camp six

merrythought

2011-11-20T13:02:00.001-05:00

word of the day
from wordnik

merrythought

Definitions: (noun) The furcula or wishbone of a fowl's breast.

Notes: The 'merrythought' is so called from the sport of breaking it between two persons of whom each pulls at one of the two ends, to determine which is to be married first, or which is to have a wish gratified that has been mentally formed for the occasion, the winner being the one who gets the longer fragment.

The wishbone from a turkey, not the dog wishbone.

I had no idea that's what merrythought meant.

merrythought teddy bears

It's also the name of a toy company in shropshire england that is best known for it's fine teddy bears.

merrythought village

weather pics of the day

...which have nothing to do with merrythoughts. a huge factory is being torn down to be replaced with a shiny new movie theater. american companies can't stand to recycle or reuse anything. destroy, destroy.

demolition

laconic

2011-11-16T12:13:00.001-05:00

Word of the Day

laconic
Adjective
1. Expressing much in few words, after the manner of the Laconians or Spartans; brief and pithy; concise; brusque; epigrammatic. In this sense laconic is the usual form.
2. Laconian; characteristic of, or like, the Spartans; hence, stern or severe; cruel; unflinching.

Sparta, also known as Lacedaemon

When Philip of Macedon wrote to the Spartan magistrates, "If I enter Laconia, I will level Lacedaemon to the ground," the magistrates wrote back a single two-letter word: "If."

maitland art center

EH. I can't seem to get it together enough to research and post today.

"To the individual man, the family is of more importance than the state....
Mankind, as a matter of fact, is the individual and the family – not the state.
The state is an artificial economic and political system – sometimes a military system – with which mankind has no relationship and has nothing to do....
If human society reached the stage where man existed without a family, it would become a society of tramps – without roots, like artificial plants."

-quotes from The Green Book that I found on the blog Opportuniste Extraordinaire , some good writing worth reading at the blog...click and check it out.

weather pics of the day

incandescent

2011-11-06T10:51:00.005-05:00

word of the day

from OneLook:

in·can·des·cent (nkn-dsnt)

adj:

1. Emitting visible light as a result of being heated.

2. Shining brilliantly; very bright.

3. Characterized by ardent emotion, intensity, or brilliance: an incandescent performance.

OneLook chooses words based on Internet search traffic. apparently "incandescent" made the list because China is banning incandescent light bulbs. big news. and raising lots of arguments about freedom of choice.

but that's silly because the list of banned products is huge.

asbestos? banned. lead paint? banned. so the question, i think, should really be: are compact fluorescents really better than incandescent? yeah, they are more energy efficient. however, they contain mercury - bad news - the stuff is poisonous to humans and animals. so....do your homework before you jump on a bandwagon.

anywho, i found a verycool website with my search of "incadescent":

Visual Therapy

A new series of canvas works by Spanish street artist SKOUNT.

The series is titled Incandescent Natures and is inspired by the abstracted colors of nature.

really an amazing site with lots of beautiful and thought provoking artists and images.

from the "about" section of the site:

Based in Kuwait, Visual Therapy is an initiative created by Shahad Bishara, which developed out of a passion for art and design.

Visual Therapy is an amalgamation of projects, which come together to create an aesthetic platform for innovative work and ideas in all creative fields.

i also found a pic of a wavves tshirt (in the tshirt gallery, of course) on this site. my kids love wavves (and the tshirt designs). i personally like the visual therapy tshirt for sale on the site.

weather pics of the day

have to admit i've never found any street art around here as cool as the work above. however, and coincidentally, just yesterday i took some photos...(with my twenty dollar cell phone). enjoy!

persnickety

2010-06-12T15:37:00.012-04:00

word of the day

persnickety

(adjective)
[pahr-SNIK-i-tee]

1. characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details; overparticular: "I can't believe that you scored so well in Mr. Rahtner's class--he is as persnickety as they come!"

2. snobbish or pretentious

3. requiring great care and strict attention to detail: "If my next job is half as persnickety as this job, I predict I'll only last a few months before my precarious mental state declines even further."

Origin:
Approximately 1905; alteration of English, 'pernickety'; of uncertain Scottish origin.

seven pages of shopping, not that that's a bad thing, but it would seem most of the stores with the word persnickety in their name are a little too precious for my tastes.

or maybe i'm just not in the mood.

but the muppets...that's something i couldn't pass up. king peter the persnickety . there's a muppet wiki? ha. of course there is.

but 16 pages of search results and i'm still looking? i don't think so.

so i found flowers. protea. according to this page at the california protea management site they are persnickety.

The genus Protea was named in 1735 by Carolus Linnaeus after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, because proteas have such different forms. (from wikipedia)

they are sometimes called sugarbushes.
(now you know).

music of the day

greenland is melting. from gainsville. i'm still not sure just what exactly "folk punk" is... but i like this song and the artwork is fun.

here's a description i stole from the bandcamp webpage:

Honesty and accessibility reign on this autobiographical description of touring through the Southeast and the lives of the boys armed with banjos, improvised instruments and three-part harmonies. Enjoy!

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://greenlandismelting.com/track/no-more-sorry-songs"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;No More Sorry Songs by Greenland is Melting&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

and keeping in line with the x- punk genres and skulls artwork and bandcamp...

afro-punk. click the link. it'll take you to a download page. good stuff.

(there's a website too...afro-punk. clicky clicky)

here's a track to listen to... the oOohh baby gimme mores:
(if you follow that link it'll take you to their myspace page which has a link to download their ep for free.)

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://downloads.afropunk.com/track/the-ooohh-baby-gimme-mores-batman-2"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores - &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Batman&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; by Afro-Punk&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

bandcamp

2010-05-14T11:29:00.004-04:00

music of the day

what is bandcamp?

it's is a place where indie bands upload their music so that you can download it. many of them are free. you can also buy downloads and sometimes order vinyl and cd's from the artists or labels.

for now, you can browse by tags or location. not the greatest search system, but it's a work in progress.

it's a huge site. but it's cool. and worth checking out.

quintessence

2010-05-08T18:37:00.009-04:00

word of the day

quintessence
from vocab vitamins

(noun)
[kwin-TES-ahns]

1. the purest and most concentrated essence of something

2. the most representative or pure example of a type: "My uncle Declan was the quintessence of a free spirit in my eyes, and I always aspired to live a similarly blazing, unrestrained lifestyle."

