Scottobear's Blog

2010-12-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

2667-2084-2657-3823 on the Wii
xbox live gamertag – scottobear

steam – scottobear

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

This blog has moved

2010-04-14T21:11:00.001-04:00

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2007-11-05T09:48:00.000-05:00

my regularly updated journal is at http://scottobear.livejournal.com

Started while I wait for my ride home from the Allergist - In honor of it being the tenth -

Ten Things I really like:

1. Road Trips / Walkabouts. (especially with BHK) - It's always fun to explore and discover new places... or even new things about a place you've visited a hundred times before. Additionally, the journey is often more fun than the destination. Grab a bagel, and out for a new adventure!

2. Almost the opposite of #1 - Lounging around the house, not leaving all day long. Having a headquarters full of love, entertainment, food and climate control is pretty dang appealing.

3. Change of seasons - I love, love, love seeing the Yellow-Green Spring change to Dark Green Summer to all of the Autumn colors... only to have the trees go bare and then start again. Snow is fantastic... I see just enough to want more, but not so much that it's a peril or a nuisance.

4. Rain / Snow / Fog - Precipitation. Rain generally means that things are cooling off, being fed, getting life. (I suspect that video will be fodder for BHK in her "we should get some ducks" argument.) I've long preferred traveling in a mist or fog, especially on a hike. I enjoy a traditional "nice day", too. Let's just say I like most weather - anything that doesn't kill me or make me sweat too much is good in my book.

5. monkeys and robots almost equally... Monkeys have a higher spiffy factor due to the biological aspect, I think. Emotion, awe, chaos are all pretty amazing stuff. That said, streamlined new-style and old school aluminum robots alike are pretty keen, even the unfriendly ones that want to destroy we humans for being a fleshy parasite on the surface of the globe.

6. Learning new things - That was really the other third of gaming that I enjoyed quite a lot - along with the social side, and imagination stretching. I love to learn new bits of things, from reading or a live good teacher, preferably. Wiki / Google is a good start, but I've found that developing skills from a more interactive knowledge source speeds things along for me. Example - How to make country-style "cat head" (called so based on size and relative shape, not ingredients) biscuits this weekend from Larry.

7. My new family unit. Duh. BHK, Pye and Newt make every day one with elements of love, affection and care. Extended family is also nice - I dig my in-laws quite a bit. Both are people I can learn and grow with in a very positive way.

8. Playing Games. Boardgames, Role playing games, video games... trifles that promote both social and brain activity are something to embrace. I don't like solitaire games so much... seems to lack something. Even Video games are better if you're playing them with a human cooperative or competitor-type next to you, or on-line somewhere. Even in those cases, a LAN party in the same room works better for me... however, the upside of on-line play is you can cut connection any time you like, and play in your jammies... (well, you can do that in person, too - depending.) The social aspect has to be with people I enjoy being around... I can't get into gaming just for gaming's sake.

9. Kind people. Folks that go out of their way to be respectful and helpful while not being a doormat. I've been really blessed to know and have known a huge number of terrific people... more than I suspect is average. Surrounding yourself with good folks is a fun way to learn about being kind yourself. Hanging out with an assortment of geeks, hippies, gamers and just general fans of being nice has helped me to become a better person, I think.

10. Helping others (see #9, above). I really like to do good works. I'm long overdue to donate some blood... one of the easiest acts of charity I can perform. I feel good when I believe that I've done something to make someone's life better. I try to offer a kind word or make at least a simple gesture whenever I can. I get immediate feedback for it, even if the person isn't grateful... how they react isn't as big a deal as is the process involved for me.

1 year ago - Put in my notice at ACIM, many pictures, helped out at swensons, bruce moose / love cube, laser newt, beach us

Pictures taken - PF Changs, Curious George, Weapons of Mass Destruction

2 years ago - saw Phoenix, mortgage, broward traffic lights post wilma, smarts quiz, newt fan mail

3 years ago - power out, Danny & the lions, wonder twins, network tools, adp off call, then repeals it, Florida mean to homeless

4 years ago - Comics, Local Events, silly joke. cancer bullet, Sea Monkeys, travels, programming thoughts, virtual schools, werewolf cult, phys therapy, vamp game, how lj works

5 years ago - steal this book, McDonalds Theory of War and Peace, "Big Books"

6 years ago - tortboy, tropicon, ken kesey passes away

7 years ago - fae friend gone

2007-10-26T16:42:00.000-04:00

9038 - First payperpost review... oddly enough, it's for payperpost.

If you have been browsing a bit here and there in the blogosphere / lj-land recently, you’ve probably already seen an image something like this:

PayPerPost introduces people looking to get paid for reviewing services with services looking to pay to be reviewed by people. It appears to be a solid method - people get paid to review goods and services and the sellers get feedback on their product.

Some folks write what appears to be *pure* cut and paste from the advertising section of the place that they're reviewing, but there are others out there that are willing to break things down into the nitty gritty of a real review- both good and bad. That's what I'm planning on doing - Keep things honest, and well-rounded. (The official disclosure and ethics policy advises this, which also gives me reassurance.)

As I mentioned above, the business model looks to be a good one, and it seems that they will be able to keep link farmers out by filtering each journal and blog out by hand. It took them a little over three weeks from the time I applied to the time I got my approval letter. Since I got no negative response about doing paid posts every here and again, I figured that I'd give it a shot. I am a little nervous about losing visitors, but I hope that I'll get some feedback one way or another before everyone leaves town.

It looks like you get better opportunities according to page rank - the more visible you are on the 'net, the more lucrative opportunities become. It seems that most pay between $5 - $10, which doesn't seem too unreasonable, given that most of the services reviewed are websites. Of course, if someone comes directly to you via the button above... you can set your own price. I set my rate at $5 to start, which may or may not go up, depending on the demand for such stuff. If anyone like me to review something, now's the time while the price is right.

As a starting incentive, they also offer $20 to review the payperpost service itself, which is what I'm doing now. I'm still brand new to the service, and will likely return with an updated review whether they decide to pay me for the follow-up or not. I think that once I have a couple of reviews under my belt, I'll be able to give more lucid thoughts about how things work as a whole.

An added bonus is that Payperpost can either pay you via paypal, or donate to a number of charities (Current list - American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and Alzheimer's Walk) directly. This may be my newest ay of continuing to do good works, or just a way to pick up a new video game, depending on how well the finances flow.

The website is very easy to maneuver, and the help files/FAQ pretty much covered any questions I had. I'm looking forward to kicking the tires, seeing some new things and getting an opportunity to dust off my writing skills.

Links - get paid to blog

2007-08-31T16:36:00.001-04:00

tracker test

2007-08-24T16:55:00.001-04:00

2007-08-14T11:18:00.001-04:00

Tic

Tac

Doh!

An Icehouse game for 2 people

Equipment: 1 stackable Icehouse stash.
Preferable not opaque.

Goal: Get three pieces of the same size in a row
in an imaginary 3 by 3 grid. (This is where the Tic Tac comes in.)

Players take turn placing the Icehouse pieces on
the table in the following manner:

Each piece must be placed in an imaginary square
next to or on top on a piece already in play. (Diagonally counts as next
to.) A piece cannot be played if it would lie outside the imaginary 3 by 3
grid. Note: Since you create the grid as you go you don't know where out
of bounds is until you have played a few pieces. For example, the first
piece you play can either be the center, corner or edge. Nobody knows
until a few more piece have been played. You can play a piece on top of
another piece in two ways. The first is playing a smaller piece on top of
a piece one size larger than another one forming a tree of pieces.

This grouping counts as ANY of the pieces that make up it. For example a
medium piece could be played on top of a large piece. This tree would now
count as either a large or medium when trying to get three in a row. A
small piece could then be played on top of the three making it count as any of
the three types. The second way to play a piece on top of another is to
nest them, larger on top of smaller ones. For example a medium could be
played on top of a small one. Later on a large could be played on top of
the nest. A nest only counts as the outermost (biggest) piece. So
a nest with a small and a medium only counts as a medium piece. A square
cannot have both a nest and a tree. Like chess once you let go of a piece
it is considered played and cannot be moved.

Players take turn putting the piece on the board
until someone gets three of the same size pieces in a row or all the pieces are
placed on the board (a tie). In the event that a person cannot make a
legal move on his turn the other player wins (I 'm not sure if this is even
possible though).

Oh, the "Doh!" comes from the fact that most of the
time you try to place pieces so that you opponent can't win. I usually end
up realizing I've screwed up a split second after I've let go of the piece and
end up yelling "Doh!"

Some thoughts on variations:

I think this might work reasonable well as a 3 or
4 person game but I haven't tried it.

If you have three stashes use one size from each
stash. This makes it easier to see the possible wins and looks pretty cool
in my opinion, especially using red, yellow and orange.

Any questions or comments can be emailed to
BrianSchultze@yahoo.com

2007-08-14T11:16:00.001-04:00

IceSickle: the Martian Peg Game

IceSickle (1 IceHouse stash & 5x5 board):

Alternate turns placing pieces onto empty squares.

Then take turns jumping a piece,

diagonally or orthogonally,

over at least one other piece

into an empty square.

Each piece can jump over its pip-count in squares.

Remove the jumped pieces, and score their pips.

Continue until no jumps remain.

Play again with a different starting player.

http://home.neo.rr.com/danisaac/LooneyLabs/Games/IceSickle/IceSickle.htm
A single stash game for two players -- from Dan Isaac

Equipment:

1 stash of Icehouse pieces	http://wunderland.com/icehouse/
1 Volcano board [5x5 grid board w/ 1" squares]	http://wunderland.com/icehouse/VolcanoBoard.html

Rules of play:

Determine who will start the first rounds Placement phase.

The second player will go first in the Jumping phase.

Phase I -- Placement

Take turns placing one pyramid from the stash onto an empty space on the
board.
After all pieces have been placed onto the board, move onto the Jumping
phase

Phase 2 -- Jumping

Take turns making a valid jump[*], which captures at least one piece.
If a player is unable to do this on their turn, the game ends.

Score this round, then play a second time with the other player Placing
first.

Each player totals up the Pip-Counts[**] of the pieces that they have
captured, and notes those scores.
Then remove all remaining pieces from the board, and play a second game
with the other player placing the first piece.
Total the scores from the two games and the player with the highest
total wins.

[*] Definition of a jump:

A jump is made by following these steps:

Select a piece on the board.
Move it in a straight line (orthogonal or diagonal)
over (at most)
as many spaces as it’s Pip-Count[**],
and land in the following space
-- which must be empty.

smalls can jump over only one space (and land in the second)

mediums can jump over one or two spaces

and larges can jump over one, two or three spaces
Remove all pieces that were jumped over ("captured") during the
move,
and place them in front of the player that made the move.

[**] Definition of Pip-Count:

Pip-Count is the value of a piece based on it's size:

Large pieces count as 3 points each.
Medium pieces count as 2 points each.
Small pieces count as 1 point each.

2007-08-13T16:34:00.001-04:00

Attactics
based on the game of Ataxx (http://www.pressibus.org/ataxx/indexgb.html)
A game using Icehouse pieces and a chessboard by G. Nick D'Andrea and Sniffnoy
For 2 to 4 players, one stash per player

To Start:
Each player places 1 small of their color in a corner of the board.

On your turn:
You must do one of the following with one of your pieces -
(1) Move/clone a piece
(2) Grow a piece
(3) Shrink a piece

Moving/Cloning:
A piece may move up to two spaces in any two separate directions, diagonals included. If a piece is moved to an adjacent
square (including diagonals), then it is cloned instead of moved. Or, in diagram form,
+-+-+-+-+-+
|M|M|M|M|M|
+-+-+-+-+-+
|M|C|C|C|M|
+-+-+-+-+-+
|M|C|X|C|M|
+-+-+-+-+-+
|M|C|C|C|M|
+-+-+-+-+-+
|M|M|M|M|M|
+-+-+-+-+-+
Where 'X' is the piece, 'C' is where it can clone to, and 'M' is where it can move to.
When a piece is cloned, the new piece is of the same size, or if none are available, then the smallest available piece
that is at least as big may be used. If there are none, the play is illegal.

Capturing:
When a move/clone places a piece next to enemy pieces of the same size or smaller, those enemy pieces are replaced by your
own pieces of the same size from your stash. If none are available, you must move your pieces (other than what you have
just moved/cloned or taken) to replace the pieces you have just captured. In the rare instance where you run out of pieces
from your stash and the board, use the smallest larger piece from your stash. If none are
available, destroy the captured piece.

Note: All captured/destroyed pieces are returned to their owner's stashes.

Growing:
A piece can be replaced by a piece of one size larger from your stash. If none are available, the play is illegal. All
adjacent pieces, regardless of color, are reduced by one size if possible (Smalls are destroyed).

Shrinking:
A piece can be replaced by a piece of one size smaller from your stash. If none are available, the play is illegal.
Exception: You may return a small to your stash, with no replacement, for the same effect. All adjacent enemy pieces are
captured as stated as above, regardless of size, and all adjacent friendly pieces are destroyed.

If at any time you have no pieces, you are eliminated.

You win if at any time all of your pieces are on the board or if you are the only player with pieces on the board.

2007-08-13T16:26:00.000-04:00

Alheimur

an href="http://www.wunderland.com/icehouse/Icehouse.html">
Icehouse space exploration game

by Glenn Overby

For two to eight players, using one stackable Icehouse stash per player. Also, three ordinary dice and one deck of Aquarius cards (another Looney Labs game) are needed. Only the 40 Element cards from the Aquarius deck will be used.

Overview

Each player starts out with a world of their own, and three colonists on it. Players grow the civilization on their world, eventually developing spaceports and ships to expand to other worlds. (Sometimes this means fights over the same real estate.)

The object of play is to develop an interplanetary empire which is widespread, supported by a fleet of ships, and rich in all five classic elements: air, earth, fire, water, and ether.

Glossary

Pyramids on a world:

Upright pyramids are colonists.
Three-pip colonists are also known as spaceports.
Sideways pyramids are invaders.

Pyramids off-world:

Upright pyramids are transports.
Pyramids stacked on transports are marines.
Sideways pyramids are fighters.
Both transports and fighters are also called ships.

Worlds (built with Aquarius cards):

A territory is one printed zone of an element on one card. Cards may have one, two, or four territories.
There are five elements: air, earth, ether, fire, and water.
A region consists of two or more territories of the same element, which touch each other along edges. (A lone territory with no neighbor of the same element is also a region.)
A tile is one-fourth of a card. Each territory can be one, two, or four tiles in size.
Territories are adjacent if they touch each other at either an edge or a point. Note that adjacent territories of the same element are not necessarily in the same region, unless they touch along an edge.

Off-world zones (used only by ships):

Each world has an orbit, represented by a face-down card next to the world.
Space is a single infinite zone, adjacent to all orbits.

Setup

Deal out the 40 cards into eight face-down piles of five cards each. Each player receives one pile. Unless eight are playing, one pile will be designated as a neutral pile. Extra piles are set aside, out of play.

Players each build a world, using their pile of five cards and the World-Building rules which follow. A neutral world is also built from the neutral pile, by consensus. If no consensus can be reached concerning two or more legal card placements for the neutral world, decide by lot.

Each player then places a colonist on each of three territories of their world. The youngest player will then take the first turn. Other players take turns in order of increasing age.

World-Building

Turn over the first card of the pile.
Turn over each of the next three cards, one at a time, and place it next to the card(s) already in this world.
- Cards must be positioned long edge to long edge, or short edge to short edge.
- The third and fourth cards must be placed in relation to the first two to form a 2 card by 2 card rectangle.
- If it is possible to place the card so that an element on it forms a region with a territory already on the board, the card must be so placed.
The fifth card remains face down. Put it next to the world to represent that world's orbit space.

If this world belongs to a player, and it is impossible to build a spaceport on it (no territory is adjacent to four or more others), turn the orbit card face up, and replace one card now in the world with the orbit card, following the usual rules. (The replaced card is turned face-down as the new orbit card.) If the world is still not playable, the player must take one of the extra piles to build a different world, and set these cards aside out of play. Should no extra piles be available for this, gather up all cards and re-deal.

The Turn Cycle

There are four parts to each player's turn: Expansion, Survival, Movement, and Fleet Battle.

Expansion

Take one action on each world where the current player has pyramids. The two possible actions are Expand (place a pyramid) or Civilize (change a pyramid's size).

Expand: Place any size pyramid available in the stash upright in any unoccupied territory on the world. Be warned that while it is legal to expand in any open territory, the new pyramid may not survive in a given location. However, it will survive long enough to have an effect. In other words, sacrifices are allowed.
Civilize: Replace a pyramid of the current player with a pyramid from their stash one size bigger or smaller. If the desired size is not available, the civilize action is not possible. A pyramid may not change size from one pip to three, or vice versa, in one action.

Survival

Check each world where the current player has pyramids, to see what pyramids survive. All pyramids on the world are checked, regardless of ownership.

Colonists survive or die based on how much support or pressure they get from their neighbors.

Small pyramids need at least two neighbor pyramids, but can't stand more than three.
Medium pyramids need at least three neighbors, but can't stand more than four.
Large pyramids need at least four neighbors, but can't stand more than five.
The size, color, and status (colonist/invader) of the neighbors do not matter.
Neighbors include all adjacent territories, both at edges and at points.

Knock over all unhappy colonists. Leave them in their territories as they are dying, not yet dead. (They don't become invaders; knocking them over is a convenience for checking.) They count as present while evaluating their neighbors on this round. Do not remove dying colonists until all pyramids on the world have been evaluated. After a pyramid dies and is removed, their former neighbors may be left with too few neighbors, but they will not die before the next Survival check on this world.

Invaders survive or die based on off-world support.

An invader survives if a transport of its color, large enough to transport that invader, is in orbit to support it.
If a player has two or more pyramids on the world, they are no longer invaders. Turn any sideways pyramids upright and check them for Survival as colonists instead.

Once every pyramid on a world is checked, remove all dying pyramids simultaneously. Remember that only worlds where the current player has pyramids are checked!

Last Round: If the current player has 13 or more pyramids in play after all Survival checks, the Last Round begins. Finish the turn. Each player, including the current player, then gets one more turn, after which the game ends.

Movement

The current player may move all, some, or none of their pyramids in the following strict order.

Each one- or two-pip colonist may migrate to an adjacent empty territory.
Each spaceport (three-pip colonist) may perform one launch or return. A launch moves a colonist from a territory to that world's orbit. The colonist may become a transport or fighter, or may become a marine by boarding an empty transport of the same size or larger. A return moves a ship or marine from orbit to an empty territory on that world's surface to become a colonist.
Each fighter or transport in orbit and not carrying a marine may change its status. Fighters may turn upright to become transports; transports may lie down and become fighters.
Each transport in orbit carrying a marine may land that marine, placing it into any empty territory on that world. The marine becomes an invader or colonist, according to the type of the current player's other pyramids on the world. If the world now has two or more invaders of that color, all turn up and become colonists.
Each invader may move from a world's surface to board an empty transport of its color in orbit. The invader becomes a marine. A transport may only hold one marine, which must be of the same size or less.
Each transport or fighter may move from any orbit to Space, or from Space to any orbit. Any number of ships of any colors may occupy Space or any orbit.

Fleet Battle

In any orbit where the current player and one or more other players have ships, fleet battle takes place. (Fleet battles never take place in Space, which is too vast.) The current player determines the order in which the various worlds have their battles. At each fleet battle site, the following steps take place.

The owner of the world may fire each of their ships once, at a ship of another color. (If this is the neutral world, there is no owner.)
The owners of the ships just fired upon may fire each of their ships once (not just the ships that were attacked) at a ship of the world's owner.
The current player, if not the world's owner, may fire each of their ships once, at a ship of another color.
The owners of the ships just fired upon may fire each of their ships once (not just the ships that were attacked) at a ship of the current player.
Any other player with a spaceport on the world and ships in that orbit may fire each of their ships once, at a ship of another color. (If there are two or more such players, each takes a turn in ordinary turn order counting from the current player.)
The owners of the ships just fired upon may fire each of their ships once (not just the ships that were attacked) at a ship of the attacker.
No ship or player is ever required to fire.

To fire a ship, name a target for the ship, and roll a number of dice equal to the firing ship's pip-count. A transport may not be a target if that player also has a fighter present.

A transport scores a hit for each 6 rolled. A fighter shooting at a fighter scores a hit for each 5 or 6 rolled. A fighter shooting at a transport scores a hit for each 4, 5, or 6 rolled.

Hit ships immediately roll defensive dice equal to their pip-count. Each 6 rolled cancels one hit. Any hits not cancelled reduce the size of the hit ship by one size per hit. If the proper size pyramid is not available in the player's stash, reduce the hit ship by another size. A ship reduced below one pip is destroyed.

A transport which is reduced to the point where it is too small to carry any marine now on it also removes the marine.

After each world's battle is resolved, take up another world until all battles are resolved. When all fleet battles are finished, it becomes the next player's turn.

Scoring

After the Last Round has ended, each player receives six scores: Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Ether, and Progress. Each element score is the score of the highest-scoring region of that element occupied by the player. If the player occupies no territories of an element, that element score is 0.5. The Progress score is 1 point per ship, plus 3 points per world on which the player has pyramids.

A region's score equals the pip-count of your largest pyramid in that region, multiplied by the number of tiles in the region. Two or more players may score for the same region, and these scores may differ.

Multiply the highest element score, the lowest element score, and the Progress score together. Add the other three scores to this product to get a player's final total. The player with the most points wins.

Version 1.1

Designed by Glenn Overby

Expansion and Survival mechanics modified from "http://www.boticelli.com/boticelli/looneylabs/gameice/protozoa.html">
Protozoa by Kerin Scheisser

Aquarius designed by Andy Looney

Playtesters still wanted! The major issues right now are: 1) The interaction between colonists and invaders. 2) The die rolls in space combat (Too bloody? Not bloody enough?). 3) The timing for the start of the Last Round.


	Home \| "parlor.html">Parlor \| Salon \| href="library.html">Library \| Mailbox Copyright © 2001 by Glenn Overby and Chrystal Sanders. All rights reserved. src="valid-html40.gif" width="88" height="31" alt= "Valid HTML 4.0!" border="0"> "http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign/">width="88" height="31" alt="Viewable With Any Browser Campaign" border="0">

2007-08-13T16:18:00.000-04:00

Martian
Greenhouse

a solitaire Icehouse game

by Becca Stallings

Number of Players

One.

Number of Stashes

Any even number, preferably four or six. Opaque colors make a more
challenging game.

Premise

You are a botanist hired to genetically engineer Martian flowers for
colonists to plant in their gardens. Your employer gives productivity
bonuses, so you want to produce each flower with the fewest possible
generations of breeding.

The genetic structure of the Martian flower consists of six pyramidal
chromosomes arranged in a linear configuration or «stack». When flowers
breed, they produce two offspring, with three chromosomes from each
parent going into each child. The three chromosomes from one parent
always remain in the same order relative to one another.

Setup

Before beginning the game, write a list of the flowers ordered by your
employer and set it aside for reference. (The longer the list, the
longer your game. Make sure your list does not require more than five of
any one kind of pyramid.)

Next, collect some breeding stock from the wild and set up your
greenhouse: Put all the pyramids into a bag, draw them out without
looking, and form stacks of six. Line them up on the table, leaving some
laboratory space between you and the greenhouse.

Playing

Select two flowers to breed. Take them from the greenhouse into the
lab.

Unstack each flower, being careful to keep the chromosomes in order,
so that you have two parallel rows of six.

Decide which three chromosomes from one parent will combine with which
three from the other parent, and slide those pyramids into the area
between the rows, keeping them in order.

Next, decide how the three from one parent will mesh with the three
from the other.

Chromosomes from the same parent have to stay in order
relative to each other, but they can intersperse in any way with
those from the other parent. That is, if one parent
contributes one of each size red (1R, 2R, 3R) and the other parent
contributes one of each size blue (1B, 2B, 3B), the offspring's
genetic structure might be:

1R, 2R, 3R, 1B, 2B, 3B

1R, 1B, 2R, 3R, 2B, 3B

1B, 1R, 2B, 2R, 3B, 3R

1B, 2B, 1R, 2R, 3R, 3B; etc.

Stack the chromosomes to produce one offspring.

Then stack the remaining six chromosomes, using the same rules, to
produce another offspring.

When breeding is complete, you may choose to place both new flowers in
the greenhouse and select two different ones to breed, or you may keep
one new flower and breed it with any flower from the greenhouse. You
may not breed the two new flowers with each other, as such incest
will cause deadly mutations.

Continue breeding until you have produced all the flowers on your list.

Example of Play

Suppose one of the flowers on your list is pure purple, with two smalls
on top of two mediums on top of two larges.

1P, 1P, 2P, 2P, 3P, 3P

From the greenhouse, you choose a pair of flowers which together happen
to contain one of each size of purple,

Flower 1: 2B, 3R, 1B, 1B, 2P, 3R
Flower 2: 2C, 1P, 1C, 1R, 2B, 3P

and select the purple chromosomes plus enough extras to make a flower,

From No. 1: 1B, 2P, 3R
From No. 2: 1P, 2B, 3P

and stack them together into a half-purple offspring.

1P, 1B, 2P, 2B, 3P, 3R

The remaining chromosomes are

From No. 1: 2B, 3R, 1B
From No. 2: 2C, 1C, 1R

and you stack them to make the other offspring.

2B, 2C, 1C, 1R, 3R, 1B

For your next turn, you put the non-purple offspring back into the
greenhouse and breed the half-purple offspring with another flower from
the greenhouse, which happens to contain at least one of each size
purple,

1P, 1B, 2P, 2B, 3P, 3R (your offspring)
3P, 1P, 2P, 2P, 3R, 3P (greenhouse flower)

and you set aside one of each size in the needed order from each parent,

From your offspring: 1P, 2P, 3P
From the other one: 1P, 2P, 3P

which you then combine to fill the order.

1P, 1P, 2P, 2P, 3P, 3P (congratulations!)

If more flowers remain, play would continue by combining the remaining
six chromosomes from your success into a new flower, and then either
pairing it with something in the greenhouse or bringing out two
greenhouse flowers.

Comments by the Editor

Becca posted this to the Icehouse mailing list in June of 2002, and it
disappeared from sight shortly thereafter. I stumbled across the old
email a few months later, and thought it worth preserving on the Web.
Becca gave permission, so here it is.

Like most solitaires, it's more of a puzzle rather than a game. But a
nice feature is that the same order list can be played several times,
since the starting group of flowers is randomized. This ranks up with
solitaire Volcano (and practicing Thin Ice or CrackeD Ice) as the best
one-player Icehouse diversions.

This plays well using three to five orders with four stashes, or five to
seven orders with six stashes. And yes, using black or white (or both)
greatly increases the challenge.

2007-08-07T11:22:00.000-04:00

A small sampling of our 30 jars of pickles

Raquel Welch gets some more use out of that costume she wore on Mork and Mindy. Sing it, Rocky!
(don't watch it for too long... it starts to hurt the brain)

via ze - The Tilted Room :: a really well done update to ernie kovacs "tilted table" routine.

Our sunflowers are at about 7 feet tall... but the heat and lack of water is giving them the wilties. Hopefully last night's rain woke 'em up a bit.

Playing with the myriad of games with pyramids in the Icehouse (handy wiki link) set make me feel a little bit like Enik from land of the lost. I wouldn't mind making a light table board to look like the matrix table he used on the show. Played BHK 4 games of Treehouse last night, and I won 3 of the four.

to
Sorry, Marshall, Will, Holly, Enik... that's my set.

Hm. Now I want a big bowl of honeycomb cereal, and to watch bad saturday morning 70's tv.

Regarding Zendo - found a random Koan generator - might do the trick.

Some sample output -

A koan has the Buddha nature if it contains no more than 3 flat, small pieces.

A koan has the Buddha nature if it contains exactly 2 green pieces.

A koan has the Buddha nature if it consists entirely of upright pieces.

A koan has the Buddha nature if the number of its ungrounded, flat pieces is even.

A koan has the Buddha nature if the pip-count of its upright pieces is not equal to the number of its large pieces.

A koan has the Buddha nature if it contains at least 2 weird, small pieces.

A koan has the Buddha nature if the number of its flat, purple pieces is odd.

A koan has the Buddha nature if the number of its large pieces is even.

A koan has the Buddha nature if it contains at least 3 upright pieces pointing at a weird, red piece pointing at a medium piece.

Police must wear this shameful, shameful mark

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.

Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late — among other misdemeanors — will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. The officers won't wear the armband in public.

The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.

He said police caught breaking the law will be subject the same fines and penalties as any other members of the public.

"We want to make sure that we do not condone small offenses," Pongpat said, adding that the CSD believed that getting tough on petty misdemeanors would lead to fewer cases of more serious offenses including abuse of power and mistreatment of the public by police officers.

