"Backscatter" X-ray technology

Oof-da! Better get back on my diet! From the Electronic Privacy Information Center:

Here I am in the machine!

You call that a knife?

From the Guardian Unlimited:

The Swiss Army knife, weighs 2lb and costs nearly £500. But can you actually use it for anything? Andrew Martin puts the ultimate tool to the test.

most dangerous toys of all time

From RADAR Online: "Pray for Coal: The Most Dangerous Toys of All Time"

But what about Clackers? Besides the terrible arm bruises those caused, a breaking one would take out teeth, windows, you name it! Ah, but such fun!! Challenging, too.

"Lifestyles of the Rich and Fascistic"

From Radar Online: "Lifestyles of the Rich and Fascistic"

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'Izzaddin Waddaulah
of Brunei Darussalam

And PARADE's annual list of the 10 worst dictators

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth, by Guillermo del Toro, is coming out this Christmas. It blends a fantastical fairy tale into the harsh reality of Franco's Spain just after the civil war.

More on this subject from Wikipedia.

Go, Jaibos Tampico-Madero!

more horror from "Blender"

more horror, according to Blender:

The 50 Worst Things Ever to Happen to Music
The 50 Worst Songs Ever!
The 50 Most Awesomely Dead Rock Stars
The 50 Dumbest Rock-Star Extravagances

50 Worst Artists in Music History

Blender magazine's "50 Worst Artists in Music History"

A taste:

50. Iron Butterfly
36. 98 Degrees
26. Celine Dion
15. Yanni
6. Kansas

more friends

"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

I'd say, "A friend in need needs a friend indeed."

apocrypal friendship

A faithful friend is a strong defense.
A faithful friend is the medicine of life.

• Apocrypha

frustrating

I can't get my blog to post to carrollcadden.com anymore...the posting/publishing times out, with a java.net.ConnectException error. So I'm using this blogspot address for a while, till Blogger fixes the problem that I and many, many others are having.

pig waste

Rolling Stone's contributing editor Jeff Tietz reports this month that "the chairman of Smithfield Foods, Joseph Luter III, said once,

"The animal-rights people want to impose a vegetarian's society of the U.S. Most vegetarians I know are neurotic." Wow, such eloquent logic!

"Smithfield Foods (they now kill one of every four pigs sold commercially in the U.S.) is the largest and most profitable pork processor in the world. They killed 27 million hogs last year, according to this month's Rolling Stone. Hogs produce three times more excrement than human beings do. The 500,000 pigs at a single Smithfield subsidiary in Utah generate more fecal matter each year than the 1.5 million inhabitants of Manhattan. That would fill four Yankee Stadiums."

"Smithfield Farms are flanked by open-pit cesspools known as lagoons. A single lagoon, like one in eastern North Carolina, can run thirty-feet deep and cover 120,000 square feet. Even light rains can cause them to overflow; major floods turn entire counties into pig-shit bayous. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd washed 120 million gallons of hog waste into the region's rivers--the dark-brown tide that resulted was visible from space. Even without such catastrophes, however, industrial hog waste causes what one former environmental regulator calls a "mass imbalance" in the area's ecosystems. Pig waste contains a host of toxic substances and more than 100 microbial pathogens. Released into rivers and streams, it spurs the growth of vegetation; the decaying scum chokes of the oxygen necessary to sustain aquatic life."

"The area around a slaughterhouse can contain hundreds of lagoons, some of which thirty-feet deep. The liquid in them is not brown. The interactions between the bacteria and blood and afterbirths and stillborn piglets and urine and excrement and chemicals and drugs turn the lagoons pink."

RMV

It's on wonder those employees, and the people they "serve" are always in such a bad mood. Nothing ever seems to go smoothly at one of those places. I've been twice already, trying to register my new motorcycle, and I still don't have everything I need. So I'll go back again next week, I suppose.

spam story

Here's a "story" from a spam e-mail I just got...fascinating!:

honour, i only take wine and iron. i need a tonic, mother says, to repairmuch creaking of rusty hinges and some clearing away of rubbish, was seta mite but what sanch brought, for three days; and i always go halves, "ah, my dear, it 's a very common them, and i do want you, for i haven't the heart to drag uncle out anymore, because i quite agree with you that it is necessary to have an anchor somewhere
david had begun to think they had waited long enough, but

had loved so much. remembering the conversation of the afternoon, the boyover to mrs. minot's, and it was her first attempt at going out since thesays i need n't go to school regularly, while you are here, only two oramy was listening, "it was an abominable thing, and she doesn't deserve of oz were disclosed to view. they paused, astonished, at sight christie beyond measure. she would not make light of it, as he did, "if
"up there with wet blankets, while i get out the hose!"

