Such a let down I am...

Who'd a thunk it? The LAST, BEST HOPE for the future of civilization. Hrumpf ... too bad.

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Vuis Ara And You Would Be: The Future's Last Hope

If You Were Born in 2893

Thanks and a tip of the fedora to Carly for finding this quiz.

MEME: Wednesday Mind Hump -- Face Time

Rfduck, mememeister extraordinaire, said this about that, "Hello once again! It's Wednesday, so we need to Mind Hump. Today is Face Day."

"Your task: Post a photo of a face. It could be your face, a face of someone you know, or the face of a pet. Or you can post a link to a face on a photo sharing site. Either way, give us a good face!"

Olddog's Mud Season Face

MEME: Monday Madness -- Lobotomized?

Otto awoke as the gray light of dawn slowly filled the room. She tried to stretch, but the straight-jacket prevented all but the tiniest of movements. Her head felt like they'd been hammering railroad spikes into it for days. Then her vision cleared momentarily and she realized where she was. It was the State Institute for the Computer Insane. With horror, the realization of what that truly meant crept silently through her neurons on stocking feet. Hawking up a loogee, Otto managed to squawk out, "This week's questions are straight off the top of my head again... Here we go! Thank you so much for playing and have a wonderful week ahead." =)

1. Which web browser do you prefer? Firefox
2. Are you a PC user or MAC user? PC user.
3. Will your next computer purchase happen within the next year (do you think)? Not likely.
4. Will you purchase your next computer at a local store or via the internet? Depends. If the next one is a laptop, probably will buy online. A desktop will probably be just a motherboard and other upgraded components.
5. Have you had any experience with Windows Vista? No.
6. What are your feelings about this new operating system (if any)? I used to stay current with Micro$oft's operating systems as I was constantly being asked by others for support. I no longer do computer support. Windows Vista isn't for me. I think that Windows XP is the last Micro$oft product I will buy.

Want to play along? Click the title link (up there at the top ^) for a clean copy of Otto's questions and leave a link to your answers at the Monday Madness web site.

MEME: Monday Music Mambo -- American Spirit

Rfduck struggled up onto one elbow, his head throbbing with a hangover and his nether regions throbbing with morning wood. A deep breath and he managed to croak out, "Hello! I'm back with another Mambo. Today is Stars and Stripes Forever Day. That means today's Mambo is all about America!"

Then he wandered off to the W.C. to see a man about a duck...

1. What is your favorite American band?
The Grateful Dead does it for me -- truly American Originals the entire thirty years the band was in existence. The YouTube video below is one of my favorites. Too bad the original is locked up in licensing issues...

2. Who is your favorite American male artist?
Jerry Garcia -- No surprise, given my answer to the first question. So sad that he passed the way he did. I, too, have the whole diabetes + cardiac issues + sleep apnea that took him out. Sucks to be Old and Grey...

3. Who is your favorite American female artist?
Judy Collins -- a true American Sweetheart. Check out this video with Albatross as the basis for the action on screen.

4. What is your favorite song with the word "America"
or "American" in the title? John Denver's “American
Child” is one, not necessarily better than “America the
Beautiful” or "American Woman" but it has a really nice video to go with it...

Postus Scriptus. I almost forgot. If you, too, want to play along with the Mambo, click the post title up top to be whisked away on a magic carpet ride, er, to visit mememeister rfduck for a clean copy of this week's questions. By the way, the cost of American postage just went up, so you might as well get sky high, too.

Sunday Seven - Episode 89

Patrick took a moment from cleaning up after the raucous party he had last night with his visiting family to observe, “Later this month, the latest version of the Mac’s OS operating system will be released. It’s still OS X, pronounced “O-S-Ten,” for you non-Mac users out there, but Mac refers to each improvement over the previous version with an animal name: this new version will be known as “Leopard.””

“That bit of news became the subject of this week’s question.”

