The Dog and Pony Show

Those lousy Danes really opened up the flood gates

2006-02-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Now every cartoonist is starting to get in to the act. That rat bastard Bil Keene ( who spells Bill with one L anyway?) now feels free rein to vent his anti-semitic spleen.

Oliver Hardy had it right

2006-02-07T19:52:00.000-08:00

Stan: I think we've given that deed to the wrong woman. That's the first mistake we've made since that guy sold us the Brooklyn Bridge.

Oliver: Buying that bridge was no mistake. That's gonna be worth a lot of money to us someday.

Ode to the second city.

2006-02-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders

- From the poem "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg

How dare he lie to us!

2006-01-31T22:58:00.000-08:00

This must be a first, an author has taken literary license while telling his life story. What a shock, what a betrayal..... What a bunch of horseshit. This is what America chooses to get incensed about? As a friend of mine wrote me - " What a sad world we live in where this much effort has been dedicated to jumping on a writer and yet George Bush gets elected for a second term. Shame on America and fuck the citizens who participate in that kind of obnoxious zeitgeist."

It would be nice if we could one day live in a world where we didn't beat the snot out of each other over the little lies, while the big lies went unnoticed, uncommented on, and uncared about.

The man whose music filled my house when I was young.

2006-01-27T23:43:00.000-08:00

Mozart would have been 250 years old today.....if he could have lived another 215 years that is.

We can do better than this.

2006-01-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything against her personally, but I don't think she can win, and I don't think she'd be all that good if she did. I don't want another Clinton administration and its devotion to unprincipled triangulation. That may be good for the Clintons, politically, but it leaves America rudderless and at the mercy of ideologues who are determined to push the country further and further to the right.

Visiting my brother's family.

2006-01-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Down in Cold Spring Harbor, near the famous laboratory where my boyz Watson & Crick unraveled the mystery of DNA.

Hugh Thompson

2006-01-10T01:04:00.000-08:00

Hugh Thompson died this week, of cancer, at the age of 62. This picture was taken at about the age he was when he landed his helicopter in the Vietnamese village of My Lai and, and placing himself between villagers and drawn guns, stopped Americans soldiers from massacring the villagers. American soldiers had herded villagers in to an irrigation ditch and had, systematically, started to slaughter them.

He would later testify at the trial of Lt. William Calley, the officer who had ordered the My Lai massacre. The Army tried, and failed, to cover up the story, and many Americans blamed Thompson and others for scape goating Calley for the inevitable civil casualties that took place during war. One of Calley's famous supporters was then Georgia governor Jimmy Carter.

For years afterwards Thompson received hate mail and death threats for his testimony at the trial.

Lieutenant Calley was found guilty of ordering the murder of hundred of civilians. He was also found guilty of, during the massacre, grabbing a two year old little boy who was trying to run back to the village, throwing him in a ditch, and shooting him with his gun.

William Calley now works in Georgia in his father-in-laws jewelry store. He served less than 5 years, most of it under house arrest, before he was pardoned by Richard Nixon.

Friends

2006-01-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my friends, Brian and Leigh, today about the first day we met. How I went over to Leigh's house, to play in a large poker tournament, and barely said hello and goodbye to her during that first afternoon. I'm sure in the rounds of introductions I was introduced to Brian during the festivities, but I don't remember it. Now just two years later I'm fairly certain I'll know them the rest of my life.

It's funny how friendships sneak up on you like that.

Maybe you live in the same apartment building with someone, seeing them for months without even noticing each other, and then one day you start talking, and maybe (just maybe), sometime later, that mysterious leap takes place and you become friends. Sometimes you are introduced to someone by another friend, and you become better friends with that new person than you ever were with the person who introduced you. Sometimes you just know that you like someone and you'll become friends. Sometimes you're sure you don't like the looks of someone but later on you discover you were all wrong about them and you really like them a lot. Maybe you meet them in home room freshman year of high school and you know them the rest of your life. Or maybe you just sit next to them at work and strike up a conversation. There are literally hundreds of possible permeations that lead to that strange alchemy of affection and circumstance that bring about a friendship.

And you never know, beforehand, when it's going to strike. You can look back and say, "Ah-ha that was the first day of our history together", but you never knew when you got up that morning that you were going to meet someone who would one day become an incredibly important part of your existence.

