Prince should come to a Sunday potluck

casual friday chic

2012-01-12T10:23:00.001-06:00

casual friday chic by kc1192 featuring leopard ballet flats

Dorothy Perkins collarless shirt
$49 - dorothyperkins.com

Raoul flare pants
£245 - matchesfashion.com

Madewell leopard flat
$118 - madewell.com

Tory burch handbag
£400 - net-a-porter.com

Sahani clear earrings
£215 - kabiri.co.uk

This is better than a bookmark.

2011-10-25T22:47:00.001-05:00

Suh-weet watches -- check it!

Solids, Liquids, Gases, and Arrays!

2011-09-20T20:03:00.003-05:00

First, some tunes for you while you work.

Now that you're jamming, let's practice changing states of matter.

Next, let's move on to math. Play around with some arrays.

And finally, make a graph!

Musn't Forget

2010-08-17T20:53:00.001-05:00

He's serious.

2010-02-16T22:26:00.000-06:00

About wine and cereal.

I don't get it

2009-11-17T10:42:00.003-06:00

In the process of making baby shower invitations, I came across this. (Yes, I am explaining myself.) Do not think I was just googling sparkly baby stuff. I do not have a bun in the oven. I can't tell if it's real either.

Sounds like it is...

17K Diamond Pacifier

Caught in the act

2009-11-16T15:45:00.007-06:00

Photos taken over the weekend in South Texas. They were oblivious to spectators and camera.

Bulletproof Baby

2009-10-20T07:27:00.004-05:00

http://bulletproofbaby.net/

i'm not really sure what to think of this. i can't tell if it's fake or not. especially the video of the woman shooting a machine gun at the baby in the stroller. or the baby riot gear. or the baby insurance that covers stabbings, shootings, incineration, car accidents, drive-bys, kidnappings, snipers, etc.... If my baby gets incinerated or picked off by a sniper, I've probably got bigger problems than worrying where to collect my baby insurance.

on the plus side, they're having specials on the toddlers 5 mega volt taser. 40 bucks? i'll take two. Rob Lowell from LA and his baby were being mugged and used this to thwart the attacker. I especially like how he says, "Thanks Bulletproof Baby, you've done it again!" as if he owes multiple bulletproof baby products for saving the life of his baby multiple times. apparently some babies are just magnets for gangland and terrorist type activity.

This is Perth

2009-10-07T09:08:00.003-05:00

i found a video that tells you everything about perth. you guys can cancel that trip you had planned

this blog is getting just a little to intellectual for my tastes

2009-09-23T19:42:00.003-05:00

Who wants to get a hearing test with me?

2009-09-23T14:49:00.002-05:00

'Perfecting Sound Forever': A History Of

June 22, 2009 - In his book, Perfecting Sound Forever, Greg Milner explores the evolution of sound. His history covers the analog days of Thomas Edison through the present day of digital recordings, and the quest for sonic perfection.

Technological advances have complicated the debate about the value of the most accurate reproduction of a sound, versus the most enhanced. Whereas Edison set out to perfectly capture a live performance, today's sound engineers have the ability to create recordings from musicians who aren't in the same room — or aren't even alive at the same time.

Milner takes the reader through major breakthroughs and massive failures in recording history. He also digs into specific recordings from Lead Belly, the Beatles, Mission of Burma, Steve Albini and Massive Attack.

Excerpt: 'Perfecting Sound Forever'by Greg Milner
Greg Milner is also the coauthor, with filmmaker Joe Berlinger, of Metallica: This Monster Lives. He has also worked as a political speechwriter.

When a sound wave is generated, the mass is the air itself — or rather, the billions of particles that comprise the air — and the elasticity is the natural tendency of the particles to return to a stable position. These are the characteristics of any sound wave, whether caused by the big bang or by John Bonham's drum intro to Led Zeppelin's version of Memphis Minnie's "When the Levee Breaks." Those two particular sounds are alike in other ways: they are both epic and epochal, and each has been cited as evidence of the hand of God (and in Bonham's case, also His right foot). The latter is easier for us to conceive (though nearly as unlikely to ever be repeated), so let's examine the work performed by Bonham, and its effect on us.

You are very lucky. It is sometime in the early seventies, and you are at a mansion in the English village of Headley. The members of Led Zeppelin are here to make their fourth album, and they have invited you along to watch. Today they will record Bonham's drum part for "When the Levee Breaks." The band wants Bonham's drums to have a booming, reverb-heavy sound. (This is an unusual choice for the time, since the trend in records is toward drums that sound dry, with little resonance.) To achieve the desired effect, they place the drums at the bottom of a stairwell, with the microphone hanging three stories up. You are in the stairwell, a few feet away from the drums. The only person who will be closer to the sound is Bonham.

The engineer announces that the tape is rolling. Bonham counts off the rhythm and then slams his foot down on his kick drum's pedal to begin the beat. Let's freeze time at this exact moment and analyze the next 1/30,000th of a second, roughly the amount of time that elapses each time our hearing system takes a reading. What exactly is happening?

The pedal causes the mallet to strike the kick drum with a force that only Bonham, it would seem, can generate. The skin of the drum impacts the air particles around it. There are a lot of them — 400 billion billion just in the cubic inch around the area where the mallet has hit. Like any other sonic source, Bonham's drum has caused a disturbance in the air. The particles are very disturbed. They're rocking — literally. Imagine each attached to its own spring mechanism. The first particle to be impacted is knocked off its unique and stable position in the universe. It swings forward, and then is pulled back by its spring. It overshoots its original position on the way back, is pulled back again by the spring, and attempts to find its original spot. Its initial surge forward has thrown it up against the particle next to it, and that particle begins the same process. There's real slapstick comedy here — particles all knocking one another out of place like circus clowns.

We'll follow the wave into one of your ears.

The wave travels a little more than two centimeters through the ear canal and arrives at your tympanic membrane, otherwise known as the eardrum. The wave vibrates the eardrum, which transfers the vibration to a tiny bone attached to it on the other side. This bone is connected to two others; the three are known informally (and, for our example, appropriately) as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. The hammer transfers the vibrations to the anvil, which sends them to the stirrup. The stirrup covers the entrance to the inner ear. It is in the inner ear that these vibrations begin to become information. (The inner ear also regulates your sense of balance, an important task at this moment, since Bonham's drumming is about to give you simulated whiplash.)

To understand what happens next, we need an understanding of some of the properties of waves. Every wave has an amplitude and a frequency. The amplitude is a measure of the power of the wave, the degree to which it disturbs the medium in which it propagates. For sound waves, that medium is air, so amplitude corresponds to the pressure changes the wave causes in the air. We perceive amplitude as volume. The relationship isn't linear — that is, we can't simply say the greater the amplitude, the louder the sound — but for now, just think of the amplitude of a sound wave as an expression of soft and loud, usually expressed in a unit called the decibel (dB).

A wave's frequency describes the time it takes to complete one cycle of vibration before beginning to vibrate again. The frequency of a sound wave corresponds to its pitch. A low frequency sounds like bass, a high frequency sounds like treble. Frequency is denoted in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz). (Groupings of a thousand cycles per second are often expressed in kilohertz, or kHz.) Thus the lowest sound human beings can hear, 20 Hz, is caused by a wave that vibrates back and forth 20 times in one second. The upper limit of human hearing is 20 kHz (though for most people it is much lower), caused by a wave that vibrates 20,000 times in one second.

For the purposes of this book, think of the amplitude as the "height" of the wave, a measure of its power, which we perceive as volume; and think of frequency as the wave's "width," the distance it travels back and forth when it vibrates, which we perceive as pitch.

The inner ear is barely the size of a grape. Within it lies a snail-shell-shaped organ called the cochlea, filled with fluid and bisected by a membrane that varies in length from half a millimeter on one end to 1/25th of a millimeter on the other. The vibrations from the stirrup displace the fluid. The way this fluid is displaced allows your auditory system to determine loudness and pitch. Bonham's vibrations begin to become something we can understand, thanks to thousands of hair cells in the cochlea that make synaptic connections with the auditory nerve. As far as you are concerned, Bonham's blast is no longer a wave. It is now a series of electrical impulses.

The nerve endings of the auditory nerve interface with various cells, which eventually connect to a part of your brain called the medial geniculate body. From there, nerve fibers carry the signal to the auditory region of your cerebral cortex. It is here, after this arduous journey of vibrations begetting more vibrations and then finally electrical signals, that the sound of Bonham's kick drum finally becomes "real" to you. When his stick slams down on the snare, and his foot makes the kick drum thunder once more, and his other foot and other stick work the hi- hat cymbal to tie it all together, your brain starts to hear that distinctive rhythm that changed music forever. Soon, your brain will send an urgent message that says: You've never heard a human being make a sound like this before.

Excerpted from Perfecting Sound Forever by Greg Milner, © 2009. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Well when you put it that way . . .

2009-09-22T14:40:00.001-05:00

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

The distant future. The distant future.

2009-09-18T00:32:00.001-05:00

Touchable holography
Posted by David Pescovitz, September 17, 2009 11:56 AM | permalink

Professor Hiroyuki Shinoda and his colleagues at Tokyo University are making headway in haptic holography, 3D projections you can actually feel. I first experienced something like this probably 15 years ago at the late holography pioneer Steve Benton's laboratory at MIT's Media Lab. Back then, the hologram was grainy and grayscale and the physical feedback came from a handheld Phantom stylus that provided some sensation of touching a real object. Based on this demonstration, it appears that the technology has come a long way. From Reuters:
By using ultrasonic waves, the scientists have developed software that creates pressure when a user's hand "touches" a hologram that is projected.