3. (as in medieval philosophy) the fifth and highest element after air, earth, fire, and water; was believed to be the substance composing latent things and heavenly bodies.

adjective form: quintessential
adverb form: quintessentially

Origin:
Approximately 1435; borrowed from Middle French, 'quinte': essence; from Medieval Latin, 'Quinta essentia': fifth essence; concept traces to Aristotle, who spoke of a fifth element that permeated all things.

Related words using the Latin prefix 'quint(us)' (fifth): quintet, quintuplet, quintillionth

first up and just for fun i found a publishing company called quintessence. and i thought oh i bet they have interesting books. clicked the link and lo and behold quintessence publishing sells books on dentistry.

weird.
go figure.

i'm not a person who has problems with dentists, but i seriously don't get why a company that publishes professional dental journals would call themselves quintessence.

but i can understand it being something that has to do with science.

image: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect20/A10.html

from a scientific point of view, quintessence is possibly the a really real form of energy. check out the article at astronomy today.

Quintessence, some cosmologists say, is an exotic kind of energy field that pushes particles away from each other, overpowering gravity and the other fundamental forces. "The cosmological constant is a very specific form of energy, a vacuum energy," Steinhardt said. "Quintessence encompasses a wide class of possibilities. It is a dynamic, time-evolving and spatially dependent form of energy with negative pressure sufficient to drive the accelerating expansion."

so, it has something to do with the universe expanding.

image: Freebird Games Productions © 2006-2009 Kan [Reives] Gao

i also think quintessence is a pretty cool name for a game. and freebird games does too.

The genre of the story is adventure, drama, and fantasy. Despite delivering a story-oriented experience, Quintessence also offers a wide variety of game play through puzzles, mini-games and its real-time battle system.

music of the day

music and games.

one of the song performers for the game quintessence is laura shigihara.

you can download an mp3 of a song she performed for the game quintessence at the freebird games site. you can also visit laura's website and download a funny little song called zombies on your lawn. (in english or japanese, your choice). a song that song was inspired by a game called plants vs. zombies.

sisyphean

2010-04-22T12:06:00.010-04:00

word of the day

from A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Sisyphean

PRONUNCIATION:
(sis-ee-FEE-uhn)

MEANING:
adjective: Endlessly laborious and fruitless.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Sisyphus, a king in Greek mythology who was cursed to push a huge boulder to the top of a hill, only to watch it roll back down and to repeat this forever. Roll, rinse, repeat.

USAGE:
"Even making the bed together in the morning, an act that had hitherto struck me as Sisyphean, took on meaning."
Tim Page; Parallel Play; The New Yorker; Aug 20, 2007.

there's something very funny to me about the fact that two of the three main sites with sisyphean in their web address appear to be no longer in use...as if it was just too much work to maintain them. here they are:

sisyphean.net - just a front page. nothing to click. heh.

the work.group is sysyphean.com. some kind of design and architecture message board site? it appears to be still active.

sisyphean.org is a blog. the most recent post seems to be november 2008.

that covered .net, .org, and .com. but you know i had no idea what those dot names were, so i had to look it up. they are called top-level domains or TLD. wikipedia has a list of internet top-level domain names.

the ones i mentioned, net org and com are considered generic TLD's. specifically, unrestricted gTLD's meaning that anyone can use them. as opposed to sponsored TLD's or sTld's like edu gov and int. or country code TLD's (ccTLD's) like au (australia) us and uk.

it goes on and on. i was curious.

endlessly laborious and fruitless? that's your call.

and if you're still curious about it, internet addresses are maintained (more or less) by the internet assigned numbers authority. they're a .org, by the way. the IANA is maintained by ICANN the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers. i wonder who maintains them?

if all that crap made you tired, well, how about maybe hungry?
the sisyphean bakery

image from sisyphean bakery website
(alas, he hasn't updated his site for awhile)

and, finally, because i really am tired and hungry...

some very cool sculpture. john van alstine his project titled "SISYPHEAN CIRCLE SERIES" (2005-2009) which examines parallels between the Greek mythological character Sisyphus and the plight of the artist.

image john van alstine.com
check it out.

aphorism

2010-04-12T13:42:00.008-04:00

word of the day

from vocab vitamins

aphorism
[AF-ah-riz'-ahm]
(noun)

1. a succinct and cleverly phrased statement expressing a general truth, opinion, or sentiment; an adage: "Professor Rose seemed to have an aphorism at hand to explain away every possible circumstance."
2. a concise statement of a principle

additional noun form: aphorist
adjective form: aphoristic
adverb form: aphoristically

Origin:
Approximately 1528; borrowed from Middle French, 'aphorisme'; from Late Latin, 'aphorismus'; from Greek, 'aphorismos': definition, pithy sentence, aphorism ('ap-': off + 'horos': boundary).

"When Freedom is outlawed, only Outlaws will have Freedom."
- Tom Robbins in Still Life with Woodpecker

there are many websites devoted to aphorisms.
like this one: aphorisms galore
so, really, i guess aphorisms are just quotes with meaning? or something like that.

Human beings were invented by water as a device of transporting itself from one place to another. --Tom Robbins (1936-- ), U.S. novelist

i found a nice blog called aphorism's dream. one person's thoughts on art, literature, politics etc. english is her second language, i presume, and it's kind of fun to read.

but it was her "snazzy links" that intrigued me most. they led me to counter punch. and counter punch has a links page, counterlinks, that is so cool i bookmarked it. left leaning and paranoid. i like it. links to fbi and cia files, corporate villainy, music, politics, conspiracies, etc. definitely worth a visit.

finally i found inverse aphorism. i think it's best if i just quote them. and i f that doesn't convince you to visit their website, well...

consider....

Since the beginning of recorded history, humanity has preserved, recorded and revered the distilled essences of wisdom known as aphorisms....

