Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Headline of the day


Floyd inflatable pig goes missing


it just sorta floated away...

Beer Can Chicken

Epilog has a recipe to grill chicken outside using a beer can...


Beer-can chicken's so simple you can pretty much describe it in a single sentence and still be hard-pressed to screw it up: On a grill set up with the ashed-over coals on either side, take a dry-rubbed whole chicken, stick a three-quarters-full beer can with extra holes punched on top into the cavity, prop up the chicken so it stands on the can in the middle of the grill, and cover and cook for about 90 minutes. (You can find a more detailed recipe on this site.)


Craft item of the day

Scibbit blog describes how you can keep your kids busy by growing crystals.

Have fu, and don't eat the Alum....

80 year old Robot



recently refurbished...

at Pink tentacle

YUM Cloaned meat

more HERE

the bad news? right now it costs $1000 a pound

Gift item of the day


a mini pet cactus...

he website explains

The Mini Pet Cactus will love you unconditionally. All you have to do it is water it once a month for about a minute (instructions on packaging). Each cactus comes with a strap to attach to your jacket, cell phone, etc., so you can take it with you everywhere. Nothing says fun like talking to your cactus in a public place - until security asks you to leave, that is.

JELLYBEANS!

Pinoy centric says don't throw away those left over jelly beas from Easter..

recycle them into art




more here

Fiesta!



This is from Emy's party and the crowning of Mary procession last weekend

The big fiesta parade is today, with more fiesta tomorrow.

I may not go, due to the heat. Lolo traditionally marched with the other WWII vets, but now the last few merely ride in jeeps...and he may not even do that this year.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

GM Food fight

Gloria is trying to distribute rice via the Catholic churches for poor people, to prevent abuse.

Bad news: Greenpeace is keeping out US rice because it might (might!) have some GM rice "contamination" in it.And their leftwing collegues in Catholic NGO's won't distribute the rice to the poor.
So what difference are hungry Pinoys when you can feel self righteous about your ecological purity?

Good news: China will probably get around the law and make a profit selling rice.

Americans use GM food, no problem. It's not a toxin problem. And unlike GM Maize, rice is milled, so it can't be planted and crosspollinate native rice.

China is revving up to increase their rice output, and unlike the US, they know how to get around paper work. And although critics are right in saying that the GM rice doesn't produce more rice than traditional grains, what they don't mention is that bugs eat a lot of that traditional grain, and that the GM rice doesn't get eaten---and you don't have to spray expensive toxic chemicals either.

Headlines below the fold

Global warming: It's the methane stupid...
From wetlands, from defrosting permafrost, from rice paddies, and from cow f***s.
--------------
Global warming: Blame the smoking ban. Or blame the idiots who decided to heat sidewalks to keep the smokers warm....didn't anyone ever hear of smoking rooms with exhaust fans?
----------------
Big Brother has all this information on you, and could sell it to the highest bidder. ...

-----------------------------
VDH writes about the nefarious "they" who buy lettuce at Safeway, not argula at WholeFoods...

Jim: You've gotta remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the New West. You know ... morons.

180k
Like THESE GUYS:

Just Stay

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

'Your son is here,' she said to the old man.

She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement..

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength.

Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse . While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

'Who was that man?' he asked.

The nurse was startled, 'He was your father,' she answered..

'No, he wasn't,' the Marine replied. 'I never saw him before in my life.'

'Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?'

'I knew right away there had been a mistake,
but I also knew he needed his son, and his
son just wasn't here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell
whether or not I was his son,
knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.'

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

------------
your email of the day from Col. Updraft

Monday, April 28, 2008

history trivia

Like grandfather like grandchild?
McCain's grandpa was a hellraiser too... LINK

The first black president, Warren Harding?
Nah, probably not, but he did stand up for civil rights LINK

Will the US finally grant rights to Filipino veterans who fought along side the US in World War II?

the "we're all gonna die" story of the day
: Super nova caused major extinction problem 2 million years ago...will it happen again?

