...more recent posts
A few weeks back I lost a bet over whether AT&T owned Excite@Home, which provides Internet services to Comcast cable. Excite@Home's been floundering lately--its own auditor expressed doubts about its survival, the auditor got fired, and so on--so I'm wondering, will AT&T step in to save its property, or will it say "life's tough"? The only reason I care is because it looks like I'm involuntarily about to change email (third time in a year because of companies tanking) and will possibly have to move my website (how much notice will I get? a month? a week?). Also, what hideous entity will Comcast partner with when E@H goes down? AOL? Microsoft?
anybody catch any of the High School documentary on pbs last night? hey, werent you old codgers just about in hs by 1968? some of us were just as busy searching for the light at the end of the birth canal. (actually, i couldnt find it and was extricated by other means. no wonder im still in the dark.)
Say it ain't so, Rolando Paulino.
i have been to india two times, and this is not unusual as sad as it is, its so closed, when i was there in 1990 there was murder by caste (sp), i was one one street where murder (in my opinion) took place--i will try to dig out my notes
Trillin on Crawford
PORANDO REPORT : Neck Brace Appreciation Klub
They're baaaack…
The Post's clueless Dan Aquilante reviews the new Butthole Surfers recording. He must've missed "Pepper" with that head wound.
From the band's site.
all right to the Danish parliament for starting a green tax on product packaging--more you waste more it costs you, very biodegradable no tax--COOL
a spam?? or truth?
-----Original Message-----
ARKANSAS CITY (EPA) A Little Rock woman was killed yesterday after leaping through her moving car's sun roof during an incident best described as "a mistaken rapture" by dozens of eye witnesses. Thirteen other people were injured after a twenty car pile up resulted from people trying to avoid hitting the woman who was apparently convinced that the rapture was occurring when she saw twelve people floating up into the air, and then passed a man on the side of the road who she claimed was Jesus. "She started screaming "He's back, He's back" and climbed right out of the sunroof and jumped off the roof of the car," said Everet Williams, husband of 28-year-old Georgann Williams who was pronounced dead at the scene. "I was slowing down but she wouldn't wait till I stopped," Williams said. She thought the rapture was happening and was convinced that Jesus was gonna lift her up into the sky," he went on to say. "This is the strangest thing I've seen since I've been on the force, said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene. Madison questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was dressed up as Jesus and was on his way to a toga costume party when the tarp covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released twelve blow up sex dolls filled with helium which floated up into the air. Ernie Jenkins, 32, of Fort Smith, who's been told by several of his friends that he looks like Jesus, pulled over and lifted his arms into the air in frustration, and said "Come back here," just as the Williams'
car passed him, and Mrs. Williams was sure that it was Jesus lifting people up into the sky as they passed by him, according to her husband, who says his wife loved Jesus more than anything else. When asked for comments about the twelve sex dolls, Jenkins replied "This is all just too weird for me. I never expected anything like this to happen."
NYC subway cars being dumped off the Delaware coast to form an artificial reef. Sort of like container-housing for marine life.
Did anybody else see the amazing picture in the Times last week of a bald eagle attacking a young girl on a N.H. beach? I can't find it on line anywhere, but someone got a really good shot of it. (I don't think the girl was very injured.)
tropical storm, Deeeeeaaaaannn
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
I put the toast I wrote for my family reunion here, appended to my July 4th post. The MacRitchies are a sept (a "subfamily", with a different name) of Clan MacIntosh. The toast is meant to go with Scotch Wisky, and references our clan motto: "touch not the cat bot a glove". "Bot" is "but", i.e. "without", meaning, don't provoke us, or you'll get clawed. On a tangent, Ritchie is another MacIntosh sept, which means that Madonna is now married into my clan. As such, I feel obliged to express my concern over her use of Cabalistic imagery. On the right side of this page you can see that the Tree of Life has been incorporated into the logo for her current tour. Traditionally, this sort of material was reserved for the initiated. I do believe that we have reached a point in our development when some things that were formerly hidden should now be brought to light, but I'm a little suspicious of M's usage. I don't want to doubt her sincerity, but I don't like seeing this sacred symbol bandied about in commerce. As far as I know, she's still a novice, and this smacks of spiritual pride. Maybe I'm too hard on her, but it's not clear to me how her newfound mysticism squares with other mythologies she deploys, like the sub-Tarantino video her husband directed for her. The current fashion for Cabala is reminiscent of the 1960's taste for Eastern spirituality. I'm sure a few people learned something, but most of it was superficial at best. In any case, I don't think that people who aren't Jewish should manifest this material in Hebraic form. The Tree exists outside of Jewish mysticism, and Cabalistic technologies have long since been incorporated into Western spiritual systems, including Christian ones. It's also worth noting that the typical diagrammatic Tree is highly intellectualized and abstracted. The "real" thing actually is a tree, and has roots; a sort of mirror image tree which grows down into the Underworld, engaging deeper levels of Tradition, without which the supernal tree could not stand upright.
as received as promised : " Akin to the nugget of Pure Evil in "Time Bandits," this videogame may be The Most Fucked-Up Thing In The Universe / Japan is some twisted muthafuckaz / Link #1 is a photo from someone's website; link #2 appears to be some kind of promotional piece / I am honestly at a loss for words; look if you dare"
wrong and wronger
My mom in Dallas mailed me some Doonesbury clippings from last week. GWB is a * with a cowboy hat !
