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Just some off-the-cuff observations, and whatnot. Welcome, and enjoy your stay.
Saturday, December 28, 2002
Neat. Quiet American, a site dedicated to field recordings from around the world.A place you can just go, and listen. 60 second vacations. (from this MEfi thread)
I want to mirror the whole site onto a CD.
Magnetic Babies!! - They pulled "Pregnant Barbie" off the shelves. The pregnant Midge wears a wedding ring and comes with doll-sized crib, cradle, changing table, baby toys and a baby monitor. The husband and son are sold separately.
That's a bummer... I'd like kids to have mommy dolls, if they want 'em.
I've not heard or seen hide nor hair of Sappho this week... I wonder how she's hanging in there? I know Kev and Island boy are doing reasonably well.
I'm craving salty snacks, and relaxing on the laptop.
Wow...I slept like a log last night...went to bed at 3, and didn't awaken until the phone jangled me at 11. Usually, I'm up by at least 9ish. Bro says that it got cool again last night...but it doesn't seem that brisk. Maybe the upper 50s. Not like that day midmonth when it hit the 40s. Just checked. He's full of beans.
Ushering in either a brave new world or a spectacular hoax, a company linked to a religious sect that believes in space aliens announced Friday that it has produced the world's first cloned baby. A healthy 7-pound girl, nicknamed Eve by scientists, was delivered by Caesarean section Thursday somewhere outside the United States, said Brigitte Boisselier, chief executive of Clonaid. Boisselier said the girl is an exact genetic copy of the American woman who gave birth to her.Hollywood Florida is a stone's throw from here...regarding the clone; I'm going to wait and see, but it smells of fibs to me currently.
Sasquatches on the Dinner Table?
The Issue
In a bid to provide a new revenue stream for Scottovia’s Agriculture industry, it has been suggested that sasquatches could be added to the menu.
- The fact is, the sasquatch population is out of control," says Beef-Based Agriculture spokesperson Jazz Spirit. "We have to do something about them anyway, so why not market them as tasty snacks? We could have sasquatch kebabs, sasquatch pies, sasquatch-on-a-sticks--the possibilities are endless! Let's not pass up this golden opportunity to provide a feast, if you will, for our economy.
- "I agree that something needs to be done about sasquatch over-population," says random passer-by Miranda Jefferson, "but eating them? That's kind of gross. Let's just shoot the ones we have to and shovel their bodies into ditches like normal."
- "I am shocked and appalled!" declared SPCA President Al du Pont. "If anyone needs to be culled, it's us humans. The sasquatches were here first, remember? We need to take this as a sign to get our industry--agriculture in particular--to back off. The sasquatch is part of what makes Scottovia a great nation!"
#3 Accepted, of course.Hmmm...I've been so out of the loop, I don't know what the "hot item" was this year, toywise... The Cabbage Patch Kid / Ninja Turtle / Power Ranger / Tamagotchi / Furby / Tickle Me Elmo of 2002?
Watching Terror of Mechagodzilla with Newtzilla asleep at my side, getting belly rubs... Dave loaned the DVD to me yesterday. It's been a while since I've seen this one. A fun giant rubber monster show, certainly. Psychic powers, three monsters, space aliens and 70s clothes. Not too shabby.
I'm of a mind to curl up with my sweetie and watch Gamera movies.
Friday, December 27, 2002
Scottovia News:First dismissal because none of them sounded acceptable.
The Issue
Several major city streets were clogged with bicycles this morning, as the environmental group 'Two Wheels Good, Four Wheels Bad' staged a protest. Several hundred riders ambled through downtown streets, blissfully ignoring the torrent of abuse hurled at them by thousands of motorists running late for work.The Debate
"People are sick of dirty, smelly automobiles," said protest organizer Sue-Ann Jefferson. "They're choking the city, the environment--our lives! Cars must be banned!""The only thing people are sick of is long-haired idiots riding their bicycles at two miles an hour on major thoroughfares," says committed motorist Fleur du Pont. "People shouldn't be able to protest like this. The government needs to crack down on them."