1 year ago - Monks in a circle, ken nordine, contact lens thought, 9-volt batteries, dragonball live action in spanish, shades vary electric bill,

2 years ago - Mona moves on from work, Lisa is a good name on lj, NASA pics, walkies phone post

3 years ago - Thinking Wolfsonian, CEJ, Skeletor, bro, bandwidth crooks, awesome search phrase, cat poop coffee, silly ad, Where do they make balloons... (hey, synchronicity)

4 years ago - miniature oranges, orisinal games, tv in my head, first/last meme, newt on a windowsill, daler mehndi

5 years ago - Newt Wakies, Croc bite brings beer, scotto-man, overtired, funions

6 years ago - vcr tape, gaming, militate, warren, scientific independence for researchers, Frontier Psychiatrist, evil SUV

7 years ago - many folks join my Friendy-list (probably due to addition of interests) , grover, graves museum

2007-08-02T16:12:00.000-04:00

So, it's August... only a couple of weeks until BHK's birthday, Father in-laws birthday, and we're looking to have Emily over in a weekend - and then the all of the Newsoms over perhaps two weeks after that. Emily is about 5 years old now, and she reminds me of little bit of Wendy, way back when 9even though Wendy was maybe twice that age. I still remember acting like a monkey with for her, over a decade ago. Ook ook, extend the upper lip, scratch the noggin and the armpits, do a bowlegged walk... still brings a giggle to the young ladies. I doubt the Wendy would as be amused these days... she's got to be 21 by now? maybe 22? She's probably into more "grown-up" pursuits. I wonder how she and Marty are doing?

Thoughts for Emily's visit.. Baltimore Aquarium, Blink (maybe try Uno?), Walking on the Boardwalk / Beach, Playstation, Fireworks, and the Candy Store. None of those are set in stone and there are other possibilities, too.

Hey, it's August first! Happy Lughnasadh, the holy day of Lludd!
(If you celebrate it... I don't generally do so myself, but do like to say the word Lughnasadh. )

To celebrate, here's an agricultural pic from our garden, taken just this week.

Pepper pic from the garden - looks better large-wallpaper size.

No relation to the holiday, but also recently seen -

Also seen - Dump trucks while I was riding the subway at about 60mph

Been busy, have some game and book links, dear journal!

New joystiq review of Icehouse (also Enemy Chocolatier ), and as a result, found a place to play games online in real time.

You've got to download a small Java app (gamut ) (though they are working on an HTML implementation), but it's clean, quick and fun if you can find folks to play with.

Back to reading on my ride in the subway...until I find some tv show that BHK doesn't want to watch to put on the PSP. just finished Red Nails - getting my pulp fix on. Plenty free and legal to read here. Just scroll down to Howard,( Robert E. )

via uncert

"Turning Heat Into Electricity Through Sound": pretty much what it sounds like. A group in Utah has made a gadget where thermal gradients drive air currents that produce sound waves, which are turned into electrical signals by piezoelectric transducers.

"All-Optical Magnetic Recording: a Dutch group has written information onto a magnetic material using polarized light rather than the usual magnetic heads (like in a hard disk). This could potentially allow faster disk writing on smaller scales than can be done with magnets. Just think how small your next iPod could be...

1 year ago - sharks don't have knees, boiled eggs, yoga, map issues, Dave nose-operation, 4-sec frenzy, Theoi project, FOLEDs, grammar rock, man tosses a car, hungry ghost month, TS Chris

2 years ago - peaceful Sunday, Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla, PB-J time, Grizzly Golf Attack is true, "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave."

3 years ago - Rob Shea Quote, appropriate for E-journals everywhere, I played with mercury, JL meme, music, Dave, Rain, Social entity, first hints at Mike-drama, search shortcuts, albinos of the 19th century, echolocation alarms

4 years ago - crazy dreams, Kate Bush, starmark poops but new gig, writing systems, non-castaways on gilligan's isle

5 years ago - istockphoto, dead links, Shitou Xiqian, smiled at, fortune cookie, walkerbot, Liver Eatin' Johnson

6 years ago - hungrybaby, New Apes movie lame, wiseacre, Champions stats for the Shadow, Dwayne Dibley?, Poul Anderson passes away, LJ moves in space

7 years ago - Everway character- wanders the storm path

2005-12-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

2005-08-20T10:27:00.000-04:00

test

2005-01-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

I am Robot X!

2005-01-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

please see my more regularly updated blog at http://scottobear.livejournal.com

2004-05-24T23:38:00.000-04:00

Test of Hello. Whadda ya think, sirs?

2004-03-28T23:46:00.000-05:00

2004-01-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

Ah, I'll miss you, Cap'n Kangaroo. I got an extra-long dose of your show growing up, with a younger brother who was into "picture pages" starring Bill Cosby and his trusty pencil "Mortimer Ichabod Marker", complete with follow-along workbook. I liked the old regime of Grandfather Clock, Dancing Bear, Mr. Moose and Mr. Bunny Rabbit (who I thought was a girl, despite the Mister... those Granny glasses convinced me at a young, young age.)

Well, Mona got off easy last night... *no* calls at all. that's got to be some kind of record for a Friday. I hope the same luck continues the rest of this weekend.

Robert E. Howard, the grandfather of sword and sorcery fiction, would have been ninety-eight years old yesterday. The creator of Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, and several Cthulhu Mythos stories died far too young after losing the battle with his personal demons. If you've never read his work, you're missing out on a lot. The Robert E. Howard United Press Association has a lot of resources about him and his work. (A lot more than just Arnold lopping off James Earl Jones' noggin, and rolling it down stairs.)

I'm evil ...I edited out Sally (like Stalin did to Der Commissar) to economize on my dancing Linus icon. The Hey-Ya Charlie Brown link moved *fast* over LJ.

Top 100 Usenet groups, by bytes posted

Robot Belly-dancer

A computer program that mimics fish nerves creates the perfect wriggle.

She can shimmy, she can roll, she can backbend. She even sports a teasing, low-slung skirt around her waist.

But the performer of these undulations is no fleshy temptress. Instead, she is a belly-dancing robot whose moves are driven by the wriggles of a fish.

Her creator, Jimmy Or of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, said he gained inspiration watching Lucy Liu sashay her stomach in the film Charlie's Angels. The sight prompted him to sign up for dance lessons of his own.

Watching his instructor bend and sway, Or was struck by her similarity to his other object of affection, the lamprey - a primitive eel-like creature that scythes through water like a snake. "I decided to combine the fields and work on my idea secretly," he says.

Several years on, Or has created a squat, shimmying robot with a flexible spine called Waseda Belly Dancer No. 1. It has so far mastered a particularly difficult belly-dancing move, the Camel, which involves sending waves rippling along the torso.

Headless chicken

To generate the robot's undulations, Or built a computer program that simulates a network of nerves in the lamprey called a central pattern generator (CPG). The CPG directs the lamprey's movements without the help of the brain or sensory feedback.

Similar nerve networks are thought to exist in most vertebrates. In chickens, it is a CPG that allows a headless bird to briefly sprint around the yard before keeling over, for example. In humans, a CPG is thought to produce an automatic walking motion in toddlers or people who have had spinal-cord injuries when they are placed on a treadmill.

Because the CPG computer program is relatively simple, Or hopes that it might be cheaply incorporated into future humanoid machines. "I consider it as a prototype for the next generation of robot," he says.

State-of-the-art humanoid machines such as Honda's ASIMO and Sony's running machine, QRIO, can flex their arms and legs, but "still look a bit awkward" says Peter Stone, who designs robots at the University of Texas at Austin. To create more advanced movements, "it may very well be that the spine is the way to go", says Stone.

Conscious effort

The strange invention has also provided some lessons for biologists, revealing that the CPG of a fish can drive human-like movements. But this doesn't mean that humans carry an innate program for belly-dancing, says Fred Delcomyn, who studies CPGs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In humans, the dance undoubtedly requires far more conscious effort, and the human CPG is probably focused on our leg and arm muscles to help trigger walking. "The whole idea of making it belly-dance is kind of quirky," says Delcomyn.

Or admits that he made Waseda Belly Dancer No. 1 partly as an entertainment; he is currently refining its workings and choosing some fetching jewelery for it. But he maintains that robots with a flexible spine have a future. "A robot that can bow is very important in Japanese society," Or says.

Here's a good description of "professional victim". I hadn't thought about it before, but narcissism is just the right slot to file folks like that.

Some people adopt the role of a professional victim. In doing so, they become self-centered, devoid of empathy, abusive, and exploitative. In other words, they become narcissists. The role of "professional victims" - ones whose existence and very identity is defined solely and entirely by their victimhood - is well researched. It doesn't make for a nice reading.

Create your own super hero, akin to Hero Machine, but the art is better.

New York Times on the Sex-slave trade in the US.

2004-01-24T22:14:00.001-05:00

Mildly chilly today (was feeling like 40 this morning. I had a cat under the covers.) I wonder if temperature has an effect on kids going missing, considering Mona's good fortune last night.

I can only imagine that's it's snowy-snowy in points North today. Hopefully, folks are staying safe.

Reduced-fat Triscuits are yucky. Don't bother.

Human clock: Click the pics for up-to-the-minute accuracy.

DVDRhelp has Region-free hacks.

Van Helsing... So cheesy. You know, Bruce Campbell could've pulled that role off, though Jackman looks the part, too.

Random Scotto's dad factoid: He referred to my (or his, or my brother's) teeth as "snags". As in, "Don't forget to brush your snags after your shower!" Where he picked up that from, I may never know...none of use are really snaggle-toothed...Heavens to Murgatroyd, no! He'd been using it since I could recognize speech. I'm guilty of using the term myself, now.

I'm glad to see something positive there...

Sarmad talks about how the US Army is rebuilding schools and what that means to Iraqi children and their nation. His English is a little rough, but it's from the heart, and it lets us know that despite the carping of the liberal press, we continue to do good work in Iraq. It isn't all about bombings and body count.

-via

Don't hesitate on this one: This bootleg mash-up is a virtuoso 39-minute musical journey in which dozens of pop tracks from the past several decades are sampled, layered, spliced, time-stretched, edited and compiled into one utterly amazing sonic blast. Warning: It's a 53MB file; so dial-up users you've been duly warned! (Bottom line is get it while it lasts.) Oh yes, be sure to print out the full track list.

Torrent Reactor - another lovely bittorrent site.

2004-01-24T22:14:00.000-05:00

Found while searching for the proper spelling / origin of Murgatroyd.

"I do not know whether in those days there was only one Constable for each Township, appointed by the King or whether there was a small body of men holding office. Judging by the fact that the Constable for Midgley had the same name as the Berewick I imagine that there was indeed only one and therefore that our oldest known ancestor was the 'King's man' for the Township and consequently a powerful figure. Moor-gate-royd lies near Warley, Halifax. The secluded mansion, formerly known as "Murgateroyde" now called "Hollins", is built upon the demesne granted to the Earl of Warren by William the Norman, and is, from its families and the historic incidents connected with it, one of the most interesting of houses."

or....

In 1887 Gilbert & Sullivan brought the operetta - Ruddigore or "The Witch's Curse" to the Savoy Theatre on January 22nd for the first time.

One of the characters, Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, a "Bad Baronet of Ruddigore" had a generational curse on him: His ancestor Sir Rupert was cursed by a witch to "do one crime, or more, once every day, for ever" or face an agonising death.

So, basically the word "murgatroyd" has everything to do with a cursed existence, and unfortunate circumstances and situations.

Note, via (who assisted in my search) - be careful doing any research... if you search for "murgatroid" on Google, you get porn! (and not gay panther porn, either!)

2004-01-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

I was Ba-ad. To celebrate Mona going on call (even though I'm home, and on "Mona-call" in case she has trouble) I picked up a big honking banana bread at the Jamacian food place up the street. I don't expect it to make it past Saturday Night. Very Dense, very rich. Doesn't need the cream cheese, but it's available, just the same. I got some curried veggie patties and rice, too. Quite tasty, but a bit over my WW budget.

I've avoided most of the Dean music remixes, but this one is pretty dang funny.

Hey Ya, Charlie Brown. - Outkast meets Peanuts

I've always liked Shermy's Frankenstein dance, though Linus wins the day again with his arm-shake and stomp (The closest to my own dance stylings as a 6-year old). Frieda's seems to be getting into things the most ... shaking her naturally curly hair all over the place.

There's some sort of recognition that an older woman at the bus terminal gives me every day. I don't know if I remind her of someone she knows from elsewhere, or if I just strike her as a suspicious character, but she gives me the hairy eyeball first thing she sees me. The first time it happened, I looked to see if perhaps I'd spilled some toothpaste o my shirt or something, but no, she's just putting on a pickle-puss for some reason of her own. She's got a lot of smile-lines around her eyes...I'd like to see them put to use.

I see at least two different types of evangelism most mornings...the JW's at the bus stop daily, and sometimes a pair or trio of Mormon guys on bikes in ties. It's to the Mormons' credit that they always appear genuinely friendly, as opposed to the blank-looking Jehovah's Witnesses. Very rarely, there is a Hare Krishnan (Is that the proper term?) riding the bus, too they, like the LDS missionaries are quite friendly and willing to cheerfully talk with you, though they look for a handout at the end of the conversation. Talking with a nice person can make travel fun, even if you dont share the same theology.

Maybe its because the JW's have been told to stop the hard sell at the terminal, that they're now are silent, standing at every so many stops, holding copies of Awake! and Watchtower face outward in offering for people to take them. Not a word is said... and even more eerily, not a smile or acknowledgement. You could get the same results by dressing some manikins in fairly nice clothes...well, maybe not. There's less chance of someone defacing stuff with an actual human nearby.

I wonder how the folks that work at the terminal feel about people that aren't there to use the facilities in the way that they were intended. I imagine most don't care, though I suspect at least a couple must get annoyed at the extra people taking up space and blocking the flow of commuters. There are always at least three or four police officers at the terminal, so real social problems rarely happen they arrest the occasional drunk or angry pair of guys scuffling, but aside from that, it seems to be an easy gig.

=====

Newt's really digging his new toy.. he's taken to walking it around the apartment. I wonder how much of that behavior is instinct, and how much is learned... I've had him since he was three weeks old... I know he never learned the "death shake" from his birth-mom... but toting things around by mouth is something he's done since he was 1/16 his current mass.

Why is pork shoulder called "butt"? I'd think the rump would be more appropriate.

SUDDEN GIANT NOSTRIL GALLERY

Male nipple removal, odd body modification - warning: this is pretty gross. Oh, the things you can see on LJ.

Pets With Their Heads In Bags of Food

Penguins have extraordinary pooing powers, according to a team of scientists from a German university.

They went to the Antarctic to study the creatures, and found they shoot their poo 38 centimeters from their nests.

The scientists worked out the penguins' poo comes out at more than four times the force a human can manage.

It might seem pretty gross, but the penguins are doing it to be clean. They don't want their poo to mess up their feathers or nests, the scientists said.

However, further research has revealed that penguins are not the super poopers of the animal kingdom.

The caterpillar of the silver-spotted skipper butterfly can shoot its poo 1.2 meters (4ft).

That's the same as humans firing their poo a massive 76m (250ft).

In William Mayne's The Jersey Shore, there's this passage - the inhabitants of a coastal fenland town have been disturbed by voices calling from the sea:

At night it seemed there was a light far out to sea, and the bailiff of the estate came down to the village and said a fire was to be made on the sea wall. There was a difference of opinion about this, with men going from house to house and taking one side and another, and waking and crying from being frightened all day by voices, and hearing threats by night and quarreling. But the bailiff was firm, and wood had to be brought and a fire laid on the parish wall. By the time it was done the light at sea had begun to fade and with it there faded the voices.

The villagers stood around their fire until the mist lightened without thinning, and they went home through a frosted stillness. There were no more voices. By that night the mist lifted, that had hidden the distressed mortals or immortals, but there was nothing to be seen . . .

In the middle of that [next] night, in a close darkness, the man came from the sea. He walked in among the houses dragging a chain and calling out in his own words, that meant nothing to anyone there. He was naked, and his eyes glittered in the light that was brought towards him. He bowed himself down and the long chain rattled again. One end was at an ankle, another at a wrist, and from a middle link another length ran to a bolt that was driven into a wooden beam, but the beam had been burnt away, and that had been in the fire at sea.

He was locked into the church all night, under the tower, and in the morning came out trembling and jangling his chain, as naked as he went in, unashamed, strong, smiling and courteous. The priest came and tried a prayer on him in church Latin, but it was nothing to him. He had a different religion. When the sun came up over the sea wall he bowed himself to that and knelt, stretching out his arms, a shining dark man, expecting to be killed.

Yahoo closes Scandinavia operations

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - The US Internet portal giant Yahoo! will pull out of Scandinavia at the end of the month, closing its Nordic branch in Copenhagen which covers Norway and Sweden in addition to Denmark, a company employee said.

The employee, contacted by AFP, could not provide details, but the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten's website reported Thursday that the unit would be shut down at the end of January and all 20 employees would be laid off.

The paper reported that Yahoo! decided to leave Scandinavia because it was losing money there.

According to the company's earnings report for 2002 (its last full year report), the Danish branch posted a loss of 21 million kroner (3.6 million dollars, 2.8 million euros) -- double its loss the year before.

2004-01-22T22:12:00.001-05:00

HAPPY YEAR OF THE MONKEY!

SINGAPORE (AP) - People in strait-laced Singapore were urged Monday to act like monkeys - the Chinese zodiac sign for the coming Lunar year - for the sake of their country.

Singaporeans could foster an economic recovery this year by behaving more like monkeys, Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan said in a Lunar New Year message reported in The Straits Times newspaper.

Chinese communities around the world will herald the start of the Year of the Monkey on Thursday. Chinese believe the monkey is clever, flexible, innovative and confident, but can also be selfish, jealous and vain.

"Be like a monkey. When things happen, you have to be nimble. Take advantage of opportunities, don't be cast down, but rise to the challenge if it does occur," Tan was quoted as saying.

Tan urged Singaporeans not to be daunted by the challenges of helping the city-state recover from its worst economic downturn. The SARS outbreak, the Iraq war and slumps in global manufacturing and air travel hit Singapore hard in 2003.

Singapore's economy grew 0.8 percent last year, but unemployment sits at a 17-year high of 5.9 percent.

Last year, in the Year of the Sheep - known in Singapore as the Year of the Goat - Prime Minister Goh Chok Tung issued a similar animal-themed call to arms when faced with "an imminent war in Iraq."

"In the year of the Goat, we must try to be like the mountain goat, sure-footed and hardy and able to move safely in a rocky environment," Goh said.

To quote the Guinness ads: BRILLIANT. - via beaucoupkevin

Well, it looks like I train another new person for a gig as a nighttime operator. That works for me! I'd love to have it so that I'm only on call the barest of minimum times. I hope she's computer literate and has a good voice.

Deb (who worked in radio) mentioned that I've got a nice speaking and phone voice, and that she might be able to get me some gigs at the radio station she worked at prior to ACIM. I'd dig doing voice work, I think. I have to remember to ask Jennylee about that, too.

I made an icon out of BCC on Las Olas, and turned it into a lighthouse. I'm not sure if I'll use it for evening walkabout or not yet. it was fun to fiddle with... but I already have two other "out and about" icons... but room for 50 is a comedy of icon wealth.

There have been so many impressive pictures of landscapes, people and things on so many journals lately. 's snowy pictures alone are just a lot of fun to look at.

I would like everyone to act at least a little like a stereotypical monkey today. Go "ooh ooh, Ahh ahh", while patting your head and waddle-walking, scratching an armpit.

Pick nits off of someone you love.

Use a stick to gather termites.

Evolve a society from the post-apocalyptic ruins of mankind.

Play Lance Link, Secret Chimp, maybe?

Or use your advanced mind-powers to torment the Super-Friends with Solomon Grundy and Black Manta.

Whatever floats your boat.

I'm trying to remember the first time I had cream soda. Vanilla-flavored fizzy-pop is just so good.

Have a great 4701.. or 4702, or 2004, or whatever your calculations.

May you enjoy continuous good health, and May the Star of Happiness, the Star of Wealth and the Star of Longevity shine on you.

For good luck, the house should be cleaned before New Year Eve. *Whoops*

You should try to repay your debts by this time. *Done*

If you haven't taken a shower, don't bother. Doing so washes away your good luck. *Check, had my Shower before bed last night. *

It's a lucky sign to hear a song bird, red-colored bird, or a swallow. *Hmm.Any cardinals or red parrots around? *

Do not use scissors as this may cut off your fortune. *No razors for me today! *

Wear red for fortune and prosperity, do not wear white.

The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year.

While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.

The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth." Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.

On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.

The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.

The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.

On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.

The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.

On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.

The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.

The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.

The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival, which is to be held on the 15th night.

Little Red Monkee

I'm way ahead of the game... I act like a monkey rather frequently.

The Year of the Monkey, 2004, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two elements – with wood sitting on top of metal. According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between elements, metal will destroy wood. Therefore, wood sitting on its destroyer – metal, is a symbol of disharmony and this may lead to international conflicts. The yang wood is always compared to a tall tree, with the characteristic of being proud, tough, stubborn and sticking to principles, inflexible and uncompromising. The metal sitting under the Yang wood is like a dagger cutting into the roots of the tree and kills it from underneath.

So be careful out there...

2004-01-22T22:12:00.000-05:00

Last night, 's house burned down. She, her children, their bunnies and her housemates escaped with the clothes on their backs and minor smoke inhalation. They lost everything else--even their shoes.

has set up a donations page. Please, if you can't do anything else, spare a moment to wish kittybecca and her family some good fortune. Pass the donation site on to someone else who may be able to help out. Any amount will help--$5 will buy a pair of shoes at Salvation Army.

Someone on LJ recently raised over $400 to pay for a trip to a con. Let's put that generosity to work for a family who truly needs it.

*NEEDED ITEMS* Laura wears a size 14 in children's clothing and size 5 in Women's shoes (and whatever the kid equivalent is). Leah wears a size 8-10 clothes, and size 1 in children's shoes.
-Rabbit Water Bottle
-Rabbit food
-Size 7.5 Women's shoes
-Size large sweats and tees
-and pretty much anything else...

(via )

Updated info -
-Rebecca wears size large tees, sweats, sweaters etc. Size 16 dresses/blouses, Size 18 Jeans. Large or size 8 underwear, 38 B bra (roughly).
-Eddy wears large tshirts, 28/20 pants (but of course can make do with a little larger).
-Bob wears 38/30 or 40/30 pants, large or extra large tshirts.
-Dave wears large or extra large tshirts, still trying to find out about pants.

Also, Laura and Leah love to play dress-up. It is an art form for them. So any old formals, bridesmaids dresses, hideous neckties, Halloween wigs, etc would be a big hit with them.

2004-01-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Took the long route home, by water bus. Stopped off at the pet store, and got Newtie a little present of fresh cat grass seed, and a fountain soda for myself (a root beer with vanilla ice cream float at the used bookstore, to be precise.)

There was a tour group on the water bus, so the captain gave some guide talk... I didn't realize that in the 30s they made the first three Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan flicks just up the street from my house in an (at the time) undeveloped area of the New River. Also saw Jay Leno's tourist place, and Lee Majors's home. Funny, I've never seen the actors when out and about. (I did see James Coburn, once, though, a few years back.)

It was fairly overcast and cool today, but not so much that I'd call it brisk.

The Bus stop where it picks up, on the river walk. That Pink Bridge is Andrews Ave.

I can't express how huge this thing looked in person. I can say that it has an elevator inside, though.

The water was like glass... I think we were the only ones creating any wake.

Weird Cartoon-face Graffito in the ally by the bookstore.

And Another, very probably by the same artist, near the pet shop.

Pretty neat view from "the bus". The ride's free with my monthly metro pass. Maybe I'll see what an outing at night looks like.

Newt's toy was a tiger-striped banana of fabric with yarn eyes sewn on, and filled with some sort of Nip. He's digging it.

I got a nice compliment from the Gray Pumpkin yesterday about my perspective on things being a draw to my journal.

Old Palm Doodles - I really should go back to scribbling more.

Free Band Names - There are some good ones. I particularly like -

SEX IS A BULLFIGHT?

THE WINTER THE ROBOTS FELL IN LOVE

HOBO TOOTH

Diet coke with Lime... love the taste of citrus, and diet coke is yummy, but if it's anything like diet coke with lemon, I'll pass.

Current shower song... I sang it in a deep baritone this morning. I fear I may continue singing it as I walk the curb. It's a good tune to bellow in full hair-down, scary monster mode.

The Sinister Ducks - March of the Sinister Ducks - MP3 ~3meg

Everyone thinks they're such sweet little things
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Soft downy feathers and nice little wings.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

But there's a poison I'd like to administer,
You think they're cuddly but I think they're sinister.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

What are they doing at night in the park?
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Think of them waddling about in the dark.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

Sneering and whispering and stealing your cars,
Reading pornography, smoking cigars.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

Nasty and small undeserving of life.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
They smirk at your hairstyle and sleep with your wife.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

Dressed in black jackets and horrible shoes,
Getting divorces and turning to booze.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

Forcing old ladies to throw them some bread.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Who could deny they'd be better off dead?
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

Look closer and you may recoil in surprise,
At web-footed fascists with mad little eyes.
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!
Ducks, Ducks! Quack, Quack! Quack, Quack!

If they haven't done anything wrong, people wouldn't keep shooting them!

found via - http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004_01_18_archive.asp#107465297526401928

You are an orange cat, fierce, unpredictable, and a
little mean sometimes. You've got lots of
masculine energy and woah, I wouldn't want to
be in your way if I got you angry!

What color of cat are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Praise Cheesus I don't care if the whole world freezes, as long as I've got my Cheddar Cheesus(tm). Cheesus Industries - International distributor of high quality religious-themed dairy products and snacks.

2004-01-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

Nifty word found (or refound) today -

crapulent (KRAP-yuh-luhnt) adjective

Sick from excessive drinking or eating.

[From Late Latin crapulentus (very drunk), from Latin crapula (drunkenness), from Greek kraipal (hangover, drunkenness).]

The Historical Museum of Southern Florida is located in the heart of Miami, the Gateway of the Americas, and is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

Piles of Fun - Hippocrates' treatment for hemorrhoids, 400 B.C.: "Force out the anus as much as possible with the fingers, and make the irons red-hot, and burn the pile until it be dried up, and so as that no part may be left behind." (via Cruel.com)

National Gorilla Suit Day Shopping Tip -

If you're having trouble purchasing your gorilla suit, you might want to check one of these fine merchants. But hurry. Time is getting short and gorilla suits don't grow on trees.

Google developing ad service for e-mail (may offer free e-mail)

A huge British archive of World War II aerial reconnaissance photos, including pictures of the D-Day landings in Normandy, is to go on the Internet on Monday.

Under the digitalization project announced Saturday, some 5 million Royal Air Force photos of Western Europe will be available to the public on the Web site www.evidenceincamera.co.uk., archivists said. The site did not appear to be accessible on Saturday.

Of note is that Keele University, the holder of the archive, will put captured German reconnaissance photos online later this year.

While looking up the information on the Aerial Photo Archive, I discovered that Keele University offers a Graduate Degree in Post-Soviet Organized Crime (?).

Of interest is this glossary of acronyms and abbreviations used by Russian Police and Security Services.

LJ meanies.... Darque Dungeons - Jack Chick revisited for Goths and LJ. See Also, Something Awful. (many words not work safe.)

I'm not looking forward to dealing with HOAS and Condo commandos... the downside of owning my own place. The upsides far surpass the downs, in my opinion though.

Critics say plan to regulate homeowners groups lacking

By Josh Mitchell, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 19, 2004

Homeowners who have spent years fighting their neighbors over everything from house paint colors to how to fly Old Glory rejoiced last summer when Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the state to look into abuses of power by homeowners associations.

But as a task force prepares a report to submit to the governor next month, activists are grumbling that its recommendations will do nothing to prevent abuses of power.

The task force will meet for the final time Jan. 28 and is expected to recommend more homeowner protections, such as greater access to community records.

But activists say the proposed legislation lacks teeth because it will not call for a state agency to regulate and discipline homeowners associations. Without the government hovering over them, community boards will continue to spend dues on pet projects and hold secret meetings in living rooms, critics say.

"The task force has definitely failed its mission. Nothing was done to help consumers and nothing will be done," said Jan Bergemann, a task force member and president of the grass-roots group Cyber Citizens for Justice in St. Augustine. "Any kind of regulation has no meaning without enforcement."

Bergemann and other activists want the state to treat homeowners associations the same way it treats condominium associations. Since the early 1980s, the state has reviewed complaints from residents of condo associations, often issuing fines -- and sometimes conducting recalls -- when boards act unlawfully.

Homeowners associations have no such oversight, despite the fact that more than 5 million Floridians are members of them -- including a heavy concentration in Palm Beach County. That number is expected to jump to 8 million by 2010.

State law already requires homeowners associations to have regular board meetings, budgets and certain records open to their members.

But some homeowners say their association boards have acquired too much power. They liken the situation to a local government that operates without checks and balances.

Some say no agency needed

In a much-publicized case, George Andres has spent four years fighting his Jupiter homeowners association over displaying his U.S. flag. The association forbid the Marine Corps veteran to fly the flag from a freestanding flagpole, saying any flags must be flown from poles bracketed to the homes.

A judge in September ruled that the association can foreclose on Andres' home to collect more than $25,000 in legal fees. He has appealed.

Andres' dispute inspired Bush to commission the task force.

Julie Baker, deputy secretary of the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation and task force co-chair, said the governor wants to reduce the number of homeowner problems.

But she reiterated that the Republican administration's overall vision is less government and less regulation, and that a new agency for homeowners associations is not favored.

