Toadfish Monastery

So Skype wanted to update and I clicked  SURE, BECAUSE WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

The log-in window changed to a mini bluescreen of death with an endlessly swirling white cursor symbolizing the virtual hole my account had fallen into, with no actual log-in actually occurring.

I followed various magickal incantations per instructions, including attempting to go back to previous version, changing my skype password, 're-setting' IE, assorted yoga postures, intoning obscure passages from the Thunder Perfect Mind, and waiting for the stars to realign for about an hour.

       

For no discernible reason, skype has suddenly reanimated and allowed me to log in. One suspects they've been seeking innovative functional suggestions from the Google+/YouTube team...

I'm still avoiding Sturgis, but here's a smattering of local Harleytude...


Rally 1


Rally 2


Rally 3


Rally 4

Here we are, celebrating our "freedom" while the news reports a steady stream of naked (and I think that's the right term)  far-Right grabs for power over the bodies of female Americans. They are resorting to ever more outrageous and underhanded tactics that go far, far beyond their dreams hallucinations that a Born-Again Christian Amurka is an abortion-free Amurka -- to outlawing established, female birth control, to shutting down *ALL* the health services in clinics (the 97% of screenings and treatments that have nothing to do with abortion,  leaving poor women at the mercy of Medicare -- also painted as a program for "takers").

This anti-abortion stance is so extreme, it not only does away with exceptions for rape and incest (see recent, infamous clips of faux-pious politicians invoking "God's Will"), but even insisting that a fetus with no "life signs" which will be delivered stillborn must be carried to term.  What about ectopic pregnancies? Some of these bozos (the most humble term I can muster) have attempted to write legislation that women experiencing a miscarriage must report to local law enforcement.  They are attempting laws forcing  women to submit to medically unnecessary ultrasounds or vaginal probes -- for which they must pay (not through insurance either, no ma'am!) which serve no purpose but to humiliate female patients, including those seeking health services other than abortion.

They want to eliminate any form of sex education other than the inherently flawed "Abstinence" in public schools, until they can get rid of public schools altogether. They are passing "Lie to X" bills forcing doctors to lie to patients, lie to rape victims, and teachers to lie to students about the realities of human reproduction. They want to eliminate health care for the poor. They want to eliminate prenatal care, early care for newborns (including vaccinations) and WIC. They want to eliminate assistance programs for developmentally disabled children and their caregivers. They want to eliminate preschool and subsidized school lunches. They want to cut taxes further for the very upper classes -- because they are "Job Creators" -- while outsourcing as many jobs as possible for their own short-term gain. FFS, do they have any concept of what a population explosion of poor, uneducated, subsistence-wage, religiously indoctrinated, unvaccinated and medically untreated people dominated by a tiny, pampered, obscenely wealthy, arrogant upper class looks  like or result in? Nope, probably not. The KJV's 2000+ verses on poverty and social justice just do not resonate with these God-fearing politicians, and the history of the rest of the world is non-applicable here in Amurka.

Simultaneously, many of these Repub legislators are making lightning strikes to further constrict non-repub, non-white, and (coming soon, kids) non-male voter registration -- not to mention actual voting  by the above mentioned sectors.

I cannot fathom how any of this is legal. I am revolted by the people hysterically wailing that they're suffering horrendous, historically unprecedented tyranny if not permitted every weapon imaginable, because it's their "constitutional right," while not having any reaction whatsoever to the dissolution of civil rights on a daily basis.

And I find it obscene that these same "lawmakers" are rubbing their forelegs together at the prospect of sending US troops to fresh, developing hot spots around the globe, to spread their Bizarro World version of Democracy. I am sickened and repulsed by the lot of them.

I don't want to see this for reals in my lifetime.



       

My head is bowed in shame: this is the first time I have not been able to figure out audio/visual hookups & remotes for myself. Until I can see the dvd menu on-screen I can't verify the cable sequence is correct. I have Midco and could  call them, but would rather not; if a US sib has suggestions I would greatly appreciate them.