In order to track a user's hand, the researchers use control sticks from Nintendo's popular Wii gaming system that are mounted above the hologram display area.

The technology has so far been tested with relatively simple objects, although the researchers have more practical plans, including virtual switches at hospitals, for example, and other places where contamination by touch is an issue.

Reasonable discourse

2009-09-15T11:09:00.017-05:00

Hello everyone. Good to see you. Long time reader, first time blogger here. With all the pro-liberal speakings that's been up here lately, I felt like I had to step in and play a little devil's advocate. I speak for all the people who aren't quite sure about Obama's true motives as our country's president. Oh sure, he says he wants to reform healthcare and help the poor and sick but what's he really trying to gain here? There's no money in helping the disadvantaged. Just pitiful poor person gratitude and some crappy thank you notes from sickly kids.

It's obvious to me and most true Americans that deep down Obama's an impostor, ready to pervert everything we stand for. He's just consolidating his power and waiting for the perfect opportunity to take this country down the road to destruction. Or worse...socialism. It makes me shiver to even think about it. Now, if you're intrigued by my truth-bomb, I beseech you to follow the link at the bottom of the poster and open your mind to the true workings of the world. But beware. Just like those Nazis from Indiana Jones, not everyone will be able to handle the awesome power that is contained in this link. So you "progressives" probably don't need to look at it. And your co-workers probably won't be able to take the truthload that I'm dishing out either. This is strictly for the hardcore seekers of truth...to view in their own home, away from prying eyes.

The truth must be told!!! Americans will not sit idly by and watch their country be destroyed. If you view this message and believe it to be true, help me out by printing out these fliers and distributing them to everyone who is wary of this Obamanation! We can make a difference!

Batter up!

2009-09-14T23:27:00.002-05:00

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, just that it's a little "blah".

Main Entry: 1con·ser·va·tive
Pronunciation: \kən-ˈsər-və-tiv\
Function: adjective
Date: 14th century
1 : preservative
2 a : of or relating to a philosophy of conservatism b capitalized : of or constituting a political party professing the principles of conservatism: as (1) : of or constituting a party of the United Kingdom advocating support of established institutions (2) : progressive conservative
3 a : tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : traditional b : marked by moderation or caution - a conservative estimate c : marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners
4 : of, relating to, or practicing Conservative Judaism

— con·ser·va·tive·ly adverb

— con·ser·va·tive·ness noun

AND

Main Entry: con·ser·va·tism
Pronunciation: \kən-ˈsər-və-ˌti-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1832
1 capitalized a : the principles and policies of a Conservative party b : the Conservative party
2 a : disposition in politics to preserve what is established b : a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change; specifically : such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (as retirement income or health-care coverage)
3 : the tendency to prefer an existing or traditional situation to change

To allow for a more complete understanding.

2009-09-13T22:52:00.002-05:00

Just so we're clear.

Main Entry: lib·er·al·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈli-b(ə-)rə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1819
1 : the quality or state of being liberal
2 a often capitalized : a movement in modern Protestantism emphasizing intellectual liberty and the spiritual and ethical content of Christianity b : a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard c : a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically : such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (as those involving race, gender, or class) d capitalized : the principles and policies of a Liberal party

— lib·er·al·ist \-b(ə-)rə-list\ noun or adjective

— lib·er·al·is·tic \ˌli-b(ə-)rə-ˈlis-tik\ adjective

Intellectual and civil liberites? Gee, I don't know . . . sounds a bit racy.

Guess who can post again!

2009-09-10T14:49:00.003-05:00

Your mom.

I kid. It's actually me. And I've decided that I'm going to start posting definitions to words. I will start with this one:

Main Entry: 1lib·er·al
Pronunciation: \ˈli-b(ə-)rəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin liberalis suitable for a freeman, generous, from liber free; perhaps akin to Old English lēodan to grow, Greek eleutheros free
Date: 14th century
1 a : of, relating to, or based on the liberal arts - liberal education b archaic : of or befitting a man of free birth
2 a : marked by generosity : openhanded - a liberal giver b : given or provided in a generous and openhanded way - a liberal meal c : ample, full
3 obsolete : lacking moral restraint : licentious
4 : not literal or strict : loose - a liberal translation
5 : broad-minded; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms
6 a : of, favoring, or based upon the principles of liberalism b capitalized : of or constituting a political party advocating or associated with the principles of political liberalism; especially : of or constituting a political party in the United Kingdom associated with ideals of individual especially economic freedom, greater individual participation in government, and constitutional, political, and administrative reforms designed to secure these objectives

— lib·er·al·ly \-b(ə-)rə-lē\ adverb

— lib·er·al·ness noun

synonyms liberal, generous, bountiful, munificent mean giving or given freely and unstintingly. liberal suggests openhandedness in the giver and largeness in the thing or amount given - a teacher liberal with her praise. generous stresses warmhearted readiness to give more than size or importance of the gift - a generous offer of help. bountiful suggests lavish, unremitting giving or providing - children spoiled by bountiful presents. munificent suggests a scale of giving appropriate to lords or princes - munificent foundation grant.

Sounds pretty great to me. How exactly did it become a four letter word then? Well, anyways, I kind of wish I were more liberal.

i have the internet now

2009-09-03T07:19:00.005-05:00

hi, sorry for the absence. the month of august was pretty busy and crazy for me. i went drinking around 4 different countries in europe, moved into a different house, smacked around the international scientific community, and then Will came to visit me and had the best time of his life probably. in addition to the busyness, we haven't had internet hooked up at the house until yesterday so that's another explanation

so anyway i was in europe. it was pretty much the best trip ever. i can't explain everything that happened but i remember lots so ask about it when you see me. here's a picture that pretty much sums up the trip

wait damnit that wasn't the picture i meant to post. ok this is the picture that accurately portrays our trip.

that's better. ok later

Allow me to explain

2009-08-27T12:41:00.003-05:00

First of all, I miss you.

Second of all, my computer and/or blogger sucks. See, I've tried to post for the longest time but i've been unable to because the site keeps insisting that I have cookies blocked. Let me assure you, I DO NOT. Period. While I'll freely admit that I'm no computer whiz, I know how to freakin' control my cookies settings. Grrr.

Okay, so there have been tons of things that I've wanted to post but haven't been able to . . . until now. I've hijacked Kasia's computer, unbeknownst to her. In an effort to not make this the longest post ever, I'm only going to post one little juicy morsel. It's this video. I'm going to warn you now that I've only been able to watch this video once. It made me feel like a perv. It still does actually. Perhaps you'd like to join me in my sick, gross, pervy-ness. If so, watch on.

One more thing, there's a new playlist above. There are some gems to be heard. Give it a whirl.

Big heart,
P funk

Free Press Summerfest 2009

2009-08-10T23:06:00.005-05:00

Musically a far cry from ACL the Houston Press Summerfest 2009 was pretty damn awesome.

I had been looking forward to this festival for a while. For once Houston was going to put on something relatively interesting besides the International Festival or the 4th of July fireworks. I was amazed over the past few months how many people were talking about it, everyone planned on going.

Before I get into the music let me tell you what made the festival itself so great...

First and foremost, the hill. Being at Eleanor Tinsley Park, the whole festival was on a hill. There was not a bad seat in the house, visually or aurally. The sound was great, even if you were way off to the sides of the stage or at the back of the hill. You didn't have to fight your way to the front to enjoy the music.

The people were pretty cool too. Everyone was just having a good time.

It was hot, really hot, and humid of course too. But there are trees EVERYWHERE and there was no problem finding a nice shady spot to watch the shows.

The activities were pretty great too. My favorite to watch was the paint slide. I don't know if this was a planned activity or not, but people would smear themselves with what I assume was non toxic paint and slip and slide down the hill. With a running start you would end up sliding way past the tarp and into the mud, the main reason that I didn't do it. That and after a while it just looked like people were sliding on liquid sandpaper as the slide became covered in mud. It was pretty great though, next year I'm going down it for sure if it is around. There was a volleyball court that got a lot of use and they were giving away lots of great refreshments like snow cones and vitamin water.

I took full advantage of the FULL BAR in the tent too, along with the occasional trip into the tent to enjoy the A/C which helped bear the intense heat outside. The beer was plentiful and refreshing too, but it was nice to get a nice strong pour of liquor to keep things moving forward. Everything was $5.00, food, beer, liquor...

The music was great. I heard a lot of new acts that I had never heard of before, some that I had heard of but never really gave a listen to. My favorite of the festival was a band from Austin called Eastern Sea. I'm sure some of you know them since they're from Austin. They had a great vibe and the chick on the keys really brought it together. Check them out if you haven't already.

Explosions was great! It had been a while since I'd seen such a great Explosions in the Sky show.

Octopus project, which I had heard of but never got into, was really great as well. They put on a great show and have some pretty great beats. So did Broken Social Scene. Other notables were Devin the Dude, Prince Paul, What Made Milwaukee Famous, and even this crazy band called the Sword.

Overall I think it is something to plan for next year. It was a huge success, which indubitably will bring more people which could change the dynamics of it altogether. Even if it was more crowded I think it would still be a great festival and well worth the money.

For some reason I can't upload pictures onto the blog. I'll try again soon, the paint slide pictures are pretty great.