“But first, Cat of "Sweet Memes" was first to play last week even though she was the second one to leave a comment. (Though Jackie was first to drop the link for her blog, she didn’t give the link to the specific entry, which is required to get the “first to play” title.) So the kudos go to Cat!”

“On to this week's question!”

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name seven varieties of the same kind of animal (i.e., bears, dogs, birds, etc.) that you would use to differentiate improvements of the next version of the Mac OS system.

1. Cardigan Welsh Corgi

2. Pembroke Welsh Corgi (actually equivalent to a Micro$oft Windows Service Pack – the only difference is the addition of a tail. Or, is that a “tale”?)

3. Border Collie

4. Briard

5. Belgian Malinois

6. Australian Shepherd

7. German Shepherd Dog (The King of dogs and operating systems)

Click on the banner above for a clean copy of the questions and to leave a link to your answers in the comments there.

TAG – You're It!

Image copyright Roger Freberg (http://www.rogerfreberg.com/blog/?cat=8) --
used as located via a Google search of images on keywords "children playing tag"

I've been tagged by Trish Monaco (aka FreeeePeace) to reveal ten things about myself. She's coming home to New England -- started east yesterday -- it'll be interesting to see whether seismic activity increases around here, with the new epicenters being beneath coffee shops...

Being a private person and rather shy, that's going to be a mite difficult. The really hard part is going to be trying to tag others.

The Rules:

• I will write 10 interesting (?) things about myself.

• Then tag 10 people. (no "tag backs")

  
  
  MY TEN THINGS

1. I wanted to be an oceanographer but my father talked me out of it. Just about the worst decision I ever made.

2. My breast bone is sewn together with stainless steel wire. Each “stitch” was made by the same device I used for years to tie the SS safety wire together inside of engines when rebuilding them. Some of the stitches have worked an end up that pokes me when I twist or turn in a particular fashion. It has the bonus of preventing me from lifting more than the amount of weight the thoracic surgeon limited me to as I can feel those stitches pulling and popping whenever I exceed a reasonable weight. The days of hefting hundred pound sacks of oats are over, for sure.

3. I don't like cats, but they do like me.

4. Same goes for young children, although that is true to a lesser degree on both sides of the relationship.

5. I suffer from a severe case of “foot-in-mouth disease” when interacting in person with others. You think Don Imus was rude and crude? Try me in person sometime.

6. I am an atheist. I have very little tolerance for the antics of the “faithful.”

7. Despite my appearance, my politics are an amalgam of old school conservatism on fiscal issues and decidedly libertarian on social and political issues. I have almost as little tolerance for politicians as I do for Christians, Muslims and small children. However, children have an excuse – lousy parents.

8. I am now an orphan. Even from this lofty perch in time it is an uneasy feeling.

9. Almost all dogs like me eventually. Those that don't are usually the paranoid fear-biters that should be put down to protect the public. Even working protection dogs like me – I'm fun to “catch”!

10. Conversely, most people don't like me. I am too: “aloof, strange, dominant, forceful, scary” -- all descriptions heard multiple times over the years. For whatever reason, I appear much bigger and far scarier than I really am. Go figure...

And so it goes.

There's no way I'm going to come up with ten people to tag. So I'll tell you what – if you'd like to play along and you haven't been tagged yet – blame it on me. I've got broad shoulders and thick skin – just ask my detractors! LOL

Glory How He Blew You!

Ted Haggard's heterosexual declaration as viewed by humorist Roy Zimmerman on YouTube:



Via Respectful Insolence.

MEME: Unconscious Mutterings -- Week 223

9 hours, 50 minutes ago

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Film :: school

2. Dragon :: hunter

3. Hunger :: famine

4. Plucked :: eyebrow

5. Dissolving :: Alka-Seltzer®

6. Executive :: privilege

7. Ridiculous :: claims

8. Mist :: morning

9. Minority :: bloc

10. Map :: DeLorme

    Wanna play? Click the radio button above.

Was Osama Bin Laden Right?