"up there with wet blankets, while i get out the hose!"mac gave a groan and fell back vanquished, foranswered the princess. "someday i'll have her fried for breakfast."the tears ran down his cheeks, and a maid popped her head in to who were to have no christmas tree. in the other bath; and while simmering there, he watched the performances and determined to venture a bold stroke, though not very hopeful
spirits, bearing a great bridal-looking bouquet for 'mrs. john brooke',

"dan took him out, to keep him quiet. he's all rightshe had worn the trinket hidden under her black sleevewith my friend the scarecrow!" the hasty-pudding, and finding every one asking, "where is nan?"
dr. alec saw the injured look and did not mind his body, except to pity and help him to bear it. of him is gone from the gallery where the others are, so i peeped
by a very sleepy little son, and aunt plenty retired to bed, used
that, as i was born to be drowned, an eligible opportunity now presentsribbon ought to take its place, and poked peanut shells about withroof.i couldn't bear her. the boys came yesterday, and seemed rather as polly ran down to meet mr. shaw one evening, and was helping away the flies that were tormenting him. "by no means," replied they got amy home, and after an exciting time of it, she fell
"maudie, run and bring me my other cigar geordie also, for i think these books are as bad for the smallover others than she herself suspected, simply because of "indeed it is," agreed the scarecrow. "it may
the boys heard her, but no one spoke f: you shouldn't go to so many of wrath and grief, rebellion and remorse, seething in heart
to a woman, especially the older ones, who liked to talk over"wonder where the boy is," added ben, feeling as you ask more freely than of him? try it, and see if he doesn't

Mississippi's heath ranking

From America's Health Rankings - 2005 Edition:

Overall Rank: 49

Change: up 1

Strengths:

• Ready access to adequate prenatal care
• High per capita public health spending
• High immunization coverage

Challenges:

• High percentage of children in poverty
• High infant mortality rate
• High premature death rate

Significant Changes:

• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease decreased by 13%
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased by 15%
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased by 106%
• Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking declined by 24%
• Ranking: Mississippi is 49^th this year; it was 50^th in 2005.

Strengths:

Strengths include ready access to adequate prenatal care with 81.3 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, high per capita public health spending at $197 per person and high immunization coverage with 83.6 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations.

Challenges:

Mississippi is among the bottom five states on eight of the 18 measures. Challenges include a high percentage of children in poverty at 30.7 percent of persons under age 18, a high rate of motor vehicle deaths at 2.4 deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven, a high prevalence of obesity at 30.9 percent of the population, a high rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease at 408.1 deaths per 100,000 population, a high infant mortality rate at 10.1 deaths per 1,000 live births and a high premature death rate with 10,889 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population.

Significant Changes:

• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease decreased from 26.0 to 22.5 cases per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 26.6 percent to 30.7 percent of persons under age 18.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0 percent to 30.9 percent of the population.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking declined from 31.1 percent to 23.6 percent of the population.

Health Disparities:

In Mississippi, the percentage of women who receive prenatal care varies from 71 percent among American Indians to 91 percent among whites. Cancer is xxxx (data not available).

Clinical Care:

The cost of clinical care in Mississippi is moderate compared to other states and the quality of care is low.

State Health Department Web Site:
www.msdh.state.ms.us/

toys for my 10th birthday

Here's some of what I wanted:

"Dunciad"

The last lines of the Dunciad, by Alexander Pope, as quoted in Gore Vidal's book Past and Present:

Nor public flame no private, dares to shine;
Nor human spark is left, nor glimpse divine!
Lo! thy dread empire, CHAOS! is restor'd;
ight dies before they uncreating word;
Thy hand, great Anarch, lets the curtain fall,
And universal Darkness buries all.

Go Saints!

They're playing the San Francisco 49ers today.

Jerry and Britney Spears

Jerry's sitting here looking at pictures of Britney Spears' "AY-ree," as Southerners would say. Remember way back when I reported that he said of someone, "the poose (i.e., puss) is loose"? Well, I just followed up with, "If you don't wear underwear, "the pooze (i.e., poozle) will cruise"! Good one, I think!

