This 'n' That for Thursday

Happy Thursday - we're nearing the end of the work week and heading for the weekend. Looking like it'll be overcast and rainy up here. Hope your weather is better.

Found this quiz over at Christine's "infinitepink" blog and thought you'd enjoy giving it a whirl -- it's short and not too silly.

Where is your spirit craving to take you to? Somewhere Secluded Right now you are craving to find some place that offers simplicity because you need peace and serenity in your life. You find the world to be overwhelming at times and need reassurance of the beauty that exists apart from man-made things. You are going to feel fulfilled when you find someplace that brings you to feeling who you truly are. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

In my wanderings on the web last night, I stopped by Youtube for some music as I wasn't able to make a connection to Last.FM for some reason and rediscovered this seminal performance by Eric Clapton and Sting, two of the more unpretentious "superstars" of the age, recording It's Probably Me. The video is nicely done, too, with cuts between the studio and clips of the movie this tune became the introduction for ... Enjoy:




Recently a big web to-d0 was made of a crop circles image of Homer Simpson and some sort of Pagan with a stately erection. Now, by way of the J-Walk Blog, linking from Pimp my rice paddy comes this photo:

2005

"Each year, farmers in the town of Inakadate in Aomori prefecture create works of crop art by growing a little purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed tsugaru-roman variety."

103? No Way!

How Will I Die Quiz You will die at the age of 103 You will die when your underwear gets too tight and cuts off your blood circulation Find out how you will die at Quizopolis.com

MEME: Wednesday Mind Hump – Weinerlicious!

Hello humpers! Today is Wiener Day. Kind of an odd theme, but I'll go with it:

1. What's your favorite kind of wiener - all beef, beef and pork, brat or veggie?
I prefer a Kosher, all beef frank, but the wife prefers the generic wiener with a mix of pork, chicken and beef, so guess which one I eat the most often these days?
2. What do you like on your wiener?
Ketchup and onions, chili with hot peppers in winter, sometimes I just want a brat with sauerkraut.
3. How do you like your wiener cooked - grilled, boiled, steamed, fried, or some other way?
I like mine roasted in a cast iron fry pan on medium heat with a little unsalted butter and a Nissan New England style bun toasted a golden brown in the same butter. Yum!
4. The Wiener was named after the city of Vienna, Austria. Who's your favorite person who comes from that city? Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Italian Baroque composer best known for his quartet of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.

Clean copies of the questions and a place to note the URL of your answers can be found at Blogdrive Insanity.

HUMOR: Who's Your Daddy?

This one was voted "best joke in Australia":

A man walks into his bedroom with a sheep under his arm and says:

"Darling, this is the pig I have sex with when you have a headache."

His girlfriend is lying in bed and replies: "I think you'll find that's a sheep, you idiot."

The man says: "I think you'll find I wasn't talking to you."

MEME: Monday Music Mambo Episode 422

RFDuck is in a fowl mood, to wit: “Hello folks. It's time to mambo again! Today is Talk To A Telemarketer Day. We don't like telemarketing, so . . .”

“Name five songs that say what you want to tell telemarketers (i.e. songs with angry titles telling them to buzz off!)”

OK, here goes. I confess to using Google™ to accomplish the task set by RFDuck, Mememeister Muy Oddicus, today:

1. Get Out Of My Life by Aaron Neville on the “Tell It Like It Is” album

2. You Keep Me Hang'n' On – various artists, written by Holland, Dozier & Holland.

3. Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back) – EAMON

4. Fuck You – Lil Kim

5. I Hope You Die – Bloodhound Gang

   If you want to play along, click your ruby red ah, er, slipper heels together and then click on the banner above. Ignore the old man behind the curtain...

MEME: Monday Madness - Discipline

Ms. Otto tries valiantly to cover the fact she and her “Master” visited PornCon'07 last week in Vegas with this lame excuse:

“Sorry about last week. We were off to the windy city for our daughter's freshman orientation. Thanks for playing and have a great week, everyone!” =)

1. Do you feel that children these days are disciplined enough? Judging by the behavior of children I see in public, the answer must, perforce, be “Not at all.”
2. What are your thoughts about the "time out chair?" Fine for minor infractions and to offer a “cool down” for the overwrought child. Useless beyond that as a general rule.
3. When YOU were a child, what form of discipline did your parents use most often? “NO.”
4. Did your parents have to constantly remind you of the guidelines they set for you, or did they just have to LOOK at you as a "gentle" reminder? With three boys, each about a year apart, my mother mastered the “death ray” early in the game. Father merely had to clear his throat. Beyond that, there be dragons.
5. What are your thoughts about screaming kids in public places? Parents, if you don't shut them up – I will. I AM the monster in their nightmares.
6. What do you feel is the BIGGEST mistake parents make when it comes to disciplining children? Listening to claptrap on TV. Oprah and Dr. Phil haven't a freaking clue, folks. Set boundaries, explain expectations and let no transgression go unpunished – ever. “Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” doesn't mean you let children get away with murder; it means you strike the fear of DEATH into their little brains as soon as they can distinguish right from wrong. Earlier, actually. Let your babies know there are rules and if those rules are broken there are consequences. Often times, severe consequences. Forget about “damaging their wee minds.” The real world they will have to inhabit beyond your protective sphere of influence doesn't give a flying fig about their psyches or whether they live or die. Life is hard and life is earnest. There's no such thing as “fair.” The world simply is. For so long as you are within the gravity well of this planet, things fall on your head when you pull them down. One tantrum at work gets you fired. Period. No appeal. No second chance. One rude gesture on an LA freeway may get you killed. That is the way it is – shielding children from the harsh realities of life does them and the rest of us a terrible disservice. So stop it.

