Sunday, January 26, 2003

Newt be a good parrot, Arrr....

Considering that the Buccaneers and the Raiders are playing in this Year's super bowl... Where are all the cool as heck Pirate-themed Promos? No "Raiders are set to plunder" puns? "The Bucs will soon be walking the plank, me hearties?"

Something linked into the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie, maybe? (Disney fun fact - The WDW ride was originally going to be a Western Expedition type ride because Walt Disney felt Florida was so close to the Caribbean that people would not be interested. However, he decided to stay with the Pirates Of The Caribbean and it remains the same.) Captain Morgan's Rum Commercials? A rejump into talk like a pirate day?

I really like Cheesy pirate stuff. Gimme a Jolly Roger or something, crappy, unoriginal, media circus!

Have you heard about the new pirate movie? It’s rated AARRRR! And do you know why? Because of all the booty!

How much does it cost a pirate to get a piercing? A buck an ear!

Long ago lived a seaman named Captain Bravo. He was a manly man's man who showed no fear in facing his enemies. One day, while sailing the seven seas, a lookout spotted a pirate ship and the crew became frantic. Captain Bravo bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt."

The First Mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt and while wearing the bright frock he led his mates into battle and defeated the pirates. Later on, the lookout spotted not one, but two pirate ships. The captain again howled for his red shirt and once again they vanquished the pirates. That evening, all the men sat around on the deck recounting the day's triumphs and one of the them asked the captain: "Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before battle?"

The captain replied: "If I am wounded in the attack, the shirt will not show my blood, and thus, you men will continue to resist, unafraid." All of the men sat in silence and marveled at the courage of such a man's manly man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout spotted not one, not two, but TEN pirate ships approaching. The rank and file all stared in worshipful silence at the captain and waited for his usual reply. Captain Bravo gazed with steely eyes upon the vast armada arrayed against his mighty sailing ship and, without fear, turned, and calmly shouted: "Get me my brown pants."


Another Random Pirate Factoid - The traditional "Jolly Roger" is associated with the pirates of the Atlantic seaboard and Caribbean in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. There were actually many different pirate flags at the time, only a few of which resemble the common "Skull and Crossbones" that we know today. It is believed the name "Jolly Roger" is derived from the French "Joli Rouge" which means the Red cloth. Early records indicate that pirates often flew the red flag as meaning "No Quarter Given."

"Strike your colors, you brazen wench... no need to expose your superstructure!"

In other News, I added a to my info page today. Pretty Nifty... It maps how close you are to other websites geographically. I'm pleased to find that the Morikami is already in there...The park where I used to skip school as a senior. A local Weather station, too. (I wonder if/how well this'll catch on as a meme?) Also, if you travel a lot, you can encode individual entries with your location, if you want to get really loopy. I might do that if I have my gps with me, and I'm on the bus or whatever making palm entries...I've wanted to see something like this for LJ for a while. (there are about 16 lj's on there so far)

This man is my kind of troublemaker. If you have a Safeway Club card, you can help him out.
01/25/03
The New York Times has an article on how, having a key to one in a series of locks (say... the key to one door in an office building) to which there is a master key (a key that opens all locks; many large buildings have these), one can make a new master key.

For those who just have to know the details, (It's a big download ~ 3mb )

Much simpler to get past security when you've got a key, rather than lock picks and a black mask. Good plot point to make a note of for later writing.

Speaking of large downloads, at about 18.5 megs.... The Lord of the Rings... with some unusual credits... don't look before the movie, unless you want spoilers. The movie is really quite nicely done.
Censored


Hooray! my brother got a daytime job! Hooray, I got a midday infusion of fun and love from my Sweetie, and we'll be spending some more quality time tomorry!

*happy Dance*

Lingo is a pretty dang good game show. Much more intelligent than wheel of Fortune. I bet my sweetie and I could clean up as partnered contestants. You can play along at home, and that's pretty nifty. Interactive play with the game show network is pretty wild. Answer the questions on TV along with the rest. Russian Roulette is a bit tougher than I thought, too.

Laundry! Oh, how you build up!

Must take care of that! I'm lookin' for fresh clean sheets and towels!

Off to the 'mat! Until later, dear journal!
Did you miss me, dear Journal?

Wind and Rain... not as cold as earlier, but in my laundry clothes of a t-shirt and shorts... cold enough.

Whoosh! Wind! *chatter*

Assorted Doodles waiting for my clothes to dry:

Crazed S's or wormiesEnt wearing sunglasses?
stained glass, beforeStained glass, after

The guy on the (thankfully) other side of the 'mat was eating a sandwich comprised of two bear claws pressed together, surrounding two tins-worth of sardines in light oil. I don't know if he had Tabasco on it or not, but I like to think so. *bleah* There's a way to kill your appetite!

