Tuesday, October 31, 2006

"Costume!?!"

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"Hell no, this isn't my costume!!"

And why do they say 'Happy Halloween'? Its suppose to be scary, not happy!

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Monday, October 30, 2006

"The Way"

I came across this (almost) 8 minute long video on youtube.com; CG Chinese Painting. Flowing life-symbols evolves. Its very meditative and soothing. I can't imagine what it took to make this. Or how long it must have taken.

I would recommend watching it when web traffic is slow so that you do not get a lot of starts and stops. And, of course, the sound is part of its loveliness.

Seams of Steel

 How tight can they go?

"Why no. As a matter of fact I can't sit down."
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"Hey, Santa"

 "Dude. What happened last year? I got nothing from my list..." Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 28, 2006

"No!!"

 
My car wanted to turn into Coffee People. I held the steering wheel hard and sternly commanded a "NO!"

Whimpering, she tried to use logic on me.

"But.... but... But we ARE COFFEE PEOPLE! See the coffee spots all over the dash board? It screams iced Mocha Frappuccino. If that's not coffee then... then I don't want to know what it is. sniffle."

"Well, for one thing, thats not Coffee People. Thats Starbucks. You don't even know your coffee. What kind of car are you, anyway!"

The day called for a triple shot of joltin' java, but I held strong. I promised the car a wash later to make up for it, but she didn't believe me. And I don't blame her.
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Down my street

 
 
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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Clever Crows

Check out this video on google video... damn clever crows! (its narrated. you'll need your sound on.)

Yada Yada Yada

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I’m having one of those days where I am sleepy but can’t seem to catch a nap no matter how much I try to grab it. I was awake most of the night…. the stink from crack being smoked kept infiltrating my apartment. Then I began noticing a few people coming and going from one of the upstairs apartments. I decided to send a formal complaint to the property managers. I know they need documentation (complaints) in order to be able to do anything. Later in the morning I had finally fallen asleep only to be awaken by an automated telephone call from a lying politician. Sigh. You’d think between the telemarketers, survey takers, and political calls that I would feel popular, but all I feel is like I’m being pecked apart by vultures. The kind that don’t stop feeding until every inch of flesh is gone.

I love NPR, public radio…. love the interviews on Fresh Air and the stories on American Roots. Its too bad they have to have pledge drives so much. Any millionaires out there? How about donating? DUH! What am I saying. Millions aren’t enough any more. Any billionaires out there? How about setting up a trust for public radio?

(Poor little billionaires reading my blog…awwww.)

Damn, just got another irritating call from XXXX. I don’t like his ads and I don’t like him and I’m not going to vote for him for governor.

I read on someone else’s blog that they had been ‘scanned’ by the government several times, based on their stats counter statistics. She must have used a word or phrase that an automated system would pick up.

Did you see how the new Lexus has an option where the car will automatically parallel park. Now how automated is that. It uses cameras, sensors, and satellites. The car will only cost between $60,000-$90,000. Big Brother just gets bigger and bigger. But I’m sure, she said innocently, that once the threat of terrorism is over all monitoring mechanisms will be dismantled.

It would appear that the best time for viewing youtube is in the middle of the night when traffic is low. Otherwise the streaming halts too much.

Another beautiful autumn day. Perfect.

I think I’ll bake some chicken breast, toss in some baby carrots slightly covered in olive oil, and fix some brown rice. Okay…. that’s it! When I start talking about dinner fixin’s its time to stop.

Hope ya’ll get to experience a sense of delight today. Speaking of delight, here is Starbucks 5 principles of success:

1. Make it your own
2. Everything matters
3. Surprise and delight
4. Embrace resistance
5. Leave your mark

This list comes fromRobert Genn’s twice weekly newsletter.

Leave your mark… I think this one to be the easiest for me. I’m always leaving a mess on things.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Start Your Day Off With a Bang

Someone in a car just got busted in front of the apartments here. It was around 6am... still dark outside. I was watching the news and heard a bullhorn. I looked out of the window and saw five or six police cars with lights blinking, search lights on, all pointing at a car parked on the street. The bullhorn was instructing the driver to get out of the car with their hands up, just like on the tv show COPS.

Hey... I bet you didn't even miss me. I was gone for a few minutes. I saw a neighbor outside so I went out to see what she knew about the police activity. Apparently she was the one who called them.

