Teen Girl Squad


I took the TGS quiz. This was the result:

You're "The Ugly One". You don't look so good. You might want to look into some medication for your psoriasis. You have a crush on every boy, but you'll never get any of them.

Sigh. That's what I get for liking "jimmies," Philos!



Which Member of Teen Girl Squad are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

MSNBC - Rice to testify in public, under oath: "U.S. officials told NBC News that the full record of Clarke's testimony two years ago would not be declassified. They said that at the request of the White House, however, the CIA was going through the transcript to see what could be declassified, with an eye toward pointing out contradictions."

This leads me to ask the question: What are the criteria upon which we will decide what classified information to release. Is it national secrutiy or politics?

Link thanks to The Agonist.

Salon asks: Can Kerry capture the Catholic vote? A hard question to answer, given that "In sum, Catholics are different because they have different views of reality than do other Americans."

TIME.com: All the Right Questions -- Apr. 05, 2004: "Known as a Socrates Cafe, the group at El Diablo is just one of 150 or so that meet in coffee shops, bookstores, libraries, churches and community centers across the country."

Link thanks to NurseMatilda.

"Lonesome Jim" filmed in Goshen, Indiana

"The office area in the Sixth Street Theatre tentatively is scheduled to become, however briefly, the office area for the team from Plum Pictures, producer of the independent film penned by former Goshenite Jim Strouse, starring Liv Tyler and Casey Affleck and directed by Steve Buscemi."

Goshen College in Goshen, Indian is my alma mater.

Dawn in the jungle. The sun is a menacing red orb as it rises from the steaming jungle. The jungle is eerily silent. No birds sing. No insects buzz. Even the trees seem lifeless and silent. It is as though the jungle were waiting for something.

Only Lee, Luminar, Angus, and Duncan remain of the original expedition.Weapons at the ready, they journey to the island. The lake is shallow, and they are able to cross with a makeshift raft. The island itself is densly overgorwn. A dense bog surrounds almost the entire fringe of the Island, but Lee's expert tracking skills enable the group to penetrate to the ancient, towering stone structures they can see in the interior.

For several hours, they wander down ancient roadways between overgrown pyramids, moving towards the tallest structure. Considering the obstacles they have overcome, it is amazing they have reached this point. They are tired and several have light injuries from their ordeal. The building proves to be an immense pyramid with a stone door. Strangely, the interior is lit with an unearthly light. "There is a sense of power, ancient power", LUminar remarks.

Within they find a huge chamber lit with phosphorecent bacteria. At the center is a stone idol, an immense majestic humanoid figure with a stone crown sitting on a throne. It's left eye is a huge gem; the twin of the Franks diamond. Lee smiles, and from his kit backpack he produces... the Franks diamond! Some of the group seem very surprised at this turn of events, but others do not.

Lee approaches the idol and nibly begins to climb. "That doesn't look very safe, Mr. Lee," newspaperman Duncan comments. "The Empire wasn't founded on safety," is the reply. As Lee reaches the top, he carefuly places the gem into the empyt socket of the idol's right eye. Suddenly, he screams in pain. His lifeless body tumbles in the lap of the idol. At the same moment, Dr. Luminar faints dead away. His friend Angus Fier rushes to his side while Duncan rushes to the idol and begins to climb.

After a moment, Luminar's eyelids flutter. "Duncan..." he whispers, "he is not who he seems!" By now Duncan has reached the lap of the stone idol. His face has changed. No longer is he Rick Ducan, mild mannered reporter. His face is a mask of hatred and visciousness. Angus rushes forward, an ancient broadsword in his hands (where in the world did he get that from?), but Duncan has a pistol. The two eye one another warily as Lee begins to stir. "Come down here and fight like a man, whoever you are" Angus says meanacingly.

A calm, cold voice answers from the shadows. "No need for violence," it says, as the immaculately dressed figure of Lord Ravenswold steps in the room, a pistol in each hand. "I think I can settle the ownership issue. Mr. Duncan, please pick up the gem and toss it over this way."