You can get your own copy of this week's questions by visiting Ms. Otto at the Monday Madness web site. You'll be glad you did when those boils on your butt heal overnight!

HUMOR: Disparate Truths

One day a mother and her young daughter were riding in a cab through New York City. Suddenly, the girl noticed some scantily clad women loitering on a street .

"Mommy," the little girl asked, "what are all those ladies doing?"

"They're waiting for their husbands to come home from work." the mother answered.

"C'mon lady, they're hookers!" retorted the cab driver.

After a stunned silence, the daughter asked, "Mommy, do hookers have children?"


"Of course," the mother replied, "where do you think cabbies come from?"

Courtesy of Brampton, Ontario's resident humorist, Mustang Bob!

MEME: Unconcious Mutterings -- Week 232

16 hours, 6 minutes ago

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

1. Situation :: Normal – All Fucked Up (SNAFU)

2. Theme song :: Born To Be Wild

3. Kelly :: Girls

4. Club :: Med

5. Swerve :: curve

6. Couch :: potato

7. Bigfoot :: legend

8. Arbitrary :: decision

9. Inventor :: Thomas Alva Edison

10. Blazer :: Chevrolet

You can play along too. Just click the little icon up there and it'll be “Calgon, take me away...”

MEME: Sunday Seven - Episode 98

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

Name the seven sections, features or columns of a newspaper you are most likely to read.

1. Front Page – headlines

2. State – this includes the local news

3. Entertainment

4. Comics

5. Classifieds

6. Editorial – including Letters to the Editor

7. Obituaries

   You can play along, too. Just click that banner up there and hold onto your hat...

MEME: Saturday Six - Episode 169

Patrick seems to be having the time of his life. Witness these comments he made this week, introducing this episode of the Saturday Six: “Recently, Steven Colbert, of Comedy Central fame, visited his old stamping grounds of Charleston. Colbert was honored by ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s with a flavor created in his honor. “AmeriCone Dream” is a mixture of vanilla ice cream, fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl.”

“Just recently, another Lowcountry resident won a national contest to create her own flavor of Blue Bell Ice Cream. Jae Hegley’s “Southern Hospitality,” features vanilla swirled with pineapple, roasted pecans and a strawberry swirl.”

“Ice cream — and desserts in general — becomes the subject of this week’s questions!”

“But first, Wil of “The Daily Snooze” was first to play last week. Congratulations, Wil!” (Yeah, ME!)

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. What is your absolute favorite dessert? A lemon cheesecake that my first wife used to make. Unlike regular cheesecake, this filling was as light as a feather and simply burst with the flavor of Meyer Lemons.

2. When is the last time you had it? Let's see. We got divorced in 1985 and had been separated for a little over a year. So sometime in 1983, for sure.

3. If you had to give up one of the following for life: cookies, cake, ice cream, pie, or chocolate, which would you choose never to try again? Cookies. I'd miss them, but I'd survive. Whereas, life without chocolate isn't really living, now is it?

4. Take the quiz: What flavor of ice cream are you?

You Are Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

You are kind, popular, and generous. You tend to be successful at anything you try. A social butterfly, you are great at entertaining a crowd. You are most compatible with strawberry ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Not even close, I might add. Although, I do like Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

5. If you attempted to make the dessert you like best, how well do you think it would turn out? I have tried, several times. I don't have the knack. 'Barely edible' would best describe my most brilliant recreation.

6. If you were going to invent your own flavor of ice cream to be carried by a company like Ben & Jerry’s, what ingredients would you require? Hmmm, let's see. Jim Beam Bourbon whiskey, raisins, roasted pecans, cream, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and M&M's chocolate candies. With a vanilla ice cream base, it's a “Rocky Road meets Bo and Luke Duke on a back road” kind of treat. Let's call it “Kentucky Moonshine Rock Slide”, shall we? We'll sell millions of gallons of the stuff to alkies alone!

R.I.P.

One year ago today my youngest brother died.

I'm still having a hard time dealing with it.

It was simply too short of a journey for him.


And it sucks to be the one left behind, guys.


Update: Chickie suggested providing more info about my brother and that period of time. Take a look at these entries: There's Always A Reason For Silence , Time Flies..., and Once there were three.

MEME: Friday Fill-In #28

1. _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ is the book I'm most looking forward to reading this summer
2. Dogs _Rulz_.
3. _Halifax, N.S._ is a town I'd like to explore.
4. Silly people _squander wisdom_.
5. I'm longing to _have a lobster feast_.
6. _Life,_ so scary!
7. What are you doing this weekend? Tonight I'm looking forward to _sleep_, tomorrow my plans include _messing about at camp_ and Sunday, I want to _go swimming_!

