2 Oct 06
This twisted translation is sort of poetic. (via Byzantium's Shores)
Oooo...ahhhh...mmmmm... chocolate... (via Metaphor Voodoo)
UglyDress.com - Is it bad that I think some of these are pretty? No, of course not. I'm right, they're wrong. One of the things on my long, long list of pet peeves is people making hateful remarks about fancy dress-up clothing. Some of the dresses on this site are hideous or just plain weird but there are just as many, if not more, that I might wear if I had the chance. (via In4mador)
Random name generators (via Larry)
Historic maps of U.S. cities. A long list. (via Look At This...)
Rainbow Gallery. Beautiful! (via Plep)
Unusual snow globes. (via Bifurcated Rivets)
Most popular science myths. Damn... believing some of those was so much fun. (via Gravity Lens)
posted by Lynn S @ 10:03 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Please note the new Firefly quote at the top of the page. I picked this quote specifically because of the elections coming next month. The problem with governments is that nobody governs the government. The people in government are just people. They have human weaknesses like everyone else. Merely wanting to be in a position of power is reason enough to suspect any person's motives. Give such a person power and let him get too comfortable and he could be capable of anything. People in positions of power need governing more than anyone else.
The best thing about our American government is that every two, four or six years we are given the opportunity to throw the bums out. A lot of people talk about term limits for congressmen. Not a bad idea but we already have "term limits" built into the system. It's simple - just don't vote for the same guy again and again. The trouble is, everyone thinks, "my congressman is okay; it's those other guys who need to be thrown out."
Think about that when you go to vote next month. We can govern the government by letting them know we will throw them out if we don't see the results we want. Remember that: results, not promises, not intentions and not ability to blame the other guy. If you don't get results, throw the bums out. And if you don't get results from the next set of bums throw them out too. Republicans, Democrats, Independant... it doesn't matter; just keep on throwing the bums out. Show them who's really in charge.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:53 (category: News/Issues) 8 comments!
3 Oct 06
From Iraq the Model, about a recent poll:
We have little in our culture about compromise or working-out-our-differences-peacefully. Radical solutions often seem more tempting to the ordinary, less educated people. When everyone, and I mean everyone, keeps telling them America is their enemy, the common reaction would certainly involve violent means of expression…yes, that's our common way in showing our disagreement with others in this part of the world. It sucks, it's backward and it's savage but it's the fact and it will not change overnight, such changes happen slowly.
We should not expect pleasing answers from confused people, living in extremely difficult conditions, subjected to extreme emotional, physical and psychological stress and being misguided and misinformed by biased media and corrupt leaders.
After all this pressure and suffering, 40% of Iraqis still view America as their friend…now really, you can't find that in many countries that America did not fire a single bullet at especially in the Middle East. There are 40% of Iraqis who view American soldiers (not only American people) as friends and in my opinion this should be considered a good foundation for building a much better relationship.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:26 (category: News/Issues) no comments
In the comments to an earlier post Bluewyvern pointed out this explanation for a common error in Chinese to English translations.
Via the same post, recommended "in the interest of equal time", is Hanzi Smatter, "a blog dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture."
UPDATE: Made correction
posted by Lynn S @ 08:41 (category: Wordy & Bookish) 2 comments!
Quote from Modal Minority:
...I think a review should be a story, a story about one person's experience of a work of art. There's no need to get right to the point, if that's not the experience of the work.
Thanks to Alex Ross for pointing the way to Modal Minority.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:56 (category: Culture ) no comments
Very interesting idea. I love it when someone does something besides wringing their hands and moaning, "we're all gonna die."
posted by Lynn S @ 09:14 (category: News/Issues) 3 comments!
I guess I need to learn Photoshop. I don't think I could pull off a hunger strike. Congratulations to the Crack Young Staff.
Of course, I don't expect anything so grandiose as a real Instalanche. All I ask is that the Puppy Blender Great One update the already existing link in his sidebar.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:12 (category: Blogginess) no comments
Great bee photos. There are always great photos at Timesink; new ones almost every day.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:50 (category: General) no comments
Secret Fun Blog has started a Halloween countdown. The theme is skeletons.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:59 (category: Culture Too) no comments
4 Oct 06
I've been thinking about that thing I linked yesterday, saying that a review should be "a story about one person's experience of a work of art." I liked that because I thought, "Yeah... I can write that kind of review." But, no I can't. How do you write about stuff like that without saying a lot of pretentious sounding stuff or talking in metaphors that probably won't make much sense to anyone else? And most of the time I can't even do that. There are simply no words.
Some music feels like morning. I like to listen to Palestrina in the morning and also music like Galina Grigorjeva's On Leaving and Pärt's Stabat Mater, music that sounds modern and yet ancient. I like to listen to music like that in the morning because it feels like morning but it doesn't feel that way to everyone. Most people probably think of dark, gloomy old cathedrals when they hear music like that. Well, I do too sometimes but there's always sunlight streaming in through colorful stained glass windows. Mostly though, there's just first light coloring the clouds a delicate pink, brightening to gold, followed by the first rays slanting through the trees.
Aw, heck, that's not the music, that's just what I see when I look out the window. The music is calm, serene... I feel a sense of balance and centeredness and all that hokey, New Agey stuff. Really, is that any way to write about classical music? Well, why not? It says more about the music than some technically detailed description that only a musicologist can understand but still, there's more. There's all that stuff that can't be put into words.
So why write or talk about music at all if everything we say is inadequate. Well, that's simple. We want to share the exprerience. And once in a while we run into someone who understands what we're trying to say and they say something that's just as inadequate and somehow you know that you've made a connection with someone else who gets it. As to why making such connections matters... well, that's a whole 'nother question.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:41 (category: Music) 2 comments!
Steph has a short list of very cool links. Don't miss 'em!
posted by Lynn S @ 10:31 (category: General) no comments
Yesterday was Steve Reich's 70th birthday. I've only heard one piece by Reich: Music for 18 Musicians. It's rather cool and more interesting than you would expect something labeled as "minimalism" to be but every time I've listened to it that repetitive rhythm stayed with me for days. I kept hearing it in everything - car engines, air-conditioners, shopping carts with bent wheels. Once I was standing at the sink scrubbing a skillet and suddenly realized that I was scrubbing in that rhythm. It's everywhere! It's like the composer was in touch with one of the fundamental rhythms of the universe.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:21 (category: Music) 5 comments!
5 Oct 06
Why some people are giving up on Lost:
With its debut a mere two years ago, “Lost” excited the broadcast television viewing world by presenting an incredibly well-produced drama underscored by a mystery: Where in the world were these plane crash survivors, and, more significantly, who are they, really?
Instead of keeping viewers on those two paths, “Lost” has instead followed the Path of Network TV Shows Doomed to Slip into Absurdity and Alienate The Audience. Mostly, that’s happened thanks to the monster, and the polar bear, and any number of other all-consuming but then-forgotten oddities on the island.
The writers’ obsessive compulsion with making the story even more convoluted and mysterious every episode is obvious, as they’re all too consumed with giving viewers something else to wonder about. Like small children playing with toys, they drop each mystery after a few minutes and then run to the next one, hoping viewers will follow.
