Website of the Day: Earth Files (including Big Foot on Mars)

Linda Moulton Howe's Earthfiles

More Stephenville, Texas UFO Weirdness

Video here:

The video taken by David Caron in Stephenville Texas leaked on the internet finally! Full video and audio. Very, very interesting footage of the strange UFO blinking symbols in the sky!


05:36 - 06:08 - jet aircraft or car

06:08 - "tryin' to zoom in on it..." - videographer

06:35 - very big truck or large (cargo) aircraft

06:40 - "[you know I once] had a tripod for this" - videographer

07:08 - Video cut / return (video timestamp 9:04)

07:09 - muffled voices

07:21 - "ok...i got the camera pretty steady right now" - videographer

07:33 - intermittently loud static?

07:42 - "ain't movin' the camera it's it's" - videographer

07:51 - "I'm havin' a hard time keeping in in the frame" - videographer

07:58 - muffled

07:59 - "yeah" - videographer

08:03 - muffled voice

08:07 - "somthin' just looked funny about it and I come outside with the camcorder..." - videographer

08:12 - car/truck pass by

08:56 - car/truck pass by

09:06 - END (video timestamp 9:05 PM, JAN.19.200?

To My Good Friends That I Rolled Dice With at Hodgson

Word of the Day: Glossolalia

From Wikipedia:

Glossolalia (from Greek glossa γλῶσσα "tongue, language" and λαλεῖν "to talk") is the vocalizing of fluent speech-like but unintelligible utterances, often as part of religious practice. Its use (including use in this article) sometimes also embraces Xenoglossy - speaking in a natural language that was previously unknown to and that is not understood by the speaker.

Look up Glossolalia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

While occurrences of glossolalia are widespread and well documented, there is considerable discussion within religious communities (principally Christian) and elsewhere as to both its status (the extent to which glossolalic utterances can be considered to form language), and its source (whether glossolalia is a natural, supernatural, or spiritual phenomenon).

And guess who practices it:

Again from Wikipedia: Pentecostals

Beliefs

The majority of Pentecostals believe in order to be saved, one must repent of sin, believe in Jesus as Savior, and accept His Lordship. Pentecostals also typically believe, like most other evangelicals, that the Bible has definitive authority in matters of faith. There are two large streams into which the majority of Pentecostal churches fall.

To the first group, speaking in tongues is the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but is not necessary for salvation. In these churches, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is viewed as a second work of grace in the believer's life, which occurs subsequent to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which occurs at the moment of salvation. This is reported to create a 'spiritual hierarchy' in the church which often resembles early forms of Gnosticism which the Apostle Paul described extensively in his epistles.

The second group emphasizes a salvation message based on Acts 2:38 which says that a person needs to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and then receive the Holy Spirit. To these Pentecostals, receiving the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation and is accompanied by speaking in tongues. In these denominations, it is widely assumed that a person who has not spoken in tongues (emphasis mine) is unsaved. Also, this group of churches teaches that the Trinitarian baptismal formula is invalid. Because these groups hold firmly to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, a person who has been baptized with the Trinitarian formula according to Matthew 28:19 (in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit) is unsaved.

Pentecostals have different views on the idea of what "tongues" actually means. Some believe tongues is a prayer language in which they themselves do not understand what they are saying. Others believe tongues is an actual language and the ability to speak the mysteries of God unto the unsaved using their language. In both views the ability to speak and the ability to interpret are separate gifts. One may be able to speak in a certain language but will lack the ability to interpret any other language they have not been gifted with the understanding to speak. Both generally believe there must be an interpreter present so the listeners will understand when a different language, or tongue, is spoken unto them.

...

Pentecostal services are usually very lively. They are characterized by spontaneous expressions of praise, either in the vernacular or in tongues. Pentecostal worshipers are also known for raising their hands in the orant style common in the early church. Some Pentecostal services have been known to run for hours in cases of particular excitement, which is viewed as the Holy Spirit "moving." Pentecostals have sometimes been labeled as "holy rollers" because of their lively worship style.

And we are to seriously consider such people for public office?

A Nice Mashup After a Crappy Day on the Hustings

Barf Bag Alert: Obamamania? Been there done that

Can't we just leave our mythical prelapsarian past behind. Evidently not at The Star when the world was good and its center was to be found in Canada. Yick.

Jeff Healey Passes Away At 41

I didn’t even know he was sick.

Jeff Healey was the first Blues guitarist I ever saw. It must have been twenty years ago.

I was also a great fan of My Kind of Music and was delighted when Jazz FM picked it up.

I remember reading somewhere that he had had to have specially built shelves strong enough to support the weight of his 35,000 78s. I hope they don’t break up the collection. You used to be able to pick up JH’s castoffs at a store on Yonge Street whose name escapes me now. I have a few.

There was even a rumor that JH could identify the record in question by feel. I give this some credence as 78s are made of quite different thicknesses and materials and look of the grooves.

I had been visiting my father at the same hospital for the same reason at the same time. Small cancer world.

Iran Will Shut Down Internet During Election

After all, according to Mr. Dinner Jacket, Iran is the most democratic country in the world. More info here.