It's one of life's greatest gifts, and often like the very best gifts, it arrives unannounced and in packages that you could never have imagined.

Look at me when I'm talking to you!

2005-12-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

I'm right behind you.

- B. Bear

What are you doing for Twelfth Night?

2005-12-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

How come so few people, in America, celebrate 12th night? Look how much fun you could be having: Getting drunk, dancing around, scaring the pets, lecherously groping the object of your affections.

So remember Three Kings Day, and even if your true love doesn't give you twelve drummers drumming, you can still prolong the spirit of the season.

Winter in New England

2005-12-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Boston for the winter - after seven years on the west coast and 6 months in Hawaii the adjustment is a little difficult. Still, it's beautiful and I have missed it.

The illustration is from Harriet Beecher Stowe's "The First Christmas in New England".

The Grand Canyon of the Pacific

2005-11-25T22:34:00.000-08:00

Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

As with the real grand canyon, the pictures don't do it justice.

I dragged my poor parents clear across the island of Kauai to view this. They were thankful when we got there because it turned out to be spectacular enough to merit the long schlep, but there was a fair amount of quiet grumbling on the long winding road up there. This is, of course, payback for a childhood of being dragged against my will to sights that I would later cherish seeing for the rest of my life.

So in a way this was really a thank you to them. It's odd how the shoe switches feet in our collective lives.

Don't worry folks; I'm a fire marshal!!

2005-11-14T01:07:00.000-08:00

That's a fire HAZARD !!!

I was thinking about Jim Carrey back in the day when he was still a comic genius. Fire marshal Bill Burns was an odd, yet unquestionably, brilliant creation. A grotesque caricature of the old Irish fire chiefs who would come in and give my, Boston area grammar school, assembly a lecture on fire safety.

What happened to his social security plan?

2005-11-08T01:47:00.000-08:00

How could he possibly have failed to sell his plan to the American public with such sterling rhetoric?

Because the—all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those—changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be—or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the—like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate—the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those—if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

From a speech give in Tampa, FLA, on Feb 4th.

It's a Doggie-Dog world!

2005-11-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

I never knew how many people thought that was the real saying, and not "dog eat dog", but in this case, the malapropism seems to be so much more descriptive of this life than the actual cliche that diminishes the richness of our existence.

What book are you?

2005-10-31T23:33:00.000-08:00

In my never ending quest to allow the few people who read my blog to know themselves better, I ask the eternal question: What book are you?

Try taking the quiz. I turned out to be "The Great Gatsby". It is one of my favorite books, and one that is very mixed up with my feelings about America.

You're The Great Gatsby!

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Having grown up in immense wealth and privilege, the world is truly at
your doorstep. Instead of reveling in this life of luxury, however, you spend most of
your time mooning over a failed romance. The object of your affection is all but
worthless--a frivolous liar--but it matters not to you. You can paint any image of the
past you want and make it seem real. If you were a color of fishing boat light, you
would be green.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Winter has come to Oahu's north shore.

2005-10-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

Which means the big waves are here.

In case anyone is wondering, that's not me surfing that wave......... I let that guy have that one, I wanted to wait for one of the big ones.

I need these jerks to tell me this?

2005-10-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

This website estimates the monetary worth of your blog.

I guess my plan to sell this website and retire still has a few kinks to be worked out.

Where in Hell are you going?

2005-10-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

The other day I started to wonder, if there really was a hell, would Dante have been right and there are different levels?

I'd think there must be - we couldn't all be lumped together as sinners and thrown in one big pile, could we? Hitler (very evil) would be right next to Einstein (quite nice but an agnostic)? I don't think so.

I ran across this test today, which helped me at least understand wither I goest. Quo Vadis?

Hell Test

I ended up on level 2.

The good news is, as Satan's little helper is pointing out, there is a height requirement for getting in to hell. Midgets and small children get a pass.

Hope is the thing with Feathers.

2005-10-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

-Emily Dickinson

What is his sorrow?

2005-10-04T01:58:00.000-07:00

That's the question Alice asks the Gryphon when they see the mock turtle crying.

On the way back from swimming with the dolphins Karen and I ran in to this guy.