Hope everyone is doing well and that we get to hang soon.

the best website i've seen ever almost

2009-07-19T07:40:00.002-05:00

simple design, retro theme. sound needs to be on for full effect. keep the page open for a while to let it all sink in. click here

chilli pepper update

2009-07-07T06:07:00.008-05:00

earlier i posted this http://princeshouldcometoasundaypotluck.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-quest-for-pain-and-glory.html about how i'm growing the world's spiciest chili. i finally got around to planting the seeds and here are some pics.

this is an x-ray image of the chilli seeds. suppos

edly it can show if the seed is viable and able to germinate. i don't work with seeds so i don't know what to look for here. i just wanted to use the x-ray machine at work.

this is a seedling that just germinated.

this is what the plants look like presently more or less. a few of them died unfortunately

there's still a ways to go before i get the chillis. so later i'll put some more stuff up.

Quite possibly the greatest thing ever.

2009-06-26T10:19:00.001-05:00

www.ninja.com

I want to sing it from the rooftops!

2009-06-12T18:00:00.001-05:00

I loathe Sarah Palin.

Just putting that out there.

Knock knock.

2009-06-05T00:05:00.005-05:00

Geniuses have conducted a tickle study with apes. Their laughs have been recorded and can be found here for your listening pleasure. The bonobo laugh is kind of adorable.

Someone must have told them the one about the rabbi and the priest.

Also

2009-06-02T19:42:00.000-05:00

XOXOXO

You mished me.

2009-06-02T19:41:00.000-05:00

It's Better To Drink Beer After Exercise Than Water
Submitted by Julie on November 2, 2007 - 8:47pm. Diet & FitnessHealthHealth & ScienceResearch
Researchers at Granada University in Spain have come across a discovery that will undoubtedly please athletes and sports enthusiasts - a pint of beer post-workout or match is better at rehydrating the human body than water.

Professor Manuel Garzon, a member of Granada's medical faculty, made the finding after tests on 25 students over several months. Researchers believe that it is the sugars, salts, and bubbles in a beer that may help people absorb fluids more quickly.

The subjects in the study were asked to run on a treadmill at temperatures of 104F (40C) until they were close to exhaustion. Once they had reached the point of giving up, researchers measured their hydration levels, motor skills, and concentration ability.

Half of the subjects were given two half pints of Spanish lager to drink, and the other half were given just water.

Garzon said that the rehydration effection in those who were given beer was "slightly better" than those who were given only water. He also believes that the carbon dioxide in beer helps quench thirst more quickly, and that beer's carbohydrates replace calories lost during physical exertion.

The average person loses around 1 liter (33oz) of water for every hour of exercise in sweat. Rehydrating after a workout is crucial, as a lack of hydration is more likely to make one feel tired, fuzzyheaded, and suffer from headaches.

Based on the results of the study, researchers recommend moderate consumption of beer as a part of athletes' diets. "Moderate consumption" for men is 500ml per day, and for women is 250ml per day.

So that explains why Babe Ruth was so good. His method of training was nearly 100 years ahead of its time.

2009-05-21T07:08:00.003-05:00

i dunno if they air these commercials in the US but they are awesome and advertise chocolate.

oh and happy bday paloma

If you're happy and you know it take a risk!

2009-05-20T12:06:00.002-05:00

This is a pretty cool article, I would place us in the "golden third" for sure!

Absinthe and Flamethrowers: Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously
Bill Gurstelle is Geek Dad’s current guest blogger.

I’ve spent the last two years writing my just released book Absinthe and Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously. It’s an exploration of a single, important question, which I think is relevant to GeekDads, or anybody raising children, for that matter.Are people who take risks happier than those who do not?
It’s a simple question, but it took a while to come up with an answer. First of all, I had to better define the question. Physical risks? Emotional risks? Monetary risks? All of them? I looked at it a number of ways and decided to focus on physical risk taking. Basically, I wanted to know if it was intrinsically better to be an Evel Knievel or a Caspar Milquetoast? Better to be Chuck Yeager or Niles Crain? Are lion tamers happier with their lives than monks?
The answer is a bit complex. Psychologists can assess and numerically describe a person’s risk-taking proclivity. Risk-taking behavior can be summarized as a single number from one to 100. A one is a house-bound agoraphobe and a 100 behaves like a fire-eating crazy person. Not surprisingly, the distribution of risk-taking proclivity is described by a normal bell-shaped curve. Most people cluster around the mean score, as the graph below shows:
But here’s the cool thing.
I found that moderate, rational risk takers, that is, those with scores between the mean and one standard deviation to the right are the people who are most satisfied with their lives. I call that area “the golden third” because it’s about 1/3 of the population. Studies show that people who take just a bit more risks than average, that is, those in the golden third, tend to do better than average. They tend to be happier and more fulfilled. To me, that’s a stunning conclusion. And it’s something for parents to think about, as well.
I also found that getting good at risk taking requires practice. So I researched and experimented, coming up with dozens of rather interesting projects to build risk-taking skills. For instance, if you know what to do, you can walk into a Home Depot and come out with everything you need to build a rocket – a real rocket. You can make gunpowder. You can throw knives, eat dangerous food, do all sorts of things that would make your mother shudder. But it starts with knowing what to do and what not to do.
So get out there, geek dads, and live life dangerously and artfully.

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/05/absinthe-and-flamethrowers-ruminations-on-the-art-of-living-dangerously/

wait, is it kosher to re-blog someone else?
loves! -M

Brought to you by the letter P.

2009-05-06T19:49:00.003-05:00

Now I'm not saying that I deserve ALL of the credit for getting the ball rolling on this one but you can't deny the connection here.

Leading headline on MSN homepage.

Another month bites the dust.

2009-04-30T23:11:00.001-05:00

I. Love. This. Bird.

And then there's this . . .

You better hope these ants don't start talking.

2009-04-28T21:50:00.002-05:00

Mycocepurus smithii

A group of Amazonian ants have evolved an extremely unusual social system: They are all female and reproduce via cloning. Though their sexual organs have virtually disappeared, they have also gained some extraordinary abilities.

University of Arizona biologist Anna Himler orginally began studying the ants, called Mycocepurus smithii, because they had incredible success as farmers. Many breeds of ant keep domesticated “farms” where they breed various kinds of fungus for nourishment. But Mycocepurus smithii was able to breed fungus far more successfully, and in greater varieties, than other ants Himler had encountered.

As she and her team studied the insects, they realized there were no male ants anywhere to be found. Himler told the BBC that it’s possible the ants evolved so as “not to operate under the usual constraints of sexual reproduction.” Interestingly, the fungi that the ants cultivate also reproduce asexually. But why would these ants choose to emulate the reproductive cycle favored by their crops? Himler explains:
“It avoids the energetic cost of producing males, and doubles the number of reproductive females produced each generation from 50% to 100% of the offspring.”

All the members of the colony are clones of the queen. While that means the queen can control every aspect of the population, it also makes the colony vulnerable to pandemics. A virus that can kill one ant can kill all of them, since they all have the exact same immune systems. On the other hand, it seems that a lack of men gave these women more time and energy to cultivate some of the most elaborate forms of ant agriculture ever studied.

According to Himler, ants often evolve highly unusual reproductive strategies. But all-female ant societies are highly rare.

See previous post title.

2009-04-26T15:11:00.000-05:00

As you wish.

2009-04-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

My kind of action shot.

2009-04-21T22:55:00.002-05:00

Action Shot

2009-04-21T14:03:00.003-05:00

This picture is from Oregan, where someone set out a motion sensor camera to see if any big bucks were passing in the area where he was thinking about bow hunting.

When he downloaded the pictures, this was one of them. It's wild to see that cougar sneak up so close. It doesn't look like the deer knows he's there yet.

We love the Chronic(what)cles of Narnia

2009-04-20T22:03:00.003-05:00

Consume hemp.

We're all adults here.

2009-04-15T22:46:00.001-05:00

Zing.

i just realized this

2009-04-14T08:19:00.003-05:00

birds in australia fly north for the winter. i know i've been here for a while so i guess i should have thought of that sooner but i've had a lot on my mind

Peanut!!!

2009-04-09T18:37:00.004-05:00

In case you ever need to turn me into a puddle of mush:

These guys are pretty cute too.

Coincidence?

2009-04-08T14:04:00.006-05:00

Robert Downey Jr. was in my dreams last night. Sadly, it was purely platonic.

Apparently he and his girlfriend (a special ed teacher I sometimes work with) had recently broken up and they were trying to share custody of their dog. I was sort of their go-between. As a thank you?, his ex-gf gave me a vicodin, which I offered to share with Mr. Downey Jr. when he explain that he had a backache. He declined because he hated to be a burden. He was thoughtful like that. He was also funny, charming, and accomodating. Anyways, we hung out at his place - an awesome bachelor pad with a gold-plated tv suspended from the ceiling - and waited for the guests to arrive. People were coming over to celebrate the birthday of Adrian? - an America's Next Top Model winner. The only other people to show were these two grandma comediannes. They sure were funny though.

Here's where the coincidence part comes in -- I hopped on-line this morning and quickly discovered that last night was Robert Downey Jr.'s birthday!!! Or at least his birthday party . . . the point is, it was last night!! Like my dream!

I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing me acting opposite Robert (that's what I'll call him) sometime in the near future. Just a heads up.

Also, the following did not happen in my dream but I kind of wish it did:

who doesn't want to see this?

2009-04-07T01:07:00.002-05:00

a star-studded cast
a brilliant director
fuck off graphics
and a classic story

quite possibly the best trailer I've ever seen (and it's in HD)....

where the wild things are

how can you go wrong with the arcade fire?

you can't!

Three things.

2009-04-07T00:35:00.003-05:00

ONE - It has been far too long since someone has posted on this. Tsk tsk. Well, I'm officially un-busy so I shall resume my efforts to keep friends united via the blog-bridge. You are welcome.

