Interesting discussion with Kev and the Finn tonight for about an hour. A fairly varied political spectrum. Kev’s primarily conservative, Finn’s a Left-leaning Centrist, and I’m more of a Moderate (depending on which topic you ask me about.)

Discussion covered presidents, Korea (N&S), China, India, Iraq, and the news media in general. I feel that Kev is weighted toward the “Fox News” perspectives, and Finn forms very strong opinions before evaluating the situation for more than a little while. I feel that I may do too much research before forming an opinion.

We were at an impasse, when the Finn didn’t want to “agree to disagree” when I decided to impugn her beliefs regarding people’s desire to be educated. I feel that most people *don’t* want to do any hard stuff. The preference lies with Ricki Lake or other fluff TV… very few people want to educate themselves about history, or the world around them, unless it’s presented in an entertaining way. You can teach folks with sex, gore, humor and melodrama… but dry facts appeal to precious few. The trick lies in getting the mix right.

Both of them disagree with me regarding what it is to have truly free speech… though I agree with the idea that there should be accountability for what folks say in a public forum, I’m of the belief that if you don’t like what’s on television…you can turn it off. If you don’t like it, turn the channel. If you really don’t like it, don’t buy products advertised on the show being broadcast.

I like the idea of a Jeffersonian Democracy. “The government governs best which governs least” I hold a strong belief in a free press, freedom of religion and speech.

Kev likes speech control (via limiting celebrities being able to buy TV time, and editorialize at whim), is against gun control. He finds Iraq a more immediate threat than North Korea. He truly is concerned about how China will react if/when the USA starts getting tough with Korea.

Finn’s also in favor of censoring people’s opinions.

Bleh, tired of writing about this. Too rambly. I’ll come back to it later.

Nighty night, dear journal.

I really like that Newt will lay on a pillowcase on top of the futon… that saves me from having to rub down the whole thing when the inevitable cat hair accumulates.

Went to bed *really* early last night.. Like 10:30ish. I slept all the way through to 7am. I’m not sure why I needed the rest, but I’m confident that I needed it. Maybe all the time out in the sun?

Schools, banks and federal offices are closed today… I wonder how well Danny’ll do at the RenFaire today with his students? (Unofficial field trip.) I bet that they’ll have a grand time, but I think the performers will suffer… School kids aren’t known to be great tippers when pass the hat time rolls around. I’d like to go with ’em, but I’ve got work-duties to fulfill.

Appointment tomorrow at Holy Cross to talk to the doctor about upcoming surgery. Possibly the same as my last day at current work?

I was expecting the brother to come over this morning, to call about his appointment with Marcie re: a short-term gig… but he didn’t make it. I hope he goes over!

Criminy… 11 again! Time for me to fly. Until later, dear Journal.

News of the unusual

Got a mega-keen valentine from meredith today, for being fast on the aim draw.

Very spiffy… all hand drawn… witty and beautifully done. I’ll scan it sometime soon. 🙂

Today’s shopping venture was a success! And look! More than two colors (Well… more than just black and white… some mid-tones, too, for fun)

A pair of Dressy black sneaker-shoes, two pair of fresh boxers. Four new Undershirts, four polos and two regular nice collared shirts. I’m stylin’. Just about everything in my wardrobe mixes and matches… with a few exceptions. (White socks and black shoes, for example)

I wore the sneaks out of the store, and they did well.

After big and tall, I waited at the stop for about ten minutes… I realized I was across the street from the Solid Gold building… it’s closed, but it was worth taking a snapshot of someplace that was very educational and lucrative at the time.

I jumped from there to Barnes and Noble, to burn off a little of the gift card I got for my birthday. It’s *very* easy to spend money in there. I got a raspberry slushie and Dark Knight Strikes Again… It was a quick read, and I was rather disappointed at some of the plot elements. Overall, thought, I liked it. I think it shined the most in the first two-thirds of the story, and the sketchbook at the end is interesting. The art side of it… it seems like his skill went down a notch. Nice to see some other folks brought out of retirement. It’s not one of my top 20 comics, but it’s not in the bottom 20, either. Maybe a 6 out of 10 rating overall.