She works nights and when she got home this morning she was outside having a cigarette. (It was still dark at that time.) A couple of guys walked up to the rear of the apartments and she said she saw one of them pull out a little silver gun from his pocket and put it in his waistband. They then left on foot... leaving their car where it was. It seems pretty strange to me that they would get out of their car to do this, but maybe they had other plans and with the neighbor outside they couldn't do whatever. The neighbor was thinking they may have been getting prepared to do something a few blocks away. They could then run to their car to get away without anyone seeing the car they got into.

Apparently, after checking everything out the police didn't find anything amiss so they let the guys go. I wonder what happened to the gun... where did it go? Just another one of life's little mysteries.

Well, my day has started with a bang. Is that a poor choice of words?

Facinating Stuff, When North Goes South

I caught the end of a NOVA program last night and was facinated by it.... the subject was about the earth's magnetic pole flipping from North to South. (00) Huh?! Say What?!

Using information stored in old lava flows (contains information about the levels of magnetic energy at the time of the flow) and the abilities of a supercomputer to process complex equations over a period of years rather than centuries, it shows that the earth's magnetic field flips from North to South every 200,000 years or so. (The timing fluctuates from 10,000 to over 700,000 yrs, but the average is 200,000 years.) And we're waaaay over due for a 'flip'.

It appears this flipping process maintains the earth's magnetic energy, rather than having it "decay" as they usually do when left alone. Also, during the transition the protection against the sun's ultraviolet rays weakens... this would cause more cancers. (hmmmm.... might explain how dinasaur remains were found to have cancerous growth even though they didn't smoke cigarettes.) Who knows what else may happen. I wonder if this has anything to do with the upcoming event predicted by the spiritual guru's for 2011/2012. Could be.

There are indications that we are in the process of 'flipping' now. Here is an article about it or do a google search... you'll get many hits using "earth magnetic flip" as a search key. Or, of course, you can make up your own search keys.

(Here's a CNN article that may be a little easier to read.)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Warning: Ranting to Follow

Qwest DSL SUCKS! At times it can be worse than dial-up. I just spent 4 minutes waiting to see 22 SECONDS of a youtube video. What kind of service is that?! Yesterday it was not too bad but today, well, you know.... slurp slurp slurp! It sucks. And its been sucking all day long.

I've noticed, besides the five new gray hairs that grew as I waited on the video to move, that what an advertisement touts as one of their greatest services or products is the very thing that is their weakness. And not just with Qwest, but with just about every business. Or politician. I guess some might say they are 'embracing their weakness.' I ain't buying it. They're just straight up lying.

Its like a liar saying "I don't lie... ever." And I don't care how cheap the damn bridge is, I'm not buying it!!

Okay. It feels good to get it out. The rant is over now. ah..er... I mean the rant is over for now. More will probably follow later and I might even have film.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Like Color?

Check out Betty LaDuke's art work. Full appreciation of it must surely need first-hand observation. They are large works and can take quite a while to finish. She was just featured on Oregon Art Beat. She doesn't sell her original paintings but rather sends them to various musuems for exhibition, although she is beginning to make prints available.

And hey, if you want to feel good you can always go to heifer.org and donate something. Its a project she is involved in and helps support.

Where'd ya go??!!

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I've just spent... or should that be 'wasted'... a whole day touring youtube looking for a particular video clip I saw the other day. I didn't find it. I enjoyed lots and lots of other clips (art related) but no luck in finding the one I wanted to see again. My suggestion to you is BOOKMARK IT!!

Aside: that rule about not ending a sentence with a preposition sucks!

I had the little bugger Friday and Saturday. He's now gone. For a short period of time I thought I might have him for the duration. Gasp. But not so. Everyone will be very glad when "mom" gets back to town. Anyway, we think we'll be glad. She has a habit of bringing her problems with her.

Nothing much else to say so... there ya go!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Chit Chat

DUH. Better late than never. I just deleted the picture of my grandson. As I was looking and reading the entry it crossed my mind about the freaky prickheads that get off on small children, even those in diapers. I wish I had thought about that earlier. Damn!


Darius spent the night here and he's currently playing at the kitchen sink. Its the only activity he is willing to do without me being right there... so this is the only time I can get on the pc without little fingers trying to be cute and push on the keyboard.

