Tag Archives: news

back home, misc linkie-doodles, and gross overuse of the hr tag.

Ahh. Lovely. Laundry done, Newt happily doing doughnuts on the fresh, warm, taut sheets on the bed, and I’ve got supper in the oven a-cookin’. I need to go back, and update my daily eats entries when I’m not feeling so lazy.

The ‘mat was a fine place for me to finish writing a nice long letter to my brother… i was surprised to see that my letter containing magneto returned to me, for insufficient postage. it was launched 10/1, so the circuit was a little slow, considering the distance traveled wasn’t too far. If I was *smart* I’d have put his address as the return addy, too. I don’t know if that old trick still works.


Ugh… Rick Sanchez is back. I’ll be boycotting any channel that has him on it. He ran over a guy while driving drunk, and paralyzed the person… not to mention the whole Elian / 9-11 nightmare / wsvn tabloid TV deal. He is, to my mind, the epitome of what’s wrong with “news” today.


Speaking of loopy news and striped cats, hatless mentions More Tigers in the News

Emboldened, perhaps, by the one that landed Roy of “Siegfried and..” fame in the hospital, tigers are on the attack in America’s cities. The New York Times checks in with this dispatch from the Bronx:

What the tiger, along with a four- to five-foot reptile called a caiman, was doing inside a cluttered apartment in the Drew Hamilton Houses at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 141st Street remained a mystery yesterday.

In a news conference at the scene, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the police became involved in the case on Wednesday when the apartment’s resident, Antoine Yates, called to say he had been bitten by a pit bull…

Getting to the tiger, a male, was no simple task. From an apartment on the fourth floor, the police first eased a pole-mounted camera out the window to keep track of him. Meanwhile, on the seventh floor, they prepared a team to rappel down so they would have a clearer view when firing tranquilizer darts to subdue him.

And so continues America’s drift into the Third World.


Police Subdue a Tiger in Harlem Apartment
By ALAN FEUER and JASON GEORGE

Published: October 5, 2003

To the sounds of enormous jungle roars, a police sniper rappelled down the side of a Harlem apartment building yesterday and fired tranquilizer darts through an open fifth-floor window to subdue — seat belts, please — a 350-pound Bengal tiger.

The daring, and creative, bit of sharpshooting helped end an episode in which the New York Police Department, unaccustomed to bagging big game, nonetheless managed to sedate the beast. Officials planned to send the tiger, temporarily being held at the Center for Animal Care and Control on 110th Street, to a conservancy in Ohio.

What the tiger, along with a four- to five-foot reptile called a caiman, was doing inside a cluttered apartment in the Drew Hamilton Houses at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 141st Street remained a mystery yesterday.

In a news conference at the scene, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the police became involved in the case on Wednesday when the apartment’s resident, Antoine Yates, called to say he had been bitten by a pit bull. When the police went to investigate, Mr. Kelly said, Mr. Yates met them in the lobby. He went to Harlem Hospital with bites on an arm and a leg.

On Thursday, the police got an anonymous tip saying a wild animal was somewhere in the city. On Friday, another call directed them to the exact address. On Friday night, the police found no one home, but talked to a neighbor who complained of large amounts of urine and a strong smell coming through the ceiling, Mr. Kelly said. The neighbor said her daughter had seen the tiger.

Yesterday, the tiger’s existence was confirmed. After a hole was cut in the apartment door.

Mr. Yates checked out of Harlem Hospital early yesterday, prompting an inquiry into his whereabouts. But investigators said last night he had been located in Philadelphia, where he was being treated at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. How Mr. Yates got to Philadelphia and the nature of his injuries were unclear. The police said he faced charges of reckless endangerment.

The caiman also was taken to the Center for Animal Care and Control shelter, the police said.

“This is an only-in-New-York story,” Mr. Kelly said.

Getting to the tiger, a male, was no simple task. From an apartment on the fourth floor, the police first eased a pole-mounted camera out the window to keep track of him. Meanwhile, on the seventh floor, they prepared a team to rappel down so they would have a clearer view when firing tranquilizer darts to subdue him.

