Thom Hartmann - The Crisis of Western Culture

A good interview of Thom Hartmann regarding his new book Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture.



Enjoy hearing the good news,

Bp

[via Canukistani Kate]
.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) humbles Hudson Institute dilettante over health care bankruptcies

I totally hijacked this from the Cynical-C blog -- nice catch sir.



Enjoy watchin a senator disputing think-tank bullshit and sticking to the facts at hand,

Bp

The Virile Vampire cameos on Family Guy

As many of you know, this blog is a big fan of the media around The Virile Vampire (Vladamir Putin).

The ever-talented Dani Boynton (of Dani Boynton photography) caught this Reuters article which tipped us off that Putin had a cameo character on Family guy. Apparently, he was also on South Park, but I couldn't the episode, only this video which may or may not be legit.

Behold:



Enjoy the continued media narrative that is The Virile Vampire,

Bp

[the putin bear picture is so far unattributed, but I loved it so much I had to share]

Brooklyn Beekeepers -- Breakin' the Law!

It would probably be best to have this song stuck in your head as you watch this video of rooftop beekeepers in NY, NY.

Brooklyn's Urban Beekeepers: Breaking The Law For The Planet (Part I) from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

Enjoy people doing the right thing and having a good time doing it,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani Operative "Yuri"]

Japanese honeybees roast a hornet

Japanese honeybees have a very unusual way of killing one of their worst predators, the hornet. They cook them. The bees raise their temperature to 117-degrees and literally roast their enemy. Way too cool. (Sorry for the brief commercial at the beginning).



Enjoy watching nature doing what it takes to get by,

Bp

[via Beebs]

Saturday Morning Awesome: Grey Fox caught in a camera trap

There is a wonderful blog I follow called Camera Trap Codger, and I saw this post today that really shows the best of the best one can get using a camera trap. Hit this link to see the rest of the pictures. Not only great shots of a photogenic animal, but with a possible storyline/narrative as well.

This, of course, makes me want to run out and get one and set it up. That's what I need -- really, a new hobby. Yeah, with all that time I have.

Enjoy folks following their passions and creating great content for you to enjoy on the intartubes,

Bp

[photo credit Camera Trap Codger blog]

Lindy Hop Showdown

These people are all insane, and double jointed.



To quote Yuri -- "All I can think about when I watch this is knee surgery."

Enjoy talent on hyperdrive,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

'You are being shagged by a rare parrot!'

The title says it all. Actually, you have to watch to see the fantastically satisfied "grin" on the parrots face. Really.



Enjoy animals taking it to their scientific benefactors,

Bp

[via Neatorama]

Take a baby Mushrooming! Take a class on taking your bebeh mushrooming!

What have I been doing you ask? Well, getting out and mushrooming as often as I can. Since I'm home with the Bebeh 3 days a week, we just take her along.

Some very helpful, patient and kind friends and I have made two trips up into the Oregon Cascades for mushrooms in the last two weeks. The first trip was dry and sunny and provided us with those lovely, early-season tan chanterelles. Dry and clean and perfect for pasta.

The second trip was much colder (in the low 40's) and wet, and we really had to bushwhack to get in. The baby was an absolute trooper, got swaddled up and conked out for an hour once we got into good mushrooming territory. Thanks to Canukistani Kate not only for the pictures but for being on Nap Duty both trips.

As for the class, here is the info from Arctos School of Herbal and Botanical Studies:

Mama/Papa and Babe Mushroom Outing with Missy Rohs
Tuesday, October 6, 10am-4pm

By special request, this excursion is geared towards parents with little ones. The day is a little shorter, and we won't be away from the car for more than an hour and a half at a time. This parent- and baby-friendly hunt will focus on delicious edible mushrooms like Chanterelles and Matsutake. Our hope is that we'll not only find an array of beautiful fungi, but score a basketful to take home and savor! Bring sturdy hiking shoes, water, and lunch.

Carpool will meet in SE Portland. Register by Oct. 3rd by emailing missy@arctosschool.org.
Cost: $35 per adult (sliding scale available) -- kids under 10 are free!







