1 Feb 06
Here is a collection of art, illustrations and cartoons depicting Mohammed. (Takes a very long time to load if you're still on dial-up) I believe the author of the website is trying to make a point regarding the contoversy over a series of cartoons published in a Danish newspaper. He notes that many of the images in the collection have been tolerated and some were even created by Muslims.
While the debate rages, an important point has been overlooked: despite the Islamic prohibition against depicting Mohammed under any circumstances, hundreds of paintings, drawings and other images of Mohammed have been created over the centuries, with nary a word of complaint from the Muslim world. The recent cartoons in Jyllands-Posten are nothing new; it's just that no other images of Mohammed have ever been so widely publicized
Now don't get me wrong here, I am on the side of freedom of expression and I think, more than anything, Islamists need to get a sense of humor (In fairness, the same could be said of some Christians) but I think perhaps it is the author who is overlooking a point. Respectful artwork is not the same thing as satirical cartoons and one certainly cannot expect the same response to these two different types images.
Anyway, I'm linking mainly for the art, which is interesting and, in many cases, beautiful.
Via Pious Agnostic.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:43 (category: Art) no comments
Rankinblog has a great, though rather sad, space post.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:26 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Andrew of gmtPlus9, after nearly 20 years in Japan, is in a new time zone but still finding interesting, artsy stuff to link.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:44 (category: General) no comments
Several odd and interesting paintings.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:01 (category: Art) no comments
Have you ever read a book that jumps back and forth between two or more different sub-plots and one is much more interesting than the other(s)? That's what I'm experiencing right now reading Cryptonomicon. The present-day, Randy and Avi in Manila part of it is, to me, quite a bit more entertaining than the WWII part. I expect that they'll all tie in together sooner or later but when it skips back to the WWII part I get mighty impatient to get back to the "good part."
I like some of the mini-stories, within the main story - like the story about Randy's uber-liberal girlfriend and her friends and the poster and the one about Randy's horrific problem with lawyers all because someone offered to pay him for something he hadn't done for money in the first place. These both take only a page or two and are self-contained within the larger story. I haven't gotten much farther than that since I haven't been spending much time on it. Still don't have a clue what the main story is about but I like Neal Stephenson's writing.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:27 (category: Wordy & Bookish) 5 comments!
2 Feb 06
From Yahoo News:
In an interview with ESPN, [Donovan] McNabb rehashed some of the low moments of his relationship with his teammate, making fun of [Terrell] Owens' driveway apology and bringing up the race angle.
In November, responding to a question from Michael Irvin during an ESPN interview, Owens said Philadelphia would likely be in a better situation if Brett Favre was the quarterback instead of the banged-up McNabb.
"It was like, it's unreal," McNabb said. "That's like me going out and saying, `Hey, if we had Steve Largent. If we had Joe Jurevicius. It was definitely a slap in the face to me. It was a slap in the face because, as deep as people want to go into it, it was black-on-black crime."
[...]
"It's different to say, `If we had Michael Vick or Daunte Culpepper or Steve McNair or Byron Leftwich," McNabb said of four black starting quarterbacks. "But to go straight to Brett Favre, that kind of just slapped me in the face like, `Wow ..."'
What the...? Can someone explain to me how that, by any stretch of a warped imagination, can be possibly be considered "black on black" crime? Are we supposed to believe that it is a "crime" for any black person to ever criticize another? I call foul on McNabb for unsportsman-like conduct.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:08 (category: News/Issues) no comments
I've never been a huge fan of Brahms - except for his German Requiem. It's not that I really dislike Brahms; I've just never understood why his music is supposed to be such a big deal. Why is he one of "The Three B's." Bach - Yes! Beethoven - Yes! Brahms - Huh? All I can think of is that people like three's and they like alliteration and at least Brahms is better than Bruckner.
On the other hand, I've listened to the 3rd and 4th symphonies a couple of times this week and I have to admit, they do have their moments - like the 3rd movement of the 3rd Symphony and the beginning of the 4th Symphony - so I keep thinking, maybe someday I'll get it.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:58 (category: Music) 2 comments!
Worthless Word for the Day - Worthless!? Picture me sputtering with indignation. But it's a pretty cool site even if the title does insult these wonderful, obscure words.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:58 (category: Wordy & Bookish) no comments
Sticks and Stones and Explosive Devices
If someone makes fun of you how smart is it to respond by behaving in exactly the manner that led them to make fun of you in the first place? Demonstrations? Boycotts? Death threats? Why can't they just publish insulting pictures of Jesus in Arab newspapers?
UPDATE: Related post at Cronaca.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:24 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Now here's an idea! More complicated than that, you say? Well, of course it is. But so is "saying no" to drugs.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:40 (category: News/Issues) no comments
The 50 Best Robots Ever - Includes both fictional and real robots. Hey, what about Twiki?
From Bibi, who has a several more robot links.
UPDATE: Made correction.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:53 (category: Web Surfing) 4 comments!
Several lovely illustrations. Be sure to look around the rest of BibliOdyssey - so many great pictures I want to link to them all.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:00 (category: Art) no comments
3 Feb 06
Recently discovered, a great food blog with the cool, culture-geeky name Principia Gastonomica.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:05 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
They can do such interesting things with concrete these days. (Via Gravity Lens)
posted by Lynn S @ 08:14 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Interesting post and discussion about the fate of the ancient Library of Alexandria. I'm going to try not to form any beliefs about this one way or the other, because it's probably impossible to know for sure, but isn't it interesting that lately there has been so much attempted revision of history (or de-bunking of popular myth) based on the fact that the existing sources are too recent and we're apparently supposed to accept the authority of sources that are even more recent than those we're told are too recent?
posted by Lynn S @ 12:49 (category: Culture ) no comments
You know you are living in 2006 when...
You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years
You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of four
You pull up in your own driveway and use your mobile phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
Leaving the house without your mobile phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it
More. A few of them are recyled from the "You know you're living in the '90's" list but some are new.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:17 (category: General) 1 comment
Tursiops.org is "dedicated and devoted to dolphins." Has weblog, forums and more but much of the site is restricted to members only.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:30 (category: Science & Nature) 1 comment
Want a picture of your pet in uniform but s/he won't cooperate? Pets in Uniform is there to help. (Of course, if you're good with photoshop you can do it yourself.) I don't really understand the appeal of pets in human clothes, especially military uniforms. It might work for dogs but, as noted here, where I found the link, it would be more appropriate to dress cats as royalty.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:46 (category: Weird and Wonderful Web) 1 comment
6 Feb 06
I was busy during most of the first half of the game. Based on the part I saw, It wasn't a spectacularly exciting game but not bad and I am pleased with the outcome. I wouldn't have been terribly disappointed if Seattle had won but it's great that Jerome Bettis gets to retire with a Superbowl win as his last game.
By the way, Ben Roethlisberger has several new posts on his blog. I hadn't checked it for a while because I didn't expect anything new until after the Superbowl.
But now on to the "important" stuff: the commercials. There have been better years for Superbowl commericals but there have also been worse. As usual, Budweiser had the best ones. I laughed at the "streaker" commercial but didn't think it was as good as the earlier one in that series - the one with the zebra. I thought the commnercial for some kind of pickup, with the mud-flap girl and Yosimite Sam was clever. (Is it really a good commericial if you don't remember the name of the product?)
posted by Lynn S @ 08:01 (category: Culture Too) no comments
A happy 50th birthday to Terry Teachout. Great post. A few of the things in his "Here's how old I am" list apply to me too. Yikes. Let's just keep telling ourselves, "Fifty is the new thirty."
posted by Lynn S @ 09:02 (category: General) no comments
As I was lunching on some nachos made from fixings left over from last night's Superbowl feast, I got to thinking... Suppose that somewhere out there, there is a planet populated by an intelligent race who consider all functions related to digestion, including eating, to be private and just about equally disgusting. Maybe their speaking/breathing apparatus is not in any way connected with their digestive system but the important point is that, from the time they're old enough to feed themselves, these "people" never eat or drink in front of others. But they like to party as much as humans do. What do you think their celebrations would be like? It's hard to imagine a holiday or even a casual gathering without food.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:17 (category: Science Fiction) 4 comments!