"Some verses from the Bible"

From my father's mother, Edna Aline McCollough Hardin Ford Lewis:

"Some verses from the Bible and some other sources. that I like to read again and again"

Talking to God is the prescription for anxiety.

Prayer is the key to Heaven; Faith is the key that unlocks the door.

Thankfulness turns all that it touches into happiness.

Exercise yourself spiritually and practice being a better Christian, because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too.
1 Timothy 4:8

Father, the lonely are everywhere. Why don't I see them? Why don't I have sensitivity enough to feel the needs of those close to me? Soften my heart. Help me to take time to care, to love, to express compassion. Today lead me to a person I can help.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

Love that is saved can never be left to anyone. Give it away- Today.

What no man ever saw or heard, what no man ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love Him.
Corinthians 2:9

Father help us to look beyond the little things which people to upset us, so that we may appreciate the big things they do to help us.

When Cecil was sick and dying, this verse from Isiah was my constant help:

I, the Lord your God hold your right hand: It is I who say to you "Fear not, I will help you."

Freddy Krueger

When the kids on Elm Street found themselves in a dream with Freddy Krueger, could they not make themselves wake up? This Freddy vs. Jason movie is cracking me up!

Freddie brought Jason back, and now he can't make him STOP!!

100 most influential Americans

from the December 2006 The Atlantic Monthly

The top 10 are:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
5. Alexander Hamilton
6. Benjamin Franklin
7. John Marshall
8. Martin Luther King Jr.
9. Thomas Edison
10. Woodrow Wilson

nice-looking guy

A. J. Hawk, a rookie linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.

new Vmax!

I've bought a new Vmax, a 1999 one, though I've still got to pick it up in Philadelphia, where the current owner lives. Here's a collaged picture of it (click for a larger version). And if you want to buy your own Vmax, I've got a 1985 for sale.

"The Queen"

I saw "The Queen" today, with Helen Mirren, James Cromwell, et. al. I thought Mirren did a great job, but I didn't really understand the point of the movie, other than its being at attempt to show that someone could do a job imitating Queen Elizabeth II. Other than that, the movie (and definitely its soundtrack) could've done just fine on television. I didn't think there was much substance to the movie: it wasn't insubstantial, of course, but was, I thought, unsubstantial.

Here's Roger Ebert's review of the movie: I do agree that it was interesting to see the queen doing unqueenly like things, like driving her Range Rover, talking car mechanics with the Balmoral support staff, admiring a dead stag, etc.

"Prime Suspect 7"

Don't miss the final case of Helen Mirren as Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre this Sunday and then concluding on Sunday, the 19th.

MR2...Mister Mister...aka Meatwad

Meatwad...I like him!

quotes on life and death

From Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life, by Eugene O'Kelly.

For anything that men can tell, death may be
the greatest good that can happen to them:
but they fear it as if they know quite well
that is was the greatest of evils. And what is
this but that shameful ignorance of thinking
that we konw what we do not know?

• Socrates

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

• Steven Wright
  

If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.

• Maria Edgeworth

May you live every day of your life.

• Jonathan Swift
  

"It is never good dwelling on good-byes," she said. "It is not the being together that it prolongs, it is the parting."

• Elizabeth Asquity Bibesco, "The Fir and the Palm"

There is no death! What seems so is transition;
this life of mortal breath
is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
whose portal we call Death.

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

best American work of fiction?

In the last 25 years? The New York Times Magazine said:

The Winner:

• Beloved Toni Morrison (1987)

The Runners-Up:

• Underworld Don DeLillo (1997)
• Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy (1985)
• Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels John Updike (1995)
• American Pastoral Philip Roth (1997)

The following books also received multiple votes:

• A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole (1980)
• Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson (1980)...and others
  

What's your connection's speed?

dreaming of dreaming

Is what we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?

• Edgar Allan Poe

Biloxi $5 note

I didn't even know there were such.

ocean fish in 2048

They're disappearing, quickly...


The world's fish and seafood populations will collapse by 2048 if current trends in habitat destruction and overfishing continue, researchers say.

calming the condemned

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-03-deathrowdrugs_x.htm

This combination of lethal injection drugs is posted on the wall in the equipment room next to the death chamber at Southern Ohio Corrections Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.

