Colbert outed (as a gamer geek)

Who knew -- the second half of the interview shows just how deeply Colbert is in gamer geekdom.

Colbert on Obrian
Uploaded by Fedquip

Enjoy finding more out about your favorite stars,

Bp

[via my Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

Turkey day dance party

The blog Butternutjelly has a tradition called the Friday Dance Party. This was last week's serving, which I'll be using for the Turkey Day Dance Party. That style of dance is called Hardstepping, and the kid rocks.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Enjoy little people rocking it,

Bp

Dan Savage on Anderson Cooper, no more mister nice gay

You know, I think discussions like this would be a whole lot easier if you took the whole word "marriage" out of the equation with regards to government. As I say repeatedly -- civil unions for all couples wanting those rights together, and "marriages" in churches. Boom, discussion over -- no "redefinition of marriage" argument, civil rights for all, and a nice clean separation of church and state.

Dan does a nice job here with the new motto "no more mister nice gay." He doesn't take it from the opponent in the discussion, and the video is worth watching for that alone.



Bp

The Limits of the Presidency

I'm starting a new label for the blog this morning: the Limits of the Presidency. W. and his team had limits, despite how we feel. They didn't repeal public education, or privatize social security, or invade Iran, or repeal Roe V. Wade. He had limits. Sometimes, it feels like they didn't have limits, but they did. And -- their team lost this election. So he only got to steal two.

Obama has limits now. Lots and lots of them. To be elected President, I'm absolutely positive you have to get in bed with most of the same powers that supported the last president. I'm not expecting miracle-working from this guy, quite the opposite. I'm expecting business-as-usual, with some bright spots.

I'll give the downer news first: it doesn't look like the Obama team is going to go after the Bushies for the very flagrant and obvious war crimes they committed. See this Truthout article on the subject.

On the bright side, it really looks like they will close Guantanamo. See this Washington Post article. That's huge. Very very huge.

So I'm going to keep my eye on this administration and continue to write letters and push and agitate and communicate for change, because to push at them is to push at the powers behind all the recent presidents.

This guy's not a messiah, nor is he the anti-christ (and there are VERY dedicated folks in both those camps, believe me). He's just another president that we have to keep honest.

Enjoy keepin' on keepin' on,

Bp

This squid really does look like an alien

The video below shows a Magnapinna squid, or "Bigfin" squid, that was filmed at a depth of over a mile and a half by a shell oil submersible. Tell me that awesome creature doesn't look like a space alien. Seriously. Here is a short National Geographic article on the sighting.



Enjoy new and movie-worthy animal sightings,

Bp

[via my Canukistani operative, "Yuri"]

Billboard apology for Prop. 8

A little something to prop up your faith in humankind -- just a bit. Here is the blog post over at San Diego:Dialed In for some writing on the subject, and the exact text if you can't read it off the photo.

Enjoy folks standing up against bigotry,

Bp

[via my Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

New post over at the Fur Shark blog: introducing the new kitties

It's Cat Sunday apparently. Check out the post over at Fursharks.

Enjoy introductions to new furry peoples,

Bp

Music Video -- Enur: Calabria featuring Natasja

So I was listening to the New Music Show on 94.7 Knrk on the way home from the Bond movie Thursday, and heard this dancehall song that I had to know the name of. I called in to the station and they told me it was called Calabria, by Enur. They also said I could listen to it and download it at Pampelmoose.com. I found it this morning.

I was surprised by two things. The first being that the video was so racy, it cracked me up. The second, that Natasja Saad, the reggae singer featured on their chart-making remix of this song (the one below) died in a car accident in Jamacia last year. That was sad news for a Saturday morning.

Warning: this video is gratuitously sexy and sexist in the same way as that Bennassi video I used to promote the humorous line of posts about how to hack voting machines in January this year. This made me realize that I had precedent for posting stuff like this -- so I'm just going for it. It's a sacrifice I make to bring you the music.

[ps: if you click on the video to go to Youtube, you can get the lyrics, such as they are, in the "details" section on the right]



Enjoy catchy new music finds,

Bp

Surrealist theater -- Palin and the turkeys

I don't know what to say about this except... Fellini-esque. Palin interviewed at a turkey farm. Just surreal.

[note: animal lovers probably shouldn't watch]



Enjoy not being either of these people,

Bp

[via my Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

Seen the new Bond yet?

