Kapowie Zone

Get off my lawn!

2008-07-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sharon Spotbottom

2005-03-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

Sharon burns her purse ©2005 Sharon Spotbottom

My favorite new, daily art blog is Sharon Spotbottom, created by my pal Karen of Venice, based on a character by another pal Tammy (also of Venice). Everyday is a treat to see what makes Sharon tick, where she's headed and how far she's come from her early doodle days.

Link

Uniwursts - the new symbol of Europe!

2005-03-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

EuroTrash - the restaurant has just opened in Amsterdam. It's home of the Uniwurst - "a tribute to the reunification of Europe under one flag." The logic is that the sausage is "a true European delicacy made in hundreds of variations all across this great union."

Hmm, a weenie as a symbol of European pride? No comment.

Check out the EuroTrash website.

Pop Goes the Weasel - the songs

2005-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Pop Goes the Weasel (aka Lady Cocoa) Moonstone Entertainment 1975

While standing in line at the bank recently, a friend of mine was smitten by what she thought was Pop Goes the Weasel ring tones on someone's cell phone behind her. It turned out to be a child's toy.

While searching for ring tones of that favorite childhood ditty I came across a multitude of versions. Listed below are links of a variety of takes. Have a listen and choose your favorite. Mine is at the end of the list.

1. Pop Goes the Weasel as ring tones.
2. An old fashioned touch tone version.
3. How about a vocal rendition?
4. Sounds great done by a banjo orchestra.
5. Here are four versions from hand crank Jack-in-the-Box toys.
6. This one is sung by a baboon!
7. A full band "Pops the Weasel," followed by a swinging country rendition.
8. Disney's Silly Song version.
9. A very sweet rendition with a trombone finish.
10. Birdie whistles Pop Goes the Weasel. More songs by Birdie here.
11. You-know-what on classical cello.
12. The ol' fiddler plays fer ya!
13. A "Pop" baby singer!
14. Punk Goes the Weasel!
15. The classic ice cream truck version we heard as children.

Too bad I didn't find a rap version. Googling "Hip-Hop Goes the Weasel" didn't turn up a thing!

I'm stuck choosing between #11 and #15 - because only the cello seems capable of bringing out the poignant pathos of the song, yet the ice cream truck moved me to tears - nostalgia for those long ago Popsicles and Eskimo Pies, I suppose. ; )

I wonder if that obscure blaxploitation flick "Pop Goes the Weasel" has a version of the song in its soundtrack. I bet it does - something with a cool, urban 70's riff, I hope.

Which is scarier?

2005-03-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

An aged Chief Justice attempting to make a power fashion statement by wearing more stripes than an admiral in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, or an aging King of Pop emulating him in a subtle attempt to curry favor at his pedophile trial?

[uncredited Internet photos]

Return of the Feast

2005-02-21T04:28:00.000-08:00

After a brief hiatus, Feast of the Seven Fishes is back online. The story had taken a sad turn for Joey with the arrival of Beth's boyfriend at an inopportune moment. Now we can begin to find out the resolution to his emotional cliffhanger. Fasten your seatbelts!

Rainy Sunday in Red Square

2005-02-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

[© 2005 A&E]

The rain last night was the loudest I have ever heard it in LA. It sounded like it was raining bricks. I thought my roof was going to collapse. Thankfully there's lull this morning, although I can already see the next set of dark clouds starting to roll in. And that means "I ain't driving nowhere!"

Since I was staying in town today, I decided to catch up on some of the DVDs that have been gathering dust on my shelves. One in particular is of Paul McCartney's recent concert in Red Square. I'm a huge Beatles fan, with John my favorite, so I haven't rushed to view the disc, but I caught some of Paul at the SuperBowl and was impressed with how well he still carried a tune. Most live concerts sound off-key, but McCartney sounded as clear and perfect as if he was still with the Beatles.

A&E's Paul McCartney in Red Square is an awesome concert and documentary. I found myself getting emotional watching it, and not because of the intrinsic nostalgia to my generation, but to the revelations coming from Russian fans of The Beatles. I've always believed the argument that rock and roll had just as big a part in the Soviet Union's demise as Pope John II, Reagan and Gorbachev, but this concert shows just how much of an impact rock music from the West, and most importantly The Beatles, had on the repressed youth of the former Soviet Union. The kids, as well as adults, hungered for anything - records, pictures, info - about the Fab Four, and the freedom they represented. In many ways The Beatles were more important to them, than for those of us who took our freedoms for granted. Watching Sir Paul perform the classic Back In The USSR in Red Square was especially poignant, even liberating. It seemed like less a parody of The Beach Boy's Back In The USA, that I thought then, and more like the fresh air of freedom that it was to Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian and other Soviet youth. Red Square went wild with excitement when Paul started playing it - and so did I!

Hint to current politicos on both sides: Be aware of the power of music and pop culture. It still is just as potent a weapon against repression that it's always been - whether the repression is social, political or religious.

If only music could make storms go away...

Formula for Worst Day of the Year

2005-01-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

Dr. Cliff Arnall, specialist in seasonal disorders at the University of Cardiff, Wales, created a formula that takes into account numerous feelings to devise peoples' lowest point -- which according to his calculations is today!

The equation is broken down into seven variables: (W) weather, (D) debt, (d) monthly salary, (T) time since Christmas, (Q) time since failed quit attempt, (M) low motivational levels and (NA) the need to take action.

Arnall found that, while days technically get longer after Dec. 21, cyclonic weather systems take hold in January, bringing low, dark clouds to Britain. Meanwhile, the majority of people break their healthy resolutions six to seven days into the new year, and even the hangers-on have fallen off the wagon, torn off the nicotine patches and eaten the fridge empty by the third week. Any residual dregs of holiday cheer and family fun have kicked the bucket by Jan. 24.

“Following the initial thrill of New Year's celebrations and changing over a new leaf, reality starts to sink in,” Arnall said. “The realization coincides with the dark clouds rolling in and the obligation to pay off Christmas credit card bills.”

Read the full story.

[Source: MSNBC News 1.24.05, Illustration: d_orlando]

Handimals

2005-01-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

I was just emailed a whole slew of these amazing photos of hands painted to resemble animals. This elephant and eagle hands blew me away. It's fluff, but after all the recent crazy weather and news, it's welcome airiness.

Here's a link that exhibits a few more.

[Thanks to Karen of Venice]
[painting and photo credits: unknown]

No more sushi for me

2005-01-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

Evil eye... this carp seemingly has a human face / AFP

Fish discovered with human face

If you found this fish staring up at you from a pond, you might do a double take.

For the carp's face displays some extraordinarily human features.

Sinister eyes seem to peer out from the head and a broad nose tapers down to the mouth. But, in fact, the nose is just a marking on the carp's skin as are the "eyes" in front of its real eyes.

The features belong to two 19-year-old female carp in a pond in Chongju, Korea. And the patterns could make the pair very valuable.

Rare markings or colourings on fish are considered a good omen in many Asian countries, Professor Brendan McAndrew, of the Institute of Aquaculture at Stirling University, said.

"Those in the carp industry will go through millions of young fish for good patterns and only find a few."

[From correspondents in London - January 14, 2005 - The Daily Telegraph]

[Via All The Grey In Between - Story source: NEWS.com.au]

Merry Last Day of Christmas

2005-01-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

[Adoration of the Magi, Abraham Bloemaert, 1624]

The Three Kings have arrived bearing gifts on this last day of Christmas, the Epiphany.

In Italy, today also marks the appearance of La Befana, the friendly Christmas witch. According to legend, she was an old woman sweeping her front steps when the Three Kings came by and asked for directions to Bethlehem (odd since they were guided by the Star). They asked La Befana to join them, but she refused, telling them she was busy with housework, and didn't follow them. Regretting her decision, she tried to catch up with them, but the Christmas Star was gone, and ever since, for all eternity she roams the world looking for the Gesu bambino- the Baby Jesus.

[Illustration from Italian Christmas card, artist unknown]

La Befana leaves gifts for good children on January 5, the night before Epiphany, hoping to find the Holy Child. The bad kids get the proverbial lumps of coal - which, when you think about it, is not a bad gift for cold Winter nights!

Happy Epiphany!

Surfin' Tsunami

2005-01-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

This has to be one of the most amazing survival stories to come out of the Asian tsunami disaster:

Briton Surfs Tsunami, Survives
Dec 31, 10:41 AM (ET)

Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - British surfer Martin Markwell had always dreamed of catching that perfect wave -- but when it finally came along, it was a nightmare.

Markwell was paddling on his surfboard Sunday off the popular Hikkaduwa beach resort on Sri Lanka's palm-fringed southern coast when he was swept up by a tsunami wave and sent crashing over a white sand beach and into a hotel restaurant.

"It was really terrible because I was surfing, I was really surfing on a wave I wasn't supposed to be on," he told Reuters.

"As an experienced surfer, when I saw the wave come I realized something was wrong, but I couldn't escape because my surfboard was tied to my ankle."

His wife Vicki and son Jake looked on in horror from a hotel balcony as he crashed toward the shore. Miraculously, he stayed atop his board until he reached the hotel, jumped off and waded to safety as the ocean rolled back to feed a much larger tsunami wave on its way.

The family regrouped and ran inland into jungle to safety just minutes before a giant tsunami wave 30 feet high crashed into Sri Lanka's coast, killing more than 28,500 people.

[Illustration credit: Carol Bennett Prints]

Postcards from Los Angeles: The New Year Zone

2005-01-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

There is a dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a freeway as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle road between cloud-filled sky and shadowy ground, between holiday and holy day, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the day-off of imagination. It is Los Angeles during the New Year Zone.

-- with apologies to Rod Serling

[The 210 freeway, Eagle Rock near Pasadena, CA 1.01.05, photo: d_orlando]

Phuket Tsunami Photos

2004-12-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

Thai man is swept away by tsunami in Phuket. Fortunately, he survived his watery ordeal.

Photographer Hellmut Issels caught the tsunami just as it happened in Phuket, Thailand. He has posted the photos at his pbase site Phuket Tsunami. Issel's aftermath photos can be viewed at Phuket after the Tsunami site.

[Photo: Copyright by Hellmut Issels@2004]

Tsunami Times

2004-12-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

The traditional view of the tsunami is depicted in attractive Japanese woodcuts, with a quaint charm underscored by their rare occurrence. The prints look nice on bare white walls, next to a simple screen, above a statue of a peaceful Buddha set on a lacquered table, with the scent of jasmine incense in the air. A calm before the storm.

Reality is chilling - 44,000 victims and counting. Is this tsunami a tragic coda to a violence-torn past year or a grim foreshadowing of the next? Let's pray it's the former.