The main reason I quit watching Lost was that they would routinely show three weeks of new episodes followed by a six to ten week hiatus but by the end of the first season it was easy to see the direction the show was going, which was, in fact, no direction at all. That's really too bad. It started out with so much potential. It could have been a great show.
After nearly an entire season of not watching it, I would still like to know the answers to the mysteries but it seems that there's little chance that the writers have any intention of ever giving us those answers. They will merely continue leading viewers on a twisted path to nowhere for as long as anyone's still watching.
Thanks, Byzantium's Shores
posted by Lynn S @ 09:29 (category: Culture Too) no comments
Heh. (I hate when the title is longer than the post, don't you?)
posted by Lynn S @ 09:59 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
posted by Lynn S @ 10:10 (category: Photos 2006) 2 comments!
I haven't told you about our recent adventures with the local wildlife. One day last week Number Two Son found a snake in the bathtub. It provided about five minutes or so of entertainment but it got away. A day or two later I found a small snake in the clothes hamper. I quickly decided that I didn't need to do laundry right that minute. Later the guys searched the hamper but didn't find anything.
This afternoon I found the same snake (or its twin) near the door to the other bathroom. Now that is simply unacceptable. I'm usually a live and let live kind of gal but a snake in my bathroom is something that I'm not willing to live with. So I ran outside and grabbed an old ax handle - a comfortingly long and hefty piece of wood - and went back and found the snake hiding behind the door a few inches from where I had first seen it. My plan was to bring my weapon straight down on the little beastie's head but he moved and I ended up smashing it right in the middle. I then scooped it up on a dustpan and carried it out to the trash outside. Yay me!
I don't know what kind of snake it was. I've been looking for a picture like it online but haven't found one exactly like it. I'm not going to take a picture of the one I killed because it's not very photogenic anymore.
So, our next home improvement project is to fix that little hole in the floor. And that's happening real soon!
UPDATE: The little beastie has been identified. It was a young copperhead.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:42 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 3 comments!
6 Oct 06
A few sites I found when I googled "surreal art".
Surrealart.com - This artist does series of the same scenes in different colors. One or two of these might be offensive to some but there are several paintings that I like.
Weeping Cherry - Artist, Kris Hoglund. I like these paintings a lot. Most are not what you normally think of as surreal. Some look more like abstract expressionism. In some others shapes have definite outlines so they remind one of stained glass windows. A few look something like psychedelic art and still others look more impressionist. Probably not surprisingly, I like the later works best. There's quite a lot there to look at. Take your time. They grow on you.
Art Hit - Contemporary Russian art. Various artists and styles. Some very nice stuff.
Karl Franklin - I've seen this one before and probably linked to it but it's worth another look. These are fun to look at. You might almost call some of them "whimsical". Music is a frequent theme.
Domen Lombergar - Surreal art and photography. A commercial site. You can buy prints, screensavers, and so forth there.
James Sebor - Some paintings are realistic with one or two bizarre elements, like the painting of a lovely old Victorian house with Grandma walking on the roof. Others are more strange. All are interesting and very well done.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:36 (category: Art) no comments
There has been an irreversibly sad decline from Undead to Uninteresting. Indeed, why bother thrusting a stake through the heart of the modern Dracula, when one may merely kick sand in his face and watch him cry.
-- The American Erewhonist
posted by Lynn S @ 09:35 (category: Culture Too) 3 comments!
9 Oct 06
A photo of the surface of Venus. It's actually an old picture, taken by a Soviet spacecraft but I'd never seen it before. Here are more pictures of Venus.
Venus is probably the most disappointing planet in the Solar System. Some early science fiction writers imagined it as a tropical paradise.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:07 (category: Science & Nature) 5 comments!
Another reason to love the Internet: World Wide School has a great online library that includes both fiction and non-fiction. There is a science fiction section that includes many books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and a few others. There's also a children's literature section.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:17 (category: Wordy & Bookish) no comments
This is strangely fascinating. The "poet" manages to say a great deal with few words or, in many cases, no words at all, just a few letters and punctuation marks. I like ABC of Modern Society. So true!
Thanks, Lemuel
posted by Lynn S @ 08:43 (category: Wordy & Bookish) no comments
I hate when people say that something is "unacceptable." I admit I'm frequently tempted to say it myself but I usually think of it as the adult equivalent of a temper tantrum. People often declare something "unacceptable" when there's absolutely nothing they can do about it - like that word and an arrogant tone of voice gives them some kind of power to change a situation just by declaring it "unacceptable". And even if they are in a position to do something about the "unacceptable" situation, well, just do it; quit posturing.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:19 (category: General) 7 comments!
Oh my! It's a wonder the human race survived, isn't it?
posted by Lynn S @ 15:55 (category: General) no comments
Mati Klarwein. Wow...
Via Exclamation Mark
posted by Lynn S @ 16:13 (category: Art) no comments
Greiner Photography. Triple wow! Incredible photographs. The nature and macro galleries are my favorites.
Via Ursi's Blog
posted by Lynn S @ 16:26 (category: Art) no comments
10 Oct 06
Stern Warning: Behave or We're Going To Talk Some More
This would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious. Headline: China Issues Warning to North Korea. But, reading the article, it's difficult to understand exactly what the warning is. They're still against both sanctions and military action. They call on the UN to take "appropriate measures" but...
Liu urged diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis and said that the time was not right for punishment, much less military action.
So what are these appropriate measures they speak of? Apparently, nothing worse than saying, "Bad North Korea. Here's a cookie; now run along and play nice." Have the Chinese been taking lessons from the French?
posted by Lynn S @ 08:18 (category: News/Issues) 2 comments!
Wade, in the comments to the "Accept It" post, linked to Acts of Gord. Like most such sites, I find a few stories that put me in sympathy with the customer. The first one I read was Where Do They Come From, which made me think, 'this Gord is just a jerk and needs to find a job that doesn't require him to work with the public.' But some other stories, like these, illustrate how appallingly stupid some people are and make me glad I don't work in retail anymore.
Anyway, there are a lot of entertaining little stories there and, from reading a few of them, my conclusion is that Gord is a jerk but maybe he got that way from having to put up with so many stupid customers.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:36 (category: General) 1 comment
The Top Ten Good Things about the North Korean nuclear test. However, the first comment is something worthwhile to keep in mind.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:53 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Pilgrim's Progress - a band blog. Most recent posts are about traveling in Japan, the night-life, etc, with some photos.
Hundie Jo dot com - politics, various other topics, some good cartoons.
Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog - UFOs, ghosts, dreams...
Cold Hearted Truth - Very political. I can't even remember bookmarking this one but here it is. This is good! (another top ten list)
Fried Brains - an anti-political-correctness blog. Will probably piss off left-wingers. There are some pretty good political cartoons and the thing that most pisses me off about this blog is the non-permalinked cartoon at the top that changes so if I see a particularly clever cartoon that I want to link to, I can't.
Rotten Brains - a lot of tech stuff and some other odds and ends. Very interesting. Steve and Robert may be interested in this one.