First off, what did you think of the movie? I'm curious about people's opinions of this movie because I haven't been asking around much. Do tell.

I saw it last night with The Wife. I thought it was dandy. But, as we all know by now, I have serious "movie filters" and I had my patented "Bond filter" on. I needed it, but no overly much.

Action carries the movie, the plotline is thin but followable, and there are explosions and pretty ladies.

One thing I especially liked was that the new "bond girl" is a real character, with back story, and kicks some butt. I'd like to say more about her but I don't want this to be a spoiler post.

As if I needed to say this, the caveat to my comments is: this is a Bond movie. We're not talking Shakespeare here. I did mention a thin plotline, right?

If you are into action movies, this is great stuff. Not quite up there with The Professional or the Bourne movies, but damned near. I give it an A-.

Bravo to the franchise for updating Bond, he needed it (that Brosnan Bond in Antarctica was atrocious). Craig is an awesome bond, and the gritty, semi-psycho air works well for a modernized hero/anti-hero. The two latest Bond movies are my two favorite, that's a good sign.



Enjoy movies just for the fun of it,

Bp

Andrew Zuckerman: Wisdom

Here is a link to an excellent project by Andrew Zuckerman. He interviewed a wide array of deeply interesting people, and got them to pass on their wisdom to the next generation on film, both moving and stills.

When you click around, you will see that there are links to the book, short film, portraits, and behind the scenes.

It's great to see these faces and personalities deliver quotes and anecdotes.

Enjoy allowing impressive folk to move you,

Bp

[Via Georgette]

The Virile Vampire 'wanted to hang Georgian President Saakashvili by the balls'

More Virile Vampire fabulousness -- here is the Timesonline article about his meeting with Sarkozy. And here is the best quote:

“I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked.

“Why not?” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?”

Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

So awesome.

Enjoy watching the Virile Vampire go -- go Virile Vampire go,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

Some light political art for your day

How paranoid should I be -- I will start with "not all the views expressed in this art are shared by this blog author." But some of them sure are.

The art is by David Dees, here is his home page. The selections I found are from this blog that my uncle sent me a link to. His selections are in the "more tame" category. However, if you feel like digging deeper, then go straight to the massive political satire archive. Lots of intense and frankly jarring stuff there, if that's your taste.

This guy is out there, but so many of the pieces are spot on I had to share it despite how controversial most of the content is. Here are some that caught my eye:






Enjoy a perspective that puts yours in perspective,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted, all image rights to Dees Illustration]

A forest all the way across Scotland.

Here is a cool Guardian.uk article about the creation of a continuous forest all the way across Scotland. Technically the project isn't finished yet, but it's damned close.

Here is a link to the slide show, if you want to skip the article and just look at the pretty pictures.

Enjoy ambitious projects that bring beauty to a whole country,

Bp

[via Babs]

Happy Birthday Pops!

Quick personal note -- my father is approximately 8 meelion years old as of yesterday (technical problems stopped me from posting this on the 17th).

Here is a picture that captures his inner child perfectly.

Happy Birthday Dad, I Love You (you big geek),

Bp

[photo via Thomas Daniel]

The Book Quote Game

Just ran into this, thought it would be fun for the blog:

Rules:

*Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find the fifth sentence.
*Post that sentence and the book author/title in the comments below.

"The Skagit River, which formed the valley, begins up in British Columbia, leaps and splashes southwestward through the High Cascade wilderness, absorbing glaciers and sipping alpine lakes, running two hundred miles in total before all fish-green, driftwood-cluttered and silty, it spreads its double mouth like suckers against the upper body of Puget Sound."

-Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction

Enjoy interactive media on the intartubes,

Bp

[via Monica]

Ants!!

Who can resist a video about ginormous ant colonies, and what they actually look like underground. Especially when the narrator calls the ants "aliens." How rad is that.

A nice inspection into how the large mounds create passive convection to pump out CO2 gas and bring in fresh air. Very crafty.




Enjoy watching the hive mind act logically, Spock would be proud,

Bp

[via "Yuri" my faithful Canukistani operative]

Dude, Pirates -- for reals!

Not to revel in the glory of the possible harm to the crew -- but I have to say my gut reaction to a real-live pirate attack was "AWESOME." That's a lot of oil, but how in the hell are they going to get it to market? It's not like there aren't military satellites and GPS and whatnot tracking this floating fortune down to the micrometer.