The police also called in animal experts, including Dr. Robert A. Cook, head veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo. Dr. Cook, visibly angry over the cramped conditions in which the tiger prowled, said keeping the creature in such a setting was “crazy.”

“If he had escaped it would have been a very bad thing,” he said.

It was shortly before 4:30 p.m. when the police sniper, Officer Martin Duffy, armed with a dart gun and a rifle with live ammunition, began to rappel down toward the window. He fired one dart a few minutes later, which drew a knee-shaking roar from inside the apartment.

After a few more minutes it was determined that the tiger had been hit, the police said, but was not yet fully sedated. So Officer Duffy fired another dart.

As hundreds of onlookers gathered on the street, some began to wonder if this urban big cat would get along so well in the less cosmopolitan reaches of Ohio.

“My concern is that the city cat won’t make it in the country,” said Lynnette Braxton, 49. “He’s going to have no jazz, no hip-hop. He’s going to miss the Harlem Renaissance.”


Help save the Tree Octopus from extinction!


Atlas of the DC universe – Now you can tell where Gotham and Metropolis really are!


Marvel Directory – Welcome to the Marvel Directory, here I am hoping to gather the biggest database that there is on the web. The database will be designed just like the comic book series “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.” I have the support of the Marvel Fan Site program, this allows me to bring you graphics and Marvel material that they provide and support.


Police offer these helpful tips for those who would engage in the crime of identity theft: First, try very hard not to steal the identity of someone who is a convicted sex offender.

Second, if having stolen and then assumed the identity of someone who turns out to be a sex offender, try very hard thereafter to refrain from domestic disputes that might result in your arrest for disorderly conduct. Continue reading back home, misc linkie-doodles, and gross overuse of the hr tag.

*Happy 4th Birthday, Newt!*

(Link above goes to a pic of him from the first couple of days I had him at work… about Oct 21, 1999, I think)

The Birthday boy!

Most recent shot of Newt to his B-day

Newt!


AVENGERS #71 – NOW RATED MATURE READERS
This morning, Marvel notified retailers that the next issue of Avengers, #71, originally due to be in stores next Wednesday will be delayed until October 15th, and its normal “PSR” rating changed to “MR” or Mature Readers due to adult content. Continue reading

Bigfoot / spine / work / chimp-child

I need surgery, 1 day in the hospital, 4 weeks PT and it should be all good. Following up at the regular doc, but as it stands, I need 2 ruptured disks, and 1 herniated disk taken care of. it’ll be much like the one I had about a decade ago, only nobody will bring me a Usagi Yojimbo action figure this time, I imagine. Rick (the one that looked like Willie from “v”) brought me one last time, and I really dug that bushido bunny.

Prop2 took her departure better than the gals at work did. I think this is a good thing… but I changed all the email/network/ remote access/ etc passwords today. I was trapped there until about 6:30 tonight… but I guess that makes up for me being late due to the doc’s. I’m officially the Director of Operations now. Prop was very understanding, and I imagine she saw it coming. she offered to help me wherever she could, and though I don’t imagine I’ll run into many bumps, it was very kind of her to offer, given the circumstances. I hope she finds a good gig, and swiftly.


Ben Stein *creamed* the debate on Tough Crowd tonight.. three stand up comics, Colin Quinn and probably one of the brightest political and legal minds in the entertainment industry. I really admire his power over words and ideas, even if I don’t agree with many of his beliefs. (I have Nixon and Kissenger issues.)