One day the British foreign secretary will wake up and discover that, in practice, there's very little difference between living under Exquisitely Refined Multicultural Sensitivity and Sharia.
One can only hope. That, of course, applies to Americans as well. Via Armavirumque. An excellent related post at Armavirumque.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:43 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Blue Tea has a great collection of unusual photography links with sample images from each.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:27 (category: Art) 3 comments!
After being out of action for a while, Chan reviews movies, one old, one recent.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:38 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
7 Feb 06
Everybody's doing it. Well, maybe not everybody; he did it and she did it. So now I'm doing it. SnapShirts will find the most often used words on your site and use them to build a "word cloud" and put them on a t-shirt. Here's mine:
You know, I bet those nice folks at SnapShirts wish we would all quit doing this and just buy the doggone t-shirt already. Maybe I will, after I write some more about Mozart, Dvorak, Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Palestrina and maybe Firefly.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:58 (category: Blogginess) 5 comments!
Odd Bits linked to this disturbing image at Flickr. The fifth comment has several links. Somewhere (can't remember where) I found a link to My Heart's in Accra which has several more links, in this post, including one to a Global Voices post that has translations from Arabic language blogs.
Notice something about these opinions from the Arab blogs: even the most tolerant message is very one sided, suggesting that the West needs to be educated. Okay, I'm all for education. I freely admit that many of us - and by "us" I mean both America and Europe - often act like insensitive jackasses. But many of us have also been trying very hard to understand the Muslim world and bending over backwards to be sensitive. But in all the time since 9/11, we have seen one message from the peaceful side of the Muslim world: "Understand us." Where are all the questions from Muslims asking, "Why don't they respect our religion?" "Why do they associate Islam with violence?" "What is wrong in our culture?" "What changes do we need to make?"
We, in the West, are constantly asking ourselves these questions but self-evaluation seems to be a totally alien concept in the Muslim world. Education is always a good thing so why not have it flowing both ways? If I could teach Muslims one thing it would be this: Freedom of expression is just as important to us as your religion is to you. If you want us to respect your religion, respect our freedom. And humor is pretty important to us too. It's one way we have of relieving stress. You should try it sometime. It's much neater and more efficient than rioting.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:12 (category: News/Issues) 3 comments!
This is just too... too... I don't even know what to say. Maybe I should just go listen to a little Bach and wait for the Earth to settle back into its proper orbit. Via the newly retro-pastel Llama Butchers.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:08 (category: Culture Too) 1 comment
Three posts at Ursi's Blog, beginning here.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:36 (category: Art) no comments
City Data looks like a useful and interesting site. It has detailed statistics on US cities and towns. I browsed through several states and didn't see anything with a population under 200 but I'm impressed that they have info on so many small, obscure places.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:53 (category: General) 1 comment
The Daily Grail is a weblog with loads of links, mostly related to history, culture, myths, magic, mysticism and science.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:10 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
8 Feb 06
I have stopped watching Lost. I didn't want to but there are conflicts. We no longer have the ability to record a show while we watch a different show. I'm not really up on the latest technology so please tell me if I'm wrong about this but it is my understanding that in order to have the ability to record shows for later viewing one must pay a monthly fee. This, I refuse to do.
I have no problem with people making money by providing services but when they require me to pay an additional fee for something I've been legally doing for years, for free, that is just wrong, wrong, wrong. It's extortion. We still have our VCR hooked in amoung our slightly scary mass of not-quite-modern technology but since we got cable it is not possible to program it. We can only watch tapes or record the show we are watching. Or we can turn it on and leave and it will keep recording until it runs out of tape. I suppose, sooner or later we will succumb to the demands of our corporate overlords. I was pretty much the same way about cable, though not anywhere near as P.O.'ed about it, but now that we have it, it doesn't seem so bad. I just really hate never-ending monthly fees.
Anyway... where was I? Oh yes, Lost. A few weeks ago, after several weeks of re-runs, they started advertising an "all new Lost". Finally, a new episode! Finally, I get to see what happens next. BUT, there was also a new Mythbusters on at the same time. The guys were excited about it and I really like Myth Busters myself so we have been watching Mythbusters instead of Lost. I hate missing it but when I think about, hour for hour, which show gives the most enjoyment for the hour of my life that I'm giving up, Mythbusters comes out way ahead. Shows like Lost just go on and on, offering up a few crumbs every week to keep you following the trail in the hope that you will eventually come to the whole cake.
The only fictional series I've been watching lately are the Sci-Fi Channel's Friday night lineup: the two Stargates and Battlestar Galactica. These have continuing story arcs but they also, usually, have a complete story in each episode which makes them much more watchable. If they go on hiatus or have several reruns in a row you know that when they finally come back you won't be totally confused because you forgot what happened in the last six episodes.
In particular, Battlestar Galactica has been great the last few weeks. [SPOILER] I was a little disappointed that they killed off Admiral Kane so soon. Obviously she had to go but that character could have provided a few more weeks of entertainment. [END SPOILER] I'm also getting more hooked on Stargate: Atlantis and somewhat less hooked on Stargate: SG1 since they got rid of almost all of the old cast. I've been watching the reruns of the older episodes on Monday night.
~ ~ ~
About two and half weeks ago one of the cable channels had a three-hour-long computer animated show about dinosaurs. Since the grandson was here we started watching it. It was sort of like a typical nature documentary. The narrator had a quiet, hypnotic voice and the dinosaurs going about their normal activities didn't seem terribly exciting. Within the first five minutes I was bored and expected that the guys (both big and little) would be even more so but the little guy sat watching it quietly for a whole hour (He's never still and quiet for more than half a minute!) and I started getting into it. It was sort of strange though... it's not that I was really getting into it, as in being interested in the show; there was just something about sitting there listening to that voice that put me in a pleasant state. I was a little disappointed when, after the first hour, the guys decided to switch to something else.
That got me to thinking about something: Are we making kids hyper by letting them watch a lot of loud, action-packed TV? Are we teaching them that being loud and hyper is fun? Even The Little Guy, who is the most hyper kid I've ever known was perfectly happy to sit quietly watching a quiet show for an entire hour. If it's interesting it doesn't need to be loud but once they're conditioned to like loud things they start automatically dismissing quiet things as "boring." Just a thought.
~ ~ ~
We recently watched The Blues Brothers again. For a few years, back in the '90's, it seemed like this movie was on one channel or another at least once a month and we watched several times a year until I got burned out on it so when the guys picked it I had not planned to watch but, surprisingly, I started really enjoying it. This is a great movie. Lots of great music, a fun, silly plot, neo-nazis getting tossed into a river... What more could you want in a movie? Trivia: how many times did Dan Akroyd say, "We're on a mission from God."? We counted seven. How many cars were wrecked? I haven't a clue.
~ ~ ~
Other semi-regular viewing: On Saturday mornings I like to watch Gardening by the Yard. The host, Paul James, is rather entertaining and he lives in Oklahoma so a lot of the stuff on the show is actually useful to me. I also watch Curb Appeal and another landscape makeover show, that I can't remember the name of. Some of the people on these shows spend more money on their yards than what my whole house and acreage cost and even the smallest "budgets" are more than the price of most cars but it's fun to see the transformation.