Might not have been the greatest idea, pirates. Regardless, I have to say, you definitely don't lack huevos.

Bp

[tanker photo credit in linked article, other is all over the intartubes]

Dogsmile

Working dogs strike me as the happiest dogs. Here is a picture of a bird dog happily working her butt off. You can't tell me dogs don't smile.

Thanks to Stu for taking me out chasing birds this last week and giving me the chance to see his pups do their thing. It was a blast.



Enjoy watching trained professionals ply their craft,

Bp

Pimp my drainpipe

'Nuff said, here is the link to the post, and there is one picture to tease the contents of the link.



Enjoy people doing freaky things in public,

Bp

[via my Canukistani operative, Yuri -- photo credit in linked article]

Carbon Copy -- pencils made from dead people

You read it right, pencils made from the ashen remains of dead people. Not only pencils (with the person's name stamped on them) but that crazy, stylish dispenser/sharper box thingy in the picture there.

Check out the post on The Marc Ecko Blog for more details.

Enjoy the incredibly trippy shit that people come up with to commemorate the dead,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted, photo credits in linked post]

Cadillac Records trailer

This one looks good. Not only does it have one of The Wife's big movie crushes, Adrien Brody, but it has Mos Def -- who I always try to keep apprised of.



Enjoy the hope of actual films hitting the theater in the future, instead of just movies,

Bp

Nuking a blog: The 17 Gardens of the Outer Nethers

I really loved the name of that blog. It was Doc Ock's kid who walked around our property when he was 8 years old, and afterward announced that he had counted 17 whole gardens in our yard. I started to correct him and say "those are beds, like parts of gardens" but then stopped myself. "Yep, you are exactly right, there are 17 gardens here!"

Anyway, in the Summer of 2007, I was a young and impetuous blogger and thought that I would need a separate blog as an occasional place to post the tons and tons of garden photos I was planning to take. As it turns out, I needed to finish school, and work, and take care of the house, as WELL AS blog. So that blog is no longer needed. I'll post all the garden related posts here instead.

Below, pictures of the front yard, the front gate, and one of T's amazing bouquets -- all from The 17 Gardens of the Outer Nethers blog, 2007.





Enjoy realizing that even more of your interests can be accommodated by a single, personal blog,

Bp

Dan Savage makes Colbert blush

I love it. You just have to watch -- Colbert stayed in the ring, but only barely.



Enjoy sharp wits duking it out,

Bp

[via Patrick Gracewood -- check out his new blog! I'll be writing about it soon.]

Forgotten english -- blue pig

blue pig


A blue pig is a place where whiskey is serreptitiously sold.

--Gilbert Tucker's American English, 1921


Enjoy discovering a potential bar, restaurant, or band name,

Bp

[from 2008's version of: Jeffrey Kacirk's Forgotten English 2009 365-Day Tear-Off Calendar]

Baking Boots -- the art of Sno Seal application

My beloved hiking boots (Men's Vasque Sundowner Classics
for the curious in the crowd) were looking a little scuffed and dried up. On my last mushrooming trip my feet were *virtually* dry at the end, but they weren't bone dry. So I decided it was time to re-waterproof my boots.

The only kind of waterproofing I could find was Sno-Seal Original Beeswax. I'd heard about Sno Seal for years, but always blew it off because I heard Nikwax was a lot easier: rub it on, done.

But the appeal of beeswax and the old timey aspect got to me. It smelled (yes I smelled before I bought, don't YOU) of beeswax and kerosene -- which, again, set off my old-timey alarms, so I picked some up.


I set my oven on "warm" (approx. 120) and cleaned my boots while it got to temperature. I baked the boots for about 15 minutes, and then brought them out and gave them the first application of Sno Seal. It did melt right into the leather, as advertised.

I rubbed and buffed and carefully overloaded the seam areas, and when the boot looked all done, I stuck it back in the oven for about 15 more minutes. When I pulled it out, the toes and the backs were dry all over again. Like before I'd started. Much of the rest of the boot looked "finished" but these scuffed areas drank up a lot of sealer.

So I changed tactics, I slathered the stuff thickly on the dry areas -- enough that it left a film on the leather. I still buffed up the other areas lightly, and then baked the boots again. Sure enough the dry areas drank up most of the sealer yet again -- but much more of the boot now looked finished. I repeated the last step one more time and now I'm done.

