Posts
Nils has a blog!
Nils had a blog an eternity ago (2006) which he started to chronicle his family's trek through Europe. He made exactly three posts, then abandoned the project. Now Nils is back with a slick new layout and a great sense of humor, entertaining with posts that include....
"...I do not understand my subconscious. Most of the people who I talk to about dreams, like friends and stuff, are all, "I had this dream last night where I cleaned my kitchen, but everything was upside down. Crazy."
So then I'm like, "Wow, that is weird. I had a dream last night where I was in a State Park that was also a shooting range and there was a Poodle-Eating Puma terrorizing our campsite. The end of the dream was me tackling the the Puma as it tried to eat our friends second poodle, the first having been the first victim of it's spree."
So go visit Nils at Musician's Choice.
And because I love the URL...
http://penguinboxers.blogspot.com/
We must make him post more!
Spring is here!
In my little part of Western Washington, the weather has been a little... off... for spring. The temperature has rarely risen above 50 degrees, and if we happen to get a day of partial sun, by evening it'll be raining and we won't see the sun again for the next five days. Oh, and it snowed in April. Unusual? Yes.
Still, even with all that in mind, I didn't really think that this Severe Weather Alert on Weather.com was necessary:
"AFTER A COOL AND CLOUDY SPRING IN WESTERN WASHINGTON...A DRAMATIC SHIFT TO HOT AND SUNNY WEATHER WILL GET UNDERWAY TODAY. WIDESPREAD RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED ON FRIDAY.
TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO CLIMB TODAY...AS A MASSIVE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE BUILDS OVER THE REGION. WEAK NORTHERLY ONSHORE FLOW WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES FROM GETTING REALLY HOT. STILL...HIGH TEMPERATURES ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL BE IN THE 70S AND LOWER 80S."
blah blah blah...
"AFTER SUCH COOL WEATHER THIS SPRING... PEOPLE SHOULD REFRESH THEMSELVES ON BASIC HOT WEATHER TIPS. WHEN THE WEATHER WARMS UP...BE SURE TO SLOW DOWN...DRINK PLENTY OF WATER...WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT AND LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING...AND BE SURE TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SUNBURN BY WEARING SUNSCREEN AND A HAT. BY SATURDAY...THE HUMIDITY WILL RISE A BIT AND MAKE THE AIR FEEL MUGGY. THE ELDERLY AND THE VERY YOUNG ARE THE MOST LIKELY GROUPS TO EXPERIENCE ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS FROM THE HEAT."
Okay, guys. I know it's been a while since we've had a nice day. But it hasn't been that long.
This is the first severe weather alert I've ever seen warning people about temperatures rising all the way to possibly the low 80s.
Good lord.
Brazilian Wandering Spider Venom
So. Those who know me know about my strange fascination/fear for Brazilian Wandering Spiders.
I am reminded that three years ago in April is when that pub chef in England was bitten by the BWS hiding in a crate of bananas.
Thinking about that I did a quick google search for BWS news, as I do from time to time. Mostly to make sure that there hasn't been a population surge in western Washington. What? But BWS only lives in South / Central America? That's what YOU think. What happens when they adapt to our climate, storm all the banana crates they can find, and TAKE OVER? HUH? HUH?!
Paranoid? Me? Pffft.
But anyway, I found this tidbit of information:
Natural Viagra: Spider Bite Causes Erection
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 01 May, 2007 12:10 am ET
WASHINGTON — A Brazilian spider delivers more than a painful bite that sends most victims to the hospital. Its venom stimulates an hours-long erection. Now scientists have figured out the chemical that seems to be responsible for the penis boost.
In Brazil, emergency room staff can immediately spot the victims of a bite from the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer). Patients not only experience overall pain and an increase in blood pressure, they also sport an uncomfortable erection. “The erection is a side effect that everybody who gets stung by this spider will experience along with the pain and discomfort,” said study team member Romulo Leite of the Medical College of Georgia. “We’re hoping eventually this will end up in the development of real drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.”
This information was confirmed in a BBC article.
Wow.
Just wow.