I often watch Modern Marvels on The History Channel and various shows on National Geographic and a few other shows of that kind. And that just about sums up my TV viewing.
UPDATE: On the question of car crashes.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:36 (category: Culture Too) 7 comments!
I got a mention in this Urban Tulsa article about Tulsa area bloggers. I'm way down at the bottom. The listing is not exactly accurate. The description makes this blog sound a lot more artsy than it actually is and I have no idea where Cookson Hills is but I guess it's okay if everyone thinks I live there because I try to keep my actual location a secret.
But enough about me. The best thing about the article is that it has links to a number of Tulsa area blogs including several that are new to me.
UPDATE: Quite a few of the "links" in the article are not clickable. Being a link-hungry blogger myself, I hate to see these folks deprived of a link so...
Tulsa Chiggers - Sort of sounds like a youth soccer team. It's actually about local current events, as are most of these.
Living on Tulsa Time
MedBlogged
Don Singleton
No Blog of Significance
New Black Thought - Has been a couple of weeks since the last update.
An Audience of One - Not just current events; more of a general interest blog. A lot about education. I like this one.
Marsupial Mom - Homeschooling and general bloggy stuff. Updates closer to weekly than daily.
I couldn't help but notice that The Incurable Insomniac wasn't mentioned at all. I'm sure there are others; it would be impossible to be all-inclusive. So let's make this a Tulsa area bloggers round-up. If you know of a blog located, more or less, somewhere around Tulsa, please post a link in the comments. PLEASE NOTE: Comments containing more than two links are automatically rejected. Sorry, it's an anti-spam thing.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:10 (category: Blogginess) no comments
Good point. (That's on one of those Tulsa blogs I just discovered.)
posted by Lynn S @ 11:27 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Brian Micklethwait has a couple of links related to the controversy of the week.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:45 (category: News/Issues) no comments
A typical misconception about people who are interested in high culture.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:57 (category: Culture ) no comments
... what this searcher was actually looking for.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:02 (category: Blogginess) no comments
"I have not yet in all my wanderings," he wrote to his sister, "found a single person so free as myself. When in the woods I sit for hours watching birds or squirrels or looking down into the faces of flowers without suffering any feeling of haste."
More. I was just noticing the clock down in the corner of the screen and wondering how it got to be this late in the day. I should spend more time in the woods. (Except that it's sort of... seasonal out there today.)
posted by Lynn S @ 14:08 (category: General) no comments
9 Feb 06
I had another of my weird house dreams this morning. I occasionally have these dreams in which I've just moved into a house or, sometimes, just looking at a house but it's never a normal house. For as long as the dream lasts I keep finding more rooms.
This time the house was an old-fashioned, run down bungalow - the kind that normally has a living room, dining room and kitchen on one side and two or three bedrooms and a bath on the other. At first I thought I knew what I was going to find, just an ordinary six room bungalow, but as usual, when I started looking around I kept finding more and more rooms, some in places where I had previously found other rooms.
The first thing I remember I was in the living room. I looked out the big picture window and saw a big dog with a sign hanging from its neck but he walked away and I didn't get a chance to read the sign. The walls and ceiling were very dirty. I took a swipe at the walls with a sponge and the gunk came off easily but the ceiling was very high and I worried about how I was going to clean the walls higher up and the ceiling. The living room was the one thing that stayed the same. Throughout the whole dream I kept coming back and worrying about how I was going to clean the ceiling.
Behind the living room was the kitchen and behind that an empty room that had a door into the back yard and, to the left, a door into another room. After that is when it started getting weird and I kept finding new rooms. At the time it was all very clear and detailed but I can't remember most of those details now. Most of the rooms were empty or almost empty. The floor in some rooms was wood but in most old, worn linoleum with a different pattern in every room. There were always loose boards, usually just inside the door. I found three kitchens.
After a while, the floors in each room started getting increasingly bad. Some were visibly sagging in the middle and one was sloping. At some point I woke up (obviously) for no particular reason other than it was past time for me to wake up. I was a little disappointed. Whenever I have one of these house dreams I always want to keep going until I've seen all of the rooms.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:59 (category: Inner Space) 5 comments!
We received a rather amusing communiqué from the cable company. Six months ago we signed up and got a six month introductory rate. This week we recieved a big shiny card, a little larger than a business size envelope announcing that the introductory rate has been extended for another three months. This is much appreciated so I sort of feel a little bad about making fun of them but I can't help laughing at this.
On one side of the card, in large gold script on a bronzy red background (very formal and important looking) it says "Because you have entrusted your TV Entertainment to [us]" Wow. I didn't just sign up with them because they're there and they didn't make me sign a contract or pay a huge installation fee; I have entrusted my TV Entertainment to them. Apparently we're talking about big, important stuff here. My TV Entertainment... and I have entrusted it to them.
Trust is a big deal these days because it seems like you can't trust anyone. I get the point of the ad. They're trying to keep me from switching and what they're really saying is "trust us, don't trust those other guys." Well, I don't trust those other guys but I don't particularly trust my present cable company either. I don't trust them not to raise their rates in the future and I don't trust them to keep providing the same level of service or to always do what they say they'll do. Five years ago they said they would start providing broadband Internet service within two years and now, five years later, they still don't have it. When I signed up six months ago they said they were going to start providing Internet service eight months from that date. That would be about two months from now. Do I trust them to actually do so? No way. I'll believe it when I see it. And when (or if) they finally do get around to providing Internet service will I trust it not to suck? Absolutely no way.
But, trust or not, you have to make choices. When you choose one company over another, maybe there's a little bit of trust involved or maybe just less distrust. Mostly, our choices are based on a comparison of prices, services and convenience. Either that or whoever has the catchiest ad.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:26 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) no comments
More On the Cartoon Controversy
Texas Best Grok links to an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
SPIEGEL: What should the appropriate European response look like?
Hirsi Ali: There should be solidarity. The cartoons should be displayed everywhere. After all, the Arabs can't boycott goods from every country. They're far too dependent on imports. And Scandinavian companies should be compensated for their losses. Freedom of speech should at least be worth that much to us.
SPIEGEL: But Muslims, like any religious community, should also be able to protect themselves against slander and insult.
Hirsi Ali: That's exactly the reflex I was just talking about: offering the other cheek. Not a day passes, in Europe and elsewhere, when radical imams aren't preaching hatred in their mosques. They call Jews and Christians inferior, and we say they're just exercising their freedom of speech. When will the Europeans realize that the Islamists don't allow their critics the same right? After the West prostrates itself, they'll be more than happy to say that Allah has made the infidels spineless.
~ ~ ~
Mean Mr. Mustard also recommends the "offensive" approach.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:59 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Rave, of the week-old blog Quid Nunc, is the mom of three teenagers and "stepmom" to a 17 foot boa constrictor so you know she's got something entertaining to say. Found at Bad Example. Hmmmm... I wonder if Harvey has a thing for married women from Oklahoma.
posted by Lynn S @ 16:09 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
Composer Fred Himebaugh is searching for poetry "...with orthodox Christian theology implicit or explicit". Go read his post for the other requirements and if you have suggestions post them in his comments.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:59 (category: Music) no comments
10 Feb 06
What you might find when you return to work after a long vacation.
Via Jaf Project
posted by Lynn S @ 07:47 (category: General) 2 comments!
This is not an advertisement. I just want to let everyone know that I am impressed with Territorial Seed Company. On February 3rd, exactly a week ago today, I sent an order via snail mail for several packets of flower seeds and I received the order yesterday! That's some fast snail, huh? (I guess I have to give the Post Office some credit too.)