I'm sure now that had I put a thick, goopy layer of the stuff on the first time, it would have melted in and I would have been done in less time than my 3-4 repetitions took.

I'm surprised how much sealer the boots sucked up.

I'm excited now to head out to The Palouse and chase birds with Estu in my spiffy dry boots.

Enjoy taking care of your equipment and reaping the benefits of said care,

Bp

[Note: See the comments below -- I will report back to see if I have over-proofed my boots or not]

Warning Arachnophobes... not the post for you

Ok, I'm not going to just thrust these pictures on you. However, I just couldn't resist posting this article from the Telegraph.co.uk, showing a Golden Orb Spider eating a bird.

Don't click that text link if you are squeemish, but it was just too cool not to share.

Enjoy being tempted to do things against your own best interest,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted]

PS: Link is fixed.

A little ditty by the Australian Chamber of Tourism

"The Guy who Writes This," author of Astoria Oregon Rust, sent me this link supposing I'd enjoy it due to the biological nature of the humor. He was right.

So here is a little song (NOT) written by the Australian Chamber of Tourism.



Enjoy a little ditty to start off your morning on the right foot,

Bp

Word of the day: horripilation

Awesome word of the day today:

horripilation \haw-rip-uh-LAY-shuhn; ho-\, noun:

the act or process of the hair bristling on the skin, as from cold or fear; goose flesh

There are a few things capable of sending an icy horripilation through even the bravest man.
-- Who Will Provide Social Security?, Washington Times, June 11, 1996

This is not to say that the horripilation Iran's nuclear programme inspires is unjustified; nor is it to claim that no other state would seek to develop or maintain nuclear weapons if the official nuclear powers gave theirs up.
-- George Monbiot, Guardian, January 23, 2002

Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, Celebrity Paranormal Project is fascinating as a demonstration of physiological fear: dilated pupils, nausea, shallow breathing, horripilation, the mind-twisting power of expectation.
-- Vinay Menon, Out of body with Busey, Toronto Star, July 3, 2003

by 1623, from Latin horripilatio, from horripilare "to bristle" + pilus "hair"

Enjoy words that don't sound like what they are,

Bp

[via Dictionary.com's word of the day email service]

Gear Daddies, it's Dale's fault

Dale, over at Faith in Honest Doubt posted a Drive By Truckers video yesterday. It reminded me how much I like a twangy country-tinged indie rock sound.

The first band that inspired me in this genre was the Gear Daddies. I ran into them during a streak of loving Minneapolis (and surrounding areas) bands, such as The Replacements , Husker Du , and Soul Asylum . Of course you youngin's who read this blog (you know who you are) will have NO idea of what I'm talking about, because it was eight MEEELION years ago, but screw it I don't care if it dates me I loved these bands and they hold a special place in my heart.

Anyway, Dale made me reminisce about these bands and now I must post some videos. This first one is an appearance the Gear Daddies made on the Letterman show. This must have been the absolute height of their career at the time. They're playing a middle-of-the-road single (in my opinion), but the sound and video quality were good, so I chose this video.



This next video is one of my favorite songs by them, called I Wanna Drive the Zamboni. It's actually a little heart-breaking if you listen to it, as humorous as the initial concept may seem. I always thought it was unexpectedly poignant, and full of black humor at the same time, which endeared the song to me.

Enjoy the prehistoric musical ramblings of an old geezer,

Bp

Faust 2.0, geek humor

Loved this one. [if there are any problems with the image size, remember you can just click on it to get to a separate image page]





Enjoy geeky humor on a Sunday morning,

Bp

Marcy Kaptur, my new political hero, keeps on keepin on

Marcy Kaptur, who lit up the intarwebs in this fierce video denigrating the bailout bill and how it was being pushed through Congress, is still on my radar. She's one of my heroes in politics, so I will be giving updates when I see something interesting from here on out.

Updates like this dandy Guardian blog post about her, titled Toledo Fightback. An example:

Kaptur became something of a YouTube folk hero in September when she took to the floor of the Congress for a series of fiery speeches denouncing the proposed taxpayer-funded bailout of "Wall Street's big banking boys." These "plunderers of our economy", she declared, were "now are running home to mama" for government help. "They want mama to make it all better."

