Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Thirteen Thursday Number 17: Hookers


Thirteen Hookers Number #


I bet that got everyone's attention. I don't mean hookers of the sexual kind. Stephen King calls them hookers, that first line (or lines) that open a story, and draw you into the reading. In essence the hook that pulls the reader in. These 13 hookers are from stories that I have written and in most cases have not had published. (Yet, always the optimist.) Read my hookers and see if you'd be interested in reading the rest of the story. I've given the hook and the title of the story.

1. There was hair under her arms and she stank of sweat. Perfection is not easily found. I rolled away and left her on her back swearing.
- ghosts
2. Upside down he hung; the head was nowhere in sight, but the bright red blood was everywhere. - In The City
3. Bourbon breath, the old man assualted their senses with his presence as well as his story. - Hope Dies At Midnight
4. This is a story of a man who was many men and a ver beautiful lady who was no one. This is a story of the future, not the far future but not quite the near and of a country that thought it was so powerful that even God was on its side.
- Companion
5. It was a special type of day, because it was a special time of year. The day was the tenth, which had nothing to do with it, and the month was April, which had a lot to do with it.
- The Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs Traveling Circus and Unusal Sideshows
6. He knew it was going to be a rotten Monday as soon as they cut his head off.
- The Search
7. This is not a story. Nowhere on these pages will you find a beginning, middle or end.
- Confessions of a Science Fiction Fan
8. There was a time, once many years ago, that she dreamed of a husband, a son or daughter, a nice house, car and all the etc. to go along with such.
- Illusions
9. I was coming home from an all day visit with a sick friend when I had a flying tackle put on me by a hundred and twenty pounds of female.
- The Sound of God's Laughter
10. The beginning of a story should be prefaced with some sort of revelant quote or saying that pertains to the story. It makes for a stronger work and shows the reader that you, the writer, have some literary knowledge. But all the above still being true I am going to start this story without any preamble. After all the story has to stand or fall on its own.
- Mr. Gerber, If You Read This Please Call (504)752-9163
11. A burning sound. Where is Benny? Smoke, billowing into shadowary figures of orange and yellow.
- Promises In The Dark
12. The sun is going to nova, a plague is loose and rumor is the bomb is going to be dropped. So how many ways can the earth be destroyed?
- Christ On A Hill
13. Columbus stood on the bow of his ship, gazing into the clear blue water.
- The Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria and the Street Gang Rumble



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SPOTLIGHT ON: Richard Thompson




Discography


1000 Years of Popular Music
2006
Grizzly Man Soundtrack
2005
Front Parlour Ballads
2005
Live From Austin, Texas
2005
The Old Kit Bag
2003
Action Packed: Best Of Capitol...
2001
Action Packed: Best Of the Capitol Years
2001
The Best Of Richard & Linda Thompson: The Island Record Years
2000
Mock Tudor
1999
Industry
1997
You? Me? Us?
1996
Mirror Blue
1994
Watching The Dark: The History...
1993
Watching The Dark: The History Of Richard Thompson
1993
Sweet Talker: Music From The Motion Picture
1992
Rumor & Sigh
1991
Amnesia
1988
Daring Adventures
1986
Across A Crowded Room
1985
Small Town Romance
1984
Hand Of Kindness
1983
Shoot Out The Lights
1982
Strict Tempo!
1981
Sunnyvista
1979
First Light
1978
Guitar/Vocal
1976
Pour Down Like Silver
1975
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
1974
Hokey Pokey
1974
Henry The Human Fly
1972

It seems strange to be doing a Spotlight on a musican that has been performing for over three decades and has dozens of albums out. But the purpose of these spotlights is to introduce any readers I have out there of this blog to performers that are not that well known. And to the general public Richard Thompson is not that well known a name. To other musicans he is very well known. He is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Other performers that you wouldn't expect to know of him do, I once had a bootleg of a John Mellencamp show and he raved about Richard Thompson and than did a song of his. This man is that good.

Richard was born in England in 1949. By the age of 18 he was playing with a group called the Fairport Convention with lead singer Sandy Denny. The group played folk-rock, which is primarly what Richard does still today.

In 1972 he went out on his own and released Henry the Human Fly. Also at this time he met and married Linda Peters. They became a partnership and she sang on his next few albums. His next album, billed as Richard and Linda Thompson was I Want to see the Bright Lights Tonight. They also recorded an album Shoot Out The Lights. This album didn't sell well, but is considered a masterpiece today. On most critics lists of the Top Hundred Albums of All Time it ranks within those numbers.

He continues to make great music today. His and Linda's son, Teddy Thompson, is a singer as well. Linda and Richard are no longer married and no longer make music together. His song 1952 Vincent Black Lightning is one of my favorite songs of all time.

His songs are just as strong lyrically as they are musically. Richard is prehaps destined to remain more of a cult act than ever breaking into the big time, his music is just not what appeals to the kids. He writes of life and more. He recorded for Capital Records but now releases his music himself on a small indepdent label Cooking Vinyl.



Not Good News For Taylor Hicks


This article doesn't sound like it's good news for Taylor Hicks. Now I like Taylor Hicks, while not being a big fan of his current cd, I still think Taylor was very talented and can't wait to see him live March 14 at the HOB. I think Taylor has the chance to be a longer laster perfomer than some of the previous Idol winners if he plays it right. Let him build up a strong fan base. Put out his next cd that is closer to the Taylor that was on the show, a little rawer, not quite so slick. Idol has created some big new talents like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood that I think are destined for the long haul, but it's also given us Clay and Reuben and some others that may not be here in a few years time. I think Taylor can be here for the future.

More Wilco News

I mentioned that Wilco's new cd Sky Blue Sky is coming out soon. Here is the track list:


Either Way
You Are My Face
Impossible Germany
Sky Blue Sky
Side with the Seeds
Shake it Off
Please Be Patient With Me
Hate it Here
Leave Me (Like You Found Me)
Walken
What Light
On and On and On

No Mix-Tape Mondays?

I start something new and than don't follow through with it. Sorry, but somehow I've just completely forgotten about Mix-Tape Mondays. The problem is that I forget it's Monday until it's not anymore. I'm terrible about remembering what day of the week it is. I think I may have just blocked this whole feature due to all the trouble I was having with getting music up on my site. But if I don't forget this Monday it will be back.

New Additions to Blog List

I've added a few new blogs on my sidebar. One is Subway Blogger, about the New York subways system. Do I live in New York? Nope. Do I take the New York subways? Nope. It's just an interesting blog. I had a blog for the London Subway system too, but I've lost it. If I find it I'll add it too. I may start a new section for blogs like this, that aren't personal blogs that I visit, but blogs about something like the subways systems that are just interesting to visit now and than.

In Sites About Blogs I've added Critique My Blog. It's a cool site to get some exposure for your site and discover some new ones. Check it out too.

2 Gig

I mentioned in a previous post that I bought a new digital camera. With my old one I had a memory card of 256 mb. With my old camera this held about 12o something pictures. With the new upgrade to 7.1 pixels the memory card holds less pictures because the quality is better and it has more pixels. (Actually I hadn't realized this at first.) So with that memory card it only held around 70 something pictures now. (Only 70-something, with my old camera that would been a couple rolls of film.) So the other day when I was at Best Buy waiting on my car to have the tires changed I saw they had a 2 gig memory card on sale for $30.00. Every other time I've seen the 2 gigs for no less than $80.00. So I grabbed it. Now I have a 2 gig memory card for my camera and it holds almost a thousand pictures. That should be more than enough to hold me at one time for taking pictures.