Now it's up to me to get all this stuff to grow. I plan to sow most of the seeds directly in the ground so I had better wait at least six weeks. The spring-like weather we've been having here makes me impatient to get started but even this far south mother nature occasionally likes to smite us with a late March or even an early April snow storm so we must beware of an excess of optimism. For now I must be content with a few crocus blooms and the green tips of daffodils peeking out of the soil.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:39 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) no comments
Sometimes the door gives me such a feeling of power.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:40 (category: Photos 2006) 6 comments!
13 Feb 06
The Olympics and Other Weekend TV
I didn't watch the Opening Ceremonies. This year I have been less interested in the Olympics than ever before. Or at least I was before it started. I didn't even realize that the opening was this past Friday until sometime that day and as always I had been looking forward to "Sci-Fi Friday". Of course all those shows will be rerun multiple times but that wasn't the point. It was just a matter of how I wanted to spend my Friday evening.
Saturday was a total veg-out day. I watched HGTV for a while as usual. It was a notable morning. I actually got through both Landscape Smart and Curb Appeal without once hearing the hated words, "water feature." Common, sensible words like "fountain" and "pond" seem to be taboo on these shows. I hope this is the beginning of a trend - courageous designers daring to call things what they are.
Saturday afternoon and evening we watched the Olympics. I'm so glad it's on NBC again this time. They seem less inclined to try to turn it all into a soap opera than CBS. (Besides, I'm still holding a grudge against CBS for not showing all of the Ode to Joy performance during the Opening Ceremonies of the Nagano Olympics.) I enjoyed it all but so far I'm not overwhelmingly excited about any of it. I'm looking forward to more speed skating, skiing, luge and bobsled and tentatively looking forward to figure skating. It would be nice to be able to just enjoy the beauty of the sport without being bothered with some kind of scandal. I'm not sure about the new scoring system. If it helps prevent cheating that's a good thing but I sort of miss seeing the whole row of scores come up. I'm just a traditionalist I guess.
Sunday was not quite as much of a veg-out day. We did actually leave the house for a while, but then came back home and veged out some more. In other words, a great weekend.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:05 (category: Culture Too) no comments
Theoretical situation (or at least, let's say it's theoretical): A conservative young man, has had his own bank account for a couple of years, never makes large purchases, one day decides to buy something costing several hundred dollars. But the store rejects both his check and his debit card because the purchase doesn't fit his typical pattern.
This is intended to prevent identity theft but it also prevents one from legitimately making unusual purchases. It seems that once you have established a spending pattern you are never allowed to make purchases that do not fit that pattern. How does one get past this? If this had happened to me I would be all over my bank for causing me such inconvenience and embarrassement. To put it mildly, there would be words.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:30 (category: General) 2 comments!
Some people might find this site disturbing but I trust that there will be no rioting.
Via Neurastenia.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:18 (category: Weird and Wonderful Web) 3 comments!
14 Feb 06
Diversity, Or Something Not Quite Like It
One of the more maddening and/or amusing characteristics of the academic avant-garde (and its apologists) is the way 1) They like to set themselves up as spokespeople for something called "diversity" yet at the same time 2) They insist that all good and progressive people must, simply must, think and act alike.
From Michael at 2 Blowhards in a post about modern architecture.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:45 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Apparently, it is now illegal to possess sugar.
Via Byzantium's Shores.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:05 (category: News/Issues) 1 comment
Patty talks about problems with new operas.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:16 (category: Music) no comments
What Did Historical Swords Weigh? - Informative article (with photos) about medieval weapons.
Via Antigravitas.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:57 (category: Culture ) 1 comment
I've been tagged to "list five weird habits you have." I've seen this one going around and have been thinking about what I would list if I got tagged. This is a tough one. Most of my habits seem normal to me and it's hard to tell what might be "weird" to someone else. Nothing on Blue Tea's list seems weird to me and numbers 4 and 5 could go on my list. But, anyway, without further procrastination, here are five things about me, not necessarily weird and not necessarily "habits," just five things.
1. It is important to me to wear red, white and blue on the Fourth of July and other patriotic days and it is fairly important to me to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. Not sure why on that last one because otherwise I don't do anything to celebrate.
2.If I'm the last person in my house to go bed I compulsively check several times to make sure the door is locked and everything's turned off.
3. I automatically assume that I will not like things that are "too popular." Sometimes I'm wrong and I'm not snobby about popular stuff. If I find out I like something popular I'm okay with it but I generally don't rush out to see, hear or try the latest thing that everyone's excited about.
4. I sew on an antique treadle sewing machine and have never had any desire to have a new, modern machine. I even stitch buttonholes by hand.
5. Sometimes I fantasize about what I would do if I had the ability to rule the world with god-like powers. (No, you don't want to know.)
I'm supposed to tag five other people but I think almost everyone has done this already. If you want to do it, consider yourself tagged.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:16 (category: Blogginess) 2 comments!
15 Feb 06
Captain Picard has a blog. I'm not sure about this. Something seems to be not quite right. That unmistakeable Picard persona is not coming through. I expected his writing to be more elegant and formal even on a blog because Jean-Luc is always elegant and formal and very, very correct. Could this be [gasp!] a spoof? Perhaps some disgruntled non-com posing as the captain.
Found on Steph's blogroll.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:48 (category: Science Fiction) 1 comment
Songs of My Heart is a well-written blog by a romantic cowboy from British Columbia, Canada.
UPDATE: He's moved.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:03 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
I decided to have a Dvorak day today. Well, mostly. I've listened to some other music too but more Dvorak than anything else.
Most recently, my favorites have been the Stabat Mater and Requiem but the works that got me hooked on Dvorak in the first place were his Serenade for Strings, Serenade for Winds, one of the few pieces for winds that I really like, the American String Quartet (no. 12) and of course, Symphony No. 9, "From the New World". I have also always been very fond of Symphony No. 6, the other late string quartets, several of the Slavonic Dances and a lovely little piece I haven't heard in a while called In Nature's Realm.
Several years ago I bought a CD of the four hands piano version of the Slavonic Dances and, being the oddball that I am, I prefer it over the more well-known orchestrated version. Numbers 6 and 7, especially, sound perfect on piano. I haven't gotten around to these yet today.
In addtion to having a Dvorak day I also need to have, at least partly, an outdoor day. It's nearly 80° F out there. I simply cannot waste a day like this.
Here is a list of works by Dvorak. It appears to be complete and has a lot of additional information, such as publication dates.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:22 (category: Music) 2 comments!
16 Feb 06
I like this.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:56 (category: Wordy & Bookish) no comments
Steph has a complaint: (Feb. 16)
I've been in the Blogosphere long enough to have seen nearly every question meme that's out there. I've even answered most of them. Most appear to be written by teenaged girls for teenaged girls, however. I don't know about you, but I get tired of being asked what my favorite boy band is and what my favorite subject in school is.
Indeed! Unfortunately, Steph's questions aren't really my style either. Personally, I would like to see some questionnaires that ask for my favorite "musical ensemble" instead of my favorite "band"; some that ask for my favorite "musical composition" instead of my favorite "song". I would, once in a while, like to see a questionnaire that does not ask me any bedroom questions or what singer or Hollywood star I have a crush on. I would like to see a questionnaire that does not ask me to pick my favorites from pairs of items that I have either never heard of or to which I am equally indifferent.
So maybe I'll make up my own. But then no one, or at most only one or two people, would answer it and then I would be annoyed about never being able to start a "meme". Then I would be annoyed at myself for caring even one little bit about this silly stuff. But, I don't know... maybe I'll do it anyway (sometime) and maybe I'll tag a few people.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:36 (category: Blogginess) 2 comments!
