 .. There i learn more about Christ .. begin intrested to learn more about Him And yes i finally know He 's not power rangers and He 's a God I also remember in 2000 that time i ' didnt know about God the Father And Holy Spirit And i thought Jesus and Mother mary was a couple .. silly me ... anyway i was small that time ... hehe Soon in 2000 - 2002 i went to Sfx back and to Holy redeemer Sfx Church was not a good place ( not trying to discriminate ) Cause the majoriti there was too " Cool people type " I dun think they want to know God more but just came for friends Learn more about God more and More .. in 2003 was a bad time I lost faith in Christ .. i stopped going church and more .. That time i thought of what to bean atheist ? pagan ? mormon ? or a satanist .. one of the timethere 's a feeling of being a free thinker .. but finally i ' ve choose one of this believe .. but on 20 / 12 / 2004 my brother brought me to Sagc this place i thought was a cool people place too .. but sooner i found out this place was a place really i wanted .. then soon i meet a few people that really changed me .. and also i know more about Christ there .. Through Sf , teens , Cg and more .. I ' ve except Christ at Camp Besar a camp organized by Sagc ( shah alam gospel centre ) No one knows but now you ' ve known when i ' ve except Christ .. Tho there is up 's and down . i really believe Jesus is there for me So many things He has helped me .. And if possible i ' m gonna baptize soon But this time is special cause i know that i sincerely excepted Jesus Christ .. Many of my friends helped me through all this struggle .. really thank them too .. My 1990 baptize line " My Jesus , Give me the grace to recieve you always with a pure and contrite heart " My 1999 holy communent line " Eucharist is the simbol of God 's blood for i ' m blessed with Your blood my Lord " Well there 's my testimony .. hope that will make you ' ll know me better Thanks for reading .. 
Just awared Miroslav Klose won Golden Shoes For 2006 world cup Despite majoriti thoughts of Zinede Zidane would have grabbed it ... Disapointed with Germany but there is always next time ... until then .. 
miss everything .. Times like this i wanna run Times like this i wanna scream Times like this i want peace Times like this i needed to be alone Times like this i ' m hurt inside Times like this i need rest Times like this i ' ll proclaim i ' m weak Times like this i wanna break down Times like this i wanna say thank you Times like this i want quiet sounds Times like this i need nature love Times like this i see your paradise Times like this the oceans roars Times like this the sea - shells float Times like this i wanna talk a walk at the beach .. Times like this i wanna .... 
Basics Of Pilates Exercise . If you re highly informed or even if you re one of those peoplethat just stay home , no doubt you ve heard of the pilatesexercise . The purpose of pilates Exercises is to stretch and tostrengthen your body . That is why pilates is so popular withmost contortionists and ballet dancers . But just because people are using pilates for physicalimprovement , and weight loss , it doesn t mean that a pilatesexercise is a cardiovascular exercise . Pilates is basically alow intensity exercise . Most instructors recommend pilates withaerobics and other forms of exercise for best effects . The pilates Exercise was invented by Joseph Pilates , a German National , as a self exercise . Pilates was born a fragile child , sickly and asthmatic , so he took to exercise to improve hisbody . When he was a bit older , he was living in France , and wasarrested as an enemy alien . During his internment , he wasassigned in the medical facilities of the prison and this iswhere he put pilates into use , as rehabilitation exercises forthe sick . Since then the pilates exercises has gained its reputation forhelping improve the overall physical state of the body . Pilatesexercise is a series of breathing techniques combined withstretching and a simple machine . Pilates exercises designed toimprove the body s core . This includes the muscles in theabdomen , back , and buttocks . Some say it is better than yogaoverall because it strengthens the body through improvingposture strength and flexibility through stretching . Themachines used in pilates , are there to challenge the body , bymaking it stay in certain positions while moving the otherparts in differing directions , thereby training the body toendure strain , thus increasing strength . The basic Ideology of the pilates Exercise is the use of thebody s mental ability to improve movement , efficiency andmuscle control , which is also why they say that Pilate exercisesomehow improves one s mental state . Pilates also makes youaware of proper posture . Due to the exercises that you do , italso develops the muscles in the back and abdomen , furtherpromoting good posture . Pilate exercise also uses breathing techniques , which furtherincreases mental focus . And probably one of the greatestfocuses of pilates is flexibility strength of the muscles . Itis this ideology that made pilates popular among dancers in thebegining . Many pilates enthusiasts and users have testified to theeffectiveness of this program . With regular classes , the bodiesbecome well balanced and stronger . Some say that after eachworkout , you can instantly feel the difference it has made tothe parts of the body , mainly the legs back and abs . Aside from increased strength , weight loss is what many peopleaim for when they do pilates exercises . Other benefits ofpilates include increased energy levels , higher endurance , better flexibility , great abdominal workouts , and overallphysical well being . About The Author : Copyright 2006 , Heather Colman . Find moreresources for a pilates at : http : // www . pilates - news . info . Read more ! 
Abdominal Exercises . When you are trying to choose the abdominal exercises that youshould focus on you need to take into consideration what youare doing the abdominal exercises for . If you are doing theseabdominal exercises in order to get rid of some of the extrapudge you have put on over the holidays then you will want tofocus on abdominal exercises that will focus in on certainspots on the tummy . If you are doing the abdominal exercises inorder to strengthen the stomach area then you will want to do amore diverse routine when it comes to your abdominal exercises . Most people like to do well rounded abdominal exercises . Thisusually means doing more than one kind of exercise . For exampleyou will want to do both upper and lower tummy crunches . When it is the upper than you are focusing on you need to lieon your back and raise your upper body towards your lower body . To do lower body crunches then you will lie on your back andlift your legs to your upper body . These are sometimes calledreverse crunches . Together these are very powerful abdominalexercises that will transform the look of your body . Abdominal exercises will give men and women a better , trimmerfigure . If you want to make yourself look more fantastic in adress then you definitely need to start working abdominalexercises into your regular exercise routine . Only theseabdominal exercises will give you the most desired shape ofall . Not only that but the abdominal exercises we are talkingabout here will help your body to support your back . If youhave a history of back problems then you need to start yourabdominal exercises right away . These abdominal exercises canmake all of the difference in controlling the trouble that youare so used to having with your back . By doing regular abdominal exercises you can almost avoidfuture back problem immediately . But before you start theabdominal exercises you need to take care . Talk to your doctoror chiropractor in order to see the abdominal exercises thatare right for this kind of solution . There are some abdominalexercises that can actually make your back problems worse sotake the time to okay your choices with your doctor before youstart doing them . It is also important that you start off doing your abdominalexercises slowly . They need to be done on a slow pace when youare first beginning to make use of abdominal exercises , if yourush into serious abdominal exercises you can pull muscles thatyou did not even know that you had . And that is no way to startdoing your abdominal exercises . So start slow and ease into theabdominal exercises that you choose and your body will be a muchhappier body as time goes on . About The Author : Free Fitness and Exercise Tipshttp : // free - fitness - exercise - tips . com / - lots of information tokeep you fit , healthy and help you to get regular exercise . Read more ! 
Yoga and Pilates Basics . Pilates were invented by Joseph Pilate in the early 20 thcentury . Yoga Pilates can prove to be of great help if all thenecessary rules related to Pilates exercises is followedproperly . Yoga Pilates is a regimen of exercise that can beequally beneficial and enjoyable . Very simply , Pilates is thecontemporary part of the older Yoga movements . The number of Pilates exercises can be as many as five hundred exercises thatcan be performed by using only five chief instruments . Each poseof yoga has great significance similar to its Pilatesequivalent . The important yoga Pilates basics that one mustmaster are movement to and fro from center and revolving aroundcenter . Maintaining good health and proper well being is the chiefpoint of proper and regular practice of yoga Pilates . Regularaction will definitely leave a deep , positive impact in yourphysical as well as mental life . After some days of practiceyou will find that your body s flexibility is enhanced . Thestretching that is involved in Pilate yoga helps in lesseningthe threat of injuries . One of the biggest benefits of Pilates exercises is that yourbody s balance is improved . With the passage of time , your bodyaches will reduce to a great extent as well . With regularexercise , the muscles are strengthened , resulting in thestimulation of your endurance , stamina and your energy level . One great thing that you will experience as a result of Pilatesyoga is that you will find that your body and mind is much morerelaxed compared to how you felt before . Pilates yoga involvescertain breathing patterns that help a person to calm down andrelax , resulting in sounder sleep . Now days Pilates are often prescribed by specialists likeosteopaths , physical therapists , chiropractors and manyholistic practitioners as a principal , practical tamingprocess . Pilates indeed rank first in the western chart offitness . The viewpoints of Pilates teachers and Yogainstructors are somewhat the same on the workings of theexercise . Many consider Pilates to be yoga on the machineswhile others see it as neuromuscular education or strengthconditioning . Basically Yoga and Pilates are reciprocally supportive : Yogagives Pilates litheness and mobility while Pilates offersconstancy and mobility in the movement . When united with Yoga , Pilates doctrine augments the practice by bringing centralstabilization into light as well as training and substance foryoga postures ( particularly in the strength to seize ) . Since Pilates is more about length and potency , Yoga helps to amplifythe litheness capability . Many people whose job demands sitting at a desk or drivingalmost 8 hours a day , gain a lot from Pilates Yoga . With easyideas of figure and postural doctrines , it will support thebackbone and unlock the oomph channels . It edifiesconsciousness and centering , suppleness and mobility . It is acoordination of associated exercises that are also helpfulseparately . Dancers and professional athletes practice the Pilate form ofexercise . This helps them to achieve flexibility of body andgain strength . Recently this form of exercise has become verypopular among celebrities and models for keeping fit . There isno harm in practicing yoga Pilates . In fact , it is consideredto be safe even when practiced during special conditions likepregnancy . About The Author : John Furnem is a dot com veteran , specializing in human resources and work psychology he haswritten articles about relief and stress management . Johncurrently writes Stress Relief and Yoga articles forhttp : // yoga . zupatips . com. Read more ! 
Strong Heart With Balance Ball . The exercise benefit you may want from exercise may differgreatly from the exercise benefit someone else wants but somethings remain the same . Strong Heart A strong heart does not have to work so hard so you are lesslikely to have a heart attack . Regular exercise also increasesyour HDL ( good ) cholesterol and helps lower your totalcholesterol . Exercise also helps lower your blood pressure . Your lungs will also benefit from exercise as they becomebetter conditioned so that activities such as climbing stairswill not make you out of breath . Any exercise tip you use needs to be simple yet smart enough soyou can use the exercise tips to quickly and easily adapt yourexercise habits to continue to push ahead and reach yourhealth , fitness , and physical appearance goals and still havethe time for a great family life . Exercise tip for an exercise benefit : Get a baby jogger . You don't have to run or jog , walking at afast pace will do just as good , but you should get a babyjogger they 're much easier and smoother than a regular strollerfor this ; Increased Self - Esteem : Gaining control of your body size and weight through fitness isan amazing way to increase self - esteem . You look better and aremore confident which empowers you in everything you do . Youwill find that the self - discipline required and learned throughregular exercise spills over into other areas of your life andyou will be better able to make other necessary and desireablechanges Start by talking with your doctor . This is especially importantif you haven't been active , if you have any health problems , orif you 're pregnant or elderly . Exercise Makes Your Heart Happy You may know that your heart is a muscle . It works hard , pumping blood every day of your life . You can help thisimportant muscle get stronger by doing aerobic ( say : air - o - bik ) exercise . Balance Ball You ' ve seen them lying around the gym , but you ' ve never reallyknown what to do with them . At first , you may have thought theylooked " girly , " but then you probably saw some of the mostmuscular guys at your gym using them . Balance ball is a greatway to get great abs ! We urge you to find out more aboutbalance ball exercises ! About The Author : Come find out why Balance Ball Exercises areoften used by athletes at http : // Balance Ball . ewhy . info . Read more ! 
swiss ball abs . A medicine ball is also commonly used by athletes who havesustained an injury , and seek rehabilitation . They are alsoextensively used by secondary schools as a fitness aid , bylifting the ball , or performing different ab exercises with theswiss ball incorporated to increase the strain on a particularmuscle . What is A Swiss Ball ? A Swiss ball is a ball constructed of elastic rubber with adiameter of around 55 to 85 cm ( 22 to 34 inches ) . It is used inphysical therapy and exercise . Yoga with Balance Ball ? Doing yoga on a ball allows your body to open gently so you cankeep your breath flowing and remain aware of signs of strain soyou don't injure yourself . The balance ball supports you incertain poses and helps you modify each posture to suit yourbody . Sit on The Ball ! Sitting on a ball instead of a chair is a great way to keepyour spine healthy . Try to sit on a ball for at least part ofyour work day , if you have a desk job . When you sit on a ball , you 're forced to sit up with good posture because you havenothing to lean back on . Also , because the ball rolls around , it keeps you on your toes and keeps your body moving , whichhelp prevent the stiffness and back pain that you can get frombeing too sedentary . Bent Knee Bridge for Buttocks and hamstrings How to do it : Lie on your back with your knees bent and yourheels resting on top of the ball . Spread your arms out oneither side of you . Lift your butt off the floor whilesqueezing it , and push your hips toward the ceiling . Pause atthe top of the movement , then go back to the starting position . The following are some guidelines in planning and running amedicine ball session : - 1 . Always ensure the athletes carry out a thorough warm up andwarm down 2 . Before starting a session , explain the procedures for eachexercise with your athletes 3 . Partners who feed the medicine ball on certain exercisesshould be well drilled on what is required 4 . Medicine ball exercises must precede high intensity work 5 . Start sessions with lighter less dynamic exercises , thenprogress to heavier exercises 6 . The program should have exercises that match the pattern ofmovements of the sport 7 . Plan the program to exercise alternate body parts ( legs , upper body , torso ) 8 . You will need to have a number of different weights of ballavailable - heavy , medium and light A primary benefit of exercising with a Swiss ball as opposed toexercising directly on a hard flat surface is that the bodyresponds to the instability of the ball to remain balanced , engaging many more muscles to do so . Those muscles becomestronger over time to keep balance . About The Author : Come find out why Balance Ball Exercises areoften used by athletes at http : // Balance Ball . ewhy . info . Read more ! 
Crunches For Abs . Doing yoga on the ball can benefit anyone , including strong , limber athletes . Raise the bar on your yoga workout by addingball work . Poses done on the round surface challenge balanceand build core muscles while helping you develop inner focus . Basic Crunches for Abs With your feet flat on the floor , place your lower back on theball , and your upper body and thighs parallel to the floor . Docrunches as usual , lifting only your shoulders and upper backoff the ball , using your abs . In normal everyday activity and traditional exercise , largermuscles tend to do most of the work , so the small ones weakenfrom lack of use , she explains . However , when you do yogamovements on the unstable surface of a ball , you strengthenthose tiny , overlooked muscles through the micro - movements youmake to stabilize yourself . Just sitting on the ball at yourdesk engages those smaller muscles effectively ! Caring For your Balance Ball Before use , check the area for sharp objects that may puncturethe ball . If possible , use a carpeted surface or exercise matwhen using the ball . The ball is not intended for outdoor useas the risk of puncture is high . The ball should be inspectedfor gouges and deep scratches prior to use . Getting the Right Fitness Ball Fitness balls come in different sizes . The basic rule forchoosing the correct size is that when you 're sitting on theball , you should be able to easily balance with your feet onthe ground . Your hips and knees should both be at right angles . The following list matches you up with the right size ball , based on your height : This is a simple , cheap way to get a little more use out ofyour exercise ball . The ability to add resistance bands ( without safety being an issue ) adds a whole new dynamic to howyou use your exercise ball . About The Author : Come find out why Balance Ball Exercises areoften used by athletes at http : // Balance Ball . ewhy . info . Read more ! 
Strength Training With Weider Fitness Equipment . If you are looking for an all - in - one strength training workout , Weider fitness equipment may be the answer that you have beensearching for . Whether you do not have a lot of room formultiple pieces of strength training equipment or simply preferthe convenience of an all - in - one unit , there is a simplesolution . Many strength training experts prefer to work out inthe comfort of their own home and wish to avoid spending moneyon a gym membership . These are just a few of the reasons that Weider strength training fitness equipment is gaining inpopularity . The Advantage by Weider is a unique product . Offering over 65 club - quality exercises is not the only quality this strengthtraining equipment promises , but this Weider fitness productalso guarantees to tone up your muscles in 6 weeks or less . The Weider fitness equipment strength trainer is a separateunit , which is designed to increase muscle and improve theoverall tone of the entire body . This 16.6 strength traineroffers an upper - body station , butterfly arms , pull - up station , high and low pulleys , 225 lbs . of weights . The entire unit isdesigned on a sturdy steel frame . The Weider Pro 3750 strengthtrainer features two full - body workout stations , which arecombined into one single machine . It offers 212 lbs . ofresistance and aids in building muscles throughout every partof the body . Weider offers a variety of strength trainingunits , each of which features many of the same characteristics , but may differ slightly in resistance or other option . If your ultimate goal is strength training , the Weider fitnessequipment that you may want to consider using is called astrength station . This strength training unit allows you towork on the abdominal muscles , chest , back , triceps and arms . It features a vertical knee raise station , dip station and apull - up and push - up station . In addition to the aforementioned strength training units , Weider fitness equipment includes a wide variety of weightbenches and weights , exercise mats and other accessories . Amongthe more affordable units offered by Weider fitness equipmentare a step machine , a genuine leather jump rope , latexresistance bands and a sit - up bar . The sit - up bar is especiallyinteresting because it is used as a stand alone product thatattaches to any standard door while providing the user withsecure foot support needed for doing sit - ups . The contents of this strength training article is intended forinformational purposes only and should not be considered , orused as , professional medical advice or recommendations . Beforebeginning any training or fitness routine , you should consult alicensed physician to learn what risks , if any , exist . He / shewill be able to recommend a quality strength training exerciseregimen , which will be personalized to fit your needs . About The Author : To find out more about strength training , please visit our website athttp : // www . strength - training - guide . info . It contains tons offree strength training articles , resources and tips . Read more ! 
Ways To Improve Blood Circulation . Blood Circulation plays an important part in our being . Inorder to stay healthy it is very important to have good bloodcirculation . Proper blood circulation helps in transferringnutrients and oxygen to various parts of the body . Lack of goodblood circulation causes diseases due to harmful foreignparticles entrapped in the tissue . Many of us do not have any idea about the value of a good bloodcirculation . Some common problems you may face without properblood circulation are : Hypertension : A common problem found with many people mainlymiddle - aged and elderly people . This happens becausecholesterol plaques are deposited along the walls of thearteries , causing it to harden . Varicose Veins : This happens when the walls of the veinsloses its elasticity . Lack of exercise , increasing age , junkfood just adds to the stress escalating this problem from oneleg to the other . - Improving blood circulation Calendula known as Calendula Officinalis is an importantsource to improve blood circulation . Tamari Bancha Tea helps in neutralizing acidic bloodcondition . This tea also enhances blood circulation which inreturn relieves fatigue . Ume - Sho - Bancha with ginger is another source of improvingyour blood circulation . Ginkgo Biloba also has the ability to improve bloodcirculation to the brains extremities . It increases thesharpness of the mind , in relation to all the ages . Onion too can improve the blood circulation level , as well asrelax the muscles . Hydrotherapy also known as hot and cold shower also workswell to improve blood circulation . A simple exercise like walking , which anyone can do is one ofthe easiest ways to increase blood circulation level . Exercising also increases blood circulation which helps themuscles and other tissues . One can heighten the poor blood circulation problem byinfusing rosemary leaves or flowers with red wine . Damiana , Turnera Afrodisiaca is known for it aphrodisiac andmood elevating qualities . It also happens to improve andenhance our blood circulation . The improved blood circulationhelps in governing the hormone production as well as fightsmild depression , sexual disinterest and menstrual problems . Massaging , as many of us tend to perceive is an act ofrelaxation , but it is more than that . The touch of hands andlegs in appropriate places calms your muscles and joints , relieves stress as well as improves blood circulation whichhelps the body in many ways . Reetha is rich in iron , phosphorous and vitamin A , making itvery useful for your hair due to these properties . Soak reethaovernight to make a paste . Apply this on your hair and keep itfor an hour . It induces new life in your hair due to improveblood circulation in the scalp . Cayenne , Ginger , Garlic and Ginkgo are some of the bestdefenses against poor blood circulation . Tincture from these iseasily absorbed by the body which helps in reducing cholesterollevel , cleansing the blood , preventing heart disease and alsofights atherosclerosis . Warning : The reader of this article should exercise allprecautionary measures while following instructions on the homeremedies from this article . Avoid using any of these products ifyou are allergic to it . The responsibility lies with the readerand not with the site or the writer . About The Author : Sharon Hopkins handles many websites relatingto natural home remedies such ashttp : // www . home - remedies - for - you . com , which has lot ofinformation on home based natural cures and remedies . With theuse of different herbs and home remedies we can easily improveour blood circulation level . Read more ! 
Work Out With An Elliptical Cross Trainer . This article will cover the top 6 reasons you should work outwith an Elliptical Cross Trainer . The Elliptical Cross Trainerhas become one of the most popular methods of exercise for thereasons you are about to discover right here in this article . This exercise machine has easily risen above that of thetreadmill and other exercise equipment because of its overallworkout scheme . So sit back , relax , and read on . You will learnthe many different reasons that you too should be working outwith an Elliptical Cross trainer . Reason number one An elliptical cross trainer provides theuser with a workout using weight - bearing exercises . Aweight - bearing workout works to improve a wide variety ofaspects of your body . For example , by using an elliptical crosstrainer you can increase your bone density , improveconditioning , burn calories , and strengthen your muscles . Allby using one exercise machine . Reason number two With an Elliptical Cross Trainer you willreceive a low impact workout . This is extremely important toanyone who chooses to exercise to maintain his or her health . Alow impact workout means you are putting less stress upon yourbones and joints while you are exercising . The trainer haspedals that you use during cross training and your feet willnever have to leave those pedals . This decreases the amount ofimpact placed on your body . Reason number three Improve your overall fitness by using anextensive cardiovascular workout . This is one of the keyfactors that tempt many people to exercise with an Elliptical Cross Trainer . A cardiovascular workout is essential topromoting good circulation and overall heart health . Reason number four With your Elliptical Cross Trainer youwill receive a total body workout . From head to toe andeverywhere in between , the Elliptical Cross Trainer allows youto work every muscle . Some other exercise machines only work onspecific areas of the body , meaning you would need a fewdifferent machines for a full body workout . The ellipticalcross trainer does that for you with one machine for a totalbody workout . Reason number five Lose weight with an elliptical crosstrainer . Because the cross trainer gives your entire body aworkout , with exercise and a proper diet you could findyourself losing weight while toning your body at the same time . Reason number six Maximum results in less time . This isanother key factor that lures people to the Elliptical Cross Trainer . Because you get a total body workout , those with abusy life and little time left to spare find that exercising onthe elliptical cross trainer provides you with maximum resultsin less time . This allows you to get the benefits of exercisingand still have enough time in the day for other activities . As you can see , there are many benefits to working out with an Elliptical Cross Trainer . If you find the proper machine , dothe right exercises and follow a healthy diet regimen , you willhave no problem benefiting from all that an Elliptical Cross Trainer can offer . About The Author : Simon Oldmann has been writing about theeffects of financial planning on health and mental stability . Simon is currently writing tips and advice about workout and Elliptical Trainer at http : // ellipticaltrainer . zupatips . com. Read more ! 
Yoga Breathing Exercises For Expectant Mothers . Prenatal yoga is an exercise that is designed to promotebreathing exercises , posture and emotional relaxation . Thisapproach is often sought by pregnant women who are preparingfor a natural childbirth or who wish to stay physically andemotionally healthy during their pregnancy . One of the manybenefits of prenatal yoga is the lack of physical exertion thatis required , which makes it a safe practice for many moms - to - be . During the pain that is associated with a natural childbirth , prenatal yoga will attempt to promote proper breathing thatwill help to make the process an easier one . In addition , relaxation is essential during the childbirth process andalthough it can be difficult , prenatal yoga can help to teachwomen how to relax themselves as much as possible . For some , prenatal yoga may be sought as part of a spiritualprocess that helps them to connect with their unborn childand / or prepare for the new arrival . In some cases , prenatalyoga may even be beneficial after the birth as it instillstechniques that are associated with relaxation . As every newmom knows , there is a definite need for relaxation after havinga child . For some , prenatal yoga may help women to return to theirpre - pregnancy weight more quickly than others . For most , thisis a struggle that takes a lot of patience and determination . In general , yoga is an exercise that promotes physical fitness , relaxation , breathing , spiritual and emotional connections , etc. If you are searching for a prenatal yoga class or instructor , the best place to start is through your physician . During yournext visit , ask the doctor if prenatal yoga would be safe foryou and , if so , who you could contact for instruction . Mostphysicians are aware of any local classes or instruction beinggiven and will often be able to refer patients to a class thatis most convenient for them . Most women prefer that the fatherof their child or a friend or family member attend prenatalyoga classes for support and guidance . Having someone familiarwill also make the classes more enjoyable and relaxing for themom - to - be . Before enrolling in prenatal yoga , it s best to makesure that the instructor is licensed , certified or highlytrained and experienced in teaching this type of relaxationmethod . The information in this article is to be used for informationalpurposes only . It should not be used in place of , or inconjunction with , professional medical advice . Anyone withquestions regarding prenatal yoga must consult their physicianfor further information . About The Author : Want to learn more about prenatal yoga ? Makesure you visit our site at : http : // www . prenatalyogaguide . infofor access to additional prenatal yoga tips and information . Read more ! 
Women s Fitness Magazine Subscriptions . Recent news reports have made note of the fact that an evergrowing number of women and men across the globe areoverweight . Indeed , some experts in the field have concludedthat being overweight now poses a far greater health risk to alarger number of people across the globe than does a lack offood . If you are a woman who is interested in her health , youmay be interested in finding a women s fitness magazinesubscription that will fid your goals and needs . In thisregard , there are a variety of different women s fitnessmagazine subscription that are now available on the markettoday . In this regard , you might want to turn to the Internetand World Wide Web as you commence your own search for awomen s fitness magazine subscription . First of all , most major women s fitness magazines now maintaina vibrant Internet presence . By visiting these websites , you candetermine what one or another of the different women s fitnessmagazines now have to offer to an interested consumer . Manytimes , if you order one or another of the women s fitnessmagazine subscription from an online website , a magazine willknock a percentage off the regular subscription price . If you are a woman who is a member of a gym of health club , youmight want to consult with a trainer at the facility todetermine what recommendation the trainer may have in regard towomen s fitness magazine subscription . As with many otherproducts , there can be some pretty significant differencesbetween the various women s fitness magazines that are beingpublished in this day and age . Needless to say , you will want awomen s fitness magazine that fits into any workout or fitnessregimen that you may already be participating in . Finally , as you search for women s fitness magazinesubscription , you might want to take out a trial subscriptionto a couple of magazines to compare what is included in thedifferent publications . By being able to make such an up closecomparison , you will be able to determine which publicationwill best meet your particular needs and health and fitnessgoals and objectives . Many magazines offer a trial period at nocost , or at a nominal fee , to give you a chance to view apublication up close . In short , you risk nothing -- or verylittle -- by taking out a trial subscription to see what aparticular women s fitness magazine subscription is all about . About The Author : Linda Polansky writes abouthttp : // www . magazinesubscriptionsonsale . com. Read more ! 
Good Stress And Bad Stress . The stress response of the body is somewhat like an airplanereadying for take - off . Virtually all systems ( eg , the heart andblood vessels , the immune system , the lungs , the digestivesystem , the sensory organs , and brain ) are modified to meet theperceived danger . Trembling Pounding Heart With trembling and a pounding heart , we can find it difficultto execute precise , controlled skills . And the intensity of ourfocus on survival interferes with our ability to make finejudgments based on drawing information from many sources . Wefind ourselves more accident - prone and less able to make gooddecisions . Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physicalreactions . Notice your distress . Don't ignore it . Don't glossover your problems . Determine what events distress you . Whatare you telling yourself about meaning of these events ? Determine how your body responds to the stress . Do you becomenervous or physically upset ? If so , in what specific ways ? Preventing Stress Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress . The stress reaction is triggered by your perception ofdanger ... physical danger and / or emotional danger . Are youviewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and / or taking adifficult situation and making it a disaster ? Are you expecting to please everyone ? Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely criticaland urgent ? Do you feel you must always prevail in everysituation ? Work at adopting more moderate views ; try to see thestress as something you can cope with rather than something thatoverpowers you . Try to temper your excess emotions . Put thesituation in perspective . Do not labor on the negative aspectsand the " what if 's . " Good Stress and Bad Stress The stress response ( also called the fight or flight response ) is critical during emergency situations , such as when a driverhas to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident . It can also beactivated in a milder form at a time when the pressure 's on butthere 's no actual danger - like stepping up to take the foulshot that could win the game , getting ready to go to a bigdance , or sitting down for a final exam . A little of thisstress can help keep you on your toes , ready to rise to achallenge . And the nervous system quickly returns to its normalstate , standing by to respond again when needed . Relieve Stress with Stress Ball If you are working in an office environment , be sure to getyourself a stress ball . Stress balls are proven to relive aperson from stress ! So what are you waiting for ? Get a stressball today and learn how it can benefit you . About The Author : Did you know , the Stress Ball isscientifically proven to relive stress ? More info athttp : // Stress Ball . eabout . info . Read more ! 
These boots are made for walking ... These boots are made for walking , and that 's just what they ' ll do , one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you . For insider with no comment ... Ferner zu erw hnen g be es das momentane Rauchverhalten . Bin grad kurz am berschlagen ... Fast 9 Monate sind es her als ich die letzte Zigarette im hellen Vollmondlicht geraucht habe . Noch immer ein wenig stolz ber diesen Zustand aber oft auch gar nicht daran denkend mach ich einfach weiter mit " nicht - rauchen " . 
BACK . CHANGERSditching the picture / text format . trying more stream of conscious style aped from my uncle . because its easier and will hopefully feel less forced . we ' ll see how it goes . feedback is welcome . WONDERS ! amsterdam has outdoor urinals . no , not port - a - potties . fucking outdoor urinals . other amazing european innovations : motion - detecting escalators ( took me like five times to figure out they weren't broken ) , stepless escalators ( just an incline ! ) , BEER AT MCDONALDS , and castles . oh , you can get jack and coke in a can too . THEY BEAT ONamsterdam itself is a fascinating , terrible place . more of an amusement park for restless 18 - 25 men than an actual city . complete lost generation redux . north carolina kids telling me about how they came to see europe a few weeks ago and just hadn't left the city . its just that kind of place . personally , i checked out when i saw some kid buy a gram of coke in the red light district , and then proceed to empty the powder into his hand and just smear his palm across his nose , before offering his hand to his ladyfriend . " okay amsterdam , " i says to myself . " we 're done . " met an absolutely bonkers ex - cop ( aptly named Case ) while watching the france - togo game . so he 's like ... you know oceans 12 ? yeah , there were some scenes in amsterdam , werent there ? yeah ! i made it ! oh cool ! what , so you were like a camera guy ? nononono .... i made it . and later ... you were a cop ?? yeah man ! a cop ! you dont believe me ?? why arent you a cop anymore ? brains bleeding ! THEY ROLL HARD the half - time commentators for the france - togo game did not wear suits . they were not pretty . they were crotchety old men with huge bellies and animated arms . and they had wine glasses . wine glasses ! note to ESPN : get lalas a pint , a couple martinis for foudey and wynalda , i guarantee you they become more watchable . which is to say ... watchable . MUSSELS IN BRUSSELSone of the most satisfying meals i ' ve ever had was in brussels . mussels . apparently they 're known for their seafood . i was unaware . watched the germany - sweden and the mexico - argentina game there . if you didn't see the latter , check this out . hands down the best goal of the cup . maybe the best one i ' ve ever seen . it 's such a hefty claim , but i ' ve racked my brain and cant come up with a better one . if anyone has any contenders , send me a youtube link . NEVER SAW PULP FICTIONour hostel in cologne was right across from the ukranian national team 's hotel . talk in our bustling abode ranged from alleged shevchenko sightings to cracks about how togo was staying at this very hostel last week . highlight : midnight soccer game by the cathedral with a brazilian and two kids who came by that just happened to be from mountain view . lowlight : PAYING for ketchup at mcdonalds . by now we ' ve been in europe for four days , and the first thing alex wants to take a picture of is the royale burger or whatever its called . not the badass cathedral across the street . a fucking mcdonalds burger . we tease him for this , but he looks at us like we just dont get it . DRAIN COSMETICSthere 's a bunch more , but lets reserve that for when i hopefully see you in person sometime soon . for now , check out this serena - maneesh video . the album just came out in the states last week . they 're norwegian , and will not be stopped . 
The Magic Is You ! And don't call him no Nick Nolte neither . Pick ' em update : 19 for 32 This one goes out to the Tunisians . That was pretty rough . You know what guys ? That one was really rough . Here 's another one . No more blog ' til I return from / with the World Cup . Been sorta fiddling with a midyear top 10 / mixtape thingamajig , so THAT , friends , will ( hopefully ) be something to look forward to . ' Til next time , stay loose ... like Stephan Malkamoose . ( thanks Sean ) . 
Damn That Ref Was Garbage . One state , two state ... First things first : Peep this sweet - ass track from The Eraser . So good . Pick ' em update : 15 for 26 . Finishing around 45 would be solid . Interesting tidbit : The Irish kids boarding in my fraternity have informed me that in Ireland , it 's called soccer , not football . My mind was blown . With the exception of Wisconsin and Hawaii , every state that thinks the NBA finals is a bigger story than the World Cup also voted for Bush . But then , there are seventeen Bush states that also think soccer is a most important , so I guess I can't blog about how conservatives hate soccer , which is a bummer , but oh wells . Maps are fun ! So between the World Cup , the U.S. Open and the NBA Finals , 33 out of 50 states think soccer is the big to - do right now . Sounds great initially , but its a bit misleading . If we change the question to ' Is soccer the big to - do in sports right now ? , ' ( just lump golf and basketball together and call it ' soccer is dumb ' ) , that number drops to 13 . And NO state has a soccer appreciation rate that hits 60 % ( connecticut is the highest at 59 % ) . Look , the point is that there 's a fascinating study in there somewhere . And I ' m sure it ' ll be discovered by someone who slept through a lot fewer Sosh 5 classes than I did . And yeah , while the World Cup reaction hasn't been crazy overall , it 's gotta be a LOT better than it was twenty years ago . The question is , have we hit a plateau , or is this gonna keep getting bigger ? Unless the U.S. starts doing real well real soon ( I ' m talking another quarterfinals this time , at least ) I think we 're doomed to another decade of stories about how soccer is the Next Big Thing . Today was a good step . Could have been better for sure , but I ' m blaming that one on a power - trippin ref . Honestly , it 's gonna be real tough for us to get out of the group when we basically need Italy to beat a Czech team that will not lose after what happened to them today . It 's the WC though ... you never know . Did I mention I ' m heading to Germany on Wednesday ? If you 're around Cologne and you ' d like me to sleep on your couch , I ' d be more than happy to accomodate you . I ' ll also be hitting up Iceland ( ! ) and Amsterdam ( !!!!!!!!!!! ) , so if by some chance you happen to be around there , let me make sure your couch is sufficiently comfy . In closing , the Calexico concert was absolutely fantastic , and if you haven't heard Man Man , hear them . 
Heartbroken . ... where did you go ? The first time I saw the Fiery Furnaces , they ran onstage . By the end of their wildly careening set , they were sweating , panting and smiling . I mean , Matt and Eleanor weren't like beaming or anything , but you could tell that they were proud of what they ' d done . Next to the Furnaces ' brilliant intensity , the headlining act ( The Shins ) just felt sleepy . Everyone know 's they 're not the same band they were three years ago . Based on the concert I just got back from though , I don't think they 're the same people either . That wonderful energy was gone , replaced by a ' lets - just - play - the - songs - and - get - it - over - with ' apathy . The whole show was filled with bad vibes : the two stood as far away from each other as possible , and Matt seemed like he was on a mission to just make life as hard for Eleanor as possible . Eleanor started to dedicate Evergreen to her boyfriend , but Matt began playing before she could even finish what she was saying . In the same song , she missed singing the first half of the refrain , which led to Matt sarcastically asking the audience to applaud " that fantastic drum solo " after Evergreen ended . There was a clear nonverbal tension between the two for the entire night , which could have just made for a disappointing concert . The way this shit ended was just epic though . So Eleanor is taking requests for like the last couple songs of their encore , and someone shouts " Paw Paw Tree ! " to which Eleanor responds " god i can't remember the lyrics to that one . " Seems weird I know , but honestly , if there 's one band where you could forgive a lead singer for forgetting the words to a certain song , wouldnt you think it would be the Fiery Furnaces ? Anyways , Matt goes ' okay , lets play it . ' Eleanor says ' but i cant remember the words . ' Matt says something weird like ' well , i ' ll play a different version . ' Eleanor looks at him sorta helplessly , but the dude just STARTS PLAYING . she makes it through about half of the first verse before stumbling , rights herself for the refrain , then just goes blank . she just stands there while the band plays , staring at the ceiling and trying to remember the words . refrain comes around again , she sings , Matt just cuts the third verse short , sardonically and quickly saying " okay , that 's all , thanks everyone . " The band trudges off . It was just the saddest thing I ' ve seen at a live show . All this stuff aside , the new , stripped - down arrangements Matt gave to all the songs just feel lacking . On record , and when I ' d seen them before ( this was my fourth FF show ) , Toshi and Matt 's synth work always made things really exciting and interesting . The straight - ahead guitar sound renders previously amazing live songs like Quay Cur depressingly dreary and uninteresting . Nothing really sounded like it did on record , which made the show interesting , but the new interpretations missed much more often than they hit ( the only exception being Slaving Away , which saw the only time Elanor cracked a smile ) . And this is coming from a guy who really believes in the artistic worth of Rehearsing My Choir . This is coming from a guy who thinks Bitter Tea is one of the best records he 's heard this year . Thankfully , Man Man turned in the best performance I ' ve seen from an opening act , so the night wasn't all lost . More on that later , hopefully . Really , everything tonight just felt like a weird , depressing inversion of that Shins concert . This show ( and news of Matt 's solo album ) are probably the writing on the wall : this band is on its last legs . Man , this blog has sort of taken a turn for the depressing . Hopefully happy posts are on the way . Its just that the Fiery Furnaces are one of my absolute favorite bands , and tonight was just painful to watch . 
More like Dellaca SUCKera . Seems like something you ' d do when you win . Weird . Inserting negative adjectives into someone 's name is always awesome . I know , you 're right , it is more like awe SUCK , but whatever . Speaking of soccer ( what ? ) , this fan in a Croatian jersey rushed the field in the waning moments of today 's Croatia / Brazil game , which lead to this bit of priceless broadcasting : JP Dellacamera : " And a fan appears to have rushed the field . Oh boy . You ' ll notice our cameras are not cutting to him . Dont want to um , justify his action or give him what he wants , which might lead to more unfortunate instances like this one . " Cut to shot of said fan being escorted off field by security . Dellacamera : ( deadpan ) " That ... I ' m pretty sure that 's not him . " That 's right JP . Just play it real cool . Of course it 's not him . That 's just the fattie that somehow made it onto the Croatian national team , only the coach just realized he 's a fattie , which is why he 's ... being arrested . Clearly . 
Absolute Weaksauce . " A complete failure . " - Alexi Lalas " Dude , that was fucking garbage . Oh my god . " - Philip Cordiero " I ' m really disappointed in this team . " - Eric Wynalda Hear that , guys ?? You disappointed Eric Wynalda . Somewhere , Laurie Calloway is rolling his eyes . Background : Calloway coached Wynalda when San Jose was still the Clash . Wynalda claims Calloway ruined his MLS career . Wynalda also once paid an airplane to fly over Spartan Stadium towing the message ' FIRE THIS COACH . ' The guy also had beef with Clash owner Peter Bridgewater . Wynalda was traded , Calloway was fired , and Bridgewater sold the Clash ( by then they were the Earthquakes ) to the dudes that own the New England Revolution , who would eventually dismantle the team and ship it off to Houston . Bad times . Wynalda is also America 's all - time leading scorer , though Da Marcus Beasley ( and yeah , maybe Judas Rogaine ) will probably pass him eventually . Or so I thought , until this morning 's " total failure . " The quotes are there cos someone else said it , but I certainly agree . There 's really no other way to look at it , and the worst part of it all is that for the average sports fan who sorta - casually tuned in , our side 's performance affirmed every negative stereotype Americans have about this sport : They played weak , boring , pointless soccer . Even if the U.S. played to the best of our ability , we still deserved to lose this game . The Czech Republic are simply stronger ( didn't it look like every guy in white had like 4 inches and 50 pounds on our midfield ? ) , faster , and more skilled . They really deserve to be called the second best team in the world . We , on the other hand , are nowhere near that # 5 ranking we ' ve got . That 's not whats frustrating though . There 's nothing wrong with getting beaten by a better team , but when you play this fearfully and lazily ... grughhosdfn . My keyboard breaks , apparently . Hopefully things get better against Italy . And Marcelo Balboa is a great announcer . 
Good Job , Steve . " Thankfully , video of Souza 's parlor trick is available on the Internet , which smuggles soccer highlights into American homes , past the unsuspecting gatekeepers at Sports Center . " Pick ' em update : 5 for 8 There 's a lot of articles out there about the whole American soccer apathy thing . Steve Rushin 's latest is certainly one of the best . Pick up the June 12 th issue of SI and check it out . Some of the feats Rushin touches on in the article : the seal dribble , a move created by Brazilian teenager Kerlon Souza that will revolutionize the game once players get really good at it , Luis Martinez 's " freaky , fluky , length - of - the - pitch punt , " and the Cruyff Turn . If you click on one link in this post though , make it this one . Just wonderful . Quote of the Moment : " God , why couldn't she just have herpes without the outbreak so I wouldn't know ?? " - the roomie , lamenting how he couldn't bring himself to make out with a total babe because she had a huge cold sore . 
dissent from within . Walid Jumblatt : Hassan Nasrallah made the decision to go to war without consulting anyone . ( confront ) [ ... ] A cease - fire between who ? [ Israel ] and the Lebanese state ? Will Hizbullah recognize the Lebanese state ? [ ... ] Interviewer : Nasrallah also said he was fighting for the sake of the nation . [ ... ] Walid Jumblatt : No one empowered him to fight from Lebanon for the sake of the nation . [ ... ] Is there really a Lebanese consensus that the battle of the [ Islamic ] nation should be launched from Lebanon ? Do all we Lebanese really agree with the words of that " hero " from afar , the head of the Iranian Shura Council , who said that from Lebanon , from Meis Al - Jabal and ' Ayta Al - Sha ' b , we will set out to liberate Palestine in its entirety , inch by inch ? [ ... ] [ Nasrallah ] says : " I do not recognize the state of Israel , and I want to set out from South Lebanon to liberate Palestine in its entirety . " This is what he is doing . If this is his agenda , I have the right to oppose it . video here . 
terrorist & dumbass . Interviewer : Did you inform them that you were about to abduct Israeli soldiers ? Hassan Nasrallah : I told them that we must resolve the issue of the prisoners , and that the only way to resolve it is by abducting Israeli soldiers . Interviewer : Did you say this clearly ? Hassan Nasrallah : Yes , and nobody said to me : " No , you are not allowed to abduct Israeli soldiers . " Even if they had told me not to ... I ' m not defending myself here . I said that we would abduct Israeli soldiers in meetings with some of the main political leaders in the country . I don't want to mention names now , but when the time comes to settle accounts , I will . They asked : " If this happens , will the issue of the prisoners be over and done with ? " I said that it was logical that it would . And I ' m telling you , our estimation was not mistaken . I ' m not exaggerating . Anywhere in the world - show me a country , show me an army , show me a war , in which two soldiers , or even civilian hostages , were abducted , and a war was waged against a country - and all for two soldiers . This has never happened throughout history , and even Israel has never done such a thing . [ ... ] video here . 
give peace a chance . mais um ' apelo paz ' feito desta vez por um oprimido ' freedom fighter ' de seu nome Aki Nawaz . gozando das benesses de uma sociedade democr tica ocidental onde vive e prospera , com a eloqu ncia habitual , em texto de fino recorte liter rio eis arte em estado puro - veja tamb m a capa do CD . ora apreciem : On the day of Vaisakhi , Udham Singh made this solemn prayer , Oh my Guru , May I take revenge on those who murdered my people at Jallianwalla Bagh . I ask for your blessings in this task . After 20 long years , the hero Udham Singh tracked down the main culprit , Sir Michael O Dwyer and exacted his revenge in the home country of his oppressor . The evil regime was knocked into place by his back handed stroke . In the house of freedom fighting revolutionaries , was the warrior Bhagat Singh born . As a child , he vowed to free his country by planting weapons in the fields , in order to arm his people . It is rare to find a hero such as Bhagat Singh , who laughs in the face of his oppressor at the moment of death . After shaking the throne of oppression with bombs , he gave his final sacrifice . The evil regime was knocked into place by his backhanded stroke ... naturalmente que o ' artista ' ( foto ao lado ) contra a viol ncia , mas canta : Reject your thieving foreign policies Reject your elitist congregation Reject your mini skirt liberation Reject your concept of integration ou : But revenge will be mine , with my last breath I will rise to curse you Because you , you dogs and parasites have made us helpless e ainda : I ' m strapped up cross my chest bomb belt attached Deeply satisfies with the plan I hatched Eletrodes connected to a gas cooker lighter via gateway pundit . 
At the summer school . 	 The summer school is going well . We have been filmed by Italian TV . We got motor control and object tracking going . Now , a day off ( going to visit Monaco ) and then back for three more intense days ! : ) . 
Gentoo meltdown . 	 At the most critical time - at the beginning of a 10 day programming summer school - gentoo let me down big time . I found that multicast wasn't working properly on my Dell X 300 laptop , so I was going through a number of steps to try to resolve it , including udating my baselayout . This included an update to devfs which basically left my system unbootable . version 1.3.25 - r 8 of devfs has a bug leaving out the 2 crucial scripts that start and stop devfs . fixed in r 9 of course , but the emerge -- sync left me with r 8 . Nasty . Of course this is resolvable by booting a live CD , but I don't have a CD drive on my laptop - its at home . So , I have been - in the background while trying to keep up with a fast - moving school - been trying to get a USB stick bootable linux working . No luck so far . To keep up with the school , I have been using cygwin on windows , which has many problems , but ironically , multicast is working . anyway , more pictures here . ( PS - I love Piccassa ! ) . 
Summer school . 	 Day one at the summer school was great . The location is unbelievable , cote d ' azure , villa set in botanical gardens , view of Monaco over the bay . Some pics . Have a look at the school website . Day 1 was : just get everyone setup with ACE / CMake / YARP and get example code running . All very successful . Day 2 : disaster I have managed to completely screw my linux installation . long story - requires its own post . Later . 
Why so long ... 	 OK , way too long since my last post . Nevermind , I don't think anyone actually reads this ( Hi Lars ) . So , to tell : I ' ve been to Austria for a really nice seminar on complex systems which included talks on semiotics and how ostocytes work as sensors in the bone and help reconstruction happen . There was also my talk on interaction histories in robots , which while totally left - field for the audience , went down quite well . It was orgainised by Prof Sawaragi - San from Kyoto Uni , and was a really excellent little jaunt . I ' ve also submitted a final CR for the Epirob conf comming up . I am looking forward to that one . My sis had a 40 th B - day party which was just wild . Its funny , when you get everyone to dress as school children , they behave as school children . With booze . I had a 2 - day solid hangover . I read a really nice book ( How Babies Think by Gopnik / Meltzoff / Kuhl ) . Would recommend it as an easy way to get into the some of the new ways of thinking in developmental psychology . And , on sunday I fly to Ventigmilia in Italy ( near Monaco on the Itialian / French border on the Cote d ' Azur ) for 10 days of robot programming . FUN IN THE SUN !! ( Actually a geek version - I ' ll be programming on my laptop instead of hanging out in bars / beaches ) So , till later Ciao . 
Howdy from ICDL , Bloomington , IN . 	 It is just after 4:30 ESST , and I have now delivered my talk at the ICDL conference so the pressure is off . The standard of talks has been extremely high and I was SO nervous before my talk , I was shivering and having to clench lest I let rip !! In fact I was up at 4 this morning working on my presentation so I am knackered now ! ( and we dont finish till 10 pm - 18 hours of intellectual overload !! ) In the end the talk went really well . I have had a lot of really positive comments about it ( from Jun Tani , Max Lungarella , Koh Hosada , Shimon Edelman , Giorgio Metta to name just a few ) and I think , somehow , I pulled it off . It was really strange because this was the first time that I ' ve given a talk to such a large audience . Its a single strand conference and I think all the participants of ICDL were present - this is due , I think , to the timing of my talk just before one of the main Keynote speeches , not to them coming along to our talk as such ! In any case , it is done now and I can relax and enjoy the rest of the conference . I will try to post my talk on my website soon , maybe without the video . This reminds me that I really need to revamp my website . Manyana ! 
The man in black . 	 I am sat watching the man in black - no not the inimitable Mr J . Cash , but the venerable Japanese roboticist Professor Ishiguro - San . I love Japanese robotics , its always so technically competent but rarely tells us much about human cognition and human social interaction . However , Ishiguro - san appears to be talking about social interaction , but I am not sure of his point - it is all so pre - programmed and designed . The intelligence is in the designer , not the builder . Mind you the robot is hot ! ; ) There are exceptions though - two talks before a truely original Japanese robotics research gave us his view . Heideki Kozima - san showed Keepon . Not complicated , just a couple of squashy balls with eyes and nose . And yet , it really coerces true emotive and empathic responses from children ( bot normally developing and autistic ) and adults ( the whole auditorium laughed and cooed at the right time ) . more from ICDL , Bloomington IN soon . 
Ohh Vienna . 	 OK , not lynched by my supervisor ( yet ) . Instead ( incredibly ) asked to be a guest speaker at a symposium in Vienna organised by a group of robotics researchers from Kyoto University to improve their networking with European research . This is great , but I now have to think of something to say . Also , I will probably miss England in the quarter - finals of the world - cup . This now adds to my growing list of destinations for this year : January - Genoa , Italy February - Nice , France April - Nijmegen , Netherlands May - Bloomington , Indiana , USAJune - Vienna , Austria July - Monte Verita , Switzerland - Ventigmilia , Italian Riviera September - Paris , France October - Genoa , Italyand I haven't included holidays . ( Oxford , Rome and possibly Cornwall ) . 
The Heat is On . It s hot ; I mean really hot , even for a Sacramento July . I m not one to complain about the weather much , and I wouldn t necessarily call this that ( although you may ) , but after nine consecutive days ranging from 100 to 113 degrees in my little corner of the Sacramento metroplex , I ve just about reached my limit . Ok that s not true . I ll endure the heat because I have to it s just a figure of speech ; I have no limit . And just to make these dog - days of summer that much more memorable in my truck - no AC ! It s not broken , it doesn t need to be fixed or recharged it s not there . Never was . I m not even sure if it was an option for a 1983 Toyota SR 5 . It doesn t much matter , if it was , mine didn t get it . So why am I griping ? Well , as I said , I m not really . All those things that may be going through your mind have crossed mine as well . Sacramento summers are hot every year . No surprises there . My truck has no AC and I know that one won t magically appear . And I know that when it tops 110 , it makes little difference whether the windows are up or down . I am fully aware of these realities . I m down with the heat , really . I m good with lots of wind and rain , extreme cold and as much snow as will fall too . However , even with my appreciation for the vast variety of weather Mother Nature throws at us , I think it s when that variety comes to a grinding halt ; when she provides over two weeks of nearly identical weather that I become somewhat disgruntled . Careful ! I said disgruntled , I m not complaining . Not even when our low was a record high ! Eighty - four degrees , the highest low ever recorded was ours to enjoy yesterday morning . On my way to work in Colfax this morning , the thermometer in my truck measured the outside temperature at about 91 degrees that was at 8:45 this morning ! Right now , at 7:16 p.m. , it s 104 degrees . Did I mention that it s hot ! One hundred nine ( a record high ) on Monday , July 17 then 104 100 106 106 - 111 on Saturday ( another record ) - 113 on Sunday ( record ) , and today , 108 . But I m not complaining . And I know that this heat wave is affecting far more than just us . Indeed , it has hit places that really do not typically get extended heat waves and they are certainly suffering . Many have no AC because of power outages or because , like my Toyota , they never did ; many have health issues that are exacerbated by the heart ; many have died . We that have not - so silently had to suffer this unusual but certainly not unexpected heat should stop and realize that we are indeed fortunate and no one here can claim that they have been blind - sided . This is hot , but we knew it was coming sooner or later . 
5 Thousand . Tomorrow ( today , actually ) my hit counter will top the 5,000 mark . I m not sure what it means and I haven t got any great insights or revelations yet . I think it appropriate , however , that I express my gratitude to those of you who read my work regularly . Thank you . Changes in my life are occurring at an extremely rapid rate lately and I am still trying to take it all in . There will be more to come , but for now Who s going to be number 5,000 ? **** Update **** 10:24 a.m. PDTAnd by 11 a.m. PDT , the magic number was hit ... By a spam - blog ! : - ' / . 
All I Know . Life has a strange way about it . Maybe it s the flow of time or the relative nature of things . Perhaps it s just chance how everything turned out , or is everything according to some grand design ? And if so , is all planned down the smallest detail or is it more of a loose framework ; the flow chart of life with a series of conditional gates that will determine what the path will be ? I have , throughout the course of my own life , seen how these models could be applied , each appearing more or less feasible depending on the situation at hand . And once again I am left with the realization that the more I know the less I know . I am living a moment , or rather a series of moments , that seems to be pretty smooth in some respects . And in others there is what feels like chaos . The chaos , however , has not taken top billing ; it has not developed a gravitation pull all its own ; it is not controlling me . Something is different and although I should know better , I m trying to figure out what , how and why . Don t get me wrong , it s not like I am looking this gift horse in the mouth nothing is taken for granted and I do know the answers to those rhetorical questions . It s just that those answers feel somehow superficial even hollow . There is a simplicity that could be characterized as playing by the rules . Not the laws made by man , but the basics of right and wrong , the simple truths that we seem to be born with . Call it conscience , call it spirituality , call it cosmic energy call it what you will , but admit there is something . It is either strictly explained by science or it is not it makes no difference . It s ingrained , almost pre - programmed , but at the same time useless unless invoked . That has historically been my problem until recently . Doing it whatever it is has been anywhere from difficult to impossible , initiated but unsustainable , simultaneously known and unknown ever since I can remember . It has spawned attitudes of entitlement , feelings of inferiority and plenty of arrogance often born of ignorance . I eventually came to believe that I was either too dumb or cursed to succeed in life and proceeded to prove it . No amount of luck was ever enough and it was always just a matter of time before it all came crashing down . The cosmic reset button was my best friend and I visited more and more often . After a final set of traumatic experiences came my way in rapid succession , I was left with the will to live and not much else . I finally conceded ( although I didn t know it at the time ) that perhaps there was something I was missing . Maybe , just maybe I didn t know it all . Could it be that re - aligning myself with those basics , those core truths that I came with as standard equipment could be the missing piece of the puzzle ? Is it possible that after all those years of believing my own lies I could recognize the truth that I could be sincere about anything ? Well , you wouldn t be reading this if it were not possible . It was in fact a reality that I could change my life at any moment . It only takes acceptance that my way is not working , willingness to do anything and honesty manifested as sincerity . However simple it sounds ( and it is ) , I don t believe I could have consciously created the conditions to bring these principles to light . If I could have known enough to get there , I would already have arrived and I would have written all this then , not now . And now is all there ever is . 
Party Time ! Good afternoon and welcome . I see you brought your swimwear ; and your towel excellent . Grab a soda or some bottled water out of the ice chest over by that big oak tree in the middle of the deck , pull up a chair or take a dip . We ll be firing up the barbeque in about an hour . We re having tri - tip and chicken with some hotdogs for the kids . With your potato salad and the other sides everyone else brought , there ll be plenty for everyone . It s way past time for a summer pool party . Here it is almost the middle of July and I have been so busy that I haven t had time to think of these things . Yes , I have been in the pool many , many times so far this summer , and the barbeque has barely had time to cool off in between uses , but it s just been me and one or two friends and occasionally the kids . This backyard was made for entertaining and it hasn t even broken a sweat yet . It s too late to put much together for this weekend . Maybe an impromptu afternoon pool / barbeque / poker game , but not a pull out all the stops pool party . That takes about a week to pull off . I m thinking the Saturday or Sunday after next . There is ample time to spread the word and prepare for the second annual summer bash . Usually about half those invited actually show up , but it pays to prepare for everyone just in case nothing else is going on that day . They way we do it is quite simple , really . Those whose last name begins with , say , A through E bring drinks ; F through K bring a side ; and so on . Usually I provide the grillin ' materials , i . e . : tri - tip , chicken and hot dogs . Although I have many chairs and a couple of chaise lounges , I always recommend that my guests bring a folding chair because there simply aren t enough to go around . And of course , I don t provide towels . It is quite the cooperative production and clean up ? I haven t been stuck with it yet and I have never had to ask for help . Good friends are hard to come by and I have been blessed with more than a handful . It is an honor and a privilege indeed a responsibility to extend my hospitality . I am happy to do it and humbled that I have been lucky enough to be able to supply such a tailor made venue . Yes , it that time of year party time ! 
Saturday Afternoon Paradise . Welcome to Colfax , California . While the heat today in Fair Oaks - elevation about 300 feet was a balmy 100 degrees plus ( at 11:15 p.m. as I write this , it is still hovering around 80 ) , in downtown Colfax just under 3,000 feet - it was about ten degrees cooler . I spent the better part of the afternoon there working . I was interviewing locals about how they feel Colfax should grow , and enjoying the company and the weather . After I thought I had enough quotes and opinions , I decided to go downtown to get a couple more interviews and start writing . I got to town just before noon and started interviewing at the local supermarket that is in a newer part of town . I tried to intercept customers on their way in so that their groceries wouldn t have to endure the heat while I questioned them . I didn t bother with the tourists ; their opinion was not what I was after . Many of those who identified as locals were too busy to talk , but they were all very nice and polite except one . And then there were a few that were happy to answer my questions , about half of which had read part one of my story . After I spent enough time harassing the grocery store s customers , I moved to the oldest part of town , South Main Street . The buildings there have survived two big fires in their 100 - year plus ( plus a lot ) lifetime . Camp 20 is a coffee house that , like my favorite coffee shop in Sacramento , has free Wi Fi for its customers . They make a mean cup of coffee as well . My intent was to begin writing my stories in the warmth of the summer shade on the sidewalk outside the coffee shop . So much for making plans . I was not there more than five minutes when a local walked by and struck up a conversation with me . Soon he was sitting with me at the table and I was getting schooled on the ins and outs of Colfax . Fascinating . Over the course of the next one and a half to two hours I got nearly nothing written , but I learned so much . I spoke with several locals about the past , the present and the future . Although much of the conversation has little to do with today , it has everything to do with how we got here . And I m not talking just about Colfax . The technology , the growth , the railroad and the Lincoln Highway , Old Highway 40 and Interstate 80 and so much more that went into making Northern California what it is today . There is living history in those hills and I could listen to it all day . As much as they volunteered , they asked as well . Where do I hail from ? What brings me to little Colfax ? How do I like working here ? What do you hope to do with your degree ? That last one is a very good question one I have not thought about recently . And recent experience has not necessarily changed the response ; it has deepened it ; in some respects clarified it and in others perhaps expanded it . This little three unit internship has lived up to everything I had hoped it would and so very much more . I owe much of it to the little town of Colfax , its newspaper and most of all , to the people who live in and around this sleepy little mountain town . It s so much more than meets the eye . 
My Byline . My byline has changed . Instead of Michael Althouse , Colfax Record Intern , it now reads Michael Althouse , Colfax Record Staff Writer . A promotion ? It sure feels like it . My editor said in an email to me today that her boss felt that they could not call me an intern because I was ( wrote ) the whole front page . The way it all happened was odd , to say the least . Sometimes it s better to be lucky than good ? Sure , but nothing beats being lucky and good . Of course my goal is to be a better writer , to be able to create my own breaks and opportunities . I will also acknowledge , albeit reluctantly , that I am a good writer . In fact , I ll even say that luck , though perhaps necessary , is never enough . Without the work I have done over the past several months and years to get positioned , the breaks I received of late would be absolutely meaningless . In hearing the personal accounts of how some journalists got their breaks , it is rare that it was just hard work and education . They all had that lucky break , or several . However , equally universal is that they were driven , motivated and in position to capitalize on the breaks as they presented themselves . Such was the case , on a smaller scale , this past weekend . Colfax had its annual Independence Day celebration on Sunday , July 2 nd . Being the small town that it is , many of it s 1,600 residents had a part in putting on a party that would increase the towns population tenfold for one day . Such was the case with my boss and the other full - time employee they were participants and it was up to the part - timer and me to cover the entire event the biggest shebang for the entire year . I was up for it . Scared ? Hell yes . The weight of the world , or at least this small piece of it was on my shoulders . Friends would ask what I was doing for the holiday and I responded , working . Why would I have to work on the holiday ? They didn t get it . I didn t have to , I got to and it was a choice I made . Would it have been covered if I didn t do it ? Probably . As completely ? Probably not . Add to the mix that , for whatever reason , the part - timer had little to contribute . On Monday , July 3 rd , I had class in the morning ( no , it was not a holiday and no , my friends didn t get that either ) and Monday afternoon I wrote . Monday is usually the deadline , but this week , Tuesday was acceptable . Tuesday , Independence Day , I wrote in the office . Now my friends were just baffled , especially since I was not even getting paid for it . In fairness to them , they could not see what I saw ; could not feel what I felt ; they had no way of knowing that this is not work to me . The end result was unexpected , but in retrospect not exactly surprising either . I worked my butt off . I walked through the fear . I faced a challenge armed with skills and knowledge that I have been working equally hard at honing . Opportunity knocked and I answered . Now , not only am I a Staff Writer , I am even getting paid at a very , very entry - level amount for my writing . The amount is not relevant what is relevant is that I have been paid to write I am , by definition , a professional writer . Game , set , match . 