A Return of A Favorite: Buffy Sleeping


New Will Hoge CD


New Will Hoge cd out now. It's a live cd, Again Somewhere Tommorrow. The track list is:

THE MAN WHO KILLED LOVE
LOVE FROM A SCAR
WAIT 'TIL YOUR DADDY GETS HOME
WOMAN BE STRONG
BIBLE VS GUN
SUNSHINE BURN
SOMEONE ELSE'S BABY
ROCK AND ROLL STAR
JULY MOON
LONG TALL SALLY
SHE DON'T CARE
SOUTHERN BELLE
LOVER TONIGHT
Will is great live and his past live cds have been great. You can order it from his website. Will is coming here on March 10 to play at the Howling Wolf. I'm just going to wait and pick it up at his show. Will is one of the best live perfromers out there, he always puts on a great show.

New Artist: Maggie Brown



If you have a MySpace page you know how you get those annoying messages from people you've never met to be added to your page. Especially new singers and bands. Everyday I have some to go through, and most of the time it's from bands or singers that I have no affinity for. Every now and than I'll get one that I think is interesting and I'll add it to my page.

And than, very rarely, I'll get one that will just blow me away. That was the other day. I had a request from a singer named Maggie Brown to add her to my page. I always check out their web page and read the bio there. It's a great story of her and her Mom and her start in the music business.

She has a self titled cd out now, which you can order through her web page. She is a former English teacher, now working as a bartender to help support herself between gigs. If there was justice in this world she would be able to live on her music and not have to find secondary jobs.

It's not very often that I find someone that I just click with and think their music is more than just a pleasant diversion. The last person I became this excited about was Shannon McNally. I think Maggie Brown is that good and definitely worth your time.

Go to her MySpace page (which for some reason it won't let me link to) and check out her music. You won't be disappointed.

FROM SPACE



I can remember this day. I was a kid and I remember everyone being around the television set watching. There are few days like this anymore, where the whole world is watching and holding their breath in antcipation.

FROM SPACE

I've been making a few posts of images from this site with different images from space. Besides being some amazing pictures I am one of those people that believe the exploration of space is important to the future of mankind. Besides these pictures I'm going to post about the whys I think our continuing to explore space is so important and some of the benefits we've already gained from this mission. This feature will basically have pictures and information about space, there will be no regular posting, it will be whenever I get a chance to write about it. I hope some of you out there agree with me about the importance of this.

FROM SPACE

Spiral galaxy IC 342 which is 11 million light years from us.

BOOK FUN

What pop star thrilled fans with details of her gastric bypass surgery in the book Gut Feelings?

Yesterday's answer: The Grapes of Wrath

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Today's "Brain-Rockers" clues are:

1: Brothers, a cousin and a friend
2: California
3: Surfing, cars and girls
4: Masterpiece record Pet Sounds

WORD A DAY

RAFFISH: 1: marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness 2: marked by a careless unconventionality: rakish

"Raffish" sounds like it should mean "resembling raff." But what is raff? Originally, raff was rubbish; the word itself derived from the Middle English raf, and it was being used for trash and refuse back in the 1400s. At around the same time, English-speakers were also using the unrelated word "riffraff to mean "disreputable characters" or "rabble"; that word came from an Anglo-French phrase meaning "one and all." By the id-1600s, the similarities between "raff" and "riffraff" had prompted people to start using the two words as synonyms, and "raff" gained a "rabble" sense. It was that ragtag "raff" that gave rise to the adjective "raffish" in the late 1700s.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Critique My Blog

A blog by someone that critiques your blog. This was a blog I first heard about awhile back and than he stopped just as I discovered him. But he's back now and working at it again. This is a great place to find out about some cool blogs. He's reviewed some blogs that I already know are cool and some new ones for me.

BOOK FUN

What novel resultedwhen the San Fransico News sent a reporter to investigate the plight of Depression-era migrant farm workers?

Yesterday's answer: Jane Goodall

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

"Anytime," "Wheel in the Sky" and "Lights" are all hits from what 1978 Journey album?

Yesterday's answer: The Detroit Wheels

WORD A DAY

JEREMIAD: a prolonged lamentation or complaint; also: a cautionary or angry harangue

Jeremian was a Jewish prophet who lived from about 650 to 570 B.C. and spent his days lambasting the Hebrews for their false worship and social injustice and denouncing the king for his selfishenss, materialism, and inequlities. When not calling on his people to quit their wicked ways, he was lamenting his own lot; a portion of the Old Testament's Book of Jeremiah is devoted to his "confessions," a series of lamentations on the hardships endured by a prophet with an unpopular message. Nowadays, English-speakers use "Jeremiah" for a pessimistic person and "jeremaid" for the way these Jermiahs carry on. The word "jeremiad" was actually borrowed from the French, who coined it as jeremiade.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Coming Up

The next few days are going to be crazy. We're doing inventory at work. I go in tonight at four in the morning and do inventory till at least two or three. I go home, catch a few hours sleep and go back that night to work overnight to work on the variance report from inventory. I get off at six in the morning, go home and hopefully catch a few more hourse sleep because that night is the Richard Thompson concert at the HOB. Hopefully I won't be too tired to not go. So if I'm not on for the next day or so that's why. I'm going to try and at least post my daily posts, but beyond that I'm probably not going to do much. The good thing is I have a three day weekend coming up, so I can relax and enjoy myself.

Heroes

Tonight's episode of Heroes was the best yet. This was great tv. It gave answers to some of the questions without giving everything away. It showed a different side to the hornrimmed glasses guy. It showed a father's love for his daughter.

BOOK FUN

Who describes the ups and downs of coexisting with primates, in My Life with the Chimpanzees?

Yesterday's answer: Art Spiegelman

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Mitch Ryder and piano legend Fats Domino both celebrate birthdays today. Ryder's Detroit-based group is called?

Yesterday's answer: Philadelphia

WORD A DAY

ORPHIC: 1 capitalized: of or relating to Orpheus or the rites or doctrines ascribed to him 2: mystic, oracular 3: fascinating, entrancing

Orpheus was a hero of Greek mythology who was supposed to posses superhuman musical skills. With his legendary lyre, he was said to be able to make even the rocks and trees dance around. In fact, when his wife Eurydice died, he was nearly able to use his lyre to secure her return from the Underworld. Later on, according to legend, he was killed at the bidding of Dionysus, and an oracle of Orpheus was established that came to rival the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Because of the oracle of Orpheus, "orphic" can mean "oracular." Because of Orpheus' musical powers, "orphic" can mean "entrancing."

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Watching the Oscars

I'm kind of half watching the Oscars as I type this. I was watching it while I made dinner and ate. I was also watching it while I was checking out some magazines. And I've got a killer headache so my mind isn't completely on it. The one part I really thought was cute was when Ellen went over to talk to Clint Eastwood and got Stephen Spielberg to take a picture of the two of them and than proceeded to give directions to Mr. Spielberg on taking the picture.

So far Jennifer Hudson has won Best Supporting Actress and Alan Arkin Best Supporting Actor. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth won Best Documentary.

Who takes home the other big prizes is still up for grabs. It's already a quarter to eleven, so it's got to be close to time for the big three.

Thursday Thirteen Continues

This week it was announced that this would be the end of Thursday Thirteen. This was probably the first regular meme I joined. Every week trying to come up with thirteen items to write about sometimes taxed my already overtaxed mind, but I enjoyed the challenge. I always tried to come up with some interesting subjects and to show a little more about me in these thirteens. So I was a little saddened to hear of the ending.

