Boiled some eggs for traveling breakfast this morning, turned out surprisingly good… chilling right after hard-boiling set them up just right, and no ugly ring between yolk and white, and not sulfuric-stinky at all. Cheap morning food – a dozen eggs for a dollar, three eggs at a throw is two bits a meal.

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I’m still a total newbie at yoga, but three days into it, and I’m digging it, even though I’m not quite so bendy as mr yee, the rubber-man teacher. Not doing it in the morning, but I’ve started doing 20 min morning when I get home from work, and then the 20 min nightly about an hour later.

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EN Had a bit of a panic over Cedarville, AR and Wichita, KS last night… a bit of stress about mapping, but it was quickly resolved.

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Dave has sinus surgery last week… was getting repeated infections since Wilma. I hope this will fix it.

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4-second frenzy – play a bunch of games, 4-seconds each. perfect for the trendy pseudo-ADD set.

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In the spirit of Wonder Woman – Theoi Project, a comprehensive guide to the Gods (Theoi), Spirits (Daimones) and Monsters (Theres) of ancient Greek mythology and religion.

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E-paper for Danny – FOLEDs – Flexible Organic Light Emitting Devices – “FOLEDs are organic light emitting devices built on flexible substrates. Flat panel displays have traditionally been fabricated on glass substrates because of structural and/or processing constraints. Flexible materials have significant performance advantages over traditional glass substrates.” – How it works

What does that all mean, you say? Well, I’m rolling up my monitor now and going home!

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Moment of Lyric: (mp3)

Now, I have a friend named Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
And I could say that Rufus found a kangaroo
That followed Rufus home
And now that kangaroo belongs
To Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla.

Whew! I could say that, but I don’t have to,
‘Cause I got pronouns,
I can say, “HE found a kangaroo that followed HIM home and now IT is HIS”

You see, (uh) HE, HIM, and HIS are pronouns,
Replacing the noun
Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
A very proper noun.
And IT is a pronoun, replacing the noun, kangaroo! (How common!)

Now Rufus has a sister named Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla.
If she found a kangaroo I’d say to you:
“SHE found a kangaroo that followed HER home, and now it is HERS.”
But I can’t say that…
‘Cause she found an aardvark
That fell in love with HER and THEY’re so happy.

And my name’s Albert Andreas Armadillo.
(No relation to the Sarsaparillas.)
Because of pronouns, I can say:
“I wish SHE would find a rhinoceros for ME, and We’d be happy.”
You see, a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun,
‘Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down!

Now I could tell you Rafaella Gabriela and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo found an aardvark, a kangaroo, and a rhinoceros. And now that aardvark and that kangaroo and that rhinoceros belong respectively to Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo!

Whew! Because of pronouns I can say, in this way:
“WE found THEM and THEY found US, and now THEY are OURS and We’re so happy.” Thank you pronoun!

You see a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun,
‘Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.

Sometimes, when we take ’em all on the bus
People really raise a fuss.
They start shouting out a lot o’ pronouns at us, like
“WHO brought that rhinoceros on this bus?” and
“WHAT made that horrible noise?” and
“WHICH one of them is getting off first?”

WHO, WHAT, and WHICH are special pronouns that can ask a question
In a sentence where you do not know the name of the noun,
But I know:
I have MINE, and SHE has HERS,
and he has his. Do YOU have YOURS?
THEY love US, and WE love THEM,
WHAT’s OURS is THEIRS–
That’s how it is with friends,
And pronouns, you are really friends, yeah!

‘Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.

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PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) – A hefty bystander at a road accident in southern Arizona heaved a car clean off a trapped teenage cyclist, possibly saving his life, police said on Friday.
Eighteen-year-old Kyle Holtrust was struck by a car as he pedaled along a Tucson highway late on Wednesday and pinned beneath it, city police said.

Tucson paint shop worker Tom Boyle grabbed the Chevrolet Camaro car and lifted it, allowing the driver to haul the injured cyclist clear.

“He lifted that side of the car completely off the ground,” police spokesman Frank Amado told Reuters by telephone.