Whether providing practical advice or expressing profound cynicism, the intrinsic aphoristic YIN necessitates a corresponding YANG, or Inverted Aphorism (IA).

The IA may be revealed by means of a simple inversion:

The Early Worm is gotten by the Bird.

image:wikimedia commons

music of the day

ha ha tonka. i like this band.

ha ha tonka is also the name of a state park. in missouri.
i like parks too. the park has a castle (well, ruins actually).
that's pretty cool. and caves. that's cool too.

then (image: missouri state parks) now (image: odd.net)

...but the band. they're, as you might guess given their name, from missouri. the ozarks.
foot stompin' indie rock? yeah, that sounds about right.

here's a blurb i thought was worth copy and paste:

"I'm struck with how the band successfully combines punk rock energy, heartland rock and gospel fervor." —Songs: Illinois

and, hey, they have a redhead among their band members. always a bonus.

anyway, go to indie music blog for some downloads of their music. and check out ha ha tonkas website where you can buy their records and other cool stuff.

spring break

2010-04-11T07:13:00.013-04:00

music of the day

one:
fang island describes their sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone". i like that.go to indie rock reviews to download and check out a couple of their songs.

two:
christmas island are a duo from san diego. tally ho blog said: they're timeless...because there will always be a summer. you can download and check out a song at mbvmusic.com.

...and, now, really, just for fun. since this whole thing started with me looking for island related stuff due to my recent trip to savannah and tybee island...

three:
a whole page of wave files you can download from the television classic gilligan's island. including the theme song. that's right skipper!

weather pics of the day

lighthouse at tybee island

tybee island

domino effect

2010-03-23T12:26:00.006-04:00

music of the day

my kids are creating a rube goldberg machine for science class.

photo:wikimedia/jclarson

A Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately over engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction.

their teacher showed them the new video for this too shall pass to inspire them. click the link, really, it's an amazing video.

if you have twitter, or want to sign up, you can go here for a live mp3 download of "white knuckles". also, sign up for the OK GO newsletter and download the marching band version of "This Too Shall Pass".

photo:wikimedia/dave nugent

music and causes part two

2010-03-21T22:53:00.013-04:00

music of the day

music for relief.org

download to donate for haiti.

another worthy download. you can download it for free, but how much cooler would you be if you donated a little money for a good cause.

Linkin Park, Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morissette, Slash,
The All-American Rejects, Hoobastank, Kenna, Enrique
Iglesias, Lupe Fiasco, Jack Johnson, Weezer, Metric, and The
Crystal Method team up with Music For Relief to aid
earthquake victims.

what you should know:

haiti is heading into its rainy season and people are still without shelter. there isn't enough money to address this problem:

photo AP/ramon espinosa

Already cash poor, the government lost 80 percent of its revenue and 30,000 commercial structures after the quake, say government officials. It's hoping that the international community and lending institutions will bridge its financial gap. The commission estimates that relocation from an emergency to transitional shelter will cost $367 per person. "We have to have cash in hand within the next six weeks," says commission member Gerald-Emile Brun, an architect with 35 years experience. "Otherwise people are going to drown."
-- read the rest of the article at the christian science monitor website.

music and causes

2010-03-20T16:31:00.008-04:00

music of the day

from headcount.org

a best of bonnaroo sampler, free.

with these artists:

wilco, moe., pearl jam, raphael saadiq, jack johnson, bob weir and ratdog, dave matthews band, the disco biscuits, death cab for cutie, the decemberists, ani defranco, phish, my morning jacket, gov't mule, guster, o.a.r., phil lesh and friends.

whew.

for a good cause:
tell the government you'd like to see them push through the climate bill.

check out headcounts volunteer opportunity. register to volunteer and get to go to concerts for free. how cool is that?

trilithon

2010-03-18T20:28:00.015-04:00

word of the day

from wordnik:

trilithon: noun A prehistoric structure consisting of two large stones set upright to support a third on their tops, found especially in Europe.
OR
A monument consisting of three stones; especially, such a monument forming a kind of doorway, as among the ancient Celts.

like Stonehenge:

photo: wikimedia commons

links one
(a.k.a. music of the day)

it has occurred to me before that damn near every word you search in google will eventually turn up a link to something musical. having said that, there were a few bands and songs using the word trilithon. anything even remotely mystical in nature is guaranteed to be referenced in music or, really, pop culture in general.

this band (not the other band) called trilithon turned up in the first page of results. but a search for more info found nothing more than one single reference to a youtube video. their website had almost no useful information, enough of an enigma for me to feel compelled to check out their music. their website still has two downloadable mp3's. fairly straightforward rock/pop, it's free, you should check them out.

links two

The Baalbek trilithon is a set of three massive stone blocks which are part of the foundation of the Temple of Jupiter Baal ("Heliopolitan Zeus") in Baalbek. These three stone blocks are the largest building blocks ever used by any human beings anywhere in the world. Each one is 70 feet long, 14 feet high, 10 feet thick, and weigh around 800 tons.

text and image: about.com

here's a link to an article about baalbek, a really cool website, sacredsites.com. links down the left of the page offer a wealth of information. i particularly liked the "world atlas" link which organizes and lists sites by location. the website is maintained by martin gray, an anthropologist and photographer who has been traveling and photographing and studying sacred sites for 25 years. here's an interview with him.

links three

and, finally, a board game that was called trilithon. designed by by Gregory K. Van Patten. here's another one of his games called freeze. and if the link for trilithon to boardgamegeek.com made you curious, i found another site called abstract strategy games that is also intriguing. i like the connection between the sacred sites and the board/strategy games since, as is stated on the abstract strategy games website :

Abstract strategy games are probably the oldest and most widespread form of entertainment known to humankind. Proof of that are the myriad ancient game boards and game pieces found by archeologists all over the globe.

go, one of the oldest board games in human history.
image: wikipedia

splenetic

2010-03-15T12:58:00.017-04:00

word of the day

from ninjawords :

splenetic
adjective
-bad-tempered, spiteful, habitually angry.
-relating to the spleen.

splenetic happily took me to two sites about music, one eulogizing a comedian, and a blog with a banner that reads: "modern analytic philosophy, science, religious and political irreverence...".

first up:
although i no longer can find my word of the day on the uncyclopedia web page for the melvins it's still where i wound up. uncyclopedia is funny. you should go look.