The Colfax Record . As promised , here are the links to my published work this week . Although this is a defining moment in my career , the fanfare that comes with it is due to the novelty - the achievement of a goal that marks a milestone along this journey . This event - published work - will be repeated every week for at least the next several weeks . Ideally , the quality will be improving as well , but it is only this one time that can be the first . It is for this reason that I am celebrating them so prominently here . In the coming weeks , one may stop by the Colfax Record s website to find a number of my published stories I won t be announcing them all here . Of course , if there happens to be some news of more universal significance , I may mention it . If I write a column that has more than just local appeal , I may note it . If I write a piece that garners recognition , stirs controversy or is in anyway noteworthy , I will send out the alert . I expect that most of what I write will be of the goings on in the small Sierra foothill community of Colfax . This assignment is designed to give me real world experience , not just in the writing , but also from the reading or rather , the readers . Real people that are directly affected by what s happening in their community and the role I play in delivering that news to them . It is not a little deal . This week , I wrote a straight news story about the Chamber of Commerce hiring a new executive director . I was in the office no more than 30 seconds when I was assigned this story . Although not extremely long or involved , I was surprised at how much work and thought went into it . Click here to link directly to it . I also wrote a column in which I introduce myself to the readers of the Record . This was right up my ally it s the sort of writing that I do best . I hope to be able to write these pieces regularly . It appears as though there is a good chance . To read these 800 odd words ( give or take ) , click here . To link directly to the paper , click the title of this post . It prints every Thursday , but the online version is published Wednesday evening . This is going to be a crazy summer . Let the games begin ! 
Time Flies . Much to my amazement , it has been four days since I have produced anything to fill this space . Although I have spent some small amount of time reading my regular blogs and even less commenting , even that has fallen off this weekend just now coming to an end . Of course there is a perfectly reasonable explanation part of it I ll share , right here , right now . And part of it I won t , not yet anyway . I am in summer school at Sac State . I m enrolled in three units of Spanish reading proficiency ( yuk ) and another three units of journalism internship . The Spanish is compulsory I have to take it to graduate and the internship is exhilarating . I just started writing for a small paper in the Sierra foothills and it is keeping me plenty busy . It is a weekly and publishes on Thursdays . I will have a couple of pieces published this week . Don t worry , I ll remove the mystery and provide the links and all once it hits the streets . Just know that , for now I am very busy and happy as a pig in mud ! PS : For those of you that must know what the other reason for my absence is , feel free to email me it s not a huge secret , I just don t want to go into it right now . ~ Mike . 
Deletion . It s getting a little easier . Deleting is . Deleting words that are already written has always been a difficult task . It s as though they somehow represent something greater they almost become alive . Yet , they are just words . Profound , gibberish or somewhere in between they don t mean anything unless they re read , and those just deleted never will be . The context can t be recreated , even if remembered verbatim . Although the words can be reconstituted , what they were born of is gone . Inspiration is a fickle thing . It comes and goes and when it goes , it s gone . Forever . Sure , similar thoughts and words may be born of similar circumstances , but the ones deleted are gone for good . For good ? Yes. That could be how it should be viewed . Not all things are meant to be . Even the thoughts represented by these words and the motivation they were born of could be better served by different words and more pronounced experience . Modern technology makes this process , at least in the physical sense , much easier , perhaps even cleaner more sterile . In the not too distant past , before the days of computers and word processors , a machine called a typewriter was the wordsmith s weapon of choice . The most modern were electric and they were able to delete some of what had been written via a correction feature , but any wholesale deletions still involved yanking the paper from the platen , crumpling it up and tossing it into an overflowing basket of prior deletions . This historic vision of the frustrated writer no longer applies . The yanking , crumpling and tossing have been replaced with the stoke of a mouse and touch of a button ; the waste paper basket replaced with an icon on a computer screen . No muss , no fuss . With a couple of mouse clicks , the garbage is disposed of permanently , in a very eco - friendly manner . The frustration , however , remains . It takes practice to delete . It doesn t get easier per se , just more familiar . It is a necessary evil . As difficult as it is to turn back when realizing the direction chosen leads nowhere , so too is eliminating from existence words already composed . But like hitting any dead - end , backtracking or deletion is part of the progression . Sometimes knowing the wrong direction is part of knowing the right one ; knowing where to go might mean knowing where not to . And the basket fills ; it is overflowing with deleted work . Wasted effort ? Not even remotely . It is part of the experience , an integral part of the creative process . It is separating the wheat from the chaff . And today , the ease of deletion in some respects makes it that much harder . The time and effort to create can be erased so completely and effortlessly that it s value feels somehow diminished . No paper , no ink , no evidence of ever existing remains . The memory lives in the words that survive , each of them rising from the ashes of their deleted brethren . 
Good Coffee ! It s 5:28 a.m. and I ve been up for about an hour . I just finished writing a new installment on my fiction blog and the sun has started to cast its grey early morning shadows on a new day . Wednesday . Mid - week and it will be a busy day . Wait , perhaps I should rephrase that ; it sounds too dark and I don t mean it that way . It s going to be an eventful day , an exciting day , a day full of opportunity and discovery , by even the most conservative estimation ; it ought to be a good day . It helps to go into it that way . An exceptional pot of coffee doesn t hurt either . Sometimes it just comes out that way . I use the same recipe , the exact same procedure everyday , yet some days it s better than good it s great . So is it the magic coffee that has set up the positive outlook ? Indeed , perhaps the glass is half full of coffee ! Ok , I ll quit deluding myself ; all will not be smooth sailing today . If I am to be totally honest , I must acknowledge everything I can t possibly be this happy . Time to get real . Real what ? Real miserable ? Not on your life ! Here s the deal , the keys to the kingdom , the magic , the stuff , the juice , the happy pills , the whatever : Why would I want to bring this optimism crashing down ? I am not deluding myself I acknowledge that there will be challenges today . Personally , locally , nationally and globally there are issues that need attention . Today ( which is all I ve got anyway ) gives me the opportunity to address these issues . If I feel that there is no hope , if I am negative right out of the gate , if all I see are problems and no solutions then I might as well go back to bed forever . Negativity is a self - fulfilling prophecy . If you want everything to turn to mud , believe it will and it s guaranteed . There is no chance for success without the belief that it is possible . And anything is possible . Look , I am not unique . Everyone has had and will have challenges to face . Everyone has experienced success and has prevailed over situations that looked completely hopeless going in . Often there was no choice , it was do or die and we didn t die . I know I have faced some seemingly insurmountable obstacles and I know of others that have faced even worse and conquered them . So when viewed in the sunlight of the past , today ain t nuttin . Whatever is there , I ll make it through . The known challenges and the surprises alike , I m ready . I am not deluded , I am not in lala land and I am not only fooling myself . I know that whatever this day dishes out , I have the attitude that allows for success , not the one that guarantees defeat . Today already is a good day . 
Neighborhood Watch I write from an office that has two very large windows facing the street ; I am observant bordering on nosey . Those punks that committed these crimes would be begging for the police if they fell into my sphere of influence and all my neighbors ( except one ) haven t a clue . The irony is this : Until these crimes were committed , I was the one they were worried about . A longhaired , tattooed , motorcycle riding non - conformist was the bane of their existence . I don t look like them and I knew it coming in . I m ok with that ; I am certainly not hurting for friends . I think , however , that I may have personalized the ambivalence . It would appear that none of my neighbors know each other . Could it be that in the quest for the good life , while striving for ever increasing levels of safety and comfort that they have left those very elements secured by the community behind ? Perhaps they are only now realizing that they can t do it alone . P . S . According to the Blogger Dashboard , this is my 100 th post ! I don't usually see the Dashboard unless I am editing , and not even always then , but as I passed through that screen earlier it confirmed that this milestone has indeed passed . It caught me off - guard ... I have nothing prepared save this : Thank you all for taking time out of your life to read my work . I will post more on what all this means once I figure it out - probably in tomorrow 's post ** . Until then , have a wonderful day , ~ Mike ** UPDATEIt 's now tomorrow , abeit not by very much . Enough , however , to know that the above mentioned 100 th post reflection piece will not be written today . I did post a new installment on This Is Fiction , so if fiction is your bag , well it 's not mine , but I ' m trying ... Peace . 
When News Becomes News . It would appear that the Today Show , NBC s venerable morning news program has reached the end of an era . The 15 - year reign of the presiding morning news show queen , Katie Couric , has come to a close . This is no longer news the headlines have long since passed . The buzz , the speculation , the breaking news and ultimately the official announcement of the changing of the guard culminated in today s ( or Today s ) obligatory farewell show . Although not an extravaganza of unprecedented proportions indeed , the stops were not all pulled out , it was a fitting farewell to the perpetually cute and perky Couric . There is little question as to Couric s domination of the morning news - show female co - host position . Many would argue that she was instrumental in defining , or at least evolving the role . Whatever personal perception one may have of Couric , it is impossible to ignore the length and breadth of the experience she has acquired during her tenure at the Today Show . How will that experience serve her in her future endeavors at CBS News ? Only time will tell . The next step in her career goes well beyond the hype . She is breaking new ground . She is going where no woman has gone before . Amazing as it seams , 2006 marks the first time a woman will have her own solo weekday anchor chair of a major network news program . That ... is news . Indeed , her first lead story very well may be about one Katie Couric smashing through the glass ceiling entering the heretofore hallowed ground of the network news anchor . Imagine the irony - Katie reporting on herself , Good evening and welcome to the CBS Evening News . I m Katie , ahem , Katherine Couric . Our lead story tonight Ok , granted - unless it is an exceedingly slow news day , the Katie story would probably not lead . The fact still remains that when she takes that anchor desk , it will be news . Even if she does not do the story herself ( likely ) someone else will and it will be echoed across all major and minor news outlets alike . The novelty , the pressure , the questioning of her qualifications and her persona as well her ability to fill some very big shoes will all be reported , speculated and commented on . Does she have what it takes ? It is always newsworthy when a major network news anchor position changes over . Although perhaps journalists first , at this level they are celebrity in equal measure . Indeed names like Walter Cronkite , David Brinkley , Tom Brokaw , John Chancellor and Peter Jennings are ubiquitous . There have been some women allowed temporary or peripheral membership into this fraternity as well . Connie Chung , Barbara Walters , Diane Sawyer and Elizabeth Vargas are perhaps the most notable . They failed , however , to meet the one requirement that would guarantee lifetime membership : a solo weekday anchor chair . Couric s bubbly persona , her perkiness and innocent charm hide a fierce determination and courage that cannot be underestimated . The time for this equality is well past , yet the scrutiny that will be leveled against her will be like none before . Every blink of her eye , tilt of her head her attire , her makeup and a million other details will be analyzed to the nth degree . To some she will be able to do nothing right and for others she will do no wrong . It takes guts to enter this lion s den . The risks are not insignificant and they are hers alone to bear . The rewards , however , will be shared by all women and as a consequence , all mankind . It is inevitable that one day , women and men , blacks and whites , gays and straights and all religions ( or lack thereof ) will be on equal footing . Equal rights , not just in law , but in perception are progressing slowly . There are , however , pivotal moments in which punctuated , rapid change occurs . Katie Couric s ascension represents one of those moments . Give CBS and Couric credit this is more than just a business decision . 
Holiday Well - Wishing . Midway through Memorial Day weekend and all is well so far . This unofficial but traditional start of summer is primed for disaster . What with sobriety check points , vacation planning , family get - togethers and the like , it is little wonder that come Tuesday there will be reports emanating from gossip all the way to national news about the tragic events that unfolded . Ranging from the trivial to the catastrophic , all manner of the manifestations of Murphy s Law will be told and retold . Some may obtain legendary proportions while others will fade into just another forgettable holiday . Many well - wishers expressed their cordialities prior the commencement the first three - day weekend of the summer season . They all hoped for a happy Memorial Day and many included the additional caveat that it be a safe weekend . The implication is , of course , that additional caution should be exercised . Sage advice indeed , but why should it be necessary ? Does this holiday mark the beginning of the party season as well ? Is it just understood that this class of holidays is inherently more dangerous by nature ? Does this heightened security level return to normal after the danger has passed or is it a seasonal phenomenon ? Rhetorical questions mostly . The sad fact is that there are enough intoxicated revelers in all the usual places to grant this and other like holidays its unfortunate but deserved reputation . Although a general harbinger of virtually every summer weekend , the big holiday weekends not only bring out the worst in the worst but also , it seems , the worst in the otherwise responsible and respectful . The regular duty drunks are out in force and the part - timers , the reserves get into the action too . Perhaps it is pent up frustration of an extended winter - all cooped up inside with no escape in sight . Oh , sure there s Thanksgiving , Christmas , New Years , Veterans Day , Presidents Day , MLK Day , Cesar Chavez s Birthday , etc. , etc. , but they don t really count . After all , those holidays didn t mark the beginning of summer ! Maybe it s the hot summer days that compel celebrants to consume enough liquid refreshment to keep their thirsts quenched . Could it be the heat of the moment that requires so many cold ones ? Regardless , the irresponsibility has done something that was painfully apparent as this weekend approached : The well - wishers well wishes now include a warning - to be safe . It s not like the warning of drive safely that some are known for saying every time someone gets behind the wheel . That really is a synonym for goodbye , much the same as How are you ? is a synonym for hello . Most of the time , we don t really mean it literally . However , when I was told to have a safe weekend , I didn t get the feeling that it was just idle conversation . It s almost planned , temporary anarchy . The cops are ready , the partiers are ready and the rest of us are being safe . There 's a veritable feeding frenzy . The emissaries of summer acting with impunity versus the defenders of order deployed en masse . The carnage has already begun as preliminary casualty reports trickle back from the front . By the time the first of the three nights had come to a close , several had already died in this immediate area alone . I guess they didn t heed that warning well enough be safe . Have a great three - day weekend everyone ... and a safe one ! 
Overflow . Last Sunday , a new blog was born . It made its appearance amid no fanfare , no pomp and no circumstance . No announcements were sent and it entered the blogosphere almost unnoticed . Almost . Now there is a link on my sidebar , but two of those who frequent this space regularly found it before any convenient access had even been established . Its name is Overflow and for the immediate future at least , that is exactly what it contains . On Friday night , I started a project that was equal parts tribute , appreciation and promotion . It was far more work than I ever envisioned but worth every minute . Except for repairing typos and fixing links , it was written in one sitting . It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to recognize those who had recognized me and I wanted the post to enjoy prominence on my blog for at least a couple of days . Early Sunday morning , that plan was in jeopardy of failing . I woke up early with my mind going a million miles per hour . My head was just chewing on it I needed some relief . I was not all that thrilled to be up so early on a Sunday morning . Alas , I had to put something anything - into print . I was soon to discover that it would not be enough . Oh , I got something down all right some pretty darned good stuff too , but my tolerance has grown since entering the blogosphere . Just seeing the thoughts in print was not doing it anymore I had to publish it ! Here in lies the problem : I didn t want to burry my tribute post behind 600 words of Sunday morning revelations . Ok , fine just save it in draft form for a day or two , no problem . There are two problems with that plan : First is that it was day - of - the - week specific . In other words , it really had to be posted on a Sunday morning . Second , there would always be something more current to concentrate on . The chances of the post never getting published were very good . This was a dilemma that begged for a solution . I have toyed with the idea of introducing a second blog from time to time . I thought it could be a different format or side of me and I thought about just making it The 25 Year Plan II. At the moment , it is the latter . Overflow is a place to put stuff that comes at times when I may not necessarily be ready for it . I can call upon the creative process pretty much on demand , but it also has a way demanding attention on its own , often at the most inconvenient times . Overflow gives me a place to put these posts instead of overloading just one blog with too many posts . For now Overflow is just a plane Jane blog . With nothing fancier than perhaps a hit counter for now ( suggestions ? ) , this blog will give those wanting more ( you poor deluded souls ! ) a place to get it and me a place to keep the outflow ... um , flowing . Overflow will be the subordinate member of the family for the foreseeable future , but who knows ? It could grow and evolve into a blog with just as distinct a personality as its big brother . Before long it could be blazing new trails , breaking new ground and making its name , no longer obscured by the shadow of its older sibling . It could be another of my alter egos - altered . 
Debaters and Instigators ... This space , in a very brief period of time , has come to mean an awful lot to me . Obviously it is not the binary bits of data that represent the characters that form the words to create the sentences and so on . It is not even so much the translation of those symbols into thoughts and ideas . It is the human interaction the meeting of the minds in a medium so new that it barely registers on the radar of human history . The relationships , the concurrence and dissention , indeed even the friendships can be just as real as if a physical interaction were present . In some respects , it is an even purer medium than other forms of communication . It is based in the clarity of words and words alone . The ancillary distractions of gender , appearance , ethnicity , religion , nationality , even tone of voice are secondary to the written words . In fact , it is most often the case that these other characteristics can only be known through what is written , if at all . Although my challenge is to convey some kind of tone or attitude clearly through only words , when successful there is little doubt as to what I am actually saying . The other side of that coin , and all to often a very ugly side , is that many will use the anonymity of the black - and - white to hide their agenda . Their true intentions can be hidden by lying about certain key characteristics such as age and gender to take advantage of the innocent , the na ve or the vulnerable . Sexual predators exploit children , the elderly are taken in by con artists and most everyone runs the risk of identity theft . The medium , however , does not create these people these people exploit the medium as they would anything else . My affection for the blogosphere has not been tarnished by these ne re - do - wells . Sure they do drift into this little corner of cyber space with irregular frequency , but they don t stick around long . Perhaps they are outclassed by this and other blogs in the neighborhood ; blogs that have owners who don t react in the knee - jerk manner that so many under - informed members of the human race do . Maybe the unflappable opinions only appear static to those who can t present a cogent argument . Could it be that for some it doesn t matter how the game is played , that it is only winning that counts ? I am attracted to reason . The blogs I read and visit regularly are written by those who possess a couple of qualities that I was beginning to think had gone the way of the dinosaur . Being of a particular religion or ideology are not among the requirements . In fact , I would be hard pressed to label consistently - anyone of them . They all have respect for other 's opinions and they all are civil . Even when debating a position in which the participants are diametrically opposed to one another , there is no animosity when it s over . There are no winners . There are no losers . What there is 99 % of the time is the respect earned through measured , reasoned and responsible debate . 
55 Days . I don't have anything profound today - maybe later . I ' m taking my last final in a few hours . That will mark the end of my junior year and the beginning of my senior year !! I am also approaching another major milestone : I have been cigarette free now for 55 days . In about one week , I ' ll have surpassed my previous record and from that point on everyday will be a new record . I haven't spoken much lately about this latest effort to quit smoking for a couple of reasons : First , because I really don't think about it all that much anymore - and thinking about it sure doesn't dominate my every waking hour like it did at first . Second , the obsession appears to be gone , which is really the same as the first reason . I went one day short of two months last time before I started smoking again - and it was that first one that did it . By this time next week , It ' ll be record territory . The message : If I can do it , so can you ! ~ Mike . 
Gators it was real ; and it was genuine . There was never any real hurry to do anything or be anywhere . Life on those muggy summer days years ago was like the slow southern drawl spoken there at least when viewed through the filter of youth and na vet . Of the four or five extended visits to the Camp , there was only one time I felt any sense of urgency at all : when Hurricane Andrew was heading our way . Coincidentally enough , I was no longer a kid - I had kids of my own . There are things to do when bracing for a hurricane evacuating is the last of them . Boats have to be moved , windows have to be boarded up and anything of value , sentimental or otherwise , that can be saved needs to be moved . Then we got our tails back to Jefferson Parrish . Andrew missed us and disaster was averted , this time . Katrina would not be so kind . As told earlier , the homes of my family members were for the most part , spared . The same could not be said of the Camp . Although large parts of the greater New Orleans area were flooded , the Mississippi Gulf Coast was leveled . There is precious little left of the camp . This was not the first time that a hurricane s wrath has visited this part of the country and in all likelihood will not be the last . Look at these pictures ! How do you prepare for this ? It appears as though nothing could survive . This in not , however , the case . True , the wildlife did suffer , but it is probably fair to say that it is better adapted and faired far better than we did . The alligators are still there and probably quite happy that those pesky people are gone for a while . They probably consider us a nuisance . 
Guess what ? More running . The AM run consisted of 8 easy miles at a slow pace . I was actually feeling a little sore from Tuesday , especially in my calves . In the evening I ran 5 miles on the treadmill with 3.2 ( about 20 minutes ) at the 6:00 marathon pace . The pace isn't that hard , but it sure gets hot on the treadmill . Week total : 4 days - 6 runs - 53.5 miles . 
How 5 miles becomes 13 . Yesterday 's one was a memorable one , and not in a good way . I decided to go for a short run after dropping my fiance off at work . I planned on 5 miles . I found a parking spot downtown and ran over to the lake . It was a nice morning and I was enjoying the run so I stretched it out to 7 miles . When I got back my car was gone . I eventually realized that it was not stolen , but towed . One must be very careful parking in downtown Chicago because random areas turn in to tow zones at random times . I didn't notice that I was in one of these areas . I asked someone who was parked where my car was if they saw what happened . They assured me that my car was probably towed and she offered her cell phone since all I had with me was wet clothes . ( Everything else was in the car . ) I talked to the police and they connected me with the " pound " and they confirmed that they had my car . So then I ran to the " pound " . It was only a couple miles away . I got there and tried to pay the $ 160 to get my car back , but they informed me that I also needed to have a Chicago city sticker for my car . This actually took about 30 minutes to figure out because the workers there operate at a snail 's pace because they are City employees and they know that they can never be fired . Off I ran towards city hall to get my all important sticker . I ' m not sure how I managed to live in Chicago for an entire year without knowing I needed this sticker , but apparently it is a very necessary item ( tax ) . City hall was only about a mile away , but I was pointed in the wrong direction and I ended up running three miles in my attempt to get there . I paid my $ 190 for my sticker . It is normally only $ 150 but I had to pay a $ 40 late fee because it was after July 15 th . I have no idea what the significance is of July 15 th . I didn't bother to ask . I did nicely ask what benefits I get from having the beautiful city sticker . The employee didn't even bother to answer . Finally I ran the single mile back to my towed car . This time they let my pay my fine and get my car . As an added bonus I had 2 $ 50 tickets on my window . I freely admit to parking in a " rush hour tow zone " , but getting 2 tickets and a tow in 45 minutes seems a little excessive to me . Anyway , 13 miles total . I suppose 13 miles broken into 4 segments is not the same as 13 continuous miles , but it still wore me out . I was orininally planning on a session of quarters in the evening , but I called it off . Week total : 3 days , 40.5 miles . 
More running . I got up this morning with the sun to put in 10 miles . Average pace of 6:29 . It was easier to run at this pace today as compared to yesterday . However , I got tired quicker than yesterday . I ' m not used to the hard pace . Hopefully it will come back soon . I intend to go out for another run tonight . It will be a true recovery run at junk miles pace . I hope to have energy for a speed workout tomorrow . 
I going back to what works . I have decided that I made a mistake . For most of the past two years I did almost all of my " easy " running at a fairly hard pace , which gradually lowered to about 6:30 / mile . A couple months ago I thought that I would back off of the hard pace in order for me to be able to get more out of my quality workouts . What happened ? Nothing improved . A ) I found that I wasn't able to do any better on my speed workouts . The pace seemed so much faster than my normal pace . The workouts seemed to hurt more without me actually running faster . B ) I think the slower pace took a harder toll on my body . Not sure why , but probably involves different stresses on the body . I really do feel more smooth at faster paces . C ) The biggest problem . Running wasn't as fun = less desire to run = less miles = bad . I really like that endorphin - filled feeling of having accomplished something at the end of a run . This is not there after a slow easy run . My solution . Go back to running hard . Put in good mileage and good speed workouts and hopefully break the 2:39:46 PR in Chicago . Today was a new beginning . 12.5 miles at 6:33 average pace . 1 mile at 6:00 ( marathon ) pace at the end . ( Actually the first and last miles were a really slow warm - up and cool - down , but that doesn't count . ) All before work . Week total : 1 day / 12.5 miles As for last week ... I took Saturday off . Ended the week with 48 miserable miles . But that is the past . I am ready to put in a much better showing this week . 
Parking structure . Tues : 5 miles . Wed : 0 miles - I was just too tired to run . Today : I was planning on running this morning . I got up , got dressed , went down to the lobby and realized it was raining a whole lot harder than I thought it was . I wimped out . I redeemed myself at lunchtime when I put in 10 miles . About half of this was in the parking structure because again it was raining very hard and I didn't feel like getting that wet . On the bright side running in the parking structure means hills , which otherwise do not exist in Chicago . I might actually plan on doing some more of this this winter when I am in need of some hill training . I can always run up hills on a treadmill , but this is a very good option for downhill training . 
Post # 200 . That 's a lot of posts for someone like me who doesn't really like writing . Of course , most of them are boring . Yesterday was an interesting day . I worked Saturday night . I only managed to get a couple hours of sleep while at the hospital . When I got home I tried , but failed to sleep , so I went for a run . It was in the upper 80 's and humid . I only intended to do 4 - 6 miles , but ended up with 10 miles . After a few hours sleep I went back out into hotter weather and tacked on another 5 miles . This morning I did 4 miles . If I have time after a late day of work I will try to run some more . I think I am starting to get acclimated to the hot humid weather . On the way to work this morning I drove by a 10 K in progress . Normally I am jealous when I see a race that I am not running , but I had no desire to be out in the heat today doing an all out 10 K effort . 
It 's hot . Last night I did 10 easy miles . Today I did 11 slow miles in the morning and 4 en the evening . I was hoping to do closer to 17 in a single run , but it was too hot . I lost about 5 pounds during my run even though I stopped to drink many times . I need to get better acclimated to the heat . Especially because this week the temperatures should be in the upper 90 's and humid . I ended the week with 73 miles . Hopefully next week I will be able to hit 70 miles , but it will be difficult . I am working the weekend and staying late a couple times during the week . It 's hard to find time to run when I have to be at work for 13 hours of so . 
The Thomas Question Next Step Research Project , Saabs and Fighter Jets and Cell Phones . Any process is defined by the creative limits of the individuals involved in it . As an example , consider what would happen if you took a group of people that normally designed fighter jets and asked them to build a car . You d get an entirely different perspective . And according to Saab USA , this is exactly what you get when you buy one of their cars because the company was founded by 16 aircraft engineers . So last fall they launched a " Born from Jets " marketing campaign that features fighter jets and automobiles side by side to emphasize the point . Their message is , " We build fighter jets . Imagine what we can do with cars . " Consider another example : 5 times a day , every day , all over the world , more than a billion Muslims need to know where Mecca is so they can face it when they pray . How handy is it that one over - seas cell phone manufacturer has models which include 5 daily prayer alarms and a built - in compass which points the way ? It s a feature you d only think to include if you got close enough to another culture to gain a whole new perspective . It s a simple idea . New products come from new perspectives , and that can only happen when we include more people in the process and really listen to each other . It s the only way to build phones with features you would not think to include and cars with a bit of fighter jet in them . Now what about church ? It s something you build in a different way than cars and cell phones , but it s still something you build . And I wonder who we are listening to ? I wonder what other perspectives might be out there ? Church is often built by church leaders to look like a church because that 's what a church looks like . And only then do they ask , " Now how do we involve more people in it ? " Pastors develop sermons to look like sermons because that 's what sermons look like and only then do they ask , Now how do I make it sound relevant ? But what about new perspectives ? What about yours ? When is the last time we sat down together , church attenders and church leaders , to ask ourselves , how have things changed ? And how should that change the church ? Well , rather than build it first and ask those questions later , I d rather ask them now . Some of the best ideas I ve ever encountered came from great conversations in a coffee shop when nothing else was planned . And then I m scribbling furiously on napkins to capture some idea that emerged while we were just doing life and talking to each other . So I wonder what would happen if we just talked , outside of a usual Sunday format , about the honest issues , questions and messes we all live with ? What I m looking for is a new perspective : yours . Sunday services are great , but this is about building the rest of a great church ( this is something I talked about at length last Sunday , visit www . askthequestion . ca to hear it on our podcast ) . We re designing 6 one hour Sunday morning experiences to explore new perspectives with you . We think it s something you won t want to miss . It starts with some Starbucks on Sunday July 16 at 10:00 am at the Homewood Suites on Burloak just south of the QEW in Oakville . We hope to see you there and we hope you ' ll journey with us . CSW . 
The God you Made Up in your Head . I ' m sure there are people who think a Christian is someone who takes a bunch of things that would probably happen anyway and just say that it was God . An " answer " to prayer is really just their own thoughts - which they attribute to God . A miracle is just an unlikely thing taking it 's turn - but we call it a miracle . If circumstances ever , sometimes just go against you , then it follows that they also must sometimes just go for you . Then you can just tell yourself it was God . And isn't He good ? In this way , you could impose a layer of God based conclusions over top of an otherwise normal world and say , " I believe - how can you not ? " But the thing is , for some of us who think we 're following " Him " , there are times when you find yourself face to face with a thing that really feels like it could only come from God . I think we all owe it to ourselves to try to live in such a way that creates the possibility for God but doesn't fudge the answer one way or the other . You can only trust the outcome if you ' ve been honest about the process . It 's why we call our church the Thomas Question . You can only trust your answer when you ' ve honestly asked your question . And by the way , I had one of those " could only come from God " moments this morning . You should look into it ! He really is bigger than all my fears , more important than all my complications and more effective than all my efforts . Or at least it sure seems like it ... CSW . 
Something to Consider at the Crash of a Dream . There comes a moment just before the fracture breaks the surface and a solid dream is torn apart - and in that moment , it finally becomes apparent that you 're about to lose a thing which you ' ve cared for deeply . Here 's something you can say in that moment : " None of the appropriate adjectives about my future have changed ( it is still good , engaging , worthwhile , purpose ridden and passion worthy ) . None of the appropriate adjectives about my future have changed - only my illusions about how they would come to pass . Whatever is happening was written - and God didn't only allow it , He 's decided to use it . So I refuse to act as if there is no God by weeping , worrying , obsessing , blaming , shaming or hating . I will not nurse , rehearse , repeat or return . Instead , I will live as though He IS real by embracing what comes next . " The way we visualize our dreams is just a crutch we use to help ourselves believe that God could be good to us . Rather , it should be enough to simply confirm the outcome without the crutch : He WILL be good to us . Just not always in the way we visualized it . So hold your dreams loosely ! But hold the one who holds your dreams tightly ! Just a thought . And I dare you to make it more . 
The Lines We Hide Between . The following is from our email devotional . You can subscribe to at www . askthequestion . ca , you can contribute your replies and it will be followed by a podcast teaching from this coming Sunday . For more than 40 years , prying eyes peered across the Berlin wall and suspicions were multiplied . It 's what a wall does . You see enough of someone else to know they 're doing something , but not enough to know exactly what . And suspicions are multiplied . It would be fascinating to read a history on the concept of " us " versus " them " . Anytime you give into the idea of " other " , you create something to be feared . And that single toxic thought - that someone is different enough to be " other " - is the beginning of most of the worst things about us . One of the most radical features of Christianity is how it breaks down barriers , even to the degree of discomfort . It shifts the meaning of all our labels to a friendlier category . Strangers become neighbors , our friends are treated like family and even in the case of our enemies , our behavior is inverted completely , returning kindness for abuse , so that the category no longer even exists ... " After all , what good is it " , Jesus asks , " if you love those who love you ? " Who doesn't already do that ? But if we were to shift from the normal patterns of relationships in such a bold way ... now that would be something ... So why not promote everyone a single notch upwards ? Erase your " enemy " and " stranger " categories so that the very lowest distinction you have available is " neighbor " . Who knows ? You may just tear down a wall . Suspicious eyes may become understanding , a thing taken may become a thing willingly given , and a revolution may begin . And what a powerful way to know if God is real - because it could only work if He is . Over the past few Sundays we ' ve been searching for 6 sentences that will forever change the way we look at church . Why not join us ? Hope to see you there , and I hope you bring someone with you , CSW . 
Minus 3 . Paid for my ticket . Didn't get the car fixed eeek ! I got health insurance instead . Difficult decision ... A friend Eva called me from New York tonight and told me that she was concerned about me going to Israel . What to believe ? , what to explore ? There are so many truths especially about complicated situations . She quoted something that she had heard and it was : ' if we follow an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ; we ' ll all end up blind and toothless ' . I need to think more about what she said . I am not in Israel yet , so I ' ll wait to see the world through ' the peoples ' eyes . Had a staff meeting with my colleagues in the Mobile Health Outreach Service at the Inner South Community Health Service tonight . It felt strange to be telling them why I felt so compelled to go to explore this conflict and make a film about it . I feel so lucky to work with such socially aware and truly diverse people . 3 more sleeps . 
Minus 4 . Feeling pretty tired tonight . Filming back to back interviews today for seven hours for the documentary ' A Day in My Shoes ' that I am directing . I have lost my voice . Paying for my ticket tomorrow . Still not secured any accomodation in Tel Aviv yet , but that 's another one for the list ... Spoke to two male Israeli tourists tonight on the tram . They were telling me that they have to go home in a month , and go straight into the army . They were on their way to Spencer St to get to the airport to go to Sydney for some more fun before they return home . I expressed my concerns for the region and they didn't seem too worried about the conflict there right now , but as they pointed out , the conflict is constant and they have always had to live with it since they were children . It 's hard to imagine how people live like this all the time . Trying to get my car fixed tomorrow before I leave , and scared to leave it on the street for a month in St. Kilda . Too much to do before Sunday , but will be pleased to be getting on the plane . Need to see a completely different world with my own eyes that I have never experienced , or understood . How disorderly can it be ?? 
Minus 5 and counting . Today has been really eventful . My friend , a cinematographer who I studied with at the American Film Institute , Dror Lebendiger is in Tel Aviv . He emailed me and said he will help me make my doco . I have never been to Israel , and am quite nervous about the current political unrest . Today I spoke to an Australian Government contact whom I know and she told me I should seriously reconsider . I can't . I feel like this is a story that really needs to be told . It isn't an ' us and them ' scenario . There are too many key players and the picture is much larger than we see in Australia . I am really interested in how the media works regarding conflict in the Middle East , and I look forward to seeing this world with my own eyes . The doco I want to make ( but I am still open to its shape and structure ) , is about a family sending their teenager to war . Mentally preparing somebody to fight and exploring their potential loss , I hope to also capture the current political climate within Israel ; hopefully paralleling these anxieties . It 's the story struggle . We dont understand this as Australians , and it seems so far away . I will be travelling there in 5 days trying to put the pieces together . 
Countdown Begins ( minus 6 ) . Tonight I had a chat with Richard and Zelda C . about leaving for Israel in 6 days . Feeling pretty anxious . Shooting the beginning of another doco in 2 days ' A Day in My Shoes ' - been leading up to this project for over a year , but have to put it on hold . Now going to Israel for a month to make a documentary about what life 's like for the people there ; exploring the anxious seque into war . 
i love this quotes ! ......... at the end of the day , you got to realize that we are human . - britney spears I don't allow anybody to change me . I still walk outta my house in rollers and I take walks . I do not care what people think . - britney spears . 
the latest gay celeb : lance bass . " I want people to take from this that being gay is a norm . People always say , ' Are you gay ? ' and i say , ' No , I ' m also gay . " It 's one of the many things that make me up . I was in a boy band , I ' m used to people talking about me . It 's the people around me that I don't want it to affect . But just seeing how my family has reacted , and everyone else , it just makes me so happy . " Congratulations , Lance ! extra info : he is currently dating amazing race 's reichen . check out perezhilton for more info ... MICHELLE PFEIFFER ROCKS ! SHE LOOKS 20 . BUT SHE ' S 41 ! damn ..... if i want a wife ..... i want her ! ELIZABETH HURLEY IS THE NEW SPOKESPERSON FOR JORDACHE JEANSthis ad is gorgeous ! I THINK NICOLE RICHIE ROCKS THIS CUTE OUTFIT !!!! NICOLE RICHIE AND HER DAD ON THE SET OF HIS NEW VIDEO ... MATT LOVES THE BEACH AND TRYING OUT NEW " POSITIONS " if only he would call me , i ' ll be in his bed now ..... probably the new " hollywood sex video " .... lol VICTORIA AND DAVID BECKHAM CURRENTLY VACATIONING ON A YACHT ... AND POSSIBLY TO MAKE VICTORIA PREGO WITH A 4 TH CHILD .... COZ THEY WANT A GIRL ... THE NEXT DAY , HE WAS SEEN IN WHITE SPEEDOS ..... but he doesn't seem to be " big " ...... NICOLE RICHIE IN THE FIRST ISSUE OF DELUXE MAGAZINE ... she 's got nothin ' to promote yet she gets to be on magazines ..... what a " life " .... COLIN FARRELL AND HIS BRO .... WHO IS OFFICIALLY GAY .... personally i think colin is more good - lookin ' lisa marie presley daughter .... RILEY KEOUGHguess who she 's dating ? ryan what - the - fuck cabrera ...... ashlee simpson 's ex ..... 
nelly furtado quote of the century ! " I ' m reading a book about Chinese medicine , which claims that people are inherently bisexual to balance their energies . And , in a way , that makes so much sense . As humans we have both male and female energies . I believe in Kurt Cobain 's statement that , in the end , everyone is gay . Everybody should have the freedom to experiment . I believe sexual experimentation is part of human history . " - Nelly Furtado tells Arjan Timmermans in the new issue of European gay mag GUS . 
miss universe 2006 : miss puerto rico . Miss Puerto Rico Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza reacts after being crowned Miss Universe 2006 in Los Angeles . Beauties from 86 nations met for the 55 th Miss Universe pageant , vying to succeed Canadian Natalie Glebova in a contest little - watched in its host country .1 st runner up - miss japan 2 nd runner up - miss switzerland 3 rd runner up - miss paraguay 4 th runner up - miss usa The top five contestants ( L - R ) Miss Switzerland Lauriane Gillieron , Miss Paraguay Lourdes Arevalos , Miss Japan Kurara Chibana , Miss USA Tara Conner and Miss Puerto Rico Zuleyka Rivera . Miss Puerto Rico was crowned Miss Universe 2006 . 
new nude britney pic . from harper 's bazaareva longoria : horrible without make - upbrad pitt in new orleansisn't the pic . just so beautiful ? britney has a new manny that kinda looks like ben affleckbritney posts this on her website ...... a message that only she can understandbeyonce 's new album cover .... sucks ! matthew mcconaughey does his exercises ... and he looks so gorgeous and sexy doin ' it . if only he would do " it " with me ........ 
darren hayes is married ! Congratulations to Darren Hayes ! He writes this on his website : " On June 19 th 2006 I married my boyfriend of two years , Richard , in a Civil Partnership ceremony in London . I can honestly say it was the happiest day of my life . I feel lucky to live in an era where my relationship can be considered legally legitimate and I commend the UK Government for embracing this very basic Civil Liberty . I ' m proud of who I am , and after what felt like an eternity , I ' m finally in a place where my heart is secure and content . And I can finally make sense of all of the searching . " . 
SHAN ' S TOP 10 # 9 . 1 ) DEJA VU - BEYONCE 2 ) PROMISCUOUS - NELLY FURTADO FEAT . TIMBALAND 3 ) FANAA 4 U - FANAA NEW 4 ) GET TOGETHER - MADONNA 5 ) WHEN I THINK OF YOU - LEE RYAN 6 ) PUBLIC AFFAIR - JESSICA SIMPSON 7 ) PUT YOUR RECORDS ON - CORRINE BAILEY RAE NEW 8 ) BUTTONS - PUSSYCAT DOLLS 9 ) UNFAITHFUL - RIHANNA 10 ) HIPS DUN LIE - SHAKIRAWANNABES : 1 ) turn your car around - lee ryan 2 ) maneater - nelly furtado 3 ) where 's the party tonight - kabhi alvida naa kehna 4 ) golmaal - golmaal 5 ) tu hi meri shab hai - gangster 6 ) tu jahaan - salaam namaste 7 ) my dil goes mmm ... - salaam namaste 8 ) smile - lily allen 9 ) aadat - kalyug 10 ) ain't no other man - christina aguilera 11 ) sexyback - justin timberlake 12 ) ya ali - gangster ( recommended by kooi ) * From this countdown onwards , bollywood songs will also be included . 
sighting of bigfoot 's mother : katie holmes . AND IT ' S RUMORED THAT SHE ' S PREGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG , LITTLE BIGFOOTS ARE INVADING THIS WORLD ....... RUN ..... AWAY FROM THE FATHER OF BIGFOOTS : TOM CRUISE . 
suri cruise : the " new " bigfoot . SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE HEARD ABOUT SURI CRUISE BUT NOT SEEN HER . I HAVE THUS BEEN THINKING FOR A LONG TIME ABOUT NICKNAMING HER SOMETHING HER APPROPRIATE . THAT ' S WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT " BIGFOOT " . FINALLY WE ARE ABLE TO SEE HOW SHE LOOKS LIKE . ENJOY . 
One More For Our Side . Lance Bass of ` N Sync reveals he 's gay Two reactions . First , I knew it ! Second , this makes the crush that Laura , one of the page editors on the college paper , had on Lance in college seem much funnier than it did at the time -- and it seemed pretty funny then . Oh , and a third : Do you think Lance -- who once wanted to be a cosmonaut -- will make a special appearance the next time SNL does its " Gays in Space " skit ? 
Second Best . Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years Of American Independence | The Onion - America 's Finest News Source The real news this morning out of Washington is bad , but here 's some fake news to cheer you up . A sample : The commemorative page is one of the most detailed on the site , rivaling entries for Firefly and the Treaty Of Algeron for sheer length . Subheadings include " Origins Of Colonial Discontent , " " Some Famous Guys In Wigs And Three - Cornered Hats , " and " Christmastime In Gettysburg . " It also features detailed maps of the original colonies including Narnia , the central ice deserts , and Westeros as well as profiles of famous American historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin , Special Agent Jack Bauer , and Samuel Adams who is also a defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals . I ' ve always found Wikipedia to be a useful resource , but this article is still hilarious . And it does have a point -- just look at the entry in Wikipedia for Westeros ! It 's longer than the entries for most real places ... 
From the Deep . Ravinia : July 21 , 2006 For reasons unknown to me , there hasn't really been a review of Friday night 's Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert at Ravinia . ( I ' m not counting Andrew Patner 's not - so - friendly appraisal of James Conlon 's connection with the orchestra as a review , as it only mentions the concert rather than discussing it . ) There ought to be one , though . Maybe it was the rain ; maybe it was the somewhat unfamiliar program of Erwin Schulhoff 's first piano concerto and Mahler 's fourth symphony , which even our Mahler - loving household only purchased earlier this month to prepare for this concert . Something kept the crowds away ; the lawn was sparse when we arrived 15 minutes before the baton was lifted and even the Pavilion , while densely populated as usual in the center section , had 10 - seat wide streams up either side that were vacant . ( We got seats just off center , in the first row behind the boxes , as walk - ups and had no one for two seats on either side of us or directly behind us . ) Despite the lack of a crowd , though , the CSO put on quite a show . After James Conlon addressed the audience and explained his Breaking the Silence project , which presents to audiences the music of composers killed during the Holocaust , soloist Philippe Bianconi gave the ivories an impressive workout as he introduced the Pavilion to Schulhoff 's first piano concerto . Was it good ? Suffice it to say that I ' m ordering it from Amazon and that , given the 3 - 6 week expected wait time , I ' m not including a link lest your order should slow mine . And Schulhoff wrote it at age 19 ! After intermission , we heard Mahler 4 . We ' ve attended each of the Mahler symphonies at Ravinia since Conlon began his other project , the performance of all of them in a row , last summer . While there may be more to the first three than there is to the fourth -- and while I remain of the opinion that , had he only produced the first , Mahler would have achieved enough for a lifetime -- the brevity and fun of the fourth were uniquely suited to a cool summer evening outdoors . I would be hard pressed to recall another symphonic performance that so ably handled all the distractions Ravinia provides , from the cicadas to the airplanes to the train roaring by . ( A stroke of luck brought the Metra along just as one movement ended , and Conlon cleverly held his head down until the engine 's cough had faded . ) Soprano Anna Christy , making her Ravinia debut , brought a childlike innocence to the final movement , which the crowd could appreciate thanks to supertitles that revealed the almost preposterous text -- a child 's vision of heaven , complete with a host of saints preparing dinner -- she was singing . Afterward Conlon returned to the stage , joined by journalist Bill Zwecker , to discuss his love of music . Small plastic cups of wine made their way around the audience as Conlon spoke with passion about his Ravinia projects and his ardent belief in the importance of Breaking the Silence . Those who stayed until the end left , I ' m sure , deeply pleased with the performances and confident that , with Conlon at the helm , Ravinia 's CSO calendar and performances will remain engaging well into the future . 
Still Alive . Wide gap a surprise in race for Senate The headline refers to two things . First , the hope that the Democrats will retake the Senate remains alive ; the open seat that Republicans are targeting the most , that of Sen . Mark Dayton in Minnesota , shows the new Democrat , Amy Klobuchar , whipping the awful Mark Kennedy 50 - 31 . ( Sadly , the state 's Republican governor , elected during the terrible 2002 sweep , looks like he may survive . ) But the headline is also just to let you know that , despite the lack of blogging , I ' m still alive . When James manages four posts in six days and I give you nothing , I start to wonder if I ' m still alive . 
Heterosexual Instability . The Volokh Conspiracy - Is it rational to exclude gay couples from marriage ? Dale Carpenter offers an interesting discussion of how the New York court explained its decision that barring gay couples from marriage meets the not - very - demanding rational basis standard at The Volokh Conspiracy ( which is fast becoming one of my favorite blogs ) . In case you don't know what the rational basis test is , Carpenter explains : " As I once heard Richard Epstein memorably describe it , the rational basis standard basically asks whether any fool could come up with a stupid reason for a bad policy . " And what stupid reasons did the majority in New York give that could have prompted the legislature to allow straight couples to marry but not gay ones ? For one thing , Carpenter notes : Children need permanence and stability in their lives . Yet the heterosexual relationships that produce them , said the court , are all too often casual or temporary . Homosexual couples do not become parents by accident or impulse ; they must plan ahead and obtain children through adoption , artificial insemination , or some other technological marvels . Unstable relationships among heterosexuals therefore present a greater danger that children will be born into or grow up in unstable homes than is the case with same - sex couples . So the gays don't need marriage because we don't need shotgun weddings , choosing to make decisions about when and if to have children in a rational manner that , admittedly , is assisted by the biological fact that we can't conceive children without outside help . That 's all well and good -- even rational , one might say -- but it does lead , as Carpenter notes , to the conclusion that " gay couples are likely to plan more responsibly for the upbringing of their children . We thus have less reason to worry about the children gay couples are raising . " While the court explains a rationale for offering marriage to straight couples , though , Carpenter notes that it never bothers to touch on a rational reason for the exclusion of gay couples . As he says , " The key question left unanswered by the court is , how does the exclusion of gay couples from marriage rationally advance the putative preference for heterosexual couples in child - raising ? " Of course , I find all this focus on children obnoxious ; even absent them there are plenty of reasons for a couple to desire marriage and dozens of reasons why it would be rational for the government to allow -- indeed , encourage -- them to get married . But Carpenter is right when he points out that the New York Court of Appeals , while deciding not to offer marriage to gay couples right now , has left the barn door open for the state legislature . There may be a so - called " rational basis " for a law that allows straight couples to marry but excludes gay ones . But surely the bright minds of the legislature can think of numerous " rational " reasons to offer the same marriage rights to everyone . 
Balance Restored . Chris Daughtry signs record deal Order has returned to the universe . Seeing Taylor Hicks in Ford commercials doesn't work for me , but knowing that Chris will soon have an album out makes me feel a little bit better about the world . When will we hear about Elliott 's deal ? I fully expect this 3 - 4 combo to outsell and outshine the weak 1 - 2 punch of Taylor and Katharine ... 
Up and Down . For Gay Rights Movement , a Key Setback - New York Times It 's hard to ignore the pain I feel today in the wake of the ruling by the New York Court of Appeals . One state makes gay marriage an anomaly , but two could have meant a trend . And the Court 's logic wasn't especially kind . Yes , if you pretend that the sole purpose of marriage today is child - rearing , and harp on the fact that straight couples are always theoretically at risk of having a child whether they want to or not , then there is a " rational basis " for offering marriage only to such couples . But that 's quite a stretch . There is a silver lining , though . If New York had allowed gay marriage through its court system , those who would quash equality in its infancy would have had another example of " activist judges " to harp on during the next election -- coincidentally , in the state from which many Democrats expect our next standard - bearer to come . ( That worked out well last time , didn't it ? ) Instead , as many others have already noted , this ruling will force advocates to press for a legislative solution . If New York 's legislature approves gay marriage , or civil unions , after Eliot Spitzer becomes governor , and if in 2008 the people of Massachusetts reject the move to end gay marriage there , well , that would make this a whole new ballgame , wouldn't it ? A suddenly sizeable chunk of the country would have put gay marriage ( or something like it ) before the people or their representatives and seen it as a good thing . Remember , California 's legislature has already voted for gay equality ; we have only Arnold to blame for its not having taken root there . Connecticut 's legislature passed civil unions without any judicial prompting . Between those two , Massachusetts , and New York , you ' ve got quite a lot of the nation 's population , and a good deal of its financial and cranial power as well . I still believe that , by the time I retire , I will have the legal option of marrying the man I love , of filing my taxes with him , of knowing that if one of us is in the hospital , the other will be able to visit , and that if one of us should die , the other would inherit everything , collect Social Security as a surviving spouse , and carry out the other 's final wishes . Whether yesterday 's ruling in New York makes it more likely that this will happen when I ' m 42 or 58 is debateable , surely . But it will happen . 
Emmy Fever . Academy of Television Arts Boston Legal 's James Spader , whose portrayal of Alan Shore had been honored both on this show and The Practice ; and Will the credits make me hear " God Only Knows " in a whole new way ! ) Bill Maher gets a combined four nominations for his HBO show and HBO special ! Will , Vince , Rosario , and Leo are apparently the only regulars on Will & Grace who weren't punching in their weight class the final season . Debra Messing ( Grace ) , Sean Hayes ( Jack ) , Megan Mullally ( Karen ) , Leslie Jordan ( Beverly Leslie ) , Alec Baldwin ( Malcolm ) , and Blythe Danner ( Will 's mother ) all got nominations for their roles . Vinick may have lost the battle , but he won the war : Alan Alda and Martin Sheen are both up for Emmys for their roles on The West Wing , but Jimmy Smits was left out in the cold . Tony and Carmela may be crying in their coffee , but Six Feet Under fans can rejoice : Peter Krause ( Nate ) and Frances Conroy ( Ruth ) both got nods for the show 's final season . Without Edie Falco in the race , Ruth 's bravura performance in the finale may just have a chance ! ( The finale is also up for writing , directing , art direction , prosthetic makeup , and hairstyling , while Ruth 's sister [ Patricia Clarkson ] and Brenda 's mom [ Joanna Cassidy ] will vie for guest actress . ) Murphy Brown is back : James Spader may be out , but Candice Bergen is in as the backbone of Boston Legal 's fictional Crane , Poole , and Schmidt . Don't be surprised if she bests her two competitors from Grey 's Anatomy to take home the best supporting actress trophy ! 
Wild , Funny , Uneven . This review of JPod has also been posted on Amazon . com. If you have not read Microserfs , stop now . Read it . This book is not exactly a sequel , but it definitely breathes the same air . If you have read Microserfs , and if you liked it , you will like this book . It 's Coupland at his witty , world - weary best , at least in places . The plot has so many twists and turns , and so many of them are bizarre , that I found myself laughing out loud several times during the not - so - many hours it took me to roar through this -- what ? Novel ? Pastiche ? Stolen diary ? To be sure , the structure of the book is sometimes baffling , and some of the characters are ( intentionally ? ) one - dimensional . Some of the methods of character development are so blatantly obvious ( lists of traits , letters that each character writes to Ronald Mc Donald to woo him ) as to be both ludicrous and effective at the same time . Yet just when you think the book is off the rails you ' ll discover that you ' ve come to care about the members of j Pod , and to hope that Coupland the author ( and Coupland the character ! ) will do right by them . In short , if you ' ve been waiting for Coupland to write another book like Microserfs -- and I know I ' ve been waiting nearly a decade -- you 're in for a treat ! 
Where can I learn SQL ? What is SQL ? SQL stands for Structured Query Language SQL allows you to access a database SQL is an ANSI standard computer language SQL can execute queries against a database SQL can retrieve data from a database SQL can insert new records in a database SQL can delete records from a database SQL can update records in a database SQL is easy to learn .. SQL is a Standard - BUT .... SQL is an ANSI ( American National Standards Institute ) standard computer language for accessing and manipulating database systems . SQL statements are used to retrieve and update data in a database . SQL works with database programs like MS Access , DB 2 , Informix , MS SQL Server , Oracle , Sybase , etc. Unfortunately , there are many different versions of the SQL language , but to be in compliance with the ANSI standard , they ....... ( Read On ) This tutorial is taken from the best website I know if you 're looking to learn about web design or web programing . It features a clear layout with examples so you cannot leave that website without having learnt something . The site is called W 3 Schools . 
Choo Choo !!! If you don't like You Tube or " can't get on it in work " then you might need Blink X TV . Did a search on " Thomas Tank " and found a few episodes on there - try this one . Obviously , we 're talking about a video website . Also searched for " Sigur Ros " and found these videos . Let 's try searching for Isis . Woah , just discovered there 's " Switch to Movie " mode . This plays the video in the entire screen . Here 's the results for Isis anyway . It found a lot of videos ; one of them is The Beginning and the End . It seems that Blinx TV searches all the other video sharing sites for the results . Very clever . Here is a thumbnail link that it offers you ... Click to see Video Have a go yourslef ( sic ) ..... www . blinkx . tv Via Norman Roberts Blogspot . 
Jim Noir video . Free , free , free music .. well , it 's free music if you close your eyes when you watch the video of " Eaney Meany " by Mr. Jim of Noirden . How about an MP 3 so I pop up on elbows .. Jim Noir - I me you i m your Jim Noir - Computer song Jim Noir - Tell me what to do via Coffee Cup via Dr. Gunni . 
Does 0.999999 ... = 1 ???? Is this the final word on the subject ??? Do you need an excerpt ? " Okay , this is going to be my last post on the topic of how .999 ... = 1 , started in this post , and continued here . I will engage in more refuting , but I have begun to see how useless the refutations are because many of the " non - believers " ( and I use that word jokingly because , as I wrote here , I don't really consider it a matter of belief ) don't bother to visit the refutations page or don't read it if they do . This blog has gotten over 70,000 hits since the original post was on the front page of digg . The discussion there and at numerous other small forums makes it clear that the refutations aren't being read . There have even been meta - discussions on how this fact can get a warning from digg about containing inaccurate information , even though every knowledgeable source of information agrees with me . The only reasonable criticism I found on the digg site is that this doesn't belong in the news because the proof has been around for so long that it ought not count as news . Unfortunately , enough people seem to disbelieve it that even old news needs to be explained just one more time in the hopes that a few people will come to understand the math better . But on to the refutations . This time , I will do them in decreasing order of sophistication of the argument . This puts the most reasonable first ... " Read On Here are some more answers : 16 answers generated in 14 mins . Thanks Rob . 
" Oh , look it up in a dictionary ! " . The dictionary generator is good . Here is the advert I ' ve made for Clik and Lissen , the pure MP 3 blog brother of this one . Via The Generator Blog which has lots of other cool " generators " such as the Church Sign Generator and all that gunk . It 's too hot .. 
I feel like flying . FLYGUY - this flash game is really nice . You use your arrow keys to fly around in the sky like you 're superman and he forgot to get dressed or something . Once you pass the seagulls , clouds and other obstacles including a photocopier ( ! ) you apparently go into space . I can't be bothered doing a screenshot so I ' ll describe it instead . Black and white line drawings like " Horace goes Skiing " or something . Nice resposive gameplay that just makes you laugh as you take off and fly away in your suit . Here is the link again - Flyguy . 
" I ' m sitting in the railway station ... " . Here are the chords to " Homeward Bound " via my guitar tab feed While you 're there you may as well check out the chords for " I ' m Only Sleeping " by The Beatles too . It 's got well nice chord sequences . Oh , more Simon + Garfunkel - the chords for the classic " I am a Rock " . Love this tune . Always thought that Stone Roses ' " I am the Ressurection " completely skanked " I am a Rock " ( Ripped it off I mean ... you know copied the ideas ) . Well , it took the same beat and vibe anyway . As this blog is a part time MP 3 blog I suppose I had better search for some MP 3 s for you to play along to with your guitar tab . First , I will try Exploseek . This is basically where I get all my MP 3 s from when I am searching . Anyway , back in a minute with some MP 3 s . 
Time for another tattoo . This is me getting my first tattoo . I got a Fleur de Lis on my right bicep . While we were in New Orleans last year , Mr and Mrs. H and myself all got tattoos . No , we were not drunk when we got them . We are off to Vegas this weekend . Shannon , Cuzzie and myself are all getting the same tattoo . We 're all getting an ankh . My ankh is going to placed on my left bicep . I don't know where the girls are gonna put theirs . The tattoo parlor , Electric Ladyland , was close to the French Quarter and did not suffer much damage from Hurricane Katrina . My brother was in New Orleans last month and said the devastation in the city is just unbelieveable . The monkey is going to Vegas for Cuzzie 's birthday celebration . I ' m taking my laptop so Pictures of You will suffer limited down time . Hopefully , I ' ll post on Thursday , if not by Friday afternoon at the latest . 
Meet Baba . This is my new best friend , Alyssa . Her mom and dad call her Baba so I call her Baba also . She ' ll be three in December and pretty smart . For some reason , kids like me . I think they look and me and say , " He 's bigger , but he just wants to play and fun like me " . She was helping me and her dad load up the rental truck this past weekend when it was 114 degrees . Mom and dad will be purchasing a new house soon . If you know of anyone looking to buy in the Gilbert area , Ray and Power let me know . Baba 's current 1533 square foot , 2 story , 2.5 bath , 3 bedroom home with a loft is gonna be on the market Sunday . List price $ 264,990 . 
Kara Again . This is a picture of Kara 's car . She calls it the " grocery getter " . She 's parked on the sidewalk and I swear she hadn't been drinking yet . I used to call her " no brake " because when I met her she had a Pontiac Grand Am , 5 speed , that had no emergency brake . I ' m surprised somebody didn't just roll it away one night while she was sleeping . She created a great nickname for me . She calls me Woodchuck . For those that don't know , I ' m the person that keeps the fire going on a camping trip . Ask anyone that has ever been camping with me and I ' m sure they ' ve got campfire story to tell about me . She came over for dinner one night last week . I ' m probably going to be in trouble for posting this picture , but oh well . It 's the first time she 's been to our house since November !!! She 's been busy with her new ready made family , ( husband and two teenage stepkids ) . She came over after work and changed out of her black skirt into a pair of my shorts . Don't worry , she wasn't going commando this day , like she likes to do ! If you don't know what that means then click the link . Ok , now we all know way too much about Kara , so I ' m gonna go complete some real estate paperwork for a client and maybe enjoy a nice movie on the sofa . Woodchuck out !! 
Broken Pipe . A broken pipe has brought construction on the new house to a screeching halt . Once the pipe is fixed and they re - pour the concrete , an independent engineer has to come out and inspect it . The monkey waits patiently in our closet . This is where he lives when he is not deflated . In the new house he is finally going to have his own room . 
What 's on his head ? Before he was married with children , Drew was a party animal . Whenever there was a get together he usually made an appearance . I didn't know anything about carne asada until one night he brings over a bag of meat and requested some space on our small propane grill . He couldn't cook the stuff fast enough . People were grabbing pieces of meat right off the grill . The guy was so much of a party animal that he put blonde streaks in his hair at one time . If he was a Yankee fan , I wouldn't have posted this picture , but since he cheers for the Red Sox ... enjoy the pic . 
Seattle memories . Crystle and Scott are planning a shoe shopping trip . I don't know about her , but I wanted to know if he had anything under the kilt . But that 's just me . This picture was taken in the summer of 2004 in Seattle . A bunch of us travelled up there for a wedding . We were in town 4 nights and 3 of the 4 nights we ended up at the Lucky 7 Saloon . Jager Bombs were a plenty and my liver once again got abused . The night before the wedding I partied with the groom and his brother until 4 am . I got a call from my wife at 8 am . She wanted to know where I was . Good times !!! 
Countrywide employee . As of 7 / 17 / 06 Countrywide became my official employer . My contract with Teksystems was 4 - 6 months and my manager didn't waste anytime and my conversion is complete after 4 months and 10 days . My position is Programmer Analyst 1 and I ' m my salary is 24 % higher than my salary at Safeway . I ' d like to thank Mr. Icke once again for recommending me for my current position . Thai Rama is about 1 / 2 mile from the Chandler campus and I visit at least 3 times a month . Great Thai Food . Not as spicy as Char 's or Swaddee , but the food has very good flavor and enough heat to make you sweat . If you have never tried thai food , I encourage you to experience the flavor explosion . 
