"A Softer World" -- an ultra hip web comic I occasionally enjoy

Let me explain the title.

I ran into A Softer World web comic a few months ago, and I now check it diligently. Not because it's always funny to me. In fact, it's rarely funny to me, it's just not targeted to my demographic. Is that the generation Y that they're shooting for? I don't know. It often is a depiction of ennui through surrealism. I'm not nearly young enough, hip enough, or cynical enough to enjoy many of the pieces. But I kind of feel like I'm keeping tabs on the kids by reading it.

However, when it hits I really, really like it. Today (in the past, remember I wrote this a few days ago for ya'll, before I took off) it hit.

Enjoy a new occasionally humorfull web experience,

Bp

One of my favorite words: defenestrate

Here's a recent dictionary.com word of the day missive:

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb:

To throw out of a window.

Some of his apparent chums . . . would still happily defenestrate him if they caught him near a window.
-- Andrew Marr, "No option bar the radical one", Independent, July 5, 1994

I defenestrated a clock to see if time flies!
-- Lane Smith, quoted in "Who's News", Time for Kids, September 25, 1998

A woman, driven to fury by the manner in which her lover prefers to lavish his attention on a match on the telly rather than her, starts to throw his possessions out of the window. He's finally moved to stop her when she tries to defenestrate his new Puma boots.
-- Jim White, "Budgets substantial enough to buy most of the clubs in the Endsleigh", Independent, April 6, 1996

Defenestrate is derived from Latin de-, "out of" + fenestra, "window." The noun form is defenestration.

How awesome is that -- a single word for throwing something out a window. Turns out, it's one of Stud Farmhand's favorites as well. Go figure, birds of a feather.

Enjoy truly concise opportunities in language,

Bp

Reminder, I'm not actually here

Just a quick reminder, if you aren't getting responses to your comments, it's because I'm out of town until at least the 5th of July. I will respond to as many comments as I can muster when I get back.

So -- here's a picture of an elephant to remind you.

(you know... because they have such good memories)

Enjoy the intartubes and the connections they create,

Bp

What it looks like to crack open a beehive in a house wall

Here is a T.V. interview of some folks who had an enormous bee hive inside a wall of their house. They noticed the hive when the honey started seeping through the wall. You can see the size of the combs when the beekeepers are removing them -- very impressive. Apparently, all it took was a little gap in a bad siding job to give the bees the entrance they needed to go to work.

The owners were cool, and made sure the bees weren't destroyed.

Enjoy food building up inside your home unannounced,

Bp

Town of Ron Paulist separatists?

Oh my, this should be interesting. Apparently a group of ardent Ron Paul devotees are creating their own little town in Texas. Nothing like folks gathering together in small, opinionated groups and shunning outsiders. Always healthy for a society (not).

Ron Paul doesn't support the idea.

I can understand their frustration, and hell I think we all do some version of walling ourselves off from the culture at large by having our tight social circles, but I did find this article a bit worrisome. The analysis by The Economist author has some interesting points and is worth reading.

Enjoy everyone's preparations for resistance,

Bp

Songs Stuck in [The Wife's] Head series: Modern World, by Anouk

The Wife, during her brief stint at home this weekend, was listening to this video quite a bit. She digs it not only for the sound, but especially for the lyrics, which may surprise you with their saltiness at times. I think ya'll might enjoy it. Definitely not an artist I've heard of before today.



Enjoy a look into The Wife's musical tastes,

Bp

Little Dudes: actually, nanodudes

There is a quest to find the smallest living things. It seems that 100 nanometers is about as small as scientists have found for completely self-sufficient biological entities. Viruses can get smaller, but they cheat in the "are they living" department, because they cannot reproduce without other cells to parasitize and therefore aren't technically living beings.

The little tubule dudes in the picture to the right are being dubbed "Nanobes." They were discovered in ancient sandstones brought up during oil drilling in Western Australia may be the new smallest living thing. They run 20 - 150 nanometers in size, so are definitely the right size.

The problem lies in their life histories. It isn't known yet whether they are capable of reproducing on their own, for example. One problem is that at such small sizes, DNA really doesn't fit well inside the (potential) organism, nor the machinery for producing proteins (such as Ribosomes).

Some scientists are quite excited, and some are singularly unimpressed.

Whether these are in fact "little dudes" or not, they are something that will spawn a lot of research and probably open a lot of new doors for the microbiological sciences.