Enjoy sharing your life with little ones,

Bp

[huge thanks to Canukistani Kate for not only the pictures, but all the baby holding]

Protect Insurance Companies PSA

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Enjoy irony,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative Yuri]

Saturday Morning Awesome: Antelope Win

The title says it all:



Enjoy watching nature in all its glory,

Bp

[via Blame it on the Voices]

Boy dancing to "Low"

This video is so awesome it couldn't wait til Saturday to be posted. It's beyond awesome -- for those of you who read this blog for info on "what the kids are saying these days," this video is 'full of win.' Or beyond that -- Epic Win.

Prepare to smile.



Enjoy smiling so much it hurts,

Bp

[thanks to Tito of Dynamic Balancing bodywork for turning me on to this]

Mark Twain Quotes

Ran across these at Refspace, and picked out a few choice numbers that caught my attention. Click the linked text to see the whole collection. There are 3 pages, and its worth the scroll. Folks who know me will recognize some of these as I use them often -- see further, the Wagner comment:

History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.

If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.

In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination.

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

Enjoy wisdom from the past,

Bp

[image via Wiki Commons]

The 6 Most Frequently Quoted Bullshit Animal Facts

Normally, I avoid cussing in the title of a post, but I figured it best to represent the title of this cracked.com article in its entirety.

Many myths challenged in one article. I have to say, I think a little contest for readers of this blog to provide counter information to this article would be fun. See if you can dig up some info to call BS on some of these assertions and post in the comments.

Some examples: Bumble bees violate the laws of aerodynamics, and chameleons change color to camouflage themselves.

Now I'm not taking this comedy website's word as the final, end-all-be-all comment on these subjects, especially considering they didn't take the time to get a picture of an actual Bumble bee as opposed to honey bees for their graphics. I am, however, willing to peruse their research for entertainment purposes.

Enjoy yet more intartube obfuscation,

Bp

Hunting, pre-history-style, in the Kalahari

I ran across this video and wanted to share it.

Sir David Attenborough is the narrator, which immediately makes it interesting and watchable in our world. It shows probably the oldest form of hunting that humans have engaged in -- "persistence" hunting. Meaning, an animal is tracked and eventually run down by one or more hunters, on foot. They literally tire the animal out until it succumbs.

The strength and tenacity this would take is staggering to consider, really. Also, their tracking ability is pretty unfathomable.

Watching these guys run, with their silence and their hand signals, really makes me think there is more going on than the commentary would suggest. I suspect there are more skills on display here than we may be able to imagine.

The end of the video shows the level of respect these people have for their prey. It's amazing to watch and worth the time to hang til the end.



Enjoy catching a glimpse of a different time,

Bp

A shot from the Blogosphere -- Dooce and Adorability

There was a period, somewhat brief and before I had blogged much, when I thought Dooce was a lucky stiff. She was a lady who wrote a few witty posts at a time when folks were just getting turned on to blogging and then she was a celebrity. Poof. Like that. She captured the mommy audience -- bored moms at home with infants and an internet connection, just looking for people to make enormously powerful, like Oprah.

But, as I've mentioned before on this blog, this is no accident. She's talented, funny as hell, AND well positioned as a writer.

Today's post, called The House of Adorable, is a great example of her writing. She can take the most mundane events and make them the jumping off point for a scads of interesting tangents and side shows. As well as simply having a great sense of comedic timing.

And the subject matter today is the kind of thing that fills my life lately. So it's extra poignant.

My hat is off to you Mrs. Armstrong, you go.

Bp

Polish Yeti caught on film

I think it's been too long since we've had a good sighting of a Yeti, or Sasquatch in the news. It seemed they were popping up all the time in my childhood (when I was planning to be a Cryptozoologist for a 'living'), I miss them. Hell, it was enough in the public consciousness that the 6-million dollar man fought him.

I thought I'd remedy the situation by posting this video filmed recently in Poland. Here is an excerpt from the Austrian times article.