Wow… Google bought blogger! I wonder if that’s good or bad news for LJ? I know that LJ isn’t fond of being indexed by Google, for fear of bandwidth issues. Here’s a perspective that might make LJ come out on top.

Okie… got to go shoppin’. Going to swing by the bro’s place, see if he wants to join me, and then it’s off to get some new duds.

See you later, dear journal!

Holy cow…nice piece of reproduction. I had the Donkey Kong Jr. LCD game way back when.

Newt a Year ago

What sweets did people eat at the fair before cotton candy? Pie? Fruit? Cotton Candy was invented in 1897, and sold as “fairy floss” at the same fair with the first ice-cream cone if memory serves. I’m guessing before that, the popcorn and peanuts were the thing… maybe peanut brittle? Cracker Jack wasn’t until 1893. I’m not sure how old funnel cake is… maybe that’s the stuff.

Random Scotto Factoid – We actually had sporks as part of our silverware (made from stainless steel) when I was a kid. I also enjoyed eating with my scout knife’s spoon and fork.

The photos are chilling.

“On January 7th, 1942, one month after Pearl Harbor, T.W. Smith, Jr., the owner of the Sun Rubber Company, and his designer, Dietrich Rempel, with Walt Disney’s approval introduced a protective mask for children. This design of the Mickey Mouse Gas Mask for children was presented to Major General William N. Porter, Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service. After approval of the CWS, Sun Rubber Products Company produced sample masks for review. Other comic book character designs were to follow, depending on the success of the Mickey Mouse mask. The mask was designed so children would carry it and wear it as part of a game. This would reduce the fear associated with wearing a gas mask and hopefully, improve their wear time and, hence, survivability.”

“Very few of these Mickey Mouse gas masks survived. The US Army Chemical Museum at Fort McClellan, Alabama, has a hand-made prototype. The 45th Infantry Division Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has a production specimen on permanent display with other gas masks in the combat support area of the museum. The Walt Disney Archives, Burbank, California, has a face piece without ears, lenses, or a canister, and a mask owned by the founder of the Sun Rubber Company was on display at the Summit County (Ohio) Historical Society’s “Toys Made in Summit County” exhibit in 1982.”

Hmm… What would it be today? Yu Gi Oh? Hamtaro?

Whatever grows out of the dry soil of the Florida Keys is fragile and slender and delicate. That goes for the wildlife, too.

These are miniature deer, found nowhere else on earth but in the lower Keys of Florida. There came a glacier long ago to cut the keys off from the mainland. The Key deer, isolated from their mainland cousins, adapted to island life by learning to drink brackish water and by eating less. That’s why they’re so small. Small in number, too. Sixty years ago, on Big Pine Key, which really has the core of the Key deer herd, there were probably fifty Key deer, and the human population was under a thousand. In the last two decades, we’ve seen the human population go to over five thousand and the deer population rise to nearly about six hundred.

The little deer barely look up now when cars pass. Every year, some of their lives are taken by speeding cars, and free-roaming dogs. Protection plans include building underpasses for the deer to cross safely under roadways, especially U.S. 1, and strict management of dogs on the islands. What if the Key Deer are wiped out? Whether I see them or not, to know that they’re around means something to me.

They have been in the Keys all along. We are the newcomers. The little Key deer have learned to make do with less. How much less than less can they learn to make do with? I’m glad that there are people looking out for them, and hope that it’s enough to let them flourish.

Some facts about ’em:

The shoulder height of Key deer is between 24-28 inches. Does weigh 45-65 pounds while bucks weigh 55-75 pounds.

The earliest mention of Key deer is found in the memoirs of Fontaneda, a shipwrecked Spaniard held captive by the Calusa Indians. Records suggest that the deer were found around Key West and were used for food by residents and ship crews alike. Although early records indicated sporadic wider distribution of Key deer throughout the lower keys, current data indicates they occupy a range from Johnson Keys to Saddlebunch Keys.

Random Scotto fact: I lived in the keys during the winter with my family, from Marathon to further south, Big Pine Key. I used to see those deer all the time, and had no idea that there were more kids my age in the Keys than an entire species. I always thought it was neat that there were raccoons that could rear up taller than the deer.

Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (1 large clove or 2-3 small cloves)
• 2-4 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped (I used about 1/4 cup)
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt & pepper to taste
• dash of Tabasco sauce
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped (From my herb garden!)

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and whiz until fairly smooth…does not have to be completely smooth, but you want to eliminate large chunks of garlic.

Serve on Warm Pita wedges.

Thanks go to my bro who provided me with a can of black beans and a can of garbanzo beans because he didn’t want ’em in the house any more.

Cool Monty Python toys.

The Vorpal Bunny is very cool.

< -fun user icon that cracked me up Added MatchWho to my collection of palm programs. very fun. I’d have used it when I was gaming (since I’m poor at drawing human faces). you can play FBI suspect artist, too. 🙂

Talkin’ to mah sweetie tonight… yum.

Quick update while she’s taking care of some bid-ness. is over 900 members!

Better Salary than I’d anticipated, the commute wasn’t so bad. If it was raining, I might feel otherwise. (I have to walk 5 blocks to the building from the bus stop) Good medical benefits. Looks like Tuan, Hoi’s younger brother at my old job, will replace me. Good call… Familiar with the work and team, gets along well with the gang. Sappho will like him.

Without further ado, Today’s pictures.

Walking to the bus stop…

More piccies from the day.

Got a nice email from my sweetie in the middle of the day today. She makes everything brighter by the brush of her hand.

Tomorrow’s is the moment of truth. I’m heading to Coral Springs tomorrow before work for the walkthrough of the new company.

If I don’ t get any bad vibes, I’m in. So far, so good… they want me pretty badly. It’s nice to have it be my call.

Mike, Gloria and Tuan all work there and seem to get on pretty well, same goes for John Irving.

Pictures from today:

Whoops! Forgot to hit post. I’m all showered now.

Bro signed a piece of paper with the landlord for amount owed larger than it should be. I’m glad my brother saves his receipts. (I’d be gladder if he paid his rent on time). The landlord is good about changing his tune when confronted with signed pieces of paper that states he already was paid. The ll caught my brother off-guard and half-asleep.

Wow! All this time I thought The Space Giants was just a fever dream.

See, there was this gold guy and he was named Goldar and he was married to Silvar and he fought really dumb looking monsters.

No, really! And the lightning bolts! And this weird old guy! And there was this weird evil guy, and the robots could turn into rockets! (More pictures here)

Wait, where are you going? Come back! Ah well, I should curl up and read some non-glowing text. G’night, dear journal.

Newt’s ability for problem solving impresses me quite a bit. If he wants something badly enough, there’s a way for him to get it. He has a strong awareness of 3d space and what can and can’t be moved. Rearranging furniture and the general “terrain” in the apartment causes him to remap everything by running over and testing comfort zones. It entertains me quite a bit, watching him hop on a chair or scout around same just to get a knack for what’s there. He seems to like to hang around the “new” object even if all that’s happened is a change in facing.

I’d be fascinated to know just what his thought processes are.

Well, off to work. Until later, dear journal.

Can’t stay cranky for long with cutie Newtie running around, wanting to play fetch.

Minor annoyances… brother bugged me twice last night to use my phone… once when I was on the phone with Dan, and the second time when I was just falling asleep. Just plain rude. I was jarred awake a few times this morning by who knows what. I’m officially up now. Bah… I was hoping for a good night’s rest. I guess there’s tonight.

Web pages that change the size of my browser without asking first lick goat-dung.

I just played damage control for Dan’s Wife… she spread the jdbgmgr.exe file hoax… Luckily, I think I’m the only programmer-type in their address book. It is so important to fact-check on the net. She knows better now.

I need to call an Wish Aunt Val a happy birthday!

For reference down the line-

U.S. Gas Prices
Lowest Price: $1.13 Carrolton, GA
Highest Price: $2.29 Mill Valley, CA
Nat’l Average $1.63

via mskaren911 – Vote for the Florida Quarter

There are a couple of good designs. I’m torn between “The Everglades” and “Gateway to Discovery”.