Little ol' Newt must really like the fabric softener... I remade the bed, and he ran around in circles all over the place atop the covers! Or maybe he liked how Dryer warm they are, though it's pretty warm inside. Mmmm.... Warm, fresh covers. Whee!


Psst....

I know I don't have to remind some folks, but....

Smile at someone today & Tell someone you love how you feel.

I scored a Jornada 430 for just about nothing and ordered part of my sweetheart's valentine's day prezzie, too. Whee! Fun things for everyone! I like getting trinkets of happiness for her... simple smiles are heartwarming. With the Jornada, there might be some color doodles.... or maybe not. It's going to be hard to bypass my happy lil palm visor.

Kitten day at work today... making everyone sleepy by climbing up, and snuggling. Bonus shot of a picture from a smile safari... trying to grab someone grinning with my camera
Kevin and FelixSmiley lady at the bus station
Sappho, Felix and Jinx... bigger, because the kitties are so dark. Caught Saph licking her lips.


DSL was down for a bit... a phone call to Bellsouth got it up and running again in about 7 minutes. (It'll be down again in my whole city from 2am to about 2:30am. for maintenance)

Real life-cubed. very cool.
01/24/03
Someone came knocking on my door at about 7 this morning.. .by the time I got to the door, they were gone, but I heard knocking at the house next door. No flyers or anything. I wonder what that was about?

Too dang cold for walkies this morning. Call me a sissy if you like, by the Temperature reads 35. yikes.

Thinking adoring thoughts for my sweetheart. I want to tuck into bed with her, and spend all day snuggling under the covers, giggling and playing... or just snoozing together.

Hippos Roam Colombian Drug Lord's Abandoned Ranch - yay! Hooray for Thriving Hippos! Hippos Roam Colombian Drug Lord's Abandoned Ranch - Thu Jan 23,10:08 AM ET
By Ibon Villelabeitia

PUERTO TRIUNFO, Colombia (Reuters) - Ten hippopotamuses roam wild among the ruins of the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's abandoned country home, leaving huge footprints in the mud and scaring the wits out of the local cows.

The hippos are all that remain of Escobar's private zoo. In his heyday in the 1980s, Escobar imported elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, giraffes and other exotic beasts to his lavish ranch at Puerto Triunfo, 100 miles north of Bogota in central Colombia, as a testament to his fabulous wealth.

Most of the animals were confiscated by the authorities and transferred to zoos after the cocaine lord was gunned down by police in 1993 in Medellin. But the hippos were left behind.

Despite the absence of a keeper, the Nile hippos -- some of which weigh 2 tonnes -- have flourished and reproduced on a muddy lake near the Magdalena River as if it were their natural terrain. And for six of the hippos born there, it is.

"I've never heard of anything like this in my life," Steve Thompson, a hippo expert at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, said in a telephone interview. He has traveled to Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania to study the behavior and life of hippos.

"I've only seen hippos living in the wild in Africa but I guess that if they have the right food and the right water habitat they can do pretty well in Colombia."

The short-legged, hairless mammals share the estate with a few families of war refugees. The refugees fled their homes after leftist rebels attacked their villages and took up residence at Escobar's ranch. They live in the once-luxurious guest homes which stand decaying under the tropical sun. Hens strut beneath laundry lines hung with ragged clothing.

A dozen refugee children play in the grounds all day, and the hippos watch them from the lake. Only the tops of the hippos' massive, reddish-brown heads and their constantly twitching ears show above the water. If the children come too close to the shore, the hippos snort and bluster and open their jaws menacingly, or make a rolling dive, to scare them away.

Nile hippos are plant-eaters, have a life expectancy of up to 40 years and can weigh up to 4.5 tonnes, Thompson said.

At nightfall, the hippo herd leaves the lake and wanders about the ranch, grazing on the grassy slopes and making sorties to the stables, where they savor the salt lick, a large block of salt for farm animals.

The refugees, unfamiliar with the ways of the giant African herbivores, have tried repeatedly to fence them in with barbed wire to thwart their raids on the salt lick and keep them from upsetting the cows. But to a hippo, a barbed-wire fence is an annoyance, not an obstacle.

"They tear down the fence every time I put it up and turn everything into a mess. But what can I do? They are huge," said Luis Perea, 64, pointing frantically at a flattened barbed-wire fence crossed by a trail of hippo tracks the size and shape of dinner plates.

NOAH'S ARKS

The 7,400-acre Hacienda Napoles, in Antioquia province, became the symbol of Escobar's billion-dollar empire and of his extravagant lifestyle -- a place of wonders, wild parties and debauchery.

Escobar built an airport, artificial lakes, swimming pools, a bull-ring, a garden with 100,000 fruit trees and towering cement dinosaurs. He assembled his menagerie to entertain guests, who included politicians, judges, soccer stars and beauty queens.

The zoo, which offered free bus tours to the public, had hundreds of exotic and rare animals from every corner of the world -- from black swans to Arabian camels to flamingos.