Based on past experience, I *think* I've got the cable-to-dvd, dvd-to-tv cable hookups part correct, and that I've programmed the Midco remote for the dvd player. The 'video source' button on the Midco remote brings up the Input Source on-screen menu (which I'm familiar with from V's house), but I can't get it to switch to 'Component.' The cursor navigation buttons only bring up the tv schedule and act on that.


TV specs
Midco-supplied cable box specs
Midco-supplied 'universal' remote
no-frills dvd player specs

I rather liked this video.

Urban activism on a small scale, for a goof cause, bringing about a little temporal justice in the process.


edit: the video isn't embedding so I changed it to a URL link.

So I just watched this on C-SPAN2 and I must say I was enchanted.

With my most recent bid for the papacy brushed aside so cavalierly, I am looking for other governing bodies which might benefit from my particular skill set and (not having the Right Stuff for Swedish Loco Operator, alas!) am now turning a speculative eye towards the UK. Starting tomorrow I shall practice each day intoning from a sheaf of parchment, beginning each sentence with a sonorous (if slightly quavering) "My Government Will..."

Seriously, her speech was interesting, although I found myself rudely asking, "How does one propose to achieve that goal?" after each point. I am curious as to the reactions of the UK siblings.


~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~
I think that requiring members of the US Senate and Congress to dress up in wigs and full regalia from the days of 1776 upon Convening each January, when attending the President's State of the Union Address, during all electioneering debates, or when lying to their constituents at their local "Town Hall Listening Meeting/Photo Ops" would be a fantastic  step in the right direction. If they were required to shout, "Huzzah, huzzah," or "Rubbish! Rubbish!" (as befit the occasion) it would also be great. Anyone suspected of stuffing his codpiece would be called before a special Senate Subcommittee, and, uh, formally dressed down...

Finally, I realize that while my avatar has an impressive wardrobe of headdresses, there is a glaring lack of Caps of Maintenance  among them. My Government will look into this at one's earliest opportunity.

It's time for the annual Peeps Diorama Contest...

This is timely:


As was the Peepal Conclave.   

I just learned that Chinua Achebe died last Thursday, at 82. I read Things Fall Apart  one summer in elementary school; a couple years later a junior high Social Studies teacher assigned it (The Jungle  was also on his required reading list). So many kids whined that they couldn't understand it that he taped a couple of the most popular smart girls reading alternate chapters aloud and then played it in class. I thought it quite an eye-opening book, one that challenges on many levels.

If you're not familiar, here's a clip of him reading from his seminal work:
[youtube=425,350]8e1JEYsmmZY[/youtube]

I have a soft spot in my heart for both Alice in Wonderland  and Wizard of Oz  inspired art, perhaps because they were among the first books I ever got to choose for my very own. (Black Beauty  was the third in that order, and I still have all three ancient paperbacks in a place of honor in my library.) But I digress.

The new release has been hyped to death of late, but I'd wanted to see it regardless, so I braved an opening weekend. It's been ages since I actually stood in line to see a movie, but I consider that part of the fun with this one. The theater was still packed at the last matinee showing, with two theaters and full schedules for both.

The previews were, overwhelmingly, for dystopian coming attractions, surprising for such a kid-oriented film. The couple behind me had a toddler inclined to kick the back of my seat and an infant which began wailing as soon as the main feature started, both of which were stopped before I had to turn around and glare untaddily at them. On the whole, a well mannered crowd with no ringing phones, shrieking kids, or queues of adults hauling children back and forth from bathrooms and concessions stand.

The opening titles are really beautiful! Based on antique card advertising with a little nod to classic circus and vaudeville billboards, they feature engraving-style graphics and antique typography, seemingly held before the camera with marionette rods. Cyclone effects in the sequence are created by a series of 'overlapping cloud cutouts' spun at slightly different rates, to create depth, drama, and a little homage to early Edison type moving pictures. I will probably acquire the dvd (once it drops from first release pricing!) just for the art of the title and credit sequences.