Hello and Welcome ! When I want to test how some newfangled online creation is going to be accepted by a ( somewhat ) younger generation , the way I do it is to call my daughter and ask her to have a look and get back with some constructive commentary . In keeping with that avenue of approach , and maintaining the status quo , when the " Free Article and Information Directory " website at http : // www .2 bearsglobaltradingco . com was created , her comments were solicited . The end all , to make a long story short , was that she bookmarked the portal page and has been talking the site up to all her friends ever since ! The site is a collection of information websites and articles ( thousands of articles and hundreds of subject specific sites ) that are presented in easy to navigate form . You ' ll get the info you need and do it without having to pour through useless results brought to you by endless searches . Just pick your topic of interest , click , and presto ! The information loaded articles that you seek are plopped into your browser . No cost , no sign - ups , nothing to buy , no pop - up , pop - behinds , nor any of that sort of beastly blather to bother with ... er sorry about that ... The next post by me will be on one or another of the 200 or so topics in the free directory . Perhaps blogging secrets or website design stuff . ' Till then , . 
Managing the TWI mailing list - as Tough as it Gets . The success or failure of any mailing list depends entirely on its members - as in how effectively can they contribute on the list or how diligently can they enhance the quality of ongoing discussions . If you watch closely , the level of discussions combined with the maturity of posters is what characterizes these mailing lists to a large extend . For instance , take a firsthand look at Technical Writers India mailing list or TWI , as it is popularly called ( Refer , http : // groups . yahoo . com / group / technical _ writers _ india / ) . When you have a mailing list like TWI , the members intrinsically form the core of all discussions . There is an inherent focus on interaction and networking . Collaboration in this context does sound like an easy word , but more often than not , it is badly implemented . Let me share why managing such virtual communities is seemingly difficult and why a little dose of moderation is absolutely necessary . To illustrate , I am again choosing TWI as the perfect alibi . This group contains a large proportion of newbie 's - who have joined with the sole objective of learning and honing their existing skill sets . Some of these are fresh college graduates , desperate to get jobs or apprenticeship . They focus only on the topicality , which I believe is the mother of all problems . Some of them don't even know how to write and those who do , wouldn't care to research a topic before mailing it on the list . On the other hand , seasoned writers on such lists tend to look beyond the clich s ; they define a value orientation with new , simpler , and unique ways to get things done . But again , most of them are lurkers and wouldn't write consistently . Apart from this , we have the issue of trolling ( members posting provocative topics ) and flaming ( personal attacks between individual members . ) In my opinion , on a mailing list , it is imperative that the views expressed by an individual should not be restricted , out of context , controversial , ironical , or biased . The biggest fear of all on a mailing list is the fear of being intimidated . And that 's one reason why some people prefer hibernation to active participation . My advice to such people is to relax ... this ain't no competition ! Of course , members are encouraged to participate all the time , and this way the feel - good factor is also maintained on the list . This is where I have my calling - the moderator of TWI . The Wikipedia defines a moderator as , " a person who monitors the quality of a comment posted on a site , message board or IRC channel . The purpose is to prevent trolling , abuse of the comment system , and ultimately ensure that posts are not clearly antagonizing others . Moderators are usually chosen from among the members of the online community by the owner or administrator of the website , internet chat room or message board ( also known as discussion forums ) in question , based on the quality of their past input to the community , their level of knowledge in the prime areas of discussions and , not the least , their behavior . In some communities though , the moderators may be elected or chosen . Systems of moderation and selection of moderators vary widely from community to community . " As the moderator of the TWI , I have been there and done that . The last two years , in particular , have been pretty taxing but its okay ... someone 's got to give . I would hereby request you to keep the faith . There may be more happier times waiting for us , who knows ? 
How Happiness Converts to Writing ? " You can easily find people who are ten times as rich at sixty as they were at twenty ; but not one of them will tell you that they are ten times as happy " , wrote George Bernard Shaw ( Irish literary Critic , Playwright and Essayist , who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature . ) I couldn't disagree much ... Happiness can be a darn confusing word for some . The definition of happiness isn't just confined to a particular person , place , or situation . It can have different connotations for different people , but generally it has been seen that happiness comes when we pursue our own things and listen to the voice of our hearts ! When I decided to become a full - time Technical Writer , I always knew where I was headed for . And from where I stand today , I am extremely proud of it . Happiness stems from belief and confidence in one 's own capabilities . The rest , as they say , automatically follows . Let me assume that you are here because you wanted to be a ' successful ' Technical Writer . Obviously , a lot of thinking must have gone into it . You have certainly made the right decision . First step is always the realization , next is how you work towards achieving your goals and updating your skills . Luckily , this job provides many opportunities to showcase your writing prowess and chances to learn . This reminds me , have you defined a career roadmap for yourself ? Start thinking on those lines , if you haven't already . Always remember that you are much more than the business you do , the profit you make , or the users you write for . Writing well is all about " you . " . You are as answerable to yourself as you are to the organization you work for . So stop looking for happiness outside , rather make the very best from what little you have . Have no regrets about failures ; instead view them as small steps on the climb up to success . At least try it , regardless of whether things work out or not . For me , happiness comes when someone appreciates my work , through the innumerable mails of appreciation and encouragement that I get each month . I wouldn't lie ; it 's like an obsession . In fact , writing does that to you , and if you still haven't discovered it , maybe your definition of happiness does not matches to mine . 
Technical Writing - an ' orchestrated ' performance . If you sweep past the first paragraph of this article , there is every single possibility that you might be lured into reading the entire lot . The greatest challenge confronted with any genre of writing ( be it fiction or nonfiction , technical or creative ) is to connect with all kinds of people . A good writer probably knows this , and therefore never attempts to maneuver with words . To an extent , what you write is a reflection of your inner self - situations that you have personally identified with - dropping subtle hints about your personality and your state of emotional well being . In many ways , it characterizes you as an individual . The other day , an aspiring technical writer wrote to me . He asked " Rahul , how has this profession treated you all these years ? Does it gets to you ? " I candidly replied , " As a Technical Writer , I take immense pride in the products I write for , even though my scope is limited , and ditto with the words I choose . " In fact , heart of hearts , I have always enjoyed these constraints . Sometimes , I feel that technical writing is similar to a highly orchestrated performance in which each note is determined in parts by the previous note , still leaving abundant room for endless creativity . It 's similar to a situation where you are trying to connect to a large unplugged audience . And speaking of audiences , most ( if not all ) of our writing is directed towards the end users of our products , which is quite a wonderful thing . At least you are not asked to shoot in the dark ! Having said that , it might be a good idea to learn the art of changing gears - from a writer to a user . Yes , you heard it ; I am asking you to roleplay as a surrogate user . Only when you do that , can you touch base with the actual requirements . Don't compromise , no one has asked you to ... just think aloud - will the user compromise , if he / she come across a sloppily written manual with a newly purchased product ? As Technical Writers , you can add value to a world - class product by enhancing the quality of documentation that is shipped with it . By engaging with the product as a user and by teaching others how to use the product to achieve their goals , you can add a lot of substance to your profile . Unfortunately , everyone believes that they have written an extremely remarkable manual , until the user creeps up the wall and makes the living life hell . Exactly why is connecting with the users so critical ? Heard about this whole outcry about ' value for money ? ' The markets world over have become highly consumer - centric and this trend is here to last , at least for sometime . To be an effective Technical Writer , you need to be the kind of person whose writing resonates with the users . Empathize with your readers , understand their goals , use clear and direct language to teach them how to be successful with the product . Trust me , being a successful technical writer is surely one beautiful feeling . So , start wearing those thinking caps , if you haven't already . 
All About ME !!! This post is all about me , Finnegan J . Katz ! In January , 2000 some beans found me at an apartment complex where I was living owtside . I had to eet garbij out of dumpsters and sleep owtside even in the rane and snow . The girl bean was nise and she took me to the good shelter plase called SAFE Haven for Cats and they took good care of me . I had an owie in my furrs and they cleened it up , they gave me the hoo - ha - ectomy and some owie shots too . One day a bean stoppt in front of my cage and was talking to me a lot . She kept talking and talking to me and putting her fingers in the cage and I rubbed against them and I knew I liked her alreddy . The lady in charge sed you can open the cage and I had my chance ! I walked owt of the cage and climbed rite up the lady 's body and gave her a big hug wif my paws arownd her neck on bofe sides and I put my hed on her sholder and purred and purred . She hugged me back and sed " This is my cat " to the other ladies and they laffed . So one week later I went home with my mom bean and I have been wif her ever since and I will never leave her and she will never leave me . She is the bestest mom bean effur ! This is me and Granma . She is a verry good servant to cats . She has been trained by cats allllll her life ! When mom bot these curtanes wif the lase and frinj on them Granma sed " Uh - oh the cats will play wif it and rune the curtanes . " But I am a gentleman cat and I woodn't do that . Granma 's mom bean was a good servant to cats too and she did allways say " In again , Finnegan ? " or " Out again , Finnegan ? " whenever she opened a dore and mom allways thot it wood be a good name for a cat , so wen I dopted her I tolld her I wood take it for my name . This is me and Grampa . He finks I don't like him becos he is big and makes coffing noises in the morning . That 's not wy though . I never tolld anyone but it 's ' cos of the mean man bean who din't like me and was gonna put me bak owt in the snow . I do like Grampa and here 's the proof . And allso Grampa says I am a devil - cat and he got the pikcher to prove it ! Grrrrrr ... I ' m trying to post two more pikchers but stoopid blogger won't do it . I ' ll try agane tomorrow . 
Frisky Friday !!! The fun cats over at Emma 's Place named today Frisky Friday and put lots of fun playing pikchers on there blog ! We really like that and desided to do it too - thanks for the grate idea , Emma ! A furrend of ours grows his own ' nip , so he sent us some toys to " test " to see how good they were . This is me inspecting the packaging - it ALLLL smelled like nip ! Buddy had one of the little toys - they playd good and Buddy liked tossing them up in the air , but they got losted furry fast . We think maybee they are under the fridgerater . This was the BIG toy ! It was really good for kicking , it was nise and hevvy but floppy too . Finny allways is saying he gets the bigger toys or the more treets or first hugs from mom just ' cos he was heer first and he is ollder than me . Sometimes he is an old poop so I was trying to get him to play wif me some more . Granma looks at this pikcher and says " Buddy , cats can't DO that ! " But I am furry limber and I do lots of yogas efurry day ! And sometimes you can get TOO frisky ! 
Sully Goes Home . The night before he left , Sully had a nice sleep on the special blanky . Poor guy had no idea what was in store for him . The next morning , mom stuffed him in the carrier , threw a couple of treats in and loaded him in the car . Mom handed Sully over to Miss Robin , but he wanted to eksplore ... Mom sed she was kind of sad leaving Sully behind , but she knows he will have a reelly good life . 
The G - Men are makin ' a Blog !! Did efurrycat see this in owr comments ? The G - men ( Gilmore & Grady ) said ... we are berry excited to be getting a new fur - end in the nayborhood . I can't wait to meet Sully , I think he is my long lost brudder cuz we look just the same . Sully 's new bean family is berry happy too !! That 's owr cousinz !!! They are Ant Ree bean 's kitties ! We ' ve putted there pikchers heer befor , but just so you can see how much Sully looks like Grady , see if you can tell which is who . We hope they is going to have a real blog now ' cos they are fun guys . And hopefully they can help Sully wif a blog too . And this is Grady 's big brofur Gilmore . Doesn't he haf the most hansome poofy tale ? Oh , Buddy 's still not speaking to mom . She has been spending a lot of time wif Sully , petting him and telling him about his new fambly and how good his life will be . I ' m glad he 's getting a good fambly , efurrycat deserves that . Good luck Sully !! 
HE ' S LEAVING !!!! Wooooo hoooooooooooooooooooooo !!! The little orinch punk is gettin ' dopted by a frend of Ant Ree bean ! I don't kno wy ennybean would want to adopt such a little punk , but I ' m glad he 's leaving . Excuse me ... Buddy ? Yes , mom ? Wasn't that you and Sully sitting in the bedroom window together last night when I came home ? What ? ! ? NO WAY ! Absolutely not ! Me and FINNY ... that 's right , Finny , who I have accepted is my brother , mostly because he was here befor me and bopped me on the hed and hissed and growled at me a whole lot when I first came . Sound familiar ? Reallllly ........ ? Because this sure looks like TWO orange cats to me . Not one orange cat and one white and beige cat . Uhhhhmmm , mom ? Yes Finny ? Umm , Buddy asked me to ... um .. tell you that ... uh .. he doesn't want ... errr .... hmmm .. he doesn't want enny suppers or treets .... from you ... and ummmm .... he ' snottalkingtoyouanymoreuntilthatlittleorinchpunkisgoneandifyou wanttoapologizetohim he ' llbeinhissnugglesack . Whew !! AND THE LAST THING I HAVE TO SAY IS THE PICKCHER IS A FAKE . 
Little Orinch Punk is on the Loose ! Oh you won't beleef it , fellow poodins ! On Satterday morning mom let the Little Orinch Punk owt of the guest room and now he goes all over the hole house !! Mostly he wanted to look out the big window . I don't kno wy , it 's the same plase to look at as from his guest room . He settled down under the cat benches ( too stoopid to kno wat they 're for I guess ) and was watching me and Finny . Finny sniffed him and I of course , hissed and growled at him . 
I ' m a Lover not a Fighter ... ... but I ' ll put my paw down when it 's necessary ! Miss Bonnie hurted my feelings verry deeply wen she implied that I was being nise to Sully and that I woodn't agree wif ennyfing she said becos I allways agree wif Victor . I fink this is becos wen I was Victor 's attorney during the unforchoonit insident ( see May 5 May 14 ) that took plase at his howse , Miss Bonnie somehow got the mistaken impression that I was accusing her of the possible crime or of framing Victor for the crime . Miss Bonnie ? I have tried to apologize for this misunderstanding before ( at the time that it took place ) but I fear that my apology was not received in the manner it was presented . It is with my deepest and most heartfelt regret that I offer my apologies to you for any remarks I may have made that caused you to believe that I do not hold you in the highest regard . I never had any intention of implying that a lovely , gracious , ladycat like yourself would have committed the crime that was purrpetrated at yore residence . I thought that it was evident from my final argument with the photos of cats who bear a striking physical resemblance to Victor , that my plan was to show that the crime was probably committed by an infiltrator to yore home . I sinseerly hope that you will accept my apology and these tokens of my admiration . -- Finnegan J . Katz , Esq. 
The Technology behind Job Jitsu . com. . Job Jitsu Technology Overview : So now a little bit about the technology behind the job board ... Job Jitsu is more of a home grown web app . we have some general purpose modules that handle most of the common web application facilities : cache -- a wrapper around the memcache client provided by tummy . com conf -- where we keep common configuration settings db -- a data access module that manages connections and uses Greg Stein 's DTuple . py dispatch -- this guy handles the url to resource mapping , sessions and a few other things . log -- wrapper around python logging module mail -- mail wrapper re -- common precompiled regex 's ( email , url and etc. ) sesh -- our session module util -- utility stuffs like ( string manipulation , url parsing and etc. ) The presentation is handled by Cheetah . Cheetah has nice syntax ( no - xml ) , flexibility , and performance ( precompiled templates ) . One other feature that I find hard to live without is the template inheritance . Cheetah allows you to define a base page which other pages can extend ( good for header + sidebar + footer ) . We are using My SQL 5.0 ( which supports stored procedures ) on top of the innodb storage engine for persistence . Finally what modern web app would be complete without some cool AJAX ? Matt has some neat JSON stuffs that he is working on . Next post will be an in depth look at how we manage our data including how we defined our data model , a quick discussion on stored procedures , indexing strategies and how we actually pass data back and forth between Python and the My SQL . 
Ambition . . It 's all about Ambition The real challenge of starting a job board is not the technology behind it , but getting employers to post jobs and job seekers to search it . There is a critical mass that needs to happen on both sides before the job board becomes relevant . In the past I believe that this was accomplished with massive advertising campaigns , Matt and I discussed the idea of running a 30 second commercial during the superbowl but decided to save that for next year and take a more grass roots style approach instead . Getting employers to post shouldn't be too hard ... make it free to post for the first 6 months , when other job boards are charging hundreds of dollars a posting free isn't so bad . Getting job seekers to use it will be a bit harder ( enter the shameless self promotion you are now reading ) . A good place to start will be by documenting the project in my blog . I figure the worst case scenario is that in the future someone may find a shred of something useful here , while the best case scenario would be that I might be able to generate some * interest * . I am convinced that if you give 2 good hackers 2 months with nothing else to do and they can build just about anything , we on the other hand have day jobs so this is going to be a tight deadline for us . That being said , my philosophy on making things happen is this ... 1 ) If you have half a brain . 2 ) And you are completely honest with yourself and others . 3 ) And you are not afraid of a little hard work . Then the only thing stopping you from achieving whatever it is that you set out to do is your own ambition . The name of the site is going to be Job Jitsu . com. Why did we choose Job Jitsu . com ? Simple cause Job Ninja was already taken . Anyway enough Tony Robins speak , tomorrow 's entry is all bout tech . 
2 hackers . . 2 hackers , 2 months , and an idea ... Build a better job board . I was talking to my friend Matt and about the idea of building a better job board . It didn't take much to convince each other that we could do much better then what is currently out there . Monster , Dice , Hot Jobs , Jobing ( spelling ? ) et al have all gotten fat dumb and happy - Internet Explorer style ( oh yes I did ) , the one thing they all have in common is how hard they suck . It 's like there has been a feature freeze since 2002 , moreover these job boards have all been overrun by staffing companies . I am going to assert that coming up with better technology then what the current job boards have to offer won't be a problem . So what is it that we are going to do better ? Good question , the answer is a closely guarded secret , but you should have some idea by 4 / 1 / 06 ( our first launch date ) . Over the next 6 - 8 weeks I will blog about our methods and progress . What makes us so sure that we can pull this off ? We have a secret weapon . More on that tomorrow . 
Creating your own mod _ python request dispatcher . . Creating your own mod _ python request dispatcher that maps url 's to python request handlers . Conceptually I have something that looks like this : + ------------- + | Clients | | Web Browser | + ------------- + | [ http : // somecooldomain . com / coorequest ] | ^ | | [ Cool Response ] V | + -------- + + ------------ + + --------------- + + --------- + | Apache | -- > | Mod _ Python | -- > | dispatcher . py | -- > | cool . py | -- + | ( A ) | + -------- + + ------------ + + --------------- + + --------- + | | ^ | | | | | + ------------------------ + V + ------------- + | urlmap . conf | | ( C ) | + ------------- + A ) Apache Configuration : On my server I have mod _ python set up to handle any request that comes in without a file extension . That way I can have those cool REST style URI 's . I use the apache " Files Match " directive in my httpd . conf file to look for any request that does not contain a ' . ' before the ' ? ' in the query string : Files Match " ( ^ [ ^ \ . ] * $ | ^ [ ^ \ ? ] * [ \ ? ] + [ ^ $ ] + $ ) " Set Handler python - program Python Handler common . dispatch . dispatcher Python Debug On / Files Match B ) dispatcher . py The source for dispatcher . py can be found here . C ) Example urlmap . conf [ somecooldomain . com ] / = cooldomain . handlers . home . handler / signup = cooldomain . handlers . member . signup / login = cooldomain . handlers . member . login / logout = cooldomain . handlers . member . logout / cool = cooldomain . handlers . cool . handler D ) cool . py This is the handler that generates your content . In my content handlers I usually do things like query the database , process business logic , select a cheetah template and return the result as html . In summary I use this approch for a couple of reasons , first it allows me to decouple my url 's from my python code that way I don't have python code + html sitting around in the same directory . Secondly I get one piece of code that handles every request . ( good for sessions and things like that ) . 
urlencoder / decoder for python . . EDIT ( I so stand corrected . ) : I could have just used : urllib . quote urllib . unquote --------------------------------------------------- Every once and a while I run into the need for a urlencoder / decoder function that just accepts a string and returns a string . The one that comes w / urllib ( 2 ) takes a dictionary and returns a " name = val " formatted string . My only problem is that it does 2 things at once : 1 ) url encodes .2 ) constructs a query or post string . So I wrote a quick utility to do just # 1 : _ keys = [ " $ " , " " , " = " , " ? " , " @ " , " " , ' " ' , " " , " # " , " % " , " { " , " } " , " | " , " \\ " , " ^ " , " ~ " , " [ " , " ] " , " ` " ] _ vals = [ ' % 24 ' , ' % 26 ' , ' % 2 B ' , ' % 2 C ' , ' % 2 F ' , ' % 3 A ' , ' % 3 B ' , ' % 3 D ' , ' % 3 F ' , ' % 40 ' , ' % 20 ' , ' % 22 ' , ' % 3 C ' , ' % 3 E ' , ' % 23 ' , ' % 25 ' , ' % 7 B ' , ' % 7 D ' , ' % 7 C ' , ' % 5 C ' , ' % 5 E ' , ' % 7 E ' , ' % 5 B ' , ' % 5 D ' , ' % 60 ' ] def encode ( str = " " ) : " " " URL Encodes a string with out side effects " " " return " " . join ( [ _ swap ( x ) for x in str ] ) def decode ( str = " " ) : " " " Takes a URL encoded string and decodes it with out side effects " " " if not str : return None for v in _ vals : if v in str : str = str . replace ( v , _ keys [ _ vals . index ( v ) ] ) return strdef _ swap ( x ) : " " " Helper function for encode . " " " if x in _ keys : return _ vals [ _ keys . index ( x ) ] return x ### units ### if __ name __ == " __ main __ " : assert ( " " . join ( _ keys ) == decode ( encode ( " " . join ( _ keys )))) assert ( " " . join ( _ vals ) == encode ( decode ( " " . join ( _ vals )))) print " passed all unit tests . " . 
When I Paint My Masterpiece . Today , I painted a of the house and was very tired because I ' m stupid and paint everything by hand . I decided I need to go into the house and rest , hell I ' ll clean the brushes later . I grabbed a snack and was tired decided to take a power nap . Correct me if I ' m wrong that 10 to 15 minutes right ? So two hours later I woke up quite annoyed . I can't believe it two hours that is half a nights sleep now I will never sleep . Oh man and the brushes , crap , I will never get them clean . But wait I silently thought to myself I can party all night long ! righteous . So tonight I hope to make memories baby . I sure hope it doesn't suck . I will let you guys know . I gotta go take an aspirin I slept wrong and my backs f ' d up . Maybe I will take a liquid 12 oz aspirin . as always Wreak Havoc all TC . 
Pepsi comes in a can , put there by a man . One day Smurf and I were cutting class , and we went to purchase a Pepsi from the vending machine . I put in my money and pressed the button . Just like usual the machine dispensed a Pepsi . At that moment I heard a voice behind my back . WHOA .. Do that Again . I turned around to find Peanut sitting on the floor with his eyes glassed over . Peanut ! I said What in the hell are you doing ? He just kept staring at the machine and finally he said . That was coool ! Smurf and I tried to get him to some outside with us so the Principle wouldn't find him . Peanut refused to leave , he told us he had found the perfect spot . We had to leave him there because it was way to obvious that you weren't supposed to be there . I felt bad later , it was a while before we saw Peanut again . As it turned out , the Principle did catch Peanut , called his parents , and they sent him to rehab . A few weeks later that son of a bitch came back more f ' d up than ever . Peanut where ever you are I hope you are OK . 
The crap 4 2 day . No funny stories to tell tonight . Except , the horses broke my fence got into my yard and shit everywhere . If you think that is funny you are mean . Each shovel full of horse crap must weigh 10 pounds at least . So you do the math a horse craps 100 times a day and two of them spend eight hours in my yard . I am too hot and tired to do the math but I know it equals the big suck ! And it is way too freaking hot in OK this time of year . 
Taco Hell you gotta luv it . Ooh . I just noticed I haven't posted in a while . Last night while driving through Taco Bell , or as I like to call it Taco Hell , I remembered another story about my car . In high school we lived off of Taco Hell food . It was near the center of where we hung out , worked and it was cheap . Taco Bell also had the coo Iist music playing , one time a friend gave me a Taco Bell sound track . No bull shit . Well I used to life guard in the summers and when I was off work I would hang my whistle around the rear view mirror . One particular night my friend Scronnie and I were in the drive - thru and it was busy . Scronnie was a very inpatient person and grabbed the whistle and was whisting really loud by the time we got to the microphone the attendant said Umm if you are going to be like that you can just leave . I was so infuriated with Scronnie there were so many cars in front of us it would take forever to get through the drive thru . Fortunately , there was no one behind us so I slipped the car in reverse and started to back up . Then I heard a thud I looked out the window of the car to see what happened and the stupid Taco Bell Drive - Thru sign had scratched the whole side of my uglyful painted car . There was a Taco Bell maroon stripe half - way down my car . And the Taco Hell sign was bent in the ground with some brown paint on it . Every time I went back that sign was mocking me . I never knew if anyone ever fixed that sign it remained that way long after I was out of high school . Maybe someone in JV can tell me about the sign . I always blamed that on Scronnie and he thought it was the funniest thing and he would always remind me every time we rode by it . 
07.11.06 . One of my friends posted an interesting proposal for a movie . You can check it out here . But his posting started me thinking about the possibility to travel backwards in time to an event we all see as tragic and horrible maybe even a stupid thing you once did in your life . It is defiantly a philosophical idea . But it does start one thinking if you were to change the past . Would you want to live in the future you create ? Suppose Hitler never rose to power would we have stopped Stalin or would it in actuality have been worse ? No doubt saving millions of lives would be ideal . I just think you sever one head and another will spring forth . In the example of Stalin . It is truly hard to decide . Now on the side of personal change perhaps that outcome would change a small thing or would it have a butterfly effect ( not a plug for the movie but I am an admirer of the proposal ) . Thus causing the existing way of life , to totally play out in a different way . Let me know your thoughts . 
Twenty Steps to TC 's Grocery shopping trip . Step one make a list while finishing your last two beers Step two go to the grocery store and wait for a good parking spot that someone else gets . Step three go into the store and get the only shopping cart with a fucked up wheel Step four go straight to the beer cooler to check out the beer sales . Step five get excited when a case your favorite beer is on sale for $ 14.00 Step six put four of them in your shopping cart Step seven pray no one from work sees you pushing a cart full of beer around the supper market Step eight pray the engineer from you work in frontof you doesn't see you Step nine be cheerful and brief in the conversation with the engineer Step ten as you become hungry you decide nachos would be good Step eleven obtain the materials for nachos buy all of the ingredients in massive quantities gallon of jalape os , 5 lbs of cheese , 5 bags of tortilla chips Step twelve go to the cash register Step thirteen write a check . Step fourteen remember the ice for the beer as you get the receipt Step fifteen scrounge in your pockets for a dollar to buy ice . Step sixteen race home for nachos and beer . Step eighteen get the beer on ice Step nineteen drink a beer and forget about nachos Step twenty find your damn grocery list on the kitchen table . 
My thoughts on the floor . I know this may make some people mad but I got to say it . I noticed last weekend at the lake the carpet covers on toilet seats . I had forgotten about them but is started me thinking what are those things for ? Is it to wipe your feet ? I have a difficult time understanding there purpose . The wife says it is for sitting on . But carpet really sitting on ? I don't sit on my floor I use a chair . Somebody said it was for decoration . Carpet decoration ? Nope not buying it . I think there is some secret order of the carpet layers society that lays carpet on toilet seats maybe beneath the carpet is a map to the secret orders hide out . Just a thought . If any of you out there have any ideas please let me know . It is driving me crazy . Last night is was a friends birthday we had a cook out it was awesome as usual . Tired of the grill scene we had another idea . Beer ( mum ) , fish , potatoes , hush puppies , and shrimp . I got to cook which I love . Man , I got to stop drinking when I make this stuff , last night the fish was so good . Here is the bummer I can never remember the exact ingredients . I do know this , before I put the fish in the batter I mixed leftover buttermilk from the hush puppies and a can of beer ( tear ) to dip them in . I will use this method next time , so to you fish fanatics try it let me know how it goes . Oh and the hush puppies the best I ' ve ever made , that recipe I remember because I wrote it down . Duh .. Why didn't you do that on the fish ? Shut up dude . Well the weekend is heare at last . Thought about doing some stuff but I just can get off my ass. Going out tonight for dinner to start the week long celebration of my wifes birthday . Yeap thats right . It is a celebration . After this week is over I will be all birthday ' ed out . My birthday is scorned by me , I ' m still real bitter over the whole thing . You can imagine how I love birthdays . 
Happy Fourth . Spent some time at the lake this fourth had a good time . Decided to float the Illinois River that was cool . I had to save some dudes ' canoe that was tangled in the trees . He was more concerned about his beer than anything . I guess I could understand that . At the lake I spent a great deal of time contemplating life and things in general . I wrote most of it down , it is kind of deep though , so later on I will post them on Alter . I got home and my grass was taller that the house , so I suppose I will spend the remainder of the holiday mowing my place . Wreak Havoc , I know am , I ' m gonna whip some grasses asses . 
The Fishing Trip . I have been accused by some of my friends of taking liberties with my story telling . It may be true , though I don t think the liberties I take with my story telling removes the point or could be called a lie . It could be possible that I might not remember the story in its entirety . Well I guess it this is a pre - apology incase I mess this story up . I will try to tell this story without an embellishing . This is a story about a resent fishing trip I went on . I put fishing trip in quotes because we didn t take any fishing poles , tackle , or a stringer . This particular Friday night after work , three friends of mine and I decided after a few cases of beer that it would be cool to go fishing . Sadly it was midnight when this decision was made . Everyone was asleep that we called that evening to see if we could fish on their place . Rude land owners , sleeping at midnight after they had worked all day . Wait ! Why was I awake ! Oh beer I remember I think So one of the newcomers to our , beer drinking celebration of Friday , thought it would be great to go noodling . To those of you that do not know what noodling is - it is where you get in the water stick your hand under a rock in the water into the mouth of a catfish allow it to clamp down on to your hand and then pull the fish out of the water . If you don t believe me google it . So here we all are stupid and drinking wondering about the bank of the river , no flashlight no tackle . All of us where in the river , but there was no way I was sticking my hand in the water . If I hadn t of drunk so much liquid courage I would have never entered the water . Hell I wouldn t have gotten out of the car . I think about our stupidity and laugh , it is very fortunate that no one was maimed . Noodling how crazy is that . Blue your braver than me , man . 
Brown car . Another story about my piece of crap car . The car was named brownie because we were uncreative and the car was brown . Not one shade of brown but two shades it was beautiful . I don't remember if I wrote in the other blog but the damned rear view mirror kept falling of the windshield . I used the glue that you can purchase at the auto parts store it usually works great . For some reason however the glue would not stick to shit ( a name we should of named my car ) . Someone would inevitably bump it and it would fall back off . Normally , this would not be a problem in another car because of the mirror on the passenger door . Oops , forgot to point out I didn't have one . I did not have one , not because it was knocked off , no the auto manufacture of Daimler - Chrysler deemed it unnecessary to have a mirror on the passenger door , I guess it saved money . But the lack of mirror dictated the need for the rear - view to be replaced quickly . On with the story I used to work at a restaurant in the mall . So I was always hanging out around the mall , the reason three - fold I got my check could cash it and spend it all in the same area . Smurf and I were always together hanging out and we were supposed to meet some people . I drove and as we were exiting the car I cautioned to be mindful of the mirror . Smurf so tired of hearing the warning grabbed the mirror and turned it to tease me . When he did the damn thing fell off again . Damn it Smurf you suck I said He was very apologetic I knew it was not on purpose . I inspected the back of the mirror and noticed I had re - glued the damn thing so many times the glass had grown weak and came of on the back of the mirror . Shit . So the mirror had to be glued slightly below the missing chunk of glass . The stupid thing never would work right it was impossible to get the proper view . The good thing was I never had to re - glue the stupid thing on again . Thanks Smurf . I have some new sites I want to share with you guys . One is a real good friend of mine the other an interesting site the friend of mine told me about Ze Frank . I hope you enjoy them . As always Wreak Havoc . 
Late . Wow a week late . Well work was pretty busy and when I got off I was tired and lazy . I have been working in the heat , indoor heat at that which sucks . This weekend not much happened just work around the house my friend and I overhauled a trailer . It was fun . 
Blues ain't noth ' in wrong with that . Last night I went to Oklahoma Blues Festival . I got to see John Lee Hooker Jr. What a treat . Man do I love Blues , BBQ and Beer and all were present . After the festival we went to Doc Blues . Shortly after John Lee and his band showed up . My wife not a blues fan too bad : ( . This morning all I could talk about is the great times we had . If any of your are blues fans I suggest you check him out . On his site he has mp 3 s you can download and listen to try it out . Tonight I wanted to go and See Scott Keeton & the Deviants , but sadly it is raining her in Oklahoma so I forewent the festivities . Scott is a local guy and worth seeing the women sure like him . Wreak Havoc all . Create Chaos out of order . TC . 
Go ' in to Town . Sometimes at work when its slow we do what we call Go ' in to town . Basically it is happens when we have some free time and we have accumulated a large list of stuff we need . I will give an example of todays list . Precision Screw Drivers ( New Technician needed some ) Socket Rails ( my toolbox at work was in terrible disarray with sockets ) Flashlights ( so we can see in the dark ) Keyboards ( ran out yesterday ) Plastic containers ( wire terminals , - 20 screws , nuts , bolts , wire ties , you get the idea ) OK , I got a bit off topic but you get the idea we love Go ' in to Town . It also means I ' m going to stop at the Taco Bueno and grab some party tacos . Its like a party in your mouth . Alright off topic again . So my co - worker and I are in Lowe 's . We had left the cart in an isle , so each of us could go our separate ways to find items on our list . I came back with the plastic boxes and put them in the cart . I look around for my colleague and he is now where to be found . I see a guy approaching me pushing a shopping cart . All of a sudden I realize its him . I yell out to him Who 's shopping cart is that ? . He looks down realizes all the crap in the cart was not his and nonchalantly , Stops , abandons the cart , and scurries over to where I am . Later we standing there laughing about it . Soon after , bewildered Lowe 's employee walks up scratching his head looks in the cart , and pushes the cart off . It was hilarious . PS I love Taco Bueno taco sauce . 
I ' m sure it was a typo , but it is still ironic . Well , I think if you say you 're going to do something and don't do it , that 's trustworthiness . -- George w . Bush 08 / 30 / 2000 in a CNN online chat . 
is it a post about Dreams or Beer ? Man did I have a weired dream the other night so weired that I spent all of my free time writing it down yesterday . I guess I am to twenty pages now . I have had lots of strange dreams in the past , I just never wrote them down . This one is a dussy . I hope to finish it and turn it into a story . When I am done I will post it on Alter Ego along with my other short stories out there . Also those of you with a copy of yesterdays Shawnee News Star . Look at the horoscopes under Leo . Tell me if I am out of my mind or is it extremely suggestive . Most likely I am a sicko . But one can never be to sure . Now I ' m going to leave for Bill 's house for Beer But Chicken and Beer Mouth TC . Wreak Havoc TC . 
Tussy . Smurf and I were always playing jokes on Jeff he was such a good sport about it too . Jeff 's dad worked for Walgreen 's or something and always had an abundance of home health stuff . Like deodorant aftershave even candy all of which we raided . Jeff had some Tussy deodorant , Smurf and I were telling him it was womens deodorant which he ardently dismissed . One day when Jeff was in the bathroom Smurf removed the red T on the deodorant and replaced T with a P with a red marker . We just waited for the moment he would notice . Jeff returned from the bathroom and his mom came in to tell us about dinner . Jeff 's mom looked over at the dresser and said JEFF What have you done ? Jeff looked over and discovered the trickery . Jeff said Who would do such a thing only to look over at Murphy and I rolling on the ground laughing . Jeff 's mom shook her head and walked off . Surprisingly , Jeff never removed the P off of his Pussy deodorant he used it all up , but instructed his mom to only purchase mens deodorant from then on . 
P is for Pizza . Some of you may have read some of the stories about the pizza restaurant I ran , after high school , in Seabrook . One of my employees was a cute girl that always brought great business to the store from her boyfriends and hopefuls . She was a real hoot , always making all of us laugh . One time I was back in the office and she was working the counter . I heard a customer come in and I got up to head to the counter to see if she needed help the guy on the other side of the counter had a strange look on his face . When Brandi turned to see me approaching I saw where she had wiped of her flour riddled hands on her breast ! The white hand prints were perfect on the candy red shirt . I said Brandi go to the bathroom and look in the mirror . She did and as she walked off I noticed white hand prints on the back f her black jeans . Once she got to the bathroom a shrill of laughter filled the restaurant . The man on the other side of the counter gave me a head nod like he was saying way to go . He must of thought I was a mack - daddy or something . I wish I could remember all the crazy stuff she did . Man that place was always filled with laughter . It sure makes the day go by easier when you can laugh at work . 
Listerine . When Smurf , Jeff and I were let out for summer vacation , we usually would head out to his grandmothers house on the lake to spend the first few weeks of summer break fishing and swimming . It was so much fun sometimes Smurf would bring his sister who usually brought some of her girlfriends . Much to Smurf 's dismay Jeff and I would be much to busy swimming and flirting with the girls to get any fishing done . At night we would all go down to the point which was a sandy jetty out into the lake . Sometimes we would manage to find someone to buy us beer for the evening . On one particular night we found a bottle of Wild Turkey that was in the back of the pantry . It had been there so long it had an inch of dust on it , sowe were convinced Smurf 's grandmother had forgotten that it had existed . So that night we sat at the point and drank a bottle of Wild Turkey , or at least Smurf and I were . When everyone wasn't looking we replaced the Whiskey with Listerine . Jeff and the girls were mixing it with coke so they had no idea of our little swicharo . They were making comments " Man thats stong I need more coke " and " I ' m getting a hell of a buzz " . The best part about it was that they all thought they got drunk ! Off Listerine ! We were laughing our asses off at them because we were the real buzzed ones . We never told them about that night until years later , none of them belived us they all seemed to remember their side so differently . Every couple of years we get togather and Smurf and I love to remind them . Man Smurf and I were mean . 
Addiction . I had a terrible addiction when I was in high school . It wasn't until a few years ago that I was able to break the habit . I didn't go to a therapist or a support group . I successfully kicked the habit on my own . Sort of , I still am an infrequent user . At first I was a mild user , but that is always how it works . I wish I had never of started to be truthful . I guess I started early , in junior high . I saw my friends using and I thought it looked soothing and relaxing . But thats until it takes a hold of you and owns you . I ' m really glad to be past it . Though writing this story is making me want to start using again . All I have to do bust out the pot of Carmex and moisten my lips then it is all over I will be right back addicted . For Carmex Addicts . 
The Bull . First cars - many of you have heard about my first car ( http : // 2 complx . blogspot . com / 2005 / 03 / chick - magnet . html ) . Sadly I haven't written about my buddy Smurf 's first car . It was a Doge Ram charger that was previously his older brother 's . The beast two - tone blue and gray and for this is was named affectionately by Murphy - Bull . Bull was huge utility vehicle and only had two doors . The back door was a hatchback and the door didn't close very well . Sometimes it would open going down the road . On one such time on the way to school Jeff was sitting in the back because the rest of the seats were full . I suppose we were going about 35 mph when the back opened and Jeff went tumbling out the back he stood up and started running after the truck . Man we all had a laugh . The floor board had a bullet hole in it where a previous owner , a hunter I imagine , accidentally fired his rifle . Smurf would drive this thing everywhere and I mean everywhere . Growing up in Houston you wouldn't imagine we many locations in which to off - road , but with all the drainage ditches , creeks and constructions sites we weren't in short supply . On one occasion we even took our homecoming dates on an off - road excursion , latter followed up by dancing on the Tennis courts . Listening and dancing to Bull 's radio Smurf had gotten for Christmas and we jerry - rigged into the car . To everyone else these cars were pieces of crap : to Murphy and I these cars were glorious , they provided a means of transportation and our first bouts with freedom , freewill and independence . To us these metal monstrosities were symbols of our growth into adulthood . Smurf 's Blog . 
TC Focuses . Ok , so in going through some photos recently I found a picture . Yeap a real honest to goodness photograph . I still love them and though I have a digital camera prefer the real thing . Poses an issue for me though when trying to share pics . I guess I am a few steps from abandoning the 35 mm world . FOCUS .... Sorry had to rant . Well the purpose of this is that I found a hilarious photo of an infamous cookie that two years ago I wrote a blog about . Well I fell sufficient amount of time has lapsed so I ' m reposting the blog along with a picture of the tasty cookie . Furthermore I want to make a plug for a blog I found off of SBKs site ( link at other blogs listing SO ME ) . So check out F anor 's blog and he may even let you borrow his U - Haul . http : // holdingoutmyhands . blogspot . com / . 
It 's Nuts . Sometimes there comes along a story that is just unbelievable , and this just maybe that story . Please remember this story is true I am a fisherman . My friends and I love to go fishing and camping for the weekend . Unfortunately sometimes we don't catch any fish this means that we must find another way to eat . One such time we went to the bait shop that also sold junk food and beer . yum . Upon entering the store I headed straight for the beer cooler ; my friends walked around the store searching for their food . I have two younger friends that are brothers and they really are shitty towards one another , but it makes for good times . At this time , the oldest picks up a package and says " look it is you favorite snack " . As I approached , I noticed ivory white cookies , inside a clear plastic wrapped package , with overly large pink letters . On the front of the package was printed " Nut Cr me " . I laugh and made my way to the counter to pay for my beer . At this moment the youngest not quite getting the innuendo says " Let 's get those ! " I shook my head disgusted and made my way to the car . I did not want any of the rough - neck fishermen seeing me with these adolescent idiots buying " Nut Cr me " . Once back at camp everyone was eating the " Nut Cr me " , however , I do not like nuts in my cr me so I refrained . Fortuately for me I had beer . Then the oldest ask the youngest " so , how do you like ' Nut Cr me ' ? " . Disgustingly , the youngest with a mouthful of " Nut Cr me " replies " I love ' Nut Cr me ' ! " Everybody laughs at this and I have another beer . 
Random Ranting . Pizza , I love pizza . As a kid I worked from the time I was 11 until I was 19 in many different pizza parlors . After that I installed PC in pizza restaurants . As you can imagine that has made me a mighty picky pizza connoisseur . Some of my friends think I am a pizza snob , I suppose thats OK , but man you take a bite out of a great pie you never want to eat anything else . I lived in Oklahoma a long time before i had a decent pie . I ate some pizza at San Remos of Shawnee and guys you should try it . It defiantly isn't the best maybe not my top ten . This pizza made with great cheese hand tossed and great sauce . To my friend give it a shot . I personally order extra sauce because I don't feel that thy put enough on . I also warn that I have problems with consistency : for the most part though it is good . If you folks know of a good or better place please let me know I am always looking . Have a great weekend and as always Wreak Havoc TC . 
I can't beleive it ! Some of you may not find this as funny as others , so if you have a problem with nudity it probably best you don't read this entry . I was watching TV the other night and I decided that Denise Richards is a fox and that it would be cool to find a wallpaper for my desktop . As usual when I am searching for a picture I search Google images . So I plainly typed Denise Richards and selected large images . Once the screen populated I scrolled to the bottom of the screen and saw a Mardi Gras picture , curious because I love Mardi Gras I clicked on it and much to my disbelief I am in the picture !!! You guys got to check this out . Those that know me will recognize the shirt and the haircut some may even recognize the beads around my neck from some bonfire . You can try the search yourself , or just click on the link below and click the Mardi Gras picture ! Let me know what you guys think . I will put the picture on TC 's Funny Picture page . Link http : // www . pornorama . biz / member / bilder / starbilder / denise - richards . php . 
TC is back ... I think . No much to report on the funny scale . I think I will try to spin this site a different way I have been off for too long due to lack of material . From now on I will try to write like many of you as observations and pseudo - journals . I am worried it will be boring because most days are so bourgeois . Well as I am writing this I realized that something funny DID happen yesterday . My friend down the road ( down the road in Oklahoma could be 5 20 miles , In this case 5 ) has some horses and we decided to ride them to my house so they could graze on my land for a while because hay has gotten so high . The deal is good for me because I have a great deal of grass that is a potential fire hazard . All went well with the journey . How could it go wrong we took beer with us ? When we got to my land we decided to ride the horses to the ponds to let them drink and show them where the water is . The horse my friend was on was uninterested in the water . The horse I was riding ran in to the middle of the pond and dropped to her knees ; I jumped of the saddle and as I did she started rolling around on her back in the pond saddle and all . I was drenched the horse more so . I grabbed the horse and walked back to the house . No worries though once the saddles were off we drank beer and talked about the event . TC . 
UPdate . Well I decided to write an update to let every know how I am doing since last week . Just more randomness , I will need to keep it like this until I can remember something funny . Or I do something terribly stupid which shouldn t take too long . I did not win the lottery last week . bummer .. It is up to 365 million this week . COOL I suppose I was just waiting until this week to win . I purchased one ticket and they asked me for some kind of ticket upgrade called power play I guess it cost more money . How much more money do I need to win ? 365 mill is fine and will suffice . I ve been working on the house is going slow but steady . I have been needing to set some time aside to drink beer . Really the main factor is cash damn construction materials are going high . Paycheck to paycheck baby it is the only way . I look forward to it completion with out a monthly bill . I was also thinking it is way cool do have a house completely designed out of my head . Every thing will be as I want it when it is done . But I will also be to blame for any crap that goes wrong . Maybe I could blame the beer ? On a lighter note , it has snowed today and it is real F n cold . Work is not getting done on the house so it allows me for some time in the house . SUCK . I have never really be one to enjoy the indoors . I think it is about time for me to waddle up and go out and play in the snow . C ya TC . 
Brag ' in . Well still takes me too long to get around to writing I m still working on that . I have started working on my house pretty vigorously again , for those of you that know it consumes all my time money and energy . However , I love the challenge and the fact I can accomplish such a feat . I m kind of having a blah day I hate those it takes me forever to get motivated into doing something . I will though . Here are some random thoughts . The fires in Oklahoma have been scary man , I wish it would rain . It is so dangerous for all the people here . It is a constant worry in the back of all of our minds . Oklahoma finally has the lottery . I decided to buy a ticket , don t know if I won yet but the chances are good because I bought one ticket and I heard that s all you need to win . I love my work . NOT . Just getting tired of being taken advantage of like everything else I suppose you gotta stick it out . Bummer One of my good friends is getting married this month so I will be traveling to Houston and participating in the ceremony . I like getting a tux I look good in them . HAHA brag in . I am happy for him and will miss him as he is probably moving to New Jersey . DANG . Good luck Fred and best wishes . As always TC wants you to Wreak havoc . TC . 
TC thoughts on TC . Well by looking at my postings you can see I have been a little anti - social . I suppose if you are a close friend of mine you would have also noticed . I try to keep this site lighthearted unfortunately I have not come up with many funny stories to regale you with . On that note I will try to post more and keep trying to find the humor . I hope I still have people that check this site . When I first moved to Oklahoma from Houston I was about to go stir crazy . It took me about four or five years to finally calm down . Now that I am here I am not ready to go back even though there are things I miss friends , food , family . I do not miss crime , cost of living , and the climate . The point if there is to be one is that I am glad to be where I am at . Well that was true up until a few months ago when the burn ban came now all social events have to be relocated and reconfigured . I ' m sure some folks are glad to be inside but not me this truly sux . Please let it RAIN . TC out . 
Last Fall . I was working on my house last year when I fell . I was nailing spanners between the trusses . For those of you how don t understand house lingo I was basically building the support for the roof . You need to know that I am really scared of heights . Saddly , I was almost finished I just had a couple of boards to go , but the board under my feet gave way and I fell to the ground with the nail gun in hand . My wife heard the fall and came running over to me . Oh my god ! Are you OK ? Yes. Please don t touch me My body was all fuzzy from the fall . Go over there I pointed across the floor and bring that chair and cooler By the time she returned I was getting up and sat down into the chair . She started to put the cooler under my foot so I could rest it . Wait ! Grab a beer out of there first . Sitting there drinking my beer I thought I would be OK but the pain got worse and off to the e - room we went . your leg is broke in two places The doctor told me . SHIT I though this sucks ; little did I know that the following three months would suck as well . You never really realize how much crap you can t do . I am better now a year latter . I ve made it through October this year without sustaining any more injuries I call that pretty good . The moral of the story ' It isn't the fall that hurts it is the sudden stop after the fall . ' . 
Raining in Austin . I used to work a lot in Austin I loved the town it is a truly beautiful place . I was driving through Austin to go to the pool hall as I was crossing Congress Avenue Bridge I noticed hoards of people with umbrellas . I looked in the sky and there wasn t a cloud in sight . I thought to my self those people are crazy . When all of a sudden these bats started coming out from under the bridge and flying every which way . It was like a giant black cloud that had moved in zigzags and jerks across the sky . I figured out what the umbrellas were for . At My Picture page are some pictures of the event . Attached is a link about the bats it is pretty cool . If you ever in Austin it is a must see . http : // www . batcon . org / home / index . asp ? id Page = 122 . 
An Electric Feeling . The United Kingdom is going through rather freakish weather we can agree . Blisteringly hot and humid summers , mild dry winters , freak flash floods and tornadoes . Just the average kind of weather for the U.S. too . I must admit though for the last couple of days , I ' ve found the thunder and lightning absolutely exhilirating ! Old blighty isn't what you ' d call exciting ( weather wise ) . We ' ve been fairly lucky in having middle of the road type weather . Not too extreme in any sense . Correction . The south east of England suffers no extremities . Why is that ? The north get most of the rain , the south east get a drought warning . Scotland gets the major share of the snow and is always guaranteed a white christmas ( ish ) whereas the south east gets a dandruffs worth of covering . Maybe I should consult my American Indian rain maker friend for some exciting weather . Well perhaps not . I don't have an American Indian rain make friend . 
Losing my brain power . The trials and tribulations of having a loved one sleeping next to you . I ' ve always had a rather random quality of sleep for the last four and a half years and perhaps a bit more . Austrian scientists ( would it make a difference if they were bolivian ? ) have recently announced something that I have known for quite sometime . Sleeping with your partner makes reduces your mental dexterity . Check it out here . It is very true . 
Weather Babe . Such a coincidence that my pal Barry 's Beef came all over star struck the other day when he met an ex - eastenders character on the tube . He even had the balls to have a chat with him and get an autograph . Lucky man that old Beefy . Not quite attractive the lovely lady you see here though . Coincidence indeed that I spotted the hot weather girl that I wake up to first thing in the morning on the tube yesterday morning . Clare Nasir who you all know from GMTV . I ' d just like to say a fine woman with some very nice weather fronts to boot . Of course Monday morning 's are just not the time to talk to anyone least alone a stranger and unlike Barry 's Beef I certainly didn't have any alchohol to pursuade me to tap her on the shoulder and tell her how those camera 's just don't do justice to her . Clare , keep up the good work you sexy little minx . 
Getting older and Cars . When I was a kid , my kind of car , was the one that my Dad drove . Yes an Austin Allegro . Then it was the Ford Cortina .... Then it dawned on me that there are other cars in this world other than my Dads . Bring on the Lamborgini Countach LPS 500 . Not the original girly effort . This version was the 80 's icon for excess . It had outrageous spoilers , air ducts etc.... It was a mans cars . As time has passed my tastes have changed somewhat to something more realistic and affordable . The Ford Mustang is one car I would love to drive . I couldn't however justify the cost of ownership . With soaring costs in petrol , tax and maintenance , what would be the point ? It would be nothing more than a poster on my wall . Even now . Alas with the cost of living in a city like London I am bound to the delights of public transport . Will there be a day when I could afford one of these magnificent classic cars ? Maybe . 
Addictive TV . I must admit , I am getting grumpier as I get older . There are things that irritate me about current TV programming in this country . Bland sitcoms due to the fact that TV executives are scared witless of offending the Politically Correct brigade and crap reality TV shows , TV show 's about how to dress , how to lose weight ; shows about ugly people , fat people , irritating people etc. Even the mainstay of British television such as soap operas have taken a nose dive ( not that I ' m much of a fan of that ) . I am a hardworking individual that would liked to be entertained / informed / satisfied for the monthly premium that is paid for cable TV . It was by chance then that I came across 24 . I ' d been reluctant to watch such shows before as I ' d cultured a cynical view of american imported TV shows . How wrong I was though . This is TV at its best . I had never managed to catch it on TV but due to DVD I can now watch it all . Not at once of course alll though admittedly I ' ve done sixteen hours in one sitting . How on earth they manage to maintain that level of continuity is remarkable . I ' d also like to honour ' Alias ' too for being such a fine programme . Admittedly my initial reasons for watching it were hormonally driven but fast became a very addictive show . I do however feel a sense that due to the very success of these programmes that there will be many poor imitations that will exhaust this type of programming and then once again we have to suffer the mediocrity of untalented producers who can't think of anything original . Boo . 
Ex Man Utd star for sale . Being the geeky type I read geeky websites . But every so often there are some amusing articles . One I found was this : http : // www . theregister . co. uk / 2006 / 07 / 05 / ronaldo _ transferred / . 
FHM , LOADED , etc.... LADS MAGS : Make them ' top shelf ' , says MPSexually explicit ' lads mags , should be kept on the top shelves in newsagents along with porn mags to keep them out of reach of children , a Labour MP will tell the House of Commons today . The MP for Crosby , Merseyside , Claire Curtis - Thomas , says the content of the magazines is ' repulsive ' and ' degrading to women ' . But under current voluntary rules the magazines can be displayed alongside newspapers and lifestyle mags . Ms Curtis - Thomas will present her Regulation of Sale and Display of Sexually Explicit Material Bill in the Commons under the Ten - minute Rule Bill and call for a new regulatory body to oversee the sale of sexually explicit magazines which are not regarded as ' top shelf ' . Ms Curtis - Thomas said , " Whilst I am not advocating the censorship and prohibition of such literature for adults , there must be safeguards in place to protect minors from this obscene material . " What will ever happen to the Sun newspaper or The Daily Sport then eh ? Eventually they ' ll ban everything to the top shelf . My newsagent Mr Shah will probably have to re - mortgage his house and family to pay for an extension on his top shelf . 
Behind Every Good Woman is a good ..... So there we have it . Hazel Blears ( or Blair ) has announced that the current leadership of the Labour party is not great . Ok . We know that . More interestingly though is the enthusiastic criticism of David Cameron and his red / blue party . It 's time a female MP stepped up to almost suggest that perhaps she can do the job better herself . I ' m not being sexist in any way whatsoever . Think about it . Gordon Brown up against the new boy in the next election ? Gordy wouldn't stand a chance . A slightly over than middle aged man who likes listening to the " Arctic Monkey 's ? " ( I think he said that in an interview once ) Why not give it to someone already outspoken about the reality of the failures of New Labour eh ? So she can in one breath , discredit the leadership skills of present and potential PM and make amends . Oh , and she ' d make a great Prime Minister in much the same way Maggie did . What goes around comes around ? She seems to be a very clear candidate for the leadership . A very confident one ...... and may just save the Labour party . 
Afro Samurai trailer . I ' ve been hearing about this anime called Afro Samurai for years . It originally started out as a manga , and then somehow Gonzo and Samuel L . Jackson got interested in turning it into an anime and live action movie . The anime is finally coming to frutation this fall on Spike TV . Here 's the trailer . The character designs look kind of cool . It seems almost like a more violent version of Samurai Champloo . Source : Anime Nation . 
HINCAPIE ? HINCAPIE AND THE DISCOVERY TEAM MUSTA HEARD ABOUT THE DRUG ISSUES BEFORE THE TOUR BECAUSE THEIR PERFORMANCE ( IN COMPARISON TO LAST YEAR ) SEEMS LIKE THEY KICKED THE HABIT . I THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA SHOW EM WHAT A DOMESTIQUE IS ALL ABOUT . MAYBE NEXT YEAR . 
THE REVEREND GOIN DOWN . YES , THIS IS A MAN OF THE CLOTH DRUNK OFF HIS ASS ON A FIXIE ; SORT OF . ACTUALLY THAT SHOULD BE PAST TENSE . ALWAYS GOOD TO PARTY W / YA JAMES , BUT I COULDN ' T DO IT EVERYDAY . 
STRAWBABIES . TOOK MY LOVELY BRIDE OUT TO PUNGO TO PICK US SOME STRAWBABIES . MAN , THE FRESH ONES ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE STORE BOUGHT . AND IT REMINDS YOU THAT THEY ARE NOT JUST ON THE SHELF IN THE PRODUCE SECTION . I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY , I WENT PICKING W / MY FOLKS AND ON THE WAY HOME I WAS IN THE FLOORBOARD OF THE BACK SEAT BEING ALL QUIT . MY FOLKS COULDN ' T FIGURE OUT WHY I WAS SO QUIET BACK THERE . THEY JUST LEFT ME ALONE AND THOUGHT I WAS SLEEPING . LITTLE DID THEY KNOW , I WAS BITTING THE TIPS OFF OF ALL THOSE DELICIOUS BERRIES . DEVIOUS LITTLE BASTARD . 
BACK IN BLACK . THAT IS A DELICIOUS MURPHY ' S STOUT . SO , DARK ITS ALMOST BLACK AND I GOT THE BLACK SIX 13 OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I GOT THE EDDY MERCKX . AND YOU KNOW HOW THE SAYING GOES . 
Gettin a little ride . We had a couple of days that were close to the eighties in early March that just remind me of how much I hate winter . And if you look closely you can see that beer drinkin is what I do when I ' m not riding . Screw winter , its a suck fest . 
something you don't see every day . Imagine a kite three times the size of your house . Imagine a kite that requires a ' string ' with a breaking strength of 20 tons or a dump truck to serve as anchor . The world 's biggest kite ! 
bad joke du jour . Mr. Bear and Mr. Rabbit didn't like each other very much . One day , while walking through the woods , and they came across a golden frog . They were amazed when the frog talked to them . The golden frog admitted that he didn't often meet anyone , but , when he did , he always gave them six wishes . He told them that they could have 3 wishes each . Mr. Bear immediately wished that all the other bears in the forest were females . The frog granted his wish . Mr. Rabbit , after thinking for a while , wished for a crash helmet . One appeared immediately , and he placed it on his head . Mr. Bear was amazed at Mr. Rabbit 's wish , but carried on with his second wish . He wished that all the bears in the neighboring forests were females as well , and the frog granted his wish . Mr. Rabbit then wished for a motorcycle . It appeared before him , and he climbed on board and started revving the engine . Mr. Bear could not believe it and complained that Mr. Rabbit had wasted two wishes that he could have had for himself . Shaking his head , Mr. Bear made his final wish , that all the other bears in the world were females as well , leaving him as the only male bear in the world . The frog replied that it had been done , and they both turned to Mr. Rabbit for his last wish . Mr. Rabbit revved the engine , thought for a second , then said , " I wish that Mr. Bear was gay ! " and rode off as fast as he could ! 
pending lawsuit . Against : Paul Baker 2801 Stanbridge St Apt A 507 Norristown PA 19401610 - 279 - 8323 Independence Construction Materials Devault Area Supervisor - Q . C . Office - 610 - 296 - 1076 Mobile - 610 - 476 - 5625 also potential charges of fraud and using a stolen credit card . 
bad joke du jour . A big shot businessman had to spend a couple of days in the hospital . He was a major asshole to the nurses because he bossed them around just like he did his employees . None of the hospital staff wanted to have anything to do with him . The head nurse was the only one who could stand up to him . She came into his room and announced , " I have to take your temperature . " After complaining for several minutes , he finally settled down , crossed his arms and opened his mouth . " No , I ' m sorry , the nurse stated , " but for this reading , I cannot use an oral thermometer . " This started another round of complaining , but eventually he rolled over and bared his rear end . After feeling the nurse insert the thermometer , he heard her announce , " I have to get something . Now you stay JUST LIKE THAT until I get back . " She leaves the door to his room open on her way out . He curses under his breath as he hears people walking past his door laughing . After almost an hour , the man 's doctor comes into the room . " What 's going on here ? " asked the doctor . Angrily , the man answers , " What 's the matter , Doc ? Haven't you ever seen someone having their temperature taken ? " After a pause , the doctor confesses , " Well , no . I guess I haven't . Not with a carnation anyway . " . 
Kelley Blue Book ripoff . Ever try to trade in a car to a dealer and find out that the value of your trade - in wasn't as high as you expected ? Chances are , the dealer quoted a Kelley Blue Book number when he lowballed you . I ' ve suspected the KBB values were low for years now , and apparently so have others . If you ' d like to see a true market value for your vehicle ( and you ' d be foolish not to know that before taking your car to a dealer ) , try looking up similar auctions on ebay , or check Edmunds pricing instead . And if a dealer shows you a Kelley Blue Book value when taking in your car , rest assured they think they 're taking in a sucker .. hook , line and sinker . 
Lucas With The Lid Off . One of the most creative music videos I ' ve ever seen . Lucas With The Lid Off . The reason it 's so clever is that the whole video was shot in one location in one take ( altho it took 17 attempts to get it right ) . Because the same people appear in different ' scenes ' , they had to run around the camera and position themselves within a few seconds . Even though it made Lucas into a one - hit wonder , it has had a cult following ever since its debut . 
Peace Activist beats up musician . IN a story reminiscent of Al Franken assaulting a protestor , a ' peace activist ' doesn't get his way , and immediately resorts to violence . This time putting a 19 year old musician into a coma . As expected , the peace thug 's parents rush to his side to support him , saying that the media isn't telling the whole story . Personally , I don't think we need to know the ' whole story ' when it involves some jerk cold - cocking another guy after the other guy tells him to leave his girlfriend alone . The fact that the guy is a ' peace activist ' merely points out his hypocritical lifestyle . 
bad joke du jour . A young man was strolling down a street in south London . As he passed a large building with a fence around it , he heard a group of people chanting " Thirteen , thirteen , thirteen " over and over again . Curious , he tried to see over the fence , but couldn't . Then he spotted a knot in the wood , and put his eye to the hole . He just managed to spy some old people sitting in deckchairs chanting , before a finger came out of nowhere and poked him in the eye . As he staggered back , the old people started chanting , " Fourteen , fourteen , fourteen ... " . 
Ku Klux Klan member is honored in Senate . Democrat Senator Robert Byrd is honored by the U.S. Senate for being the longest serving Senator in history . Something for the party of Chappaquiddick to be proud of , no doubt . 