Long But Good; Hitch et al on Religion in America

Jack Nicholson Hillary Clinton Video (Parody)

WTF didn't take long for an Answer

LINCOLNSHIRE EARTHQUAKE APPEAL PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY

LINCOLNSHIRE EARTHQUAKE APPEAL PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY

A major earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Lincolnshire in the early hours today .Its epicentre was in the Market Rasen area. Victims were seen meandering around aimlessly, muttering "Faaackinell".

The earthquake decimated the area causing approximately £30 worth of damage. Several priceless collections of historic tractors were damaged beyond repair and all three of the County's compoooooters went down.

Three areas of historic scare crows were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their press gang Transit mini buses arrived.

Lincs FM reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had happened in Lincolnshire.

One strange effect of the earthquake was to startle thousands of toads into action - but most residents returned to their homes within minutes

One resident - Tracy Sharon Smith, a 15-year-old mother of 5 said, "It was such a shock, my little Chardonnay-Mercedes come running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Tyler-Morgan and Victoria-Storm slept through it all. I was still shaking when I was skinning up and watching Jeremey Kyle later in the morning."

Another resident said, 'I was in bed with my five daughters and their grandmother, as usual, and on feeling the vibrations I nudged my mum in the back and said 'Has that disturbed the ducks, Duck?'

Apparently looting, muggings and car crime were unaffected and carried on as normal. The British Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Sunny Delight to the area to help the stricken locals.

Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings, including benefit books, jewellery from Elizabeth Duke at Argos and Bone China from Poundland.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing parcels for those unfortunate enough to be caught up in this disaster.

Clothing is most sought after - items most needed include:
Fila or Burberry baseball caps
Kappa tracksuit tops (his and hers)
Shell suits (female)
White sport socks

Wellington Boots & Barbour jackets
Rockport boots and any other items usually sold in Primark.
Food parcels may be harder to come by, but are needed all the same.

Required foodstuffs include:
Microwave meals, Tins of baked beans, Ice cream, Cans of Colt 45 or
Special Brew.
22p buys a biro for filling in the compensation forms and their giros.
£2 buys chips, crisps and blue fizzy drinks for a family of 9.
£5 buys B&H and a lighter to calm the nerves of those affected.

Breaking news***
Rescue workers found a girl in the rubble smothered in raspberry
alco-pop.
'Where are you bleeding from?' they asked, "Scunthorpe" said the girl,
wossit gotta do wiv you?" (And who put the ---- in Scunthorpe anyway?)

Please don't forward this to anyone living in Spalding/Boston area - oh,
sod it... they won't be able to read it anyway

WTF?

This blog has not so far as I remember yet commented on the race for a Democratic nomination. It looks like a man with the unfortunate middle name of Hussein has it in the bag but there are still election ads that make you cringe. Jack looks so old in the last frame. May just have to spin up 5 Easy Pieces.

Conrad Black is to Report to Jail on Monday

My feelings are mixed. Conrad Black was a hero of mine. I thought his books were great and subscribed to his newspapers and magazines on both sides of the pond. I even lived in Crossharbour across the quay from The Telegraph's West Ferry Road Printing Plant. But Lord Tubby of Crossharbour was caught dipping deep into the cookie jar at the expense of shareholders. It's a story of almost Greek Tragedian proportions. Spending your 65th birthday in bar hotel is certainly not something to look forward to.

Oddly, Blacks two co-defendants are still on the outside while their appeals are addressed.

Syd Barrett's Speakers For Sale

You can bid on these here.

Shadowy Dark Overlords' 2008 Presidential Plans Leaked Prematurely

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Taliban Request Cell Phone Operators to Pull the Plug Between 5pm and 7am

More info here.

When I lived in London, we had a small hand held scanner that covered the 900 mhz range. On a nice summer night -- between 5 and 7 actually -- the bands became filled with phone conversations in Arabic.

Most of these transmissions I believe were over unencrypted portable telephones and not mobiles. I didn't exactly consider it eavesdropping as I don't speak Arabic but it seemed an interesting phenomenon and the conversations went on for hours.

Now the Taliban in Afghanistan is asking that Afghani Mobile Phone Companies cease service between 5 and 7 as they believe the 'peacekeeping' forces are able to locate, sometimes with the connivance of the phone companies themselves, Taliban insurgents. I have no doubt this is true. But the whole idea of a Nation's communications -- landlines were extinguished long ago -- going down at night at the whim of a bunch of medieval clerics seems positively preposterous.

Unfortunately, if the poor cell companies do not comply, there may well be blood. This is perhaps slightly less unfortunate than the poor physically and mentally disabled Iraqi's who are being made into unwitting suicide bombers, which is not suicide at all, but mass murder plus one., but not much.

Something that really unerved the wehrmacht during the Nazi's hubristic attempt to bring down the Soviet Union was the site of dogs with backpacks with sticks pointing upwards. Trained according to strict Pavlovian principals to run under trucks for food, with their backpacks they would run under the German vehicles with explosives. German soldiers as a result would shoot any dog or Jew or peasant on site. It really is a miserable world sometimes.

I hear our favorite finance minister is releasing an uncontroversial budget today. Yawn. Now this is a country I feel grateful to live in.