First they came for the rosaries, and then they confiscated Playboy...and now: Thou shalt not have a Playstation.

Finally, Indonesia is holding birdflu emergency drills. LINK
if human to human flu starts spreading, it will be like SARS: no one with a fever can fly...

Nano flowers

from Wired:"Silicon oxide nanowires have an amusing habit of arranging themselves into impressive patterns. When S.K. Hark, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, looked at some of them under a scanning electron microscope, he saw flowers...

Fiesta time

students in the parade stop for photos.
I'll post more when I get the main computer working.

Emy arrived and is well...
They crowned the statue of the holy shepardess (Divina pastora) and then had the parade of the barangays...it passed Emy's new house, and we had a birthday party. Because of the heat we didn't go to the church part.
The big fiesta and the town parade is April 30/May 1.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

family news

six puppies...four brown, two white with brown spots...and yes, we got her fixed...didn't work..didn't work for Mama dog either...wonder if we can get some depoprovera for them...
oh well...

going over to eat at emy's..

family news

Emy arrived with my asus computer

the black dog is in our room on my easy chair having puppies...two so far ...

Plastic Geisha

Plastic Geisha the dream

Plastic Geisha the reality
(headsup Notcot)

Mugabe forces raid hospital

From the UKTelegraph:
Mugabe's thugs are arresting opposition supporter and the "observers" who supervised the polls...

"There were reports from central Zimbabwe that the rural Driefontein hospital run by the Roman Catholic Church was closed down on Wednesday after men calling themselves war veterans kidnapped patients and beat up medical staff.

The patients were suspected MDC members and had been admitted for treatment after suffering beatings. MDC welfare personnel who had been trying to find both the patients and the doctors from the hospital have since been detained.

An Engineer's guide to cats



(headsup from the nutty neocons at the corner)

Friday, April 25, 2008

About that reactor

InfromtheColdBlog has a discussion about that North Korean reactor set up to make Plutonium in Syria...more HERE.

And it's getting some coverage on the NHK news (japan) which we get on our tv cable..

Hmmm...the liberal antiIraqwar UKTimes (note sidebar) notices things are improved in Basra...
StrategyPage says Iraqis doing this on their own is now being seen as a good move politically for the central government.

iBand


more information is HERE.

headsup Physorg.

Someone is watching


Ever get the feeling that Homeland Security has gone too far?



headsup from Misscellania.

She also has a post on Cats

HERE.

The PickleSickle

Don't want your kids to eat junk food?

Try buying

A PicklePopsickle for your kids.

then
go to Bob's Pickle Page ...
when it pops up, a song will start...turn out speakers and sing...

You can go to DunkleUnkins' farm page and
listen to more of his songs (streaming audio).

Such as:
Wait For The Dinner Bell
Clockmaker
The Cow Paddy Blues

he is one of the Cape Breton musicians...check link for fiddle music.

Find the imposter

your email of the day from Col. Updraft.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

FAMILY NEWS

Emy leaves tomorrow and should arrive Saturday for the fiesta.

Christina lost two of her front teeth.

Chano is holding art classes for kids...he has a teacher come in and give classes (it's the school holidays) for the 5-10 year olds.

Ruby and friends

ruby 408

click on photo to go to album.

And Ruby is posting her own photos now at RubyPrincessBlog.
I helped her set it up...
it says alot about the sad state of the world that I worry about her on the internet...she already "chats" with her friends on line at age six.

feeding the hungry



When you hear about food shortages, just remember that modern methods of growing food and raising produce and basic protein sources like chickens or fish farming is why people don't go hungry.

This is Engineer Hamiz and the Shavabiz breeder houses in Iran.
engineerZiyaeePoultry
webalbum...click for more photos.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Amigurumi crochet patterns


If you have no arthritis and good eyesite, the link is to Bluebeary treasures where you can buy the patterns for these tiny stuffed animals.

-------------

If you prefer a more classical cat amigurmi, check out this Etsy site which has a HelloKitty pattern on sale.