The Melvins, moments before sacrificing their last bassist (the guy on the right).
image and text from uncyclopedia.

the second website:
a blog, rook's rant, the post i found being:
George Carlin, Splenetic Comedian, Dies at 71
rook's rant is well written, leans to the left, and has lots of great links. 'nuff said. click the link and check it out.

third site is also a blog:
scottish nous. i felt compelled to add it here because there are several entries tagged "splenetic diatribe". possible the whole blog is a little over my head. but there are some nice looking philosophy links to be checked out. and his blog categories, like "splenetic diatribe", and "poppycock", and "idiot of the day", are hard to resist clicking.

so that's three sites, but i mentioned four? oh yes, well, the fourth is a click through to the melvins website and brings me to my next category:

music of the day

the melvins

free mp3's are always good.
here's a link to the melvins.com. scroll down and click for your free mp3 download.

and if you like that then go here for more. if you like what you hear, buy their stuff or check them out on tour.

gigmanity

2010-03-13T11:27:00.022-05:00

word of the day

from Wordnik:

gigmanity
(noun) A narrow-minded, commonplace respectability, based on the possession of small exterior advantages.

Gigmanity seems to be attributed to Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish writer from the Victorian era. The clearest explanation I found for the word is from Wikipedia:

Gigman was Carlyle's name for a man who prides himself on, and pays all respect to, respectability. It is derived from a definition once given in a court of justice by a witness who, having described a person as respectable, was asked by the judge in the case what he meant by the word; "one that keeps a gig," was the answer. Carlyle also refers to "gigmanity" at large.

And this from Wikipedia's entry on the Radlett murder:

When someone was asked about the character of Thurtell, the answer was that he was a gentleman because he kept a "gig" (a two wheel carriage). Thomas Carlyle seized upon this as a definition of a false gentility, writing about "gigmanity".

Gigmanity searched led me to books. Here's one:

In Bed With Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories of the Great Detective by Christopher Redmond

Redmond has a great website: sherlockian.net. check it out. everything you could possibly want to know about the greatest detective ever.

music of the day

red light company
Red Light Company are a five piece indie rock act from London. i first heard their song "arts and crafts" and think it's a nearly perfect pop song. i won't be surprised if this band catches on in a big way.
click the link above, join their mailing list, get a free mp3.

pot o'gold

2009-04-20T23:29:00.004-04:00

well, i didn't find a pot of gold...but here's a pic of today's rainbow.

labile

2009-04-14T19:58:00.007-04:00

word of the day website(s)

labile \LAY-byl\, adjective: 1. Open to change; apt or likely to change; adaptable. 2. Constantly or readily undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown; unstable.

One of my favorite poets, since i was a kid, is e.e. cummings.

i loved the idea that writing didn't have to be formed in straight lines, from left to right, that punctuation didn't have to be, and neither did capital letters, and that he used the arrangement of letters and text on paper to convey mood was just mind-blowing to me. the first poem i remember reading of his is call "in just-". if you click the link above you can read the poem, along with some other works of his.

from wikipedia:

Visual poetry is poetry or art in which the visual arrangement of text, images and symbols is important in conveying the intended effect of the work. It is sometimes referred to as concrete poetry, a term that predates visual poetry, and at one time was synonymous with it.

Concrete poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on.

Michael Basinski is the Assistant Curator of the Poetry/Rare Books Collection of the University Libraries, SUNY at Buffalo. he is also a poet and creates visual poetry. he has a piece titled "labile" and that's how i found him, at the poetry foundation. the images below are basinskis' work, if you click on his name above you can see these poems and more.

I think that most people believe that art and science are two very different disciplines. they're probably right. but for some reason i've never seen it that way. i wonder, if you think it makes sense to describe some scientists as "capturing the imagination" if maybe you can see where i'm coming from. or, maybe, if i tell you that art is inspired by the natural word, and science is about studying the natural world, then, maybe, i might be making sense.

For some reason, the word of the day, "labile", took me to two different pages addressing nanotechnology. just a few days ago i was watching a tv show called eureka with my kids
the the storyline centered around nanotechnology gone awry. i decided it must be my destiny to include nanotechnology in this post.

Anyway, the first article i found was on the ACS publications website. (ACS is the leading publisher of peer-reviewed research in the chemical and related sciences)

This site is massive, and it's technical. in other words, i didn't understand half of what i was looking at. and when i say massive i mean, like this: "Performing your original search, labile, within the ACS Publications collection will retrieve 36,875 results." make what you will of it all.

Second article i found is here, at organic eprints. Organic Eprints is an international open access archive for papers related to research in organic agriculture. the article is a little more easily digested that the stuff i was trying to read at acs publications. the article questions the use of nanotechnology in growing food...not so digestible, perhaps? make what you will of it all.

weather pic(s) of the day

the river will do what it wants, drag up whatever...

wow

2009-04-05T06:08:00.002-04:00

i'm still really sick.
maybe another day or two.
then i'll be back and post something new.

contretemps

2009-03-31T21:05:00.010-04:00

word of the day website(s)

contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\, noun; plural contretemps \-tahnz\: An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.

I'm a little scatter-brained today.
my daughter, branwen, has been sick for the last few days and i wonder if maybe i'm about to develop the same symptoms. i usually feel "getting sick" in a non-specific kind of way before i have the actual symptoms.

Gadgets and design. when i was a kid we used to get a mail order catalog: hammacher schlemmer.

It was so much fun to me. i would go through the catalog and read the descriptions for every single gadget, fascinated that someone would actually come up with the idea and design for such frivolous yet somehow useful objects as say a seven day programmable robotic vacuum.

It was hermes contre-temps that google turned up, on the first page of results no less, that took me to yanko design. it's a website filled with pretty things. i especially liked the chairs designed by victor aleman.

Sometimes, however, the high tech gadgets and things you just can't live without just annoy me. why? because they seem so ridiculous and extravagant and just plain wasteful. ridiculous to the point that i worry about the psychic and environmental damage being done by our consumerist society. wasteful of resources. annoying.