"Our mission is to harmonize relations," Baker said at a task force meeting last month in Tampa. "The governor's position typically is doing things with the least restrictive means. Off the bat, it's very hard to convince the legislature and the governor to increase fees."

Baker and other officials say homeowner problems can be curbed without creating an agency.

They point to a provision in the upcoming task force report calling for a system in which the state would select experts to mediate, and sometimes arbitrate, disputes. Homeowners would pay an initial fee of $100 to file for mediation.

Other recommendations include preventing associations from foreclosing on homes to collect fines and holding developers responsible for problems in "common" areas, such as a clubhouse's leaky roof.

"We believe that would take many, if not most, of the disputes out of the courts," said William Sklar, a West Palm Beach lawyer and task force co-chair.

Sklar said the 15-member task force voted against the creation of a state oversight agency because of "financial concerns." He added, "There's a real question of what this agency will do. Will it resolve all the issues between boards and their members? Probably not."

Homeowner advocates say the task force is stacked against them. Three members are homeowners, and the rest are lawyers, government officials and members of the real estate industry.

Bergemann contends that an oversight agency could be paid for by a yearly fee of $4 per homeowner. The state receives a similar fee from its estimated 3.25 million condominium owners to oversee condominium associations.

Baker's department has 28 investigators who review condominium complaints, ranging from residents being denied community records to board members spending association money on personal items such as computers.

Ross Fleetwood, director of the division handling condominium complaints, estimated that 85 percent of them -- there were 16,000 last year alone -- are resolved through mediation.

Conversely, when homeowners feel wronged by their board, their primary recourse is to file a lawsuit, consuming more time and money, activists and government officials agree.

"We've heard stories from many people who didn't know what they were getting into" upon joining a homeowners association, said Barbara Katz, a suburban Boynton Beach resident and task force member. "There has to be some sort of place for them or some remedy."

Group seeks own legislation

Experts say the state does not oversee homeowners associations because they are a relatively new phenomenon -- or at least the disputes associated with them are relatively new.

While condominiums always have had the obvious need for regulation because multiple units share walls and roofs, homeowners once lived more amicably in roomier communities.

Thus, state law on condominium associations spans 90 pages; while homeowners associations are addressed in eight pages.

"Condominium development has been going on in Florida for over 40 years," said Joe Adams, Fort Meyers attorney and task force member.

He disputes the need for a state oversight agency but supports protections such as a developer being held accountable for promises to the homeowner. "With HOAs, there have not been similar statutes, except in the last several years. People who live in HOAs receive second-class rights."

Sklar said the legislation proposed by the task force will "level the playing field" for homeowners.

But Bergemann says that won't happen.

Bergemann says his group, which has more than 1,500 members, will propose its own legislation, demanding a state oversight agency.

"What they do is they clarify a little bit about how things should be done," Bergemann said of the upcoming task force report.

"Now you create more laws. But if nobody obeys, what then? You go to court."

2004-01-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Happy Martin Luther King Day!
Make it a day ON, not a day off.

Happy Birthday, !

Saw Big Fish with Danny last night...(Peter Pan started a smidgen too early) it was good, but I saw it maybe jut a little too soon after Ted passing away. It was quite enjoyable overall. I really didn't notice the score to the movie...which was supposedly fantastic, but it didn't stick in my skull at all. The Preview for Spidey2 looked good, too! Doc Ock is squatly stocky after all, has the dark glasses and moderately bad haircut.

Before the movies, the air was cool and fresh after a few hours rain, so we walked from my place to Las Olas. We had conversation over delicious bread, *huge* garden salads and Bass Ale in front of the Big City Tavern...(We didn't go to the propane-smelling bridge-place, because it was closed) we watched people go by, and gabbed about religion, the clothes young people are wearing these days, and Tolkien, mostly. A lot of our usual topics just didn't come up. The servers were excellent... left us alone, but slid in when we needed anything. We roamed up the street, past the singing fountain.. it was doing a Paul McCartney gig... Live and Let Die, and Magical Mystery Tour. It was especially well-synced to the Bond song.

After the movie, there was a lot of low-hanging mist or cloud cover, allowing for city lights to reflect back... it was pretty surreal.. made the horizon, and sky look like a movie backdrop.

Funky yellow house just next door that screams tacky South Florida to me.

A pair of Really "Awky" parrots on the power lines out back. Hard to see here, but they had the Green bodies and red heads. They were exceptionally loud, right about 5pm.

Singing Fountain... I probably take too many pictures of this thing... watching it in action is hypnotic to me.

Singing Fountain again

That weird Smoky-reflective haze. Too blurry.

More Reflecto-mist. It was a bit like being in front of some sort of projection screen.

Top 10 Open Source Tools for eActivism

These appear to be very useful for anyone looking to create and maintain any kind of online audience/tribe.

A Cotton Candy Autopsy - via Beautiful stories for ugly children

Hm... it looks like entry #6413 is lost to the land of wind and ghosts.

Per-Serving.org information on nutritional value of foods. Includes links to nutrient calculators.

Search Herald obituaries: this page from Herald.com will search 365 days of obits.

Hair into Soy Sauce Scandal

Media exposure forces government to respond to hair-into-soy sauce scandal

Shanghai. (Interfax-China) - The Chinese government has shown an unusually high level of concern as a result of a bold media exposure towards a scandal in which human hair was used to make soy sauce. The government has now ordered an immediate inspection of all domestic food seasoning plants before the end of January.

China Central Television (CCTV), the state television station, first raised public worries over the quality of domestic soy sauce by uncovering a substandard workshop in central China's Hubei Province, where piles of waste human hair were found. The hairs were treated in special containers to distill amino acid, the most common substance contained in soybean sauce.

Human hair is rich in protein content, just like soybean, wheat and bran, the conventional and legally accepted raw ingredients for the production of soy sauce.

The plant, describing itself as a bioengineering company, made around 100,000 tons of amino acid daily, in either syrup or powder form, making it easier for delivery, plant workers said. They were then distributed to diluting plants in or near the province, where it was diluted with approximately ten times water, was then made into ready-for-use soy sauce and was bottled or packaged.

In one such plant shown on the CCTV program, more chemical additives were poured into the amino acid syrup and heated and stirred continuously by a worker.

The additives include one whole bag of solid hydroxide to make the sauce taste better, and bottles of hydrochloric acid to balance the acid and alkali content in the mixture in order to make it safer for human consumption. Both additives were for industrial use only, according to their packaging.

By producing soy sauce from such raw materials, the producers were said able to cut costs by half. Workers employed at the plants, however, never bought soy sauce marked as "blended" on the packaging, because that usually meant that human hair was the basic material in the sauce.

Soy sauce made from human hair is not the first low-quality food product exposed by state television, which launched a program called "Weekly Quality Report" around half a year ago. The program, which conducts investigations into the low quality of some of China's most common food products, has frequently ruined the public appetite.

In related news the Beijing Star Daily reported the Beijing government has begun closer monitoring and supervision of 14 kinds of foods, including rice, meat, vegetables, bottled water, dairy products and cooking oil due to fears of large-scale food-poisoning cases.

2004-01-18T22:10:00.000-05:00

Rainy-day Sunday. So much for any sort of extended outing with Danny. Dinner and a movie might be the extent of it. (If that.) Should I give up now? Thor's right. Who knows? With Florida weather, it could dry up, and just make for a lovely evening in a few hours. I'll roll my dice, and take my chances. Maybe Goldilocks with the helmet will help out and cut me some slack.

I've got about 2/3 of all the episodes of good eats downloaded, compliments of bittorrent and digital distractions. Highly entertaining stuff to pull out of archive, speaking of rainy days.

Cap'n Strong - DC universe's own Popeye. (see Oddball's mention, too.) - via flat earth
Going on an outing with Danny tonight. Maybe get supper at that "Marijuana-Propane-under-the-bridge" place. (last photo in this entry) and finally get to see peter pan?

Dear Cartoon Network, Please do not break up the fun superhero shows with Yu-gi-oh and whatever other toy-sales 'toons, please. I think that having Justice League and Teen Titans together in a block is a stronger way to go.

Happy 75th Birthday, Popeye!

Planet Comics #17 (March 1942).

A history of Duckburg - A history of Disney's Duckburg based on the stories of Carl Barks and Don Rosa.

DUCKhunt links to lots of Rosa articles and artwork all over the web.

Powerskip looks fun, but dangerous.

Well, that's annoying.. where did my last post (6413) go? It was only an hour in the making. Bah.

It acknowledges that it was posted (Date updated: 2004-01-17 18:15:28)

Was it a result of Santa Cluster Maintenance? (I'm currently on Santa - Cluster 7)

Who knows... maybe it'll reappear when the service is done. [update: Tonight's earlier login problem and Santa's earlier unplanned downtime have been resolved, but we've run into some additional problems while fixing it. To fix those problems, we're taking each individual sub-cluster of the Santa cluster down, one at a time. While we're working on each subcluster, users on that subcluster may be unable to login, post, or have their journals available for other users to view or post in.]

[Update2: Currently, the slave databases on Santa cluster need to be set up again. In order to do this, and to ensure database consistency, we need to take Santa cluster into read-only mode. This will cause identical problems to earlier tonight -- users on Santa will be in read-only mode, and may not be able to login, post, or have their journals available for other users to view or post in. This time, though, we're doing it deliberately, and our estimated time for the last of the repairs to be complete is around 9AM PST (GMT -8).]

via - Also, while I'd love to be able to tell you this was due to some catastrophic error and not a preventable problem, unfortunately this next round of downtime is the result of human error (mine). You have my (and our) sincerest apologies and assurances that we really do take this downtime seriously and we're doing everything we can to put measures place to keep downtime like this as rare as possible.

is on the Chef Cluster, subcluster 7.
is on the Santa Cluster, subcluster 3.

Recap - diet Coke with Lime looks yucky, today in 2003, 2002,2001. Year of the monkey and my birthday coming soon. Some fun linkies. Nothing earth-shattering.

Real Hybrid Animals - The animals in this collection really do exist. The development of these animals was by either human intervention or a freak act of nature. A genetic (or biological) species is defined by the ability to produce fertile young. When individuals can interbreed and produce fertile young they are described as the same species. "Same Species" animals can interbreed and are descended from the same created "kind".

Included are - Leopard / Lion "Leopon", and Llama / Camel "Cama"

More about Brain Sandwiches

Mike Volkman is proud to be a carnivore. But there are times when a slab of meat won't cut it and the big man's appetite can only be satiated by a brain sandwich.
Not even the threat posed by the first known case of mad cow disease in the United States can keep the 60-year-old insurance agent from fried cow brains on a bun.

"Mad cow has me a little shaky," Volkman said recently while seated at a corner table at the Hilltop Inn here, looking at a plate-sized brain sandwich. "But no guts, no glory."

Brain sandwiches are still on the menu in Evansville.

In this southern Indiana river city and the surrounding area, folks such as Volkman pride themselves on the local cuisine and their love of brain sandwiches, a delicacy passed down through the generations from German ancestors who settled here.

Whether made from cows or pigs, brain sandwiches still take pride of place in about a half-dozen local taverns and restaurants. They are among the featured items at an annual fall festival.

Mad cow disease hasn't kept local residents from enjoying their traditional sandwich smothered in onions and pickles and slathered with mustard or ketchup.

"I think brain sandwiches will go on for a long, long time," said Volkman, who bit into the sandwich and tried not to splatter mustard and grease on his white polo shirt.

Across America, beef consumption appears to be holding steady as people refuse to panic, and nowhere is that more evident than in Evansville.

But food safety is creeping into local conversation since news broke that a Holstein cow in Washington state tested positive last month for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

Cattle brains, spinal cords and lower intestines can contain abnormal proteins called prions that can cause BSE. It is thought that humans who eat brain or spinal material from an infected cow can develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a brain-wasting illness.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that it will ban from the food supply brains and spinal tissue of cattle older than 30 months.

"All kinds of animal brains are eaten by people all over the world, including the United States. I'm not sure it's all that advisable ever," said Dr. Raymond Roos, professor and chairman of the department of neurology at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

What advice would Roos offer to someone contemplating eating a brain sandwich for the first time?

"Why would you do that?" he said.

"I think the risk of eating this tissue may be no different now than it was a year ago or two years ago in the sense we only have one mad cow that was identified," Roos said. "And it's my understanding no central nervous system was taken from it. On the other hand, I have to say I think there are reasons to be cautious about considering eating central nervous system tissue, a year ago and now. It has to do with prion diseases."

In Evansville, the clientèle and staff are not ready to give up their brain sandwiches at the Hilltop, housed in a 19th- century stagecoach inn where the lighting is low, the sturdy oak bar is busy and fried goodies such as fish and chicken are piled high on plates.

The brains are mixed in a batter of flour, salt, pepper, eggs and baking soda and fried in a cast-iron pan for about 20 minutes, the concoction puffing up like a fat pancake, about 6 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches high.

"You want to make sure it's well-done," said Don Snyder, owner-operator of the Hilltop Inn. "No one wants a medium-rare brain sandwich."

And what does the sandwich taste like?

"It doesn't taste like pork, it doesn't take like beef, and it doesn't taste like chicken," Snyder said.

A brain sandwich tastes a little like mushy scrambled eggs with a fried coating. Condiments add to the taste sensation. Those who enjoy the sandwiches say that if folks didn't know what they were eating, they would swear they were great.

At $5.50 an order, the jumbo brain sandwich is a steady seller, Snyder said. The restaurant goes through about 150 pounds of brains a week. When prices rise, as they did a few years back, Snyder makes bulk purchases.

"I buy brains by the pallet," Snyder said.

Snyder, who eats a brain sandwich a month, said he is closely monitoring the mad cow disease reports but remains confident in his food supply.

"My customers are all aware of the situation, but they're not concerned," he said. "If there was anything I felt uncomfortable about, I'd stop serving them. I eat them, too."

Randy Graves, a Hilltop Inn cook, doesn't eat the sandwiches. But he has no problem ladling out the pink glutinous brain batter from a bucket.

Into a frying pan it goes, swimming in a generous portion of oil.

"They're not good for you at all," Graves said of the sandwiches. Most people who eat the sandwiches acknowledge that they're not for everyone and that they're certainly not an everyday item.

On a recent day, the first brain sandwich was ordered at 11:30 a.m. Six other orders rolled in during lunch.

"Don't knock them until you try them," said Benjamin Boone, 53, a machine operator.

Three generations of the Burgdorf family have no qualms about eating brain sandwiches or being in the presence of others who are.

Jack Burgdorf, 73, and his son, David, 44, each went for the brain sandwich as the family gathered for a holiday lunch.

"I've been eating them 55, 60 years," said Jack Burgdorf, a retired tool engineer. "I'm not worried. They would have to have more than one case [of mad cow disease] before I would get concerned. If they have more incidents, I'll be cautious."

2004-01-17T22:10:00.000-05:00

I regularly interact with people all over the world in my journal. The Middle East, The Arctic Circle, Australia, Italy, and the UK, just to name a few outside of the USA... and I think that's just too cool. In There or FFXI, it seems much more USA-centered, even though there are folks in there from everywhere, too. (A solid Asian population in FF, a lot of Brits/Israelis in There, or so it seems.) LJ has the distinct advantage of being more multimedia and immersive into real lives, though, and that's an engrossing element to me. I go through phases where I just barely skim my read list, and other times, I gobble it up whole. I like looking in on people, and watching them grow.

I learned yesterday that Muslim Mona is expected to go into an arranged marriage, but is dodging it until she finishes university. It seems so strange to hear about arranged couplings in this country, in this day and age. She's an interesting case study, and seems to be a nice person.

Deep-fried cow brain burger (if you think that's appetizing, you're probably already infected)

Fear of mad cow disease hasn't kept customers from eating the deep-fried cow brain sandwiches served Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004, at the Hilltop Inn in Evansville, Ind. The delicacy is traced back to a time when southern Indiana newcomers from Germany and Holland wasted little. Some families have their own recipes passed down over the generations. (AP Photo/ Daniel R. Patmore)

Want to be a website mixmaster ? Very nifty bit of code. (Here's my journal mixed with CNN, or... CNN mixed with my journal for example.)

Ripley's believe it or not Odditorium.

The Fancy-schmancy Publix deli on Andrews makes wickedly good wraps...better than Roly Poly, I suspect.

Newspaper Cartoons of 1907... More at the History of Comics Media Archive.

Explorers are we,
intrepid and bold
out in the wild,
amongst wonders untold
equipped with our wits,
a map, and a snack
we're searching for fun
and we're on the right track!

Vintage supermarket photo gallery from Tick Tock Toys.

Prototype Marvin costume for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy feature film, sculpted by the Jim Henson Creature Shop in September 2003 to fit actor Warwick Davis.

Disney sells off Celebration, FL

CELEBRATION, Fla., Jan. 12 — The gossip along this town's determinedly quaint main drag these days is bigger than the typical "who left their trash can by the curb," or even "who added on to their house without permission."

The Walt Disney Company, which built Celebration just outside the Walt Disney World gates in the 1990's and has been the planned community's benefactor and strict parent, put the town center on the market last June. The pastel-colored shops and restaurants that make up Celebration's signature squeaky-clean vista will soon change hands, and as a sale is negotiated in secret, residents and business owners are wondering who will take Disney's place, and what will life be like without the Mouse.

Officials at Disney's development arm here, the Celebration Company, said they were negotiating with a potential buyer and hoped to announce a sale as soon as next week. They would not identify the buyer of the town center, which includes 16 retail shops, 6 restaurants, 105 apartments and 94,000 square feet of office space. Disney, which will still own much of the undeveloped land here, will continue developing commercial property closer to the highways.

The impending sale is one of several recent steps by Disney to scale back its presence in the town. In September, the Celebration Company sold the town golf course to C. S. Golf Partners L.L.C., for $6.5 million. That same month, residents were given a 3-to-2 majority on the homeowners' association board, which Disney had dominated.

None of this is shocking, since Disney always planned to pull out of the downtown and give up control of the association once a certain number of residential lots were sold. Yet many residents and business owners see the changes as a crossroad for Celebration, which Disney marketed as "a place that takes you back to that time of innocence," as an early brochure put it.

Some, like Pam Shaw, who moved here with her husband and two sons in 1999 because "it sounded like paradise," think Disney's waning involvement bodes well.

"I moved here because I loved Disney — we had such blind faith," said Mrs. Shaw, treasurer of the association board. "But this was just a business venture for them, and now it's up to us. Their success is based on financials, and ours is going to be more, `Are you proud to live here? Do you love your life here?' "

Others, like David Manuchia, who owns two downtown restaurants, said they feared that the town might not be as well-oiled a machine without Disney. "There are enough trash cans, the streets are cleaned, the traffic is orderly," Mr. Manuchia said, citing how meticulous the Celebration Company has been, about special events in particular. "There is probably nobody better than Disney at making things run smoothly."

When Celebration opened its doors in 1996, it was one of the first master-planned communities modeled on traditional small towns, with houses that looked old-fashioned, all within walking distance of a central business district. The idea, which has been copied around the country under what is called New Urbanism, was to foster a sense of small-town community that suburban sprawl had failed to achieve.

With fine-tuned ideas about how the town should look, the Celebration Company drew up a contract of rules and covenants that every homeowner had to abide by. The regulations govern the appearance of houses and lawns, from front-yard shrub selection to curtain color. There were also rules for the commercial district, including one that let the Celebration Company decide which businesses came to town.

There is no big-box shopping center here, nor a book, hardware or video store. There are Italian, Japanese and Spanish restaurants as well as several clothing boutiques, a high-end doll shop, a jeweler and a few upscale gift shops.

Vicki Puntonet, owner of the Village Mercantile, said that a lot of her customers were tourists and that many residents did the bulk of their shopping outside Celebration.

An obvious question is how much the town center's face will change once Disney is no longer the arbiter of who can set up shop there. Will a Pottery Barn or Gap pop up? A Taco Bell or Chuck E. Cheese?

Just as important, some residents said, is whether the downtown's new owner will preserve events that have become traditions, like sidewalk sales and the fake leaves and snow that fall on Market Street (blown from machines attached to the street lamps) in October and December.

Perry Reader, president of the Celebration Company, said that "because of our concern over the legacy" of Disney, any sale agreement would ensure that the downtown was not drastically altered, and would give Disney a say in any major changes.

"Our concern is that what's done here is thought out and well planned," Mr. Reader said. "That doesn't mean it has to be exactly identical."

Asked about the likelihood of big-name chains moving in, Mr. Reader said many would choose not to because Celebration was too small. But "we haven't necessarily tried to keep them out," he added.

One thing residents worry about is the town's financial future. That Celebration had a bustling business district from the start is perhaps the clearest evidence of the muscle Disney put behind the town. Charles Bohl, director of the Knight Program in Community Building at the University of Miami, said most developers of planned communities waited to build a town center until there were enough residents to ensure its financial success.

Having a downtown from the start may have helped Disney find enormous success selling houses in Celebration: it has sold over $600 million worth, with the average house costing more than $300,000. Although Disney originally said the population could reach 20,000, it decided later that 12,000 was more appropriate. The population is now about 8,000.

The homeowners' board took a survey last fall to see what residents wanted for Celebration when it came under their control. The priority was "consistent enforcement" of the architectural guidelines and other rules governing the appearance of the town.

"There's a feeling that when Disney leaves, all of the sudden the town is going to go to pot," Mrs. Shaw said, "and that's just not the case."

Indeed, there is eagerness here to prove that Celebration does not need Disney to thrive.

"We're not going to use the brochures we were given years ago as the blueprint for what we can become," said Dick Quinn, a college instructor and resident. "The philosophical presence of Disney has been supplanted by the philosophical presence of this community."

2004-01-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

_{Never-ending sto} ho^ryyyyyy...aha-haaa aha-haaa aha-haaaaa...

How hard is it to get that dang song out of my head? Even the Love Boat Theme won't evict it.

Random Entry factoid - This entry is comprised of 3459 Scotto-typed symbols.

Aesop's Fables - Our online collection of Aesop's Fables includes a total of 655+ Fables, indexed in table format, with morals listed.

The Fontifier -Fontifier lets you use your own handwriting for the text you write on your computer.
It turns a scanned sample of your handwriting into a computer font that you can use
in your word processor or graphics program, just like regular fonts such as Helvetica.

Amazing article about Wal-Mart's monopoly power

Easy Favicon.ico generator (upload an image, they turn it into an icon)

Table of Condiments That Periodically Go Bad

Bugmenot, open accounts for popular websites (nytimes.com is the most popular)

One-eyed goat draws stares from amazed locals

We kid you not! Astounded residents of Durban's Folweni township couldn't believe their eyes. And they couldn't believe the eye of a baby goat born in the village at the weekend - there was only one - in the middle of the goat's forehead, just like the Cyclops of Greek mythology.

Even more astonishing was the fact that the single eye looked uncannily human.

News of the bizarre birth spread swiftly throughout the township and hundreds of people poured into Folweni to see for themselves. Locals have dubbed the little animal Umlingo, isiZulu for miracle.

Some community members suggested the goat might have been the result of an act of bestiality. Said one: "We've never seen anything like this before. There are many immoral people who think nothing of raping toddlers, so why not a goat?"

News of the bizarre birth spread swiftly
Some residents felt the goat should be killed, but owner Rose Magubane, 63, said there was nothing wrong with the animal.

"Yes, it's abnormal, and it doesn't look like a goat, but that doesn't mean it has to be killed. It's God's creature."

Magubane said one of her goats gave birth to two kids on Sunday. The first was deformed, but the other was perfectly normal.

2004-01-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

Florida black bear is denied endangered species status by U.S.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cbear15jan15,0,1477814.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted January 15 2004

The Florida black bear was again rejected for a place on the federal endangered
species list Wednesday after wildlife officials concluded the bear's core
habitat is secure and sufficient legal protection exists to keep its population
stable.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said 1,600 to 3,000 Florida black bears
prowl the forests and swamps of Florida, southern Georgia and southern Alabama.
This population represents an increase over the past 50 years or so, and the
wildlife service said the vast majority of Florida bears live in areas that are
protected by the state or federal government.

"When you put the Florida bear in perspective with other listed species like
the grizzly bear or the Louisiana black bear, we just have a lot more bears and
a lot more habitat," said John Kasbohm, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. "Are there good things that could be done for the Florida
bear? Sure, absolutely. But do they meet the criteria for listing under the
Endangered Species Act? I don't think so."

But Defenders of Wildlife, a Washington, D.C., group that had filed suit to
force the federal government to protect the bear, said the government was
ignoring continued threats. Urban development in greater Orlando, Naples-Fort
Myers and other areas has encroached on bear habitat. And several of the bear
populations are small and isolated, putting them in danger of disappearing,
said Mike Senatore, litigation director for Defenders of Wildlife. He said the
group would consider going back to court.

"We're extremely disappointed," he said. "The continued loss of habitat in and
of itself is enough to warrant listing."

Bear habitat in South Florida begins about 40 miles west of the suburbs of
Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

An endangered species listing would give the government a powerful tool to
restrict housing developments, roads and other construction in bear habitat.
And it could have forced the U.S. Forest Service to take more steps to protect
the bears in Florida's three national forests, for example, by restricting
off-road vehicles, Senatore said.

The Florida black bear is one of three subspecies of the American black bear.
The Florida bears are smaller, have flatter heads and don't really hibernate.
They once ranged from the Upper Keys through southern Georgia, southern Alabama
and southeastern Mississippi. At one time, an estimated 11,500 bears lived in
the four states.

Logging, urban development and unregulated hunting decimated bear populations,
according to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
By the middle of the last century, just a few hundred remained. But bear
populations rebounded. The state banned hunting. Logging ceased in several
areas, allowing secondary-growth forests to regenerate bear habitat.

But environmentalists say the state's soaring human population has hurt the
bears. Roadkills skyrocketed, with 132 bears killed by vehicles in 2002. The
largest number of roadkills took place on heavily traveled State Road 40
through Ocala National Forest.

Since the early 1990s, environmentalists have petitioned and sued the federal
government to list the bear as "threatened." The Fund for Animals and Defenders
of Wildlife filed suit, and in 2001 a federal judge in Washington ordered the
service to make sure that the bear didn't warrant listing under one of the
criteria for adding a species to the endangered species list: whether
insufficient mechanisms are in place to protect it.

On Wednesday, the service announced its conclusion that there were sufficient
rules and regulatory structures to protect the bear. For example, the service
said the Army Corps of Engineers is required to evaluate whether any
destruction of wetlands would harm wildlife, such as Florida bears. And it said
the state has very active programs to acquire and protect wilderness.

The service said more than 374,000 acres of bear habitat in Florida was
purchased and protected by the state and federal governments since the early
1990s. While urban development is eroding the fringes of bear habitat, most
Florida bears live in five areas that are secure from development: Apalachicola
National Forest, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Osceola National Forest,
Ocala National Forest, and Big Cypress National Preserve.

"We're certainly losing habitat in certain areas in private lands," said
Kasbohm, of the Fish and Wildlife Service. "I think that's clear. But I think
the question is whether the core habitat is protected, and we know that big
pieces of it are."

I picked up a box of "Mad About You" DVD cereal for Katt...that'll teach her to sass my cereal buying tastes!

Let's see how things roll with the Big Kahuna back. I hear Nevada went really well!

Computer's chips turn into potatoes

Staff at a department store in the German city of Kaiserslautern called detectives after an angry customer tried to return a computer stuffed with potatoes to the shop twice on the same day.
The man berated sales assistants in the store, complaining that the computer he had bought only hours before did not work, according to police reports.

The store's staff opened the machine and discovered it was not functioning because its working parts had been replaced with small potatoes. The bemused shop assistants gave the man a new computer free of charge.

But bemusement turned to suspicion when the shopper returned a short while later with another computer - again potato-filled.

Police were called and the man was arrested.

A spokesman said: "The second time he said he didn't need a computer any more and asked for his money back in cash." Roman Zukoan, a computer technician who works in the Nexos computer shop, also in Kaiserslautern, said: "It is hard to imagine how the potatoes could get into a computer's casing.

"When computers leave the factory they are packed in plastic to prevent damage from condensation.

"If they are running for a long time they get hot and in theory it would be possible to cook a potato in a computer, but who would try that?"

I read this, found on Warren Ellis's blog, which took me to a long question and answer with Bruce Sterling. Mostly, Sterling doesn't interest me much, but the quote caught my attention:

"I'll believe in people settling Mars at about the same time I see people setting the Gobi Desert. The Gobi Desert is about a thousand times as hospitable as Mars and five hundred times cheaper and easier to reach. Nobody ever writes "Gobi Desert Opera" because, well, it's just kind of obvious that there's no good reason to go there and live. It's ugly, it's inhospitable and there's no way to make it pay. Mars is just the same, really. We just romanticize it because it's so hard to reach.

On the other hand, there might really be some way to make living in the Gobi Desert pay. And if that were the case, and you really had communities making a nice cheerful go of daily life on arid, freezing, barren rock and sand, then a cultural transfer to Mars might make a certain sense.

If there were a society with enough technical power to terraform Mars, they would certainly do it. On the other hand. by the time they got around to messing with Mars, they would have been using all that power to transform *themselves.* So by the time they got there and started rebuilding the Martian atmosphere wholesale, they wouldn't look or act a whole lot like Hollywood extras."