If you want to play along, just visit Janet at the link above to get your own copy of the Friday Fill-in.

Just Another Day In The Neighborhood, Fred...

From today's Bangor Daily News:

"

A moose in the Megunticook River. Photo by David Dickey

Wandering moose visits downtown Camden

By Tom Groening
Friday, July 13, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

CAMDEN - A young male moose wandered through downtown Camden on Wednesday evening, following the Megunticook River, even where it flows under Main Street.

David Dickey, owner of the Riverhouse Hotel, said he heard noise outside his building about 6 p.m. that he assumed was "the neighborhood raccoon," he said Thursday.

When he began investigating the area where the river flows between concrete walls and under buildings along Mechanic Street, he was surprised when the moose jumped off a 5-foot wall toward him.

The animal, which had antlers that Dickey estimated at 6 to 8 inches long, then went over the wall into the stream area, going upstream under the building that houses the Bagel Cafe.

"How he made it, I don’t know," Dickey said, because the animal would have had to negotiate cribwork and a waterfall. The moose later was spied near the Tavern on the Falls restaurant in the former Knox Mill complex.

Officers with the Maine Warden Service were summoned, and they were ready to tranquilize the moose if it appeared unable to leave the river, but by morning, it apparently had followed the river under Main Street, down a water flow and into the harbor. The moose left tracks through Harbor Park and apparently out of town.

Lt. Randy Gagne of the Camden Police Department said he believed the moose was about a year old."

MEME: Wednesday Mind Hump -- Things Could Be Worse Day

Rfduck, mememeister extraordinairre, greets all and sundry thusly, “Hello everyone! Welcome to another Mind Hump. Cheer up, because today is Cheer Up day!”

1. What makes you cheer up?
Well, it's hard to be down in the dumps when you're screaming along a woods road at 150 mph in a Tiburon...
2. Who makes you cheer up?
Robin Williams. Back before he gave up the cocaine. Too fucking funny...
3. What location makes you cheer up?
St. Moritz, the Seychelles, Tenerife, Sydney...
4. What food or beverage makes you cheer up?
Macaroni and cheese, Haggis, silver dollar chocolate chip pancakes and maple syrup, Hawaiian Kona coffee..

~~*~~

Two blokes are walking along the quayside.

One is clearly down in the dumps, bemoaning his lot in life and the unfairness of it all.

The other fellow, clearly of the 'glass is half full' persuasion, looks at his companion after listening to this litany of woe for a while and says “Cheer up, things could be worse.”

So the first fellow took his advice to heart and cheered up a bit.

Sure enough ... things got worse!

~~*~~

Interesting...

Patrick was commenting that his blog obtained a "G" rating despite a questionable word or two, so I thought I'd run the Snooze through the wringer to see what popped up.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Despite the "MF" in the link from the "Weekend Assignment" I only rated an "R" because of the repeated use of the term "anal" in the selfsame post. Hmmm.

Oh, well. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

By the by, SWMBO is having a diagnostic procedure this afternoon so posting will, of necessity, be nil until she's safely ensconced in bed with her teddy bear this evening. Try to play nice in my absence.

I'm still working on that meme, Carly. It may take a while.

MEME: Monday Music Mambo

“What luck! Today is Rock and Roll Day!” At least, that's RFDuck's take on the situation. His attendants say it's best to humor him, so here goes...

Name your favorite rock and roll . . .

1. Band: Jethro Tull
2. Singer: While Leonard Cohen is my favorite singer-songwriter, he's only a rock 'n' roller part of the time, so I guess I'll nominate Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) as my favorite rocker. Even that's a stretch of systematics.
3. Guitarist: So many to choose from... Eric Clapton springs immediately to mind. So does Jimi Hendrix. You choose.
4. Bassist: Again, so many basses, so little time to love them all. Today my favorite is Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck) – probably the most technically skilled bassist performing today. There's none better in the studio and few can hold a candle to his artistry in concert.
5. Drummer: Ginger Baker of Cream fame.
6. Album: Dream Letter by Tim Buckley. Nothing finer...

So you want to play along, do you, Bunky? Just hie thee to visit the qwazy qwacker, rfduck, our intrepid leader, to get your very own copy of this week's questions.

MEME: Sunday Seven

So yesterday was supposed to be the luckiest day of the year because of the once-per-century alignment of dates forming three consecutive sevens: 07/07/07. Since you’re here reading this, I assume that you were at least fortunate enough to have survived the day.

I suspect that if the day had been the luckiest day of the year, it would have fallen on Sunday, so that we could be playing the Sunday Seven on 7/7. Maybe that’s too much good luck for a single 24-hour span.

In any case, as you might have guessed by now, luck is the subject of this week’s question.

But first, Verbiosa of “Game Schooling” was first to play last week’s question. Congratulations, Verbiosa!

On to this week’s question!

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Name seven of your favorite good luck charms.

Sorry, Patrick. Just as there's no Santa, Easter Bunny, Yahweh, Allah, Jehovah, Jesus or other mythical religious constructs, so too the absence of good or bad luck. Don't get me started on charms, my dear Wiccans...