Then, to everyone's surprise, a seductive womanly voice is heard from the chamber's entrance. "Don't you know a gentleman never leaves his date in the lurch?" It is lounge singer Ms. Selena Knight. She doesn't look good. She has a poorly bandaged wound on her leg, and her expression is harried as though she were ill or exhausted. The shotgun in her hands, however, does not waver from Ravenswood's chest.

Ravenswood smiles. "Well well," he says, "it appears that the masks are coming off at last."

After six months, my Pulp by E-mail RPG game is drawing to a close. Thanks to all who played!

Salon.com | I'd like a tuna on white -- hold the mercury!: "The primary source of mercury emissions is coal-fired power plants, which pump out 48 tons of the highly toxic pollutant a year. A second important source is the chemical industry. This mercury pollution drifts into our lakes, rivers and oceans, and ends up in the fish we eat. Which means it ends up in us. As a result, more than 600,000 babies a year may be born with unsafe levels of mercury in their blood, putting them at risk for mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. How's that for a security issue?"

Link thanks to Orkgrrrl

When I was a kid, my brother and I couldn't wait for garage sale season. We would compete to see who could find the most outrageous board game. Among the toys I had or played with as a child were these utter gems, this classic and this one (naturally). But none compare with the tragic horror story of my childhood, the year my parents dug deep into their pockets to get me one of these, and my brothers broke it before I hardly got a chance to try it.

Sam's Toybox - The Coolest Toys Ever Made

A Brief History of the British Empire

Orkgrrrl and I were talking about Regency House Party today when we realized that we had only the foggiest notion of when the Regency period actually occurred. We decided to pool our considerable knowledge of the subject of English History (gained through the watching of countless PBS documentaries and dramatizations) to create this brief guide for the perplexed.

Beowulf: Beowulf was the first English king of any note. He was a great monster hunter, a trick later copied to great effect by St. George, who wasn't a king.

King Lear: Lear is commonly believed to have been the second king of England, but scholars and educated folk know that, like most Shakespearian kings, he was actually king of Scotland. He is included here for completeness. Was killed by Macbeth.

King Arthur: After Beowulf died, no one could decide who should be king, so they had to wait around for 10 years until Beowulf's second cousin, Arthur, pulled the sword from the stone and went on to rule England. King Arthur had two sons, Richard and John.

King Richard the Lionhearted: Popularly believed to have invented the Crusades, Richard actually stole the idea from a hermit named Geoffrey Chaucer. Richard's surly brother, John, ruled the realm while Richard was away fighting five Crusades, but eventually Richard came back, fired John, and gave his job to Robin Hood. King Richard had seven sons, all named Henry, who ruled the realm, each in turn, for the next century or so. None of them did anything much, except for Henry V (no one knows what the V stands for), who was a famous Shakespearian actor.

Henry the Eighth: Had eight wives, all of whom he beheaded. Died poorly.

Queen Mary:Being out of kings, England was forced to resort to the crowning of queens. Mary's short reign is noted for the invention of the cocktail.

Queen Elizabeth: QE is famous for renaming the kingdom as an Empire.

At this point, England had no kings or queens left, and so was forced to import one from Germany, which had a surplus. This ended poorly when King George III went mad and gave America away to the Americans.

Reggie: Reggie, who gave his name to the Regency, wasn't a king, but rather a Regent. He was later replaced by his Butler, Edmund Blackadder, who went on to be one of the greatest monarchs England ever had. During this time, Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote novels under the nom de plume of "Georgette Heyer," hence the famous "Regency romances" that were so popular.

Queen Victoria: Changed her name to Victoria because she was born in the Victorian age.

Edward: King known best for guest appearance on Upstairs Downstairs. Ruled until WWII.

Winston Churchill: Churchill took the reins of power in order to guide the nation through WWII. He wasn't, strictly speaking, a king, which is why this period is sometimes called the Interregnum.

Elizabeth II: Best known for inventing the pound note, which bears her likeness to this day.

GHOST TOWN

The photo diary of a motorcylist exploring the dead zone surrounding Chernobyl.