Andrew Mellon/Andrew Carnegie

"Andrew Mellon was daring capitalist, but a painfully shy man," said Steve Forbes in The Wall Street Journal. "From his 60s on, Mellon lived a dramatic public life--as a tax-cutting Treasury secretary, a scapegoat for the Depression, and a generous patron of the arts." A review by David Cannadine, concludes by saying that "if this man was a villain, here's hoping that America produces 'more such ill-lived lives.'"

Matthew Price in The New York Observer says of Andrew Carnegie, "Andrew Carnegie's early decades were the Horatio Alger story 'writ fabulously large.' and when the 4-foot-11 steel magnate decided to start giving away his money, he became a more ruthless businessman than he'd ever been before." "'There are more knots to untie in Carnegie than there are in 10 men.'"

• from this week's issue of The Week

repost of something important...hydration

WATER

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
(Likely applies to half world population)

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a U-Washington study.

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

nice Biloxi pictures

Of the old days...well, at least the '60s and/or '70s:

East Biloxi, aka "the Point." It's the point of the Biloxi peninsula. Across the now-defunct bridge is Ocean Springs. Oh, it's so different now, not even counting Hurricane Katrina's destruction. No casinos, just shrimp boats and companies, as there were when my family moved to Biloxi in 1979.

This is a picture of the Broadwater Beach Hotel, so highly thought of. Presient Nixon stayed there after Hurricane Camille, on his visit to the coast. The President Casino had taken over lately, but the hotel has recently been razed, having been so damaged by Katrina. Sad.

fortune cookie

"Fate will find a way."

Like, "The future is coming"...or "The future's gonna happen"? Yeah.

US 90/Old Spanish Trail

I didn't know that old Highway 90 is part of the Old Spanish Trail. Begun in 1915, this trail was part of the "Good Roads" movement, a 2743-mile route running from San Diego, California, all the way across the U.S. to St. Augustine, Florida.

This is the oldest automobile road along the Gulf Coast, and was the first black-top link between Mobile and New Orleans.

Is Bush an idiot?

From Scarborough Country, on MSNBC:

some Bushisms

Of many...

"I think tide turning as I remember it, I was raised in the desert, but tides--it is easy to see a tide turn. Did I say those words?"

"No question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence. They use violence as a tool to do that."

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking of new ways to harm our country and our people. And neither do we; we must never stop thinking about how best to defend our country."

"I am the decider, and I decide what is best."

"The United States of America is engaged in a war against an extremist group of folks."

"Families is where our nation finds hope; where wings take dream."

"If you don't stand for anything, you don't stand for--anything."

"If you don't stand for something, you don't stand for anything."

"Fool me once, shame on you--fool me--you can't get fooled again.

"In my State of the--my State of the Union--my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it."

"At the high school level and find out that the literacy level of our children are appalling."

"I hear there are rumors on the Internets that we are going have a draft."

"You are working hard to put food on family."

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

"Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. If you a--you're a--"

"You have been given sovereignty, and you are viewed as--a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities."

"They muster--mis-underestimated the compassion of our country. I think they mis-underestimated the will and the determination of the commander in chief, too."

a profound quote to remember

"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."

• Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, and musician (Nobel Prize 1952)

Bob Barker to retire

I'm sad to hear that, though he's soon to be 83. Something about "The Price Is Right," Barker's "reign" to end this coming June, is comforting, perhaps since it's been on television for so many years. I especially like watching the "Showcase Showdown," at the end of each show.

Boy, this post really shows my intellectual nature, doesn't it? I don't know...part of enjoying life is enjoying simple pleasures, even if one them is a game show.

"The Price Is Right" has been running since September 4, 1972, which I was in second grade. Given that I enjoy working with animal shelters, I'm glad to hear that Barker will end his final show as he ends all his shows, with the admonition "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered." Good for him.

most popular science myths

According to livescience.com:

1. A chicken can live without its head;
2. Water drains backward in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation;
3. There is no gravity in space;
4. Humans use only 10 percent of their brains;
5. Eating a poppy-seed bagel mimics opium use;
6. A penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian;
7. Adults don't grow new brain cells;
8. Chicken soup can cure the common cold;
9. Yawning is "contagious";
10. A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's;
11. Lightning never strikes the same place twice;
12. Hair and fingernails continue growing after death;
13. A falling cat will always land on its feet;
14. Men think about sex every seven seconds;
15. You get less wet by running in the rain;
16. The five-second rule;
17. Animals can predict natural disasters;
18. Seasons are caused by the Earth's proximity to the sun;
19. The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space; and
20. It takes seven years to digest gum.