Which brings me to the next couple of websites. first up is cultural logic: an electronic journal of marxist theory and practice. yep. the content is as overwhelming as the name. the writing is scholarly and each individual work is a .pdf file. there's a certain feeling of obligation when i open .pdf files. ...like i have to read them. i opened a work titled The Age of Consumer Capitalism by Paula Cerni

"In this essay, I take this object of consumption as the starting point of a
historical materialist analysis of contemporary capitalism. While I reclaim the
production-centred approach of classical political economy, I do not simply argue that the prevailing concern with consumption is misguided or false. On the contrary, I argue that this concern reflects a real and significant change in production relations." Copyright © 2007 by Paula Cerni and Cultural Logic, ISSN 1097-3087

The above quote is part of the intro, the work is 23...yep. 23 pages...

Anyway, I took a class on marxism many years ago. it was okay. my take on philosophy in general: saying in 10,000 words what could be said in 10 words. and while i find that can be somewhat entertaining if you're starting with "i think, therefore i am" i don't neccessarily think it's so much fun if you're starting with something about government or economics.

I also don't remember how my word for today got me here.
so...

The destruction of earth's environment by our wasteful society, global warming. a hot topic (heh heh).

"In 2002, a huge contretemps arose over the US Climate Action Report, a State Department document required by the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty."

image: terry sohl

Living the scientific life (scientist, interrupted). grrlscientist is the author of the blog. an ornithologist, there are some beautiful birding photos and articles. and so much more: art, religion, lots of photos, and book reviews are all there. it was a book and word of the day that resulted in the sentence quoted above.

Apparently contretemps was word of the day in november 2006 and grrlscientist offered up that sentence as a usage suggestion. along with a link to a book titled the republican war on science. by chris mooney.

weather pic(s) of the day

i didn't take these photos. they were taken by either one of my daughters, branwen and muriel, or by their friend sophi. the pics are from last weekend in rabbit hash, ky.

osculation

2009-03-29T23:03:00.007-04:00

word of the day website(s)

osculation \os-kyuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun: The act of kissing; also: a kiss.

When i was in high school i chose latin for my foreign language requirement. i made this choice for one reason only: i wouldn't have to speak it. i didn't learn much. most of the time our teacher talked about or showed us her pictures from her time spent in italy, mostly in rome.

image:aaronlogan.com
I found this great blog, rogueclassicism, loaded with art, culture, and news of things related to the classical world. and lots of latin. topics ranging from a new fantasy movie that relies heavily on greek myth to archaeological excavations at cyprus.

There is also an article titled classical osculation, which showed up in the google search results. it was the words "escalation in osculation" that compelled me to click the link to the rogueclassicism site.

Oh yeah, about the aforementioned movie: it's called percy jackson. uma thurman as medusa, pierce brosnan as chiron, directed by chris columbus who directed the first two harry potter movies. based on an adventure/fantasy series of books by rick riordan.

I suppose that it's no surprise that googling a word for kissing would lead me to poetry. poets.org is the site from the academy of american poets. it's huge, it's educational, they have a gift store (t-shirts, coffee mugs, necklaces...). well worth your time to go have a look and to bookmark as well. this is one of those sites you could go back to again and again.

Occasionally i come across sites maintained by a single person that have a certain look and feel to them that i'm not sure i can describe accurately. they look like infomercials, they feel excessively zealous and they are strangely compelling. at least for a day or two. and so it is with dr. william longs' website. he's written three autobiographies. his page links are titled shakespeare, law, bible, billphorisms, et al. i don't know. you decide for yourself.

weather pic(s) of the day

i really like the way these two trees look together.

thaumaturgy

2009-03-24T23:00:00.010-04:00

word of the day website(s)

thaumaturgy \THAW-muh-tuhr-jee\, noun:
The performance of miracles or magic.

I suppose that with such a fun word i could have delved a little deeper than i did. but it's just going to be one of those days. you're thinking, "you have a lot of those days, don't you?" well, yes i do, but we're not going to discuss that right now. so get your mind off of my personal issues and get focused on the varieties of magical interpretation, okay?

image:white-wolf.com
First up is the world of darkness wiki. vampires, werewolves, changelings, and mages, oh my! world of darkness is a role-playing game (rpg). and rpg's seem to be loaded with lots of magic and myth. what fascinates me about rpg's is that they mix up all the myths and magic and come up with some really weird and twisted shit. this game is a storytelling game. the world of darkness website answers the question "what is the world of darkness":

"We can’t know when humans first started telling stories, or why. But it’s a safe bet that the first tale tellers used their craft to explain the mysteries going on around them."
..."Storytelling games involve at least two, although preferably four or more players. Everybody involved in the game participates in telling a group story — the players create and act out the roles of their characters, and the Storyteller creates and reveals the plot, introducing allies and antagonists with which the players’ characters interact."

I guess this isn't an online rpg, you can download the basic rules and then you can order more comprehensive materials for playing once you're hooked. but online there are a chatroom, a forum, a website, and the wiki. i like wikis. and the wod wiki page for thaumaturgy is how we got here. 28 paths of thaumaturgy, actually. and you can click on the wiki link above and read about it yourself.

authentic thaumaturgy image from amazon.com

I suppose that if you are truly open-minded and curious then you have to accept that magic exists in the world. so to find links to thaumaturgy on absoulute astronomy didn't surprise me. "exploring the universe of knowledge" is what their tagline states. a quick look at the sidebar listing of the weeks popular pages: keynesian economics, hindu mythology, aristotle.,cellular respiration...yep, sounds pretty comprehensive to me. all over the place is more like it. and i like it. this site appears to be in the style of a wiki (more reasons to love it). and each page has a discussion board, so you can lurk about and read what all the crazies (er, i mean knowledge seekers) are talking about. sadly, there were no discussions posted on the thaumaturgy page. (maybe you should go start one.)

aleister crowley
If you lean more toward the esoteric, then maybe you should check out global oneness (the meeting place for cultural creatives). this is what some might call a new age site. the problem is that i really think "new age" has lots of negative connotations attached to it and i also think that's unfortunate. yoga and chakras and peace of mind await you. as well as a wisdom archive on thaumaturgy.

weather pic(s) of the day

thaumaturgic shoes:

spoonerism

2009-03-23T21:03:00.019-04:00

word of the day website(s)

spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\,
noun: The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. Some examples: We all know what it is to have a half-warmed fish ["half-formed wish"] inside us. A well-boiled icicle ["well-oiled bicycle"].

