A Philosophical Posting

I've been ruminating quite a bit lately. On life, death, the meaning of it all, la de freaking da.

It occurred to me, after much wasted time in a quiet room, meditating on the subject, that surely the internet could answer these questions for me and I could get on with important things like flying a kite, studying cow formations, standing in front of the fridge for hours then running around the yard, covered in blue paint with a stick in my hand screaming at squirrels.

To determine just which way I think seemed the best way to jump start the investigation into my self.

Thusly, the taking of the "What is Your World View?" quiz:

You scored as Idealist. Idealism centers around the belief that we are moving towards something greater. An odd mix of evolutionist and spiritualist, you see the divine within ourselves, waiting to emerge over time. Many religious traditions express how the divine spirit lost its identity, thus creating our world of turmoil, but in time it will find itself and all things will again become one. Idealist 63% Materialist 56% Cultural Creative 50% Existentialist 50% Romanticist 44% Postmodernist 44% Modernist 25% Fundamentalist 19% What is Your World View? created with QuizFarm.com

Well, how nice for me and the rest of the world. And what a lovely graphic!

Now, how to apply this idealistic nature. Thereupon I took the "Which Religion is the Right One for You?" test:

You scored as Paganism. Your beliefs are most closely aligned with those of paganism, Wicca, or a similar earth-based religion. You may also follow a Native American religion. Paganism 67% Buddhism 58% Islam 54% Judaism 46% Hinduism 46% agnosticism 38% Christianity 29% Satanism 25% atheism 21% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

Hee hee. This actually caught me by surprise but made ultimate sense. Rather explains the running around the yard thingy.

I added a study that a science guy did on much of the stuff of nightmares we see in the movies. He dares to say that the bad guys are a bunch of bunk.

After all of this, I felt dizzy and saddened that the sun had gone down, thus putting off the screaming stick carrying bit until tomorrow. But, gosh, I feel like a better, more well-rounded, cyber-informed pagan person, so not a bad days work, huh?

Another Perilous Journey

Madonna Tour Continues

Norway.

Quite a bit has been happening there of late.

First, Munch's the Scream and Madonna (the painting, silly!) have made a reappearance in not so horrible shape.

Guess those kooky kids at M&M's who offered 2 million dark chocolate M&M's for the return of "The Scream" are going to have a special delivery to make.

But more importantly, Antonia "Toni" Filipertis has seen and heard the Mother Mary.

From her maple tree.

Where the branches were cut off.

Tuesday afternoon, Toni was about to take her car out of the garage in order to take her daughter to a doctorÂ’s appointment. She heard a voice behind her.

"The voice, she told me to look on your tree," she related in a Polish accent. “I come out and parked the car in the front and I look on the tree and I don’t see nothing. She said, 'Look at your tree. I'm in three places,' and she was in three places .... And I look in this branch and she was very clear."

Three stubs of three branches were imaged.

"Last night, she (Mary) told me, because I am sick, I don't have to go outside. She wants me and look through my window and pray to her. I look through the window. She was so beautiful."

OK, it wasn't in Norway. It was in New York.

But it could have been in Norway.

Standing Room Only

Layla's Lolli

A Star Collapses

A supernova 400 light years from home has been observed in all it's exploding goodness by Swift, a group of US-British-Italian astronomers who honed in on it's gamma ray bursts.

Supernovae occur when huge, mature stars effectively run out of fuel and collapse in on themselves. The most well known may be the crab nebula created by a supernova in 1054 (which was recorded by Chinese astronomers).

This is not to be confused with Aldo Nova who's career ran it's course and collapsed on itself because life is just a fantasy. Can you live this fantasy life?

And this is certainly not meant to be confused with the latest of billions of reality TV shows that keep American's on their asses glued to a box.

Another Dancing Fool

Police Station has Public Potted Pot

The West Duluth, Minnesota police station sports nice foliage landscaping. A lovely pot of pot planted in the front of the station is thanks to a bitter gang bent on revenge. The police chief, when faced with the evidence supplied by a reporter, indicated that he and his fellow officers use the back entrance, not the front and... yeah. He fucked up.

Stickin' it to Ya

Have Some Beers

Mary's on the Move

Making an appearence on a Burbank, California turtle before heading for another tortilla or palm tree.