O_O
The Latest from The Onion
Heartbroken Bush Runs After Departing Rove's CarAugust 31, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC—A confused President Bush broke free from the restraint of Secret Service agents this morning and ran in pursuit of departing deputy chief of staff Karl Rove's car for several blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue before being outdistanced by the vehicle.
Bush sits in disbelief as his longtime buddy disappears forever and ever and ever.
"Why can't I go with him?" Bush tearfully asked advisers as the longtime Republican strategist's sedan disappeared over the horizon. "When is he coming back?"
White House staff were deeply moved by the scene, saying that despite their best efforts, no one was able to explain to the president that he would no longer be able to remain at his chief adviser's side. Onlookers were clearly choked up as a tearful Rove, trying to close the car door behind him, told Bush in a stern, commanding tone to back away.
"Go on…you hear me? Get out of here, I say!" Rove said. "I don't love you anymore, understand? Now get! Get!"
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice witnessed the emotionally charged moment. "We knew that deep down [Rove] still cared, that he was only pretending to be mad at the president," she said. "But he had no choice. Leaving was the only way to avoid the ongoing Congressional inquiries."
Rove reportedly tried to prepare Bush for this inevitability in late July by taking him on a special fishing trip so they could spend some quality time together and he could also give Bush a
brief rundown on how the presidency works. Rove said he "didn't have the heart" to break the news to the president, who fell asleep in their rowboat with the fishing pole still in his hands. On his last day, nearly two weeks later, Rove spent the whole morning with Bush before the tear-jerking exit, ruffling his hair, telling him to "be brave" and "listen to Cheney," and explaining that he was going to have to be "the man of the White House now."Rove was finally able to leave the White House, despite Bush's heartrending stalling tactics.
Though Rove's resignation had been imminent for weeks, Bush appeared oblivious to the situation, which is evident in photos of him smiling as if nothing were wrong until the moment he discovered several suitcases near one of the West Wing's back-door exits. According to high-level administration sources, Bush asked Rove, "Where are we going?"
While sneaking the departing official out to a waiting town car, Secret Service agents were briefly able to deceive Bush by telling him Rove was just running down to the cellar to get him some ice cream. But when Bush heard the car's engine start in the driveway, he burst outside to stop Rove.
"I'll never forget the sight of the president, watching Rove's face in the back window becoming smaller and smaller as the car pulled away forever," Rice said.
The president continued to ask about his former adviser throughout the day, often clutching Rove's day planner, dialing his extension, and blinking uncomprehendingly when told that Rove was never coming back.
White House press secretary Tony Snow was finally called in to attempt to convey the reality of the situation to the president, but he was unable to do so.
"He kept looking up at me with those wide, innocent eyes, and I didn't know what to say," Snow told reporters. "Maybe someday when he's older, he'll understand how the public lost trust in his big buddy after a series of crucial political missteps, and how firing those attorneys and the..."
At this point in the briefing Snow fell silent, overcome with emotion, and moving many in the press room to tears.
White House officials say they would like to give President Bush more time to process the loss before pressuring him to appoint a new deputy chief of staff, since he does not yet appear ready to confront the concept of a "new Rove."
Chew Toys
Incompetance on the Beach
In a town called Surf City, New Jersey a $71 million dollar beach replenishment project occured in March. During this replenishment project, the United States military took sand from an offshore site and brought it on down to Surf City. The fact that there are World War 1 era explosives all throughout this sand is quickly discovered. And the U.S. military scratches it's collective head and says, "oh yeah, I guess we did use that sand as a dumping ground for our bombs a few decades ago."
Ummm.... 17?
So I was perusing the headlines today and I came across an article called "Arkansas Couple Welcomes 17th Child". I had the same reaction that I usually have when I see something referencing people having unusually large numbers of children: Come on... was that really necessary?
People don't generally think of the U.S. as having an overpopulation problem, but guess what? It does. The U.S. is the only major industrialized country still growing. Between 1990 and 2000 we grew by 13% and that's a lot. Just because it's said that the entire population of the world could fit in Texas (I'm skeptical of that, by the way) doesn't mean anything. Obviously we need more than just a space to set up camp. Natural resources are going down the tubes at insane rates, and that's not a good thing.