From Damn Interesting:
At the age of 52 when her children were full-grown, she and her children underwent genetic testing for a possible kidney transplant. Completely unexpectedly, two of her three children tested as genetically not hers. A mix-up of babies was ruled out, and she and her husband had not undergone in vitro fertilization, so it was absolute that her children were hers.
Fascinating. Nature can be so bizarre sometimes. The last sentence is a bit chilling. Something to think about.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:04 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
Some "fortunate" people don't need alarm clocks. Unlike Fred, I'm having no difficulty finding the situation amusing. Being thousands of miles away helps a lot.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:14 (category: General) no comments
Bad Ads - Advertisements from the 40's and 50's that are amusing now, though they probably weren't back then.
Via Grow-a-Brain.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:23 (category: Culture Too) no comments
Thump Thump - "A blog to read in the dark". Or, perhaps you might want to leave the lights on if you're bothered by things that go bump... er, "thump thump" in the night. Very interesting links and I love the page design.
Via Incoming Signals.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:34 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
The Importance of "Proper Documentation"
This is seriously weird. I almost agree with Tim regarding the "craziest part". Is this a matter of poor editing or is it actually possible to obtain documentation authorizing one to smuggle bizarre, creepy stuff?
posted by Lynn S @ 19:40 (category: General) no comments
17 Feb 06
Oh dear! Some of my democrat readers may hate me for this but I think the photo with caption at the bottom of this post is hilarious. It's only a joke, folks. Keep it light.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:42 (category: News/Issues) no comments
American Poems - "237 poets, 7991 poems." There are several sections: Top 40 poems, Love poems, poetry discussion, etc. and it's searchable.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:14 (category: Wordy & Bookish) no comments
Island of Freedom looks like a very interesting site. I've barely begun to explore it. Main menu items include: Theologians, Philosophers, Composers, Artists and five more sections.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:26 (category: Culture ) 1 comment
Heh. Some people will say it's about time.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:34 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Simplicity - a great link blog with a very cool page design.
Ooooo... I want this.
Hmmmm.... very interesting.
Uhhhh... great idea but what do they taste like? And how did they come up with that name? I've never associated Vivaldi with potatos.
Lots more where those came from.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:45 (category: Web Surfing) 3 comments!
19 Feb 06
Oh goody! It's a movie quote party.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:24 (category: Culture Too) no comments
Sort of (but not exactly) stealing an idea from Byzantium's Shores...
Astonished Head: "...if I don't get If I don't get a cup of the browned juicings of the naughty bean soon, I'll be stealing televisions and turning tricks for Japanese businessman.
Pop Occulture: "Or maybe there’s just some kind of energy there that draws people out who have a substantially different mental configuration."
Brian Micklethwait: More and more of our lives are now spent as film extras. "
Oboeinsight: "After using my very small brain all day, I will have to turn it back on when I get to the pit. "
Hucbald: "This embarrassment of riches has required me to make certain decisions to restrict the possibilities so as to keep this piece under control."
HMNH:"It may be that kicking venom is as fundamentally mammalian as fur or milk."
The Llama Butchers: "He sounds like a drinker of Seagram's and Seven-Up complaining about the icky taste of single malt Scotch."
Play One On TV: "I would have sworn that only a Martian invasion could keep the Bible Belt home on Sunday morning."
posted by Lynn S @ 20:03 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
20 Feb 06
Women, Men and Grown-up Societies
From Odd Bits:
Yesterday morning I sent an e-mail to my young Iranian friend. I don't remember now what the subject was, but the message was typical of the sort of correspondence that has passed back and forth between us for several months now, during which she has earned my respect and affection. She is kind, decent, thoughtful, highly intelligent, well-read, and sensitive. She is obviously deeply religious, but without appearing fanatical in any way. And of course, she is a Muslim, and from what I see, I believe she represents her faith as well as I hope I do mine.
[...]
It occurred to me then that of the Muslims who over the years had left me with such favorable impressions of their faith, every single one had been female. I know there are exceptions to this, of course, including the recently-elected member of the Palestinian parliament, who, having already given the world one suicide bomber, publicly announced that she wanted her 17-year-old son to sacrifice himself in yet another suicide bombing and take a few innocent Israelis with him. But still, there appear to be far more angry young men in the Islamic world than angry young women.
Like most people, I have thought about the effect of the two religions - Christianity and Islam - on the two societies - Western and Eastern. I had been thinking that the difference might be in what the founders of the two religions represent as symbols. Jesus lived a life of poverty and celibacy and never raised a sword against an enemy. Though very few of us choose such a life ourselves it is a powerful example, an ideal, that we look to. But, if you take an honest look at both history and current events, that hypothesis begins to crumble. For centuries, Christians continued to commit acts of barbarism in the name of Christianity and even today people who seem to have a burning desire to oppress others, halt progress and generally inflict their will upon all of society use Christianity as their excuse, mostly ignoring what Jesus said and looking to the Old Testament to find passages that support their own desires. Clearly, religion does not transform society but rather, society determines the nature of religion.
So what has made the difference in Western society? Three things, I think.
1. Respect for women. This does not necessarily mean the genderless society of feminist fantasies, but merely that women's opinions matter, that women are seen as independent, intelligent, worthwhile beings, not as property. So many of the events we're hearing about in the news point to the fact that some people really just need to grow up. Who teaches you to "grow up"? Your mother of course. It is also important to society that men must "win" women instead of merely possessing them. When women have a choice most will choose men who are civlized at least to the point of staying home and taking care of the family instead of running around blowing things up.
2. Monogamy. This goes along with #1 and I thought about making it part of the same paragraph. Quite simply, where polygamy is practiced it is much more likely that there will not be enough women to go around. Combined with #3, this means that there will be many more young men who have nothing better to do than run around blowing things up.
3. More choices and opportunities for young people. Young men should be dreaming about cars and the possibility of getting a girl in the back seat (whether they actually do or not) not the mythical rewards of martyrdom. They should have sucky jobs at fast food joints so they will have the money to get the car and the girl. They should be able to plan for college and to expect that someday they will have a not-sucky job. They should have football games, cute cheerleaders in short skirts, bad music, bad movies, video game parlors and all the pop culture trash that we love to loathe. It's part of growing up - a little freedom, the opportunity to make bad choices and learn from one's mistakes and finally, to grow up.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:15 (category: News/Issues) 2 comments!
Quote from Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom:
"He enters the classroom, sits down, doesn't say anything. He looks at us, we look at him. At first, there are a few giggles, but Morrie only shrugs, and eventually a deep silence falls and we begin noticing the smallest sounds, the radiator humming in the corner of the room, the nasal breathing of one of the students. Some of us are agitated. When is he going to say something? We squirm, check our watches. A few students look out the window, trying to be above it all. This goes on for a good fifteen minutes, before Morrie breaks in with a whisper. 'What's happening here?' he asks. And slowly a discussion begin -- as Morrie has wanted all along -- about the effect of silence on human relations. Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?"
Thanks Steph.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:16 (category: Inner Space) 1 comment
...this one had pretty pictures.* I don't know if I like this result or not. I think I probably have more evil stepmother/wicked witch qualities than princess/heroine qualities so this might not be a good quiz for me. (Besides, I have big feet.)
You're Cinderella.
"Turn and peep, turn and peep,
no blood is in the shoe,
the shoe is not too small for her,
the true bride rides with you."
Which FAIRY TALE PRINCESS are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Spotted at Fillyjonk's Progress.
(*The "I don't do quizzes" thing is a running joke, in case you haven't figured that out yet.)
posted by Lynn S @ 12:29 (category: Blogginess) no comments
An Eudaemonist has a wealth of links relating to social class, labor and culture.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:56 (category: Culture ) no comments
The irony of the situation would not have been lost on Philip K. Dick. An android designed to imitate the late great science fiction author has gone missing while being transported from Chicago to California.