Piotr Kowalski, 27, from Warsaw was on a walking holiday in the Tatra mountains in Poland when he saw a mountain goat on one of the slopes. As he started filming, his attention was suddenly grabbed by the Yeti creature emerging from behind some rocks.

"I saw this huge ape-like form hiding behind the rocks. When I saw it it was like being struck by a thunderbolt," he told the daily Superexpress.

"Coming from Warsaw, I never really believed the local stories of a wild mountain ape-man roaming the slopes. But, now I do."

Enjoy childhood nostalgia,

Bp

[photo via Austrian Times, article via Blame it on the Voices, and Nothing to do with Arborath]

Wild Kingdom in our back yard: Katydid about to get eaten by Miranda

I have a thing with Carnivorous plants. They're just too cool.

Last Mother's Day I sent The Wife to the local Orchid show with some money and said "get something that makes you happy." It was her first Mother's Day after all. She came home with the most amazing plant -- a Nepenthes Miranda Asiatic cobra plant. It's gorgeous.

I must plug Sarracenia Northwest here. They are a local Portland Oregon plant nursery that specializes in carnivorous plants. I'm happy they had a display at the Orchid show so the wife could run into this impressive plant. If you ever had an itch to get a carnivorous plant, click that link and see just how much variety and information they provide.

So -- on to the video.

Today when I came home for lunch I saw a bright green leaf on one of the pitchers. Then I saw it move. I got closer and saw that it was a Katydid. I've never seen one in our area so Miranda did quite a job of luring him in from who-knows-where. Amateur video to follow.



And the video in which I find out my flip camera software has no "rotate left" option in its edit options. Sorry 'bout that, but I'm posting it anyway.



Enjoy beautiful plants eating bugs,

Bp


[photograph via Petflytrap]

Saturday Night Awesome: Craig Ferguson (the Late Late Show) on the Deification of Youth

The fact that this rant sounds like a perfectly sound hypothesis to me proves that I'm an old geezer.

But I challenge you to provide sound counter-argument. Seriously.



Enjoy settling into your golden years,

Bp

[via yesbutnobutyes]

Backwards Beekeeper shows how he harvests honey

I just stumbled across this video on Boing Boing, and am now intrigued. The video is a nice watch about how the "Backwards Beekeepers" harvest their honey. One gets the sense that they do much of their beekeeping in an unconventional, bee-friendly fashion.

Here is a link to the Backwards Beekeepers blog -- I've only just started researching their methods and philosophy and I do like it, and their attitude. Biologically, their philosophy of maximizing and propagating already-naturalized populations of bees makes perfect sense. I strongly suspect I'll have more to report after I've spent some more time with their information.



Enjoy folks using their heads, and making awesome local honey in the process,

Bp

The Pretenders -- L.A. punk meets 80's guitar rock

Driving with a friend tonight, the musical conversation somehow turned to good punk. He's younger than me by at least 10 years, so I asked if he was familiar with The Pretenders first album, or any of the harder songs off of it. He was not, and this post was born.

The first album (self titled) by The Pretenders has something like 6 or 7 hits on it. Their hard-driving, punk-inspired songs really caught my attention at the time, more so than the good but over-played hits. Their drummer had a fast, syncopated style that I really enjoyed.

Here is one example of these "harder" songs from their early years, The Wait, caught live in 1984. Surprisingly good concert footage for Youtube:



Chrissie Hynde is an absolute phenomenon if you really look at the span of her career, her stage presence, her lyrics, and the range of styles she successfully mastered.


I can't let this post go by without sharing another song that exemplifies the qualities of my favorite early Pretenders songs.
Tattooed Love Boys at first listen simply sounds like a raunchy song about rough sex, but on closer examination is much darker than that (as her announcement in the beginning of this performance exposes).



Although there is much much more to explore with this band, Chrissie, and their various styles and rebirths -- I'll leave this to these early songs that my younger friends may not have been aware of.