General and kids' information about the tsunami.

Postcards from Los Angeles: Day after Xmas

2004-12-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hollywood, CA 12.26.04 [photo: d_orlando]

I took the photo on the way home from the folks, while stuck at a red light on Hollywood Blvd. near Highland Ave. I should try and take the same shot at night when the Christmas lights, decorations and winos are all aglow.

Buon Natale a tutti!

2004-12-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas in LA [photo: d_orlando]

We had a wonderful Vigilia di Natale last night. My sister Jo went all out. There were many Italian dishes: the classic baccala con polenta [salt cod in tomato sauce with fried corn mush]; fish stew with calamari and shrimp; and sausage and onions also served with polenta. My niece Francesca made the traditional pignolata [honey balls] and tarali cookies for the first time. She made a great batch. The tradition will live on.

One dish that has become a standard at Christmas dinners are tamales - living in California has rubbed off on us. All it took was my brother's Mexican-American friend's mother's homemade tamales sent as a Feliz Navidad gift years ago to make us appreciate the dish. Soft and warm, with a trace of hot spice normally not found in Italian dishes... well, except for the occasional hot sausage, pepperoni, capocola, and Calabrian-style salami. ; )

Today's Christmas dinner will include my sister's version of my Dad's braciole - a flank steak roast rolled and string-tied around hard-boiled eggs, mortadella slices, provolone chunks, scallion, tomatoes, parsley, breadcrumbs, grated romano cheese - then brown the surface, and place it in tomato sauce, simmering it until cooked. Serving it room temperature is best!

Tomorrow: Fasting.

'Twas the day before Christmas...

2004-12-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

[photo: micimiao.it]
... and I ran out of things to blog about. So, I shamelessly resorted to Blogger Plan B, and posted this cute picture of a Santa cat. All together now: "Awww!!!"

[Via LiveJournal.com]

Life is about choices

2004-12-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

TIP: When the Hail Mary pass fails, hand the ball to Jesus.

My friend Tina of Wisconsin emailed me an article about the dilemma of being a Christian and a Packers fan during this Christmas holiday. It seems that the NFL has scheduled a game between the Packers and the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day. One area minister's response:

“Life is all about choices. When it comes down to choosing between the Packers and worshipping our Lord and celebrating his birth, ultimately each person has to decide it,”

I offered an easy solution. I sent the above photo of the statue of Jesus playing football with instructions to place it atop your TV, thus allowing guilt-free, sinless viewing of the game. Rather than being stuck in a crowded church, don't you think Jesus would prefer to celebrate his birthday kicking back and watching a rousing game, accompanied by beer, pizza and the company of friends and family?

Have a listen to this apropros country classic: "Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goalposts of Life"

[The football statuette can be purchased here. I'm fond of the one with Jesus playing soccer.]

[Photo credit: catholicshopper.com]

Another Italian Christmas Tradition

2004-12-17T13:47:00.000-08:00

An Italian Presepio. [Photo uncredited from Internet]

A Christmas family tradition which we brought with us as immigrants from Sicily was the "Presepio" [Crèche or Manger]. It was more than just a Manger scene, my Dad who was in charge of putting it together, went to great lengths to create a complete Bethlehem environment. He would lay out a miniature countryside: spongy shrubs with hunters; fields with farmers; shepherds and sheep on hillsides; a carpenter at his outdoor workbench; a fisherman near a pond with ducks floating on its mirror water. There was a small village, with a cloth night sky and Christmas Star backdrop. The Manger would often be a cave fashioned out of logs or crushed bags (later he would switch to a small, wooden animal stall). My Dad would finish his creation by sprinkling baby powder for a snowy effect (not unlike his last sprinklings of grated Romano cheese on one of his savory pasta dishes!) In the dark, with only the lights from the small village houses the Presepio had an enchanting effect, epitomizing Christmas for our family.

This was important: No Bambineddu - Baby Jesus - was in the crib, it was kept empty till after midnight Christmas Eve (when we opened our gifts) or on Christmas Day - when my Dad would surreptitiously replace a small statuette of a sleeping shepherd atop the cave or stall, with a shepherd shouting the news of Jesus' birth! When I was little it never ceased to amaze me - the statue coming to life! Surely, it was a miracle! The drama didn't end there. For the next 12 days, we children would move three small, multicultural statuettes of the Three Wise Kings (including a camels) a little bit closer to the Manger every day, arriving finally on January 6th - the Feast of the Epiphany - and on that last day of Christmas, the Three Wise Men would surrender their gifts to the Baby Jesus.

For a few years we didn't have a Christmas Tree - who needed one with such glorious theater in miniature? Eventually, as the years passed and we became more Americanized, the Manger scene was integrated with the traditional Christmas Tree, placed beneath it and surrounded by all the presents. It seemed that Jesus' birth had lost something - something in its scale - literally because it was overwhelmed by a giant tree and presents, and symbolically by the new culture we accepted, symbolized the Christmas Tree.

My Mom has saved all of the Christmas statuettes and props. Today she only puts a few elements out, mainly the Manger with its star cast Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. I hope that my Dad, locked in his Alzheimer's dream world, is recreating the same wonderful, magic miniature world of Christmas that brought so much joy to his children.

Buon Natale, Papá!

[Via All The Grey In Between]

A Holiday Warning

2004-12-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

How well do you know your shopping mall Santa?

Before you put your child in the clutches of some festively costumed weirdo, you should sit on his lap first, and put him through the first degree:

1. Get a good look at his face, gently tug his beard, if fake.
5. Check Molester Hotline, if he looks vaguely familiar.
2. Ask if he's seen "Bad Santa" or "Powder."
4. Does he think Michael Jackson is getting a raw deal?
5. Check the Molester Hotline, if he answers yes to #4.
6. Ask him if he's wearing a costume, uniform or disguise.
7. Does he believe elves are fairies?
8. Smell his breath for booze.
9. Smell his breath for kids.
10. Tug his beard hard, if #9 is positive.

Seasons' Greetings from Saddam Claus (or is it Santa Hussein?)

[Via All The Grey In Between]

The Italians of West Virginia Revisited

2004-12-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

When I was an expatriate Italian child in Michigan, I developed an interest in all things West Virginian. This odd attraction grew out of living next door to immigrant neighbors from the American South, who like us and our parents, their European counterparts, sought a better life in Detroit's factories.

My West Virginia curiosity was also nurtured then by a Life Magazine article which featured stunning photographs of the state with its green hills and fast moving rapids. The piece spoke of its Civil War history, the break from the Virginia mother state, its provision of tens of thousands of Union soldiers and the heartbreaking conflict between brother versus brother. Its lore was also expressed in wonderful illustrations, recalling images of hauntings and river ghost tales.

After moving to California my interest in WVa waned, until I met and worked with a talented, young filmmaker named Robert Tinnell. Bobby filled me in on what that long ago Life article left out - that West Virginia had been a haven for Italian immigrants - hardworking Southern Italians, Sicilians and Calabrese who worked the farms, and mostly, the coal mines! Our friendship culminated in one lucky New Years Day spent at his folks' home in Fairmont, enjoying a delicious Tinnell family dinner. After the publication of Bob's incredible Feast of the Seven Fishes daily comic strip this year, I wished I had also spent Christmas with his family, especially with his Calabrese uncles and aunts!

My appreciation for Feast of the Seven Fishes goes beyond Robert Tinnell's excellent storytelling skills and comics veteran Alex Saviuk's evocative drawings (since he took over duties as artist, the strip has leaped giant steps forward creatively) - I also enjoy the strip because it captures a reality rarely seen in comics, or movies for that matter: sublimated ethnicity that contributes to the makeup of who we are as Americans, in this instance, Southern Italian traditions in a place that we normally see as the domain of hillbillies, rednecks and blue people - all of which are mass media stereotypes. Tinnell's Seven Fishes helps to dispel those tired notions and clichés - ironically, just as Hollywood prepares to revisit the hokum of a new Dukes of Hazzard!

Feast of the Seven Fishes is also stepping outside of the box in groundbreaking ways, by subtly asking its readers to prepare some of the fish dishes enjoyed by Italians on Christmas. Talk about interactive, this week my mouth watered as I read the beginnings of preparation for fried smelts (if ever a comic strip begged to be "scratch 'n sniff" it is this one! Fish smells, you say? Well, you've never had fish the way Italians cook it. There has been talk of a Feast of Seven Fishes cookbook. Too bad it's not available now. It would make an excellent stocking stuffer. With further success, more Americans will be cooking (and reading) Christmas 2005 the Feast of the Seven Fishes way.

Buon Natale!

December 7th Surprise

2004-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

An easy to make, easy to eat breakfast:

Open a carton of pre-washed, pre-sliced Monterey mushrooms. Let them languish in the fridge for a few days until they're somewhat dried up, alllowing for a more intense flavor.

In a microwave-safe dish, place a pat of butter and about 3 oz. of the mushrooms. Drizzle them with some olive oil.

Cover and zap for 1 minute. (All times based on my microwave. Yours may be different.)

Break 3 eggs atop the fungi. Smush up the eggs, mixing them gently into the steamy mushrooms. (Trader Joe's sells these great DHA Omega-3 eggs that have intense yellow yolks, just like the country farm variety.)

Cover and zap for about 45 seconds.

Sprinkle a handful of shredded cheddar/jack cheese mix and stir into the eggs.

Zap uncovered from 30 to 45 seconds, depending on how moist you like your eggs.

Stir, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

For a special Dec. 7th surprise treat, bomb the eggs with Japan's finest soy sauce. ( Kikkoman is an excellent brand.)

[Thank you Anneliese of Northern California for recipe inspiration.]

The Forager

2004-12-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

Grape harvest. Photo Credit: Angelo Garro

Check out "NPR: The Forager: Hunting & Gathering with Angelo Garro."

The NPR documentary reminded me of my Dad, who was also big on foraging in Southern California. He would pick wild mustard greens after the spring rains in the San Gabriel Valley; green olives from South Hills homes that only used the trees for landscaping; a laurel tree in the Sears parking lot provided bay leaves for decades; leftover grapes from the Cucamonga vineyards after they were machine-picked; there were sweet prickly pears in the local hills; the oceanside rocks of early 60's San Diego Bay provided all sorts of seafood like mussels, clams, urchin, sea snails, abalone and other tasty mollusks. I remember that he cooked the seafood with fresh sea water claiming that it was already salted and seasoned! There was an endless bounty before tract homes took over the valleys and hillsides, and the coastlines became polluted.

