...more recent posts
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.