Enjoy science pushing the limits of what people are liable to give a shit about,

Bp

[via The Good Reverend; photo credit in linked NYT Science article]

Putin: Virile Vampire

The phrase grabbed me, and wouldn't let go. Vladmir Putin, the Virile Vampire, how awesome is that?



And the picture, topless with army fatigues on -- take that Bush and your codpiece-like flight-suit photo, you simply ain't no virile Vampire, no way, no how.

Bathe in the awesomeness of the Russian Press,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Parting shot: badass African Frog = little dude

Trichobatrachus is a African frog little dude that can puncture its own skin with its bones to produce claws. It's gruesome, but apparently effective, because there are at least 11 species that use this strategy.

This article on MSNBC calls them "Wolverine" frogs. Nice marketing guys. But I can say the article has some more nice pictures of the little dude for you to peruse, including an x-ray of the claw itself.

I'm going to finish packing, and I'll see ya'll in 12 days or so, but the posts will keep rocking on due to the amazingness that is Blogger.

Enjoy the sun finally arriving,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Testing this auto-posting option with a Monica Bellucci Picture and a LoLCat

Testing Testing, if all goes well these pictures will post tomorrow at 6:30 in the AM -- we shall see:






And -- The Wife's computer wallpaper and favorite LoLCat:



Enjoy using your reading public for guinea pigs,

BP

Too Cool -- the blog is going to post for me

I had noticed a conversation over at Astoria Oregon Rust, one of my favorite blogs, in which the author had mentioned he was setting his posts to go up at a certain time in the morning. I didn't know this was an option.

So, with summer vacations coming up and lots of time out of town, I decided to explore the option to see if I could keep the blog rolling while I was gone. Sure enough, I can write ahead of time and tell blogger when I'd like that particular post to publish. Awesome.

Although I'll be gone til the first week of July, ya'll should have at least a post a day the whole time. The only downside is no comments from yours truly until I return. I'm sure that'll break your heart.

So read away, I've got a few more posts to write to "cover my shift" while I'm gone.

Enjoy online publishing, in all its amateurish glory,

Bp

An alpha male on Beta-blockers -- R.I.P George Carlin

I grew up listening to Carlin on vinyl when my parents weren't home. I learned about "Toledo Window Box" and the 7 words you can't say on television from him. I never knew, or asked, if I was allowed to listen to these albums -- I just assumed I wasn't.

I used some of those lines throughout my elementary and high school careers. "If you're sick, go to the doctor, maan. It's not the smell it's the burning of my eyes!" Lots of mileage on those lines.

Thanks for the education, sir.





R.I.P. George.

Bp

The New Phone Books Are Here! The New Phone Books Are Here!

If you got the movie reference in the title, you just dated yourself.

I felt like Navin Johnson when I looked outside on trash day and saw our brand spanking new compost and recycling bins. They're huge, they're bright, they're shiny, and well-wheeled. My mind jumped to how much more recycling we could do each week, instead of holding over due to lack of room. And how much easier it's going to be to get rid of our non-compostable yard debris (well, non compostable without a big chipper that is).

Then I realized how intensely nerdy that was -- like bone-crushingly nerdy, and so so "Portland."

Man, it's a staggering feeling when you realize you are fitting perfectly into a stereotype. Chickens in the back yard, NE Portland home, garden and compost going -- and unadulterated excitement over expanded recycling ease. Yikes.

Enjoy the shame of self reflection,

Bp

There and Back Again, The Wife and Hanbleceya Camp '08

The Wife returned from her Hanbleceya yesterday safe and sound, happy, healthy and sun burned. For folks who don't know what that word up there means, here is a post where I talk a little bit about the Hanbleceya ceremony as performed by the Redwind family that we are a part of.

The first picture is The Wife heading out before the trip. Check out those fine digs eh? What can we say, it's not a fashion show. Anything you wear out there needs to be able to be torn and soot-smeared and rolled in dirt without concern.

This next picture is all her gear, which T. dubbed "The Mound of Adventure." Now this much stuff might seem excessive to folks if you're thinking about this as a camping trip. But it's far from a camping trip. For those 'going up on the hill' (the fasters) there is a bunch of ceremonial accoutrement that are needed. For those going out to support camp, there is a lot of comfort needed. This is more like a work camp than a camping trip -- many times you put in 12 - 14+ hour days taking care of all the things that need to happen, so you want a nice comfortable home base to rest your bones in afterwards.