Found at Arthur D. Hlavaty's Livejournal, which I found at Antigravitas.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:14 (category: Science Fiction) no comments
From The Speculist:
...existing energy technologies -- on their own -- are not going to cut it. So much of the thinking that takes place in the political sphere, where energy is concerned, is predicated on existing technologies and usage patterns or, at best, linear extrapolations therefrom. This kind of thinking leads to zero-sum-game realpolitick whereby we identify countries like Saudi Arabia as our "friends." It also provides the rationale for those who claim that the US interest in Iraq must be primarily about the oil.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:21 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Don't click here if you hate puns.
Unrelated: Sooner or later I'll have to do the sci-fi profile quiz in the post underneath that one but not today. I'm already over my quiz limit. (Which, of course, is 0.)
posted by Lynn S @ 13:26 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
Heh. Pig in Space and some new emoticons.
Pig via Dustbury.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:20 (category: News/Issues) no comments
At first glance I thought this quilt was a photo. Of course, when you really look it's easy to see that it's just fabric but it's still pretty amazing.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:29 (category: Art) no comments
I'm almost a week late with this but this collection of Valentines Day links is still worth a look. Don't miss the Star Wars valentines.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:40 (category: General) 3 comments!
21 Feb 06
After many weeks of something between autumn and spring, but nothing even remotely resembling winter, we are finally experiencing some real winter weather. It started with sleet. For a few minutes it was coming down so fast it looked like a shower of white sparks in the outdoor light just outside our living room window. But the sleet soon ended as tiny flakes of snow began to fall and Saturday morning we had three inches of fine, powdery snow on the ground.
It didn't get above 12° F all day Saturday. The wind was strong enough to blow almost all the snow off the trees. The cats insisted on going outside but after a brief excursion they decided that indoors was the place to be so all three of them curled up and went to sleep and didn't move for over twelve hours. I was not quite that inanimate myself but not far from it. Sunday I did go outside for a short walk and even though it was still below 20° F there was no wind so it wasn't half bad.
I expected that most of the snow would melt yesterday but it only got up to about 35° F so, except for some fallen leaves and tufts of grass sticking out, the ground is still covered with a layer of crunchy white stuff. It's still cloudy this morning. The forecast says that it will warm up a little and that we might get rain. It looks like winter will be with us for at least a week. It's actually sort of nice. Normally we're all sick of winter by the middle of February but this year it's a novelty and a welcome change from several months of drought.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:33 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) no comments
It's been several years since I played any video or computer games but these look interesting.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:50 (category: General) 1 comment
As Brian said, this is a fascinating object. I would like to see it in action.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:04 (category: General) no comments
This is unbelievable! I've always known that Californians are nuts but... but...
I just discovered that teaching music in your own home is against the law in Burbank, California. That’s right…read that first sentence again. The law’s been on the books since 1998 due to neighbor complaints about loitering while waiting for lessons to begin and parents parking on the street.
Damn bunch of whiney babies. Like Paul said...
Really... people have to learn to iron out little problems with their neighbors rather than running to legislators at the drop of a hat.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:38 (category: Music) 3 comments!
Not the kind of spam you keep having to delete from your comments and your inbox - the kind that comes in a can. The Spam Haiku Archive has over 19,000 "SPAM-ku" plus Spam sonnets, Spam limericks and other Spam poetic forms. Warning: some of the haiku are... um... R-rated. At least.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:11 (category: Culture Too) no comments
Someone please tell me that Why Mommy is a Democrat is satire. It couldn't be better satire if the Republicans had made it up but I have found nothing to indicate that it is not meant to be completely serious. I am getting tired of the Republicans so somebody please, please make the Democrats stop being creepy.
Found at DotClue.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:21 (category: News/Issues) 1 comment
Technovelgy has articles about real technology inspired by or in some way related to science fiction technology. Hmmmm... I sure hope they're being careful with those evil twin experiments.
Via Gravity Lens.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:54 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
There are two winter Olympic sports that sort of surprise me. One is snowboarding, which I always thought was just some weird American thing, and the other is curling, which I thought was just some weird Canadian thing. Actually, I had never heard of curling until one or two Olympiads ago when they featured it on one of those two-minute Olympic oddities fillers but the second I saw it I immediately thought it looked like some kind of weird Canadian thing.
But that was, as I said, a couple of Olympiads ago. This Olympics, Number #2 Son and I have been watching curling every afternoon. Fascinating. Where has this game been all my life? At first I thought I would just watch it for a few minutes but then my son came home from work and we started talking about it, trying to figure it out and before we knew what was happening we were talking about it as if we actually understand what's going on - which we really don't but we're starting to catch on.
The curling commentators on CNBC are some of the most annoying sports commentators I've ever heard. They are arrogant and one of them is critical almost to the point of being rude. We're loving to hate the commentators almost as much as we're enjoying the sport. I have to admit, they are somewhat useful in helping us understand what's happening on the ice. I hope some of the sports channels will keep on showing curling after the Olympics are over. It's bad enough to have to endure seven months without football but four years without curling... that's a long time to suffer sports withdrawal.
posted by Lynn S @ 18:46 (category: Culture Too) 3 comments!
22 Feb 06
I've been tagged. These are all pretty good questions and I can actually answer most of them.
1: Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?
It depends on the movie. I like both. I also like when they do unusual, artistic things with color, like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, for example.
2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?
Almost any topic can be either interesting or boring depending on who's participating in the conversation but if I have to pick just one topic it's relationships. There's nothing worse than being surrounded by women who just go on and on and on about their relationships.
3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?
CDs, but records are okay too, just less convenient. (and more scratchy)
4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going ... Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?
No way! I couldn't. If I did take it I would cheat immediately.
5: Seriously, what do you consider the world's most pressing issue now?
Lack of education or poor education. A lot of the world's problems could be solved or at least would be more managable if everyone was better educated. Uneducated or poorly educated people are too easily manipulated by the wrong kind of people.
6: How would you rectify the world's most pressing issue?
If I was dictator of the world I would work with educators to create an education plan and then require that everyone in the world attend school and not be allowed to leave school until they pass the minimum requirements but, as things are in reality, I don't know.
7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?
I'm not sure. Probably something small - something I said that I shouldn't have or something I should have done that I didn't do.
8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?
I would prevent the great library of Alexandria from being destroyed.
9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole' Opry --Which do you choose?
Easiest question on the list. Opera of course.
10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you'd like to solve?
I don't know. I can't think of anything but I like Harvey's answer.
11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?
This is a very hard question. China Mieville, maybe. He would probably be a very interesting person to talk to. The meal... I don't know. Probably nothing exotic. Just a great American feast with lots of dishes to choose from.
12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky -- what's the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?
I'm not at all sure that isn't the way it is. It would make no difference to me either way. A person who only refrains from committing immoral acts because of the threat of divine punishment is basically an immoral person anyway. I behave the way I do for other people and so I can live with myself.
Now I'm supposed to tag some other people so... Byzantium's Shores and The Incurable Insomniac.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:32 (category: Blogginess) 2 comments!
A fossil discovered in New Mexico has been named after artist Georgia O'Keeffe. It's not actually a dinosaur but a relative of modern alligators and crocodiles. Its discoverers have named it Effigia okeeffeae.
Via The Llama Butchers.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:55 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
Great essay about judging people by the kind of work they do.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:22 (category: General) no comments
Olduvai George is an excellent natural history blog with informative posts and beautiful artwork. In particular, I want to recommend this great post.