"Usually, beeping of dosimeter speed me up and I pass this part of road as fast as road condition allow. The place in front of me called red or magic wood. In 1986 this wood has been red with radiation and then they cut it off and left there and bury under 1 meter of earth. As you can see, on asphalt things not bad, but if I step 10 meters forward, my dosimeter will run out of scale, if I walk few hundred meters towards reactor, then I will find 3 roengen. If I keep walking all the way to reactor, then at the end of a journey I will glow in a dark. May be this is why they call it a magic wood. this sort of a magic when one walk in in a biker leather and coming out like a knight in a shinning armour. "

Updated with new photos!

Political Friendster: "Political Friendster is a parody of the social network Friendster. It allows a visualization of the connections between players in the political game. This site has absolutely no affiliation with the real Friendster. "

Other Voices: Seattle gay tells Bush 'people hate people for silly reasons'

Justice for Mia Zapata


Truly, I thought this day would never happen. It took 10 years to find Zapata's murderer and a year to get him to trial. The sentencing of Jesus C. Mezquia cannot bring Zapata back, but at least now there can be some closure for Zapata's family and friends.

The Painting Table

I was fooling around with the digital camera the other night, and I decided to take some pictures of my current painting projects. Since the Orklet was born, I keep my painting tray on top of the fridge so I can paint when I get a little spare time. It fits conveniently on a TV tray and I can paint in the living room while she naps. Here's the tray:



My current project is an Eldar Vyper:


This is a test model showing off the color scheme for the whole army:


Wondering what the heck all this is about?

CNN.com - Oregon county bans all marriage - Mar 23, 2004: "In a new twist in the battle over same-sex marriage roiling the United States, a county in Oregon has banned all marriages -- gay and heterosexual -- until the state decides who can and who cannot wed."

Science News Article | Reuters.com: "'We think Opportunity is now parked on what was once the shoreline of a salty sea on Mars,' said Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the science payload on Opportunity and its twin Mars exploration Rover, Spirit. "

Salon.com Books | The confessions of a semi-successful author

" 'A midlist author is one whose books are well received but have failed to make a commercial breakthrough; whose work sells solidly but unspectacularly, who's well known within the writing community but the majority of book buyers have never heard his name."

-- David Armstrong, 'How Not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Midlist Author,' 2003 "

Daily the novel inches towards 50,000 words. "50,000 words," someone told me, "is the minimum length for a novel. If it's shorter than 50,000 words, it's a novella." So I dutiful reach for that goal. I already know that my novel will not be a financial success, but I also know that it will be published. Published, barring misfortune. I know that there's a small, dedicated, even discerning community out there to receive my novel. It is possible they will like it. That, I must content myself, is what writing is about. And yet...

"I count as my greatest loss of all: hope, the most toxic, precious thing any writer has. Without a writer's foolish fantasies -- envisioning Book 5 piled in stacks of 50 in every airport bookstore, its carefully chosen title appearing on the Times bestseller list, my agent calling with breathtakingly, indisputably, non-euphemistically good news -- how can I face the otherwise overwhelming prospect of a book waiting to be written?"

CBS News | Clarke's Take On Terror | March 22, 2004?12:25:14: "'Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq,' Clarke said to Stahl. 'And we all said ... no, no. Al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We need to bomb Afghanistan. And Rumsfeld said there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan. And there are lots of good targets in Iraq. I said, 'Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it. "

About a month ago I started looking for a book called Father Elijah: An Apocalypse by Catholic novelist Michael O'Brien. About six years ago, I had read a review of it in Crisis Magazine, whose Web page I was designing. I was double curious, since my family in Canada have since become friends of O'Brien and the book had always interested me. I'd assumed I'd find it in the library or a used books store one day. The book proved elusive. Fortunately, an Amazon search finally turned it up, and I proceeded to order it.

I logged on to Amazon today to find that my home page had undergone a sea change: this rather sobering book about the decline in the sacrament of penance, a bestseller about the Passion (generally speaking) written by an author whose other books include one called Did Adam and Eve have Belly Buttons? and an interesting book on eschatology and fundamentalism with the provocative title Will Catholics be Left Behind?

Oh, and yes, Father Elijah was worth the wait.

Daring Planet is an online retrofuturistic space serial. Right now there's only a teasingly brief preview. If they actually get around to making episodes, this could be brilliant. I'm waiting for Episode 1 featuring a real life alient T-Rex!