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on this day in 1980 . At 8:32 a.m. PDT , Mount St. Helens , a volcanic peak in southwestern Washington , suffers a massive eruption , killing 57 people and devastating some 210 square miles of wilderness . Called Louwala - Clough , or " the Smoking Mountain , " by Native Americans , Mount St. Helens is located in the Cascade Range and stood 9,680 feet before its eruption . The volcano has erupted periodically during the last 4,500 years , and the last active period was between 1831 and 1857 . On March 20 , 1980 , noticeable volcanic activity began again with a series of earth tremors centered on the ground just beneath the north flank of the mountain . These earthquakes escalated , and on March 27 a minor eruption occurred , and Mount St. Helens began emitting steam and ash through its crater and vents . Small eruptions continued daily , and in April people familiar with the mountain noticed changes to the structure of its north face . A scientific study confirmed that a bulge more than a mile in diameter was moving upward and outward over the high north slope by as much as six feet per day . The bulge was caused by an intrusion of magma below the surface , and authorities began evacuating hundreds of people from the sparsely settled area near the mountain . A few people refused to leave . On the morning of May 18 , Mount St. Helens was shaken by an earthquake of about 5.0 magnitude , and the entire north side of the summit began to slide down the mountain . The giant landslide of rock and ice , one of the largest recorded in history , was followed and overtaken by an enormous explosion of steam and volcanic gases , which surged northward along the ground at high speed . The lateral blast stripped trees from most hill slopes within six miles of the volcano and leveled nearly all vegetation for as far as 12 miles away . Approximately 10 million trees were felled by the blast . The landslide debris , liquefied by the violent explosion , surged down the mountain at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour . The avalanche flooded Spirit Lake and roared down the valley of the Toutle River for a distance of 13 miles , burying the river to an average depth of 150 feet . Mudflows , pyroclastic flows , and floods added to the destruction , destroying roads , bridges , parks , and thousands more acres of forest . Simultaneous with the avalanche , a vertical eruption of gas and ash formed a mushrooming column over the volcano more than 12 miles high . Ash from the eruption fell on Northwest cities and towns like snow and drifted around the globe within two weeks . Fifty - seven people , thousands of animals , and millions of fish were killed by the eruption of Mount St. Helens . By late in the afternoon of May 18 , the eruption subsided , and by early the next day it had essentially ceased . Mount St. Helens ' volcanic cone was completely blasted away and replaced by a horseshoe - shaped crater -- the mountain lost 1,700 feet from the eruption . The volcano produced five smaller explosive eruptions during the summer and fall of 1980 and remains active today . In 1982 , Congress made Mount St. Helens a protected research area . Mount St. Helens became active again in 2004 . On March 8 , 2005 , a 36,000 - foot plume of steam and ash was expelled from the mountain , accompanied by a minor earthquake . Though a new dome has been growing steadily near the top of the peak and small earthquakes are frequent , scientists do not expect a repeat of the 1980 catastrophe anytime soon . Oddly enough , I have not read any reports of the Sierra Club attempting to sue Mother Nature for the resulting damages which vastly exceeded the impact which would result from drilling in ANWR , the Alaskan region officially set aside by the federal government for the sole purpose of oil exploration . 
on this day in 1792 . Traders make deal under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street The early 1790 s were not a good time for New York 's burgeoning class of speculative traders . Their collective reputation had been badly tarnished by the fall of William Duer , a powerful speculator who illegally parlayed privileged information into successful speculative trades . Along with an extended jail term , the maneuver left Duer broke , which all but destroyed the traders ' nascent market . However , rather than give up on speculative trading , the dealers and auctioneers decided to clean up their operations . On this day in 1792 , a group of twenty - four traders gathered under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street in lower Manhattan to mete out the conditions and regulations of the speculative market . The result was the Buttonwood Agreement , a modest , two - sentence contract that gave birth to the New York Stock Exchange , which would become the world 's largest forum for trading stocks and securities . Where speculators had previously conducted their auctions twice a day in various locations , including street corners and coffeehouses , the Buttonwood Agreement established stricter rules and parameters to more effectively govern trading . 
Bad joke du jour . Three old men are discussing their sex lives . The Italian man says , " Last week , my wife and I had great sex . I rubbed her body all over with olive oil , we made passionate love , and she screamed for 5 minutes at the end . " The Frenchman boasts , " Last week when my wife and I had sex , I rubbed her body all over with butter . We then made passionate love and she screamed for 15 minutes . The old Jewish Man says , " Well , last week my wife and I had sex too . I rubbed her body all over with chicken schmaltz ( kosher chicken fat ) , we made love , and she screamed for 6 hours . The Italian and Frenchman were stunned . They replied , " What could you have possibly done to make your wife scream for 6 hours ? " " I wiped my hands on the drapes . " . 
Weird . Ok every now and then I get these sorta preministions about things that are going to happen . Not a joke ... Ive even put dates on some of the things . But just before I had got another feeling , its strange because I havent got 1 in almost a year . And this 1 feels big . Im not sure when or where " yet " but something big is going to happen somewhere , I feel there is going to be a major earthquake or volcanic explosion soon like with in the next 6 - 12 months . I cant judge it just yet but this major event is going to change the world ! When I mean major I mean along the lines of once in a 10,000 year event . lets hope im wrong ... 
Back 2 School !!! ...... Yea thats right im goin to go back to college .... but this time ima go away ... College ball here I come ...... Party scene - Desent still Bar scene - Good soo far U kno other then this blog tellin me .... I have no clue wat day or date it is ... lol New Mars Volta is pretty sweet ... Any 1 whos readin this I need a job until I start school ... any 1 wanna hook a brother up ? 
YO YO im back again lol . Umm first off .... Im goin back to college this time away to school ... I feel at this time in my life thats the best route for me ... Plus I get to play college ball .... Next soo far summer is 50 / 50 good at times wack at times but it will pick up .... $$$$ big issue I currently have no J O B which hurts cause I have needs lol .... umm wat else .... I heard a kool saying the other .. " Nobody knows anything " which is strange but true ? .... heres a quick detail of everything MOOD - Happy Girl - NOMusic - Arctic Monkeysyaa thats all for today ....... 
OK really ? Are girls really that stupid ? I really want to know ... Cause I thought they had at least some sense in there fragile minds ... From what I ' ve seen over the past 7 years ... U girls have no clue about guys ... honestly i really do think girls are more clueless about guys then guys are about girls .. its really mind boggling ?? Fuck ... Everytime I see or hear about a girl that does something thats just soo utterly stupid i just wanna sit them down and make them feel soooooo stupid about it .. but guy code clearly states in rule 47 paragraph 3 that 1 guy can't tell another mans secrets to the other sex .. that includes previous girls , sexually transmitted diseases , girlfriends ex . soo until u girls get a clue ... leave me alone and stay out of my circle of trust lol 31 - 10 - 06 . 
HOOKA . God what a weekend that really wasnt that good , but one of those weekends where u blaze * and drink * and hooka ** it up alot ... I waked and baked at 9 am on fri then 3 times lata that day , then sat I was piss drunk at 12 pm .. ( oo yea driving drunk in midday and sitting in traffic sucks ) then I continued to get more drunk lata that night , but it all ended good with a well deserved trip to a HOOKA * BAR * in the city . That place was pretty sweet , and we met some kool dudes that should hook it up with some sweet parties in the city . On another note SOPRANOS was a B - in my book today , really nothing special . I would like to the family evolve without Tony , it would be interesting what direction and who takes over in the next few episodes ? Would you give up love to be the richest person in the world ? Would you give up everything to love just 1 person ? 31 / 10 / 06 - life begins - 21 + . 
Beer is evil ........ I ' ve come to a conclusion . Beer is bad ... At least 2 me , I can't drink it anymore . I get like 6 beers in me - get a lil buzzed - then I get a massive MIGRANE ... WTF ... Soo i ' ve concluded that I am makin a beer last stand and givin it forever up .... Liqu * ere " HARD " is were i ' m goin from now on ^ ... 
I ' m back . To any 1 who reads this , i ' m back and goin to start writing in here more often . Sorry for the 6 month disapearence of me , but to all who care I had Arthroscopic Reconstructive knee surgery , for tearing my ACL & MCL during football . I ' m good now and soo is my blog ... We ' ll count this as my first official entry ... We ' ll currently still looking for a job after i left Sam 's Club after the knee thing , and it might look pretty good today / morning w / e it is , I find out if I got the job of Casting Mananger for a modeling agency . It 's pretty damn good pay , enough to move out within the next few months , and it seems like a interesting job . ( so if ur reading this post a comment maybe you can be a model ) . On another note , my sleeping disorder is still fucked up . Which is why im writing this at 3 am , it 's like no matter what pills I take it just doesnt help . Right now next to me I have - EXCEDRIN PM - AMBIEN - AMBIEN CR & TRAZODONE , w / e that is but they dont work , all they do is make me piss , which doesnt help me sleep at all .. OO yea once again since i didnt get to write in here then , being 20 blows , its like a waste year .. 
Quick Note . The cute giggling that woke you this morning and got you in the mood to commence ' kissy - huggy ' with your wife ... wasn't the wife . Your 4 year old 's hands are now large enough to defeat the ' child - proof ' door knob to you LOCK DOOR !!! 
Student Nursing Diagnosis & Another Night of Firsts . I have to share . Going over my notes from a recent Med - Surg lecture I realized I mistakenly typed a wrong word and started an involuntary self giggle session . My instructor mentioned the NANDA nursing diagnosis , " Risk for Infection " but I typed , " Risk for Information . " I found it funny because I thought it would make a great nursing diagnosis to be applied to the overloaded mental status of a typical nursing student . Okay . Its either a sad commentary on my state of mind or it really is funny . I ' ll let you decide . If you have some related to 's feel free to leave them in the comment section . Who knows . Maybe we can collaborate on a new NANDA diagnosis .. HA ! No OB clinical this week ( translation : one less care plan to turn in this week : - ) Med - Surg - ) Aside from the injection disappointment I did get to hang 1000 m L of procainamide . For those of you unaware procainamide is an antidysrhythmic that comes in a bottle ... not a typical bag . Since a bottle is rigid it cannot collapse like a plastic bag as it empties its contents , hence ... the release valve ! Every so often the ( student ) nurse must open a little release valve found right above the drip chamber to allow air into the bottle thereby eliminating a potential vacuum . I know this is silly but hey ... it was news to me . Too Fat the IV pusher The subtitle can easily be misconstrued but I ' ll let it stand ... lol . I performed my first IV push last night . It also felt good to have the answer to my instructor 's question ready to fire as soon as she asked : " Now Mr. Student Nurse ... how fast are you supposed to administer this drug ? " " 2 m L of famotidine mixed with 5 to 10 m L of normal saline is to be infused over 2 minutes . " " Very good . Now quit standing around and get going . " I could see she had a knowing twinkle in her eye . The Night of ' the Ugly ' In the world of ( student ) nursing there are clinical tasks that can be categorized , " The Good , the Bad , & the Ugly . " Last night I had to perform what most would consider ' the Ugly ' . During report I was informed that a stool sample would need to be ' obtained ' for lab ( hemoccult ) ... and the patient was not expected to have a bowel movement during the shift . With a grin on her face & a giggle in her voice my instructor added , " If you haven't guessed this means you are going to have to go in after IT . " 1630 student nurse accompanied by fellow male student nurse into pt 's room to find pt laying in recently poured out pitcher contents ( water ) 1645 pt resting comfortably after gown and linens changed by student nurses & a fresh pitcher of ice water on side table 1646 pt responds to student nurse request for stool sample , " You go to hell ! " 1700 instructor responds to student nurse report of pt refusal stating , " Give him a few hours to forget , try again , and bring a female student nurse with you . " A few hours later I was able to forgive my giggling instructor as her advice paid off . All my patient needed was a female hand to hold as Student Nurse Jellyfinger did his job . One thing I remember from Foundations was that GI bleeds smell to high hell . Last night that belief was challenged ... and I ' m a believer ! 
I ' m still here ... Just leaving a note . I ' m still here but my assignments and clinicals have heated up ! Don't forget about me and thank all of you for such wonderful comments . They mean a lot to me . I hope to post again this weekend after my 18 hour Friday and 9 hour Saturday are complete . Too Fat , S / N . 
The Week pt replies , " if y ' all can't get my pain under control I ' m going to the ER ! " 0845 instructor marches to pt room and informs pt that she is not going to the ER and reminds her that if she hadn't insisted on her IV being taken out she would have gotten her pain med by now .0900 telephone order from physician received by instructor ; pt receives oral and IM pain meds ... enough to knock out a horse ! 0945 upon entering room pt found walking around room holding BIG camcorder filming baby in bassinet ; pt surprised to see student nurse ; pt reports pain is now a 10 out of 10 ! 1000 instructor rolls eyes as student nurse reports latest with mommy # 2 ; instructor tells student nurse , " check on pt again in one hour . " 1100 pt in high Fowler position nursing baby on right breast and watching television 1130 instructor returns with student nurse to room to conduct education session ; instructor begins with topic , ' Proper Nipple Care for Nursing Mothers ' with a swift reply from pt , " I don't breastfeed . I use formula " 1131 instructor undetered proceeds with new topic , ' How to Prevent Milk from Coming In ' . [ chuckle ] 1200 instructor asks student nurse in hallway , " Wasn't she JUST nursing that baby an hour ago ? " 1200:03 student nurse replied , " Yes. And her chart reads that way too . " I ' ll spare you the rest . But it was an interesting rest of the day . BTW , my instructor had a few choice words with the nurse who reported to me at the beginning of the shift for not mentioning the fact that mommy # 2 was a freakin ' psycho ! Med - Surg Clinical Week 4 - Contact Isolation The patient I picked up on Thursday with a diagnosis of abdominal pain evolved into a diagnosis of E . coli 0157 by the time I arrived on Friday . When I asked my reporting nurse about a blood pressure / pulse oximeter for his room I was told : " Just grab any of the ones from the hallway ... that 's what I ' ve been doing all shift . " " Is there at least a cuff and a thermometer in his room ? " " No. I ' ve just been using the ones in the hallway . " " Uhhhh . Okay . " It was amusing that the nurse manager felt the need to take ME aside to sternly grill me about proper use of gown and gloves . But , I think I won her over quickly . I told her I understood and brought to her attention that my patient , who is on contact isolation , has no equipment dedicated in his room for checking vitals . She thanked me and then proceeded to quiz my reporting nurse by asking , " What equipment have you been using to take this patient 's vitals ? " Ouch ! I stayed out of that one . My poor pt turned out to be an easy case . He was a walkie - talkie that stayed in his room , watched tv and drank tons of soda ! Again ... nice guy . I hated that he was going through all that . 
Nursing School & the Challenges of Fatherhood . Clinical Math Our OB clinical schedule has been posted and I was surprised to learn I had one more clinical than expected . It turns out that clinical hours are being calculated differently than last semester ( psych & community ) . The instructor is subtracting out lunch breaks . Last semester our clinicals were calculated by the total amount of time we were required to be at the facility . I ' m not complaining b / c I need the clinical experience . I just wish my clinicals weren't stretching into finals week . **************************** As usual , my head has been buried in the books . I ' m studying for yet another round of tests next week . Every few hours I like to take a break and re - join my family for a taste of reality . The 4 - year - old & Clean Technique My oldest receives the same instruction every evening before dinner from his mother , " I want you to go wash your hands before dinner . " Now , this is a simple request ( you would think ) but let me share with you how this simple request translates in the mind of a four year old and the resulting stages of hand washing : Stage 1 . ) Declaration . The child makes the statement , " I don't want to wash my hands . " This is not effective but it is an honest sentiment and it is considered , in combat rules , a ' warning shot over the enemy 's bow ' ! This stage sets the tone for the coming sea battle . Stage 2 . ) Relativity ( aka ' My Parents are Fools ' ) . Identifying this stage is easy . One just listens for the 3 - 5 seconds ( max . ) of water running in the bathroom followed with a proclamation , " Momma ? I ' m done ! " Important parent note : Discretely look to see if the soap tray is wet or dry Stage 3 . ) Realism . This stage is the result of introspection on the part of the child . The child realizes that all attempts up to now have failed . If he / she is going to have a chance in hell of getting out of actually washing hands ... now is the time to get serious about deception . REALISM IS A MUST : 1 ) turn water on for a miniumum of 30 seconds , 2 ) sprinkle water on soap dish , and 3 ) a better , fool - proof proclamation to ' sell ' the idea of cleanliness is required , " I used soap this time ! " Important parent note : Check BOTH hands & hand towel for traces of moisture . Stage 4 . ) Surveillance . This last stage is not always necessary but it is easily identified by a direct order from Admiral Momma to First Mate Poppa , " Get off the couch and go watch your son wash his hands before I hurt you ! " Note : a child does not have to go through all stages in sequence ( with exception to the first stage ) . Stage 1 is required because it is good combat etiquette . The MOST important thing to remember is that Poppa gets off the couch and does exactly what he is told ! 
Happy 4 th of July , USA ! Just got back from the fireworks display at the university . It turned out to be slightly more pleasant than expected . We timed our arrival perfectly . With two kids in tow ( both under the age of 5 ) we were seated in the grass 10 minutes before the firework display started . I was expecting it to be hot , humid , and somewhat uncomfortable . But it turned out that a storm was rolling in from the South and with it ... lots of breeze . We had fireworks to the left of the symphony stage and a lightning storm ( off in the distance ) to the right of the stage . It was kind of weird not knowing if the BANG was from the fireworks or the storm ! Fortunately , we never got any rain . So that does it for the official vacation ( vacation = no books , studying , school stuff ) . Tomorrow the wife goes back to work , the kids go to day care , and I go to the library and start hacking away at my list of things to catch up on with school . Happy 4 th ! 
Tell Me Again Why Nurses Can't Wear Capes ? ! Today was the first time in months that the wife and I have had time off at the same time ... AND DAYCARE ! Actually we ' ve known since last Thursday when my wife 's boss told her to go ahead and take Monday off . So , since Thursday I ' ve known how I wanted to spend our time together once our getting - reacquainted - time was addressed . I wanted to see the new Superman movie , Superman Returns . But I was afraid to mention it to her in fear that she would immediately shoot it down . You see my wife knows she married a big nerd . Computers , gaming , comic books ... I ' ve done it all . The computer career is over ( obviously ) , the gaming hobby is long dead , and the comic book collecting ended 2 decades ago . So it didn't come as too big a surprise when she finished my sentence for me . " Sweetie , I have a request about this afternoon . I was hoping we could ... " " Go see the new Superman movie , " she blurted . " I knew you were going to say that . " I could see that she was somewhat less than enthused . In recognition of that fact I did offer to back out and do something more wife friendly . But to her credit she would not deny me this little pleasure and so ... off we went . This review comes from someone who sat through the original Christopher Reeves series ( except Superman IV... nobody should have to suffer that one ) . From beginning to end , I thoroughly enjoyed the film . And as much as this is high blasphemy considering the late - great Mr. Reeves ... I enjoyed Superman Returns more than the original series . The story was well written and there was just the right amount of tension between Superman Lois Lane . I highly recommend it . It was on our way back from the movie that my wife threw me for a loop . " It surprised me that it was a romantic story . " " So you liked it ? " " Yeah . I can't believe I ' m saying this but I did . I liked it . " I love my wife . 
Eating In The Bathroom . I have to admit that before I became a father I never paid attention to the discrimination women suffer when it comes to the subject of breastfeeding . My wife would get the occasional glare whenever she needed to breastfeed in public but that was easily handled by her angry gorilla - of - a - husband flipping off said glarer ( besides , it was fun ) . I even had an acquaintance ( who shall remain nameless ) admit that he had a problem with women breastfeeding in public and they should go to the bathroom to keep people like him from feeling uncomfortable . Let 's just say this guy didn't get much action in the girlfriend department and had other more pressing issues ( namely finding a brain ) . But this acquaintance did state a predominant sentiment that I witnessed in the corporate world . My boss from three years ago chose to breastfeed which meant she had to find time throughout her day to go to the only room the company would make available to her to pump ... which was the bathroom . I can remember her uttering under her breath several times , " I wonder how many Bridgestone / Firestone executives eat their lunches in the bathroom ? " Madonna / Whore Complex That 's right . It all relates back to our twisted thinking about women that has led us to taking issue with a normal bodily function such as breast feeding and turning it into a perverted act . We want women to be whores in the bedroom but hide away ( their breasts ) and be virginal otherwise . Despite the fact that our society markets cleavage to sell everything from orange juice to satellite dishes . There is one undisputed fact ... BREASTS ARE FOR NURSING BABIES ! And since babies make up part of our society ... they need to eat ... and yes , sometimes that is in public ! So this is directed to you guys out there who think women should go to the bathroom to " whip out a boob to feed their kid " : Get over it ! If you tried to get over it and can't then you need to get some counseling ( unresolved Oedipal complex maybe ? ) If the first two suggestions don't help then maybe you should start eating your meals in public bathrooms If all this doesn't work for you then maybe you should just admit that you 're a shmuck and need to get sterilized so you don't cause more problems by breeding . Enlightenment is not your thing . 
Week In Review . OB clinical this past Wednesday was interesting . I was assigned two patients in the nursery . A boy and a girl . Cute kids . I REALLY relied on the skills I ' ve earned as " Poppa " to my two boys . The little boy was borderline jaundice so we had to keep a closer eye on him . The baby girl was as fat and cute as could be ... but fussy ! They both were good eaters although the baby girl would not go to sleep for anyone else in the nursery but me . Overall , I didn't really see anything I hadn't seen before until the offer came to witness a C - section . I jumped at the chance . It was quick but interesting . There were no surprises ... I recognized every part that was being manipulated ( which is good since I ' ve invested umpteen zillion dollars in A & P classes ) . The OB performing the procedure was very gracious . The scrub nurse was equally gracious . The patient had elected to have tubal ligation performed . That too was interesting to watch . ********************** Med - Surg clinical , this past Friday , was fairly uneventful . I picked up my patient assignment Thursday afternoon for the following day . Friday clinical started and I had all my paperwork ready that included a care plan and 15 new drug cards ( important to mention that I stayed up the night before working on it ) . And then I arrived to find out my patient had been discharged earlier in the day . Happy for the patient but it sucked for me . So I got my NEW patient assignment minutes before having to start her assessment . Just rolling with the punches ! But , I shouldn't complain . She was a sweet lady . Poor thing had a stage 3 decubitus ulcer on the lateral aspect of her LLE ( translation : crater on the outside of her left foot ) . I liked her especially because she asked me to turn the thermostat down as low as it would go ! She won major points with me on that request . Despite her wound she turned out to be a walkie - talkie so I didn't get to do too much for her . During post conference my instructor informed us that she was giving us a few extra days to tweak our care plans ( since we hadn't received feedback from our first care plans until just then ) . It was a nice gesture . Would have loved to known that for reasons I stated earlier . But that 's life . ********************** Halleujah !!! I have all of next week off . Our dean scheduled the coming week as a break to give ( as one instructor stated ) " time for the students to blow off steam ... and the instructors NOT to kill the students ! " . 
UPDATE ! Again , sorry for not having the time to post more so I thought I would add this little update . I posted earlier that I was disappointed in a Med - Surg grade where I made an 80 . At that time I was the only one in the class to have passed ( OMG , thats bad ) . Well it turns out after our test review that the teach mis - keyed the grading machine which resulted in several answers being marked wrong when they were actually right . Type I - III reactions are humoral immunity responses ... type IV reactions are cell - mediated immunity responses . That little tidbit of knowledge bumped me up 9 more points ( 80 to 89 ) ! Hellooooo B territory . There were several more people that actually passed the test ( besides me ) after all . Little note for professors . It is ALWAYS worthwhile to review tests with your students . We aren't the only ones to make mistakes . ; - ) . 
" Paging Doctor Stereotype ! " . Too busy to really write anything but I thought I would add this ... During morning coffee and entertaining the kiddies I found myself thumbing through one of the billion scrub catalogs I find myself receiving these days . They 're all the same . Twenty pages dedicated to women and the last 2 pages have scrubs for men ( token ) . This one particular catalog has about ten illustrations of men modeling scrubs and they are all using one of two male models ( a white model & a black model ) . I couldn't help but notice that there was only one picture with an obvious RN emblazoned on the breast pocket ... and it was the black guy . There were no other pictures of obvious male RNs ... especially not one of a white guy ! As a matter of fact all the pictures of the white male model had D . D . S . or M. D . stitched on his shirt . [ Insert forced , sarcastic laughter for an obvious reinforcement of stereotype here . ] On the flip side ... I have had two med - surg clinicals & both times I was addressed as " doctor " at least once during each shift . Once by a patient ... and once by an RN ? ! 
Another busy week . As if all our weeks in nursing school AREN ' T busy ... yeah right . So last week I didn't do so hot on my first Pharmacology II exam for the semester . I made an 80 . But I should feel lucky . I was one of a few ( 4 out of 20 ) to pass the darn thing . Our cool NEW instructor must have realized that making 25 % of the test ' fill - in - the - blank ' questions wasn't such a hot idea after all ... lol . I would have had a 92 had there been no fill in the blanks ... YUCK ! She gave us a chapter quiz ... I think out of guilt . This week went much better test wise . I made a 95 on the Pharm II quiz and a 90 on my first Med - Surg exam . Yeah . It feels good . That Med - Surg exam had me sweating bullets . This is the ' big - deal ' class this semester since the material covered makes up a huge percentage of the NCLEX . I studied my butt off for that exam and although a ' B ' is nice ... I ' m shooting for an ' A ' for the semester . I never make my best score on my first exam of the semester so I ' m feeling confident . Oh ... did I mention this is an accelerated program ? Most of us have B . S . degrees in other fields . We ' ve been going since Fall 2005 , we go straight through without any Summer break , and ( God willing ) we will graduate in Spring 2007 . This Summer session is really a challenge since we have fewer weeks than a normal semester and the same material to cover . No clinicals this week . So I ' m a little bummed . My OB clinical instructor has been out of town unexpectedly helping a sick relative and my hilarious Med - Surg clinical instructor is in Florida this week . I guess any accelerated program has to be more flexible than most since there are fewer breaks for even the faculty to take care of personal business . I can't fault them for that . Don't hate me for being honest . OB is a wonderful specialty and I applaud the nurses that want to go into this specialty ... most of us might not be here if it weren't for an OB nurse ! Being a guy ( and a big guy at that ) I know there is no practical need for me work in OB . And I can't blame the patient that says " NO ! I do not want a male nurse . " So this is the biggest reason why I signed up for OB this Summer . Its required and so why not take it during the shortest semester of the program . My other option was Pediatrics . I can see myself as a PNP someday so that is the reason why I decided to take it in the Fall . I ' ll have more time to absorb the information and enjoy the clinical experience . 
First Med - Surg Clinical . It was a start and my first patient managed to survive the night intact . Guess that is as good as it gets for a newbie . No , really . It was a good start to the semester . All those hours of Intro , Foundations , and Health Assessment paid off . I was proud of myself for stepping up and getting it done . But I have to admit I was nervous as hell . My night started out fairly well . I received report , got the MAR , and the nurses notes . Then I grabbed the blood pressure machine and AWAY I went to introduce myself to my first patient ( but not forget to take vitals and assess , of course ) . She was a sweet little lady but her room was a furnace ! Not only was I nervous but the patient liked to keep her room temperature a balmy 84 degrees . I was sweating more than any fat man should be legally allowed . I probably lost a pound or two in sweat alone .1600 meds were not a problem . Hung my first IV piggy back ... with a little instruction .2000 meds ended up a little more complicated . The PO meds went off without a hitch but I had to also clean my patients central line catheter dressing and change IV tubing . Oh boy . My instructor was there with me and thank god she has a sense of humor . Her words to me were , " Now that you have primed the IV line I need you to twist the cap off the end of the line , hold onto the cap and wait for further instruction . " I was so nervous that I twisted the cap off and immediately tossed the cap into the trash . Beat ... beat ... " Well , at least you listened to the important half of my instruction , " she remarked to the patient with a grin . " Now hand me one of the alcohol pads out of your pocket that I told you to get at the beginning of your shift . " Ah yes ... redemption . Here is my chance to make better on my earlier mistake . I proudly reached into my pocket and handed her one of the alcohol swabs I so proudly stocked in my pocket from the stock room . " Okay . Betadine will work but next time I want you to get me an alcohol swab . " What ? Damn it ! I grabbed betadine swabs instead of alcohol swabs . I ' m not finishing my first shift on a good note with this instructor . Fortunately both she and the patient had a good laugh ... at my expense . After all was said and done I did accomplish what I wanted to accomplish . Although I goofed a bit at the end I did have time to change her bed linens . That made me feel good to at least leave her in a more comfortable environment ... it was still 84 degrees . I ' ve never sweated or been so tired in my life . If I sweat that much next week my plan is to have my fellow students start a Lactated Ringer IV on me so I can take it with me as I go on rounds . I ' m joking of course ... maybe . 
what am i to do ? it 's kind of depressing to hear / read about other people 's eventful summer plans . travelling through europe , partying in the city , visiting friends ! now that i ' m thinking about it , i ' ve actually done all of these things so far this summer . it seems like it has been a pretty low - key couple of months for me , but i guess ithaca in the summer is just making me anxious . i really shouldn't be complaining at all . but i think i might anyway for a bit . : Pbasically , i have beef with living in ithaca right now . i ' ve been here for tooo long . i mean , this will be the second summer in a row that i ' ve stayed here , so i feel like i can never get away from school or this area for more than a few days at best . it feels constricting when i know it should be relaxing . normally i would be fine with the fact that i have absolutely nothing to do with my time other than read a book or watch some tv . but i need something drastic to happen ... something that takes me by surprise and removes me from this mundane daily routine i ' ve fallen into so easily . ugh . i don't know what i ' m expecting . i just want to rewind to graduation when i know what i ' ll be doing with my life after cornell . don't get me wrong , i ' m looking forward to enjoying senior year because i think it will be a lot of fun . i can't wait for all of my friends and roommates to be back in town for the school year . i guess i just have to be patient . besides , wishing away the next year is no way to spend my last year as an undergrad ! anyway , this upcoming weekend i ' ll be gone for a family reunion - ish thing at my aunt 's house in york , pa . and then again in 2 1 / 2 weeks for the counting crows concert . so it 's not all that bad . these next few weeks should breeze by with no problem , and the end of august will be here in no time ! 
woo ! good news on all fronts : my landlord informed me that after all of the construction is finished with the house he 's going to clean my comforter and put brand new carpeting in my room for being so patient throughout the whole process ( and it has been quite the process ) . the current state of my room : nora , who has been stranded in beirut with her family during the recent israel / hezbollah conflict , is finally getting evacuated to cyprus tomorrow morning ! this is a huge relief . my roommates and i have been e - mailing her back and forth constantly this past week to keep tabs on her whereabouts and the status of the conflict . hopefully she will be back in the states in no time . my sister just texted me to say she is coming up to ithaca for the night ! i don't know what inspired this sudden decision . i think some of her roommates might be up for the weekend or something . regardless , i hope we can get together for a drink or a bite to eat . it shall be grand . i ' m listening to voxtrot and it 's putting me in the best mood . they make me want to get up and dance and sing along . if you haven't listened to them before , i highly suggest you do ! 
i ' ve made the move ... to blogger . com ! i ' m getting really tired of livejournal and like the feel of this a little better . plus , i have more options to individualize my blog if i so desire . i don't know how permanent this is , or if i ' ll have the motivation to keep this blog or revert back to LJ . but for the time being , i ' ll be posting here and slowly importing my old posts so that i feel whole again . so uhh , stick around i guess . 
ex - " tufts terminator " kicks the bucket . UGH . i just spent the last 6 hours resuscitating my computer back to life . it took a nose dive for the worst and i had to completely wipe the hard drive and start anew . i lost everything on it . all of my pictures , documents , programs . this is bad news to say the least . i ' m really upset about the pictures . the other stuff i could do without , but the pictures ! ohhh the pictures . i had so many good ones with my new digital camera .. this is going to be hard to overlook . depression major . : ( if there is any reason to look at this in a positive light , it would be that perhaps now my computer won't cough up a lung every time i have more than one program running at once . it seems a lot faster now .. we ' ll see how long this lasts . on another positive note , i didn't lose ANY of my music . i have all of it on an external hard drive in case of an emergency situation such as this . i think i would have had a conniption if i los ... oh i don't even want to type it . the thought of life ( or days ) without music gives me the chills ! here 's hoping this is the first and last time i ' ll have to deal with this . only one more year until i get a macbook ! ( this is my vision , at least ) . 
Part 1 I don t think that the Reverend can be considered a dynamic character . In the beginning of the story , the Reverend considered Lieutenant General Lord Arthur Scoresby to be the supremest fool in the universe . In the end , he still had the same opinion on Scoresby only that he was very lucky . So I don t think the Reverend can be considered a dynamic character because his outlook didn t really change throughout the story . At least I don t think so . Part 2 By the way the Reverend told his story , Lieutenant General Lord Arthur Scoresby is a static character . Scoresby is the same kind of person in the beginning of the story as he is at the end of the story . He doesn t really change in any way other than obtain a high rank . According the Reverend s view , Scoresby was a fool in the beginning , Privately - he s an absolute fool , and a fool at the end , He is the supremest fool in the universe . . 
Part 1 In short , he became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise , and his days from dawn to dark , poring over them ; and what with little sleep and much reading his brain shriveled up and he lost his wits . He lost his mind because of all the reading he did without enough sleep . He excitedly read and read about chivalry , knights , etc , and that deprived him of sleep , which made him lose his wits . Part 2 Well , I admired how he lived because in the end , he was happy . Don Quixote lived without his wits but in the end he realized that he was doing these foolish things but lived a happy life . I admire this because he died happy . 
My Left Foot . Part 1 The incident regarding the chalk changed Christy Brown s life because it showed everyone that he was intelligent and not a veggie . His body was crippled but his mind was not . Evidence from the text says that he could now speak to people through written words , not spoken words . The chalk incident was his road to a new world , a key to his mental freedom . The vocabulary word that describes what happened that day is volition . He wanted the chalk and his left foot grabbed it as if it was acting on its own will . Another vocabulary word that could describe this event is miracle . Part 2 His mother overcame many obstacles . She had to deal with the doctor opinions , telling her that Christ was both mentally and physically crippled . She also dealt with the relatives . They told her to not get attached to Christ or she ll get hurt in the end . Lastly , she dealt with the doubts in her mind . She might ve thought that Christy was really crippled both physically and mentally . Though there were many obstacles in her way , she kept faith in her son and was not disappointed in the end . 
How Much Land Does a Man Need ? Part 1 This is a parable because it is kind of a short story and it teaches a lesson . The lesson it teaches is that people shouldn t be greedy or they ll lose it all in the end . In the story , Pahom ends up losing his life because he wanted , not needed , more land . He got greedy and lost it all . Part 2 His strongest characteristic is that he strives for what he wants . He wanted more land and he got more . Though , this characteristic combined with his greediness was a bad combination because it killed him in the end . I do admire this characteristic of him because he does all that he cans for what he wants . 
Two Friends & Damon and Pythias . Part 1 They decide that war is a stupid thing and that the people who are killing each other are worse than the animals . They both decided that men would never be free because of the governments and kings . This adds to the tension because they are talking about the war while a war is going on around them . They are lost in their discussion and they aren t aware of that there were men approaching them from behind . Part 2 The end of the short story Damon and Pythias shows us that the king , Dionysius , longed for a friendship like Damon and Pythias . He realized that friendship was an amazing part of life and he didn t want to end one . He wanted one instead . 
The Masque of the Red Death . Part 1 This short story was hard to understand because of the big words in it so I m not sure what the clock and the room represented . My guess is that the clock represents a person or human because it had a face and was kind of human - like . The room represents death . I looked this up on the net and it said that the seven rooms represented the seven stages of life and that the seventh room represented death . Part 2 " The figure was tall and gaunt , and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave . " The word , habiliments , in the sentence means some sort of clothing that the guy was wearing . If you use the context clues , you can figure this out because what can a guy be cover from head to toe with , other than clothes , that will makes sense . 
A Walk to the Jetty . Part 1 The flashbacks gives us the reason that Annie is leaving to start a new life . I didn t really catch anything else . Maybe she was old enough and she wanted to be more independent . Part 2 The road to Jetty symbolizes Annie s life . As she is walking to the jetty , she has memories of herself when she was younger . She remembers the when she was the apprentice of Ms. Dulcie , she remembers when she went to the shop and bought the items her mother wanted , all by herself . She remembers her old friend , the sun , the people , the island , and more . The road to Jetty symbolizes her past . Part 3 A rite of passage I m looking forward to is my high school graduation in 2008 . A fear or concern I have after this rite of passage is what I am going to do after my graduation . What next ? Where do I go from here ? I don t really know where I trying to go in my life right now but hopefully I will find the answer before this right of passage occurs . 
This is not a fun topic . At first , i need to tell you that it is not a fun and interesting topic . This was just my haphazard ideas . maybe you will feel that it is a little futilitarian , don't worry about that , it is just some ideas . ... ... We are learning knowledge about vaccine in these days . It makes me think about serious things , such as adverse reactions , diseases and so on . I have worried about these events before . The nearest one happened during my holiday in this April . I went back to China during this holiday , and my aunt reminded me to take a hepatitis B vaccine . Hepatitis B disease is a very serious infection in China , so all my family takes this kind of vaccine regularly . Furthermore , the vaccine I had taken could keep antibody in my body for 2 years ; moreover , this year is the second year . That s why I must take a new Hepatitis vaccine again . When I went to the hospital , I met some troubles . The doctor told me there were some different kinds of hepatitis vaccines I could choose . The distinctions between them were that they could cause antibody keeping in different period in patients bodies . For example , some one could maintain for two years , some one s effective period was as long as 10 years , but patients need to take 3 doses in different time . To my surprise , there was a kind of vaccine that could maintain about 10 years to 20 years was not made in China . I didn t remember where that one came from . Certainly , different type had different price , the price was between about $ 10 to $ 35 . Sometimes , too many choices were not always good for a patient , especially in the medicinal area . And there were many uncertain factors , likely some patients didn t get antibody after they had get injection . The doctor told me that if you get the most expensive you would have antibody for 10 years or 20 years . Nobody could tell me the certain result . Actually , I thought everyone wanted to get a vaccine that could protect you away from a certain disease forever . In addition , I always worried about if I would get adverse reaction , because who knew if this kind of the newest vaccine that came from other developed countries were fit for Chinese . I am afraid that I will get serious infection ; meanwhile , I am also fearful to get some adverse reactions . Actually , I am more fearful to get some adverse reactions , especially , the disease itself . I think that the worst thing is that your life is destroyed by your something that might save you . Finally , I just hope that such terrible events become less and less . 
A GOOD MOVIE " Armageddon " . I don't remember how many times I have watched this movie , Armageddon . Actually , I had watched that movie one more time this afternoon . This time , it had even given me a crash again . I love this movie . This is just an action , adventure and Science movie . It is about a group of skillful oil drillers become heroes who can save humans . The only thing they must do are flying to a really huge asteroid that will hit the earth and drill a enough hole and set a unclear weapon in order to destroy it . Actually , when they are noticed about this news and finish this mission , there are less than 18 days . It is reasonable to say that the rate of alive is about 50 % or less , because nobody has done that before . This is their first time , and also it is the last time . The main reason that I love this movie is that these drillers are just normal people , but they have done what heroes do . I always think which kind of people are heroes . I don't know exactly , but I know if you can do what they do when you have the same situation , you are a hero . Although someone says that this movie is not as good as Apollo 13 , and the whole story is not realistic completely , I still love this movie . If a movie can give people a good mind , active idea or just fun , I think that is enough . That is enough to attract you to watch at least one time . Trust me , or you will miss one time chance of enjoyment . 
A Memorable Trip to Stampede ! I became a cowboy !! Yesterday , some of fiends and me went to Stampede . It was amused . I hadn't seen such a busy festival until yesterday in Canada . When we got to the Victoria pack station , there were about millions people there . I could not use a Chinese phrase to describe what I saw , people mountain people sea . The most fascinating thing was that most people wear cowboy hats . Some of the hats were made of grass , some were wool . We decided to buy one so that we become cowboys . I found that visitors were form different places , such China , Japan , France and so on , there were many Canadians came from other provinces in Canada . Calgary became a very famous place because of Stampede . Because we didn't have time to go there until afternoon , we missed Stampede Rodeo . That s quite pity . On the other hand we watch Rodeo X Trick Request and Jam Session . And then , we saw Corral IAMS Super Dogs . Every activity was full of visitors . It was unexpected that there was a band show . All people were excited and crowded so we gave up watching . I was looking for a suitable cowboy hat for me and at last I found it . Although that hat was a little expensive , I liked it so much . There was a Stampede once a year so it was worth to buy it . It was about 11 p.m. but most people would not like to leave . When we were waiting for a C - Train in the station , we still saw a great many people take off trains and walk toward to Stampede . It was the last two day to hold up Stampede so people wanted to have more fun there . Nobody wanted to sleep . Keep having fun . Suddenly , I remembered that someone say that if you want to have fun , you should go to Stampede . 
The trip to West Edmonton Mall . This was my first time to see this kind of bird whose body can be red . They are flamingo . It was very famous for its own ability . The reason of changing colour is that they live on one kind of plankton that can change colour of bodies . In other words , if they don't eat that kind of plankton , they won't be as famous as now . Another interesting thing was that I saw another another kind of animal , sea lion . It was so surprised that people could see sea lion show in a mall although I had seen that show in other places for several times . Actually , it is a pretty good chance to earn money . If you want to face to face with sea lion , you should buy tickets . This mall is really huge so that it can contain a water pleasure ground . People can not only swim in the pool , but also they can play bungee jumping . That 's real water bungee jumping . It was real pity that we could stay there just for 6 hours . If we come here next time by ourselves , we probably stay here for more than two days . And this is a good place for shopping . It is impossible to visit all stores in one day . There many brand name . You ' d better make sure you have enough money . That was a memorability day . 
A wonderful weekend . This week was so busy , specially Monday and Tuesday . There were 3 tests and a presentation . but now , they were gone . this weekend some of my friends and me will go to Edmonton . This field trip is organzied by International student centre . We need to pay $ 25 for the bus fee and some tickets . I have not been other cities in Alberta . I heard that there is a really huge mall in Edmonton . Although I do not plan to buy somethings , I should go there and look around . It need spend 3 hours ' school bus to arrive there , and we must come back at night . It is really short time for people who go there first time , to enjoy all the interesting things . Some of my friends study in University of Alberta , if it is averiable that I want to meet my friends in Edmonton . Also , I will take along with my camera and take pictures everywhere . Have a nice weedend !!! 
Survey . After Sally gave us our draft of survey questions , our group began to survey as soon as possible . We decided to choose about 9 people as participant . There are 4 native speakers , 5 international students , and 2 of international students are Chinese students . I have chosen my roommate as my first survey participant . It was luck that my roommate was at room . He was very polite to consent my requirement . Through this survey , I got some interesting answers . He told me that his favorite second language is French , and he really wanted to learn that . In his eyes , knowing the culture of other countries was his biggest impetus for learning second language . In addition , he agreed with that it was important to include learning second language in primary school and secondary school . He helped me to fix a problem . He suggested me change a sentence and its multiple choice question , so I change the question how long will you spend in learning a second language into how long would it take to learn a second language . Here is the example of that question .7 . How long would it take to learn a second language ? a ) Neverb ) Less than 4 c ) Between 4 hours to 8 hours d ) More than 8 hoursf ) Other In this case , we don t need to worry about whether the participants have second language , or they are learning a second language or they will learn another language in the future . In other words , this question is adapt to all participant we will ask . At last , thanks for everything . 
My new roommate . From this week , I have a roommate . His name is Logan , his major is psychology . In fact , he had moved into this room since last week . I thought he was an exchange student , because I didn t who was my roommate until June and he told me that he just live here for one month . A university student should begin his or her course from May . Through talking with him , I found the answer . He studies in Red Deer college in Red Deer . He has to attend one course in University of Calgary and this course last one month . That s why he came here . . When he came to this room , the first thing I thought was clean the room as fast as I could . I tried my best to use this room ; I put any things in anywhere . On his bed , I put my bags and clothes on it and the worst thing I done was I was doing my homework on his table when he introduced himself . Everything goes better now . He is very kind and it is relax to talk with him . My new university life begins . 
A little conciliative : I found the draft of my last blog . I think the draft below is just the survial one . And that is the last one in my old blog , I don't think more than two people have read that . After you read that , you will understand why I decide to change my topic of my blog and why I have such big impetus to write something in blog frequently . " Last week when I visited some student s blog I saw some movie posts . Those posts were talked about the new movie X - MAN . It made me have a idea that I decide to change the appearance of my blog . Those post were very cool . I was very interested in collecting movie post . When I studied in China , I always bought a magazine named The Movies Show . I read many kinds of movie magazines , such as Watching Movies , DVD and so on . The Movies Show was my favorite one . I remember that the first one I bought was about 7 years ago . The cover of that magazine was the post of Toy Story . This was monthly magazine and every periodical included a post of movie . I love each piece of post . Through reading this magazine , I have known so many things that I have never thought about what the movies is , what the purpose of the movies is . Now I could not tell you the answer yet because I don t know . I am just an audience . Of cause , I have also known some stories about movies , actors or actress , directors etc. I like watching action story , horror Story , and mystery . And I also like watching movies such as Forrest Gump . Sometimes , I watch a good movie for more than ten times . I always think that there must be more interesting things I have not found in this movie . In my opinion , that s true . the same movie , I would get some new ideas if watch that in different period . So , I want to introduce some good movies or interesting things about movies to every one by blog . I hope that you will love it . " My idea had changed since that time ... ... 
A new beginning . This is my second blog , a new one . Do you want to know why I build a new blog ? I am not a person who loves the new and loathe the old . The reason is that I deleted my blog unheedingly . I think all my friends will feel amazed when I tell this thing tomorrow . Actually , some of my friends have heard about that . I felt really amazed when I could not find my last blog , skyyahoo . I was just paused for a moment . That 's the only one thing I did today , and I think that it is the most deal one . " Really good job " I told myself . Of cause , I considered giving up . But I have written that I will introduce some interesting things and good movies to my friends . I can not give up . When I go back to my room , I decide to restart . On the other hand , this thing has at least one good effect . I always want to change my last name of my blog , and this time is my real time to write blogs . There is an important thing that I have to notice my friends and instructors this news one by one . Forget old , starting form here ....... 
Anstrengend . Hrabal writes at some point of a book that men are like olives - Sophia sang that men are like seasons : nice song - : they give their best when they are under pressure ... it is supposed to be a sentence taken by Lao Tzi ... but the origin it is not so clear ... Hrabal used to drink a lot , as his characters ... memories get mixed up , like mine after yesterday night ... The thing is that last night I slept three hours or maybe less , today I went to work and I actually felt ok until one o clock , when I almost fell asleep watching a cartoon with my kids - Aladdin and the King of Thieves or something like that ... after that the time run kind of fast ... Leonie , a two years and a half old girl , run to me this morning just to say hello ... and she hug me very spontaneously ... it was the first time she was so open with me - usually she cries a bit when her mother leaves her there and keeps the finger in her mouth for hours ... today she even asked me to bring her to the toilet ... it is stupid to feel satisfied for such a thing ? " Hey I have to pee , come with me ! " ... no in the end I do not think so ... I do not feel tired at all now ... just a bit over - something that I still have to define ... 
... I went to the exhibition of the students of the UDK - Universit t der K nste - today ... a friend studies there but she could not come along with me ... that was actually a pity because I would have probably enjoyed the whole thing much more .... anyway it has been interesting ... and stimulating as well ... Sunday is my only free day ... with these two jobs time runs really fast and it is not easy to cope with all the things I would like to ... but I keep my mind busy and that is good ... Life is not stressy , that is for sure ... but , on the other side , it is not so easy to get used to this new life style : waking up at 6.30 is kind of tough ... days are really long but they pass by fast ... In the end I won t go to Turkey : I talked with some people and realized that it is not the right place for me now ... need something different ... Croatia or Sicily seems more tuned with my wishes ... but in the end I will go somewhere alone ... everybody is busy in that period ... 
Distorted Temporal Perception . Sunday afternoon without any plan for the next two hours ... I managed to avoid any contact with the Love Parade yesterday ... nice ... Two months are gone ... fast or slow ? I can t say ... Am I lazy ? I had hoped that , at least this time , the 2 + 2 = 5 thing could have worked : " only four days are gone but it seems like they have been five " ; " only four weeks are gone but it seems like they have been 5 " ...... it never worked out ... this time I cross my fingers with months ... it would actually be cool if the result was not : " 2 + 2 = 0 " , as it happens so far ... Mal sehen ... 
Einfach so ... I owe my blog a post about the World Championship ... I will do it in the future ... After a week in the kindergarten , I have already conquered a girl , who declared her love to me , yesterday in the morning ... I did my best not to laugh : I guess she would have felt hurt to some extent ...... but the best happening of yesterday was winning the confidence of another small girl , three years old : Joanne ... big blue eyes and a funny way to walk ... when I went to my class at eight thirty in the morning , she was having her breakfast : she could not stop wondering while looking at me , but she did not trust me at any point ... she did not want to leave her actual teacher , not even for a second ... so the time passed by until we went to the garden for their open air games session ... it looks like a Fellini s movie : sixty kids ( maybe more , maybe less ) moving non - stop , like electrons around the nucleus ( if you know how fast they go , you do not where they are ; if you know where they are , you do not know how fast they go ... ) , without a clear aim but with so much energy that is incredible ... my duty was to take care of those among the youngest who wanted to play with the slide ... after a while , like a table - tennis - ball , she went close to me ... I proposed her to have a ride in the slide , I offered her my hand , she took it and for half an hour she was holding it ( or my trousers ) non - stop ... smiling and yelling : every time she was standing up on the slide , she literally threw her arms to me ... she could be the perfect allegory of the Truth : she is , actually ... also because when her teacher told her that she had to go upstairs , she showed off all her disappointment ... but she came back with me , mourning a bit , in a Gramelot language that will never be translated ... 
Always the same good hopes , as before every single summit ... Should we believe a quarter of what is written in this article ? I do not , actually , and I found it annoying ... Mr. Putin s Good Will . 
Fairy Tales , games , water - games , cards - games , talks - in a language that is German till a certain point ... everytime I make them smile , I think I did a good choice , once more .. it won t be forever but it is definitely like breathing fresh air every single damned morning ... 
I love this song .. Well I love this song so i wanna show u ... SACRIFICE ( ELTON JOHN ) Its a human sign When things go wrong When the scent of her lingers And temptations strong Into the boundary Of each married man Sweet deceit comes calling And negativity lands Cold cold heart Hard done by you Some things look better baby Just passing through And its no sacrifice Just a simple word Its two hearts living In two separate worlds But its no sacrifice No sacrifice Its no sacrifice at all Mutual misunderstanding After the fact Sensitivity builds a prison In the final act We lose direction No stone unturned No tears to damn you When jealousy burns . 
Chen , Chen , Cheney of fools . Show me someone who believes the Bush Administration , and the Republican - lead congress , have made the world a safer place , and I ll show you someone who most likely believes there was a middle - class tax cut , that their own sexual orientations can be altered by homosexual suggestions or temptation , that supporting the troops and public debate about war are mutually exclusive acts , and that Muslims hate us because of our freedom . And within this wonderland of thought , this person has somehow invented a place so mad that Dick Cheney has something to contribute ! How it is still possible for the vice president to get up in front of crowds and sell fear and death pushes my mind to the edge of understanding . Where are the lynch mobs with torches and pitch forks ? This guilty man continuing to push his Neo - Con . , war - without - end , Imperialism like everything has been going according to plan Oh , weren't you paying attention ? The opposition continues to be in the last throes of resistance . To abandon our plan now .... " Vote Republican or things will get worse ? As if this man , Rumsfelt , Wolfowitz , and the other architects of preemptive war and imposed democracy , didn't invent this mess . It s no accident the face the Bush Administration continually chooses to put on this disaster of a foreign policy is incapable of cracking a smile . Because this campaign , in the face of its continued fiasco , is laughable ! 
Liberal media bias ? Not quite . It appears the Media Reseach Center ( MRC ) has been taking lessons from the Bush Administration : start with a conclusion , then cherry - pick the intelligence . Last night I got around to watching a DVR ed , July 11 , Late Show with David Letterman . I m not a regular watcher ( I m more of a Conan fan ) , but Paul Reubens was the first guest , and I was a little curious to see what Pee Wee is up to . ( Turns out he s a damned weirdo . ) Anyway , the Top Ten list turned out to be the most entertaining , and what caught the attention of the MRC . Take a look ( or you can just read the list below ) : Top Ten Chapter Titles in George W . Bush s Memoirs 10 . 101 Ways I ve Misspelled Condoleezza 9 . Why Mom and Dad Voted for Kerry 8 . The Best Memos I ve Never Read 7 . The War in Iraq , a 6 - Foot Sandwich , and Other Things I Started But Couldn t Finish 6 . How to Lose an Election and Still Become President 5 . Good News America Just 923 More Days 4 . 1962 1964 : The Cheerleader Years 3 . Huh ? 2 . Bubba Was Right Monica Is Up for Anything 1 . Chapter 20 Or Is That My Approval Rating ? The Media Research Center , who has apparently been tracking liberal media bias since 1996 ( picture me furrowing my brow while making a jack - off motion with my hand ) , cited this as evidence of a liberal bias at the Letterman show . MRC even provides a link to the CBS . com Late Show home page , where the reader can find an archive of all the Top Ten lists , for years and years . Here is where their interest in tracking media bias takes a back seat to their desire to tag David Letterman a Bush - hater : If this so - called research center had spent just a few minutes getting a general overview of the many other subjects Dave s lists have poked fun at , the people at MRC would have concluded that this was a non - issue . My informal poll lead me to conclude that Monika Lewinski and the Clintons have been more regular targets of David Letterman s pencil . Liberal bias ? Media Research Center ? A warped , Christ - o - facist , political axe to grind , fronting as some kind of family - centered media watchdog group is what I see here . Hey , they convinced the FCC that America fainted at the sight of Janet Jackson s boob with a coordinated e - mail box stuffing campaign . Apparently two presidential elections of stuffing ballot boxes has emboldened some to think that s all it takes ! 
About Olbermann . Just a quick mention of an article in the New York Times about one of my favorite people in the media : Keith Olbermann . After MSNBC s firing of Phil Donahue , back before the run - up to the invasion of Iraq , I had pretty much had it with the network . MSNBC had hired hate - monger , Michael Savage , in an attempt to parrot the success of Fox News , and it seemed all they were interested in was promoting the war to boost ratings . A peacenick like Phil wasn t compatible with that . Keith was the right guy at the right time . And , according to the article , MSNBC has never had higher ratings . P . S . Notice the little Stewie doll behind Keith . I m also a big fan of the Family Guy . It would seem that , Family Guy creator , Seth Mc Farlane and Keith are mutual admirers . Certain segments on Countdown are cleverly announced by Stewie , the animated , wannabe - evil genius infant . ( Stewie and Bill O Reilly are both employees of Fox . I ll bet this creates some uncomfortable moments at the company Christmas dinners . ) . 
Imagine no Madonna , it s easy if you try . Madonna is losing her religion , according to friends . I wasn t sure my respect for this woman could sink any lower , especially after she joined Kabbalah * and started proselyting other celebrities , and ultimately fans into the religion . But now that she 's abandoning it as the threads of woven red bracelets everywhere fade to pink , and the Kabbalah Hollywood trend wanes I ' m reminded , once again , that the Material Girl has never really left us . Personally , I can t wait for her next project . I ' m thinking it will contain an apology , where she ' ll tell us how she became a victim , and was tossed around by the lies and deceptions of others , and how she s finally seen the light for the umphteenth time ( la Ray of Light ) . And we ll all forgive her , of course , because she s Madonna for chrissake , and because the music will have a nice beat and be easy to dance to . Don t get me wrong : I don t believe Kabbalah * is any different that other religions that bilk huge sums of money out of its followers . Any time a religion has pay - to - play regulations attached to salvation , or access to information , or god , or whatever , you have an organization that rewards and empowers the rich , and enslaves and impoverishes the poor . Like the Christian parable of the widow s mite , the rich man gives a much greater sum , but the widow s donation is far greater in comparison to her means . Madonna , having championed this religion , has probably won it hundreds , if not thousands , of new followers . I have nothing against celebrities speaking out . They have as much right as anyone . But now that Madonna has used her fame , wealth and influence to lead people into the intellectual bondage of money - grubbing charlatans who steal others time and treasure to enrich themselves , maybe she should remember this before she encourages others to follow her on her next journey of self - discovery : The ease with which she may be able to extricate herself from this sect may not be the fate of others she s influenced to invest in it . * After some discussion with friends , I decided I should add a disclaimer here : When talking about Kabbalah , I am refering to the organization known as the Kabbalah Centre , founded by Philip Berg , not the tradition of Jewish misticism . Apologies to anyone who may have been offended . Shea , 07 / 12 / 2006 . 
No child left ahead . VIDEO - WM VIDEO - QTYou may remember this video . It s a political spot that was created for a contest Move On . org held during the 2004 election year . Child s Pay , by Charlie Fisher of Denver , Colorado , was the people s choice and overall winner . I remember being incredibly moved by this video the first time I saw it . It still drives home like nothing else I ve seen how shameful and immoral it is that we re saddling the next generation with a mountain of debt , and leaving our county s future in doubt . I ran across it the other day and couldn t get it out of my mind . When it says Guess who s going to pay off President Bush s $ 1 trillion deficit ? , the word deficit could now read war debt . Economists are projecting the final costs to come out to around $ 2 trillion . Long - term health and welfare costs of the thousands of U.S. soldiers seriously wounded in combat may account for much of this . However , given the fucked - up priorities that have brought us to this point , and America s pathetic track record supporting veterans afairs , I question this . Oh , the money will get spent . It just won't be spent helping a bunch of battle scared veterans . 
Bluetooth headsets : the New Crazy ! I was walking home from work today and encountered someone standing under an awning ( presumably to escape the rain that was falling ) , arms at his side , talking aloud to himself . Since I was the only person within earshot , my mind logically jumped to the conclusion that he was having some kind of mental fit ( this is San Francisco , remember ) . But his speech was at a normal pitch , and the words weren t necessarily bizarre . They just lacked any kind of context to me a person walking by , concentrating more on side - stepping the larger puddles than what some total umbrella - less strangers might be saying to me or himself . Then I thought , he could be talking on his mobile using one of those tiny Motorola headsets ( actually , they re more like earpieces ) . They are , in fact , so small and light ( and apparently so comfortable ) that people walk around like The Borg forgetting this thing is installed on the side of their head . ( I say forgetting because the alternative is too weird . ) I flew to Portland , not long ago , and watched with amusement this twenty - something year old kid ( dressed in a power suit way too powerful for either San Francisco or Portland ) sporting such a device . He showed up with it hanging off his ear . He boarded the plane , sat through the flight , got off the plane , and exited PDX , having never removed it having never received a call , from what I could tell ! I know , because , after we landed in Portland , I followed him outside to the taxi lane . I was committed by then . But back to the techie / vagrant loitering in front of empty commercial space on Market and Van Ness : Does it really matter whether he was talking on the phone or to people who weren t there ? Talking on the phone so much that your arm gets tired of holding it up to your face is a good sign that maybe you aren t a very efficient communicator . A more serious look might find issues of co - dependency , or someone who hates being alone with himself . Phones are for arranging to meet other people face - to - face . For that matter , walking down the street is for enjoying the world , finding one s center , being a part of your community . Don t get me wrong : I work in information technology ; I am so connected I can do my job from anywhere . In fact , I do my best work at home with DVR ed Family Guy episodes playing in the background . I also get paid by the hour ! I m not attacking the technology . I have a Bluetooth headset for my Tr o ( which provides my only long - distance ) . I use it in my apartment for those long , friends and family calls so I can walk around , make dinner , or use my computers while talking . If I needed to drive a car , I d probably use it there too . All I m saying is walking around like Lt . Uhura , confusing people with your one - on - NONE conversation , isn t worth the extra gain in productivity that might be had . We ve all heard these conversations : just scattered subjects interrupted by elevators , street noise , and real people . So , disconnect , and CONNECT ! More importantly : Stop adding to the crazed , one - sided street conversation . 
On Delay . He s gone . The Hammer . Tom Delay . The man who championed the platform of the Republican Party ( authored by the hijackers of said party : the Christian Right ) , has announced his departure from public office . This , the man who used his power to insert the government into the difficult , private decision of a family ( trying to find dignity for their brain - dead loved one ) , after making the same decision for his own parent . This , the public servant of the people of Texas who used his influence to raise , and illegally funnel , hundreds of thousands of dollars into state elections to defraud millions of U.S. citizens out of the right to a representative government . Tom Delay violated his oath of office as a representative of the people in pursuit of personal riches and privilege , all - the - while , playing the role of some kind of Christian soldier : representing the personal religious beliefs of some , as he fought to limit the civil rights of others . He fought to keep worker protections from raising hundreds of migrant workers from a life of indentured servatude , squalid living quarter , sweatshop working conditions , being forced into prositution and sex salvery on the American protectorate of Saipan ( the Northern Mariana Islands ) , so we can buy disposable clothing at Old Navy , and Wal - Mart . His behavior has been revolting . And yet he maintains the confidence of a large population of people who somehow ignore his crimes in some Machiavellian pursuit of religious dominance over the state . Christians : people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus , who advocated honesty , meekness , charity , and humility . Somebody tell me how this helps further that end ? Something tells me this disgusting life is not finished with us . If he somehow manages to stay out of prision , he will , no doubt , be sucking the dignity and treasure out of this country until the god he claims to represent ends his pathetic existence . 