"The Godfather," as Escobar was nicknamed, purchased and imported the animals without bothering to get any permits and chartered ships to bring them home from Africa and Asia.

"I saw the hippopotamuses, the giraffes, the zebras, the lions enter the ranch on trucks," said Marcos, a 24-year-old taxi driver who sold lollipops at the gates of the ranch when he was a child. "This was paradise on earth."

All that is left of the zoo is a rusty, pocked sign that reads: "Welcome to Napoles Zoological Nature Park." For a while, there were some leftover zebras, but the last one grew old and senile and vanished into the jungle, witnesses said.

Napoles harks back to a time when flamboyant Colombian drug barons flaunted their riches and bombed and killed anyone who got in their way. Escobar, who rose from tombstone robber to one of the world's most famous and feared criminals, had amassed a fortune of $3 billion by age 33.

Drug lords today maintain low profiles, largely because of new laws that allow them to be extradited to the United States. Still, Colombia exports more cocaine than ever.

A CHILDREN'S HAVEN

After it was seized by the state, Hacienda Napoles fell into disuse and oblivion. The mansions were looted by locals in search of the fortunes rumored to be hidden inside walls and floors. The light airplane used by Escobar for his first shipment of cocaine to the United States was lowered from atop the ranch's main gates and dismantled by souvenir seekers.

Napoles now belongs to the children. They explore the skeletons of Escobar's vine-covered quarters, where lizards sunbathe on walls. They play hide-and-seek in the empty, moss-covered pools where the drug barons once bathed and cavorted in luxury.

The carport still houses a number of rusting, gangster-era American cars with flat tires -- including one that Escobar riddled with bullets to make it look more authentic -- and the children sit on the rotting upholstery and pretend to drive.

They scramble over the abandoned hovercraft, motorcycles with sidecars and a colonial-era horse carriage. The tyrannosaurus rex and brontosaurus are their private jungle gyms.

Many of them have hair-raising stories of being forced to flee their homes at dawn after seeing relatives killed by rebels or right-wing militias fighting in the country's four-decade war, but in Napoles they seem happy.

"We have a lot of fun here. We have all this place to play," said Leo, 13.

Sitting under a cool, swaying acacia as he swatted at the droning mosquitoes, Perea, who scratches out a living with his cows and banana trees, said he sometimes misses his hometown in western Choco province.

"I used to play the guitar at night and sing and drink with my friends, but I had to leave my guitar in the village. I miss my country but this is my home now," he said, looking at the hippos in the lake. "I guess I am like the hippos. They also came from a far place but now they are happy here."


Bob Graham is thinking about running for president? Hmm... I talked to him in-depth in 1987 as a high school senior. He struck me as quite intelligent and genuine. (He was Florida's Governor at the time.) He really dislikes Castro... it'd be fun to see what would happen with Cuban relations should he somehow win. I don't think he has any ties without the state of Florida as part of the design.



01/23/03
Kev was at a grand jury today, re: the old boss... looks like Wally may be finding himself doing jail time after all... mail fraud, breach of multiple contracts, forgery (of signatures), not to mention buckets of others...

Looks like some folks that were going to bring evidence ducked out at the last minute, for fear that they'd implicate themselves... subpoena time. (Not for Kev... but a couple of others)

Might get more busy where I am at work... new clients, new needs to fulfill. Hopefully it'll be just busy enough,

It's not so cold yet.... about 56F right now. It’s supposed to drop to the 30s tonight, but I've engaged a pre-emptive strike by running the heating-fan. That little thing cranks out a lot of warmth...I figure it's about 70 in here or so. I'm a little worried for folks that aren't used to that sort of cold in Florida, and for the Citrus industry. Newt and I will be quite the toasty-warm boys.

For up to date reference -

01/22/03
I’ve got $20 in my paypal account from the linkies. That's like found money.

I spent $11 of it on a paper journal from Ex Libris Anonymous. I like supporting clever artists, and $11 is cheap for a paper journal made from the cover of an old "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" Novella. It's not visible on the site, now that I've purchased it, but it's a very keen 1960s style underwater scene of the seaview, flying sub and a few bits of ocean life.

Gollum at the golden globes! Those Shoes! Yeek!

A rant from uncle Stevie re: KFC honey-
Last week the urge for fried chicken came upon me, and I stopped by the local KFC - you know, they used to be called Colonel Sanders', before the marketroids changed the name. Chicken and biscuits with real honey, mmm.

Whoops. Not real honey. The packet was labeled "Colonel's HONEY Sauce," with HONEY in big letters and the rest in much meeker type. And the tiny type on the back showed that the chief ingredient was "high fructose corn syrup" . . . which is sweet, but not honey, and is in fact the substance that many researchers blame for America's flab.

Oh, there's honey in there . . . and also something called "natural honey flavoring" . . . and sugar, caramel, and regular corn syrup. In other words, all kinds of cheap, sweet glop.