"After" pictures aren't really necessary, as I can provide them with just a few words. For the Mound of Adventure, just roll everything around in a fine fine desert dust and add burrs to anything that's made of fabric. The Wife has a sunburned face and a smile that won't go away. Her eyes are ablaze from her experience, and she is more vibrant and healthier than I've seen her in years (which is saying something, she's never been a wilting lily). She's doing great.

Finally, I couldn't resist, is a picture of that finely worn-in knife sheath that The Wife acquired recently. Always the slave to fashion, she was the Belle of the Ball in that thing, and will be again at Sun Dance camp in a week or so.

Thinking Ahead, another XKCD comic

I have so many friends like this. Anyone else? Am I alone in this... is it just my crowd or something? [click for bigger, readable version]



Enjoy humor laced with sharp observation,

Bp

[from XKCD]

They're continuing to give Ron Paul airtime -- awesome

Although I couldn't support him for a presidential candidate, Ron Paul is still putting the truth out there about the Iraq war and the lunacy of most of our current governmental policy decisions. Here he is on MSNBC talking straight about Iraq and terrorism and the current state of the U.S.

They sure seem conciliatory to him. I don't get it. But, I am very pleased he's still out there throwing truth around and knocking down walls.

I will say that I disagree with him about it being inconsequential which candidate wins the next presidency. The real big machinations that drive me crazy and are ruinous won't necessarily change, (I.E. the federal reserve, Iraq war, corporate personhood, etc) but there still is a huge difference between Obama and Grampy McWar. My guy was Kucinich, but I will take Obama over Grampy ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

Enjoy slicing through the bologna,

Bp

Amazing photograph of a tornado

Believe it or not, no one was hurt during this twister.


Enjoy not being there when that happened, yikes,

Bp

[photo credit in NYT article]

More on the plant-to-petrol possibilities

A nice theme has developed this week: turning waste cellulose/plant material into fuel. The Good Reverend sent me this link about a startup that is using genetically modified E. Coli to turn waste cellulose into crude oil. It's got some big-oil people in on the project, and they're looking to have their first demonstration-scale plant running by 2010 and commercial one by 2011.

For you Carbon Counters out there, this way of producing fuel is actually carbon-negative. A nice side benefit.

What's so encouraging to me about technologies utilizing waste cellulose is that even cities would be able to provide a fuel digester with plenty of material -- paper, food waste, etc.

Enjoy what little tiny bugs can do for you,

Bp

[via Charlie's Diary]

Unexpected encounters with wild animals

This may be my favorite viral intarwebs video of the year. I have no back story on it, I'll be looking into that tomorrow to see what I can find, it's just awesome so I wanted to share it with ya'll.



Enjoy posts that are both totally random, and awesome,

Bp

[via Butternutjelly]

Invasive plants as potential biofuel sources

Anyone who has been to the South has seen Kudzu vine, it's everywhere. It's their version of the Pacific Northwest's blackberry epidemic.

So, it seems from this Discovery News article, that the roots (carbohydrate rich) are being tested for viability to produce biofuel. Since the roots are deep in the ground, I already doubt it will be enormously viable, especially as a cultivated crop.

The reason this caught my attention, however, was daydreaming a scenario. Ethanol production looks to be getting more and more efficient, as per this old post. When efficiency bumps up to the point where just organic cellulose is needed, then suddenly all that foliage on the top of the ground becomes good fodder to create fuel. As does any plant invasive species, like Japanese Knotweed, Scotch Broom, Canary Grass, and the ubiquitous Blackberries.

Just dreaming a bit about communities (municipalities) buying an ethanol digester and filling it with invasive plant cellulose. After all, producing more cellulose is what they specialize in -- they do it with amazing efficiency in our "waste" lands, as well as more productive land that would do best to be in agricultural production or returning back to a native habitat. The process of clearing land of invasives could produce fuel -- that's a nice thought.

Usual caveat as per Stud Farmhand: I do not suppose that this will replace petroleum fuels completely. Not by a longshot. I do, however, thing that diversification and de-localization of fuel sources is going to be absolutely required as petroleum products fade to nothing. This looks like a dreamable scenario to help the landing a bit.