Click below to see a short, oscar nominated film, on one turtle's journey to self discovery.

film

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

2005-09-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning my friend Karen (who was in for an all too short five day visit) and I woke up at 5:30 AM to race across the island to catch a chartered catamaran that was to take us to a place where we could swim with wild dolphins. It was one of those days where everything had to go just right for things to work out.

It started with us just making it on time for the sail. As is my nature we cut it close in getting there, with only a fortuitous series of synchronized traffic lights saving my tardy hide. Karen was great about not saying anything, but I could tell she was more than a little annoyed at the leisurely pace I was keeping early in the trip - I had to keep wiping the windshield off because of all the fogging that the steam coming out of her ears was creating.

There really aren't many of these tours that are going exceed expectations (In fact, hasn't 'exceeding expectations' just become a marketing catch phrase?). When we first booked it, the website made it clear that it was something of a crap shoot if you were going to see any dolphins at all. Still, hope springs eternal and we had great faith that we would be lucky and catch a dolphin or two in his/her natural habitat - yet it would be a lie to say that nagging doubt wasn't our constant traveling companion cutting across the deep blue ocean's surface, on our 30' catamaran, as we approached the bay where they had been spotted by an earlier departing vessel.

As we got closer our guide gave a rambling, inaudible ( the wind whipping about made it very difficult to hear), lesson on how best to swim with these elusive creatures (if we should spot any), and how one needed "a plan" if you had any hope of catching up to them. Talk of plans, or any kind of required skills for that matter, only served to further mute our expectations. It sounded as if a typically clumsy human wouldn't stand a chance in getting 50 yards from a fast moving pod of dolphins. Not only was I afraid that we wouldn't see any at all, but now I was also acutely aware of the possibility that others would somehow manage an encounter while I splashed around like the village idiot, far from the rapidly departing dolphins, as the group looked on at me with an admixture of pity and disgust.

So, like Tony Orlando before us ( who was overwhelmed by the plethora of yellow ribbons 'round the old oak tree), we were almost moved to tears by the abundance of dolphins we saw when we arrived at the secluded bay that was their "resting area". We later found out that there were about an 150 in the water, literally milling about, and swimming with them proved to be about as difficult as picking up a handful of cherries from a full bowl.

It is impossible to describe how incredible these guys are in person, and how magical the experience is to be in their company. Watching them move through the water, all around you, is at once joyous and heartbreaking in its beauty. It was, truly, one of life's rare moments of utter grace.

T.S Eliot was born 117 years ago today.

2005-09-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: "I am Lazarus, come from the dead
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all"--
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: "That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all."

- From the love song of J Alfred Prufrock

That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all................. Such a simple sentence but one that, for me, captures one of the most enduring struggles of the human condition.

America's next top model?

2005-09-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Lisa. Lisa is going to be on "America's Next Top Model" this season..........OK, in the interest of honesty, she is not really my friend, she works with my pal Melonie (who really is my pal), but I've met her a few times and she's great. I have high hopes for her winning. If you get a chance check out this show, it's now in its fifth season of doing its part to destroy Western culture.

9/11/2001

2005-09-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

Still angry. Still sad.

From Paddy Chayefsky's "Network" written in 1975

2005-09-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

They say I can sell anything; I'd like to try to sell something to you. It is the international system of currency which determines the vitality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature. And you will atone. Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little 21-inch screen and howl about America, and democracy. There is no America; there is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.
You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it. Is that clear? You think you've merely stopped a business deal? That is not the case. The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity. It is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of dollars.
The world is a business, Mr. Beale; it has been since man crawled out of the slime. Our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality - one vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock - all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangel.

Another Dog picture?

2005-09-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

I try not to post too many animal pictures here, but this time I couldn't resist.

Thousands of people left their animals behind when evacuating the areas that were devastated by Katrina. I don't mean to diminish the tragic loss of human life, but I am afraid too many of us will forget about our furry friends, when we reach out to help.

Today I gave to the ASPCA Louisiana disaster fund.

Animal rescue

The Boston globe recommends "Noah's wish". They are an international organization.

world wide

The centuries old obstacle to peace.

2005-08-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

Who ever heard of calling
off a war after ordering all the
ammunition?

Rufus T Firefly
President of Freedonia

The Italian Greyhound

2005-08-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

A friend recently asked me if I had a favorite breed of dog? I thought about it, I don't, I much prefer mutts. Still when I was reflecting on it the Italian Greyhound crossed my mind.