There were some nice bits for afficionados, such as the small, traveling "Baum Brothers Circus" venue for stage magician/fraud Oz. There was a bit about one of the girls he saw when in town on the circuit stopping by to announce her decision to marry local farmer John Gale. It was an entire scene, but not too heavy handed, and was, appropriately, never referenced again.

I wouldn't class this as a great film but I enjoyed it. I felt the production team did a nice job of creating a back story to the classic which hit all the right homage and style notes, and set the stage for the story to come. At the same time they presented a stand-alone story from some of the lesser known books and made good use of current technology to enhance their own vision.

I would recommend it.  

On a shamelessly self-promotional note, I'm going to change my desktop back to this.

Naturally, I chose the FOXNews link for this.

South Dakota governor signs bill allowing armed teachers in the classroom

Yeah, so all of the serious teachers I know speak to not having enough time to teach as much or as well as they'd like, in order to teach to the test. They speak about losing planning periods to police the lunch room, or the hallways, or study halls, or the playground in younger grades -- or to add another section, or another prep. They speak about the stress and expense of keeping up their own qualifications through their own continuing education or development programs. They speak about the stress of trying to maintain discipline in classrooms where a few students know they are "untouchable" no matter how much they disrupt or act aggressively to other students. And now, the Charlton Heston Wannabees are going to be adding *this* to their overloaded days, and those of their unarmed peers.

This law is a terrible, terrible idea. Law enforcement officers are (a) trained to use deadly force (b) under confusing or chaotic situations (c) as a last resort. The fallout of a shooting is not pleasant, and the fallout from a shooting that involves civilians is even less so. The burden of responsibility this puts on administrators and educators is ridiculous; the political party which constantly screams for smaller government has just enacted a law which itself screams for serious oversight, training, practice, and qualification to permit. None of that has been taken into consideration, and if it does occur it will be at the expense of an already cash-strapped educational district always looking for courses and programs to cut. What happens the first time a troubled student finds the weapon of a lax teacher (and there are enough of both to pose a hazard)? When a teacher shoots the wrong student in an incident, or "proactively" shoots a student who they think is armed? Or injures other students due to ricocheting bullets (or bullets passing through partitions or non-masonry walls)? Or shoots a peer?

Thanks so much, fearmongering NRA hench-minions. This is appalling.

The second term starts today.   

Favorite bits:
- the Inaugural Address.

- looking back at the crowd

- no posturing, no arrogance, just sung with heart: [youtube=425,350]mwbqD3btLiY&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]

Something *I* will never see!

Walking in this parade must be exhilarating, and frightening.

Afterglow will post a couple good cartoons, I believe.   

I came across this article while looking for something else, and although it's from 2007, I thought it was interesting and wondered what you sibling-peeps think.

What is the Monkeysphere?

QuoteFirst, picture a monkey. A monkey dressed like a little pirate, if that helps you. We'll call him Slappy.

Imagine you have Slappy as a pet. Imagine a personality for him. Maybe you and he have little pirate monkey adventures and maybe even join up to fight crime. Think how sad you'd be if Slappy died.

Now, imagine you get four more monkeys.
. . .

Now imagine a hundred monkeys.
. . .
At what point, in your mind, do your beloved pets become just a faceless sea of monkey? Even though each one is every bit the monkey Slappy was, there's a certain point where you will no longer really care if one of them dies.

So how many monkeys would it take before you stopped caring?
That's not a rhetorical question. We actually know the number.

Some science bits and then the article relates to us:

QuoteThe Monkeysphere is the group of people who each of us, using our monkeyish brains, are able to conceptualize as people. If the monkey scientists are monkey right, it's physically impossible for this to be a number much larger than 150.
. . .
Those who exist outside that core group of a few dozen people are not people to us. They're sort of one-dimensional bit characters..

I think there's a lot of untapped discussion material in this article. This paragraph jumped out at me as I'd had to wait at several intersections while pedestrians on cellphones (and completely oblivious to their surroundings) muppeted off curbs to cross the street at one-tenth of a mile per hour.      Not that I would *ever* wedge my head out the window!   