The War on Terra . VIDEO - WM VIDEO - QTHow about a little humor with your doomsday warning ? Yes , I realize this is copyrighted material , but the importance of the message outweighs any legality . Besides , it is only a portion , and it s being used for educational purposes . Plus , I think Bill would approve . As for HBO .. ? How about a plug ? Get HBO , if for no other reason than to watch Real Time with Bill Maher the most important discussion on television ! 
Episode 4 : Litter , rubbish , garbage .... you ! It 's another day and another arguement between HIM and HER . Sigh , can we at least see them romantically spend the time for 1 day without any arguements ? That 's too much to ask isn't it ? : ) This time around , the issue is who 's responsible for the litter , rubbish , garbage in their house . S : Hon , can you dump the rubbish from our room ? H : Huh ? I thought I just did 2 days ago ? S : Yes , you did but now its full again . Can you ? H : I think you are littering more than me , you should get it ! S : What ? There 's no way you can prove that , right ? H : You want proof heh ... ok wait here .. ( he walks to their bedroom to get their rubbish bin ) H : Look , its all yours . You facial tissue , cotton buds , some ' personal stuffs ' , more ' personal stuffs ' , and more ' personal stuffs ' . It 's all yours ! You get it ! S : Hey , its rubbish ! H : Exactly , and it 's all yours ! S : I mean you . You , rubbish ! H : I ' m yours too , ain't I ? S : Yes , but why can't you just get the rubbish . After all , the rubbish chute is right at our floor . You don't really have to walk too far for it . H : It 's not about that baby . It 's about being responsible for our own rubbish ! Your rubbish is yours , and mine is mine ! Own your rubbish ! S : Grrr , stop doing this and please just dump it for me for once . Will you ? I will work this one out tomorrow ! Next day ..... S : Here , from now onwards we will have HIS - Rubbish bin and HERS - Rubbish bin ! You think its fair ? H : Gulp ! Will this have any implications on our other activities in bedroom ? S : YOU BET ! H : Gosh , baby . I will be your personal garbage collector ok . Don't take it seriously ok . I ' m sorry . S : Sorry no cure . OWN YOUR RUBBISH ! --------------------------------------------------------------------- What a loser ! HE is in the most uncompromising situation any man wants to be . OWN YOUR RUBBISH ? ! Yea rite . Now pay for your own rubbish too ! He went on begging for an hour before she goes to bed , dumping their ' personal plastic stuffs ' in HIS - RUBBISH BIN ! TBC .......... 
Episode 3 : Yes Pet , No Pet . Only after a few weeks , SHE wanted to add a new member into their family . She was seriously considering her options , will they have time , are they financially secured to take up this new resposibility , will they be able to shower TLC , what about its daily needs and the additional expense it is going to spell ? S : Hon , should we add another member into our family ? H : WHAT !!! So early . I thought we will talk ' babies ' only after 2 years , its only been few weeks now ? Are you bored with me or what ? S : Hoi ! First of all , I ' m not talking about babies and secondly I am not bored with you .... yet . H : yet ? S : Yes , yet ! ha ha ha H : I demand an apology from you now ! S : Well , ok . Where do you want it ? H : Hey , I ' m talking about saying ' Sorry ' verbally . Nothing else . Don't get ideas ok ! S : Your lost . Not mine . Anyway , ' Sorry for the inconvenience caused ' H : Ya ya , papaya . Now , who are you talking about adding to our family ? Your mum ? dad ? sister ? neighbour ? uncle ? aunty ? cousin ? S : None . I want to have a puppy ... can I. ( giving him the sweetest possible look she could express ) H : DOGS ! NO WAY ! THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I ' M GOING TO BE UNDER ONE ROOF WITH A DOG ! S : Cat ? H : Cats too ... S : Gosh , I want a pet . And I demand a pet . H : What 's wrong with me ? Aint I cute , tall , dark , handsome , chubby , and an all - rounder just like what you wanted all along , rite ? S : Yes you are ! Not denying it . But , I think we can make do with another one right ? H : Mmm , baby please . No dogs , cats , reptiles , any animal that can over grow , create a swarm or turn vampire at nite . Anything else , we may consider it . S : Canary ? H : Smelly . S : Tortoise ? H : Too slow . Won't be able to pick the papers . And it 's a reptile . S : Rabbit ? H : I hate carrots . So , I ' m not going to buy for anyone in the house as well . S : Hamster ? H : Too small . I might step on them . S : Horse ? H : This is not a stable - lah ! S : Then what do you want ! Why are you so difficult ! Grrr . H : Ok ok , how about fish ? S : Fish ? Who 's going to clean the aquarium ? You ? Both ' Before ' and ' After ' , ok ! H : Mmmm . Now thats a tough call . May be we can get salt water fish . That kinda aquariums doesn't require much of cleaning and it is not to be done often . We can get the professionals to clean it every 3 months once . I can pay for it . S : What fish ? H : May be , Nemo ? Dory ? Some other colourful fishes ? S : Mmm ... now u are talking . H : Alright , we can go down to ' Asia 's Largest Shopping Mall ' tomorrow to get an aquarium . Ok ? S : Coolio . Just a question . H : Yes baby , shoot . S : Can it pick the newspapers ??? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?? ! ---------------------------------------------------------- They started chasing each other in the living room , continued to bedroom , bathroom , kitchen , before resting on the couch and watch , ' Flowers for Algernon ' ! Fish or mice ? Fish or mice ? Fish or mice ? TBC . 
Episode 1 : The apartment . Finally , after zeroing down on 2 apartments near Lake Salmon HE and SHE came to common understanding that they love the apartment at Sushi Villa . It 's a perfect place . Accessible to public transports , near to Asia 's largest shopping mall , well populated , and very near to KL city . They proceeded with the procedures in securing the apartment which costs them RM 180 K in nearest round figure . Deposit of 10 % , S Mrs Tan . They are from Mr. Tans family . This is Chee Ming and his sister Swee Ling . They are siblings . Don't you know that chinese family members share the same surname , bla bla bla ... ( obviously he is trying to make her feel more embarassed than him . ) S : Opps . I ' m sorry . ------------------------------------------------------------ That 's how their first meeting with the member of Tan 's went . Not a good start but at least there wasn't any issues with HER shouting and screaming ! or , they thought so ....... ( TBC - To Be Continued ) ... * - Indians perform a pooja for any new house they move in to , to get rid of any evil spirit which may exist . Oh by the way , our HE and SHE are an indian couple . 
Welcome Note ... an introductory into the life of HE and SHE . Welcome . Thank you for dropping by my new blog - com ( ala sit - com ) about HE and SHE . This blog is all about the daily happenings of HE and SHE who are young , married , white - collar working couple . They live in an imagenary city called Lake Salmon , Kuala Lumpur . Cool rite ? They co - own a small apartment which they plan to stay in for the next 10 years . They have been married only for 1 month now , and we will be experiencing their daily lives , at work , at home , their emotional roller - coaster , family , friends , pets , hobbies , movies and everything in their life . Including AND excluding their sex lives . Mentions here and there are to be seen but not in great detail to lable this blog as Porn - o - log . : ) By the way , let me introduce you guys to the protagonists of our story . HE and SHE . HE - 30 , hard working entreprenuer , cool guy , friendly and a free thinker , sort of . SHE - 31 , successful PR Consultant , even more friendlier than HIM , and believes in god more than anything . They have known each other for more than 5 years , before deciding to get married and settle down . After a few years of financial struggle they own an apartment , as I have mentioned , a black Audi , and a Chevy . Both are very career minded , open minded , pro self critisizing and enjoys kicking each others butts ( literally ) . Now , lets walk into their new apartment and guide them through out their lifes obstacles and hurdles .... p / s : This is totally imagenary , got nothing to do with the dead , alive or kicking ! 
Anatomy of a name !!!! Someone ( naming will be a gr 8 disservice to him !! waise the language we use nowadays is newayz a gr 8 disservice to him , but that sometime later !!! ) once famously said : " What 's in a name ? " . uff but ask me !! first of all my birth , I was destined to be born in the same era , when the " Love Story " was still so young and Bunty the Hero was still so adorable !! he only helped in people " bajaoing my ghanti " !! yes ! the name that became my identity before i got another ( my official identity ) superb name : ' ( . and see the fallacy , yash raj films after a good 23 years decided to make another movie with the hero again donning ( or rather conning ) the same name and released it on the same ill fated day ( my bday i mean ) , and the fun with my first ( nick ) name continues ...... then my parents going against the stars and family pundits recommendations , decided to award me a name that guaranteed me the company of atleast one other person and loads of confusion , wherever i went . but why the confusion ?? hmmm , ever imagined calling somebody and saying " hello aunty , how r u ? saurabh this side , can I talk to saurabh please !! " and the reply would invariably be wwwwwwhat ?????????? or responding to a call just to realise it was not meant for you !! and yes not to forget the various complements ( !!!! ) i keep on getting for my ( in ) famous namesake ! dada match ke liye practice kar li !!! and of late , dada chamach ki jagah bat zyada use kiya hota toh chapal se aisi pitai nahin hoti !!! but the real comedy comes in next , yes see my tragedy : ( , my name is a comedy . i am talking about the name with which most of my friends call me , and many even felt that it is my real name !! . tutu as i always understood it , but it does have its variations too -- like tuttu or tuutu or 22 !! see he is one only , its just that people like to call him by different names ; ) i break ( tuttu ) quite often !! and i m never alone , becoz i m always 2 - 2 !! and yes i shud always be challaned coz 22 people are not allowed on a single vehicle !! and the list goes on .................. waise i share my name with the a famous archbishop and also with a russian skirt and one flop bollywood producer , all reasons good enough for the continuity of comedy !! chalo i guess enough of my names , but i guess i will not be able to agree to the quote i begun with !! but before i say tata ; ) here 's another final ( and most fabulous too ) example of what i meant , a poetry for my name : tutu ke tutne se tut - ti hain tutiyan ... tutiyon ke tutne se tut - ta hai tutu .... wah - wah ......... 
untitled 2 . 12.16.2005 i have been ignoring friendster for the longest time ( well , except if i recieve a notification of new message ) . I ' ve been really busy honestly speaking . Been swamped really with a bunch of readings and papers that are always almost due everyweek . I ' m just glad that the semester is over . I know I share this hapiness with everyone . i have missed doing a lot of things this past semester . like watching tv i guess since i dont have one here at the dorm where i live in . i miss the food that mom cooks because the one they serve here sucks so bad . i miss relaxing doing nothing . I miss not having problems or not thinking when to turn in research papers . Just to think as to what topic i might want to write about is killing me . im just glad that i dont have to deal with almost weekly quizzes and tests anymore . I ' m glad i dont have to listen to anymore b . s . from my boring professors . i ' m just glad that the semester is finally over . before i wlecome the upcoming one , i ' ll just kick back and chill and enjoy wintek break in NYC . 
Takin ' Time To Shoot . I am off to work at the 2006 National Rifle and Pistol Matches at Camp Perry , Ohio . I ' ll be gone from Tuesday , July 18 until Thursday , July 27 , and I have no idea if there is internet access anywhere nearby . So , please accept my apologies if I am gone from blogging for about 10 days . Worst case scenario , I ' ll be back on the 28 th . I hope to catch up with some of you while at Camp Perry . Have a great day , Jay . 
GOA / NRA Confusion . I was reading the GOA email update about the recent passage of the Vitter amendment . No big deal . I saw they had only 16 senators vote against it , even though many there are many more senators with an " F " ranking . " Good job , GOA , " I thought . Of course , when I read the NRA Vitter - amendment - email , the NRA claims all the credit for saving the day . Typical , and irresponsible . Just for the heck of it , I clicked on the GOA 's 109 th Senate grades to review them ... moved on to the House grades ... checked Michigan rankings and found Congressman John Dingell , D - Trenton , with a " D " - again , no big deal , right ? Wrong . Congressman Dingell is a sweetheart of the NRA and consistently gets high ratings ( like A 's and A + 's ) from the NRA . Anyone else see a problem ? Yeah , sadly we all know this isn't the first time , either . 
Current Mid East Turmoil Explained . From Weekly Standard Magazine - Most of Israel 's traditional Arab enemies have checked out of the current conflict . The governments of Egypt , Jordan , Iraq , and Saudi Arabia are , to say the least , indifferent to the fate of Hamas and Hezbollah . The Palestine Liberation Organization ( Fatah ) isn't a player . The prime mover behind the terrorist groups who have started this war is a non - Arab state , Iran , which wasn't involved in any of Israel 's previous wars . -- Bill Kristol . 
Scary Times ? From the Temple Mount Faithful Israel is Attacked Again by Missiles and Other Weapons With the Backing of Arab and Islamic Countries - The G - d of Israel and His Faithful Israeli Soldiers Will Win this Battle as Well Israel is Now in the Beginning of the End - Time Gog and Magog War - The Rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and the Coming of the Mashiach ben David is Behind the Door It 's interesting . I often hear Christians talking about the End Times . I rarely hear Orthodox Jews talking about it , though . 
Thanks ? Senator David Vitter s amendment to prohibit the use of funds appropriated under the Homeland Security appropriations bill ( H . R . 5441 ) for the confiscation of lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency or major disaster passed the United States Senate with broad bi - partisan support , the final vote margin was 84 - 16 . In the House , Congressman Bobby Jindal of Louisiana introduced HR 5013 , the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 , an NRA - supported bill amending federal emergency statute laws to stop local authorities from confiscating lawfully owned firearms during times of disaster . from NRA - ILAGee , I don't know what to say . Should I say " thanks " ??? Should I sigh and say " has it really come to this ? " If I remember my civics class correctly ( yeah , it was a long time ago , but my mind isn't that dull ) , there was something about the Bill of Rights being written out and codified specifically so the rights listed would never be violated . Now it takes a vote from Congress to say , " Yeah , I guess we ' ll let you keep your 2 nd amendment rights a bit longer . " I guess I won't complain - it could be worse . 
Iran . Crude oil prices fell more than $ 1 a barrel Monday on rumors of moves toward peace in the Middle East and in Iran 's nuclear standoff with Western nations . How nice . " Slim spare capacity , continued demand and a spate of geopolitical threats to supply all point toward bullish oil markets and yet more upward pressure on crude , " said Simon Wardell at Global Insight . Note to Democrats - let 's increase our refining capacity here in the US . Let 's allow more drilling for oil . 
Castle Doctrine - Governor Signature Update . Michigan from about 200 miles above . Yes , that 's Canada south of Detroit . Sorry , my castle isn't visible in this picture . By law , the Castle Doctrine package must be signed by Governor Granholm no later than July 20 - two weeks after both the House and Senate passed the package . All Michigan citizens interested in protecting their right to self - defense must contact the Governor 's office and let her know you support the bills . She is expected to sign the bills , after all , it is an election year . Even if she doesn't , over 80 % of legislators approved the package , so it is virtually veto - proof . But silence and inactivity from Castle Doctrine supporters is absolutely inexcusable . Groups are working around the clock to keep the Governor from signing this bill . Take the few minutes to contact our Governor now , or spend months and thousands of dollars working out your self - defense legal troubles later . And don't forget why Michigan 's Castle Doctrine bill is called the Dr. Ossian Sweet Self - Defense Act . It 's a long - established historical fact : People need to defend themselves against hateful brutes . 
What Petition Did I Sign ? Lately I ' ve been complaining about a certain post at the State of Michigan website - a post urging citizens to sign an electronic petition demanding President Bush to intervene and lower gas prices . Apparently others are mad , too - but about something else . GOP charges governor used gas petition to send e - mail State Republicans charged Tuesday that Gov . Jennifer Granholm abused the trust and privacy rights of constituents when her campaign solicited support from 280,000 signers of an online petition about gas prices that the governor 's office circulated in May . Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis accused Granholm of duping citizens who thought they were registering displeasure over soaring gas prices with government officials but were instead signing up for campaign spam . 
Saturday Training Ride . I decided to bag the crit in Ft . Morgan since there are no upgrade points available and instead do a long training ride . The 100 + degree temps forcasted for Denver , saw me Ty , and Taylor leaving my house at 6 am ( ouch ) to try and beat the heat . Taylor was our tour guide today , and from the start was all business . We did 71 miles in 4:04 w / 4400 ft of climbing Avgs : speed 17.8 mph , hr 147 , power 172 Max : speed 53 mph , hr 178 , power 1117 total work : 2407 kj Looking forward to more of the same tommorrow . Oh Yeah - It sucks when your AC freezes and it is 101 out . 
Andy Finch / Sara Kay Memorial Crit . Andrei and I , along with 45 other nut jobs braved the fierce condtions for 50 minutes of pain on Sunday . ( Temp was 59 and poured rain the whole race ) I could have used a snorkel the first couple of laps . Felt like someone was holding a water hose in my face . After I settled in , tried my hand at getting off the front with a few other guys . We would get about 5 - 8 guys off the front but only about half would work or pull through . After my second attempt I went back to the pack and Andrei had a go which helped keep the pace high . I was able to recover during this point and when he was caught I attacked again over the top of the climb to keep popping guys off . I never made an all out effort to go solo , just to gap the field with the hope a few guys would bridge and we could get going . After this attack no one bridged so I sat up . That left us with 2 laps to go . Starting the last lap over the hill one of the guys I had been in an earlier break with attacked and got a good gap . I waited to see if anyone else was going to go , not wanting to drag the whole group up to his wheel . Finally Greg ( Spike Cycling Team ) jumped so I worked with him to bridge . The three of us ended up getting caught on the last straightaway , but had done our damage to the field because only 1 guy was able to counter before the last corner and climb . I ended up getting 4 th . Greg got me by half a wheel for 3 rd . The Winner got off the front after about 2 laps , and soloed home . I never knew he was gone until somebody said something with 3 laps to go , as I spent the first couple laps towards the back . I was really happy with race , being able to get off the front 4 different times and still finish strong on the climb . It was good to see Andrei at the front putting the hurt on as well and finish strong in 18 th . We are now tied for 3 rd place for the Best Team Competition and only 23 points out of first . 
Proctor Cycling Classic . Last weekend I headed back to Illinois to visit my bro and get a race in . I did the Proctor Cycling Classic Road Race which also happened to be the Illinois State Championship . I was excited to race back home , just to see how it compared to Colorado . picture The course was challenging with several rolling hills , but a little short for the 4 s if you ask me , only 32 miles . My plan was to sit in the first lap then hammer the last 5 miles ( several steep climbs ) as I thought it would split apart leaving ~15 guys . 32 miles wouldn't be long enough to make endurance a factor or be a advantage for me . Race started off as planned , basically a group ride . No real attacks , and no one driving the pace , big suprise . Waited for the last 3 climbs and I went to the front and picked the pace up . Got a good gap over the first climb and hoped some guys would bridge , instead 1 guy dragged everyone up to me at which time , I gave the flick of the elbow to pull through with no reaction , so I sat up , and so did everyone else . On the next climb did the same thing , got everything strung out , and finally turned around and told the guy to pull through , to which he replied , I can't . So basically they wouldn't let me go , but wouldn't work either . At this point we only had 2 miles left and I couldn't recover in time for the sprint , so came through in 8 th place . Team Mack won with XXX taking 2 nd or 3 rd . Big results for 2 teams that had over 5 guys each who didn't attack , help ride tempo , or do anything proactive . Do I sound a little bitter ? I guess they did win , but we should have all just hung out telling stories for an hour , then got on our bikes and sprinted for the town sign . What a waste of a cool course . If I come back next year , I ' ll definately be bringing some teamates . Differences between Ill and CO - Colorado is more agressive , faster , and teams play more of a role in the race . Competition is a lot tougher in CO . CO Courses are a lot longer , usually 50 - 65 miles . ILL climbs are bumps in the road in CO . While 30 guys did finish with the main pack , if this same race had happened in CO the whole race would have stayed together . Field size was only 70 guys . Similarities - 4 s race negatively in both states . Bike handeling skills basically the same . 
Dead Dog Classic . 2 weekends ago I did the Dead Dog Stage Race . I was really excited and my form seemed to be great as well . So I headed up to Laramie , Wy on Friday and spent most of the night with Jeremy and Andrei trying to get my bike set up . In preparation of the TT on Sunday , I had a full TT cockpit set up on my road bike with cables , shifters and all , so I could get the best result possible . When putting my road handlebars back on I frayed my rear derailer cable hence the 3 hours it took us to get it shifting properly . Anyway I was pretty amped the next morning . We had a good breakfast at the Chuckwagon restaurant . I was so nervous before the race that an older gentlemen sitting behind me in the booth at the restaurant said if I didn't ' stop shaking , he was going to spill his coffee and food all over himself . That gave Jeremy and Andrei a good laugh . The first disappointment was that the race course had to be changed do to a forrest fire , so the 7 mile climb was out and the course ended up being flat with 2 large rollers each way . Jeremy and Andrei went immediately to the front and started picking up the pace . This strung out the pack , but none of the other teams were really helping to keep the pace high . I sat in about 20 th place . Eventually Jeremy got up with a group of 12 or so guys and Andrei and Matt put the brakes on opening up a nice gap . I then rolled up just to say high and helped block . As soon as I did this , I started getting yelled at to close the gap and stop blocking , boo whooo . Had one rider yell at me with the commment , " oh , they are really going to get away . " If he didn't think they were , then why did he come around me and start chasing ? This is why racing 4 s sucks . Everybody races so negatively . No breaks get established , no one will work , etc. We were just trying to get some action going . Otherwise it is always the same - speed up , brake , speed up , brake , crash , attack through feed zone , brake , crash , field sprint . I personally get tired of this and want to make the race hard , so there isn't 50 guys left at the end . Anyway , Matt , Jeremy , and Andrei all got dropped and I was left alone with 10 miles to go so I had not choice but to sit in . About 3 miles out I was thinking I had good enough legs to win . I positioned myself on the yellow line sheltered from the crosswind . This side had been surging all race when there was an acceleration . I was sitting 3 rd wheel behind Brent who got 2 nd at Hugo the week before . Usually someone jumps with about 1 k to go and things split up allowing you to move around . Not this time everyone held tight until 300 m and then a guy on the outside jumped , but the guy in front of Brent never reacted , boxing us in . Never even had space to sprint so ended up 15 th . This sat the tone for the rest of the weekend . It was basically going to come down to the TT , because we had 30 guys with the same time . The crit the next morning was uneventful as suspected . All my teamates got dropped again , so I spent a lap hammering the pace to try to drop even more guys so that there weren't as many to contend with at the TT . My legs were cooked after this and could only manage 13 th in the sprint . I ended up 20 th in the TT , which I was happy with , since it was my best TT placing all year . I ended up 16 th on GC because 4 of the guys that beat me in the TT got dropped in the crit , so I guess keeping the pace high helped . Overall a frustrating weekend . 
Arms to the Sky . Saturday was the Hugo Road Race which my team Swift Cycling puts on . The Cat 4 s had a 90 rider field limit which filled up by preregistration the week before . There were a total of 579 racers with 512 finishers . I had an awesome 2 weeks of training prior to this race which had me feeling confident and my legs feeling strong . Chaz , Jeremy , and Matt lined up with me for the race . We had to start on the last row , because we were late to the start line due to our volunteer responsibilites . With no warm - up , we headed out and spent the next 18 miles trying to weave our way to the front . I was only able to get up to about 50 th before the first turn . After the turn , things strung out a bit and I was able to move up a little further . At this point guys were starting to open gaps from the crosswind and rollers and there was a lot of heavy breathing , so I decided I better move up quick . I saw Matt move into the wind and head for the front , so I jumped on his wheel and we went all the way to the front , then drifted left and slowed down to enjoy the draft . This is where our team finally got back together and hung out until the 2 nd turn . After the second turn ( now with a left right cross / headwind ) the pace picked up a bit as a few riders got off the front through the feed zone . I had drifted back again so Matt pulled Chaz and I back up to the top 10 . From here I settled into the pack about 20 th , while Matt , Chaz , and Jeremy patrolled the front . Chaz and Jeremy got in some short breaks while Matt blocked . Once Chaz got caught he drifted back and told me to make sure I was in the to 20 going into the last turn as all hell would break loose . Sure enough it did . We now had a cross / tailwind and the pace was crazy 30 + for the last 8 miles . The pack instantly split with me sitting on the back of the main group of 30 riders . Eventually 20 more got back on . Chaz came by and I got on his wheel , then Jeremy came on my right so I jumped on his wheel , and this is where I spent the next 7 miles . Chaz was right next to me giving me the distance as my odometer stopped working and I wasn't familiar with the finish . 5 miles , 4 miles , Move up , 3 miles , etc. With about 2 miles to go the pace picked up again and Jeremy started moving me up . We were sitting about 25 th , when he started to hammer and I just sat on his wheel as we kept moving up . We were about 1 k out when there was an acceleration on the left and things started to split up . At that point Jeremy went all out to get me to the front , with about 500 meters I yelled for him to move left as he detonated , and I was now sitting 4 th . A CPT rider jumped at this point and got a good 15 meter gap so I started to close It but came next to another guy so I sat back down to see if he was going to go or not , because I didn't want him to jump on my wheel . One look at him and I knew he was cooked so I started again . The last guy in front of me saw me coming , but couldn't accelerate , and at that point I knew I was going to win . I came by him and had a couple bike lengths and time to throw my arms up and get my first win . Finishing time of 2:39:36 for 64 miles with and avg speed of just over 24 mph if my math is correct . Matt finished 11 th , Chaz 16 th , and Jeremy 48 th . The results moved our team into 3 rd place for the Best All Around Team Competition . I can't thank my teammates enough . It was great to finally see all the hard work pay off . I also wanted to thank my coach Mark Legg for helping me get to this point . Next up is the Dead Dog Classic this weekend and the team is now really motivated which is nice . Unfortunately we will only have 4 of us instead of the 7 we were expecting . I ' m just excited to finally work together as a team and actually race . 
Louisville and City Park . I basically imploded at the Louisville crit. 95 + temp took its toll . I had no problem hanging with pack but got chest pains about 20 minutes in . It felt like my respiratory tract was on fire so I pulled the plug hoping to get some rest for city park . I hate DNFing but thought it would be best . Next day I felt much better at city park . This is a very technical course with several turns and 2 turns and 4 round abouts . I started off well , but on the second lap I was sitting about 25 when two guys in front of my got tangled and almost went down forcing me to slam on the breaks and that was it . The first group of 20 were gone . I then spent the next 10 minutes working with 4 others to get back , but 2 of the guys didn't know how to do a rotating paceline . Pretty frustrating . We then had 4 more join us and I thought we would get back . We got the gap down to 10 seconds , but this GS boulder would pull through and block then you pass him and he would cut you off in the corners . Total tool . The gap got back up to 25 seconds so I had a go solo as the group I was with wasn't going to get back . I got it down to 15 seconds after a lap and half , but wasn't going to be able to catch on without blowing up , so I sat up let the group catch me and sat on the back until last lap . Typical last lap - I was sitting 9 th going into the last 2 turn around , watch guy in front of me ( gs boulder ) touch wheels trying to cut corner ( big suprise ) and go down , next round about watched another guy go down taking the corner to fast and then another guys just fell over , but I don't know why . I ended up taking the field sprint again for 23 rd . Even though the result isn't good , I felt like I was getting my legs back . 
Rocky MTN Omnium . My parents came out for this weekend while I was trying to find my legs . It was a little rough considering I had taken off 16 days from being sick and our trip to Italy . I ended up 22 nd in 8 mile time trial 1:26 off the winner . I was pretty happy with this considering I didn't have a TT bike or aero bars and it was only my 5 th day back on the bike . The Circuit race next day wasn't as fun . It was a 1.2 mile circuit where I ended up 29 th after getting dropped on the 1 / 2 mile ( 200 ft elevation gain ) climb after about 3 laps . I had no legs and the 90 + temp was brutal . The last crit was in downtown Golden and probably the funnest race so far this year . My result again was 29 th , but the course was awesome with 8 turns . There was probably about 1000 spectators which was pretty cool . I held on for about half the race then rolled solo for about 5 laps , and then waited for a group of 7 to catch me and basically waited for the field sprint which I took . Overall not bad considering how long I had been off the bike . Wish I could have pulled a better result while my parents were in town . 
The Past 30 . Well it has been awhile since I posted , so I ' ll try to catch up . 1 st Cori and I had a wonderful trip to Italy . No special occasion just a trip we ' ve been wanting to take . Started in Venice and spent 2 days then on to Bologna / Forli . In Forli we caught a stage of the Giro d ' Italia . From Bologna we took the train to Florence and spent 3 full days . On the fourth day we rented a car and drove down to Montalcino where Brunello wines are made . We then spent 2 days in Milan before finally coming back . Florence was by far our favorite . The food , wine , gelato and atmosphere were uncomparable . Cori 's favorite part was a private cooking class she took in Florence , mine was probably the food and wine in Florence . 
Getting Ready . GETTING READYRay started it all when he announced he was looking for a R 1150 RT so that he and his wife Sharon could enjoy some 2 - up touring and rally s together . I am sure that sounded better to Sharon , than saying he needed a more comfortable ride on the 6,000 mile plus , trip we were planning . At last years MOA , Paul Whitworth helped out a friend with a family emergency , by riding his 03 K 1200 LT home from Ohio . With Ray looking for a new bike , it was all the incentive Paul needed to get him started looking for an LT . Ray found a Pristine , ( 04 ) R 1150 RT in Kansas City , with 1500 miles on the clock and strikes a deal . Paul finds a flawless ( 02 ) K 1200 LT in Indiana , and can t resist . Me , watching all of this from a safe distance , am suddenly overwhelmed with the dreaded ; Gotta have a new one ! While brsowsing the IBMR classifieds I find a ( 02 ) R 1150 RT , at a reasonable price that might allow me to actually buy it without selling off any of my prized BMW s . I rationalize that I am , improving my stable . ( Miscellaneous Ramblings ) My new ( to me ) , RT is in need of some new tires . With the capable assistance of a fellow RAMS member ( Doug Pauley ) , I add an accessory shelf , 2 power points , and a Sirius Radio to my RT . Steve Clark helps me wire my helmet with an Auto Com , headset . Paul Whitworth lands a construction contract that will cause him to miss the trip . Now it looks like just Ray and I. Departure is set for July 1 ! 
The Plan . THE PLANRay Moss , Paul Whitworth and I were sitting at the same table enjoying lunch prior to the February RAMS meeting talking about travel plans for the coming year . I told them about my experience at the Top Of The Rockies rally in 05 , and told them this rally was a MUST , at least for me . We decided and agreed to try to make both the BMW RA International Rally , and the Top Of The Rockies , if at all possible . Our plan was to ride north and west , with our initial destination being the Black Hills of South Dakota . From there , we would cross Wyoming on back roads , ending up at Yellowstone National Park , then north to Glacier National Park , before heading south to Boise , and the RA rally . We would leave Boise on Sunday morning , July 9 th , ride west to Washington State and the Pacific Coast , then south down the Pacific Coast Highway . On Wednesday , we would turn back east and head over to Paonia , CO for the Top Of The Rockies . When the Colorado rally ended , the guys with real jobs , would pack up and go back home to their work . Me , on the other hand , being semi - retired ( unemployed , and not looking to hard ) had the ability to explore other options . The BMW MOA is the following weekend in Burlington VT . I wonder ????? 
Dear ---- . I ' ve just realized how much love and respect I actually have for you , and it 's much larger than what I had previously thought . I won't be losing you to anyone easily , and I don't care who they are . I won't be the man I claim to be if I give up and lose hope too soon . At least , even if I lose , I can hold my head high with pride because I did all I could to keep you . I will show a gross representation of what your worth truly is to me if I disappear like a wimp . Yours truly , ---- . 
Blocks . In order to understand how humans behave on an individual or social level , it is necessary to examine the ways in which their body reacts to the reception of information through the human senses . One might say , the key is hidden in understanding how the human body regulates its functional process in response to the data it receives through the senses of vision , audition , gustation , olfaction and tactition [ 1 ] . But that is not enough . It is also essential to take into account the information stored inside the brain as a result of the reception of data , because it can be used as previous data in the process of analysis of the outcome of future actions , decisions , etc. , and it is also helpful in formulating the methods through which thoughts that result from the " thinking " process being performed by the brain ( or in other words , the process of the interaction of the existing stored groups of data inside the brain with themselves , or the outcomes of the reception of data through senses ) are formed . Physical reactions in the body are caused by the changes in the conditions of the chemicals inside it . Many of these are associated with certain feelings by the brain . The roots of all feelings known to mankind are more than likely easily traced through these processes down to the molecular , or even atomic , level . Comprehending how our brains work , or how humans behave and act , is only possible through studying the subject on different levels of different nature , looking at the system through different lenses of different magnitude and texture ... more than one view is needed . Every phenomenon related to the subject needs to be broken down into basic steps which are preferably significant on different scales . [ 1 ] Feelings like heat ( or lack thereof ) and pain are directly controlled by the brain in a sense that the information received by the brain through the sense of touch is almost simoltinously translated into data related to the said feelings , or in other words , subconsciously interpreted by the brain . ( Obviously , the feeling of pain in the internal organs follows a different procedure as the sense of touch is not involved . Though , it is still directly , and subconsciously , controlled by the brain . ) . 
Endlessness . It is time to attempt to view infinity from a different perspective . Infinity is not negligible anymore . We have to stop justifying our fear of the unknown by trying to shove infinity up in a hole , and shutting it close . It is required to understand ways in which considering infinity is influential around the universe , and vigorously include them in our analysis ( which is very mathematical in nature ) of the world in which we 're living . 
I. I don't believe in conventional systems of morality most others choose to believe in . I ' d rather use my own system of thoughts which are open to progression and evolution , and those which are dedicated , in theory and practice , to a mighty powerful skill a group of men have developed throughout the history of mankind 's intellectual evolution , to search and seek the truth through scientific process . I apply the morality of decrseasing the error of choosing the wrong alternative while making decisions and performing actions , based on my own level of understanding and knowledge of the state of different factors involved in any particular situation . The morality is shaped and formed to serve my own survival , although given the rather uncertain nature of most factors and events , it 's subject to change . 
Proposition . If processes within a system express similar patterns on different scales , the scales themselves must follow an infinitely - large scaled pattern in order for the system to be of the infinite order . 
Sacrificial Suicide . 1 . Woods of Sodomy and Blood 2 . Tearing Your Heart Away ( In Pleasure or Pain ) 3 . Whipping Mankind Into Submission 4 . Kill me , but never die 5 . Procreation Through Destruction ( Summoning Chapters in Fire Death ) . 
Self - organization vs . entropy . " It would appear that , since isolated systems cannot decrease their entropy , only open systems can exhibit self - organization . However , a closed system can gain macroscopic order while increasing its overall entropy . Specifically , a few of the system 's macroscopic degrees of freedom can become more ordered at the expense of microscopic disorder . In many cases of biological self - assembly , for instance metabolism , the increasing organization of large molecules is more than compensated for by the increasing entropy of small molecules , especially water . At the level of a whole organism and over longer time scales , though , biological systems are open systems feeding from the environment and dumping waste into it . " Self - organization . 
Completely Random ? One of the main problems that we , as humans , the " intelligent " animals , have continuously developed throughout our change and evolution , through the interactions of the different networks available inside our brains , is the dimensional closed - mindededness , or the lack of ability to increase our range of processing the knowledge of different topics and levels of matters in the universe we 're living in , and considering more facts about how everything works . And as it seems , this greatly affects the way in which we make life - changing decisions throughout our lives , therefore , there cannot be any question about its impact . Humans , as another endless form of simple species living in an ordinary universe , in general , cannot leave the insignificant locality , and consider a more general totality ( which can be assumed to be ever - expanding , and continuously happening ) . Obviously , there have been changes in the lives of the modern generations , but the problem is still alive . *** Since most of the advances , and technologies , achieved in the past decades have been based on practices in complex and advanced mathematics , it is easier to model , study and analyse the way they have been affecting our behaviour , mind , and really the changes of the structures in our brains , during this time . It is easier to formulate a rational and logical pattern and concept as the reasons behind how we , humans , behave , decide and act in rather predictable ways , in most cases . *** When we learn , when we , the intelligent animals , save a memory , ( and in other words , come to a judgmental or well - thoughtout conclusion about any type of incident ) , we create , change or suppress networks inside our heads . Using a certain part of the brain is equal to having more electro - chemical reactions circulating , in various forms and shapes , ( ? ) in that certain region . Better - kept networks perform better towards their purpose . 
300 C Interior Update . Autoblog is speculating that the 300 C is going to get some kind of update to the interior . I agree that most of the 300 C inside is appropriate to the price , but many items are not . Too much plastic . Am looking forward to seeing what Chrysler comes up with . 
Chrysler Imperial Concept Car. Some are impressed with the Chrysler Imperial concept car unveiled in January this year at the North American International Auto show . From Mercury News . com : The idea here is to question whether there 's space in the Chrysler lineup above and beyond the iconic 300 C sedan . The Imperial is a huge , tall car , as in 17 inches longer and six inches taller than a 300 . It 's an evocative statement similar in its classical stance to such popular Chrysler concepts as the Atlantic from 1995 . Most , though , see the current Rolls - Royce Phantom when they see the Imperial concept . ( Not coincidentally , many see a Bentley when they see Chrysler 's 300 sedan . ) Reaction to the Imperial has been mixed . Dan Lienert on Forbes . com proclaimed it one of the year 's 10 coolest concepts and characterized it as " another stab from Chrysler at bringing sinister looks back into American sedans . " But Motor Trend wrote that the " Detroit show reaction can be most charitably described as ` lukewarm , ' with one wag describing it as a cross between the Rolls Phantom and the Checker Marathon . ' ' " All I know is , Chrysler seems to be batting 1000 when it comes to cool car design and production . Or maybe it 's all in the marketing ? Tags : chrysler imperial , chrysler concept , imperial concept , concept car , chrysler , rolls royce phantom . 
300 C Photos . If you 're a 300 C fan , then you probably appreciate seeing photos of other 300 c owners cars and the things they do to them . Modifications can range from the popular 300 c grilles to the strange gull wing doors . Here are a few resources for finding interesting 300 c photos : Flickr photos tagged with 300 c Google image search for 300 c Yahoo image search for 300 c 300 c Forums You can do the same thing with video search . Tags : 300 c , 300 c photos , custom 300 c , chrysler 300 c . 
Stretch 300 C . A longer 300 C is in store according to UK Car Publications , What Car ? Long - wheelbase versions of the imposing Chrysler 300 C Saloon and Touring estate will be revealed at the New York Motor Show in April , and they may soon appear in the UK . The stretched 300 C 's wheelbase is 152 mm longer , all of which is used to enhance rear legroom . It will be sold in the US from this autumn with the 250 bhp 3.5 - litre V 6 and 335 bhp 5.7 - litre V 8 petrol engines already found in the standard car . If they arrive in the UK too , they 're sure to also be available with the 215 bhp 3.0 - litre V 6 diesel . This makes the 300 c a good competitor to the Lincoln Town Car as a " short limo " I think . Tags : 300 c , chrysler 300 c , stretch 300 c , 300 C limo . 
Dub Car Show . Some pretty cool cars showed up at the 2005 dub carshow . Here are links to some photos : Web Shots Twista 's 300 c - Dodge Charger - The Game 300 c Check out the wild grille on this 300 c More photos over at Car Domain . 
Dodge Charger SRT 8 Accessories . When I started this blog , it was a place for me to store links to 300 C accessory sites . But now the Dodge Charger SRT 8 is capturing a lot of nice press and attention and I can tell from my web site stats , that people are looking for dodge charger srt 8 accessories . Interestingly enough , the Dodge Charger was named most accessory friendly car " at the SEMA show . Some of the kinds of accessories that are available for the SRT 8 charger include : Interior Parts and Accessories Air Freshners Anti - Theft Devices Arm Rests Cabin Air Filtration Cargo Area Dash Kits Door Entry Guards DVD Players Floor Mats Keychains Mirrors Remote Start Systems Safety Kits Smoking Accessories Exterior Parts and Accessories Auto Tags Bicycle Carriers Body Graphics Bumpers Chrome Trim Fascia Accents Fender Vents Fog Lights Front End Covers Gas Cap Grilles Hoods & Scoops License Frames Park Distance Sensors Rear Fascia Accent Panels Rocker Panels Roof Racks Side Window Deflectors Splash Guards Sport Vents Touch - Up Paint Towing Accessories Vehicle Cover Vertical Door Kits Wings and Spoilers Wiper Blades Performance Parts and Accessories Computer Chips & Performance Modules Exhaust Systems Intake Systems Remote Start Systems Spark Plug Wires Throttle Body Spacers Suspension Mopar Dodge Charger Performance Lowering Springs Wheels and Tires TIS Wheels Wheel Accessories Dodge Charger SRT 8 Collectibles Bar Stools Clocks Keychains Storage Accessories Throw Blankets Utility Mats WOW ! Now you can see why the Charger was named the most " accessory friendly car " . Tags : dodge charger , dodge charger srt 8 , accessories , srt 9 , dodge . 
300 C Back from the Repair Shop . After a week , and almost $ 4000 later , I finally got my 300 C back from the repair shop . After riding around in a Nissan Sentra , getting back into the more aptly sized 300 C was a welcome relief . They did a good job on the repairs , which were mostly not cosmetic . The trunk had a small dent in it and the rear sensors were knocked out on the passenger side . I also had a few small dents / scratches repaired on the front driver side fender and hood . Looks like new . It should for $ 4000 freaking dollars . While the repair shop people were very nice and did a good job , the one thing I thought sucked was this . I recieved an estimate from the repair shop to fix everything for $ 3000 . The insurance company of the person that hit me sent an adjuster and they gave an estimate of $ 3400 . So I was sent a $ 3400 check . Then the repair shop called to say there was " additional damage " underneath . They said the additional costs for that would be paid directly to the repair shop . Fine . When they called to tell me the car was ready , I asked what the total damage was - pun intented , and they said $ 3400 , just like the estimate . I corrected her , looking at a printout of the only estimate they ever gave me , that should have been $ 3000 . Her response was that they always go by the adjuster / insurance company estimate . Now that 's a load of crap if you ask me . Not because I was trying to make $ 400 , but because if the insurance company estimate would have come in under the repair shop estimate , guess who would be paying the difference ? Me . But when the insurance company estimate comes in over the repair shop estimate , they get to keep the difference . Ha , smells like pain and suffering to me . No matter how nice the repair shop people were , and the work they did , I will never go back to them again because I think it 's slimy to play this situation the way they did . I ' m not so annoyed as to mention who they are , since this blog gets about 500 visitors a day on average . But word of mouth , good or bad , can be a lot more powerful . In the end , I ' m really just happy to have my car back . Tags : 300 c , chrysler 300 c , 300 c damage , 300 c repair . 
Pinched nerve . I have a pinched nerve in my neck , which made me leave work early yesterday and made me sleep like absolute crap last night . But I ' m not going to use it as an excuse to skip the gym ! Heading there now ... Update : did an hour of cardio today : - ) Neck feels better ... 
- RBC - apple - yogurt - salad - organic light burrito ( not bad ! ) - salad - 2.5 slices pizza ( very small slices , but still ... ) I feel bad about eating so much pizza , but Jen figured out the total calories for the day , and I am still at a small deficit , so I guess it 's cool . I ' m glad I worked out today ( 45 min treadmill ) . 
Ate the following today : - bowl Raisin Bran Crunch ( RBC ) ( w / skim milk ! ) - turkey sandwich on 1 / 2 pita , mustard instead of mayo - one apple - one banana - 8 almonds - one Dark Chocolate Walnut Clif Bar ( yummy organic energy bar that actually tastes amazing and fills me up for about two hours ! ) - 1 piece of light meatloaf , 1 / 2 cup mashed potatoes , asparagus , big chopped salad ( w / light dressing of course ! ) Took today off from working out ... will hit the gym tomorrow morning before work ! 
This soldier speaks out against war ! Remember that war never solved anything except : Slavery Nazismand Fascism Just my thoughts on that . Technorati Tags : Iraq , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans , . 
Heat injuries are easily prevented . I just had to repost this from the Army web site . This is good info for everybody out there and not just soldiers . Anybody that does anything outdoors at ANY time of the year needs to be aware of the symptoms and dangers of dehydration . Heat injuries easily prevented By J . T . Coleman The human body needs water to maintain proper blood volume , which helps the body to regulate heat and perspire , according to the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine . Courtesy photo FORT RUCKER , Ala . ( Army News Service , June 16 , 2006 ) Taking a drink of water when thirsty may be too little , too late in some cases . You may already be 1 - 2 percent dehydrated at this stage , which could result in impaired performance , coordination and concentration , said Dr. John Campbell , U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center Command Surgeon . Coffee , tea , juice and sodas are not substitutes for water . In fact , some of these are diuretics and can cause you to lose more body fluids . More than 1,700 heat injuries occurred Army - wide in FY 05 according to Brig . Gen. Michael B . Cates , commander of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine . Of those injuries , 258 people suffered from heat stroke and 1,467 suffered from heat exhaustion . Steps could have been taken to reduce these injuries , said Campbell . Staying hydrated is critical because it helps maintain proper blood volume , which allows the body to perspire and regulate heat , according to the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine Web site . According to Army Technical Bulletin MED 507 , titled Heat Stress Control and Heat Casualty Management , people performing routine activities should drink six to eight quarts of water a day . People in hot environments , or who perform strenuous activities , should increase to between nine to 12 quarts . Heat injuries can be preventable , said Campbell . Leaders , supervisors and Soldiers must keep an eye on each other and look for the early warning signs . Early warning signs of heat stress include dizziness , headache , nausea , unsteady walk , weakness or fatigue , and muscle cramps . USACHPPM cautions that over - hydration , or water intoxication , can also be harmful . Some of the symptoms include confusion , weakness and vomiting . Individuals who exhibit these symptoms but are still eating , drinking and urinating should seek emergency treatment . Heat injury prevention is a command , leadership and personal responsibility . Proper use of Composite Risk Management will help reduce the likelihood of heat injuries . Heat injuries and illness pose a serious threat to our Army s force and a loss of one of our Army team is always deeply felt , Campbell said . Soldiers and civilians are deployed in some of the hottest areas in the world . We want everyone to stay in the fight and continue to Own the Edge . Additional resources : USACRC https : // www . crc . army . mil USACHPPM chppm - www . apgea . army . mil / heat AR 40 - 5 Preventive Medicine dated 22 July , 2005 www . army . mil / usapa / epubs / pdf / r 40 _ 5 . pdf TB MED 507 Heat Stress Control and Heat Casualty Management dated 1985 www . army . mil / usapa / med / DR _ pubs / dr _ a / pdf / tbmed 507 . pdf FM 21 - 20 Physical Fitness Training dated 1998 https : // akocomm . us . army . mil / usapa / doctrine / DR _ pubs / dr _ aa / pdf / fm 21 _ 20 . pdf ( Editor 's note : J . T . Coleman writes for the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center . ) Technorati Tags : Iraq , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans , . 
Old news but good news , Zarqawi is dead ! Click for Photo BAGHDAD ( Army News Service , June 9 , 2006 ) The death of Abu Musab al - Zarqawi was reason to celebrate and reason for caution , Maj. Gen. William B . Caldwell IV , spokesman for Multi National Force Iraq , said yesterday . Although Zarqawi 's capture is reason to rejoice , we must be cautious not to be overly optimistic , as one man 's life does not signify an end to an insurgency , the general told reporters at a Thursday afternoon press conference in Baghdad . Iraqis can rejoice today . They have earned it with their blood , their sweat and their tears , said Caldwell . Tomorrow we must continue to march forward . The march forward towards an Iraq that is free , that is for all , that exemplifies unity , prosperity and security . Zarqawi , the terrorist leader of al - Qaida in Iraq , and five others were killed Wednesday morning by a U.S. Air Force air strike north of Baqouba . Zarqawi and one of his key lieutenants , spiritual advisor Sheik Abd - Al - Rahman , were in a house when F - 16 fighter jets dropped two 500 - pound bombs on it . The strike was a product of intelligence gathered from local sources and from Zarqawi s network , Caldwell said . Caldwell would not go into details of the intelligence gathering . He did say the intelligence was gathered with the help of coalition partners , the Iraqi government and neighboring governments . After the airstrike , Iraqi police moved to the house and secured the area . Coalition forces identified the body of Zarqawi through facial recognition and fingerprinting . Intelligence gathered at the site of the house where Zarqawi was killed led to 17 different operations , Caldwell said . News of the terrorist s death spawned joy among Iraqi and coalition leaders . " Today Zarqawi has been terminated , " Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al - Maliki said at a press conference Thursday . " Every time a Zarqawi appears we will kill him . We will continue confronting whoever follows his path . It is an open war between us . " Coalition forces delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq , U.S. President George W . Bush said in Washington . Now Zarqawi has met his end , and this violent man will never murder again . Iraqis can be justly proud of their new government and its early steps to improve their security . And Americans can be enormously proud of the men and women of our armed forces , who worked tirelessly with their Iraqi counterparts to track down this brutal terrorist and put him out of business , the president added . In London , British Prime Minister Tony Blair called al - Zarqawi 's death " a very important moment in Iraq . A blow for al - Qaida in Iraq is a blow for al - Qaida everywhere . " ( Editor 's note : From the Multi National Force Iraq Web site at www . mnf - iraq . com. ) Technorati Tags : Iraq , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans , Memorial Day . 
Peoples true feelings about soldiers . There is nothing more true and shameful than the following quote : For God and the soldier we adore , In time of danger , not before ! The danger passed , and all things righted , God is forgotten and the soldier slighted . " - Rudyard Kipling Technorati Tags : Iraq , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans . 
Remember what Memorial Day is for ........ Please . I hope that you all enjoy your time off on what for most is a three day weekend . I do have this one request for all of you out there , please remember what this time off is all about . Most of you will go camping or to a fun vacation spot with your families and not even give a second thought to why you have the time off . I ask that you remember the soldiers that never shared any more time with their loved ones , never played with their kids again , never grew old with their wife or husband . I don't care if you support the current war in Iraq or if you have supported the reason we fought at any time in our history because to the soldier , politics means very little during a time of conflict . Soldiers go where the leaders of our country point us , we have a job to do and our feelings on the issue at hand don't matter . We only know that we must do our job even if it means we ' ll never see our home again . We only know that the person to our right and our left are counting on us to do our job so that they may live to see tomorrow and that is all we ask in return . One of my duties since returning from Iraq is as a team leader providing the final honors for a fallen soldier and their families . Most of the services that we conduct are for WWII and Korean vets but we have had some soldiers from Iraq pass through the gates of the National Cemetary where I am stationed . There is nothing worse than the thought of people protesting against these honorable soldiers during the last moments that their families can be near them . I have been lucky not to have run in to any protestors and I beg you all from the bottom of my heart , PLEASE keep your protests away from those that had no choice in the matter . Keep it away from the easy targets that crying family members make . Let them have their time , they have earned it . This Monday there will be services honoring those that have passed during times of war , please go and support these honorable soldiers , sailors , airmen and marines . If your politics don't agree with when or why you think they died leave that at home and go to support the people that are there to protect you , to offer your freedom to you and that allow you to stay with your families in your nice soft bed while they are alone , cold , hungry and scared . Agree with why we fight or not , like us or not I don't care .......... Just please don't forget us . Technorati Tags : Iraq , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans . 
Illegal immigrants take to the streets ! If people want to have the rights granted to Americans shouldn't they want to become Americans ? If they want to become Americans , do they really think it is wise to start out by breaking not only our law but also our sovereignty by sneaking across our borders ? If our government bows to these law breakers then why should I follow any of our laws ? Why should I , a soldier that has earned every right granted to Americans , follow laws that don't mean very much ? What do you think would happen if a large group of Americans marched across the Mexican border waving American flags , I bet they would shoot at us and try to send us home ! I heard one protest " leader " today that said if the people that had died sneaking across the border were animals , Americans would be screaming for a fix to the problem but because they are Mexican , nobody cares . To that I say , if you were trying to get in to this country at a border crossing you wouldn't need to worry about staying alive ! Technorati Tags : Immigration , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans . 
More reasons to stop illegal immigrants . I found this while surfing on Blog Mad today and it proves my point on border security . Head on over to Part - Time Pundit to read the full story with good stats to back it up . " Facts are a funny thing . They are conveniently forgotten if they don't uphold one 's point - of - view , and they 're easily overlooked if they are randomly scattered about . But when solid facts are brought together in one place , the pattern is difficult to ignore . The facts I ' m about to provide below are just such a case . People may be able to overlook a single fact , but the weight of their significance cannot be denied when they come together in one place . That is the purpose of this week 's Blogburst - to look at some hard facts . " Technorati Tags : Immigration , Baghdad , War , OIF , Army , Military , Navy , Marines , Veterans . 
LOFT CAFE . INAKICHI . 
About Me . I thought it was about time to tell you all a little bit about myself . My name is Bill Riddell , I ' m a 20 years old aspiring entrepreneur from Bendigo , Australia ( it s about 2 hours north of Melbourne and 8 hours south of Sydney ) . I ve been reading and planing my way to vast millions for many years now and last year I completed two years of study centred on Public Relations and Marketing , so I have a strong skill set there . I work on a casual basis ( customer service , register operator etc. ) for a major retail company . With my spare time I love sport , particularly car racing ( I do a little bit myself ) , listening to music , trying not to waste too much time on the computer and pretty much all that other good stuff people my age get up to . I ' ve been procrastinating and putting off making a real move into the entrepreneurial community for several years now . In order to kick start myself into action I am launching a 30 day personal challenge to create 3 different passive income streams in 30 days . At time of writing I am putting the finishing touches to my plan to create 3 passive income sources and come the 1 st of August I will jump in the deep end and put my money on the line . From there the sky is the limit ! 
Why 30 Days ? You may be wondering why the 30 day challenge Bill ? Well the answer is pretty simple . I ve been considering taking a leap into the realm of all things entrepreneurial for some time now but have always put it off . I have hesitated , been fearful , procrastinated and used all of those other great stalling tactics . A few weeks ago I stumbled across the website of Steve Pavlina and his brilliant personal development blog . One of his many inspiring posts is 30 Days to Success . In the article Steve advocates the use of 30 day trials when considering new life changes , particularly ones you may be hesitant about adopting . The logic behind doing a 30 day trial is that you are making a firm commitment to the change ; but at the same time there isn t as much fear involved because you are aware that if the trial is not a success you can abandon the change after 30 days . If it is a great success you are already quite firmly in the new habit and can continue for another 30 days or indefinitely . This was a natural fit for me . I was quite hesitant about implementing my plans but the 30 days concept eases your concerns . Is there something you have been considering changing in your life ? A business idea , a new diet or exercise plan , quitting smoking or trying a new hobby . Give it a go for yourself ! 
A Few Glitches . I spoke to soon - the horrible green is back . The design was causing a few glitches and well the orange was a little too bright ! Your retinas are safe now . I still have a few things to sort out ; the Ad Sense ads that are now scattered around the place need to be changed to match the horrible green . Also the dot points are displaying incorrectly on Internet Explorer that will be fixed soon . Back to the ads , they are my first little attempt at a passive income stream . You ll be reading a lot more about them soon enough . As well as fixing some of those problems I ve also been finalising my goals and setting rewards for each of them . I hope to have all the problems solved by the weekend so I can get on with more important things . 
Only A Week Away Well it s only a week away now till Go Time . Since my first post I have made a few tweaks to the site , namely the site is now orange , not that horrible green . I have a few more small changes planed so keep an eye out . I have done a final extensive test on my first intended passive income stream . I was thrilled with the results , a 75 % return on investment over 4 days . Who wouldn t want that ? Another major goal of mine that is separate from this challenge is to lose weight . I m a big guy and have finally started to see some results having lost 6 kg ( about 13 pounds ) over a few weeks . I realised a long time ago that there is no point in having lots of money if you re not going to live long enough to enjoy it . I ve been finalising my time frame for the challenge . I intend to implement the 3 income streams in the first 3 weeks , one after the other . This will give me at least a week to sort them all out and hopefully have a bit of money rolling in . So be sure to come by at least once a week and see what my latest income stream is and how I m doing . 
The Importance of Good Planing My opening post mentioned how in the past I have made plenty of to - do lists and plans . You may be thinking , Bill these things obviously haven t worked for you in the past why do you think this time will be any different ? It s quite simple really . My previous attempts , for the most part , have been bad . However I have made some good ones and even a few great ones . I failed to look at the difference between those that had succeeded and those that had failed . In creating this challenge I looked at what I had done in the past , analysing what went right ( tell your friends and your family what your goals are . They will ask you how you re going and keep pressure on you . Also keep a copy of your goals somewhere you will see them at least every day . It may be the desktop of your computer or you may tape it to the mirror in your bathroom . For every goal you set , create a reward to accompany it and motivate you towards achieving it . It may something small like half a day off , but it could be to buy a Lamborghini or take a round the world holiday . Just make sure the reward is fitting , if your goal is small your reward should be too . Lets face it , bribery worked when we were kids ( if you eat all your tea you can have some ice cream and it still motivates us now . 
An Intro to the Challenge For the last few years I have read , planned , eaten and dreamed my intentions . I have devoured libraries and stores of books and trawled through the vast recesses of the net and many other resources learning to become an entrepreneur and to improve my life . I ve taken notes , made plans , to - do lists and countless other variations of the theme . However in all this time I have , for the most part , failed to take action . Quite simply I haven t really put my money on the line . That s about to change . In order to break this plan of excessive reading and planing I have decided to set myself some very firm goals and specific dates to achieve them by . In case the name and description didn t give it away I plan to create 3 different streams of passive income for myself over the course of 30 days . I plan to start this journey of no - return on the 1 st of August finishing on the 30 th . There will be no turning back , after the challenge is completed I shall continue to manage and improve my new streams of income and look for more opportunities to enrich my life ( financially & through self - improvement ) and also to help and inspire others . So what will I be doing in the lead up to the challenge ? Heres a sneak preview : Refine the look and feel of this blog Give you some more background on myself & the challenge Ensure there is incoming traffic Plan and research my intended income streams I invite you to follow me on this journey , please add your comments , criticisms and advice . 
One more thing - an update on Daniel . . . My thanks to all of you who prayed for us and our possible encounter with Hurricane Daniel . As of 11:00 am yesterday ( July 26 ) Daniel is no longer a Hurricane , a tropical storm or even a tropical depression . Daniel is nothing ! We will see his remnants over friday and saturday but only in the form of some slightly increased tradewinds and some rain . God is good ! He has heard your prayers , and answered them . And we well continue our " blessed " vacation with friends as we move to the island of Kauai this Saturday ! Thanks again to all ! Aloha , Dave Dot . 
Hey Ma , things sure are different out on the East Side . We I think we have recovered from our day of doing absolutely nothing . Boy was that hard . Just sitting around all day , nothing to do , leg in the air ( yes , my ankle still hurts ) . . . just the two of us , Hmmm . OK , it wasn't that bad . I actually like hanging out with Dot . She can be quite entertaining at times . After 30 years of marriage you learn how to amuse one another in ways you never thought of 25 years ago . Of course , back then you didn't have time for each other as it was all about the kids . . . Wednesday , Dot and I took the short drive to the East side of Molokai . Technically we are staying on the east side but we are at mile marker 17 and it goes all the way to 27 . So we drove the last 10 miles to see what was on the other side , so to speak . The road narrows to a one lane road at about mile marker 21 but there is still plenty of two - way traffic . You really have to be a defensive driver on those last 6 miles . There are dozens of blind corners and barely passable areas along the drive but the beauty of the surrounding countryside and ocean are well worth the time it took to drive it . . . nearly one hour . I think we averaged 20 mph the entire 10 miles . Anyway , once at the end you are in an area known as the Halawa Valley ( pronounced Ha - la - va ) . One of the most beautiful areas in Molokai , Halawa Valley was first settled in the 7 th Century by people from the Marqueses Islands . It remained an active and thriving community until the area was struck by two tsunamis . These huge 45 - foot tidal waves hit in 1946 and 1957 , destroying the buildings there and covering the valley with plant - killing salt . Today the valley is inhabited by a few residents but is mainly used for recreational purposes such as hiking and camping in the mountains and swimming , surfing or fishing at Halawa Beach Park . In ancient times , many heiaus ( temples ) were built in the valley and young men wishing to become kahuna 's ( title for a priest , expert , teacher , and / or adviser ) came from all the islands to learn the powerful and sacred spells . The land and ocean here was also very fertile an other islanders envied the richness of the valley . Many wars were waged protecting this valley . Two large and beautiful waterfalls can be seen flowing down the mountains . The 250 - foot Moaula Falls is approximately 2 miles up the valley . Legend states that a giant lizard ( mo ' o ) lives in the deep pool fed by this fall . Before swimming here , drop a ti leaf into the water . If it floats , it is safe to swim . But if it sinks , the mo ' o is annoyed and will not welcome you . Hipuapua Falls , a 500 - foot cascade fall , is another mile north of Moaula . Both falls are located on private property and you will need a local guide with a permit to take you to them . We chose not to hike due to my aching ankle and so we checked out a crumbling building that appeared to have been a temple of some kind . Behind the temple were several monuments marking the grave sites of Hawaiians back to the mid 1800 's and as recent as 1933 . There is also a little one - room church just up the road from this . It seats about 40 , maybe is open to the public 24 / 7 for prayer . I believe they have services only once a month . On the way out of the valley there is a turn - out where you can stop and take pictures of the valley . Check them out on our photo site at : http : // photos . yahoo . com / dmchenry @ pacbell . net We also took a few photos of the coastline which were postcard perfect . I only wish I had a decent camera to take the photos . We will work on that for our next vacation , I guess . A final note : People on Molokai are really friendly . Everytime you pass on on the highway they wave . ( on other islands you get the " Hang Loose " sign ) and all are more than willing to help in any way they can . They also love to talk about being Hawaiian . It is something you really don't want to miss if you get the chance . 