A Great Picture

David Gilmour joins the sort-lived five-piece Floyd, January 1968. Left to right: Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Rick Wright, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters (front)
(Nick Mason's Archive)

Bentleys and Minis

$2500 Tato Nano

$299 ASUS EEE

Although a Bentley might cost you twenty times the price of a Mini, as the more Hayekian wags at the LSE would have it, the Bentley could not legally take you to your destination any faster or take you to any destination that the Mini could not. Indeed, very often the Mini could go places that the Bentley could not and no-one (not even the insufferable in pursuit of the inedible) would argue that a Bentley was any easier to park than the Mini, though I know which car I would drive.

While I haven't seen or driven a Tata Nano, I have the ASUS EEE sub-notebook and think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Indeed, 'war-driving' (looking for the eponymous Mr. Linksys open wireless connections) with the EEE really showed me just how unsecure the internet is. Of course the granola munchers will not be too happy about Indian families trading in their mules for green house gas emitters, but so what. There will still be another granola for everyone.

If There is Anyone On this Earth Who Knows What a Perfect Cupcake is, it will be DylanY

Copied verbatim from http://milque-toast.blogspot.com/

The Latest from Milquetoast

In search of 'Wichcraft's cupcake Posted: 18 Feb 2008 11:23 AM CST Perhaps number two on the List of Things That Irritate me is the "secret recipe." (Number one on the list is the non-recipe recipe; that is, telling someone how you made something but intentionally leaving out key ingredients or parts of the process. Number one is worse than number two because it's both disingenuous and selfish, whereas number two is just selfish.) Certainly everyone has a right to a secret; I'm not disputing that. But, one of my moral axioms is that one should always share knowledge with others that furthers the development of humanity, recipes included. If you have a great brownie recipe, spread it far and wide, for by doing so, you may spare many generations bad brownies. Yes, I suppose if one is in the business of baking those brownies, perhaps then one wouldn't share the recipe, although even then I would make an argument in favor of it. Those who don't cook a lot are often surprised to find out that published recipe books are often wrong or misleading. One could make a hundred chocolate cakes from a hundred baking books and still not wind up with a perfect chocolate cake; in fact, many of those recipes might wind up being wrong in the same way, because there are actually very few writers that really attempt to perfect their recipes. A corollary: commercial chefs know a lot of things that aren't published in any book. There is a pantheon of knowledge that is simply never or rarely shared. I have inifinite respect to those rare individuals who are both at the top of their craft and are also willing to share with others. If you are both excellent and generous, you are a free spirit in the Nietzschean sense. Which brings me to cupcakes. For a number of years, I have had a mild obsession with the cream filled chocolate cupcake at 'Wichcraft. In 2005, I wrote on Chowhound: "Cream filled chocolate cupcake at 'Wichcraft Visiting from LA - I had an interesting food day today in New York - most of it serendipitous. My initial plan was to have a falafel and lentil soup at Rainbow Falafel on 17th street (I ultimately did, and it was good). On the way, I passed through the farmer's market at Union Square and then 'Wichcraft around the corner.I found the sandwiches at 'Wichcraft fine, but not memorable. However, their cream filled chocolate cupcake was simply incredible. It's not a sweet cupcake, but rather an extremely intense, moist dark chocolate cake (not of the flourless ilk, thankfully) abstemiously filled with lightly sweetened cream, topped with a thin coating of dark chocolate ganche. Memorable. I'd love the recipe if it's been published." There were no responses to my question. I searched around for recipes by Karen De Masco, 'Wichcraft's pastry chef, and found a few things, including a very wonderful peanut butter sandwich cookie. But no cupcakes. Last week I was in New York and had a 'Wichcraft cupcake for lunch. I was inspried to ask again on Chowound: "Chocolate cake recipe like the one in 'Wichcraft's chocolate cupcake 'Wichcraft (locations in SF and New York and possibly elsewhere) has about the best chocolate cupcake I've ever had. It's sort of a very upscale creme filled hostess cupcake. The cake itself has the following characteristics: very moist, fine grained and soft (so I am guessing the butter and flour are mixed directly, a characteristic of fine grained soft cakes), extremely dark and chocolatey. It's quite a dense cake, but it's clearly a cake- the flour is very evident. It almost melts in your mouth. It tastes like it is made with quite high quality chocolate, like a Valrhona. Anyone have a cake recipe that sounds like this?" To my surprise, a reply came back a few days later from a poster named MatthewG: " Dylan, Here is a little treat from your friends at ‘wichcraft. The recipe comes compliments of Karen DeMasco, Pastry Chef at craft and craftbar, who originally developed this delicious dessert for us. Enjoy! ‘wichcraft cupcakes (aka devil’s food cake cupcakes) Yield: 36 cupcakes 1 ½ cups cocoa powder1 ¼ cups warm water 1 ½ cups cake flour1 ½ cups All-Purpose flour1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder1 ½ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon salt 1 stick + 2 tablespoons butter3 ½ cups dark brown sugar1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 3 eggs 1 ¼ cup buttermilk Whisk together cocoa and water to make a paste. Sift dry ingredients together. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time followed by cocoa paste. Once combined, alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk. Place 24 paper cupcake liners into muffin tins. Fill the liners up to ½-inch from the top and bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes, turning after the first 12 minutes. Cake should be firm to the touch and when the center is inserted with a knife, it should come out clean. Cream filling 1 ½ cups heavy cream¼ cup confectioner’s sugar½ teaspoon vanilla extract In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, whip all of the ingredients to soft peak. Ganache frosting 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate½ cup corn syrup¾ cup heavy cream In a saucepot, bring the heavy cream and corn syrup to a boil. In the meantime, with a serrated knife, chop the chocolate into uniform small pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Once the heavy cream and syrup have come to a boil, pour over the chocolate and mix until combined and all chocolate has melted. Assembly Fill a piping bag with a small round tip with the Cream Filling. Insert a paring knife through the cupcake liner into the bottoms of each cupcake making an opening big enough to insert the pastry bag tip. Slowly squeeze a bit of whipped cream into cupcake until you feel some resistance.* To frost, dip each cupcake into the warm Ganache Frosting. Swirl them so that top is covered. Set aside to let cool and harden. *Overfilling causes the cupcake to split or the top to pop off." I was extremely impressed that MatthewG took the time to respond to my question, and in great detail. I'm looking forward to making these cupcakes for my birthday next week. And Karen De Masco - you are a true free spirit. I hope you write a book one day.