QuoteThink about this the next time you get really pissed off in traffic, when you start throwing finger gestures and wedging your head out of the window to scream, "LEARN TO #*@ DRIVE, #*@!!" Try to imagine acting like that in a smaller group. Like if you're standing in an elevator with two friends and a coworker, and the friend goes to hit a button and accidentally punches the wrong one. Would you lean over, your mouth two inches from her ear, and scream "LEARN TO OPERATE THE #@* ELEVATOR BUTTONS, $&%!!"

QuoteThat's one of the ingenious things about the big-time religions, by the way. The old religious writers knew it was easier to put the screws to a stranger, so they taught us to get a personal idea of a God in our heads who says, "No matter who you hurt, you're really hurting me. Also, I can crush you like a grape." You must admit that if they weren't writing words inspired by the Almighty, they at least understood the Monkeysphere.

I wish Christopher Hitchens were still alive just to see if I could get his take on that thought!

Quote"So I'm supposed to suddenly start worrying about six billion strangers? That's not even possible!"

That's right, it isn't possible. That's the point.

What is hard to understand is that it's also impossible for them to care about you.

Ahhh, there's the rub. Many of the monkeys I have encountered (ones *definitely* outside my monkeysphere, I should admit) seem to lack the bandwidth to grasp that one.

Quote. . .
but the truth is if a man doesn't feel sympathy for his fellow man at $6.00 an hour, he won't feel anything more at $600,000 a year.

Or, to look at it the other way, if we're allowed to be indifferent and even resentful to the masses for $6.00 an hour, just think of how angry the some Pakistani man is allowed to be when he's making the equivalent of six dollars a week.

QuoteIt's not all the French's fault.

Nope, I'm probably not going to buy that monkey's book! But I really liked the article...

Yarrrgh, hit bee thee anyule next round ov Pyrate Olympics! Hacccordian t'me shed-yule, thee followin' competishuns arrrgh starrrghtin thee hevents:

  CAPTAININ'


  DINGHY ROWIN'


  FREESTYLE PLANK WALKIN'


   'AND-TER-'AND FIGHTIN'


  RUM KEG ROLLIN'


  SINKRONOIZED PEGLEG BALLET  


  SWASHBUCKLIN'


  TABBE HEX-SCAPIN'


  TREASURE DIGGIN'


Yarrrgh, be there any crewes compeatin' this yeare?

Back in Wiscaaaaahnsin, I spent many happy hours visiting the gardens (and changing art exhibits in the house proper) at the Paine Art Center & Gardens.



  iirc, this used to be called the Moon Garden (all white flowers and very pale green foliage)

Here is a very nice slideshow with 30 images.

I considered current events, politics, health, and debate as possible homes for this topic...
Here's a link to the story: German court rules religious circumcision on boys an assault 

QuoteThe regional court in Cologne, western Germany, ruled that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents", a judgement that is expected to set a legal precedent.

"The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised," the court added.

Although the boy in this story has Muslim parents, the following comments were to be expected:

QuoteThe court came down firmly against parents' right to have the ritual performed on young children. "The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision," the court said. "This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs."

The decision caused outrage in Germany's Jewish community. The head of the Central Committee of Jews, Dieter Graumann, said the ruling was "an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination." The judgement was an "outrageous and insensitive act. Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for centuries," added Graumann.

Yay, and let's see other enlightened countries follow suit. Let's see this spread until the practice dies out, and let's see a simultaneous end to the horrors of fgm in more benighted nations. I well understand the long religious significance of this practice, but it's long past time for the human race to grow up and stop offering blood sacrifices (of infants, no less!) to appease deities with such fragile sensibilities when it comes to any aspect of human reproduction. An adult who chooses bodily modification is welcome to it -- whether circumcision, facial piercings, bosom enhancement, tattoos, or filing incisors down to vampire teeth, for a quick sampling -- and the disapproving religious, political, corporate, and esthetic experts are free to feel offended if they so desire. But keep your mitts off the kids.

