Woah, chill, dude!

Not that I think hemp is the devil's scourge or that it even has all of the same impact that weed does, but I just love this story about legislation in Switzerland and Lichtenstein prohibiting dairy farmers from feeding their cows hemp.

According to the article, based on the farmers' arguments:

They are the most chilled-out, laid-back, carefree cattle in the world, and happy cows produce better milk.

:)High cows just make me smile... oh, and check out the pic in the article, the cows have long hair, too!

Otherwise: Book #21: The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Hadn't read this before. The beginning is a bit tough as bad fortune looms over Celie and Nettie so oppressively. Overall, I thought the themes on the nature of God and achieving happiness were key points to ponder. And more akin to my own personal POV than I've seen in many places, so that's cool. A quick read. Wouldn't label it great, but a pretty good book.

Top of mind

"If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog."

Yep. I mostly get them scratched somewhere and put here eventually.
Sonny was just telling me he does the same, but forgets when he's at his Mac....

BTW - finished Book #20 - LOTR: The Two Towers - as excellent as ever, maybe even more so as an adult!

Seen around

Here are some things that reminded me of folks I know lately:
Single-serve mini ketchup made me think of Jenny - so cute!
I'm thinking this "condo bus" was the transportation of choice for either String Cheese Incident or one of its opening acts, as they were playing in the area. I thought Sonny would love the vintage/custom setup.

Finally - there's a new The Sentimental Favorites site up! Check it out! (I'll put it in the sidebar soon)

Blogging from Providence...

Hey! Visiting Sonny for just a bit at the tail end of a work trip. Mostly just hanging out, but that's cool. Especially after a weekend of work. It's so hot and sticky, though - it has yet to rain here. DK if that would even bring any relief.
The traveling books this trip, briefly: The Two Towers by Tolkien (reread), A Holiday for Murder by Agatha Christie, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock (reread). I brought several because the ones after Tolkien are short and because we drove out and I didn't know if that would mean I'd be reading for 6 hours or more straight. So far, I'm 2/3 through the Tolkien. Good stuff.
That's the most exciting stuff to date. Sonny is giving a lecture at RISD today. I'm headed back home.

Had what I call a "packing dream" last night, with a twist. Usually these dreams are stressful and leave me more exhausted o waking than I was ere falling asleep. They usually deal with some scenario at my house where either just me or both of us need to leave by the next day and we need to make sure we get all of our stuff. Kinda' a mix of a catalouging of possessions and where they are and organizing it all quickly for fastest transport. I think it's part of my slightly compulsive side.
Anyway, last night was a bit different in that it wasn't our house. In the dream it was, but it was also like we were seeing it for the first time. So in addition to finding and organizing all that was there, there was the odd side story of exploring, well, what was there.
At least I didn't have nightmares that would make me scream aloud and wake Sonny and Owen.

More reading, cutting wood

Book #18: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Uproariously funny? Not really. Amusing, I guess. Sonny said it might be better if I listened to some of Sedaris' radio broadcasts. I'll check them out and see. Something about this book brought out PC-ish sensitivity in me that was a bit surprising. The chapter on pet euthanasia bothered me. As did his description of his sister's role-playing, which to me seemed more like someone looking for help. I think I was over-analyzing it, actually I'm pretty sure I was. Maybe that's part of why it was just kinda' there for me.

Book #19: The Women's Migraine Survival Guide by Christina Peterson, M.D. - I've finally gotten around to researching migraine myself before thinking about getting a referral to a neurologist. This book was good, a great women's perspective (and it is something needed for this illness), and it started me thinking about some warning signs and prevention steps. All great. What I didn't like is the heavy reliance there seemed to be on drugs for prevention. She did deal with alternatives a bit, and more than my PCPs have, but the vast majority of her patient examples are people on one maintenance drug, often more. I want to avoid a life like that as much as possible. Now, I'm not in the Cruise extreme group here, I just think that if there are proven natural methods that work just as well, then why the hell not? Finally, I'm actually a bit relieved because, as bad as my migraines seem and they're pretty bad, I think, I'm nowhere near a lot of the patients cited here - some of whom have 3-4 days lost to migraines EACH week. It helps to have perspective.

Started cutting the wood for the pantry. Helping J as he used his circular and table saws was a slight bit freaky, being just days after hearing about our poor Uncle's horrible run-in. Get-well Uncle Al and I'll keep a bit away (far as I can) while J cuts the wood, Thank You.