We have about 292 million Americans. According to the Negative Population Growth organization's FAQ, there should only be 150 to 200 million. This number was arrived at by surveying scientists for over 30 years, so this isn't just some random number they pulled out of their hats.
Check out the Negative Population Growth organization - very interesting.
Anyway, when you're considering overpopulation (as far as resource consumpion goes) as the large problem that it is, reading about some family having seventeen children and already talking about having more is sickening. It's completely irresponsible. So thanks a lot for doing your part to add to our overpopulation problems. Honestly I think maybe we should start taking a look at China. We need to find some way to limit family size. This is ridiculous.
.....
Okay, I don't actually think that we should take population control tips from China. I'm just frustrated.
Here's a couple "fun facts" about this family in Arkansas that the article mentioned:
They've gone through approximately 90,000 diapers. Hmm... think about 90,000 dirty diapers. That's a lot of waste. Something tells me they use disposable.
Their home is 7,000 sq. ft. Engery hog!!!!!!
The family does approximately 200 loads of laundry every month. Thats a lot of water to waste.
Just think about that. A family with seventeen children. Think about everything else that they use in huge quantities. Think about the garbage they must generate.
Oh, one more thing (pet peeve coming up): the article mentions that all the children are homeschooled. And you know that those have got to be the weird homeschooled kids that make formerly homeschooled people like me embarrassed when I have admit to where I received my early education.
Italy is paying women to have babies. Let's give these people Italian citizenships so they can bump up Italy's population, not ours.
I found a fantastic article from 2005, when the 16th kid was born:
God Does Not Want 16 Kids
Arkansas mom gives birth to a whole freakin' baseball team. How deeply should you cringe?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Who are you to judge? Who are you to say that the more than slightly creepy 39-year-old woman from Arkansas who just gave birth to her 16th child yes that's right 16 kids and try not to cringe in phantom vaginal pain when you say it, who are you to say Michelle Duggar is not more than a little unhinged and sad and lost?
And furthermore, who are you to suggest that her equally troubling husband -- whose name is, of course, Jim Bob and he's hankerin' to be a Republican senator and try not to wince in sociopolitical pain when you say that -- isn't more than a little numb to the real world, and that bringing 16 hungry mewling attention-deprived kids (and she wants more! Yay!) into this exhausted world zips right by "touching" and races right past "disturbing" and lurches its way, heaving and gasping and sweating from the karmic armpits, straight into "Oh my God, what the hell is wrong with you people?"
But that would be, you know, mean. Mean and callous to suggest that this might be the most disquieting photo you see all year, this bizarre Duggar family of 18 spotless white hyperreligious interchangeable people with alarmingly bad hair, the kids ranging in ages from 1 to 17, worse than those nuked Smurfs in that UNICEF commercial and worse than all the horrific rubble in Pakistan and worse than the cluster-bomb nightmare that is Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise having a child as they suck the skin from each other's Scientological faces and even worse than that huge 13-foot python which ate that six-foot alligator and then exploded.
It's wrong to be this judgmental. Wrong to suggest that it is exactly this kind of weird pathological protofamily breeding-happy gluttony that's making the world groan and cry and recoil, contributing to vicious overpopulation rates and unrepentant economic strain and a bitter moral warpage resulting from a massive viral outbreak of homophobic neo-Christians across our troubled and Bush-ravaged land. Or is it?
Is it wrong to notice how all the Duggar kids' names start with the letter J (Jeremiah and Josiah and Jedediah and Jesus, someone please stop them), and that if you study the above photo (or the even more disturbing family Web site) too closely you will become rashy and depressed and you will crave large quantities of alcohol and loud aggressive music to deflect the creeping feeling that this planet is devolving faster than you can suck the contents from a large bong? But I'm not judging.
I have a friend who used to co-babysit (yes, it required two sitters) for a family of 10 kids, and she reports that they were, almost without fail, manic and hyper and bewildered and attention deprived in the worst way, half of them addicted to prescription meds to calm their neglected nerves and the other half bound for years of therapy due to complete loss of having the slightest clue as to who they actually were, lost in the family crowd, just another blank, needy face at the table. Is this the guaranteed affliction for every child of very large families? Of course not. But I'm guessing it's more common than you imagine.