"The Prestige"

I thought The Prestige was superb! It was fascinating to see David Bowie play Nikola Tesla, too. He's a good actor, though the part was a restrained one. I hadn't realized, having forgotten way too much high-school- and college history, that Tesla and Thomas Edison were rivals.

Christian Bale most definitely isn't hard on the eyes! But, seriously, he is a good actor, and I thought he did a good job with his hard London accent. Also good were Michael Caine, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, and others (I thought Bale's wife in the movie was quite good).

Tulane job

I applied for a job for Tulane's Technology Services but didn't get it, disappointingly. I'd love to live in New Orleans, and be closer to my family in Biloxi.

I wish employment offices would give reasons for job denials (like "We can't match your current salary," "We hired someone already in the department," "We need someone who starts before you said you could," "We need someone with supervisory experience," etc.).

Oh, well...I'll keep trying!

one more synopsis...

of The Bridge:

Inspired by a New Yorker story, "Jumpers," written by Tad Friend, director Eric Steel decided to train cameras on the Golden Gate Bridge over the course of 2004 to capture the people who attempted to leap off the famed structure, the site of more suicides than anywhere else in the world. He also tracked down and interviewed the friends, family members, and eyewitnesses to further recreate the events leading up to the incident and to try to explain what led these people to want to kill themselves, especially at this specific site. The documentary's primary subjects all struggled with mental illness, including severe depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorders, and the documentary struggles to understand their illness while illuminating the anger and hurt of their loved ones. Most questions remain unanswered, turning on the darker recesses of the mind. The shots of the bridge wreathed in fog turn the Golden Gate into a metaphor for a bridge between life and death, sanity and mental disturbance, and extreme isolation and connection with society. Though the camera crew worked with a set of guidelines, including that they would call in someone they thought was going to jump, the documentary still includes lengthy footage of the moments leading up to and including the suicides, so discretion is advised for sensitive viewers.

• All Movie Guide

SnapVine

Get Your Own Voice PlayerManage

impending global catastrophe

Global warning needs to be dealt with now, according to the Stern Review. And the BBC's climate change in depth.

"The (Golden Gate) Bridge"

This movie, Eric Steel's The Bridge, sounds fascinating. I'll try to see it. Here are two synopses, one from Graham Legatt, of the San Francisco Film Festival:

In the poem "Musee des Beaux Arts," W. H. Auden wrote, "About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters: how well they understood/Its human position; how it takes place/While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along." Auden's poem takes as its occasion a painting by Dutch master Pieter Brueghel, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, in which, far from being central and tragic, Icarus appears only in a quiet corner of a busy frieze, as a pair of legs disappearing with a small splash into the water. The heartrending truths in Auden and Brueghel's works--that people suffer largely unnoticed while the rest of the world goes about its business--are brought literally and painfully home in Eric Steel's The Bridge, a documentary exploration of the mythic beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, the most popular suicide destination in the world, and the unfortunate souls drawn by its siren call. Steel and his crew filmed the bridge during daylight hours from two separate locations for all of 2004, recording most of the two dozen deaths in that year (and preventing several others). They also taped more than 100 hours of interviews with friends, families and witnesses, who recount in sorrowful detail stories of struggles with depression, substance abuse and mental illness. The result is a moving and unsettling film that cannot help but touch everyone in the Bay Area in one way or another, not least because it admittedly raises as many questions as it answers: about suicide, mental illness and civic responsibility as well as the filmmaker's relationship to his fraught and complicated material.

and one from David Kwok, of the Tribeca Film Festival:

The Golden Gate Bridge, with its views of the San Francisco Bay and skyline, is an American icon and a major tourist destination. But it is also the site of more suicides than any other place in the world. The question of why this particular bridge is such a magnet for suicides (along with the broader issue of suicide, and mental illness in general) is explored in Eric Steele's debut documentary, which he began to work on after reading Tad Friend's New Yorker article on the subject. Every day during 2004, Steele set up his cameras and filmed the Golden Gate Bridge during daylight hours. Day after day, he and his crew observed thousands of people crossing the bridge on foot from San Francisco to Marin County and back. They filmed everyone from tourists to bicyclists, but ever so often a person would climb over one small part of the bridge's mile-long railing and let go. However, while the camera can record the act of suicide, it cannot tell us what leads a person to such an extreme action or what thoughts run through someone's mind during those last moments. In an attempt to uncover some of these mysteries, Steele crossed the country in order to interview friends and families of the jumpers he captured on film, on-scene witnesses to various jumps, and even a jump survivor. These testimonials elevate the jumpers in the film from nameless statistics to human beings whose lives have inexorably led them to a tragically decisive moment on the Golden Gate Bridge. Like the bridge itself, this film is beautiful, powerful, and possesses an underlying darkness.