Amado said Holtrust was being treated in hospital, and was expected to make a full recovery.

Local media said Boyle is 6 feet four inches tall and weighs 300 pounds (136 kg).

“It was outstanding,” Amado said. “It is quite unusual to have that strength.”

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“Hungry Ghost” month deals double blow to Asian business

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – It’s the time of the year many Chinese businesses dread — the hungry ghost festival, when families avoid moving house, couples postpone their wedding plans, and tourists shy away from beach resorts.

But businesses may be hit by a double whammy this year due to an oddity in the Chinese lunar calendar that results in two “seventh” months — also known as the hungry ghost festival, when the gates of hell open and the dead walk among the living.

The festival is widely observed by Chinese in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, home to many Taoists and Buddhists, who believe that the living are supposed to please the ghosts by offering them food and burning paper effigies of homes, maids, and other daily items for spirits to use in the afterlife.

For those who maintain these traditional beliefs, all sorts of activities may grind to a halt.

In modern but still superstitious Hong Kong, people have begun to wind down their usually frenzied nightlife.

“All unusual activities must stop. I have ordered my husband to go straight home after work,” said Winnie To, an executive at a foreign company.

The peculiarity of the double seventh month occurs because the lunar calendar assigns an extra month every three years to balance the lunar and solar cycle. This year, the Ghost Month runs from July 25 to August 23, with the leap seventh month stretching from August 24 to September 21.

In Taiwan, property and car sales usually enter a lull period during the festival, prompting retailers to provide generous offers or discounts to try to boost sales by appealing to the younger generation which is less superstitious.

“When we were young, our parents used to tell us not to go to the beach during the “hungry ghosts” festival because they were afraid that we might be captured by ghosts in the water,” said Kate Peng, 32, who owns a drinks stall in Taipei.

Few people in mainland China, especially in urban areas and among the younger generation, follow ghost month traditions. Many superstitions and traditional practices were stamped out during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, because the Communists frowned on them as relics of China’s feudal past.

RARE OPPORTUNITY

But it’s not all gloom for Chinese during these two months.

For some Singapore gamblers, this is a rare opportunity to hunt for lucky numbers to play the “4-Digits” (4D) lottery.

“People will often use this chance to ask ghosts for lottery numbers,” said Lee Inn Peng, a Taoist medium who has been practicing for 21 years. “These people are desperate, and will try anything. Sometimes they are at the graveyards with talismans, burning offerings asking for numbers.”

In Singapore, where 75 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese, business associations often run street performances, known as “getai,” to entertain the living and the dead.

Apart from inviting popular singers from overseas to perform, these “getai” shows also include auctions for auspicious items such as oranges, pineapples and charcoal — which are associated with wealth in Chinese, and which are stacked on gold-tinted plates and elaborately wrapped in red ribbons.

“Some people will bid up to S$10,000 ($6,300) for these items because they believe it will bring them good luck,” said Aaron Tan, who runs a company that organizes street performances.

Low said these items are usually packed with a slip of paper with several sets of four numbers, so that winners of the bid can use those numbers to bet in the 4D lottery.

“There are people who have struck lottery on these numbers and believe it is time to pay back the spirits who have helped them, so they don’t mind paying a high price at the auctions,” Low said.

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1 year ago – peaceful Sunday, Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla, PB-J time,
Grizzly Golf Attack is true, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”

2 years ago – Rob Shea Quote, appropriate for E-journals everywhere, I played with mercury, JL meme, music, Dave, Rain, Social entity, first hints at Mike-drama, search shortcuts, albinos of the 19th century, echolocation alarms

3 years ago – crazy dreams, Kate Bush, starmark poops but new gig, writing systems, non-castaways on gilligan’s isle

4 years ago – istockphoto, dead links, Shitou Xiqian, smiled at, fortune cookie, walkerbot, Liver Eatin’ Johnson

5 years ago – hungrybaby, New Apes movie lame, wiseacre, Champions stats for the Shadow, Dwayne Dibley?, Poul Anderson passes away, LJ moves in space

6 years ago – Everway character- wanders the storm path