The good news is that the Thirteen has been bought by two new owners and will continue. So now I have to start thinking of thirteen new things for this thursday...

Manic Monday #5: Yellow



Today's word is yellow and taking a page from Trav I've written a small story. This story owes a lot to Irwin Shaw's The Girls in their Summer Dresses.

They were sitting in the window of the coffee shop, looking out over the sidewalk. Sara was drinking one of those huge mixtures that looked like it should have come from Baskins Robbins instead of a coffee shop. It even had little sprinkles on it. Joey sipped his black with no sugar and was thankful that they had made it into the shop before the rain.

"I'm so sick of this weather," Sara was talking to Joey but his mind was elsewhere. Walking up the sidewalk towards them was a big yellow blob. All Joey could make out in the rain and distance was a big yellow slicker coming up the sidewalk. It was one of those raincoats, yellow like so many of them. Whoever was in the raincoat had their head bent down, to protect their face from the driving rain.

"Somewhere dry and hot this summer, Joey." Sara was talking about their upcoming vacation that they had not planned out yet. The figure walking towards them slowly took on the form of a young woman. It was hard to tell in the bulky yellow raincoat but Joey got a look at her face as she looked up to check her surroundings.

Sara pushed at a strand of hair that had come loose. Joey had always liked Sara's hair, it was long, past her shoulders and a dark brown that was almost black. He would tell Sara that he was glad she wasn't a blonde, every other woman was a blonde and half the ones that weren't were talking about going blonde.

Joey noticed blonde hair curled out from the woman's head and lost in the yellow of the rainhood. Her hair was very curly. The woman stopped just past the corner, almost in front of the window they sat at. She was looking around, almost as if she was lost.

Sara took a sip of her coffee and reached her hand across the table to touch his. Not quite jerking back in surprise Joey smiled at her and took her hand in his. The woman outside wiped at the water running down her face and looked around. She had a pretty face, still full of a little baby fat, with cute chubby cheeks. She probably wasn't yet twenty years old Joey figured.

The chorus from Beyonce's Listen came from Sara's purse. She reached down in the depths of the huge bag and retrieved her cell phone. Sara's body was lean, there wasn't an ounce of fat on her frame. For her small body Sara had fairly large breasts. Joey always admited that he was a breast man.

In the rain coat he could not see anything of the girl's body. Joey's mind imagined what it would look like. Still a little chubby, with breasts that reflected the rest of her body. The yellow of the slicker reflected the blueness of her eyes. Freckles littered across her nose and just under her eyes and on her cheeks. Joey could see her biting her lip in anticaption.

"It's Mia." Sara told Joey who it was and than half turned from him to continue the conversation on the phone. She held the phone in her right hand and picked up her coffee in her left and took a small sip as she listened.

The young woman looked across the street at something and smiled. She raised her hand in a wave. Joey noticed it was her left hand and there was no ring on her finger. Looking past her he saw a young man on the opposite side of the street wave back to her.

Sara clicked her phone shut. "Mia wants to know if we want to see a movie with them tonight. I told her we'd meet them around seven."

Joey watched the girl turn her back on him and he watched as the yellow raincoat ran across the street and was hugged by the young man on the other side of the street. As he took a sip from his coffee cup and realized that it was cold now he watched the two figures vanish into the rain and the distance.

BOOK FUN

Who, with wife Francois Mouly, launched the Little Lit series of alternative comics for kids?

Yesterday's answer: Sandra Day O'Connor

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

What song by Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for best picture from a Tom Hanks movie?

Yesterday's answer: Lenny Kravitiz

WORD A DAY

ACCOLADE: 1: a mark of acknowledgment: award 2: an expression of praise

"Accolade" comes directly from the French noun, which in turn derives from the verb accoler, meaning "to embrace," and ultimately from the Latin term collum, meaning "neck." (Collum is also an ancestor of the English word "collar.") When it was first borrowed from French, "accolade" referred to a ceremonial embrace that once marked the conferring of knighthood and eventually to honors or awards in general.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Spiderman 3


Coming May 3, 2007.
The problem is that weekend is Jazz Fest and when I leave for DC. Somewhere in there I have to squeeze time in to see this movie.

Movie Review: Breach

Just got back from seeing the movie Breach. It stars Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney. Cooper plays Robert Hanseen, the FBI agent that was arrested for the biggest breach of security in the nation's history. Phillippe stars as Eric O'Neill, the FBI agent that helped take him down. Linney plays the agent in charge of O'Neill. The movie is directed by Billy Ray, who directed Shattered Glass.

This is not the typical spy movie. There are no car chases, gun fights or any type of secret gadgets. It is a very good movie. It is a slow building movie, you don't realize you're drawn into it until it's too late. Cooper plays Hanseen as a devout Catholic. O'Neill comes to admire and like Hanseen, who becomes something of a mentor to the younger agent at the same time the agent is trying to find evidence to link him as a spy.

There are no easy answers in this movie. Hanseen gets paid for his spying, but you realize it wasn't the money that mattered to him. At the end he mentions that another man caught as a spy might have been doing it for partriotic reasons, to try to show his country the holes in its security. You can imagine that he is really talking about himself. Hanseen was a man with a big ego, he thought he knew best in all courses, even in matters of national security. Cooper doesn't make Hanseen into something better than he was, but he does give the man a feeling of truth.

A very good movie and worth seeing.

Tempting Fate

I'm probably tempting fate by posting this, but I wanted to say that since I turned off my word verification a week or so ago I have had no spam. I say this now and tommorrow morning I'll wake up to a thousand spams on my page. But so far so good.

So Skittles I'll keep it off for awhile longer.

BOOK FUN

What Supreme Court justice describes life growing up on an Arizona ranch, in the memoir Lazy B?

Yesterday's answer: Sherlock Holmes

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

On February 24, 1999 this artist won a GRAMMY for Best Male Rock Performance with the hit song "Fly Away."

Yesterday's answer: Permanent Vacation

WORD A DAY

FOLDEROL: 1: a useless ornament or accessory: trifle 2: nonsense

Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with wds that mean "nonsense," and "folderol" is one of the many. Though not the most common of the "nonsense" synonyms, it's been around since 1820 and coms from "fol-de-rol" (or "fal-de-ral"), which used to be a nonsense refrain in songs - much like "tra-la-la." The oldest recorded instance of someone "singing folderol" occurs in Sir Harry Widair, a 101 play by the Irish dramatist George Farquhar in which a character sings, "Fal, al, der al!"

Friday, February 23, 2007

FROM SPACE



Taken from the Hubble telescope. This is Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689. Two thousand million light years away, this is one of the most massive objects in the universe.

It was more the second than the first

How much do you know about the Bible?
Excellent

wow, u know me really know me, you must be my best friend or something, or you probably just guessed. I think it was the first one.

Take this test

It Pays to Watch All Those Cartoons

Disney animated classics
Awesome Job!

You are as much a Disney know-it-all as Walt himself!

Take this test

My I.Q.

Testriffic IQ test


This was actually a pretty hard test.

BOOK FUN

What sleuth made his last appearance in Strand Magazine in 1927, with The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place?

Yesterday's answer: Underworld

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Aerosmith rhythm guitartist Brad Whitford was born on this day in 1952. What is the title of the 1987 album that features the song "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)?"

Yesterday's answer: Jimi Hendrix

WORD A DAY

CAITIFF: cowardly, despicable

The adjective is more common, but "caitiff" also occurs as a noun meaning "base, cowardly, or despicable peson." Both the adjective and the noun came into English in the 14th century, and both evolved from the Anglo-French caitif, meaning "wretched" or "despicable." The French word in turn dervied from the Latin capitvus, meaning "captive," the shift in meaning perhaps prompted by the perception of captives as wretched people worthy of scorn.

