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Wow. It’s been a bit of a day. I went furniture shopping and picked up a desk and command chair. The chair cost less than the desk, thanks to one of the chairs that fits me perfectly being half-price. Together, however, there was still a fair chunk of change spent on this. But these were necessary things, so my voice-that-discourages-all-spending clucked, but was otherwise silent. I then set up said desk and chair, then bought food, and have cooked dinner and some other things that will come in handy later in the week. Plus, there was the comicing, and then writing this entry, too. That was all in the afternoon-to-midnight phase. Thank goodness on Mondays I get to go to work later. Whew. Busy day today. Hopefully, there won’t be too many like that. On tomorrow’s docket is a visit to the post office. Somewhere in the upcoming week I should also find some manner of going to the doctor clinic and a dentist nearby and setting up appointments, since as of midnight, I am now covered under an insurance plan again. I’m overdue, most likely, for both the physical and the tooth cleaning.
Anyway, onward to the real reasons anyone’s here. Right about now, I’d reference a Simpsons joke by tacking onto the end of that “Hard-core nudity!”, except I think I’d disappoint the people who were looking for that, and possibly attract the attention of people who look at it in text and assume that it must be there, without actually reading any further down. So I will refrain from the joke so that I may eventually have more readers.
By the way, yesterday started Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of the freedom to read whatever the hell you want to, be it harlequin romance or Stephen Hawking, without having to worry about being branded a thoughtcriminal and subjected to Room 101. The book atop the list of challenges for 2006 was And Tango Makes Three, a heartwarming story about two male penguins in love that are able to adopt and hatch an egg, thanks to the penguin keeper. Most likely because the penguins didn’t suffer eternally in hell for their homosexual love, and in fact raised a normal penguin child and had normal penguin lives, this gem of a children’s book (based on a true story, I believe) was the [deep echo-y voice] Most... Challenged... Book! [/deep echo-y voice]! In addition to reading this book with your children, to your children, or just by yourself, the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom offers some suggestions on how to celebrate this week. And the Director of the ALA weighs in on the impact of Potter on kids reading and grown-ups trying to stop them from reading. Remind me again why a book that has just about nothing to do with the religion known as Wicca, other than the persons inside the book cast magic, is considered to be an indoctrination vehicle for the religion? Perhaps the Director has hit the nail on the head - censors disapprove of Potter because Potter not only contains smartassery and rebelliousness, but J.K. paints almost all of the adults in the book in an unfavorable light with regard to the teenagers and each other. The adults are too real in a fantasy book, and that just won’t do.
Moving on, Puerto Rico has its own anti-recruitment campaign going, with people actively discouraging youth to join the military. Well, with the war going on, and not much end in sight, and the high chance of death involved, it’s probably not as hard a sell as it would have been before. I’d say that across the country, recruitment for the army is having a harder time finding a foothold. To those who believe in the importance of the Iraq war, Mr. Bush, the person who needs troops most, has been reluctant to sound the call to bring in young soldiers. It’s probably a very non-glorious, non-politically powerful way of bringing the war to a halt, but if there aren’t enough people to refresh those who are worn out beyond readiness, then somewhere along the line, operations stop or are greatly reduced. Perhaps focus will return to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have turned down an offer of a personal visit from the president of the country, claiming they will "never" negotiate while there are foreign troops in the country. In that zone, however, even with steadfast declarations like those, we hear much less about how things are going pear-shaped. Perhaps if it were the only conflict for these past years, we may be having the same conversation about Afghanistan. Or perhaps we’d be celebrating the birth of an organically grown democracy free of warlord interests. Can’t say for certain.
For the chocoholic, or those just looking to avoid that run-down feeling all the time,dark chocolate consumption appears to help ward off chronic fatigue syndrome. Of course, with those things that are healthy/unhealthy for us, they should be consumed in moderation. Some day, science will let people eat all they want and never go past an optimum weight. Or so we want to believe.
Speaking of incredible things, a woman apparently managed to accidentally choke herself with manacles after being arrested at an airport. Late to the airport for her flight, arrested when she became irate, found with the cuff chain around her neck after her protests subsided. Official story is that she was trying to escape her handcuffs. Two and two aren’t adding up here. How could that chain choke her by accident, and furthermore, how would one escape handcuffs in a manner that would involve them being around her neck?
Going from the incredible to the fantastic, motorists helped rescue a bear that was clinging for life onto the Rainbow Bridge. In quite the team effort, a net was set up underneath the bear, a tranquilizer applied, and the bear lowered down to safety.
Today was the day of the Folsom Street Fair (the event advertised by the parody of the Last Supper, all in leather, linked to earlier in the month). And thanks to our friends at the Catholic League, who want Miller Brewing Co., a sponsor of the event, to withdraw their sponsorship, we can see some of the highlights of Folsoms past. Supposedly there were also pictures sent to Miller showing just what goes on there. I think I’m more amused that on a Catholic website is pictures of a leather event. Maybe this is a way for those both Catholic and into the things shown at the event to publicly condemn it while privately taking pleasure in it?
Pink. Seal. Cute. 195 volts. That’s the design of a taser device available in Japan. Personal protection just got a little bit weirder. I wonder just how such a thing could be put to use by both predators and victims. Significantly less dangerous than the baby seal taser is the marijuana-smoking device constructed from the remains of a Nintendo 64 controller. I might even give that one a higher ingenuity score. For those looking to top that, perhaps building your own hydrogen fuel cell will do?