My Dad's backyard garden also provided a great addition to the bounty with fruit that included: apples, 5 varieties of figs, 3 varieties of peaches, locquats, kumquats, sweet lemons (that tasted like lemonade), oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, raspberries, thin-skinned avocado that could be eaten without peeling, custard-like sapote, 2 varieties of grapes, 3 varieties of cactus apples; homegrown vegetables included broccoli, fava beans, green beans, several varieties of squash, including cucuzza; fennel; black and green olives, sweet basil, Italian parsley, capers; and there was also fresh eggs (kept a few chickens for a while), backyard snails were saved and purged with stale bread before eating; rabbits, homemade wine and liqueurs; one year my Dad even crushed his own olive oil! -- All from the backyard of an average American tract home!

Foraging, living off the land and sea, home gardening are Sicilian traits and talents - none of which I inherited. Maybe I'm a late bloomer.

[Thank you Anneliese of Northern California sending the NPR link.]

The first major broadside against low-carb?

2004-12-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

In the news today: Cafes dedicated to breakfast cereal to open across America. You gotta give it to the sugar and carb biz, they're not taking their recent losses sitting on their hands. They've come out swinging hard:

How's this for thinking outside the box: a cafe with jammies-clad servers pouring cereal day and night, topping it off with everything from fruit to malted milk balls, and serving it in "bowls" resembling Chinese takeout containers. It's all cereal. Seriously.

Cereality Cereal Bar & Cafe, which opened its first sit-down cafe Wednesday on the University of Pennsylvania campus, is a sugarcoated - and tongue-in-cheek - homage to what your mother always told you was the most important meal of the day. But she probably never dished out bowls of Froot Loops and Cap'n Crunch topped with Pop Rocks.

Great ploy. If there's anything I miss in my low-carb lifestyle of the last two years, it's cereal! The low-carb versions just don't cut it - too soggy, no crunch.

Cereality was smart to open its first cafe on a college campus, where its student customers are most likely to burn off the carbs and sugar, but I wonder how they will do in other, more adult (and sedentary) locations? Smells like the new Krispy Kreme phenomenon... will Cereality's stock will boom? And will it fizzle in the same manner? It has a chance at sustaining itself, simply because it has more nutritional value than fried donuts.

LINKS: The full story. The Cereality web site.

[Text quote: Copyright 2004 Associated Press; Image: ©2004 Cereality Operators, Inc.]

Darwin-Free Fun!

2004-11-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

[Photo credit: Steven Frame/New York Times]

Not enough fantasy fun for you and your family at Disneyworld? Then check out...

"... a lower-profile Florida attraction: Dinosaur Adventure Land, a creationist theme park and museum here that beckons children to "find out the truth about dinosaurs" with games that roll science and religion into one big funfest with the message that Genesis, not science, tells the real story of the creation.

Read more about Dinosaur Adventure Land and other Darwin-Free amusement parks.

Visit the Dinosaur Adventure Land web site.

[Photo and text quote: Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company]

Return of the Walkman?

2004-11-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

No, that's an iPod tucked inside the shell of the 80's favorite portable music player. What's next? An iPod disguised as an 8-track player?

Read about the the RetroPod and its problems with Sony's lawyers.

[iPod - © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc.; Walkman - © 2004 Sony Corporation of America]

Turkey Day

2004-11-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

Why did the turkey cross the road?
To show that he wasn't chicken.

What did the mother turkey say to her disobedient children?
If your father could see you now, he'd turn over in his gravy!

Asked to write a composition entitled, "What I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving,"
little Timothy wrote, "I am thankful that I'm not a turkey."

Click for more corny turkey jokes. Kids love them! Here are some more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cards of the Drunken Prophets

2004-11-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

Top Drunks is the revolutionary new card game brought to you by the creator of the Alcohol Tarot, each card features
a notorious drinker.

The cards comprise four categories: Life Span, Favorite Beverage, Drinking Ability, and Infamy as a Drinker.

Read more about and purchase the Top Drunk Cards
at the Cult of the Drunken Prophet web site.

[Images and text quotes: Copyright © 2001 BeerTarot.com, DN, MHB, GMT.]

[Via Coudal]

Lucien Freud

2004-11-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

Girl with a kitten, 1947

Fascinating art work from the grandson of Sigmund Freud. His paintings beg to be laid out on a couch and analyzed, don't they?

"At the outset there is always a mystery. We cannot know what a painter brought to painting or what drew him to it.'

Two plants, 1977/80

"Yet everything he paints throughout his life adds to our understanding of one or both these things."'

Reflection (self portrait), 1985

"When his last picture is painted in that predestined way in which, one cannot help believing, an artist's work, and therefore art, unfolds when the last predestined picture is finished and the trajectory of his meaning completes its curve then we know all there is to be known about these first riddles and understand what can't be known, what remains unknowable about the sources and the resources of a painter."'

[Text quotes: Lawrence Gowing, "Lucian Freud"]

[Images via Mark Harden's Artchive]

The Purple States of America

2004-11-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

Enough about Red States and Blue States, no more about the "United States of Canada" and "Jesusland" - please let the above be the last word on the 2004 US presidential election maps.

... suggested by Robert Vanderbei at Princeton University... not just two colors on the map, red and blue, but instead... red, blue, and shades of purple to indicate percentages of voters.

More amazing is the cartogram [a map in which the sizes of states have been rescaled according to their population] of the 2004 election results, as seen below:

Let's face it, we as a country are just one big, purple, rolled-roast, sausage looking thing!

More maps, cartograms and info at Maps and cartograms of the 2004 US presidential election results.

[Maps and text quotes: © 2004 M. T. Gastner, C. R. Shalizi, and M. E. J. Newman]

Beyond Lyrics

2004-11-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

The Beatles Christmas Ornaments

SongMeanings is a web site dedicated to song lyrics, a discussion forum where music fans (over a 100,00 members!) can wax on about the meanings of their favorite songs. The lyrics are provided, so they can let fly their kudos and/or critiques. Below are a few examples from The Beatles forum discussing one of the Fab Four's classic songs, among the hundreds listed.

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey

by XoxoLauren87 on 03-03-2003 @ 09:44:43 PM
It seems like it's about sex to me and the people I've talked to about it... but I really don't know.

by i love lauren on 03-05-2003 @ 01:59:25 AM
I agree that it is about sex. Its purely common sense, "The deeper you go, the higher you fly, the higher you fly, the deeper you go." Doesnt that remind you, just a little bit, of something sexual?

by pkjun on 03-12-2003 @ 01:53:29 AM
I'd say it's a combination of sex and John being...well, John. As for sex, I'm not going to go any deeper. Figure it out yourself, adding as much innuendo as you want. John is self-explanitory.

Not heroin. The Beatles weren't addicted to heroin.

by Wings60 on 04-03-2003 @ 12:08:57 AM
I think that this song is about drug addiction,hence the monkey..as in monkey on my back. We all know that the more you do a drug the more you need to reach that same high...as in" the higher you fly the deeper you go". We have all heard mention of being on an acid trip and getting inside yourself...as in" your inside is out and your outside is in".But then again, I could be wrong.

Read more (or contribute to the discussion) about Beatles lyrics at SongMeanings.

[Image from It's Only Rock n Roll.]

Hebrew Haiku

2004-11-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

Japanese Rabbi

The original Hebrew Haiku:

shema yisrael
adonai eloyheynu
adonai echad.

An oldie, but goody, to be sure, but it hardly scratches the surface.
Here are some modern Jewish Haiku examples:

After the warm rain
the sweet smell of camellias.
Did you wipe your feet?

*****

Her lips near my ear,
Aunt Sadie whispers the name
of her friend's disease.

*****

Looking for pink buds
to prune, the old moyel
wanders among his flowers.

*****

Today I am a man.
Tomorrow I will return
to the seventh grade.

*****

Harsh Scrabble discord--
someone has placed "putzhead" on
a triple word score.

*****

Testing the warm milk
on her wrist, she sighs softly.
But her son is forty.

*****

The sparkling blue sea
reminds me to wait an hour
after my sandwich.

Read the rest at Jewish Haiku.

[Via Paula of Santa Monica]

[Photo credit: Japanese-Jewish Resources]

Veterans' Day (Armistice Day)

2004-11-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Armistice Day, American Troops in France 1918 by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe

The War to Begin all Wars

It’s hard to imagine that World War I involved 35 countries. It lasted five years, from 1914 to 1918. The United States only fought from 1917 to 1918. A year was more than enough time, however, to claim too many lives, and people held tight to the notion that this was the very last war. When the fighting stopped, leaders of several countries signed an Armistice on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. An Armistice is an agreement to stop all fighting, in other words a truce. This truce was signed on November 11th, 1918 at 11 A.M.

This is important to know because Veterans' Day was originally called Armistice Day. This day was set aside to reflect and remember the sacrifices men and women made during World War I in order to ensure peace. The first official celebration was on November 11th, 1919. Veterans who survived the war marched in parades and were hometown heroes. A Veteran is any soldier who has fought in a war. Ceremonies were held and speeches were made. World War I was called ‘the war to end all wars’ because everyone hoped there would never be another one.

Read the rest of the story of Veterans' Day.

[Photo and Text quote: © Copyright 2004 by Classbrain.com; Painting ©2004 artnet]

Church of LEGO®

2004-11-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Abston Church of Christ by Amy Hughes is a sheer delight - the modern equivalent of a cathedral in miniature.

View more photos and read her FAQ at her web site.

Divinely inspired? Feeling the Spirit? Then be sure to check out...

... The Brick Testament - the Old and New Testaments, also constructed with LEGO®.

[The Brick Testament - Copyright 2001-2004 by The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith; The Abston Church of Christ - Copyright © 2001, 2002 Amy Hughes]

[LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Company, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse these site.]

Punch his teeth out, Ali!

2004-11-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

Original release album cover.

Imagine Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, Richie Havens and other 70s stars fighting evils of sugar snacks, embodied by Mr. Tooth Decay. Was this the pre-MTV predecessor of 'We Are The World' and 'Hands across America?'

Updated cover for album re-release.

Listen to some of the songs at Frank's Vinyl Museum and decide for yourself.

Stoked Big Time

2004-11-08T01:04:00.000-08:00

There it is - the world's biggest skateboard: 10 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, 3 ft. high. Weighs nearly 500 lbs. "Double kick deck with fully functional trucks and hot rod wheels."

Check it out, where else? At worldsbiggestskateboard.com.

[Image and quoted text: Foundation Skateboards]

The Christian Right and Wrong

2004-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

David Fitzsimmons, Copyright © 2004 Arizona Daily Star

A political cartoonist's perspective - David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Daily Star.

Know Jesus ©John Rule, 2004

An apocalyptic cartoonist's perspective - Hal Lindsey Oracle Cartoons.