The Italian greyhound always has the worried, sad, expression of an immigrant in the new world. He's not quite sure why he's here. Maybe he's here to be a shoemaker, maybe a baker's assistant. In any case how can't you love that level of nervous concern.

The guy behind the guy.

2005-08-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Check this out if your computer supports Quick Time:

The president's speechalist

More Cow Bell

2005-08-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Christopher Walken is planning a run for president. We could do a lot worse.

Check out his website:

Walken for President

A thought from Clarence Darrow

2005-08-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

"The lowest standards of ethics of which a right-thinking man can possibly conceive is taught to the common soldier whose trade is to shoot his fellow men. In youth he may have learned the command, 'Thou shalt not kill,' but the ruler takes the boy just as he enters manhood and teaches him that his highest duty is to shoot a bullet through his neighbor's heart — and this, unmoved by passion or feeling or hatred, and without the least regard to right or wrong, but simply because his ruler gives the word."

Hiroshima

2005-08-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

60 years ago today the United States dropped the atom bomb on Japan's 7th largest city, Hiroshima. The bomb instantly killed 70,000 men, women, and children - with another 50,000 dying of radiation poisoning in the months that followed.

Three days later, the United states dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki killing another 70,000 people. Ironically, emperor Hirohito had already decided to surrender before the second bomb was dropped.

By the time the bombs were dropped a million U.S service men had already been called up to make the final assault and invasion of Japan. It is estimated that 20,000 American soldiers would have died in the first month of the invasion alone.

Today the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, the former Soviet republics (Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia) Israel, India, Pakistan, and South Africa all have nuclear bombs.

In addition to countries that already possess the capacity to make and deliver nuclear weapons, seven other countries--Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Taiwan are in the process of acquiring them - some probably already have.

Todays bombs are 80 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

"For as long as there are human beings, a world of human beings,
bring back peace,
unbroken peace."

Toge Sankichi "Poems of the Atomic Bomb"

Wild Horses

2005-08-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

One thing the Bush administration is very good at is continually proving that they are rotten to the core. For all their laziness and inability to sustain attention on any serious subjects, they remain indefatigable in their quest to destroy all that's good in America. This link below tells how they are trying to eliminate America's wild horse population, cloaking it in their usual brand of Orwellian language.

link

Speaking of Orwell, this story brings to mind Boxer's fate in "Animal Farm" when he is shipped off to the knackers to become glue. It's one thing for Karl Rove to be an almost dead ringer for Fat Pig Squealer, but does Bush have to use the rest of that book as a god-damn blue print for his administration?

Lights will guide you home

2005-07-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

I drove east down the coast line of Oahu today, to Maunalua bay to watch the surfers, and for the first time witnessed the amazing sport of kite surfing.

It's a hell of a thing watching those guys skim along the ocean doing close to 40 miles and hour, and then getting airborne off the crest of the waves. Not for the feint hearted - which in this case, I am.

On the way down and back I listened to Cold Play's "X&Y", it made getting there as much fun as arriving.

What I hope to do on my next summer vacation.

2005-07-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

If my brother reads this he'll think I'm crazy. On the last family boat trip down the Canal Midi, there were constant whispers of mutiny from the crew --- all of which were being spread by our Dad.

In any case, friends have started rumors that this will be the activity for next summer... and I'm excited.

Like any loved one, when I am away from Europe for too long, I start to miss it terribly.

Yahoo!

2005-07-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Yahoo is the title of this work by an artist named Alfred Phillips, that recently
was moved to a less conspicuous place at the Broward (FLA) Art's Guild. The move was prompted over concerns children might see it.

I know it's Bullshit, but.....

2005-07-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

I recieved an e-mail today promising if I sent it along, in six minutes, good luck was coming my way - if I didn't send it, I'd catch a swift kick in the nuts (cosmically speaking that is).

Over the years I've gotten quite a number of these, and they've always been accompianed by some sheepish little introduction from the sender - a variation of, " Sorry, but I can use all the luck I can get". As if this feeble apology is supposed to lessen one's resentment towards the person who forwarded this drivvel to every shmuck unlucky enough to be in their address book.

As I said every silver cloud of good fortune has its dark lining, the stick as opposed to the carrot on the end of it. The threat in this latest version read:

It must leave your hands in 6 MINUTES. Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.