TWO - Real life Pac-Man. Perhaps you all have already heard of this? Apparently it happens in France. I tried to YouTube it but to no avail. I did find this though:

The Go! Team is not to be confused with Ok Go, who you might remember from this rad music vid (unless you are me, in which case you will spend a good five minutes searching for The Go! Team treadmill music video):

THREE - Blogger now gives you the option to "hide" your blog from appearing on your account. I find this pretty interesting. Do you suppose this option was created so that those with whom you share a computer can't see what you're blogging about? And if so, how many people with secretive blogs are out there? And just what are they writing about that they feel the need to hide it? I've decided to take matters into my own hands and find out just how weird it gets in the blog world. I've purposefully excluded fetish/porn blogs from my picks for contenders because that's taking it to a whole new (and very scary) level. Here then, are a few sites that I would imagine rank high on the hide-potential scale:

One blog. (In particular, this post.)
Two blog.
Red blog. (A reborn Christian is one thing, BUT a reborn Christian who's dedicated a blog to reborn baby dolls . . .)
Blue blog. (Umm, right, "for their children".)

Just one more thing to be disgusted by

2009-03-25T19:40:00.003-05:00

Vice magazine
In the last half-century, Detroit lost more than half its population. Those leaving the city were mostly white people who fled to the suburbs. As a result, the tax base was destroyed and the black population that remains has had to govern a 139-square-mile city with limited resources.

With an aging infrastructure built for twice the existing population, the school district has to shut down and vacate school buildings every year. In 2007, the school board awarded a contract for securing, cleaning and removing supplies from closed schools to a Philadelphia-based company with ties to school board members. However, the work at many closed schools was simply never done. As with any buildings left unsecured in Detroit, thieves looking for metal immediately broke in to steal copper pipes and other valuables. These “scrappers” are like locusts. In 2008, I went into several schools closed the previous year to find buildings stripped of metal but left with libraries full of books, computer labs upturned, art classrooms full of supplies, and administration offices filled with confidential and sensitive student records.

It goes without saying that the city’s schools are in a bad way. Only recently, a principal at one Detroit public school asked parents to send toilet paper and light bulbs to school with their children because the district could no longer provide those necessities. Most students are not allowed to bring textbooks home, if their school has textbooks at all. The Detroit Public Schools are allotted more tax dollars per pupil than any other district in the state, and yet none of the money actually reaches those students or their teachers. It disappears in a morass of bureaucratic waste and corruption.

People tend to have a visceral reaction to the sight of books piled ten feet high and left to rot in a windowless warehouse or strewn about a classroom floor. They seem to have more sympathy for books than for the children who’ll never have the chance to use them. Half of Detroiters cannot even read. Unemployment is above 20 percent and our streets are filled with hopeless people. When I see schools left like this, I know exactly what waits for many of these kids. I see it every day on the streets.

Snow fills a former school library after vandals broke the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Photo documentation of fight injuries found in the principal’s office. The report in the student’s own handwriting says: “This is what I was at my locker and the 8th Grade Hall and so she came up to me and said you said you ain’t like me I said if I did what you gonna do about it then she hit me…”
A box elder tree grows from a soil made of ash and pulp from science textbooks in the Detroit Public Schools’ Roosevelt Warehouse. A man’s body was discovered in a frozen lift shaft here. It is assumed he had been there for some months as his face had decomposed.
A school cafeteria trashed by vandals with hundreds of Styrofoam food trays (provided by the same school services company that was supposed to secure and remove supplies from this school).
A school computer lab with relatively modern hardware. Thieves have removed any precious metals from the CPUs and monitors, rendering them worthless.

i don't know what a lobber is

2009-03-24T08:04:00.003-05:00

but i think it might be an australian term for someone who takes exctasy. anyway, if anyone wants to know what it's like to go out to a club in my current town, go to this guy's website. it's called lovers and lobbers. then feel sorry for me that i have to deal with these dickheads. i try to avoid these places as much as possible btw. march 14th is a doozie (kinda crude so wouldn't look on the work comp). oh yeah, pill = exctasy, just to clarify

The Future of Fashion

2009-03-23T18:41:00.002-05:00

Let's cross our fingers that these predictions come true!
courtesy of Vice Magazine

BODY RECORDERS
Remember that Dave Chappelle skit about the “home stenographer”? Well, you’ve got about two more years to enjoy life without one. Two years, according to Moore’s Law, is how long it takes to double the storage capacity of a microchip. According to this schedule, 200 gigs will fit comfortably on a slender iPod by 2011. By 2013, you’ll be able to squeeze this storage capacity into an iPod shuffle, and by 2015 it’ll be something the size of a ladybug. Combine your 200 gigs with a tiny camera and microphone, and you’ve got a wearable recorder that can document your entire life—video and audio—for a week straight. If you dial down the input to nannycam-quality video and audio, you can do a month. It’ll take a while for this new device to go mainstream, and in the interim it’ll get christened with one of those regrettable modern nonwords like “blog,” “sexting,” “splorg,” or “prok.”

Perhaps this doesn’t seem like much of a fashion issue, but consider the evolution of Bluetooth. It took one long weekend in 2005 for the Bluetooth Fairy to sweep the land, depositing chunky little headsets in every third person’s earhole. I don’t know about your neighborhood, but where I live this kind of head bling is as much a fashion statement as fat gold chains or propeller beanies. Likewise, next decade’s personal body recorders will slip into mainstream fashion through the pioneering advocacy of jerks and boors. You think it’s rude having the person behind you at the bank yammering away on their Bluetooth? Try having the person behind you recording everything in his or her line of sight, including your own ass.

This issue—privacy—will dictate design. In just a few years, you’ll be able to walk into any Target in America, plop down $39.95, and walk out with a 200-plus-gig body recorder disguised as a shirt button. But at some point, a well-publicized privacy/security breach (women’s restroom? airport?) will force Congress to mandate some sort of recording signifier, similar to how every cell phone in Japan (allegedly) makes an audible “click” when used for photography. My guess is it’ll be a little red blinking light, kind of like the trashy LED lapel pins now sold at dollar stores. Overnight, everyone will have little blinking red lights on their shirts, hats, and shoes (upskirt videography being only one of many scourges loosed by the new technology).

Here’s how it will play out. You’ll good-naturedly bad-mouth your friend’s new Personal Recorder Information Collection Knickknack right up until the day (in June 2016) when you lose one of your epaulettes. Where is it? Don’t panic. All your friend will have to do is give a simple voice command to the recorder’s search engine, and a chipper little computer voice will tell you that you left your epaulette back at the Applebee’s where you both had lunch two hours ago and would you like it to IM the restaurant manager?

Suddenly these devices won’t seem quite so trashy. Two weeks later, you’ll be a convert, and very soon afterward you’ll forget what the world was like when you couldn’t archive and search every conversation, meal, or trip to Petco. For a while you’ll turn it off when you use the john, but eventually you’ll record everything, just like Saint Peter and Santa Claus. With all these blinking little lights everywhere, it’s going to look a lot like Christmas.

ASSVERTISEMENTS
There can’t be anything shocking about this one. After years of Juicy Couture tracksuit pants and Victoria’s Secret hot pants and countless other ass-writing knockoffs, is it any surprise that advertisers of the near future will view the human caboose as prime commercial real estate? MIT Media Lab has already pioneered something called “flexible display technology” to broadcast video ads on jackets and shirts. Asses are but a short leap away. Plus, there’s a financial incentive to this particular fashion trend. Say you earn four-tenths of a penny for every obnoxious Viagra ad your bum flashes at passing pedestrians. That’s still nearly 50 cents an hour. Do even two hours of walking a day, and you’ve paid half a utility bill every month. Can you and your ass afford not to advertise?

BONUS: The blinking pixels keep your rear warm in cold climates.
DOWNSIDE: You are still very much a creep if you stare at anyone else’s ass ad.

Hells yeah!

2009-03-22T22:18:00.001-05:00

Only four radio shows received this national shout-out.

Feelin' it

2009-03-17T21:02:00.001-05:00

Best Albums of All Time

2009-03-12T16:57:00.004-05:00

Click for list official participants & info on joining in!

I am what you call the amateur blogger. I did not set up this blog, nor do I know how to run it. I simply add information that people send me that I find amusing. So, this is a big endeavor, and I'm happy to be a part of it. I am also keen on aesthetics and thought I would teach myself how to add cover art to this post. That did not happen, BUT I did come across another best albums of all time blog here. Although it's for MTV UK, I find it fascinating how many of these contenders made it on our lists.

I'm happy someone shares my love of the following albums that did, in some way, change my life.

I cannot rank these, so I'll use Paloma's style and start with the first time I heard these melodic sounds.

PAUL SIMON-GRACELAND
My mother was the reason for these first three. Riding around in her old BMer, we would crank up the volume and sing our hearts out. Years went by before I found out Paul Simon was actually white and not from Africa.

MARIAH CAREY-MARIAH CAREY
When Mariah was naturally beautiful, talented and pure.

QUEEN-A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
Bohemian Rhapsody was the greatest song of all time. By the time I was in fifth grade, I knew every word. Or at least thought I did.

OASIS-WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY?
My first album and probably my favorite. This was the first time I really felt music. And boy was I in denial about what a cocksucker Liam Gallagher was. Maybe that was just the beginning of my bad boy phase.

BUSH-SIXTEEN STONE
I didn't feel the same way about Gavin. I think because everyone loved him. My first compilation CD, Current Vision, started off with Gel from Collective Soul and Everything Zen. (It also featured Chris Isaak, Juliana Hatfield, Faith No More) I was sold. They both became favorite bands, but Sixteen Stone was more complete. Glycerine, at that time, was the greatest song of all time. And that one 99cent compliation from Half Price Books opened a lot of doors in my ears.