Digital Master Series: ALMACAN

2004-11-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Tower of Beetle by ALMACAN, 1999

ALMACAN is a Japanese digital artist whose work, self-described as "surrealistic and cyberpunk," is reminiscent of Giger, but with a decidely more modern look and tone, no doubt a result of his mastery of Photoshop.

Shell in the Darkness by ALMACAN, 2001

Check out the rest of Almacan's masterpieces at his Mechanical Mirage web site.

[All Images: Copyright ©2004 ALMACAN]

Great White Shark Sub

2004-11-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Sushi 1

Eddie Paul, stuntman and engineer, has an unusual project. He's building Sushi 1, a Robo-shark Submarine.

"Fabien Cousteau, Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s grandson, came to us with a dream; a mechanical Great White Shark that a diver could fit inside to observe Great Whites in their natural environment. This is the fourth mechanical shark Eddie has designed and lead the build team on, and the third for the Cousteau's. But this is the first shark Eddie has built with the intention of putting somebody inside!"

-- Eddie Paul

Check out the rest of the story and photos at Eddie Paul's E.P. Industries web site. View an animation of the shark sub here.

[Tintin: Copyright © 1974 by Casterman, Steen & Stoffer]

The shark submarine idea isn't new. It gotten its start from a Tintin comic book story!

"... when I was a kid inspired by the comic strip “Tintin et le trésor de Rackam le rouge” I had decided I wanted to become a shark!"

-- Fabien Cousteau

Read more about Cousteau's fascinating project at Deeper Blue.

[Images and quote texts: E.P. Industries, Inc., Fabien Cousteau]

The Swiss Symbolism of Arnold Böcklin

2004-11-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

Delanira and Nessus by Arnold Böcklin, 1898

I've long been a fan of Bocklin's paintings, despite not knowing his name or anything else about him - probably because symbolist painters, along with the pre-modern figurative painters are given short shrift in art history classes.

Arnold Böcklin, Swiss Symbolist painter, 1827-1906.

In the later 19th century, he was one of the most celebrated and influential artists in central Europe, particularly Germany and Switzerland, notable for his imaginative and idiosyncratic interpretation of themes from Classical mythology.

Plague by Arnold Böcklin, 1898

Arnold Böcklin's allegorical and fantastical paintings, many based on mythical creatures, anticipated 20th-century surrealism. His early style consisted of idealized classical landscapes. In the 1870s, he turned to fantastic scenes from German legends, paralleling the use by Richard Wagner of similar subjects in opera.

Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin, 1883

His later works, such as The Island of the Dead (in five versions, from 1880), became increasingly dreamlike and nightmarish.

The Bocklin paintings which have resonated the most with me are his Isle of the Dead series, especially the one shown above. I recommend listening to Rachmaninoff while viewing the image (often used on the composer's album covers).

Click to read about Arnold Böcklin and to view more of his extraordinary paintings.

[Images and quoted text via safran-arts.com]

Chimps in Space

2004-11-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

US Army Ape-O-Naut Able, Rhesus Monkey

Flew Jupiter AM-18 mission 5/28/59 with Baker. Able died on 1 June 1959 from the effects of anesthesia given to allow the removal of electrodes implanted for the historic space flight.

NASA Ape-O-Naut. Ham, Chimpanzee

Flew Mercury-Redstone 2 mission 1/31/61.

Click to read about and view the rest of the amazing monkeys in the space program, as well as throughout history.

[Images and quoted text from ape-o-naut.org]

Monkeys Attack Children

2004-11-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

[AP Photo]

Monkeys at Hindu Temple Attack Children

Gauhati, India - Monkeys lurking at an ancient Hindu temple in India's northeast have attacked up to 300 children over three weeks, temple officials said Tuesday.

"They hide in trees and swoop on unsuspecting children loitering about in the temple premises or walking by, clawing them and even sucking a bit of blood," Bani Kumar Sharma, a priest at the Kamakhya temple in Assam state, told The Associated Press. The temple, one of the most famous in India, is located in Gauhati, Assam's capital.

"I was returning home from school when a monkey suddenly pounced on me, scratched my head and hand and pushed me to the ground," said Jolly Sharma, a 6-year-old girl.

-- By Wasbir Hussain, Associated Press Writer, 11.2.04

Read the rest of the story.

[Thanks to Tammy of Venice]

Chimp Politics

2004-11-01T11:09:00.000-08:00

Johns Hopkins University Press; Revised edition, 2001

The great apes, like humans, can recognize themselves in mirrors. They communicate by sound and gesture, form bands along what can only be called political lines, and sometimes engage in what is very clearly organized warfare. (Less frequently, too, they practice cannibalism.) In Chimpanzee Politics Frans de Waal, a longtime student of simian behavior, analyzes the behavior of a captive tribe of chimpanzees, comparing its actions with those of ape societies in the wild. What he finds is often not pleasant: chimps seem capable of astonishing deviousness and savagery, which has obvious implications for the behavior their human cousins sometimes exhibit.

The revised edition of Chimpanzee Politics can be purchased from Amazon.com.

[Image and quoted text: Amazon.com]

Trick or Trick!

2004-10-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

According to the Presidential Mask Election Predictor Bush masks are outselling Kerry masks 53% to 47%. Since 1980 the most popular Halloween mask has also been the winner of the presidential election.

Should Bush supporters be celebrating? Not really, because if you take into account all of the Frankenstein and Lurch masks purchased by confused swing voters and others, then add them to the Kerry mask sales totals - it's clear that John Kerry will become our next president.

CORRECTION:

[Image from WW.]

The figures are in. A surge of last minute Halloween purchases have put Wizard of Oz Flying Monkey masks ahead of Frankenstein/Lurch mask sales. It's clear that George W. Bush has won his re-election.

Unlike astrology, the Washington Redskins indicator (and the Red Sox curse, for that matter), the Halloween Presidential Mask Election Predictor is here to stay.

Meow versus Woof

2004-10-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

[Copyright ©2004 kirktoons.com]

Cats and dogs fighting... just like this farkakt election.

Click to view Kirk Anderson's cartoons full size.

Pinocchia

2004-10-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

"Where bad girls grow long noses."
"Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies."
"Where women and broomhandles have a lot in common."

-- Mottos on Pinocchia.com

The concept is deceptively simple: Female celebrities with Pinocchio noses. Yet, I found myself laughing my ass off.

Apparently, a lot of Internet surfers are laughing just as hard, because the web site has been around for over three years!

Check out the rest of the long-nosed celebrities at Pinocchias.com .

[Graphics and quoted text: © Drachen]

Pop Art or Rip-Off Art?

2004-10-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

Pop "artist" Roy Lichtenstein will be forever remembered for enlarging pre-existing "low-brow" comic book images and "elevating" them to the world of "high-brow" fine art. Right. His primary tool was probably an overhead projector.

The original sources were often better drawn than Lichtenstein's rip-offs.

It's a safe bet to say that Roy Lichtenstein's art career was really about "deconstructing" other artists work.

Check out Deconstructing Lichtenstein to view more of the original comic book source images.

[Images from uncredited comic book artists; Roy Lichtenstein; ©David Barsalou 2000]

The Unknown Couple?

2004-10-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

[Photo credits: mirror.co.uk; theunknowncomic.com ]

That's a fashion model, name unknown, wearing a bag by the Dutch designers Viktor and Rolf. It's from their current ready-to-wear collection.

Wouldn't she and Murry Langston, The Unknown Comic, just make the cutest couple?

Mazel Tough!

2004-10-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Jews Kick Ass - fine art print by Bruce Reinfeld

Prints and T-shirts of the Jews Kick Ass image, and other fine art prints, are available at mazeltough.com.

[2002 © High Fidelity Dis Co]

Painted Critters

2004-10-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

Move the barnyard inside your house with original sculptured animal chairs by artist Pam Foss. You can even commission her to turn your loving pet into a work of art that you can sit on. Check out the rest of the whimsical creations at her Painted Critter web site.

[Copyright (C) 2004 The Painted Critter]

Forbidden Cartoons

2004-10-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tweety Bird was colored yellow because censors felt the original pink made the bird look nude. Betty Boop’s dress was lengthened so that her garter didn’t show. And in recent years, a segment of Mighty Mouse was dropped after protest groups claimed the mouse was actually sniffing cocaine, not flower petals. These changes and many others like them have been demanded by official censors or organized groups before the cartoons could be shown in theaters or on television.

Read the rest of the description of and purchase Forbidden Animation - Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America by Karl F. Cohen.

Click to read about more banned cartoons.

Laugh and Smile... en français

2004-10-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Stripes by René Maltête

"We are who we are only in the eyes of other people and their looks are what make us come to terms with ourselves as ourselves"

-- Jean-Paul Sartre

Lovers by René Maltête

"Christianity has done a great deal for love by making a sin of it."

-- Anatole France

Absence by René Maltête

"A man without memories is a lost man."

-- Armand Salacrou

[Merci à Antoine de la Vallée]

[Par l'intermédiaire de Rire et Sourire.]

Mac Nostalgia

2004-10-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

[© 2003-2004 1bit Mac.]

Feeling nostalgic for the Mac 512 or Mac Plus you bought back in the 80s? Check out this virtual Macintosh environment used as a personal website.

[Via plasticpilots.com]

newsmap

2004-10-19T01:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a logical and natural approach to sorting through all the news and information online.
Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator. A treemap visualization algorithm helps display the enormous amount of information gathered by the aggregator.

It's objective is to simply demonstrate visually the relationships between data and the unseen patterns in news media. It is not thought to display an unbiased view of the news, on the contrary it is thought to ironically accentuate the bias of it.
Try it. Launch the page at the newsmap web site.

[newsmap © copyright 2003 - Marcos Weskamp; Google News ©2004 Google]

Born to be Mild

2004-10-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

[Photo: D. Orlando]

Heaven's Angels

Last weekend I attended San Diego's Little Italy 10th Anniversary Festa. The popular event was packed. While walking around munching on sausage subs and pizza, I noticed the motorcycle jacket of a festivalgoer in front of me. Its logo was for a Christian motorcycle club. I was amused by it, because the last time I had thought of such an organization was also in the San Diego area, when I first moved there as child with my family from back east. The Holy Spirit Catholic School I attended had a similar club in its parish. It was called Mary's Men - a name I found funny then as a 10 year old, wondering if Robin Hood was a member. I did a quick Google search and found the club to be now nonexistent, but did find the web site for the national chapter of the gentleman's association, in the above photo.

[Copyright ©2004 CMA]

If you have a yen for riding and praying, click to view Christian Motorcyclist Association.

Masking Reality

2004-10-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

Rake [Photo by David Hindley]

Madame Kufu's Parlor of Incognita is an incredible collection of handmade, black leather masks.