A night of zombie mayhem makes 9am meetings hard to bear

A 9am meeting on a Wednesday after a 4 1/2 day weekend is bad enough. My brain had to go and make it even worse by limiting me to maybe 3 solid hours of sleep, 2 of which were plagued by a zombie fighting nightmare.
Zombies aren't usually a nightmare of mine. And I'm not into the flicks as much as Sonny is.
Yet, here I was. Interesting that in MY zombie world, the zombies were the epitome of upper-crust, fashionista snobs until they entered the slobbering feeding frenzies. No graveyard dirt or tattered clothes here, but ball gowns, white gloves, Bunny, Tad, and talk of the golf course. Where did THAT come from?
I awoke after I decided that the ultimate Mr T zombie had gone too far in lauding his control over the planet and God decided to blow up all zombies, lairs, and paraphernalia.
Still didn't keep me from checking for my heartbeat after I woke. Or from reliving the zombie fight every time I tried to close my eyes for the next 2 hours until the alarm.

Happy Fourth!

Beyond picnics and summer fun, the Fourth to me is a time to think of the principals on which our country is based. On the struggle of the colonists oh so many years ago for freedom. Of what that freedom means.

To move away from the politics of the moment - to put aside property seisure rulings, gay marriage, right to die, freedom of choice, privacy rights, health care and prescription drugs - all of that mess.

To think of our country and the core of what it means and why it is truly good to be in a land founded on the belief that people have the right to make their own decisions about what and who to believe, about what they want to do with their lives. That people should and can have a say in how they are governed. No matter how flawed the implementation or the leadership might seem to be at times.

Saw a clip of the presidential speech today talking of the efforts of our troops in bringing freedom to others. I praise and support the troops, but today shouldn't be about our military - its actions, its prowess, or whatever. Today should be about the heart and roots of what it is to be American. That strive for what each of us believes is right, for what each of us wants to achieve - our ambition and devotion to ideals (even though we don't all agree, the debate is part of what's good).

Here's to what our country is all about.
Let's set aside what we're trying to prove elsewhere for just a day.

Friends come home, big fish rule

Just received the marvellous news that my best friend from college has purchased a house in VA (was in Japan for several years), is moving back, is having a girl(bambino #2), and is being released from military service (critical care nurse)!!!:)
I liked the idea of having friends in scattered places, should I get the chance to visit those places it's nice to have connections there, but my relief at Kat coming home, and now Lisa - it's nice to have them on the same continent. Most excellent, in fact. I'll need to plan a trip to VA...

On a totally different note, fishermen in Thailand recently caught a 646 pound freshwater catfish!

Imagine that river! Wow.
Reminded me of Megamouth, a filter-feeding shark that tends towards very deep waters and so has bioluminescence in his mouth - only 20 odd examples have been found.
Which then reminded me of whale sharks and basking sharks - much less rare, but awesome beasts (the two largest fish in the world).
Unfortunately the Japanese have killed these beasts, claiming it was self defense - but again, they are filter feeders and wouldn't hurt people.


If I was any good at science, I'd be a marine biologist - geez, I think I've said that several times - just recently when talking about the lion rescuers in Ethiopia.

heat stinks

This heat is horrible. I mean, I like heat but not brutally hot every day, with no cool down at night. I can't wait for Fri-Sun,when it's supposed to moderate a bit....
In the meantime, I read a lot in front of a fan. Hard to get motivated to work out when it's so hot. Hard to get motivated to scrub the bathroom or sweep the house....
Book #17 is done - Fluke, or I know why the winged whale sings - by Christopher Moore - will report on that after book club meets. On to the next.

Books and freakiness

Book #14 - The Alchemist by Paul Coelho - I was about to complain that it wasn't until the teaching notes at the end of this that I found out the boy's name. Not true, it's the first sentence. This was the big detractor and distractor of the book, for me. After that first sentence, I don't think the boy's name is ever mentioned. He is just "the boy". I found that an over-simplification that made it seem almost artificial.
Otherwise, I like the concept of the need to follow your dream. I found the plot satisfying, even though J thought the end was a little too neat.

Book #15 - Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - These are stories of the displaced, no matter how settled they've become in their new lives away from their native Latin America. I found the majority of them powerful, inriguing, and well done. The last, the tale of a new husband who take his wife to the hospital and never sees her again, especially dwelt in my mind. The "why"s and "what if"s. Garcia Marquez is a master storyteller.