=====

2004-01-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

From the Miami Herald -
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7704252.htm

Here's another reason to like living in South Florida....

Welcome to South Florida - and beware of the Monkeys

How to know when you are in Dania Beach: when the horde of wild monkeys at the rent-a-car agency throws mango pits.

At the Airport Hertz Rent-A-Car on Seventh Avenue in Dania Beach, you can get a Mustang or a Jaguar.

If a monkey doesn't get you first.

You know you are not in New York or Chicago when the airport rent-a-car place has signs reminding customers not to feed the monkeys, which have been spied tossing mango pits at people and using trash-can tops as cymbals.

In fact, Hertz is just the latest location in Dania Beach to be beset by a plague of vervets, aka green monkeys, which have been making the small city their own private urban jungle for decades. The monkeys with flattened black faces and white furry beards swing through the trees and sometimes skitter across nearby mobile-home roofs, making a sound akin to a thunderstorm.

They have been known to climb into newly washed cars in the neighborhood and make a mess of their interior. They love to jump on the roofs, trampoline style.

"It's a dominance thing," said Ron Magill, a spokesman for Metrozoo, who said the males are especially keen on activities that make a lot of noise.

Debbie White, a grandmother of seven from Amelia Island, ran into about 20 of them while waiting for a Camry on a recent afternoon. On that day, they were quiet but playful.

"It was like being at the zoo," she said.

Monkeys apparently don't cause much of a blip on the South Florida weird-o-meter. An employee named Wes, standing near ''monkey row'' near the Hertz car wash machinery, shrugged off the phenomenon, as did several colleagues, who no longer find the monkeys interesting or unusual. In keeping with Hertz corporate policy, Wes would not give a last name for publication.

The vervets have deep roots in the Dania Beach area -- deeper, in fact, than the Hertz outlet at 2150 NE Seventh Ave. They apparently date back to a roadside primate attraction that closed shop in the early 1950s.

The owner was able to sell off most of the larger primates, but the vervets and a handful of squirrel monkeys didn't find any takers.

According to the locals who have been coexisting with the monkeys for decades, someone at the farm simply opened the cage and set the captives free.

The escapees fled to the forest, where they developed a diet of grasshoppers, beetles, small crabs, and, on occasion, the food in Fido's dog bowl.

Do-gooders have supplied them with Fig Newtons, Doritos and, of course, bananas. That's been illegal since 1993, and can cost you a $500 fine.

Still, lots of people love those monkeys.

Chakka McGee, an assistant manager at Motel 6 on Dania Beach Boulevard, said tourists often request rooms on the east side of the inn to better observe the animals.

"It's good for business," she said.

William Weiner likes the monkeys but not the way they are treated.

The 64-year-old manager of Weiner's Mobile Park on East Dania Beach Boulevard remembers the monkeys playfully tugging on the tail of his mother's toy poodle.

But he also remembers kids tormenting the creatures by offering up treats, only to yank the snacks away. He has also seen too many monkeys become roadkill on Dania Beach Boulevard, which invariably leads to an unusual funeral ritual on the tree-lined thoroughfare.

"The whole troupe would come out and holler and scream," Weiner said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fields occasional complaints from residents.

Capt. Sam Cory, an area supervisor for Broward County, says monkeys are hard to trap.

Rather than try, trappers will shoot an offending animal with a tranquilizer dart. Officials test the immobilized monkey for viruses and then, if they are healthy, will place them in a "permitted facility."

You don't want to mess with an unhealthy monkey. The animals can carry tuberculosis, various strains of hepatitis and a form of herpes potentially fatal to humans.

All the more reason they don't want you to feed the monkeys at Hertz Rent-A Car.

"It's wildlife," said Wes. "You don't want to get bitten. It's a lawsuit."

Media Player Classic (open-source app that replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime and RealPlayer)

Watched The Chinese Connection last night...I forgot how odd the theme music was. Great fight scenes, though... Bruce Lee at some of his best, I think. I considered making an icon from the "slo-mo hands" bit, but I imagine there are probably a dozen or so of them out there already.

I was cleaning up my closet and ended up looking through my gaming notes from 1995. Man, has my handwriting has improved over the last 8-9 years...What a horrid, crabbed script I had before! (It's still messy, but at least it's mostly legible now.)

Some Translations from those pages:

1/15/95 - Protectors - "Looks like trouble" gang found gadgets, Doc Eon (VINCENT's enemy - robots to fight.)

odd artifacts -

water gun - no nozzle.

Platform

Wrench & Bulb

Pyramid-thing puzzle box - summons flying drones.
Mutants, Hollow Earth, Riches

Hollow Earth Entered via North Pole - 0 gravity - Aztec type wealth and equipment.

Dracodroid in 60's, giant robot, 6 -vehicle "Voltron-type" vanished - West Coast's most powerful being/super.

Earth Invaded in '68, helped conquer villain, disappeared in early 70's.

1/20/95 - ~~Protectors~~ FOCUS vs. Old Ones. Our super team (Based in Covenant, Rhode Island)

Plot elements - Evil Snake Knife -Gives the Aquarian a vision of a jungle river (Nile?), desert, fields (Egypt?), Bald, Dark folk, white loincloths, buildings with brass doors w/ canine designs, They're aware of Aquarian, he snaps out of his trance.

Go to Miskatonic U to investigate the Necronomicon & Take Viper & Cobra (WHAT WERE WE THINKING?)

nicknames for Scarab (miniMAX's DNPC/Ally) - Ladybug, Lori, Junebug - Doesn't actually know a lot of Egyptology, buy liked old Journey album covers.

Notes in Margins-
Brickhouse = a big baby!

Grey Spectre & Ghost = Cool.

Get Star Children into space... leave Gurney (Otho) on the moon.

Drawings by the Gray Pumpkin for games from 1/95 (9 years ago???):

miniMAX's "desolid beam" and remote car device.

Khudrin, Dog & Blare (Blair?)

Well, It looks like news of my brother's case has made it to the ambulance chasers.

No less than 14 articles of mail advertising for legal services arrived in my mailbox today (bro uses this location as his mail drop).

You know, the three collect calls my brother made to me from jail are going to cost me about $12?

Speaking of Florida jails / law, money grubbing...

Two small articles in the local section of the Miami Herald show the seamy side of the money-grubbing culture in Florida. In one case the state is trying to squeeze prisoners’ families for every dollar it can get by requiring them to use overpriced telephone services to speak to prisoners—and just banned a magazine that carries ads explaining how to route around the overcharges. In another case, local lawyers claim that court reporters have been massaging the margins to inflate the length and cost of transcripts.

Corrections Dept. sued over phone flap describes a transparent violation of the First Amendment by Florida Department of Corrections (prisons) officials who have banned Prison Legal News on the dubious grounds that it threatens prison security. The “threat” consists of printing ads from local telephone services which allow inmates to make collect calls to their families more cheaply than the $4/five minutes charged by the prisons.

Yes, you read that right. Inmates are only allowed to make collect calls, and if they want to speak to their families then the families must pay $4 for every five minutes for that privilege. Why is this cost so high? Because the prisons let the telephone contract to the bidder who promised the highest cost, not the lowest — thus maximizing revenue to the prisons.

So we’re not only locking up offenders, we’re trying to ensure they have minimum contact with their families. Or, if you prefer, we’re trying to milk the families — primarily poor people — for all we can. I can call the UK for six or seven cents a minute, but inmates pay about $1.33 per minute to call a nearby town.

But the public sector is no better than the private sector. In Lawyer claims court reporting agency fudging margins and bottom line we learn that Florida court reporters, who are paid by the page, have (allegedly) been manipulating the margins — left, right and bottom — of court transcripts in order to increase the page count.

State law specifies the width of the margins, the number of lines per page, letters per line and the size of the font. Lawyers, governments and individuals pay court reporters by the page. Rates vary depending on individual contracts and the type of proceeding transcribed.

County governments are some of the biggest customers because they pay expenses for many poor criminal defendants. Nan Markowitz, spokeswoman for Miami-Dade courts, said her office audits more than 2,000 transcripts a month and finds problems with about one in 10.

Court reporters give refunds when the counties ask for them, but the private lawyers have less luck , and — no surprise — one of them is bringing a class action claim for redress.

These are the last lines of the last 10 posts on my friends page. (Non-communities, non-this meme and public posts only.)

Imagine that.

I think that's so unhealthy to stay inside too much... even when it's cold as hell it's better to get outdoors even for just a little while.

I'll probably forget to drink vinegar before bed, too.

I estimate it will be finished in about 3 more Star Trek Deep Space 9 episodes.

Time to go drop off some boxes..

Computers can do great things when they're programmed right, but they are inherently dumb.

I don't know what it is, but some people have some bad energy.

I'm goin' back to BED.

otherwise, let the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeing! begin.

Blessed be.

high school: Atlantic Community High School
class of: 1987

1. nickname in high school?
Ogre, Squatch, that big guy

2. sport you were into?
none, really. I liked skipping school every other Friday my senior year.

3. had a barkada? how many were you?
What an odd word. (It means group of friends, from my research) My High school goon squad was composed of 3-5 guys. Myself, Steve Jacoby, Brent Ashland, and if we had room and the interest, Beau Brumfield and Steve Mancour.

4. best subject?
History

5. worst subject?
Spanish (killed my GPA!)

6. a teacher you owe life lessons to?
Mr Cornell - algebra / Trig teacher. very good at dealing with all sorts of people, and I learned by example. (Also pushed me to ATO)

7. a teacher you wanna kick in the ass?
Mr. Maloney, for punishing me for using damn as an adjective all the time, and for being my Spanish teacher. (erm, all the damn time, my damn Spanish teacher.)

describe in one word...

8. freshman year:
Atari

9. sophomore year:
Atari

10. junior year:
Car

11.senior year:
Morikami

12. your best friend was?
Steve Jacoby

13. your worst friend was?
Robert next door. He moved away and stole all of my D&D stuff.

14. cafeteria food sucked?
It was ok. I liked the tostadas.

15. most hilarious school rule?
know the alma mater by heart. even more hilarious? I still know it. Burned into my brain cells, where useful knowledge might have gone.

Atlantic High we hail and praise you.
Forward we shall go.
Peace will reign throughout our futures.
As we live and know.
Teach us now to know thy wisdom,
To show our loyalty.
Atlantic High we are all brothers,
Proud we all shall be.

16. wore uniforms?
Nope.

17. how was the prom?
On the other side of town

18. who was prom king and queen?
I forget. I think the queen was our valedictorian.

19. any achievements?
hmm.. had fun on yearbook. learned core fundamentals of networking both people and machines. Was recognized for skills in Debate and Writing. Wrote the attendance program with Jim Goodmon for the school at 16.

20. were you popular?
No.. but I was "infamous" in some realms.

21. best song that reminds you of high school?
Everybody Wang Chung Tonight (Played at Grad Nite)

22. unforgettable high school crush(es)?
I was a weirdo stoic in those days. Everyone I was attracted to went to another school.

23. most embarrassing moment?
Watching my brother slam a metal tray upside the head of a guy I was posturing to fight with. (He wasn't hurt, but it was dang loud...and I preferred to fight my battles on my own terms)

24. memory you'd like to forget about high school?
None... if I had one, it's already forgotten.

25. best memory?
Escaping to the Morikami, and feeding the Koi.

26. any regrets?
That I didn't take a few more "social chances". I didn't form many bonds.

27. would you like your "future child" to attend your high school?
Nope.. that's the hood, these days.

28. were the bathrooms clean?
The ones in the annex were a mess. The ones on main campus were ok.

29. how were the lunch ladies?
They were ok.

30. lyrics would best describe your high school life:
Where Your Eyes Don't Go - TMBG

2004-01-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

Playing with old silent movies... I present... Der Golem.

Hey. I may be slow to catch on to this particular slur... but are white folk called "crackers" in crude slang because they had whips? All this time, I thought they were talking about saltines or something.

Sharks in Flight Holy Moley! - via beaucoup Kevin

Searching for Old Time Radio (OTR) shows on file share systems has gotten a lot more difficult since Lord of the Rings (LOTR) became popular. *Everyone* is sharing the movie, audio and e-books. (Same goes for Green hornet, with the Kill bill soundtrack being popular)

Back in '99, Art Spiegelman wrote a good and important essay for The New Yorker on Jack Cole and his greatest creation, Plastic Man. It eventually evolved into a must-own book but if you don't own the book, you can still read the original article.

Forms Stretched to Their Limits
by Art Spiegelman
Issue of 1999-04-19

Disguised as a red, black, and yellow throw rug, our hero cocks one ear up to listen in on two hoods huddled at the table that rests on him. In the next panel he literally hangs out at an art museum, above a label that says "Abstract," his body now distorted into a red, black, and yellow bebop-Cubist composition, in order to eavesdrop on two cheap gunsels out gallery-hopping. And in the panel after that two molls gossip from tenement windows across an alley while our protean hero continues his stakeout camouflaged as a red, black, and yellow line of laundry flapping between them.

This manic spritz of images appeared in a 1950 issue of "Plastic Man," one of the last issues written and drawn by Jack Cole, a tragically short-lived comic-book giant. "Plastic Man" can be found mainly in those plastic bags collectors use to stash their rare, slow-burning forest fires of newsprint, although DC Comics has at last published "The Plastic Man Archives, Volume 1," which at least reprints the first twenty "Plastic Man" stories, published between 1941 and 1943, when the developing artist was just beginning to stretch. (Incidentally, the reproduction in this de-luxe, $49.95 hardcover stinks—or maybe it simply doesn't stink enough, managing somehow to look both blurry and shrill. Anyone with a spare twenty-six thousand four hundred and fifty dollars should consider seeking out near-mint copies of the original pulp-paper comic books.) I'm embarrassed to confess to being in love with a superhero comic, but Jack Cole's "Plastic Man" belongs high on any adult's How to Avoid Prozac list, up there with the best of S. J. Perelman, Laurel and Hardy, Damon Runyon, Tex Avery, and the Marx Brothers. Cole's comics have helped me feel reconciled to the misleading word "comic," which often keeps my medium of choice from getting any respect.

Many otherwise literate people, even those who have long since crossed the high-low divide and welcomed comic strips like "Krazy Kat" and "Little Nemo" into the canon of twentieth-century cultural achievement—right up there next to Picasso's paintings and Joyce's novels—remain predisposed against comic books. Of course, most comic books really are junk, just as our parents said, but so is most painting and literature. The lowly comic book has a lot of strikes against it, not least a residual public distaste left over from Senator Kefauver's nineteen-fifties crime hearings, which scapegoated the whole medium as a species of pornography for tots. The hearings forced a draconian "self-regulating" Comics Code Authority on the publishers; the edict stamped out the reckless excesses of the crime, war, and horror comics (categories that tended to appeal to an older audience of G.I.s and other adults) and left lobotomized superheroes and innocuous funny animals as virtually the only survivors on the newsstands. We've committed some of our most censorious follies in the guise of protecting our children.

It's a tribute to the medium's appeal that the comic book has bounced back from the grave several times in its history, though the industry has never been as close to death as now. Near-suicidal publishing and marketing decisions—for example, aiming at a narrow collectors' market rather than reaching out to mainstream audiences—have left the industry in a depressed state. Television almost killed what remained of comics in the mid-fifties; now new computer-generated special-effects technologies have robbed comics of even their near-monopoly on primal visual fantasy. Comic books must reposition themselves—possibly as Art—in order to survive as anything more than part of the feeder system for Hollywood. Otherwise, like vaudeville, they will vanish.

Art? It now seems natural to see Orson Welles's "Touch of Evil" or a Howard Hawks Western at MOMA, but a generation of aestheticians like Manny Farber had to show people how to see movies for such programming to become plausible. In a landmark 1962 essay in Film Culture, Farber looked at B movies with a painter's eyes and championed the neglected genre films he loved. He contrasted "the idea of art as an expensive hunk of well-regulated area . . . shrieking with preciosity, fame, ambition" with art made "where the spotlight of culture is nowhere in evidence, so that the craftsman can be ornery, wasteful, stubbornly self-involved, doing go-for-broke art and not caring what comes of it." This he called a "termite-tapeworm-fungus-moss art . . . that goes always forward, eating its own boundaries and likely as not leaves nothing in its path other than signs of eager, industrious unkempt activity." The comic-book form has always swarmed with termites, never more so than in the Golden Age, which collectors date from the spring of 1938, when Superman first turned the ephemeral periodicals into a major fad, until the devastation brought by the Comics Code, in late 1954. It was a time when comics always traveled below critical radar and offered a direct gateway into the unrestrained dream life of their creators—lurid, violent, funny, and sometimes sublime.

Jack Cole, whose comic-book career started a year before that Golden Age and ended precisely with it, was born in December, 1914, in the small coal-mining and industrial town of New Castle, in western Pennsylvania. His father, a Methodist Sunday-school teacher for twenty years, owned a drygoods store and was a popular local performer, playing the bones in King Cole's Corn Crackers; his mother had been a grade-school teacher. Jack, the third of six children, was introspective, imaginative, high-spirited, and graced with a pronounced sense of humor. A childhood passion for newspaper strips like Elzie Segar's "Thimble Theater" (featuring Popeye), George McManus's "Bringing Up Father," and Rube Goldberg's "Boob McNutt" blossomed into a lifelong desire to draw a syndicated strip of his own. His formal art training, beyond copying his favorites to crack their physiognomic code, consisted of mail-order lessons from the Landon School of Cartooning. When he was fifteen, he secretly saved up his school-lunch money to pay for the course, smuggling sandwiches from home in the hollowed-out pages of a book. Two years later, he again proved his strength of character by bicycling alone to Los Angeles and back, a seven-thousand-mile adventure that he later recounted in his first sale, an illustrated feature for Boy's Life.

After graduating from high school, Cole eloped with his childhood sweetheart, Dorothy Mahoney. Drawing cartoons at night and working at the local American Can factory by day, he remained in his parents' home until his mother found out about the secret marriage and suggested that he live with his wife. Dick Cole, his youngest brother, still remembers the Pop-Art-before-its-time furniture Jack playfully improvised out of printed tin sheets brought home from his job. American Can, however, clearly didn't offer him the creative outlet he was searching for, and in 1936, at the age of twenty-two, he quit. Borrowing five hundred dollars from family friends and local merchants, he moved to Greenwich Village with Dorothy to seek his fortune as a cartoonist. In a dutiful letter that he sent home after settling in, he put a positive spin on his career prospects, praising Dorothy's steadfastness and reassuring his parents that he hadn't been corrupted by the big city:

Every kid wants to grow up to be as good as his parents, and I, being no exception have about as high a goal as could be possible to strive for. Have tried to do things as you would do them, but unfortunately I am ruled by my heart rather than my head, and sometimes slip up. (or rather, many times) I have never told you this before, but in case you are interested, I have never taken a drink of beer or liquor yet and never mean to—don't smoke—cuss some but have never used HIS name in a vain expression.

Though he eventually smoked, drank moderately, and possibly even took God's name in vain, Cole was always conscientious. In time, he paid his debts to the New Castle folk who sponsored him, although in his first year of trying to break into magazines and newspapers he had whittled his stake down to five cents. According to the comics historian Ron Goulart—whose brief but invaluable "Focus on Jack Cole" (Fantagraphics; 1986) is the closest the cartoonist has come to having a biography—Cole found himself working for about twenty dollars a week in a factory again: in Harry "A" Chesler's comic-book "sweatshop," at Fifth Avenue and Twenty-ninth Street, set up to provide new material for publishers unable to find any newspaper strips worth reprinting. The first ten-cent comic book, "Famous Funnies," published in 1934, consisted of reduced-scale color reprints of "Mutt and Jeff," "The Bungle Family," and other popular syndicated features; green-kid cartoonists worked elbow to elbow with old pulp illustrators, down-on-their-luck painters, and other has-beens and never-wases to pioneer a new art form at cut rates that could compete with the low-priced syndicate retreads. Marshall McLuhan has written that every new medium cannibalizes the content of the medium that preceded it (the movies, for example, were once called "photoplays"), and the comic book bears this idea out: pale imitations of "Dick Tracy" and "Mandrake the Magician" were the anemic norm until 1938, when the first issue of Action Comics presented a caped Übermensch who fought for Truth, Justice, and the American Way—a crack-brained idea by two Jewish kids from Cleveland that really made the new medium fly. Action! The title nails the basic appeal of the new four-color heroes: Crimson Avengers, Purple Zombies, Green Masks, Blue Beetles, Blue Bolts, Blue Streaks, White Streaks, and Silver Streaks started zipping through the sky, hitting the newsstands and one another.

Cole thrived, first in the Chesler shop and then as a freelancer, working against tight deadlines and learning in print how to take advantage of the flexible panel layouts and dynamic pages that these books demanded. He was an "all-around man," writing as well as drawing, even lettering and sometimes coloring his own material. He started out doing screwball filler pages and then graduated to the longer and more lucrative "straight" stuff, though even his most illustrative work happily betrayed his roots in loopy-doodle cartooning. His early straight work was crazily bent: "Mantoka" (a supernaturally empowered Native American medicine man who takes revenge on evil Caucasians), "The Comet" (whose disintegrating rays shoot out of his eyes whenever he crosses them to melt down bad guys), and, for Silver Streak Comics, "The Claw" (the ultimate Yellow Peril, a fanged Asian warlord who can get taller than King Kong when aroused) all displayed a feverish imagination, verve, and a cheerful streak of perverse violence.

By the end of 1940, Cole had begun working for Quality Comics, Everett (Busy) Arnold's newly launched line of publications. Quality became home base for the rest of Cole's comic-book career. The feel and look of the Quality Comics house style had been established by Will Eisner, creator of "The Spirit," whose work was to have a major influence on Cole. Eisner, who is now in his eighties and still doing significant comics, had studied painting and hoped to become a theatrical set designer; he was more culturally sophisticated than Cole, who had been shaped mainly by pulps, movies, comic strips, and the other early comic books—which were mostly influenced by more of the same. Cole's first sustained work for Quality was "Midnight," a feature intended by the pragmatic Arnold as a clone of "The Spirit"—just in case Eisner, who was in the unique position of owning his own character, were to be drafted and die or otherwise leave Quality. Cole learned important lessons in narrative and structural coherence from this apprenticeship, and brought his singular sense of humor and fantasy to the project.

A few months after "Midnight" came "Plastic Man," starting as a minor feature in Police Comics but soon to become the star of that anthology. Inspired by sideshow freaks, Cole planned to call the character the India Rubber Man. Arnold, however, astutely suggested that it might be bouncier to name him after the miracle substance that was reshaping the modern world. In 1943, when Plastic Man expanded into his own book, Cole explained the morphing hero to new readers: "If you should see a man standing on the street and reaching into the top window of a sky-scraper . . . that's not astigmatism—it's Plastic Man! . . . If you happen upon a gent all bent up like a pretzel . . . don't dunk him . . . it's Plastic Man! All this and bouncing too, you'll see when the rubber man and his pal Woozy Winks gamble their lives in—The Game of Death."

Plastic Man wore a V-necked red rubber leotard accessorized by a wide black-and-yellow striped belt and very cool tinted goggles. He started life as Eel O'Brian, a lowlife gangster accidentally doused by some unnamed acid while committing a robbery. He was saved by a reclusive order of monks who recognized that his villainy was the result of an unhappy childhood. They nursed him back to health and in a memorable couple of panels he discovered his gift.

The acid bath had given him the ability to violate the laws of physics; the monks gave him the will to defend the laws of men, first as part of the police force and later as a special agent for the F.B.I. His F.B.I. chief, sporting one of the most peculiar comb-overs in comics, was the authority figure in Plastic Man's tiny nuclear family. Nobody knew that Plastic Man and the gangster Eel O'Brian were the same person. His secret identity—as a public enemy he himself was supposed to capture—was too limiting a concept for a hero who could be literally anything he wanted to be. Superman and the tribe that grew from that template have a mere two identities: they're binary. Plas, as his friends called him, was multiphrenic and illimitable, and soon forgot about being Eel O'Brian.

It says something about Cole's superego, if not his superhero, that he often cast reformed villains as his principals. Woozy Winks, Plastic Man's Robin, was hardly a Boy Wonder. He entered the series as a miscreant, the Man Who Can't Be Harmed, having chosen a life of crime on the basis of a coin toss. Several issues later his powers diminished, so that he became the Man Whom Nature Protects (Sometimes), and he eventually settled in as an all too mortal bungler, a skirt-chaser, and an occasional pickpocket. He was a slovenly, scrotum-cheeked rube in a straw hat and green polka-dot shirt who looked a bit like Alfred Hitchcock. Providing a meatball-shaped counterweight to Plastic Man's spaghetti, his direct forebear was Popeye's pal Wimpy. In a more "straight" comic-book reality, Woozy would have provided comic relief.

Naturally enough, Cole resembled both his leads: like Woozy, he was soft-bodied, somewhat dishevelled, and no city slicker; like Plastic Man, he was tall, pointy-nosed, and "very likable . . . a straight arrow—sort of a Boy Scout in some ways," as Gill Fox, Cole's close friend and his editor at Quality, described him to me.

Cartoonists "become" each character in their comics, acting out every gesture and expression; it's in this sense that Cole most resembles Plastic Man—as the Spirit of Cartooning. Cole successfully performed the one magic act at the heart of the craft: believing so profoundly in the reality of the world conjured up with lines on paper that, against the odds, the marks gain enough authority to become a real world for the reader. Cole's world teems with invention, gags, and an amazing number of hyperactive characters tucked into every nook and cranny of a panel. Plastic Man never stretches exactly the same way twice. While Cole's work is often overloaded with ideas, the drawing is never overwrought; the art displays a Midwesterner's laconic mastery. What remains most remarkable is his ability to be so fully present in his comic-book work from moment to moment, always following his lines of thought with the same curiosity the reader might have—as astonished as any reader by where they take him.

If the going rate for pictures is still only a thousand words per, most "Plastic Man" panels are worth at least two or three pictures. Each panel seems to swallow several separate instants of time whole, as if the page were made up of small screens with different, though related, films whizzing by at forty-eight frames a second. Cole's is an amphetamine-riddled art: Tex Avery on speed! And it's not just Plastic Man who bounces and twists; any one of Cole's incidental figures would seem as kinetic as Plastic Man if it were transplanted into someone else's comic book. Each page is intuitively visualized to form a coherent whole, even though the individual panels form a narrative flood of run-on sentences that breathlessly jump from one page to the next. The art ricochets like a racquetball slammed full force in a closet. Your eye, however, is guided as if it were a skillfully controlled pinball, often by Plastic Man himself acting as a compositional device. His distended body is an arrow pointing out the sights as it hurtles through time. In just a single panel, our hero chases along a footpath in a park, trailing a mugger. Running from the rear of the picture, Plastic Man's S-curved body echoes the path itself as he loops around one pedestrian in the distance and extends between two lovers about to kiss—lipstick traces are on his elongated neck as he passes them—to swoop up between an old man's legs like an enormous penis wearing sunglasses and stare into his startled face. Plastic Man had all the crackling intensity of the life force transferred to paper. Pulpier than James Cameron's Terminator, more frantic than Jim Carrey in "The Mask," and less self-conscious than Woody Allen's "Zelig," "Plastic Man" literally embodied the comic-book form: its exuberant energy, its flexibility, its boyishness, and its only partially sublimated sexuality. Cole's infinitely malleable hero, Clinton-like in his ability to change shape and squeeze through tiny loopholes, just oozed sex. It was never made explicit—the idea of a hard-core version of "Plastic Man" boggles the mind—but there was a polymorphously perverse quality to a character who personified Georges Bataille's notion of the body on the brink of dissolving its borders. Cole let it all hang out as Plastic Man slithered from panel to panel—sometimes shifting from male to female, and freely mutating from erect and hardboiled to soft as a Dali clock.

Most of the plots are as twisted and swervy as Plastic Man himself. They're convincing enough in their mad, moment-to-moment flow, but they're as hard to reconstruct and as elusive as dreams, with their vividly improvised incidents. Gender-bending and cross-dressing were the least of it. In a 1942 story, Plastic Man is swallowed whole by one Cyrus Smythe, a seventeenth-century mad doctor whose brain has been transplanted into a dying Army pilot's body. Smythe, who has learned how to grow hundreds of feet tall, but who must walk on his hands since the body he possesses is paralyzed from the waist down, chokes to death when Plastic Man climbs out of his stomach to lodge himself in the giant's windpipe. The early stories, while bizarre, don't feel psychopathic, sadistic, or even particularly mean-spirited in Cole's telling. In his postwar period, the "Plastic Man" stories are totally nuts in a different way, prefiguring the idea-per-minute vaudeville zaniness of the early Mad comics. In all his stories, heavily populated by shape-changing villains, mad scientists, and monsters, as well as by more mundane murderers, con men, and saboteurs, Cole demonstrates the termite go-for-broke quality that made his friend Gill Fox exclaim admiringly, "That's Jack, he'd let his mind go anywhere!"