But wait! I just thought of some for you to choose from -- your daily dose of breakfast woo:

Lucky Charms

MEME: Unconcious Mutterings -- Week 231

23 hours, 17 minutes ago

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

1. Happen :: Occur

2. Terribly :: horribly

3. History :: Geschicte

4. Master :: Electrician

5. Petrified :: visage

6. Moan :: suppress

7. Attack :: retreat

8. Picture :: this!

9. Students :: fledglings

10. Potter :: brother

You can play along, too, simply by visiting La Luna Niña's place to get a clean copy of the words and to leave a link off to your answers. Ciao!

MEME: Patrick's Place -- Episode 168

So this, the 168th edition of the “Saturday Six,” becomes something historic, because it is the first one that is being played here in the all-new “Patrick’s Place.”

When I began this weekly meme, my blog was located on AOL. Back then, there was one blog, and the “weekender” memes were right there among the more “normal” posts. Now, that’s the way it is again…a return, perhaps, to the good old days.

But before the questions, Cat of “Sweet Memes” was first to play last week. Congratulations, Cat!

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 many cups of coffee do you generally drink in a single day? One or two, usually, and then they're likely to be decaf coffee.

2. Other than coffee, what drink gives you the most caffeine over the course of a day? Iced tea.

3. If you go to a coffee shop with friends, how likely are you to order something other than coffee? Not very. Sometimes an espresso and biscotti. But, I drink all coffee black, so froo-froo drinks are out of the question. “Santa's lactose intolerant, kid!”

4. Take the quiz: What does your latte say about you? Stupid Quiz Alert.

What Your Latte Says About You

You are easygoing and pretty simple to please. You don't put up a fuss... ever. You are a very serious person. You don't have time for silly antics. You have a good deal of energy, but you pace yourself. You never burn out too fast. You have a healthy relationship with caffeine. You're definitely not dependent on it. You are responsible, mature, and truly an adult. You're occasionally playful, but you find it hard to be carefree. You are complex and philosophical, but you are never arrogant.

What Does Your Latte Say About You?

5. Who serves the best cup of coffee in your town? (If you don’t drink coffee, where would you most likely go if you were going to try a cup?) The Coffee Express on State Street by the hospital.

6. How do you feel about iced coffee versus regular coffee, and iced tea versus hot tea? “To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”

If you'd like to play along, visit the ALL NEW Patrick's Place.

MEME: Friday Fill In, #27

1. On a hot summer's day _swimming_ is my favorite thing! 2. When I think of summertime fun, I think of _seakayaking_. 3. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough_ is my favorite flavor of ice cream. 4. My new favorite drink is _Iced Tea with Lime_. 5. One of my happiest summertime memories is _camping in Washington_. 6. The best place to watch fireworks (or submarine races) is _from the Electric Boat docks in Newport News, Virginia_! 7. What are you doing this weekend? Tonight I'm looking forward to _sleep_, tomorrow my plans include _watching the race_ and Sunday, I want to _go swimming, weather permitting_!

Click the radio button above if you'd like to play along.

This is SO not the way to go...

Exact Cause of Va. Farm Deaths Unknown - washingtonpost.com: "BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- Exposure to methane gas led to the deaths of four family members and a farmhand, but whether they suffocated from the fumes or drowned in 18 inches of liquefied cow manure may never be known, authorities said."

John M. Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #173

John has this to say about this week's assignment: “I'm busy packing for a (yet another) trip, so I'm going to make this Weekend Assignment dead simple and hopefully fun:” “Weekend Assignment #173: Share a joke. Make it funny. Also, since I'll want to link back to them, and I am, after all, but a cog in the great AOL machine, keep it reasonably clean and free of ethnic/sexual put-downs. You know.” Extra Credit: So, ever been to Kansas City? Because that's where I'm going.

Dear John,

Being an old phartoid, most jokes that I can recall, on a day when the synapses even remember what jokes are, tend to be of the lewd, crude and tattooed variety. So be it. I'm more or less happy in this skin after wandering the planet in a fog for nearly sixty years, so I admit that my sense of humor isn't the mainstream. Couple that with CRS¹ and I am not the man you turn to for a postprandial comedy routine. For that, you need a Groucho Marx, Milton Berle or Bob Hope.

Now, you probably AREN'T going to be able to share this one with your AOL readers, but what the heck – it tickles my funny bone:

Did you know anal tourism was a big deal in academia?

A female undergrad walks up to the desk for help.
"Hi, I'm looking for anal tourism research." She says.
I could not have heard her correctly.
"Um, what?" I reply.
"I'm looking for anal tourism research."
Like Thailand and Vegas? "I think there is a typo." I counter.
"No, my professor was very specific about anal."
I don't ask if there was an oral exam. "We can take a look, but I don't think that's right."
"Please? Anal research is important, I need it bad."
I start searching in the catalogue, typing in 'annal' to end this.
"It's anal, A-N-A-L. Anal was at the top of the list of the things he wanted."
I bet it was. "We don't have it under that listing."
"Well, how can I get Anal Tourism Research?"
Some Barry White, some K-Y, some minor discomfort...
"How about we try some variant spellings?"
"But I want anal."
"Please trust me on this." I don't want my boss to walk over while she shouts "I want anal!" again.
"Here we go, Annals of Tourism Research."
"But, anal…"
"Is something very different."
I could see the dawning in her eyes as she made the connection.
"I, anal, oh my god."
"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Even when coeds are begging for me to give them anal, I'm still a professional.