Faith impaired? Is that what the unsuperstitious, and those who question the existence of God, are?

I have faith. I have faith that failing to send along a slew of glib homilies isn't going to change my fortune one way or the other --- unless it sends some good karma my way for doing my bit in blocking the spread of unwanted internet chaff.

A dream of a better tomorrow

2005-07-13T23:08:00.000-07:00

London calling.

2005-07-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Along with the double decker bus, and the train station, the other thing getting blown up yesterday was Bush's latest
rationale for Iraq. The "We're fighting them there, so we won't have to fight them here" theory has been exposed for the bullshit (Bushshit?) that we all knew it was.

The simple truth is we are losing this war by exchanging kills, of innocent lives, with them. This is not a zero-sum
game we're playing. Terrorists score a victory when an innocent life is lost, on either side, we lose in all instances.

When a crime is commited you should catch the criminal - not bomb the country they're from. The only thing that seems to accomplish is to ensure that terrorists can't lay claim on cornering the market on senseless killing.

Fucking Cats!!

2005-07-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

Always lording their patriotism over people.

"Oh, La de da, look at me, I always land on my feet. Isn't it just grand to be an American."

The 81st Fighting Keyboardists!

2005-07-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

Wow what a find!

2005-06-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

On my wanderings around the island of Oahu, I came upon this amazing Japanese grocery store.

They had an entire refridgerator case devoted to Sashimi ready fish - including 1/3 of a pound of yellow tail for under $5 (that's more than enough for a good lunch). I also bought some fresh seaweed (that looked like cooked spinich) and tried to consume it right out of the container - an experince not unlike swallowing a mouthful of ocean water - I don't think I'm eating it right.

Now I have to find an internet site on how to make home made sushi.

Marukai market

Seperated at birth?

2005-06-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

Gott Mit Uns

2005-06-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

My mother told me that when she was a little girl she remembers seeing those words, "Gott Mit Uns" (God with us), on the belt buckles of the Nazi soldiers in the streets - they were the standard issue army belt buckle in Germany.

One of the oft retold lies the right wing likes to tell is that Hitler and the Nazis were a Godless bunch - its really nothing more than revisionist history. Check out this

link

to see other photos of the relationship between the church and the Nazi state.

Here comes a horse's ass!

2005-06-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1850s John Stuart Mill had a public disagreement with his wife, Harriet Taylor, over the idea of the secret ballot. He had always favored that method as the fairest way of having an unbiased election - she believed that people in the privacy of the voting booth would feel free to vote their own selfish interest, and that the exposure of the open ballot would shame them in to voting for the candidate whose policies were in line with the common good. It was an interesting debate, one that would later be rendered moot by Ronald Reagan. With a cheery smile and a twinkle in his eyes he made it his life's mission to convince people that there was no shame at all in acting selfishly. His was a philosphy of look out for number one, every man for himself, that greed was good, and that concern for the needy and helpless was for suckers. Sure he prettied up the language and wrapped it in a neat package of patriotism and rugged individualism, but brought down to its basic level, it was still "screw the other guy".

Down at the Hawaiian Republican party, they proudly display a large photo of St.Ronnie - they see him as the divine bringer of a sea change in American public policy. He was - sadly it seems that the sea he changed carried in a lot of sewage and waste that, we had rightly hoped, would have been swept away.

Hawaii at last

2005-06-14T01:13:00.000-07:00

After what must have seemed, to my friends, like a never ending farewell tour of both coasts, I've settled in to the condo in Oahu. It's great to be here.

On My Mom's Birthday

2005-06-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a picture of her favorite, Harold Lloyd.

The thinking man's Angel

2005-06-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

So Farrah was sexier and Jaclyn more beautiful - but Kate Jackson was the one who radiated intelligence, the one you wouldn't be slightly embarrased by when you introduced her to your friends - and the conversation turned to something more important than hairspray.

Here's something

2005-05-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is a photograph by a women named Mary Ellen Mark.

Do you remember that song "Row,row,row your boat"? Remember how the last line ends with the words, "Life is but a dream"? I think that's just about right.

The Chrysler Building turns 75.

2005-05-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

The most beautiful Skyscraper ever built is 75 years old today. Would it kill you to go down and see it once in awhile? It's not getting any younger you know.