Has this story only been in the Australian media, I wonder?
A NUCLEAR bomb, 100 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima, is lying 10km off the east coast of the United States.
Until now one of the most closely guarded secrets in US military history, its existence has been confirmed in newly declassified documents which reveal how it was dumped in the sea after a mid-air collision more than 40 years ago.
Pentagon officials, though admitting they do not know the bomb's exact location, insist it is safe.
Replica Bison Testicles - Focus of Crime Spree...
I can't seem to post a picture by putting description inside double quotes. Am I trippin? Don't answer that. I have to decide now if I want to take part in the shaving (having him shaved by a professional, god, I can't believe I just said that) of my longest surviving (14 year old) cat. He's going rasta. The vet says he would be more comfortable with a shave. I'm scared. Won't it be psychologically, uh, pyschological? Just when you think its safe not to have a life... Thanks for the adivce or not, I won't take it because I have to make the decision right now, when I sign off, so save it if you want, I'm sure to face similar dilemas down the road, maybe I'll take your advice one of those days, so make it good, or not. Dammit. I'll probably be back here Friday, which is when the cat will be shaved. Dammit, I guess I'll go along with it. I hope it's not too psychological. I hope everyone is happy in the end. That cat has been with me (well technically not with me because he stays here at Dumaine) since Oregon, where he was born. On the move to Seattle he was there when I was for the first time assisted, instead of hassled, by a policeman. Landmarks.
shedding pounds and inhibitions
Hot site making the buzz around our company this morning: http://www.funcalculator.com/
Click on the Orgasmic Calculator or the Farting calculator - beware of your speakers being on too loud in a corporate setting... do a simple calculation online and enjoy!
Not sure what to make of this. Strangely beautiful in a personal grooming sort of way. Click on the swirlee at the bottom left for much much more. (via harrumph. Requires flash.)
wwf (world wildlife foundation) sues wwf (world wrestling federation)
for the good doctor---"a conservation group surveying its land found a black gummed maple that is more than 500 years old and a slender knotweed which hasent been seen since 1952..." (NHampshire)
From worldnewyork:
There's a casual New York blogging, web-type get-together this Friday, August 10, at Rain Lounge, North 5th and Bedford in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at 7 p.m. Everyone's welcome. We'll be the doughy white guy in the black frame glasses.
Picture of an exploded whale. While not the same one featured in the famous Steve story we heard last night it is somewhat interesting (in a coincidental sort of way) that I came across this today. There's got to be a better way...
for $19.95 you can watch paul morgan cut off his feet with a guillotine. proceeds go to the puchase of hydraulically powered limbs his insurance company won't pay for.
New Jersey Wildlife News
I spotted three pheasants today in Liberty State Park, one male and two female. Actually, they might have been grouses. I started walking toward them, and they ducked under a chain link fence into an area marked "No Trespassing - Hazardous Materials," thus evading me. I swear this happened.
Got to see the NYT in hard copy today and found this
40'X8'X8' Shipping containers were also in the news again. The City of Newark just noticed how high the stacks were getting and are complaining cause they're blocking their view of the NYC skyline. We have been importing them two to one over exporting them for years. Buy your retirement homes now while they're cheep!
On July 26, I wondered when the Bush "Who cares what you think?" story would appear in the NY Times, marking its complete transition from obscure e-mail to world news. Evidently it appeared sometime between late July and today, because James Wolcott mentions it on Slate: "There was an incident reported recently in the New York Times where a man in Philadelphia politely expressed his disappointment with some of Bush's decisions, and Bush snapped, 'Who cares what you think?' That, I believe, is the true Bush."
polly, want a cracker?
hello everybody--i didnt go on my 3 day boat trip downriver--due to luck and love i recieved otherization for a trip up into the restricted areas, a place i dought many americans have ever been, i would like to tell you all about it and one day will, but exploration comes at a price and i am fairly sick, i am at the bar palmistes and am going to see if rum will help--off the fete of st laurant manana for a few days with a side trip to see the leatherback turtles being born on the atlantic..........love wheel
anybody want to speculate on the possibility of carbonated icecubes?
Just as I was beginning to wonder how much more post-feminist tolerance of advertising sleaze there could possibly be, I saw the following, markered onto subway posters:
On a Budweiser ad of a jock hoisting a bikini-clad babe onto his shoulders, the words STOP RAPE CULTURE. (Underneath, in smaller letters, someone wrote "Stop Bud Culture.")