Enjoy being introduced to new/old music,

Bp

German Biological Illustrations from 1904 --- Gorgeous Stuff

The book is Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformed der Natur (Artforms of Nature). The prints are fantastic, classy, beautiful, etc. Check out the wiki commons page here for more. [I must admit, it also makes one wonder just how many tattoos out there in the world are based on this work, I'm just sayin']









Enjoy awesome art inspired by science,

Bp

[via the always-classy Dani of Dani Boynton Photography, Canukistan]

Haha, a horrible joke of a video

Right?

... RIGHT?

Le Taser iRobot PackBot Explorer
Uploaded by npesblog. - Watch the latest news videos.

Sighing with you,

Bp

[via Blogtown]

Blackwater/Xe -- just sitting here with my mouth open

I never knew this angle on the infamous mercenary outfit Blackwater (now known as Xe) -- specifically the religious angle.

Take it away Keith.



Holy crap,

Bp

[via the Cynical C blog]

How to carve steel with saltwater and a cheap tin earring

This fascinated me, check it out.



Enjoy posts when they happen,

Bp

[via Boing Boing]

Saturday Morning Awesome: Sheep conspiracy theorist

[fixed image, sorry bout that]




Enjoy your day,

Bp

[totally unattributed photo, sorry]

Master Pickler Alex Hozven

Occasionally, my past rises up and startles me.

I knew Alex back in The Day, when I was a free-range bohemian living in a VW bus in Bezerkeley.

Now, she's a master pickler, her shop is called the Cultured Pickle Shop. I wish she had her shop in Portland because I love real cultured veggies. I'll let the video speak for itself, great stuff.



Enjoy your blasts from the past,

Bp

[via the Good Reverend John Nathan B.]

Movits! -- Swedish jangly groove/swing dance pop

You know, it's hard to describe music without just making a list of other music.

This is a video by Movits! A Swedish dance band (see Aurgasm's note on them here). Check these guys out, catchy as all get out, fun band.

Got to love Swedes in vests playing banjos anyhow, right?



Enjoy groovy pop when you can stomach it, I'm sure it's good for you,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

National Do Not Call Registry -- Register Your Cell Phone Now

There is an email circulating that claims all our cell phone numbers are about to be distributed to telemarketers. This doesn't appear to be true. But the rest of the email is true -- it gives information on the National Do Not Call registry. Below is the information to get your phones put on that list:

Call this number: 888-382-1222 with the phone that you want on the list and register on the National Do Not Call registry.

Or you can go to the National Do Not Call Registry to register multiple numbers at once. I think I'll be doing both... you know, just to be safe.

Enjoy opting out,

Bp

[via Richard and T.]

Free books online, no joke

The Burgomeister's Books is a site where you can find scads of books for free.

The terms are completely reasonable. You can only download 5 books in a two week period. And when done, you nuke them from your hard-drive.

It's a free service, but the kind host does appreciate donations to keep it going.

Enjoy public access to goodies,

Bp

[via Canukistani Kate, illustration is The Librarian, by Guiseppe Arcimbolo, via Wiki Commons]

Saturday (almost) Morning Awesome: Best Wedding Walk Evar

Just in case you are living under an internet rock, you may have missed this viral video. It's only been a few days, so I hope I catch some of you as "first timers."

It's worth watching the whole way through. Some of these folks have got the moves.

It's a bit cute, I will warn the cynics in the crowd.

I think the groomsman who enters at around 1:12 is my favorite person today.

Oh, also The Wife mentioned, and I agree, that the sunglasses are a nice touch.



Enjoy crying to wedding videos of people you don't know,

Bp

[via too many places to name in this short piece of text, thanks everyone]

Jobs that actually exist: Pedestrian Decoy

How'd you like to get paid to walk across a street (repeatedly) that's known to be dangerous to pedestrians so cops could catch crappy drivers as they nearly hit you?

The job exists, see this Blogtown post about it happening here in Portland.

Oh and as "entrapment-y" as it sounds... look at the details of the situation: tons of signage (4 signs on this site), and tons of cops in the open, right there, waiting. This is catching folks who REALLY aren't paying attention while driving.

Hell of a job -- wonder what the training was, dodgeball?

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Family saved from burning car

I don't watch television, so I miss stuff like this. Here is another side of humanity that reside in this country (in contrast to the last post I made).