A brief excerpt:
All too often I hear narrators on the National Geographic, Discovery or Animal Channel refer to one creature or another as perfectly adapted to their environment. Perhaps since a species can last a long time and fit well into an ecosystem, that statement seems close to true, but individuals are evolutionary fodder. Each animal lives on the edge of the precipice, one misstep away from disease, injury and death. All that matters is that enough members of a population reach breeding age and parent the next generation.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:42 (category: Science & Nature) 2 comments!
John Brosio paints storms and a few other things. Some very captivating images.
Via Rashomon.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:20 (category: Art) no comments
23 Feb 06
For those of you who have complained that I keep adding blogs to your blogroll... sorry, but here I go again. Time once again for me to share with you all the blogs that I have compulsively bookmarked in the past week or two. A few of these have been in my bookmarks for quite a while and I can't remember if I've posted them or not. If so, here they are again.
Liberty and Culture - A good, fairly unique, political blog. Classical liberal? I'm not sure how to categorize it.
Dusk in Autumn - "pattern recognition in science and culture". A lot of science and he manages to throw in a little Bach and Beethoven too.
Reflecting Light - Politics, culture, spirituality, psychical research. Pretty interesting.
Incite - Current events, politics. A group blog.
Poor Dudley's Almanac - It's been a month since the last update but this one looks interesting and I'm hoping "The Walrus" will come back to it soon. But he has set out to read the entire Harvard Classics so he might be rather busy for a while.
Irish Elk - A variety of topics... culture, baseball, history... lots of images.
Trusty Getto - General interest. A little music, (Oh my!) occasional politics, reflections. Cool header, by the way.
Dare to Reason - Science and religion. Only about a month old. Several long, in depth posts. Looks interesting.
NuSapiens: Biology, Technology, Philosophy - With that title I don't need to add my own description. Very interesting stuff there.
Foodgoat - A fun to read food blog, with an occasional pinch of fashion or science fiction.
A DC Birding Blog - A blog about observing birds around Washington, D.C. (He's hosting the Carnival of the Vanities this week.)
Psycho Toddler - Heh... love the title. General interest, occasional politics, a little culture.
Survival Arts - Various interesting stuff. Lots of photos.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:00 (category: Web Surfing) 4 comments!
Perhaps I am easily amused but for some reason the whole idea of happiness research amuses me. What does it say about us as a society that we are willing to spend time and money on this kind of research? Is it a waste? Wouldn't we be able to make more people happy if we spent more time and money on research into how to feed more people and cure more diseases? Or do those things have nothing to do with "real happiness"? What if happiness researchers come to wrong conclusions (as so often happens in research) and make more people unhappy?
There are blogs about every topic so it should come as no surprise that there is a blog devoted to Happiness and Public Policy. Personally, I think Bobby McFerrin had it right: Don't Worry, Be Happy.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:40 (category: General) 3 comments!
This is the best religious riot joke I've seen so far.
Via Byzantium's Shores.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:53 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Steph has gone all sepia toned and says: "I don't know about you, but I get a little bored with weblogs whose appearance never change. I always have a happy emotional reaction when I click onto a favorite read to be greeted by a new layout or new color scheme."
Uh oh... My last two changes came fairly close together but that was only because I really didn't like the design that I had before this one. Normally, I get comfortable with a look and stick with it for a long, long time. I even hate changing the quote at the top of the page. It's my intention to have a different Firefly quote every month (Maybe next year I'll do Shakespeare.) but as the end of each month approaches I feel a deep reluctance to let go of the current quote. I'm the same way about template designs. I like to tinker, even though I'm not very good at it, and there are a lot more great backgrounds that I would like to use but I get sort of emotionally attached to my current template. So you're probably stuck looking at this design for quite a while longer.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:17 (category: Blogginess) 5 comments!
The Rambler has links to several classical MP3 blogs. I don't download MP3s. My connection is too s...l...o...w... but most of these blogs are new to me and you know how much I love finding new blogs.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:28 (category: Music) no comments
This is interesting. I'm very skeptical but what if... ?
posted by Lynn S @ 19:24 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
Here's a collection of links especially for chocoholics.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:30 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Food Mall has recipes, new and unusual food products, food news and lots of pictures to make your mouth water.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:38 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Hey, if you must swear at least be original.
As psychologist Dr. Herman Fugmunker noted, "It's dangerous to say '&*@# off' to a truck driver. Five days in intensive care convinced me of that."
But help is on the way. Fugmunker did extensive research for his latest book, Cuss Your Head Off, and came up with six new curse words it's O.K. to shout from the rooftops, because no one has ever heard them before. They're nasty, vile and disgusting. Learn 'em and use 'em. You'll let off steam and that @#$%head you're cussing out won't know what the &*@# you're talking about.
More. Via Gravity Lens.
(You know... that quote reminded me of something. I've always sort of liked the word "chucklehead".)
posted by Lynn S @ 19:50 (category: Wordy & Bookish) no comments
OMG! I normally never post "not safe for work" links but this is just too, too bizarre! Send grandma and the kids away, put down all drinks, keep your pointer on the Back button and then click, if you dare.
posted by Lynn S @ 20:05 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
ACK! After that last post I thought I should try to switch gears and get back to normal but everywhere I go I keep finding weird stuff. Nothing else that weird but still a little off somehow. (like this naughty origami) Maybe I've surfed enough tonight. Maybe I should be watching CSI instead.
Or, on the other hand, maybe I just need to escape for a while.
posted by Lynn S @ 20:29 (category: General) no comments
24 Feb 06
Okay, this has got to stop! For many years we lived in apartments and put up with our neighbors' stereos and other crap because when you share walls with people you have to tolerate a lot of crap. But we moved out to the country so we wouldn't have to put up with all the noise, amoung other reasons. Is there no escape? My ultimate dream is to own a square mile and build my house in the exact middle of it so I will be at least half a mile from the nearest neighbors. And I fear that even that wouldn't be far enough. Our neighbors have recently started sitting in their driveway with their car stereo turned up. I can hear it inside my house. I don't know what it is; all I can hear is a constant BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM! I swear, if they don't knock it off I'm going to take Verdi's Requiem outside and turn it up really really LOUD!
posted by Lynn S @ 08:26 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 8 comments!
I'm still slowly reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon - slowly because I haven't been spending much time on it. I love finding interesting words. Last night I came across "infotropic" - drawn to information sources. That seems very useful.
A couple of other delightful words and phrases from the same and the facing page:
"tragically unmissable" (referring to an ugly house)
"gothic arches and pillars made of a conspicuously low grade of brown marble that looks like vitrified sewage"
I'm enjoying this book just for the writing. If there actually turns out to be a story, that'll just be a bonus.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:34 (category: Wordy & Bookish) 1 comment
Science Fiction and Fantasy Art
A large collection of sci-fi and fantasy art by Bob Eggleton Thanks to John Scalzi for the link.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:56 (category: Art) no comments
Calories? What calories? I don't see any calories
I'm going to be a baaaaad girl tonight. I bought some huge baking potatoes and I'm going to bake them and top mine with real bacon, two kinds of cheese, sour cream and probably a few other things. We used to have loaded baked potatoes fairly often but it's been several years. I'm not sure why. There are other highly fattening treat meals that we still have regularly. I had been thinking about nachos tonight but then I saw these great big, nearly perfect potatoes and got inspired. Actually they might be too big. If they were a little smaller I could put more stuff on them. As everyone knows potatoes are nothing but a delivery system for salt, pepper, butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon and assorted other fats and condiments.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:14 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 2 comments!
Congratulations to our Canadian friends on winning the Gold Medal for curling.
posted by Lynn S @ 18:39 (category: General) 1 comment
25 Feb 06
Interesting article about music, cryptography, numerology, "secret" societies and other odd stuff.