Police expert claims Bigfoot ‘proof’ “A forensic expert in the US believes he has some of the strongest evidence yet that the Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, creature exists.” Continue reading Bigfoot / spine / work / chimp-child

Well, prop2 is losing a lot of her sympathy credit in the office. She called at 9am this morning (she was due in at 8) and said that the power was out, and that she was waiting to hear back from FPL as to whether or not it was an inside the house thing or something else. What she *didn’t* say was why her jobless husband was not available to do that while she got to work… She never called back to even say she’s stuck at home for some nonsense reason… FPL seldom takes more than a half hour to get on the stick… I can’t say as I remember any time short of a Hurricane that has caused interrupted service for more than an hour. Tomorrow, I visit the neurologist and hopefully get some good, progressive news to counter the lightening strike that’s going to hit at work. I still feel bad for her, and sincerely hope that she finds another gig soon, preferably better suited to her.

I’m going to be in the print issue of December’s Popular Science Magazine! (Well, the letters page.) Continue reading

Random Scotto factoid – I liked Dynamite Magazine when I was in elementary school, but only because of Magic Wanda’s tricks page. DYNAMITE (1974-1992)

The Rain stopped!

Enough looking out the window... time to chill out.

ok, I’ve implemented flex points in my system…we’ll see how that works out. Rather than point ranges for each day, 35 flex points are awarded each week. These points may be used as needed during the week. As part of this program Weight Watchers has eliminated point ranges and now assigns a single daily point value for each weight group. Seven days, five points a day, equals 35 points. I’ve done the math, and you still get the exact same number of points per week – it’s just a different psychological way of counting. They’re just modifying the system so that it’s in terms of a week rather than in terms of a day… though I can reserve some for a extra gluttonous day on occasion.

I’ve been craving ice cream cake since Cookie Puss has made a return to Carvel. Though… fudgie the whale seems to be sort of ironic. “To a whale of a dad… Here’s a big chunk of ice cream, tubbo!”

Speaking of which, I sort of like Am I Annoying or Not? of the “Or Not?” trends. Cleopatra’s Entry

Segue into Egypt…

Egyptian Scholar Planning Lawsuit Over Exodus Gold Continue reading

Labor day

I’m looking forward to spending some quality time today… so far, so good. It’s going to get better, too, I’m sure.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on TV last night.. I haven’t seen it in ages, and forgot how fun it was, though I think Benny Hill was underused.

Red-Haired Barbarians: The Dutch and other foreigners in Nagasaki and Yokohama, 1800-1865 40 Japanese prints from the NEHA collection.

Who was Aunt Jemima? (via art for housewives)

Fart costs bank 100,000 dollars Continue reading Labor day

I'd like to pull the book out of my mind and open it here.

Dream elements… crushing a can of black cherry soda that was still full on a hike… I dump out the sugar-water and flatten the can like a hockey-puck and slip it into my pocket for safekeeping. I’m walking through a rainforest, and there are 3-foot tall mechanical geese everywhere. They’re made of clear glass and when they sing exotic plant seeds and bulbs shoot from their mouths and burrow into whatever they land on … dirt, trees, rocks, water… One faces me, and I catch some seeds on my chest and arms… the seeds penetrate into my skin, but don’t bloom back afterwards. A huge flock of parrots flies over head and the sounds of their wings is almost deafening as they retreat from a gigantic inky-black cloud that is swirling behind them, slowly pincering in and engulfing them. The mechanical birds fly up and feed on the cloud, going from being transparent to a deep, opaque crow-black. It seems to make them heavier, as they stop flying, and instead glide slowly back to the ground, lined up in formation, no longer distributing plant life (or shooting me, either.) Rain starts falling from the now-clear sky, and the surrounding plants are growing so rapidly, it’s almost like I’m shrinking, instead. The scent of ozone fills the air, and mixes with some sort of heady, sweet smell, like honeysuckle and oranges. I notice that though a great amount of water is falling, I’m not getting wet, even though there’s no cover overhead…a drowsiness surrounds me and I wake up, pretty comfortable and refreshed.

Dang, this week just blew on by. I can hardly believe it’s Friday again.

Fantastic Kate Bush resources via nomi

rare mp3s – http://www.norbry.net/kate-bush/mp3/
Kate photos as a little girl.. http://home.att.net/~james51453/index.htm

How to swear in 113 languages.