Two Mules . . . for Dave & Dot ! Well , before I get into todays post let me ask for prayer for the two of us . It seems we are on a island , in the middle of the Pacific ocean , and a hurricane is heading right for us . That 's right I guess we are going to experience it all while on this vacation . Hurricane Daniel ( hey a Biblical character seemed like a good name for one at the time ) is chugging it 's way toward the Hawaiian Islands . It entered the central Pacific sometime last night after spending a week building into a category 4 hurricane . Currently it is about 800 miles from us with only 75 - 90 mph winds making it a category 1 hurricane . They say it is falling apart and will be down graded to a tropical storm by morning but still it can pack a wallup . The are forcasting wind speeds of 25 to 50 to hit late Thursday and into Saturday which is our travel day . Storm surge is predicted to be about 8 feet which would make driving impossible as the road along the coast of Molokai is right at sea level and the only way for us to get to the airport . It will be interesting . . . Just Pray ! Now on to today 's activities . . . Today we took the Muleman 's Mule ride to Kalaupapa , home of the famous Leper Colony here on Molokai . Leperosy ( actually Hansen 's Disease ) is no longer a threat having found a cure around 1969 . However , due to the disfigurement it causes many of the people who had the disease choose to stay as it is the only home they have known for many years . There are currently 34 people left here that had the disease and they are dying off fast now due to old age . The rest of the approx . 150 total that live in Kalaupapa are workers , and National Park employees . Our mule leader was a person who works for the owners , a husband tired but had had a very enlighting day . I totally recommend that anyone who can , come over to Molokai and take this tour . It is the only one of it 's kind anywhere . I think it even beats the burro ride into the Grand Canyon because of the history you find here . We returned to our cottage ready for the jucuzzi and thankful we had made it safely . Now , if the weather would just cooperate . . . Oh , look , it 's raining . . . Dave Dot . 
Saturday - Travel day # 3 . We awoke early and finished packing and were out of the condo by 9:00 AM . Dot and I were the first to leave at 10:50 . We arrived at the airport around 10:00 AM and took our bags to be checked . Because Island is such a small airline , the plane we were on held only 40 passengers . So , knowing that and the weight limitations of 50 lbs per person , I prepared myself to pay extra to get all our stuff over to Molokai . The agent took her time getting everything in order and when she informed me that I would probably have to pay extra for the over weight limit I told her that we were here in the islands for six weeks and that I just couldn't get any lighter and that I would gladly pay whatever it costs to have all my baggage move with me . Well , we weighed each bag carefully and she marked two of them with a bright orange tag labeled " HEAVY " and then smiled and told me that she would not charge me this time . WOW , I thought , yet another blessing from God while on our trip . Believe me , the savings were significant ! We arrived in Honolulu first as we had to take a hop to bring the price down . Getting to Molokai is not easy . You either commute early morning ( 6:00 am ) or late afternoon ( 4:30 pm ) and if they are full you the price really goes up . OR you can take a hop which takes much longer . Molokai is only about 15 miles from Maui as the crow flies . Our little hop took us to Oahu and then back to Molokai or about 100 miles round trip . Ah , the cost of saving a few bucks ! After about a 15 minute delay on our flight from Honolulu to Molokai we arrived safely ( there were a few bumpy moments on that flight ) and into an airport that has one terminal , one baggage claim , all of it outside ! We got our car and a few instructions from the owner of the cottage where we were staying and headed for the only town , Kaunakakai . about 6 miles south of the airport . We stopped for groceries and then proceeded about 17 miles east to our destination . The cottage ( www . molokaihilltopcottage . com ) is great ! An ever - present breeze from the east continually blows through the 900 sq . ft . one bedroom home . We are situated just above the tree line with a view of Maui off our deck . At night you see the entire Kaanapali coastline from Kapalua to Lahaina all lit up . Fantastic . Check out the website for pictures of the cottage . It needs to be noted here that our friends Mike Dot . 
Friday on Maui - Sunrise , Sunset . Well , here we are to the end of the week on Maui . Mike the Samaoan Fire Dancers . Where last weeks show had one dancer , this weeks show had several which really got the crowd into it . We ended the day exhausted . We had had a really busy week and we had to be on the road tomorrow ( Saturday ) by 9:00 am . 
I think I have solved the photo issue . . . Try this site : http : // photos . yahoo . com / dmchenry @ pacbell . net Yahoo says that this will give you public access to my photos . Try it and then email me to let me know it is working . Mahalo ! Dave . 
Paddle on the left . . . Paddle on the right . . . Today is Thursday . It is our kayak adventure day . Dot and I have never kayaked before so this should be interesting . All five of us participated in this activity . Up until now Marla chose to hang at the condo to save a little money as she leaves here this Saturday for San Francisco and then leaves SF on Monday for 3 weeks in Australia . Today was her first real activity other than the trip to Iao Needle on Sunday which I had stayed home for . She has gotten caught up on her reading and has taken long walks along the beach . AND she is a dynomite cook ! We drove to a small turnout along the highway at mile marker 11 . Mile markers are how everyone in Hawaii gives directions . " We are near mile marker so " drive to mile marker s 0 and so on . Anyway we stopped and meet our kayak guide Aaron who helped introduce us to the art of paddling a kayak , about its shape and how to get in and out of a kayak ( not as easy as it looks ) . We donned our life jackets , tied everything to the kayak , adjusted our backpads and away we went ! by the way the company providing the fun was Kelii 's Kayak Tours , and I highly recommend them if you ever come to Maui . A simple yet fun , no frills tour . Dot and I were in one , she up front , me in the back . Mike had his own , and Ruth & Marla shared a third . A couple of teenage boys joined us in the fourth kayak as Aaron led the way . Kayaking in the ocean is interesting . The boats are easy to maneuver but there is some resistance due to the waves & currents . Overall , though , after just a few minutes out at sea we got the hang of it and moved south along the Maui shoreline just a couple of miles south of Lahaina . We paddled for nearly an hour before Aaron anchored just off shore in a small cove . Peering through the water I could tell we were in about 20 to 30 ft of water . It was crystal clear and was a great place to stop and snorkel . Everyone jumped into the water except me . I chose to hang in the kayak because my foot ( yes , that foot ) had gotten quite a workout the day before and was quite tender today . The rest really did me good . I just slathered myself with sun block and took a nap while the others frolicked and snorkeled around the boats for about 45 minutes . Then Aaron pulled up anchor and we started paddling back to our starting point . Along the way we saw several cars that had obviously gone over the embankment and had landed on the lava below just beyond the waterline . They looked as if they had been there for some time as they had little color left and were mostly just rusted hulks of a car . You couldn't tell what type they were . Aaron says there is a lot of that here in Maui . We saw evidence of that on the road to Hana if you remember in my previous posts . Aaron said we had traveled about 2 miles down the coast . The current would make the trip back a little longer then going down and just about two bends before we got to our destination , Aaron again dropped anchor and let us snorkel for another 30 minutes . I again took a nap ( with sun block of course ) . What a way to get a tan . We finally landed at the beach we start at . The tide had come in while we were touring and a couple of waves were pretty big hitting the shore . One of those waves caught one of the kayaks and they " surfed " all the way to shore . That was pretty exciting . Dot and I weren't so lucky . We had to paddle in . We ended our tour with a lunch of veggies , pineapple , sandwiches , chips and soda & water . Tomorrow ( Friday ) we have an off day . . . We plan to ride on the " Sugar Cane Train " from Kaanapali to Lahaina and back and will end our day at the " Royal Lahaina Luau " . We have to pack to prepare for our travel on Saturday to Molokai while the rest will head back to the mainland . Next week Dot and I have a week alone together . . . on an island some refer to as Jurrasic Park . My next post will probably be on Sunday . Aloha ! 
By the Sea , By the Sea , by the Beautiful Sea . . . Tuesday morning came really early . We had to leave the condo at 5:50 am to get to our boat which was moored at the Maalaea Harbor about a half hour from where we were staying . There were only 16 people signed up for this snorkel / dive trip . The four of us ( Mike , Ruth , Dot Molokini Crater . It is a small partially submerged crater about three miles off the southern coast of Maui . It is unique in that several species of fish make their home there and have gotten quite tame due to the past practice of allowing snorkelers to feed the fish . That practice has been discontinued but the fish are still a bit more curious than the divers . Our snorkel leader , Fernando , was from Argentina , and was an accomplished " Free Diver " which means that he can hold his breath for long periods of time and dive down to 50 - 60 feet without the aid of a breathing apparatus . They gave Fernando the job of taking all the photos during our snorkel trip . He got some great shots . We saw the usual black spiney sea urchins and brain coral we saw on our last dive on the Big Island but there were many more species here in the crater . We saw angel fish , a blue parrot fish , a pinktail triggerfish , a needle fish , and a slate - pencil sea urchin . Near the end of our tour we saw a very large zebra moray eel . What a trip it was . Visibility was near 100 ft . It took about an hour to reach Turtle Town . This is a place near Wailea , Maui on the south end of the west coast . We got there and the trade winds had already picked up so the swells were about 3 - 4 feet , making it hard to snorkel without drinking some of the sea water . Our tour there was much shorter as the visibility was down to less than 50 ft . The highlight was a very long lava wall that was near the surface and where we saw several of the same fish we saw at Molokini . The big surprise was a very large turtle that was making it 's way toward Dot as she snorkeled , and just before they collided , the turtle did an abrupt u - turn and swam away toward the surface . We did see another turtle surface near the boat as we were eating lunch but because of the murkiness of the water we were not able to see as many as we should have . The trip back to the harbor took about an hour and a half and the ride was very choppy , due to the trade winds . Nobody , to my knowledge , got sick but we were bounced around the whole trip home and were pretty exhausted when we reached port . We treated ourselfs to stuffed salmon and lobstertail for dinner . Marla is an excellent chef and made a dynomite salad to go with the fare . We have another early day tomorrow ( Wednesday ) when we go up Haleakala ( the main volcano ) to do an Eco - Adventure called Zipline . 
Monday , Monday . . . I left my heart in Hana , Maui . Ok , so I am a day late . . . it seems that this vacation is leaving me a dollar short . . . Monday , the five of us left around 9:00 pm for Hana , Maui . The drive is about 2 - 3 hours long , one way but probably the most beautiful drive you will ever experience . Dot and I last did this drive during our short 3 day stay in Maui in 1986 , the year we celebrated our 10 th anniversary . The road has been completely repaved ( and even widened in some spots ) but the one lane bridges are still the same and the traffic has changed . . . much ! There is a lot more plant life along the road . In some spots where we could see the ocean 20 years ago , you can no longer see any of the coastline . You now have to pull off the side of the road at a turnout built just for the view you used to get just driving along the road . OK , it is safer , but you lose some of the adventure . I have to say that what they say about people driving off the road is true . All along the road there is evidence of cars & trucks going off the side into the gorges . The plants are all laid flat and occasionally you would see the remains of a vehicle at the bottom . Some even on the side of the road all rusted out but never moved . I think they leave them there to warn others of what can happen if you don't watch the road . Anyway , our trip took about 3 1 / 2 hours because we stopped several times along the way . We had purchased a CD of the trip and you could play it at points along the map and get a really wonderful description of the area and some Hawaiian history also . In all the trip was as beautiful as seen on TV , at times even better . We had mostly good weather , though it did get a little misty at times but that is normal for the area . We ended our drive in Hana at the Hana Beach Park where Marla went swimming , Dot and Ruth and I got their feet wet , and Mike disappeared but showed up wet as he had been swimming at a different place on the beach . The drive back was a lot shorter since we didn't stop but once . It was at a side of the road fruit stand where we were bought some apple - bannanas and were treated to slices of sugar cane which you bite off the inside , chew it , sucking out the sweet juices , and then toss the chewed ruffage . We ended our day at a place called Mama 's Fish House where we dined on some of the best food on the island . It was really pricey but at that point we didn't care as we were really hungry . 
It 's the Lord 's Day in Hawaii Too ! Before I begin , I need to let everyone know that yesterdays travel day had a change in personnel . . . Sherrie and Crystal drove to Hilo after they dropped off Mike , Ruth , Dot and I , and flew home this morning . At least they got there without any plane troubles . In their place we welcome a new person , Marla . Welcome Marla ! We woke up this morning to the most beautiful weather we have had to date . The sky was blue , the clouds distant , and the temperature a balmy 81 degrees . . . and that was at 8:30 this morning ! Marla , ( also single , like Sherrie and Crystal ) , made a great suggestion that we all attend church today . A friend she has known for a while and who comes to Maui annually suggested a small church just down the road and so we all went . The sermon was great and was preceded by nearly an hour of pure praise and worship , our favorite part of the service , since we all sing in the choir back home . The day just got better from there . We must be doing something right ! I decided that I needed a day off and opted to stay home and ice down my ankle . I haven't said much about it since I sprained it but it was not looking too good by the time I got home from church . Over the last few days I have tried to stay off it as much as possible and ice it whenever I can , but I can walk on it and so I have tried mingle with the gang and go along on the drives . I have propped my leg up on the dashboard and let the air conditioning ice it down while on the road but even after several days , my entire foot is still swollen and several wonderful shades blue , red , black , & purple . So today I stayed home and propped it up above my heart and iced it nearly all day . It really did help ! Anyway , the rest of the gang , Marla , Dot , Mike & Ruth , headed out north of here and drove around highway 30 which circles the " head " of the island , checking out the sites and stopping at the Iao Valley State Park and hiking to the Iao Needle and back . They took a few pictures which I will post later . The day ended at a restaurant called the Aloha Grill . It is small , with patio only seating but they have the best food I have had so far . It is a mix of Hawaiian , Japanese , & Tahitian with rice . They explained that when the foreign workers would stop to have lunch they would sit together and share their food with one another . The Japanese would bring teriyaki beef , the Tahitians , teriyaki chicken , and the Hawaiians , teriyaki mahi mahi ( fish ) . The place sits right near the ocean looking into the harbor with Molokai in the background and we enjoyed one of the most spectacular sunsets we have seen to date . Knowing God put all this together just for our enjoyment made it even better ! 
One down , Five to go . . . Saturday is our travel day . We had to exit the condo by 10:00 am and since we had to be at the airport by 11:00 it was pretty much perfect timing . We got packed , loaded everything in the van and took off . You should have seen the van . We were stuffed in amongst the bags which were loaded everywhere . I mean it was really interesting ! Mike and Ruth were moving with us to Maui but on a different airline , so they dropped us off at Hawaiian Air and then Sherrie and Crystal dropped Mike and Ruth at Island Air . We boarded our plane for the 20 minute ride to Maui without incident . However , when we got to the terminal we were greeted with a phone call that Mike & Ruth 's flight had been delayed and they were not scheduled to leave until 2:30 pm . They were supposed to be about 30 minutes behind us and now it was over an hour . We decided to pick up the van ahead of their arrival and while I was signing the papers , they were landing in Maui . When I got back to the terminal , Mike , Ruth & Dot were waiting patiently for their ride . We loaded up the van and the three of us headed for Kaanapali and our next home at the Papakea Resort . 
Flumin ' da Ditch . . . Catchy title huh ? Well be surprised because that is the name of a very real event here on the Big Island and it is what we did yesterday ( Thursday ) . Flumin ' da Ditch is a experience that everyone who visits the island should have . Back at the beginning of the 1900 's sugar cane was the main crop on the island . But there was never enough rain to sustain large crops so an engineer from the mainland came up with a huge idea . He would build a series of canals & flumes that would re - route the water from the rainy side of the island to the sugar cane crops on the drier side . What was built was a 26 mile long system that flows in troughs , flumes , & ditches through open valleys and long tunnels that brought more water than they needed . Over the last 20 years though , sugar cane production has been reduced to nearly 0 % due to the high cost of labor here . Kids on the island used to jump the fences and tube down the ditches and one of those kids became an adult and devised a very interesting tourist activity that we really enjoyed . The trip starts the little town of Kapaau and is preceded by a trip in a 14 person 4 - wheel drive van that at times I thought was going to tip over . Everybody on the van was swaying back and forth and you had to protect your head from banging into the windows of the van . Once we arrived at the starting point you put on a waterproof jacket and your life vest and climbed into a 4 person inflatable kayak . The front and back persons ( I got to be in the back ! ) got to paddle the boat and we wore miners lamps to help light the way through the 10 tunnels we had to go through . Our guide , Ka ' anoi ( protector in Hawaiian ) was wonderful and had many facts to share with us while we were floating down stream . The tunnels we went through are low and at times you have to lay down in the kayak to get through . They are only about 4 ft wide and the longest was over 1800 ft . We were constantly having to push away from the sides to protect the inflatables . The flume portions are in areas that go over creeks & canyons and at one point we stopped to look over the side at a 40 ft waterfall directly below us . The ride lasted nearly 2 hours and we got to taste wild guava and cinnamon plant along the way . The rides ended with the same van trip back to the town . The highlight of this day was actually the trip back to the condo . The cloud cover we have had nearly all week finally cleared out and we were able to see four of the volcanoes responsible for helping to create this island : Kohala , Mauna Kea , Mauna Loa & Hualalai . We could even see the Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui for the very first time , only 26 miles away ! And the color of the ocean ? Well , it is the most royal blue I could ever describe and along the coast where the sand is was the most brilliant tourquoise color ever . It really is our paradise on earth ! 
Our second day . . . A dive in the ocean ! Dot and I arrived early Monday morning at a place called Jack 's Diving Locker , greated by our trainer , Larry . If you are ever considering diving / certifying on the Big Island Jack 's is the place to go ! They are a large dive operation and have a wonderful crew and quality equipment . We had a great experience diving with them . We were doing the first two of four qualifying dives to earn our Open Water certification in scuba diving . After about 45 minutes of crusing north along the Kona coast , we arrived at a place they call the Golden Arches . It is a dive of about 40 feet with all types of coral over a wide area . After rehearsing our the skills we would have to perform , we donned our gear , did a thorough equipment check and jumped into the water ! Once in we checked our weight distribution . We each had a bit too much weight and had to remove a couple of lbs each . We then proceeded down to the bottom via the anchor line at the bow of the boat and once on the bottom , had to perform a skill where we had to hover about 3 feet above the bottom . Both of us struggled a little as there was a slight current and a small surge , something we never experienced in the pool ! Anyway , after doing a couple of other skills , we spent the rest of the nearly 45 minutes just swimming along the bottom checking out all the fish and coral formations . We spotted a Peacock Razor Warsse , a school of Juvenile Coris , a Collector Urchin , and several Black Spiny Urchins . We got out of the water and I immediately expericenced a little sea sickness . Yes , your 's truely feed the fish ! I recovered enough to take our second dive in the afternnon which we spent performing several required skills and really didn't have time for much site seeing . The rest of the group decided to find a beach and do some snorkeling . They went to Keauhou beach and attempted to swim in surf of about 4 - 8 feet . According to some in the group it was quite an experience . One of our singles , Sherrie , had equipment that seemed to have a mind of it 's own as the snorkel lost a piece that connected it to the mask , one fin kept coming off and with the surf being a little rough it started knocking her around . She ended up getting scraped up in several places , as she puts it " on her best assets " and on top of that sunburned on her legs on top of the scrapes . She walked the rest of the evening as if she had been riding a horse all day ! In an unusual coincidence our other other single , Crystal had scrapes and sunburn on the backs of her legs , exactly opposite of her friend Sherrie ! We spent the rest of the evening talking about the trip so far and enjoying some deliciously grilled tri - tip . Our next post will talk about our trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park ! 
About our first full day . . . Mike and I awoke very early on Sunday to play golf at the Kona Country Club . They have two courses , the Ocean and the Mountain . We played the Mountain due to a tournament on the Ocean course . The mountain course slopes ( sometimes severely ) toward the ocean on each hole and the ball is guaranteed to roll toward the ocean on every one . I had taken a series of six golf lessons for the past couple of months and was just beginning to improve ever so slightly . I played OK and even got one birdie on a par 3 ! Mike hadn't played in a couple of years so the course ate him for breakfast . The first couple of holes were a disaster for both of us until we got used to the unique rough and fairways . After that we started doing better . Considering that my game is just beginning to jel , I did really OK . In the afternoon the entire group , Sherrie , Crystal , Mike I , drove north to the Kohala Coast and a resort called the Waikoloa for an adventure called Dolphin Quest . There we donned our swimsuits , lifevests masks and entered the resort lagoon to swim with actual dolphins . It was a very cool experience ! Dot mentioned to our trainer that she had seen the DQ on a segment of Jay Leno and wanted to know if she could experience one of those behaviors . He said that he would make sure we did that . For the next 45 minutes we got to pet the dolphins , ( yes , there were several ) , give them hand signals to jump and move the next group of people and such , feed them , and various other commands . We ended the encounter by having the dolphin lay between all 6 of us and we had our pictures taken as a group and individually while kissing the dolphin ! We will get our photos on Thursday and hope to post them online soon , if I can find a scanner somewhere close . We spent the rest of the day touring the Waikoloa Resort which displays all kinds of Japanese art and such . We walked the entire length of the resort , then rode the monorail all the way back to the beginning . We then climbed aboard a boat and toured the entire resort from an entirely different viewpoint . We ended the tour by walking past the largest pool complex we have ever seen and crossing the pool over a rope bridge ! Oh , and as we were promised , the sunset was absolutely spectacular While enjoying the sunset , we waited for reservations at one of our favorite restaurants , Outback . 
The Trip Begins . . . Well we are on our way ! Actually , we are beginning day 3 but this is the first day I have had time to post to this blog . To quote an old cliche : " Having a great time . . . Wish you were here ! " Four of our friends left a day early ( Friday ) due to airfare costs . They had to drive to Oakland , CA and fly out from there , landing in Hilo , HI . Well , about a half hour into their flight , an electronic stabilizer broke and they had to turn back . After spending an hour and a half circling to spend fuel , they finally landed . The landing was not smooth as they bounced about 20 feet on the first touchdown and the runway was lined with emergency vehicles just in case something went wrong ! Then they had to wait another 2 hours in a very small room used for Mexicana Airways being sequestered from the public so that no one could talk about what just happened . They finally got airborne about 11:30 CA time and flew to Hilo without further incident , landing about 4:30 am CA time . We , of course , had no problems getting to Kona , HI . Our flight went through Honolulu and we were in Kona nearly 15 minutes early . When we got there our friends met us at the airport and we were greeted by a young Hawaiian lady who gave each of us a beautiful flower lei . Oh yeah , forgot to mention ( for those who are in Sacramento ) that we met Stan Atkinson who traveled with us all the way to Kona ! We are staying at the Kona Coast Resort . We actually have 2 condos , a one bedroom where Mike and Ruth are staying and a 2 bedroom where Dot and I , and a couple of singles , Sherrie and Crystal are staying . All our friends are members of our Choir at Capital Christian Center in Sacramento CA . Both condos are spacious with plenty of room to move around . ( pictures later ) We spent the evening grocery shopping and preparing for the rest of the week . Dot and I have to leave for our first 2 of 4 certification dives so I will add more later . . . 
The Countdown has begun . . . Only 4 more days before we fly west to Hawaii ! Final preparations are being made , everyone has been notified and we are finally beginning to pack . We have actually been packing for about a month but stuff is starting to finally land in the suitcase ! We have finished our scuba diving lessons and will make one final practice dive in the pool on Thursday before packing all our gear . The real challenge has been trying to keep under Island Air 's 50 lb weight limit . Their plane 's only hold 26 passengers . We have pretty much figured that we are not going to make the limit so we will have to pay extra to get all our stuff to and from Molokai , the only island we are using that airline . Hawaiian Air , our airline for the rest of the trip has restrictions that are not near as strict but that is because the plane is much larger . We have met with all the people who will join us on our journey and have finalized all the activities we will take part in while there . We have even been able to book and pre - pay about half of it . It really is much easier that way even though your not as free to be spontaneous when you want to be . We have tried to limit our activities to one a day , leaving the rest of the day free to do whatever we want . Activities range from a couple of hours to most of the day so our free time varies as well . Saturday we arrive and have nothing planned but to get aclimated to our new surroundings . We plan on playing golf Sunday morning and are scheduled to swim with dolphins that afternoon followed by a tour of the Waikoloa Resort , a place we have been to before but it is such an awesome place we want to visit it again ! And , it is where we have our dolphin encounter . 
52 days and counting . . . Well , we are down to just under 2 months before we take flight across the Pacific Ocean and set out on journey few may ever experience in their lifetime . We are truly blessed by God to be able to do this and He has provided a way to overcome every little ( and sometimes large ) obsticle that has come our way . So what is this " tour " we are taking ? Well , 5 years ago I thought it would be grand if my wife and I celebrated our 25 th Wedding Anniversary by taking a 5 week vacation . . . one week for every 5 years of marriage . She initially thought I was nuts but planned and we did it and the result was awesome . We toured Orlando , FL for a week with two of our granddaughters and eight friends and then sent them all home and continued on the road for the next 4 weeks that took us through New Orleans , Memphis , Branson , Kansas City , St. Louis , Nashville , Atlanta , Charleston , St. Augustine and back to Orlando to fly home . While on that trip we jokingly asked each other what we might do for our 30 th Anniversary and I very quickly said " how about Hawaii . . . " So , here we are , the day we leave getting closer , faster , and we have actually have pulled it off . All we have to do is pack and leave . We have taken care of getting there , staying there , and getting around and have been able to use CASH for nearly all of it before we have even set foot on an island ! Our itinerary calls for our 1 st week on the Big Island of Hawaii , our 2 nd on Maui , our 3 rd on Molokai , our 4 th on Kauai , our 5 th on Oahu , and our 6 th and final week on a Cruise around the islands . As we travel we hope to share every aspect of our trip ( including pictures ! ) each and every day . Our plans include playing with dolphins , scuba diving , golfing , zipping across canyons , riding a flume , visiting a volcano , enjoying a luau , and thats just the first week ! It sounds like a lot but none of those things I mentioned take all day so there is plenty of time to enjoy what God has created which I am sure you will agree is as close to paradise as we will ever get on this earth . More later . . . 
It has been in the upper 80 's and humid . Gas has seen a slight increase . Unleaded 87 gasoline is at $ 2.75 per galon at a Hess station on Ashley Phospate Road in North Charleston , SC . Still , it is cheaper than bottled drinking water . A 16.9 ounce of Aquafina bottled water is $ 1.25 at the same gas station . 
It is 84 F degrees right now in Charleston , South Carolina . We had a high of 92 and expecting a low of 75 degrees . It is slightly humid . Unleaded 87 gasoline is $ 2.71 per galon at a Hess Station on Ashley Phospate Road in North Charleston . 
Yet Again . Well guys , I come as the bearer of bad news , as I so often do . Last night the Board of the school met and discussed my situation . They decided not to meet with me personally today but sent only one of them instead to relay their decision . They determined that through personal donations and personal favors that they do not owe me any of the money they originally promised . They believe they have done enough to compensate me for my services , which they ( or at least the one relaying the message ) also feel were insufficient . The person I met with told me he felt that my teaching performance at the school was lacking anyways . Needless to say , I feel quite devastated and shocked by the whole thing . I don't think I ' ve felt so betrayed since my wife left me . I ' m leaving out a lot of details because I ' m honestly too hurt to write very much right now . As for Vanderbilt , well , I guess I ' m going to do everything I can to find a way to move . Otherwise , I ' ll have to figure out a Plan B for my life really damn quick . Actually , at this point I feel like I ' m already at like Plan W but anyways . The man told me that the individual board members were unwilling to make any personal contributions themselves but that there is a possibility that the church could find a way to make a donation . He said he ' d let me know . So , I guess I can hope for that but I ' m not crossing my fingers . I ' ll be honest with all of you . I ' m pretty down right now about all of this and feeling quite lost . I ' m not the most qualified person you ' ll ever meet in dealing with failure or rejection so I ' m kind of feeling it all in a big way . I ' m in one of those " all I feel like doing is feeling sorry for myself because life sucks " moods . I even feel like I owe you guys an apology and I don't even know why . I guess I feel like my efforts over the past few years have utterly tanked and perhaps I ' m only now just recognizing it . It 's pure feeling , not rational thought , but just the same ... So , anyways , stop by and have a drink with me because I need some virtual company . P . S . -- Those of you in my area ( viz. , former students ) who are reading this , well please don't make a big deal of this just yet as I have to hold out some hope that the church will provide something and pissing them off wouldn't be the wisest idea I suppose . 
Vanderbilt Update . Well guys , I ' ve been quite neglectful in my bartending duties over the past month or so . I thought I ' d at least give you an update as to what the walrus ' future plans involve . Last week I went down to Nashville for a few days to go apartment hunting and I did find a one bedroom apt in a good area . I think I got a good deal for what 's involved . I ' ll be moving on August 15 ( give or take a day ) . In the meantime , I ' m trying to work as much as possible and pay the bills . For some reason they all seem to come in the summer for me . I ' m still trying to get the high school where I taught to pay me the rest of my income ( they owe me 3500 dollars still - yes it 's been over two years ) . If I don't get that , I probably won't be able to afford to move . We ' ll see how it goes . I ' ve been so busy with work and the Vandy stuff that I haven't been able to post but have no fear my friends ... I ' m confident that my re - entry into the academic world of theology will produce some interesting bar chats . So drop me a line or two . I ' ll keep in touch when I learn more . 
Plugs . Hey guys , well it 's been nearly a month now since I last posted . Where the hell did those weeks go ? I feel like I ' m in automaton mode at work . Work royally sucks on a regular basis ( as I expected it too ) so I ' m definitely ready for a change in scenery . I ' m hoping everything works out with the Nashville thing b / c I need something different . I don't really go out much anymore but my whole day / night schedule is still really jacked up . I envy the normal life sometimes I suppose . Of course , I ' d hate it if I had it but anyways ... I had the opportunity to go see Thursday last Thursday ( hehe ... ) night at the House of Blues in Chicago . I went with leighbotts ( a former student and current friend ) . It was good times as I had been waiting for sometime to see them live . It had been a couple years and I was having Thursday withdrawals . Well , their new album " City by the Light Divided " is out now ( and in our jukebox ) so I highly suggest picking it up . It 's not " Full Collapse " but it 's still Thursday . Musically , it 's undoubtedly their highest achievement to date . It 's not easily accessible and it takes a few listens to catch on but when you do , it 's a good treat . Last but not least , I ' m hoping to make a new post on Tuesday ( my next day off ) . I ' ve had some thoughts on the current state of the Church ( I know , imagine that ) and am considering putting a few thoughts together . I could just give a random rant on politics and the Commander in Chief but I ' ll refer you to the latest public opinion polls instead . 29 % ?? " I ' m not even mad . That 's amazing ! " Well , anyways , I hope to have another post up soon for all you drunken bastards to comment on . But , as usual , I ' ll try to throw you the best curveball I ' ve got . Cheers . 
Checking In . Well , I haven t posted in a bit so I thought I d at least compose a few thoughts to start the bar - talk for the week . I had a rare couple of days off this weekend so I was able to go see a concert at a local bar in Chicago on Saturday night . I had almost forgotten the beauty and intensity of a great rock show in a small venue . Well , it was a fantastic show and I hope to catch them again in the near future . Their name is Greenwheel and I highly recommend them to any of you rock fans out there . If the name sounds familiar , you might remember their song " Breathe " which caught some airtime back in the day ( a song which Melissa Etheridge subsequently covered , giving the song even more airtime , even though her version sucked ) . Anyways , not much is going on other than working like mad at Don Pablo s . I am now pulling cocktail shifts on the upper level and will be training in bartending soon . That can only mean my bartending skills at this bar will get better and better as well . I am also working on filling out my FAFSA form for Vanderbilt this fall . I need to finish it this week to meet the May 1 st deadline . Well , there s a basic update for you . I never got any feedback on my post proposal in the last thread so I m guessing maybe it wasn t a popular idea . Also , I apologize for my lack of Lost posts as well . When the show went on break a couple months ago , I did too and just never dug back in . I m still moving along in the second season though and thoroughly enjoying it . By the way , for those of you who don t want to wait for the DVD you can download each of the second season episodes on ITunes for like 2 bucks ( or a season pass for 35 ) . Well , take care and drop me a line if you get a chance . Cheers . 
A Revision of Love . Well , I must admit that the previous post was a rather strange one . I wrote it in one of the strangest moods I ve ever been in and I ve been in a lot of strange moods . ( Side note : 2 coopers , I m reminded of my rendition of spontaneous mood change boy we captured on camera our freshmen year ) . It s interesting in re - reading it because I had so many conflicting emotions and had no idea how to say them . What came out was a bizarre mixture of irony , sarcasm , and honesty traits which , of course , are not all that unusual for me but sometimes their combination creates an interesting offspring . Hence , the my answer of hate . Well , here s my attempt at breaking it down a bit . I am slowly but surely re - entering the world of academic thought . I have been accepted to Vanderbilt University s Divinity School for this fall on a 70 % scholarship ( which , according to dante , is the next highest below a full ) . So , needless to say , I feel quite honored ( and I m expecting free drinks over the next week from all of you I also get dibs on the jukebox ) . Now , it s not 100 % that I m going ( simply b / c nothing is 100 % for me ) even though I ve officially accepted but all intentions are to do so . Re - entering the world of academic thought requires leaving a world of relative comfort and apathy . So , there s that . Then there was watching the Boston Legal episode and the V for Vendetta movie and then my mind was set on a crash course for induced schizophrenia . And I m not even sure what that means . My reaction to the two examples I gave in the post was that of great frustration and anger . I got really pissed off . Then I realized that this stuff had been going on for a while and I became more pissed off because I hadn t been pissed off sooner . Then I realized no one else seemed pissed off so I got more pissed off . So I wrote a post trying to piss people off which was only marginally successful ( although my debate with shamuboo has apparently indulged my cravings ) . What was originally intended to be a purely ironic post turned into irony mixed with sincerity . My answer of hate was intended to be a critique of what love has come to be in some ( rather outspoken ) circles . In other words , if that s love ( and their interpretation of those sayings from the Sermon on the Mount ) then I m all about the hate . If our reaction to those sayings had managed to produce such things as an unqualified patriotic idolatry and a group of homophobic shitbags that protest at military funerals , then , to put it mildly , we ve got something to think about . If our rendition of the love spoken about in Scripture produces what is in reality an overt or covert hatred , then I m gonna take the opposite road . So , to answer your confusion , no , I haven t given up on love by any stretch , just their perversion of it . Now , where it gets confusing is my piqued interest in the pragmatic possibilities of hate ( a misnomer actually I just used it earlier to rhyme and provoke violence or anger might be more appropriate ) . There is something to be said here . I m just trying to figure out how it s best said . I m working on a version of it in the novel I m writing . Another version was in V for Vendetta , which I found quite compelling . When apathy , comfort , and idolatry reign , sometimes a trigger speaks louder than an olive branch . Again , I m still working through all of this so try not to be too demanding for me to flesh it out with precision . It s a work in progress . But I thought it would be wise to further clarify my last post . I sincerely appreciate all of your responses to the last post and I have some things to say to them ( which I will probably do under that thread ) . I am glad you reacted as if it were purely sincere rather than also ironic because it was more enlightening . Oh , and yes I pinch . 
My Answer of Hate . So , I ve been thinking ... anyone up for a little hate ? I mean seriously , this Christian love stuff is kind of pissing me off . I ve never been one to be up for the whole macho no - emotions thing but give me a fucking break . This stuff makes me sick . I m just going to pull out the stops here so bear with me . To be honest , I m just saying the stuff everyone thinks all the time but never has the stones to say . Let s think about this : Blessed are the merciful , for they will receive mercy Blessed are the peacemakers , for they will be called children of God If anyone strikes you on the right cheek , turn the other also . Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . Love one another as I have loved you . Is it just me or is all of this really starting to sound like a load of crap ? Is that really going to accomplish anything ? Take these recent examples of Christians practicing love : 1 ) For several years now , the Christian Church at large in America has shown love for its government and its policies . Policies such as starting a war on an admitted false premise and continuing to work from it , handing over suspected terrorists to regimes who specialize in torture , locking up suspected terrorists without the right to a trial or the right to confront their accusers , conducting extensive domestic surveillance on American citizens in the name of fighting terror , and declaring free speech zones where it can be declared illegal to conduct a political protest . In sum , policies that essentially erode the Bill of Rights .2 ) And now we have these hacks from Westboro Baptist Church being all lovey - lovey with homosexuals . Read here to learn about it . I mean Reverend Fred Phelps himself is perpetuating this damn love message with his http : // www . godhatesfags . com / website . He even set up a Perpetual Gospel Memorial to Mathew Shepard to ice the cake . Well , these two examples have been on my mind over the past week and I can t help but thinking the message of love really doesn t make sense anymore . In fact , after watching the movie V for Vendetta , putting on a mask and blowing up buildings sounds a hell of a lot more interesting . You know what ? As a matter of fact , I change my mind . Who am I to blame Christians for their benevolent message ? In fact , I won t even scapegoat them anymore . I ve done my share of that in the past . So where the hell is everyone else with a brain and a heart ( either qualifies ) ? To be honest , I m just calling out for someone out there to give a damn . Last week s Boston Legal episode brilliantly illustrated the problem I m putting before you . We re not even noticing what s going on around us . That s a problem . Our government s hijacking the Bill of Rights before our eyes and we don t care . That just made me think about all the things we end up not caring about . Maybe love is the wrong message . I m ready for a little hate . Just get pissed off folks . Just for a little while and let s see where it gets us . Because this whole love thing well , it s not going very far . My question to you is : While we re dealing with the question of fate on an otherwise unimportant blog , have you decided to let be what is ? Is love the answer ? Are you feeling any hate towards what s happening around you ? Are you feeling anything at all ? If not , God help us . God help me especially , because I m going a little crazy with all this love stuff . I m ready to start a revolution . Any takers ? 
Long Time , No See ... Wow . It 's been a year . Seems like so many things packed into so little time . Well , I ' m still here , and you 're evidently still out there , so I ' ll keep punching away at this keys as an expression of my mental self in an effort to get people to exercise their cerebrum . Remember , feel free to comment on any of the posts I have , whether in the past or in the present . 
Group Psychology . I was recently traveling internationally with a group of colleagues from which I gained a peek into the interesting field of group psychology and social behavioral patterns . One thing indelibly impressed upon me was a phenomenon I refer to as " herd syndrome . " After arriving in Houston 's international airport , it was decided that the group should get lunch before the next flight . Accordingly , the group began walking towards the food court area . It was here that the enchanted shuffle began ... Keep in mind that no specific terminology had been used in describing lunch ; only an unanimous agreement to grab a bite . Yet somehow , everyone was mystically gravitating towards Mc Donald 's . Before I knew what had happened , the group was standing in front of the airport 's Mc Donald 's . Like zombies we had all be drawn by the flickering glow of the Golden Arches . This I could not understand . Was it the universally accepted nature of Mc Donald 's , the appeal of American cuisine after an extended stay in a foreign country , various environmental factors which stimulated the mutual response , or mind control waves from the mother ship ? That everyone subconsciously could make the decision to eat Mc Donald 's and that everyone decided the same thing at the same time is astounding to me . It was a highly intriguing yet highly puzzling event which my woefully underpowered mental faculties still cannot comprehend . 
Natural Explanations for Supernatural Occurrences . While I was flipping through TV channels the other night ( a rare occurrence indeed ) I stumbled upon the History Channel , arguably my favorite channel . What I saw , however , was extremely irritating . It wasn't a documentary on any politically correct topic , but a documentary on the Bible . On the surface , it would seem that a documentary on the Bible would be a good thing , but remember , always have your mind engaged . I have found that increasingly documentaries on Biblical topics or Christianity are saturated in naturalism , the doctrine that only the natural occurs ; there is no supernatural , not even a supernatural Creator or Being , just the natural and material world . For my health 's sake I usually avoid programs like those . This night , however , I couldn't resist , and what was particularly upsetting about this program was that it attempted to explain miracles with fables of extraterrestrial . No kidding ! This program was suggesting that the cloud which guided Moses and the Israelites on the Exodus was a UFO . That 's right . An alien ship . That 's both preposterous and blasphemous ! What I do not understand is the hypocritical situation which naturalists and atheists put themselves in . They try to explain away God with so - called " natural " phenomenon , but they replace God with fanciful and groundless propositions . They say that there is no empirical or scientifically verifiable proof for the existence of God -- you can't smell , hear , touch , taste , or feel God , therefore He doesn't exist . What they don't realize is that no credible claims have been made to someone smelling , hearing , touching , tasting ( eww ! ) or feeling an alien . They ' ve simply replaced one miracle with another miracle . Popular Mechanics , a magazine I was subscribed to a couple of years ago , also joined in on the act with their cover story article Science Solves More Ancient Mysteries of the Bible ( Dec . 2001 ) . Okay , first objection -- why exactly are the Biblical miracle accounts mysteries and why do they need to be solved ? Anyway , my favorite ( or least favorite ) " solution " was Manna from Heaven . In this article , the author writes that manna was either simply secretions from a bush or seeds from a tree that the Israelites knew nothing about ; in their ignorance , they automatically assumed it was a miracle . Okay , let 's look at this analytically . First of all , their were over a million Israelites , some scholars say up to 2 or 3 million . Secondly , each Israelite was told to gather an omer ( approx . 2 - 4 quarts ) of manna . I am not sure that even a forest of " tamarisk trees " could secrete enough goo to feed millions of people , each man getting 2 , 3 , or 4 quarts . How was it that though the Israelites were constantly traveling , they were always near a patch of these tamarisk trees ? Another point , even more crushing , why was it that if the Israelites kept the manna overnight , there would always be worms , except on the Sabbath when no manna appeared and the Israelites had to gather extra the previous day . There was no manna at all on the Sabbath -- were the tamarisk trees off the clock ? Once again , naturalists have simply traded one miracle for another larger , even more impressive miracle . If they are trying to explain away God , they ' ve achieved the opposite result , because believing that God provided for the Israelites is more reasonable than believing any other far - fetched explanation . What modern scientists and scholars need to realize is that ( 1 ) the supernatural and natural are not opposed to one another and ( 2 ) the purely empirical method of experimentation and observation has a limited application . So , the morals of the story ... ( 1 ) don't watch documentaries on the Bible if you have high blood pressure and ( 2 ) be cognizant of the sometimes subtle , sometimes boisterous deceits of the enemy . 
FRONT OF HOUSE VIEW . This Very private home at Lake Naciemento in Heritage Ranch Gated community is a wonderful home to live in or just have for the weekend getaway . 2 Bedrooms , 2 Full Bathrooms , Covered carport and Patio , Nice size backyard , walk to Heritage Ranch Pool , Market , Deli and Lake in just minutes . Several trees on property provide shade for the hot summer days and home has Central A / C . If you would like more information on this house or houses like it , call Andy Katsev at ( 805 ) 896 - 2010 , or click on the side to visit my website . 
KITCHEN / DINNING ROOM . Kitchen and Dinning allow for ease of use and enough room to move around . Dininng table area can hold table for 6 - 8 people . If you would like more information on this house or houses like it , call Andy Katsev at ( 805 ) 896 - 2010 , or click on the side to visit my website . 
FAMILY ROOM . d Family room is very open with plenty of room for furniture and guests , large tree shades most of the and with Central AC you will enjoy cool summers days inside to escape the heat . If you would like more information on this house or houses like it , call Andy Katsev at ( 805 ) 896 - 2010 , or click on the side to visit my website . 
PRIVATE PATIO . Enjoy being outside but fell like your inside on the covered patio just off the living room . Very private with plenty of room for a large group of people to have fun . If you would like more information on this house or houses like it , call Andy Katsev at ( 805 ) 896 - 2010 , or click on the side to visit my website . 
CARPORT AND BOAT STORAGE . NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT STORING YOUR BOAT AND PARKING YOUR CARS . ENJOY THE COVERED AND GATED CARPET . If you would like more information on this house or houses like it , call Andy Katsev at ( 805 ) 896 - 2010 , or click on the side to visit my website . 
BACKYARD . Enjoy your private shaded backyard with covert patio . Backyard has views of the hills and Heritage Ranch Pool . Walk to Deli and Market in just 2 minutes . If you would like more information on this house or houses like it , call Andy Katsev at ( 805 ) 896 - 2010 , or click on the side to visit my website . 
what does it matter ? i was doing some tutoring this morning with one of the women i work with . She 's a smartie and most times , tutoring is just me listening to her read long passages in english with the occasional pronuciation correction . this morning we were reading a report on comparative women 's history by one of the people that puts together Islamic education textbooks for Moroccan schools . we just read the first section when the author discribes how bad all ancient cultures were for women . there were a few points that contradicted western civ. classes i remember from my youth . when i told the woman i tutoring that Greece and Rome weren't as bad as they were being made out to be , she just stopped and looked at me . we switched back to Arabicshe held out her hands and told me they were a scale . she said that her right hand was women and her left hand was men . she lifted her left hand up and put her right hand down a lot . she paused and looked at me . then she lifted the women hand up a little and put the men hand down a little . she then said to me , " what does it matter how close they are , if they are still unequal ? " . 
check . Nam tells me i ' ve been here for 312 days . that seems like kind of a long time . and just this morning i find myself sitting at the computer for as long as i can rather than hurrying to sign off and save a dirham . that probably means something . i ' ll go eat a prickly pear and get over it . 
i am an idiot II. 12,248.5 ftwinnersme , entirely too pleased with myself . Salim is trying to not get blown off the mountain top . the long road home . ( i ' m the one out to the left , a bit . ) The president , Jenny and mesunset behind usthe president 's daughter , Rqi ' a , only too eager to pretend like she ' d come along Jenny , Asou ( the president 's son ) and me Photo credit goes to Salim for everything . i put my camera deep in the pack after the hail storm , and i was focusing too much on not dying to take any good pictures anyway . i am not what you call an outdoor person . 
i am an idiot . So , last week i was pretty sick , but i had made plans to go out and see the president of one of the co - ops i work with , and i hate backing out on stuff . i ran into him the day before we we supposed to go out , and he asked if i ' d like to do a little hiking . sure . at this time i have 100 degree temerature . no sweat . i go out , bring some friends to see what 's going on and join in on the hike . after 2 days we end up climbing ayachi , one of the tallest mountains in africa , and part of my site , as it is defined . first day 's progress at noon . you can't see the base camp . my friend Salim and i cooling down the tootsies . me waiting out a hail storm in a cave lined with goat poop . yes , that is a rock i ' m using as a pillow . Berbers !!! you ' ve got to click on this to see the whole picture . once we got to where could make a frontal assualt on the peak , i started running ... it didn't last long . 
a change in the air . first off , it is absolutely inconceivable to most folks around town that i am an American . i must be french , even though i don't speak french and have to ask for arabic translations of letters written in french . so imagine my surprise the other day when some kid came up to me and told me he knew i wasn't french . he went on , however , to tell me that he knew i am Israeli and that i should stop bombing Lebanon . then the kid walked away before i had the opportunity to show him the hanger where i keep my long - range bomber that i use to fly night missions to Lebanon and back to the middle - of - nowhere Morocco . in the past few days i ' ve been asked more than a few times why i ' m killing so many Arabs . i try to explain to them that : i ' m American , not Israelii ' m not in any country 's armyi live in Midelt , Morocco , and so my killing abilities are somewhat hinderedthe most killing i do is flies and the goat on 3 id Kabir . yesterday i saw a sign that said " cut out a coke and save a palestinian " and had a whole list of products that were allegedly funding the Israeli war effort . i had no idea that buying carbonated beverages bottled in Casablanca were directly contributing to the deaths of babies . or , for instance , that the ex - prime minister of Israel receives half of every dirham i spend on laundry detergent . why didn't i think to look into this before ??? oh yeah , because i ' m still halfway sane . even this morning , on the way to the cyber cafe , two cute girls were doing the whole , look / look - away thing , but instead of giggling , they wispered , " yup , that 's him , the Israeli . " so i ' m just going to hunker down here and wait for crazy time to blow over . 
who am i ? No , Grandma , this does not mean i won't be coming homecontest So i was having lunch at a moroccan association for helping handicapped people and doing some translating for some American Donors . good times . the Moroccan Staff broke out in song as they were waiting for food . i joined in because i knew the song . after they finished , they decided there should be a singing contest of sorts between them and the Americans . i translated their message , and the game was on . The Americans decided to sing , what else , the National Anthem . I sang along , of course . then back to the Moroccans who sang one of the more exciting love songs in the national repitoire . i sang along . the Americans decided on another song to sing . i didn't know it . i didn't sing along . seizing on this immediately , and the fact that i was talking more with the Moroccans than the Americans , people on each side asked me , " who are you with ? " I ' ve worked really hard to be intergrated into the community here , but at the same time , i am proud of my country . i ended up saying ana bwahidy ( i ' m alone . literally : i am one to myself ) what are you talking about ? i was talking to Moha and Ymina the other day about how prices are still higher for me than they are for them because i ' m a foreigner . they would hear nothing of it . I usually say when people tell me that i ' m Moroccan by now , that no , i ' m half and half . but they just wouldn't quit and kept telling me that i am Moroccan , and that 's it . if that 's so , why don't i get Moroccan prices ? say it ain't so PC Morocco is losing one of the best among us . Initially i didn't relate well to this volunteer , but it was only because i didn't take the job as seriously as he did . If each of us did half as much as him in our time here , we could all be satisfied and Morocco would be a much better place . If you read this , best of luck , E . not that you ' ll need it . : ) . 
Roller Coaster . Most days are so full of ups and downs here that I don t know whether to jump out of bed in the morning and run into the street expecting to pick gold off the ground , or stay in bed because I m going to get pummeled with hail . Most days , it s a mix of both . Here s yesterday , for example . Disappointment Yesterday morning I stopped by the family , and they told me I hadn t been coming buy enough and they wondered if I was forgetting them . Of course not , but I m a busy man , and I can t stop by everyday anymore . Try explaining that to my Moroccan family though good luck . So , I was going on the way to my first meeting when this girl calls me over to the side of the road . She was dressed conservatively , so I went over . I couldn t understand what she was saying for the life of me . finally she got tired of saying the same thing o me and walked off . 15 minutes later , I finally understood what she was talking about . She was just asking me how Moha was doing . She wasn t being very clear at all , but mostly it was just the start of a poor - language day . Playing doctor A few days earlier I got to take some doctors out to the folks I work with to give them a checkup . They said they were fine , but asked if the doctor could please see one of their friends . We almost didn t go , but it s a good thing we did because the kid had a 105 degree temperature . The doctor and nurse treated him ( Ibuprofen ) and when I went back yesterday the fever had broken and he was outside wrestling sheep . The doctor probably saved that kid s life . Student When I was on my way back to the house after that , I ran into one of my former students . I went to say hi to her , and instead of saying hi back , she asked me for money . Fatima ( name changed ) told me that even though she had earned one of the highest scores on the high school exit exam , her parents didn t want her to go to university because it is hard for smart girls to find husbands . Well , she is smart , and tall too , and that doesn t bode well for her chances of getting married , which is pretty much the only choice for her since she s been prohibited from working and going to university by her parents . So what s the outcome ? She s begging ( and possibly worse ) on the streets because her parents would rather her get married than get educated . Game I went to a caf to watch the final game of the world cup , but wasn t planning on caring about the game ( france and Italy who cares , right ? ) but this cool guy sat next to me and was marginally for Italy , like me . we talked for most of the game about politics , the difference between Moroccan Arabic and Fusha ( he s an Arabic teacher ) , cultural exchange techniques and language acquisition as a means of conflict resolution . It was really great to have a somewhat erudite conversation , in Darija no less . 
Things that I ve heard this week : . This is what happens when you get too many American expats together ( none of these are from me ) Zak , your voice sounds like it should be coming from a cartoon cat , albeit a sly one One of my students said the 3 rd step in preparing an omelet was to quib it with a leather , whatever that means ( consequently , whenever someone upsets us , we now tell him or her that we re going to quib them with a leather [ Kevin , get ready for a quibbing ! ] ) Whenever I think of Ikea , Bjork s Human Behavior starts playing in the background in my head Is that dirt on my sheets ? ! ? ! ? Oh , nevermind , it s just blood . Why is it that the only word of darija I can remember is : dude ? ( it means intestinal worms ) This is why Americans will never like metric football ( after watching 210 minutes of world cup soccer in a day with only one regulation goal ) I miss Peggy , even though I never met her . 
more pictures . Wow , you ' d be surprised how much people run around when an ambassabor comes to town ! The Doc that puts together these caravans is pretty much a saint ! here 's him examining a patient . the Ambassador 's wife 's head is in the background . ( i have better pictures , but i don't know that they ' d want their faces all over everything ) the nurse i was helping throughout the daymy newly installed water heater ! 
a couple pictures . I ' ve been super busy the last week . good news is Moha is fine after the operation . okay , more later , but here are the pictures i ' ve got . me with Sidi Mohammed , one of the kids the doctors examined as part of the medical caravanmy new door . 
Medicine in Morocco . This morning I was translating from Arabic to English for an American doctor . Man , doctors are pretty amazing folks , and when they figure out what s going wrong with a child ( I was working with a pediatrician ) the look in the parents face is incredible . Translating to parents that their child was probably permanently handicapped was rough stuff , to be sure , but on the whole , it was a pretty amazing experience . Moha Baba is in the hospital . He s going to have surgery tomorrow morning , early ( probably when you re reading this ) . So if you re the praying type , you might raise something . I went to visit him a couple times today and he was laughing and kidding around . He has taken control of the hospital room he s in ( at least 5 other guys awaiting surgery it s pretty crowded ) and told them not to be scared and that everything would be alright . And all the other guys are calling him Chef ( chief ) . He s a great guy . It doesn t have anything to do with anything , but right now I m eating popcorn that I popped myself and watching Devdas , the best movie ever . 
Midelt Girls . For reasons I can t explain here ( ask me sometime in an email if you re curious as to my theories . Zaida figures prominently ) girls in the ultra - religious town of Midelt are really forward . Which is interesting for so many reasons . Rather than go into a comparative sociological study of coupling , however , let me tell you a couple stories . Story one Yesterday , I was sitting in a caf with another msrani ( the less polite name for a foreigner , but better than infidel , so I don t complain ) and the waiter comes up and hands the guy I m with a note and says to me fhmh ( something like make him understand ) so I open the note and get ready to translate poorly written Arabic , but instead it says , in english , written in cutesy catholic schoolgirl handwriting : You are very handsome I love you Kisscall me ( phone number and email ) The guy I was with didn t know what to do , and frankly neither did i . I looked around in time to find 3 giggly girls running out of the caf . Wowzers . Story two So I m waiting outside the association I ve started working with to meet up with one of the leaders and there is a large group of girls standing near the entrance so I take a seat on the ground a little ways off and hope that they ll think I m a beggar and leave me alone . No such luck . Two Moroccan girls come over and try the old do you remember my name ? trick . No , I don t ; mostly because we ve never met . But my snobbery is shown to be foolishness because these are really nice girls who are studying to be doctors and are out in the country to help people with the medical caravan traveling through the area . So I talk with them , they tell me my Arabic is good , even though I m making more mistakes than usual ( I still get nervous in front of new people ) . Extra special weird bonus half story Two more girls from the group walk up , and I try speaking to them in Arabic , but get the what - on - earth - language - are - you - trying - to - speak - you - fool look that I deserved from the first two girls as a response . Then one of them started speaking in heavily accented English . Ah - ha ! These are French girls . They go on to explain to me how they hate having to speak English and how French people always use their vacations to help children and Anyway , eventually the one girl s English breaks down and I have to ask the poor Moroccan girls in Arabic to translate into French that the person I was supposed to meet just walked up and so I need to go . My students We got the finals scores back of the kids I ve been tutoring in English . 6 passed , 4 scored well enough to merit retakes and 4 failed . I should point out that the test is designed in such a way that only 30 percent are expected to pass , so my group beat the average , even before the retakes . 
on the inside . I help teach at a couple centers around town , and i do a little work with an association for handicapped people . these organizations are run by people who are not part of the local communtiy or don't speak the language . it 's weird , yet very exciting , for me to be able to sit and find out what people are really saying about these organizations on the street . i have been able to counteract rumors and help focus messages in light of feedback . it 's really gratifying , after all this time spent learning the language , and trying to integrate into the communtiy to see some benefits . 
Day 21 - In Limbo . With the help of Zach 's suburban and the Goldings ' trailer , we towed the 332 ti to Simpson . Man , that guy must be booked ! I just called and he hasn't touched it yet . I appreciate his honesty , though . He did apologize for the delay , and he 's even going to work on Saturday to try and catch up on his workload . Can't blame the guy for having a lot of business . Anyway , God must be teaching me patience . I ' ve had the car for three weeks as of right now , and have had the priveledge of driving it only two days of the 21 . Everything happens for a reason ....... I ' ll just keep telling myself that . - Evan . 
Day 13 - FTL . After draining the entire cooling system for a second time and filling and bleeding the system for a third , I gave Jim a call . After describing the symptoms , his conclusion was what I feared the most : Blown head gasket . FTL . So if I can't find a cheap way to get it towed , I ' ll be paying 150 bucks ... just to get it there . Then probably well over $ 1 k to get the car fixed . Just to have it running like it was when I got it . I guess that 's all assuming the head gasket was in fine shape when I got it ... who knows . Shame on me for not getting the compression checked . Anyway , I need to get back to work cleaning the darned thing . I ' ll keep you all posted . 
Day 6 - The Plan . This evening Matt and I are going to replace my water pump , thermostat , and thermostat housing . Hopefully that ' ll do the trick and I ' ll be up and running again . If not , well , then ... crap . Anyway , I have a list of everything I will ever want to do to the car . Not all of this is near - term , but most of it is likely to happen eventually , assuming I can afford to keep the car during school . So , here 's the big list : Exterior : M 3 OEM Lip Fix e 46 Bi - Xenons ( high beams stuck " on " ) Remove Eyelids ( may need to get new ZKW glass because of adhesive ) Fix Drivers Side Door Handle ( trim keeps falling off ) Repaint ( Cosmos Black ? Something black anyway ) Under the hood , etc : Sell current CAIBuy Conforti CAISell AA Strut Bar Complete Detail New All - Aluminum Radiator New Water Pump New Thermostat New Thermostat Housing ( aluminum ) Other : Sell B B Triflo Exhaust Buy Used Eisenmann Race , Stromung , or Tubi exhaust Resonator ? ( don't have cats ) Sell RE SSKBuy UUC EVO 3 SSKWheels / Suspension : Buy 17 x 9 Kosei K 1 's all around ( they don't come in 18 's , do they ? ) ** Kosei 's will be for track / autox , and the ASA - AR 1 's will be DD 's , the DS 2 's for Winter ) ** Tires for Kosei 's ? Rear Sway ( unsure on this ) Interior : Remove Roll Cage Strip Entire Interior Extensive Sound Deadening ( B - quiet placed on the sheet metal below ... ) - underside of roof - back and front faces of door metal - floor - firewall - backside of fenders - " trunk " all around - A / B / C pillars Sell Momo Seats Buy Corbeau A 4 w / Microsuede Reupholster rear seat black ( fabric ? ) Speaker System ( working out details ) Amplifyer ( " " ) Subs ( " " ) Sell Sony Head Unit Buy JVC KD - AR 5500 Head Unit Replace Dash with Black Sedan Dash - Fix Horn on Momo Steering Wheel - 18 button OBC - Dual Digital Climate Control - Black Center Console - Gauge Pod - Water Temp - Oil Temp - Oil Pressure - Voltmeter - V 1 Stealth Install - Make M 3 Cluster work with OBCBlack Carpet ( either used or done myself Black Floormats Black Door Panels Black Side Panels Headliner ( unsure what or how ) Fix Passenger side window ( I think it 's just the switch ) Fix Cruise Control Find a good location for battery and rewire everything . 
Day 5 - $ 81 vs . Free . As of Saturday night ( Day 1 ) , the car is overheating . It 's a gradual warm up as usual , but it doesn't stop at the midline - it just keeps heating and heating until it overheats , at which point the pressure is too much for the cap on my reservior , and it sprays out . So ... that 's bad . I took it to the local guy , Jack . He 's a nice guy , but charged me $ 81 to diagnose the 332 ( that 's $ 81 I didn't find out about until after the inspection , mind you ) . What was his diagnosis ? I need to replace my computer to control the idle . What does idle have to do with the price of eggs in China ? In a word , nothing . So i drove the car home ( it 's a very short distance , so no overheating ) , went to work , and called Jim Simpson of Simpson Motorsports . In five minutes , for $ 0 , he diagnosed my issue thoroughly , gave me a solution , and offered me the parts at his discounted price . What a Godsend . So , I will most likely take the car to his place if I can get Matt 's trailer again . If not , I ' ll go in another car and pick up the parts to do it myself when I have time . We ' ll see . Hopefully I ' ll get to take the car to NE this weekend ... 
( 003 ) FOR SALE 1995 332 ti IOWA . I purchased this in Dec . 05 but my G / F got a new job and we 're moving out of state and I need this gone . So here is the mod list .... S 52 OBD 1 Convertion ( 98 M 3 ) Euro HFMAA Tunned B & B triflo exhaust CATS ARE REMOVED ( some states not legal , but an OBD 1 6 cyl exhaust fits ) Fan delete mode TMS Flywheel Stage 3 Clutch Roughe Shifter 3.25 LSDReinforced rear frame Bilstein Sports Racing dynamis springs M 3 Front Brakes , and spindles M 3 front suspension conversion Brembo Slotted rotors all around Green Stuff Brake pads all around ( New ) X Brace RD Front Sway bar HMS Roll cage Momo Seatsmomo Evo Steering wheel ACS Shifter and pedals AA Rear shock brace Rotora ( same as AA ) Strut Brace Green Eyeball Control Arm Bushings Stainless S . teel bradded Brake lines ZKW Headlights with 2002 M 3 HID 's Bi xennons M 3 mirrors M 3 mouldings COLD AIR INTAKEOptima Red Top battery located in hatch Sony CD Player ASA AR 1 18 X 9 ( REAR ) 18 X 8 ( FRONT ) ALSO INCLUDES STOCK M 3 WHEELSApparently the car ran a Ran 13.1 @107 mph And dyno around 260 whp . I did not track the carbut can vouch that time is pretty accurate I owned a turbo golf that ran a 13.7 and this feels faster . There are 110,000 miles on the motor and 89 K on the actual car ( M 3 cluster ) I will get more pictures up in the next few days . A / C works great , tan interior is showing wear on the A - pillars , new hood / fenders painted like a month ago . The P . O . had hood pins and that was def . not my style so they had togo . A couple dings on pass . side none too major . Little scuffed paint on the rear bumper . Hatch struts are shot , have 1 new one ... Many extra parts included .... fogs etc. I ' m asking $ 9500 feel free to call or email Joe @ 515 - 865 - 9050 Cynics Xe @ yahoo . com Thanks . 