Euw.

So today I thought I'd see if all the chicken places were doing it, and went by Church's. I am pleased to report that the ingredients list on their honey packet has one word: Honey.

Okay; Church's is a bit out of the way, but I think they get my business now. "Honey sauce," feh.
I understand his pain... I remember back in the early 80s when KFC changed the gravy, way back when. it went from something you could savor by eating all by itself to wallpaper paste w/pepper. Natural honey is so good... I remember taking extra packets home with me for use on breakfast toast in the morning.

Newt From Last Night

Hand scrapes are just little red gravel-dots today. The torn skin is mostly sewn up. If I were thinking, I'd have made a photo record of the healing. Much easier to shower today, soapwise. No noticeable side effects of the meds yet.

Here I sit with this tempest in my gizzard, making flotsam of any recognizable stream of thought. Focusing, my thoughts return to order at proper mental cubbyholes like bees to the hive.

The people at Cuss Control Academy want to help you stop talking like a silly-billy, potty-mouthed nincompoop.

Tomorrow, it's expected to drop into the thirties. Hey. This is Fort Lauderdale. Did the Cold Miser slip the Heat Miser a mickey or something? I've got to remember to bring a sweater... That's cold enough for even a big bear like me to seek some heat. I'm glad my apartment will retain good warmth for Newtie while I'm out. I know that he'll be seeking Scotto the Human Space-heater when I get home.

I'm finding myself craving a Zombie tonight.

Newt's purr is like a trilling right now... vrrrrt, vroo...

pente.net is active again!
01/21/03
Yum... Cherry-vanilla yogurt with plain cherrios in it for breakfast. Yummah. Bro didn't realise it was non-dairy. hee...low fat, chock full of vitamins, and tastes like a dessert.

Bro brought me a giftie this morning... some packs of Zcardz... That was really nice of him. :) Some little tanks, airplanes and spaceships. I'll probably pick one or two out and leave them in the nearby geocache. I think that Newt may be prone to picking them up and running off with them... they're just the right size.

Landlord tried pulling a fast one on my brother... drove with him all the way down to Miami, to supposedly help with his case vs. the police dept... Turns out that he wanted instead to make him sign for a share of his coming money. BS says I. Fortunately bro refused, but the landlord then put bro on a tri-rail home, rather than driving him back.

Francesco's going to end up with *no* tenants.... The guy out front isn't too happy with him, and I'm not terribly pleased at his degree of service. I'll happily move out when the bro does. (He's the primary reason I came to this particular apartment, after all.) There are other good apartments in the area... once season ends; they can be had for a steal.

Upside, I picked up Celebrex 100mg 2x day today. Yikes... "You have saved $132.39 by using your plan" and Neurontin 100mg 2x day (possibly to be up dosed to 200s) "You have saved $45.09 by using your plan".

I'm pleased that there will be no Narcotics or Steroids in the house. I don't like the side effects and the "Temporary Patch" aspect of them.

There is surgery in my future, that should eliminate the need for *any* meds. I'm to take these for a month, and evaluate how I'm doing.

Hands are healing quickly, and the knee- bruise is still there, but isn't tender at all. Hooray for high pain threshold!

Brother's looking good today, and will be doing some work tonight. I'm keeping a positive focus on him right now.

I'm thinking very loving thoughts for my big three.... Sweetheart, Brother, and Newt. Sharing positive vibes with 'em all.
01/20/03
I scolded my brother today. He keeps putting off a meeting that will be ultimately beneficial. I told him that five postponements are too many, and that he should either cancel or just go to the thing. He agreed, and isn't going to back out at the last minute today. I hope that his time spent is productive, and that he's not soured on future meetings (if they're needed). I'm glad that he understands that I wasn't picking on him.

Working today(MLK Day)... It seems that about half the people I know are. Maybe that 50-50 percentage is high, but there are lots of federal / teacher / etc folks on that list.

What a nightmare.

I had to get very hard with folks tonight, and I surely don't appreciate having to. I'm coming down off the adrenaline rush, and my hands are shaking, making typing difficult. I am happy that I kept my head and was able to maintain calm and clear thought. I'm thankful that it's finally been dealt with. The first steps have been taken. I foresee this week ahead being quite difficult, but with a good resolution.

In addition, I tripped and fell earlier, the first time I've done that in an age and a half. Scraped the heels of my palms pretty well, banged up a knee, and fortunately my digicam and palmtop are none the worse for wear.
1/19/03
Brother swapped into a mp3 player, and he doesn't even have a computer with a usb port. I guess I'll be his music linker for a while, until he gets a system of his own. (I'll burn his mp3s to multisession cd, so I won't have to waste HD space. I like that it's rechargeable.

I put Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, Jimi Hendrix, Concrete Blonde and Smashing Pumpkins in there now... I think he'll dig that mix.