I've been watching the returns in Wisconsin [the recall initiative against evil Koch Brothers minion Governor Scott Walker(R)] and am appalled that with about a third of the votes counted, it looks like he is going to keep his office. I think this is deeply significant because Wisconsin entered the Union as stalwart anti-slavery. The conviction that a man (or woman) is worth his/her wages is part and parcel of the state's history; Republican Governor Robert La Follette proudly ran as a progressive, continuing the defining themes of worker's rights and a strong middle class, with some of those ideas inspiring national legislation. For a century the memory -- and legacy -- of  "Fightin' Bob" La Follette has been revered and protected on both sides of the aisle: that the very wealthy have always and will always be able to take care of themselves; that the law must protect working men and women. Revered and protected, that is, right up until obscene amounts of money began flooding the state's political and legislative systems to remake it into a far right poster child.

Cue Walker on little rat feet, talking the tea-bagger walk. After winning the election he took a hard, hard turn to the right to began systematically stripping union rights and demonizing public school teachers, nurses, and firefighters -- with enthusiastic, sleazy support from intellectual giants such as Rush Limbaugh. He's created a massive deficit which he keeps insisting is a massive surplus; he's another 100% anti-choice, abstinence-only, OK for pharmacists to not fill prescriptions they don't like, creationist. He's the only sitting governor with a publicly acknowledged criminal defense fund.  Here's his 'visionary' short list.

His extreme tactics have emboldened a series of new repub governors across the nation to enact similar extreme measures to disenfranchise significant sectors of legal voters and destroy unions, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the Democrats as a viable political party in the foreseeable future, leaving the worst impulses of uber conservative whims unchallenged. (Because Christian Europe in feudal Dark Ages was such a shining pinnacle of human achievement, I guess.) Back in the day I voted in Wisconsin elections by candidate's individual merits, with little concern for party affiliation. That has since become an impossibility for anyone, anywhere, of any political persuasion.

I am deeply, deeply concerned about this fall's presidential election -- and the projected outcome of the Wisconsin recall is doing nothing to allay that concern. Despite collecting hundreds of thousands of signatures above and beyond the total needed to initiate the recall process, the *real* citizens have apparently not been able to win the day against Citizens United and its hundreds of millions in pocket cash to purchase individual state elections, as authorized by SCOTUS. Tomorrow Walker and others of his ilk will redouble their efforts against the "99%", confident that money trumps democracy, here in the Greatest Nation in the World™.

* is stunned, appalled, and untaddily livid *       

Ashes and Snow

QuoteGregory Colbert's Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project that weaves together photographic works, 35mm films, art installations and a novel in letters. With profound patience and an enduring commitment to the expressive and artistic nature of animals, he has captured extraordinary interactions between humans and animals.

His 21st-century bestiary includes totemic species from around the world. Since he began creating his singular work of Ashes and Snow in 1992, Colbert has undertaken photographic and filming expeditions to locations such as India, Egypt, Burma, Tonga, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Kenya, Antarctica, the Azores, and Borneo.

These are really lovely B&W photographs. The 'enhanced experience' has some sound, some flash graphics, and a more serendipitous approach to viewing the images. The 'basic experience' is more prosaic approach, like viewing a conventional portfolio. Both are quite nice. I tried to choose a favorite image, but I love them all. Here's a taste:

So I went berserk and acquired a serger, something I've been wanting for a very long time.  [Actually, I had a small one before and -- eventually -- burned the motor out on velvet renaissance dresses and such, but that was another time and another story.]  

I picked one out last spring(!) and mentioned to V that I was saving for it. The next thing I knew, she was 'watching' several on Ebay, each more grandiose than the last, having become an instant expert after quickly reading up on them. So, yeah... My comments on buying local for all the obvious reasons were fun to say, but no one heard them.  In the end, I talked her out of buying two(!) (one for each of us OMG!) and into getting just one, originally a very high end model which actually sounded like a good deal. So. Yeah. Long story short, you will be STUNNED to learn that something is wrong and it's inoperable. It's also been at a local shop for "repairs" for almost a year now with no discernible work being done. So I've written off the half-share I gave her and told her that if she ever gets it running, it's hers and she's welcome to it.