I know some folks hate ethanol as a fuel, because it is hard on many types of motors. That will have to be addressed as well, but I'm sure it can be. I imagine additives, just like the ones that we used in our old V.W. bus when leaded fuel became outlawed in California. There was an additive to help out the valves that suddenly were getting so worn without lead in the gas.

Just daydreaming as I wake up is all.

Enjoy imagining helpful solutions,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

More talk of a Water run car -- this has an encouraging twist

So far, all the talk I've seen about water-run cars has centered around using distilled water to extend the life of an externally-charged battery system. Basically using the water as a battery for an electric car. It was always billed at "fuel" but really it was more like a battery.

I don't know about this new technology being presented in the video yet, but there is one huge element that's encouraging. It apparently would run on sea water. Now if that's true, we have something. We really have something.

If the water fuel has to be clean, drinkable water -- then I say the technology is useless to us. Water is the next oil, people are already feeling that -- no need to push that curve even further. But sea water as fuel, now we're talking.

I haven't done the research on this car, but wanted to present the video and ask anyone to check it out in more depth and report back.



Enjoy keeping in touch with claims of new fuel sources without getting all freaky about it,

Bp

[via media monarchy]

Reverse Graffiti -- the art of cleaning

Caught this post on the blog Cracked Window called Art from Filth. It is a video about a reverse graffiti artist named Moose, filmed by a great documentary film maker named Doug Pray. [a side note, Pray's newest release Surfwise looks fascinating]. I, like the author of Cracked Window, would love to see this take off in Portland. There are a ton of talented artists here, and plenty of social resistance, so I am betting it will start happening soon.

Here's the first video, featuring Moose:



Here's another video of reverse Graffiti in Paris, also with an arty take and cool music:



addendum: Through this post on inhabitat, I found out more information on the second video. Apparently this is an artist known as The Brazilian, and he's working in San Paolo. The authorities couldn't charge him with anything, so began cleaning up the tunnel. He just continued working on the other side of the traffic, which prompted them to clean that side of the tunnel -- and then every tunnel in the city.

Enjoy completely new forms of art provided for us by observant iconoclasts,

Bp

Tokin' with Lawrence Welk

This has been floating around the intartubes for a while now, but it came up in conversation with Stud Farmhand this morning, so I thought I'd make sure ya'll saw it.

Utterly surreal.



Enjoy folks assuming that any song with the "J" name in it is wholesome,

Bp

The Brass Lion -- instead of substance

I was going to write a post of substance, considering all the weighty things going on right this very moment in my life, and The Wife's too. But... the brain's still not firing on all cylinders. So, instead you get a link to the classiest pedaled vehicle I've ever laid my eyes upon -- the steampunk masterpiece Brass Lion recumbent trike.

Enjoy the art produced when people go way, way over the top,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Why you should vote republican

For many issues, there is almost no difference between the parties. For others, there are large, real differences. This video may help clarify some of these differences.



Enjoy enlightenment, even in our limited world,

Bp

I think I'll choose my own commencement speaker -- J.K. Rowling

I finish tomorrow. As happens with me, excitement is making it hard to sleep. I found this commencement speech by J.K. Rowling, and I've adopted it as my own. She's smart, patient, and humble and I thought I'd share her speech with ya'll. No dis to whomever is going to speak at the little Biology-only PSU commencement, I'm sure they'll be dandy.

See you on the other side,

Bp

The Fall -- if you are a film freak you'd better find it on a big screen

The Wife and I snuck off to a movie last night of her choosing -- and she chose very well. We saw The Fall, directed by Tarsem Singh.

It turns out we were going to a film, as opposed to a movie. A film, in that every image had resonance on multiple levels. Every shot was thought out, and vibrated off the screen if you let it. We both really enjoyed it.

The story itself is simple, if unexpectedly gritty toward the end. A suicidal man bonds with a little girl in a hospital, and gets her to steal for him. Not a huge pull there. But the relationship that develops is more interesting than one would expect.

And then there's the little girl. She's absolutely mesmerizing. She's cute beyond belief, but not in some Disney way. You have to see her, she grabs the screen with nearly every scene she's in.

If you are into over-the-top visuals, this movie is for you. For any of you unfortunate enough enough to see Singh's first movie The Cell, generally considered all glisten and no substance, consider this movie the best parts of that project (the outlandishly garish, beautiful dream imagery) with a better story line. Not a perfect movie, by any means, but so worth seeing I'll let you figure out the flaws on your own.