From Essays After Montaigne

Who understand what language birds expresse,
By their owne than beasts-livers knowing lesse,
They may be heard, not hearkned to, I guesse.


I know how to use consummate v's.


Yikes... my cupboard was bare, and I mean *bare*. Bro's been digging into the rations. Back from the grocer, and am fully-stocked again. I picked up some extra, to cover for the extra wandering nibbler.

Girl scouts cornered me, so I was obligated to buy a box of cookies outside of my usual source. (Bonbon at work is well known for having some sort of profit=raising foodstuff sale at most times of the year)

Garlic-veggie burgers on Rye toast with broccoli and cheese and some Cim-nim applesauce for dessert. Yummy-yum.

[update: - bro came over and had a mandarin orange yogurt and some cereal.]
1/18/03
Australian miner frames father's tattooed skin
I can't resist mentioning a verse from the song "Tie Me Kangaroo Down"
Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred
Tan me hide when I'm dead
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde
And it's hanging there on the shed

Doctors in trouble for not giving man cervical smear

"A family doctor has been summoned to a formal hearing over his refusal to put a 34-year-old male patient on the list for screening for cervical cancer.

The complaint has caused doctors in the west country practice to spend hours in meetings and writing replies to the local primary care trust over the complaint which began two years ago.

The man, who has fathered a child, believes he is a hermaphrodite although his doctors have examined him and can find no evidence for this. However, they did agree to his request to be re-registered with a female name."


My sphere is Guardian (Person of great Love and Altruism), and my class is Arms Master (Pragmatic and Stout).

I am a Guard.

You are a true, versatile guard. You have a defensive nature, that is, you are good at instilling a sense of security in the places around you. A strong presence weakens any possible threats around you, and a swift, practical approach to the problems that crop up puts them down before they can get out of hand.

What kind of Warrior are you?


Followup sphere-

My sphere is Knight (Know Loyalty and Respect), and my class is Arms Master (Pragmatic and Stout).

I am an Advisor.

Your great sense of ethics and honor, as well as your practical knowledge of the world, makes you an excellent advisor and confidant to the people who are respectful of your ways, and to whom you will show respect in return. Liu Bei, the well-meaning King of the ancient Shu kingdom in China, was not famous for his own accomplishments, but for the excellent quality of his generals, and the brilliance of his advisor of special repute, Zhuge Liang.

What kind of Warrior are you?



Cheezit! The Heat!

last week's seeing a mounted policeman caused me to find this new addition to coloringbook

Kartoo.com is a visually nifty search index. I reccomend going to options, and turning on all the search engines.



What Video Game Character Are You? I am Kung Fu Master.I am Kung Fu Master.


I like to be in control of myself. I dislike crowds, especially crowds containing people trying to kill me. Even though I always win, I prefer to avoid fights if possible. What Video Game Character Are You?
1/17/03

You%20are%20Bavarian
What's your Inner European?

brought to you by Quizilla
Oh, of course I am! (Beware of quizilla popups!)

In honor of such, Welcome to Bavaria!
"A most splendid country, brilliantly charming, wealthy in forests, plentiful in wine, rich in iron, gold, silver and purple; the men tall and powerful, but good-natured and hardworking; the land blessed with rivers, with cattle and herds thick as grass; even the mountains are fruitful and ready for pasture; good herbs abound; the woods teem with deer, elk and auerochs, with chamoix and ibex, and game of every kind."
- Bishop Arbeo of Freising, around the 8th century A.D.

I come from Old Bavarian Stock...though I'd like to claim some Franc blood. (I also accept that I have a few Swabian tendencies, but not many... more thrift than understatement.) The Sudatenland Kids...They're too new to be part of my gene pool.

Hmm... Ana Rubin has a job at the local gallery. I should swing by there and see what's up. I bet she's digging the work there. I'd like to see what they're having her do. She's been in town since before Christmas and still haven't had a chance to say howdy.

Speaking of Anas, I noticed that Ms. Voog isn't using the orange she had on her lj for the longest time. What ever happened with sleep station?

Are Hershey's kisses called besos in Spanish too? Hmm.. Nope. "Kisses de Hershey". The Kissmobile is cool, though. Not as cool s the Coolest food-vehicle... The Weinermobile. I'm partial to the 1958 version.

Want to Drive a weinermobile for a living? Wanna Drive the Kissmobile? (You need to be bilingual!)
Burning a candle for my sweetie.... thinking good thoughts. I adore her.

Sappho gave me a nice compliment today... said that I should have a talk show or write full-time. I'd like to...A pity that writing doesn't pay very well, unless you've got a real market for it. You can put together a piece of software or a web page much more rapidly, and get paid more for it.

It's supposed to drop to the 30s tonight, with wind chill! Woo! I may turn on the little box-heater yet!

Something smells really good in here. Something sweet, but clean. What is that?