If you can get past the ultra-conservative nut-job rhetoric baiting of the communists, socialists, liberals, Democrats, moderate Republicans, centrists and the fruits and nuts from the mainstream media, this video asks a very important question you need to answer in your own heart.

Was Osama Bin Laden Right ... does the United States and its people lack the stomach to do what must be done?

Via The Red Voice -- Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Headquarters

MEME: Saturday Six - Episode 161

Patrick says, “My parents came down to Charleston for the day to visit. That’s why these are a little late today. Last night, I tinkered with the look of this blog: I hope you like the new design.

But first, it was Antonette of "Jottings From Jersey" who was first to play last week's edition. Congratulations, Antonette!

Here are this week's "Saturday Six" questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal...but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as "first to play," you must be the first player to either answer the questions in a comment or to provide a complete link to the specific entry in your journal in which you answer the questions. A link to your journal in general cannot count. Enjoy!

1. How often do you dream while you’re sleeping?
I'm not sure as I only rarely am aware of dreaming. Could be happening every night, all night long, but I kind of doubt it.
2. What percentage of dreams do you actually remember details from the next morning?
Probably fewer than 5%, if I have to guess at a figure.
3. What is the strangest location you have ever had a dream set in?
Using who's criteria? I have had dreams set inside of an elephant when young. On other planets and in other solar systems and galaxies, even. From inside of a bourbon vat. Atop any number of mountains I have or haven't climbed in reality of fancy. In more boudoirs and brothels than I care to admit to. You accumulate a lot of dream venues over better than a half century of sleep...
4. Take the quiz: What do your dreams mean?

What Your Dreams Mean...

Your dreams seem to show that you're a bit disturbed... but nothing serious. You may have a problem you're trying to work out in your sleep. You tend to be a very productive thinker. Your dreams tend to reflect your insecurities. Your dreams indicate that you have very conflicted feelings. You have a very vivid imagination and a rich creative mind.

What Do Your Dreams Mean?

Now isn't that the biggest crock of shite you've heard today? It was a very limited quiz.
5. Have you ever solved a real-life problem through something that happened in a dream?
Several times and no details remain in concious awareness. That I'll admit to. Ever.
6. Have you ever looked up elements of a dream you have had in a dream dictionary, and if so, did the definition make sense to your life at that time? No.

Do It Yourself Noise-Canceling Headphones

I have been coveting a pair of Koss Noise-canceling headphones ever since I saw them on an episode of I Want That! on HGTV. Sadly, it's been a really lean period lately and not getting any better with the recent purchase of an Evil Tank SUV ™. So imagine by surprise just now when I happened to click on to the Webshots Blog and discovered a video purporting to tell you how to make a set of these for “next to nothing.” It's cheeky in places and silly in others, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do. Give the video a gander.

Know How: Noise Isolating Headphones

Saturday's Song - O Ri

SKILDA is this Irish rock / celtic fusion band which has become a new favorite in short order. I just wish they'd get their CD's released over here soon.


Visit their MySpace site to hear another really neat tune, An Nighean Dubh M...

John M. Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #165: Memorable Birthdays

Weekend Assignment #165: You've had your share of birthdays by now. Relate one or two that stick out in your mind. Could be a happy birthday, or an important birthday, or a birthday when something interesting but unrelated happened. Any interesting birthday works. Extra Credit: What birthday are you looking forward to? Numerically, I mean.

Dear John,

Congratulations on attaining your thirty-eighth birthday – only eighteen years my junior. May your next thirty-eight be as eventful as mine have, but with less of the pain and heartache. That'll make you a likely great-grandfather and past Grand Master of Science Fiction. It''ll be your name the youngsters have thrown in their faces, rather than Campbell, Heinlein, Ellison, Le Guin, Clark, or Philip K. Dick. Your lovely wife's hair may have greyed but that indomitable spirit should remain. Athena's success as World Dominatrix and favorite darling of stage, screens, and 3D-VD will continue unabated (although, I think her insistence on broadcasting the live birth of her third child throughout the known universe was a bit on the risqué side for this old phartoid).

