Biomes Blog

Entry #838

“You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.”   -- George W. Bush, 2001

How stuff is made.  You could spend a week at this site.

Chevy Tahoe ad. See it before they remove it.

Building a computer with the help of little Lego men.

Movie Rating: Elizabeth.
I’ve never been a big fan of Cate Blanchette, but her transformation from free-spirited princess to ice queen was astonishing.  One of history’s greatest actors, Sir John Gielgud, appears as the pope for about 32 seconds. 4.1 starfish out of 5.

A bio of Elizabeth I.

Watch Tim Tom, a stop motion short film made by someone with an obvious god complex.

iPod Shuffle:

1. The Way It Is (Bruce Hornsby*)
2. Only The Lonely (Roy Orbison)
3. The Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon)
4. Going, Going, Gone (Bob Dylan)
5. Before I Go (John Hiatt)
6. Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon)
7. Death Of Manolete (10,000 Maniacs)
8. From Time To Time (Rascal Flatts)
9. The Man In Me (Bob Dylan)
10. Child Of Vision (Supertramp)

(* I took this photo standing on Bruce Hornsby's piano.)

Entry #837

"My buddies come from up from Texas... And they come up from Texas and they're, kind of, looking at you, like, 'Man, are you OK?' Yes, you know. And I tell them, I say, you know, 'I can't tell you what an honor it is to do this job.' They often ask, 'What's the job description?' I say, 'Making decisions.' And I make a lot." --Dumbest President Ever.

The Current Geocide Count (CGC) indicates in real time how many geocides have taken place; that is, the number of times the Earth has been destroyed. A value of "0" indicates that at present, the Earth has not been destroyed. In the event of the Earth being destroyed, the CGC will be increased by one, to read "1".  I just checked the site and the Earth is still here.

Scooter Libby defense fund.  Help the poor guy out.

Pet Corner: How to knit a squid hat for your cat.

This week’s slideshow features some crazy ad characters. The one pictured was once used by McDonalds.

  Why you should spay your pet.

Entry #836

Congratulations to whoever found the Biomes Blog by googling "dog poison control incense".  You're our 100,000th customer.

Cool new ad for “Crashing the Gate”, Jerome and Markos’ new book now out.  Buy it for me here.

Suicide Notes.  This page is like watching a train wreck.

Help make this nasty...woman...spend it all.

A New Jersey town helps out its resident salamanders.

May I take your order?  Check out this hilarious chinese restaurant menu.

Animal of the Week: Mantis Shrimp.
I have three mantis shrimp, each one about seven inches long.  And yes, they are powerful enough to shatter glass.  They’ll also put a gash in your hand that will require stitches (old-timers around here call them “thumb-splitters"). But I’ve found they tame very quickly in captivity and they are certainly one of my favorites.

Entry #835

Stayed home from work for the second time in sixteen years because of illness today, so this will be short.  Ugh. Speaking of which, this post by Wayne on avian flu is frightening.

Stuff You Should Know: How to preserve a snowflake for decades using a drop of chilled superglue.

You may remember this story a short while back about Tony Blair claiming that god was on his side in his decision to back Bush’s illegal war.
Former Python member Terry Jones replies.

Watch “We Will Not Be Silenced”.

Entry #834

Note from Ngazi: When you approach a diamondback terrapin and it retreats into it’s shell, it can still bite if you stick your nose too close.  And it will swallow the small chunk it rips off your shnozz, which is kind of gross.  Then again, I like to root around in Sammy's litter box.

Sorry about that. Her posting privileges have been revoked for a week.

Cat rescue boat in the Netherlands.

Ha.  Check out this Juicy Fruit ad.

Three Years. Riverbend reports from her home in Baghdad. I blame the media for not reporting about all those freshly painted schools.

Movie Rating: The Last Castle.
I can’t say this movie wasn’t well made and acted.  Redford’s always been a favorite who’s work I look forward to seeing whenever it comes out.  But this flick, which takes place in a military prison, was suprisingly dull.  Also, is that annoying whine really what Tony Saprono’s voice sounds like?  2.7 starfish out of 5.

Albino Monday: Here is the first google image hit for "Albino Diamondack":

Entry #833

Stuff You Should Know: All about Stonehenge.