Always a Dreamer - a lovely Canadian blog, various topics, occasional photographs. I orginally bookmarked this photo but didn't get around to linking to it until now.
Shiny Shiny - a gadget blog with a feminine touch. Love the name and the header! Awwww... aren't they cute?
posted by Lynn S @ 09:41 (category: Web Surfing) 3 comments!
Those Blowhards guys crack me up. They usually come off as so erudite, so artsy, so sophisticated, and yet...
posted by Lynn S @ 10:15 (category: Culture ) no comments
The old floor:
The new floor: (It looks a little bluer in person)
Getting new flooring is one of life's feel-good events. We tend to look down a lot of the time so the floor is one of the most visible surfaces in your house. How it looks affects how you feel so it shouldn't be surprising that replacing a dull old floor with a shiny new one is a great, if expensive, pick-me-up.
I've never totally hated the old floor; I sort of love/hate it but the hate is starting to creep up on the love and could soon pass it. Our first night in this house we were exhausted from moving and I leaned against the kitchen counter looking at the floor, not really thinking about anything, and it almost seemed like the pattern on the linoleum was moving. That wasn't so bad, actually. I sort of like the pattern but it's only shades of brown and beige. I'm tired of neutrals. Now the hallway is the only space that still has the old flooring. I think I'll almost miss it when it's gone, but not really.
A couple of years ago we replaced the kitchen floor. It's the same color as the new bathroom floor but it has simple 8 inch squares. We were going to get the same for the bathroom but it was not available so we had to settle for this similar pattern and we plan to hurry up and get more for the hall as soon as we can, before they discontinue this one too.
It seems a little strange that I keep putting blue stuff in my house because it's never been one of my favorite colors. Besides the floor, the kitchen has blue countertops and another room has blue curtains. It's not an exciting color but it's a comfortable color - a good choice when you simply can't stand looking at brown and beige anymore. Fortunately, the longer I live with it the more I like it. I'm even tempted to add more blue. Best not to overdo it though. Some warm colors here and there might be nice. Maybe I should paint the ugly brown kitchen cabinets red.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:03 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) no comments
11 Oct 06
Yikes! That's a good illusion.
Via Noodle Food
posted by Lynn S @ 07:55 (category: Web Surfing) 1 comment
Monster Brains is a very cool blog featuring surrealist and fantasy art. It's not all as creepy as the blog name suggests. Some of the images are quite beautiful as well as fascinatingly strange. I like this one. It reminds me of blue and white china.
By the way, I notice several intriguingly named blogs in the Monster Brains blogroll. One good blog usually leads to several more.
Via Exclamation Mark
posted by Lynn S @ 08:12 (category: Art) no comments
We associate the Victorian era with prudishness and large, ornately decorated houses but, as always, we oversimplify. Victorian Web is a fairly detailed course in Victorian history - political and social history, philosophy, religion, science, art and much, much more.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:27 (category: Culture ) no comments
12 Oct 06
I've been interested in this year's Nobel prizes. I was surprised that so many have been awarded to Americans. Now the prize for literature has been announced. The winner is Turkish writer, Orhan Pamuk. No real surprise there but I'm pleased that the prize was awarded to a Muslim writer who dares to criticize the government of his own country. On the other hand, I can't help thinking, why must it always be someone who is controversial? Why can't it, sometimes, just be someone who is a very good writer?
posted by Lynn S @ 08:00 (category: News/Issues) 3 comments!
Now spammers are sending out bad puns. Oh the humanity!
posted by Lynn S @ 08:11 (category: General) no comments
Only people who watch Battlestar Galactica will understand this t-shirt.
That one's from Czeltic Girl too.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:16 (category: Science Fiction) no comments
I love Bifurcated Rivets. I absolutely love it. So many cool links. How can I possibly link just one? These maze photos are interesting. Here's more. When I first saw History of the Button I was hoping for the kind that you sew onto clothing but, no, it's the other kind of button. This is not funny. It begs for a joke, possibly involving spicy food but, really, it's not funny. Just say no to toolbars. Okay, that's enough. Lots more where those came from, including a lot of YouTube links.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:49 (category: General) 1 comment
You would think that people who write for, or edit, newspapers would know how to write. This is from The Oklahoman, via Dustbury:
Foley, a Florida Republican, quit after ABC News confronted him about lurid messages sent over the Internet to teenage, former male pages.
"Former male pages"? How is it that the media can pay so much attention to this congressional page scandal and barely mention that, apparently, the pages themselves have had sex change operations?
posted by Lynn S @ 09:07 (category: Wordy & Bookish) 2 comments!
13 Oct 06
Unsuccessful outlaw, Elmer McCurdy met his end on October 7, 1911 in or near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. On December 7, 1976 he was discovered by Hollywood but not in any way you might expect Hollywood to "discover" a long dead outlaw. And in case anyone is skeptical about the story...
posted by Lynn S @ 08:33 (category: Culture ) no comments
I always get a big kick out of people who criticize me for the length of what I write. I see it as a confession...and I don't understand how it can be seen any other way. Here you are, bellyaching about "blah blah blah," meaning, this guy who writes for a blog nobody ever reads -- he says so! -- can't wrap up his stuff in a paragraph or two. So you're not going to finish reading it...but it's very important to let the world know you won't read all of it, and the reason you won't, is because it's soooooooo long. Like fuckin' Goldilocks, bitching about the bed being too big or the chair being too hard. Which means, there's some maximum length, over which, you can be guaranteed not to bother yourself with something.
So you don't read anything over a certain quantity. All of which goes to support the idea that what you know is, precisely, jack-shit. Well you know...that, plus a bunch of bite-sized stuff.
I understand there are people like this. Why would they advertise it? Why tell the entire world about your Vienna-sausage-sized attention span?
-- House of Eratosthenes
The author posted an update later, "taking back" these words but I still had to make this my quote of the week because I always feel exactly that way when I read someone complaining that some other blogger's posts are "too long." (I've never had the honor of being on the receiving end of such a complaint.) It's not just that they don't want to take the time to read long articles - some people really don't have the time - it's the tone of the complaints, as if length alone is an actual fault. This does give the impression that the complainer lacks a normal adult attention span. If it really is a matter of having limited time why not just move on?
posted by Lynn S @ 08:47 (category: Blogginess) 2 comments!
Pyr Books main man Lou Anders points me in the direction of a call and response discussion on the topic of science fiction and "entertainment," as in, is written science fiction entertaining enough to capture the unwashed masses who watch it on TV and in the movies but don't bother to read the stuff. The first document in this discussion is an essay in Asimov's in which writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch says that the problem with written SF is that it isn't influenced enough by Star Wars, which to her mind is an exempar of good old-fashioned entertainment, and poses it in opposition to much of written SF, which is "jargon-filled limited-access novels that fill the shelves.. dystopian novels that present a world uglier than our own, [and] protagonists who really don’t care about their fellow man/alien/whatever."