Enjoy seeing what it looks like to do the right thing,

Bp

[via Neatorama]

This is America...

... yeah not much to say here. I don't normally post unattributed material, but I felt this was poignant. I do believe this encapsulates much of how the world views the U.S. at this point in history.

Bp

[via Dani Boynton Photography]

Paxil Back -- parody of Timberlake's Sexy Back

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet. One of my favorite parodies. A big hit during the old study group days.



Enjoy musical humor,

Bp

A Softer World hits again

A Softer World is a hip web comic that I keep up on. Occasionally, it hits and gives me a good laugh. Here is an example, remember you can click the image for a larger version:



Enjoy a good laugh when it presents itself,

Bp

Missed Dave Chapelle, Free, last night

So I heard this rumor -- Dave Chapelle was going to do a free show downtown last night at Pioneer Courthouse Square. At midnight.

I blew it off, but sure enough he did arrive.

Here is a video -- just him chatting. But it's proof that it happened.

Apparently he only told 3 people he met, randomly, that he was going to do this. A nice little experiment in electronic media information dispersal. [sorry about the weird spacing, the embed code is huge and bizarre and I couldn't fix it]

Dave Chappelle at Pioneer Square

Enjoy knowing cool stuff happens, even if you aren't there,

Bp

[via Mercury's Blogtown]

Shooting clay pigeons with a bow

What can you say more than... this is a guy who can shoot clay pigeons with a bow. I mean... wow.

He is using a compound bow, otherwise known to traditional archers as a M.A.L.D. -- "mechanical arrow launching device." Despite the high tech bow, it's impressive stuff.



Enjoy listening to dexterous folks try to talk about why they're so spot on,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative, "Yuri"]

D.C. police chief denounces ‘cowardly’ iPhone users for monitoring speed traps

A wonderfully subversive idea -- use mobile internet devices to tag and warn about photo radar sites. The cops calling folks who use these apps "cowardly" is even better. I love it.

It does help folks avoid drunk driving stops as well, however, which isn't awesome in my book.

Enjoy the complexity of being amused,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted, photo credit in Mac Daily News article]

Saturday Morning Awesome: House of Pain's "Jump Around" in Irish Gaelic

Des Bishop covering House of Pain's "Jump Around" in Irish Gaelic. [for those of you not familiar, here is the original]



Enjoy musical covers,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative "Yuri"]

A Final Hit, by Leftfield

Ran across this on Pandora and thought some of ya'll might enjoy it.

The video is fan-made, so pretty simple, but the music has a great strolling gait to it. More than ambient but not too much jangle for a good coffee morning wakeup.



Enjoy electronic strolling gaits,

Bp

Total Randomness -- Blog Label Re-Invigoration Program

Some of my blog labels don't get enough use, or are slowly somehow losing their potency. In this case, it's a little bit of both.

So for this session of the BLRIP I present an alligator chasing a radio-controlled boat:



Enjoy tightening up the ship a bit,

Bp

[via Blame it on the Voices]

A very good excuse why the blog slowed down a bit

I'll pick it back up, promise.



Bp

[picture via my very talented Sister]

Fantastic Eye Candy -- Scintillation by Xavier Chassaing

"This is an experimental film made up of over 35,000 photographs. It combines an innovative mix of stop motion and live projection mapping techniques."

Just watch it.

SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.

Enjoy being totally harnessed, visually,

Bp

[via Dani Boynton Photography]

Ant mega-colony takes over world

Ok, I lifted that blog title directly from the BBC Earth News article, but it was so awesome I felt I had to.

The Institute of Jurassic Technology does tend to talk about the whole invasive/non-native situation in biology. It's an interest of mine. So this article really caught my attention -- as Argentine Ants are spreading world-wide, reaping havoc on local bug populations, like the Reavers of the insect world.

On to the study. In short, researchers pitted ants from different colonies around the world against each other in single ant-on-ant combat. This, of course, was couched in the guise of research but we all know it's exactly the same as fighting spiders in the schoolyard in dixie cups.