Meanwhile, I am thoroughly enjoying the model I originally picked out -- on a fantastic sale. Today I stocked up on threads and I am solemnly promising to perpetrate my summer "Bitch Wear"  (ha!)  in a fraction of the time and with more professional results than with a conventional machine. I've started a few recycled baby bib overalls -- they are going to be cute, cute, CUTE!

I'm also pleased to note that the local Radison has "gone green" and changed its affiliation and remodel to reflect that. It will still be the go-to hotel for the leisured class, and we've been invited to put some of our best samples in their local artisans showcase. Yays. More on this as it develops...

Carp!  Another post consigned to the ethers due to [unknown] mystery keystroke! That is the one ... feature ... I DO NOT LIKE on this laptop.   


But I digress... the most reliable methods to counteract chronic sporadic insomnia are: reading (requires Good Lighting, thus a self-foiling method) or watching a movie. I d/won't put a tv in the bedroom as it is counter-indicated for sleep, but successful unconsciousness in livingroom is undesirable for hearing alarm clock, and I will not put those all over the house. Ahhh, the trials of 21st century Western life!

After waiting for 7" screens to become common, reliable, and inexpensive, then 8" screens, then 9" screens, then 10" screens...oh, for carp's sake!     I acquired this from my local Gratuitous Technology R Us.



9" screen, really good sound, USB port -- hmmm, perhaps my beloved *complete* DW archives, compiled over *years* of careful YouTube spelunking could be transferred to flash drive.  It works great with only one glitch in my clever plan:  trying to adjust volume, make menu selection, or shut off tiny black buttons on tiny black player in near black darkness is a bit of a challenge. Oh, sure, I could turn on a light, but that completely ruins the sleep-inducing intention of this purchase.

Additional note 1: movies about running with guns, explosions, Epic Soundtracks, etc, are not effective sleep-inducers at such close range.

Additional note 2: Dom thee Danger Catte apparently likes the cat-sized screen, and has taken to curling up rather than wandering the house, looking for Things to Make Noise Getting Into, so that's an unexpected bonus.

Although unable to force myself to watch *any* of the fifty seven million Republican Debates, I did watch Rachel Maddow's anchoring coverage of the Big Deal tonight, complete with live speeches from Newt, Rick, and Mitt. After awhile I became inured enough to stop hissing facts back at the teevee, or uttering very untaddy ... activity suggestions ... at the candidates, or face-palming at the fatuous glee with which crowds of supporters wildly cheered speeches in which their respective candidates openly promised to (*) them over. Hard.

I freely admit to being partisan, but truly don't think I am blindly partisan. The strong (R) members in this household actually praised one early Obama speech for its uplifting content, which I surprised them by mercilessly dismissing as lacking real substance. I saw no tough-love, critical thinking displayed by supporters tonight.

Newt's crowd booed the pres for *not* supporting non-fossil-fuel-development, followed immediately by booing him *for* supporting non-fossil-fuel-development; they booed him for *not* interfering in the free markets to 'create' jobs, followed immediately by booing him *for* interfering in the free markets to 'create' jobs; they booed him for *not* acting boldly to improve the healthcare crisis, followed immediately by booing him *for* acting boldly to improve the healthcare crisis; they booed him for *not* interfering in restrictions against individual civil liberties by religious zealots, followed immediately by booing him *for*  interfering in restrictions against individual civil liberties by religious zealots; they booed him for *not* waging world wars without end, amen, followed immediately by booing him *for* waging world wars without end, amen. The mind reels.

Rick's crowd screamed with excitement when he repeatedly referred to 'everyone behind him' and his 'bottom-up' plans for us. I regressed to nine years old and laughed hilariously each time, interspersed with no laughter whatsoever at his starry-eyed plans to become our first Inquisitional, Bowdlerizing Pope.

Mitt's crowd. "How do you solve a problem like that Mitt's crowd? " Each successive soundbite that fell from his lips promised third-world conditions, in ever more bombastic phrasing, and they screamed with approval.







edit: fixed typo in thread title!