It was Kitty Day at work... Jinx and Felix are getting big!

Felix! Jinxie!

Both on the windowsillWeird shot of newt...he looks like he was made to stay up too late.


It's hard to photograph black cats in low light! Increasing sharpness makes Newt looks strange, too.

Start clock - 10:15pm

Random word - scintillate

Hm...

When I think of the word scintillate, I see stars. That's what twinkling stars in the sky do, because of our atmosphere. When I was younger, I thought distant stars scintillated because they were burning unevenly, like bonfires. I understand now that different thicknesses and movements of our atmosphere causes the effect, and that out in space, they burn with a steady light. That seems sort of less lively. Like Christmas lights that never blink. Still pretty, but so static. I prefer stars that look like little bits of dust, hanging in a sunbeam...turning and varying in brightness from spotlight clarity to nearly invisible.

Sometimes when I look at the sky, I try to spot the satellites... it's pretty easy to pick out a good five or six in an hour on a dark night. They come and go on pretty even schedules... different trends can help you guess what they're about. If they're traveling west to east, (I don't think I've ever seen one traveling east to west... maybe something to do with the way we spin?) it's probably a civilian satellite, and military surveillance usually go north to south (or south to north).

I haven't seen fireflies for what seems like ages. They filled my back yard in Boynton on summer nights, flickering and hanging in space in such a weird way, I was usually stunned into watching them for as long as I could. All sorts of colors... mostly a pale greenish-yellow, but I remember some that were a bright blue and vivid green. I think we got so many because of the nearby canal...Perhaps when next summer comes; I'll spot some in Lauderdale, on the Riverwalk. You could walk through the back yard and be surrounded by them, all blinking at different rates, some flashing rapidly, others just glowing, sitting tight on the leafs of the nearby trees. We didn't often catch them and put them in jars... if we did, they'd only be kept for an hour or two, and then let go before we had to go to bed. I wanted to find out what they ate, so I could have a living night-light in my room.

End clock - 10:20 pm

Ogden Nash - The Firefly

The firefly's flame
Is something for which science has no name
I can think of nothing eerier
Than flying around with an unidentified glow on a
person's posteerier.
1/16/03

Ah, goody good. Today's my appointment, and no weird commands to cancel have come through to me yet.

W-2s are due by 1/31/03, but my confidence isn't the best when it comes to HR and accounting working together. They dislike one another, so instead of them being professional about it, they just don't communicate... to the detriment of the company. I've had to maintain my own records just to be sure of everything, should one or both of them cause some sort of screw up. My opinion is that if they can't get along with one another, then either one or both should seek another means of employment.

On the good news side... A record number of manatees was found off the east coast of Florida this year, although state researchers downplayed the results. It does look like that they're going to be upgraded from endangered to threatened as a species.

Search teams found 1,695 manatees off the east coast last week, an 11 percent increase over the count in 2001, the best previous year. Statewide, they found 2,861 manatees, up from last year but down from the year before. State researchers said the counts vary widely from year to year, depending partly on weather and water visibility, rather than the health of the manatee population.

That's a good sign... I'll get some sea-cow piccies yet. Seriously, I think manatees are a very nifty animal to have in my neighborhood. My upcoming walks are going to be canal-side again. Now that it's dipping into the 60s at night, they'll be heading into the warmer water, which means closer to where I am. (The shallows, in the sun).

Newt's looking a little lean this morning... I guess it's because he's stretched, and not curled up.
Newt! What-cha lookin' at? A bird or bug, outside?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released June 21, 2003. It is clocking in at 255,000 words.

In comparison, the King James Version of The Bible is 181,000 words.

I wonder if she needs a good editor... also if she took too long and has lost much of her bandwagon?

Written in the waiting room, before playing bookwork for the palm instead.

(Cartoon as if photo taken from Soap watching woman's perspective)

Productive, though time-consuming doctor trip.

Depending on how things go in the coming months, I may not need my CPAP any more, and my back situation is looking quite promising for a solution there, too. Some surgical decisions to be made.

They're thinking about reworking to Celebrex from Prednisone in the meantime...works for me, I don't like having narcotics like percoset, and steroids are only a short term fix. I have to call the doctor's office tomorrow, so the insurance can get moving.

Cool thing about my new doctor's office... two blocks away, uncrowded, and there's a flock of red-headed green parrots that was right outside, more vibrant, unlike the all green ones by my old place in Pompano. Nests, example head shot

Bird Silhouette this afternoonTail end of a flock... this is about 15-25% of them.



Thinking of my sweetheart today (every day, of course), and wondering about blue jays and cardinals. Something sparked the sound of her laughter in my memory, and it made me smile broadly.

Archives -

A year ago - cool invention poll, thoughts about human rights preogressing, magic spell over Taiwan, books read, How to take a punch, and my first notification that I was being published inUA2.