A Picture That I Would Post More if It Wouldn't Look Like I Had a Problem with These Guys

Fidel Announces his 'Retirement'

WTF?!?

Slum Gothic?

http://www.slumgothic.co.uk/

Slum Gothic is a characterisation of the architectural style of the former Church of St. John the Divine in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, UK

Slumgothic is the operating system for x-church

x-church is a space where visual arts projects and other things happen

The space is run in the spirit of
I could, you could, we could... do... whatever

Whatever includes artist residencies, teenage sessions with artists, performing arts club with 30 local kids, National Allotment Week, karaoke... whatever

Contact Marcus
0790 877 1107
info@slumgothic.co.uk

Marcus must be a lucky guy.

If You're Going to Commit Fraud; Go Big 'Rogue trader to cost SocGen $7bn'

A billion here, a billion there and it starts adding up:

French bank Societe Generale says it has uncovered "massive" fraud by a Paris-based trader which resulted in a loss of 4.9bn euros ($7.1bn; £3.7bn).

More info on a new Nick Leeson here.

Only in Amerca: 'bigger than a Walmart' and in America, Texas no less, that's big

Steve Allen points to the spot in the sky where he first saw the U.F.O. in Stephenville, Texas. He estimated that it was “bigger than a Wal-Mart.” (Photo: Jessica Horton/Stephenville Empire-Tribune, via AP)

More here:

Best of Paxman

What I Love About Britain; A Public Debate About the Quality of M&S Underwear

For the English and Anglophiles in general Jeremy Paxman is the model of a great interviewer, never suffering fools gladly on Newsnight. And like most Englishmen, not only does he put on his underwear on one leg at a time, he buys his pants at Marks and Spencer. Paxman is not, however, pleased with the quality of Mark's current offerings.

"Their pants no longer provide adequate support," he was quoted as saying after an e-mail to the company was leaked.

Socks were "wearing out much more quickly" than before, the star added.

"I've noticed that something very troubling has happened," he told the newspaper.

"There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support.

"The other thing is socks. Even among those of us who clip our toenails very rigorously, they appear to be wearing out much more quickly on the big toe."

So far, the story has been covered in The Sun, The Guardian, and the BBC to name three. The fact that this could be an issue of public debate -- as it has become -- is what I love about Britain.

Paxman in all his glory:

A Nutbar Without Question But A Great Chess Player Nonetheless

I thought this NYT article put it well. Everything Fischer did was controversial, but we can say one thing of him: he put Iceland on the map.

Office meets 300

Some Countries will do Anything for a Free Breakfast

Syria Attends Mideast Peace Talks For Free Continental Breakfast

ANNAPOLIS, MD—"We are here in the interest of peace," said a member of the Syrian delegation, also noting the availability of free milk, tea, and assorted juices.

You Have to Admit, This Was Funny: Gizmodo messes up CES 2008 with TV-B-Gone

A TV-Begone would be a lot of fun. Though I pity the poor geek who they suspect of raining on their parade. Grown men in front of $8,000 plasmas learning that they are not the only ones with the remote a pretty site do not make.

Number of Google Results for "Died in a Blogging Accident' as of Saturday Evening: 'About 275,000' Try it!

Try it!

From the Register, 'Polish teen derails tram after hacking train network'

LBJ Orders a Pair of Pants

Went out to lunch today with JS and SBS and the subject of Lyndon B. Johnson came up. This in itself was uninteresting as the topic of LBJ was inevitable. What was odd, however, was that the two discussions of LBJ concerned and his relation to pants. My story concerned the eloquence of the below order. SBS's concerned the peculiar fact that when ever LBJ had the opportunity -- Air Force One, Camp David, a hotel room in the middle of Texas no-where -- LBJ would remove his pants or as the British would say, trousers. For our concerned British readers, there is no evidence that LBJ ever let his pants, in the British sense, down.

Please note the burp around 2:30.

President Johnson orders pants from Joe Haggar.
Aug. 9, 1964

Listen

Operator: Go ahead sir

LBJ: Mr. Haggar?

JH: Yes this is Joe Haggar

LBJ: Joe, is your father the one that makes clothes?

JH: Yes sir - we're all together

LBJ: Uh huh. You all made me some real lightweight slacks, uh, that he just made up on his own and sent to me 3 or 4 months ago. There's a light brown and a light green, a rather soft green, a soft brown.