Gill Fox told me that he remembers starring in an 8-mm. home movie that Cole shot sometime in the early forties, after Jack and Dorothy became his neighbors in Stamford, Connecticut, in order to be closer to Quality's studio there. Cole's improvised film scenario, about an ambitious young comic-book artist fighting a deadline, had Fox dragging his drawing table into the bathroom, pulling his pants down, and continuing to work while seated on the toilet. Cole was always behind schedule, a procrastinator and a perfectionist who took pride in his craft and managed to turn out his monthly quota only by working for punishing all-night stretches. Fox recalls a sweltering summer day in the Quality studio that has become legendary among his generation of comic-book artists: Only the nasty buzz of horseflies broke the silence of cartoonists sweating at their desks over some exceptionally brutal deadline when a disturbance broke their concentration. Something was fluttering and streaking by above their heads. All work stopped until they caught what turned out to be one very angry horsefly hauling a long tissue-paper banner with the words "Drink Pepsi Cola!" that Cole had patiently lettered and glued to the insect's back. A genius at work!

Creig Flessel, an intimate colleague of Cole's, visited the Quality offices around that time, wanting to observe an old letterer there who could ink in text balloons perfectly without pencilling. He noticed Busy Arnold with large scissors at a nearby desk cutting old "Plastic Man" originals to ribbons: "I nudged Jack and pointed it out to him, and he just shrugged sheepishly." After the art was used, Arnold routinely destroyed it to prevent unauthorized reprinting. The disposability of the art was a given, but it makes Cole's pride in his craft seem downright existential!

The pressure to produce lots of pages quickly, in a situation that offered little prestige and relatively small rates for the skills involved, took its toll. "A number of the artists I knew back then cracked," says Fox, who still draws a Sunday feature for the Herald Press, in New Britain, Connecticut. "Al Bryant, who drew Doll Man, drove himself into an abutment on the Long Island Expressway shortly after a nervous breakdown. Another guy at Quality, a writer, threw himself in front of a subway, but somehow survived." John Spranger, an exceptionally gifted artist who assisted on "Plastic Man" in the postwar years, had a severe breakdown; Bob Wood, like many of the other artists, drank heavily. It was a tough business, making funny books, but Cole flourished in that environment.

At the start of the Second World War, Cole doubled his workload to put money aside for Dorothy in case he got drafted. Although he never had children, and was apparently in good health, he wasn't taken. As one of the best cartoonists left on the home front at a moment when publishers were selling all the comics their newsprint rations let them print, Cole made out well. He even briefly ghosted the daily newspaper version of "The Spirit" when Will Eisner got drafted. By the end of the war, Cole was getting the top rate for comic books (about thirty-five dollars per page) as well as occasional bonuses of up to twenty-five hundred dollars when his books broke the two-hundred-thousand point. He and Dorothy bought property and settled into a series of houses in New England. "Their Stamford place was a fourteen-room mansion that had once belonged to the Masked Marvel, a famous pool shark," Flessel told me. "Dorothy was horrified by the cold marble tiles when she first saw the house, so Jack put in some wall-to-wall carpeting. It must have set him back plenty, but he absolutely doted on his wife." Flessel remembers Cole with great affection as an acute, thoughtful, and gentle guy, a "pussycat," with a screwy smile and an irrepressible streak of humor. When I visited the Flessels' Long Island home, he conjured up one small Jacques Tati-like moment when the Coles were leaving after a weekend visit there in the mid-forties: Stooping to get behind the wheel of his pint-sized car, the oversized Cole knocked his homburg to the ground. He scooped it up while shutting the car door, then casually put the hat back on top of the roof and drove off waving.

Cole worked at home, sending in his popular fifteen-page lead stories for Police Comics every month, as well as material for his "Plastic Man" solo title and occasional humor pieces for other comics. Fox has said, "Jack insisted on doing everything himself. . . . He didn't even clear his plot lines with anyone. The only thing we did was copy-read for mistakes." Cole was elated to get his own book; but when he was told that it would mean having assistants and ghosts do some of the stories he burst into tears. (Neither Flessel nor Fox could verify what might be an apocryphal story, but both independently said it sounded like the Cole they knew.) The problem of Cole's ghosts and assistants plagues anyone who admires his work. Since some of his assistants—most notably his worshipful friend Alex Kotzky and John Spranger—were very skillful mimics, and since Cole didn't always sign his own art, the "forgeries" are sometimes as hard to spot as Plastic Man himself in disguise. When the characters tilt and sway, unable to hold themselves upright at a mere ninety degrees, when that extra blaze of invention—a few more ideas than any sane artist would dare squeeze into a panel—shines through, one can surmise that one is in the hands of the master. "Plastic Man" was totally ghosted after 1950, when Cole reached his giddiest heights before burning out on the character. The ghosts who remained behind lost their inspiration, but the buoyant originality of the basic concept kept "Plastic Man" afloat through 1956. Subsequent attempts to revive the character haven't been especially distinguished, nor have imitations that recycle the notion of a stretchable hero, though the character's virtual DNA lives on in the leader of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, a "straight" Plastic Man with way too much starch.

In 1947, Cole hired Alex Kotzky to help him package True Crime Comics, a new publisher's short-lived attempt to cash in on the crime comics then dominating the field; a story in the second issue, "Murder, Morphine and Me," has become notorious as one of the most intense and delirious examples that the lurid genre had to offer. One small panel—so charged that it has tremor lines around it and tilts, almost tumbling off the page—was enshrined as Exhibit A in Dr. Fredric Wertham's "Seduction of the Innocent," the book that triggered the Senate hearings and thereby toppled the industry: it shows a closeup of Mary Kennedy, the dope-dealing protagonist, being stabbed in the eye by a junkie with a hypodermic needle. I concede that this isn't Mother Goose, but I find the panel (part of a dream sequence, incidentally) emblematic of the comic book's visceral power to pass the reader's analytical defenses and pierce the brain. Dr. Wertham, on the other hand, focussed on the depraved image as an example of "the injury-to-the-eye motif . . . [that] shows perhaps the true color of crime comics better than anything else. It has no counterpart in any other literature of the world, for children or adults." I suspect that Dr. Wertham never saw Buñuel and Dali's "Un Chien Andalou" (the 1929 film shocker that featured a closeup of a woman's eye getting slashed by a razor), but that it had made a strong impression on Cole. On the other hand, Cole's True Crime capers point out the continuum between his manic humor and plain old mania. As Kotzky recalled, "Jack was a wild man mentally."

The New York State Legislature thought enough of "Murder, Morphine and Me" to reprint eight pages of blowups and excerpts in its 1951 report on comic books and censorship. As a young teen in the arid comic-book landscape of the early sixties, I stumbled onto this report in Manhattan's Donnell Library. It was my first exposure to Cole, and I checked the report out repeatedly. The story included ethnically stereotyped Scandinavians and Italians, lingerie shots of Mary Kennedy, and more gangland gunplay than there is in a John Woo Hong Kong action flick, all delivered with Cole's signature velocity. It is also among the most formally sophisticated comics stories I've ever seen; all the elements, including the panel shapes and the lettering, are deployed for narrative effect. When Mary, working as a hash-slinger, spills coffee on Tony, seated at her lunch counter, it's love at first sight. Through two progressive closeups, moving from profiles of their faces to their twitching lips, they exchange a machine-gun volley of speech balloons with dialogue worthy of James M. Cain. Tony departs ("Be seein' ya, honey eyes"), leaving Mary almost swooning, her heart banging against her chest like a five-hundred-pound canary trying to break out of its cage. (Cole's body language is priceless.)

Cole's last comic-book work was for Web of Evil, Quality's entry into the horror comics of the early fifties. Unlike most of his output, these horror comics, often scripted and barbarically inked by others, look as if they were done for the money. One noteworthy tale, clearly by Cole, "The Killer from Saturn," is about a serial murderer from outer space who terrorizes the city but turns out to be a mousy municipal window clerk who has gone postal. Wearing an imposing monster costume and stilts, he takes revenge on those who abused him. He's put in a mental institution where, in the closing panel, two detectives outside the barred door peer in at the pathetic wimp who still insists that he's the omnipotent killer from Saturn. One cop says, "He always will be . . . up here . . . where he can safely kill . . . in his imagination." The story, laced with fifties psychological jargon, seems to be Cole's hymn to the power of fantasy and the need to keep that power contained.

If Cole was through with comics, comics were also through with him. Searching for work in the fifties, he is said to have brought his portfolio to DC Comics, one of the few publishers that survived past 1954, and was summarily turned away. As early as the mid-forties, he had been preparing to leave the field, more out of ambition and restlessness than remorse. He began to put much of his energy into reshaping himself as a gag cartoonist, selling occasional drawings to the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, and Judge. A knack for drawing genuinely sexy women made his cartoons, signed "Jake," a fixture of the down-market girlie-cartoon and pin-up magazines. Cole was struggling as a mid-echelon gag cartoonist at the end of 1953 when he submitted a batch of gags to Stag Party, a planned men's magazine that announced its need for cartoons in trade journals. Cole's drawings began appearing in the fifth issue of the magazine, after it was launched as Playboy. At least one full-page drawing by him appeared in Playboy every month thereafter for the rest of his life.

Hugh Hefner had grown up reading and loving "Plastic Man," and, in a phone interview, described it to me as "the most hallucinogenic comic book of its time." At first, Hefner, a self-confessed failed cartoonist, didn't realize that he was working with that Jack Cole; indeed, the deft and sophisticated gag cartoons that appeared in Playboy, often in confidently applied, rich watercolor, bore almost no stylistic resemblance to Cole's brash comic-book art. Hefner remembers receiving the first submission, and though there was nothing he could use in that first batch, he said, "I loved the free and loose line, the quality of even those first pencil roughs, and I wrote a letter strongly encouraging him to send more. One of the things I tried to do was, like The New Yorker, develop a stable of artists closely associated with my magazine."

Cole soon signed an exclusive contract with Playboy and, in effect, became its defining artist—its Peter Arno. Playboy's first art editor, Art Paul, told me, "Cole helped give the magazine its visual identity. Unlike Gardner Rea and Eldon Dedini, who came from Esquire, Cole was a Playboy product." In fact, Females by Cole cocktail napkins were the second product Playboy licensed, right after the cufflinks based on Paul's famous rabbit logo. The Females, horny derivations of William Steig's symbolic drawings, were breezy black-and-white brush impressions of women's psychological states. Cole came up with the concept for the ongoing feature; Hefner, as the very hands-on cartoon editor, worked closely with him.

In 1955, on Hefner's first trip to New York after launching Playboy, he visited Cole's home in New Milford. The Coles had just resettled there after floods destroyed their house in Winsted, Connecticut, laying waste to most of their furniture and possessions. Hefner urged Cole to move to the Midwest, and he reluctantly agreed. He wrote to Gill Fox, "Middle of January the boss is moving us to Chicago. Swore I'd never leave these old hills, but he's dangled so much green bait what're you going to do? The sad part is leaving old friends." Though Hefner offered Cole a staff job, he preferred to work at home, and, at the beginning of 1956, settled into what he called that "pool table of a state," buying a place in the town of Cary, Illinois, about forty miles northwest of Chicago. Hefner was twelve years younger than Cole, and yet, he told me, "My heroes were now working for me—but as Cole's editor, of course, I was the father figure."

Hefner points out that Cole was still drawing fantasies for Playboy. Cole's goddesses were estrogen soufflés who mesmerized the ineffectual saps who lusted after them. The stacked night-club chanteuse who sings "I ain't got no bod-eee . . . " in one of his oft-reprinted color cartoons makes Marilyn Monroe, whom she's modelled on, look hardboiled. Cole had climbed to the top of the heap in comic books, even if he looked back on it as a dung heap; now he was the star cartoonist for the hottest and hippest "slick" in America.

In the hierarchy of the applied arts, the comic book has been near the bottom—above only tattoo art and sign painting—and every commercial artist has been as aware of these unspoken aesthetic ranks as any American who isn't white has been of race. The gag cartoon, being a self-contained, single-image composition and therefore a distant cousin of painting, has been seen as more worthy. The comic strip—because of the fame and great fortune it can bring, and because this is America, where such things have mattered most—has been at the pinnacle. Early in 1958, unbeknownst to Hefner, Cole drew up several weeks' worth of a newspaper strip called "Betsy and Me" and walked the samples over to Field Enterprises' Chicago Sun-Times syndicate after a meeting at Playboy. Cole, like Plastic Man, had changed his appearance: "Betsy and Me" was drawn in the then ultra-modernistic, minimalist fifties style that looked like nothing he had done before. The complex ongoing "voice-over" narration by nebbish-husband Chester Tibbet about family life with his wife, Betsy, and their five-year-old boy genius, Farley, actually has a formal connection to the inventive narration in "Murder, Morphine and Me." The mature verbal sophistication Cole demonstrates in "Betsy and Me" may be a by-product of the cultivated milieu he encountered through Playboy. The syndicate knew nothing about Cole's other careers, but found the feature fresh and exciting. The strip was launched that May and was appearing in nearly fifty newspapers by the summer; the forty-three-year-old cartoonist's childhood ambition for a successful strip of his own was finally being realized. Then Cole snapped.

On Tuesday evening, August 12, 1958, he went to a party at Playboy's offices. According to Hefner's private journal, Cole "was seemingly in the best of spirits." Art Paul told me that Cole, who was habitually temperate, drank a bit more than usual at the gathering, and seemed somewhat overexcited. Cole told him he had something he needed to say—the art editor found this exceptional, since they weren't intimate, and work-related issues tended to be taken up directly with Hefner—but someone interrupted, and the conversation never took place. The next morning, Cole greeted a neighbor, a railroad conductor he'd known since moving to Cary, who noticed nothing out of the ordinary. At around 2 P.M., Cole told Dorothy he was going out for the mail and the papers. He took their Chevy station wagon, and at around five showed up at Dave Donner's sport shop, in nearby Crystal Lake. He bought a .22-calibre, single-shot Marlin rifle. Between five-fifteen and five-thirty, he phoned the same neighbor he'd seen earlier and, after apologizing for the imposition, asked him to tell Dorothy that he was going to end it all. Then he hung up. At around 6 P.M., on a gravel road a few miles from his home, three boys found Cole slumped behind the wheel of his car: a bullet wound in his head, the rifle in his lap, and a note on a tablet next to him. He was still alive. At six-ten, a McHenry County Deputy Sheriff, who had been notified of the suicide threat, showed up. The deputy called an ambulance, but Cole died in the hospital at 6:45 P.M. without having regained consciousness. Cole's note said, "To whom it may concern: Please notify my dear wife, Dorothy Cole, 703 Silver Lake Road, Cary, Illinois, but first tell a neighbor so someone will be with her when she receives the news. Thank you. Jack Cole. Please forgive me, hon." Cole's body was carried back to New Castle, and he was buried there on August 16th.

On the day he killed himself, Cole had mailed two letters, which were received the next morning; one was to his wife, the other was to Hugh Hefner. The letter to Hefner reads:

Dear Hef: When you read this I shall be dead. I cannot go on living with myself and hurting those dear to me. What I do has nothing to do with you. You have been the best guy I've ever worked for in all these years. I'm only sorry I leave owing you so much, but dear Dorothy will repay you when the estate is settled. I wish you nothing but the best in the years to come. Also my best regards to Pat, Art, Ray, Joe, etc. etc. and all the other fine folks at Playboy. Thanks again for everything, Heffer. You're a good boy. Kindest regards, Jack

At the inquest, the coroner asked Dorothy about the letter Cole sent to her. She testified that in it he explained why he killed himself. The coroner was able to establish that Cole had never been under a doctor's care for any nervous condition and then asked Dorothy if she knew of any reason he might have had for taking his life. Dorothy answered only, "We had had an argument before." When a juror asked if the letter would be entered as evidence, the coroner said, "The letter was a very personal letter. I read it myself. We just wanted to bring it out that far." After Cole's death, Dorothy did not maintain contact with her husband's family or friends. Hefner, too, lost track of her, though he knows that "she remarried about a year or so after."

Speculating about a suicide's motives at least keeps a dialogue alive with that conversation-stopper of a corpse. It also drives a thin wooden stake of rational explanation through the corpse's heart—to punish the dead for their rebuke to the living. The handful of people who care about Cole or his work have speculated as wildly about his suicide as any school class puzzling over E. A. Robinson's chestnut, "Richard Cory." Baseless rumors about money problems, terminal illness, substance abuse—more plots than could fill a True Crime comic book—have hovered over Cole's death. Did he suffer from manic-depression? Cole was never diagnosed, but, like Plastic Man, he had his ups and downs. Dick Cole recalls that as a young man his brother once came home furious after an argument with his fiancée, Dorothy, his hands all bloody from pummelling every tree he'd walked past. Insofar as these things run in families, Cole's uncle, his father's brother, Frank, had a breakdown and committed suicide a short time after Jack moved to New York. Cole's association with Playboy, especially, has fuelled prurient gossip about swinging affairs and infidelities. When I asked Hefner if Cole took part in the Playboy life style, he chuckled: "He was no Shel Silverstein." If Cole's last letter to Dorothy had some sordid confession or salacious details, they remain unknown, since the coroner, Theron Ehorn, was no Kenneth Starr. As a result of his discretion, the big question marks that hang over all suicides can't be dispelled with much more precision than to say that something had gone wrong in the Coles' twenty-four-year-long marriage, and Jack Cole blamed himself. As Hefner told me, "It's an unresolved mystery. His end is as inconclusive as a Somerset Maugham story."

Was Cole "unbalanced"? Of course: it goes with the suicide's job description. Jacques Rigaut, a Dada artist who shot himself in 1929, once said that "suicide is a vocation"; it's at least one hell of a career move—look at Sylvia Plath!—and it turns one toward an artist's work as if to a career résumé. "The mystery of his death informs the work," as Hefner put it. Suicide does indeed figure in many of Cole's comic-book stories, like 1948's "Mr. Morbid," wherein a criminal perfumer concocts an essence of misery (one whiff and you knock yourself off), but most of Cole's cronies used suicide as a plot device without going on to self-destruct. More to the point may be the astonishing number of his Playboy cartoons that have impotence as their subtext. Putting aside limp jokes about Plastic Man's inability to get it up, impotence—or, rather, the psychologically linked issue of potency as the power to conceive a child—was key to Cole. All who knew Cole told me that he doted on kids. Jack and Dorothy's childlessness cast a poignant shadow on their isolated lives.

Hefner, who still misses the man and his work, has published several reprint tributes to Cole over the years. One Playboy classic shows a middle-aged milquetoast stretched out on an analyst's couch. "In the beginning," he recounts wistfully, "I created the heavens and the earth . . . " Although Cole looked back on his own beginnings in the comics with disenchantment, dismissing the "comics mags" in a letter to a friend as being "for the birds," he did have the power to soar and create worlds there, with barely an editor to shackle him.

"Plastic Man" was a stream of consciousness, allowing Cole's id the license to ooze freely, and in its bounces and lurches Cole found grace and balance. When he traded in Plastic Man's silly putty for Playboy's silicone, he also traded away the innocent and omnidirectional sexuality of infancy for the mere heterosexuality of adolescence. Sublimating further, he squeezed his creativity into ever smaller boxes: his two-dimensional newspaper strip is as sexless as any other nineteen-fifties sitcom. Cole's heartbreaking "fantasy" about a loving couple doting on their brilliant little boy—it reads like a suicide note delivered in daily installments! As he climbed his ladder of success, up from the primal mulch of the comic books, he finally arrived at air that was too thin to breathe: Jack Cole, a comics genius, died of growing up.

2004-01-12T22:07:00.000-05:00

This work week should be interesting, with just me, CS and Rhodey. Hopefully I will be able to take the opportunity to get a stronger dialogue working between them. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Talked to Dave last night for the first time in an age... poor man is uberbusy. Everyone but the little baby is down with the flu, he's working like crazy on refinishing the 2nd house, and he's pulling overtime at work to stay on top of things. He's near exhausted, but I think he'll pull through... remarkably strong will and body.

More Pictures from Yesterday, Riverwalk:

The Water Bus... Broward County Transit has boats to take you to a good number of stops along the waterways throughout Fort Lauderdale. The big honking Borders bookstore / Galleria mall stop is my most frequent location, launching from Mangoes. (My monthly bus pass also works on the boats, so it's a free ride and runs from morning to midnight.)

Cool Little shoe-shine stand that's been there for decades, and is still in use by Leonard, (the original proprietor's son, I think) during the week. He makes a pretty penny, and is considered a bit of a landmark in South Florida. I'm always impressed that it can go unmolested on the weekends, considering it's right next to the parking garage.

Here's where all the people are! Riverwalk proper... Hooters, Hot Tuna Saloona and Ole' Ole' upstairs has plenty of business on a Sunday afternoon. On the right you can see a segway... there was another guy on one, but he zipped out of view before I could draw my camera. The pineapple fountain is a good place to sit and watch people go by.. you'll see all kinds, from trendies to old folks to bindlestiffs. The low-rise pants and belly-shirts are still popular with young Brazilian girls, but everyone else seems to have moved on. I've noticed a real trend to dress in degrees of black and white in sharp contrast, or as a single color. It seems the color spectrum isn't as popular as the "monochrome look".

My attempt to get five of the eight floors shown at once from the library stairwell. I suspect that security wasn't too happy with me doing that, but I left before I got any talking to... I really only stopped in to investigate new DVDs and pick up tax forms in preparation for my coming filing.

Obligatory Newt Pic! Can't go long without one of those! Also shown is the front eye of the little-seen Newtcam itself.

A librarian was recently killed in a freak accident in the parking garage... her SUV blew threw the 5th story level and crashed to the ground below last Friday. I wonder if Doug or Tony knew her?

Harry Shearer is called to jury duty on the Robert Blake case as is Christina Applegate and tells his tale to Lloyd Groves.

Not Fooling Anybody, a "chronicle of bad conversions and storefronts past".

I noticed that ShOr deleted her LJ... I wonder what prompted that?

2004-01-11T22:06:00.000-05:00

Went for walkies...not sure for how long, but it was pretty close to 4 hours, I think. I took a slow, leisurely pace up Las Olas to Riverwalk and the library, watched the boats come in, grabbed a milkshake and people-watched. I really needed a nice day out and about and that fit the bill. There weren't very many to watch due to it being Sunday, but there were a few. Foot traffic was light enough to allow for easy maneuverability, and parts were so quiet that it was jarring to me. I'm so used to hearing a vehicle's engine or other street noise out there that it was rather eerie. There were parts of town that gave a real "28 Days Later" vibe. Even the singing fountain was quiet, save for the rush of the water... it was a very peaceful day out. I'll toss a few images from my journey behind a cut.

A few pictures:

The "28-days effect" I was talking about. Nobody on foot, buildings rising way up above, making it feel open and claustrophobic at the same time. I wanted to have a machine gun loaded with super ball ammo to fill the stillness with some motion. Funny how all the atoms in the air and other matter are all moving so fast, and yet everything seems so at rest.

The singing fountain, in daytime. The wind was blowing, so some mist was whirling around the lip of the water, making the seating area pretty moist. There wasn't really any place dry to sit on the edge, but the mist was cool and refreshing.

A couple shares a smooch while I'm taking pictures of the fountain.

A close-up of the concrete slabs on the fountain. Full of fossily goodness.

View of the low bridge from the South, looking North (12th and Las Olas) So much scrub plant-life!

View of the low bridge from the North, looking South (12th & 2nd) Note the chair in the water! I think it blew in from the patio set. On the far right, just below the bridge, is a little restaurant that smelled vaguely of propane and marijuana, the last time I walked past it. I wonder what sort of food they serve there?

Maybe some more pictures tomorrow. Still have the library (I stopped in to look at DVDs and pick up tax forms) , the water bus and misc Riverwalk images.

Hmm.. I wonder if the pleasant scent of sandalwood is part of the reason that folks made sandals out of them? The prayer beads that I got from sedef smell so good! (Contrary to last night's curry in the trash.. I couldn't wait to get that stuff outside of the same 4 walls.)
Ok! Let's see to it my week is started with Cheerios and not frickin' Drama flakes this time, eh? (Hm... Last time I mentioned drama flakes was on 8/8/01, the same day as my gamer rant, One-in-every-crowd, playing with CSS filters, link to the language machines, Wally caught for fraud & embezzlement, What dino lived in your backyard?)

I downloaded Bad Taste. Peter Jackson's directorial skills have improved a great deal over 13 years...Bad Taste is like something I'd have made with friends in Junior high. The movie is downright gross and goofy. (The Frighteners was a lot better.) I'm even more impressed that they gave this guy LotR at all, and how good a job was done with it. (Rachel showed me Meet the Feebles ages ago, too. That was something different.)

Dentsu Advertising Museum

The Edo Era (1603-1867), during which a full-fledged feudal system was established by the Tokugawa shogunate, was also an era in which the culture of townspeople flourished. That Japan had already developed distinctive advertising techniques of its own as early as the Edo Era might come as a surprise to you. But ample evidence of these remain for us today to follow a historical trail, in the form of nishiki-e (a multicolored woodblock print), hikifuda (handbills) and signboards. A witness of the times, as well as a chronicle of advertising creative work in Japan, these relics represent a valuable record of both the evolution of corporations and the history of common people's lives.

Belgium's most famous reporter TinTin is 75 years old. Congratulations and happy birthday to Snowy too. The intrepid reporter first appeared in print on January 10, 1929, in a comic supplement to the Brussels newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle.

More Florida Sky - HiddenCity's South Beach

I like how the clouds give a sense of perspective... I forget that they're so huge sometimes, because they're so far up. I have the same feeling about the Moon and Sun... I know in my brain that they're gigantic, but my caveman heart tells me that they're not very big at all.

New Semagic Client (v1.3.9.8)...

Version 1.3.9.8 <<1.3.9.7

· Authorization with IE cookies (you have to be permanently logged in via IE and have URLMon enabled.)
· Find, Replace, Redo for richedit 2.0
· Changed synchronization for auto login.
· Draft auto save no longer saves unmodified entries (before it was saving all the time what might be a reason of random crashes).

If you get "Invalid password" with auth via IE cookies that means that authorization with cookies (for clients) is not live yet on the main server.

Version 1.3.9.7<<1.3.9.6

· Friend selection menu at format toolbar.
· Shift-tab support.
· Fixed autoupdate for custom moods, makelink and replace with newlines.

Version 1.3.9.6<<1.3.9.1

· Custom mood list and tab order (loaded from manually edited .ini files. Read comments in those files.).
· More secure challenge/response authorization.
· Some small fixes (misaligned controls, typos etc.).
· Option to replace two spaces with and remove ?mode=reply (enable in Options/View)
· Symbols count (after pressing Preview, only for main text).
· CP_UTF8 option (see help in Options/General, for 2000/XP, activate if you get decoding errors. Please report if this helped or not).

· Autorun parameter in Options (now you may remove shortcut from Startup group).
· Installer with higher compression ratio (thanks to the latest NSIS)
· Enabled RichEdit 2.0 (with clickable URL links)

Version 1.3.9.1<<1.3.8.9

· Help contents.
· Fixed uninstall script.
· Suspended and deleted accounts in friends are marked separately.
· Mouse right click in tray menu (acts like left).
· Fixed editing of past entries with only mood id defined.
· Fixed save with ? \/<>*| chars in subject.
· Fixed error handling and display of messages with urlmon.
· Removed "No Updates" message with silent checked.

· Fixed crash on pasting to subject from context menu.

Woman's Skin Falls Off, Miraculously Lives

SAN DIEGO -- A young Ocean Beach woman survived a severe allergic reaction that had University of California, San Diego Regional Burn Center staff scrambling to save her life, 10News reported.

Three weeks ago, the skin on Yeargain's body began sloughing off.

Dr. Daniel Lozano, from the UCSD Regional Burn Center, said, "She lost skin in her entire body. It's rather dramatic to really see this coming off in sheets."

Even the membrane covering her internal organs -- her eyes, mouth, and throat -- began peeling away.

"Once the skin starts to slough, there's no stopping it," Lozano said.

Yeargain said she did not know what was going on with her body.

"The cause was a rare reaction to this drug, Bactrim. It is a common antibiotic used by millions of people," Lozano explained. "What she has is a condition called TENS -- toxic epidermal necrosis -- which is an autoimmune reaction to a whole host of drugs."

Yeargain had just finished the 10-day course of Bactrim for a sinus infection when the allergic reaction began.

"I started to get some minor swelling and discoloration in my face and it progressed into blistering on lips and swelling on my eyes. It then progressed into blisters all over my face and chest and arms," Yeargain said.

Within two days, the skin on her entire body was peeling off. Doctors told Yeargain's mother, Katherine Yeargain, there was little hope for her.

"Generally with 100-percent sloughing there is a 100-percent mortality and he was optimistic. We just prayed," said Katherine Yeargain.

It was a race to save Yeargain.

Doctors covered Yeargain's entire body with an artificial skin called transcyte and gave her medications to stop the internal bleeding.

"We were able, over a 48-hour period, to cover her whole body with an artificial skin replacement that allowed this to start healing rapidly. Within about a week her skin was back," Lozano said.

"Everybody prayed and here she is," Katherine Yeargain said.

"I wasn't ready to be finished," Yeargain said.

Some, like veteran burn unit nurse Meredith Frank, called Yeargain's recovery a miracle.

"I think with the magnitude of the skin loss she had that there was a divine hand in her recovery," Frank said.

After good medicine and perhaps a miracle, Yeargain is prepared again for life.