David St. Hubbin's tiny Stonehenge quote.

  Roger Moore’s fantabulous eyebrows.

Cool Site of the Week: DubyaD40, via Blah3.

Bookmark worthy: The World Conservation Union.

A long time friend, someone I’ve known since childhood, was running for local school board in my town a few years back and asked me if I would be willing to help him out.  I declined because he’s running as a Republican, and was honest with him about that (this is Rhode Island, he’s not a wingnut, but still, if there’s a “R” next to your name you get nothing from me.).  I’m sure he would have made a fine board member if he had won, but the following news story reminded me that even small local races are important.  Look what happened when the good people of Dover, PA elected a handful of morons to their school board.  It not only made them the laughing stock of the country (outside of parts of Kansas) but also cost the school department a million bucks in lawyer fees.

Trivia (1 Biomes point, because come on, this is just too easy):  Who said it?

"I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company."

Entry #832

Listen to “Not Ready To Make Nice”, by the Dixie Chicks.  I can’t imagine what this song is referring to.

Movie Rating: Lagaan.
Who could imagine a three hour Indian musical set in the 1880’s could be so enjoyable? In the middle of a two year drought a small village under British rule gets a chance to be free of the tax (lagaan) if they can beat the local English thugs at cricket. Rent this when you get the chance.  4.6 starfish out of 5.

Duh study of the week.  Whiny, insecure children grow up to be conservatives.

Trivia (10 Biomes points): Actually, these are more like “reward points”. I’m an avid reader of the Dilbert Blog, and Scott often uses the acronym (I’m assuming that’s what it is) “BOCTAOE” in his posts, usually after making a self-referrential point.  I’ve gone through some archives and still can’t figure out what this stands for.  Admittedly I haven’t combed his comments since he gets way too many per post to wade through.  So, if you can figure this out, you get the points.

Timewaster of the Week: This site’s pointless.

Entry #831

You do read Waiter Rant, right?

Well, it’s almost time for those wild-n-crazy seal hunter rascals to do their annual Clubbin' On Ice show.  Sign the pledge to stop this nonsense. Christ, people, it’s the 21st century already.

It’s long, but Ezra Klein has a great essay on President Gore.

Morford: I Am Done With Violence.

Play! Ball Toucher (be nice).

Learn a little bit about apes and monkeys at this virtual book site.

iPod Shuffle:

1. All This Time (Sting)
2. Love Will Keep Us Alive (The Eagles)
3. Don't Go Back To Rockville (R.E.M.)
4. All I Really Want To Do (Bob Dylan)
5. The Ballad Of Billy The Kid (Billy Joel)
6. This Town (Elvis Costello)
7. Hurricane (Bob Dylan)
8. New York City Serenade (Bruce Springsteen)
9. The E Street Shuffle (Bruce Springsteen)
10. Kodachrome/Maybellene (Simon and Garfunkel, live)

Entry #830

Stuff You Should Know: Twelve states have an official state dinosaur. This one is Maryland's, which I labeled as "mddino.jpg", and now I'll probably get a bunch of google image hits from people looking for this clown. 

Poor Dr. Dino.

Dictator of the Month.  March 2006’s bad guy was an old pal of Donald Rumsfeld.

Scott Adams: Ouch said the fish.

Why it’s important to regularly trim your toenails.

NASA has pretty much confirmed that, yes, global warming is occuring.

Trivia (5 Biomes points): Who is the only president to come under enemy fire while serving in office.  Five bonus points if you can say where it happened.

 

Entry #829

Animal of the Week: Water Bears - The world’s toughest animal.

I like Samuel L. Jackson, but I don’t think I want to sit around watching him slaughter a bunch of CGI snakes on a plane.  You know I’ll end up netflixing it anyway, though.

The New York Times, who played a major role in duping this country into an illegal and immoral war via corrupt warmonger Judith Miller, eviscerates Bush and Rummy.  Too little, too late.

Whenever a Paul Simon song comes up on the iPod I like to tell The Boy about the origins of the song “Mother and Child Reunion”, and pretend that I think I haven’t already told him a hundred times.  Drives him nuts.  Anyhow, here’s the scoop via Snopes.