TOADIES-RUBBERNECK
Rock from Texas. I loved it! And I still do.

DAVID GRAY-WHITE LADDER
My first roommate in college introduced Mr. Gray to me. New York memories.

TOM PETTY-GREATEST HITS
College. I once asked my mom if she didn't like all of these bands I discovered in college. She said she didn't want to influence my music taste too much, so she didn't expose me to it. Something I'll never quite comprehend.

TALKING HEADS-STOP MAKING SENSE
Also college. Maybe number 2 on this list.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS-BY THE WAY
Summer in Michigan. a.k.a. the best summer of my life.

SPOON-KILL THE MOONLIGHT
The rest of these are just great. So great they made this list, and not necessarily for memories. In their entirety, they show talent, heart, soul and versality.
MY MORNING JACKET-Z
ALBERT HAMMOND JR.-YOURS TO KEEP
SHE AND HIM-VOLUME ONE

The older I get, the more music I find, old and new. I can't wait to see how this list changes in 10 years.

Thanks for the invite ladies (Jessica and Sarah) and to Paloma for motivating me to think more than usual!

I MUST HAVE ONE!!!

2009-03-11T12:26:00.001-05:00

The New Mix Tape

Alltime favorite albums you say? Impossible.

2009-03-11T03:29:00.016-05:00

Click for list official participants & info on joining in! See the playlist above for a taste of what's to come!

As blasphemous as this may be, especially considering the task at hand, I must begin by confessing that I don't really "do" albums. Even in the days of yore, when I actually bought albums, an entire play-through was a rare occurance. I cannot defend this. I know that there are many, many, many, rock-your-world, change-your-life, wet-your-pants wonderful albums out there. All I can tell you is that it is the almighty mix disc that gets my engine purring. The challenge of it, the art of it, thrilling! And kinda hot.

That said, below lies my list of all time fave albums ... for what it's worth.

CHILDHOOD (in order of earliest memory)
Music during this phase of life included heaps of oldies, a bit of classical (that would be the mom's doing), oodles of pop radio, and a generous serving of prog rock.

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon - I am forever indebted to my step-dad for this one; he was way into the dark, heady stuff.

Motown Record's 25 #1 hits from 25 years - Volume I - This would be my bio-dad's influence; he loved him some oldies ... and Yanni ... and Jesus Christ Superstar. Yikes, I know BUT it's likely the reason I now have such an open mind toward music.

Michael Jackson's Thriller - My first official rock god. How the times have changed.

Madonna's Like a Virgin - Oh how this made me long to be a teen/not a virgin.

Transition (angry with the world phase begins to rear its ugly head)
Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion II - First album I bought with my very own, hard-earned allowance. I actually bought Nirvana's Nevermind, Metallica's Black Album, Pearl Jam's Ten, and Red Hot Chili Pepper's Blood Sugar Sex Magik at the same time, but G n' R come out on top.

TEEN-ANGST-HOOD (literally my "hoodiest" phase)
Only rap, hip-hop, and R&B were welcome here. In fact, it got pretty extreme - not long before the transition I was on a heavy diet of Houston's finest - Screw and Watts.

Dr. Dre's The Chronic - Big fan of the chronic. And the album was great too.

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's E 1999 Eternal - The flows were ill.

Mariah Carey's Music Box - Her self titled album hooked me and then this album came along and delivered (endless hours of boy-centered daydreaming).

Boyz II Men's II - There was once a time when I could not imagine a world without their music.

Transition (because thug life wasn't easy)
Third Eye Blind's Blue - If you went to high school in the late 90s then you know there was no escaping this. Plus, I really wanted to fit in.

ADULTHOOD (also known as, "When am I gonna feel like an adult already??")
Absolutely *anything goes from here on out. Which is why mixes are where it's at! They cover the big ones (a la Dylan), the little ones (remember The Hidden Cameras?), and all those in between (Solomon Burke, Nick Cave, etc.). They span genres, decades, and life phases.
Anywho, as the title of this post indicates, I believe it to be impossible to make a favorite or best list. The albums mentioned up to this point have been included because they shaped me, for better or worse. The albums listed below are simply the ones that somehow someway ended up on repeat and are now forever etched in my mind. They're solid for sure, but not the best.

Modest Mouse's Good News For People Who Love Bad News - For bonding with the homies.

Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - For all-night makeout sessions.

The Beatles' 1967-1970 - For walks around town.

Nick Drake's Pink Moon - For the perfect start to any day.

Obligatory shout-outs
As any fan of Tarantino or Anderson knows, soundtracks can be the shit! So in that vein, a list of the bestest.

Vanilla Sky - This is the one that made me wake up and smell the soundtracks.

Garden State - And this little piggy made many others wake up and smell the soundtracks.

Amelie - Three things going for it -- 1. It is French (judge if you want but I'm sticking to my guns, this country makes my favorite non-english music). 2. Yann Tiersen (he only does EVERYTHING right). 3. The phenomenally beautiful movie to which it is attached.

Dirty Dancing - As a child I remember thinking, "Whoa nelly, music can be sexy."

The Sound of Music - Um, because it's THE SOUND FREAKING OF MUSIC and my heart isn't made of stone!

Honorary mentions
My first mix cd - It had to be said. Yes, mix tapes came first but let's face it, hoping to catch a record-button worthy song on the radio was hit or miss business. And forget about arrangement.

Putamayo Records - International music mixes!? I think so.

Brazos' A City Just as Tall - Absolute favorite local artist.

Post Script: A big thanks to Jessica for inviting me to join in this endeavour and map props to Sarah for being the brain-child.

Check please!

My Quest for Pain and Glory

2009-03-10T06:50:00.006-05:00

Since 2006, I have had a dream. That dream was to eat the newly appointed hottest chile pepper in existence. According to the New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute, the Bhut Jolokia, or ghost chili, has been the world record holder since 2006, and is twice the spiciness of a habenero, with 1,041,427 Scoville Heat Units. They are so powerful that they use them to deter rampaging elephants in India. I'll let that sink in while Farmer Digonta Saikia shows a Bhut jolokia or ghost chili from his field in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.

Seeds were avaliable for purchase through the New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute, but growing conditions are very precise, and require expensive equipment I do not possess, and even then there is a low rate of germination success. I knew I needed to gain access to this kind of equipment if I was to have any chance at eating the spiciest natural thing known to man. I devised a clever plan to enroll as a graduate student in Australia, studying plants at a botanical laboratory with all sorts of cutting-edge nursery technology and greenhouses and other cool shit. However, when I arrived I was presented with another setback. Australia is a real dick about letting you bring stuff in to their country, most of all seeds. They confiscated my beef jerky and my Ranch dressing on the way in if I didn't tell you before. So importing seeds was out of the question, unless I wanted to get deported or something. I laid low for a while, hoping an opportunity would present itself. Fast forward one year...

I figured that if I couldn't bring the pepper to me, then the only other option would be for me to go to the pepper itself. So I went to India. And it would have worked except Priya thought my idea of going to a rural part of India with no toilets and "radical terrorism" just so I could try a chili pepper was a bad idea. So that didn't work and I returned to Australia a broken man without severely burnt taste buds.

"Whoops, where'd all the chilis go? I coulda sworn they were at the Taj Mahal."

These past few months I have been in a downward spiral, pretty much hitting rock bottom, as the realization of never accomplishing my dream was eating away at my soul, exactly as how I imagined the ghost chili would eat away at my stomach lining. Then, out of nowhere, a miracle occurred. I had spoken numerous times at work about the fabled chile pepper, and a coworker who attended a chile pepper festival that is held annually in Perth remembered one of my chili speaches. This past Monday, I arrive at work to the news that ghost chili seeds were being sold at this festival, and there is a very small company that sells seeds in very small quantities. And, I was so awesome at conveying the message of how awesome the ghost chili is, that two other coworkers of mine want to go in with me and get ahold of some seeds and grow them. So, pretty soon, I will be the co-owner of 8 Bhut Jolokia seeds, and I will have all the neccessary fancy equipment to grow the plants, plus two helper people.

I realize that I might be getting a little ahead of myself here, because it's not guaranteed that these seeds will become fully functioning members of plant society. These plants are apparently really fragile and their flowers drop off unexpectedly for no reason and they don't like temperatures below 60 degrees and they need a lot of humidity and they are very susceptible to diseases and it takes over 150 days after germination to get a fruit, but damnit I've come this far and I'm gonna eat this damn thing and live my dream just like all those other guys who live the dream. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the most painful and glorious thing ever. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Economist, a PSCSP follower?

2009-03-07T00:35:00.003-06:00

Me thinks yes. And I have no problem saying, I told you so.

There are two things that will never go out of style.

2009-03-07T00:14:00.002-06:00

The little black dress and whoopee cushions.

beer pong gone wrong

2009-03-04T19:38:00.003-06:00

Beer pong has gotten some serious air time lately. But not for a good reason... check this out.

http://www.asylum.com/2009/02/24/herpes-rise-linked-to-beer-pong/

Caution:

Pissing in public can put you in jail. Take Leah's advice... KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS.

You know in The Netherlands, they have these high tech sculptures on street corners. Yeah, they look like art but in reality they are urinals. Genius.

Barack Obama is tired of your motherfucking shit!!!

2009-03-04T08:27:00.001-06:00

AWESOME

As if there weren't already enough reasons to love Vodka.

2009-02-26T16:07:00.002-06:00

The Many Uses of Vodka
By: Dahlia Rideout

Aside from being a fantastic drink, vodka has many uses which you may not have known about. Since vodka is one of the world's most popular drinks, many of us have a bottle handy in the home. And since it's typically filtered and pure, it makes a handy liquid to have around.