This is the first movie I've seen in over 8 years that I've considered buying [whups, maybe 7 years]. And I just might.

I'll close with a quote by Tasha Robinson, from her The A.V. Club review of this film, "It's the most glorious, wonderful mess put onscreen since Terry Gilliam's Brazil."

Oh, and I give it an A-.




Enjoy catching a good one once and a while,

Bp

Forgotten English -- cramp-ring

"A ring made of the hinge of a coffin is supposed to have the virtue of preventing the cramp."
-- Francis Grose's Provincial Glossary, 1787

[From: Jeffrey Kacirk Forgotten English 2008 Calendar: A Calendar of Vanishing Vocabulary and Folklore]

Enjoy finding out about new things that you're going to have to figure out how to get made for yourself someday,

Bp

Awesome new XKCD comic

Enjoy humor as your brains are dripping out of your ears on finals week,

Bp

[via the XKCD, a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language]

Native Oregon Carnivorous plants, and my friend The Marine

Here are a couple pictures of my beautiful Darlingtonia [looks like this is a Sarracenia actually, thanks for the heads up in the comments -- I'll keep the info on Darlingtonia up here regardless. Oh, and here is an awesome company Sarracenia Northwest, that has many carnivorous plants for sale], a carnivorous plant native to Oregon and California. My good friend The Marine, who sometimes posts here as Trappin' Pat, gave this to me out of his ever-increasing collection.

Darlingtonia are also known as Pitcher plans or Cobra lilies. I posted large pictures so you can see detail if you want to by clicking on the thumbnails of them. There is one pitcher open so far, the others are still maturing. And it's got a cool flower as well -- which is good to see since the pitchers are sometimes thought of as flowers, but really they are adapted leaves.

If you want to see them in the wild, there is a great wayside just North of Florence called the Darlingtonia State Natural Site. Here is another link from Planet Oregon on the wayside, and the Oregon State writeup about it.

My plan right now is to develop a dense shelf of potted carnivorous plants between my compost pile and my chicken run. They'll feast, it's going to be great. The Wife's got her orchids, I have my Darlingtonia.

ps/addendum: Forgot to mention, when I noticed that one of the pitchers was mature and open I peeked inside, and there already was an ant and a spider in there. It had only been open maybe a day or two -- too cool.

Enjoy bizarre plants and the loyalty they inspire,

Bp

So much to blog about!

Finals are over Thursday for me, and I expect a flood of posts at that time. My camera is backing up with photos to share, and the life is backing up with stories to tell.

I will be posting during study breaks.

Enjoy being flooded with coolness,

Bp

Leopard seal takes nature photographer under her wing

Leopard seals have always looked a bit sinister to me, despite their obvious beauty. Something about their eyes and teeth just look so wolf-like, and -- well carnivorous.
Here is an amazing multi-media presentation by Paul Nicklen, who is a nature photographer working for National Geographic. He talks about growing up on Baffin Island, his motivations to do this type of work, and finally about an relationship he developed with a huge Leopard Seal that seemed to decide he needed some training about hunting penguins. All the while there are beautiful arctic/antarctic wildlife pictures going. The pictures alone are worth the watch.

Trappin' Pat, I thought of you immediately.

Enjoy large carnivores deciding you need a leg-up in the world,

Bp

[photo credit Paul Nicklen; National Geographic; link via Neatorama]

The Thrill is Gone -- B.B. King and Gladys Knight

I forget how much classic performers like these kick butt until I bump into something like this. Thank goodness for the intartubes to keep these images and sounds kicking about. Another classic from Burt Sugarman's Midnight Express.



Enjoy remembering the giants,

Bp

Quote from the Fridge

This quote has been on our refrigerator for quite some time. It makes me deeply happy every time I read it.

There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in rejecting President Bush's claim that he had the inherent power to authorize the [wiretapping] program.


Enjoy the system attempting to correct itself,

Bp

Song stuck in my head series: Tricky, Black Steel

Tricky's cover of Black Steel was stuck in my head when I woke up this morning. This is a great treatment of an already great Public Enemy song. For the lyrics of the song, check out the "details" of this youtube post.




Enjoy songs about The Man, eloquently (and angrily) expressed,

Bp

Gigundo mussel photo

Very... tired... must... nap... before... class.