The Automotive Manufacturers Association, meanwhile, has called for government support. "It's clear that we need to boost the level of automobile support in this country. This protest this morning is a clear indication of... um... anyway, we need more government funds."
The Government Position:
The government is preparing to dismiss this issue.This morning, Scottovia was transported from the oh-so-crowded pacific to live journalia (thanks tofor creating a new region!) Join us, won't you, fellow countries?
Newt's Cat code
Newton: AS? (R+Rd)t Y 3 Y L+ W C-- I+++ T++ A+ E H+ S++ V+/++ F++ Q++ P B PA PL
Hi Scotto,
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NatalieYou've Got Cash!
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Wednesday, December 25, 2002
12/21 My Sweetheart(09:27:21 PM): I love youwarms my heart.
12/21Thank you zoe for pointing me to The Surreal Gourmet! (The Fries w/ ketchup looks especially great!)
I'm having the toughest time loading lj-icons... I wonder what's causing that little burp. All other images are coming up fine.
Bro's being a buddy and doing laundry for me. (I pay for both of our duds to get suds, and he does the dirty work. I'm for that! He's also picking up the bagels for lunch! Same deal.. I buy, he flies)
Newt's sleeping on top of the computer monitor... I'm watching with fascination as his toes wiggle.
The A/C fan crapped out last night... I called the Landlord, and he'll be by Monday morning to fix it. I'm glad it's cool out! (I was running just the fan on low to keep the air circulating.)
Thoroughly enjoying a reread of Don Quixote today... I'm returning to that now that chores are done. The book is huge!
?! I went to make that link, and on the page was -
Customers who wear clothes also shop for:
- Clean Underwear from Amazon's Target Store (Does that imply they sell soiled undies somewhere else at Amazon?)
- Ladybug Rain Boots from Amazon's Nordstrom Store
- Pet Socks from Amazon's Urban Outfitters Store
- Puppy Footed One-Pieces for Newborns from Amazon's Old Navy Store
Well, I admit that I'm wearing clean underwear, but I fail to see the connection to The Man of La Mancha. Even less so, Ladybug rain boots.
Back to the book, dear journal.
12/22My sweetie really warmed my heart last night...Spending time with her is always a delight. I love her so much! We spent some time surfing anomalies unlimited, a huge mass of great weird photos and commentary.
I'm strangely hungry for deviled eggs. Do golden raspberries taste significantly different than regular red ones?
Casketfurniture.com wants to reduce the cost of dying. They sell furniture made of caskets, casket novelties, casket merchandise (some of the naughty kind for Mom and Dad only), and, should you be feeling under the weather, actual coffins.
One out of every fifty gold fish is a secret audio and visual monitoring device which transmits directly back to diligent listeners secluded in hidden Atlantis.
It amuses me that they have a website devoted to Sinanju....(Based on the bits from the "Destroyer" books / the Remo Williams Movie... I used to eat those up as a kid.) A shame they saw fit to embed annoying midis in every page.
A year ago - stray fugitive lotr thoughts, my fondness for orange/yellow foods, rejection letter, where there's a whip, there's a way (I sing it now when I use orc mage knight armies)
Two years ago - My beloved's voice, My wanting a long weekend, dark days (link broken)
Girl Fires on Freight Train Crew Who She Claims Had Annoyed Her.
Huntington, W. Va.—With a double-barrel shotgun, Miss Emeritt Adkins of Leet, a small lumber town in Lincoln county, answered some would-be flirts on a Guyan & Coal River railroad freight train.Miss Adkins was standing on the porch of her home as the train approached. A shotgun was standing at a corner amid the herbs and tobacco hanging from the roof. Several men of the train crew, it is claimed, waved to the girl, and threw kisses. "Hello, sweetheart," cried one of the trainmen. In a second the shot gun was in her hand. She jumped to the edge of the porch. The gun was pulled to her shoulder. It spoke once. Some of the small shot took effect in the face of a brakeman on the train, who is alleged to have started the attempt at the flirtation.