Oooh, i like spoonerisms. i'm just not sure i knew there was a name for the linguistic phenomenon. i like that, too: linguistic phenomenon. that from wikipedia which informed me that spoonerisms are named after

photo: alphadictionary.com
william archibald spooner.

apparently the guy was a wingnut and used to mix up his words all the time. which endears me to the man, because i have a tendency to do the same when i talk.

So, on to the website links. first up is fabelbish.com, the spoonerism generator. irrestible, mind-numbing, time-wasting, pointless fun. fo and gave hun! (go and have fun)

Spare room is a site based in new zealand news site, sort of. the sort of part is that there's just lots of funny, goofy stuff there. not a hard news site, but lighter content. like the pic of the house for sale sign:

photo: spareroom.co.nz
and the coolfinder section for the quirky shopper in some of us.
for example:

the blood bath bath mat

or maybe the full-size "balsa" spitfire

Finally, there's the mudcat cafe. i haven't dug in too deep to this one. but it's a user contributed music information site/forum...folk and blues lyrics. lots and lots of song lyrics.

weather pic(s) of the day

today we have two pics, one of them very blurry. (i don't always have a steady hand). .actually, i had a really nice (un-blurry) photo of the (nearly pestilent) canadian geese but it seems i accidentally deleted it. oh well. the top photo is a railroad bridge over the little miami river. i liked the two leaning trees.

florid

2009-03-19T21:13:00.012-04:00

word of the day website(s)

florid \FLOR-id\, adjective:
1. Flushed with red; of a lively reddish color.
2. Excessively ornate; flowery; as, "a florid style; florid eloquence."

Well, i found florid.org instantly. i was concerned that i wouldn't like it. the title page states "here the vulgar eye will see nothing but obscurity and will despair considerably." sounded pretty depressing to me. but i moved on, clicked the welcome, and to my surprise discovered this was a site of magic and the occult. the site belongs to Jean Kent. jean does tarot readings, palm readings, and dream interpretation, and also has a variety of medicinal plants that are apparently available for sale. florid.org is a big site and has lots of information about voodoo, types of magic, exorcism, seance, religion, and more.

Here's a bit from the section on being jinxed:

Another sign of being jinxed is suddenly feeling tired even though you went to the doctor and he could find nothing medically wrong with you. Sooner or later you will be diagnosed schizophrenic, with arthritis pain. Are you always in the wrong place at the wrong time; getting traffic violations, running into things, constantly getting colds, chills, fever, or feeling fear for no apparent reason. Some people even get dizzy spells and black out.

Other indications of a jinx is that you may find that people in general are not friendly to you, you have a hard time finding a job, or you are in the same job for so many years and are not getting any promotions, even though you are a hard worker. Even working two jobs and not getting anywhere, or getting diseases, allergies, cysts or pimples that you never had before. Are all signs of being jinxed.

voodoo gods
from wikimedia commons

Next up is the hotel florid in nepal. not much to say here, just thought i'd post it up. enjoy.

weather pic(s) of the day

forsythia, early bloomers, that riot of bright yellow is welcome in early spring. those pretty little green leaves growing on the right side of the above pic are poppies. they'll bloom sometime in may. i love seeing them pop up out of the ground and look forward to seeing them soon.

elucidate

2009-03-18T11:36:00.014-04:00

Today is another perfect spring day outside. and i just can't get motivated to do anything at all. i've been this way for about a week now. but no matter, i am going to write this post today...

word of the day website(s)

elucidate \ih-LOO-si-dayt\, transitive verb:
To make clear or manifest; to render more intelligible; to illustrate; as, an example will elucidate the subject.

"Scientists elucidate the origin of the darkest galaxies"

image: physorg.com

...This was the search result that got my attention. dark matter....ooohhh...clicking the link took me to physorg.com. and then i got sucked in by the thousands of articles on the site. honestly, as i type this i keep clicking back to the site:

Scientists Discover Previously Unknown Document on Robin Hood

image:physorg.com
Rather than depicting the traditionally well-liked hero, the article suggests that Robin Hood and his merry men may not actually have been "loved by the good".
(really? i can't imagine that this would surprise anyone? i love the robin hood myth, but he was, after all, a criminal. i've always imagined he was like your modern day barfly bad boy. a good heart, maybe, and good intentions, but loveable? only to his friends. )

IBM To Build Supercomputer for U.S. Government

image:wikimedia commons
(PhysOrg.com) -- The U.S. Government has contracted out IBM to build a massive supercomputer bigger than any supercomputer out there. The supercomputer system, called Sequoia, will be capable of delivering 20 petaflops (1,000 trillion sustained floating-point operations per second) and is being built for the U.S. Department of Energy.
(this should scare you. really, it should.)

Anyway, there's a menu bar at the top of the page: nanotechnology, physics, space & earth, electronics, technology, chemistry, biology, medicine & health, other sciences. and if that's not enough, each of these headings has subheadings. this site is huge! you could spend days, weeks, months, just looking around. go, have fun, and learn.

weather pic(s) of the day

i was given this orchid as a mothers day gift, i think, around 3 or 4 years ago. they bloom every year around march or april. since i haven't felt motivated to take photos outside the past few days, i thought i'd just go with an indoor pic. pretty, aren't they?

taking a break

2009-03-14T20:24:00.001-04:00

...just for a few more days. then i'll be back.

pedestrian

2009-03-10T21:45:00.005-04:00

word of the day website(s)

pedestrian \puh-DES-tree-uhn\, noun, adjective:
1. a person who gets about on foot; walker

adjective:
1. going on foot; walking
2. without imagination; dull

Since i recently lost my driving privileges due to financial problems, this one was fun for me. i walk a lot now. but the first website has little to do with walking...except in my case, because the first site has to do with the economy.