Via The Daily Grail. (lots of odd and interesting stuff there too)
posted by Lynn S @ 07:19 (category: Music) no comments
Charles says:
Those "Illinois calls" from area code 773 from "Miss Flowers" and "Jacob Weinstein": look, you nimrods, unless you tell me up front what the hell it is you want in the message you leave, there isn't the slightest chance that I'm ever going to return your call. Contrary to your stated belief, I decide whether you "need to hear" from me.
Thank you for giving the me an opportunity to rant and lecture about one of my favorite modern gadgets which also, unfortunately, provides other people almost unlimited opportunity to annoy me. For anyone who might call me or anyone else, if you get the answering machine please remember these rules:
1. Listen to the damn greeting. If the person who identifies himself on the machine is not the person you were calling, stop. Think. Maybe you've got the wrong number. If you're not sure go ahead and leave a very short message that includes the name of the person you are trying to reach and your phone number.
2. Leave a short message. Your name, name of the person you are trying to reach, one simple sentence stating why you called and your phone number. I don't need and don't want to hear your schedule for the entire week, your life story or what you had for breakfast. If I decide to call you back I might give you the chance to ramble on about that stuff.
3. Go back and read number 2 again. Really. Especially if you are, like, you know, a teenager. If you are calling your friend's private cell phone, go ahead and say whatever you want but if you are calling the family phone be aware that your friend's mom or dad is likely to be the first person to hear your message. We really, really don't want to hear all that high school stuff and if you aggravate us or gross us out too much we might just delete your message and not say anything so, again, just your name, name of the person you are calling and your phone number. That is all. One simple sentence stating why you are calling is optional for teenagers because they, like, you know, have trouble forming like, brief sentences that are like, you know, to the point. (Fortunately, I don't have this particular problem myself.)
4. If you choose not to leave a message, don't call back. You will just get the answering machine again. Don't keep calling back over and over again hoping to catch me at home. I am at home. I'm screening calls and the only way you have any chance at all to talk to me is if you leave a message on the machine. If I know you and like you I might even pick up the phone as soon as I realize who you are.
5. Speak clearly. If I can't understand what you are saying I won't call you back. If I can't understand your phone number I can't call you back. Business people seem to have the worst problem leaving phone numbers. Even if most of the message is clear, when they get to the phone number they rattle it off at warp speed so that I have to listen to the entire message several times to be able to understand and copy down the phone number. Why should I bother? Listen, I know you have to repeat your work number dozens of time times a day but if you want me to call you back, I have to be able to understand it. Think! If you're one of those people who is always complaining about people not returning your calls maybe you should think about what your messages sound like to the people on the other end.
Now, somebody tell me how I can get those rules printed - in extra large print - in the front of every phone book. Fortunately, I don't get all that many calls. Number 1 and number 4 are my real pet peeves.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:34 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 4 comments!
26 Feb 06
I had to do this one.
| Your Birthdate: May 2 |
 You connect with others freely and easily - and you tend to have many best friends. Warm and caring, it's hard for you to close your heart to anyone. Affection is like air for you - you need to give and receive it to survive. Your strength: Your universal compassion Your weakness: Your unpredictable mood swings Your power color: Mauve Your power symbol: Butterfly Your power month: February |
Unpredictable mood swings!? Mauve!? Butterfly!? I guess that just goes to show what a load of nonsense it is, which I knew already, but let's look at some of the other items.
You're so intuitive, it's like you have a sixth, seventh, and eighth sense. HA! Not hardly.
You connect with others freely and easily - and you tend to have many best friends. Sadly, no. I have never been able to connect with others and I have no friends outside my family.
Affection is like air for you - you need to give and receive it to survive. Well, I guess so but isn't that true of almost everyone?
Your strength: Your universal compassion I would like to think I'm a compassionate person but universal compassion is definitely a huge stretch.
And finally, my "power month" is February? That's just weird.
By the way, I have a sister-in-law who has the same birthday. We're nothing alike but I don't think most of these fit her either. I'll have to try to remember to ask her if she feels especially powerful during the month of February.
This silly thing found at Fillyjonk's Progress. Her birthday is Monday.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:32 (category: Blogginess) 1 comment
Here are a few recent photos from Antarctica.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:17 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
My favorite Asian blogger and his family had Sunday breakfast with members of a Volvo Classic Club and shares a few photos.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:23 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Yet another unflattering quote about Wagner's music.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:26 (category: Music) no comments
Fred indulges in Passions, overripe metaphors (but I love it!) and irrelevant links.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:34 (category: Music) 2 comments!
27 Feb 06
I'm finally ready to reveal my new project. I have set up a group blog for the Green Country Beekeepers Association. There are only two posts there now but I'm hoping some of the other members will start showing a little enthusiasm for blogging and post stuff occasionally. I don't plan on posting all that much myself. I'm not a beekeeper, just a bee cheerleader.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:07 (category: General) 1 comment
Jaquandor has finally discovered Firefly. He has posted several photos of Jewel Staite (Kaylee) including some not from the series. Wouldn't you know he would go for a woman in overalls.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:25 (category: Culture Too) 1 comment
This should make life a little easier for Web addicts who can hardly bear to leave the PC long enough to go for a snack. I won't be rushing out to buy one of these myself.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:41 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Both cat lovers and music lovers may find this 17th century invention disturbing.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:57 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
28 Feb 06
What difference a week makes. Remember this? That was only a week ago. Right now it's over 50° F and later today will be over 70°. And of course, we have fire danger warnings again. ~Sigh~ If it's not one thing it's another.
posted by Lynn S @ 06:47 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 1 comment
The West, with its concepts of time management, profit and efficiency, cannot justify the beading of a dress, the embroidery of a blouse, or the weaving of a carpet unless a machine can do these things in a matter of seconds.
From Click Opera via Notes From Somewhere Bizarre. I haven't read the original context yet so please pardon me if I'm passing on another lament on The West and Its Many Evils but I've thought about this before. Now, when it seems like we can do almost anything, clothing, buildings, everything is so much plainer, dull and boring than when everything had to be made by hand. It's funny that people were once willing to spend so much time to make things beautiful but now, when we can do things so quickly, we rarely bother.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:02 (category: General) 6 comments!
Oooo... I love this sort of thing. Fantastic Faces in Strange Places. I must come back and explore those links when I have more time.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:08 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Of the several regions of the U.S. I have lived in or visited, it seems to me that Oklahoma has a comparatively high number of trucks hauling odd-looking, oversized industrial items of the sort that tend to make people go, "What the hell?" The object in the picture below is far from being the largest or the weirdest but it's the one I managed to get a picture of. I was behind this truck for about 20 minutes and kept hoping for a red light so I would have a chance to take a picture but all those traffic lights which would have turned red if I had been in a hurry, stayed green. Finally, going up this curving on-ramp, it slowed down to less than 10 miles per hour so I quickly grabbed the camera, pointed it in the general direction of the truck and snapped this pic through my dirty windshield.
posted by Lynn S @ 18:52 (category: Photos 2006) 1 comment
Dirty Beloved has a link to the Trans-Siberian Railway Web Encyclopedia. They have photos, maps and general info.
This past weekend I watched a very interesting show, on The History Channel, about two sunken steam locomotives. Quite a mystery. No one is absolutely sure where they came from and how they got to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean but it is likely that they were built in Boston in the early 1850's and it is assumed that they fell off of a barge during a storm. Here's more, including photos and video. (That last is on a dive site and the diver who wrote it up was less than impressed.)
posted by Lynn S @ 19:27 (category: Culture ) no comments
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