My first memory

Do you remember what your first memory was?

According to most research the majority of people don't have memories before the age of 3 or 4. Freud called it "childhood amensia." We are blank slates before that. Perhaps it's because up to that age we are learning so much, learning new words, how to walk, how to be a person. I really have no idea on the whys.

This is just a preamble to the main topic of this post. My first memory. It's not a linear memory, where I can remember this happened, than that...like you normally remember something. It's only years later, when I connect it to other events that I know what the memory was of.

I can't be more than three. We were living in New Jersey. That's where my brother was born. He's about a year and a half younger than I am. It's also where my other brother was born. Joseph Patrick. He didn't live.

This is my first memory. I remember these large people in our home, our apartment, crying and carrying on. As a child at that age I don't remember too much about what was going on. It's one of those memories that I can still feel, nothing concrete, it's like a movie in slow motion. All these people walking around and crying and hugging while I was on the ground staring up at them, not sure of what was going on.

It was years later that I fit things together and realized that I must be remembering his death. I actually don't know what he died of, but I know he only lived about a week. It had to have been heartbreaking for my parents, but as a child I don't really remember much of it. We were living in the same apartment complex as my Dad's parents at the time. We didn't live in New Jersey long, my Dad was driving a bus than, but he soon joined the Navy and we ended up back in Memphis where he had met my Mom.

It's strange how memories work. This is one of those things I imagine now and than at the oddest times, it comes on me and I remember it but I really don't completely.

Is That How I Dress?

The scary thing is that the animated me on the sidebar there is not that far from what I look or dress like. The only piece of clothing that the animated me has that I don't own is a stars an strips top hat. I do own a top hat, but it's just a black one, not a stars an stripes one. The rest, from the John Lennon glasses to the red high tops to the peace shirt I have either in my closest or I'm wearing right now.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Another Update on Dad

For those wondering I thought I'd post a quick update on Dad. He's been home now for awhile. I talked to him last night. He sounded better and stronger than he has in a long time. The last few times he's sounded a lot better.

For his chemo they're going to not give him the radiation treatment and they are giving him a pill. I'm not all that familar with chemo, but they said the pill should be better for him as far as making him sick from the chemo. He went in for the pill starting today.

He's got to use a walker to get around now. It's one of those canes with the four prongs on the bottom of it. A therapist came out to their house the other day to help him and he said he didn't realize you had to learn how to walk using a cane. I think the biggest problem he's having right now using the walked is his self image. He said it made him feel old. I told him if it kept him from ending back in the hospital he should use it.

So I'm feeling a lot better. It's been too long it seems since he seemed to be feeling this good. Thanks to everyone for all your good thoughts.

New Me on Sidebar

Thanks to Trav for the new animated cartoon version of me on the sidebar. I found it on his site.

BOOK FUN

What Don DeLillo novel follows the path taken by the ball that Bobby Thomson hit for his "shot heard 'round the world"?

Yesterday's answer: Kathy Reichs

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

This influential guitarist's fame inclueds an amazing interpretation of "The Star Spangled Banner" as well as the classics "Purple Haze", "Foxy Lady" and "Crosstown Traffic."

Yesterday's answer: REO Speedwagon

WORD A DAY

INTERPELLATE: to quesiton (as a foreign minister) formally concerning an official action or policy or personal conduct

"Interpellate" is a word you might encounter in the international news section of a newspaper or magazine. It refers to a form of political challenge used in the congresses and parliaments of many nations throughout the world, and is even provided for in some countries' constitutions. Formal interpellation doesn't occur in the U.S. Congress, but in placs where it's practiced, it can be the first step in ousting an poointed official or bringing to task an elected one. The word was borrowed from the Latin term interpellatus, past participle of interpellare, which means "to interrupt a person by speaking." The "interrupt" sense, once used in English, in now obsolete, and "interpellate" should not be confusd with "interpolate," which means "to insert words into a text or conversation."

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

From Space


The remnants of a supernova. This site is about 5,000 light years from Earth. The corpse of the star from this explosion should have formed a neutron star.

Shut up and Sing


This is a documentary about the Dixie Chicks and their famous remark made a few years ago about W. This is a great documentary. It shows what they went through the last few years. They actually had death threats. One man interviewed says he's all for free speech as long as they don't say it out loud.

They may have lost some fans with their words, but I think they've gained new ones. And the recent win of their 5 grammys is sweet revenge.

Harry Again


I've finished two of the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher. I've started on the third one. I ended up finally getting to the book store yesterday and picked up three more in the series. Now I'm missing three books still. What really gets me is that just about a month ago the bookstore had a dump with the entire series represented, this was probably right before the series appeared on the Sci-Fi channel. Now the dump is gone and so are all the books. Now I'm going to have to hunt for all of them. Books are still great though. I'm really enjoying the series.

New Renter

Check out my new renter...Not a Blog, but The Blog. It's about Steven, a recent high school graduate and now attending the University of Arizona. Check it out.

Thirteen Thursday Number 16: JFK Assassination Theories


Thirteen Things Theories About The JFK Assassination Number #16


There are quite a few theories on who killed JFK and why he was murdered. This list is just a few ideas that are out there about who might have had a hand in his assassination.

1. Carolos Marcello, the Mafia boss of New Orleans, ordered the hit because he was mad at Robert Kennedy for having him deported.
2. A Secret Service agent walking behind the car tripped and accidently fired his gun and shot JFK.
3. Lyndon Johnson.
4. CIA
5. Fidel Castro
6. Cuban exiles
7. Charles Rogers. Rogers was wanted for killing his parents and supposedly a sometime CIA operative.
8. Mafia
9. The Secret Team. This was a group consisting of high powered men in the government, one of which included Richard Nixon.
10. Right Wing Oil Men.
11. David Ferrie, Guy Bannister and Clay Shaw
12. Lee Harvey Oswald
13. Any combination of the above.



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



BOOK FUN debuts

Just what everyone wanted. A new daily quiz on my blog. This one is going to be about books. Hope everyone likes it and good luck with guessing the answers. (The questions from this comes from an edition of Trivial Pursuit I just bought from Barnes & Noble. It's the special book lover's edition. I figured I'd never find anyone to play me in this version of it, so I'll use the questions on here.)

Book Fun

What author unleashed forensics expert Temperance Brennan in Deja Dead, Death Du Jour and Deadly Decisions?

New Wilco

May 15 the new Wilco cd Sky Blue Sky will be out. For me this is the cd of the year. Wilco is probably my favorite band right now. No cover art yet, but I had to mention this.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

On this day in 1981 this group's album Hi Infidelity began a 14 week run at #1 on the U.S. charts and yielded the #1 song "Keep On Loving You."

Yesterday's answer: Florence Ballard. When the Supremes first started Ballard was lead singer on some of the songs as well as Diana Ross. As Ross became more popular and she became a backup singer the three friends fought which eventually led to Ballard leaving the group. She fell on hard times, but in 1975 staged a comeback concert at the Ford Auditorium in Detroit on June 25, 1975 which was well received. Unfortuantely in 1976 she died of a heart attack.

WORD A DAY

REFULGENCE: a radiant or resplendent quality or state: brilliance

The word derives from the Latin refulgere, which means "to shine brigthly" and which is itself a descendant of the verb fulgere, meaing "to shine." By the way, fulgere, also underlies "effulgence," a shining synonym of "refulgence."