( 001 ) My Outlet . I find myself so often talking to people about my car . Sometimes they 're interested , sometimes they 're not . Sometimes they ' ve already heard it , and sometimes it 's new and exciting . So it 's for you guys who have already heard it and / or are just not interested that I ' m making this blog . This is a blog dedicated to keeping the interested posted , and saving the uninterested from my insessant blabbing about this obsession of mine . 
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Truth . And we ' ll fill our pockets upand sink down with the everything we ' ve felt and seen We ' ll explore the mysteries of lifeand why it hurts to loveand in a way the comfort that we 're striving forin the end will be ignored I stillthink it 's worth the risk even thoughthat love and loss and tears and joyare just a different type of war It 's trueeveryone must leavebut i think it 's who you hold inside your heart that keeps you warmwhile they ' ve gone away . The great parade . 
Regular xbox game Starwars battlefront 2 . Battlefront 2 is very fun I ' ve been playing since the day I got it I love it but there are some things I don't like about it like the jedis I mean some of the jedis I don't even know . I love the fact that you can be jedis and doors open and space ! Its all great changes to the original battlefront . I give it 3 stars because you should have more force powers and you should be able to do more things in space . 
Tom Clancy 's Ghost Recon . Hello I haven't made a post for a long time but queen monkey reminded me to make a new post today . So im here to make a post about tom clancys ghost recon . I think the single player for ghost recon isn't very good . But the online play is good its very fun . I like the maps and play . I give this 4 and a half stars . Because the single player isn't very good but everything else is excellent if there 's anything else that you like or don't like about this game please make a comment or if you know secrets for this game please tell me . TY . 
My first review of the game PG 3 . PG 3 is a game where you race hot cars online or in career mode . Like The saleen s 7 and the Enzo ferrari . But the cars in PG 3 are better and faster cars than PG 2 . I highly recommend this game because the graphics are excellent . The settings are good . And the online gaming is good to not many people sware . PG 3 hase a good selection of cars and places to drive . I give this game 4 stars . I gave this game 4 stars was beause when you were racing in career mode the tracks I thought could be better . I will put pictures on as soon as my camera starts to work !!! 
My career of being a 360 reviewer . As you can see I have made a new blog ! I will review all of the games I have played on the xbox 360 !! I know for me I think it is going to be fun , but maybe not like the two other blogs I have made were peices of crap . This blog should be so much better because I get to write reveiws of 360 games , not movies , games And I get to tell about my awsome life ( NOT ) ! 
' BIG ' Gears of War announcement next week . Mark Rein posted on the Gears of War forum today saying that a BIG announcement for Gears would be coming next week . Everyone ( including me ) thinks that the release date will be this big announcement . 
The outfit , Collateral Damage map pack . It used to be 500 ms points now its for free . Thats right ladies and gents its absolutely free . Now hopefully we can get some people on the outfit servers . 
Crysis : PC Specs . If crysis aint coming to consoles then your gunna have to upgrade your computer and get ready for crysis cuz I feel this game is gunna be a big hit . So here are the specs for Crysis for the PC . Minimum Requirements : CPU : Athlon 64 3000 + / Intel 2.8 ghz Graphics : Nvidia 6600 / X 800 GTO ( SM 2.0 ) RAM : 768 Mb / 1 Gb on Windows Vista HDD : 6 GB Internet : 256 k + Optical Drive : DVD Software : DX 9.0 c with Windows XP Recommended Requirements : CPU : Dual - core CPU ( Athlon X 2 / Pentium D ) Graphics : Nvidia 7800 GTX / ATI X 1800 XT ( SM 3.0 ) or DX 10 equivalent RAM : 1.5 Gb HDD : 6 GB Internet : 512 k + ( 128 k + upstream ) Optical Drive : DVD Software : DX 10 with Windows Vista . 
Xbox 360 , by the Numbers . heres some details about the xbox 360 by the numbers " ... the platform grew more than 125 percent and resulted in 1.8 million console shipments during the fourth quarter . This brings our installed base through June to 5 million consoles with 3.3 million in North America , 1.3 million in Europe and 400,000 in the rest of the world . Key profit drivers for the platform include Xbox 360 software and accessory attach rates , which remain very strong . The Xbox 360 accessory attach rate remains the highest ever for the first eight months of a console launch in the US . By holiday 2006 , we will have an expected catalog of 160 high - definition games . Xbox Live now boasts a community of more than 3 million members worldwide , with more than 6 million expected by this time next year . By Holiday 2006 , we believe we will have shipped more than 10 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide . E & D forecasts fiscal year 2007 guidance for Xbox 360 unit sales between 8 to 10 million consoles . The yearly guidance implies that by the end of the fiscal year we will have sold 13 to 15 million Xbox 360 consoles since launch . " . 
New PSP announcements . Heres some announcements made by sony at this years comicon . " Syphon Filter : Dark Mirror and Pursuit Force are " great games " and " great reasons to own a PSP . " Movie Trailers of movies coming to UMD format like Napoleon Dynamite and Office Space . PSP 's firmware update next Thursday will offer RSS Video feed support for its web browser . Thursday 's firmware update will also have a demo of World Tour Soccer 2 . There are no plans to improve text entry on the PSP and no plans for a first - party keyboard . Sony Connect is working on a way to provide downloadable movies " . 
Starting this wednesday ............ ..... Were gunna have some huge game releases for the 360 . Just check it out below . This Wed - Galaga ( arcade ) August 2 nd - Street fighter 2 ( arcade ) August 9 th - Dead rising August 9 th - Pacman ( arcade ) August 16 th - Nintey Nine Nights August 22 nd - Madden 07 August 30 th - Enchanted Arms August 30 th - Saints Row Ill post some videos of most of the games above in a little bit . ( i already did with saints row below ) . 
Top XBL Games of the Week . Xbox 360 Top Live Games 1 Call of Duty 2 2 Ghost Recon 3 3 Chromehounds 4 Oblivion 5 BFMC 6 Lord of the Rings : BFME 2 7 Final Fantasy XI 8 Prey 9 PGR 3 10 LOTR , BFME II Demo Original Xbox Top Live Games 1 Halo 2 2 Battlefield 2 : MC 3 Counter - Strike 4 Splinter Cell Chaos 5 Rainbow Six 3 BA 6 Pro Evolution Soccer 5 7 Star Wars : Battlfrnt 2 8 Madden NFL 2006 9 Forza Motorsport 10 Splinter Cell Chaos Im really surprised to see prey and chromhounds on there . But hey the more people the better . 
Rumor : Guitar Hero 2 coming to XBOX 360 . ON Gamerandy . com today it had a post on the blog that said ' from a reliable source from Redoctane , that works on guitar hero 2 , said to gamerandy . com that there would be a guitar hero 2 version for the xbox 360 . ' Sounds pretty interesting to me considering the marketplace along with guiatar hero 2 would mean downloadable songs for the game on the marketplace . And maybe even XBOX Live Competions online . 
Gaming Mag Reviews plus more . I got three new magazines in the mail today and here are some of the bigger reviews in them EGM Magazine NCAA Football 06 - 7.5 LOTR BF 2 - 8.0 = Game of the month Chromehounds - 8.0 Over G fighters - 5.0 Gamepro Magazine Gta Liberty City Stories - 4.25 Big Brain Academy - 4.35 NCAA Football - 4.5 Table Tennis - 4.25 Gameinformer Magazine Prey - 9.5 = Game of the Month NCAA Football - 8.25 LOTR BF 2 - 8 Chromehounds - 7 Half Life 2 Epsiode 2 - 8.75 And here are the top 20 games in sales for Last Month 1 . New super Mario Bros 2 . Kingdom Hearts 23 . Brain Age 4 . God of War 5 . The Elder Scrolls IV 6 . GRAW 7 . Mlb 068 . Guitar Hero 9 . GTA San Andreas 10 . Kingdom Hearts 11 . Xmen the Official Game 12 . Over the Hedge 13 . Fight Night Round 314.2006 FIFa World Cup 15 . The Godfather : The Game 16 . Gran Turismo 417 . Battlefield 2 Modern combat 18 . Midnight Club 3 Dub edition Remix 19 . MLB 2 k 6 - PS 220 . MLB 2 k 6 - 360 . 
Coming Soon .... Ok heres a list of stuff im gunna try to brign in the next week or two . Table Tennis Review NCAA Footbal Review Prey Review GRAW and Ch.2 Review NCAA Demo Impressions LOTR Demo Impressions Frogger Reviewand hopefully once i get my hands on Cloning Clyde . I will give you a reviwew of that as well . 
Prey Demo Impressions . Single Player Demo : The Single Player was amazing ... the cinemtic feel you have at the begging of the game is just awesome . The levels i played had a great feel to them and werent that hard ... whihc i liked . The only problem i had with the Single Player was that the controls felt a little loose to me . Multiplayer Demo : Man o Man , the Multiplayer portion of the demo was freaking amazing . It was so fast paced and had this UT 2 k 4 style to it which i really liked . But one big and i mean big folks problem i had was LAG . It was all over the place in the demo . You could barely shoot is so bad . But once you got in a low count of people game it was so much fun , I couldnt stop playing . 
Marketpalce Content . Halo 3 The begining Video - Just Get it its halo 3 , what mor ecould you ask for . NCAA Footbal 07 Demo - Get it if yur a Pigskin fan . LOTR BF 2 Demo - Get it if yur a strategic kind of guy / gal Oblivion The Vile Lair ( 150 points ) - get it ony if yur REALLY into oblivion . Mass Effect Demo Walkthrough - Just get it already . Medal of Honor Airborne Trailer - Get it only if you like the WW shooters . 
Xb L Arcade Wednesdays Unvailed , SF 2 drops to August 2 nd . Ok heres the deal Microsoft is holding an event tonight to unvail the newest thing to come to Xbox Live , XBL Arcade Wednesdays . Thats right folks every wednesday we ' ll be getting a new arcade game strating with Frogger tommorow . And after that .... well just read my schedule of posted release dates down below . July 12 th - Frogger July 19 th - Cloning Clyde July 26 th - Galaga August 2 nd - Street fighter 2 August 9 th - Pac - man Yea thats right folks another 3 more weeks for SF 2 . Sorry guys and gals . Read the rest of the story here > http : // www . joystiq . com / 2006 / 07 / 11 / sf - event - to - unveil - live - arcade - wednesdays / . 
Needler Productions . I got a message on Live today from RNS TOILET about his site , NEEDLER PRODUCTIONS . It 's great to find out that someone actually cares about my site , and I ' m always willing to help someone else trying to make a name on the internet . The site is a collection of Halo 2 videos he and his friends have made , so check it out . 
Massive will provide in - game advertising for WEBZEN . Team Xbox writes that WEBZEN has signed Massive to do in game advertising for two of its games . This fits perfectly with my idea for no monthly fee in Huxley . Let 's hope this replaces the monthly fee , although it 's doubtful . 
Top Ten Games on Live ( June 17 ) . Here are the top ten games on Live , based on users playing : Xbox 360 Top Live Games 1 Call of Duty 22 Ghost Recon 33 Oblivion 4 BFMC 5 Final Fantasy XI 6 EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 37 Perfect Dark Zero 8 PGR 39 Dead or Alive 410 Hitman : Blood Money Original Xbox Top Live Games 1 Halo 22 Battlefield 2 : MC 3 Counter - Strike 4 Splinter Cell Chaos 5 Rainbow Six 3 BA 6 Star Wars : Battlfrnt 27 Pro Evolution Soccer 58 Madden NFL 20069 Forza Motorsport 10 Ghost Recon 2 : SSFrom Major Nelson . 
Backwards Compatibilty Update adds over 20 games . Remember the Backwards Compatibility Update I told you about ? Well you can now get it . Here are the games added to the list : 1 . 4 x 4 EVO 22 . Amped 23 . Bad Boys 24 . Big Mutha Truckers 5 . DOOM 3 6 . Dreamfall : The Longest Journey 7 . Fatal Frame 8 . Flat Out 9 . Grabbed by the Ghoulies 10 . Intellivision Lives 11 . LEGO Star Wars 12 . Minority Report 13 . MLB Slug Fest 20 - 0414 . The Punisher 15 . Ralli Sport Challenge 16 . Silent Hill 4 : The Room 17 . Spawn Armageddon 18 . Spider - Man 19 . Star Wars Battlefront 20 . State of Emergency 21 . Zapper Additional Japanese - only titles : Bistro Cupid 1 Flight Academy Othello Seminar Igo Seminar Shogi Seminar Mahjong Seminar . 
I ' m leaving .... I ' m leaving to Europe for the summer . I ' ll be back around August 4 th to resume my normal blogging . I will of course try to update it some while I ' m gone , but I doubt I ' ll be able to . 
Xbox 360 vs . Play Station 3 . There 's a good comparison between the 360 and the PS 3 at Yahoo ! Video Games , it 's worth checking out . One thing they brought up was the Xbox 360 's lack of HDMI , saying you should go for the PS 3 for HD movie playback . According to this article at Team Xbox though , it may not matter . Thanks to Xbox - Scene . 
Top Ten Games on Live ( June 10 ) . Here are the top ten most played games on Xbox Live ( based on users playing ) , for Xbox 1 and 360 , from Major Nelson : Xbox 360 Top Live Games 1 Call of Duty 22 Ghost Recon 33 Oblivion 4 BFMC 5 Final Fantasy XI 6 PGR 37 Hitman : Blood Money 8 EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 39 Perfect Dark Zero 10 Rockstar Table Tennis Original Xbox Top Live Games 1 Halo 22 Battlefield 2 : MC 3 Counter - Strike 4 Splinter Cell Chaos 5 Pro Evolution Soccer 56 Rainbow Six 3 BA 7 Star Wars : Battlfrnt 28 Madden NFL 20069 Forza Motorsport 10 Ghost Recon 2 : SSIf the lists were combined , Halo 2 would be at the top , and then all the 360 games . 
An article about in - game advertising . There 's an article about in - game advertising on Gamespot , it 's a good read if you want to know some more about how , when , and why ads might be used in video games in the coming years . Here 's my idea of a great way to use it . Why not use ads instead of a monthly fee for MMO games ? Let 's look at Huxley , and how it would work : There will be around 5,000 people per server . If they had some billboards ( like GRAW ) and other ads scattered around they could make a lot of money . Plus , Microsoft recently purchased Massive . All I know about them is they do advertising in video games , so it seems like Microsoft already has what they need to set it up . They could also have ads when multiplayer and such is loading , instead of game pictures , tips , or whatever . And for those of you who don't want ads they could have an optional monthly fee with no ads . As long as they could do it without overdoing the ads , it would be a great solution . More on Huxley : Description , Screenshots . 
How to clear your 360 's cache . There were many things the recent dashboard update can do , but this is one they didn't tell you about . This will clear the cache , along with any game updates ( like the Oblivion patch ) . Here 's how it 's done , from Gamers Reports : Go to the system blade and then memory . Press Y on either the HDD or a MU and then press X , X , Left Bumper , Right Bumper , X , X. Once you do this a blade will pop up saying : This will perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices . Do you want to continue ? Pick yes or no . I can't think of how this could harm your system , but you never know , so be aware . If it completely messes everything up , don't blame me . 
Your custom sountracks in backwards compatible games . According to Xbox 360 Fanboy , since the update you can now listen to your own custom soundtracks in any backwards compatible Xbox 1 game the same way as in 360 games . Just set up the music you want , then boot up the Xbox 1 game and it will continue to play . You won't be able to control it though , so set the volume , playlist and shuffle before you go into the game . 
New Content on Marketplace - Rumble Roses Demo , PDZ maps , new videos , themes , and gamerpics . Here 's what 's new on Markeplace : Demos : Rumble Roses Double X ( 854.31 MB ) Videos : Kameo : Elements of Power 40 Below Video ( 67.34 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Pummel Weed Video ( 81.48 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Rubble Video ( 53.25 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Thermite Video ( 81.87 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Chilla Video ( 78.89 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Combos Video ( 42.36 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Deep Blue Video ( 53.90 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Flex Video ( 67.61 MB ) Kameo : Elements of Power Major Ruin Video ( 54.89 MB ) Matisyahu : King Without a Crown Live - Video ( 480 p , 49.48 MB and 720 p , 269.03 MB ) Themes : Dead Rising Theme 4 ( 7.29 MB , 150 MS Points ) LOTR , BFMEII : Cinematic Paintings Theme 2 ( 4.39 MB , 150 MS Points ) 12 News Top Spin 2 Themes ( 150 MS Points each ) Pictures : Top Spin 2 - Picture Pack 1 ( 172 KB , 60 MS Points ) Top Spin 2 - Picture Pack 2 ( 172 KB , 60 MS Points ) Top Spin 2 - Picture Pack 3 ( 156 KB , 60 MS Points ) LOTR , BFME II : Dwarves Picture Pack ( 288 KB , 160 MS Points ) Game Content : Perfect Dark Zero Map Pack One ( 231.89 MB , 500 MS Points ) . 
New Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter content . I reported earlier there will be new content for GRAW sometime in the future . On the official Ghost Recon website , they give details and say it will be available for download at the end of the month . Here 's some details on what the download contains : Continuation of Co - op Campaign with 4 All New Missions in Chapter 2 : Coffee Plantation ( Day ) Shipping Port ( Evening ) River Depot ( Dawn ) Jungle Mine ( Day ) 8 Revisited ; Relit MP Adversarial Maps : 8 of GRAW s favorite MP maps are revisited and relit for a new gameplay experience . Fishing Village ( Dusk ) Wharf ( Late day ) Old Town ( Morning ) Nowhere ( Evening ) Coffee Plantation ( Evening ) Shipping Port ( Sunset ) River Depot ( Day ) Jungle Mines ( Evening ) 2 New Game Types with 1 Game Mode - Team Battle : 2 all new game types add upon GRAW s long list of available game types . Team Blind Siege Team Battle 2 New Camouflage Patterns Canadian CADPAT British DPM 4 New Character Customization Faces 4 new faces with new camo 5 New Weapons SR - 25 SD ( Marksman ) M 468 ( Rifleman ) M 468 / M 320 ( Grenadier ) AK - 47 LMG ( Gunner ) SCAR - H SV ( Rifleman ) Go to the Ghost Recon website for a description of the new maps and new weapons , along with more details . 
Halo 3 : Behind the Scenes video . A little while ago Bungie revealed they were working on a video about the Halo 3 trailer . It is now available on their website , Bungie . net , with both Quicktime and Windows Media formats . They have HD versions for both , and it will be availble in HD on Xbox Live Marketplace in a week or two . You get to see a lot of what went into making the trailer , and the music composing . There are some things that got cut from the trailer , and new angles and views from in the trailer . And the most interesting part : Bungie says , " If you look very , very carefully , you ' ll see hints of things to come . Nothing too dramatic , but the fans will spot stuff , of that we 're certain . " . 
concert . the concert 's tomorro W ! haha i managed to sell off all my 20 tickets except 1 , which is good considering some who sold only 0 out of 20 ? fantastic man ... but hopefully there ' ll be people turning up at the door to increase ticket volume . i ' m sick and it 's because of not enough sleep . practices end so late . just a few bloody days ago , i reached home at 2330 . wow that day was damn lucky man . i didn't have enough sleep cos i was doing some script , then woke up and fumbled and basically knocked into things . damn irritating . then kept sleeping throughout the day until practice . practice end , went to take mrt but my bloody ez link spoil ! not the 1 st time already but still enough to piss me off . then as i was about to tap my temporary card , some guy asked if the mrt was working . i thought siao 1 . the thing so bright bright and only 10 plus he asking if mrt working . haha realized that he wasn't crazy afterall when the bloody train stopped at each station for damn long and had to transfer train at dhoby ghaut . fucking pissed ! and the sign saying the train is arriving in approximately * 30 mins * is not very soothing either . anyway continue this shit for a few days and ta dah , you have a sick ass ! vomitted in the morning but luckily cindy was there to give encouragement . haha . got pom poms and all . and wow is she horny ! she asked me to quickly go toilet ! haahah ... concert tmr ... i wonder how it ' ll go , after so many months of preparation . then in less than a month , prelims . wa lao can stop time or not ? don't wanna leave school because i can't see the idiot anymor E ! 
lipids . whenever i think of this person , i writhe in pain and agony . all i want to do is to go up to her and slap her in the face . maybe then her legs will also vibrate because fats are more non - vicous than muscle . haha . sometimes i tell the idiot and we always burst out laughing , either her at me or both of us together . it ' ll be me shivering at the thought of all the fats and she ' ll be beside me laughing her ass off or making it worse by saying some shit like but you can't escape it what . must face up to it . yuuuuuuuuck disgusting piece of a person man . all fats no character . fuck justin read her blog and said that she 's more horny than the both of us combined . haha how true . fat bitch . now , whenever i check out the enemy 's blog , i feel like really going up to her saying , ' FATTY ! stop being so horny ! ' and then slapping her face , just to see her legs vibrate . haha ! haha that is so like the tone cindy uses while talking to me ! 
shit is falling from the sky ! 1 stly , i ' m somehow known as full of shit by 2 groups of unrelated people . and through my actions , i have been described as full of shit , subsequently resulting in my being named from of shit . wow i ' m so honoured . on the day of the dry run of the C . I. P . shit , i got so bored . bored not because i had nothing to do but because i think i had an attitude problem and a problem with the person running the whole thing . while the rest of my classmates were cutting out shapes , i was just using eyepower and muttering evil things under my breathe about how poorly run the whole thing was and how the in charge was totally thinking we ( I ) were ( was ) stupid . but on hindsight , problem was with me also because of my attitude . so anyway i was so bored i cut out 5 pieces of paper and wrote ' you are ' , ' a ' , ' bitch ' , ' mother ' and ' fucker ' on each of them . i asked my friend to chosse any number from 1 to 5 and i picked the pieces . haha so the sentence came out as : you are a bitch mother ... but my friend wouldn't open the last word ! ' mother what ? mother what ? ' i pressured him . and he pointed to someone behind me . uh oh . i turned around and it was my teacher ! turns out she was there since the 1 st piece was opened . haha i ran out of the classroom ! haha damn stupid . later my teacher came to me and asked me jokingly , ' do you know what i ' m going to write in your testimonial ? ' of course i say no la ! she told she was gonna write ' xxx is full of shit . he uses only vulgarities during discussions ' . haha . and that was the legend of shit . and now for shit that drops from the sky ! tonnes of them i tell you . i was sitting at the booth with my friends , both from my cca and classmates and we were doing the poster . suddenly i noticed this sonofabitch sitting at one corner of the table quietly . let me be clear about my views about him . i have absolutely no respect for his views , intellect ( if there 's any ) or him as a person . so my friend who was sitting directly opposite him wa joking with me how he was feeling stupider by the minute because of diffusion . ' a substance moves from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration . ' the substance in question was intelligence . so i wouldn't be caught sitting at the same table as that loser . and it 's not as if i went to him . that mutherfarker came to my table . FUCK YOU bitch , whoever invited you ? of course i couldn't tell him that . so i asked him , ' are you buying tickets ? ' ( stupid look . and give it a drone like that of a cow : ) ' er how much ? ' ( scrutinise use of language . again , lack of intelligence at play here . ) ' 6 bucks . ' ' er ... abit expensive leh . ' ( focus attention to 2 ers in 2 sentences running consequetively in less than 5 seconds ) ' then are you helping me with the poster ? ' ' er ... no . ' ( why the ers , i wonder ? ) ' then would you mind ? this is my booth and you 're blocking it . ( fuck off ) ' and shit , he got up and went away ! holy fuck he got the hint ? hahaha . then on saturday during practice , i was doing pull ups during breaks . i heard someone shout , ' up , up not counted ! ' which i later found out to be from a friend . then this sonabitch wobbledoodles took up arms and continued the barrage ! what the fuck ! he is the most obnoxious bastard and so arrogant asshole and i doubt he can even do 5 pullups and he 's trying to fucking whatever he 's doing to me ? ' up up , not counted ! chin above bar ! up yes good . ' cibai i totally felt like walking up to him and kicking him in the balls . usually i am very firm on this point of attacking balls , but for a lowdown like him , i felt that it was the only justifiable thing to do , considering his status . and you know what ? he 's a bloody mutherfarker teacher ! in my cca , we call him the most eligible bachelor and of course , if you have intelligence like the previous shit character , you wouldn't understand the sarcasm . so there ! shit really drops from the sky , don't they ? 
kept promises ! i ' m damn glad both of us kept our promises , though it needed encouragement from YOU to help me keep them . see i shy . haha and oh , putting you in CAPS make it sound like i ' m talking about this D . O . G . person . more about that later . haha it 's cool the 1 st time we talk on the phone after any shit happens . it 's all normal talk ( read : full of laughing and joking ) without any hint of any problems . then after awhile we can start talking about the problems . wow i will never be able to start joking with the person immediately when talking on the phone . it ' ll be all gloom and doom . so it ' ll take a special idiot to be able to pull that off . haha idiot i ' m talking about you ! from now on , my phone will be on 24 / 7 awaiting your call , ready for you to turn to me when you need me . 4 times is waaaaaaay too much . thanks for telling me . love ya . 
the promise . make a little promiseand seal it with a kissare promises just for wimps ? done in a spur of the moment ? the epitome of that moment ? just that moment ? or are we gonna be brave ? and act upon them ? carry them through for all time ? all that time we 're together ? no matter what , no matter how , no matter how much we cannot bring ourselves to do it ? no matter how futile it 's going to be ? no matter how much we think it 's not going work ? promise made on friday , 14 th july . am i going to be a wimp ? 
happy birthday ... wa lao ... the past few days has been totally packed . packed with choir !!!!!! coming back at 10 pm is the bloody norm la . much as i enjoy hanging out with all of them , i need sleep ! haha i can't function without sleep ! like mattho said , we haven't been seeing sunset for many days now , because by the time we get out of the LTs or CC , it 's already dark . but it 's quite fun actually , except for the gruelling hours . especially after choir where all the guys will stay back . haha it 's because all of us suck ! but i suck more than all of them combined la . fuck i totally take my words back about me improveing man , cos the stupid ' fuck you for the music ' is totally shit ! haha but we really get high man . no drugs , just oxygen . mabbe after everyone leaves , too much oxygen , overdose ? haha whole day going HAAAAAAAAAARDDDY GAY WOOOOO ! SAY SAY SAY . and all those shit . damn fun man . but tiring ! haha amidst all the action , some little girls birthday came creeping ever so slowly up . in fact , she grew 1 cm in the past year ! amazing how fast little kids can grow ! haha . damn breaks were , for the 1 st time , fully utilised because there 's absolutely no time at home ! ok excuses ... i wanna apologize to YOU if all the presents are not satisfactory ok ? my effort is nothing compared to your 2 weeks of preparation so i ' m really sorry if they don't make your birthday memorable . HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! 
you think we whole day take taxi ar ? if you had read the sunday times today , there was a report on the fee hike on taxis . according to the report , it will be better to own a car instead of taking a taxi since the difference in cost is so small that it does not need to be taken into account . pay little bit more , get your own car , so convenient and shiok , might as well buy car ? but they based their report on someone who takes a taxi indiscriminately whether it 's to the NTUC to buy groceries or to work . nahbeh you think we whole day take taxi ar ? also , they compared this with buying the cheapest car , made in china . wa lao you want to buy this type cheapo car , you might as well buy a bicycle ? yes , it 's cheaper and affordable but do you need to even consider buying a car if you have to stoop so low and scrimp and save just for 1 ? it says alot about your income and yourself as a person . no money still wanna show off . go die la ! of course , there 's legitimate and justified cases such as using it as a cheap form of transport to send your grandmother to hospital for her thrice weekly pyhsiotherpay but how many of us have grandmothers who need to go hospitals so often ? nahbeh who say buy car about the same as taxi ? take MRT or SBS Mercedes la ! bigger is better ! 
busy bumble bee . there 's been choir for like how many few days straight in a row ? at least 4 , i think , according to mattho . the practices were for the stupid college day . waste of time practising 2 stupid songs . but the exposure was good and it gave us lots of things to improve . more on that later . but 1 st , the actual day itself on friday . i was conveniently ' sick ' on that day so i missed a few lessons . not that i lost much except only for a short bio lecture . the rest of the day was just giving back test results . wa lao i got like just pass for bio and chem for those sections they gave back la ! knn for bio , no prob because i know the remaning section will be quite well done . as for chemi , i have the greatest forebidding feeling . 21 / 40 and i didn't do 3 pages for the remaining section . only a bloody counting error or a typo error will save me man . hahaha . anyway got to be happy about the results , considering i didn't study . but it 's a definitely no - no if i ' m gonna do this shit again . but at least i have a close approximate of what i ' ll get if i black out during the actual ' A ' Levels . haha controlled test . so we sang in practise . sound was wonderful and we did the other songs for our concert . i think there 's advantages to being super lousy . the other damn pro guy was scolded by conductor for not knowing the score well enough even though he could side read . as for me , i think my lousiness covered up the fact that i hadn't learnt the piece before . damn it man it 's totally crash course la ! hahaha but must give a little credit to myself and the conductor . he 's good and i ' ve learnt and improved alot ( or so i hope ) and i get things faster . not bad for a basketball convert . haha . so we sang again , this time the actual 1 . it was ok but it was certainly not up to expectations and plenty of room for improvements . dunno what the result would be if issssssssssssac had conducted . i mean , there 's a huge difference between a professional and a student and there 's no denying that fact ; the encouraging and giving the choir more confidence to sing out ... went back to the AVA and had a post mortem . haha that 's the word . and then off to eat . bloody hell we thought there was dinner since we collected our boxed LUNCH . after that no more boxes for DINNER . so everyone ate the shit that was from afternoon . i sat with the guys . feeling hungry still , me and zhizong took a little walk in search of food . imagine our surprise when there was catered food !!!!! we went back and told the others to abandon the shit they were eating . haha we got table . rather small , and rather high , about chest level , the kind you can hav cosy talks . haha . kakak and pres joined us and that 's when the discussion got real interesting . haha many personalities were mentioned and our views given . very enjoyable . and today , i think i finshed learning the whole of the song without any formal sectional . damn i ' m good . hahahahahahaha now to get it better ... where is the idiot ... why are the stupid exams taking so long to be done with ? i can't see her !!!!!! but friday with her was wonderful though . haha explains the ' conveniently sick ' . 
Day 207 : Terminator 2 - Judgment Day ( 1991 ) . It wouldn't be right for me to leave the State of California without a tribute to " The Governator . " Therefore , I ' m going to recommend Terminator 2 , which I actually think is better than the original . Others clearly agree with me . T 2 ranks # 94 on IMDB . com 's list of the Top 250 movies of all - time ( The Terminator comes in at # 202 ) . So what makes the sequel better than the original ? I suspect that it has something to do with the main character being a good guy instead of a bad guy . TERMINATOR 2 : JUDGMENT DAY ( 1991 ) A decade has passed since Skynet sent The Terminator ( who is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger ) into the past to try to kill Sarah Connor ( who is played by Linda Hamilton ) . Well now The Terminator is back ! But this time he has been reprogrammed to protect young John Connor ( who is played by Edward Furlong ) , who will grow up to be the leader of the resistance movement . Who is The Terminator protecting John from ? A new -- almost indestructible -- model of Terminator called the T - 1000 ( who is played by Robert Patrick ) .... By the way , The Terminator 's trademark line " Hasta la vista , baby ! " didn't stand out as special on the Spanish language version of T 2 . So on the Spanish version The Terminator says , " Sayonara , baby ! " . 
Day 206 : The Great Outdoors ( 1988 ) . As I mentioned in Sunday 's post recommending Weekend at Bernie 's , I ' m on vacation right now . In my opinion , one of the most underrated vacation movies is The Great Outdoors . John Candy and Dan Aykroyd always seem to complement each others talents quite well , and The Great Outdoors is no exception . Candy steals the show in this one , though . You 're particularly going to enjoy the scene where Candy eats a 96 ounce steak , but is told he has to eat the fat and grizzle too if he wants the free meal and complementary T - shirt . THE GREAT OUTDOORS ( 1988 ) Candy plays Chet Ripley , a down - to - Earth guy who is taking his wife Connie ( who is played by Stephanie Faracy ) and their kids on a vacation to a cabin in the woods . Things are going fine until Chet 's brother - in - law Roman Craig ( Aykroyd ) and his family show up uninvited . 
Day 205 : The Paper Chase ( 1973 ) . One of my very good friends ( Doug ) is set to take the Illinois Bar Exam this Tuesday and Wednesday . After that , he ' ll never have to think about much of what he learned in law school ( or while studying for the bar exam ) ever again . So in honor of Doug and the hundreds of other aspiring attorneys who will be taking the bar exam this week , I ' m going to suggest the finest film about law school that was every made . THE PAPER CHASE ( 1973 ) Timothy Bottoms plays James T . Hart , a first year student at Harvard Law School . He is eager to impress his stern and legendary professor Charles W . Kingsfield ( who is played by John Houseman ) . But things get a little blurry when James discovers that the young woman he has been dating is actually Kingsfield 's daughter .... For those of you who haven't gone through law school , I ' ll tell you that The Paper Chase is a lot more accurate than other movies which have been set in law school . 
Day 204 : Weekend at Bernie 's ( 1989 ) . I ' m currently on vacation in sunny Southern California . I didn't want to waste too much of my vacation time writing articles on movies , so I have written each of this week 's posts out in advance . And since I am on vacation , I thought I should recommend a couple of comedies about vacations gone bad ... I just hope I ' m not jinxing myself somehow . WEEKEND AT BERNIE ' S ( 1989 ) Andrew Mc Carthy plays Larry Wilson . Jonathan Silverman plays Richard Parker . Larry and Richard are a couple of friends who work together at an insurance company . When they point out potential fraud to their boss Bernie Lomax ( who is played by Terry Kiser ) , Bernie decides to " reward " them by sending them on a weekend getaway to his beach house . In actuality , Bernie is behind the fraud , and now plots to have Larry and Richard killed . The hitman kills Bernie instead , though . So what do Larry and Richard do ? They take Bernie 's corpse along with them to the beach , to parties , etc. so they continue to enjoy their well - earned vacation . 
Day 203 : Sky High ( 2005 ) . Since we 're currently in the middle of a Superman & Batman Theme , I thought this would be the perfect time to recommend a kids ' movie with a superhero storyline . Let me just say that I watched Sky High with my kids a few weeks ago ... and we watched it twice . In this blogger 's opinion , the idea of a high school for budding superheroes is a great one . And there are plenty of good characters in Sky High . I wouldn't be surprised if Disney Channel or ABC decided to make a weekly series based on the movie . SKY HIGH ( 2005 ) Michael Angarano plays Will Stronghold , the teenage son of two of the planet 's greatest superheroes : The Commander ( who is played by Kurt Russell ) and Jetstream ( who is played by Kelly Preston ) , a . k . a . " The Strongholds . " The Strongholds have enrolled their son in a high school for young superheroes . The only problem is that Will hasn't yet developed any superpowers of his own ... Well , that 's not the only problem . He also has to deal with Warren Peace ( Steven Strait ) , a flame - throwing teen who hates Will because The Commander put his father behind bars many years ago . And there 's also the fact that Will 's girlfriend Gwen Grayson ( who is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead ) is hatching an evil scheme to destroy Sky High and take over the world ! 
Day 202 : The Notebook ( 2004 ) . Unfortunately , it seems like when my wife and I see a movie together , that movie is bound to stink . I think it 's because she 's rather lousy at choosing movies , and I ' m rather lousy at choosing movies I think she ' ll like . So I recently polled a few of my female friends about their favorite romantic movies . Each included The Notebook on their list . I was quite excited about surprising my wife by renting good date movie , but it turns out she already saw it one night when I was out of town . Oh well . I ended up watching the movie by myself ... and I did find it rather enjoyable . THE NOTEBOOK ( 2004 ) James Garner plays " Duke , " a man who lives in a nursing home . He spends his days reading to an Alzheimer 's patient named Allie ( who is played by Gena Rowlands ) . The story written in a notebook , and is a history of the lifelong romance between Noah Calhoun ( who is played by Ryan Gosling ) and Allie Hamilton ( who is played by Rachel Mc Adams ) . Noah is hard - working , but dirt poor . Allie comes from a family of Southern aristocrats , and her parents do not approve of her relationship with him . 
Day 201 : Superman II ( 1980 ) . Today we continue our Superman Batman Theme with Superman II. This sequel was originally intended to be released much closer to the release of Superman , but numerous disputes slowed down the release of Superman II. The most notable arose when Superman director Richard Donner objected to the fact that the studio desired to make the sequel more campy . As a result , he was replaced by Richard Lester in the middle of production of the sequel . Plenty has been written about this director swap controversy . If you re interested in more details , they shouldn t be hard to find online . SUPERMAN II ( 1980 ) A nuclear blast in space has released three of Krypton s most notorious evil - doers : General Zod ( who is played by Terence Stamp ) , Ursa ( who is played by Sarah Douglas ) , and Non ( who is played by Jack O ' Halloran ) . They come to Earth intent on taking over the planet . The world believes that only Superman ( who is played by Christopher Reeve ) can help . They don t know that he has given up his super powers so that he can live a normal life with Lois Lane ( who is played by Margot Kidder ) . 
Day 156 - Leave me alone ! Today 's Tip - Let your baby play on his own to encourage learning Many parents love playing with their babies . And that 's not a bad thing at all . But if there 's no chance for a baby to play on his own , how is he going to learn to entertain himself ? If you 're doing everything for him , there 's not a whole lot of learning going on . Solitary play increases self - esteem , and helps prevent the " I ' m bored " syndrome later on . And it 's easy too . Just give your baby a child - proofed area to explore and let him go nuts . If he can't roll , put him on a mat with an overhead toy bar he can grab for . If he can flip and push himself up , give him some toys on a blanket so that he can practice crawling . If he can support some weight , an exer - saucer or a Johnny Jump Up are excellent bets . At first these play times will be pretty short , but gradually you can work them up to a longer session where they 're exercising their creativity and having lots of fun while learning . Parenting , Play , Development , Alone , Creativity . 
Day 155 - Exercise Restraint . Today 's First Time Parenting Tip - Gently divert your baby 's " bad " behavior My son has a new favorite playtoy . His mom 's hair . He also enjoys slapping and grabbing onto faces . And when he shakes a maraca , sometimes he gets so into it that he smacks himself in the face , starting the waterworks . Should he be disciplined ? Absolutely not . At this age , babies are too young to understand right and wrong , and nothing they do is out of malice or hurtfulness . So when your son is yanking on your hair , it 's not going to help him or you any if you lose your temper or tell him no . If you baby is engaging in some dangerous behavior , simply divert him to something more productive . If he 's trying to climb up the coffee table , give him some pillows to crawl around on instead . If he 's pulling your hair and it hurts too much , give him a stuffed animal with fur or something fuzzy he can wrap his fingers around . Besides keeping your hair , this has an added benefit of teaching them to express themselves and explore in different ways , which is all he was trying to do in the first place . Parenting , Discipline , Behavior , Bad , Spoil . 
Day 154 - Naps ... In the Crib vs . Somewhere Else . Today 's First Time Parenting Poll : Should you put your baby down for a nap in his crib or somewhere else . Today , we ' ll do things a little bit differently . My wife and I disagree on where to put the baby to sleep . I say put him down in the crib . He ' ll associate it with sleep , and he takes better naps . She takes the opposing stance , making the case for putting him down in the same room as us . That way , he learns that his crib isn't just for hour cat naps , it 's for bedtime . Plus we have easier access to him if he wakes up and needs something . So I thought I ' d ask other parents what they thought of this . Just make a comment and sound off . Parenting , Sleep , Nap , Crib , Habit . 
Day 153 - Baby Shades . Today 's Tip - Get tinted glass or baby shades to protect your baby in the car On long car rides , it 's important to protect your baby from the sun . Since you 're probably headed in one direction for a long time the sun will shine on the same spot on your car for a long time as well . And if that 's on your baby , you need to take steps to protect him . Tinting the glass in your car is an expensive , but is your best bet . It ' ll cover all the angles of the sun and significantly reduce the brightness of the light streaming in . Make sure that the tinting you get will block UV rays as well . Otherwise it 's kind of useless . You can also buy car shades that ' ll hang in your windows and block the sun . Unfortunately , I ' ve found these obstruct my view of traffic , and they don't really cover that much of an area on the window . And there are shades that either come on the car seat or will attach to it . These offer the most coverage , and they won't block your view of the road . Plus they 're nowhere near as expensive as the tinting . But there are still some angles that won't be covered by the shade . Parenting , Sun , Protection , UV , Rays , Car. 
Day 152 - Organic Baby Food vs . Regular Baby Food . Today 's tip - Regular baby food is just as good as organic baby food Lately organic baby food seems to be all the rage , but at nearly twice the price , is it worth it ? The answer seems to be no , according to this and several other articles . Turns out that unless your baby has allergies or an aversion to the taste of regular baby food , they 're receiving the same safe nutrition as organic . Most baby food farms aren't sprayed with the same harmful chemicals as the produce you eat , so harmful pesticides and herbicides aren't an issue . And the nutrients in the regular baby foods are controlled and optimized ... something that doesn't happen in nature . I ' ll leave it up to you to assess whether or not that 's better . Personally , I don't think you can go wrong with either . And I tried some organic food - it seemed to taste and have a little bit better texture than the regular stuff . So if you want to give your baby a tasty feast , organic would be a good way to go . But if you 're wondering if the extra scratch is worth it for organic baby food ... it 's not . Parenting , Baby , Food , Regular , VS , Organic . 
Day 151 - Can You Do This ? Today 's First Time Parenting Tip - Track your baby 's milestones to make sure they 're developing correctly Its important to make sure that your infant doesn't have any developmental problems , but if he or she seems slow in one area , don't worry about it too much unless they 're way behind or your pediatrician seems concerned . Everyone loves to compare their accomplishments to others , but the fact is some babies are fast in verbal development , but slow in the physical department , or vice versa . If you 're worried about it , ask your pediatrician . At the end of the fifth month , your infant should be able to : Hold their head steady when upright Raise their chest when on their stomach , supported by their arms Roll over ( one way ) Pay attention to a raisin or other small object Squeal in delight Reach for an object Smile spontaneously Grasp a rattle held to the backs of their fingers Probably will be able to : Bear some weight on their legs Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting Say ah - goo or other vowel - consonant combination Make a wet razzing sound They might also be able to sit without support , turn in the direction of a voice , pull up to a standing position from sitting down , stand holding onto someone or something , feed himself , object if you take a toy away , work to get a toy out of reach , pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other , look for dropped object , rake a raisin and pick it up in their fist , babble , combining vowels and consonants like ga - ga - ga . Taken from What to Expect the First Year Parenting , Verbal , Physical , Development , Emotional . 
Day 150 - First Aid . Today 's Tip - Take a first aid class designed to teach you about infant to 8 years old It 's something you hope you never have to deal with . But if you ever are in an emergency with your child , you 're either going to fall into one of two groups . Glad you spent the sixty bucks to save your kids ' life , or regretting not spending the two hours and sixty bucks . There should be plent of classes in your area , through the red cross , YMCA , or even a local hospital . You ' ll learn everything from how to help a choking infant , to burn first aid , to poison treatment , you name it . Classes can run anywhere from forty to eighty bucks , but its worth it . And you can use that knowledge to teach your child basic first aid in case their friends get into trouble or if they themselves get hurt . And most kids do get hurt at some point in their lives , it 's inevitable . Parenting , First , Aid , Hurt , Red , Cross . 
Lollipop . 	 One of my new t - shirts . I love t - shirts . I always look for the nicely designed shirts and half the time I give away my race shirts because I get all critical with the design . One of the shirts I bought during my trip to the Philippines was this beauty . I choose it because I liked the green color , the cool white script type and the yellow of the lollipop combined with the white and green . I thought it was a pretty nice design for a shirt and a mere $ 4 so I bought it . My 17 yr . old sister was the first to raise her eyebrow but didn't say why . A couple of my cousins laughed at it but shrugged it off . Well tonight I wore it to my Bible Study group where a couple of my friends laughed . We had a visitor , a teacher of 13 yr . olds , she gave me an amused quizzical look . Was I really the only one who didn't know these were lyrics to a rap song with sexual explicit lyrics ? It would have been okay anywhere else but I wore it to a bible study group meeting , nice ! A good thing I didn't wear it to church . And to think I choose this shirt over a red one with an image of a Buddha holding a beer - I didn't want to offend any Buddhists . Check out the chorus : [ 50 Cent ] I take you to the candy shop I ' ll let you lick the lollypop Go ' head girl , don't you stop Keep going ' til you hit the spot ( woah ) [ Olivia ] I ' ll take you to the candy shop Boy one taste of what i got I ' ll have you spending all you got Keep going ' til you hit the spot ( woah ) Nice huh . Just the kind of thing you want to wear to your bible study ! 
Home . 	 The good times always go by so fast ... but it 's nice to be home , in the cooler weather , in my own setup . Got in yesterday after lunch running on nothing but fumes . I was determined however to stay up and hit the hay at a normal time so I was quite productive considering . I hit the grocery store , actually started unpacking and after some deliberation attended Tuesday track . Oooff ! It was slow and hard but it went better than expected and I was able to get an accurate gauge on how much I lost . During the workout I was waiting for my higher " gears " to come on and they never came but managed a decent effort anyway . It was a bit like driving an under powered 4 - cylinder compact up to Tahoe . It was good to get started . I ' m back ! 
The Last Few Days . 	 My body has finally acclimated to the weather , too bad it 's almost time to leave . On my last run workout I ran around the track and incorporated some work on the bleachers . I didn't sweat much and I didn't need to drink beyond the 15 or so ounces I took in before the run . I also felt very good in the end , like I could keep going for a lot longer . The body 's amazing . I have to say after 2 weeks of short workouts , eating and resting my body is pretty darn happy . Feet , left hamstring and ITB soreness issues are gone . When I get back to San Francisco I will have a well rested , albeit slightly heavier and out of shape body to work with . I ' ll have a little over a month to cram for the Big Kahuna Half - Ironman on Sept.10 th in Santa Cruz . I ' m fine on the bike . I ' ll be happy on the run , it 's the re - integration of swim workouts that I ' m not looking forward too . I swim like a dog , steady yet slow . I ' d also like to get in on a few 50 k races , get my trail legs back . In San Francisco our summer weather is yet to come and I ' m looking forward to it . I ' ll spend August and September getting back in tip top shape and run a few good races in the fall . I ' m especially looking forward to running the Quad Dipsea again this year . Last year I blew up on the course , I entered knowing I was already over trained , finished a good 45 minutes behind my best time . That 's my main goal for the rest of the year , a good Quad race to close the year out ! Si I ' m back in Manila now , I always spend a few days here before heading back to the US . I have three cousins here who I think the world of and I can't leave without spending time with them . I also like Manila , lots of things to do and experience . Got in yesterday at 8 AM and it 's been non - stop until 5:30 AM this morning . Nothing crazy just a full schedule . Bouncing back and forth between groups and events : got to spend some quality time with my dad ( the biological one ) , went on a blind date ( more on that later ) , got together with the gang who went to Boracay to look at pictures and re - live the fun moments from the trip and finally I celebrated with my cousin Bing who finished her final presentation for her Master 's degree in business . The latter was what kept me up till the wee hours in the morning . Thank God for my involvement in endurance sports , at least I had the stamina to keep up with the young - uns . At 34 I ' m not that old , but old enough to feel old in a club full of 20 somethings . But it wasn't about me , besides I thought to myself , if I could run through the night I could certainly suck it up and hangout . Finally got some rest , more food and the use of a computer . Things are good . 
Public Transportation . 	 14 children and 1 motorcycle driver . Maybe I mentioned this before , in my hometown there are all types of public transport . One of them are " tricycles " and there are two types , one is powered by motorcyle and the other by bike . They are fun to ride in , cheap and often overloaded . I always wonder how they keep these motorcyle engines running . 
Ain't It Purty ? ! 	 My first buckle . Photo courtesy of my sister Melissa " Purple Cookie " Kertel . Ah my first buckle but it 's from my second 100 - miler . I only do one of these a year - they are such a big deal training and event wise . My first 100 - mile race was Rio del Lago in Auburn , part of the course is on the Western States trail . However Race Director Norm Klein didn't give buckles . To paraphrase what he said , " I know that next to your Angeles Crest and Western States buckles you would never wear a Rio buckle so instead I thought up of other interesting awards for you to take home " . You see , Rio is an easy 100 - miler compared to the other big 100 - milers . Why wear Rio when you can wear ; Cascade Crest , Angeles Crest , Leadville , Hardrock , Western , Masanutten , I could go on . So he gave all the finisher 's a slab of granite , the size and weight of which worried me a little - thought someone was going to drop it on their foot . I thought I was going to drop the dang thing on my foot . And he also gave us a .... how do I describe this ? ... a ceramic figure of a bear with a salmon in his mouth . I think there 's an eagle in the mix too . It was nice and all but not something I would keep in the apartment . It now resides in my parent 's home in Orlando , Florida , right next to a Budweiser Christmas special limited edition ceramic stein ( which embarrasingly is also mine ) Anyway Cascade was an amazing race . A run I would do again . I wasn't blogging then so I never bothered to write a race report , I didn't have a running digital camera either . Too bad , I guess I ' ll have to go back . I never wear buckles . I walk around in shorts that require no belts most of my days but it 's my first buckle so what the hey - those only come once in a lifetime right ? 
Boracay Pics . 	 The Gang : My sister , cousins and a girlfriend of one of the boys . Only one missing is my uncle . That was a great trip . Nice to hang with family , meet new people , see new places , do new things .... At the end there I over did the celebrating a little bit but it was all good , safe and clean fun . Here s are a few more pics from the trip . At the Beach Island Hopping White Sand Beaches Snorkeling Live Music Last Night . 
Lion 's tears . ? . 
Shedding Some Light . Ever so often , I get photographers and clients asking asking me how I shoot this or create that effect in my camera , etc. For the more technically inclined , Wed Pix , an online wedding photography magazine , has asked me to share some tips and techniques on the use of flash for their latest issue , so if you 're interested in the technical aspect of how I create my images , see it here . Wed Pix is an interesting little online magazine for both couples and photographers , it 's certainly worth a look , although I think it would likely appeal more to the photographers though . 
The Future of Wedding Photography in Singapore . It 's that time of the year again . The time when photographers and couples are both contemplating what 2007 and beyond will bring for the wedding photography industry . As I sit here thinking about the industry in Singapore for next 5 years I am excited about what the future holds . While I ' m no longer a " young " photographer , I ' m not particularly " old " in the industry either . As a result , I find myself in a unique situation where I can look the to the past and the future of the industry and be able to relate to both . Perhaps one of the biggest changes in the last 3 years was the increase in day rates for wedding day photography . I am guessing we will also see significant rate increases by most photographers in the next 3 - 5 years . While many couples might groan at the thought of having to spend more on wedding photography , I believe that the biggest benefactor of this price increase would actually be the wedding couple . Why is this the case ? With this price increase , I have also observed a tremendous jump in the quality of wedding photography coming out of many local photographers . As rates improved over the last few years , the industry has attracted a group of young and upcoming photographers who were trained internationally and then coming back to Singapore seeking to be a wedding photographer . And no , I ' m not talking about myself . These photographers bring a whole new perspective to wedding photography , taking it to levels which used to be inaccessible locally , only to be seen in magazines like Martha Stewart Weddings . Besides being better technically , more of these young photographers are bringing an artistic vision and methodology to their craft that wasn't available in Singapore even 5 years ago . Gone are the stiff wedding poses , to be replaced with spontaneous moments that are aesthetically pleasing as well . This influx of talented young photographer have also forced me to rethink my photography and to grow and strengthen my vision and my business . While many older photographers feel " threatened , " I think this improvement in quality and professionalism is wonderful for the industry . With the advent of the internet and improved communication networks and the jump in quality , Singaporean photographers are now at a level where they are competing in a global arena and are shooting international weddings and receiving international awards . One only has to look at the number of Singaporean photographers who have won awards with the WPJA to see the advancements in the industry in Singapore . And list of award winning photographers in Singapore just grows longer every month . Of course , with access to a global market , I believe that couples in Singapore will start having to pay " global " prices as well . Unfortunately , over the last 5 - 7 years , the price of wedding photography in Singapore has been artificially repressed as a result of SARs , terrorism and our unique market conditions . Here in Singapore , the day rate for wedding photographers is one of the lowest among developed countries and even low compared to some developing countries . I believe that in the next 5 years , the market will correct itself . While market prices increase especially at the higher end , would there be " cheaper " photographers ? Yes , like all other markets around the world , there will always be a demand and supply at the lower end . However , in my opinion , it 's the breakthroughs in photographic techniques and vision in the high end market which would bring about really exciting changes in the industry . In time to come , we would see these breakthroughs slowly start to filter down to the lower end markets as well . With improving rates , talent flowing into the industry and explosive growths in the art and vision of photographers , I think the future of wedding photography is bright here in Singapore and couples have much to look forward to . 
Something Different . Oh my gosh ! A posed shot ? For many of my past clients , this image might come as a big surprise as my aim has always been to shoot wedding images without posing them . But once in awhile , you get beautiful light which I just felt this insatiable urge to use in my images somehow . So I thought I ' d try something different . My aim was to shoot portraits of the wedding party the way I saw it . With beautiful light , time to spare and a beautiful , clean background . The result was just as I had imagined and I really like the way the image looks . I think I ' ll try this a litle more often in the future . 
2007 Pricing . Dear Friends , after extensive research into new products , we are happy to announce that the price list for 2007 is ready . We have added a new 10 x 10 " magazine album to our product lineup and will be continuing to carry our matted and flush mount albums from Australia . If you are having your wedding in 2007 and looking for wedding photography , please send your enquires to info @39 eastimages . com. 
Got Gowns ? Over the past 3 years , Silhouette The Atelier has been designing elegant suits and gorgeous gowns for many happy couples of 39 East . Their reputation for original designs and detailing have made countless weddings unique to the couple . So if you are still undecided on your suits and gowns for the big day , let Silhouette show you their new June - July 2006 inhouse collection in an up close and personal session with their designers . From 3 rd to 30 th June 2006 , be pampered and spoilt with wine and canap s as you explore their other services which will also be offered to you in the comfort of Silhouette s boutique in Stamford House . For all couples who are interested in being part of the Silhouette Experience , give them a call at 6733 7197 or do drop them an email at info @ silhouette . com. sg to make an appointment and let them know you saw their blurb on our blog . Please take note that this offer is strictly by appointment only . 
Some Goodies ! Hey , for those of you who are current or future clients of 39 East , we have some exciting news to share . In the process of planning the 2007 price list , we realized that the 2006 clients were missing out on some of the 2007 goodies , so we ' ve decided to move these options up . The goodies are as follows Prepaid Album Credits Purchase album credits before your wedding day and you 're entitled to 10 % bonus credits . How great is that ? We ' ve found that clients who committed to an album before their wedding saved us heaps in administrative costs and so these costs can now be passed onto you . Parent Albums After repeated requests , we have finally come up with a line of albums that will make ideal gifts for parents , relatives or close friends of the bride and groom . For more info on our latest products , please feel free to contact us at info @39 eastimages . com. 
Reflections . Another favorite from the weekend . I love this picture because the bride had this wonderful expression as she was leaving her home which we see reflected in the car window . It 's so rare that all the elements line up . I ' m keeping my fingers crossed hoping that luck would send more of these beautiful multi - layered opportunities my way . 
Where 's Waldo ? If there 's one thing about weddings in Singapore , is that you really have to hand it to the guys for the effort they put into professing their love to their brides on the wedding day . For those of you not from here and wondering what I ' m talking about , it 's a bit of tradition around this part of the world , where the groom is made to prove his love by doing a series of pre determined tasks . Most of the tasks are fun , but occasionally difficult enough where lesser men like me would have bailed and gone a hunting for another bride . Congratulations Chee Kong ! If you 're wondering , yes , he did get the bride . 
apakah anda seorang feminis ? Menurut Wikipedia , Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories , political movements , and moral philosophies , largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women . Orang yang setuju , mendukung dan berjuang karenanya disebut sebagai feminis ( feminist ) . Jadi , apakah anda seorang feminis ? - khusus feminis laki - laki , baru menjadi isu dua dasawarsa terakhir . Itu juga masih terjadi banyak diskursus . Istilah baru bagi laki - laki yang feminis adalah meninis ( meninist , male feminist ) Simaklah pernyataan dibawah , anda boleh setuju atau tidak setuju . a . Setuju , bahwa perempuan memiliki hak berpolitik sama dengan laki - lakib . Setuju , bahwa laki - laki dan perempuan harus berbagi peran dalam rumah tangga dan kepengasuhan anak , tidak hanya membebankan peran domestikasi kepada perempuanc . Setuju , bahwa sama dengan laki - laki , perempuan harus dihormati dan tidak boleh dilecehkan hak - haknyad . Setuju , bahwa siapapun tidak boleh mendiskriminasikan hak ekonomi perempuane . Dalam berelasi , saya tidak pernah meremehkan atau menghina seseorang karena ia perempuanf . Setuju , jika perempuan tidak dibeda - bedakan dalam meraih kesempatan belajar , perempuan dapat meraih pendidikan dan kariri sama tingginya seperti laki - lakig . Saya peduli akan isu - isu perempuan dan prihatin jika terjadi penganiayaan terhadap perempuanh . Saya mengikuti berita dan perkembangan di media , saya diam - diam mendukung perjuangan mereka , sebab jika perempuan maju maka yang diuntungkan tentunya adalah masyarakati . Saya membaca jurnal feminisme dan buku - buku bertemakan gender karena ingin tahu apa saja yang para feminis perjuanganj . Saya tidak setuju jika masyarakat masih menganggap perempuan lebih rendah daripada laki - laki atau menjadi warga negara kelas duak . Saya berjanji jika punya anak perempuan atau anak laki - laki akan mendidik mereka setara dan tidak membeda - bedakan jenis kelamin Jika anda setuju dengan sebagian besar dari pernyataan diatas , selamat ! Karena mungkin anda adalah seorang feminis ! Jadi mudah sekali bukan , seseorang untuk menjadi feminis ? Dan menjadi feminis bukanlah predikat yang menakutkan . Karena setiap orang bisa saja feminis jika benar - benar menerapkan hal - hal diatas . Disadur dari Jurnal Perempuan , Pria Feminis , Why Not ? , edisi XII - 1999 . ------ Seharusnya tak hanya bulan april atau desember , kita bicara feminisme ( baca : ke - perempu - an ) ! * jangan terjebak dengan istilah . 
Remind me again why we need this council ??? - - . . 
Comments . - - 	 ( ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
How Many Kuwaitis Does It Take To Screw a Light Bulb ? One of the lights in my room stopped working last night so I thought I ' d replace it . When I got up on my chair , I found out that the metallic screw part had oddly detached from the bulb and remained stuck to the holder on the ceiling ! Luckily , I managed to twist it loose with of a pair of pliers , but only after getting a cloud of dust caught in my eyes that almost sent me flying off the edge of my seat . Maybe I should stick to brand names next time . @ _ x . 
Anything Goes is one year old ! Today marks the official one year anniversary of this blog and to celebrate the 125 published posts , I have simplified the web design and added a few minor enhancements : Removed Navbar Added Search Field Replaced links with RSSReplaced email icon with text Used drop menu for archives Added Expandable Comments With any luck , these new features should make navigation faster and effortless for everyone . Lastly , I want to thank the bloggers , readers and commentators who have made it all worthwhile . : ] . 