JH: Yes sir

LBJ: and they're real lightweight now and I need about six pairs for summer wear.

JH: yes sir

LBJ: I want a couple, maybe three of the light brown kind of a almost powder color like a powder on a ladies face. Then they were some green and some light pair, if you had a blue in that or a black, then I'd have one blue and one black. I need about six pairs to wear around in the evening when I come in from work

JH: yes sir

LBJ: I need...they're about a half a inch too tight in the waist.

JH: Do you recall sir the exact size, I just want to make sure we get them right for you

LBJ: No, I don't know - you all just guessed at 'em I think, some - wouldn't you the measurement there?

JH: we can find it for you

LBJ: well I can send you a pair. I want them half a inch larger in the waist than they were before except I want two or three inches of stuff left back in there so I can take them up. I vary ten or 15 pounds a month.

JH: alright sir

LBJ: So leave me at least two and a half, three inches in the back where I can let them out or take them up. And make these a half an inch bigger in the waist. And make the pockets at least an inch longer, my money, my knife, everything falls out - wait just a minute.

Operator: Would you hold on a minute please?

[conversation on hold for two minutes]

LBJ: Now the pockets, when you sit down, everything falls out, your money, your knife, everything, so I need at least another inch in the pockets. And another thing - the crotch, down where your nuts hang - is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh because they cut me, it's just like riding a wire fence. These are almost, these are the best I've had anywhere in the United States,

JH: Fine

LBJ: But, uh when I gain a little weight they cut me under there. So, leave me , you never do have much of margin there. See if you can't leave me an inch from where the zipper (burps) ends, round, under my, back to my bunghole, so I can let it out there if I need to.

JH: Right

LBJ: Now be sure you have the best zippers in them. These are good that I have. If you get those to me I would sure be grateful

JH: Fine, Now where would you like them sent please?

LBJ: White House.

JH: Fine

LBJ: Now, uh, I don't guess there is any chance of getting a very lightweight shirt, sport shirt to go with that slack, is there? That same color?

JH: We don't make them, but we can have them made up for you.

LBJ: If you might look around, I wear about a 17, extra long.

JH: Would you like in the same fabric?

LBJ: Yeah I sure would, I don't know whether that's too heavy for a shirt.

JH: I think it'd be too heavy for a shirt.

LBJ: I sure want the lightest I can, in the same color or matching it. If you don't mind, find me somebody up there who makes good shirts and make a shirt to match each one of them and if they're good, we'll order some more.

JH: Fine

LBJ: I just sure will appreciate this, I need it more than anything. And uh, now that's a..about it. I guess I could get a jacket made outta that if I wanted to, couldn't I?

JH: I think that - didn't Sam Haggar have some jackets made?

LBJ: Yeah you sent me some jackets some earlier, but they were way too short. They hit me about halfway down my belly. I have a much longer waist. But I thought if they had material like that and somebody could make me a jacket, I'd sent them a sample to copy from.

JH: Well I tell you what, you send us this, we'll find someone to make it

LBJ: - ok

JH: We'll supply the material to match it

LBJ: Ok, I'll do that. Uh now, how do I - can you give this boy the address because I'm running to a funeral and give this boy the address to where we can send the trousers - don't worry, you'll get the measurements out of them and add a half an inch to the back and an give us couple of an inch to the pockets and a inch underneath to we can let them out.

JH: What you 'd like is a little more stride in the crotch

LBJ: Yeah that's right. What I'd like is to give me a half a inch more then leave me some more. Ok here he is.

JH: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the others

Listen

Life is (on occasion) a Beach

I know that there are those out there that hang on every word that this blog publishes. To them, I apologize. We were nearly two weeks stateside without a computer. For those who would like to see what we were up to, do check out our internet vanity here. One thing we did happen to notice, even without a PC is that it would appear there is an election in the works.

Yes. We're back from Florida!

Yes. We're back from Florida, where you don't need a sun bed, though the effect is often the same.

Swimming With the Dolphins

I am not sure how many people read this blog, but for those who do, the blog is going on holiday until the 9th as we're off to Florida. Hee, hee.

Deluge: A Bittorrent client that "claims" to outsmart Rogers

Rogers' internet subscribers have always been somewhat jealous of their Bell Sympatico brethren when it comes to downloading Bittorrent files as Bell is much less nasty when it comes to filtering Torrent traffic than is Rogers. (And yes, there are legitimate reasons to downloading Torrent files. New Linux distros... well, that's all I can think of.) But the new client Deluge claims to get around all of Roger's machinations. My experience, so far, has been positive, though the client (and they say as much on the site) is a little buggy in its Windows incarnation.

They're Making my Old Residence Co-Ed, Officially

The penis was erected by first-year student Grayson Lee, 18, during Toronto's first snowfall last month.

"I was stressed from exams and looking for something to give everyone a laugh," Lee said. "I did it in the middle of the night. It lasted a couple of days. Someone pushed it over but I rebuilt it. Then they sent a bulldozer ..."

You can read the full story here.

Hat tip: Ms. Balfe.

GS, former inmate of Gatehouse, has pointed out that Mr. Lee's excuse that he erected the snow penis because he was stressed while having a certain plausibility for snow penis Mark I, but becomes significantly less plausible with the two subsequent snow peni. Everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame and no doubt Mr. Warhol would have loved the fame that Mr. Lee is presently enjoying.