What's more, after the 10th kid popped out, the family doctor essentially prohibited the baby-addicted mother from having any more offspring, considering the pummeling endured by her various matronly systems, and it's actually painful to imagine the logistics, the toll on Michelle Duggar's body, the ravages it has endured to give birth to roughly one child per year for nearly two decades, and you cannot help but wonder about her body and its various biological and sexual ... no, no, it is not for this space to visualize frighteningly capacious vaginal dimensions. It is not for this space to imagine this couple's soggy sexual mutations. We do not have enough wine on hand for that.
Perhaps the point is this: Why does this sort of bizarre hyperbreeding only seem to afflict antiseptic megareligious families from the Midwest? In other words -- assuming Michelle and Jim Bob and their massive brood of cookie-cutter Christian kidbots will all be, as the charming photo suggests, never allowed near a decent pair of designer jeans or a tolerable haircut from a recent decade, and assuming that they will all be tragically encoded with the values of the homophobic asexual Christian right -- where are the forces that shall help neutralize their effect on the culture? Where is the counterbalance, to offset the damage?
Where is, in other words, the funky tattooed intellectual poetess who, along with her genius anarchist husband, is popping out 16 funky progressive intellectually curious fashion-forward pagan offspring to answer the Duggar's squad of über-white future Wal-Mart shoppers? Where is the liberal, spiritualized, pro-sex flip side? Verily I say unto thee, it ain't lookin' good.
Perhaps this the scariest aspect of our squishy birthin' tale: Maybe the scales are tipping to the neoconservative, homogenous right in our culture simply because they tend not to give much of a damn for the ramifications of wanton breeding and environmental destruction and pious sanctimony, whereas those on the left actually seem to give a whit for the health of the planet and the dire effects of overpopulation. Is that an oversimplification?
Why does this sort of thoughtfulness seem so far from the norm? Why is having a stadiumful of offspring still seen as some sort of happy joyous thing?
You already know why. It is the Biggest Reason of All. Children are, after all, God's little gifts. Kids are little blessings from the Lord, the Almighty's own screaming spitballs of joy. Hell, Jim Bob said so himself, when asked if the couple would soon be going for a 17th rug rat: "We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them." This is what he actually said. And God did not strike him dead on the spot.
Let us be clear: I don't care what sort of God you believe in, it's a safe bet that hysterical breeding does not top her list of desirables. God does not want more children per acre than there are ants or mice or garter snakes or repressed pedophilic priests. We already have three billion humans on the planet who subsist on less than two dollars a day. Every other child in the world (one billion of them) lives in abject poverty. We are burning through the planet's resources faster than a Republican can eat an endangered caribou stew. Note to Michelle Duggar: If God wanted you to have a massive pile of children, she'd have given your uterus a hydraulic pump and a revolving door. Stop it now.
Ah, but this is America, yes? People should be allowed to do whatever the hell they want with their families if they can afford it and if it's within the law and so long as they aren't gay or deviant or happily flouting Good Christian Values, right? Shouldn't they? Hell, gay couples still can't openly adopt a baby in most states (they either lie, or one adopts and the other must apply as "co-parent"), but Michelle Duggar can pop out 16 kids and no one says, oh my freaking God, stop it, stop it now, you thoughtless, selfish, baby-drunk people.
No, no one says that. That would be mean.
China debuts extravagent public restroom
I am all about free of charge public restrooms. The freedom to relive yourself without paying is a valuable one. But I'm finding these fixtures in China's new four story public restroom (yes, that's a big public restroom, 30,000 sq. ft. to be exact) a teeny tiny bit offensive.
I mean.... what??? There is something very wrong about that.
And if you're a man, and you've ever wanted to urinate into the Virgin Mary... guess what, you're in luck!
Here is the article that accompanied these photos:
Officials in the southwestern Chinese city plan to ask Guinness World Records to have the free four-story public bathroom listed as the world's largest, state-run China Central Television reported Friday.