The ants from the largest colonies around the world refused to fight. They rubbed antennae and acted like old buddies. Meaning -- they are from the same colony.

This is intense, because that means that this is probably the largest expansion of one cooperative species on Earth outside Humanity itself.

Like humans, Argentine ants show a wide diversity and adaptability in their diet. According to this UC San Diego paper, they switch from being vicious predators to "farmers" of aphids and scale bugs once they are established.

Genius! Come in strong, settle down and start farms. Sound familiar? Like -- oh ancient Rome maybe?

Go Ants!

I mean -- how terrifying.

Enjoy seeing other species succeed using human-like tactics, even if it is kinda evil,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative "Yuri," photo credit in BBC Earth News article]

Saturday Morning Awesome -- Flamboyant Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are one of the more awesome animals on the planet. So, for the Saturday Morning Awesome, I figured a quick video of the Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Metasepia pfeferri) would fit the bill. This versatile subject matter counts as a "Little Dudes" post, a Random Biological Tidbits post, and a Saturday Morning Awesome as well. Efficient, no?

Here is some info from The Cephalopod Page:

Metasepia pfefferi is found in shallow (3 to 86 m) waters from Indonesia, to Papua New Guinea to the north shore of Australia, South Queensland to Western Australia. They are typically found ambling along (see below) on mud, sand or low energy coral rubble bottoms.

In the summer of 2006 three of us, the founders of MarineBio.org headed to Indonesia. I was there for three weeks specifically to observe and photograph cephalopods. During this trip, despite many dives, I was able to find and photographed only two of these amazing animals.

These remarkable cephalopods are active during the day. They slowly “walk” across the seafloor using their arms and flaps on their mantle; this type of locomotion has been called “ambling”. Normally camouflaged, the beautiful colors that give this cephalopod its common name are warning colors and are displayed when the animal is disturbed, See this video. Recently, scientists discovered that these warning colors are not a bluff, the animal is indeed toxic.

Enjoy awesome, smart, toxic little dudes,

Bp

[via Estu, photo credit at the Cephalopod Page]

The Daily Show -- Jason Jones in Iran

A little direct interaction with these people that are 'completely cut off from the Western world' as is so often stated in the Media.

Really? Apparently not.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jason Jones: Behind the Veil - Ayatollah You So
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Enjoy ground-truthing cultural assertions,

Bp

[via Bruce of Playwrite Inc.]

Zoom into a Tooth

You know you want to. Click that video and see into one of your chompers. Come on, you know you want to. It's fascinating, honest.

Zoom into a Tooth
Uploaded by Weird_Weird_Science - Explore more science and tech videos.

Enjoy seeing videos that mimic recurring dreams from my childhood,

Bp

[via Boing Boing]

Update on the Mushroom Tree

As I was out feeding the chickens this morning, I spotted something kinda gross looking, and potentially very exciting.

Last fall, some of you may remember, I got the idea to inoculate a stump in our chicken yard with wild edible mushrooms. Due to the species of the tree, I chose Chicken of the Woods mushrooms (Laetiporus sulphureus), and set about plugging the stump.

The beautiful bloom depicted on the right is not the stump in my back yard, but a bit of a dream picture of what it could look like as early as this fall.

Below is a picture of the state of the "dry" or "inactive-looking" plugs in the stump. If you click it to get a better view, you can see a number of the dowels sticking out from the bark, looking quite "dowelly", and not super biologically active.



And next are two picture of what look to me to be fully active, early-stage spots of growth at some of the "active" plugs. Unless this is newbish ignorance, like some kind of successful immune-response from the stump, I believe we have liftoff. They are even a creamy orange color, which fits the species of mushroom I chose to grow in this stump.





Enjoy turning waste wood into beautiful food,

Bp

[top picture courtesy of Wiki Commons]

Fever Ray: When I Grow Up

Trippy video, trippy song. It's growing on me. Lemme know what you think.



Enjoy new music and visuals when you can find them,

BP

[via Doc Ock]

Saturday Morning Awesome: ZeFrank is back

As long-time readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of ZeFrank. This morning, ex-pat, Canunistani Uncle Ted sent me a link to a Time.com piece done by ZeFrank himself. Too awesome, I'm glad he found work.