Here are a few uses:

1.To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The solvent dissolves adhesive.
2.To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.
3.Clean jewelry. Soak the jewelry in vodka for five minutes, then rinse, and dry.
4.Clean lipstick from clothing. Rub the stain with vodka, then throw into your regular wash.
5.Remove the glue left behind by a bumper sticker. Rub the glue with a soft, clean cloth soaked with vodka
6.Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting.
7.Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, then blot dry.
8.Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores.
9.Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth of healthy hair.
10.Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them.
11.Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water in a Ziplock freezer bag and freeze for a slushy, refreshable ice pack for aches, pain or black eyes.
12.Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar with freshly packed lavender flowers, fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly and set in the sun for three days. Strain liquid through a coffee filter, then apply the tincture to aches and pains.
13.To relieve a fever, use a washcloth to rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment.
14.To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka.
15.Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting.
16.Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy to remove the urushiol oil from your skin.
17.Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth. Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain.
18.Soothe a sore throat. Add a tablespoon of vodka to glass of warm water and gargle. The alcohol helps numb the sore throat.
19.Eliminate swimer's ear. If you don't have rubbing alcohol, fill an eardropper with vodka, and squeeze it into the affected ear, then let it drain out

A few thoughts:
#1 - And the alcohol won't burn that cut of yours at all.
#7 - Isn't the vodka what got you in this mess in the first place?
#9 - What is a jigger?

And my personal contribution to this list:

#20 - Or you could just drink the vodka and forget all of these troubles and pains.

D'oh!

2009-02-25T15:47:00.001-06:00

Don't worry, they're not talking about you.

I think I have a crush on a plant.

2009-02-18T16:24:00.006-06:00

IN THE NUMBERS:

A 2008 study by Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron has estimated that legalizing drugs would inject $76.8 billion a year into the U.S. economy — $44.1 billion from law enforcement savings, and at least $32.7 billion in tax revenue ($6.7 billion from marijuana, $22.5 billion from cocaine and heroin, remainder from other drugs).

While I will not advocate for the legalization of all drugs - though the argument behind this is strong, it doesn't quite gel with my beliefs - I do believe the time has come to legalize marijuana.

BENEFITS:

Tax revenue. (The estimated 6.7 billion almost seems conservative.)

Law enforcement savings. (Check out the wikipedia article for the war on drugs.)

Job creation. (Some job loss seems likely for the DEA but think of how many jobs could be created if these tax revenues were invested in drug rehab clinics, drug education/awareness programs, and health care in general.)

Human cost. (The amount of human life lost in the name of the drug war is sickening.)

Relief of overcrowded prisons.

WHY NOT?:
Health effects. (Yes, much like there are health effects of tobacco and alcohol usage. Take your tax revenues and treat these effects.)

Gateway drug. (Yes, much like the gateway possibility of tobacco and alcohol usage. Again, take your tax revenues and educate about this possibility.)

WIll IT HAPPEN?:
Probably just pipe dreams for now. BUT, I am hopeful that by the time today's 20 somethings become 50 somethings that the legalization of marijuana will be a very real possibility.

Come again?

2009-02-13T03:40:00.006-06:00

On Darwin’s Birthday, Only 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution
by Frank Newport

PRINCETON, NJ -- On the eve of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," while a quarter say they do not believe in the theory, and another 36% don't have an opinion either way. These attitudes are strongly related to education and, to an even greater degree, religiosity.

There is a strong relationship between education and belief in Darwin's theory, as might be expected, ranging from 21% of those with high-school educations or less to 74% of those with postgraduate degrees.

?????!????? The question asked was, "Do you, personally, belive in the theory of evolution, do you not believe in evolution, or don't you have an opinion either way?" It's one thing for your creation belief to exclude evolution but it's a whole 'nother story to just outright reject the whole of evolutionary science. It's kind of like saying, "I don't believe in the truth." or, "My own eyes are lying to me."

2009-02-11T22:50:00.001-06:00

Paintball is sexy

2009-02-11T15:22:00.007-06:00

"Hey boys, I'm awfully dirty, won't someone help me get clean??" Silly boys:

You see, the reality of paintball is actually much closer to this:

Also, Greg, I was hoping your outfit would look something like this:

Or even better, this:

Whatever you do, do NOT wipe:

At what temperature is Farenheight and Celcius the same?

2009-02-09T03:00:00.004-06:00

Hey so I was on the plane on the way here, laying across a full row of seats on the half empty flight from Houston to Amsterdam, and I noticed something on the little screen that shows you how far you have (or have not) flown. It said that the outside temperature was -55 Fahrenheit/-45 Celsius (or something like that). It took a double take, but as far as I could remember Celsius was always a lower number than Fahrenheit. Almost a day later, Tal, Donovan, two of his roommates, and I were riding the train back from Rotterdam at 4:00AM and I brought this up. Maybe it wasn't the best time to try and visualize the point of intersection of an equation none of us really even remembered, we were not up until 4:00AM in the library studying and drinking coffee. We looked it up the next day. It really does intersect, but at a temperature few of us will ever experience. Hello from Holland.

"majority" supporters mean alot

2009-02-08T14:29:00.003-06:00

Coincidences indeed! I'm pretty excited that Paloma brings this up, support of GLBT rights is something I feel really strongly about (and if anyone in Austin is so inclined, I'm interested in attending Texas Lobby Day on March 2nd but want a partner). I feel like this is a situation where being a supporter is often a silent thing outside of the people we actually come into contact with on a personal level. I was inspired a couple months back to become a member of Atticus Circle , a group recognizing that as members of the majority, we have a unique responsibility to impact progression otherwise minority groups would never win fights for equal respect. Recently it lead me to a T-shirt project, Gay? fine by me that I think is great (though I wonder if it makes as much impact here in Austin, I'll make sure to wear it while traveling). I opted for the Gay marriage?fine by me T-shirt in hunter green, because the marriage/adoption rights issues are the current gaping thorn in my societal side.

"Whoa, heavy post for just getting back to this blog thing" ....yeah, sorry about that... um, yes Paloma, I'm in for Hey Homo!

I love my friends!

I think I have a crush on a drag queen.

2009-02-07T19:38:00.008-06:00

We all go through phases right?

My last phase was the phase of the funny. Comedians and comedy shows alike just kept poping into my life. Not only did I have the privledge of watching Kevin Nealon, Kids in the Hall (for free thank you Meg and Chris!), and Eddie Izzard but I also saw a TON of amatuer comedy - I even had a close friend venture into that realm.

Now to be clear, this is not quite the same as that phenomenon of "I was thinking about buying the XL7 Bladdity Blah Red Car and now I see it everywhere!", or "I just learned about transcendental meditation and now I can't pick up a magazine or turn on the tv without hearing about it!" But I do think these two things - phases and coincidental connections - are close cousins. The distinction is - and correct me if I sound way off here - that "phases" are more about your life's happenings over an extended period of time, whereas "coincidental connections" are more about you just paying witness.

My point is, I think that I'm about to enter the phase of the transvestite/transgendered/drag queens, LBGT at large. At least that's what I'm hoping for. And I figure Antony Hegarty (above) and a crush on a drag queen puts me off to a good start. Oh, and my lesbian cousin got married yesterday to boot!! Come with me to Hey Homo??

P.S. No, I do not personally plan to become a transvestite, transgender, or drag queeen ... or lesbian. "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

For the visually oriented folk:

2009-02-07T15:35:00.003-06:00

Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait

Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibililties of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2008

[ Several new images coming soon; and my apologies for the slow-loading website. In a few weeks these JPEGs will have a cool zooming function, using Microsoft's new SeaDragon technology. Please stay tuned! ~cj, December 2008 ].

IN A NUTSHELL, THIS PROJECT IS REALLY RAD! Here's a teaser of one of the full images and it's progressive stages of zoom BUT you should definitely check out the slow-loading website too!

Light Bulbs, 2008
72x96" (The displays are massive!)

Depicts 320,000 light bulbs, equal to the number of kilowatt hours of electricity wasted in the United States every minute from inefficient residential electricity usage (inefficient wiring, computers in sleep mode, etc.).

Putting the US bailout in perspective - Part Two

2009-02-05T22:41:00.003-06:00

On a slightly more serious note:

Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, wrote a letter to President Barack Obama outlining the steps that must be taken to address our current financial crisis. My hunch is, he knows what he's talking about.

Stenigno and Donovante, how are your respective countries holding up? Any bailouts for the Performance Arts?

Putting the US bailout in perspective - Part One

2009-02-05T22:30:00.003-06:00

South Korea Gives Music Industry $91 Million Bailout
2/5/2009 By Brock Thiessen

If you’re sick of the Conservatives and their arts-cutting ways, you may want to consider making the move to South Korea, a country whose government cares enough about its music industry to give it a $91-million bailout.

South Korea’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry this week unveiled the new rescue plan, saying the government aims to “globalize” the country’s pop music and help the industry bounce back from music piracy. Ministers hope the five-year plan will double the country’s annual music sales, both online and in the shops, and make music a $1.2 billion industry in South Korea by 2013, the ministry said in a statement [via Agence France-Presse].

As part of the bailout package, the ministry will fund the construction of several new concert halls, a K-pop hall of fame, a Korean version of the U.S. Billboard charts and an annual music awards ceremony. The ministry will also help financially support 35,000 noraebangs (karaoke bars without alcohol) by providing them with new music equipment.

"It's crucial to protect songwriters from online piracy in order to globalize K-pop music," a ministry official told AFP. "It's difficult to expect a songwriter to produce good contents when his products are being easily stolen."