Yesterday the family friend (where he usually stays) said he peed on himself four times. She ran out of jockey shorts for him so he's been in diapers again since then. We are both counting the days off until "mom's" return. ("gawd...a week and a half to go!!")

Life's little dramas keep happening to folks, especially the young ones. The family friend got a notice that they have to move. New managers took over her apt. complex and my bet is that they are getting ready to raise the rents. The friend often is late in paying her rent, but has always paid the late fees. I'm guessing the new management figures if she has problems with the cheap rent that she wouldn't be able to handle the higher rates. Or it might be because they get loud sometimes. Loud TV with three little kids... its got to be loud at times.

I just went to check on D... all I can say is that its a good thing I didn't mop my floor before he came over.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Expensive Mistake or Huge Act of Charity?

My guess is that it was a mistake. On the news just now was a story about a painting by impressionist Frank Weston Benson that was given to Goodwill. Fortunately for Goodwill, someone knew a good painting when they saw it so they did further research on the artist. The painting was just sold (online aution) for $165,002. Otherwise it could have been put out on the shelves priced at $6. (I personally believe it would have been priced higher, but $6 is what the reporter mentioned. Nothing is cheap at Goodwill any more.)

I can't help but wonder if grandkids were clearing out grandma's house and just tossing everything because young people know that senior citizens wouldn't have anything of value. (snicker) If they hear about the news story I bet they're kicking themselves now. (more snickering)

Monday, October 16, 2006

A True Pothead

 
A planter pot, that is.
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"No, gamma....."

 
"My head is not shaped like this... you silly!!"
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Sunday, October 15, 2006

Wanna bite?

 
"Wanna bite of my snot samwich?"

ah... no thank you.
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His Finest Moment

 
When he's at his sweetest!!
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Saturday, October 14, 2006

The ole stand-by

Sigh. Apparently it doesn't take much to become Chief of Police here. You just have to be DUMB AS A STUMP! A while ago we had a local incident involving our then Chief of Police and a citizen clerk. The clerk was going to sue the city for sexual harrassment because she decided to have an affair with a police officer who later became Chief. (Everyone seems to be looking to the city to finance themselves.) Well, all the sordid details came out. OH YUK!

First of all, the clerk looked like she just got off shift from walking (working) the streets. Straight up hooker style. (Her own mother evicted her... evicted her from a house that she wasn't paying rent for... you know its bad when mommy dearest kicks you out.)

And the police officer knew he shouldn't be having a sexual affair with this person because he kept telling her how important it was to keep it quiet. Putting it in writing, too.

Granted, this happened several years ago... before the guy became chief of police, but its a darn good indication of HIS LACK OF GOOD JUDGMENT. Ya just don't wanna sh*t where you eat!! And he just couldn't keep his pants zipped up. Of eight or so charges, only one stuck, but can you imagine what was being said by the cops 'on the beat' who were suppose to follow this "leader"? Its hard to respect someone's judgment when they've made a complete fool of themselves. He had to have been the butt of a lot of jokes in bad taste...and pun intended.

And now.... now that everything has settled down a little more this "brilliant star" is going to do another dump-ass thing. When all else fails... pull out the trump card. Scream at the top of your lungs "I'M BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST!!!" You got it, pull out the ole race card. Oh yawn!

His demotion couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the fact that he had a sexual affair with an employee. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with being a "laughing stock", of being someone who has demonstrated complete and utter stupidity in the choices he made for himself.... no.... couldn't possibly be that. It couldn't possibly have been because HE'S STUPID AS A STUMP!! therefore it must have been because he is black. What other reason could there be for this demotion?

Now I'm not so naive that I don't think discrimination happens here. It happens all the time. We've got a lot of rednecks and crackers around here. But this time.... I ain't buying it. What do you do when a 'leader' doesn't command respect? He was the biggest joke in town for a couple of months.

When I first became aware of this person I thought he was a real good role model... I thought he had some smarts. Boy was I wrong. And now to pull out this battered old race card... it just adds evidence as to his stupidity.

There... I've said it. I've voiced my opinion. I've been wanting to for a while and now its out. I may be back later to delete this entry, but for now I just had to say it.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Lovely Autumn Day

 
I'm missing this wee one. I'll be glad when they are all back home where they belong!