Gift Item of the day

go to Muffa's Etsy sote tp see

A teeny tiny chick on a wagon.

For more creations check LINK

Her webpage is here

Podcast of the week

The Apollo Chronicals...

the story of the trip to the moon...

Spring housecleaning


TipNut has lots of stuff on how to do your spring housecleaning.

And don't miss these old fashioned tips from the past.

I like the one that says use your old white gloves to dust...


I haven't owned a pair of dress gloves for 30 years.

Heartwarmer of the day


Pregnant lady notices that she is leaking fluid, and promptly heads home to deliver her baby boy.

Except that she was in Texas at the time, and "home" is Anchorage, Alaska.

When asked why she chose to give birth at home, the father, who is best known for the Iron Dog race but who works as a commercial fisherman, said:
“Can’t have a fish picker from Texas.”

Glad I wasn't on that flight.

But there is more:

The lady is the governor of Alaska...

And the baby has Down's syndrome.

Family's statement: ""Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives.

"We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

Oh yes: she promptly went back to work. And plans to feed the kid while working, as she did with baby number four...

Headline of the day

Florida Senate amendment takes on 'Truck Nutz'

And no, I'm not going to tell you what it's about...this is a family blog.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

"Benedict to Apple: Peace out"


I usually get the LATime/NYTimes and Wapo headlines on my rss feeder. So the coverage of the Pope was bland indeed. But the NYPost coverage here is more colorful, and includes videos.

And Whispers on the Loggia blog has a nice essay HERE

I watched it on EWTN which is on our cable, and it was impressive.

webware winners

See them all HERE.

Diss the Bureaucrats


Turn up speakers and play.

Oh, previous link was headsup from DaveBarry.

Attention Sons of Scotland

The EU is not your friend:

The EU Court says bagpipes are too loud, and break health and safety laws.
But pipers say you just can't play them softly, so the edict is essentially silencing the pipers.

and not just bagpipes, but rock music and symphonic orchestras.

What's wrong with this picture, where a bureaucrat is allowed unlimited power and no one is able to ask why?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Boys will be boys

Latest hijinks by Prince William was to land his copter in his girlfriend's front yard.

I like this kid better all the time. Sounds like another guy who sowed his wild oats...

Of course, unlike his brother Harry, it is doubted he will serve in war...

Science headline of the day

Earth hums while making 'Love' waves


A subtle and mysterious global hum has been detected by seismologists studying records from earth's most boring seismic stations.
The newfound vibration is made of two-minute to five-minute, side-to-side surface seismic waves, called Love waves.
They are named after the UK mathematician Professor Augustus Edward Hough Love, who created the mathematical model of such waves in 1911.
The discovery comes 10 years after seismologists first identified louder global oscillations that resemble the ringing of a gigantic bell.

Attention Homeland Security


Watch out for one of these nefarious items:

A cute pink seal key chain taser
(and no, it's only a mild shock, not a real stun gun)



But these things are real...

Pink Self Defense- Pretty in pink stun guns

(actually, it is low dose shock, a gag item)

and no, so far no Hello Kitty Taser, at least on ebay...
You'll just have to stick with your HelloKitty M16 and HelloKitty AK 47's I guess.

DOGS


FROM MISCELLANIA

and don't miss the link to

Songs that make you dog happy
...

which includes such hits as:
1. Squeaky-Deaky - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
2. I'm Your Doggie - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
3. You're A Good Dog - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
4. Please Let Me Know - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
5. Scratch My Back - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
6. Outside - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
7. Hap, Hap, Happy! - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)
8. I Love Food! - (with Laurel Canyon Animal Company)

Gift item of the day

An Expresso Book machine...

Actually, there was a discussion of this five years ago on CSPAN...it would be great for places like the Philippines, where imported books cost the same as in the US with lower wages, so I mainly buy used paperbacks for 1 dollar or so...but there are a lot of books I simply can't buy here (presumably I could find them in Manila, or special order them).

With this, the cost is a penny a page...and presumably you could get the book off of Amazon.