It always frustrates me when people refuse to read science fiction based on some narrow and mostly false notion of what "all" sci-fi is like, the most common complaint being scientific jargon or other "big words". It's true that some science fiction novels are to be recommended only to science geeks but there are many hundreds that nearly anyone would find easily readable and entertaining. I suspect that the people who give these reasons for not reading sci-fi don't like to read much of anything and are just making excuses.
Unfortunately, after a couple of introductory paragraphs, John quickly launches a long and nasty attack on Star Wars, declaring that the Star Wars films are not entertaining. Oh how do I begin to tell you how ridiculous John's tirade is? So you don't like Star Wars. Fine, whatever. Nobody cares, especially not any of the millions of Star Wars fans who keep watching the films over and over again.
So what did John's haughty tantrum accomplish other pleasing John and perhaps one or two other Star Wars scrooges? A few Star Wars fans will find his post and think, "What an idiot!" If they think anything beyond that it will probably be, "If this guy doesn't think Star Wars is entertaining then his books couldn't possibly be any good," or maybe, "Sci-fi authors are such elitist snobs; I think I'll stick with the movies." Way to go, John.
I found that via Byzantium's Shores. Kelly also has a great post about his continuing space opera project. I have to put some of those books on my reading list. I haven't read much early science fiction but the few times I have the outdated science didn't bother me much. It's more amusing than annoying or distracting. A breathable atmosphere on Mars? Just another alternate reality.
I just finished A Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle and have started the sequel, The Gripping Hand. It wasn't one of my all-time favorite books but it's very good - classic modern* space opera. It has adventure, romance, weird aliens, politics and not too much "jargon."
*"Modern" meaning that we don't still think there might be intelligent life on Mars but has been around long enough to be considered a "classic".
posted by Lynn S @ 10:37 (category: Science Fiction) no comments
I try not to do this sort of thing too often but these I couldn't resist:
great sweet sixteen ideas that are a deceased pay - Huh?
Who won the Cheeta girls sweet stake - "sweet stake"? Is that anything like a sweepstakes?
Your tub videowave maria de schubert - "Your tub"... heh... I like that; so much more clever than that more famous video site.
zen aquarium philosophie - My philosophie is, just sit there and stare at your screen saver for a while every time you feel the need to de-stress. It's easier to clean than a real fish tank and you don't have to remember to feed it.
posted by Lynn S @ 15:48 (category: Blogginess) 2 comments!
14 Oct 06
The other big awards, the annual Ig Nobel Awards have been presented. My favorites:
For his prize-winning study, Princeton University psychologist Daniel Oppenheimer added complexity to existing samples of writing, inserting needlessly long words into a chunk of text.
His aim was to assess readers' reactions to the excessive prose.
"A majority of undergraduates admit to deliberately increasing the complexity of their vocabulary so as to give the impression of intelligence," Oppenheimer writes in his study.
But in the experiment, readers judged the authors of the overwrought texts to be not-so-bright.
That one's disappointing, actually. I love big words. I'm impressed by big words. I envy people who are able to use big words. Big words are beautiful. Hmmm... I wonder how smart those readers were.
And...
The Biology award went to a group that showed a species of mosquito is equally attracted to people's stinky feet as to Limburger cheese.
Several of the Ig Nobels went to research that was considerably more icky.
posted by Lynn S @ 17:30 (category: General) 1 comment
16 Oct 06
I just want to say that I am very pleased with this year's Nobel Prizes. The Peace Prize actually went to someone truly deserving: Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. I read about the micro-loan program a number of years ago. I hope this recognition will inspire others to start bottom up programs like this.
The official Nobel site has information about current and past winners.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:42 (category: News/Issues) no comments
Is Battlestar Galactica Really That Good?
Last season I was quite excited about Battlestar Galactica. It's very serious science fiction and I thought it was great that there was a show of such high quality. But is the quality just an illusion? Too often people associate gloominess with quality. Make anything gloomy enough and you will have people gushing over how profound and important it is. BG does indeed present political and social commentary but is it good commentary or is it just the writers injecting their own biases into what should be primarily entertainment?
After a long hiatus without even any reruns I had almost forgotten why I ever liked Battlestar Galactica so much and the start of the new season has not re-captured my interest. In fact, I'm finding it rather off-putting. None of the characters in Battlestar Galactica are likable. The only one I have the least bit of symphathy for is the Cylon, Sharon but only very little. After a while all the tragedy gets very tiresome. BG is a soap opera in space and I don't like soap operas.
We didn't watch this past Friday's episode because we had the grandson here and the show's way too mature for a six-year-old, but after watching the season premiere I had already been thinking about not watching it anymore. The biggest turn-off amoung many is that they have introduced suicide bombers. Aren't the humans supposed to be the good guys? Are the writers trying to make a statement that if you're desperate enough you'll do anything? Or that there are no good guys? I can't buy that. Suddenly, I feel like rooting for the Cylons.
Most important, the show is simply not fun anymore. I don't mind if entertainment makes political statements; I don't mind if it's a little gloomy sometimes; but, ultimately, entertainment should be entertaining. It should make you feel good, in some way. If it makes you think, that's okay but it shouldn't depress you and it seems to me that Battlestar Galactica is going out of its way to be depressing.
* * *
I found this article about science fiction on TV and its influence on real world space exploration and technology. This is nothing new; I've seen similar commentary, saying that today's sci-fi TV shows do not inspire the way Star Trek did. That is, perhaps, true. Star Trek made political and social statements too but it also presented a positive, feel-good vision of the future.
I don't completely agree with the article, though. I think it's possible to have an inspiring science fiction show even if we are "less innocent" than in the Star Trek era. We need a show that makes statements about independence, individuality and personal freedom. We need a show that will inspire people to not depend on the government to get things done but to go out there and do it yourself; a show like.... Firefly.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:26 (category: Science Fiction) 3 comments!
101 Versions of Stairway to Heaven - Because it takes so incredibly long to download stuff on dial-up I only listened to one of them: the glass harp version. It was not worth the wait. I haven't counted but I doubt there are actually 101. Tell me if any of them are any good.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:04 (category: Weird and Wonderful Web) 1 comment
The Nietzsche Family Circus takes a random Family Circus cartoon and replaces the original caption with a random Nietzsche quote. It's almost scary how well some of them work.
Via In4mador
posted by Lynn S @ 09:29 (category: Weird and Wonderful Web) 1 comment
Awww... ain't it cute?
posted by Lynn S @ 12:22 (category: Web Surfing) 2 comments!
The Batty Chronicles - the diary and letters of Harriet Batty (1874-1977)
Via Point2point
posted by Lynn S @ 12:42 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
Saturday evening I experienced an important life event - nothing less than initiation into the arcane mysteries of one of the most widespread cults in the English speaking world. I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the first time. The world will never be the same. Suddenly, the common phrase, "It's only a flesh wound," has a radically different meaning.
Okay, seriously, that was pretty funny, in a goofy, "what the hell!?" kind of way. Biggest revelation: "Your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries." I've been hearing/reading that line for years in various contexts but never knew where it originated or what it meant. Now that I know it's not supposed to make sense, it's hilarious.
posted by Lynn S @ 18:15 (category: Culture Too) 4 comments!