Messalina

Check out the 8 galleries of masks at the Madam Kufu web site.

Nightwing

Black leather masks aren't just for fetishists anymore. Order your Halloween mask here.

[All masks Copyright John Colby ©2001]

A bargain at $10,000,000.00

2004-10-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

Pipe-smoking potential purchasers consider a passing Zeppelin Nt.

From the Neiman Marcus Online Catalog:

Zeppelin Nt

Be the first on your block (or in the world for that matter) to privately own a modern Zeppelin NT.

• A famous first of German ingenuity when it was launched in 1900, the iconic transportation genius of Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin has achieved another milestone.
• Re-engineered with the best new technology, your Zeppelin is the first modern airship licensed to carry commercial passengers.
• It floats with safe, non-flammable helium contained in an inner envelope of high-strength multi-layered material.
• The roomy cabin features panoramic window views of the clouds above and sights below.
• Can comfortably accommodate 11 pipers, a couple of lab assistants, a pilot, and a flight attendant (15 total).
• With its lightweight aluminum and carbon-fiber framework, three 200-hp engines, and swivel propellers, you can take off and land easily, like a helicopter.
• It can achieve 70 knots and has a flight duration of up to 24 hours.
• You'll want to plan ahead for parking; your eight-ton sky gem will be around 230 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 53 feet tall.

Item: Zeppelin Nt

Price: $10,000,000.00

Don't want to pay the extra delivery and handling charges? Then you might consider buying directly from ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik Gmblt & Co KG.

View the Zeppelin Nt web cam live from Germany.

[Photo and quoted text: © 2004 Neiman Marcus]

The Big and Small World of TK Slusser

2004-10-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Fortress by TK Slusser

"Caught between the water and the clouds"

TK Slusser's paintings are a wonder to behold - dreamy, ethereal, even otherworldly, until you notice the tiny house or castle in the background. Her paintings have their own special, super-wide angle vision of the world, yet they focus on its small aspects.

The Farlight by TK Slusser

At times, TK's paintings are like visions of Irish-laced landscapes blending their cumulous fog into craggy California shorelines, quite breathlessly actually. If you haven't noticed, that's a lighthouse in the distance!

Across the Causeway by TK Slusser

When I look at the Slusser's paintings, especially my favorite, Across the Causeway, I can almost hear the lonely wail of a shepherd's crude bagpipe melding in with a brooding Rachmaninoff symphony as it echoes across the rough waters. It makes me want to get out of the cold wind, find a pub and down a few pints.

In her paintings, TK Slusser's sky and sea and earth dance together, the blend showing us the truth - that human edifices are just small players in that big world called outside. I can't wait to see what she does with that small world called inside.

To view more paintings by the talented TK Slusser visit her gallery.

[All paintings Copyright ©2004 TK Slusser]

Mangled Manga

2004-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

[Photo credit: Reuters]

Looks like history is getting covered up again, this time in comic books.

Publisher Suspends 'Rape of Nanjing' Comic

Tokyo. A Japanese publisher will suspend a comic series in its popular weekly magazine after receiving angry protests over its characterization of the 1937 "Rape of Nanjing," in which Japanese soldiers brutally massacred Chinese civilians.

Tokyo-based Shueisha Inc. received nearly 200 angry phone calls and letters protesting its portrayal of scenes of the killings in its comic "Kuni ga Moeru" (The Country is Burning), published on Sept. 22, a company spokesman said Thursday.

-- Reuters, 10.14.04

Read the full story, including the Japan Today coverage. Also check out the lively discussion in the Anime News Network forum.

Whatever happened to Baghdad Bob?

2004-10-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

The error page you are looking for does not exist. Actually, it never did.

Yes, those lying, imperialistic dogs have lied to you again. They have told you that you'll find here, but we do not have such a file.

That file is not even within 100 miles of this website. Look around. Do you see the file they claimed was here? No!

That's right. That loveable nincompoop Baghdad Bob is working for an Internet error page!

See the actual 404 error page and read the rest of his denials, or if you're feeling nostalgic, read Baghdad Bob's original Iraqi War quotes.

[Photo and text quote credit: mircea.com, ©2003 CNN.com and/or ©2003 Aljazeera.net]

Cupping as body art

2004-10-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

The practice of using a cup with heat-induced vacuum on sore muscles of the back was a common practice in my parents' home. My Dad was often subjected to this muscle and circulation-rejuvenating process by my Mom. It was quite effective. I had no idea that it was an ancient healing method practiiced all over the world. Apparently, in some circles it's also seen as a form of body art:

First, you massage the skin with a lotion or oil to make it supple and smooth. This helps the cups attach securely and comfortably. A small alcohol torch is made, the air inside one of the cups, called inspirators, is heated then quickly plopped down onto the skin. Cups can be applied alone, or in multiples. They go best onto the flatter parts of the body, and the back, buttocks and chest are popular sites.

As the air inside the cup cools, it forms a vacumn, drawing up a good amount of skin, forming a dome inside the cup.

Remove the cups and voilà... body art! All you need is a wall to hang on.

Read about the body art of cupping, or the healing art of cupping.

[Photos and text quote credit: ReLaCHE]

A haunting suite from ALU

2004-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

[ALU photo from alumusic.com]

For the last few weeks I've been enjoying the hauntingly sweet world of ALU. No, not sweet like Pollyanna, more like the sweet perfume of dying flowers drying in the dusty window's sunlight of Mrs. Haversham's parlor.
A better turn of phrase to describe ALU's Infomercial Gasmask CD is as
a haunting suite of ethereal music, that touches on elements of classical, jazz and electronica with both an intellectual and emotional sophistication.

Thoughts on some of my favorite tracks from ALU's Infomercial Gasmask:

"Ghostdream" - ALU's voice has the quality of a taut rope being pulled by irresistible forces, simultaneously fraying, unraveling as it also keeps from tearing apart. The tension in the song is relentless.

"Avalon" - An eery cocktail of a song. ALU's otherworldly harmonies are like a siren call, hard to submit to and hard to resist. The piece is one ring down, closer to Lucifer. And oddly cheerful.

"Confessions of an Undertaker" - One of my favorites on the CD, it's a low-key, melancholic pop song. One part Buffy, most parts blues. "Searching for a soul like her own in a graveyard, you hope she finds him."

When I first finished listening to Infomercial Gasmask I thought, "Wouldn't it be delicious irony to see an infomercial selling this very CD." There's talk of an ALU music video in the works. I look forward to seeing ALU's video as much as I look forward to her next CD.

Click to visit ALU's web site to learn more about her and to listen to her wonderful music.

Tears of an artist

2004-10-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Tears by Man Ray

Back in the late 70's I almost moved into a Hollywood studio apartment once occupied by Man Ray. It was located on Vine Street between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards. It sounds romantic, but the location at the time and the apartment block itself was more akin to tenement living. I passed. Man Ray's photography and art, however, I never pass. Tears is a photograph that I've never seen before. My first impression was that it was publicity photo of the original blonde bombshell Jean Harlow from the 30s. I was way off - not with the period, the model.

Like the emotive expression of a silent screen star in a film still, the woman's plaintive upward glance and mascara-encrusted lashes seem intended to invoke wonder at the cause of her distress. The face, however, belongs not to a real woman but to a fashion mannequin who cries tears of glistening, round glass beads...

Read the rest of the story at ExploreArt.

[Thanks to Misty of Texas]

[© 2004 J. Paul Getty Trust]

Alien Surgery

2004-10-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

[Image credit: alienscalpel.com]

Feeling a little under the weather? Have unusual headaches? Been having weird dreams? Attracted to small, thin people with large heads? Are you finding yourself thinking about implants a lot? You sound like a candidate for medical study by interplanetary visitors. Maybe you should check out Aliens and the Scalpel - "the only website dedicated to the victims of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon."

Be sure to check with your health insurance to see if they cover alien implant removal surgery.

Our national game

2004-10-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Ballot Box, by Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly, 12.23.1876

"When people put their ballots in the boxes, they are, by that act, inoculated against the feeling that the government is not theirs. They then accept, in some measure, that its errors are their errors, its aberrations their aberrations, that any revolt will be against them. It's a remarkably shrewd and rather conservative arrangement when one thinks of it."
-- John Kenneth Galbraith

All hail Emperor Norton!

2004-10-07T06:37:00.002-07:00

Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico

Imperialism is easier than democracy. Declaring oneself emperor is easier than a presidential election. Was this early Californian on to something?

At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the past nine years and ten months of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U.S., and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in the Musical Hall of this city on the 1st day of February next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.

September 1859

During his reign, Emperor Norton abolished Congress, removed the governor of Virginia, dissolved the Republic, fired Abraham Lincoln, and banned the word "Frisco" - among his many declarations.

Tomb of Emperor Norton, San Francisco. [Photo: T. Lindner]

Read more about Emperor Norton, also view his Royal Majesty's Archives.

The BraBall Song

2004-10-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

[Photo: Ken Duffy]

Over 17,000 bras rolled into a ball and here is a song to
commemorate the event:

"Oh Bra Dee"
(parody lyrics by 'The Titillators'
sung to the Beatle's "Oh Bla Dee")

Oh bra dee
Oh bra dah
Ball goes on bra
La la la la
Bra ball goes on

Emily has a bra ball and it has gotten big.
It weighs over eighty thousand pounds.
The only way to move it is on a heavy rig,
And when it is home it is pretty hard to get around.

[Photo: Robert Ramos]

Oh bra dee
Oh bra dah
Ball goes on bra
La la la la
Bra ball goes on

In a coupla years
they will have to build a bra dome home.
With a coupla baby balls in the yard,
Instead of little lawn gnomes.

Ha ha ha ha

[Photo: Ken Duffy]

Emily has a bra ball and it has gotten big.
It weighs over eighty thousand pounds.
The only way to move it is on a heavy rig,
And when it is home it is pretty hard to get around.

Oh bra dee
Oh bra dah
Ball goes on bra
La la la la
Bra ball goes on...

See and read more about artist Emily Duffy at her BraBall web site.
Also check out her MondrianMobile.

[BraBall sculpture and Website ©2003 Emily Duffy]

Oktoberfest update

2004-10-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

A waitress delivers beer at a Munich beer hall [AP Photo]

Oktoberfest Not Quite As Festive This Year

Munich, Germany. Bad weather has slowed the party at this year's Oktoberfest. Organizers blame two weeks of cold, rainy weather for a dip in attendance at the beer-fueled event in Munich, Germany. It attracted about 400,000 fewer participants than last year.

Still, nearly 6 million people downed about 5.5 million liters of beer.

It's probably because of the terrorists - the low-carb terrorists.

