Ray Davies, The Kinks, Alcohol, and Me
Here’s something to keep in mind in the event Deron wins the lottery and hosts a big cluster-fest. Given the proper stimulus, I’ve been known to perform the song captured in this bit of video (via paris1919) . . . especially if there’s a piano in the house and a pianist who can fake it.
“Are there any sinners in the audience tonight?”
2 Girls, 1 Cup, 1 Grandma
(bb)
What’s Old Is New Again
Scientists at Stanford have reversed the aging of skin in mice, making it look and act like new skin.
Children of God
In the next segment — the debate between Romney and Mike Huckabee over Huckabee’s college scholarships for the deserving children of illegal immigrants — I noticed something really distressing: When Huckabee said, “After all, these are children of God,” the dials plummeted. And that happened time and again through the evening: Any time any candidate proposed doing anything nice for anyone poor, the dials plummeted.
Chocolate Haas
Both funny and somehow disturbing
via Chris
Vernacular Fun Rendered Vulgar
Rick Neece, speculating on connotations of the phrase riding the Victrola (as: “Shorty has been riding the Victrola lately”), notes that it is suggestive of whacking off.
Indeed. It calls to mind choking the chicken, or, say, flogging the dolphin. If you know of other such expressions, by all means: Comment.
Vernacular Fun Rendered Transparent
“Shorty has been riding the Victrola lately” didn’t just spring from nowhere, that much (and more) I can tell you.
Vernacular Fun
Shorty has been riding the Victrola lately.
‘Flockers (and Friends): What (if anything) does that statement conjure up in your mind? Is it old-timey Reefer Man lingo? World War II code? Schizophrenic wacko talk? You tell me.
PS
What no one seems to get through their thick skulls, even after untold millions of dollars have been wasted on the concept: PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO READ BOOKS ON A SCREEN. Why is that so hard for someone as obviously smart as Jeff Bezos to accept? The reason the iPod took off is that music was never meant to be a “thing” in the first place. It was born as pure sound, and pure sound is what it has returned to. But books were always physical objects, and the printed book as a piece of technology has yet to be improved upon. And won’t. Certainly not by something that looks like a prop from Charlie’s Angels and has, are you ready, a whopping ONE typeface. For everything! Yay! For further explanation as to why this is doomed, go to Amazon’s own website and read Kindle’s Customer Reviews. Ouch. Caveat emptor!
Warthogs
I know I said goats are the coolest species ever, but warthogs might top them.
And then there is the camel. And leopards.
I’ve seen a lot of cool animals here, but sadly it’s time to come home to a city of humans, rats and pigeons.
Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa
One of the most interesting mysteries of Death Valley National Park is the sliding rocks at Racetrack Playa (a playa is a dry lake bed). These rocks can be found on the floor of the playa with long trails behind them. Somehow these rocks slide across the playa, cutting a furrow in the sediment as they move. Some of these rocks weigh several hundred pounds. That makes the question: “How do they move?” a very challenging one. The truth: No one knows for sure exactly how these rocks move – although a few people have come up with some pretty good explanations. The reason why their movement remains a mystery: No one has ever seen them in motion!
Lion Chases Cars in Ohio
Brumfield reportedly raises lions, of which he has two named Lambert and Lacey, to battle depression.
David Byrne
I believe I or others have mentioned David Byrne’s online journal in past posts, but in case you’ve never seen it, take a look. I’ve been following it for a couple of years, and it’s great. His writing is unusually direct and personal, and his insights are spot on. With each post, I feel like I’m reading a letter from an old friend.
More Elinor
When I was twenty-two she put lipstick on my lips, her lipstick. This was one of many things that were both, somehow, continuity and separation. My own femininity, yet always drawing on hers. Oddly I still felt her lipstick would somehow protect me.
Incredible Abilities
With so many superhero movies around, such as Spiderman or Hulk, we are used to see people with special abilities in fiction. But people with amazing abilities actually do exist in real life; here’s a list of 10 of the most amazing of these people!
“Green” Google Taps Into Energy From French Riots
If you can’t take the heat, get out of the capital.