Floyd 's powerdata . Floyd Landis wint zijn eerste tour ! Na zijn spectaculaire inzinking in de 2 de Alpenrit gaf geen mens Floyd nog een kans op de eindzege . Daags nadien gaf hij echter iedereen lik op stuk , en met n van de indrukwekkendste raids van de laatste jaren reed hij solo iedereen op een hoopje . Net zoals vorig jaar kun je Landis zijn powertap gegevens van de ritten nadien bekijken . Zijn coach Allen Lim analyseert die nauwkeurig en geeft commentaar . From Allen Lim , resident power guru at Cycleops : - 5 hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds . - Covering 200.5 kilometers ( 130 km alone in the wind ) . - At a speed of 37.175 km / hr . - Averaging 281 watts when moving for the whole ride and 318 watts over the last two hours . - Averaging 324 watts while pedaling for the whole ride and 364 watts over the last 2 hours . - At an average cadence of 89 rpm . - Transferring 5,456 Kjoules of energy to his Cycleops Power Tap . - Taking , no joke , a total of 70 water bottles ( 480 ml each ) from the car to keep himself cool and hydrated . - Attacking about a quarter of the way up the Col des Saisies for 30 seconds at 544 watts , which settled into a 5 - minute peak of 451 watts , which continued for 10 minutes at an average of power of 431 watts , and left everyone in his dust after 30 minutes at an average power of 401 watts . - Spending 13.2 % of his time or 43 minutes coasting like a rocket on the descents and another 60 % between 4 to 7 watts per kilogram of body weight ( aka , the pain cave ) . - Holding onto 373 watts over the Col de Joux - Plane . - Hitting a max speed of 83.7 km / hr ( 51.9 mph ) and flying like a Phoenix on his way to the most incredible moment in sports I have ever witnessed . Floyd weegt ongeveer 10 % minder dan ikzelf , dus om hem te volgen op de joux - plane zou ik meer dan 400 watts nodig gehad hebben .... Mijn overslagpols ligt op 340 - 350 watts .... Bemerk ook dat hij 13.2 % van de tijd NIET heeft getrapt ( zie n van m ' n vorige blogs ) . Dit was dus duidelijk een bergetappe . Slechts 1 woord voor dit exploot : SUPERKLASSE ! 
dreams ... Had a weird dream lately ? I had 2 in 2 days . Would be nice if someone tried to translate for me . Dream 1 from 2 days ago . It involved some BB officers . The weird part was that there were elephants in the trees . And they were " art pieces " . And for some reason it seems we were in Thailand . Maybe that 's where all the elephants came from . And the dream ends with us getting into a car which was driven by the person whom I think hasn't gotten a license . Anyways the car trip ended after we turned out of the car park . The last thing I remembered was the car being hit by another car but that 's when I woke up . Dream 2 from yesterday . This dream involves my family . The weird thing about this dream was that there were mutants . Mutants here refer to people similar to people in the world of Xmen . It seems that a guy with a doggish looking head came to my house and tried to assassinate my mother . The doggish guy called my mother a general . Okie super weird . I can't say that sometimes my mother doesn't act like a dictator - ish general but this dream is really out there together with all the weirdest dreams . Comments on the dreams are welcomed . Entertain me . 
life 's direction ... Have you watched the movie deemed the best movie in 2006 ? That 's right . I talking about Pirates of the Caribbean 2 . It was good . It was more than good . Johnny was great . I will be talking about one thing in the movie , may unintentionally spill a spoiller . But it wouldn't be a plot spoiler . Do you remember the compass that Jack Sparrow , sorry ... Captian Jack Sparrow used in the first movie ? The compass that was supposedly spoilt ? The compass that doesn't point north . Well in this movie , they tell us what the compass is used for . What it points to . It points to ... Some of you may want to close your eyes . Ears if someone is reading this to you . The compass points to the object that you desire the most on earth at that particular moment . Isn't that just great ? I wonder why no one thought of such an item before in all the fairy tales that were told to us . They come up with things like genies to grant 3 wishes but this , this is like making you the genie . As long as you can follow that arrow on that compass , you can find what it is that your heart most desires . Need to decide which school to go to ? Stand somewhere in the middle and watch the needle settle on the school that you REALLY want to go to . No more problems . Can't decide where to eat ? Just use the compass . It ' ll point you to what you 're craving for . Of course these are just " small " decisions that we could easily rely on chance . But for those more important questions . 2 women , maybe 3 ? A decsion that would mean you reaching your destiation and one that could cause you your life . Decisions like these . Sometimes we all need a bit of help . Imagine if we could actually manufacture a compass such as this . Selling this would make me rich . Yes me , not Captian Jack Sparrow . And this is how it would be marketed : A voice would ask , " Lost something valuable ? Buy a compass and steer yourself onto the life that you desire ! " The advertisement would show a guy coming out of the waters on a beach one hand holding the compass and he will slowly open his other hand to reveal a ring . A woman will soon run up to him , hug him and put the ring on her finger . The guy will smile a smile worthy of Brad Pitt and say , " I found my life 's direction , let us help find yours ! " The compass will appear and a price of US $ 49.99 will be stamped onto it . A sign that say FREE delivery to anywhere in the world will also be flashed across the screen . In small print that will marquee across the bottom the screen , a notice will say that every compass is only good for 3 desires . I need to ensure my future . And on my table , the original compass will sit . Hopefully it will constantly point to itself . Because currently what I really want is a compass to point my way in life . 
" eca " s vs " cca " s ... If you are no a Singaporean , you ' ll probably think it 's another 2 wrestling companies fighting . But it 's not . ECAs are Extra - Curricular Activities . These existed long ago when I was a student in secondary school . CCAs are Co - Curricular Activities . This is the spanky new ( new is subjective , it was new 5 - 6 years ago ) name they came up with for ECAs . What 's the difference ? Nothing much . Even when it was called ECAs back in secondary school . It was also madatory for all to join one . Mandatory and Extra just don't mix , do they ? But even though it was deemed Extra long ago , it seems that the people who joined up for it , took it more seriously . They came more regularly and took it less for granted . Now that it 's a Co - Curricular Activity , the people who join seemed to think it 's less important and don't come as regluary . Even though the people up there think it 's more important now . I think as educators they missed a big part of how the teenager mind works . If you ' ve ever been a teenager , you ' ll know that unless you were some saint , you ' ll probably do most things that your parents say you shouldn't be trying . Teenagers only do stuff that they don't or shouldn't be doing . Or things that are Extra . Getting them to do anything else that they don't want can turn out to be a nightmare . I wonder how I survived my teen years . It 's like how they advertised the newest youth park in town . They called it the " coolest " new place in town . The very fact that they call it cool makes it uncool to kids . 
superman returns ... * Start of disclaimer !!! * Due to me actually having found a 2 day job , this entry is actually about something that happened last week . If I have entertained you before with this story , this will just help jog that failing memory you will have . * End of disclaimer !!! * The title of the newest Superman movie . And the title is the most suitable , from my point of view anyways . I watched Superman Returns on Tuesday . With 2 JC friends . I can't say that the show was half bad . But after watching it twice , I wouldn't say it was half good either . It is a pretty long movie . It was 2 hours and 40 minutes , plus credits . Well worth the $ 7 at least . The show was overly dramatic in my opinion . On Wednesday , I was intending to watch a movie with Mr. Derrick Ho . I thought that we were going to watch Royston Tan 's 4:30 . Apparently they didn't show it anymore . On Wednesday at least . I saw the movie being listed again on Friday . Bummer . So , to enjoy the privilege of choosing seats Derrick bought tickets online . Yup you actually get to choose your own seats if you buy it online . Well , I didn't know that we bought tickets for Superman . So Superman returned to my life twice in 2 days . This week I spent a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes watching the same show . At least I only had to pay $ 3 for it . Back to something more recent , working brought to light something which I find throughly disturbing . I speak a mis - mash of English , Chinese and dialect . Which is really bad . Yesterday , a friend corrected me twice when I used " me and my friend " . Bummer . 
Nanny Mc Phee - Pelajaran di Balik Film . Pada saat awal nonton film ini , gue langsung berpikir " wah film apa ini ya ?? " dan " ah .. ini film buat anak - anak , mungkin seperti buatannya Disney " . Tapi ternyata film ini ngga seperti buatan Disney . Gaya penceritaan yang tidak biasa dan gaya penokohan yang unik , dan bisa dibilang berlebihan . Ceritanya secara keseluruhan klise seperti biasanya . Tapi banyak pelajaran yang bisa diambil dari film ini . Nanny Mc Phee memberikan lima buah pelajaran untuk tujuh anak keluarga Brown , yaitu : 1 . To Go To Bed When They Are Told 2 . To Get Up When They Are Told 3 . To Get Dressed When They Are Told 4 . To Listen 5 . You Must Do Exactly As You Are Told Dan quote menarik lainnya adalah : " I have five lessons to teach . What lessons they learn is entirely up to them . " Sama halnya seperti kita . Di balik setiap pelajaran yang kita dapat , selalu terdapat banyak hal yang bisa dipelajari , bahkan hal - hal di luar pokok pelajaran itu sendiri . Buka mata , buka telinga , buka hati , dan buka pikiran . 
Great Short Films . Thanks to a posting over on Strut Your Reel , I was able to watch a slew of fine short films today , and now you can too ! The site is in French , either that or I forgot how to read in my sleep last night , but you simply need to click on a thumbnail and then click " VOIR LE FILM " to watch the short that you ' ve selected . While they were all great , I ' d have to say my favorite was " Making Of , " starring a Red Dragon and his journey through the world of reality television . Check them out by clicking here ! 
BY DAVE : I Give You ... Monkey . There is certainly more I could have done to him , and I never got quite finished with his textures , but it 's time I move on for now . I may revisit Monkey at some point , and I think next I ' ll model a dog for him ( no , it won't be Sid ) . I hope you like him . He sure likes beer ... no wait ... he sure likes you . EDIT : And because the ladies in the audience demanded it ... I guess it 's true what ZZ Top said ... Every girl is in fact crazy about a bald , cashew - shaped , overweight , alcoholic , shirtless man . 
Dreamworks Poster Madness ! Just wanted to throw a few poster shots your way from some of the upcoming Dreamworks Animation movies that will be coming out in the future . The first of these is for everyone 's favorite swamp ogre , Shrek , and the second sequel for this franchise : Look for " Shrek the Third " in theaters May of 2007 . Next we have a shot of the main characters from Kung Fu Panda : Even from this one shot it looks as though this film is going to be a lot of fun . This one hits theaters in 2008 . Finally is one of the first pieces of art from Jerry Seinfeld 's upcoming " Bee Movie " : No idea what to think of this one yet , as it 's still way too early to know enough details , but the bee looks cute , even if it 's in a Honey Nut Cheerios sort of way . 
Dreamworks at Siggraph . Dreamworks has issued the following press release about their presence at the upcoming Siggraph , as well as the job opportunities that will soon be available , if not already : MAJOR DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PRESENCE AT SIGGRAPH 2006 On the heels of the successful worldwide launch of its latest computer - animated feature , Over the Hedge , Dream Works Animation will assert a major presence at SIGGRAPH 2006 , the world 's largest computer graphics conference , held from July 30 th to August 3 rd at the Boston Convention a system was developed on Flushed Away to automate the process of generating splashes from a character 's interaction with a water surface while still retaining a large degree of artistic control . * Simplified Tree Lighting Using Aggregate Normals ( Presented by Scott Petersen with Lawrence Lee ) ; more appealing tree shapes were created before shadows were cast for Over the Hedge and Shrek the Third to facilitate tree lighting . * Procedural Modeling Workflow for Over the Hedge Foliage ( Presented by Bruce Tartaglia with Rob Wilson , Olcun Tan , Scott Petersen , Jonathan Gibbs ) ; how algorithms were used to generate models and animate foliage for Over the Hedge . * Directing Plant Interactions on Over the Hedge . ( Presented by Gokhan Kisacikoglu ) ; a unique set of controls had to be developed to direct the branches and leaves when characters go through the hedge in Over the Hedge . * Cartoon Motion Blur for 3 D Animation ( Presented by Andy Wheeler with Joanne Thiel presentation of three innovative particle - based techniques for stylized motion blur , developed and expanded over the course of three CG projects : Madagascar , The Madagascar Penguins in A Christmas Caper , and Over the Hedge . * Stop Motion Puppets in CG ( Presented by Martin Costello ) ; how the CG characters in Flushed Away were able to emulate the very specific animation style of Aardman . In addition to the various presentations , the studio will host its third annual Educators ' Luncheon Symposium , a forum for college and university level educators to discuss and debate directions and strategies for Digital Media education . This will also be a venue to share solutions for the challenges they are facing in identifying , educating and matriculating students in this rapidly evolving field of study . Applicants will also be able to drop off reels and / or resumes for interview consideration at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center Meeting Room 252 A during Exhibition hours . Dream Works Animation is looking to fill more than 40 positions by the end of the year for all of its upcoming projects including Bee Movie , Kung Fu Panda , Shrek the Third , and the Madagascar sequel . A complete list of current openings can be found in the " Job Opportunities " section of the studio 's website at www . dreamworksanimation . com. Last but not least , Dream Works Animation and partner HP will be giving away an HP Digital Camera every hour during the Exhibition , from August 1 st to August 3 rd . Attendees should drop by the Dream Works Animation suite for their chance to enter and win the raffle . Winners will be posted at the HP Booth ( # 1203 ) on the Exhibition Floor . About Dream Works Animation SKG , INCDream Works Animation SKG ( NYSE - DWA ) is principally devoted to developing and producing computer - generated , or CG - animated , feature films . With world - class creative talent , a strong and experienced management team and advanced CG filmmaking technology and techniques , Dream Works Animation makes high quality CG - animated films meant for a broad movie - going audience . 
Toy Story 3 . Tim Allen recently shed some light on " Toy Story 3 " to the National Ledger . " Toy Story 3 " is moving right along and " it 's going to be great . " That 's the word from Buzz Lightyear himself , Tim Allen . " We have John Lasseter , the original director , and I believe Tom is on board , " he adds , referring to Tom Hanks -- aka the voice of his cowboy buddy , Woody . I personally thought this project got shelved after the merger between Pixar and Disney , but I guess it 's still in the works . I ' m not sure how I feel about this , as I ' ve always liked that , with the exception of TS 2 , Pixar has stayed away from sequels , choosing to instead focus on new IPs . I ' m sure it will be a great film , but I ' d rather see something new , rather than the same characters again . And wouldn't Andy be around 20 by now ? ; ) Read the entire National Ledger article here ! 
What 's a Picture Book Without Pictures ? That 's like having a blog about 3 D animation with no pictures of 3 D animation . Which is exactly what you 're going to get for now ... Blogger seems to be having some kind of issue with uploading images , so for now any posts I make will be without the standard picture or two that I like to include . As soon as I find out that it 's back up and working , I ' ll go back and get some shots put in here and there to spice things up a bit . After all , poorly - cropped , blurry , movie stills are the spice of life from what I understand . 
Your Next Tee . They aren't paying me a dime , which probably makes me dumb , but I still have to tell you about this site . If you are a 3 D artist " in the industry " or want to look like you 're " in the industry " or choose to " put quotes around stuff you type to seem cool , " then Your Next Tee . com is where you should go to dress yourself . I ordered this snazzy little " I Bleed Pixels " number myself : I ' m such a dork . Your Next Tee . com. 
I ' ve been My Spaced . I ' ll warn you now that this post really has nothing to do with 3 D animation ... So at the tail end of one of my posts yesterday , I mentioned that I wasn't on My Space and didn't understand why everyone was . From what I understand , that was pretty much like saying that I didn't understand the appeal of breathing . I got more than a couple emails telling me that My Space was not just a place to meet horny young people , but could also be a great resource for networking inside and outside of the art world . So I signed up . Frankly , the thing that appealed most to me was one of the emails that said at very least I could sign up and use it to track bands . So I think the kids these days are " adding friends " or " making friends " or something ... I don't understand the interwebs at all . But if you ' d like to visit my My Space page , which has some of my 2 D artwork and such , feel free . http : // www . myspace . com / my 3 dave My awesome new My Space avatar . Tomorrow I ' m thinking about getting in on the ground floor of this new thing called " email . " I ' ll let you know how that goes . 
TMNT Trailer . Apple has the new teaser trailer up for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . While it is just a teaser trailer and something we really shouldn't judge the final project by , here are my initial thoughts : 1 . As a fan of the original comic book series , I was hoping the movie would lean towards the dark and serious tone that the comic books often displayed , and not the slapstick nature of the horrible Saturday morning cartoon . The turtle falling into the dumpster makes me think they 're leaning towards the latter , which worries me a bit .2 . The animation and artwork look great . I like the models , especially the heads , and the textures look great as well .3 . I wish the voices were a little more serious . I know we only hear what I am assuming is Donatello , but the voice sounds really lame . Grab yourself a pizza and watch the trailer here ! And feel free to voice your opinion in the comments section . 
Surf 's Up Poster . Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere on the net , but I did manage to stumble upon a poster for the upcoming " Surf 's Up " movie : As for the source , I actually found it over on Jamaal 's My Space Page . Jamaal is an animator on the film , having also animated parts of " Monster House " and " Open Season . " I ' ll also be hitting Jamaal up for a " 10 Quick " interview , so we ' ll see what comes of it . Just as a personal note , I ' m not on My Space , don't frequent My Space , and have yet to find the appeal of My Space . If someone can explain it to me , it would be much appreciated . 
Monster House In Theaters Today . Monster House hits theaters today , and the reviews have already started pouring in over at Rotten Tomatoes . The film currently sits at a 64 % overall , according to the mighty RT . Overall , the reviews seem to be quite mixed . I ' m still excited to see it , and will probably take the film in on Sunday . If you ' ve seen it or see it sometime within the next few days , drop a comment ( no need to register or anything like that ) below this story and let everyone know what you thought of the film . 
Open Season Behind the Scenes . Moviefone has posted a new " Behind the Scenes " look at Sony 's upcoming Open Season . The clip is only about 2 and a half minutes in length , but it 's still nice to see the split screens of the actors in the studio side by side with their on - screen personas . Worth taking a look ! 
New Flushed Away Trailer and Site . Flushed Away now has an updated site that you can wander around in . From the front page of the site , you can also view the brand new Moviefone trailer , that runs just a little over 2 minutes in length . The more I see of this film , the more I can't help but feel as though it 's missing some of the charm that some of the other Aardman films have , and I think ( as much as I hate to say it ) that this is due to the fact that it 's CG instead of clay . There is just something about knowing that the characters are actual physical things , rather than generated on a computer screen , that just can't be changed . It 's one thing if a style begins with computers , because your mind associates it as being the norm , but when something like the Aardman clay style is mimicked using computer graphics , my brain just keeps telling me that something doesn't look right . If the film has the standard Aardman charm , in terms of humor , which it looks like it does , I ' m sure it will be more than enjoyable , but even coming from a guy who loves computer animation to death , I wish they would have stuck with the " if it ain't broke don't model it on a computer " philosophy . Make your own judgment by swinging over to the site and having a look at the trailer ! 
Ant Bully merch ! So the Ant Bully videogame finally arrived at my Local Gamestop after an embarrassing three days of stopping off and enquiring about its status . Man I thought buying Nintendogs got me dirty looks . If you ever want to emasculate yourself in front of a shop clerk I suggest buying a child 's videogame . So how is it ? Well , it 's not that good , but hey , it 's not that bad either . If you thought the Jimmy Neutron games were ass consider this a dimple on one of the cheeks . It 's playable and it actually has a few voices from the movie . Zok and Hova are of coarse replaced by voice unalikes , but the mighty Bruce Cambell opted to lend a hand bringing his character to the console . So far it 's sort of a fun experience running Lucas in the world I ' ve been involved with over the last 2 years . Kids may like it if they 're a fan of the movie . There 's no jump though ! I don't understand how you can make a game like this and not include a jump button . Hell that 's like making a sequel to Time Cop . It just doesn't make sense . I ' ll post my reaction to the GBA version if I can ever tear myself away from the PS 2 . I ' ve vowed to play through the entire game . We ' ll see how far I get before I give up and just use a level select cheat . 
We 're commie bastards ! So apparently we 're starting to get a lot of flak in the reviews that Ant Bully contains a pro communism message . Interesting , very interesting . I guess an ants social system could be considered the original commie hive . Is it so wrong to support teamwork these days ? 
Ant Bully opens Friday ! Good news is we don't flat out suck ! So far it 's receiving mix reviews . Some people like it some people think it doesn't have enough new idea 's to warrant another romp into the land of insects . Hopefully as more reviews come pouring in we ' ll see if it 's a flop or not . I ' m buying the videogame tomorrow and will post my opinions on the GBA and PS 2 versions of the game . Also I have yet to see the final cut of the film so I ' ll post my unbiased opinion after Friday , of coarse in the form of a picture . 
Burke 's : 1 Summer Heat : 0 . So without AC here in Seattle we needed to be a bit creative on how to cool down this hot summer weekend . Luckily Target had inflatable pools on sale . Ahhh ... this was the greatest beer of the summer . Kristie lounging around in the deep end . Even Ruby decided to take a dip . George doing laps . After the dip it was back to playing on the scorched lawn . As you can see our backyard is a stuffed animal graveyard . 
Episode 02 teaser released ... All I can say is this game is shaping up to be another hell of a ride in the Half Life universe . Valve 's doing some great stuff in the next episode . Better warm up that trigger finger for the release ! 
Matter of the Heart . Run , run my son . My only sunwithout sin please run . Don't do it for escape Nor to save face Nor for getting away fromthe things that cause grief Do it because you love it Run for the heart Run for the partof you that feels goodon the highway Breathing and watching the cows go by . Always on the gothis is the go that 's running for more . And it 's a matter of the heart ... And the sun of the son within . 
Be the wheeee ! How would it be ? To learn about being the tree .. or being in the tree .. to find a way to freethe me inside the me ? How would it start to see ? To see what the eyes don't see To open up the meto open up to me ? How else might it be ? To be or be the be ? to be ? or be the bee ? Who else might I be ? To find the eyes to see ? To find the me to be ? Who I want to really be ? Sounds so very free I might let out a wheeee ! 
Art and Energy . I am a beautifulcharming and sensitive me . I see just what I chooseto see I be just what I chooseto be . And I am meup in a treeor down onone knee , still me , free . Patience . Tolerance . Silence . Virtue . I am the energy and I make it too . And I practice to perfect it . I am the art and I make it too . And I practice to perfect it . 
Swimming in the bliss . Swimming in the bliss . Inviting in the good feelings likesweet skin against mineor a viewer for my art... just relaxand feelthe acceptance and the resistancethe change and the persistance No need to hold onto the past No need to grip tightly to the future It can all be of one life and that is now . Swimming in the bliss Come give me a kiss . 
We are All Connected ( letter to editor ) . This post is actually a letter that I ' ve written and submitted to the local newspaper here . It 's inspired by a letter from a woman who runs a local food pantry for homeless and also a van that reaches all sorts of hungry and homeless with its nourishing contents . I want to share my letter with you , my friends : Dear Editor , Are we are all connected ? What if we stopped for a moment and looked at ourneighbor as ourselves . What if we looked straightinto the eyes of another human being and saw in there ... ourselves . What if we spent just a moment to opento the possibility that human homelessness cannot bepassed to one another , nor can it be wiped off theface of the earth with brute force , nor can it beignored so that it will disappear . And that thesituations of other people are so connected in withour own fears , that we push them away . I do believe I ' ve been taught to push away MY fears , and I dobelieve I am not alone . I can ask questions ... because I don't have asolution . I would like to list a few of them here . Can we get to know the situations of others byunderstanding our own fears ? Can we open up more by understanding how fears arecreated and reinforced ? Can learning the difference between human souls andhumans ' possessions and humans ' needs create morecompassion or understanding ? Can we accept and love others as our equals justbecause they are human beings ? Can we share our bounty with others just because wesee ourselves in them ? These questions can apply to homelessness , andpotentially many other situations between people . I ' ve spent some evenings helping feed homeless peopleand even a little time with mentally handicappedfolks . In my experience , if I can just accept that Ihave fears I can move past them . If I can move pastthe fears , I can see the benevolence in myself . If Ican see the benevolence in myself , I can see thebenevolence in others . Emotions are only a part ofour whole human selves , and if I can accept my ownemotions as part of my human experience , I can acceptthem in others as well . Sometimes people are angry . And sometimes people arehappy . And sometimes people are hungry . Andsometimes people need love . And sometimes people needhelp , or don't know what to do , or are victims , or arehurt . If we can just look at ourselves and see our variousfears , can we see how the very same fears are presentin others as well ? Are we all connected ? What do youthink ? 
Slow Rain . The rains fill the streets Cars whooshing in the puddlesand trees dropping pellets of water .. My bike skidding and plodding the slick sidewalk . I want to cry , NO ! I want to laugh No , I want to play and smile like nothing matters - and like there isn't a massive dark cloud overheadthat seems to follow close by wherever I go . I want to cry again . Soaking wet . Full of passion for ... I don't really know . I can get used to this rain . The slushing of tires on wet pavementsthe spray through the wide open window screens The smell of claritythe little droplets that collect on everythingand together they go running down to the Earth . Slowly . 
Through the Thoughts and Clouds . Why do I think I am so alone ? Why can't I seem to moveforward with life ? Waiting and waitingfor the opportunity to Do Something ! Meanwhile my mind is churningand burning with ideas obsessions and wants - More and more and more and morethey just keep coming like clouds over ablue , blue sky . Changing shape slightly so thatthey appear new each time I look . Layering , so clouds behind cloudsand ideas behind ideas become a sea , turbulent and torrentialor slight and calm . But nothing is happening . There is just me and me . And more me . I can't get out of the way . Even when I knowthat I am making itdifficult formy self . Even when I know what I want I don't know what I want . It 's just an idea ... just aquestion that 's lookingfor an answer fromthe universeand now the universe seems to have stopped responding , for the moment anyway . So I wait and I wait , meanwhile my mindis churning and boilingpushing out from underneath the lid . No cover can containit . Action - which one to take God ? They are all so full of potential . And some require things I don't have ... places to livepeople to meet . Things to accomplish . I ' ve heard again and again Begin where you are . I can't ... or haven't . I have to get out . Get out . Out ! Oh dear ego , such laziness coming from youmy dear . Shut upand let 's get back towhat the spirit has to say . Peace . 
Brothers who drive cab may can relate to this !!! Had a very interesting experience this morning coming down Connecticut AVE . . Picked up a white lady about 60 years old at UDC . She said she wanted to go to 1250 24 th st . She noticed my Digital Dispatch Screen as I was entering the trip . She asked if it was a meter and I told her it was not . Tried to explain to her that it computed the fare for zone rides in the city . She then said that I sounded angry . I said to her " I ' m not angry I ' m having a great morning . " She then said , " Shut up and don't talk . " My attitude at that point was FINE . When we arrived at her destination I gave her a card on which I wrote THE FARE IS 9.80 Thank You . She then wanted to talk but I refused to say a word . She then said , " Aw , you can talk . " I refused to say a word . The Arrogance of this customer was unbelievable . Ten years ago I would have put her out but my mission was to transport her and get her money . Mission Accomplished . The arrogance of some of the white customers makes it easy for me to see why people in other countries cannot stand Americans . Shame of it is she doesn't even know it . I guess it 's that lingering Master / Slave mentality . 
What 's an old guy to do ? Just returned from a visit to Plainfield NJ . Could have picked up a fare but this is vacation time . I think as I have gotten older I have developed a thing about crossing bridges . I had another terrifying experience this time on the Delaware Mem . Bridge . This fear seems to grip me and I ' ve got to focus on the car in front of me and keep my speed up . I ' ve got a lot of work to do because I ' ll have to board a plane for New Orleans in December . Be just my luck to get locked up for freaking out . Height is killing me now at a point where I ' ve got to suppress this fear . 
Cabbie Dog Days !!!!! It 's summer in DC and the streets are like a vast wasteland . Depending mostly on regulars , some radio work , the Metro , and hospital work . Earlier start in the morning should be beneficial . There are too many cabs in DC . Most you see are riding empty and hunting . July and August are crucial months so I guess I ' d better start tightning my belt especially with these gas prices . 
Pay Soriano don't trade him !!!!!! Attended my first ballgame this year as the Nats crushed the Marlins 9 - 1 . Alphonso Soriano hit 2 homers and Jose Guillen hit a solo shot . The Lerners ownership is already evident in the atmosphere at RFK this year . Now if only the Nationals could run off a long winning streak they could put some pressure on the Mets . 
Let 's face it . We 're just not ready !!!!!! Poor residents of DC and those who work downtown are going to be in serious trouble in the case of a serious emergency or attack . The debacle this week due to the rain was just a preview of how conjested the streets will become and how difficult it will be to exit the city in the case of a major emergency . As a cab driver I pride myself on being able to get in and out quickly but due to the problems I had last week getting around I ' ll have to re - evaluate my escape plans . Just suppose a scenario such as the one in " The day the earth stood still " occured . Can you just imagine trying to get out of DC . 
Strange happenings in the sky at National . Saw the most unusual thing today . A plane was coming into National Airport for a landing . Suddenly it aborted the landing and ascended into the southeastern sky . Had my eye on it all the way cause didn't know what to think of that action by the plane . All of the thousands of landings I ' ve witnessed at National never seen one make that move before . Since no breaking news stories flashed on the radio I ' ll assume it was just an aborted landing and not something more serious . 
Tired !!!!!! TIME FOR A VACAATION . One gets tired of hacking and dispatching . Everyday is a struggle but you ' ve got to keep going because Mr. Gotta Pay Bill demands it . I ' ve got to go to the Salt Mine today and I ' m really hoping for an easy time . Could think of a couple of places I ' d rather be . Chilling in the mountains sounds like a great getaway . I think I ' ll try and make that happen . 
The Food Doctor : Healing Foods for Body and Mind . We will weekly add to this list of the Top 100 Foods for your Body and Mind 's Health from the book ; The Food Doctor -- Healing Foods for Mind and Body by Vicki Edgson and Ian Marber , Collins and Brown 1999 . The Creator of ALL this Food was God on the 3 rd Day of Creation .... Genesis 1:11 - 12 God said , " I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants , including fruit trees and grain . " And that 's what happened . The earth produced all kinds of vegetation . God looked at what he had done , and IT WAS GOOD . " 1 . Broccoli : Nutrients -- Calcium , magnesium , phosperous , vitamin B 3 and B 5 , beta - carotene , high in Vitamin C and folic acid Benefits -- Anti - Cancer , antioxidant , intestinal cleanser , excellent source of fiber , antibiotic , antiviral ( from sulpher ) stimulates the liver .... A Perfect Food 2 . Strawberries : Nutrients -- Vit A , C and K , beta - carotene , folic acid and potassium Benefits -- Anti - Cancer , antiviral , and antibacterial 3 . Millet : ( whole grain ) Nutrients -- Magnesium , potassium , phosphorus , and Vit B 3 Benefits -- Gluten - free grain , easily digestible , highly alkaline , rich in fibre , low allergenic food 4 . Salmon : Nutrients -- Calcium , selenium , Vit D and E , Omega 3 fatty acids Benefits -- Rich source of Omega 3 fatty acids ( beneficial oil for your heart and body ) , good for hormonal health , skin , the immune system , bones and teeth 5 . Apple : Nutrients -- Calcium , magnesium , phosphorus , Vit C , beta - carotene , and pectin Benefits -- Astringent , tonic , relieves constipation , reactivates beneficial gut bacteria , reduces total cholesterol and helps remove toxins from the body 6 . Cabbage : Nutrients -- Calcium , magnesium , potassium , phosporous , beta - carotene , folic acid , Vit C , E and K , iodine Benefits -- Eaten raw , it detoxifies the stomach and upper colon and improves digestion . Stimulates the immune system , kills bacteria and viruses , anti - cancer and antioxidant ... A perfect food !! 7 . Melon ( Cantelope ) : Nutrients -- Calcium , magnesium , potassium , phosperous , Vit C and beta - carotene Benefits -- Excellent cleanser and rehydrator , high water content , should be eaten on its own for maximum benefit 8 . Pine Nuts : Nutrients -- Magnesium , potassium , zinc , and B vitamins Benefits -- High in protein and essential fat , good as a meat replacement for vegetarians 9 . Potatoes : Nutrients -- Potassium , Vit B 3 , C and Folic acid Benefits -- Potato juice is very cleansing , benefiting the liver and muscles , and providing energy 10 . Orange : Nutrients -- Calcium , potassium , beta - carotene , folic acid and Vit CBenefits -- Stimulating tonifying , cleansing , intestinal antiseptic , and Stimulates peristalsis ( clearing of food from your colon .... thus reduces constipation and improves your energy level ) . 
Ten Lifestyle Goals for Healthy Living . 1 ) Get Adequate Rest Daily -- People with the best health and longevity get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep daily -- Taking time for daily relaxation and recreation is also helpful to the body and mind 2 ) Get Regular Physical Activity -- Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity on most , preferably all days of the week -- Include strengthening exercise 2 + times per week to maintain a healthy lean body weight ( for each pound of muscle you gain , your metabolism increases to burn an extra 30 to 50 calories each day ) 3 ) Eat More Plant Based Foods -- Aim for at least 5 ( up to 9 is recommended ) servings of fruits and vegetables daily ( You ' ll significantly lower your risks for cardiovascular disease , diabetes and cancer !! ) -- Limit fatty meats and high cholesterol foods -- Peas , beans , nuts , and soy foods are good sources of plant protein !! 4 ) Eat More Whole Grain Breads and Cereals Daily -- Aim for at least 3 servings of whole grains daily ( including bread , brown rice and oatmeal ) -- Limit highly refined cereals such as white bread , pastry , white rice , and sugary cereals 5 ) Choose Healthy Fats -- Choose unhydrogenated vegetable oils and trans fat free margarine in place of animal and solid fats such as butter , hard stick margarine , and shortening -- Eat at least 1 serving of nuts daily ( 1 oz of nuts is a palm full , or 2 tablespoons of peanut or almond butter ) -- Eat foods high in Omega 3 fatty acids daily such as flax seeds , walnuts , soy , or canola / soy oils 6 ) Achieve / Maintain a Healthy Weight -- A BMI less than 25 is ideal . A BMI of 30 or above indicates obesity and high risk for heart disease , diabetes , and cancer -- A waist measurement of less than 37 inches for men and less than 32 inches for women is ideal -- A waist measurement of 40 + inches indicates high risk for men and 35 + inches is high risk for women for heart disease , diabetes and cancer 7 ) Be Free of Dependence on Tobacco , Illegal drugs , or Alcohol -- 85,000 people die prematurely every year due to alcohol -- Over 400,000 people die prematurely every year from smoking -- Drug use can lead to dependance that can destroy physical , mental , and spiritual health 8 ) Maintain a Cheerful , Hopeful Outlook on LIFE : ) -- Choose to see the bright side of life . Be Happy !! Laugh daily . Pass on JOY and HOPE to those you work and live with daily . Get help if you feel sad and depressed for extended periods of time . -- A happy heart is a good medicine , and a cheerful mind works healing , but a broken spirit dries the bones ( Proverbs 17 ) -- The more you laugh and smile daily your body releases endorphins ( a natural pain killer which also gives you more energy !! : ) 9 ) Spend Quality Time with Family and Friends Daily -- Supportive relationships build strong hearts and happy minds . Practice a spirit of friendship , love and acceptance . Share a kindness with someone you live or work with daily . -- Join a LIFE group at Sunnybrook Community Church .... see your options at www . sunnybrookchurch . org or your local church and be transformed more to the likeness of Jesus 10 ) Take Time Daily for Spiritual Renewal -- Plan a quiet time each day to read , pray , meditate , and seek spiritual renewal from the Bible . A heart primed with gratitude , forgiveness , and service helps you soar over life 's difficulties and challenges . PLEDGE : It is my desire to take the time necessary to make health a personal priority in my life . _______________________ NAME _____________ DATE 2003 - 5 Wellsource Inc. ( Wellsource . com ) ---- Source . 
WELLness Lifestyle ( Health Risk ) Assessment . Lifestyle ( Health Risk ) Assessment by Donald R . Hall Dr PH , CHES Wellsource -- 70 to 90 % of Chronic Disease ( Heart Disease , Diabetes , Cancer and Stroke ) is Preventable by Improving YOU and Your Family 's Daily LIFESTYLE CHOICES . -- Check out this FREE assessment at the website ; http : // vanderbiltowc . wellsource . com -- Use the above address and then double click on RESOURCES from list on Left side of the page on " Health Plus " Vanderbilt 's Wellness Program Website -- Then choose the ASSESSMENTS , and then " Lifestyle Check Assessment " . -- You will be asked questions in regards to your Daily Lifestyle Choices .... which determine your overall health and wellness such as ; What you Eat , How Active You Are , How much you drink or smoke , and Even your social interactions . -- Take this quick lifestyle assessment to see how you score out of a total of 17 " Good Health Indicators " , with the average score being 9.4 out of 17 . You will also identify any risks you may have and learn key prevention strategies as well as simple , painless ways to improve your health for LIFE !! 
WATER --- BENEFITS YOUR BODY -- " Come Thirsty " !!! " Whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty . The water I give will become a Spring of Water gushing up inside that person , giving Eternal Life . " John 4:14 " Out of His Heart will Flow Rivers of Living Water . " John 7:37 - 381 . Drinking Water WILL HELP You Lose FAT by suppressing your appetite naturally ( will help you not eat as much ) and helps your body to metabolize ( burn ) more body fat .2 . Drinking Water WILL REDUCE Muscle Soreness by helping to rid the body of waste products such as lactic and uric acid --- Which leads to sore muscles , ligaments , and tendons .3 . Drinking Water WILL REDUCE JOINT Pain ( Lower back / Knees / Hips / ETC ) by lubricating your joints . It will also help reduce daily joint wear and tear , and pain ( arthritis pain ) .4 . Drinking more Water will help REDUCE MUSCLE CRAMPING by maintaining proper muscle tone by giving your muscles the natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration ( dehydration leads to an increased risk of muscle cramping ) .5 . Drinking more water WILL REDUCE DAILY FATIGUE and INCREASE Your ENERGY LEVEL . We need water to breathe properly so our lungs can be moist to take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide .6 . WATER GIVES YOU MORE ENERGY by Improving your digestive function and organ efficiency . ( Reduced risks for constipation / diarrhea / abdominal cramping ) .7 . Water SPEEDS YOUR BODIES HEALING PROCESS AFTER AN INJURY , or SPEEDS RECOVERY from DAILY Work . Water is needed by the body to speed the recovery processes of your working , aging , body after an injury or a hard days work by removing the waste products from your body . It is Recommended for you and your family to purchase a PUR water filter for your home drinking water faucet and / or use a BRITA water filtration system to keep your BODY HEALTHY !! The Prayer of the Thirsty by Max Lucado from his book " Come Thirsty " Lord , I come Thirsty . I come to drink , to receive . I receive your work on the cross and in your resurrection . My sins are pardoned ( forgiven ) , and my death is defeated . I receive your energy . Empowered by your Holy Spirit , I can do ALL things through Christ , who gives me strength . I receive your Lordship . I belong to you . Nothing comes to me that hasn't passed through you . And I receive your LOVE . Nothing can seperate me from your LOVE . 
Daily Temple Inspection . Date : M T W Th F S Su HEART ( Relationships / Emotions ) Attitude of Gratitude ___ Random Acts of Kindness ___ " I LOVE YOU " to Spouse / Family / Other ___ Hugged Someone Today ___ Encouraged Someone Today ___ Good Belly Laugh ___ SOUL ( Spiritual ) Prayer ___ Daily Bible Study / Meditation ___ Confess Sin and Ask Forgiveness DAILY ___ MIND ( Intellectual and Mental ) Read Proverbs For Day of Month ___ ( Wisdom ) 10 Minute Mind Challenge ( Ex . Crossword puzzle , Chess , Memory ) ___ Positive Self Talk / Visualize Success ____ STRENGTH ( Body -- Physical Activity , Nutrition , and Rest ) Ate Something Healthy for Breakfast ___ 5 to 9 Servings of Fruit / Vegetables ___ Ate 3 Servings of Whole Wheat / Grain Foods ___ Ate 2 to 3 Servings of Dairy ___ Ate 1 to 2 Servings of Nuts ___ Drink 8 + ( 8 oz ) Glasses of Water ___ Work Smart Stretch Breaks 2 x / day ___ 8 to 10 Deep Breathing Breathes Daily ___ Exercised 30 + Min Aerobic ___ Exercised 30 + Min Strength ___ Took Break at Work in Addition to Lunch ___ Slept 7 to 9 hrs ___ I abstained from my struggle of today ___ Ex Emotional Eating , Smoking / Chew tobacco , Alcohol , TV / Video games / Internet Gambling , Lust , Cheating , Swearing , Gossip , Junk food , Pride , etc. TOTAL ______ ( 25 possible per day ) . 
Really too hot to blog -- both for me and the computer . The last three attempts over the past two days to write a post here have resulted in a computer crash . I ' m going to quickly preview what I ' ve got planned to come up before it happens a 4 th time . Baseball , ripping some more on Edmonton City Police , the heat , Capital Ex , crisis in the Middle East , what I would do if I was Premier of Alberta , post # 300 , and probably a few other topics that will come to me at some point . I ' ve been awfully slow posting the past couple weeks . My only solace is knowing that Mike Jenkinson , Colby Cosh , Lorne Gunter , and even ABFreedom have been slow during this period too . Its the hot Edmonton weather , I tells yeah . 
Hot hot July updates . Well , I asked last week about Jason Kodish , formerly of the mythical " Thirring Institute for Gravitational Research " . Today , the Canadian government named Uof A professor Frans Pretorius to a " tier 2 " research chair ... in gravitational physics . I also have another Chris Pronger rumour added to the usual location . 
Whats it take to get me to socialize with work people ? Free beer !!!!! ( 20 free Coronas were purchased for staff tonight . Add to that the staff drinks we already have purchased from the bar , and suddenly its an effort to remove the beer . I was a lynchpin in the efforts , although staff were generally surprised to see me . After all , I have a sign in my locker expressing how I don't particularly like them . But free beer , y ' know ? ) So anyways , you recall just below I expressed disappointment that I was unaware of interesting events in Edmonton until it was too late to attend them . Tomorrow I shall rectify that by attending the Capital Ex Parade tomorrow with my digital camera . Fun at the grounds shall be my plan for Friday . Perhaps tomorrow I ' ll visit another wading pool for more hot ass in Edmonton photos . Stay tuned . 
Major events today in Edmonton . Just saw on A - Channel Citytv CTV Jr. that Edmonton Grand Prix girls are taking the stage downtown for some ceremony . Just saw on ITV Global Edmonton that the crazy Lebs are rallying over the current Lebanese - Israeli conflict I haven't been blogging about . I am attending neither . Pity , both subjects ( with photos ) would make good blog entries ... 
On the bright side , still have eight working fingers . You may recall this post where I reported an injured finger during my buddy 's birthday party . Well , over the weekend I managed to break a separate finger during his wedding celebrations . Something to do with fighting a fellow groomsman in a sauna . Posting ( which has been very unfrequent lately ) is going to spiral further downward . Sorry . 
Whither the Thirring Institute for Gravitational Research ? A sudden burst of curosity made me wonder what Jason Kodish was up to . ( check below for the updated answer ) For those ( blissfully ) unaware , Kodish was one of the first people ever to be named " Usenet Kook of the Month " ( October , 1994 ) . He viciously flamed most of the Canadian political threads , and was the laughing stock of nerdy net politics in the early 90 s . ( Check out this thread in ab . politics from November 1994 on Kodish 's honours featuring " before he was famous " Colby Cosh ( ! ) trash talking Jason ) Oddly enough , in private emails when you got off of politics he was curiously polite and almost normal . While he political talk was off the deep end , he at the very least had enough understanding of physics ( I believe he was a Comp Sci graduate student once upon a time ) to help out an undergrad in need . Well , help was a strong word , but I digress . Anyways , if you want to cruise Usenet history , a list of all of Kodish 's posts in Usenet ( newest first ) are available here . Go to it with godspeed . Let 's also remember such notable Kodish threads : Karl Marx Sucks Just Like Jason Kodish Proof of Jason Kodish 's insanity , I have it ! Bonus item : the only posters Google Archives has for this thread is Kodish himself Jason " pull over and show me your ID " Kodish A Small Collection of Kodish Posts WAS KODISH KIDNAPPED ?? WILL NOBODY PAY THE RANSOM ? Kodish Government : One for me , one for you . Two for me Sick letter to Jason Kodish Ckeck it out - Kodish just may have popped a vessel this time Kodish chickens out ; scared of squaring off against Klein on live radio ! Kodish : Even more evidence of rampant stupidity More Bullshit Nonsense From Kodish Is Steve Ranta Really Jason Kodish ? Final result : Jason has been around longer than Mr. Ranta . Indeed , if myrecollection is correct , Jason was an early winner of the Net Kook of the Month Award . My recollection is that after I nominated him , my systemadministrator ( me ) received email from Jason telling meto " take my access away " . Mr. Ranta has not been nominated , and has not won the award . -- Stephen Jenuth The " Thirring Institute " however is apparently long gone . The Geo Cities page has gone the way of all Geo Cities pages , while the Edmonton Freenet edition is long - gone as well . Fortunately for us , the " Internet Wayback Machine " was invented . Low and behold , one can discover the history of the Thirring Institute on Geo Cities and also the ( newer , larger ) version on Edmonton Freenet . The most extensive version ever was the 1999 edition , which was comprised mostly of UBC physics links . I was sadly unable to dig up a photograph of the elusive Jason Kodish ( 1994 was the days of layered . BMP files and thrown together . pict images culled off Mac Intosh computers ) , but I did find a cute picture of Atlanta - area lawyer Elisa Kodish , which is probably for the best anyways . Update , 3:22 pm : Naturally I never thought for the old - school pre - Google answer to the question " Where is Jason Kodish ? " Check the phone book you retard . And there it is : Kodish , Jason 304 - 8107 29 Ave 466 - 2295 ( Quick aside , how sad is it that it never occurs to you to find a long - lost person who lives in your own city by looking in the phone book ? Has the internet really changed our world that much ? ) Update , July 20 2006 1:45 pm : A new development has occured in Uof A gravitational physics . 
Latin term surfing on Wikipedia . A rundown on the Confederate States of America led me to the first one : damnatio memoriae -- " damnation of memory " , being removed from history books . Since this seemed oddly fun , I figured I ' d look up a few common ones I know of : a priori -- propositional knowledge that can be had without experiencea posteriori -- propositional knowledge that can only be had with experiencevaticinium ex eventu -- prophecy after the factdramatis personae -- the cast of characters in a theatrical performanceexperimentum crucis -- the definitive test of a scientific theoryignoratio elenchi -- the logical fallacy of making an argument that is valid yet irrelevent to the proposition being discussedin camera -- deliberations or meeting elements to be held in private session to avoid the public revealing of sensitive informationipso facto -- " therefore " lex feranda -- the law as it should be , as in morally right or internally consistentmodus operandi -- the method by which an individual normally actsnon sequitur -- a conclusion which does not follow from the premisepersona non grata -- a person who is not welcome or belonging to a groupquid pro quo -- a favour proffered in return for the performing of an otherwise unrelated favourres ipsa loquitur -- the existence of an event implies guilt by the party which clearly held a role in the eventsic semper tyrannis -- " thus always to tyrants " where death is the ( implied ) " thus " sine qua non -- that part which is essential to the whole of which it belongs to . 
A sad sports admission . It turns out that this posting from Thursday the 6 th is in error : in the end , Zidane 's red card cost France the match and the bloody Eye - Toys win the World Cup . I still think without Zidane 's card the French would have won in the penalty kicks : after all , they came within an inch of pacing the Italians as it was . If you want to email / blogcomment / textmessage me about my error in predicting a sport I never watch and know nothing about , then you ' ll have to wait 6 hours and 19 minutes for my response . 
so . 	 im a lot more worried then i have been . my optimism has turned to pessimism , but not all the way . i have not lost all hope , only about fifty percent . and knowing myself thats all in my head . was last night a good or bad thing ? i have no idea . the past few days have been pretty cool , im happy we dont hate eachother . and that she doesnt hate me . boo . im a whiner . wah . i dont know what to think / say . 
boo . 	 im really reluctant to accept anything more or better then whats been going on . i mean , i dont want to get fucked over again . and i do the fucking over to myself , so dont even think about blaming anyone . dont get me wrong , im happy with this . i just feel like weve hit another bullshit low and the only way to go is up , but its more of a diagonal because its definitely not steering towards my goal . i guess thats a good graphic representation of how im feeling : a very very slow moving diagonal line , not going towards the big shining goal . yeah . but now its off to take another half - step forward . 
i really liked today . 	 tracks : bike scene - taking back sundayit started off kinda shitty , but only went straight up from there . at least in my opinion . i really did have a lot of fun today . a very very much welcomed deviation from how ive been feeling for the past few days . i hate this whole thing about each day being one step forward or 5 steps back . im just sick of it at this point . i just want to not think about it . hah . easier said then done . i just want to be happy . well , tomorrow should be rad . im really excited : san jose for taking back sunday , head automatica and angels and airwaves . also the museum of modern art and some lunch . an all - day thing . im really excited . and i hope she is too . well , on an only slightly melancholy note , i say goodnight . actually , its not really melancholy at all , its more apathetic with a optimistic chaser . see yall tomorrow night . 
This isn't a topic I would normally discuss , but this hilarious yet true post in the " Streeter " section of the Torontoist : Streeter : Reigniting the Horse Cop Debate " Overheard " on the Toronto Livejournal community : ME ( On Bicycle ) : What kind of bike is that ? COP ( On horseback , in the bike lane ) : WHAT ? ME : What kind of bike is that ? COP : It 's a horse . ME : Great ! Get the @ # $ % out of the bike lane then . got me thinking and a link later I was at the Spacing Wire reading about cops on horseback and thinking WTF ?? Never really having put much though into cops on horseback I now find myself totally agreeing with this article . To me cops on horseback have always been a novelty of sort , yet I ' ve never actually though of them as actuall police officers . I mean it 's not like their going to leave their horse in the middle of the street to chase after a criminal , at least I ' d hope they wouldn't . 
I started a new series today . It will be B & W still life photos of various items found in my home . I ' ve always collected random items , thinks that have long broken down or things that are compleltely useless and just sit around collecting dust . However , I keep theses things for no reason at all . This series will perhaps be slightly about consumerism and in a broader sense just a documentation of items found in the house . Why black and white ? I don't perticularly like photographing in the studio or doing still - lifes however whenever I do the only way the photos seem to look good is in black and white . So for this series I ' m starting of thinking the majority of the photos will be black and white with perhaps few exceptions . ------- Above is a contact sheet of various lighting positions that I tried for a photograph of an old fax machine that I ' ve never used . 
Polarity . So , I think I made it in . I have a receipt from active . com and got sent an Ironman number ( used apparently to track my progress ( or lack thereof ) around the course ) . Ironman USA still hasn't published the official list ( c ' mon guys ! ) but all indications are that I made it in . 90 minutes . That 's how long it took this race to sell out this year . Good thing I got in as soon as registration opened ( 2 minutes after it opened to be precise ) . It 's funny how plunking down something like an Ironman on the calendar alters the focus of everything . Before I had a collection of events with more or less random orientations . The collection is now fully polarized - each event is just another step to the Ironman . Each new event I consider for 2007 will be considered not because it sounds like fun , or presents a particular challenge . Each event will be picked solely on the basis of whether or not it 's a necessary step towards Ironman . Up until now my focus was solely on this year 's events however now I find myself not caring as much about the remaining events on my calendar . Ok , I ' m still totally excited about the NY marathon . But my few remaining 1 / 2 's and mega - sadistic bike rides just don't seem as important anymore . That 's not quite right . I suppose they just don't hold as much relevance now . The 800 lb gorilla has just entered the room . All attention goes there . It 's so cool to be on this path again . Workout Summary 2160 yd continuous swim - 10 laps easy , 10 laps out hard easy back .23 mile bike - tempo 4.25 mile run - tempo 30 minutes core / circuit / stretching Injuries are still under control which is a good thing . The only one that remains is my adductor . If I could learn to stop playing soccer with my kids it might heal . Doesn't seem to affect my run or bike much though - just walking - weird . My run was really fast again today - averaging just under eight minute miles . Must be reaping some benefits from the longer weekend LSD runs . Now that my mileage is ramping up beyond 1 / 2 marathon levels the 4 mile runs during my brick workouts are beginning to feel like a walk in the park . Too bad I can't hold 8 's on my LSD runs ! 
IM Decision Time . Negotiations were completed late the other night . My final decision was made during my LSD run today . This year 's race is tomorrow which I ' ll be watching over Ironman Live to get a feel for what I ' ll be in for . The day after registration will open . I ' ll be ready and waiting with credit card in hand . Cable modem don't fail me now . The 2 nd Ironman for me will be Ironman USA in Lake Placid next year , assuming I get registered before it fills . At this point I ' m planning to do a 1 / 2 sometime in June as a pre - IM tuneup . I had thought about doing TTT again but I got a bit of push back when I threw that out during negotiations . I ' ll also probably do a 4 - 5 day training trip around mid May - probably after Mother 's day to get some experience with the course and the area . This definitely helped me out for IM Wisconsin so I ' m going to try that approach again .366 days to go . Workout Summary 16.5 mile LSD run - 2:30 Decided to run long today instead of ride because we 're going to a party tonight and my inlaws have the kids for the weekend . Quality time with my wife is definitely worth skipping a workout . I took the same trail route that I did a few weeks ago and ran it at about the same rate and effort . The good news is that I had no injury troubles , though my legs are a little smoked at the moment as they should be . 
Damage Control . Things that happen in the blink of an eye rarely turn out good . Such was the case last night during the club ride . The group had slowed up to make sure everyone got across an intersection and was beginning to pick up steam again . I was on the right side of the road and turned to see if everyone was through yet . My bike drifted further to the right and hit a small pothole . My front wheel popped out of the pothole at a sharp angle . My hand slipped from the handlebar as the bike jumped abruptly to the left . Fortunately for me there was someone next to me . This was not fortunate for the someone next to me . As my bike leaped to the left I hit him which brought me back into an upright position and I was able to regain control of my bike . He on the other hand went down hard . I quickly stopped and went back to see if he was ok , immediately taking the blame for the accident and apologizing profusely along the way . He was a bit dazed and had a bit of road rash on his elbow , but the bike was ok and no one else was affected . Since he was wearing sunglasses I couldn't tell if the guy accepted my apology or not . He ended up turning back instead of continuing the ride . I felt horrible about the whole thing . I pride myself in being smooth and stable during pack rides , and now I had just reinforced the stereotype that most roadies have a triathletes - we have no bike handling skills . For the remainder of the ride the group was a bit twitchy and I ' m sure people were extra cautious as they rode near me . I felt bad about this but didn't get caught up in it - I can control my thoughts and reactions but not theirs , and I refuse to worry about what I can't control . I did what was supposed to do in light of the situation - I took responsibility and did what I could to make sure that the guy was ok and that he knew that I was sorry . He may be ok with it - knowing that accidents happen and that I hadn't done it on purpose . On the other hand he may think I ' m just another tri - jerk with no bike handling skills who shouldn't be riding in a pack . Regardless , I have no control over what he will think and I won't let that stop me from riding with the group . If I let that influence me I will have lost control of more than just my bike , I will have lost control of the only thing that I truly do have control over - myself . Workout Summary 28 mile bike ride - fast ! ( yesterday ) 4.5 mile run - fast ! ( yesterday ) 2100 yd swim - fast ! The club rides are usually fast and I stay up with lead group most of the time so that 's expected . During the run after the bike I felt stronger and faster than usual - clocking a 7:30 pace for most of the runs which is about 1:30 faster than what I ' ve been running at . Had to get into work early again so I trimmed my planned 3 K swim down to 2 K , but pushed a bit harder than normal and did it in 1 / 2 hour . 
Tour de Hood . My son was waiting for me as I walked through the door after work . " Hi Dad - wanna go for a bike ride ? " He 's sitting on the couch . He already has his one cycling jersey on - a kid sized Primal jersey with a cool graphic of a shark . I look at my wife who rolls her eyes and continues working on dinner . " Uh , you know bud , it 's really hot outside - like Africa hot . " At that moment the weather report comes on the TV - heat index is 109 . I look at my son . He is unphased by this . Weather conditions mean nothing to him . He plays like a goldfish eats . " Uh , let 's see how things are after dinner . " Mistake . I didn't say no so for him there 's an implied yes . Too late I realize the mistake . My wife smiles and shakes her head - she 's with my daughter on this one - we 're crazy . Yes we are . We ended up having a great 4 mile bike ride . Not bad for an 8 year old in temperatures that felt like a 109 . There was a small hill ( ok , I ' m from Illinois so a hill for us is a speed bump for most folks ) along our route and when he saw it he smiled and turned for it . It suddenly occured to me that this was his master plan all along . As we rode towards it he glanced over his shoulder and said " water " . Sort of like a surgeon says " scalpel " . Suddenly I was the domestique ferrying water to the team leader for the final assault to the top of the mountain . He confidently took the water bottle from my hands , took a couple of swigs , and gave it back . I half expected him to throw it to the side . I slowed down to let him go first . He stood up on his pedals and began a strong , stable , rhythmic climb to the top . I ' ve never seen him do this before . To my knowledge he 's never seen me do it . Where the heck does he get this stuff ? He 's dead serious . In his mind he 's going for the stage win . He checks back on the competition and then with a final frenzied sprint coasts over the top of the mountain . He straightens out his jersery and then smiles for the cameras . He 's just won a stage in the Tour de Hood . I ' m glad I was there to be a part of it . Sometimes it 's good to be the crazy parent . My daughter was waiting for me as I walked throught the door after the ride . " Hi Dad - wanna go swimming ? " She 's sitting on the couch . She already has her swimsuit on . She 's trying to be deadpan but can't resist cracking up . My kids rock . Workout Summary 1800 yard swim - tempo 23 mile bike - one loop at tempo one loop easy 4 mile run - tempo Holy crap was it humid this morning . The weatherman claimed that a cold front pushed through and the humidity would be lower . Perhaps at 3:00 PM but not at 5:30 AM apparently . The Rooster figured out the difference between AM and PM on his alarm clock and made it in this morning . The irony of the Rooster over sleeping continues to crack me up . 
Muncie Endurathon Preview . Gearing up for the 2 nd ( actually 5 th if you count the Triple T events individually ) Triathlon of the season this weekend - the Muncie Endurathon . Went through my last workouts before the race today and felt pretty good . No sign of the needling little injuries that have been plaguing me of late . Hopefully that holds true on Saturday . Aside from my injuries the biggest thing that has me leading up to this event concerned is the heat - though current forecasts have it at 90 + degrees with high humidity . For me this translates to a suffer - fest on the run . The plan : Prerace : Up at 5:30 for a full cup of espresso and a couple Cliff Bars . Apply body glide and suntan lotion . Mix up the feed bottles and check out of the hotel . T 0 : Rack the bike and open the bag - gotta love simplicity here ! Get a chip and find a place to chill . Swim : Go at tempo and avoid the heart rate spike during the mass swim . Stay out of harms way ! Find a pair of feet to camp on . T 1 : Get out of wetsuit and spend a bit of time stretching back . Bike : Will be going with the tri bike for this one . Though I haven't practiced it I ' m going to try leaving the shoes on the bike and starting out that way to see if I can get T 1 times down . Due to the heat I ' ll plan on having a handlebar mounted hydration system full of water as well as a feed bottle mixed at 900 calories of Perpeteum with a little Endurolyte added to the mix to keep the salts high . Hit the bottle at 1 / 2 hour intervals . Keep heart rate at the Z 3 / Z 4 boundary . Focus on staying smooth and stretching my back often . Last hits of hydration at about 1 / 2 hour before T 2 to avoid bloating and stomach slosh . At that time pop a couple of Advils . T 2 : Try keeping the shoes on the bike . Spend some time stretching out the back before starting off on the run . Run : Attempt to keep heart rate at the Z 3 / Z 4 boundary - though I ' m not sure how successful I ' ll be given the heat stress . At most mid Z 4 will be ok . If necessary walk to get the heart rate down - at least during the first 9 miles . After that release the hounds . Start out at 11 - 10 minute pace and negative split down to 8 's if all seems good . Another feed bottle ( gel flask ) with Perpeteum mixed at 300 calories for the run . Hit it at every aid station and follow it with water . Will also be bringing Endurolytes in an empty M & M container - pop one or two at each aid station with water . Walk the aid stations . Frequently pour water over head to bring down core heat . So that 's the plan . Assuming all goes well I should finish somewhere between 5:30 - 6 hours , probably closer to 6 given heat . Workout Summary 1080 yd easy swim .18 mile bike - tempo 3 mile run - easy 30 minutes core / circuit / stretching For the swim I focused on " silent running " - being very smooth and making as little noise as possible . Pushed a bit on the bike because it just felt good . The Rooster over slept today so it was a solo ride . Ran into him on my way back as he was going out for his first loop . During the run I forced myself to stay below Z 4 , though I felt I could go harder - a good sign ! Originally I was planning on skipping any circuit work this week but I went ahead and did one quick circuit on the cable machines . Something about circuit / weight training leaves me feeling more energized after my brick workouts . I read somewhere that it helps to flush the lactic acid and also spikes the endorphins so there you go . 
The Tigers matter . In today 's Detroit News , there 's a great story by Terry Foster about his uncle , in the hospital after a stroke , and how news of the Tigers ' recent success might just help him recover . I suggest you read it . 
Some thoughts on teaching . It 's been pretty easy to get back in the rhythm of teaching , even though this summer school experience is far from typical ( in terms of jamming stuff into four weeks , and also due to the classes being 3 hours long ) . I like to talk with kids about their experiences in other classes falling short , of course , of merely gossiping about my colleagues and it 's really gone a long way toward shaping how I approach a class . In the course of doing some thesis revisions , I was thumbing through Susan Ohanian 's excellent book , One Size Fits Few : The Folly of Educational Standards . ( That title requires a bit of explanation , which I can do over a beer sometime in August when I have a little time . ) This paragraph caught my eye , and I think it bears repeating . I ' m a good third - grade teacher not because I have a master 's degree in medieval literature from the University of California or a zillion course hours from New York University on teaching and the humanities , but because I like kids . Plain and simple , I like them . Newspaper and TV editors are enamored by the very idea of retired military men and corporate middle managers going into the schools to teach discipline and mathematics . Well , good for them for making the effort , but if they are to persevere and even triumph , their preeminent concern must be to cherish the children in their care . Ohanian is an elementary school teacher and I deal with teenagers , so we have slightly different classroom dynamics going on . However , her main point rings true : good teachers like kids . I told my class on Friday afternoon that , out of the 700 or so kids I ' ve taught in my career , there are only two who come to mind that I genuinely didn't like , and I think one of those had serious emotional problems which came out as hostility towards me . They seemed astonished at this , but I swear to you that it 's true . I guess part of the class ' astonishment was the fact that I mentioned that " neither of the two are in this room right now , " and there 's a kid in that class who drives me up the goddamn wall ( who we ' ll call " P " ) , pretty much all the time , every day , and everyone in the class knows it . * I carried on , " Yeah , you all know P pretty much makes me want to kill him , because he doesn't know when to shut up . And he says some pretty ridiculous things at times . But , you know , underneath it all , P 's kind of a likeable guy . " ( I decided to eschew the gender - neutrality of P , mostly because it would ' ve bee