Hmmm. Maybe Amazon should offer this with their Kindle books.

headsup Notcot

Sunday, April 20, 2008

10 things overheard in NYC when the Pope was there

10 "Sir, when did you realize your Popemobile was missing?"

9 "Hey, pal, take off the hat"

8"He looks a lot Popier in person"

7"Tell you what, since you're the Pope, you can have the Rolex for $20"
6 "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for letting me survive that cab ride"

5 "He wants a tour of all the places they whacked guys on 'The Sopranos'"
4 "Relax, the Virgin Megastore isn't what it sounds like"

3 "I don't care who he is -- he can wait in line for his vanilla latte like the rest of us"

2 "No joke -- I just saw the Pope and two rabbis walk into a bar"

1"Wanna perform a miracle? Help the Knicks win a game"

from david letterman, of course

Right now we're watching him in Yonkers...on EWTN...
looks more like a pep rally...

Anti Catholic bigotry alive and well

and surprise: They are the blogs who promote Obama on the web...
LINK LINK
Hint to Hillary: Give 'm h***...

My full rant HERE.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Cats

Cats

humorous pictures
see more crazy cat pics

Religion and logic

Wapo writer Michael Gerson has an article on why the church's defense of reason has many implications:

Secularism has traditionally taught that human beings will eventually outgrow religious conviction and moral absolutism -- that skepticism is evidence of maturity. Benedict contends that modern men and women, unguided by reasoned moral beliefs, turn toward adolescent self-involvement. Their intellectual growth is stunted. In a world where all moral claims are seen as equally true and equally false -- the world, for example, of the modern university -- human conscience is reduced to biology or prejudice.


Since even science depends on "faith" that the universe is reasonable, this has a wide implication to society...

Another Sign the Apocolypse is nigh

First they discussed microchips to identify people...and now they are coming in your fish dinner...



The global Fish Barcode of Life Initiative, which plans to collect at least five representatives each of all 30,000 plus marine and freshwater species in the world. FISH-BOL is part of the global Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL), started in 2003 to barcode everything from fishes, mushrooms and flowers, to microbes, insects and animals of every description.

Coconuts!

Before I started to travel, I didn't know that there were lots of different palm trees.

The Coconut palm grows all over here (we have a dozen on our plot)> The Killerplant page has a summary on it's uses. LINK

More on coconuts HERE. This tells about all the uses of the tree.

When our coconuts are starting to get ripe, we take them down and make Buko juice.

The liquid inside is delicious, and you then scrape the jellylike flesh and sugar into the drink...you can buy it fresh from street vendors for 5 pesos.

This is not coconut milk. For that, you take ripe coconut meat (which is semi hard) and grate it up, boil it, and then strain out the scrapings. We use this in recipes also, but it's a lot more work.

It's also too much work to make coconut vinegar or coconut oil (we buy it).

We use the lumbar, which is very soft, for scaffolding and for our chicken farm buildings, which are then lined with split bamboo for the floors, similar to traditional houses, so that the dirt/manure falls through the cracks.

One of Lolo's favorite dishes is prawn cooked in coconut milk, onions and garlic, and you eat it over rice. He always would buy a coconut (even in the US) to prepare it, but this Recipe gives how to make it from canned coconut milk. HERE.

We usually leave out the hot peppers, and you can leave off the prawn heads if you like. Our local market sells the prawn intact, but in the US they sell both ways.

Insomnia book of the week

Since we don't get CSPAN in the Philippines, I play audiobooks on my mp3 player to go to sleep.

This week's download from Librivox is Temperence Gems, by William McGonagall...who is described on the site here:

McGonagall has been widely acclaimed as the worst poet in British history. He campaigned vigorously against excessive drinking, appearing in pubs and bars to give edifying poems and speeches. These were very popular, the people of Dundee possibly recognising that McGonagall was “so giftedly bad he backed unwittingly into genius”.

----------------------

Of course, we used to sing this one:

Away away with rum by gum...LINK

...We never eat cookies because they have yeast.
And one little bite turns a man to a beast.
Can you imagine a sadder disgrace...
Then of a man in the gutter with crumbs on his face....