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

A Nice Quiet Day

Today was going to be a nice, quiet day. It is actually Mardi Gras and I'm off but I was going to forgo the parades this year and spend it at home. I was planning to run to the local Barnes & Noble and pick up the rest of the Harry Dresden books, come home, read a little and get on the computer and update a few things and make some posts. But a relaxing day.

Ha! Should have known better.

I wasn't five minutes from my house when I hit a hole in the road. A big hole. Which caused my tire to go flat. I pulled over into a long driveway, so long that the house was about a half a mile down the road behind some trees. A pain, but no real problem I thought. Slap the spare on and I'll be on my way.

Double Ha! I got my spare, found my jack (it's tucked away in a hidden compartment on the side in my trunk and than realized that I didn't have a lug wrench. Not going to get that tire off without a lug wrench.

So I ended up having to call roadside service to come and change my tire for me. And what's worse. After they got they, I found my lug wrench. Did I feel like a total and complete idiot? Don't answer that.

I had been planning on replacing my back tires soon, they were starting to show some signs of wear. The two front tires were fairly new and didn't need replacing. Guess which tire I blew out? Yep, one of the front ones. I don't like getting just one tire for the front or back, I would rather keep them as a pair. So since I knew I needed back tires anway I ended up having to get four new tires today.

That's bad enough, but you know you never go into one of these places and get taken care of and sent on your way quickly. Three hours. The only good point is that the tire place is next to Best Buy and the mall so I had some place to kill some time while I waited.

So now I'm home and waiting for Heather to call so we can go get something to eat and I can go get those books I started out the day trying for.

Not exactly the quiet day I envisioned. So I'm not sure what I'll get posted on here today. I haven't spend a day just fiddling around on here for awhile, so now I'll just have to wait for another free day.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Like the movie Dreamgirls the Supremes has one of its members fired earlier, but unlike the Jennifer Hudson character she did not come back to fame, but died in poverty. What was her name?

Yesterday's answer: Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley

WORD A DAY

HOLY WRIT: often capitalized 1: Bible 2: a writing or utterance having unquestionable authority

"Holy writ" has been used in English as a term for the Bible for more than a thousand years. The term traces to the Venerable Bede, an eight-century Anglo-Saxon scholar, historian, and theologian who wrote a history of Engliand in which he dated events from the birth of Christ. Bede's history was translated from Latin to English around the year 900, and it is in that translated text that we find the earliest evidence for "holy writ." Shakespeare later used "holy writ" in Othello. And Alexander Pope used it in his Wife of Bath.

FROM SPACE

This picture was taken from the International Space Station on July 20, 2006 by astronaut Jeffery Williams.

Monday, February 19, 2007

No word verification

In honor of Skittles I've turned off my word verification. I'm cautiously hopeful. The last time I didn't have it on it seemed I got a lot of spam. We'll see. I can deal with one or two now and than. But Skittles has been waging a war on word verification and she's won me over for the moment.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Paul Stanley f Kiss was born on this day in 1952. Name the other original members of Kiss.

Yesterday's answer: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F Kennedy

WORD A DAY

BROMIDE: A compound of bromine and another element or chemical group 2a: a commonplace or tiresome person b: a commonplace or hackneyed statement or notion

After bromine was discovered in 1827, chemists could not resist experimenting with the new element. It wasn't long before they found uses for its compounds - in particular, potassium bromide, which was used as a sedative to treat everything from epliepsy to sleeplessness. By the 20th century, "bromide" was being used figuratively to apply to anything (or anyone) that might put one to sleep because of commonness or just plain dullness. Today, bromides are no longer an ingredient in sedative preparations, but we can still feel the effects of figurative bromides as we encounter them in our daily routines.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Manic Monday #4: Celebrate



Today's word is celebrate. Very appropriate for me at this time of the year. And what time of the year is it? Well down here in New Orleans its Mardi Gras time. It's a time that the entire city celebrates.
Mardi Gras is officially only one day. It's French for Fat Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday. But for the people of New Orleans Mardi Gras refers to the entire season, starting on the Twelfth Night and culminating on Fat Tuesday.
If you've never been to Mardi Gras it's hard to explain. I was talking to a friend from up North and he was saying that they had parades too. But Mardi Gras is not just a parade. The entire city shuts down for a big party.
Little plastic beads that cost only pennies become prized possessions to dive for and jump for and try to catch as many as possible and than some. People will walk around with enough beads around their neck that they can't bend over from the weight.
And contrary to what you've probably seen on tv Mardi Gras is family fun as well as more adult oriented also. It depends what part of the city you do your partying in for Mardi Gras. The westbank, Metairie, even parts of downtown are great for families. The truck parades rain beads down on all ages.
The French Quarter is where you want to party if you want to leave the kids at home. This is where you'll see the scenes you've seen in those Girls Gone Wild videos. This is where you'll hear the chant "Show Your ---!" to the girls that want beads.
The parades bring in famous celebraties to ride as their grand marshalls. This year Taylor Hicks rode for one.

Mardi Gras is a time to celebrate. Celebrate life and joy and just pure fun.



CELEBRATE


All the pictures from this post came from NOLA.com Check out their site for more Mardi Gras, including more pictures and videos.

Game: WAR, Part II

(This is the second part of the story, scroll down and you'll see part one.)

RAM (11/23/29)

....one....two....three....four.....
Four. That was all the RAMs I could pick up on the comlink.
SOUND OFF!
RA9855485, sir!
RA8985594, sir!
RA4584933, sir!
RA4533245, sir!
RA87531344 was missing. I had sent him out on the right flank for a forward scan, but now I could not raise him on the comlink. Did he run into a squad of blues? If he had he should have had time to signal for help.
ALL UNITS CONVERGE TOWARD THE RIGHT FLANK IN SEARCH OF RA87531344. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. LACK OF IDENTIFICATION MAY BE DUE TO ENEMY SABOTAGE.
I moved towad the right, wondering what had happened. My arms and legs were still extended, this type of ground made it close to impossible to use wheels, and I still carried the LaserRifle.
I did a scan with my ground radar and spotted what seemed to be the arm of the RAM we were looking for. I approached cautiously, and stopped about ten feet from the arm.
RA87531344 FOUND. PROCEED WITH REGULAR PLAN AND FORMATION.
RA87531344 had not been paying attention to his surroundings and had wandered into a bed of quicksand. His large bulk sunk him so fast that he did not even have time to signal his dilemma. As the last minute he had extended his arm to absolute length in hope of securing himself to the surface. But the arm had not proven adequate to the task and snapped off.
I did a left face and resumed the march. Now there were only five of us. I estimated our time before we reached the blue camp at three hours maximum.
This jungle was not the best option for a RAM to fight in, but we would have to do. We cannot always pick the terrain we war in and must make due with what we get stuck with.
1300

Clown (11/23/29)
*
*
*
*
*
?
*
*
*
*
* my mind was fading on me again. Ever since that day when I became known as Clown m y mind would have periods of shutting down. I would be doing something, and then ping! nothing, and the next thing I knew it was two hours later. f all the changes in me this was by far the most frustrating. The other things I could get used to, I knew what I could expect of them, but this? This shut down of my mind struck anytime and whenever it felt like it. There was no rhyme nor reason to it. And it scared me.
(Perhaps one day my mind would fade away and forget to come back.)
The first thing I heard when I came to was 562 REPORT TO COM TENT IMMEDIATELY. I looked down on my uneaten breakfast and out to the sky throught the tent window. I saw a grunt I knew vaguely heading for the Com tent. What was going on? I rose and left my breakfast behind, to follow the grunt.
When I reached the Com tent I waited outside a tent opposite it, and watched. Three more grunts arrived, and three RAMs. I tried to think back to any rumors I might hav heard that would indicate what was going on, and was struck by my own stupidity. They were going to send a squad outside. Was my mind falling apart?
I turned and raced away. Which is not saying much, running with a roller and foot is not easy and twice I fell. I ignored the laughter and requests for more and continued on toward my tent. They couldn't leave before I got back. This might be my last chance to have the mind field turned off.
I fell into my tent and burrowed under my bunk. Where was it? There I had it, a small black box that I jammed into a pack and then put the pack on. I hurried back toward the Com tent and made it just as they were about to turn off the mine field.
It wasn't hard to convince them to take me with them. They might need a few good laughs along the way, they figured.
1245