From The Society of Librarians Who Say "Motherfucker".

Alright, alright. Not safe for consumption by the grandkids. But, you gotta admit, it was funny.

Here's one. Clean, safe for most, doesn't attack any ethnic group that will burn flags or effigies in the morning, likely to pass over the heads of any grandchildren under 24 or so:

Julie Andrews turns 69 -

To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, 2006, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP.

One of the musical numbers she performed was "My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie "Sound Of Music".

Here are the lyrics she used:


Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.


When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinnin', (slightly edited for content)
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.


When the joints ache,
When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.

That's what YOU have to look forward to in a few decades, my son. Ain't life grand?

Kansas City -- great steaks and barbecue, smoky dives and wonderful blues. Food and music. Good rye whiskey to be had locally, too. That's what I remember about KC.

Best always to Krissy and Athena – be sure to wind up Kodi and settle him into attack mode as you head out the door. Wouldn't want the women folk getting molested by the restless natives thereabouts.

wil

¹ CRS = Can't Remember Stuff.

How I spent My 4th of July

Making an avatar at the Simpsons Movie web site




SORRY - busted embedding

Things That Go Bump In The Night

This thing, purportedly a Catamount or Mountain Lion, was seen in a rural backyard near Interstate 95 just south of Waterville in Sidney, Maine recently. While there have been sporadic sightings of Catamounts over the years in Maine and neighboring New Hampshire, Quebec and New Brunswick, biological evidence has been scarce. Photographic or video has been nil, until now.

According to this story in the Lewiston Sun Journal on Friday, June 29, 2007, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are taking this sighting very seriously, sending a wildlife biologist to the scene to take measurements of the rocks and trees to establish scale, collect any biological evidence to be found and to interview the homeowner who photographed the elusive creature.

A photo making e-mail rounds Thursday that shows what looks like a big, rare cat in a Sidney backyard is real, according to the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife spokesman.

Whether that's actually a mountain lion leaning on a rock wall is up in the air. The cat's tail, the easiest way to tell a bobcat from a mountain lion, is hidden by a tree.

"That's why we're sending someone out there," said Mark Latti. "Maine doesn't have a wild population of mountain lions."

The picture came in to IFW on Thursday. He said the homeowner wants to be anonymous. A biologist will go out soon to look for other evidence, like tracks, and measure the size of the rocks where the cat stood to get a sense of scale.

Maine hasn't had wild mountain lions since the late 1800s, Latti said. Vermont and New Hampshire don't have them either.

UPDATE 7/4/2007:

"Mountain lion or big bobcat? DIF&W can't make the call"

MEME: Wednesday Mind Hump - Independence Day Edition

Mr. RFDuck had this to say, “Hello everyone! Happy 4th, to all my American readers. Happy Wednesday to all my non-American readers. Today's Mind Hump is all about America.”

FIRST, a note – unless one is talking about ALL of North, Central and South America, it is improper and insulting to use the term “America” to apply to only the United States of America. Fuck political correctness; it's just wrong. Sadly, referring to the country as only the “United States” is incorrect, too – Mexico's full name translates as “The United States of Mexico.” I urge you all to stick to USA or “Yanks” when talking about this country – anything else sounds stupid, in my opinion.

1. Which historical American figure would you most like to be for a day - George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, or Thomas Jefferson?
Benjamin Franklin, no question – a sybarite in his later life, a man after my own heart.
2. America was born partly with the help of the Declaration of Independence. Now, in 2007, make your own declaration right here.
I am no Thomas Jefferson; I wouldn't presume to attempt to craft such a document for a three minute throw-away entry in a meme. Have some respect, folks.
3. To sidetrack from the American theme a bit - Great Britain lost 13 colonies, but there are surely things that can make up for that loss. Name something about Britain that you admire or enjoy.
Simply put, endurance. Despite all that has befallen Great Britain, it persists.
4. Ok, back to America - what do YOU love about America?
The cockeyed optimism of some. The deep love of country in others. It's physical and cultural diversity. That's what I love about these United States of America.

You can get a clean copy of this week's Mind Hump questions by clicking the banner above.

Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence - CNN.com

I wonder if the NEXT President will be so generous when it comes time to commute Bush's sentence?

Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence - CNN.com: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush commuted Monday the prison term of former White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, facing 30 months in prison after a federal court convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators."

MEME: Monday Music Mambo – Canada Mambo Long Time

Rfduck, mememeister du jour, looked at the calendar and found the answer to why his small western Oregon town had been seemingly overrun with refugees from Vancouver, “Hello everyone! Time for another mambo. Sunday was Canada Day, so we'll make an all-Canadian playlist.”