Mountain View, CA — Internet search engine giant Google announced plans Tuesday to locate and cultivate inexhaustible alternative energy sources. The most promising and reliable candidate appears to be France, thanks to the fires caused by its ongoing labor disputes and general civil unrest.
Although Google admitted it could achieve the same total power output by simply burning a small percentage of each day’s ad revenues, it chose to make the more environmentally responsible decision.
“The French are going to burn things anyway, so we figured, hey, why not put it to good use?” said Google founder and president of products Larry Page. “You can’t stop a volcano, either, so why let all that energy go to waste?”
Rest in Peace, My Friend
It is with sadness I note the passing of my friend Chris Horne. He and I worked together running wilderness trips at a camp in Virginia in my mid twenties. Our lives had moved in different directions and we hadn’t seen each other since a week-long backpacking trip in the Wind Rivers probably ten years ago, but he was one of the most decent, caring, humorous, and loving people I have met. This article in The Chattanoogan captures nicely the essence of him. He was a good man.
Elinor Carucci
My mother put her lipstick on my lips and hoped that it would protect me.
Magic Eye
Hooker Street
In the small town (800 residents) of Whitewood, S.D., there is a quiet street named after a civil war general that is causing controversy. “Hooker” Street is named after Civil War General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker, who was a career U.S. Army officer and a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. However, if the Rev. David Baer has his way, the Whitewood City Council will change the name of the street to something less offensive. He doesn’t like the idea of changing it to “General Hooker” Street either. City council will discuss Reverend Baer’s request at its December 17th meeting.
This story is as bizarre as the one about the Australian Santa Clauses, who were banned from saying “ho, ho, ho” because it might be offensive to women.
The Dog Couch.
A Modern-Day Dog Romance in an Urban Spanish-Style Bungalow.
The Dog Couch tells of the love affair between my 5-year old German Shepherd, Ko, and our living room furniture. Each day is a new photograph of Ko draped on something upholstered in our sunny California home.
Ko sees herself as a media sensation. And she thinks you should too. Watch as she takes on the Paparazzi, manages her budding career as the next great Celebutante and never leaves her beloved couch.
wonderful dog blog
陪我玩啊，Toesday Tuesday & Card
小芥：貓咪想要玩耍時就是會四腳朝天扭來扭去，很可愛，不過通常這時候阿丹這樣子忽然去侵犯他的雪白嫩肚，可是會被抓抓啃啃得很用力的。如果生氣離開，他還會怪你怎麼不玩了，這種啃抓的遊戲雖然代表貓對你很看得起是自己人，不過還是兩隻貓扭打在一起比較不痛，我們家三姊妹的手都會因為這樣常遭殃，人的手皮很脆弱啊，哈哈。
Michico : when cats feel boring want you to play with, sometimes they let their feet up and twist their body over. It’s cute, but when Adan doing that and I molest his lovely white tummy (just love rubbing this tummy suddenly), my hands will be bitten and grabbed by him very hardly. If I leave he even will blame me why not continue playing. Cats let you play with them physically are showing they like you, but human’s skin is too weak, 2 cats play won’t pain so much. Anyway, Pamilla, Toshie and I often are bitten by Adan, just let him feel fun.
Native American History
A US genetic study bolsters claims that Native Americans are descended from one migrant group that crossed a lost land link from modern Siberia to Alaska — not waves of arrivals from Asia, as rival theories say.
Rethinking Zapruder
The majority of witnesses in Dealey Plaza heard three shots fired. Lawmen found three cartridges in Lee Harvey Oswald’s nest on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Yet Zapruder’s film captured only two shots clearly. As a result, the film has been scoured for evidence of another shot, presumably the first one fired at the president. Research has yielded contradictory findings.
But what if Zapruder simply hadn’t turned on his camera in time?
Polish Hill, Pittsburgh
The Immaculate Heart of Mary dome is visible wherever you go in the neighborhood of Polish Hill. I’ve drawn it before, and I expect I’ll return to it again. I’m fascinated by the way it appears and reappears in the gaps between buildings, in the sudden and unexpected spaces of the landscape.