Dogface (06/14/08-11/23/29)
(Remembrance)

I was born in the year of the Twenty Second Century Lord 2109 to my parents. Since I was born to them they had to be my parents and nobody else's. I had two, one mother and one father. The city of my birth was New York Philadelphia in the country of Amrerixco.
Enough of the vital statistics. What of the personnel side? My Pop was one of the well-to-do. He was the third cheif for the computer of the East Coast. A very good position to have, it entitled him to wealth beyond measure and power comparable to only a few. My Pop was a pretty good Pop, not that I had much chance to cpmare since he was the only Pop I had ever had. When I was a wee lad he would come into my room after the robomaid had tucked me in and tell me stories. I still remember some of the stories today. Lance the hero and his trusty computer companion Mark I always had to clean up the mess Frank and his renegade robot made. But good, and better mechanics, always triumphed in the end.
My seventh birthday I'll awlays remember as something special. That was the day Pop brought me to work with him and showed me Mark. Mark was the computer that ran the East Coast. It was awesome, a sight I will never forget as long as I live.
When I got older Pop would bring me with him when he went to the Arena. It was at the Arena that I gotmy first sight of fighting, and death. Looking back on it now I would have to say I kinda liked my Pop and miss him now.
Mom was as much as opposite of Pop as one could be. While Pop was a fun, outgoing type Mom was the shy wait-at-home-for-the-husband type. She was my anchor thought and without her I would never have gotten through some pretty tough times. She provided the moral support Pop and I both needed and I miss her as much as I do Pop right now.
When I got notification of my draft Pop came to me and asked if I wanted him to fix it for me. Being third in charge of the EastCoast Computer he could do it without much trouble too. But I said no, it was my public duty to serve. And anyway it might be fun. Mom and Pop were so proud of me. They called up all the relations and friends and told them that I had decided to serve my country.
I still remember that day.
(multiple times)

RAM (11/23/29)
POW!down.
My scanners read it as coming 15 degrees from my right. The enemy has engaged us, do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes. Or if they be RAMs the red of their scanner grills.
ATTACK! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK BY THE BLUES! DEFEND YOURSELF AND DO THE REDS PROUD.
The blues had sent an advance scout out and now we would make up for all the damage the blues had missiled on us. My Heat Receivers picked up what could only be a dogface behind the bushes. I let go with a burst from my LaserRifle and watched as both bush and soldier burned.
My scanners indicated trouble and I swiveled to the right just in time to see RA99943534 get blown apart by a body missile from a blue RAM. I turned my LaserRifle on the RAM and the metal body melted down to a slab. The glare from the laser attack was blinding and I scanned the dogfaces putting their I-R goggles on.
1430

Clown (11/23/29)
***************************(darkness)*****************light*************************
LIGHT! (Light ike laser/laser like bomb/bomb like explode/pain) hurt, pain, light means hurt, laser=pain, light means laser means hurt means pain.
The light wasso bright and painful.
I screamed once and hurled myself over the bushes toward the reds and the light/pain. My I-R goggles rested on top of my head and when I looked towards what had once been a blue RAM my eyes died.
I went blind and the darkness threatened to invade my mind as well as my eyes.
The memory of the light stayed with me and the remembrance of light being pain and pain hurting and hurting bringing nightmares and nightmares bringing the memory of the laser bomb and the laser bomb bringing light and, and, and, (forever)
I fumbled for the pack on my back and withdrew the little black box from it. I fumbled with the catch in the dark and withdrew my prize from within it.
1432

Dogface (11/23/29)

oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god
Clown had gone crazy when that red RAM melted down our RAM, screaming and yelling. Even the enemy was taken back by it and both sides ceased fighting for a minute. And a minute was all Clown needed. He reached into his pack and took out a laser bomb. An enemy weapon, where did he pick it up? What type of deranged fool would pick up a weapon of the enemy's? And a laser bomb. that was one of the worst weapons either side had. I would rather face a dozen time bombs than one laser bomb.
The other side retreated a few steps back too. They knew that if Clown threw that thing it would kill indisciminately. Clown waved it around over his head and one of our dogfaces raised his GrenadeRifle to shoot him. He never got the chance. One of the reds used a body missile on him. I'm glad too, a grenade going off that close would set the laser bomb off too.
The RAM that had the LaserRifle finally fired, slicing Clown in half. But nt before he tossed the bomb in our midst.
Lasers erupted from the bomb, spraying all, slicing all. My arm, then my leg, then
1433

Computer Run (11/23/29)
..........................................................................................................................................................................
Subj. blue/red war
Days summary, as follows:

Blue team loses seven hundred yards and pulls camp back accordingly.
Red team gains seven hudnred yards and sets up outpost camp.
.....................................................................................
Red team intercepts blue team's food shipment for coming week.
Blue team destroys weapon supply that was coming for red team.
.....................................................................................
Blue team suffers casualties as follows:
Human soldiers: 154 dead, 43 wounded.
Adroids: 39 destroyed, 12 incapacitated.
.....................................................................................
Red team suffers casualties as follows:
Human soldiers: 113 dead, 65 wounded.
Androids: 34 destroyed, 24 incapacitated.
.....................................................................................
This report filed for the date of 11/24/29
..........................................................................................................................................................................
2400

Skittles



As far as I'm concerned she's one of the bravest persons I know. She has some serious emotional and physical problems, but she hasn't let that stop her. I know some days she probably thinks that it does and that there are days that might seem too much for her. I can't pretend to understand everything she goes through and what it takes for her to just open her door and walk outside. It's simple things like going to Walmart and doing some shopping that I would never think twice about and that for her is a major undertaking. It's hard for me to comprehend that, but thanks to her blog I can come closer to understanding.

She writes about issues that are about as personal as can be. She writes about her daily battle with diabetes and posts her daily blood sugar levels. I am always happy when she is within her acceptable levels and worried when it starts creeping up. She writes about her struggle with panic attacks, agoraphobia, depression, obesity and diabetes.

She's written when she had suicical thoughts and what it was like sitting in her bedroom in the middle of the night looking down at her sleeping husband and wondering what it would be like if she was not in this life anymore.

Her words have moved me. She's taught me things about life and other people.. She's made me laugh. She's made me cry.

We all know her as Skittles. Her given name is Barb. In the short time she's been on blogger she's gained quite a presence. Enough of one that of course she's brought out the haters. The people that complain that she all she does is complain. That she shouldn't be depressed. That she shouldn't write about her problems. What these people miss is that she should write about it. Besides the fact that she should write about whatever she wants to and if you don't want to read it, than just don't click on the button that brings you to her site. It takes an act of will for you to find her site and read her posts, if you don't like them, than don't act. But beyond that I think she should post and post about her life. Others in her situation might read her words and it might help them. Others that have no idea what someone in her situation goes through (like me) will read her words and understand a little better.