What Are You Thinking Obama?

Saudi king 'pardons rape victim'

While the headline says it all, it doesn't quite capture the absurdity or the sickeningly topsy turvy culture in which the sentence, 'Saudi king pardons rape victim' could be intelligible.

Great Sleuthing: WikiStyle

By MICHAEL MELIA

Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --

U.S. military personnel at Guantánamo Bay called Fidel Castro a transsexual and defended the prison for terrorism suspects in anonymous Web postings, an Internet group that publishes government documents said Wednesday.

The group, Wikileaks, tracked Web activity by service members with Guantánamo e-mail addresses and also found they deleted prisoner identification numbers from three detainee profiles on Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia that allows anyone to change articles.

Julian Assange, who led the research effort, said the postings amount to propaganda and deception.

This is the American government speaking to the American people and to the world through Wikipedia, not identifying itself and often speaking about itself in the third person, Assange said in a telephone interview from Paris.

Army Lt. Col. Ed Bush, a prison camps spokesman, said there is no official attempt to alter information posted elsewhere but said the military seeks to correct what it believes is incorrect or outdated information about the prison.

Bush declined to answer questions about the Castro posting.

Assange said that in January 2006, someone at Guantánamo wrote in a Wikipedia profile of the Cuban president: Fidel Castro is an admitted transexual, the unknown writer said, misspelling the word ``transsexual.

The U.S. has no formal relations with Cuba and has maintained its base in the southeast of the island over the objections of the Castro government.

Comments on news stories were posted by people using apparently fictitious names to news sites -- and were prepared by the Guantánamo public affairs office, according to Wikileaks. A comment on a Wired magazine story about a leaked Guantánamo operations manual that was recently posted on the Wikileaks Web site urged readers to learn about Guantánamo by going to the public affairs Web site, adding that the base is ``a very professional place full of true American patriots.

Assange's group could not specifically identify who from Guantánamo made about 60 edits to Wikipedia entries on topics that included not only the prison but also subjects such as football, cars and television programs.

It was sixty years ago today: The Birth of Sandstate

Ye Olde Vacuum Tube: We Will Keep the Valve Fires Burning



It was sixty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the amp to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile.
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years,
Sgt. Pepper's Transistor Club Band.
--All apologies.

Sixty years ago, on Dec. 16, 1947, three physicists at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., built the world's first transistor. William Shockley, John Bardeen and William Brattain had been looking for a semiconductor amplifier to take the place of the vacuum tubes that made radios and other electronics so impossibly bulky, hot and power hungry. They were so instantly certain they'd found their answer that they didn't speak a word of it to anyone for six months, until they could experiment further and apply for patents.

Now This is What I call A Recruitment Ad: HT AS

'Culture not behind girl's death: brother.' The Mind Reels

'Culture not behind girl's death: brother.'

A spokesman for the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) said he is dubious of opinions that the girl's death resulted from a clash of cultures.

"Teen rebellion is something that exists in all households in Canada and is not unique to any culture or background," CAIR-CAN's Sameer Zuberi said in an interview. "Domestic violence is also not unique to Muslims."

The death of Aqsa "was the result of domestic violence, a problem that cuts across Canadian society and is blind to color or creed," echoed Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association.

Fair enough, but last time I looked, kids across the nation were not being murdered by their father's for taking off their toques when they arrived at school

My Kind of Fun: Boeing's 12,000lb chemical laser set to fry targets from aircraft

The installation of the high-energy laser shows that the ATL program continues to make tremendous progress toward giving the war fighter a speed-of-light, precision engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "Next year, we will fire the laser at ground targets, demonstrating the military utility of this transformational directed energy weapon.

Will also help control the spread of malaria in the third world in a cost efficient by the instantaneous and precision vaporisation of mosquitoes carrying the disease, a Boeing spokesman did not say.

Who Says the Simpsons isn't Derivative; Pig Over Battersea Power Station

An SAS marksman is apparently on hand to bring the pig down should it get ideas above its station and try to embark on a high flying career.

You can watch the pig in all its glory here.

A 5 Megabyte Hard Drive With Vacuum Tubes in 1956 Could Be Yours for $3200 a Month

Lord Tubby Gets All That He Deserves? I Don't Think So

I can ‘t seem sleep tonight.

(Oh, that was just the paper hitting the door. I think I will wait a bit to retrieve it.)

Of course I am not alone in my insomnia. But rarely do I knowingly (I presume anyway) share my sleeplessness with a Lord, as today, as everyone knows, is the day that Lord Black of Crossharbour receives his sentencing.

I would like to note I have always admired Conrad Black (and still do to a degree).

I admired Black’s books – and I am still of the opinion that the first part of his autobiography A Life in Progress and his biography of Duplessis are great books that will stand the test of time. I am not alone in this. Despite what people say about the man, the books have always been favorably reviewed.

Black was not however without his detractors and in a very juvenile way I always chalked this up to that peculiarly made in Canada jealously that has always dogged those in Canada – other than, say, my un-idols Michael Lewis or David Suzuki – who have taken a significant place on the world stage.