Enjoy finding new heroes, most especially in government of all places,

Bp

[thanks Babs]

Photo essay: creating a "Mushroom Tree"

As I mentioned last month, we are going to attempt to grow wild mushrooms in our back yard. I ordered 300 plugs of Chicken of the Woods spawn from Fungi Perfecti.

The first picture is of the bag of plug spawn.


The second is the back of the bag, showing a healthy bunch of plugs.


The third is looking into the bag, seeing a nice, healthy cottony network of mycelium around all the plugs. The instructions were to let the box and spawn sit for up to a month before using so the mycelium could recover from the shipping. When it looked this way, I decided it was ready to go.


The next picture shows a 5/16" drillbit and a few holes in the "diamond" pattern suggested in the 10-page booklet supplied by Fungi Perfecti. The bit was around 4 1/2" long, and I was shooting for a distance of 3-4" between holes -- so used it as a rough measure.


Next is 4 plugs set in the holes, and only the top one pounded in. I used a finish hammer for this, as I couldn't find our rubber mallet.

Next is a typical "field" of plugs. My impression is that you want fields like this, as opposed to thin runs in the wood. The plug spawn grows out from the spot where it was introduced until it reaches the next one growing out from another location. When the mycelium reach each other, they bind up and support each other's growth -- so wide fields of plugs are better than thin paths.


The last picture is the incipient Mushroom Tree itself. I did a nice wide collar of plugs about 4' off the ground all around the trunk (out of reach of chickens, who I think would go after the young mushrooms), then a nice wide stripe all the way up the front to a collar around the top. When it blooms (anywhere from 6-12 months from now), it's going to look totally cool.

Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) mushrooms are not only edible, but really bright and beautiful -- check out these links for good pictures: Wikipedia, American Mushrooms.com, and some doozies from the New Jersey Mycological Association.

Enjoy creating edible art in your garden,

Bp

Too Late

We like to call this photo "A little too little, a little too late." The Wife's 2nd trimester belly next to an ironic mailing we just received.

We crack ourselves up.



Enjoy being let into our house's bizarre sense of humor,

Bp

Excellent prop 8/anti gay marriage post on Faith in Honest Doubt

Dale bats this one out of the park.

A teaser quote:

At some point in the future -- maybe a year, maybe three years, maybe ten years -- you will regret having voted this way. You will find yourself less and less willing to openly admit that you took this stand. You will look over your stated reasons and find them embarrassing. You will come around to the realization that being gay is simply a way of being human, and you will see the injustice in canceling and preventing the marriages of consenting adults, every bit as much as you presently see the injustice of banning interracial marriage or voting against someone on the basis of sex or race.

Dale, you rock.

Bp

The Losers

The pic will speak for itself.



Enjoy that feeling, way down in your gut, of relief,

Bp

[via my Canukistani Operative "Yuri"]

A post provided by The Wife: Flying Sharks

The Wife emailed these pictures to me, in this order. I love them. Especially the first.



And the response:



Enjoy being married to a woman with an excellent sense of humor,

Bp

Apparently gay is the new Black

And on the down side of the election news -- gay marriage banned or re-banned all over the country. Bigotry did get one victory yesterday, bigtime.

After the thrill of Obama's victory, this news sobered me to say the least. People apparently still need to have second class citizens around. Folks they think are less than human. Ok, and let me put it out there -- not "sobering" to me -- infuriating, humiliating, degrading. Sobering is much too light a language for my feelings about this.

To me it is an obvious and severe breach of separation of church and state, so it stings that much more. People not only believe that their bigotry is justified, but that it needs to be part of the government -- even though most of it is religiously based.

My opinion on this issue has been the same for a long, long time. Civil unions for those who want to marry (gay or not) to take care of the governmental/legal issues of insurance, death benefits, hospital rights etc. Then, if you want a full-on "marriage" -- you go to a church and have that. Or not. I repeat -- this for everyone, gay or straight. This way your legalities have been taken care of. Sounds like separation of church and state to me. It's how they do it in many countries in Europe.

I look forward to a time when folks don't feel the need to keep other humans down to feel right themselves. I really do.

Bp

[photo credit at signonsandiego.com]

Guerilla gardening in London with Richard Reynolds

I love guerrilla gardening. This guy's attitude is great, and the mini-doc is entertaining. Here is a teaser quote from Mr. Reynolds and the video:

"The point at which I became a guerrilla gardener is when I realized that I would get a lot more accomplished by just getting out there and doing it than phoning up the council and complaining about the landscape all around me."