[Via Shithappens]

[ClickOnDetroit © 2004, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.]

Sims: The Creepy Side

2004-10-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

Will the hot tub creep score?

Yes, because the blond is putty in his hands.

What happened to the brunette?

She's taking a bubble bath, but there's no escaping the creep's son outside her window.

Now that's creepy.

[Screenshots via Christa of LiveJournal]
[Sims ©2004 Electronic Arts Inc.]

Escape from Liberaland

2004-10-03T05:38:00.000-07:00

Worried about your kids turning into pinko-peacenik-hippies? Maybe you should give them this fiction book for Christmas.

Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!

In simple text, parents and children follow Tommy and Lou on their quest to earn money for a swing set their parents cannot afford. As their dream gets stuck in Liberaland, Tommy and Lou’s lemonade stand is hit with many obstacles. Liberals keep appearing from behind their lemon tree, taking half of their money in taxes, forbidding them to hang a picture of Jesus atop their stand, and making them give broccoli with each glass sold. Law after law instituted by the press-hungry liberals finally results in the liberals taking over Tommy and Lou’s stand and offering sour lemonade at astronomical prices to the customers.

Whoa! Broccoli with each glass of lemonade? Those dastardly libs will stoop to anything to promote their nefarious agenda!

Book is available at Xulon Press, the world's largest Christian publisher.

[Image and quote text: Copyright © 104 Xulon Press, Inc.]

Painting realism

2004-10-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Bernard Safran (1924-1995) was a high realist painter known for his penetrating portraits.

His many covers for TIME Magazine were seen by millions, and included portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Pope John XXIII, and Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.

After leaving TIME, Safran painted a sweeping series of works chronicling New York City daily life.

In his late forties he moved his family to a remote farmhouse in eastern Canada, and over the next 20 years created a parallel series of paintings of rural working life.

More of his masterful work can be viewed at the Bernard Safran site.

[All artwork and texts © copyright 1958-2002 Estate of Bernard Safran.]

Oktoberfest ist hier!

2004-10-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Oktoberfesters getting down. [Photo: oldworld.ws]

Actually, the Oktoberfest has been here since the last week, but anytime is a good time to eat bratwursts and drink lotsa beer, because during the festival everybody is from the Fatherland!

Top 10 Reasons for Being German :

1. Oktoberfest.
2. Wonderful sense of humor.
3. Oktoberfest.
4. World's largest manufacturer of beach towels.
5. Oktoberfest.
6. Sausages.
7. Oktoberfest.
8. Oktoberfest.
9. Oktoberfest.
10. Innate pacifism.

Oktoberfest traditionally starts in the third weekend in September and ends the first Sunday of October.

It began with the Royal Wedding on 12 October 1810. Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy royal event. Horse races in the presence of the royal family marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in subsequest years gave rise to the tradition of Oktoberfest.

Today, the Oktoberfest in Munich is the largest festival in the world, with an international flavor characteristic of the 20th century.

Read the full story at Munich's Oktoberfest History page.

[List via Whimiscal Wits , Image and texts © 1990-2004 WCF.]

When a debate was a debate

2004-09-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

[Copyright © 1958-2004 USPS.]

The modern version of the political debate has changed the traditional debate in the same way that the modern political convention has forever changed the traditional political convention. In both cases, it's not so much a triumph of style over substance as it is the triumph of fear over courage. Neither candidate, especially an incumbent, wants to risk floundering, appearing unknowledgeable or just plain inept with off-the-cuff responses. Some of the politicos' concerns are understandable, but what a loss for the voter. It's a shame that presidential debates weren't incorporated into the U.S. Constitution - then again our Founding Fathers were politicians.

The last great debates were probably the 7 Lincoln-Douglas Senatorial Debates of 1958, at the very least they set the standard, which no one has reached since.

The History of Lincoln Douglas Debate

In 1858, Senator Stephen A. Douglas, an Illinois Democrat, faced a reelection bid. The Republican Party in Illinois nominated Abraham Lincoln to oppose him in the race for United States Senate. When Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates of the issue of slavery in the territories (at that time, many of the western states were still territories,) Douglas accepted and named seven cities in Illinois to hold the debates.

While both Lincoln and Douglas were opposed to slavery, only Lincoln actively opposed the practice on moral grounds. Douglas argued that the issue of slavery would die down and eventually go away. Lincoln firmly believed that slavery was morally reprehensible and should be actively barred from the territories, although he did not advocate abolishing slavery in the southern states at this point.

Although Douglas won the seat in the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln gained a place in the national spotlight that would later help him win the presidency of the United States. His stirring speeches against slavery during the Lincoln Douglas debates achieved national recognition and serve as an inspiration to the statesmen and debaters of today.

[© 2000 National Christian Forensics and Communications Association]

Click to read more about the Lincoln Douglas Debate, from a high school history student's perspective.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 is an excellent site, with most of the seven debates available for reading, courtesy of the newspapers of the day.

Politics can be a real drag

2004-09-29T01:16:00.000-07:00

With the ongoing campaign and upcoming debates, the candidates find themselves under considerable stress. Kapowie Zone offers a few tips to make the political experience a pleasant one.

Health Tips for President George W. Bush:

Bad breath is a sure-fire way to send potential voters scrambling for the exits. Chances are, that yummy chicken you enjoyed at lunch is still hanging around in your mouth, which can cause less-than-pleasant-smelling bacteria to form, especially on your tongue. One bad-breath weapon of choice is a tongue scraper, which some say resembles a military intelligence torture implement but is actually a disposable U-shaped plastic tool with tiny ridges on one side. It's very easy to use, and it will help clear away any leftover food and odor-causing bacteria that have settled on your tongue.

Fashion Tips for Senator John Kerry:

High collars shortens necks. Shoes with straps shortens your legs. The torso can be shortened or narrowed with seam lines, belts, bows, and collars. Knitted texture, lace, floras, prints, and plaids can assist in creating an illusion. An all over print can camouflage figure problems, but prints here and there can create a fuller you. Prints around the neck and over the shoulder can make your shoulders appear wider. When buying pants be sure they fit well.

Fashion Tips for Vice-President Dick Cheney:

Thinner fabrics are more slimming. Tops and bottoms of one color will make you look thinner. Wear clothes that fit. Wearing too large clothes will exaggerate your figure not hide it. Avoid belts until you have a slim waist again. Use accessories carefully.

Cosmetic Tips for Senator John Edwards:

Want your face to radiate a healthy glow? Try using a gel blush or cream (instead of powder) in a rosy shade of pink to create a more natural look. Gels or creams are more transparent and blend smoothly – rub it on the apples of your cheek and blend up towards the eye for a glowing complexion.

[Photos sent by George of Culver City]

The Sopranskis

2004-09-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

[Photo: © anomalies-unlimited]

The Russian mafia does billions of dollars in business every year. It's deceased members deserve nothing but the best - in grave markers.

As a typical statistic, there were 1,145 Mafia related murders in one 10-month period. Most of the men killed are under the age of 35. It's OK though - when you die you can still be tough, cool and suave.

The cemeteries in which the gangs bury their fallen comrades are home to life-size, black marble monoliths for grave markers. The deceased is rendered in perfect photographic detail and can be featured in a variety of casual attire modeled after American "heros" such as Al Capone, Marlon Brando and James Dean. Leather jackets, Hawaiian shirts, Docker pants and Adidas sportswear, the standard garb of the Russian Mafia, are beautifully added if so desired.

Read the full story at Anomalies Unlimited.

Mobsters have always copied the movie or TV gangsters. It's easy to see that these Russian mafiosi were fans of The Sopranos from the way they're dressed and attitudes on their portraits, but these elaborate grave stones are uniquely the Russian mafia's own invention.

[Via Anomalies Unlimited]

King of Kiddie Records

2004-09-27T05:03:00.000-07:00

"The Funniest Song in the World?" That's a pretty brazen title, but it is Groucho, after all, making the claim.

The Kiddie Record King

Peter Muldavin is happy to share the images and audio excerpts from some of his favorite 78 rpm kiddie records. He truly is the King of Kiddie Records, with over 12,000 vintage kiddie records in his collection. Also, if the copyright permits, he will make custom CDs of some of your favorite childhood songs. With a collection that large, you can bet he'll have the most obscure songs of children's music.

Gossamer Wump? Must be a long lost cousin of Forrest Gump.

This Bozo looks like he's about to bomb Europe's "coalition of the unwilling."

It's heartening to see that even hydrocephalic kids have a chance in the music business.

Check out the Kiddie Record King web site.

[© 1997-2004 The Kiddie Record King]

A pretty woman... many pretty women...

2004-09-26T00:04:00.000-07:00

A Pretty Woman

In the late 1980's when Russia opened its borders to the rest of the world our first associate in Moscow realized the need and desire that the women of her country, would have, to meet men from around the world. It turned out that her insight became the birth of a new chapter in Russian history, as girls from the Soviet Union and men from all corners of the world flocked together, to meet and marry each other and find unique experiences in the other's way of life and culture.

The image above is from the A Pretty Woman web site. Each of those 1080 numbers represents a page with 6 women - their photo, description and contact numbers - which means that there are some 6480 "sincere, beautiful and sexy Russian women and Ukrainian girls for love, romance and marriage" on that site waiting for someone special like you to click on a page. And this is just one company! There are literally hundreds of mail order bride companies just like this on the Net.

Meet some of the ladies:

(left to right: Svetlana, Svetlana and Svetlana.)

Thank you President Reagan for freeing up the vast Svetlana resources of the Soviet Union for the west.

[Copyright © A Pretty Woman 1997-2004.]

The computer behind the memo?

2004-09-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use...

Could this be the kind of computer used to write that recent, infamous memo regarding George Bush's National Guard duty?

Sorry CBS, no proof here. Why? Check out the maneuvering mechanism - that's a US Navy-issued submarine steering wheel.

Or maybe the National Guard memo was written on this personal computer (with Windows 59):

[Via quonsar at MetaFilter]

Let the truth be revealed: The "RAND home computer" image is from a FARK.com contest, submitted by Smilin Jay Andrews of Olympia, WA. He got my vote! Check out the other submissions on the FARK thread. You'll see even wilder versions.

Read this excellent overview of the real history of the computer.

The Chosen Cartoon

2004-09-24T13:12:00.001-07:00

I found this comic strip about a robot and his Jewish owner by accident while surfing the Net. It's very funny and highly entertaining, then again, I'm a Judeophile who loves everything about Jewish culture, especially its food, women and sense of humor.