But here's a photo of the big mussel of the day, more pictures and such later on.

Enjoy getting out, even when it's ill-advised,

Bp

Mega low tides inspire truancy, quest for aphrodisiacs

I'm ditching a class tomorrow, because the tide is going to be SO DAMNED LOW. I can't resist the chance to go out and walk up to rocks that I've always admired from shore, check out the wildlife on the rocks, and gather up some mussels, sea vegetables, and razor clams. Just bought my clam gun, and I'm going to head out at 0-dark-hundred tomorrow morning, license in hand, bucket, knife, scissors, and gun in tow.

Of course most shellfish are considered aphrodisiacs -- I need that like I need a hole in the head, but I thought it would be good to mention. Be warned, Portland.

Enjoy geeking out so hard you miss class,

Bp

[photo via Wikicommons]

Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world

Another great Ted Talk. This time it's mycological superstar Paul Stamets, founder of the great company Fungi Perfecti, talking about mushrooms and how incredible they are. Not just as organisms in and of themselves, but as means to clean up hazardous waste, create soil, and generate medicines.

Despite using language that's heavy on my pet peeve list ("save the world" etc), this talk is very interesting. Note that he's going to get pretty sciency at some points, but just stick with it, he wraps it all back together by the end. You can definitely tell Stamets is one of the presenters that struggles with TED's 18-minute time limit.



Enjoy the endless ways that nature can help us help ourselves,

Bp

[via Patrick Gracewood]

Demetri Martin -- flip chart humor

The only appropriate response to a bummer situation -- a little load of humor. My friend Girl in Red Shoes tipped me off to this skit in the comments below. It's even funnier than the last, but then again I'm a visual person so I'm biased.



Enjoy compensatory humor usage,

Bp

Bee lightning strikes thrice -- time for research

As Guy predicted, there would be many more disappointments in my future with top bar beehives. I checked the beehive today, and no one's home. My big beautiful swarm I just collected left, after only 1 day.

Now it's time for some research -- that's a whole lot of effort to put in and not have any hives stay.

I know why the second colony left, but not the first or third.

I hear that there are "professional" beekeepers who are very enthused with the top bar hive and are starting to accumulate data on them. I'm going to (after finals) get a hold of some of these people and find out what the problem could be. I'll document my research on the blog. Time to get back to studying.

AFOFG baby,

Bp

Demetri Martin -- Sames and Opposites

So this Demetri Martin skit cracked me up. Sorry about the audio only, its still well worth the listen. An example:

A squirrel is a same as a can...

When there's a BB gun in my hand.

Enjoy listening to an audience slowly, steadily get a joke -- laughing louder as time goes on,

Bp

Took a quick study break, TO GATHER A SWARM!

I know, all caps is gauche, but I don't care. I just boxed my first wild swarm of honey bees and I'm pretty psyched.

Since I was on my own, I didn't document any of the process -- but if you want more of a visual than my little box there [click to get a better look at the little ladies], just refer to my archived post regarding gathering a swarm.

Actually, you have to do more than that. You have to imagine the same scene, but with me in a bee suit, and with scads less aplomb than the maestro demonstrated in that post.

But I did get the job done, and am very thankful for his mentorship.

The box is now on a front lawn, full of bees, gathering up the stragglers as night falls. Later tonight, when it's darker and colder, I'll go back, put a lid on it, and bring it to one of my back yard top-bar hives.

Will they stay? Will they abscond? Will I somehow mess this opportunity up? Only time will tell.

Enjoy getting a second chance,

Bp

Addendum: The bees are now in their hive in my back yard. When weighed before and after on a bathroom scale (highly scientific I know) the swarm weighs out at 5-8 lbs.!! That's much much larger than the 3lbs. per package I bought and lost. This is not one of my lost sets of girls -- the colony is much too big.

I'm very happy, now to monitor them to make sure they build right.

Forgotten English -- rough music

rough music: Rolling shot [cannon balls] about on the lower deck, and other discordant noises, when seamen are discontented, but without being mutinous.

--Admiral William Smyth's Sailor's Word Book, 1867

[From: Jeffrey Kacirk Forgotten English 2008 Calendar: A Calendar of Vanishing Vocabulary and Folklore]

Enjoy the various ways of expressing discontent, when a pirate,

Bp