Book #16 - The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving - actually a collection of his short works. The short stories were classic, almost fireside, tales. The essays were a mixed bag - some were quite dull. Others, such as the cloisters of Westminster or the ghosts in its library of authors past, could have been developed into entertaining fiction, but weren't. Probably indicative of his time, but I was quite annoyed that every main character got into trouble because he was trying to evade his shrew of a wife - all wives were shrews or nags. Seems a bit bitter to me.

Finally, a rather gross, but just incredibly freaky story that also harks to at least one CSI episode, a Simpsons Halloween episode, and more...

The condition is known as "foetus in foeto", or inclusion twin.
"In this case the foetus of the baby entered into the foetus of the boy and continued to grow like a tumour in the boy's abdomen," gynaecology specialists Nurun Nahar said.
Hundreds of curious locals flocked to the hospital on hearing a rumour that a boy had given birth to a baby.

And the mighty lion roars

In what i think is one of those truly awesome news-stories - the ones I cheer for as much as sports fanatics do news of a great new player on the team or of a critical victory - 3 lions free a young girl in Ethiopia - According to some reports, as many as 70% of Ethiopian marriages are the result of a kidnapping - when men steal young girls and brutalize them until they agree to the proposal. As this fate was rolling out for one young girl, these lions rolled up on the scene, scared off the kidnappers, and guarded the girl until authorities arrived.

Most excellent!!! Lions are so incredibly awesome!
When I first posted about Mireya Mayor, I was inspired about what she's done in what could be for me my "alternate reality career". These lions and Tina's frolicking dolphins make me want to get geared up and head out into the wilderness to study these amazing creatures.

Instead, I sit here rehashing data and having my writing style subject to constant revision requests by someone who just can't absorb the whole story on the page for all the criticism that's done of each sentence..... A bit harsher than I like to be here, but the jungle's looking pretty sweet right now.

Tune in to DIY for...

CW Roelle!! Yes, that's right, Sonny is on for a 1/2 hour episode where he'll show the nation how to make wire drawings! This will be most excellent... Details to follow.

Want to write more but under the thumb of a brutal project. Stay tuned, I'll sneak it in as I can.

Father's Day and movies

Had a good Father's Day - got Dad a Kodak Picture Viewer like this... I'm pretty sure he really liked it... Got to spend some quality campfire time and have some good steak, too.



Sonny and I have both seen Revenge of the Sith. Most excellent! I really felt totally immersed in the Star Wars realm - even if J was trying to distract me. An epoch like the first 2, for sure.

Also saw a trailer for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. WAAAAYYYY cool - I haven't been in this realm for many years, but I remember longing for a version that was better than the dorky cartoon we used to watch at the babysitter's - much in the same way I wanted a good version of The Hobbit or other Tolkien tales.

I have 2 books to blog about, but my notes are downstairs and I'm being a bum tonight. Mayhaps tomorrow.... Oh, I did hear someone talking about the musical version of Wicked, saying that Elphaba "wasn't wicked at first, just made some bad choices..." I had to restrain myself from screaming "NOOOOO!!!!! You totally missed the point!" (This was in a church, so that would have been bad)

J says hi, btw.
More tomorrow.

Two cool (too cool?) sites

First things foremost, Theophilus (see links to right) has updated their webpage. Pretty classy, with music, and an updated calendar, among other things...

Then, this looks so incredibly awesome, I just can't wait!!! Here's the new Mirrormask trailer - so funky!!!
On other movie fronts, J and I are going to see Batman or Star Wars this weekend. Have heard really strong positives on both and it may depend on my mood or timing. I actually had a pass to a screening of Batman, but by the time Dan and I got there it was already sold out. Bummer!

Theophilus CD release party

Last night, Theophilus feted the release of their first full CD. A lot of effort went into this and it paid off. The party did a great job of showcasing their talent - and the kids enjoyed it, even if they did get a bit goofy. Excellent job, guys!
Next up for Theophilus, the final round of competition for a slot in the Kingdom Bound festival - held at Darien Lake later this summer. Cool stuff!

Book #13 - Bouzi by Jennifer Robin - Liked the flow of the text and the driving concept - the life of those who choose to "live in their heads" - to spend time contemplating life and experiencing it - and refusing to go where society would have them led. Seemed light, tho', and like it could have been explored so much further.