Choose one song for each artist:

1. Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now, Jericho, Big Yellow Taxi
2. Bryan Adams: Straight From The Heart, Summer of 69
3. Neil Young: Old Man and so many, many more (I have 96 songs, with dupes, in my collection. Perhaps the most prolific song writer of the late 20^th century)
4. Sarah McLachlan: Adia; Do What You Have To Do, Blue
5. The Band: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down; The Weight; Cripple Creek
6. Barenaked Ladies: What A Good Boy (studio)
7. Leonard Cohen (Yes, again. If you can't think of anything, just choose "Hallelujah."): The Partisan; Field Commander Cohen
8. k.d. Lang: I love her cover of Cohen's Hallelujah; Busy Being Blue, Help Me
9. Alanis Morrisette: Hand In My Pocket, Knees Of My Bees,
10. Rush: After careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that I just never liked anything RUSH ever did. Therefore, I am substituting for Number 10. Gordon Lightfoot, whose Canadian Railroad Trilogy, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and Rainy Day People, to name only three, hold more interest to me than the sum total of all Rush has ever done.

MEME: Monday Morning Madness – Laundry Time

Good Monday to you all! This week's questions are all about laundry; something we all have to do (or have done). Have a great week and thank you so much for playing! =)

1. Do you do your own laundry or do you send it out? We do our own laundry. Before I married a second time, I had my shirts done and ironed by a local laundry.
2. Do you laundry at your home or a laundromat? At home.
3. Are there certain articles of clothing that you need to have dry-cleaned on a regular basis? Yes. Most woolens.
4. How often do you do laundry? Is there a certain day of the week that you consider "laundry day?" It seems like every day is a laundry day. My personal favorite is Mondays, however.
5. Do you iron your clothes as you pull them out of the dryer or do you wait until just before you wear the clothing to iron? If I iron at all (the joy of not working) I iron just before wearing.
6. Do you hang your clothes outside to dry or do you dry them in a dryer? The dryer is broken – everything gets hung out to dry. In winter, a lot of things will get dried inside the house.
7. Do you own things that need to be hand-washed or do you try to avoid buying things that you can't wash in the washing machine? I own such things as does my wife. I ordinarily avoid them like the plague.

If you want to play along, clean copies of the questions can be had by clicking on the “Madness” banner above.

MEME: Sunday Seven - Episode 96

Have you ever watched a television show or movie and thought, “I’d like to visit that place”? If so, this week’s question is all for you.

But first, Otowi of “Otowi” was first to play last week’s question. Congratulations!

On to this week's question!

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name seven fictional locations (or fictionalized real locations) from TV or movies that you’d like to visit.

1. Jellystone National Park from Yogi Bear

2. Cicely, in the “wilds of Alaska” of Northern Exposure

3. the “historic, early century” Australia of Rabbit-Proof Fence

4. The Cook Islands of Mutiny on the Bounty

5. The Indochina of the '30's in Indochine

6. The United States of A Christmas Story

7. The Siberia of Dersu Uzala, a wonderful Akira Kurosawa movie

If you want to play along, click the banner above to leave a link to your answers.

MEME: Unconscious Mutterings -- Week 230

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

1. Partner :: business

2. News :: weather

3. Foam :: rubber

4. Paycheck :: stub

5. Me :: troll

6. Eight :: ball

7. Dairy :: farm

8. Exciting :: exhilarating

9. Hockey :: puck

10. Socialite :: parasite

You, too, can be a mutterer – just click the icon above.

MEME: Saturday Six - Episode 169

This is the last day of June, which means that the year is already half over! How does that happen?

But before the questions, Maria of "Sweet Life of a Demon" was first to play last week. Congratulations, Maria!

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 seriously have you considered a purchase of the new iPhone?
Not at all. I have no intention of purchasing an iPhone at any time in the foreseeable future.
2. Have you ever camped out to purchase something?
Never. Height of stupidity – no consumer goods are worth that amount of effort. I HAVE had to wait in line for hours for food under disaster conditions, but that is just the way of things during a disaster.
3. What is the most important piece of jewelry you have ever purchased?
My wife's engagement ring.
4. Take the quiz: What gem stone are you?
Bad link.
5. What is your birthstone?
Sapphire.
6. Are you more likely to own an article of jewelry with the quiz result, your birthstone, or neither? Neither.

If you'd like to play along, click the banner up above.

Friday Fill-In #26

Janet engages in some remorseful breast-beating as she recovers from her birthday party thusly: "Sorry I missed last week! Darn Vegas trip" ;-)

1. _Such_ a long time!
2. Occasionally, _I hanker for meat, red meat_.
3. Unexpected _visitors_ can be interesting!
4. _Alone time_ is great, too!
5. Where do you _go_ when you want _to escape the world?_
6. Oh my god, he just _platzed_!
7. What are you doing this weekend? Tonight I'm looking forward to _dinner_, tomorrow my plans include _working at camp_ and Sunday, I want to _go swimming, if the water is warm enough_!

If you'd like to play along, a visit to meme-mistress Janet of Fond of Snape is in order to get a clean copy of the questions and to leave a link to your answers.

Declare Yourself!

There aren't any young ones reading this blog, so I guess the *bleep* is overkill. Too funny...



Courtesy of the lovely proprietress of The Cake Eater Chronicles...