----------------------------
I can't find that one on you tube, but here's another Chad Mitchell oldie.

Turn up speakers and enjoy!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Dilbert's questions for Presidential debates

1. Who is going to advise you (including your vice president)?
2. What is your proposed budget?
3. Who would you nominate to the Supreme Court?

Hmm.

Nah, they'd never do it...such questions make too much sense.

South Park does the Internet

Sounds like us last year when that earthquake put us off line for six weeks.

(headsup Drudge)

Religion is weird

Pro abortion democrats intend to publically receive communion from the Pope.

They obviously don't believe they are receiving Christ in the bread and wine:

"There's a time for celebrating who we are as Catholics, and this is one of those times," said Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.

"The leader of my church and a head of state is visiting my country, my city where I work, in a brand new ballpark," he added. "There is a great sense of excitement."

So what's God got to do with it?
--------------------

If you go to Saudi, they will confiscate both Playboy and Bibles.

Who needs Playboy when the Imman preaches soft porn?

You can get a blond hooker to do these things for a couple hundred bucks in New York City. In Saudi, you have to blow yourself and a lot of innocent Muslim civilians up to get a decent blow job...

Again, what's God got to do with it?

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Beware of Imposters


(original at LastoftheFewBlog)

Attention Homeland Security

A Matchstick gun....

All you need is two clothespins, super glue(instant drying spray is optional), a file, some sandpaper, and a lot of free time!


If they outlaw matches, only criminals will be able to smoke on planes...

come to think of it, you aren't allowed to smoke in planes nowadays.

The "We're all gonna die" headline of the day

the Mayans said the world would end in 2012...oh well. Still time to party like it's 1999...


---------
and after you finish dancing, check out this
youtube film

-----------------
Oh, and by the way, you know those crystal skulls?

Fakes....original article HERE.

(headsup Freepers)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

the "We're All Gonna Die" post of the day

Impact craters on earth...

Check out this site too: LINK
includes:
North American Impact structures
Australian Impact structures.

Some people have too much time on their hands


Patrick Acton is an artist from Iowa who uses wooden matchsticks to create his incredible works of art...

This is a matchstick Minas Tirith..


Go to link to see other views of his project.

(headsupHemmyNet)

Near Restful waters


PhotoSinoNet



".....I can hardly think of anything I’d rather do than sit by the sea. I could listen to the soothing sound of the surf as the background music of my whole life. Sea-birds gliding over the surface of the sea, land-birds singing in the trees—it was a symphony conducted by the Most High in his overflowing joy. By the will of the Spirit, the sun sent “tongues of fire” to dance upon the waters in the dazzling coruscations and endless shimmering patterns of bright glory.

I sat there for a couple of hours, breathing in the peace. There are times when one’s sheer existence is prayer, and I effortlessly inserted myself into the chorus of praise all around me..."

Go read the rest HERE.

(Headsup BlogFromTheSea)

How to stay sane in an insane world

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2.Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3.Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label it "In".

4. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has gotten over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

5. Don't use any punctuation in your memos.

6. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

7. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, and ask for it with a serious face.

8.Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go".

9. Sing Along At The Opera.

and finally:

10. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"
--------
your email of the day from TiaMaria

Sorry, I can't resist it


I hate to be so political, but I think this is so funny....

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Don't throw away that used chopstick


Traditional Filipinos use ordinary forks and spoons (no knives: the food is either small chunks or soft enough to cut with your spoon).

But when we go to Japanese and some Chinese restaurants, they give us disposable chopsticks.

Want to recycle them? This gentleman made a canoe from used disposable chopsticks. An experienced canoe builder, Ogawara spent over 3 months gluing 7,382 chopsticks together into strips to form the canoe shell

Hello Kitty: It's a MAN thing




A Hello Kitty Shotgun (complete with HelloKitty Shells).

HelloKittyHell blog writes:

Can you really imagine anything scarier than a redneck in the back of his pickup with a six pack of beer and a Hello Kitty shotgun?