17 Oct 06
This is great:
If nobody said anything unless he knew what he was talking about, a ghastly hush would descend upon the earth.
-- Sir Alan Herbert
Found here
posted by Lynn S @ 07:58 (category: General) 3 comments!
First of all, don't take the title the wrong way; this is not a Wal-mart bashing post. We rural and small town folk don't have the luxury of hating Wal-mart. Oh, we do have other stores - other national chain stores (but no Target or K-mart) and a few small "mom and pop" stores of various kinds and of course hardware stores and feed stores. We can avoid Wal-mart for a little while but sooner or later (usually sooner) we are going to need something that can only be found at Wal-mart. So we generally don't even try to indulge in the silliness of avoiding Wal-mart except around Christmas-time when everyone else in the whole county goes there and apparently, no one leaves the store for an entire month. In December we sometimes manage to go a whole week without going to Wal-mart.
For two big reasons, Wal-mart is a horrible place to go Christmas shopping. The first is that the person you're shopping for either goes to Wal-mart regularly so whatever you buy, they've probably already seen it and decided not to buy it for themselves or they're Wal-mart Haters and will be insulted to receive a gift that came from that most evil of stores. The second reason is, as already stated, everyone else is there and the place is a madhouse. It's wall-to-wall people in every department and only six of the thirty checkouts will be open.
Most of the time I don't hate Wal-mart at all. I depend on them to have life's little necessities and minor luxuries. But once in a while they let me down. Right now they are letting me down in a big way. It's October; the weather's getting cooler and I need some new thick, fuzzy socks - the kind that are made for just knocking around the house in. Wal-mart always has thick, fuzzy socks this time of year but so far this year they don't have any. I'm still wearing last year's thick, fuzzy socks and they all have holes in them. Thick, fuzzy socks without holes are not a luxury, they are most definitely a necessity. And Wal-mart, which I can always count on to have life's little necessities doesn't have any thick, fuzzy socks yet! Damn you, Wal-mart! You're letting me down!
posted by Lynn S @ 08:32 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 6 comments!
18 Oct 06
Being a traditionalist, I would like to think that it's too early to think about Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving but the reality is that if we wait that long the stores will be full of people bumping into each other and grumbling about how crowded the store is and you will probably not find what you want. Therefore, I am a believer in catalog and online shopping. As a service to you, my loyal readers, and anyone else who might stop by, I am going to be posting links (at least two or three a week) to some interesting online stores from now until the end of November or whenever I run out of stores. Many of these I know about because I get their dead tree catalog. Some I have ordered from, most I have not. I only link to them because they look interesting. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
* * *
First up is The Lighter Side. I've been getting their catalog for many years and I may have ordered some t-shirts from them once but I really can't remember if it was this or a similar catalog.
The Lighter Side has a few items that make me feel embarrassed to be getting their catalog but they also have a lot of fun stuff and a lot of nice stuff. Whether you're looking for gag gifts or just ordinary gifts you will be able to find something there. They have a lot of t-shirts, both funny and pretty, some other clothing, a few toys, games, Christmas decorations, other decorations, retro stuff, housewares and of course a lot of novelty items. If you can't find a few appropriate gifts at The Lighter Side, well then, your friends and family are probably all stuffy and boring.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:27 (category: General) no comments
If you like silly lists go visit Keepers of Lists. Some recent lists: Top 17 Worst Things Bush Overheard When Tapping Your Phone ~ Top 45 Things Not to Say on an Airplane ~ Top 134 Things You Would Never Want to be Handcuffed To and my favorite so far, Top 50 Things to do When Your ISP is Down. Many more. You can even sign up and add your own.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:56 (category: Weird and Wonderful Web) no comments
Data's Head, an excerpt from Dark Mission – Book One: The Secret History of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by Richard C. Hoagland and Michael Bara. Are these guys really that much different from the folks who get all worked up over images of Mary and Jesus in peeling paint and grilled cheese sandwiches? If you want me to take you seriously at least show me a good photo.
Via The Daily Grail.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:14 (category: General) 3 comments!
From Nature.com News: (via Bifurcated Rivets)
It is essentially a 'nature versus nurture' argument about how different languages divide colours into categories. For instance, in English, there is a word for red and a word for purple, but is that the case in every language?
[...]
In 1976, [Paul] Kay and his collaborators embarked on a World Colour Survey. Fieldworkers roamed the globe for four years, carting kits containing 320 coloured chips and asking participants to categorize each as a colour. Responses were collected from 2,616 informants in 110 different languages.
It amazes me that most languages do not distinguish between green and blue.
More at Paul Kay's Home Page and The World Color Survey website.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:44 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
Forestry Images - hundreds of photos of trees and other plants, wildlife, insects and other forestry related subjects. No thumbnails so you have to know the name of what you're looking for or else just browse.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:54 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
The Longevity Meme - news about aging, life extension research and general health.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:02 (category: Science & Nature) no comments
Here's the proof that there are cardboard boxes more attractive than my house, at least on the outside.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:18 (category: Art) no comments
These LED pillows are sort of cool but not $450 worth of cool!
Unrelated, on the same site, DIY creepy-crawly robot.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:27 (category: General) no comments
Kirk continues his Halloween countdown. I particularly like number 15 and the two stories that go with it.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:44 (category: Culture Too) no comments
Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry is channeling H.G. Wells.
Via Neatorama.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:11 (category: Science & Nature) 4 comments!
Hawk Alfredson - portraits, surreal scenes; mostly a little spooky.
Via Jaf Project
posted by Lynn S @ 14:31 (category: Art) 1 comment
19 Oct 06
The Post Office mangled two packages then put them together and made them one and now Fillyjonk has someone else's stuff as well as her own. She has done more than most people would to try to get the extra items to the rightful recipient (updates here and here) but the Post Office doesn't seem inclined to make even a token effort so there's someone out there waiting on three items which they will never receive.
I suppose it would be extremely difficult to find who the items belong to but it seems to me that they could at least take them and wait and see if someone comes in asking for a missing package. It's the attitude that aggravates me - like they have no responsibility at all.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:13 (category: General) 2 comments!
Brian Micklethwait linked to the cute little Brazilian car. I guess I have a fairly narrow viewpoint of what a car should be. I can't imagine buying a car that will only seat two* people and doesn't have enough room to carry a week's groceries or the occasional small piece of furniture but I suppose for a single person living in the city a car like this might be just the thing. But I do hope they will think of the rest of us soon.
(*They say three but I imagine those three people would have to be very thin and extremely friendly.)
posted by Lynn S @ 07:34 (category: General) 1 comment
Another one from Brian, a great post about Sierra Leone with photos and commentary.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:48 (category: General) no comments
DISCLAIMER: This is a series meant to stimulate your interest in holiday shopping before it's too late and you have to go to the brick and mortar stores and deal with the bazillion other people who waited until the last minute. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
I don't know what I bought to get on the horse catalog list but someone out there is under the impression that I own and/or love horses. Horses are fine looking animals but I have no desire to own one or to ride one and I'm not even particularly interested in owning items bearing pictures of horses. However, the catalog I got yesterday from Back in the Saddle is pretty nice so I decided to make it today's online store of the day.