All that said and done I think we, the readers of her blog, have leveled a certain amount of pressure on Barb to always perform in a sense. I think she feels like she has to be witty or write about something moving or make us laugh, we go to her for so much and it has to have a toll. When she takes a break we all write her to hurry back and get back to blogging. It's meant well, heck, I've written her such words, but she has to find her way back on her own terms. She has to know that as much as we want to read her words, as much as we want to be entertained by her, we want her happy and healthy first. And if that means less blogging than that is something we all have to learn to live with.

Blogging can become quite addictive. I've said that many times and it is true. A lot of us blog about our lives and other things important to us. But we have to remember that if we want to have a life to blog about we sometimes have to turn the computer off.

I started out blogging for a lot of different reasons than I think I've ended up continuing to blog for. It was always a way for me to get my words out there to other people, to try to drive myself back into writing more. One thing I didn't expect was the added friendships I've made since I've started blogging. I've never met any of these people whose blogs I read daily and I probably will never meet the majority of you. I may end up meeting some one distance day, you never know what fate has in store. But I've come to think of a lot of you out there as good friends. You know you're a friend when even when I'm not blogging I'm thinking of something someone on one of my regular blogs has talked about or is having a problem with and wondering what I can say or do to help.

And Barb has become one of these friends. Her blog is always one of the first, if not usually the first I click on from my sidebar to start my daily rounds of blog hopping. She's one of the first people I think to leave a comment if I'm having problems with blogger or some of the multiple other add-ons or side bars in my blog. She seems to know how to fix everything in this computer world.

I enjoy reading about her world and her children and her husband and their daily lives. I worry with her when she's having a bad day. I feel bad when things become too much for her and she wants to harm herself. I wish there was a way I could help her when I know I'm sitting helpless on the other side of this computer screen.

I worry that this post will just be another way for her to feel the pressure to do more, to blog more. It's not meant that way at all. I just wanted to express my emotions about her and hope that she feels better and to let her know that she doesn't need to feel pressure to blog or to do anything on here...but be herself. If that means less blogging than that is what it means. She needs to find a level where she feels comfortable at.

As much as I enjoy reading her blog I would feel even better knowing that she is happy. Even if that meant I wouldn't be reading her posts as often as before. I know I can tell her to not feel the pressure she is, but I can't understand all that is behind those feelings. I can understand it a little better, thanks to her posts.

So Barb, Skittles to all of us, please take your time in getting back to us. Don't let blogging become something that is a chore, something that you feel like you have to, this should be fun. If it's not fun, don't do it because you feel like you have to. The only thing you have to do is make yourself happy and try to get better.

Reading is Fun!


Have you ever been so pulled into a book that you almost can't wait to turn the page. Your eyes want to rush ahead of the words you're reading so you can find out what's happening next. The writing pulls you so far into the world that you feel like you're a part of what's happening. It's a feeling that even the best television and movies can only hint at. The written word can entrance you so much more than flickering images on a screen.

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher was such a novel. I became fascinated by the lead character, Harry Dresden. Harry is a throw back to the heroes of old, he's not a hero that is out to kill as many of the bad guys as he can. In fact he doesn't like killing, in a previous novel he had to kill a person for the greater good and while he knows what he did was right it stills gnaws at his conscious. In comic book terms Harry is a Stan Lee hero and not a modern day Wolverine type hero.

The world Butcher has created is a mixture of our real world and a world one step away, hidden by magic veils. In his world tough Chicago police detectives co exisit with warlocks and vampires.

It's been awhile since I've discovered a new writer that so throughly entertains me. I love when I can get lost in the world of a writer. Jim Butcher is such a writer. Today I went to the store and purchased two more of the Harry Dresden books. So far there is eight in the series, this will make three of them I have. Before the week is out I'll have them all.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Dion's 1968 song "Abraham, Martin and John" is a tribute to which three legendary figures in history?

Yesterday's answer: Stadium Arcadium

WORD A DAY

TERPSICHOREAN: of or relating to dancing

In Greek and Roman mythology, Terpsichore was one of the nine Muses, those graceful sister-goddesses who presided over learning and the arts. She was the patron of dance and choral song (and later lyric poetry), and in artistic representations she is often shown dancing and holding a lyre. Her name, which earned an enduring place in English through the adjective "terpsichorean," literally means "dance-enjoying," from terpsis, meaning "enjoyment," and choros, meaning "dance." Choros is also the source of "choregraphy" and "chorus" (those "choruses" in Athenina drama consisted of dancers as well as singers). The only other word we know that incorporates terpsis is "terpodion," an obsolete term for a piano-like musical instrument that was invented in 1816 but never really caught on.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Story Alert

I'm posting another story on here. The last one didn't get much reaction (thanks for the kind words Trav) so I don't know what you think about them, but I hope a few of you like the stories. This one is science fiction. When I was younger I went through a major science fiction craze. It was all I read and all I wanted to write. I still like it, but not so exclusively now. And there is a lot more type of stories I want to write. This one was written in what was new wave science fiction style, an attempt to go beyond the normal boundaries of a story. I'm breaking the story up into at least two (maybe three parts). I don't want to make each post too long, so I figure if I break it up it will make it a little easier on the eyes reading the computer screen. Part I follows this post, and Part II should be not far above this post.

Hope you enjoy. Leave me some comments, I'd really like to know what you think.

Game: WAR, Part I

Another bit of fiction from a few years ago. This was actually published in a small press magazine called The Argonaut.




RAM (11/23/29)

first sound - the whine of a Mark IV delta missle.

first sight - the face of the drill sergreant looming before me.

first impression - a new day was beginning, and the sergeant was reactivating us. We were under attack again, with a missle package dumped right in our laps.

first action - move!

Sarge did not even have time for a quick curse. As soon as my indicator light read GO! I moved. A quick scan to either side of me revealed the other bucketfaces doing the same. I retracted my mobile limbs and extended my rollers, and moved at triple time. Just as I wheeled to a halt outside the tent the missle hit. Priase to the mechanic that installed my audio boosters; that was all that let me know a missle was coming in time.
Outside I did a quick aboutface, and scanned for Sarge. No sigh of him registered on any of my scanners. It was only when I turned my Heat Receivers toward what was left of the tent that I realized no one had thought to warn Sarge of the coming missle. Sudden danger following quick activation will make us RAMs forget human soldiers do not have the same abilities we do. A RAM takes it for granted that it can hear a missle a mile away bearing down on him, and sometimes forgets a dogface cannot.
The comlink with the rest of the squad asserted that they had come to the same conclusion as I had. The wheels disappeared, and my legs and arms became appendages again. I retrieved a LaserRifle from a fallen dogface who would not be needing it any longer.
Again the whine that is peculiar to a Mark IV missle. I flipped my radar on to pinpoint its POW!down. The schematics flickered through my computer, and came out in flashing red letters: MESS TENT! The mess tent was about forty yards from where I was, and the missile had less than a minute before it dumped itself. I made a beeline towards the tent, this time of the morning it would be jammed with dogfaces, but knew it was useless. I turned my volume control up as loud as possible, and bellowed: MISSILE! CLEAR THE MESS TENT! MISSILE!
The dogfaces came running out of the tent the same time the missile appeared over the horizon. I aboutfaced, and made for cover. A few of the dogfaces managed to throw themselves to safety. But the majority of them were still in the tent when the missile went KAPOWEEEE!
The blue team was sure heaping it on us. I ran an estimate of the amount dead in the mess tent, and came u with figures that indicated we had lost close to half our regiment of dogfaces, and one fourth the bucketfaces within the last week. I ran around a tent, and sent out a call to the rest of my squad to gather at what was the comman tent until yesterday. With Sarge out of commission I was next in line for command, and I was tired of waiting for the blues to come to us. At the rate they were going they could sit back, and continue lobbing missiles in at us, and come pick up the pieces later.
I was going to bring the fighting to them.
0800