Um, maybe a HelloKitty AK 47?

Operation "Put your x here"

Mugabe starting a reign of terror to make sure people vote the right way next time...more at Gateway Pundit

Ah, but Mr. Mbeki says there is no crisis, just move along folks.

Audiobook of the day

The results of thermonuclear war by this government agency.

Just what you want to listen to on your ipod.
Project Gutenburg ebook here.

Summary: We're all gonna die...one way or another

Headlines below the fold

Remember that multi internet cable damage in the Middle East?

Well, two of the culprits have been found, and it turns out they were just careless...and how did they catch who did it? by examining GPS records and satellite imaging.
my take HERE.

-------------------
On the other hand, this isn't good LINK LINK
Chinese and Russian cyberwar allies?

------------------
First they say no to meat, now they say no...to plants?
In a report on "the dignity of the creature in the plant world", the federal Ethics Committee on non-human Gene Technology condemned the decapitation of flowers without reason, among other sins.

However, killing your senile dad in Holland, killing your kid five minutes before birth in Kansas, buying kidneys in Manila, and harvesting your spare embryos for used parts is still okay.
(headsup Lucianne)-

-------------
"secret" US/Iran talks revealed by Thomas Pickering..
Iran needs clean reliable nuclear power (ironically, they have oil but few refineries), Russia needs the money for selling them reactors, but no one wants them to get nukes.
What is interesting is not that the talks were going on (Well, duh) it is that someone decided to "leak" the news.

--------------
US leads in stem cell cures LINK
LINK2
Apparently, private money kept the embryonic stem cell research going...but the real cures came from adult stem cells, some of which was funded by the gov't....

--------------------
Last year Bill Clinton said McCain would be the best GOP candidate in a general election...and might garner more votes among "who live in the 'flyover zone' and don't live for politics"

That's my take too...not because Obama is black, but because he is clueless. Of course so were both Bushes, but that's another story.

Ten inventions we need right now


I don't know about the rest of them, but I could use this one:

a portable device capable of protecting an area from all six-legged critters. An insect force field would allow hikers to wear what they want, sleep outside the tent and come back for a dropped candy bar an hour later and find it whole. Harmful pesticides and superfluous food packaging would be a thing of the past—so would Lyme disease and West Nile virus. Sadly, current technology is lacking: Researchers consider ultrasonic pest-control devices useless, and bug zappers—while fun to watch—kill the good insects with the bad.

(headsup Instapundit)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Philippine news

We just delivered more rice from the "second harvest" to the rice mill for storage and milling later.

But here, suddenly, there is a rice crisis...

but it's a long boring story that I moved to Bloggernews so that you won't be bored.

The "We're all gonna die" headlines for today

from Information week:

Windows Is Collapsing!


Posted by Dave Methvin, Apr 11, 2008 12:36 PM

There are several news reports from a Gartner conference in Las Vegas this week that included a session titled "Windows Is Collapsing: How What Comes Next Will Improve."

It has to do with the window's code being too rigid to upgrade , if I understand it correctly.

But since I use Linux, and don't run servers, I don't care.

Doc you made the face too tight

LATimes discussing how Hollywood types overdo the plastic surgery bit, making women look like Zombies.
. Whenever I see women like Angela Lansbury or the late Geraldine Page or Marion Ross, I am filled with gratitude. Not just for the nature of their talent but because their faces always remained precisely and gloriously their faces.

Now, of course, someone will e-mail me with details of all their cosmetic surgeries and I'll have to shoot myself in the head . . . but I'll do it with Botox, because these smile lines are really becoming pronounced and someone might ask me to go on television.


Actually, there are rumors about Lansbury having plastic surgery, but the point is that she looks her age...a graceful seventies something.

Hint to Hollywood: look your age, and send the money to your favorite charity.

Louie Louie!


Darn, missed it.

April 11th was Louie Louie Appreciation day.

How to celebrate it (well, just place it on your calander for next year).