"We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV," said Lu Xiaoqing, an official with the Yangrenjie, or "Foreigners Street," tourist area where the bathroom is located. "After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy."
Footage aired on CCTV showed people milling about the sprawling facility and washing their hands at trough sinks. For open-aired relief, there's a cluster of stalls without a roof. Some urinals are uniquely shaped, including ones inside open crocodile mouths and several topped by the bust of a woman resembling the Virgin Mary.
There are also plans to build a supermarket nearby, which will sell toilet-related items, CCTV reported.
Fashion Statement
The photos below are images of the new fashion line for women knowledgeable about safe sex:
Don't you want to just run out and buy a dress made of condoms???
^_^
Below is a shortened version of the article accompanying these photos. Apparently real reason fashion designers are making clothing out of contraceptives.
Missing Staples = Appeals for Murderers
It's amazing what you stumble across when you read the morning news. For instance, this article:
Missing staple lets murderers appeal Mon Jul 9, 8:12 AM ET
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A missing staple from a court document has allowed two murderers found guilty of one of Australia's most brutal killings to appeal against their convictions.
Under a technical loophole, the murderers will argue that an earlier lost appeal was not finalized because the indictment paperwork was never fixed to the court file as required by law.
"It just seems so wrong," said Bev Balding, mother of Janine Balding who was abducted and brutally gang raped and drowned by a group of men on the outskirts of Sydney in 1988.
Balding's murderers are serving life sentences, with a judge's recommendation they never to be released.
"How do they know someone has not removed the staple on purpose? You can't rely on the law when it relies on a solitary staple," Bev Balding told reporters Monday.
The New South Wales (NSW) state government said it was looking at ways to close the technical loophole.
"I understand that closing this loophole through an amendment to the court rules of the supreme court is currently being considered...to avoid it being an issue of discussion in any future case," said NSW acting state premier John Watkins.
Amazing. I mean, really, how ridiculous can you get? Allowing a convicted murderer a way to attempt to weasel out of his sentence... and that way happens to be a staple? This totally blows my mind. Unbelievable.
World Naked Bike Ride
This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.
Vote for Handful of Luvin'!
Local Seattle band Handful of Luvin' has been nominated for "Best New Artist" by Seattle Weekly, who are having their annual music awards in May.
Click here to vote for HOL!
If you know me at all, you've definitely either heard be talking about HOL, or heard me playing HOL. ^_^ Either way, you should know that this band is totally worthy of winning Best New Artist. And by the way, if you haven't heard Handful of Luvin', shame on you! Go listen to them RIGHT NOW!
Handful of Luvin official website!
Also, you might want to check out the benefit show that Handful of Luvin is doing.
Provision Expanding 1872 Mining Law Removed
YAY!
Announcement from Representative Jay Inslee:
"Dear Ms. May:
Thank you again for contacting me regarding a provision of the reconciliation bill that would expand the scope of the 1872 mining law to allow a greater amount of federal lands to be purchased by private entities at bargain-basement prices.
As you know, I have been opposing expansion of the 1872 mining law since it came before the House Resources Committee in October. Just this month, I also wrote a letter urging budget committee members to remove the provision from the underlying bill.
You will be happy to know that the author of the provision removed it from the reconciliation bill on Tuesday, citing bipartisan opposition that threatened the passage of the legislation. I have included, below, an op-ed on this issue that appeared in today's issue of the New York Times.
The author of the provision has indicated that he will make another attempt to bring up these changes next year. Rest assured I will continue to oppose this and other attempts to weaken protections for our pristine lands.
I applaud your interest in federal issues. It is great that we have people in this country who are so actively engaged in helping make public policy.
Please keep in touch.
JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress
********
New York Times
December 15, 2005
Protecting Public Lands
In a legislative season that has produced few victories for the environment, the sudden death of a destructive mining provision that could have opened up millions of acres of public land to commercial exploitation is cause for celebration.