"AmosWEB means economics with a touch of whimsy." this is what the banner on the site reads. and how, oh how could i refuse a banner like that? this is a great educational site. i bookmarked it for my kids. i bookmarked it for me because it's educational and it's funny. i found this site because one of the section headings is "a pedestrian's guide to the economy". The introduction starts off like this:

Through undaunted determination, sheer luck, or a missed turnpike exit, you have happened upon A PEDestrian's GUIDE to the ECONOMY. You'll find hours of reading pleasure contained within this site, with more entertainment value per calorie than most office memos.

walkinginfo.org is a great site because it advocates making walking safe and reasonable, which it should be. and for making walking an alternative to driving. my living environment is a good example: i have no reasonable public transportation. there are also large areas near me with no sidewalks, as well. for example, if my daughters wanted to walk to school, they would only have sidewalk for less than a mile of the two mile walk.

Next up is a little bit of art. pedestrian levitation.net.

It's a visualization project where the paths of pedestrians were recorded and the resulting flow pattern is realized by painting irregular white triangles on the ground and on buildings. go check it out, it's brilliant.

And, finally, hope for the future, an article from the New York Times about cars being barred from several blocks of Broadway, including Times Square.

weather pic(s) of the day

today was probably the last super-warm day for march. it was also a new record high, 81 degrees. i imagine that now we will settle into the typical 40-50 degrees range for the rest of the month. i say that in the hopes that i may be pleasantly surprised by some more atypical warm weather in the next few weeks. i walked down the railroad tracks today. these are some shots of one of the trestles.

incisive

2009-03-09T00:03:00.007-04:00

word of the day website(s)

incisive \in-SAHY-siv\, adjective:
1. penetrating; cutting; biting; trenchant
2. remarkably clear and direct; sharp; keen; acute
3. adapted for cutting or piercing
4. of or pertaining to the incisors

I got a little lost running the search for this word. What slowed me down at first was a company called Incisive Media. They're (apparently) a huge business to business information provider. These are the companies that frighten me...way too much information and power, if you ask me.

Once I got over thinking about the implications of large companies consolidating the information of the world under their own personal umbrella I then moved on to things that i find entertaining...as follows:

Gridskipper is a fun travel blog. they cover the biggest cities in the world, but in an offbeat kind of way. definitely not Lonely Planet kind of offbeat. they're a little more exclusive in their offerings. their articles cover one topic (for example "london's best jukeboxes") with several locations on a map. and lots of links. i found it kind of difficult to search and navigate this blog, but it was fun clicking on articles.

(image from thegarret.org.uk, see link below)

I found Gridskipper through an article titled Incisive Theater at London's St. Thomas Hospital. A fun little article about an operating theater, as in 19th century style surgery, the theater being for students to come and watch. Fun, fun.

Incisive dot nu is a blog. i'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but i really do appreciate smart people and their ability to write, well, you know, smartly. this is a small site, only a half dozen or so articles, but they were so much fun to read. and there are some fun links to follow (yes, i really do love clicking links, it's like christmas, you never know what you'll get).

weather photo(s) of the day

ah, another uncharacteristically warm march day. this little body of water is actually stagnant. it looks (kind of) okay now but in another month or so the water will be covered in green algae. the photo below is (as you can see) heavily edited, but i thought the colors were nice so i posted it here for you to enjoy.

equine

2009-03-08T09:07:00.009-04:00

word of the day website(s)

equine \EE-kwahyn, EK-wahyn\, adjective:
of, pertaining to, or resembling a horse: a bold, equine face.

I once had a job in the office at a horseback riding training facility. horse people. they're an amazing and eccentric bunch of people. horses are graceful, beautiful creatures. they're also bigger and stronger than humans. not only that, horses are non-predatory which, in turn, makes them prey. i think that it's likely that this makes them more easily spooked than other animals we humans keep as pets. so...big and strong and easily spooked makes a recipe for disaster. caring for horses requires sensitivity, patience, intelligence, and it requires confidence and a certain fearlessness.

Anyway, as you can imagine, searching equine turned up a million pages of horses for sale, boarding facilities, camps, and trade magazines. also, a large number of art and shopping sites.

Equine Dreams is a non-profit organization which provides therapeutic horseback riding. They are located in Illinois. I know that there is a non-profit riding facility near where I live that does the same thing. I imagine there are quite a few across the country. What they do is offer riding opportunities to children and adults with disabilities. The people who donate their time, energy and money to these ventures are true heroes. It's an incredible opportunity for people with disabilities and helps them to develop confidence, learn skills, and experience freedom and joy. 'nuff said.

Because i'm an information (and trivia) junkie when i clicked on Equine Heroes i knew immediately that it should be posted here. it's not a huge site, rather it is sweet and simple. mythological horses like unicorns, historical horses like comanche, race horses, and equine actors (do you remember Mr. Ed?) are represented here.

There are tons of equine related art sites. but the Equine Resin Directory, for inexplicable reasons, simply fascinated me. an entire website devoted exclusively to resin sculptures? really?

A little controversy is a good thing to throw into the mix. so here i include the Omak Stampede. the stampede itself is a rodeo. it's the suicide race that's causing the uproar. it's dangerous and people and horses have died. the race began in 1935. in recent years animal rights activists, and others, have spoken out and demanded that the race be outlawed. i'm still on the proverbial fence here but leaning towards the "let the race begin" side. for me it's a combination of the old "give them an inch..." routine and the restriction of freedom. at what point will we cross the line from safety for all to a totalitarian society?

weather pic(s) of the day

stormy weather. today we had two thunderstorm warnings (i really hate those sirens) and a tornado watch. we headed up the street to buy a much desired slushie just as the storms were clearing and the sun was setting.

bilk

2009-03-07T22:29:00.007-05:00

word of the day website(s)

bilk \bilk\, verb, noun:
1. to defraud; cheat
2. to frustrate
3. to escape from; elude

noun:
1. a trick; fraud; deceit.
2. a cheat, swindler

Did you know Bilk is a character from Star Wars? That's right, Wookiepedia informed me, Wookiepedia is cool.