FDA and EPA Announce the Revised Consumer Advisory on Methylmercury in Fish

Peter Duesberg, an emminent scientist beleives that we are mis-diagnosing and mis-treating AIDS. Could he be right? Link thanks to JettJag.

Courtesy of feng, the art of Nivbed

Riding High in the Heartland of the Apocalypse

"I've seen the Apocalypse City, and it's pretty good." This is the first line of a short story that came to me last night. It's been ages and ages since I wrote a short story. I managed to bust out at least half of it while taking care of the baby this morning. This one should be interesting.

I've been trying out Flikr, a photo sharing and social application. It has some potential for bloggers. The whole sharing and communities thing isn't such a big deal for me, but it IS easy-to-use photo hosting.



The Orklet gets a balloon for her doctor visit.

Texas Safe Voting: "The examiners found out, apparently by accident, that using Diebold?9s provisional voting system, it was possible for two voters to vote using the same ID number -- or for one voter to vote multiple times. In practice, the Diebold representative explained, they give out paper stickers to make sure that each person votes only once."

The Fix interviews Mark Burnett
"Then you look at what are the best mind-control practices in the world. No question, the Catholic Church has one of the greatest mind control techniques. "

Dude! We have mind control? Then how come I'm still paying full price at the hardware store? *waves hand* "This item is discounted..."

Seriously, Mark may be a TV genius, but he's no theologian.

WARNING! Tolkien pursists turn back now!

I'm not sure if I've blogged this before. This is an idea I tossed off-handedly in the Attacks of Opportunity RPG forum that I frequent (no, it's not a D20 forum). The thread sort of came alive and people are still posting ideas and variations. Some of the discussion has been very interesting. This idea is a work of alternate history and not meant to be a slight upon the Tolkien canon.

"Middle Earth. Whom among us has never heard those words with a slight pang of longing. Oh, if only it could be true. If only it might have been true...

Mid 19th C: Oxford Don JRR Tolkien publishes "The Lord of the Rings" an eclectic compliation of certain Scandinavian, Norse, and Saxon legends into something like a coherent Story.

Mid-Late 19th C: Paleontology is all the rage. Archeaology is beginning to emerge as a science. Continental drift is proposed as an explanation for the shape of the earth. Science begins to seek its roots.

1870: German archeaologist Heinrich Schlieman postulates that he can find the ruins of ancient Moria, long thought to be pure myth. Preliminary digs in Siberia lead to startling discoveries.

1877: American Pleontologist Marsh makes a startling discovery in Arizona - the first complete skeleton of a dragon. Long though a mythical beast, this discovery sets the world on its head. British Paleontological society publishes learned paper "proving" that the "dragon" could neither fly nor breath fire but was merely a sluggish, land-bound lizard.

1912: So-called "Orkoid" skull found at Piltdown Quarry by Charles Darwin. Heated debate over possible historical existence of Orcs rises to a fever pitch.

1913: Strange plumes of smoke over Antartica are interpreted as evidence of fresh volcanic activity. The truth is far more startling.

This game takes place in a world where Tolkien is not fiction, but myth; and myth seated in fact at that. This is probably best played as a hybrid fantasy-pulp setting rather than some kind of "Modern LOTR". In other words, no Gandalf, no One Ring, no Sauron. The Elves have left, the Dwarves retreated from the world, and Men have ruled for thousands of years. Some things that ought not have been forgotten were forgotten.

The orcs are multiplying again, this time in Antartica, Siberia, Tibet or some other remote locale. They haven't been idle. They have guns and artillery. Antartic Orcs might even have giant U-boats loaded with infantry and primitive tanks for an invasion of Britain.

The ruins of Moria have been found. What ancient evil might the archaeologists uncover if left to themselves.

Humankind is in danger. Where might they seek allies? Do Ents yet stalk the ancient forests of Bavaria? Are the dwarves gone, or merely in hiding?

What allies has the enemy prepared? Does he have agents in the courts and assemblies of Europe? "

You can view the full discussion at Attacks.

At long last! Everlasting acclaim is mine!