Rapture letters. I wonder what it’s like to be truly insane.

Remember that new species of furry white crab?  Here it is as a plush toy.

Entry #828

Who are the crazy ones?

Juggler Chris Bliss. Watch this.

Happy Norouz.  Today is the Persian New Year.

  Throw paper into a trash can. Take wind speed into consideration.

Search Results: Someone found the Biomes Blog by yahooing “medications made from snowflakes”.  It brought them here.

If you’ve ever wondered what the longest anything is, you can find out at the site with the longest domain name.

Diseases of the Presidents. Man, Washington was a mess. And they left out “chronic stupidity syndrome” on that last guy.

Entry #827

A few weeks ago I joined my local Freecycle group. So far I’ve given away a perfectly good washer and dryer set, which would have sat in my garage for years rusting away, to an older woman who couldn’t afford to replace her broken set.  And a couple who wanted to repair their run down backyard fence came by yesterday and took the eighty feet of stockade fencing that blew down in that freak windstorm we had in December.  I decided I liked the view better without it.  It’s really a great service.  You can get rid of stuff you don’t want to someone who does and keep it out of the landfills. Check out the site and see if there is a freecycle community near you.  You also get regular emails from members looking to give away stuff and this one just killed me.  I wish I kept it, but this is a paraphrasing:

"I have some protien powder available if anyone wants it.  I paid $15 for it and I've only used a little because it tasted horrible.  Let me know when you can pick it up."

Cool, I passed 8th grade math with flying colors.  And I hate math.

Vintage Supermarket Photos.

Find out what’s up around the world.

Albino Monday: Woodchuck.

Entry #826

This week's water tower is found in Plant City, FL.

Movie Rating: North Country.
Charleze Theron gives another first rate performance as a single mom trying to make it in the male dominated world of the Minnesota steel mill.  Predictable and formulaic but very well made and acted.  The soundtrack is almost all Dylan, one of which is a song I’ve never heard of before and is about to be downloaded from the iTunes store.  4.4 starfish out of 5.  [Update: Listen to Tell Ol' Bill. Awesome.]

Meet Abram the safety ape.

  Silly season quiz .

Cool Site of the Week: Photos of Maize Mazes.

I was pretty bummed to have recently developed a bit of psoriasis on my calf, but at least I don’t have mossy foot disease.

Trivia (10 Biomes points): In 1883 Krakatoa erupted, killing every living thing on the island.  What was the first creature to recolonize the island?

Entry #825

The first new species of shark in 30 years has been discovered off the coast of Mexico.  It’s a species of Mustelus, which means it’s in the same genus as the sand sharks we keep at the center.

Al Franken imitates Saddam on Dave’s show. And other good stuff.

Timewaster of the Week: The universal decision maker. For when flipping a coin just seems so last century.

A field guide for intrepid Christians.

Stuff You Should Know: How to cook an egg using two mobile phones.

This week's recipe, and what I'll be cooking tonight, is Madeira Pork Medallions served with garlic roasted asparagus, in the extended post below:

Entry #824

The answer to yesterday's trivia (still haven't found the link to the study. It may have been a news item that is no longer available): Each preschooler said the bus was moving to the left because you can't see the door. I work with a lot of kids this age and it's amazing how their minds work, or how as adults we seem to become less literal and not as easily see the obvious.  Five points to Ken.

  How fast can you read?

Sterilize your toothbrush every night with the VIOlizer.  Buy one here.

Bookmark worthy: Animal Welfare Institute.

Morford: Obese American Tourists, Ho!

I hope my trivia team is having a nice time in London without me.  I'll be working.

Read Devilstower’s rant on the Nile perch and other stuff related.

iPod Shuffle:

1. Setting Me Up (Eric Clapton)
2. He Ain't Give You None (Van Morrison)
3. Romance In Durango (Bob Dylan, live)
4. The Tide Will Rise (Bruce Hornsby)
5. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan & The Rolling Stones, live)
6. Now More Than Ever (John Mellencamp)
7. Restless Farewell (Bob Dylan)
8. It Ain't Me Babe (Johnny Cash)
9. Prince Of Darkness (Indigo Girls)
10. The Envoy (Warren Zevon)