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

2 years agohungrybaby, New Apes move lame, wiseacre, Champions stats for the Shadow, Dwayne Dibley?, Poul Anderson passes away, LJ moves in space,

3 years ago – Everway character- wanders the storm path

Haven’t heard from my brother in a few days.. I’m getting a little worried about him. I really don’t like when he doesn’t have an accessible telephone. I’ve already put in an hour of code this morn… Tracy is really putting me to good use.

I need to call workman’s comp and find out about my foot brace and MRI. They’ve had more than ample time to contact me. They’ve got until noon to put things right.

Great that you can type keyword into Google news and get stories directly. “Electrocuted monkey” returns –

Monkey say Ook Ack

“About 40 monkeys went on the rampage in a western Bangladeshi village after one of their young was accidentally electrocuted.

The large monkeys, known as hanumans in Bangladesh, were eating nuts given by the residents of the remote Keshabpur village in Jessore district on Saturday, but ran off when a stone was thrown at them, the Bengali-language Sangbad Daily said, quoting residents.

A baby monkey was electrocuted after being caught in a live wire as they fled, sparking the animals to use sticks to attack several homes and shops in the village, the newspaper said.

They later left, taking the baby monkey’s body.”

One-way Bullet Resistant Glass

Ugh… trolls. Don’t they realize that they serve no purpose, and are always rubbed out in the end?

Wipe them out. All of them.
“Wipe them out… All of them.”

I really wonder sometimes what causes people to lash out, online. Immaturity and some sort of bully complex are probably the biggest reasons. You have to wonder who wasted an authorization code for them, and if it can be tracked back.

There was a great deal of little nit-noids and niggling speedy-code this morning and yesterday… I’m glad, though, because it mixed things up a bit for me, and gave me a chance to cleanse my palate before returning to Niggling code, work reason? I wonder what’s bringing the onrush in, lately? New Clients? CSRs testing to see what they can get? Either way, I’ve done a good job and in record time.

Oh dear… Naughty hulk! (Probably work safe, unless your boss doesn’t like stuffed animals with a little extra felt where it counts.) The expression on Leah’s face is priceless.

At a park in Ohio, all you need to hunt for fossils is a bucket and a willingness to get dirty. Here’s the CNN story. Man, and I thought the peace river was fossil-rich! I want a trilobite!

http://www.wonderwoman-themovie.com/

a year ago – Wave of Husband killings, apple nipple monkey, star trek chairs auctioned, Ashcroft afraid of kitties

two years ago – brackish , some broken links, dancing poll, tried mcD’s yogurt & fruit, Le Petomane, band name poll, bid farewell to some junk,

three years ago – angry beavers, scary movie, don’t look behind you.

*60 activates call block. I’d been getting annoyance calls from a “disconnected number”, so I did the smart thing, and added that number to my block list. Simple, elegant solution. Speaking of calls, I spoke with my doctor’s office, and had to phone up workman’s comp in order to schedule my MRI and get my leg brace… waiting for a call back. They’re supposed to recall by end of day today.

Oddly, I got another call after activating it.

My new phone came today… much nicer than the $6 phone I was using as a temp. That will be relegated to the tech-box in case of emergencies. My only complaint is that the new phone takes 3 C batteries… and my charger seems to only handle AA and AAA as well as 9v clips. I will concern myself with it more as the batteries grow weak.

This is my kind of “running of the bulls”. Thanks, sweetalyssm! I think the horns were attached a la Steve Martin’s Arrow through the head method. See also Ralph’s screen test.

For Ray, who was right… Batroc is indeed a Frenchman, not Belgian.

My name is Elmer J Fudd, millionaire.. I own a mansion and a yacht.

Well, Newt didn’t mind the fireworks too much, yesterday, though when someone right out back started firing them off, he peered through the window, and Mer’d at each explosion. Fortunately there weren’t too many. *Pop* Mer? *Pop* Mer! *Pop* Mer! He’s been afraid of thunder when it’s right on top of the house, though.