And I have also always thought that Chrétien (or Crouton as the long missed Frank had it and who Black secretly funded even though they coined the term Tubby for him) who is no doubt reading this morning’s papers, along with many others, with a peculiarly self-satisfied sense of ‘I told you so’ way) was being nothing more than vindictive when he invoked the long forgotten law that forbid Canadians to sit in the House of Lords for it has always been a perk of The Telegraph’s proprietor, quite often Canadian, to take a seat among the insufferable in pursuit of the inedible. Now, I imagine Crouton is feeling smug.

Today, most likely however, the Lord of Crossharbour – incidentally, where Louise and I lived for a time with a view of The Telegraph, and incidentally The Financial Times’ printing plant off West Ferry Road—will learn how long he is to spend in jail. Black’s detractors, like Crouton, will feel vindicated.

For me, though, it will be a sad vindication.

(At 63 years of age, or any age for that matter, going to jail – or gaol – cannot be a comforting thought.)

All that said, while Black certainly did not obey the spirit of the US Security laws, I still do not quite understand how he broke them. All was noted in the very fine print of the public filings and all was signed off by a board who, I do admit, ought to have been a bit more careful. In any event, what did Messrs Kissinger and Perle know about a balance sheet anyway. Perhaps I am just being pigheaded. It wouldn't be the first or the last time.

Black’s misfortune, it seems to me, was to be born in the wrong century. Had he ran his business in the 19th Century or distinguished himself on the battlefields of' the 18th (where I imagine he fancied himself) his ‘crimes’ would neither have been noted nor even considered as such.

I did get to meet Mr. Black one on one in his two story office at the top of Canary Wharf. I asked to meet him (with no reason) and he agreed to meet me. I mentioned in passing that

Encounter

magazine, which had recently folded, owed me about 6 issues. He wryly countered they owed him a lot more.... It was only later pointed out to me that he had been floating Encounter during its last days.

I would only add that in the days of the miserable Bora Bora trip, Hollinger International was trading at $12 a share. Sun Times Media Inc. (Hollinger by another name) is now trading for less than a dollar. I can’t but think this was not Tweedy Brown’s intention.

JPK (prescient as always) has pointed out the revolting nature of the post below with this gem from The Onion

How Can We Raise Awareness In Darfur Of How Much We're Doing For Them?

What amazes me about 'The Onion' is that while the voice is always the same -- deader than deadpan -- and the form identical -- sardonic as all hell -- it's always funny (in a sick sort of way).

Let Them Eat One Laptop Per Child

None too keen on the author, but I think Mr. Alternate Keyboard has it right on this one.

Soloing the Atlantic in a Row Boat: 'We had the kids first'

December 8 2007

Paul phoned home on his satellite phone. He has had a tough week at sea. He has been very nauseated but this is improving. The waves and wind have made living difficult. It's been too rough to light the stove and water making is difficult also. We could hear the waves splashing over the boat. Paul said "this is not about a race this is about survival"but followed this up with "how many are behind me". Dolphins are following along and a sea turtle has taken a liking to his cleaning brush.

Difficult to believe but true. The above is from the blog of Paul Attalla, a friend of the family, crossing the Atlantic by himself in a Row Boat. He wanted to take the family dog but his father put his foot down.

Dalton48 has both shown us that I have it right and provided us a translation of the legend

Black - Agrarian Party

Magenta - Citizen's Power

Cyan - Democratic Party of Russia

Purple - Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF)

Burgundy - Union of Right-Wing Forces

Green - Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia

Light Blue - Just Russia (as in justice)

Red - Patriots of Russia

Aquamarine (?) - United Russia

Putin Supporter Turnout v. Turnout by Supporters of Other Candidates

If I understand the above graph correctly -- and I stand to be corrected -- the blue dots show the percentage of Putin supporters that showed up for the last election. Each dot represents a single voting district. All other coloured dots show the percentage of supporters for other candidates that, supposedly, could not be bothered to bundle up to vote. Absolute numbers of supporters are not shown. I am not saying that the percentage of voters who arrived at the polls for each candidate ought to be perfectly equal, but certainly -- if everything during the last election was on the up and up -- the correlation ought to have been much, much closer.

The Chinese have Successfully Photographed the moon with their new Lunar Orbiting Spacecraft but had to add a Crater?

Now this is an odd story. Last week, the Chinese showed off a new high resolution photography of the Moon from their new Lunar Orbiter. Loons -- less than eager to give the Chinese credit -- quickly called foul. Further examination by the eagle eyed revealed that the photo was a new one-- the Sun shone from a different angle than the 40 year old Nasa photo that these moonies claimed the photo was taken from -- but there was something a little odd. The Chinese had added a crater with Photoshop? So the picture is (sort of) legit? Realer than the real thing?

Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.

Reporters Expose Airport Security Lapses By Blowing Up Plane

Headline from Today's Toronto Star: 'The wine, the limos and the bunny suits'

Unfortunately, the storywhich follows fails to live up to expectations.

First 100 Domains Registered (TOAD.COM anyone?): Where are they Now?