"I'm ready to start healing and get back to it," Yeargain said.

Yeargain is home from the hospital, but she isn't about to forget the doctors and nurses who helped her survive impossible odds. She said she hopes her story will encourage people to donate money to the UCSD Burn Center.

when alt tags go horribly wrong (via blort)

Ok, phones are switched over.. It's time to go out and enjoy some fresh, cool air. Until later, dear journal.

2004-01-10T22:06:00.000-05:00

Bail update - Paperwork guy got here at 3, took about 10 min to fill out the paperwork, he took it to the jail, hopefully got the bro out of the pokey. (Supposedly it can take up to 10 hours for him to be slotted out?)He's to come here after he's out, to fill out and get information to send them. I called his Cell phone, and wouldn'tcha know it, Andy answered it... that tells me that they were together when bro was arrested. If I had known that, I'd have thought twice about letting him out. What it boils down to is that the bond cost $100, plus $1000 in collateral (basically I transferred $1100 to them, and when he goes to court, I get $1k back. If he's an idiot, and decides to skip out on his court date, I'm responsible for cost incurred in finding him, and taking him back to jail. He'd be a fool to skip out because it's a major charge vs his current situation. He's another "professional victim". Nothing is ever his fault, just bad luck or mean people. It's never "ok, I admit it, I screwed up, and was wrong" unless he's pinned in a corner by logic, and at that point, he's just paying lip service... not really believing it. This is the same guy that called the landlord a jerk for kicking him out, after not paying rent for 6 months.

[update-10:41pm - Brother showed up at my door about 10pm... I reviewed with him what the situation was... If he's arrested for anything, I lose my money and he's stuck in jail without bond for as long as it takes for his case to come to trial. He seemed frightened and upset from only spending 18 hours in there, so I think that drove the point home. I explained to him about Andy always being a catalyst for his worst times... and he paid lip service. I can tell when he's not taking what I say as anything but a lecture. That's his call, he's an adult, and he knows with full understanding that there's not a thing anyone can do for him if he screws up.]

It's been a crappy week, but it's Saturday, and I look forward to a better week starting tomorrow. I'm not on call, and I think that I'll take a little smiley walk up the beach, and enjoy the weather.

Some good news (hope I don't jinx myself) On-call wasn't too busy at all. That's a nice blessing to count.

Fiddled with Mr. Snail a bit.. made his foot slide. Still not sure what to do with the eye stalks. stationary like that, he looks a little like a Viking ship.

Speed, highly addictive card game. (I may put it in the Toybox later.)

The Fog of War, I really like this site.

Opening ports with the westell modem/router is a real chore. Once I get it right,t I'm writing the procedure up and will post it as a faq on my website... I look forward to seeing how many hits I get on it, and even more forward to hearing form folks that got helped as a result.

After a heavy morning of pets and hugs, he's ready for a little rough and tumbly.

Things to do in order to get my mortgage worked out with 1005 financing for the coming purchase of a place (rather than renting)... if not, 5% down is pretty standard.

Letters related to phone, power & cable, stating how long my accounts have been open, payment timeliness, and contact numbers for the people concerned and a list of my canceled rent checks for this and my prior place. Most of that'll be dealt with on Monday.

Note to self, look into seller concession, where the seller pays 3% of the price to go to closing the deal. (That's a good $3k-ish, right there!) It looks like a pretty good possibility, depending on the seller.

I've looked at too many bits of hacker-text. 2004 looks like the word "soup" to me.

Work News - Kahuna will be doing opening and trainings in Nevada next week, Newbie and DL are going to St. Augustine. That means it's just me, CS, the bean counters and Rhodey in the office. I think MM is skipping next week... still waiting for clearance to do codeRED.

I helped with her practice training, and discovered that the big kahuna can't say the words "telephony" or "liaison" properly.

It's cool to listen to samples from the Speech Accent Archive.

Well... here's another life experience. I get to deal with a Bail bondsman - Get brother out of jail. $1000 bond for Burglary (He claims some woman asked him to get a battery out of her car, and a cop saw him and blah blah blah... whatever.) If I wasn't on call, I could post bail myself, but I'm not able to get out of the house to go hit cash machines and then swing by the jail. The Bondsman is working out right now how to get the paperwork out to me, so they can have my signature. [update: - Someone is coming out here in ~2 hours with forms and then will hop over to the jail. I'm glad that I'm only a hop, skip and a jump from the courthouse district.]

I've already decided that if this happens a second time, anytime in the future, he will not get bond again. This is his one grace period. If he asks again, he can stay in jail until his case comes to trial. (I suspect that he called me instead of the mom is because she's out of state at Ted's funeral, anyway.)

The History of Bail

Bail is some form of capital which is deposited or pledged to a court in order to convince it to release an accused from a jail facility, on the understanding that the accused will return for trial or forfeit the bail ("skipping bail" is also illegal). Depending upon the court involved and the crime(s) of which one is accused. Bail is not always available it can be legally denied for an offense / charge which the governing legislature has determined to be non-bailable.

Roots of US Bail Laws

Bail laws in the United States grew out of a long history of English statutes and policies. The ties between the institution of bail in the United States is also based on the old English system. In attempting to understand the meaning of the American constitutional bail provisions and how they were intended to supplement a larger statutory bail structure, knowledge of the English system and how it developed until the time of American independence is essential.

Bail Law in England

In medieval England, the sheriffs originally possessed sovereign authority to release or hold suspected criminals. Some sheriffs would exploit the bail for their own gain. The Statute of Westminster (1275) limited the discretion of sheriffs with respect to the bail. Via the statute, bailable and non-bailable offenses were defined, however, the sheriffs retained the authority to decide the amount of bail required.

In the early 17th Century, King Charles I ordered noblemen to issue him loans. Those who refused were imprisoned. Five of the incarcerated filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that they should not be held indefinitely without trial or bail. In the Petition of Right (1628) the Parliament argued that, in violation of the Magna Carta, the King had imprisoned people without just cause.

The Habeas Corpus Act (1677) states, "A Magistrate shall discharge Prisoners from their Imprisonment taking their Recognizance, with one or more Surety or Sureties, in any Sum according to the Magistrate's discretion, unless it shall appear that the Party is committed for such Matter or offenses for which by law the Prisoner is not bailable."

The English Bill of Rights (1689) states that "excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty of the subjects. Excessive bail ought not to be required." This was a precursor of the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.

Bail Law in the United States

In Colonial America, bail law was based off English law. Some of the colonies simply guaranteed their subjects the protections of British law. In 1776, after the Declaration of Independence, those which had not already done so, enacted their own versions of bail law.

Section 9 of Virginia's 1776 Constitution states "excessive bail ought not to be required..." In 1785, the following was added, "Those shall be let to bail who are apprehended for any crime not punishable in life or limb...But if a crime be punishable by life or limb, or if it be manslaughter and there be good cause to believe the party guilty thereof, he shall not be admitted to bail."

Section 29 of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 states "Excessive bail shall not be exacted for bailable offenses."

The Eighth Amendment in the US Federal Bill of Rights is derived from the Virginia Constitution, "Excessive bail shall not be required...", in regards to which Mr. Livermore commented, "The clause seems to have no meaning to it, I do not think it necessary. What is meant by the term excessive bail...?!"

The Eighth Amendment, to the Constitution, like the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1678, requires that a suspect "be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation" and thus enabling a suspect to demand bail if accused of a bailable offense.

The Judiciary Act of 1789

In 1789, the same year that the Bill of rights were introduced, Congress passed the Judiciary Act. This specified which types of crimes were bailable and set bounds on the discretion of a judge in setting bail. The Act states that all non-capital offenses are bailable and that in capital cases the decision to detain a suspect, prior to trial, was to be left to the judge.

The Judiciary Act states, "Upon all arrests in criminal cases, bail shall be admitted, except where punishment may be by death, in which cases it shall not be admitted but by the supreme or a circuit court, or by a justice of the supreme court, or a judge of a district court, who shall exercise their discretion therein."

The Bail Reform Act of 1966

In 1966, Congress enacted the Bail Reform Act of 1966 which states that a non-capital defendant is to be released, pending trial, on his personal recognizance or on personal bond, unless the judicial officer determines that such incentives will not adequately assure his appearance at trial. In that case, the judge must select an alternative from a list of conditions, such as restrictions on travel. Individuals charged with a capital offense, or who have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing or appeal, are to be released unless the judicial officer has reason to believe that no conditions will reasonably assure that the person will not flee or pose a danger. In non-capital cases, the Act does not permit a judge to consider a suspects danger to the community, only in capital cases or after conviction is the judge authorized to do so.

The 1966 Act was particularly criticized within the District of Columbia, where all crimes formerly fell under Federal bail law. In a number of instances, persons accused of violent crimes committed additional crimes when released on their personal recognizance. These individuals were often released yet again.

The Judicial Council committee recommended that, even in non-capital cases, a person's dangerousness should be be considered in determining conditions for release. The District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act of 1970 allowed judges to consider dangerousness and risk of flight when setting bail in non-capital cases.

2004-01-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, I set up an address with no-ip.com to check on my dynamic address form me automatically, so my streaming Newtcam will stay up, even if I reboot, and the digits change.

Nice thing about Windows 2000/XP pro... they have the full-strength IIS included. Go to Control Panel, Add/remove programs, Windows components and you'll see an IIS check box. (XP home won't let you run ASP, by the way) Maybe I'll just start hosting images from my hard drive, now? Hard to say, but if I'll have something online 24/7, why not? While you're there, highlight IIS and click Details. You can then check SMTP service, and you have CDONTS email!

My Speed touch USB was replaced for a Westell Dual connect.. all seems ok, except that it's basically a LAN rather than a dial-up connection.. the web cam stream is not happy with the settings, but regular stills seems to be doing ok. They were going to charge me for a replacement modem, but I burned the tech a copy of vice city, and free it is. Hooray for free enterprise!

Artist draws under influence of LSD -You can see the effects of a controlled experiment with someone drawing after being administered LSD-25 from the beginning to the end of his trip.

Visible is my actually very organized cork board, three-tier case management file holder, Styro-cup with my initials on it, assorted working spiral-bound notebooks for different projects, my palmtop (with smiley-face sticker), line printer, laser printer, Regular too-many-lines for us to answer phone, many post-it's strategically placed for future reference, squeeze-sheriff's star for stress, or throwing, company cell phone, whiz-bang computer system with Sleepy-newt as wallpaper, and view of sky & parking lot outside. Not shown, behind photo or off to the right are giant binder-file, Call schedule, and filing cabinets near a tacky-but-cool painting of a siamese cat. Also not visible (removed to mark a schedule) on the wall's blank space is usually my nifty big boat (yacht) calendar given to me by the hull designers across the hall.

2004-01-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

I just found out that Ted, my grandmother's housemate for the last 25 years or so, passed away last night at 6pm. He'll be missed a great deal... he was a wonderful guy, full of knowledge, good vibes and kindness. I am glad that he made it for as long as he did. I'm surprised that it hit me so hard as it was fairly expected to happen soon, but the reality of it is a blow. He was more a grandfather and mentor than the ones related by blood were.(They both passed away early on in my life.) He's part of why I got into the computer / tech field in the first place. height=1>More Gifties in the mail! First the tea, sage and the sandalwood prayer-beads yesterday, and now the astounding Fresca sent me some cool loot, too!height=1>

The Zombie Survival Guide : Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks (Mel's Son) and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah/Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (two movies on one double-sided DVD!) Two great flicks that I've wanted for a long time.

Thank you, very much!

Porno Bob is a big Tony Robbins fan, and he believes in a lot of other things things that I don't buy into but he seems like a nice enough guy. This is the first job he's had in a long where he wasn't the boss, so we'll see how he adapts.

CS woke me up in the middle of the night because he forgot his codeRED password while on call. it took me about 5 minutes to shake off the Alpha-state foolishness and get into alert mode at 1:30 in the morning. (When I'm on call, I snap to attention immediately.)

Newbie is suffering a lot, because of SD's departure without notice. Not only is she having to do trainings, but now she's got to go to St. Augustine with DL... both of them are fairly uninitiated in that department. What's worse, there was talk about putting me in a tie, and having me teach the police how to use the system. Ouch. No, not unless it's the most dire of circumstances. I'd rather do community meetings than a cop thing, if only due to the "I wanna be here" factor of civilians. Police are really busy, and if they're made to go to a meeting for an hour or so out of their day... well, it can be a hard sell to get them to pay attention to the lesson plan.

A lot of therians got fired today, including probably the best quest maker, Josie2. I'm going to donate some there bucks to her cause, just to say thanks for her good work, and to mourn the loss of an awesome employee.

Tom Cruise as Iron man? hmm... that could work. Stilt-man, maybe? Heck, if Michael Keaton could be Batman, why not?

Chimpanzees struggling to survive amid the destruction of their forest habitat have begun snatching and killing children.

At least eight children have died in the last seven years in Uganda and Tanzania and a further eight injured.

Some of the victims were found with limbs and other body parts chewed off.

Animal experts blame human encroachment on the chimp's habitat for their aggressive behavior but are divided on whether they are defending their habitat or looking for food.

In one of the most recent attacks in Uganda, documented by conservation biologist Michael Gavin, three-month-old Jackson Alikiriza was snatched from her mother while she harvested potatoes.

Dr Gavin wrote in BBC Wildlife magazine: "They are just trying to get by.

"If they can't get enough food in the forest they are going to wander out in search of what's available."

Frans de Waal, professor of animals at America's Emory University in Atlanta, said: "I am not sure these cases have much to do with territoriality. I think they rather have to do with predation."

Which Evil Villain Bad Habit are you?

Closing note:I think Tiny Godzilla looks like a cross between Newt and a Sleestak. Until Later, dear journal.

2004-01-07T22:05:00.000-05:00

Last night there was a lot of weirdness with the DSL modem disconnecting... I wonder if I need a new device? I imagine bellsouth will provide one if it turns out to be the case. (I do have the service plan, but was on hold for almost 45 min last night. Hopefully a day-call will yield better results.)

Hooray for surprise presents in the mail! I got a lovely care package from the KSA of sage , a yummy assortment of tea and a really nifty necklace made of wooden beads. Thank you so much to my pals in Dharan! Newt is crazy about all of it too.. he's sniffing the sage, batting at the necklace I'm wearing, and I'm getting ready to prepare myself a nice cup of English Breakfast Tea. Yum!

Long as heck meeting yesterday... but at least we got the division of duties worked out. MM was very helpful in doing research for me, but she can't go on call until codeRED gives her a login, for security and legal reasons.

My Scrabble© Score is: 14.
What is your score? Get it here.

2004-01-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

Cool Thing #12 about having a 2-monitor system with a nvidea card... I can work on my programming / documentation on one side, and still watch a movie at the same time "full screen". Last Night's Film - Casablanca. Tonight will either be Dune, The Medallion, Existenz, The Sinbad Cartoon or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, depending on my mood.

PT shows a marked improvement...my flexibility is way up, and pain is way down. Laura gave me a tin of cookies for beaming her a ton of palmtop games and the Davinci code...The Merengues are especially tasty, and "melt-in-your-mouthy", though I think my favorites are the sugar cookies with M&Ms in them. Something very basic and elementary school nostalgic about 'em. Calculating the point values was tricky, but I figure I can have 3 cookies a day and stay within quota, if I don't fudge anything else.

Fleeting moments with my sweetheart make me smile. Schedules have been tricky as of late, but I foresee better things on the horizon.

Later today is sort of a Year's End Overview and a planning session for the top of the New Year. I hope it doesn't take too long, I'd rather be doing the actual work, rather than talking about it for hours, if it could be helped.

2004-01-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

My answer to this gaming question: What do you think is the best cast size for the games you've played? What are the factors that go into your answer: genre, play group, gaming system, etc.?

The short answer is 4.

The long answer is that I really think it's up to each gaming group, but I prefer smaller crew sizes for most games. More than six players with one GM was a bit much for me. I think three-four is good for most groups, and I had a lot of fun doing the "Brave & the Bold" Greenpeace (Hippie Green Lantern in the '60s, protoge of Alan Scott on DC "Earth 2.1") & Doc Mid-nite (Daughter of The Original) team ups with Katt and GrayPumpkin. (GP ran, K & I were sort of the "buddy Picture" team... there was really solid dynamic there.) It was actually a spin-off of a larger scale silver age JSA, the Next generation campaign.... funny how JSA got popular again in the comics about 3 years after that game came to a close. Supers Games seem to bog down too much after 4 players... but that might just be because we were playing champions. It's a good game, but combat can take a looooong time.

I'll add another qualifier to my preference, I prefer a fairly gender-balanced crew... an all-boys squad tends to be more accepting of inappropriate behavior.. I think it's good to have a balanced crew to keep the less mature a little more on the ball.

So, short story made long, 4 is as large as I really like, though I've been in 7-person groups before, usually the 7th person peters it out, at least in my memory. Now, if some of those players are non-entities, it doesn't count as much... There was a woman early on... named Elaine. For the life of me, I can't remember *anything* about her except that her voice had an unpleasant tone to it, and that when she spilled pretzels, she didn't make any effort to pick 'em up, but instead just said "oh, the cat'll get 'em"... and this wasn't in her home, nor was it her cat. I cannot remember her characters for the life of me.

There was a girl that the Wu's brought in via SFSFS (heh, I still refer to them as Syphilis, not as a result of the girl mind you) that I liked, Kelly, and I can't remember her character(s) either. I do remember going to see Robin hood with her and the gaming gang... (but was it Costner or Mel Brooks?) and that Peanut butter M&M's had just been introduced... that I house sat for the Dawsey's while she was down from Smith, and that she ate apples with a knife, and the habit spread throughout the game group for a short span, before everyone went back to pretzel rods and Taco Bell.

Tony had only one character that I recall, Silver Hammer. Think Silver Surfer in black lycra bike shorts, and very easily intimidated. The only solid memory o mine of his guy was him flying away, straight up, when someone did a violent display of strength in front of him... I have to admit, it takes something to play a cowardly super-guy appropriately. (I think his PRE and EGO were both 8?) (Oh, and he played some Russian version of Ben Grimm in the JSA game, now that I think of it.)

Pam's characters were always pretty well-defined, but she kept the character history fairly secret from the narrative and the other players. You'd only see the tip of the iceberg. As a result, I only remember some basics. Usually a martial artist with a sharp object, vengeance motivated (though sometimes, like the HHH game, I think it was adventure/fun ) I'm really glad that the Team name "Hadji Has(n't) Hair" caught on more than "Tough Bologna". That was a nice shortie.. Misfits heroes Zero, Spring (and again, I can't rightly remember Pam's Character... was it silhouette? I suspect it might've been, but that name always reminds me of a completely different K-Wu character.) That was a really Dark/insane game, with just weird on top.. maybe as close as we got to doing a Doom Patrol style game.

K-Wu generally played two types of character, with a few mild variations. Ninja/assassins (with either dark magic or transform into a dragon) or Buccaneer/Bandits. (usually the former). I think that my favorite character of hers was, "Mystery." An amnesiac in a robot body (built by the GM-GP, down to the disads, I think.)

Doug often came up with good character ideas.. I liked the concept of the Aquarian a lot (A new-agey author/self improvement speaker with Dr. Strange mystic master powers.. looked like Carl Sagan, in a turtleneck and blazer, with a gold medallion around his neck.) I also liked his Frost in the Cyberpunk/Fantasy game... he does the laid-back old sarge well. Doug was always the best one to choose as "team leader" because he led by letting folks work together and do what they did best.

Dan's only standout character to my mind is Man Of Iron. Very over the top, but it suited the genre.

Katt was sharp, because she didn't play to the stereotypical dark assassin sneaky stereotype, but was actually able to be diverse and have a good time doing it. Kyoko, Blare, Ghost, Doc Mid-nite, all good, fun folk.

GrayPumpkin didn't get to play that often, but he did a good job when he got the chance. I think he was a better GM than a player though... if only because he had more practice, and that I liked his plots a lot.

Who am I forgetting? Rik was an ok player, but he was more fun to just socialize with.

Rick was a social gamer, joined us to hang out with folks... a nice enough guy, but I fell out of contact with him when he moved out of state. I think he's in Maine, now. I wonder how Merge the Basset hound is doing these days? I remember GP leaping into the trunk playfully and landing on a glass picture frame in the back seat. Come to think of it, I think maybe he was an import from the photo store? Now I wonder if that video tape of the fly through of the A-frame is still in existence, showing D'Art pictures of his brethren, and my accidentally breaking the scale with my hand. Rick was an aspiring comic artist. Funny that the other Rik is the one with a published comic book coming out sometime soon.

Continue with thoughts on -

Don Moody

Ed.. what was his last name? part of the Pam/Don/etc gaming cluster. He didn't last long, if memory serves.

FAU gamers -

James (and by extension, Kim)

Mark

Javier

Steve Pulio

Brian Mcgoldrick

Renata

Robin

What was the point of that? I don't know.. just a random brain dump. Ran out of time this morning, I'll update it later.

As far as computer games go, Vice City is interesting, but I don't see it having a lot of long-lasting game play for me. I'll probably trot it out if I'm feeling like playing bumper cars or shoot the civilian, but that's about it. Nice graphics, and it's very much stereotypical South Florida of the late 80s. Warcraft 3 & Age of Mythology is a lot more my speed.

Mars Exploration Rover Moblog

Chinese Year of the Monkey starts on January 22, 2004. (4701 by Chinese calendar.)

I was born in the year of the Monkey, too... (I'm an Earth Monkey, to be specific... three days later, and I'd have been an Earth Rooster.)

2004-01-04T22:04:00.000-05:00

Tokyo Bowl delivered my supper last night ... Veggie rolls and some seaweed salad. Healthy and yummy. Pretty much my fave lunch these days. I have been craving it since Friday night, and was willing to blow a little fun money on myself.

Wondering where Dennis, my new landlord has been. It's well past the top of the month, and I'd like to give him my rent (hard to do, since I don't have an address or phone number for him yet.)

Random Scotto Factoid - I don't much care for martinis, but green olives stuffed with pimento are yummy.

Chomp Chomp Safari! - a fun bejeweled-type puzzle game.

Where Scotto has fun with image filters - a shot taken last night in the parking lot, and some manips.

Extra bonus variation of a Newt-baby picture (original here).

Somebody likes to party...

Last Name: EARL
First Name: HENRY

CaseNo / Offense / Booking Date / Release Date
***010104 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 1/1/2004
***123003 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/30/2003 12/31/2003
***122403 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/24/2003 12/29/2003
03M032759A ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/20/2003 12/24/2003
***121603 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/16/2003 12/20/2003
***121603 DIS CONDUCT 12/16/2003 12/20/2003
***121603 CRIM TRESP 3RD 12/16/2003 12/20/2003
***121003 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/10/2003 12/14/2003
***120803 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/8/2003 12/10/2003
03M032279A ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 12/4/2003 12/8/2003
***112703 ALCOHOL INTOXICATION 11/27/2003 12/1/2003

Nobody's noticing a trend here? He looks like he needs some help.... worse than Mayberry's Otis.

Interesting to look at his collection of mugshots. Was he passed out for #45?

There are so many fabulous words over at the Glossary of Linguistics and Rhetoric that it's hard to pick favorites, but here are some goodies:

Apophasis: Mentioning something by declaring that it shall not be mentioned. "I need not remind you to get your Christmas shopping done early."

Cacography: Poor handwriting; also, incorrect spelling.

(I am Guilty of this.)

Dontopedalogy: An aptitude for putting one's foot in one's mouth.

Exergasia: Repeating a point by using different figures of speech to give the impression of saying something new.

(Guilty)

Exonym: A name by which one people or social group refers to another but which is not used by said group to refer to themselves.

Graphospasm: Writer's cramp.

Illeism: The practice of referring to oneself in the third person.

(Guilty)

Litotes: Understatement by negating the opposite; a type of meiosis. "I was not disappointed with the news."

Perpilocutionist: One who expounds on a subject of which he has little knowledge.

Tmesis: Inserting a word in the middle of another. "un-frickin'-believable."

(via defective yeti)

Updated version of the Semagic LJ client is out. (slightly old news - 12/16/03, but I just installed it. It fixes a few minor bugs, and just runs a bit better. )

2004-01-03T22:03:00.000-05:00

There were so many elements last night conspiring to give Danny a hard time, and he pulled through it like a trouper. I'm glad that there were a few positives in a mostly negative evening. I *have* to make a point of taking him out someplace solo and just having a grand time without those unhappy elements. Maybe give him what he actually was expecting for his b-day, a sushi dinner and a nice movie, my treat. Hopefully I can take him to see Peter Pan before it leaves theaters. He deserves some good view of mermaids and pirates (and maybe a little Mai-Kai) for showing his colossal restraint.

Spoke with Doug Wu briefly last night... it looks like he's launching for Seattle next week, at last! I'm very happy for him.. he's been trying to make the exodus for what seems like a dog's age.

I'm glad that we have better security on LJ now. It was a minor concern of mine, but I never posted about it publicly.

Incredibly Bored? Want to see my current Work to-do list? (Gives an idea of what is on my plate right now.) Does anyone else use J's to do functionality?

Handy way to search your livejournal for keywords in Google (for public, indexed messages only, of course) -

site:livejournal.com username keyword

For example, if I wanted to look for entries that have been updated via palm, preferably pics and doodles in them, I'd try -

site:livejournal.com scottobear palm

It'll do until LJ gets a better internal search. Sorry, friend's-only journalists!

I may've linked to this before, but MeFi reminded me -

BollyWhat. Making Bollywood accessible to all. Including such wonders as lyrics translations, newcomer's guides and intriguing articles such as Masculinity, Bollywood-Ishtyle and a Hollywood FAQ for a different perspective. Explore and enjoy.Upsides of tonight's trip out with Danny -

Good food, good chocolate milkshake.

I saw Auntie Val and Rhonnie. (And a bunch of Rhonnie's Swedish Volleyball teammates. Heh, that sounds *so* made up, but it's true.)

Cool fish-headed manikins on Las Olas.

I can't believe my little cousin is 20 years old... what happened there? I remember quite vividly when she was born. I really need to spend more time with them, considering how close we are regionally. (They're only as far as Boynton.)

Uncle Bobby and John Johnson got a 25 foot boat together, and I missed seeing Russ by a day or two.

I'm going to start carrying my digicam, and give up on the palm cam, I think. The quality is so much better with the good camera.

2004-01-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

Today is Danny's 42^nd birthday, and he, Janet, Dick and I will be hitting a sushi joint and seeing a movie to celebrate. I suspect we'll catch Peter Pan. Interesting that it's pretty much 50 years after the Disney version. I didn't realize how old the cartoon was. My mother was six!

Dropload is a place for you to drop off files for someone else to pick up later. The recipients you specify are e-mailed instructions on downloading the files. All files are removed from the system after 48 hours, whether or not they have been picked up.

Dodgeit is a free, web-checkable e-mail address that also offers an RSS feed to let you know when new mail has arrived.

Engineers have developed a harness for a handgun that allows you to fire around a corner without exposing yourself to return fire.

A gun that can fire shots accurately around corners has been demonstrated by a US arms maker. The Corner Shot, developed by a Florida-based company, resembles a rifle with hinge in its middle.

It has been tested by the Israeli military and was demonstrated at a firing range at Shoham, near Tel Aviv, on Monday. Units have already been sold to military forces in 15 different countries.

The front section can be bent up to 60° to the left or the right, allowing a soldier to shoot around a wall or door without exposing any part of themselves to enemy fire.

The weapon is comprised of a handgun fitted to the front of the system and fired from the back section using an ordinary trigger. A video camera at the front is linked to a small high-resolution screen at the back. This lets the user see precisely where the gun is pointing without poking their head or hands out in the firing line.

The camera incorporates crosshairs, auto-focus and an infrared filter for use in low light. Pulling a grip underneath the weapon quickly snaps it from its bent configuration into a straight one, meaning it can then be used normally.

Terry Gander, former editor of Jane's Infantry Weapons, says that the contraption could prove useful in some combat situations, but would also some limitations. "It uses a pistol, which is a very short range weapon," he told New Scientist.

Gander adds that a number of US arms manufacturers are currently developing digital rifle sights that can transmit video images to a soldier's goggles. This should allow them "see" around corners without putting their head in any danger. "You can also put up navigation information into this sort of display," he says.

D pointed me to this Handy-dandy Tweak to run FFXI at 2048 x 2048 res (and other high resolutions)

Changed the holly in my links to a friendly little snail. Not very January-ish, but I like him. Maybe I'll animate his eyestalks if I'm feeling ambitious later this weekend.

I haven't been to the beach in quite a while. I think I'll take a night next week sometime when I'm not on call and check it out. I wonder how busy it'll be?

I haven't heard from Sappho in a long time, either.... I've tried calling here and there at work, but it looks like she's mighty busy these days, especially since Kev's taking all of his time due off. (All of December, and the first week of Janauary, to start. The company owes / owed him a *lot* of time.)

Sonata for the Unaware (commuters become generated music, watch the Quicktime demo) Very, very cool. I could see some weird esoteric superhero using a similar system of visuals and sound to use as a "trouble alert" when monitoring the masses from the JLA watchtower or wherever. If Batman had an art degree.

2003 Year-End Google Zeitgeist (also: Yahoo's top searches for 2003)

Using the Treemap control to visualize weblogs (borrows from the Netscan Usenet mapping project)

Article from Amnesty International's page about how capital punishment is a far more expensive system than one whose maximum penalty is life in prison.

Death Penalty Facts

COST

The Death Penalty is Expensive.

A New York study estimated the cost of an execution at three times that of life imprisonment.

In Florida, each execution costs the state $3.2 million, compared to $600,000 for life imprisonment.

Studies in California, Kansas, Maryland, and North Carolina all have concluded that capital punishment is far more expensive than keeping someone in prison for life.

The greatest costs of the death penalty are incurred prior to and during trial, not in post-conviction proceedings. Even if all post-conviction proceedings were abolished, the death penalty system would still be more expensive than alternative sentences.

Under a death penalty system, trials have two separate phases (conviction and sentencing); they are typically preceded by special motions and extra jury selection questioning.

More investigative costs are generally incurred in capital cases, particularly by the prosecution.

When death penalty trials result in a verdict less than death or are reversed, the taxpayer first incurs all the extra costs of capital pretrial and trial proceedings and must then also pay either for the cost of incarcerating the prisoner for life or the costs of a retrial (which often leads to a life sentence).

The death penalty diverts resources from genuine crime control measures. Spending money on the death penalty system means:

Taking it away from existing components of the criminal justice system, such as prosecutions of drug crimes, domestic violence, and child assistance

Reducing the resources states put into crime prevention, education and rehabilitation, investigative resources, and drug treatment programs.

"Elimination of the death penalty would result in a net savings to the state of at least several tens of millions of dollars annually, and a net savings to local governments in the millions to tens of millions of dollars on a statewide basis." --Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the California Legislature, Sept. 9, 1999

Hmm.. and I was under the impression that it was a cost-effective way to remove criminals that cannot be rehabilitated. It seems that throwing them into a cement box, and feeding them until they go via natural causes (whatever that might be in prison) is much more financially sound, at least on the surface.

Urban Exploration Florida got into the Steam Tunnels under FAU. (FAU's Tunnel Map)

And that's that. I'll see you tonight, dear journal. Have a great friday!

2004-01-01T22:03:00.000-05:00

Something I post at the top of every new year, and I appreciate the words more with every additional trip around the sun.

Love is
is not rude,
it is not self seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices in truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.

-1 Corinthians 13:5&6

New Ninja Turtles isn't too bad, the art is akin to the MIB / heavy lines, simple colors, but detailed look. The origin episode tonight was cute.

Played FFXI with Sammy and D for a while tonight, stayed up later than my norm, because I can sleep in tomorrow. I still think that monthly fees for this sort of game are annoying, especially if it's more than $5 a month. It seems to be a bit gouge-y. However, I did get my link-money today, which is $20 found, so I can put half of that into the game for a little while, anyhow. I'm liking the non-combat stuff... I want to learn fishing and woodworking, so I can sell my wares in the auction, and be virtually self-sufficient.(But not have it be so much work that it's another "job".

Found a lot of Kurosawa films for download via DC++. Six, if you count A Fistful of Dollars.

Newt's aging pretty well, I think. He's still a total babyhead at 4.

Newt, Late 1999 (First Day, at IMT, 3 weeks old)

Newt, Mid-2000 (At home, April/May or so, No-Nose's Apartment, during a major cleanup)

Newt, 2001 (At home, Pompano-place #2)

Newt, 2002 (Same Place as above)

Newt, 2003 (Current Location in Ft. Laud)

Newt, 2004 - Taken at about 2am. More to come this year, I'm sure.

First Call of the New season, a 12 year old black male in Tallahassee. The kid already has a gang tattoo as an identifying mark. (JLP) He went missing at 7:30 last night, and has run away before, but isn't considered habitual (yet?) So, some folks are getting an early morning wakeup after New Year's eve festivities. I really hope that the kid turns out all right, and that he's just out fooling around, and not up to anything really detrimental to himself or others. I've been up for about an hour or so, and will probably crawl back into bed for an hour or so soon.

[update- 10am] - Child returned home at 4:30 am, mom didn't bother notifying the police to call off the search. Thanks, Ma!

2003-12-31T22:02:00.000-05:00

Ah, only a few more hours left to 2003.

Let's see... Some Blessings I can count. Just off the top of my head.

My Beloved

Newt

My brother is on his way to good health.

I'm getting in better and better shape.

Old friends coming out of the woodwork.

At a gig that makes a positive difference in the world.

Made a number of kindly friends.

The vast majority of this year's stresses have been alleviates or are in the works for correction / removal.

Improved Computer system

Not too shabby.

Some New Years Resolutions (I have about the same ones every year.)

128x48, the graphic resolution of the original TRS-80
160x160, PalmOS devices in their original PDA form factor
640x480, sometimes colloquially called VGA, since it was the big advance brought by IBM's introduction of VGA
800x600, casually referred to as SVGA, the comfort zone on a 15-inch CRT
1024x768, generally said to be XGA. Much liked on a 17-inch CRT
1152x864, which is about as much as most people can stand on a 17-inch CRT
1280x1024, generally considered optimal on a 19-inch CRT
1600x1200, graphic design sweet spot, at least until something better than a 21-inch, 72 dpi CRT goes mainstream

My current desktop: 2048x768 (2*1024x768)

Since it's Pretty much the New Year, I've taken down the Christmas Decor on my site... I'm thinknig about a nice birthday / candlemas / Imbolc / Groundhog's one for February. Here's one of my fave online cards for the holidays... arrow keys move.

I hope that 2004 is superior in every way to 2003 by means of love, happiness and health to any and all. Though, if it comes down to it, I'm putting my loved ones first, then myself, and then everyone else gets what's left. :)Had Thai dinner with Danny last night, and got Dan his DVD player... he's officially caught up with the 90s. I'm going to give him a copy of Young Frankenstein on Friday, as his first movie.

After a *very* satisfying supper of red curry tofu and a dessert of coconut ice cream, There was a brief constitutional walk to the nearby theatre to see what's playing, and I was surprised to see only a couple of indy/art flicks. I do want to see Cold Mountain, though... if only for the imagery and to see if they changed the ending from the book. Then we picked up the DVD player (and I got some blank DVDs), and browsed the computer / console games section. If Danny ever gets an X-box, I'll get him that Extreme Beach Volleyball (Or, CGI boobie-girl bounce, as I like to call it.) I prefer Warcraft III. Lastly, we headed over to the near uber-Barnes and Noble. He picked up a copy of The Color of Magic, because I've been talking about the Discworld series too much lately.

New Year's Eve... Hopefully I'll get to see my beloved tonight, and we can spend some quality time together.

[ACIM update]We had our 52^nd success, an Alzheimer's Elderly in Port Orange. Also, SD gave notice yesterday, MM will start work as a Tech sometime next week. It looks like CS will be here for a while yet, but I suspect it'll only be a matter of time before the Kahuna and he run afoul of one another, and the axe will have to drop. New person to take up some of RI's duties, and RI will be back on Monday, after tending to her mom's funeral arrangements. [end of update]

2003-12-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

Skip converting the Ohio newsletter to HTML, wasted enough time on it already. Just slap a PDF up there, and be done with it. Make PDF the Standard from now on, and keep it consistant. When the next Florida and Georgia items go out, convert to PDF as well.
Back's much better. Monday at work was crazy busy.... spent the whole time doing research and programming, my favorite two things that I've ever been paid to do. Sometimes hard work, but rewarding, and makes use of my strengths.

On the opposite side of the fence, I state for the record that I really dislike my Quark obligations... possibly because I only know a very little bit of it, and am expected to be an expert. I've learned a lot lately, but there's still some room to grow.

Big Kahuna Kindly split call with me this week and I think that's a fine Christmas Bonus... Plus, she got us all veggie lasagna for a Christmas lunch last week. Works for me!

Heading out to supper with Danny tonight.. and it looks like Janet's friend Dick invited himself along for Friday. That's a peeve, but I don't foresee it being too much of a problem. Dick's more of Janet's pal than Danny, really... but I figure it'll give Janet someone to talk to, if Danny and I go off on a conversational tangent she's not interested in.

I've been a DC++ing fool lately... downloaded about30 gigs worth of stuff, and really have only previewed it to make sure it's what it was claimed to be. I tend to grab movies, watch 'em, and then delete them.... Sort of a netflix, without the postage or service fees.

A year ago - RFL pictures, PT Barnum, Malawi vampires, Morse code

2 years ago - Treebeard and Entwife, Met Denise & Sara @ Danny's Party, Mai Kai, eclipse

3 years ago - Calcutta Chromosome, Got as a pal, Amitav Ghosh, Saw D&D movie with Danny, and Andy running the yellow Pompano comic shack.

2003-12-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

I think I've found the most narrow "Prize group" ever. I picked up a box of Brown Sugar and Oat Total cereal today.. and affixed to the front was a DVD of two Barney Miller Episodes.

(Episodes - The Tunnel and The Obituary )

Episode 67 Tunnel First Aired: December 1, 1977
Writers: Tony Sheehan, Michael Russnow
Story: Michael Russnow
Director: David Swift
Guest Stars: Leonard Stone, J.J. Barry, Jay Gerber

Wojo gets buried underground on the trail of a burglar who's digging into the diamond exchange; and Harris desperately looks for a new apartment in Manhattan.

Episode 161 Obituary First Aired: March 11, 1982
Writer: Nat Mauldin
Director: Gennaro Montanino
Guest Stars: Barney Martin, Richard Stahl, Phil Diskin, Will Seltzer, Peggy Pope

An angry citizen complains when the newspaper prints his premature obituary; and a modern-day Robin Hood steals surplus chickens from a government warehouse.

Oh, and a "Sneak Peeks" section that's just a commercial for King of Queens.

Now, I for one think that it's pretty neat, even if they're not something I would buy regularly. Where are the Godzilla-DVD cereals? Cool Wide ties, "cordless phones" with telescoping antennas, and low-grade fuzzy pictures. The sound is good, but they obviously didn't take any time to remaster for a $2 box of crunchy flakes of oat. I do think it's a pretty cool find, but I wonder how many of those will end up as coasters. I notice neither episode has Abe Vigoda.

Other boxes had less appealing shows - King of Queens, Donna Reed, and Mad About You (Well, actually, ok....I sort of liked Mad About You.... The Dog Walker guy mainly.) Barney Miller outshines the rest of them by far. (Random Factoid - My Buddy Kev thinks / thought at one time that Donna Reed was one of the "Best looking gals on TV". I got him a box of cereal with her DVD on it as a New Year's Present.)

(Side Note, the picture above was my first use of the DVD software's frame grab.... I fear that some wacky animated images might be forthcoming... either in an entry, of if it tickles my fancy, as an icon.)

I found out what all the banging and drilling was... they put sliding glass doors on the far walls of both apartments. They look really nice, but I wonder if it opens the apartments up too much.. they're just efficiencies, after all.

RI won't be back at ACIM yet... Her mother hasn't passed on yet, so she's hanging in there in Texas in the meantime.

Danny's Birthday is coming up this Friday. His Mrs. and I are taking him out to Sushi and a movie... I wonder hat We'll all go to see? I doubt it'll be RotK again.

I pushed myself too hard yesterday. I need to get a new, more orthopedically sound desk chair for the computer area. The current one is just begging for trouble... I should pick up a new one as an early Birthday Prezzie, or belated Christmas. If I go for too many hours in a row, it's like asking for pain.

My FFXI Character / Rear View - Those are from waiting for D and Sammy to come back... D was kind enough to help me out with the scythe and armor. I want to get the sunset shots we took as a team out soon.Sammy got me an armored helm that I'm not high enough level-wise to wear yet. That struck me as really funny... "I'm sorry, you aren't skilled enough to wear a hat. Try again later." I was getting really into it... that was the reason above as to why I let myself get creaky. I finally had to bail out on a quest because I just couldn't run with it.

Ah, here are the Sunset pics at the Goblin lighthouse. I wonder what Whims will pick if / when she jumps in? It'd be cool if we could get the whole PGM team in there as a party. (Though Sammy is way ahead of us... he's got lots more time to play it seems.

Okie doke.... time to fly. Until later, dear journal.

2003-12-28T21:59:00.000-05:00

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Cable guys came by and picked up the digital box yesterday... the 3-month trial is over, and I'm not going to pay $84 a month for HBO and a nifty remote. I'm happy paying less than half of that, and using the remote that came with the TV. I won't miss HBO at all. As Long as I have Discovery, AMC, History and the Cartoon Network, I'm pretty much set.

I'm really pleased that revising my video drivers (uninstalling the latest ones, then reinstalling took care of the freezing business.... I'm much more fond of it, now that I've assigned hot keys to the game pad, and the it doesn't seize up.) It's good to have a backup magic user healing you during combat. Sammy is a Rogue, D a Mage, and my Warrior cover the fundamental fantasy RPG basics... Sammy's a Cat girl, D's a Human, and I'm the big mook race.

Point of discovery: I now know firsthand that tobasco sauce in the eye stings like a SOB... I thought as much in theory beforehand, but an accident today with a burrito has confirmed my long-standing suspicions.

Flaming Pear's freebies are excellent (as are the ones that aren't so free.) Vitriol and Solidify are especially handy. If you use PSP, GIMP or Photoshop, they're must-haves.

Stare.
It's the way to educate your eyes.
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.
Die knowing something.
You are not here long.

- Walker Evans

Florida Sky at Christmastime.

Went to the ACIM Christmas party, got to meet some nice folks, and was entertained quite a bit.

Factoids about last night -

Elyahou is a hugger.

Rhonda likes to kiss hello/goodbye twice.

Newbie's Father is a Lawyer, can tell a good dirty joke, and doesn't want to go into politics because he's too honest.

Newbie's boyfriend is a good match for her.

Newbie's mom is a "cheap date" drink-wise.

Newbie takes after her mom, look-wise and drink-wise.

Bob directed Porno movies at some point more than six years ago.

I really like chocolate chip brownie bars. I think I ate five of them, along with assorted cheese and olives.

Big Kahunas' hubby George, has a sweet tooth, and is a big European history buff. (We talked for a good hour about Spain, Iceland, Germany, and Sweden.)

Some people bring kids to parties marked "no kids", and it ticks off those who paid to get a sitter.

I've discovered it's easier to download cracked serial numbers(warning: if you don't have blockers in place, you could be inundated with popups and cookies and spam, oh my!) for software I own, rather than to track down the CD-cases with the ID codes on them.

Airline logos: 75 pages of them, from Aerosite.net.

Educator's Reference Desk great education source directory from creators of ERIC database.

Festival Network Online search for art and music festivals, shows, craft fairs, etc.

Libdex: an international library guide, find info about a library, including branch libraries; also has a directory of library blogs, a Publishers search and a directory of online newspaper lists.

A Sightseeer's Guide to Engineering .

The National Map Viewer: this is a new mapping service from USGS: I like this pretty well, you can zoom in down to street level but all maps show topography as well as other features and you can customize it in a lot of ways. (The viewer uses pop-up windows for some data entry and to display some results. You must temporarily disable any pop-up blocker that you have installed on your machine for these windows to work. )

2003-12-27T21:59:00.000-05:00

Spooky Newt pic from atop the tower.
He reminds me a little of Zardoz.

*Thank you* for the lovely book from my wish list, Lisa!

It arrived in a very timely manner, and I've been looking forward to reading it for quite a while! (Since 5/15/03, to be precise.) It came as a complete surprise, and I really do appreciate it.

(It was a copy of The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn by Diane Ravitch.)

I'd love to see these technologies arrive sooner than later.

Ultra-wideband: Imagine a television that can wirelessly send three different programs to separate monitors. Low-power, low-cost, and with roughly 45 times the data transmission speed of run-of-the-mill Wi-Fi, this wireless technology is finally ready to debut in the living room.

RFID: While they've been talked about a lot, radio frequency identification tags have yet to appear in a big way in the supply chain. Wal-Mart is making it happen: All its suppliers must use the tags for pallets and cases of merchandise by 2005.

802.16: WiMax enables wireless networks to extend as far as 30 miles and transfer data, voice, and video at faster speeds than cable or DSL. It's perfect for ISPs that want to expand into sparsely populated areas, where the cost of bringing in DSL or cable wiring is too high.

Micro fuel cells: Japan's largest wireless phone carrier, NTT DoCoMo, plans to introduce cell phones powered by miniature fuel cells -- which run on hydrogen or methanol -- late next year. Look for them to also show up as expensive add-ons for high-end laptops.

Gecko tape: Lizards climb walls using the mechanical adhesive force of millions of tiny hairs on their feet. A synthetic version of those microscopic hairs allows gecko tape, developed at England's University of Manchester, to stick to almost any surface without glue. Applications include gloves that allow a person to climb a glass wall, the ability to move computer chips in a vacuum, and new bandages.

Antispam software (that works): If you've tried filters, whitelists, and blacklists, chances are you still receive plenty of junk e-mail. "Challenge/response" technology may be the answer; it requires senders to manually verify their identity before e-mail is passed along to the intended recipient.

OLEDs: Organic light-emitting diodes are brighter and use less power than normal light-emitting diodes. (They rely on carbon with nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen elements -- thus, the "organic" tag.) They're perfect for screens on cell phones, digital cameras, and camcorders, and even for a new crop of affordable flat-panel monitors.

LED lightbulbs: LEDs will outrun obsolescence by moving into the home. Philips is already pushing its Luxeon line of LED lightbulbs, which can last 10 to 50 times as long as incandescent bulbs while consuming 80 percent less energy.

MRAM: Magnetoresistive random access memory is (in theory, anyway) more than 1,000 times faster than the fastest current nonvolatile flash memory and nearly 10 times faster than DRAM. "Nonvolatile" means it retains memory when the power is off. Add in its low power consumption, and it's perfect for use in an upcoming crop of computers and cell phones.

Bioinformatics: Researchers, such as those at IBM Life Sciences, are finally getting a handle on building complex protein models to aid in drug discovery. The new, computationally accurate models mean that potential drugs can be identified more quickly and stand a better chance of working.

I had to go quick and dirty with the Florida and Georgia Newsletters, but at least they're online, and look decent.

How to cook a tarantula. Several persons shared an exotic dinner that included batter-dipped, deep-fried Chilean rose-haired tarantula. After eating the tarantula dish, many people complained of tingling in the mouth and throat.

Here's a sentence no one has ever written before: "Be sure and burn the hair off your tarantula with a blowtorch before you batter it and put it in the Fry Daddy."

[update- National Gorilla Suit Day is an important annual celebration touted years ago in Mad Magazine. More specifically, it was immortalized in a story in the second Don Martin Mad paperback, which was called Mad's Don Martin Bounces Back. The idea of this august ritual (which occurs in January) is that you dress up in your gorilla suit and go door-to-door...and most people elect to beat up a guy named Fester Bestertester. I guess I'm telling you more than you need to know since you either recall the story, which was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a comic-type book, or you don't know it and since it's long outta-print, probably never will. That is, unless we can make a little noise and drum up the enthusiasm to get some publisher to call Norma Martin, Don's widow, and make a deal to reprint the thing. And they might as well do all of Don's paperbacks while they're at it because they're all pretty funny.]

Most Impressive DVDs of 2003. I added lots of items to my Netflix queue after reading this.

Vintage Dorothy Lamour comics. They actually feature very little of Miss Sarong and lots of savages speaking in variants of Yoda-ese.

Cool Random element, I was compared to Sully, from Monsters, Inc. by Carol at PT the other day.

2003-12-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

Yum, The momster brought over a stocking. I got some lovely sundries, including a really tasty slice of pumpkin-spice bread.. and... *no* toenail clippers. I think it's a minor Christmas miracle! Newt got a pretty collar, and some fine paper wads to chase. Mommie dearest got a nice bottle of wine and some candy.

Pic from yesterday, Newt and I reading together.
A couple of sleepyheads!

I was very disappointed to see that Microsoft stopped providing downloads of the TrueType core fonts from the web, considering that my system doesn't have Baker signet, Papyrus, or Verdana by default. Hopefully, they'll be provided when I reinstall MS Office / Word to this system, otherwise, I'll have to bleed them off of Frankenstein. (Big Brain's New Name). My next step is to see if I can yank them from somewhere else as I've had no luck with the web.archive.org site.

I'll leave the streaming cam on again, today... I like that I can set it to toss things in the gallery only if the image has changed by a certain percent. Instead of streaming audio, I've shared a link to a silly music directory at the bottom of the page. Folks can download what they want.

It'll be a thick day today... Training Mohna in the morning, and getting the Georgia Newsletter on the website by 4pm. I'm really glad that tomorrow is Saturday. I look forward to a little relaxation sometime this weekend. I may be able to get Kahuna to take a little call, so I can hang out with Danny.... His birthday is the top of January.

The holiday's brought forth a lot of good vibes for me, and that's something I really appreciate. As this year draws to a close, I think that I'll do a longer review of this year's blessings. The best of them is that I picked up a number of new friends, and renewed friendships with some old friends that I'd lost contact with for an age, and found some worthwhile work to do. Anyhoo, it's time to launch. Until later, dear journal!

2003-12-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

Mistletoe thoughts for my beloved and all my good buddies today!

Watching Shrek today, and looking forward to munching on some green bean (or maybe broccoli?) casserole this evening. Good, hearty, comfort food.

Scotto's Lazy-Man Green Bean Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. soy sauce

Dash black pepper

2 cans (14.5 oz. each) French Style Green Beans, drained

1 can ( 2.8 oz.) French Fried onions

In 1 1/2 quart casserole, combine soup, milk, soy sauce and pepper. Stir in beans and 1/2 can French fried onions. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Stir. Top with remaining onions. Bake 5 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Wesley Willis will live on with one of my all-time fave Christmas Ditties.

Paper Sky - Really well made.

Cool Christmas Cubicle. - Looks like something Ol' Robby would've done at CBS Sportsline.

Still Experimenting with Streaming with Newtcam. I can stream the desktop, cam and some other net sites. I can watch Shrek locally, and stream the audio, but the codec doesn't like to throw to the web.

Update - Broccoli casserole it is! Yummy.

Santa.

Ok, set up Newtcam again, a lovely video stream as well and got fancy, by adding a link to winamp streaming audio at the bottom, as well. (Old time radio right now, for the fun of it.) Heck, I might stream Patrick Swayze Christmas episode of MST3k. Get Winamp 5.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a comment in the Toybox from Katt. I agree.. the Artist Smiley does look a lot like Doug. I look forward to being friendly with her as well as her hubby. (Random kitty factoid: Their cat D'art was a very big part of why I ultimately foster-cared for Newt.)

A lovely WWII Christmas story (found to be true via Snopes.)

2003-12-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

I tell you what, this little 128 meg USB flash drive that came with my 'pooter is a hoot. I guess mine was free, to make way for those playing mp3s and all the other jazz that I don't need. The size is just right, weighs nothing, and it holds enough to make it worth my while. Another addition to my utility belt... a great way to transfer data quickly!

Really Big Brain is now on two monitors, Big Brain is on the operating table....I'm stealing some of his memory, and devouring any other bone marrow that could be of use. I like having a Frankenstein machine laying around, so that I can test parts and pieces.

I'm having some trouble FTPing with XP... I'm not sure what the story is. Maybe some proxy issues? I tried both the IP address and the DNS still times out. It's a static IP, and I'm just trying to fiddle with my website / Newtcam. I can log in, but that's about it.

The Message I get is -

"An Error occurred opening that folder on the FTP Server. -
200 Type set to A
200 PORT command successful
425 Can't build data connection: Connection timed out. "

Anyone know of why I'd have weirdness via XP? I'm looking through known issues, now. Any answered would be greatly appreciated from folks that know more about XP pro. I can hit it from the command prompt.

[update: - ten minutes later] - Fixed the problem by changing to "passive mode". If you're using IE, goto Extra > Internet Options > Advanced, then goto the surfing header and check the box that says something like "use passive FTP-protocol". unfortunately, chillcam isn't liking that too much, despite there being a passive FTP option there, too.Doing major housecleaning today. Time to make the joint more easily maneuvered, collect all the loose ends and books that I've just let lay around for the last span. After getting at least a little accomplished, I'm going to swap seating spaces between big brain and really big brain. I think that big brain can be kept as a sidebar machine...After cannibalizing it, it still has a DVD reader, decent on-board video (The 7500), and a 40 gig drive. If I trip over a cheapo modem to toss in there (or if I get an Ethernet one for my DSL service), it wouldn't be a bad surf/programming machine to make use of in a pinch. Might not even be bad for being a slave device / server should I decide to set up some head-to-head gaming or a newtcam video broadcast station. In any event, I have to find a place to put the old tower, because it's taking up valuable desk-area real estate now that I have a replacement.

In other news.. it's Christmas Eve, not that you could tell in this part of the neighborhood. No Christmas Lights, warm weather, and the guy I waved to when I took some cardboard boxes out to the dumpster gave me the hairy eyeball. Maybe he wasn't happy to be out on a holiday. (It looks like he's picking up a bunch of trash from out back created when they tore out the innards of the two adjoining apartments. It looks like he's just loading up his rusty white dump truck with all the metal from the old sinks and such. Either the new landlord is going all out and making the place nice, or he had to do it because the mooch wrecked the joint. I wonder if it's some combination of the two.

Ah, speak of the devil... The new landlord, Dennis just swung by. We had a talk, it looks like the place has termites, that they want to tent the place, and put me in the house out front for a few days while that takes place and they tear up my apartment, repaint the bathroom, etc. Not sure when that's going to happen, but I guess it'll give me a chance to pack up everything and rearrange things properly. (He also wants me to break down those boxes I tossed into the dumpster.)What I'd like to do is find another place before that happens, so I only have pack and move once. It'd be a royal hassle if I did it once, and then just had to turn around and do it again a month later. I do have to make sure that I have phone access / Internet from the house, so I can do the ACIM thing, if needed.

Again, synchroniciy... Big Kahuna just called, and offered to take call for the next couple of hours. I'll take that opportunity to do some much needed out of the house chores. Be Back later, dear journal!

Rush Limbaugh blames continued investigation into his substance abuse as a political persecution.

"The Democrats in this country still cannot defeat me in the arena of political ideas, and so now they are trying to do so in the court of public opinion and the legal system. I guess it's payback time."

He also compared his legal situation to the 2000 election recount.

Sheesh, you'd think that prescription drug abuse was some kind of crime or something.

2003-12-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

CS is going on vacation starting tomorrow.... good thing, as he was getting on my last nerve by end of day. Though on call, I'll take comfort in being home for the next couple of days. He just pisses me off, because he seems unable to comply with any request I put to him. Today, I just asked that he copy files to the network, so we have some sort of back up, and he gave me annoying sass and crap over it. I seriously doubt that he'll last very long, at this point. If he cops the same stupid attitude too many times with the kahuna, he'll get bounced out of there. He just can't seem to get it through his skull that there is a time and place for innovation, and another for grunt work, and yet another for fun.

Friday, I get to Train MM some more, and put the Georgia and Florida Newsletters on the site... that should be fairly peaceful. I think I'll increase the size of the 51, too.

I'm going to try playing a little FFXI with the PGM crew tonight, if I can. Sammy & D will be good guides there. I'm going to be connecting to the Bismarck server, if anyone wants to look for a Galkan warrior. I'm going to shoot for a name similar to Scotto, but not sure what to go with, as yet. I'm sort of fond of the Tarutaru, too. You can tell this game has it's origins in Japan... cat girls and all pseudo babeage. I managed to avoid everquest, but FFXI has the allure of people I know playing.

[update] - If I didn't have friends there, I might not give it a second chance. I think you need some sort of degree in game dynamics to leap into it immediately... it's the first game I've ever *needed* someone to show me how to move, talk and act. I'm sort of annoyed that I will probably have to actually read the manual, because the interface is not Scotto-intuitive at all. The short time I was there, it was fun, and very pretty. I will continue to fiddle with it and see if I get better at the interface. If you're on the Bismarck Server, and you see a big galkan named Scottobear, say hi! Meanwhile, I think I'll play some more in There. (New client for there at - downloads.there.com/download/there_tla5.exe ) a mere snip at 101 megs. Maybe my bad attitude was influenced by my end of day mindset with ACIM. I'm a little tired of things defying me. Random thought as I get ready this morn... Moss-man is really cool on the new He-man cartoon. He's like a juiced up post Khund-apocalypse (Giffen Legion) Chlorophyll Kid. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, they're a big geek like me, too. Transformed from sort of a joke (a green, leafy spy and master of camo, basically) to a really useful and powerful person. Biggest bonus? Maybe this means there'll be fuzzy, green action figures again?

Dan got me the Hulk game for Christmas... pretty fun smash-'em-up. The graphics are interesting, strangely posterized or something, but the game play is pretty keen.

I'm happy to say that I don't have to report to ACIM tomorrow morning... it was looking like a half-day there for a bit.

Thinking about my beloved, wondering where she's at, and what she's up to this morn... good stuff, I like to hope.

PLAY-DOH George Foreman Grill uh, wha?

Harold von Braunhut, The Inventor of Sea Monkeys and X-Ray Spex died... and was a neo-nazi?

Harold von Braunhut, who used comic-book advertisements to sell whimsical mail-order inventions like Amazing Sea Monkeys, tiny shrimp that pop to life when water is added, died on Nov. 28 at his home in Indian Head, Md. He was 77.

His wife, Yolanda, said that he died after a fall but that the exact cause was not known.

Von Braunhut was to quirky inventions what Barnum was to circuses. His X-Ray Specs, which advertisements said allowed wearers to see through flesh and clothing, are still selling after 50 years of guffaws. Hermit crabs as a pet? Thank von Braunhut for Crazy Crabs.

And, yes, perhaps only this verbally snappy holder of 195 patents could have realized that what the world needed was Amazing Hair-Raising Monsters, which allow a child to add water to a card and watch hair grow on the previously bald pate of the monster depicted there.

But von Braunhut's piece de resistance was Sea Monkeys, which come from dried-up lake bottoms, not the sea, and are not monkeys but brine shrimp. His extravagant claims for the crustaceans - for example, that they come back from the dead and that they can be trained and hypnotized - are convincing because they are sort of true. (The shrimp do follow light.)

Billions of shrimp have been sold, not to mention a Sea Monkey aphrodisiac and a wristwatch filled with swimming shrimp. There are Web sites for Sea Monkey fans; CBS briefly had a Sea Monkeys series on Saturday mornings; 400 million of them went into space with John Glenn in 1998; and, for the lazy, a new Sea Monkey video game allows a player to "virtually" care for a shrimp colony, lest the animals "virtually" die.

Von Braunhut gravitated toward life's crazier edge, racing motorcycles as the Green Hornet and managing the career of a man who dived from 40 feet into a kiddie pool filled with 12 inches of water. He sold invisible goldfish by guaranteeing that owners would never see them.

In a radically different sphere, von Braunhut's hard right-wing beliefs drew notice. According to a 1996 Anti-Defamation League report, he belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations.

The Washington Post in 1988 published an article on him and his affiliations, adding that his relatives said he was Jewish. He repeatedly refused to discuss his beliefs on race or his own religious background.

Vampire Game Clue - Welcome to Interesting Times (Torment & 49th). What can we do for you today?
Scroll of Turning (500)
Vial of Holy Water (2000)
Scroll of Teleportation (5000)

2003-12-22T21:56:00.000-05:00

Saw RotK last night with Danny... his second time of probably many, many viewings, and my first. I liked it a lot, and figure it's the benchmark for nerd trilogies, now that Star Wars turned to poop with the sequels this century. After, we went for a little Mexican meal, which was nice, where we gabbed about it a bit. Nerdy observations, all, but nice that things worked well. I'm just happy that I got to catch it on the big screen, but am looknig forward to the dvd director's cut.

The sharpened computer is looking good... big brain kept tossing his HD, win2k repairs regularly to limp it through. "Really Big Brain" has a 240 gig drive now, a nicer graphic card, and a sharp dvd writer. I'll be experimenting with burning this week.

We're up to 51 at work now... I think that some of the new search procedures may be helping find kids.

Had a nice gab with sedef, good thing because I was getting worried about those guys.

Since the other day, there's now more than a million active Atom 0.3 feeds at
http://www.livejournal.com/users/[username]/data/atom .

Atom is an XML-based file format intended to allow lists of information, known as "feeds", to be synchronised between publishers and consumers. Feeds are composed of a number of items, each with an extensible set of attached metadata. (For example, items each have a title.) I don't know what the advantages of Atom are over RSS... they're very similar, and the changes don't *appear* to be too significant. I'm sure someone will correct me on that in due time, however. I did see that Google (who owns blogger) is supporting Atom, while Microsoft is plugging with RSS. I'm just happy that LJ supports both... it's all about compatability and choices now, I imagine.

More at the Wiki - http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/FrontPage

Random Scotto Factoid - I confused Apollo Creed and the prayer "Apostle's Creed" when I was little.

2003-12-21T21:56:00.000-05:00

Interesting that I'm syndicated in Fort Lauderdale News. I suspect it's more in part to my geourl or local feeds than any actual Ft. Laud News content.

The guy next door has been running what sounds like an concerto for hammer, chainsaw and pickaxes in apt#2 for days now. I have to wonder what the devil they're doing in there. How long do cabinets take to put in?

Today I Must -

Get Socks/ boxers/Belt
CompUSA
Toys R US

Today I *should, but probably won't*

Do Laundry

The cool weather lately has Newt hanging on my neck like an orange mink stole. He likes my body heat, and touring the house at six feet up.

Johnny Cash's Desperado, But With Monkeys

Five-film Narnia series to be filmed in New Zealand (with effects by Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop)

2003-12-20T21:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the spiffy card!!

Monkeys live up in trees! Monkeys have furry knees! Monkeys don't wear shoes. Monkeys don't lose..... their wallets, because they don't have any!

Cool again this morning.. I'd say that "winter" has already lasted longer than memory tells me of last year. Yesterday, I was actually obliged to wear a top with long sleeves after dark.

Tomorrow, I have to do a lot of chores and last minute shopping. (I'm also ogling an upgrade to something comparable to the X09 tower.) I will be getting a lovely Christmas card from D...Her old (yet still far superior to my current) video card. A GeForce4 Ti 4600 to be specific, as she got herself a GeForce 5950 for a holiday treat. Hooray for upgrades! I wonder who I could give my Radeon 7500 to? Maybe Dan would like it as a stocking stuffer for for his poor dinosaur-pooter. I know that it can't run most games these days, and this way, I could hook him up with Freedom Force and NOLF2 for a good time. I'd like to get back to having direct video inputs on the PC so I can watch TV in a little window as I work, and record VCR stuff to burn DVDs. I think it'd be nice to "diskify" all my random access VCR tape, for better archive survival, and tightness of space. (Plus, I like playing with video editing.)

I won't be able to get together with the Momster for Christmas, as I'm on call and can't do a lot of traveling around, and it sounds like Bro's got plans with a gal he met. (I suspect that he's just bailing, but you never know.)

I'm in a happy, though quiet mood today. I'm busing myself playing with a little algorithm that walks my vampire through the game, and drinks blood in the most profitable way. I've got it to detect if it's drunk from another player since it was last run, but the auto-movement is a little skewed still. Basically, it will reads a page, looks at the links, and drinks people not drunk before that are in my same "square" so far. I have to add an if-then about humans, who are all named the same way, and fiddle out movement logic to the next most densely-populated (but not full) square, after reading the square to see that there is someone there that is "drinkable". (Any vampire I haven't hit since the day prior, and has more than 3 pints of blood in them.) I think it'd be cool to later add a sublist of my "children" and maybe give them a treat as my vampire flies past. 1/3 of my gold on hand, maybe? I'm still thinking of hosting some text-based multi-player game on my toybox page, too, but am not quite sure of what to do, theme-wise, yet.

If you haven't visited 's journal, check it out. Great photography and travelogues, plus other nifty goodies regarding an USA-woman living in the UK with her hubby, .

Charlotte wishes you a Merry Christmas (Vendetta may have something to say later.)

Xombi - Chapter One / Chapter Two

Nigerian herbalist shot dead as anti-bullet charm fails

LAGOS (AFP) - A traditional doctor in central Nigeria has been shot dead by a patient who was testing the potency of an anti-bullet charm the herbalist had prepared for him, police told AFP.

Ashi Terfa died when patient Umaa Akor fired a gun at his head two weeks ago in south-central Benue state, police spokesman Bode Fakeye said Wednesday.

"Akor went for an insurance against bullets and contacted Terfa to prepare it for him," he said.

"To confirm its efficacy, the herbalist tied the charm around his neck and insisted that Akor should fire a gun at him. The experiment proved fatal for the herbalist and his skull was shattered," he added. "He died immediately".

Fakeye said the suspect had appeared in court for culpable homicide, but had been release on bail.

"The motive to kill could not be established against the suspect since the herbalist asked him to shoot to test the charm," he added.

The belief in witchcraft and charms is rife in Africa.

2003-12-19T21:55:00.000-05:00

I've been having some weird trouble with my Y!im Today and yesterday...I wonder if they're planning an upgrade soon? I hate missing messages. The 'net seems a little slower, too.. I wonder if it's some drag from all the kids being on holiday break?

Most excellent news. ACIM just had it's 50th successful recovery and Full membership in AMECO.

Dreams of insects under the covers with me last night.... not creepy or dirty ones, but lightning bugs and other either bio-lit or otherwise glowy made my bed look like the underside of a tacky neon car cruising the 'hood at 2am. I like the cool weather lately...the mid-40s is a nice range to dip into. I only wish that I could spend more of it snuggling with my beloved. I hope that weather and health are maintained by as many as possible this season.. it seems that so many folks are getting the flu or strep.

All of the RotK reviews are rolling in... I'm guessing that it'll be a week or two before I get a chance to see it. I know Danny's going with his students tomorrow night. Not many poor reviews, except for folks complaining a bit about the flow at the end... I'm looking for ward to seeing it in the "directors cut" version.. it seems like they always leave a lot out, but at least they try to put a goodly does back in afterward.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - "This science fiction adventure set in the 1930s starts as New York City reporter Polly Perkins (Gwynneth Paltrow) starts to investigate why so many famous scientists are starting to be reported missing. Soon, she starts to get clues, as strange flying machines and giant robots threaten the city. Luckily, her old flame, aviator Captain Joseph Sullivan (Jude Law), AKA Sky Captain, is there to battle the bad guys with his friends, the Flying Legion, in his Warhawk P-40. Soon, Polly is flying away with Sky Captain to Nepal to find a crazy scientist, Dr. Totenkopf, who apparently wants to destroy the world..."

Exploring Dystopia

Interactive Hieronymous Bosch Gallery

Antiquarian Supernatural Literature

The Illustrated Complete Summary of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow (A tome I was insanely fond of for about 10 years. I still dig it, but the fanaticism is gone. I still harbor a great fondness for the Illuminatus! books, too.)

Amazon Wish-list of stupidly expensive gifts.

2003-12-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for the card and cute snowman, ! It's an honor to be the first of your LJ friends.

Here's info on redeeming your invite codes for LJ play money. I now have $25 usable for any LJ-related services like extra icons or time, etc. I'm thinking I may give the a paid membership, if only to fiddle a little with the style there. Come to think of it, I think that I may have a spare early adopter account that was used for a writing project, too.

I dreamt last night that I was babysitting some little child... he was maybe 4 years old, and he was holding his breath, puffing out his cheeks. I pressed on them and his head popped like a balloon. It wasn't distressing at all... I found a replacement, and told him that if he did it again, I'd find a really ugly head for him to wear. He was good from then on... we played with capsella and build small futuristic cities until I woke up. I recall that they were special ones... you could fill them with sea monkeys, and let them live and play inside.

It's a little chilly out this morning for Florida. When I woke up, it was about 45 outside, or about 60 inside. Not quite cold enough to lure Newt under the covers, but he certainly was happy to hang out in the steamy-shower room this morning.

I find myself wondering if there will be a gift exchange at ACIM... no mention has been made, but I suppose I could pick up little stocking stuffers for the folks there this weekend, when I pick up some gifties for my physical therapy people and the fur-kids.

Pirated Sites see folks who copy designs and logotypes... pretty interesting to compare and contrast.

Found Art - nifty items located out and about.

From The Archives...

one year ago - How to attain old age, got my epidural.

two years ago - Crime & Punishment, heterodox, evil news, HP question, pooter poop, bagpipe, egoboo, giant bee.

three years ago - met and , LJ sea Chantey, AOK-ing, Christmas Blues

2003-12-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

filename: Mid([Database_Location], InStrRev([Database_Location],"\") +1)

from another Query ([Server_Names]):
dl (which is the Database location full path)
Server name
Share name

SELECT [Server_Names].[Server Name], [Server_Names].[Share Name],
Mid([dl],InStrRev([dl],"\")+1) AS [FN]
FROM [Server_Names]
ORDER BY [Server_Names].[Share Name];

=====

Let's see if I can post polls via email! I meant to write this up this morning.

Launchcast reworked its interface again. I think I like the 1-10 scale better,
but I can see the 0-4 stars being more popular overall.

Want to listen to my launchcast station?
http://launch.yahoo.com/lc/?rt=0&rp1=0&rp2=1214543053

Last 10 songs-

Soul Coughing: Paint
Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
Sugar Ray: Fly - Featuring Super Cat
The Pixies: Where Is My Mind?
Led Zeppelin: In The Evening
Cake: World Of Two
Talking Heads : Once In A Lifetime
Staind: Epiphany
They Might Be Giants: Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
Natacha Atlas: Something Dangerous - Featuring Princess Julianna

current music: Dead Milkmen - Surfin' Cow
current mood: Letting the days go by, water flowing underground.

=====

Tree seen yesterday afternoon, accidentally captured with palm cam.
It began to rain heavily about 20 minutes later.

Thank you from Newt and me to for the lovely card and turtle post-its! They're great!

Random Question -

Aloft for a century. There are countless online tributes to the Wright Brothers. Here are just a few. Flights of fancy, a small BBC gallery celebrating the 100th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight at Kitty Hawk, on 17 December 1903. See also Photography and the Wright Brothers, and the stark abstract beauty of images like these: I, II, III. Related: Microsoft's A Century of Flight. Even more photos.

I trained Mohna yesterday... fascinating person, 19 year old Muslim girl, spent several years in Palestine, helping to raise her brother's children. She's now in BCC, and is a perfect candidate for the nighttime phone gig. I wonder how much time we can dump on her, and not stress her out? She gets another Training session Friday... I'll throw a few curveballs at her, and see how she adapts to them, but she's got a good head for deductive reasoning and gathering information.

Strongbad Email #92

Scrollbar racing.. now with music!

How to totally miss the point of Lamont Cranston

I briefly had the urge to get a white linen suit and a red fez, and to use that outfit as "work clothes".

The difference between cold and flu - via the CDC

2003-12-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

China Yung wasn't bad. the price was right, and the food pretty decent. it turns out that they deliver sushi now too, so everyone can be happily fed.

Seasonal questions of the day... what do you think Santa's elves look like? Uniforms, or all different outfits? Facial hair? All one Gender, or is it a mixed group? Any colors they *wouldn't* wear? Are they Related to those Keebler guys? (feel free to answer in comments...I'm interested in hearing multiple perspectives, but am running too late to pollify the question. (this sentence added last.)

Spent some lovely time with my sweetie recently, and getting into Asian folklore, too. Tengu, Kappa, Rokurokubi, Nukekubi, and Hungry ghosts specifically. I should be about warmed up to do that Dragon's gate review soon. It's a long standing truism... the more that a person learns, the more they discover that is yet to be learned. It's a tease, but one I enjoy. I really don't understand how folks can stand being lumps, never reading, never searching for something to tickle the brain. I wonder if it happens just as a matter of falling out of the habit.... or if it's just too easy to be entertained by television? Passive entertainment is fairly lost on me... I can't stay locked on to most non-educational/documentary television for any extended period (though there are some exceptions that can suck me in, and hold me. Well-written drama or humor, especially.) But most books can snatch me up, and suspend time. Stories, research, hunting for information... I enjoy it, so that it doesn't seem like the work that others seem to make of study.

Saddam Hussein pun/punchline I haven't heard yet, but expect to: Ace in the Hole.

I've begun painting a bit on the miniatures again, for the first time in a little while... I'm out of practice. I get a little cockeyed doing small detail work for extended periods.

The day was mostly quiet for me with no Rhode Island.... CS has been delegated to hardware issues and doing the newsletter with Newbie. I'm doing more software / programming, and documentation. I hope MM takes to her training soon, so call can be distributed over more people, soon.

Wow... Return of the King is 3:20, in the theater... I wonder how long the home-DVD extended will be?

Here's a pretty neat way to waste time. Nobodyhere.

found on - Journal searching (still in beta?) replace scottobear with any username you like, to search another journal... it uses feedster, an engine I'm not terribly familiar with. There's a magnifying glass on any given userinfo page that allows searching. I wonder how well indexed the is? The engine doesn't seem too solid yet.

This page lists comic book characters that physically transform into either animals or the opposite sex. It's just part of a larger site that catalogs such examples of shapeshifting in books, movies, paintings, etc. Keep in mind the elaborate list of notations as you peruse the entries. (via progressiveruin)

2003-12-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

Cool Beans.. The deaf kid was found, as a direct result of those calls placed at 2am. I look forward to seeing what the followup report

Giant Pandas make terrible mounts. While they are about as fast as horses, they have a much livelier gait, lifting and swaying riders more than a horse would. They'd partially make up for this with the ability to swim and climb over trickier barriers, but also have to forage and feed for 12 hours a day.

The annals of Su-Ling Prefecture tell the sad story of Chao-Li, a stern young fishmonger who knowingly took a rokurokubi as a wife. "I order you to serve me!" he said to her on their wedding day. serve him she did, to herself, on a plate with seven mangoes, three dates, and a bed of fresh noodles.

I long to rest on the back of a giant turtle with my beloved, slowly being walked down the beach, as the sun goes down. There's something about the twilight between wakefulness and sleep.. that calm, seemingly eternal soothing time when your body is both heavy and light at the same time.

I was delighted that two anonymous people (or one, in two places?) replied to the Egyptian twins question in my journal. Thanks Pete and Anonymous!

Find Your Warped Personality
this quiz was made by mysti

Florida Man Admits Directing Kids To Adult Web Sites

HOLLYWOOD, FL -- A Florida man is admitting he played tricks to lure kids to pornographic web sites.

John Zuccarini, of Hollywood, pleaded guilty yesterday to 49 counts of directing minors to sexually explicit content.

Police say Zuccarini registered domain names on the web that were just one letter off from popular kid sites.

That means if children misspelled the domain name they wanted to get to, they'd automatically be taken to the adult-themed sites instead.

Prosecutors are asking for a three-year sentence in prison.

2003-12-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

Ah, finished my chores... the bathroom is clean, my laundry is done. I don't have much in the cupboard, but I'm not interested in heading out in the thick rain. The local delivery can take care of me for supper tonight. There's a Cantonese place I haven't tried yet, so we'll see how China Yung is. It's a stone's throw away, right next to the museum f art. If it's good, I'll make a note of it as a place to visit with Danny, though he generally prefers Thai and Japanese food. I think that he'd be happy going out for sushi every time we get together.

I remembered to pick up a fresh tape to feed the VCR for today's 4-hour "Egypt-a-thon" Starting at 3pm on TLC. They have a spiffy Ancient Egyptians activities page, too. I'm kind of disappointed that it ends at 7pm, but I guess they have to make way for the next prime time show.

You are Spearmint.
You are quick-witted and sharp. You pay close
attention to details and you can tell what your
friends are feeling. You are always the first
to understand a joke and you are valued for
your insight and advice. However, you
sometimes isolate yourself from other people,
afraid to share your own feelings.
Most Compatible With: Cinnamon

Which Tic-Tac Flavor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Interesting. I was right between that and Wintergreen. "You are Wintergreen. You are cool and collected. You are very comfortable with yourself and what you do. Even if you have a lot of responsibilities, you always manage to be in control. You are sometimes laid-back and you are always the voice of reason. However, others may see you as lazy or detached sometimes, unable to act responsibly. Most Compatible With: Lime "

I was reflecting this morning on being a pod person. Usually when I mention that here or there, folks think that I'm trying to put myself down, or build myself up... but that's really not the case. Sure, I have some fundamental primate instincts... I want to defend my mate and my territory, as well as enjoying a solid group dynamic. Ive discovered that some of my attitudes have softened quite a lot over the last couple of years. I'm not so quick to judge some things (though there is still plenty that clicks on my "right or wrong"-o-meter), but I can cut a little more slack to those that I might have thought unworthy of it in the past. Rather than cut a problem out immediately, now, theres an impulse to at least give a little bit of a chance to people... giving them a chance for redemption before handing them the black spot. Of course, all things have limits.

Fine quotes about magic (and X and Y, by extension) from Terry Pratchett's novel, Equal Rites (if you haven't read the discworld books, I highly recommend them.) -

And so, as the winter turned and started the long, reluctant climb toward spring, Esk spent days at a time with Granny Weatherwax, learning witch craft.

Magic seemed to consist mainly of things to remember.

The lessons were quite practical. There was cleaning the kitchen table and Basic Herbalism. There was mucking out the goats and The Uses of Fungi. There was doing the washing and The Summoning of the Small Gods. And there was always tending the big copper still in the scullery and The Theory and Practice of Distillation. By the time the warm Rim winds were blowing, and the snow remained only as little streaks of slush on the Hub side of trees, Esk knew how to prepare a range of ointments, several medicinal brandies, a score of special infusions, and a number of mysterious potions that Granny said she might learn the use of in good time.

What she hadn't done was any magic at all.

"All in good time," repeated Granny vaguely.

"But I'm supposed to be a witch!"

"You're not a witch yet. Name me three herbs good for the bowels."

Esk put her hands behind her back, closed her eyes, and said: "The flowering tops of Greater Peahane, the root pith of Old Man's Trousers, the stems of the Bloodwater Lily, the seedcases of -"

"All right. Where may water gherkins be found?"

"Peat bogs and stagnant pools, from the months of -"

"Good. You're learning."

"But it's not magic!"

Granny sat down at the kitchen table.

"Most magic isn't," she said. "It's just knowing the right herbs, and learning to watch the weather, and finding out the ways of animals. And the ways of people, too."

"That's all it is!" said Esk, horrified.

"All? It's a pretty big all," said Granny, "But no, it isn't all. There's other stuff."

"Now bees," said Granny Weatherwax, "is real magic."

She carefully lifted the lid of the first hive.

"Your bees," she went on, "is your mead, your wax, your bee gum, your honey. A wonderful thing is your bee. Ruled by a queen, too," she added, with a touch of approval.

"Don't they sting you?" said Esk, standing back a little. Bees boiled out of the comb and overflowed the rough wooden sides of the box.

"Hardly ever," said Granny. "You wanted magic. Watch."

She put a hand into the struggling mass of insects and made a shrill, faint piping noise at the back of her throat. There was a movement in the mass, and a large bee, longer and fatter than the others, crawled on to her hand. A few workers followed it, stroking it and generally ministering to it.

"How did you do that?" said Esk.

"Ah," said Granny, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes. I would. That's why I asked, Granny," said Esk, severely.

"Do you think I used magic?"

Esk looked down at the queen bee. She looked up at the witch. "No," she said, "I think you just know a lot about bees."

Granny grinned.

"Exactly correct. That's one form of magic, of course."

"What, just knowing things?"

"Knowing things that other people don't know," said Granny. She carefully dropped the queen back among her subjects and closed the lid of the hive.

"And I think it's time you learned a few secrets," she added.

At last, thought Esk.

"But first, we must pay our respects to the Hive," said Granny. She managed to sound the capital H.

Without thinking, Esk bobbed a curtsey.

Granny's hand clipped the back of her head.

"Bow, I told you," she said, without rancor. "Witches bow." She demonstrated.

"But why?" complained Esk.

"Because witches have got to be different, and that's part of the secret," said Granny.

They sat on a bleached bench in front of the rimward wall of the cottage. In front of them the Herbs were already a foot high, a sinister collection of pale green leaves.

"Right," said Granny, settling herself down. "You know the hat on the hook by the door? Go and fetch it."

Esk obediently went inside and unhooked Granny's hat. It was tall, pointed and, of course, black.

Granny turned it over in her hands and regarded it carefully.

"Inside this hat," she said solemnly, "is one of the secrets of witchcraft. If you cannot tell me what it is, then I might as well teach you no more, because once you learn the secret of the hat there is no going back. Tell me what you know about the hat."

"Can I hold it?"

"Be my guest."

Esk peered inside the hat. There was some wire stiffening to give it a shape, and a couple of hatpins. That was all.

There was nothing particularly strange about it, except that no one in the village had one like it. But that didn't make it magical. Esk bit her lip; she had a vision of herself being sent home in disgrace.

It didn't feel strange, and there were no hidden pockets. It was just a typical witch's hat. Granny always wore it when she went into the village, but in the forest she just wore a leather hood.

She tried to recall the bits of lessons that Granny grudgingly doled out. It isn't what you know, it's what other people don't know. Magic can be something right in the wrong place, or something wrong in the right place. It can be --

Granny always wore it to the village. And the big black cloak, which certainly wasn't magical, because for most of the winter it had been a goat blanket and Granny washed it in the spring.

Esk began to feel the shape of the answer and she didn't like it much. It was like a lot of Granny's answers. Just a word trick. She just said things you knew all the time, but in a different way so they sounded important.

"I think I know," she said at last.

"Out with it, then."

"It's in sort of two parts."

"Well?"

"It's a witch's hat because you wear it. But you're a witch because you wear the hat. Um."

"So -" prompted Granny.

"So people see you coming in the hat and the cloak and they know you're a witch and that's why your magic works?" said Esk.

"That's right," said Granny. "It's called headology." She tapped her silver hair, which was drawn into a tight bun that could crack rocks.

"But it's not real!" Esk protested. "That's not magic, it's it's -"

"Listen," said Granny, "If you give someone a bottle of red jollop for their wind it may work, right, but if you want it to work for sure then you let their mind make it work for them. Tell 'em it's moonbeams bottled in fairy wine or something. Mumble over it a bit. It's the same with cursing."

"Cursing?" said Esk, weakly.

"Aye, cursing, my girl, and no need to look so shocked! You'll curse, when the need comes. When you're alone, and there's no help to hand, and -"

She hesitated and, uncomfortably aware of Esk's questioning eyes, finished lamely: "- and people aren't showing respect. Make it loud, make it complicated, make it long, and make it up if you have to, but it'll work all right. Next day, when they hit their thumb or they fall off a ladder or their dog drops dead, they'll remember you. They'll behave better next time."

"But it still doesn't seem like magic," said Esk, scuffing the dust with her feet.

"I saved a man's life once," said Granny. "Special medicine, twice a day. Boiled water with a bit of berry juice in it. Told him I'd bought it from the dwarves. That's the biggest part of doct'rin, really. Most people'll get over most things if they put their minds to it, you just have to give them an interest."

She patted Esk's hand as nicely as possible. "You're a bit young for this," she said, "but as you grow older you'll find most people don't set foot outside their own heads much. You too," she added gnomically.

"I don't understand."

"I'd be very surprised if you did," said Granny briskly, "but you can tell me five herbs suitable for dry coughs."

Also...

"I mean there's no male witches, only silly men," said Granny hotly. "If men were witches, they'd be wizards. It's all down to -"she tapped her head "- headology. How your mind works. Men's minds work different from ours, see. Their magic's all numbers and angles and edges and what the stars are doing, as if that really mattered. It's all power. It's all -" Granny paused, and dredged up her favourite word to describe all she despised in wizardry, "- jommetry."

I like to try and find the right mix of masculine "jommetry" and the feminine organic/natural side of things. I can always stand to learn more about the ways of people, which is why I think of myself as a pod more often than not.First off, Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in Iraq. He was found in a farmhouse near Tikrit, in a "spider hole" (basically a small cellar). I wonder how long it'll take before I start to hear conspiracy theorists tell me that he was caught months ago, and that they were waiting to see what Democrat was going to be Bush's main competition before trotting out a wildcard.

The tree is up, it's snowing outside and the news is full of reports of a rarely seen man with a beard and a bag full of loot.

Q: What's the difference between Santa Claus and Saddam Hussein?
A: No one has to check Santa For lice.

Also, Santa never ordered 170 men be tied to posts and shot - body part by body part - after sealing thier mouths shut with glue so that they couldn't cry out. (via suzette)

Well, I got two calls last night that was a wait to launch at 9am this morning. One was girl that went missing Wednesday night, but was last seen at school on Friday. The parents are giving the Miami police heck about "not doing enough," even though the parents apparently couldn't be bothered to know with any useful detail about the girls friends, boyfriend, or favorite hangouts. It's hard to know where to look for someone if you don't know very much about them... best we could do is get a description of what she was wearing, and the fact that her house and school are close enough together on the map to make for a little overlap map to seek her out.

Another call last night was looking for a deaf boy in Polk County... another late-nighter. wake-up and look calls at 11pm and again (after the dogs followed the trail north) at 2am over the trail further north. Busy evening... stuff started kicking after 10 pm. I need to remember to try and take a nap midday.. it seems that calls don't seem to come in until before noon, and after 3pm.

My intuition has been spot on, lately. Gut instinct (or whatever intuition really is) has been very helpful in making decisions in regards to missing kids and dealing with other folks at the org.

Fairly Oddparents Christmas Special was pretty keen, especially the jazzy holiday "Mass Combat" music near the end.

*note to self*- Infinite space restricted to a finite area can be very unstable. Don't let Newt at the Hypercube.

Chris Kattan as Gollum on SNL was cute, and the pilot for "A hard hobbit to break" sitcom was right on target.

pointed out Big Fish to me... How'd this sneak past my radar? I wonder if there's a nearby theater with a pre-January release? Witches and giants are some of my favorite people.

Lists of collective nouns

Feral Children: collects information on socially stunted kids raised by wild animals or extremely cruel parents.

Nicole Kidman & Jude Law as the leads in the Cold Mountain movie? Kind of good looking for the way I envisioned the characters. I wonder if they'll change the book's ending in the movie? (I, like most folks, didn't terribly care for it.)

Hmm... interesting marketing... Sony Pictures is promoting Spider-Man 2 by offering Blogger and Livejournal templates and icons.