They have clothing, jewelry, accessories, art, blankets, pillows, Christmas ornaments, snow globes, toys and more, almost all with horses or horseshoes. It all looks like good quality stuff (just based on the pictures, of course) and, truth be told, even though I'm not a big horse fan there are a few items that sort of tempt me a little bit.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:22 (category: General) no comments
I finally found some thick fuzzy socks! Well, at least they're fuzzy. Sort of. I had to go to town for a couple of things (it's always something) and on the way out of town I decided to stop at the Dollar Store to see if they had any thick fuzzy socks. This was, of course, an act of considerable desperation and in admitting to it I know I have probably shocked some people.
You see, The Dollar Store is to us out here what Wal-mart is to folks in the big city. We "don't shop at the Dollar Store" for the same reason yuppie liberal city-dwellers "don't shop at Wal-mart" - not the reason they say, but the real reason - pure and simple snobbery. True, the quality of some items is not quite up to the standards we're used to but the real reason we hate to shop there is the icky feeling we get when we walk in the door and the fear that we might run into someone else who "doesn't shop at the Dollar Store," while we're there.
I am a little bit worried about the quality of these socks. They just don't have that hefty, substantial feel that I like but they're warm and comfy and I hope they will last at least until Wal-mart gets some of the good ones in - "good ones" being a relative term. (I sort of have this little problem of expecting cheap socks to last forever.) One problem with these is that they are more slippery than the last house socks I had. If I forget and walk across the kitchen floor too fast I'm gonna fall and break something. They really do feel very nice though, very soft.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:58 (category: Life 'n' Stuff) 9 comments!
Blue Tea has a collection of links to surrealist painters and a few sample images. I discovered the fantastic Zademack a number of months ago but the rest are new to me. Of the "new" ones, I especially like Susan Jamison and Arnau Alemany.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:23 (category: Art) no comments
20 Oct 06
DISCLAIMER: This is a series meant to stimulate your interest in holiday shopping before it's too late and you have to go to the brick and mortar stores and deal with the bazillion other people who waited until the last minute. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
Today's store is the Smithsonian Shop. They have many beautiful and elegant gifts. Some are expensive but they also have many small, relatively inexpensive items. Smithsonian subscribers get a discount. Last year I bought two of their yo-yos because they are plain old-fashioned wooden yo-yos, which are hard to find. Another year I bought a book. They have many other tempting items. Go have a look around.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:46 (category: General) no comments
Speaking of crowd wisdom, I would ask all monarchists and all otherwise decent individuals to hold a moment of silence, for on this day in 1793 Josephe Jeanne Marie Antoinette von Habsburg-Lorraine was executed under the guillotine for her crime of not being a people-pleaser.
-- Deleted By Tomorrow
(Oops. I missed that important date in history. That was the 16th)
posted by Lynn S @ 07:57 (category: Culture ) no comments
21 Oct 06
Earlier this week I linked to the BBC article about Oliver Curry's theory that humanity will split into two sub-species in a few thousand years. I made a joke of it and was going to leave it at that but a little discussion in the comments (oh, okay, two comments besides my own) has inspired me to get a little deeper into it. (By the way, this will NOT turn into an Evolution vs. Intelligent Design debate so DON'T EVEN GO THERE!)
I do not believe that humanity is likely to split into two different species. My reason is that there have been groups of people who live in distinctly different environments and who had no contact with each other for thousands of years - for example, African tribes and Eskimos - and yet both groups have remained human. If they choose to, individuals from each group can mate and have children and their children can mate with any other humans and have children. At most, humans might split into new ethnic groups. But of course, I don't have a PhD in evolutionary biology so take that for whatever it's worth. However, it's still fun to play "what if" games and I actually had been thinking about this sort of thing long before I ever read that article.
The time traveller in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine travels more than 800,000 years into the future and finds the world populated by the carefree and child-like "Eloi," descended from the aristocracy, and the fearsome "Morlocks," descended from the working class. In 1895, when The Time Machine was first published, society and class distinctions were quite different from what they are now. The aristocracy was better educated but considered any activity resembling work to be beneath them. The uneducated working class did little else besides work.
Today's better educated people do tend to work in jobs that require little or no physical labor but they are more likely to spend their free time on physical activities and are more concerned about living a healthy lifestyle than less educated people are. Today's working class, on the other hand, rarely work as hard, physically, as their counterparts of 120 years ago, they spend much of their free time on sedentary pastimes like watching TV and they have more than enough to eat but much of it is unhealthy. Based on these generalizations, it is not difficult to imagine future humans like those theorized by Curry - a smart, tall, attractive species and a stupid, short, dumpy, "goblin-like" species.
But reality is never so clear cut. There are many intelligent, well-educated professionals who spend nearly all their waking hours sitting at a computer and who are not especially concerned about eating right, while there are laborers who enjoy physical activities in their spare time. Furthermore, humanity can be divided into more than just these two groups. Another divide that is of particular concern right now is relgious vs. secular. Religious people do tend to marry other religious people and secular people tend to marry other secular people but individuals in either group can be well-educated or less-educated, active or sedentary. The various different groups overlap. Add to all this the fact that one no longer need be "the fittest" to survive and pass one's genes on to the next generation and Curry's theory seems even more unlikely.
There is one way, however, in which some humans might evolve into a new species: we could do it more or less on purpose. It might be possible in the future to select the genetic characteristics of our children. At first we would be concerned mainly with eliminating inheritable diseases but soon parents who could afford it would, if allowed, select for intelligence, physical attractiveness, specific physical characteristics like hair and eye color and so forth. Later generations might continue to make ever more radical changes - super intelligence, super strength, genetically enforced vegetarianism, blue skin. Who knows? When nothing's impossible, nothing is impossible.
Many people, for financial or religious reasons, would continue to let nature have its way. Still other parents might demand the right to insure that they pass on to their children characteristics that most people consider defects, such as dwarfism or deafness. (believe it) Isn't it possible that after several generations of genetic manipulation, humanity might begin to split into two or more different subspecies? If that happens the "Culture War" will escalate into something truly deserving of that label. Would one species of New Humans eventually dominate? How long would we continue to cling to what we call "political correctness"? Would our cherished idea of equal rights survive if the abilities and needs of the various human sub-species become radically different? Might each species eventually have its own government? What would a world with two or more intelligent species be like?
posted by Lynn S @ 08:51 (category: Science & Nature) 9 comments!
23 Oct 06
I've been seeing this linked everywhere but for some reason haven't gotten around to mentioning it myself. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin is now online. It occurs to me that of all scientists and science writers, Darwin is probably talked about by more people who have never read his work than any other scientist.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:52 (category: Science & Nature) 4 comments!
Manga Revolution has a list of links to digital and traditional art tutorials. Also, check out Drawspace.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:04 (category: Art) no comments
Still more linky goodness from Bifurcated Rivets - King of the Road is dedicated to great old cars.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:09 (category: General) no comments
A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand.
He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.
The head monk, says, “We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." ...
posted by Lynn S @ 09:37 (category: General) 1 comment
...or, to be exact, time on your wrist. A collection of Odd Watches.
