Bruno is one of the friendlier frogs that live in the courtyard of my new house. His presence is a surprise, since I live in the Mojave Desert, and the native Vegas Valley leopard frog has been extinct since 1942. Judging from the cool white stripe down the back, he (or she, for all I know) and his clan are probably Woodhouse’s toads.
It’s been awhile since I blogged the looming apocalypse, so here’s a nice roundup:
In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a far different vision. As mayor of Tehran in 2004, he spent millions on improvements to make the city more welcoming for the return of a Muslim messiah known as the Mahdi, according to a recent report by the American Foreign Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank. To the majority of Shiites, the Mahdi was the last of the prophet Muhammad’s true heirs, his 12 righteous descendants chosen by God to lead the faithful. Ahmadinejad hopes to welcome the Mahdi to Tehran within two years.
Conversely, some Jewish groups in Jerusalem hope to clear the path for their own messiah by rebuilding a temple on a site now occupied by one of Islam’s holiest shrines. Artisans have re-created priestly robes of white linen, gem-studded breastplates, silver trumpets and solid-gold menorahs to be used in the Holy Temple — along with two 6½-ton marble cornerstones for the building’s foundation.
Check out the musical stylings of Jan Terri. Can you guess what she really does for a living from the video? Heh heh. Also check out “Get Down Goblin”. If you find any other Jan Terri videos, let me know!
Well, actually, I’m probably no longer safe. Regardless, I Just bought this kick ass blue stella scooter off of ebay and I can’t wait to go pick it up. It goes about 60 MPH and gets about 80 miles per gallon, so it will probably become my primary form of transportation (unless I crash it the first time I drive it and never get back on it again, kind of like the go-kart I got for Christmas when I was five). Anyone got a truck? Anyone know how to ride a scooter? Just checking.
This bit of wisdom brought to you courtesy of Warren Ellis, who quotes it as one of Brian Eno’s favorite aphorisms. I’m not sure if this means Brian Eno made it up, or Brian Eno just likes it an awful lot, but there it is.
“It is estimated that some 40 to 50 million people suffer from allergies in the US alone. The fact that Western populations appear to have the highest rate of allergies prompted some scientists to come up with the “hygiene hypothesis”, which argues that exposure to more natural environments such as farms early in life helps train the body to respond appropriately to harmless microbes and pollen.
In increasingly sterile Western societies, people are no longer exposed to these allergens, which is why they suffer from so many allergies, the hypothesis claims.”Link
LOS ANGELES—Her mood dangerously optimistic at the end of the school year, teenager Christine Lowell was reminded of the need to assume a sullen, self-pitying manner Monday by the Fiona Apple song “Sleep To Dream.” “God, I don’t see why I should have to continue facing these phonies every day of my miserable life,” Lowell said after the song came into rotation on her MP3 player. “I can’t be, you know, stifled by your insignificant ways, all right?” At last report, Lowell’s mother, the only witness to Christine’s sudden and deliberate mood change, had resumed driving to the supermarket without comment.
“It has a video link that sends data in real time down to our ground station - the operator can then see, in real time, what it’s seeing,” explains SkySeer inventor Sam De La Torre, from Octatron Inc - a surveillance technology firm.
The SkySeer has been designed for quick and easy use by police officers on the street. It can be folded up and stored like a tent in a backpack.”
“It has different cameras - colour, low light and even infra-red - and so as a result of that we can even find heat signatures that are coming through the bushes and overhead,” says Commander Heal.
Yeah, but can it see the robo-pocalypse looming on the horizon? Link
Blogging without preamble, mostly so I can find it again:
New analysis of the language and gesture of South America’s indigenous Aymara people indicates they have a concept of time opposite to all the world’s studied cultures — so that the past is ahead of them and the future behind.
This method of contraception is thought to produce fetuses that do not adhere to the uterus and are lost. If life supposedly begins at conception, that’s an unbaptised soul who’s doomed to burn in hell. But that’s OK says concerned prude and contraception foe Judie Brown, because it’s part of a “natural selective process.”
Give me a break. And “natural selective process?” That sounds like evoution to me!