Enjoy simple, kind, and creative activities you can do to improve your neighborhood and break the law at the same time,

Bp

[via Boing Boing]

My sphincter is no longer cramped

... that is all.

Bp

Election Map Cake -- inspired by The Wife

The Wife has convinced her boss's daughter (a PhD in poli sci who lives in D.C.) to make an Election Map Cake. It will be frosted as the election results come in (except for the stalwarts that she already decided to call, as you can see), and then eaten when the results are final.

The Wife is very proud she convinced someone to make this, and demanded I post a picture. Here ya go hun.



Enjoy wifely demands,

Bp

Cindy McCain, as profiled on The Onion

I 'bout had a heart attack watching this one. Totally awesome.


Cindy McCain Claims She's Just Like Any Other Female Human

Enjoy even more humor on election day,

Bp

Amazing election results, as reported by The Onion

This is so awesome I can hardly stand it.


Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President

Enjoy humor whenever you can find it, especially dark, like good coffee,

Bp

[thanks to Estu for this]

Voodoo Chile by Stevie Ray Vaughn -- it's good for what ails ya

I was thinking, how the hell am I going to mellow out/calm down tomorrow during the elections. I'm nervous as hell this thing's going to go sideways (read: be stolen yet again), so my anxiety is starting to rev up. Music -- that's a good start, that will help. But what music.

Frankly, the first song that came to mind was Amandrai, by Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder, from the album Talking Timbuktu. But I couldn't find a video I liked (though this one ain't too bad). It's just soooo damned groovy, and mellow and strolling.

Then it struck me. Stevie Ray Vaughn. He will be able to help me.

So here he is, playing one of my favorite songs of all time, Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). A song seared into my synapses prenatally, then again during high school. Stevie does it up right.



Enjoy music's palliative and cathartic release on election day,

Bp

Bush to pardon himself and his cabinet

I really can't even speak I'm so mad. Just watch.



Bp

Time to Geek out -- World of Warcraft retrospective

I found these videos very interesting. They reach back to the board-top games that inspired the modern World of Warcraft. [Warning: if you had to click that text link to find out what WOW is, you might not be very interested in the rest of this post.] There is a lot of information on the real time strategy (RTS) forerunners of modern WOW.

More than a great watch for gamer geeks and WOW lore fiends, I find these videos an interesting view of the creative process. The lore just kept building, the computers and mechanics kept improving, and Blizzard just kept innovating along with it.

In a way, you can get a peek into the creation of gaming as one of the most potent media forces today. [I believe there will be a 3rd part to the series that will delve in depth with WOW as we know it today, but it hasn't posted yet]





And for added spice, here is an article about a guy who plays WOW on 11 computers at a time, with 36 accounts running. Oh my.

Enjoy surrendering to your inner geek,

Bp

[videos via The Portland Mercury Blog, crazy man article via cousin Zen]

Generation We video

My Mom sent me this. Despite the rah rah, Pepsi-co kind of feel to it, it makes some very cogent points. For instance, this is the first generation that is inheriting a USA in decline on all fronts: economy, jobs, civil rights, education, and of course environment.

By 2016, they will be the largest voting block in the United States. That is an enormous amount of power, as we well know from the Boomer generation's stranglehold on politics for the last 25 years or so. As that one generation changed, so did the face of politics in America, right along with them. As the "We" generation comes of age, there will be another change.

I'm not sure I'm quite willing to sign on with the rah rah optimism depicted in this video, but it does give me fodder for thought. Might for you too.



Enjoy the barest twinkle of possibility in some of these thoughts,

Bp

No Post Today

Posts will resume on Monday.

R.I.P. Pootie

Out of the blue, we lost our cat Pootie this morning at 7:30. He seemed fine, jumped down from the bed, yowled a bit and was gone. At least it was quick. He was in the prime of life and had no symptoms whatsoever.

It's a shame our baby will never get a chance to play with him.

We'll miss you little scupper.




Bp

Enough talk, it's time for action -- Move to Canada!

Too funny. Sent to me by my Ex-Pat Uncle (who works in high-tech no less).



Enjoy the tantalizing prospect of truly socialized medicine,

Bp