Spasmodic Dysphonia

I'd never heard of this affliction before, one that Dibert's creator, Scott Adams, has had recently.

the three acts of magic tricks

1. the Pledge: draws one in;
2. the Turn: moves one out of the ordinary; and
3. the Prestige: where one can't believe one's eyes

faces of meth(amphetamine)

Wow, amazing.

I remember seeing a thin, jittery guy in Mississippi buying a lot of cold medicine from a salvage store in Gautier. Likely he was buying this for a meth lab. Notice now how boxes of Sudafed and related products are held behind pharmacy counters?

"Granny" quote

From Squidbillies: "Hooray, magic Jesus!"

Sue regret

The hardest part about putting Sue to sleep, besides the fact that I've never had to do that with a pet before, was watching (it only took about 30 seconds) her being prepared for her lethal injection..having her right leg shaved and watching the veterinarian instruct the new veterinary technician how to hold Sue's left leg. It was a little like watching (as I imagine) a state execution. I kissed her head right as the vet put the needle in. I wish I'd held her as he was preparing her leg.

I knew there'd be a regret...there always is.

note terms

Squidbillies' Early Cuyler agreed to terms of 60 dollars a month, for 500 years...all for a $37.50 note!

A good quote, "If you can't take the pee, get out of the pee-ery."

ooh...purty!

The soon-to-be-coming Norton Commando 962cc motorcycle

R.I.P, Sue

I had to take Sue in to be put to sleep this morning. I just didn't think she could take another hard night. This morning she was just staring, as Gomer did on his last day. And last night she couldn't even get out of her own way and wet herself. Thankfully my veterinarian was nice enough to let me come in on a non-office hours day.

I told Sue I loved her, that she'd been a great friend, and that I thought of her as my child. I hope she had a nice life. She definitely made my life better.

Sue

I thought last night might've been her last. She went into the litter box and didn't come out, I suppose because of her feeling weak. I lifted her out, cleaned her up, and set her in bed beside me. I combed her and bawled like a baby, telling her that it was all right if she wanted to go. She was still around this morning and I gave her her usual IV fluids. Finally, after three tries, I got an appetite stimulant down her; and she ate some Pro Plan food later on. I also squirted some water into her mouth with an eye dropper, to keep her mouth not so dry. I wonder what's wrong with her?

Boston College

I hate them!!! Come on, Florida State. Come back and squash BC, those mo' fu's! (Sorry for the cursing, but I have very good reason to call them that!).

Oh, well...didn't work out for me this time!

Brad Pitt...

...ain't bad. I dreamt of him a few weeks ago...nothing X-rated...and then, after seeing a picture of him later on, felt as if I knew him. Weird how dreams influence one. I do wish him the best in his family- and working life, though. He and Angelina have chosen to use their fame for good purposes...kudos to them!

a bad "Le Reve"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Picasso's famed "Dream" painting turned into a nightmare for Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn when he accidentally gave the multimillion dollar canvas an elbow.

Wynn had just finalized a $139 million sale to another collector of his painting, called "Le Reve" (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.

Director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, who witnessed and related the incident in her blog on the Huffington Post Web site (www.huffingtonpost.com), said Wynn had raised his hand to show the group something about Picasso's 1932 portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter.

"At that moment, his elbow crashed backward right through the canvas. There was a terrible noise," Ephron wrote, noting that Wynn has retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that damages peripheral vision.

"Smack in the middle ... was a black hole the size of a silver dollar. 'Oh s---,' he said. 'Look what I've done. Thank goodness it was me.'"

Wynn's office on Tuesday confirmed the story, an account of which also appeared in this week's The New Yorker. Both accounts said Wynn had decided to release the buyer from the sale agreement and to repair and keep the painting himself.

Wynn, a millionaire casino developer and art collector, developed The Mirage and Bellagio resorts in Las Vegas in the 1990s, which spearheaded a profusion of luxury hotels and casinos on the once-seedy Las Vegas Strip.