I'm usually very close mouthed about my political beliefs. I don't think it's a matter for public discussion, but a private one. My view has always been "ask me what I think and I'll tell you." But as I move closer and closer to American citizenship, I find it harder and harder to stay out of political debates. Becoming an American citizen is sort of like converting to a religion, and religious converts tend to be more fervent than lifetime members.

I've observed that many Americans view politics as a starkly black and white matter. Both Liberals and Conservatives believe that they alone represent the Turth about America. If you're a Democrat, the Republicans are corrupt, mean, evil, conniving greedheads who are just waiting for the first opportunity to seize the reins of power and establish a dictatorship. If you're a Republican, the Democrats are corrupt, deluded, weak-minded, perverted hippies who are just waiting for their chance to stage a violent revolution and set up a dictatorship.

It seems to escape both sides that America is defined politically by the exchange between the left and the right. This shouldn't be such a surprise. The founding documents make much mention of debate and deliberation. Even election year politics is part of this deliberation; a rather murky, smelly, noisome sort, but deliberation none-the-less.

Today's infographic of the day, Businss Desktop Deployment Revealed!

A few days ago, we had dinner with some people who happen to be members of the Derbyshire Writers Guild at Austen.com. They gave me an intersting introduction to the world of Jane Austen-inspired fan fiction. Read and enjoy!

"I did not have sex with that woman..." or something like it.
Donald Rumsfeld is caught lying on camera! Where is Kenneth Starr when we need him?

WELCOME TO EXIT MUNDI: A COLLECTION OF END-OF-WORLD SCENARIOS

Forgotten city lies beneath Edinburgh's streets. 11/03/2004. ABC News Online: "Deep beneath the cobbled streets of the Scottish capital lies a dank and forgotten realm where prostitutes once rubbed shoulders with body snatchers and the light of day never penetrated. "

A very cool article from Philos.

A Soapbox Derby for the War-Games Set: "Fifteen robot vehicles took off across the Mojave Desert starting at dawn on Saturday, dodging boulders and 15-pound tortoises in search of a place in scientific history and $1 million in Pentagon cash."

Jeff Russell's STARSHIP DIMENSIONS

Jeff Russell's STARSHIP DIMENSIONS

Looking for discount miniatures for Warhammer, Warhammer 40k,and other wargames? Read this before you order from New Wave Mail Order.

BlogNomic starts a new dynasty - this month's theme: The Odyssey.


"SING TO ME, MUSE, and tell me of the Blog,
The Blog of twists and turns, lost on the sea,
That, Herodom?9s great heights left in debris,
Was cursed to toil through Neptune?9s fateful fog.

O, long a year did Greece?9s champions roam!
O, what adventures did their captain know!
And O, what horrors did they undergo
In seeking to return to hearth and home!

What fate did heroes meet by gods?9 decree?
Sage Sisters, let us hear, that we may learn:
Did brave Odysseus fall to mutiny?
Did sailors all Athena?9s counsels spurn?
Were they entombed within the wine-dark sea?
Or did they, pray, to Ithaca return?"

Map of Seattle: Lost in Seattle

AxisofLogic/ Iran/Persia: "Iran on Sunday surprised the international community, and above all the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), by seeking to join the world's atomic club, calling on its members for a prompt entry. "

Intruders in the House of Saud, Part I: The Jihadi Who Kept Asking Why: "He now lives alone in a studio in a small peach-colored building with a marble facade in a suburb of Riyadh. It's sparsely furnished with a bed, desk and a computer. Books that just four years ago he would have considered heretical are now piled up along the wall -- the banned novels of Turki al-Hamad, a liberal reformist from Mansour's hometown, Buraida; ''Religions of the World''; texts by Nietzsche and Habermas; and a book of Michelangelo's art. He also keeps a CD-ROM, ''Fatwas of Ibn Tamaya,'' the 14th-century scholar and eminence grise of Wahhabism, upon whom much of Saudi law is based. Mansour is locked in an intellectual battle with Ibn Taimaya, finding in his fatwas justification for terrorism. Most dear to him these days, however, is a biography of Martin Luther, which surprised and inspired him. For Martin Luther was not what Mansour had expected -- a soft messenger of God. Instead, Mansour discovered that Luther was tough and cruel with his enemies."