Clown (11/23/29)
ain, of god! The pain. Pleast let it stop. No more!

another dream. God when will the dreams end. This time I dreamed that my arms were falling off, and I kept picking them up and putting them back on only to have them fall off as quick as I put them back on. And I kept trying to put my arms on, and the pain was awful.
I rolled over to a sitting position, and discovered that the pain was still with me. But then it never left me. It would sem that after all this time I would be growing accustomed to it. But it still hurts. This time the pain was in my wrist, where the incer was sown on to my left arm. I massaged it, and could barely feel the seam.
I looked towards the camp, and saw the grunts parading around. Funny that word, grunts. Nobody but me used it anymore. Grunts are dogfaces today, I remember the day when they were grunts. Grunts, and a few RAMs too.
I deliberated going into the camp, but I had little choice really. I could either stay here and starve, or turn around and see if the mine field was really off like some said. I knew I wasn't going to sit here the rest of the day, and I was not up to playing guinea pig for some grunt's wild hypothesis about the mine field. So I had only one choice.
I struggled to my feet with a sigh. My stand was slightly uneven since one foot was a roller, and it stood higher than my other foot. I half walked, half skated over to the mess tent. I went out of my way to miss the drunks wallowing around what was last night's campfire. I did not need their biting remarks now.
I was almost at the mess tent when my sonar ear picke dup a missile whine, and I looked up to see us launch another one at the reds. So far our missiles had kept the reds in their camp, which had no missiles, but it could not last forever. Sooner or later, and it would probably be a lot sooner than later, the reds would mount an attack force against us. The missiles were just a disorganizing device, they did not have the fire power to level the red's camp and that was all.
As I pushed back the flaps and entered the mess tent I almost collided with a Regular Army Man. He muttered an apology and wheeled away. The artificial temperature they keep the inside of the tents maded the plastic in my shoulder ache. I clamped a tray in my pincer, and made my way toward a table in the back.
0900

Dogface (11/23/29)
! (no)
! (you got to be kidding me)
! (he can't do it)
? (can he)

Rumors were flying high today. The runsheet had it that the Commander was going to send a squad outside to see what was going on. The Com must be zinked out if he was planning to send out a squad. So far we've been pretty isolated in camp. We sit here and throw missiles at the reds, and they do nothing. So far.
I was leaving the Mess Tent, behind a RAM, just as Clown passed in. I started to make some crack about him, but for some reason decided not to. Poor patchwork, he looked worse than usual this morning. I slung my GrenadeRifle over my shoulder and made for my tent. Another missile whizzed overhead as I walked. I turned to loko at the red's camp, but all I could see in that direction was smoke. If this keeps up this campaign may be over soon. And then we can start a new war.
By the time I got to my tent I was in a pretty good mood. I was going to catch a few blink-outs, but I felt too good to lay down. I decided to take a hike round the camp. I grabbed my I-R goggles, never know when we might get a shut down, and I didn not want to be on the other side of camp if we got one with no way back in the dark to my tent.
I crossed the cleared aread that was still smoldering from last night' fire, and continued to the edge of the camp. I stopped at the beginning of the mine field. The mines were supposed to be off, why turn them on when the enemy is too busy dodging missiles to attack? But if Com is worried enough to send a recon squad out he'll probably turn the mines back on.
I was just standing there thinking when I heard a blood curling scream. I did a quick scan of the camp and located the trouble almost at once. Some reject had detonated a time bomb in the midst of the camp. A tyranosaur res was screaming towards the gods. The reject that started all this had no more worries, the rex had just finished eating him.
As I ran towards the giant lizard my mind idly wondered why it was that over 80% of the time a time bomb will explode a tyranosaur rex. Ah well, that was a thought best left to better minds that mine. When I reached the scene with my GrenadeRifle at the ready I found myself too late. Two RAMs had blasted the rex to death with their body missiles. I turned away just as the bullhorn sounded through camp.
HU449988333200, HU0988454858, HU88422214, RA888459, RA8875953, RA8495854 REPORT TO COM TENT IMMEDIATELY.
HU0988454858 was me.
1030

flashback (9/17/28)
fzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzKaPOW!
The reds were staging their biggest advance yet. So this was our biggest defense yet. The sound of their LaserRifles and RAM body missiles merged into one long noise.
fzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzKaPOW!
I was in the front line, supposed to hold the rushing horde back. I was firing my GrenadeRifle as fast as it would recycle and arm itself. The dogface on my right was decapiated, but a grenade made sure the red lasered no one else. Another grenade blew a red RAM to pieces.
The trees dripped blod, and the ground was made of guts. A grenade from a fellow blue lodged itself in a red before it exploded. Bits of the red rained on me, and I wiped the blood off my I-R goggles with one hand and kept a steady grip on my piece with the other. To lose it would be to lose my life.
I have always had a flair for composing, and it seemed to bloom during a fight. And this one was no different. I composed a quick poem and recited it to myself.
The rain was red
And the sun blue,
As the Com said
"Don't even leave a few."
I guess I shoudl have paid more attention to what was happening and left the poems to when I was back in camp. I saw the red a second after he saw me. I swung my rifle toward him, but it was too late. He hurled a Laserbomb at my feet. I remember seeing him explode as my grenade hit him, but then his bomb went off. Laser blasts sprayed the air, cutting into me, slicing away, killing me, hurting me, destroying
*
blackness
*
Slowly I made my way up from the bootmless pit my hand had fallen into. First thought was why am I still alive? Second thought was why do I hurt so much? The pain was what let me know that I was still alive. Death could not be this painful.
When I raised my hand saw the pincer at the end I screamed. They told me later that I screamed for two days straight.
(time unimportant)

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Do you know that name of the double Red Hot Chili Peppers' album that reached #1 upon its release in 2006?

Yesterday's answer: Toto

WORD A DAY

CATAWAMPUS: askew, awry, catercorner

Back in the Middle Ages, the French word for "four" could be spelled quatre or catre. Speakers of Middle English preferred the form cater, and they used the word mainly to refer to the four spots on one side of a die. Someone noticed that you can connect these four spots to make an "X," a fact that might have helped cater develop the extended sense of "diagonally." Over time, that sense was built into dialect compounds meaning "diagonal" or "askew," including "catercorner," a word linguists think was later modified to create "catawampus."

Friday, February 16, 2007

Lucinda's Albums







Lucinda Week (Maybe A Little More Than A Week)



Here at stately old mitjina manor we are going to celebrate Lucinda Williams' release of her new cd and her musical career. Time Magazine named her "American's best songwriter."

So expect some posts and such about Ms. Williams over the next few days or so.

A Bright Point Yesterday

Besides finally just giving it up to reading yesterday one really good thing happened. I've been turning over an idea in my head for awhile now for a story. It's went through a few different versions as I mulled it over. I've played the first page out in my head for a month or longer now. It's evolved quite a bit. Well yesterday I actually sat down and started writing. I got the first page done. That may not sound like much, but believe me it is. And after going back and reading what I had wrote I actually like it. I think it turned out really good.

Now I just have to follow that first page up with a lot more pages.

Thursday Thirteen Is Finally Up

In all the complaining I did in my previous post I forgot to mention that my Thursday Thirteen is finally UP! I put it in Thursday where it belongs. Check it out, it has some great music.

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