My most memorable birthday had to have been my twenty-first. My father had had some serious health and financial frights that year and he was feeling Death breathing down his neck. Or at least haunting the neighborhood. I'd had a very successful summer working as a wood and metal shop counselor for a boys camp. Got through the whole summer season with no more serious an injury than a few splinters in campers (the one staff member who “did it all the time” amputated his thumb on the table saw, but I was away on a day off when it happened, so no blame nor foul accrued). But I digress.

On my twenty-first birthday I received a bottle of Chivas Regal – a twelve year old scotch. That was the beginning of a long relationship...

The piece de resistance, though, was a full sized, unabridged Random House Dictionary. You know the type, John. About 5000 pages, ten kilos of paper and hardboard, indexed, full etymology of every entry, those great old line drawing illustrations of people, places and things. Needs it's own stand to rest upon – a book just too heavy to hold for very long. I'd always wanted one. I finally had one!

Surprising how needs and desires change. Twenty years later, I was still acquiring reference books – that time, a Black's Law Dictionary. These days, I'd be thankful to have the equivalent library on a USB dongle ... carrying around all those books would be too heavy, too much like work. Today, I use WordWeb most of the time – the heck with carrying around a dongle.

I also got something else that day. A hint at the wellspring of my father's emotions. Those two gifts personify to me who and what he was about. That has sustained me through some tough times in my life and I am grateful.

But, back then, I was an ungrateful cur. I needed a car and promptly went out and got one of these, in a medium navy blue:

I named her Climb and she was with me for seven years and 250,000 miles of fun, adventure, drudgery and terror. I lived in her or, out of the back of her. Off the top of her, sometimes, too. I came down Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado with the engine off doing over 105 miles an hour. She climbed mountains throughout North America, fought her way through clouds of mosquitoes so thick they blocked her radiator, air filter and heater port intake screens, forded streams over the top of her floor rails on numerous occasions from Mexico to the Yukon and in-between. I miss her to this day. Poor dear, she rusted out. I'm a dab hand at fixing engines and transmissions, but the steel manufactured in the late sixties and early seventies was so poor that vehicles started showing holes within a year of coming off the factory lines.

Come to think on it, I started rusting from the inside out, almost as fast, too.

So there you have my twenty-first birthday reminiscences. Hope they were as good for you as they were for me (ahem). Extend my respect and appreciation to your wife and the demon spawn. Enjoy your homecoming – it's a fleeting pleasure.

wil

Extra Credit: Well, since I should be dead already, anything extra is a bonus. I'd really like to have one hell of a party when I hit 85, right after they amputate my other leg and install the new electronic replacement eyes I'll need, given how this diabetes is progressing...

MEME: Friday Fill-in, #20

1. It's _Firth of Forth Day_! Woohoo! 2. Only 13 more days til _the start of the Memorial Day weekend__. 3. It was _wicked hot_ yesterday! [ed. note: that was for Monique!] 4. I love my _computer_. 5. _Dirt_ is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a _nurse_. 6. Mothers: _A Necessary Evil_. 7. I'd like to do _read a book_ and _get some laundry done_ this weekend.

If you wanna play, you gots to visit Janet...

Matrix Revisits Riverdance

Ok, ok, so Gregorian chants aren't your thing? Give this Matrix Music Video set to a tune from the Lord of the Dance Riverdance show a look.

Thursday Is Gregorian Day

A different take on the Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms ... this is Gregorian -- Masters of Chant. Give a look and listen with an open mind.

MEME: John M. Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot

Your Monday Photo Shoot : Take a picture of some machine and/or piece of technology that you have a love/hate relationship with.

Well John, you aren't the only one with lap- problems. This particular beastie has defied the best hacking efforts of deM0nz HazKer$, BOFH's and SysAdmins with 5 and 20 years experience. All have been bested. Used the most sophisticated tools available at their disposal. Nothing got them past this p/w screen, despite tools and techniques that defeated the password on my home desktop running the same OS.