The engineer of the train pulled the throttle wide open and the train leaped forward. The girl leveled the gun again and fired. By this time, however, the train was too far away for the bird shot to take effect.
-Minnetonka Record, January 5, 1912
Also - Lego Bible Scenes.
A few hours ago, it was put to me that superglue was developed for the express purpose of providing surgical sutures. He assured me that that is what he had heard, although he couldn't tell me anything more authoritative than that. So I got curious, did some research, and offer now for your edification, the following:
Superglue was discovered by accident -- twice!
Superglue is used for just about anything, including surgery.
Here are the facts. (According to Popular Science, February 1989 article by A. J. Hand)
Superglue (cyanoacrylate) was discovered by accident! During WW II Dr. Harry Coover (president of Loctite Corp's new Business Development Group as of February 1989) was working for Kodak Research Laboratories to develop an optically clear plastic for gun sights. To quote him, according to Hand, "I was working with some acrylate monomers that showed promise. But everything they touched stuck to everything else. It was a severe pain."
Well, in 1951 Coover was supervising research at the Tennessee Eastman Co. to find a "tougher, more heat-resistant acrylate polymer for jet canopies" according to Hand. There was a fellow named Dr Fred Joyner (!) who spread a film of ethyl cyanoacrylate between a couple of prisms of a refractometer. Of course, he discovered that he couldn't pry the prisms apart again. So Coover realized that he was onto something. A good thing, too, since those prisms were a pricey thing to ruin...
The stuff hit the market in 1958 as Eastman #910. That year, according to Sterling, Dr Coover appeared on TV's "I've Got a Secret," where he hoisted host Gary Moore off the floor with a drop of the stuff.
a year ago - old english rudolph, looking at the sky, 9 of wands, aunt jemima creepy, sealab 2021.
two years ago - not french-canadian, angry beavers, a deal link I can't remember, cookie mah jongg, and an oliveresque welcome .
Random Scotto factoid: I sometimes like to have my text to speech program read me my friends page and web news sources while I'm getting ready for the day, or playing with newt.
It’s strange to hear that tech-voice assigned to all the writers...I hear different vocal styles when I read than when it reads to me... (Plus, the tts reader is a masculine voice, which is weird, considering a healthy percentage of the folks I read are not.)
I do find myself returning later to skim for photos / lj cuts / and to make my replies.
Abbreviations are odd, especially lotr, <3, any series of dots more than 3 in a row "....." and some user names.
12/24Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech.
The Council of Europe has adopted a measure that would criminalize Internet hate speech, including hyperlinks to pages that contain offensive content.The provision, which was passed by the council's decision-making body (the Committee of Ministers), updates the European Convention on Cybercrime.
Specifically, the amendment bans "any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as pretext for any of these factors."
Reading that last paragraph carefully, I am forced to include that if a European writes in favor of invading Iraq - no matter how sad, reluctant or well-reasoned that essay might be - then that European is guilty of felonious hate speech. How convenient for the Europeans to pass a law that makes criticism of government policy illegal. If you're in the states, folks don't understand this sort of dilemma. The Finn didn't follow my arguments about free speech being so severely hindered overseas... I'll have to point her that direction. The best way to see that an idea is foolish or evil is to see it in the light of day, so that a clear thinker can refute it... not hide it under the bed and make it forbidden fruit.
Bill Frist gives me the creeps.
Frist earned his medical degree from Harvard. As a student, he adopted stray cats from Boston-area shelters -- and then dissected them. He later confessed that it had been "a heinous and dishonest thing to do."
Maybe this is just the animal lover part of me, but I find this absolutely hideous. The idea that a person who is old enough and smart enough to get into Harvard would think that it is ok to go to animal shelters... where people take stray animals expecting them to be cared for and adopted out to new and loving homes... and adopt cats so that you can kill and dissect them is something that strikes me as horrid and amoral.Much has been made of Frist's potential conflict of interest since his family founded HCA, the largest for-profit chain of hospitals, and he and his wife earn a great deal of their wealth from investments in the company. The fact that he did not vote prior to 1989 has also been raised as an issue, and it does seem odd that someone who now feels he is qualified to run the Senate is also someone who just over a decade ago didn't even bother to vote.