Jug or Not

There's Something Amiss

Best Headline of the Day

"Participant of Sex Dolls Rafting Tournament Disqualified For Sexual Abuse of Apparatus"

...with plenty of photo goodness!

McMullet

"Look, up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "No, it's an elephant!"

Tell me you haven't wondered how much clouds weigh.

OK.

Everyone I've asked so far says they've never thought about it* but I certainly have.

But now I know the answer.

Clouds weigh a lot of elephants. Cumulus clouds about one hundred elephants.

Which brings me to my next answered query:

Why do elephants have trunks?

Don't let the elephant's child fool you...



*Then they all gave me rather strange looks, sighed and walked away.

"I think that today if Ramses could talk, he would say 'Thank you for moving me,' "

Egyptian engineers have taken the mighty 3200-year-old statue of Pharaoh Ramses II, that had suffered from exhaust fumes and other modern day grossness, from it's original home in of Ramses Square in Cairo, where it had lived since the 1950's, to a spot near the Great Pyramids. There is will be restored to it's original splendor.

There, a Great Museum will be built that will also give a home to the restless body of King Tut and "many other treasures."

Chief of Antiquities Zahi Hawass made the comment that is the title of this post.

I laughed when I read it.

Ramses, in my mind, is Yul Brynner in the TEN COMMANDMENTS. Mix that with the fact that the real Ramses was a warrior who ruled for 67 years, a hell of a long time for a pharaoh, my thinking is that he would say something more like:

"Do not touch me! Remove this cage from my likeness! I am Pharoah. I am a god! Move the cars and peasants. I do not ride in a flat bed! A curse on you!"

Then he would swing one leg over the other, turn away and rest his pensive head on his majestic hand.

Digging in the Dirt

Jamie Hill, a lucky man known for digging up wonderous finds at his mine north of Charlotte, North Carolina, found a 10-inch, 591-carat emerald Wednesday that, when verified, could well break a North American record for size.

Hill's mined many large emeralds including an 88-carat crystal in 1998.

"I had a fit," said Hill . "I about hyperventilated."

A Friendly Drink

Hard-boiled Gilligan and Skipper

Whhhhhhoops...

Face It

Mother and Son World Tour Continues

Whilst Jesus was seen in an ultrasound in the UK , the Virgin Mom has appeared in pine paneling in San Diego.No one knows where these two crazy kids will show up next (food, drippings, exhaust, oil spills) so keep your eyes open!

Frothy Goodness

"These frogs lay their eggs in stinking pools bursting with microbes. Yet none of their eggs gets infected, thanks to the froth that the frogs create. This not only prevents microbial growth, but holds its structure for many days. It is astonishing stuff.'

Post fertilization, male Tungara frogs of Trinidad build these lovely nests of froth around eggs laid by the female in festering ponds of ickiness by wildly kicking the fertile goo with their hind legs. Scientists are giggling with joy because they've discovered that this froth, this protective, sticky amphibian bubble wrap, contains a type of detergent and anti-microbial agents. This means two things to researchers: drugs and money!

This material is amazing,' said Professor Malcolm Kennedy, of Glasgow University's biology department putting a less capitalistic spin on it. 'You could imagine using this stuff as an emergency spray on soldiers injured by shell blasts or on burns victims. It could provide immediate protection for the wound and stop infections spreading. In particular, it could be used to clear up oil spills, replacing standard detergents which can cause considerable environmental damage on their own."

She's Got it Nailed

“People ask me if they get in my way. I say, ‘No, they get in everybody else’s way’.”

Mary, Mary, Where Ya Goin' To?

The grease catcher of a George Foreman grill, apparently. Do you see it? Personally, I think it reveals that George Foreman was Jack the Ripper.

She's a Grinner

Bags o' Beer

Headline of the Day

Psycho Killer Raccoons Terrorize Olympia

Slippered

August 22nd

For those not aware, this day has been decreed by some to be the end of the world. As we know it, altogether, for a while, etc.

This day, one of many doomsdays predicted on the interweb, is based on the holy Islamic day of reckoning for Shiites with some sects going as far as construing August 22 to the end of the world. At the very least, it is a day for commemoration of the return of the 12th imam, a day of reckoning for Shiites.

coincidently, Iran announced that it will continue to develop its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad has said to Iranians and the world that he will respond to the U.N.'s polite suggestion that he stop.