Two Years Ago - Custard the Dragon, Beautiful and Not-so-beautiful Words, Botticelli reminding me of mah sweetie, Michelanglo on Censorship, and a few dead links.
1/15/03
Bringing Sappho my double pezzes to work today. I seem to have a lot more equipment with me these days... umbrella, digicam, palmtop are omnipresent. sometimes I bring the gps or laptop. That's a lot of accessories.

On the other hand, I don't wear a beeper or wristwatch anymore. Never carry a cell-phone.

I hope 's furbies and other fluff-critters are ok... Perhaps they'll just have a fine hickory scent. I'm just glad she wasn't there when the building got in trouble.

I'm going to stop staying up so late, and begin getting up earlier again. Too much weekday gaming defeats my more comfy schedule.

palm journal update -zoomed in 2x for clarity.

A tiki god.ees a burro. or a bunny in an afghan. with a tiny house. Hooray for broccoli-cheese empanadas (and chicken-jalapeno for my bro as a treat)! I went by the place again on the way home from work. I may get brave next time and get a plantain one next go 'round for dessert.

Weirdo News of the day- "A ship full of rotting fish, with no crew or life-rafts, has been found drifting off the remote north-west coast of Australia."
1/14/03


Wow. "Printable electronic devices" may revolutionize the manufacture of items such as light bulbs, toys, and transistor radios.
'Gadget printer' promises industrial revolution - by Duncan Graham-Rowe

The idea of printing a light bulb may seem bizarre, but US engineers are now developing an ink-jet printing technology to do just that. The research at the University of California in Berkeley will allow fully assembled electric and electronic gadgets to be printed in one go.

The idea was revealed at a December workshop on robotic algorithms in Nice. Instead of creating a casing and then laboriously filling it with electronic circuit boards, components and switches, the plan is to print a complete and fully assembled device.

The trick is to print layer upon layer of conducting and semiconducting polymers in such a way that the circuitry the device requires is built up as part of the bodywork.

When the technique is perfected, devices such as light bulbs, radios, remote controls, mobile phones and toys will be spat out as individual fully functional systems without expensive and labor-intensive production on an assembly line.

Three-dimensional printers are already valuable tools for making prototypes of newly designed products. They deposit layers made from droplets of smart polymers, which gradually build up into 3D shapes. Such printing techniques have become so sophisticated it is now possible to print working prototypes with mechanical parts that move as they would in the final product.

But Berkeley's crucial addition to this art is to allow the electronics to be included in the printed device, rather than being added at great cost later on.

Already, the Berkeley team has worked out how to print electronic components such as transistors, capacitors, inductive coils and other semiconductor components. "These may be connected to form complete circuits for actuation and control," says John Canny, who heads the team.

Once they have developed ink-jet cartridges that can handle all the polymers needed for casing and circuit printing, Canny predicts they could make, say, a remote control for a TV.

Printed as a single continuous component, it would contain the buttons, a polymer-based infrared emitter and polymer-based electronics. Everything, in fact, except the batteries. They could use transparent polymers and plastic light emitters to print light bulbs.

By printing with "electroactive" polymers, which produce voltages across them when compressed, or bunch up tight when a voltage is applied to them, the printed devices can be made to respond to pressure or flex in certain directions. So buttons can be created that produce voltages, for example, or artificial muscles for robots that flex when a voltage is applied.

This merging of flexible materials with electronics has been dubbed "flexonics" and could do away with the conventional printed circuit board. These are normally multilayered flat plastic plates on which electronic components are soldered. Copper strips running between the layers connect the components.

But flexonics makes this unnecessary. It is this ability to embed the electronics in the device that has the potential to revolutionize industrial design. Rather than a casing housing the circuitry, the casing is the circuitry.

But there is a downside. When a flexonic device breaks, it will be irreparable, because none of the embedded components can be replaced. So the technology will fuel the throwaway society.

Flexonics faces considerable challenges. Polymer-based electronic devices may be cheaper to make than silicon, but their performance is considerably poorer. Polymer transistors, for example, still have switching speeds 100 times slower than silicon transistors.

But Jordan Pollack at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, who is interested in using 3D printing to make robots, says speed is not everything. The appeal of being able to print electronic devices means the new technology will inevitably find its niche. "Ultimately such 'Santa Claus' machines will begin to eat into lower-performance circuitry, like light bulbs, toys and transistor radios," he predicts.


I want one, Santa!

Was up until 3ish this morn playing renegade... a new game often absorbs my time-sense. Bro woke me at 7am to use my phone... but I didn't mind the shortness of sleep. I may, later. Newt was very playful this morn... chasing the "Monster under the blanket" until I had to stop and take my shower to prepare for work.

Finally making some headway with the insurance company. I sometimes suspect that they try stalling techniques to stop all but the most vigilant.

Most folks I know that keep toys around leave them out in positions that would make them appear as if they're watching folks in the room. I prefer to set up dioramas where it looks like they're having conversations and such.