SYMBOLICS.COM
BBN.COM
THINK.COM
MCC.COM
DEC.COM
NORTHROP.COM
XEROX.COM
SRI.COM
HP.COM
BELLCORE.COM
IBM.COM
SUN.COM
INTEL.COM
TI.COM
ATT.COM
GMR.COM
TEK.COM
FMC.COM
UB.COM
BELL-ATL.COM
GE.COM
GREBYN.COM
ISC.COM
NSC.COM
STARGATE.COM
BOEING.COM
ITCORP.COM
SIEMENS.COM
PYRAMID.COM
ALPHACDC.COM
BDM.COM
FLUKE.COM
INMET.COM
KESMAI.COM
MENTOR.COM
NEC.COM
RAY.COM
ROSEMOUNT.COM
VORTEX.COM
ALCOA.COM
GTE.COM
ADOBE.COM
AMD.COM
DAS.COM
DATA-IO.COM
OCTOPUS.COM
PORTAL.COM
TELTONE.COM
3COM.COM
AMDAHL.COM
CCUR.COM
CI.COM
CONVERGENT.COM
DG.COM
PEREGRINE.COM
QUAD.COM
SQ.COM
TANDY.COM
TTI.COM
UNISYS.COM
CGI.COM
CTS.COM
SPDCC.COM
APPLE.COM
NMA.COM
PRIME.COM
PHILIPS.COM
DATACUBE.COM
KAI.COM
TIC.COM
VINE.COM
NCR.COM
CISCO.COM
RDL.COM
SLB.COM
PARCPLACE.COM
UTC.COM
IDE.COM
TRW.COM
UNIPRESS.COM
DUPONT.COM
LOCKHEED.COM
ROSETTA.COM
TOAD.COM
QUICK.COM
ALLIED.COM
DSC.COM
SCO.COM
GENE.COM
KCCS.COM
SPECTRA.COM
WLK.COM
MENTAT.COM
WYSE.COM
CFG.COM
MARBLE.COM
CAYMAN.COM
ENTITY.COM
KSR.COM
NYNEXST.COM

Wet Snow and PC Problems have alas kept you Hanging on the Edge of your PC desks

Entire Blogosphere Stunned By Blogger's Special Weekend Post

NEW YORK—In what is being called a seminal moment in Internet history, a rare weekend post by 25-year-old blogger Ben Tiedemann on his...

No Blackberries (yet) in Russia, no Iphones (yet) in Canada

The reason: lucre.

Blackberries soon to be available in the CCCP; Felix Would Be Proud

Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:35 PM GMT147

In October, MTS launched the BlackBerry in Ukraine, first among the twelve former Soviet Union states. In Russia, corporate clients are able to use the BlackBerry devices with foreign SIM-cards via roaming.

Apart from Russia and Ukraine, MTS, controlled by services conglomerate Sistema (SSAq.L: Quote, Profile, Research), operates in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus.

Vimpelcom, owned by Russian Alfa Group and Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research), services clients in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Georgia.

A Vimpelcom spokeswoman said the company had been cleared to ship 1,050 of the 8700 model, versions of which RIM (RIMM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has been selling for several years.

MTS spokeswoman said the company had been allowed to ship around 1,000 phones. Shamolin said MTS would sell in Russia all BlackBerry models available on the market.

The companies will be able to start shipping the handsets after they are certified by Russian regulators.


(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Anastasia Teterevleva; writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by David Cowell)

I love a number of things about this story. First, that there could be a company called Vimplecom. (Try pronouncing that in the style of Dr. Evil.) Second, Blackberries -- surely a device that no self-respecting kleptocrat could be seen without -- have so far been unavailable for 'legal' sale in the CCCP, I mean, Russia. Why? Because the KGB, I mean, the FAS, were unable to eavesdrop on Blackberry to Blackberry traffic (listening in on Blackberry to something other than a Blackberry was never a problem.) Third, that Putin no longer feeling uncomfortable at the prospect of an email exchange that he could not be a party to (did the Lizard or the Basilisk turn over the codes or did FAS crack the network themselves, I am betting the former) finally allowed his subjects the opportunity to thumb their mistresses, so to speak, during important meetings. And lastly, that the Ochrana, perhaps the model for all future intelligence agencies, the author of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which began under Peter the Great is still very much in beezness. Russia may change its name, its spots, form of government, leader, and choice of motor car, but it will always remain Russia. I would almost like to say that there is something comfortable in that notion, but for the tragic fact that most Russians (and have no choice in the matter) have no where to go.

True or False?

The photo is what it appears to be: Hawaiian Spam Musubi. That said, I am not sure this this could be true.

A favorite Hawaiian way to eat Spam is in the form of a musubi (pronounced moo-soo-bee, with no accent). It is a fried slice of spam on rice pressed together to form a small block, then wrapped with a strip of seaweed. A special kitchen gadget, known as the Spam Musubi Maker, is responsible for the proliferation of this treat. It is a special plexiglas mold with the outline of a single Spam slice. The Spam musubi is eaten as a sandwich, and it is perhaps the Island's favorite "to go" or snack food. Spam musubi is literally everywhere in Hawaii, including local convenience stores, grocery stores, school cafeterias, and even at the zoo. Eating a Spam musubi seems to serve as a rite of passage for newcomers anxious to attain "local" status.

Seems rather a waste of the rice, but if your appetite has been whetted click here.

This 1949 Soviet Glimpse into to Immediate Future Out to Embarrass Ridley Scott

Toronto in 2056? (That's the CN Tower isn't it?)

The above (1956) is from an amazing collection of Soviet Block art here: