crickets - the view from a tiny bamboo pagoda

About Recent Entries

It happened. It really happened. Nov. 5th, 2008 @ 09:28 pm
( Oh Happy Day! )

The people who created Palin as President have opened a new site: Barack as President. Beautiful.
Current Mood: Wheeee!

My American Prayer Nov. 4th, 2008 @ 04:06 am
I remember growing up with nightmares that the Russians were coming, and they were in my back yard, throwing family and neighbors into huge senseless killing machines that looked like carnival rides gone wrong.

I remember watching the news at night, seeing bloody people and helicopters and asking my dad what KIA meant.

I remember when my mother was late picking me up from school, I argued with a fellow five-year old about watching Bugs Bunny instead of the news, until our kindergarten teacher dragged me into the kitchen to explain his daddy was in Vietnam.

I remember when my brother had to go to register for the draft and he told us his draft number as we sat around the table eating lunch one day, and the poor boy in line in front of him drew a two.

I remember Bella Abzug and her wonderful hats, and how she drove some of the wrinkled old white men in Congress crazy, bless her.

I remember the blue helmets and the batons and fire hoses, and the angry sound of shouting and broken glass.

I remember the sea of blue jeans and the music and the flowers and how it all meant something, then faded away.

I remember Nixon, and I remember Barbara Jordan.

I remember tight grocery budgets, gas lines and tractorcades and landmark Middle East peace treaties that were supposed to end the need for wars in the region.

I remember Shirley Chisholm.

Many of those memories were unpleasant, but they were leading up to something, and apparently we had to experience them to get to today.

I cannot wait to remember today.

Courtesy of Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and lots of other cool people: http://www.myamericanprayer.com/video.html

My fellow Americans, please VOTE. Thank you.

Gee, he was just here a minute ago... Jun. 24th, 2008 @ 07:06 am
The Hippy Dippy Weatherman

Wonderful WINO Radio

A favorite gem:
Baseball and Football

That's the cuddlier side of a brilliant satirist whose words could cut like knives when he let them loose with abandon. For your own safety, please keep all extremities inside the car for the duration of the ride.

Musings on the Military

Religion is Bullshit

Bringing back the Cuddly:
Our Similarities

And:
Choosing an Epitaph

George, you truly were the Mark Twain of our lifetime.

Thanks.

May. 12th, 2008 @ 03:01 pm
First Myanmar, now China omg. I keep wanting to scoop them all up for a gentle hug and then give them dinner. And clean water, medical attention, and a warm, dry place to sleep. Sigh. It's going to be really ugly and sad. My heart goes out to all of the people going through this, as well as the people there trying (emphasis on trying in Myanmar) to help them.

You know, I don't like jumping on people May. 4th, 2008 @ 01:38 pm
Edit: So, maybe instead of jumping on people, I should just get the hell over it and walk on by.

Filed under 'Cheerios, pissed in' Oct. 8th, 2007 @ 01:20 pm
[info]ginmar is not my favorite person in the world, but I have to stick up for her on this one. She's minding her own business, posting as an invited guest on someone else's blog, describing first hand experience with something that should be getting a hell of a lot more attention and compassion. PTSD and depression are devastatingly real ailments. The damage and pain they can cause is not imaginary or trivial, and neither is the shoddy treatment many vets are receiving from the VA upon returning from active duty.

I call foul for unnecessary bitchiness here. Pointing out the guest column isn't a faux pas by any means; I'm glad it was pointed out. Bookmarked. In the end, the author's identity is not important. The story she tells most certainly is, and [info]ginmar or no [info]ginmar, I believe her. I don't doubt a word. It's one of those yes-you-really-should-read-it posts. The smarmy way the OP presented it was way out of line.

I'm seriously debating a smaller, more polite post expressing this on the comm, but given the fact [info]ginmar is a wank magnet, it's a tossup as to whether the effort is worth the potential fallout. I'm wondering if many people don't feel the same way, since there's not one response to the OP's post. It's a shame the column wasn't presented in a less biased way, since the topic is one that really deserves more discussion, or at least more notice.

ETA: Thank you, [info]hallidae.

ETA2: Oh, come on, people. I know I'm not the only one who caught the derisive tone. You don't think it was obvious and inappropriate? How speshul.

Best use of trite hand held street sign EVAR!!1! Sep. 15th, 2007 @ 05:32 am
( cut for size )

Finally, somebody put that silly crap to good use. Huzzah!

I'm not a very good Highlander fan these days Sep. 13th, 2007 @ 11:52 pm
I just saw SciFi's commercials for Highlander: The Source last night - completely by chance, because I normally hit the mute button and turn away while they're running. What rock have I been under? There's always a background murmur about a new Highlander movie, but I had no idea it actually came to pass. I didn't go to the official site or read past Jim Byrnes' name on the cast list, so no telling what it's about or whether it will suck donkey balls like the last movie. Apparently this is supposed to be the first of a trilogy, so please, please here's hoping it's decent. Mainly I just want to see Methos and Joe on screen for longer than three minutes...

This is just a heads up for any Highlander fans under a neighboring rock who might not have been aware either. If you know any plot details, please don't tell me! I like to be surprised. Gonna psych up with some favorite episodes tomorrow night, woohoo, though what I wouldn't give right now to have the series on DVD instead of VHS. Darnit.
Current Music: Stephen Colbert

How am I not myself? Sep. 8th, 2007 @ 09:40 pm
( Don't read this if you haven't seen Huckabees yet. )
Current Mood: *thud*

The Magic of Bumper Stickers Sep. 4th, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
I'm not big on bumper stickers. I enjoy reading the funny ones on other people's cars, roll my eyes at the annoying ones, and then go on to my destination without giving them much thought. This past presidential election, I put a sticker on the back of my car for the first time in my life. It's magnetic and removable! It's a change from the asinine W stickers I'm stuck looking at in this crazy "red" state! It will cover up the stupid dealership logo I hate! Maybe someone will see it before the election and have the same reaction I had when I saw a Kerry sign on a lawn down the street: Hey! I'm not the only one!

Election day comes, it goes, and I leave the sticker on out of sheer cussedness—and laziness. It's still there, because after a certain point even the magnetic ones no longer peel off cleanly, sigh. So while driving home the other day, minding my own business and obeying all traffic laws, I am suddenly carrying something else on my bumper besides a sticker. It's a truck full of grown men putting five year-old children to shame. Years after the sad thing we call an election is over, four men are frothing at the mouth, hanging out of the windows and over the top of the cab, honking nonstop, and screaming obscenities at little harmless me. For several miles, they put themselves and everyone around them (especially me, scant inches away) into serious danger because they have completely lost control at the sight of an outdated piece of magnetic plastic about 3 x 10 inches in size.

I had no idea that tiny thing made me so POWERFUL.
Current Music: Lewis Black

Y HALO THAR, SWITZERLAND! Aug. 29th, 2007 @ 01:16 am
It's not my thing, but leaving aside some of the nastier hate/troll threads, I can understand the appeal. Seeing an online space you like in trouble isn't fun, so the upset factor is understandable too. Happy ever afters wherever you land. /short and sweet

( I hear they have boobies, booze, and kittens there. )

ETA: Oh FFS, I forgot memers don't care for boobies so much. Here's some fun. No hidden meaning, you just linked all the other good ones already. I like this version too even though it's not campy.

Cakes ahoy! Aug. 16th, 2007 @ 01:55 am
This probably isn't otf wankable material, but I thought it might give you folks a laugh.

"I need a penis cake for a bachelorette party!" cries a poster at the New Yorkers comm over at LJ. Pfft, so what's the problem? Tiny snag: the party is in four days and the cake has to be kosher. Oh, and it would be nice if the bakery delivers. The post does not escape the notice of domestic snark. That's a kosher penis cake. Cue laugh track.

But there's more. An expectant mother wants to throw a party after the birth of her child. She wants to make a very special cake beforehand and pop it in the freezer until after the big day. There are various reactions to the question in the cake decorating comm. Snarked. It's a tossup as to which comm was wankier on this one.

I read a lot of domestic type comms on LJ because I like to cook and sew and stuff. (Well, except for domestic snark, which I watch for other obvious reasons.) Who knew?

Oh Boldthrough, that thing you do Aug. 10th, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
( This is just me finally getting my thoughts on the LJ thing together all in one place. Skip if you're sick of it. I understand. )

Last minor post edit 8/12/07.

Peace offering: Whose Line ...if you know what I mean. And apparently I am missing tonight's JF n00b hilarity. :skips off to investigate:

Hey, handbasket! We're halfway home! Aug. 8th, 2007 @ 06:25 pm
( cut for pic and other eljay stuff )

Wildfires, Feed Me Bubbe, No Impact Man May. 18th, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
I am so sick of the wildfires. Last count I saw was up to 41 currently burning in the state of Georgia with seven of them classified as 'large' and there are more just over the line in Florida. Get this—the state logged one thousand wildfires last month according to the Georgia Forestry Commission's Arson Task Force. Of course there's a drought going on; it's just the way it works. A couple of kids even started small fires, but they got put out fairly quickly, thank goodness. Little turds, and yes the cops got them. Most of the others were started by lightning. Enough thunderstorms to start the fires, not enough water dropping from the storms to put them out.

There are over a thousand personnel fighting the fires, and there's at least one National Guard helicopter dropping water. I wonder how much more could be done if the the majority of the National Guard and their equipment were actually at home doing that National Guard thing instead of fighting in the Middle East, grr.

Smoke, the smoke is everywhere:
( more, incl. satellite pic links plus a little random fun )

And so it goes. Apr. 13th, 2007 @ 08:17 am

I am, incidentally, Honorary President of the American Humanist Association, having succeeded the late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in that totally functionless capacity. We had a memorial service for Isaac a few years back, and I spoke and said at one point, "Isaac is up in heaven now." It was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, "Kurt is up in heaven now." That's my favorite joke.

- A Man Without a Country
Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007



Influential Author Vonnegut Dies at 84

Writers Praise Kurt Vonnegut

In Memory of Kurt Vonnegut - In These Times articles and interview

http://www.vonnegutweb.com/faq/index.html


Favorite Vonnegut quote of 12 year-olds everywhere:

Why don't you take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut? Why don't you take a flying fuck at the mooooooooooooon?

- various works

The Spiral Staircase Jan. 31st, 2007 @ 08:01 pm
I've talked about this movie before. It's a good 'un and it is just starting now on TCM.

Also, clairvoyantwank has been putting F_W to shame lately. CW, I love you best.

Changing Seasons Oct. 14th, 2006 @ 04:37 pm
Wow. No updates here in ages but I guess I can leave the cobwebs up for atmosphere until after Halloween, heh. I love this time of year; only Spring can beat out Autumn for the wonderful change in weather. It's been a very hot summer and the cool evenings and crisp mornings are a welcome relief. I've started rotating warmer clothes to the front of the closet, pulling out sweaters to air and wash, I've put the flannel sheets on the bed and dusted off a portable radiator to chase the chill out the room just before bedtime. Oh, how I love my little oil filled radiators on wheels. Best investment EVAR, since I cannot afford propane heat, thanks verra much.
( ramblings )

Happy Birthday, Sep! Sep. 5th, 2006 @ 11:00 pm
Apparently you've been having a fun day today, whoohoo! ;)

Yet another Steve Irwin post Sep. 4th, 2006 @ 11:02 pm
If you haven't seen the actual video of Baby Bob's first croc adventure, the Croc Hunter episode about it is now on Animal Planet. Watching the event in context, it makes a lot more sense. While it's understandable that people were horrified by the photo, and I have to say I think he was a little "out there" to take a baby into that situation, when you see what else was going on in terms of the baby's debut to the public and take into account Steve's own childhood, it makes a lot more sense. I wish many of the obits out there weren't ending on the "great, though controversial, conservationist; will be missed; can you believe that stunt he pulled with his baby?" note. Dirty pool in an obit, guys.

There will be an ETA, but I wanted to post quickly in case people wanted to catch the majority of the episode. Bob's adventure, including a Buddhist baptism ceremony in front of the crowd, is a little later on in the show.

( ETA: )
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