I was going to go out to breakfast this morning, but decided it was nicer to just relax a bit and have a cup of instant General Foods International Coffee, Orange Cappuccino. Yummy, though I’m partial to the Swiss Mocha. I’m overdue for Coffee with Sappho and Ihop with Kev.

My daily spam between my regular mail and my registration mail is rather high, in my opinion. ~90 mails daily in the junk mail account, and about 70 in my regular mail, too. Filters work ok, but some things still fritter through. My bulk mail folder is especially large and I use a disposable addy whenever there’s a chance of it being harvested or traded. It’s not gotten too bad yet, but I might not feel the same way a bit more down the line. I’m wondering if perhaps I should consolidate my addys, and redistribute? I’ll concern myself more with it later on.

Danny spent a long time yesterday working on homework… he had to outline 4 chapters, and when I called him, he’s spent 2 hours outlining a 30 page first chapter. That seems too long to me, but I have no idea what the chapter contained. I figure that it’s a Danny-ism… making more work for himself than is needed. I’m amazed at his current Saturday Schedule… 8-hour cram class and then goes out with the wife for 3 hours dancing that night. He must be fried come Sunday. I’ll give him a call midday tomorrow and see how he’s surviving. He just had a pesky doctor’s visit, too… that can’t be helping matters.

Most of my nearest and dearest are needing repair in some way lately… Hip/back, hand, skin, legs… It seems most folks in my age group are starting to see the warrantee expire. Oh for a super-fixy bacta tank!

Bacta tank, with Luke in diaper.

In other Star Wars nerdy News, while talking about bellybuttons, *someone* suggested mine was similar to a sarlacc, drawing in lint akin to Boba Fett with my yeti-hair acting as graspers. I’ll have the world know that my navel is generally lint-free.

Extra dork bonue – RPG stats for Sarlaac

Looks like weather station K4VAE was back online, but is down again. Bah.

There’s a guy building a castle out of old printing plates.
archived

Groceries!

Restocked Freezer!

Grocery fun facts –

  • Publix’s Top Selling Snack – Pringles Original, 7oz.
  • On average, there are eight peas in a pod.
  • Olive oil is made only from green olives.
  • The cashew is part of a fruit called a “cashew apple” that grows in tropical regions. After harvesting, the cashew apple keeps for only 24 hours before the soft fruit deteriorates. The cashew apple is not commercially important since it spoils quickly, but local people love the fruit. To harvest the nut, the ripe apple is allowed to fall to the ground where natives easily gather it. The apple and nut are separated.
  • On the average, each American consumes 117 pounds of potatoes, 116 pounds of beef, 100 pounds of fresh vegetable, 80 pounds of fresh fruit, and 286 eggs per year.
  • On the Italian Riviera in Viareggio, there is a culinary tradition that a good soup must always contain one stone from the sea. This stems from the days when an Italian fisherman’s catch was scooped up in nets; fish and stones frequently ended up together in the same cooking pot.

Hmm.. The bakery didn’t finish the key lime pie for delivery. Ah well… such is life. I’ll get some next time.

Hotty-hot day today, clear skies. I hope that’ll make fireworks that much nicer for the throngs of beachgoers tomorrow… though if recent history is any indicator, it’ll rain.

Bloggers Gain Libel Protection

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last Tuesday that Web loggers, website operators and e-mail list editors can’t be held responsible for libel for information they republish, extending crucial First Amendment protections to do-it-yourself online publishers. Continue reading

Deadly Peripheral

Check out the deadliest computer peripheral to hit the market since the Microsoft Natural Keyboard:

VLe electronic handgun

Metal Storm’s new VLe electronic handgun.

That’s right, no moving parts, all electronic. Metal Storm makes all kinds of all-electronic weapon goodies that they’re trying to peddle to the U.S. government, including a 36-barrel minigun that fires at a rate of over a million rounds a minute. That’s a lot. Here’s the article at CNN. archived article