Sue revisited

She's not doing well, I'm afraid. She's not eating much, except if I smear food on her muzzle or paw, so that she has to lick it off. I'm giving her fluids each day, to at least keep her hydrated. And I'll pick up some new appetite stimulant from the vet tomorrow. But I think something's going on inside of her, something that didn't manifest itself in a recent blood test or X-ray. I think I'll take her to a specialist for an ultrasound, to try to find out what really is going on. I'd hate to put her to sleep before knowing what's wrong, just in case the problem is something easily curable. If the problem's NOT incurable, and/or is something major, I doubt I'd proceed further with Sue, especially given her age and current weakened state. I'm sad.

good ol' Texas!

From this week's This Week:

A Texas school district fired a popular art teacher for taking her fifth-grade class to a museum where they saw nude statues. Sydney McGee, 51, who's been teaching for 28 years, says the Wilma Fisher Elementary School approved the trip to the Dallas Museum of Art, which receives more than 500,000 student visitors each year.

Days later, though, she received a memo from principal Nancy Lawson complaining that "students were exposed to nude statues and other nude art representations," after which her contract was not renewed. "I thought she was the greatest," said parent Maijken Kozcara. But "knowing Texas, the ways things work here, I wasn't realy amazed."

Kids can play games in which they blow people's heads off, but if they see a naked Michelangelo, for example, the world's over! Sad, sad, sad.

(Picture from the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Exeter, England)

Cameron and his friend

Cameron = HORSE!

Cameron knows I'm just messing with him...if we played real basketball, he'd kick my ass but good!

11:53 pm

From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in Chicago:

Doomsday Clock

HORSE

My best line of Mary's wedding weekend...to Cameron (after defeating him in basketball and as he was having post-wedding photos made...

"Smile and say 'HORSE.'"

Doggie Day

I'm so pissed off at them!! I just got back from Biloxi and found no water in the bedroom, no dry food in the kitchen bowl (the cats don't eat that much per day), no cat milk at all put out, and who knows what else not done. I doubt that Sue's had any medicine, either.

Usually Jerry's the one who gets back from a trip first. And last time he reported the same types of problems, from the same caretaker. He won't be coming back to our place.

(I'm glad I came home from vacation a week early, since I had to put Sue to sleep just one week later, the day after I was originally to return. I'd've never gotten over it if I'd come back on Saturday to find her at death's door.)

braces

I didn't even know there were braces in the 1920s. But, honestly, they don't look that much different from the ones I had in the late 1970s!

Harry Potter's Wicca ways!

From today's Metro: "Mom wants schools to ban Harry Potter"

ATLANTA: A suburban county that sparked a public outcry when its libraries temporarily eliminated funding for Spanish-language fiction is now being asked to ban Harry Potter books from its schools.

Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction series is an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion.

Kids mustn't use their imaginations...evil, evil, evil!

"shall" versus "will"

A favorite example to clarify the two:

"I shall drown, no one will save me!" is a cry of despair, simply predicting imminent death: both are simple futures. "I will drown, no one shall save me!" is a suicide vow, a declaration that no one had better try to stop me.

fortune cookie

I can't remember if I ever posted this here, but the best fortune-cookie fortune I ever saw was one Jerry got a few years ago...

The greatest love of all is self love.

Hey HEY hey!

my favorite soap...

...has been discontinued...shoot, and probably a few years ago. Aagh. Now I've got to go to eBay and try to find more. If you come across and Pears Pure Care Cleansing Bar soap, I'll buy it from you!

When will you die?

When Will You Die? Online psychic predicts the date of your death.

My results:

According to our calculations you will die at 12:19 pm on Thursday, September 16th 2049.

Your age at the time of death will be approximately 85 years old.

Which is in 15690 days time.

white shoes in October?

Aagh, I found out today that I needed to have a pair of white shoes for my sister's wedding on the 14th. Where am I supposed to find white shoes, in October, in New England? Fortunately, eBay and Amazon came to the rescue. Thank God for the Internet!

So it's between these two pairs, the one above and the one below. Now that I think about it, I don't think I can manage 3-inch spike heels, not having any previous experience with something that precarious! Plus, standing on the balls of my feet for that long? Sounds like a mistake.

Susan Sontag quote

"I'm not pious. I'm co-pious."

Me, too.