Bilk is also the name of a Japanese drink...go on, guess? Milk and beer combined into one fabulous taste sensation. I'm not lying. And although I found dozens of links to sites referencing it (weirder still, if you ask me), InventorSpot was by far the coolest. So, after you finish reading about ten weird Japanese drinks, stick around and check out some of the other amazing and amazingly strange inventions InventorSpot has written about. interactive drum t-shirts and cake mix for dogs, yep.

I had to put an Acker Bilk link here because there were just so damned many references. Don't know that much about him. But the link I've provided claims to be the official website for him.

And, finally, this one is a cheat, but it kept popping up (and it's really fun), so I feel compeeled to include it. The site is called blik (not I-L but L-I). I guess it's popular enough that google thinks maybe I spelled my search word wrong? Who knows. Blik is a retail site. Lots of wicked cool vinyl wall stickers...from elegant looking birds and bamboo motifs to mario bothers and space invaders to playful esoteric designs...way cool stuff, check it out.

weather pic(s) of the day

another gorgeous spring day. near my house is property owned by the county park district. they have been restoring the area to natural grasslands. there are also a dozen or so bird boxes. this one fell from it's perch. soon, the grasses will be green and the milkweed will be growing...soon. and, hopefully, the bird box will be restored to it's original position.

martial

2009-03-06T23:55:00.007-05:00

word of the day website(s)

martial \MAHR-shuhl\, adjective:
suitable or used for war; warlike

Well, i knew what i was up against before i went searching with this word. lots and lots of pages about the martial arts. so, i give, i will post one link about the martial arts, though it's not a subject that holds great interest for me. here we go...

Bad Martial Arts: don't let the title discourage you. the goal of this website is to explore the fact and fiction, reality vs. myth of the martial arts. it's really a very nice overview of what the martial arts are all about.

Famous Trials: this site is so very cool. i found it because of the words "court martial" attached to one of the articles - the mail lai courts martial. the page has images and links to stories of 56 famous court trails listed in chronological order. also found here are links to some other sites created by the author, Doug Linder, including a site called Searching For Evil: An Examination of the Nature of Evil and its Persistence in the American Legal System. yeah, it's a long title, but aren't you intrigued? i was.

Survive Martial Law: because if you don't suffer from a little paranoia, well, you really should. if you don't believe in conspiracy theories, if you don't think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, then you're most likely not paying attention. planned economic collapse leading to a police state? yep.

weather pic(s) of the day

spring is definitely here. along the edges of the wooded areas, among the dead leaves and stlil brown grass, green is popping up. i think this stuff is some kind of invasive plant. but i can't for the life of me figure out what it is. i think it's either poison hemlock or wild parsnip. both are nasty, the hemlock can kill you (if you ingest it), the parsnip can produce a very nasty skin rash. but it sure is pretty, and refreshing to see some green popping up outside.

parry

2009-03-05T21:11:00.004-05:00

word of the day website(s)

parry \PAR-ee\, verb, noun:
1. to ward off; turn aside (as a thrust or weapon)

noun:
1. the act of warding off

At first i thought this might be a hard word to find websites with. i underestimated (well, actually i didn't even think of it at all) the vast numbers of people with the surname parry.

having said that, three sites to check out. one music site, one (mainly) political site, one photography site. two of the artists share the same name.

Parry Gripp song of the week Parry Gripp is singer/songwriter of the band Nerf Herder. He also is responsible for the songs on the hoops&yoyo Hallmark cards. I love hoops&yoyo. He also maintians the goofy and entertaining song of the week website. It's silly and it's fun and it's worth checking out.

Nigel Parry - web designer, political activist, musician, writer. (he's also from Scotland and i have this strange thing about being attracted to people from Scotland. not intentionally, i just find, hear, see things i like only to find out that their creators are Scots.) there's a ton of information on his site...the word prolific comes to mind (i wonder if he ever sleeps)...music to download, articles to read, videos, a great deal of middle east related news, links, well, you're getting the idea here.

Nigel Parry - portrait photographer. authors, actors, artists, musicians, writers. beautiful. go. look. enjoy.

weather photo(s) of the day

another perfect spring day. i actaully wore shorts today while walking the dogs. these photos were taken in the evening, the clouds and the sun shining through them were spectacular.

temerity

2009-03-04T21:14:00.009-05:00

word of the day website(s)

Well, two links actually, just because.
today's word from dictionary.com is

temerity: \tuh-MER-uh-tee\, noun:
Unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger; rashness.

The Temerity of Zim : i clicked this link because my kids are big fans of the nickelodeon cartoon Invader Zim. well, actually they're big fans of GIR, a character from the cartoon. The Temerity of Zim is a movie and has nothing at all to do with the Nick cartoon. the trailer for the movie got my attention. it has that kinda low-budget indie film look to it that i find appealing. unfortunately, it's not available on netflix.

Pharyngula is a science blog by PZ Meyers. since the author of the blog describes himself as a godless liberal, since i could fairly describe myself the same way, and because pharyngula is just a really cool name for a blog (boy, do i like my run-on sentences)...i've added it here for everyone's reading enjoyment. and to add to the coolness factor the most recent post on his blog is his story about Richard Dawkins...introduing him before his lecture, hanging out with Dawkins afterwards, yep, that's cool.

today's weather photo(s)

another bright, sunny day. but not nearly as cold. there was still ice to be found under the bridge. moving water has a way of freezing that is quite beautiful. i particularly enjoyed finding the little ice rings around the scraggly woody plants growing among the rocks. they look like little tooques.

acute

2009-03-03T21:19:00.012-05:00

word of the day website(s):

today's word: acute: \uh-KYOOT\, adjective:
1. acting keenly on the senses; sharp
2. quick in discernment; drawing fine distinctions
3. of an angle, less than 90 degrees
4. happening quickly, briefly, and severely

Acute records

punk, pre-punk, post-punk...underground reissue.
an exhaustive links page.
and a really cool looking site.
i have to admit i haven't heard of most of the bands, but now i have some new music to check out.

today's weather photo(s):

it's still winter-cold outside but there's hope. buds on trees and the crocus are in bloom.
today was beautiful, bright and sunny...(just look at the sun shining off that hubcap.)