John M. Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #172: Under Your Own Power

Weekend Assignment #172: Talk about a time in which you moved or traveled a significant distance under your own power. That means walking, running, swimming, biking, hiking, and so on -- in some significant way your muscles were involved. As for the distances involved, think miles; we're talking some real effort. It doesn't have to be a marathon or a triathalon (although those would count), just a time when you got to the end of what you were doing feeling tired but possibly triumphant as well.

Dear John,

Did I ever tell you about the time I shepherded a gaggle of gawky teens up the Chimney Pond trail, over the Knife Edge of Katahdin and back down, all in one day, thirteen miles later, with no significant injuries (this time) or loss of personnel? I did? Damn!

OK, how about the time I took the same group of upstanding juvenile delinquents on a one-day, forced-march paddle down the Androscoggin River for 26 miles? Dang, I don't remember telling you about that ... but, if you say so.

How about the New Year's Eve I got stranded in Bangor at the end of a food co-op run to Boston and ended up having to walk the seven miles home in the middle of an ice storm because my then-roommate “got lucky” and decided to turn the phone ringer off so she and her beau-of-the-night could sleep in late the next morning? Oh, I did, eh?

Well, then, I've been on any number of shorter hikes and paddles here in New England and out in California and Washington. Nothing spectacularly physical, usually just hard slogs in heat or rampant cold. Nothing to write home about. I guess I've been blogging about the past too much.

Give my best to your two darlings and behave yourself. Have a fun Fourth of July holiday.

wil

QUIZ: Evaluating The Value of Misdeeds

I guess it takes one to know one:

You correctly identified 75% of the starlets who enrolled in drug rehab or were convicted of a DUI.

You correctly identified 17% of the starlets who never enrolled in drug rehab or were convicted of a DUI.

Test your abilities here: Branding Value of Misdeeds.



Thanks to The J-Walk Blog where I first saw this.

MEME: No Mind Hump Today

It had to happen sometime and today's the day: RFDuck, mememeister extraordinaire, is suffering from hyperglycemia, having singlehandedly consumed an entire bushel of strawberries. This has resulted in severe brain cramps and has incapacitated his WEB 2.0 Humper-dumper. Therefore:

"No Mind Hump Today - I'm all out of ideas. If you want to do today's theme, "Talk Like A Cheesy P.I. Day," go ahead. If not, then I'll see you on Monday!"

Posted at 10:35 pm by rfduck the music-loving mememeister

John M. Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot: Crowds

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Get a picture of a crowd or crowded event. Conventions, weddings, parties in cramped spaces -- you know, anywhere there's lots of folks doing something.

OK, this is an oldie – crowd pictures from the Common Ground Country Fair in,September, 2004, I think. They (we) are all watching a Sheep Dog Herding Demo. The lead dog is attempting to keep the geese boxed in with just the force of her Evil Eye™ while her companion canines resist the temptation to run and and break as many goosey necks as possible...

MEME: Monday Music Mambo – Closing Time

Here's a stretch. Lacking sufficient fodder, Rfduck has this to say, “Hello mamboers! Today is Leon Day. The only musical Leon I know of is Leonard Cohen.” Obviously, he's never heard of Leon Redbone, “the most famous non-famous American musician of the 20^th Century.”

“Name your favorite Leonard Cohen song.”

“And, to make the meme longer, name a few songs you've been loving a lot recently.”

Okay then, buckaroos. This is actually tougher than you'd think. I listen to Leonard Cohen a lot. There are a whole lot of songs to choose from. According to the meager stats provided by my Windows Media Player, I have only 11 albums by Leonard Cohen, totalling 92 songs. I listen to them all an average of once a month. Some get more ear time than others. But picking just one? Bastard!

Alright, after careful deliberation, a reading of the tea leaves and a throw of the I Ching I've made my choice. It's “Closing Time” from the 1992 album The Future

“We're drinking and we're dancing
but there's nothing really happening
and the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night
And my very close companion
gets me fumbling, gets me laughing
she's a hundred but she's wearing something tight
And I lift my glass to the Awful Truth
which you can't reveal to the Ears of Youth
except to say it isn't worth a dime
And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
and it's once for the Devil and it's once for Christ
but the Boss don't like these dizzy heights --
we're busted in the blinding lights
of closing time”

Copyright © Leonard Cohen
and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada Company Partial lyrics shown for education purposes under the “Fair Use” provisions of the Copyright Act.

But that's not all our mememeister asks of us. Oh, no, he wants more tunes we've been cannoodling to, too. OK, buster, you asked for it:

Wolfstone – Glenglass

Loreena McKennitt – Tango to Evora

Silly Wizard – The Wind That Shakes The Barley/The Ale Is Dear

Alan Stivell – Brian Boru

Skilda – AN NIGHEAN DUBH

The Band – I Shall Be Released

Celtus – Strange Day in the Country

Loreena McKennitt – Skelling

Gregorian – So Sad

Dagda – Criost Liom

There you have it for this week's Mambo. Hope you enjoyed it. A clean copy of the questions may be obtained over at the Mambo Headquarters and Lending Library if you'd like them.