I wonder what drives each of those patterns? To the best of my knowledge, I've always arranged little scenes and such.

I want to fight zombies with this.

"The technology offers high accuracy, low weight as compared to a .50 caliber rifle, increased lethality, a high rate of fire and electronic controls," Walker said.

Just how lethal? That depends on how many rounds you want to fire and how many barrels you want to put to use. In a test firing of 36 barrels, lashed together and firing full bore, the gun reduced a series of 15 wooden doors to toothpicks in just two-tenths of a second."

1/13/03
I'm so glad Court TV shows COPS, late night. (It's neat that I've seen all the episodes used in the poll at the site... the one with the three-wheel chase also had a super-cool one-legged cop run a burglar down.) I can thank my sweetheart for getting me interested in the show... Our first real regular date-night TV show, if I remember correctly.

I'm surprised woman with knife is so far ahead in the polls.

Checking out police auctions online... neat. Sort of like Ebay for impounded goods.

Solid day of work today.

Got some keeno belated Prezzies today... Young Frankenstein on DVD, Command and Conquer: Renegade and a Nifty Action figure of Worf, for Newt to beat up.

Time for a new universal remote. The old one dropped, and now changing channels is a thing you have to get up to do. Volume and power still works.. but the numeric keypad and channel up and down are dead.

I'm feeling very emotional today... I can feel tears and heavy sighs forming from a song that's playing on the radio. (See music)

ponder....I've been thinking what kids with my sweetheart might be like. I think that odds are for beauty, intelligence, and deep feeling. Let's do an average - even out the height.... 5' 10" tall as an adult, probably a tall kid. Beautiful Brown or Blue Eyes... Let's go with Brown/hazel. Blue is a recessive trait... though there's lots of Irish and German in there. Odds slightly higher for a female. Long hair a very high probability, if only of mama and papa braid & brush factor. Thick Copper hair with reddish highlights. Cuddly... will probably prefer laps to chairs. Lots of energy. Inquisitive / Curious/ Probably more than a bit Smart-alec-y, but polite when required. A reader. Healthy as a horse. Mischievous monkey. Will know the words to lots and lots of songs before she can read. Talented.

One can only wonder how accurate or not that'll be. I know in my heart that there'll be lots of love, though, from all sides.
1/12/03
Fisto's Forest Critique. Ouch...He-Man flashbacks. *shudder*

Woodlands and Mist reminds me of a quote...that, and there was a mild haze this morn.
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
-Carl Sandburg

I've not wandered through a thick fog in ages. I have a fond memory of sneaking out at just before sunrise with my brother to a nearby wooded area... the rough surrounding a golf course. The fog was incredibly thick... not even remotely like pea soup, but solid enough that outside of six feet it was impossible to perceive any detail at all. Just a slight trail on the ground, and trees seemed to magically appear as we kept wandering on. It was so quiet... I think that our steps crunching on pine needles were by far the loudest things in the region. We got the tar jolted from us when a smallish animal darted from the underbrush, shot past, into our field of vision, and was lost again into the mists. An hour went by, and the fog slowly melted... our sphere of vision broadened until only little smoky wisps were sticking to the bushes, branches, and over the surface of the canal. We walked home, and talked about it for most of the day... and we still bring it up from time to time. We didn't say a word on our walk, and it was one of the more memorable times we spent together. Not bad for a totally unplanned expedition of only about three miles or so from home. It was so fun to watch the world grow more obscured as we entered the woods, and see mist just hang in the air... as we walked through, water clung onto our eyebrows like dew on morning grass. Walking through, you can feel the droplets breathing coolly against your skin. My sweetheart took a picture of her backyard a while back, fog surrounding the trees in the back yard. I look forward to walking with her in that environment sometime... perhaps with a thermos of hot coffee and a place to hang a hammock. It'd be nice to lounge together in the wilderness, cocooned in our own private atmosphere.

Work tomorrow...I have to get back on the sample project and the custom form database for Lourdes. This weekend has seemed both eternal and brief. Strange time dilation. Will I have to learn about Gecko and Apple's new browser?

Kellogg's Smart Start is quite tasty, but is surprisingly weak on the box graphics. The front is ok, but the back and lefthand panel are weirdly sparse of information. Lots of white space. I'm looking at the side of the box now, and am amazed... There's more sugar per serving than Lucky Charms! Gah! This is supposed to be healthy? It's officially downgraded to sweet snack status.

Compare - Smart Start - 15 to Marshmallow Froot loops - 16
1/11/03
Details can be found by hovering over the images.
His first picture of 2003, not counting the web cam. His stripes are so faint!

Newt in bed with me... periscope! His comfort zone when I read on my back. 1/4/03

Newt sleeping along the length of my foot. 1/6/03

One of his favorite positions... atop whatever I'm reading, prime for petting. bigger to show texture 1/3/03