I must venture out today to restock the larder and it is going to be a beautiful day to be out and about.
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Monday, October 09, 2006

How About Those....

..North Koreans!

WASHINGTON - North Korea faced a barrage of global condemnation and calls for harsh sanctions Monday after it announced its first-ever test of a nuclear weapon, thrusting the secretive communist state into the elite club of nuclear-armed nations.

I wonder if Bush now is wondering how wise it was to cut Colin Powell's counsel off at the knees. I wonder if Powell is now doing the "I told ya so, I told ya so, I told ya, told ya, told ya so" dance.

Who's minding the damn store! And where is their personal integrity and moral family values? Tucked in their pockets with their wallets?

"Hey... what are you doing? Get your hand outta of there!!"

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Sunday Drizzle

 
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Saturday, October 07, 2006

Forgiveness

The world has been given another excellent example of what "forgiveness" looks like in the form of the Amish who have had to bury their beloved ones.

“We can tell people about Christ and actually show you in our walk that we forgive, not just say it, but in our walk of life,” she says.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Chinese Proverb

"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are."

The Moral

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories.

"Johnny, do you have a story to share?", the teacher asked.

"Yes ma'am," Johnny replied. "My daddy told me a story about my Aunt Nancy. She was a pilot in Desert Storm and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a small flask of whiskey, a pistol and a survival knife.”

"She drank the whiskey on the way down so it wouldn't break and then her parachute landed right in the middle of twenty enemy troops. She shot fifteen of them with the gun until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife till the blade broke, and then she killed the last enemy with her bare hands."

"Good Heavens" cried the horrified teacher. "What kind of moral did your daddy give you from this horrible story?"

"Stay the hell away from Aunt Nancy when she's drinking."

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Waiting

 
I will be much relieved when D is old enough to talk clearly. I would feel a little better if I knew he could tell someone if something was amiss. You just can't tell who is a frigging freak and who isn't.
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Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Peep Hole

 
The setting sun gets through the door 'peep hole' and lands on the wall.

Looks like the latest police killing might go to trial. The case is with the grand jury right now. The autopsy showed multiple blunt force internal trauma to the mentally ill man. Twelve of his ribs, front and back, were broken or splintered and his lung was punctured. There were several eye witnesses who have said excessive force was used. Two of the policemen have been under investigation for excessive force before, but nothing came of it. Perhaps this time.

Do things come in threes or what. Within the last two days there has been three vehicles crashing into buildings/homes.... not just hitting the wall but going all the way in; fortunately no one has been injured. But how wild is that... three within a day or two. Interesting to speculate.

To demonstrate the stupidity of politicians, just look at Foley. WTF?! And now it sounds like they are going to try to blame a priest for his life style. Now isn't that handy.

Speaking of politics, the negative campaigns are going strong. One has a narrator using a suggestive voice to say the incumbent got eight raises in ten years. So what? When I was employed I usually got a raise very year. The negative ad does not indicate how much the raises were for... that would make a bigger difference.

Wanna bet the price of gasoline will go up after the elections?

The world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket... quickly.
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Monday, October 02, 2006

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Huh?!

I enjoy going to Illustration Friday to look at all the contributions. How it works is a theme is selected each Friday and an email sent out to all those who sign up for it. Those who wish to participate have until the following Friday to do an illustration depicting the theme. (or use a previous work) They send IF their url and it gets listed on the "linkviewer" page. Then we voyeurs get to stay in one spot and look at many many illustrations.

My "Huh?!" is a result of having come across several links that are apparently resticted. I get messages such as You Are Not Authorized To View This Page ... "ohmygawd, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to go to a restricted site!" But why would someone join in a public event with a viewer restriction on their site? The logic escapes me. However, there are plenty of other illustrations to look at and enjoy so all I can say is "Nana Nana Nana... I didn't want to see your stinky illustrations anyway." Well, I would say that but it is too childish... so never mind.

"I'll show you mine, if you....."

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Pictures

 
 
 
We were at a family friend's house. She has three kids of her own. Her older girl, Autumn, has claimed Darius for her husband. (She's not quite four yrs old... Darius' first "older woman".) Posted by Picasa

Coming Home

 
 
 
Intrigued with the game. Thing is, there's no batteries so it doesn't do anything.  Posted by Picasa