Isn't "Skyscraper" a pretty word?

Apparently God doesn't want us messing with his scare tactics.

2005-05-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

Recently both Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have announced that they have conducted successful trials on a vaccine that would protect against the human papilomma virus (HPV), the sexually transmitted disease that is responsible for about 70% of the 10,000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in women every year. If the vaccine works it could be given to young women before they enter their sexually active years - that could prevent 70% of the future cases of cervical cancer. Sounds good, who wouldn't want that?

A lot of the Christian right wouldn't want that. Bridget Maher of the influential Family Research Council says; "Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex."

In other words they feel that elimination of a sexually transmitted disease would take away a valuable tool in stopping the spread of premarital sex. The FRC and other Christian right wing organizations who oppose condom use, even for gays, are fighting to make sure that those who choose to engage in sex outside of marriage aren't going to be able to hide behind any medical break throughs when trying to escape the wages of sin.

This must be the "Culture of Life" crowd that Bush likes to talk about.

Today would have been Hergé's 98th birthday.

2005-05-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi, is the creator of my beloved childhood pal, TinTin. My mother credits the "Adventures of Tintin" with teaching me how to read (along with a very patient woman named Shelly Mattox, who endured some very long winded "sounding out the words" sessions). I'm not sure I buy it - I think I knew how to read before that - but I will say it taught me how to enjoy reading.

It's funny how one takes reading for granted. On occasion I've had to go a few days without reading anything, it really is a mind numbing experience. I know Hergé is dead, and I long ago lost track of Mrs. Mattox but, where ever they are, I want to thank them.

The Defender of Life

2005-05-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

"....the use of federal money, taxpayer's money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life — I'm against that," G.W Bush

He doesn't seem to have a problem with the "detroy life to save life" approach when it comes to embracing the neo-con's misbegotten geo-political social science.

Here's a picture of one of the people he's so hell bent on protecting.

This is the house I want to build on my land in Ashby.

2005-05-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Follow the link below to the website of the woman who designed it and see what the interior looks like.
The cost is amazingly low - something like 125K including construction,plumbing, and electricity. Throw up 20K worth of solar panels and you have enough to power the house.

Prefab

An unappetizing chocolaty mistreat.

2005-05-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a little point of purchase nightmare waiting for you at your local Target. I had the displeasure of trying to choke one of these bad boys down on the ride home. My friend Brian had to open the truck door and spit his out. The peanutbutter center is dry and tasteless and the chocolate outside is made from some kind of industrial by-product.
Note to self: In the future be wary of any candy bar that lists its third ingredient as "Cellulose Gel".

Kristin Breitweiser

2005-05-19T01:13:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite personalities to have emerged from 9/11 and the so called "War on Terror" is Kristin Breitweiser . Widowed by the attack on the WTC she steadfastly refused to swallow the bullshit the Bush administration was ladeling out and demanded answers to questions that everyone should have been asking, but few were. Read her take on the white house's response to the flushing of the Koran at Gitmo.

Here

I hope everyone caught this guy

2005-05-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is the British MP George Galloway dressing down Norm Coleman ( You remember him the no-principled, opportunistic stooge, who won Paul Wellstone's seat in Minnesota) at a senate hearing yesterday. If you missed it; check out the transcript.

link

Choice

2005-05-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is a painting by a wonderful artist named Maria Gibert. I love her work. This one was done with oil on Linen.

Why we continue to lose ground to the Japanese.

2005-05-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

They're obviously years ahead of us in their quest to find alternatives to our shared national dependence on anti-depression drugs!

Perhaps not surprisingly Amazon.com says people interested in this title are also purchasing "Golden Fountain : The Complete Guide to Urine Therapy". The author is a fellow named Coen Van Der Kroon and not, as some wags would have you believe, I.P Freely.

A thought from Susan B Anthony

2005-05-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

"I distrust those people who know so
well what God wants them to do because
I notice it always coincides with
their own desires."

Django

2005-05-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is the face that haunts me at night as I try, vainly, to fall asleep. He is the dog I had to leave with a very nice woman in Orange County while I run off to Honolulu for 6 months.

The first annoyance

2005-05-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Just the very act of becoming a blogger is daunting. How do you say "I'm an idiot" in html code?