Now, I'll grant that the fact that someone's in Congress is generally sufficient reason for me to be a bit skeptical about him or her, so Frist already has a ways to go to convince me that he's trustworthy. None of this is going to help him much. It says that the governing of this country wasn't important to him until he decided to become part of it, that he will willingly put himself in a place where his decisions may have a direct impact on his own pocketbook (especially since he plans to make health care a significant issue), and he was willing to lie to an animal shelter so that he could get cats to kill. There's a selfishness and arrogance that runs through all of these issues, and it does not seem to bode well for the Senate or the country in general.
Shocking it may be, but Christmas in Cataluña has a distinctly scatological streak.
I think they do this stuff just to gross us out. Researchers in Japan have figured out a way to graft infant rat heads onto adult rat thighs - and keep the heads alive. "If kept cool while the blood flow is stopped, a transplanted brain can develop as normal for at least three weeks, and the mouth of the head will move, as if it is trying to drink milk, the team reports."
Greatest Vendetta on Earth - Circus Stalks Reporter, PETA and others.
The things you find when researching Presidential Christmas Pardons. Also this.
Supper tonight was Aloo Samosas with Tamarind Chutney & Pad Thai.
Taj Ethnic Gourmet... hmm, Got lucky... first time buys. It looks like the website is new, too.
Linda McCartney Meals...do you really want to advertise with a dead woman on the package? A also dislike the term "vegetarian chicken". It'll probably confuse folks that don't understand that the "chicken" is really tofu, and the veggie folks that don't eat egg white.
Arseiam... some flash tutorials and source, too!. a little sound on the main page.
Dan swung by earlier today... He gave me some lovely Prezzies... A nice umbrella, a booster pack of mage knight (with three black powder units I wanted... two of which I didn't have yet, and the third was a dwarven bombard...I can't have too many of those. His wife made me some chex mix, and it's quite tasty. Danny and I played two quickie 100-point games and I showed him LiveJournal... There are a couple people on my friend's list that I know he'd hit it off with immediately if they talked.
The guy out front brought me a bottle of wine for the holidays, and Dave swung by yesterday with some cookies and a brief, friendly hello. (We're exchanging after the holidays, because they're visiting both sets of parents today and tomorrow. It looks like Mio's moving out at the top of the month, so we'll see a new neighbor soon. A pity she's leaving... she was quiet, and didn't cause any stress...plus my brother thought that she was cute.
I got a lovely card from Marcus and his family today, and from Grammy & Ted. $30 from the latter... Quite surprising, and welcome.
For Christmas, I started a country.I hope it grows and prospers!
Beyond the Bible and Seuss's Grinch, check out -
Letters from Father Christmas: a collection made up of the letters that Santa wrote to Tolkein's family seasonally for over two decades. Each year a different problem occurred at the North Pole, including some whoopsies from a bumbling Polar Bear who lives with St. Nick and a few invasions by goblins (this predates Middle Earth, but I'd bet that some development was done during the creation of the letters, including a spiffy language key in the back which was sent to Tolkein's children so that they could help decipher goblin cave writings).
The artwork and writing is so nifty and clever... The favorite edition being the one which has pages that are actually envelopes, from which you take out beautifully reproduced letters to read, Griffin and Sabine style. However, one of the newer editions (the oversized 1999 Revised edition) includes many additional years’ worth of letters that the special edition does not and is really quite comprehensive.
My first encounter with the book was working in charge of kids’ books in the early 90s. I have a lot of fond memories doing story hour, and wish that the letters could've been implemented over the course of the two weeks leading up to the holiday...two letters a session would've been perfect. Unfortunately, it was not to be... I'd still like to read them with my sweetheart sometime... I think she'd really dig 'em.