If you follow padded rugby with regularity, or happen to watch sports highlight shows, a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers now holds the career record for touchdown passes thrown. Congratulations, Mr. Favre. And on that note, I’m tucking in and going to bed, it being past my bedtime by at least 60 minutes.
Anyway, onward to the real reasons anyone’s here. Right about now, I’d reference a Simpsons joke by tacking onto the end of that “Hard-core nudity!”, except I think I’d disappoint the people who were looking for that, and possibly attract the attention of people who look at it in text and assume that it must be there, without actually reading any further down. So I will refrain from the joke so that I may eventually have more readers.
By the way, yesterday started Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of the freedom to read whatever the hell you want to, be it harlequin romance or Stephen Hawking, without having to worry about being branded a thoughtcriminal and subjected to Room 101. The book atop the list of challenges for 2006 was And Tango Makes Three, a heartwarming story about two male penguins in love that are able to adopt and hatch an egg, thanks to the penguin keeper. Most likely because the penguins didn’t suffer eternally in hell for their homosexual love, and in fact raised a normal penguin child and had normal penguin lives, this gem of a children’s book (based on a true story, I believe) was the [deep echo-y voice] Most... Challenged... Book! [/deep echo-y voice]! In addition to reading this book with your children, to your children, or just by yourself, the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom offers some suggestions on how to celebrate this week. And the Director of the ALA weighs in on the impact of Potter on kids reading and grown-ups trying to stop them from reading. Remind me again why a book that has just about nothing to do with the religion known as Wicca, other than the persons inside the book cast magic, is considered to be an indoctrination vehicle for the religion? Perhaps the Director has hit the nail on the head - censors disapprove of Potter because Potter not only contains smartassery and rebelliousness, but J.K. paints almost all of the adults in the book in an unfavorable light with regard to the teenagers and each other. The adults are too real in a fantasy book, and that just won’t do.
Moving on, Puerto Rico has its own anti-recruitment campaign going, with people actively discouraging youth to join the military. Well, with the war going on, and not much end in sight, and the high chance of death involved, it’s probably not as hard a sell as it would have been before. I’d say that across the country, recruitment for the army is having a harder time finding a foothold. To those who believe in the importance of the Iraq war, Mr. Bush, the person who needs troops most, has been reluctant to sound the call to bring in young soldiers. It’s probably a very non-glorious, non-politically powerful way of bringing the war to a halt, but if there aren’t enough people to refresh those who are worn out beyond readiness, then somewhere along the line, operations stop or are greatly reduced. Perhaps focus will return to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have turned down an offer of a personal visit from the president of the country, claiming they will "never" negotiate while there are foreign troops in the country. In that zone, however, even with steadfast declarations like those, we hear much less about how things are going pear-shaped. Perhaps if it were the only conflict for these past years, we may be having the same conversation about Afghanistan. Or perhaps we’d be celebrating the birth of an organically grown democracy free of warlord interests. Can’t say for certain.
For the chocoholic, or those just looking to avoid that run-down feeling all the time,dark chocolate consumption appears to help ward off chronic fatigue syndrome. Of course, with those things that are healthy/unhealthy for us, they should be consumed in moderation. Some day, science will let people eat all they want and never go past an optimum weight. Or so we want to believe.
Speaking of incredible things, a woman apparently managed to accidentally choke herself with manacles after being arrested at an airport. Late to the airport for her flight, arrested when she became irate, found with the cuff chain around her neck after her protests subsided. Official story is that she was trying to escape her handcuffs. Two and two aren’t adding up here. How could that chain choke her by accident, and furthermore, how would one escape handcuffs in a manner that would involve them being around her neck?
Going from the incredible to the fantastic, motorists helped rescue a bear that was clinging for life onto the Rainbow Bridge. In quite the team effort, a net was set up underneath the bear, a tranquilizer applied, and the bear lowered down to safety.
Today was the day of the Folsom Street Fair (the event advertised by the parody of the Last Supper, all in leather, linked to earlier in the month). And thanks to our friends at the Catholic League, who want Miller Brewing Co., a sponsor of the event, to withdraw their sponsorship, we can see some of the highlights of Folsoms past. Supposedly there were also pictures sent to Miller showing just what goes on there. I think I’m more amused that on a Catholic website is pictures of a leather event. Maybe this is a way for those both Catholic and into the things shown at the event to publicly condemn it while privately taking pleasure in it?
Pink. Seal. Cute. 195 volts. That’s the design of a taser device available in Japan. Personal protection just got a little bit weirder. I wonder just how such a thing could be put to use by both predators and victims. Significantly less dangerous than the baby seal taser is the marijuana-smoking device constructed from the remains of a Nintendo 64 controller. I might even give that one a higher ingenuity score. For those looking to top that, perhaps building your own hydrogen fuel cell will do?
If you follow padded rugby with regularity, or happen to watch sports highlight shows, a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers now holds the career record for touchdown passes thrown. Congratulations, Mr. Favre. And on that note, I’m tucking in and going to bed, it being past my bedtime by at least 60 minutes.