It was my brother's laptop. Yes, he of the University of Maine Webmaster fame. Right, the one that died suddenly last July. You got it, the one who never wrote down his passwords for anything, anywhere. Support desk guru, former Apple & Mac technician, Amiga production specialist, built his first computer from scratch in 1981 when you had to solder components to the board yourself. Turing only knows what he did in the way of securing this puppy. But I can't get into it. So it goes to waste, unusable.

So, while I'd love to be using it, all I can do, every time I fire it up, is hate the fact that it can't be used.

Wednesday Mind Hump – Thanks For The Mammeries

Rfduck, intrepid mememeister, has been burning the candle at both ends, so to speak. On the one wing, it's Spring, and a young drake's thoughts turn to one thing – sex. Yes, friends, the Duck has been bitten by the love bug and has quite the welt to show for it. He's met a duck he fancies and they've been noodling around together, spooning and billing and getting it on in every room of the house and most of the offices in the Music Department at the University of Oregon. At the same time, rfduck has been a diligent student confronting another end of semester round of final exams, papers and presentations.

What's a young quacker to do?

Obviously, not much, when it comes to the matter of “The Wednesday Mind Hump,” as the following shall serve as mute testimony thereto:

“Hi everyone! Let's mind hump! Today is Great Northern Beans Day, so we'll just go ahead and use tomorrow's theme - Official Thank You Day. That's all I can think of this late at night! Sorry.”

1. What is your favorite song with "Thank You" or "Thanks" in the title?
Thanks For The Memories, Bob Hope's “signature tune” (1937 - Paramount Music Corp.). I prefer the version sung by Frank Sinatra. It was written by the team of Leo Robin and Robert Rainger, and recorded by Sinatra on July 20, 1981, in New York.
2. Who do you want to thank, and why?
I want to thank my mother and father for not giving in to the impulse to kill me as I am sure that murderous urge swept over them many times during the fourteen years or so we were together (I was such an angelic child and all (cough cough)).

Thanks for the memory
Of things I can't forget, journeys on a jet
Our wond'rous week in Martinique and Vegas and roulette
How lucky I was

And thanks for the memory
Of summers by the sea, dawn in Waikiki
We had a pad in London but we didn't stop for tea
How cozy it was

Now since our breakup I wake up
Alone on a gray morning-after
I long for the sound of your laughter
And then I see the laugh's on me

But, thanks for the memory
Of every touch a thrill, I've been through the mill
I've lived a lot and learned a lot, you loved me not and still
I miss you so much

Thanks for the memory
Of how we used to jog even in a fog
That barbecue in Malibu, away from all the smog
How rainy it was

Thanks for the memory
Of letters I destroyed, books that we enjoyed
Tonight the way things look, I need a book by Sigmund Freud
How brainy he was

Gone are those evenings on Broadway
Together we'd go to a great show
But now I begin with the Late Show
And wish that you were watching, too

I know it's a fallacy
That grown men never cry, baby, that's a lie
We had our bed of roses, but forgot that roses die
And thank you , so much.

Lyrics copyright 20th Century Music
Image Copyright © 1996-2007 Di Stefano Production

No Pants Day? Why didn't you tell me?

How'd you let me miss this holiday?

After all, I didn't have much more to take off...

Of course, TODAY, May 8, 2007, is actually

KILT DAY.


Too bad I haven't got a kilt!

Or a Sporin to hide me family jewels and other valuables in!


It is also the birthday of my dear wife,
She Who Must Be Obeyed!

Hence the costume above.

It's me birthday suit...

Earth's Greatest Law Suit

Become a plaintiff in the greatest mass filing of lawsuits the earth has ever witnessed.

Play your part. Register here so that we can prepare and file a lawsuit just for you against the religion, church, affiliated organization, religious leader, or televangelist of your choice.

Change our world. Bring peace on earth. End religious conflicts and terrorism. Join us as we take away the one thing that is truly the lifeblood of earth's organized religions.

Their money supply.

Via The J-Walk Blog