On a King Cobra ad of a nude Hispanic girl hiding demurely behind a giant beer can, the caption WOMEN ARE WORTH MORE THAN THIS.
heres a bit of mindless clinton bashing or shrub fluffing, depending on your point of view, from us news.
"There must be some kind of high to working for the first family, because it sure ain't the money. White House salary figures obtained by Washington Whispers show that for most posts–except the very top–annual pay is equal to or less than former President Clinton's rate of three years ago. In fact, President Bush's $23 million payroll is $84,000 less annually than Clinton's in June 1998, although he's employing about the same number of staffers. And that's despite hiking the top rate from $125,000 to $140,000 for close aides including Chief of Staff Andrew Card, spokesman Ari Fleisher, aides Karen Hughes and Karl Rove, legal chief Alberto Gonzales, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, lobbyist Nick Calio, economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, and faith-based guru John DiIulio. Office heads paid more by Clinton than Bush: personal secretary, communications, political affairs, and even some on the first lady's staff, including Laura Bush's press secretary and chief of staff. Lowest paid: $25,000 for mail openers. New to Bush: six ethics advisers making an average of $84,900 each."
so essentially, if bush hired one more ethics adviser, and god knows he can use them, then the white house payroll would be exactly the same. i would hardly call that a notable difference. heres a complete list of salaries for the white house staff. or you could look at it this way, bush pays his executives more and his peons less, just like every other CEO.
"When soft
rock hit in the early 1970's, I think people just thought the [Boomer]
generation was taking a nap," he said. "In reality, we were going to sleep.
We never woke up again."
Just waiting on some kids to wake up--I don't know who it is I'm stepping over to get to my computer--so they can assist in the loading of a U-Haul which will be loaded with "stuff" to take to a storage shed so M's workers can finish the back two rooms of her house. It's funny how there doesn't seem to be as many kids sleeping over this weekend. Isn't that funny? I've popped a handful of Ibuprofen and although I don't see "handful" in the prescribed dosage I'm sure like so many things it is an area open to interpretation.
Surf Shack
the cia headquarters in langley va is now called The George Bush Center for Intelligence.
song of the common loon
song of a humpback whale
Broadcast TV is all but hopeless. I figured Muslims in Appalachia had to be the most fascinating subject around, but it turned out to be utterly boring. It was on Ch25, the public service channel that shows lots of ethnic programming, along with PBS stuff that didn’t make the cut at Ch13. They do have one good show: Classic Arts Showcase. It’s a clip show, but without the frenzied presentation we’re used to. There’s no host, just a stately sequence of videos, with long dissolves between them, and titles superimposed at intro and exit. Like MTV, but very slow. Everything is public domain or donated. Mostly it’s classical music, but a wide range of performances from different times, including a lot of historically notable footage. It’s interesting to see how the conventions of performance and presentation have changed over the course of the last century. They also have dance, bits from theater and movies, and once in a while they come up with some weird gem, like an obscure quasi-futurist animation, a vaudeville routine, or an architecture documentary. Beats “reality” programming, and it’s easy to ignore while you’re trying to write a post.
i guess this isnt a new story but as a result of the cloning decision in congress yesterday it resurfaced as an aside. i remember a raelians story from last year but i didnt remember the cloning angle.
have to say i am in joying my afternoons drinking rum at the bar des palmistes, watching the people, the old colonial buildings, this was once a hotel, one of the only hotels, where many an explorer stayed, now its bar, cyber cafe, video rental etc (staying with the times??)....
MB was asking about the medieval Cathars, relative to a wine label she's working on. Conveniently, along comes the New Yorker with a review of several books about them. They inhabited the Languedoc, a rich and independent area of southern France, stretching into northern Italy and Spain. They considered themselves Christians, but their dualism (similar to neo-platonic Gnosticism) marked them as heretics in the eyes of the Catholic Church, and they were mostly wiped out in intra-European crusades during the 13th century. The famous line, "kill them all; god will recognize his own" comes from one of these massacres. As practitioners of an "alternative lifestyle", the Cathars have been adopted as spiritual ancestors by mystics, French nativists, vegetarians, conspiracy theorists, and would-be heretics of all sorts. Not much is really know about them, beyond what we are told by their enemies, so it's been easy for latecomers to speculate, casting them in whatever light is convenient. Languedoc still produces fine wine, and it appears that heresy has enough cachet in some circles to provide a marketing rubric. There certainly seems to be good tourist trade built on the legends. As far as images go, this page from Google shows that, beyond their cross (a Greek cross encircled) the most persistent image is of a ruined castle on a crag, a romantic evocation of their promise and persecution, not to mention a great photo-op before the vineyard tour. Keep digging if you want to get into the really nutty stuff. This guy may know the secrets, but he wants $9.99 first. Disinfo has a treatment of the source I'm familiar with. This fairly levelheaded capsule comes from an interesting aristocratic site, which also contains a good collection of heraldic crosses. These may be of interest to Bill regarding the "surfer's cross" (see #86 & 102 ). But if you want to know what they did with the Ark of the Covenant (or was that the Holy Grail?), I'll never tell!