The provision was inserted into the budget reconciliation bill - always a handy hiding place for ideas that could never stand up to public scrutiny on their own - by Representatives Jim Gibbons of Nevada and Richard Pombo of California, both Republicans. Mr. Gibbons's decision to withdraw it reflected not so much a change of heart as a recognition of political reality. Their stealth proposal had inspired intense opposition among hunters, anglers, governors, local officials and countless ordinary citizens who argued that there were many nobler uses for the public lands than serving as a profit center for commercial interests.
The Gibbons-Pombo provision would have allowed the holders of mining claims to buy land outright instead of leasing it - a radical departure from present practice. It would also have amended the General Mining Law of 1872 to allow purchases not just for mining, but for any purpose that would "facilitate sustainable economic development." By some calculations, that dangerously vague formulation would have exposed at least 6 million acres and perhaps as much as 350 million acres to commercial exploitation. Even conservative Western lawmakers who do not usually favor environmental causes saw this for what it was: a potentially unparalleled raid on America's public lands.
The controversy stirred by the Gibbons-Pombo maneuver has been so great that there is even reason to hope that proposals for real reform of the antiquated mining law will at last receive a respectable hearing.
Representatives Nick Rahall II and Jay Inslee, both Democrats, and Christopher Shays, a Republican, have put forward a bill to give permanent protection to lands that are now vulnerable to claims, like wildlife refuges and roadless areas of the national forests. The bill would also require "suitability" reviews before mining could proceed, and would allow the secretary of the interior to withdraw lands judged unsuitable for mining. It would also require mining companies to pay royalties on what they produced - just as oil and gas companies do now - and to clean up their messes when they were through.
Many of these reforms were instituted administratively by Bruce Babbitt when he was secretary of the interior under President Bill Clinton, but were withdrawn by the Bush administration at the insistence of mining interests.
It would be a delightful reversal of fortune if Mr. Gibbons and Mr. Pombo, who are no friends of the public lands, ended up inspiring new protections for them"
Upcoming Handful of Luvin Show!
Handful of Luvin
Saturday, 12/10
HEADLINING The Showbox (Seattle, WA)
All ages
Doors open at 6pm
$10 @ the door
Handful of Luvin is a local Seattle folk rock band. They are awesome. If you're at the Showbox tomorrow night, you WILL enjoy yourself. I promise. ^_^
Hear some of their music at: http://www.uberlabel.com/music/bands/64/
Handful of Luvin on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/handfulofluvin
Handful of Luvin Fansite http://www.handfulofluvin.net
Handful of Luvin Official Site (still being worked on, but hopefully will be up soon) http://www.handfulofluvin.com
Here's a review of one of their shows that I wrote in October:
"Date: October 13th, 2005
Band(s): Sambusa//Handful of Luvin
Venue: El Corazon in Seattle
So, to continue the grand tradition of using this blog as a place to post concert reviews, let's talk about the show I went to last night, Handful of Luvin at El Corazon in Seattle.
I went with my buddy Dave and we got to El Corazon while the first band was playing. They sucked, so Dave and I went and hid in the bar until they were finished. Second band, Sambusa, was waaay better, and I left the bar to watch their set.
Handful of Luvin, third and final band, the band I came to see, was absolutely awesome. One thing I love about those guys is that when they're onstage you believe that they're exactly where they want to be, doing exactly what they want to do. They're excellent musicians playing damn good original music, and effortlessly maintaining for themselves and imparting to the crowd a huge amount of energy. Add to all of that absolutely awe-inspiring violin solos, and it really can't get much better.
One thing, for me anyway, that makes a good show is the crowd. There's nothing more painful than a group of people just standing around, unexcited, uncaring, indifferent to the music.
Handful of Luvin definitely does not have that problem.
The crowd at the show last night was crazy, the best kind of crowd, and through most of the show maintained something just short of a mosh pit that HOL dubbed the "Jig Pit" (.......). However, during a violin solo, a real mosh pit did break out for a minute or two, which I thought was hilarious. I didn't know it was possible to mosh to HOL. ^_^
So support the local band Handful of Luvin. Check out their websites that I've listed below, and go see them next time they play. I can't stress enough that they are amazing, I've seen them four times now. And I'm a metalhead saying that about a folk-rock band, so you know they're something special."