And check out the up and coming documentary film.

(headsup from Dustbury)

Now, just turn those speakers up and dance!

Yup. That's me




You Belong in 1957



You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

Fractal art tips


Art tips on making fractal art at above link...uses UltraFractal program, which has a free trial demonstration if you want to try it.

More information HERE.

And no, they aren't giving me money to promote the stuff.
I just think it's pretty.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Video of the week


Yes, it's a commercial which keeps playing on NGAsia...and no, it's not Tagalog...

But turn up speakers and enjoy!

Lacy Shawl patterns

Heirloom knitting patterns has a couple free patterns on line...for lacy shawls.

Craft item of the day


Knit your own egg magnet...

and then add a couple of strips of knitted bacon...


(free reg required)

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Back to 1963

Paleofuture blog is about predictions made in the past about what they thought today would look like.

Today he links to a post to download a book published by General Dynamics in 1963 where many people predicted what the world would be like in 2063.

the download is on Lulu, a self publishing website.

The Attack of the Killer Socks


"...Silver nanoparticles, used for years to kill bacteria and eliminate odours in socks, food containers, medical dressings and even teddy bears, might be a threat to the environment, according to new research..."

Get rid of killer socks by going back to smelly socks?

Ah, but what about the alternative?

Well, you can always buy one of these:
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or you could go back to the good old days, and knit your own...
Instructions HERE.

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Classic art


From the Japan Art fair:

and a very cakey “Discobolos,” also by Osamu Watanabe.


but check out the site for other photos (too many to post).

Headsup NotCot


Things girls like to do


Right.
Actually, this is still how we wash clothes here in the Philippines (of course, our wash tubs are plastic, not wood). We do have a washer and a spin "drier" (i.e. a spinner only)... we mainly use these for sheets and towels, so that our maids don't have to wash and wring them by hand before hanging them up to dry. We wash in cold water, and hang everything up to dry on the roof or in the garden. In the rainy season, we hang them up inside the garage or sometimes even in the large dining room.

In the rainy season, clothing never quite dries, so you have to iron clothing to really get them dry.

The book is one of several turn of the century books on the Univ Wisc library page concerning what used to be called Home Ec.
If you go to the main page, you can find the book includes knitting, crochet, lacemaking, needlework and embroidery instructions.

Censoring the UFO story?

MysteriousUniverse blog relates that Mike Wallace and CBS censored an interview about UFO's back in the 1950's...
The part they censored? When he admitted he testified before a Congressional Subcommittee...

The interview and transcript is now on line, and his book is here
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My impression of UFO's is about the same as Virgin Mary sitings: 99.9% are fake or imagination gone wild, but a few cases probably are true.

What made me a sceptic is because UFO abductees in the 1950's were examined by a huge machine being lowered over their body to take a scan...by the 1980's, the abductees were now claiming their bodies were examined by being placed in a tube.

Interesting how UFO's had old fashioned XRAY machines in 1950's, but apparently decided to switch to MRI's and CTScanners (which are tubes) for their nefarious exams twenty years later...

But sightings cannot be purely imagination...I remember one sighting in Africa where a white farmer saw a UFO but the locals merely thought it was a newfangled government airplane. So they all saw something, but their minds interpreted what they saw differently.

Kids in church

A little boy was attending his first wedding.

After the service, his cousin asked him, 'How many women can a man marry?'

'Sixteen,' the boy responded. His cousin was amazed that he had an answer so quickly.

'How do you know that?'

'Easy,' the little boy said.

'All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said,

4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer.'
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A boy was watching his father, a pastor, write a sermon.

'How do you know what to say?' he asked.

'Why, God tells me.'

'Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?'
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The Sunday School Teacher asks, 'Now, Johnny, tell me frankly do you say prayers before eating?'

'No sir,' little Johnny replies,

I don't have to. My mom is a good cook.'
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your email of the day from TiaMaria

Friday, April 11, 2008

Politics Politics

My take on Obama the dream vs Hillary the reality HERE.
headsup Dr.Sanity