By the way, does anyone know why the “scrobbing” feature of Last.FM doesn't register the music I listen to via the Windows Media Player?

MEME: Sunday Seven - Episode 95

What I saw at the scene of the fire that killed nine of Charleston’s firefighters got me thinking about how little we say “Thank You” and who should be the first to receive our gratitude.

But first, Maureen of “Self Discovery Journey” was first to play last week’s question. Congratulations, Maureen!

On to this week's question!

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name seven of the most under-appreciated jobs in your community.

1. Emergency response workers – firefighters, police officer, paramedical workers, animal control officers and the like

2. Teachers, particularly those saddled with trying to cope with that useless ball of hormones, er, student, that exists between grades 6 and 12 in this country

3. Grave diggers. Try it sometime. Even with a back hoe. F*cking hard work to go to, just to bury a bunch of meat so others won't rend it and scatter it.

4. Sanitation workers, both the “garbage men” and those who work with sewers and septage. Try it sometime...

5. Local government workers – every Tom, Dick and Hairy Jane thinks that just because they pay a pittance in property taxes they are somehow entitled to consider themselves the boss of said workers. So, having no other convenient target, they unload. Makes no difference whether you are a clerk in the local DMV or a tax assessor, a welfare worker or a public works driver or a City Manager, they are all marked and targeted in the public's mind.

6. Waitresses (and, to a lesser extent, waiters) in other than the $100/plate joints that take three years to get a reservation. It's a screwed up system in this country when we allow a business to pay an employee a fraction (often one third) of the minimum wage and thus require that employee to hustle customers to make enough money to earn a living on which they often are the sole support for themselves and their children.

7. Journalists. There – that surprised you. Keep in mind that most aren't the Bob Woodward's in this life. They make, on average, somewhere in the mid-high 20's, even in places like LA and NYC. They must produce, to deadline, upwards of 10,000 words per day of clear, concise, readable text describing the most mundane, egregious acts of their fellow man. Whether it's the summer intern producing the obituaries to the TV reporter breaking the story about the latest transgressions of the local basketball junkie, it's all fodder to their grist mill. For any on you who've read this far, the average blog entry is 250 words or less. Multiply that by 12, add in six hours of research, phone calls and leg work, sitting through boring meetings, visits to police stations, courts, hospitals, fires and accident scenes, all to sit down and write the days “news”. Little wonder that fair and accurate journalism is a dying tradition. It's very hard work for very little compensation. (410 words to here, by way of example)

Happy Birthday, Father

I've been thinking about my father a lot this past week. Last Sunday was Fathers Day; today, had he lived, would have been my father's 94th birthday. Sadly, he never made it to 65, so it's a moot point.

It's a pleasant 68 degrees and sunny outside. Typical Maine summer weather, when it isn't raining and in the 40's. Not so the day father was born. It was sweltering, the hottest of a three-day heat wave in the 90's each day, made more so by nary a breeze or breath of air in the house all shut up for fear of letting in "germs" that could kill the baby, when and if he ever decided to show himself. It had been a hard slog for my grandmother. A virgin bride, practically raped upon completion of the marriage vows and then spirited three hundred miles away from her sisters' and mother's home to live with a cranky, taciturn man, my great-grandfather, his equally taciturn and embittered wife, and my grandmother's new husband. At the age of 22, a graduate of a finishing school as well as Fanny Farmer's School in Boston. Come to live in this rural, oppressively small university town where she knew no one and no one, save her husband, had a care or kind word for her.

It had been a hard slog for everyone. My grandfather found himself in the role of nursemaid and caretaker to his wife, directed by the family doctor. The doctor's nurse saw to the actually activities in the “sick room” that they connubial bedroom had become. Meanwhile, between boiling water, finding clean towels and linens, trying to provide meals for all and sundry, the good doctor and my grandfather sat on the side porch, smoking cigars (it wasn't until my grandfather's heart precluded his evening walk that he was allowed to smoke in the home). The nurse could holler out the upstairs bedroom window at them if something was needed quickly.

Thus it went, for thirty-six hours, according to the tales I was told. Sweat dripping, shirt sleeves rolled up and collars hanging limply, trying to help bring this baby into the world. Writhing in pain, a knotted sheet clenched between her teeth to stifle her screens from being heard farther than the immediate neighborhood, my grandmother sweated buckets while cursing my grandfather's mere existence. Finally, somehow, the Doctor and his nurse managed to wrestle that infant from his mother's birth canal, forcing the birth of my father.

A portentous event. Particularly for my grandfather. Why, you ask?

Because, my grandmother did make good on at least one curse uttered during the heat of the battle. She never again had sex, for fear she'd have to have another baby...

Happy Birthday, Dad. No wonder your father resented you all the rest of his life.

MEME: Unconcious Mutterings -- Week 229

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

1. Compulsion :: attraction

2. Spiritual :: nonsense

3. Spray :: needle

4. Compatibility :: match.com

5. Pursuit :: high speed

6. Fake :: forgery

7. Mobile :: phone

8. Ceremony :: graduation

9. Ribbons :: bows

10. Mozart :: concertos

Clean words lists and a place to leave a link to your answers available at La Luna Niña's web site.