Stenigno encouraged me to share more on this blog.

2009-02-05T19:23:00.005-06:00

I've long been a fan of story telling in all of its various forms. Within the past year or so, I've become increasingly interested in a quite particular (and maybe peculiar) niche of story telling - how artists ready themselves prior to engaging in the creative process.

I've read the story of a graphic novelist who, every morning, pays a visit to her greenhouse. There she spends the next quarter of an hour pressing her own ink and then, sitting at her greenhouse drawing table, swirls pen and ink on blank pieces of paper until words or picture come out.

I've also learned of a well-known musician who, after suffering from two debilitating strokes, began to sketch birds as a way to both recover his facilities and to re-engage that inventive part of himself.

The clip below is from Vivian Kubrick's (daughter of Stanley) documentary, Making 'The Shining'. Jack Nicholson prepping for the famous axe-through-the-bathroom-door scene is a thing of beauty.

2009-02-04T20:20:00.002-06:00

so this quick video came on tv during the break between shows. they sometimes do that on one of the channels down here. which means that 1/5 of australian channels do it because australia only broadcasts 5 effing channels. i miss watching seinfeld 4 times a day. anyway it was kinda weird but funny so i went and found it on youtube. it's also in german, which makes it a bit weirder, but it's subtitled too. here it is

Beware of Zombies

2009-01-29T17:24:00.001-06:00

It could be worse...

2009-01-28T18:30:00.004-06:00

The name Paloma. Ouch...

We all know that this word (name?) means dove, and we all know and love the girl that it's attached to. But, and I know you all agree with me when I say this no matter what you outwardly say or think (even you Paloma), what the f? So it's a name, is it? No wait, it's a bird. And it's in Spanish. Again, ouch.

But as the title says, It could be worse. A coworker of mine downloaded the first two episodes of the new Flight of the Conchords season for me, and I was watching it last night on my computer. I watched the credits since they were rolling during one of the songs at the end of the first episode. The name of the location coordinator, you ask? Puloma. Yikes. So, Paloma, no matter how embittered you are at that random string of letters you call a name, just remember, it could be worse, by just one vowel.

Sweet

2009-01-28T02:35:00.001-06:00

If you hate animals, or if you like humor

2009-01-23T20:22:00.004-06:00

An excerpt if you will,

"This egotistical little jerk was basically like "Check me out, eh? EH?" and then when people didn't respond he was all "Okay, maybe you don't understand, I AM ONLY ONE AND A HALF INCHES TALL" and stood next to a fucking ruler to illustrate his point

Well, first of all, Quail, I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS ALLOWED TO USE CAPS LOCK ON THIS BLOG. And second, just because you are an impossibly small version of a bird doesn't make it okay to show it off. I know you grow up to be a bit of a dandy, so you have to go for it while you still got it, but you are going full court press at the moment. I need you to slow down or face the consequences, you miniature bastard."

Fuck You, You Adorable Little Creatures.

Take that Australia

2009-01-21T15:18:00.002-06:00

England reclaims title in the extreme sport of "Underwater Ironing"

Oreos for Obama

2009-01-21T06:37:00.004-06:00

I went to an inauguration party over here that some american girl was throwing, and she asked if i could bring some american type songs, and this was the only one i could think of so i brought it over.

I was also asked to bring some food, and it was an "O" theme, you know, for Obama, so i brought oreos, you know, for Obama.

You think that's depressing

2009-01-19T23:48:00.002-06:00

progress

2009-01-19T05:24:00.012-06:00

i'm not sure if i like progress anymore. after watching this video, it's getting a little too fast for it's own good, in my opinion. and i guess it's kind of ironic making a blog post about it, since the blog is a semi-recent product of progress. but it sucks cause everyday that you get up you aid progress in some way it seems, like through work and such. the only period of degress i can think of is when the dark ages occured, but it seemed that was a perfect storm of many independent factors, one of which was the invasion of barbarians. also, someone told me obama collects conan the barbarian comic books. coincidence? watch the video

also, check out these awesome pictures of squirrels

Apologies to all the loyal readers. HA!!

2009-01-17T22:31:00.003-06:00

Really though, on the off chance that anyone has checked this blog recently (Will? Matt?), sorry but I've been a busy bee. I'll be back in business (in other words, posting mostly silly things) come February. Stephen you're doing a fine job of holding down the fort. Dude and Dude II are both pretty sweet. I'm currently petitioning to be Austin's Caretaker . . . I'm also still tripping.

Dude II

2009-01-13T00:25:00.000-06:00

Dude

2009-01-11T23:21:00.004-06:00

check this out. i might actually apply even though you have to make a video for it. who knows

Job Description

The Best Job in the World – Island Caretaker Great Barrier Reef

About the job

Tourism Queensland is seeking applicants for the best job in the world! The role of Island Caretaker is a six-month contract, based on luxurious Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a live-in position with flexible working hours and key responsibilities include exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer.

You’ll be required to report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews. On offer is a unique opportunity to help promote the wondrous Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Other duties may include (but are not limited to)

Feed the fish - There are over 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t worry – you won’t need to feed them all.

Clean the pool - The pool has an automatic filter, but if you happen to see a stray leaf floating on the surface it’s a great excuse to dive in and enjoy a few laps.

Collect the mail – During your explorations, why not join the aerial postal service for a day? It’s a great opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the reef and islands.

About the job package

Living above the Great Barrier Reef is a pretty unique benefit, but the successful candidate will also be paid a salary package of AUD $150,000 for the six-month contract. You’ll receive return airfares from your nearest capital city (in your home country), accommodation and transport on Hamilton Island, travel insurance for the contract period, computer, internet, digital video and stills cameras access, plus travel to a number of the other Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The six-month contract commences 1^st July 2009.

About the location

Stretching for 2,600 kilometres, and composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, the Great Barrier Reef inQueensland, Australia is the world’s largest coral reef system. The World Heritage Listed area supports a diversity of wildlife including whales, dolphins, sea turtles and more than 1,500 species of fish. The reef is an extremely popular destination for tourists, sustainably managing approximately 2 million visitors each year.

Education/Experience Requirements:

A broad range of experience will be considered, but the successful applicant should posses:

- Excellent interpersonal communication skills

- Good written and verbal English skills

- An adventurous attitude

- Willingness to try new things

- A passion for the outdoors

- Good swimming skills and enthusiasm for snorkelling and/or diving

- Ability to engage with others

- At least one year’s relevant experience

How to apply:

Want the best job in the world? If you enjoy new experiences and you can spare six months to enjoy life above the Great Barrier Reef, you’re already in with a good chance. It’s easy to apply.

Step 1: Create a video application (in English and in 60 seconds or less) telling us why you’re the best person for the job and demonstrating your knowledge of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Step 2: Fill out a brief application form and upload your video to www.islandreefjob.com. Applications close 11.59pm UTC 22^nd February 2009

Applications open on 2.00pm UTC 9^th January and close 11.59pm UTC 22^nd February 2009.

About the application process:

Eleven candidates will be invited to the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef for an interview from the 3^rd to the 7^th May 2009. So, if you want the best job in the world, you’ll need to be available to travel to Queensland for the final interview selection process. You’ll also need to be available to start work on the 1^st July 2009.

Tourism Queensland will select ten candidates. Visitors to www.islandreefjob.com will have the chance to select one Wild Card candidate, who will also participate in the final interview selection process.

All applicants must be eligible for a short term business visa for the interview selection process and a long term temporary employee visa for the contract period.

For more information and to apply please visit www.islandreefjob.com.

I had a lesbian experience today.

2009-01-05T22:17:00.002-06:00

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

In the same vein:

2008-12-27T22:47:00.001-06:00

Love me some 80s commercials.

Stephen

2008-12-27T22:38:00.004-06:00

My friends and I heard that you were seriously tempted to come to the New Years Eve celebration in Austin. Make it happen.

They're baaack!

2008-12-19T12:09:00.002-06:00

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

Today I realized

2008-12-16T15:41:00.003-06:00

Anytime I hear the phrase "who's house" I cannnot resist following it with "Run's house". It's seriously become some weird obsessive-compulsive tick. Thank you Run-DMC.

for the inner-man in all of us

2008-12-14T21:29:00.003-06:00

Who knew a couple teaspoons of cum could add a healthy dose to any old dish.

the semen cookbook

So when Dad asks what you want for Christmas, you know what to say.

Don't forget to adjust your clocks! Ha.

2008-12-11T18:03:00.003-06:00

Leap second to be added to the official world time
Posted by David Pescovitz, December 10, 2008 12:14 PM |

On December 31, at 23:59:59 UTC, a leap second will be added to the official timekeeping clocks of the world. That's because the timescales of atomic clocks and the earth's rotation aren't perfectly in synch. The last leap second was added in 2005.

From Smithsonian:
Earth’s rotation is the traditional form of timekeeping. It is what defines a day. However, while we call a day 86,400 seconds, it is really 86,400.02 seconds. All those .02 seconds add up over time. In addition, the earth’s rotation is not constant (it has been slightly slowing, and 900 million years ago a day was only 18 of our hours). Time as we know it changes. Trippy.

Speaking of walruses

2008-12-10T16:55:00.002-06:00

The interview is so-so (the kid's only 14 afterall) but the animation is totally diggable.

I Met the Walrus

Something to take your mind off the pain.

2008-12-10T16:51:00.002-06:00

You are encouraged to watch this video while flossing so as to make the experience of flossing more pleasurable. Especially you Stephen.

People who enjoy flossing are masochists

2008-12-10T06:54:00.002-06:00

i just thought of this. no explanation necessary.