I'll keep ya'll updated whenever I find him popping up again.

Enjoy underground artists getting paying jobs,

Bp

List of 50 classic Dystopian movies

Ok actually the list is "top 50 dystopian movies of all time" -- but that's a bit big in the britches don't ya think?

It's a good list, nonetheless.

Kinda freaky how many of these I've seen. What is so damned appealing about Dystopias?

Enjoy the future bummer, in art,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted, image credit in linked article]

Gonzales's Advice to Bush on How to Avoid War Crimes

Isn't that a heart-warming picture there? What a smile, I tell ya.

Here is a Truthout.org piece about Gonzales and the Bush administration and torture. It's not heart-warming.

On January 25, 2002, then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales advised George W. Bush in a memo to deny al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners protections under the Geneva Conventions because doing so would "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act" and "provide a solid defense to any future prosecution."

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

PS22 Chorus performs Don't Stop Believin'

Ok look, I hate Journey. I know hate is a strong word, but -- well it's appropriate here.

BUT

These kids are so damned cute performing their song I had to post it. Check out the facial expressions, especially of the two little boys in the front right -- simply awesome.

The PS22 Chorus Blog has more videos and info.



Enjoy cuteness when you can find it,

Bp

[props to the Portland Mercury Blog for finding this]

Moyers Interviews Robert Reich on "Who Runs Government"

An interview worth your time over at Truthout.com -- click here for the full text:

Teaser quote:

BILL MOYERS: One of the problems with the Clinton health plan when you were Secretary of Labor was that it was too complex to explain to journalists like me, members of Congress, and the public. So in a sentence, if you can, tell me what a true public option would be in healthcare reform.

ROBERT REICH: Well, regardless of what you want to call it, Bill, it could be called liverwurst. I mean, it simply means that the public- average members of the public have a choice, if they want it- of either their private for-profit insurers like they now use or a public not-for-profit insurer.

And that public insurer would resemble ideally Medicare- low administrative costs. And it would have the economies of scale. It would be so large that it could actually negotiate low drug prices and very, kind of low premiums. That's what the private insurers are scared of. That's what the-

BILL MOYERS: Why are they scared of that?

ROBERT REICH: Because that means that their profits will be squeezed. They don't want anything that's going to squeeze their profits. And, they're putting up smoke screens. They're putting up other things that may look like public options but don't have the bargaining leverage to get drug prices down and also to keep the private insurers honest.

Enjoy keeping abreast of the health care crisis and its effect on Washington,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Saturday Morning Awesome: Best Photo Ever

First the photo:

I'm speechless. This photo so full of awesome I can hardly stand it.

And win. It's full of win too.

I saw it in the Portland Mercury Blog, Blogtown, Pdx. Apparently it was stolen by someone who worked in a photo lab. So it's not only awesome in its own right, it's anonymous and stolen -- which just punts it into the stratosphere.

I had to delay posting this a few days to make it the Saturday Morning Awesome. For all I know it's viral by the time this post goes up.

If you are into Haiku, Blogtown is challenging folks to Haiku the picture in the comments. Which is also awesome.

Enjoy bathing in anonymous awesomeness,

Bp

Federal Employee Sacked for Reporting Illegal Cougar Kills

Here is an article from the journal Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) about an upcoming whistleblower case in Nevada. Gary Strader, a professional hunter for U.S. Wildlife Services, had is position "de-funded" after he reported his agency co-workers had killed up to 5 Cougars from government aircraft and then filed false paperwork to cover up the act. Only the heads of the animals were taken, apparently for trophies.

This will be a good sample case for how the Obama administration deals with whistleblowers in the government.

(nothing to enjoy here)

Bp

[article originally found through Truthout.org, photo credit and explanation also at Truthout]

The Learjet Repo Man

Although I've been scooped on this story by at least one of my blogging friends, I had to post it.