My voice was wearing a trenchcoat, holding a skull, pacing through fog with barbells.

The sytle, with its avoidance of any standard metaphor or simile, ties nicely with the theme. Unlike Kerouac, though, it doesn't carry me away.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's back in town

Sonny is here visiting us now and last night we went to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the Park. We got absolutely soaked for about 30 minutes and had to wait a bit until the lightning passed by, but once they hit the stage the rain practically disappeared and the crowd grew and it was a total blast! I got the string bassist's autograph -only slightly rained on and a lot of good pics, plus 1 minute of fun video. Tres cool!

Book #12 - Wicked

Wicked by Gregory Maguire - I liked the character of Elphaba - she wasn't evil, she set out to right the wrongs of politics and society - to recover from the loss of a love. Her sister earned the "Wicked" title by causing harm to support her political religious aims, but Elphaba was simply dubbed "wicked" because people didn't want to face the questions she posed about how they conducted their lives. An excellent book - entertaining with great character development.

(Books #13 and 14 upcoming)

Train to Providence - Something about the rock & rhythm of the movements of a jerky train (should you be so lucky as to actually have it MOVE as intended) brings us closer as a couple - binds us.




Sonny's show was incredible. And a good time. I loved hearing people talk about his work. Should you be in the Woonsocket area, the Blackstone River Gallery is in the same building as a furniture store on Main St (right by the river) and the show is up until July 16...

So much to cover!

I'm going to try to spread this out - so many things!
More details on the trip to Sonny's show in RI, Dan's CD release party, and the 3 books I read this weekend soon. For now, here's some tidbits... (Click here for more on chicken fashions)



UK docs back to basics in fighting crime - interesting the different emphasis in the UK vs US...

French laws in the 17th century decreed that the tips of table and street knives be ground smooth.
A century later, forks and blunt-ended table knives were introduced in the UK in an effort to reduce injuries during arguments in public eating houses.
The researchers say legislation to ban the sale of long pointed knives would be a key step in the fight against violent crime.

And, finally, Mom's baton response...

Total Volume of music files 4.0 K.B.

Last C.D. I purchased was "Theophilus"

Playing right now is "Boom,Boom,Boom" By John Lee Hooker on WMVY internet radio.

Five songs I listen to most are
"Roller Coaster"/ Theophilus,
"Half Acre" / Hem,
"100 Years" / Five for Fighting,
"The Scientist" / Cold Play and
"You Don't Have to go it Alone" / U2.

They call it a job!

Maybe there's some ounce of creativity needed to come up with something to talk about daily. Maybe there's a risk of mental injury from watching every night. I'm not sure, but man - Dukes of Hazzard Institute VP, as it's called just doesn't seem worthy of a 6 figure salary. Seriously - there's artists we could be giving that money to!

Yes, Christopher Nelson's new job, which comes with a $100,000 salary and a one-year contract, will be to watch reruns of "The Dukes of Hazzard" weeknights on the Country Music Television cable channel and write blog postings for the network's Web site.

Here we go! (aka Musical Baton, part1)

A Musical Baton

Jenny has passed me a musical baton. I answer these questions and pass them on...

Total volume of music files on my (work)computer:
2.4 MB - two Theophilus songs - I don't download music right now - Sonny makes me lots of CDs from his stuff

The last CD I bought was:
For J, I rarely buy them for myself - it was Sara Slean - Day One

Song playing right now:
Oh, no, I don't have anything playing, hang on - I need to come back to this in a while anyway...(mad dash to bag - ooh brownies! - CD in, first song) "(What's your) angle?" Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
"Still in Love with You" - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (our song, kinda' sorta)
"I believe I can fly" - Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies (a workout song but like the words, too)
"Rebels of the Sacred Heart" - Flogging Molly (a fun bellowing, jumping, head shaking song)
"Last Great Whales" - Solas (important)
"Awaya Baka" - Baka Beyond (such a cool combo)
There's also some Sentimental Favorites, Theophilus, Moxy Fruvous, and even Speakeasy songs I'd list, but they escape me at the moment and I had to pick five.
Of these, I'd say the top 4 are the top tier and the fifth starts the second.

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
OK - my blogging buddies are mostly taken, so I'm doing this a bit differently than Jenny did.

Sonny
Danny
J
Mom
Kat'

(J, Mom, and Kat' don't have blogs, but they can email me their responses and I'll post them here. Sonny and Danny better write something, dang it!)