Wikipedia's list of quotes about time.
Both of those found at Plep.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:01 (category: General) no comments
How well do you know the hexadecimal codes? Try this game if you're feeling particularly HTML geeky today.
Via In4mador
posted by Lynn S @ 10:11 (category: Weird and Wonderful Web) no comments
DISCLAIMER: This is a series meant to stimulate your interest in holiday shopping before it's too late and you have to go to the brick and mortar stores and deal with the bazillion other people who waited until the last minute. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
I have never ordered anything from Pegasus Publishing but I can't resist a great t-shirt and they have a lot of great t-shirts so I'm sure it's only a matter of time. They have several Firefly and Serenity shirts, other movie and TV shirts, a lot of science and general geekery shirts, fantasy, Celtic, M.C. Escher, Cthulhu, humor, (lol) and lots more. Many of the shirts in the Fantasy and Celtic categories are beautiful!
Pegasus Publishing also has a few other items: Books (very few) stuffed toys and other miscellaneous items. They also have hundreds of bumper stickers for those of you who are inclined to turn your vehicles into rolling billboards.
UPDATE: The dragons are my favorites.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:19 (category: General) no comments
Martindale's Reference Desk - Links to many different references on the Web: sciences, languages, entertainment and more. I've only clicked on a couple of the links but this looks very useful.
Via Larry.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:24 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
More Lists: 50 interesting science facts, 10 timeless lessons from Ben Franklin and nine more lists.
posted by Lynn S @ 19:31 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
24 Oct 06
DISCLAIMER: This is a series meant to stimulate your interest in holiday shopping before it's too late and you have to go to the brick and mortar stores and deal with the bazillion other people who waited until the last minute. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
The store for today is Stash Tea. I used to get their dead tree catalog and ordered from it several times a year but a local grocery store has a pretty good selection of Stash Teas so now I buy them locally instead. In addition to their many teas, the catalog has some great teapots, mugs and a few other tea related items.
Stash has a good variety of black teas, some very good green teas and herbal teas but my favorites are the flavored black teas. I like the Chai Spice, Vanilla Chai and Vanilla Nut Creme. The Licorice Spice is one of the best herbal teas. Recently I have been enjoying the Cascade Mint a lot. The Exotica Golden Darjeeling is interesting. I used to like it very well but haven't had any in a long time. This is making me want to run out to the store and buy some different kinds of tea even though I already have more than enough.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:58 (category: General) no comments
Cold weather is here. Sort of. It hasn't even been below freezing yet but suddenly I find myself wearing warmer clothes, we've added a quilt to the bed and yesterday we had a fire in the stove for the first time this season. It would have been nice to have one this morning but we didn't bother, thinking that it would get warm later. It hasn't so far. After 11:00 and still cold.
Somehow I keep thinking of this cold as temporary. I keep thinking that in a few days the temps will be back in the upper 70s or even 80s. That's what happened last year - a week of cold and then several weeks of near summer-like weather. I'm having a hard time believing in winter anymore. Summer will just go on and on with brief interruptions of cool fall weather. I almost wish every winter could be like last year, but with more rain. A winter made to order. A winter not wintery at all but not too dry. But the daffodils didn't do so well this past Spring. They needed a little more winter.
When I was a kid the grown-ups used to tell me, "Sometimes you gotta take the bad with the good." I always hated that saying. It felt like an excuse, a cop-out. I wasn't going to accept the bad, only the good. But doggone it if that silly old saying isn't true! And not just of the weather. Life is full of good and bad that comes packaged together. It's not fair. Stupid grown-ups anyway.
Remember that episode of Star Trek with the kids who grew up very slowly; they took centuries to reach puberty but when they finally did they got sick and died. Stupid episode but remember what they called grown-ups? Grups. What an ugly word. It fits the ugly side of being grown-up. But remember those kids were mostly little brats. "Nyah nyah nyah nyah." There's an ugly side to being a kid too. You would think after a few decades their minds would have grown up even if their bodies didn't. But why would we think that? So many people in the real world never fully grow up, mentally - never accepting that sometimes you have to take the bad with the good. Growing up is hard to do, I guess.
Now how did I get off on that tack anyway? Interesting... I was only planning to talk about the weather. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to take the bad with the good. You get to decide which is which.
posted by Lynn S @ 11:12 (category: Inner Space) 2 comments!
An optical illusion similar to one I linked to sometime back plus links to several more illusion sites. Very cool blog, by the way. Just found it at Exclamation Mark.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:08 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
For you lucky highspeed folks: downloadable Halloween albums. We slowpoke dialup folks can at least enjoy looking at the cool, creepy vintage cover images.
Via Neatorama.
posted by Lynn S @ 13:26 (category: Music) no comments
I imagine the appeal would wane rather quickly but I'd love to see this thing in action at least once.
Via XLR8R
posted by Lynn S @ 13:41 (category: General) 1 comment
Guess who is really into computer animation. Cool... I never would have guessed.
posted by Lynn S @ 18:27 (category: Culture Too) no comments
25 Oct 06
My thanks to Harvey for sending me a link to Peter Callesen's website. He does wonderful things with cut paper and also snow art, drawings and installations. All of it is very nice but I like the cut paper best.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:46 (category: Art) no comments
Undeniable Facts - When I first saw that title I expected an annoying political blog but they're not that kind of "facts"; they are fun "facts."
Bad Science - Keeping a watch on science (mostly bad) in the news.
Conservative History Journal - Twentieth century history from a British conservative perspective.
Global Guerrillas - War commentary. I haven't read a lot of it yet; disagree with some of what I have read but it's well-written, not just ranting and raving.
Thomas the Tank Engine Blog - Yes, it really is a blog about Thomas the Tank Engine. Cool.
Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie - About collecting bookplates. Lots of great images.
Recumbent Cyclist - About recumbent bicycles and cycling news in general. I know someone out there who might like this.
Red Stapler - She found me first. Nice general interest blog from California.
The Nonist - I've seen this one linked all over the place so I don't know why I never visited it til this week but, finally, here it is. Very intersting. I can see why it gets linked so often. Art, oddities, various intersting observations.
Seven Deadly Sinners - a great group blog. I don't know how deadly they are but there are seven bloggers there. Art and various odds and ends. A picture in every post.
A Shrewdness of Apes - Someone else who found me; another Okie. Some pop culture stuff and some newsy stuff.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:40 (category: Web Surfing) 4 comments!
26 Oct 06
DISCLAIMER: This is a series meant to stimulate your interest in holiday shopping before it's too late and you have to go to the brick and mortar stores and deal with the bazillion other people who waited until the last minute. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
Today's store is Whales and Friends - one of my favorites! It's a catalog for animal lovers with lots of whales, dolphins, wolves, birds, reptiles, dogs, cats, insects and other animals on clothing, jewelry, blankets, dishes, luggage and various decorative items.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:53 (category: General) no comments
Tim Boucher at Pop Occulture has had some provocative things to say about religion lately. Here is the latest and it has links to earlier posts. Then I found this one from way back in July.