Salon.com Life | Macchiato morons: "Do the people at Starbucks think we're all morons?
Judging from their latest initiative, a 22-page booklet called 'Make It Your Drink: A Guide to Starbucks' Beverages,' they've decided that Americans are meek, anxiety-wracked naifs who need shitloads of coaching when it comes to ordering coffee. The booklet's mission: to help us 'build confidence in beverage ordering.' "

Unmitigated Blatherskite

Goodle Good News: "Prescription drugs, inkjet toner cartridges, and hot XXX sex with Czech teens to be given away free in an attempt to stem the flow of spam. "

world subways: "subway systems of the world, presented on the same scale"

short introduction

"I don't know how sound the silence to those tourists that they can not stand it, but to me after hitting a red line on my bike tacho it sound like all those ghosts cursing 1100cc kawasaki engin."

Riding through Chernobyl's dead zone with a radiation detector and a high power motorcycle. I'm a fan of abandoned places, but this is the most chilling thing I've seen in a very long time. It reminds me of Douglas Coupland's Girlfriend in a Coma.

I posted a little peice of fiction on the Shootingiron Forums the other day. It's part of a longer peice I've been workikng on for some time. Comments are welcome.

Bush Campaign Ads Brought to You by Special Interests; Industries That Give to Bush Get Their Money’s Worth: "When people watch TV this week and see the ads touting President Bush and his record, they should know that major corporations helped pay for those ads," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. "More important, they should know that these industries got their money’s worth from Bush administration decisions worth billions of dollars."


These campaign ads feature footage from the September 11 World Trade Center attacks.

Improv Everywhere HQ: "The severe, accusing doctor of the Braz portrait vanishes in the actor, the mimic, the clown, who would amuse himself by going to a hotel with a friend, pretending to be a valet, and proclaiming in a loud voice all the secret vices of his master, until the whole hotel was in an uproar. He adored buffoonery. He liked putting on disguises. He would throw a Bokhara robe round his shoulders and wrap a turban round his head and pretend to be some visiting emir from the mysterious lands of the east. On a train journey he was in his element. If he was traveling with his mother he would pretend she was a countess and himself a very unimportant servant in her employ, and would watch the behavior of the other passengers toward the bewildered countess with the wide-eyed wonder and delight. He had the trick of making a walk in the country an adventure in high drama. Everything excited him.' "

Anton Checkov hasn't had a public signing since at least the fall of communism. Check out this account of Checkov's recent appearance in New York Ciyt.

The Cryogenus: "The Cryogenus is a psychic thriller in that the situations of the drama is introduced by a young psychic played by Collin O'Kelly, who envisions a murder by a strange and out of place suspect."

It turns out that my next door neighbor is a filmmaker. This is his first feature film, now in post production. There's not much information here, but it certainly sounds interesting...

Gameblog, a blog about board games. Cool!

Pope hits magic million with global poetry collection

The Morning News - The Bohemian Index

Link thanks to Philos.

Check out this fascinating article on the history flow of documents with many authors using the Wikipedia as an example.

Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project Home: "Welcome to the test site for exploring the Forma Urbis Romae, or Severan Marble Plan of Rome. This enormous map, measuring ca. 18.10 x 13 meters (ca. 60 x 43 feet), was carved between 203-211 CE and covered an entire wall inside the Templum Pacis in Rome. It depicted the groundplan of every architectural feature in the ancient city, from large public monuments to small shops, rooms, and even staircases."

Wired News: Webmonkey, RIP: 1996 – 2004: "Webmonkey, the site that turned humble Web developers into attention-grabbing authors, said last week it is closing down following a round of layoffs in the U.S. division of its parent company, Terra Lycos (also the parent company of Wired News). Judging by blog posts and e-mails, the site's fans aren't surprised. Still, they're sad to see the end of an era."

Driving back from Seattle Grand Tournament this weekend, Philos and I noticed a huge mural on 1st ave. proclaiming the 'West Edge Neighborhood'. 'What the h#ll is West Edge?' we asked. It might have ended there, except that Orkgrrrl sent me this article from the PI: West Edge a neighborhood with an identity problem. As if Seattle neighborhoods weren't confusing enough already.