ShaBot 6000 is the continuing cartoon saga of a pious Jew who purchases a robot to work as Shabbos Goy for his household. The inquisitive robot, ShaBot, decides that he is Jewish, and is therefore unable to fulfill his duties as servant. ShaBot spends his days asking questions about Judaism, trying to find logic in a religion that sometimes DOES NOT COMPUTE.

ShaBot 6000 is also educational. The cartoonist Ben Baruch explains the finer points of Judaism below the strip, when necessary, for the goyim and others who don't understand the jokes. Here are a few samples, including explanations:

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. The shofar is a ram's horn, blown during the Rosh Hashanah services.

Bar Mitzvah: a Jewish boy who reaches his 13th birthday and attains the age of religious duty and responsibility.

Take a tip from Arnold

2004-09-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

THE NEW 2004 CALIFORNIA STATE EMPLOYEE
GIRLY-MAN HANDBOOK
by Arnold Schwarzenegger
SICK DAYS: We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

PERSONAL DAYS: Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday & Sunday.

LUNCH BREAK: Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get balanced meal to maintain their average figure Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim Fast.

DRESS CODE: It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing $350 Prada sneakers, and carrying a $600 Gucci Bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do
not need a raise. If you dress in-between, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

RESTROOM USE: Entirely too much time is being spent in the restroom. There is now a strict 3 minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under "Chronic Offenders."

Thank you for your loyalty to our great state. We are here to provide a positive employment experience.

THE GOVERNATER

More manly tips from Arnold:

Be sure to work out everyday. "I am coming day and night! I'm in heaven!" Arnold stated in an interview, equating weight training to having multiple orgasms.

Don't stress out. After a rough workout session, Arnold enjoys soaking in a manly bubble bath.

[Thanks for the inspiration to Maureen of N. California and Karen of Venice.]

Incredible Hülk

2004-09-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

The work of German cartoonist Wolfgang Hülk can be both strange and cute at the same time. His soft colors and intelligent design often hide a subtext that can only be described as bizarre and off-the-wall. His cartoons speak for themselves, in volumes.

View the rest of Hülk's wonderful work at his web site.

[Via The Cartoonist]

The easy way to lose weight!

2004-09-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

No, it's not a space diet, it's space flight:

For the first time in United States history, you are invited to experience Weightless Flight... the highest standards of safety, FAA approved activity offers everyone the chance to enjoy the fun and exhilarating dream of weightlessness, which is how astronauts have been trained by NASA for 40 years and how Tom Hanks floated in Apollo 13.

During a Weightless Flight you can experience what it's like to walk on Mars and the Moon and be weightless like you are in Earth orbit.

Weightless Flight (also known as Parabolic Flight) is achieved aboard ZERO-G’s Boeing 727 aircraft named G-FORCE ONE™. Weightlessness is achieved by flying G-FORCE ONE™ through a parabolic flight maneuver. Specially trained pilots fly these maneuvers between approximately 24,000 and 34,000 feet altitude. Each parabola takes 10 miles of airspace to perform and lasts approximately one minute from start to finish. -- ZERO-G Experience

For more info about NO-GRAVITY flight, visit their web site, or download their brochure.

If you're ready to float in space now, then call: 1-888-NO-GRAVITY

[Photos and text: Copyright The Zero Gravity Corporation 2004]

"Ye shall know me by my smell... "

2004-09-20T01:42:00.000-07:00

[Image from joinmycult.org]

I haven't read the book 'Join My Cult' yet, but the spooky ad image - a child mesmerized by a glowing TV set - caught my attention, convincing me further that we must be going through another, more intense, loathing, fearing and mistrusting television phase in our country, especially in light of horror flicks like "The Ring," nasty political spots and the FCC's new, overblown censorship policy. Maybe, it's a plot by the Feds and the HDTV industry, who are positioned to replace our fuzzy 20th century TV sets in 2006, with clear, crisp and realistic 21st century monitors. The question is will high-definition force the media to be just as crisp, clear and realistic (read honest) in its future reportage?

'Join My Cult' is a collaborative novel written by several co-authors, lead by the mysterious Agent 139. It took almost a decade to complete.

Did I read Join My Cult? Or was it just a strange and wonderful dream? James Curcio has created a lunatic narrative that haunts and teases with the promise of revelations to come. Open this book only if you are prepared for a reality-wrenching journey into the secrets of the Invisible Masters.

-- Philip H. Farber, FutureRitual

"JMC reads like a stroboscopic MTV docu-drama of Ulysses and Illuminatus!"

-- Peter Carroll, author of PsyberMagick

James Curcio has one hand on Pandora's box and the key to open it in the other. Join My Cult is an invitation to chaos, treading the thinly veiled landscape between madness and genius. Once you make the trip, there is no turning back.

-- Devon White, Synergy Media Network & LIAR magazine

Click to visit the Join My Cult web site.

[Title quote from Join My Cult, Mother Hive Brain Document 11: Frater Gazebo]

[Join My Cult ©2002 James Curcio]

Carnival of Art

2004-09-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

[Carnival of Harlequin, Joan Miró, 1924-25]

"The spectacle of the sky overwhelms me. I'm overwhelmed when I see, in an immense sky, the crescent of the moon, or the sun. There, in my pictures, tiny forms in huge empty spaces. Empty spaces, empty horizons, empty plains - everything which is bare has always greatly impressed me."

-- Joan Miró, 1958, quoted in Twentieth-Century Artists on Art

[generic carnival poster, unknown artist, circa late 20th century]

"I wanna go on the ferris wheel... and I want some cotton candy... I wanna coke... "

-- 8 year old boy, 2004, St. Christopher Church Carnival, West Covina, CA

Missing

2004-09-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Dateline: September, 17, 2004

This is about the kind of friend that always entertains, always brings a smile to my face. A friend that's always there, day after day, dependable, steady through thick and thin, and most importantly during the mundane moments. When other friends have drifted away, found other interests, and tired of my company, this friend remained loyal, always making me smile, teaching me new things, allowing my creativity to unfold, keeping me in line and even helping me stay in touch with other people in my life.

Then, this morning my friend disappeared. Or should I say, stopped communicating with me. I tried to make contact, but it was to no avail. My friend refused my attempts. I started to believe that my friend would be gone forever. In my darkest moments, I punished myself for being so paranoid. Until I woke up and realized that this friendship could be fixed. Everything will go back to normal, I told myself.

I decided to work at it, making a phone call to seek professional help. The voice on the line assured me that I would restore my lost connection, but that it would take time. I must be patient, my friend would ultimately return.

It was good advice. I took a nap. And lo and behold - my friend returned. Five hours later, my DSL service was restored. -- D. Orlando

[Via All The Grey in Between]

The cuter, the tastier

2004-09-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Mortadella with Calcium.

Leave it to the Germans to make a mortadella cold cut in the shape of cute teddy bears.

Google's translator indicates a variety of ingredients, including pig meat, bacon, drinking water, sugar and something called Truthahnfleisch that ominously would not translate.

For more info (German) you will click here: Fleischhof Rasting GmbH .

If you don't want to buy a foreign pig meat by-product, you can try creating your own edible cuties:

[Pepperoni Pets, by Jeff Becker and Do You Eat Dog?, by Frank W. Lee]

Visit The Edible Book Show and Tea for more unusual taste treats.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

2004-09-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

[Chassidim traveling to visit their Rebbe by Zalman Kleinman]

Discovering this artist for the first time was a revelation. Zalman Kleinman's work touched me in so many ways: I found it fascinating and peculiar; exotic, yet familiar; shockingly new; funny without any cruelty; both primitive and sophisticated; and most of all, touchingly human. Enjoy... and have a Happy Rosh Hashanah!

The Art of Zalman Kleinman

Zalman Kleinman was a Chassidic artist living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Unlike many other current Chassidic artists, who come from a Baaley Teshuva [baalei teshuva] background, Zalman came from a family that has been with Chabad for many generations. He was a self-taught artist... who embodied the true menchlichkeit and quiet sincerity of an elder Chabadnik. His artwork is stunning in its ability to be both life-like and 3 Dimensional.

-- Yechezkal-Shimon Gutfreund, gallery director

[He seems to be a meshugana by Zalman Kleinman]

[Pursuit by the Angel of Death (Malach HaMovet) by Zalman Kleinman]

[A Night-time Wedding by Zalman Kleinman]

Click to view more of the incredible art of Zalman Kleinman.

[All art from A Chabad Art and Picture Gallery]

A tip o' the hat to Hatlo

2004-09-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

As a kid I loved reading Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time." Much of it was about adult foibles I didn't understand, but his drawings and his varied characters always caught my attention. I also found it funny that he continued to use his famous "a tip o' the Hatlo hat" tag well into the hatless era of the late 50s and early 60s. I never wore a hat, but I find myself using his tag on many occasions. Here's a tip o' the hat to Hatlo:

James Hatlo was a sports cartoonist at The San Francisco Call-Bulletin. He had to draw a cartoon when a package of cartoons from the syndicate failed to arrive. He chose the little ironies of everyday life as his topic. The first 'They'll Do It Every Time' appeared on 5 February, 1929. For seven years, Jimmy Hatlo did the comics series for just that one paper. In 1936, King Features Syndicate gave it national distribution. It was an immediate hit.

Read more about Jimmy Hatlo.

I stand corrected. Above is a later example of Hatlo without his "tip of the hat" - maybe he stopped wearing hats.

Many of Hatlo's strips were published in comic book form later in his life.
I don't recall seeing any of these books, but I do remember reading his Little Iodine series (based on his daughter).

[Artwork © 1963 James Hatlo]

[Images via lambiek.net, rocketjones.mu.nu and 3900club.com]

Tiki Art for the 21st Century

2004-09-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

[The Hula Girl and Her Admirers by Thorsten Hasenkamm]

Experiencing the tiki passion is more than Hawaiian shirts, hula girls and fruity cocktails with colorful umbrellas; it goes a lot deeper than that. The craze began in the U.S. during the 1930s after Americans traveled and brought back tiki gods and mugs, rattan furniture, artwork and other souvenirs from the South Pacific. Servicemen stationed in Hawaii and other Polynesian countries during World War II were enchanted by the island lifestyle and wanted to bring a piece of it back home with them.

--Sandra Carr, Orlando CityBeat, 8.11.04

Read more about the state of tiki culture today.

Tiki art is alive and well on the West Coast, too. As well it should be since the first Don the Beachcomber tiki bar and restaurant opened in Hollywood, California back in 1934.

Today, you can check out the latest in tiki art:

The Shooting Gallery
Tiki Art Now
Showing Sept. 14 to Oct. 9
Reception Friday Sept. 17, 7pm to 11pm

Tiki Art Now can also be viewed online.