Where's the Inner Circle theme song?

2008-12-09T18:38:00.004-06:00

Kopbusters -- reality show that busts cops for conducting illegal drug raids
Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, December 8, 2008 1:29 PM

Former drug office Barry Cooper has launched an online reality TV show that sets up corrupt cops who conduct illegal drug raids.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.
The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.

On the Agitator blog, Radley Balko says:
To clarify just a bit, according to Cooper, there was nothing illegal going on the bait house, just two evergreen trees and some grow lamps. There was no probable cause. So a couple of questions come up. First, how did the cops get turned on to the house in the first place? Cooper suspects they were using thermal imaging equipment to detect the grow lamps, a practice the Supreme Court has said is illegal. The second question is, what probable cause did the police put on the affidavit to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant? If there was nothing illegal going on in the house, it’s difficult to conceive of a scenario where either the police or one of their informants didn’t lie to get a warrant.
Cooper chose to bait the Odessa police department because he believes police there instructed an informant to plant marijuana on a woman named Yolanda Madden. She’s currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute. According to Cooper, the informant actually admitted in federal court that he planted the marijuana. Madden was convicted anyway.

Somebody, please!!

2008-12-09T01:17:00.003-06:00

Christmas gift for real this time - an electric toy piano; I'll take care of the rest.

HOW TO turn a toy piano into a playable shirt
Posted by Cory Doctorow, December 8, 2008 10:18 PM
Here's an Instructable from Mikamika explaining how to rip apart an electric toy piano and wire it into a shirt, turning your chest into a playable instrument.

A Toy Piano embedded on a T-shirt. It has 8 keys from Do to Do (1 octave). You can play simple music by wearing the shirt and pushing the fabric button on the shirt. All the components from the toy piano (batteries, speaker, circuit board) are placed on the shirt and connected with poppers. All these hard components are detachable so that you can wash it if you wish.
Wearable Toy Piano (via Craft)

What are the odds you'll get electrocuted?

Getting to know your local links.

2008-12-07T18:39:00.002-06:00

I've added a few more links off to the left.

The first three links take you to the blogs of friends' (is that where the apostrophe goes?). Give these blogs a read every now and again. They are way above par.

The next four links focus on stories beautifully, eloquently, cleverly told. Please oh please listen to them!

Sunday Dinner Potluck is obvious. Feed me = Free Rice. And me talk pretty one day should be able to assist you with many of your spelling and grammar questions.

I'm naming my next cat Creme Puff.

2008-12-06T13:41:00.007-06:00

World's oldest cat celebrates 125th birthday
A feline believed to be the world's oldest cat has celebrated his 125th birthday.

Last Updated: 6:37PM GMT 03 Dec 2008 With musings by yours truly in bold.

Mischief, the world's oldest cat, is 100 Photo: SWNS.COM
And at 27 human years, (oh well that's just plain misleading! i knew a cat couldn't be 125 years old. and i was right.) Mischief is still living up to his name despite "slowing down a little", according to owners Chris and Donna Thorne.

The Guinness World Records has confirmed there is no record holder in the UK at the moment but the previous oldest cat was 29.

Mrs Thorne, 33, of St Austell, Cornwall, said: "It's amazing - he just keeps going on and on."

Mr Thorne, 51, (someone likes 'em young) got the black cat from a friend in nearby Launceston as a kitten in 1981. Yet another reason why '81 is a badass year.

He still has photographs of Mischief at just a few months old being cuddled at Christmas the same year.

Almost three decades later, he is still a vital part of the Thorne family, and is adored by the couple's 20-month-old baby Skye.

"She loves him to bits," said Mrs Thorne. "When he eventually goes we'll have to get another one because she'll be devastated."

She said that despite Mischief's advanced years, he still has a spring in his step.

"His name says it all," she said. "He may be 27 but he still manages to jump over the stair gate and he's round your ankles constantly for food.

"He's an indoor cat now, and he's losing big clumps of fur, but he's still going."

She added: "We'd love to know if there are any older cats in Cornwall. He's lost a couple of his nine lives over the years but it doesn't seem to have affected him."

A spokesman from Guinness World Records said a ginger cat called Spike was the last feline to hold the title of UK's oldest cat but since he died in 2001, there had been no further record holder. He encouraged Mr and Mrs Thorne to get in contact with Guinness World Records.

The oldest cat ever is Creme Puff, who was born on August 3, 1967 and lived until August 6, 2005 an amazing 38 years and three days.

Creme Puff lived with her owner, Jake Perry, in Austin, Texas. (What what!!)

What I want to know is, what are they feeding these cats and where can I buy it?

Ahhoh!!!

2008-12-05T18:30:00.002-06:00

Wilhelm makes me laugh. But I should warn you that it gets a little old after the first minute.

Gay Feet!

2008-12-01T21:32:00.003-06:00

Gay penguins steal eggs from straight couples
A couple of gay penguins are attempting to steal eggs from straight birds in an effort to become "fathers", it has been reported.

Last Updated: 2:06PM GMT 27 Nov 2008

There are known to be several gay penguin couples in zoos across the world Photo: GETTY

The two penguins have started placing stones at the feet of parents before waddling away with their eggs, in a bid to hide their theft.
But the deception has been noticed by other penguins at the zoo, who have ostracised the gay couple from their group. Now keepers have decided to segregate the pair of three-year-old male birds to avoid disrupting the rest of the community during the hatching season.

A keeper at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China explained that the gay couple had the natural urge to become fathers, despite their sexuality.
"One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there," a keeper told the Austrian Times newspaper.

"It's not discrimination. We have to fence them separately, otherwise the whole group will be disturbed during hatching time," he added.
There are numerous examples of homosexuality in the animal kingdom, but gay penguins have captured the public's attention more than any other species.

A German zoo provoked outrage from gay lobby groups after attempting to mate a group of gay male penguins with Swedish female birds who were flown in especially to seduce them. But the project was abandoned after the males refused to be "turned", showing no interest in their would-be mates.

In 2002 a couple of penguins at a New York zoo who had been together for eight years were "outed" when keepers noticed that they were both males.

Damn.

2008-12-01T21:06:00.003-06:00

The two villages where mothers killed EVERY baby born a boy for ten years
By RICHARD SHEARS
Last updated at 8:30 AM on 28th November 2008

Comments (22)
Add to My Stories
The Papua New Guinea jungle has given up one of its darkest secrets - the systematic slaughter of every male baby born in two villages to prevent future tribal clashes.

By virtually wiping out the 'male stock', tribal women hope they can avoid deadly bow-and-arrow wars between the villages in the future.

'Babies grow into men and men turn into warriors,' said Rona Luke, a village wife who is attending a special 'peace and reconciliation' meeting in the mountain village of Goroka.

Slaughter: The Papua New Guinea Eastern Highlands where it has been claimed women in two villages killed all their male children for a decade to prevent tribal warfare

'It's because of the terrible fights that have brought death and destruction to our villages for the past 20 years that all the womenfolk have agreed to have all new-born male babies killed,' said Mrs Luke.

'The women have had enough of men engaging in tribal conflicts and bringing misery to them.'

The sensational claims recall the Biblical story of the Old Testament pharaoh who ordered all midwives to kill Israelite baby boys because he wanted to ensure there were never enough young men to fight in an army against the Egyptians.

Mrs Luke said that the village women agreed that if they stopped producing males, allowing only female babies to survive, their tribe's stock of boys would go down and there would be no men in future to fight.

A resident of Agibu village, Mrs Luke said she did not know how many male babies were killed by being smothered, but it had happened to all males over a 10 year period - and she suggested it was still happening.

Choking back tears she added: 'It's a terrible, unbearable crime, but the women had to do it.

'The women have really being forced into it as it's the only means available to them as women to bring an end to tribal fights.'

Confirming the shocking infanticide claims, Mrs Kipiyona Belas from the rival Amosa village, told a newspaper that getting food for their families was difficult because husbands were fighting other tribes with bows-and- arrows and spears.

Often the men did not come back, having been killed on the 'battle field', usually a clearing in the jungle.

Now, with the help of the Salvation Army and the initiative of local Pastor Michael Hemuno, the tribal women hope the slaughter of babies can end and those men who are still warriors will lay down their weapons and talk peace.

'We are trying to get them to live peacefully and end all the deaths of young and old,' said Pastor Hemuno.

Tribal fighting in the region of Gimi, in the country's Eastern Highlands, has been going on since 1986, many of the clashes arising over claims of sorcery.

Papua New Guinea tribes, who dress up in warrior paint and feathered finery for special occasions, are strong believers in sorcery and often blame their enemies for bringing about deaths through witchcraft.

Spider vs. Me

2008-11-26T20:10:00.006-06:00

I noticed recently there's been a lot of talk about spiders and how everyone wet themselves because there was a black widow in Donovan's sleeping bag in Arkansas, so I thought "Hey, I can talk about spiders too."

In Australia, where every damn thing is poisonous, I worked in a Redback spider (related to the black widow) infested greenhouse. Before fumigation and subsequent extermination of the spiders, I would frequently encounter them, and after a time, got annoyed by them enough to just flick them with my finger, thus knocking them out of their web, then step on them to kill them. That is just how awesome I am. There was also a plan to get bit by one of the spiders to get out of some annoying work that had to be done, but after some consideration it was concluded that this was a bad idea. Anyway, here's a picture of one of the redbacks I took in the greenhouse.

Also, redback is the name of a good wheat beer they brew around here.

Spider vs Snake

2008-11-26T19:24:00.001-06:00

You guys on the arkansas trip will remember this kind of spider...