I love when people openly speculate about such things. It's so rare. Usually you have people on one side who are very dogmatic and insist that the way they were taught is the way it is and to suggest anything else is blasphemy and on the other side you have people who just dismiss it all as nonsense. I, frankly, don't have much respect for either of those two groups but I'm pretty much alone where stuff like this is concerned, which is why I don't talk about religion very much. Both believers and non-believers (any who are not open to speculation) just piss me off too much.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:23 (category: Inner Space) no comments
It's hard to believe the vampire myth would still need to be debunked in the 21st century but here ya go. If you don't believe the science maybe the math will convince you.
Via Gravity Lens
posted by Lynn S @ 08:39 (category: Culture Too) 2 comments!
Maya Kulenovic - disturbing portraits, beautiful dark landscapes.
Chet Zar - weird and creepy faces.
Both via Exclamation Mark (who has a lot of other great stuff too)
posted by Lynn S @ 08:52 (category: Art) no comments
Photo-realistic nature paintings. Lovely! Very green. (in the literal sense)
Via Neurastenia
posted by Lynn S @ 09:15 (category: Art) no comments
posted by Lynn S @ 12:27 (category: Photos 2006) 1 comment
27 Oct 06
Or another, more horrid thought has been occurring to me lately… maybe we are being fattened up for something.
Think about it. The environmental movement and all those other leftist movements have been getting very odd lately. Then there are all those “animal rights” and meat-is-murder proponents. A vegetarian diet is necessarily high-carb, which we are told causes more people to become fat. Has anyone gotten close enough to Al Gore to see if that’s really a mask concealing a ravenous alien visage of meat- and bone-crunching mandibles? All I know is, I am going to keep on eating meat, so as to at least render my fatty flesh unpleasant tasting to any cannibal looking for a sweet ruminant human on which to feast.
-- A Crafty Madness
Yeah, I know, that's gross but it's appropriate for the upcoming holiday.
By the way, unrelated except for being on the same blog but I simply must point to this and say... Indeed!
posted by Lynn S @ 08:03 (category: General) no comments
A Russian "doctor of biological sciences" has discovered an interesting new cure for depression.
That's just... I don't know... I'm speechless.
posted by Lynn S @ 10:10 (category: General) 1 comment
iPods vs. CDs or records - good post and discussion. Sometimes I would like to be able to take music with me but I'm mostly on the anti-iPod side. I have a CD walkman but the thing is so bulky and the "skip prevention" doesn't work all that well so I rarely use it. I also have a headphone radio but it doesn't pick up the classical station very well. Everything I've heard about the iPod tells me that it would be far less than satisfactory so I'll wait until technology catches up with my fairly unreasonable expectations.
posted by Lynn S @ 14:00 (category: Music) no comments
30 Oct 06
Legendary for his turgid prose ("it was a dark and stormy night...") Bulwer-Lytton's pioneering science fiction novel "Vril" was taken very seriously by 19th Century Atlantis fans. Vril is a mysterious energy which is used by Lytton's subterranian race (refugees from the Deluge) to power their advanced civilization; it was later treated as a reality by occultists. The plot of this book was recycled for numerous 'B' pulp scifi movies and assorted crank theories.
After reading the first few paragraphs of Vril, The Power of the Coming Race, it is easy to see the reason for Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's reputation but I might try to slog my way through it anyway, just for the historical perspective.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:38 (category: Science Fiction) no comments
You Can't Kill the Rooster is a classical music oriented blog that I discovered via the comments at Serenade in Green.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:48 (category: Web Surfing) no comments
It seems facial recognition software needs some improvement. Brian Sack uses it to select actors to play Henry VIII and his wives and gets some amusing results.
posted by Lynn S @ 08:14 (category: General) no comments
Amundart - great colored pencil drawings, many poking fun at the world we live in. Some in the Franchise gallery are very amusing.
Via Jaf Project
posted by Lynn S @ 09:01 (category: Art) no comments
Weird Gardens - Imaginative decor, inside and out. Perhaps a little weird but also artistic. I'm afraid that if I tried to do anything like that it would just look like a junk yard.
posted by Lynn S @ 09:14 (category: Art) no comments
31 Oct 06
DISCLAIMER: This is a series meant to stimulate your interest in holiday shopping before it's too late and you have to go to the brick and mortar stores and deal with the bazillion other people who waited until the last minute. Unless otherwise noted, I get nothing from these stores for linking to them and these posts should not be considered advertisements or endorsements, just suggestions.
Oops... I've been slacking off on this. (Does anyone care?)
Spilsbury is another fun catalog - toys, games, puzzles, gag gifts, etc. Some very tacky stuff but a lot of fun stuff, including stuff for kids. It's conveniently categorized by age. The remote control tarantula was a big hit with the grandson last year.
Spilsbury has a "blog" too but, as you might expect, it's strictly a marketing tool.
posted by Lynn S @ 07:58 (category: General) no comments
Bifurcated Rivets linked to several more photos on the same site. I like this one too. Wow...
posted by Lynn S @ 08:20 (category: General) 1 comment
Raven's Blight - Linked by Exclamation Mark. He has posted a number of Halloween appropriate links lately. Scroll down to see more.
Jaf Project has been getting into the Halloween spirit too, with lots of creepy and weird art links. (one recent post NSFW)
posted by Lynn S @ 08:49 (category: Art) no comments
I hate printers. I really, really hate printers! Why can't anyone make a printer that works and doesn't self destruct just a few months after purchase? I really liked our HP printer/scanner/copier a lot. I bragged about it and told everyone how great it is. Now it doesn't work anymore. Sometimes when we try to print something then give up, after we've turned off the computer and went to bed then the next time we start up the computer the thing we tried to print the day before will finally print out. But if I turn off the computer and then turn it back on for the express purpose of getting something to print out, it still won't print. We have to actually give up and forget about it before it will print. But that's just me. I've seen evidence that some other family members have somehow managed to print stuff. I think our printer hates me.
And while we're on the subject, why do ink cartridges cost nearly as much as the printer? That one's easy enough to figure out. They sell the cartridges for an outrageous amount of money because they can and if we want to print we will buy them because we have no other choice except for the recycled cartridges which are still overpriced and don't work. They might as well make the whole thing, printer and all, disposable since it actually is anyway.
Not that I think they should make more disposable stuff; it's ridiculous how much electronic garbage we throw away. There's a cause for the liberal enviro-wingnuts. If they really want to do some good in the world they ought to put down all the We Hate Bush signs and start protesting and demanding that manufacturers make stuff that lasts longer. They can start with HP. I want to see a huge protest in front of HP headquarters with hundreds of signs that say SAVE THE PLANET - MAKE BETTER PRINTERS. Go on... do it! You can even blame Bush for bad printers too if you feel like it.
posted by Lynn S @ 12:12 (category: Inner Space) 3 comments!
Celebrating both Halloween and freedom of expression... Great Halloween costume. Unfortunately there are no permalinks so you'll have to scroll down to October 30, 8:46pm.
UPDATED LINK
posted by Lynn S @ 12:57 (category: Culture Too) 1 comment
Time Zone: GMT -6
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