There's more. Want to read about it? Go here.

Want to protect yourself? Go here!

I will take this day to tell people how much I love them, reflect on how glad I am to be alive with all my limbs and faculties with a roof over my head and food in my belly. I will listen to music, spend time in the sun and studiously avoid the news.

Go forth and hug a stranger, lick your friends and brush your teeth!

A Level of Disgust

that has not been reached before. Really.

Homespun Mullet

Monkey Love

Leap of Faith

Monkey Dew

Splish Splash, He was Takin' a Bath

Sweet News

"It's the first time I've ever heard of anything like this."

This from Capt. Randy Berner after rescuing a twenty-one year-old man from a tank of chocolate. The man had gone in to unplug it and was sucked into the sweet confection in it's magma form.

"It was pretty thick. It was virtually like quicksand," Berner said, and co-workers, police and firefighters were not able to get him out until the chocolate could be thinned out.
the police captain said.

In other chocolate news, the Virgin Mary has made another appearance - this time in the form of solidified chocolate drippings. Coincidence? Most probably.

And here, a way to give your heart to someone in an anatomically correct chocolate form.

The Dawn of Life

In virtual dissection and in 3D!

I give you... the penis worm embryo!

A Planet by Definition

The International Astronomical Union is pondering a big question. What, exactly, is the definition of a planet? The answer could change how we look at our solar system:

The definition, which basically says round objects orbiting stars will be called planets, is simple at first glance:

"A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet."

"Our goal was to find a scientific basis for a new definition of planet and we chose gravity as the determining factor," said Richard Binzel, an MIT planetary scientist who was part of a seven-member IAU committee that hashed out the proposal. "Nature decides whether or not an object is a planet."

Help This Man

After having nominated Benjamin LeRoy of Bleak House Books as one of the hotties of publishing (galleycat), he gently pointed out to me that he didn't want to have his hottie ass handed to him by a bunch of New York boys.

I agree. This is a territorial thing. If you are part of the rest of the country, you must vote for Ben. We can't let these New Yorkers trounce us!

If you want to give me a fleeting sense of power and Mr. LeRoy a reason to hold his head high at Bouchercon in Madison, you must also vote for him.

I'd like to point out that Alison Janssen of the same publishing company apparently needs no boost. What a babe! Vote for her, anyway. We can't let Ben get cocky.

The Wind up your Legs

Martin's Legs

Legs? Nun were seen.

One Leg up in Competition

A Leg up on the Honeymoon

He's Got Legs

Hey! Can you remind me...

...I need to get reviews done.

Oh, and finish some articles after polishing up an interview with Colin Cotteril.

Damn, and I have a short story to finish.

Oh, oh, and I need to plant the daisies.

And don't let me forget to get the give the cat her medication.

And I've got to throw that laundry in....

And remind me to have some kind of wonderful fun before the world is blown to bits on the 22nd of this month. Can anyone help me out with that?

Everyone I know has a big "But..." C'mon, Simone, let's talk about *your* big "But".

Happiness is:

Pee Wee's Playhouse every night on adult swim! I was briefly flummoxed and mildly upset when they shifted the time slot yet my well honed mind and keen detective skills discovered the time slot change and lo! The joy that is the Playhouse was mine once again.

All who have spent any modicum of time in my presence, and I apologize to all of you, know that an oft repeated moment in my media repeating mental record spinner plays scenes from Pee Wee's Big Adventure with vicious abandon. Oh, the wonder that is my mind.

And Paul Reubens isn't done yet! There will be two more Pee Wee movies geared more toward slightly wacked adults such as myself.

It is widely believed that Reubens' 1991 arrest killed Pee-wee forever, but Reubens is not done with him. He has two Pee-wee scripts finished: One is a revised version of an unproduced screenplay he wrote with Panter, a "Playhouse" adventure featuring the usual suspects. The other is "dark," a "Valley of the Dolls" story that seems from reports to obliquely refer to some of his own personal trials.

"I never said it was over or I didn't want to do it anymore," Reubens said about the possibility of putting on the suit and bow tie again. "That's something that's been said by other people."

And just remember, there's a lotta things about me you don't know anything about. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand.

Got Lens Envy?