As per Evil Overload’s suggestion, here is my response to our friendly craigslist scammer:
Hi Lerk,
It’s great to hear from you. All of that sounds fine. I’ll have no problem helping you out and I understand that you’re a little hesitant to trust someone on a different continent. Don’t worry though. I am a very trustworthy, professional person and I’ll do everything I can to make sure your wedding turns out great. I do have one problem though. I know you’re in a hurry, but I don’t feel comfortable giving out my personal information over email. Call me old-fashioned, but it’s a great big internet out there and I don’t trust technology very much. Plus, you don’t know what kind of people could be waiting around to steal it. I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but in the U.S., even our own government has been spying on us! But that’s beside the point. I want to help you and I want to build up my portfolio, so could you just send me your address in the U.K., so I can mail my contact information to you? Since you’re in a hurry, I can even express mail it to you, so it gets there fast. Good luck planning your wedding.
Thanks,
Sheni (well, you know, I used my real name.)
PS Who is your wedding planner? Perhaps I can get together with them to work some things out concerning the wedding.
As a rule, I can’t stand Jay Leno, but there’s no way I’m missing this:
Coulter, the acid-tongued conservative with a new book out, and Carlin, the quick-witted, antiestablishment comedian who’s in the voice cast for the new animated film “Cars,” were booked at separate times for the NBC late-nighter, a spokeswoman said Monday.
But the duo’s meeting could produce serious fireworks for “Tonight,” which usually limits its political fodder to Leno’s bipartisan monologue jokes.
I need some advice on how to handle this guy. I put an ad out on the Atlanta craigslist a couple of weeks ago saying that I’m a photographer trying to build his portfolio and that I’m available to shoot weddings for $400 bucks this summer. Well, it was a little better worded (very little) than that, but you get the gist. Last weekend, I got this response from someone named, Lerk Phen:
My name is MR.Lerk Phen.I am from the United Kingdom,and i would be celebrating a wedding ceremony with my wife in the united State soon .So, I am emailing you now asap my wedding which will be held on the 1st of August at the Atlanta Banquet Hall. So i will want to know if you would be available for that day ,the cost you will charge me if you would render service for 6hours from 9am - 3pm . I will be responsible for your tranport fare from your location to the hall where the wedding will take place . So i will want you to give me a total cost for the service and trasport fare so we can arrange on payment.
Looking forward to read from you
Well now, that doesn’t seem sketchy. Skeptical, for obvious reasons, I googled the name, Lerk Phen, and found not one other person on the entire internet with that name. A little strange. Then I googled, “Atlanta Banquet Hall,” and found many banquet halls in Atlanta, but not one called the Atlanta Banquet Hall. Still, perhaps he’s just a little misinformed. Perhaps he’s retarded. Did you read that email? I responded, basically repeating the information that was in the ad on craigslist and I had this lovely response waiting for me this morning:
Greetings , Thanks very much for the mail. I really appreciate your understanding ..I have talked with my associate in the United State asap the payment , because i want you to recieve the payment with you before the wedding is held. I hope i will be able to trust you with my money since this profession of yours require honesty and transparency .So my associate said he will issue a check for $4500 to you in which you will deduct the cost for six hours which is $400,and help me send the remaining funds to the wedding planner ,who will make the wedding arrangements. So i will want you to get back to me if you would be able to do this with the below information of where the check will be sent to
NAME IN FULL: ADDRESS: CITY: STATE: ZIP CODE: COUNTRY: MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:
Looking forward to read from you
Well now, that sounds reasonable. I’m sure nothing can go wrong there. Really, I feel so special! I’ve never made it this far in the scamming process before. I feel like Rod Roddy just called my name and I’m running down that aisle.
My first reaction was to just send him an email saying, “Sure. That sounds great. While I’m at it, why don’t I go ahead and give you my bank account number and SSN, just in case you need them. Can’t wait to not see you at the non-existent banquet hall. Ciao.” The more I think about though, the more I want some thing a little more special for this guy. That’s where you come in. Any ideas about how I should go about leading this guy on and making him do more work for absolutely nothing? I’m think something along the lines of the great Powerbook fiasco
“Jack, a 15-pound orange and white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, often chasing small animals, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
“We used to joke, ‘Jack’s on duty,’ never knowing he’d go after a bear,” owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday’s editions.
Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack’s accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey property on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat. “
Just say no.
Bruno is one of the friendlier frogs that live in the courtyard of my new house. His presence is a surprise, since I live in the Mojave Desert, and the native Vegas Valley leopard frog has been extinct since 1942. Judging from the cool white stripe down the back, he (or she, for all I know) and his clan are probably Woodhouse’s toads.
Remember to catch the new season of the Venture Bros. starting this Sunday on Cartoon Network. Link
Turn 30, get a basket for your scooter. It’s that easy.
“Jack, a 15-pound orange and white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, often chasing small animals, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
Instant Jackson Pollock. No muss, no fuss. Just click the mouse to change colors. Link