Here is a great article on Salon.com about Nick Popovich, a repo man of a different sort. He brings back planes, mostly big, huge planes. The situations this gets him into are almost unbelievably James-Bond-like. The article is a fun read, and the money involved gives one reason for pause I must say.

To all of you budding pilots out there, take note. With the world economy doing its twists and turns, this is guaranteed to be a booming business.

Enjoy reading about other folks doing dangerous things for a living,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Balancing a state budget, the home game

Here is a great widget from the Los Angeles Times with which you can attempt to balance the California State Budget. It's hours of diversion, trust me.

Enjoy playing with the politicians' toys,

Bp

[via my ex-pat, Canukistani Uncle Ted]

Mary Roach: 10 things you didn't know about orgasm

Thought we'd start this week out with a bang.

You've got to love the Ted talks. You'll even find out about "The Lazarus Reflex"in this one.



Enjoy the craziness that is our biology,

Bp

Terminator Salvation -- I tried, I really tried

I'm sorry folks, I tried, but I failed. By the end of the movie, I was completely overwhelmed by The Suck. Or The Stupid. Or The Horriblest writing you could imagine for such a high-budget movie.

I pride myself on my willing suspension of disbelief. I really do. I can watch schlocky action movies with the best of them -- until this. Excise the last 10 minutes of the film, and I may have been able to have walked out of the theater without feeling like I had just unnecessarily aged 5 years. Maybe.

The beginning has some action sequences (ok I'll say it, helicopter crash) that are awesome, inventive, and fun to watch. Hell -- the action sequences (UNTIL THE END) are all inventive and fun to watch. But EVEN THOSE fell down for the sake of cliche at the end. The demands of cliche that someone put on this movie are staggering. Holy hell it ruined a perfectly watchable movie.

The palette of this movie, most of the action sequences and special effects, the grittiness, the apocalyptic world -- all very decent. In fact, some of the monster and actions effects are in the "fucking great" category. But the writers and their overlords shit all over that high-budget work with some incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid writing.

I knew it was going to be a rough ride when a kid who never drove a car before pulls off an epic chase scene behind the wheel of a jeep in the first 1/4 of the movie. All for the sake of one crack joke. "Oh no," my gut told me, "this is too early in the movie for a fuck up that bad.... oh no."

I can only give this movie a C (very tempted to put a "-" on that). And I'm telling you -- that says A WHOLE LOT about the look and feel of the actiony parts of this movie. Even about the first 1/2 of the movie in its entirety. Because... well yeah, what I already said.



Enjoy what you can,

Bp

A little peek into the workings of The Daily Show

Here is a bit of an interview with some Daily Show folks that ends up shining a light on how the show works in the field.

It's Colbert talking about how the show got sued over a piece they did in Southern California. In the process of telling the story you get a glimpse into how sneaky they are in pulling this stuff off.

Very entertaining.

Enjoy peeking behind the scenes a bit,

Bp

[via the fabulous Dani of Dani Boynton Photography, up in Canukistan]

Bad men in literature, specifically children's literature

Here is an insightful article called Why do my son's books tell him all men are useless?, by William Leith.

The article points out big huge problems, and doesn't propose to solve any. It's simply an exploration.

Looking at mass media, from cold remedy ads, to The Simpsons, I've had the same reaction as this author. All the men are idiots, distant, immature, and/or useless.

I'm not going to crack open this hive of hornets more than just to say it's a good thing to notice and wonder about.

Enjoy seeing your thoughts reflected in the media sometimes,

Bp

[image credit in linked article]

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer perform "When I Go" (Portland, 2001)

I've heard this song before, but not for a while. My friend Lisa E. posted this and reminded me how effing fantastic it is.

Here is the youtube poster's note: "The late, great Dave Carter and the very much alive and vibrant Tracy Grammer performing at the St John's Pub, Portland, Oregon, 2001"

This is a song for the ages. Just one of those songs that gets it right and sets the bar. Definitely worth setting aside some time and having a moment.



If you enjoyed that version, check out Bryan Bowers covering it on autoharp.

Enjoy hearing music that you know carries weight from the past, and will survive long into the future,

Bp