[Hot Rod God lamp by David S. Krys]

[Never Interrupt a Dawn God's Feast by Tom Bagley]

Available soon: "Tiki Art Now" a new book by Otto von Stroheim,
Forward by Robert Williams.

[Cover design by Otto von Stroheim, Painting by Shag]

The book is co-Published by Last Gasp and The Shooting Gallery

Click for more details.

[Tiki art and book cover via The Shooting Gallery]

Mothman Festival

2004-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

[Photo: Kevin Kelly/Point Pleasant Register]

"It's time again for the Mothman Festival! This weekend! Yeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipeee!" -- Roberta of WVa

The 3rd Annual Mothman Festival is taking place in downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday September 18th and 19th. If you're lucky to attend, maybe the Mothman will pose for a photo with your kids.

The festival seems to have turned into a sort of early Halloween celebration; considering the horrific nature of what the local folks are celebrating, it makes sense:

For thirteen months the entire town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia was gripped by a dark terror that culminated in a tragedy that made headlines all over the world. This is a story that contains all the elements of a modern science fiction movie but every single word is true and fully documented...

Homes throughout the little towns were plagued with unearthly noises and ghostly manifestations while mysterious aerial lights traveled silently overhead seemingly on a regular schedule. Winged monsters and frightening apparitions terrified the population as automobiles stalled and telephones and TV sets ran amok. A Red Cross Bloodmobile filled with fresh blood was pursued along a darkened highway by a weird flying machine. Domestic animals were found slaughtered and mutilated in pastoral farm fields. Innocent people lived in surrealistic horror, haunted by the fearsome demonic "Bird" and besieged by legions of strange beings (some of which arrived in ordinary-looking automobiles).

-- John A. Keel, "The Mothman Prophecies"

Click to read about the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Dating go bragh

2004-09-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

[Old Irish Couple, Gladys Reynell, c.1915, oil on canvas]

What a wonderful painting. I love the way the oil paint is pushed and scraped energetically all over the canvas, especially in contrast to the stolid nature of its content. The expression on the old man's face is classic, and says it all. We know who wears the pants in this relationship.

The Irish male continues to struggle. Read these recent personal ads in the Dublin News:

Bitter, disillusioned Dublin man, lately rejected by long-time fiancée, seeks decent, honest, reliable woman, if such a thing still exists in this cruel world of hatchet-faced bitches.

Heavy drinker, 35, Cork area, seeks gorgeous sex addict interested in a man who loves his pints, cigarettes, Glasgow Celtic Football Club and starting fights on Patrick Street at three o'clock in the morning.

Ginger haired Galway man, a trouble-maker, gets slit-eyed and shirty after a few scoops, seeks attractive, wealthy lady for bail purposes, maybe more.

Bad tempered, foul-mouthed old bastard, living in a damp cottage in the arse end of Roscommon, seeks attractive 21 year old blonde lady, with a lovely chest.

Devil-worshipper, Offaly area, seeks like-minded lady, for wining and dining, good conversation, dancing, romantic walks, and slaughtering cats in cemeteries at midnight under the flinty light of a pale moon.

Limerick man, 27, medium build, brown hair, blue eyes, seeks alibi for the night of February 27 between 8 PM and 11:30 PM.

Optimistic Mayo man, 35, seeks a blonde 20 year old double-jointed supermodel, who owns her own brewery, and has an open-minded twin sister.

[Ads via email from Maureen of N. California.]

[Image from Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide]

Twin Towers

2004-09-11T01:33:00.000-07:00

Source: Jan Knepper

Deng Xiao Bling-Bling

2004-09-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

"To get rich is glorious" is the most popular wise saying in Communist Red China these days. Everyone thinks that Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping said it, but nobodys remembers when, where, or even if he did say it.

I wonder what Mao's rpm is? With his 'Giant Leap Forward' a distant memory, he must be spinning in his grave at high speed.

China is now the biggest market for BMW's top-of-the-line 760Li luxury sedan, which carries a price tag of close to $200,000, nearly double the cost in the United States. Wealthy tourists staying at Commune by the Great Wall are housed in villas designed by Asia's top architects, each with a private butler. Italian designer Giorgio Armani plans to open 20 to 30 new stores in China by 2008, joining other luxury brands rushing into the market.

And a country with a per capita annual income below $1,000 is minting millionaires at a rapid clip, with more than 236,000 by one count. -- LA Times, 9.09.04

Read the full LA Times story. [May require online subscription.]

Onomatopoeia!!!

2004-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

A Dictionary of Comicbook Words on Historical Principles
Based on the Latest Conclusions of the Most Dubious Wordologists & Comprising Many Hundreds of New Words which Modern Literature, Science & Philosophy have Neglected to Acknowledge as True, Proper & Useful Terms & Which Have Never Before Been Published in Any Lexicon
Compiled & Edited Under the Careful Supervision of Kevin J. Taylor
This unique compendium would have come in handy while watching Batman on TV in the 60s. I looked up KAPOWIE and found the following variations:

KAPOW (Our Fighting Forces #111, 1968) The sound of a tank gun: (Ultraman vol.1 #2, 1994) The sound of a hit: also KAPOWW (Detective Comics vol.47 #529, 1983) The sound of an explosion: KAA-POW (Ultraman vol.1 #1, 1994) The sound of a gunshot.

Click Ka-BOOM! to look up the meaning and usage of your favorite comic book onomatopoetic exclamation, exhultation, expression, phrase, curse or word.

If you want to look up a sound effect try BZZURKK!

[Ka-BOOM! & BZZURKK! ©1997 Kevin Taylor]

Who let this "Dog" out?

2004-09-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Duane "Dog" Chapman

Move over Snoop, there's a new Dog in town. How come it took Hollywood so long to snap up this story? In another era, Chuck Norris would have been the obvious choice to play this gutsy bounty hunter. Dog's story has reportedly been picked up by CBS, as a made-for-TV dramatic series. The writer of The Fast and the Furious may be adapting it to the big screen. With a star like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck or a beefed-up Brad Pitt, Dog's story could easily be turned into a blockbuster movie, especially if it involved dogging after terrorists.

“Born on a mountain, raised in a cave. Arresting fugitives is all I crave.” -- one of many Dogisms

Dog is Duane Lee Chapman, owner of Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu and self-proclaimed “greatest bounty hunter in the world.” Six thousand-plus captures over the past two decades have earned this highly intense, charismatic ex-con and born-again Christian such a distinction.

He is the modern-day Billy the Kid — minus all the weaponry. “Regulators,” he’ll often bellow to his supporting cast of bounty hunters, which often includes family members and friends, “mount up!”

He’s also the king of comebacks — a modern-day hero who was once a zero after serving time in a Texas prison for first-degree murder.

Carving fruit and language

2004-09-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

I love watermelon. I love Japanglish:

Q:Using what tool do carve?
A: All are fundamentally carved in relief with one knife for carving.

Q: How much time to carve does it take?
A: 60 minutes is a standard per watermelon. If it is only a simple character and flower decoration is added for 20 minutes, it will have been carved from 40 minutes in 90 minutes. Time is also proportional if a design becomes precise.

Q: Is a sculpture work eaten?
A: It is natural! Have deliciously.

Q: Can any watermelons be carved?
A: A watermelon is abundant in a kind and sizes. Any watermelons are carved.

Q: Can it carve besides a watermelon?
A: Fruit-vegetables sculpture is a watermelon, a melon, a papaya, a pumpkin, a Japanese radish, Carrot etc. Various foods are engraved. Even if it sees the watermelon of rich color with a large sculpture area from a distance also in near, it has the advantage which attracts people.

-- Fruitcarving Q & A

To view more watermelon carvings, and read more carved up English
click here.

Click to learn more Japanglish.

[Photos: Fruits Carving]

Tutti a tavola! Let's eat!

2004-09-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the Bob Tinnel's daily comic strip - Feast of the Seven Fishes. Be sure to check on it every day. Safari users, scroll down to the bottom of the page, or if you're an Explorer browser user, click on the prompt located on the sidebar.

If you're wondering what a Feast of the Seven Fishes is, read on:

Italians share a tradition of only eating fish on Christmas Eve.

Here's a look at one family's menu:

Christmas, oppure (or) Festa Di Natale, begins with la vigilia a feast on Chrsitmas Eve (the vigil). This consists solely of fish dishes and pasta. Of course you end la vigila in time for Midnight Mass.

Intriguing is the fact that you must have on the table seven fish selections. Why seven? Seven is a very important number. It stands for the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The seven days of creation. In Biblical numerology, seven is a number of perfection. There is no set menu for this feast. In the casa della famiglia Laurita the dishes were traditionally:

Calamari (squid)
Scungilli [skuhn-GEE-lee] (a large marine snail)
Baccalà [bah-kah-LAH] (dry, salt cod)
Shrimp
Clams served with pasta
Mussels
Some type of big fish ususally a snapper, sea trout, tuna, or salmon

Christmas day begins with an antipasto. Then would come soup, a pasta (ravioli), a meat course (usually fresh ham), and salad.

Of course fruits and nuts, rest a while, sandwiches for the earlier part of the day. Finally would come the "Venetian table," sweets consisting of cookies, pastries, and other desserts. This is followed by coffee with anisette. All this is, from beginning to finish, accompanied with a good red table wine.-- Paula Laurita, BellaOnline

'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'

2004-09-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

[Image from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, US Dept. of Commerce]

And her name is Hurricane Frances.

"Heavy rain. High winds near 90 mph. Shredded roofs and uprooted trees. 4 million people without electricity. 86,000 people in shelters. The Florida voting system.

As far as disasters go, I'll take California earthquakes any day." -- All The Grey In Between, 9.05.04

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when you're on the receiving end. The famous "scorned woman" quote is a variation of a line of dialog from the play 'The Mourning Bride' by William Congreve, 18th century English poet and playwright. The play also included the classic "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast."

That won't work in this instance, because hurricanes are louder than music.

A Canadian Paradise in the Sun?

2004-09-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that the Canadians have rejected this no-brainer idea twice before. Do they really enjoy freezing their asses that much?

Resurrection of idea for Canadian, Caribbean union

It's a dream that just won't die - a Canadian paradise in the sun with sugar-sand beaches...

After failed attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to breathe life into the idea of a union between Canada and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, the proposal is back, and this time it's supported by determined politicians and business people in both countries.

"In the long term, what is so absolutely vital for Canada is to expand our sphere of influence," says Conservative MP Peter Goldring, a driving force behind the Turks and Caicos movement. "I'd like it to be the 11th province"

The archipelago of 30 islands lies east of Cuba, south of the Bahamas and north of Haiti. It's about 3,500 kilometres south of Canada." -- Chris Morris, cnews, 3.14.04

Click to read the full story.

The 100th Post