word of the day

jilted

adj : rebuffed (by a lover) without warning; "jilted at the altar" [syn: rejected, spurned]

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Press Room:

New York, New York, November 28, 2005 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation today announced its 2006 Inductees.

[...]

Sex Pistols – (Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious) Over the course of their short and turbulent career, the Sex Pistols released a single album – Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols – that ranks as one of the most important rock records ever released. The album changed the course of rock and roll kicking the British punk movement into high gear.

Sex Pistols: You're "a piss stain"..."Were not coming".

---

There, there. Don't worry Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The hurt will lose it's sting over time. Some things weren't meant to be. At least you don't have to clean up thier poop.

Our house,

is a very, very, very small house


With two cats in my face


The black one likes to chase


And everything is scary 'cause of you*

La la la-la-la-la...

(apologies to CSN/Graham Nash)

*television still of Richard Simmons being scary. Photo of Greenthoughts not available.

dog's breakfast

This weekend is 'just me and the dog'. 'Mommy' is away for some rest and recuperation. It is, of course, an opportunity for me and my dog (who hates me) to do some bonding. Meanwhile this blog is looking more and more like the random piles of cat vomit that pretty kitty leaves around the apartment on a daily basis. She is not doing well. Several months ago we spent a ton of money to bring her back from the brink and we discovered that she has an undersized heart and bad kidneys. But back to the dog and this post -- To explain the post title, 'dog's breakfast' means 'a mess'. I think I am the only person besides a boss of mine from ten years ago who know this, or care. But if you thought I was going to literally write about what my dog ate and did not pick up yet another one of my self-effacing swipes at this blog, don't be disappointed. Here comes the dog bowl:

This morning I added a new odor to my brain’s olfactory logbook: microwaved chunks of Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Lamb Formula Dog Food or 'sausage' as my wife and I call it. Why would I put chunks of dog food in my microwave? To be honest, if I stopped and thought about the possibility of stinking up my kitchen and the microwave, I probably wouldn't have done it. Alas, "hindsight is 20/20" and noses work better backwards too (huh?). Anyway, I nuked the little brown chunks because my dog (who hates me and dried-up chunks of expensive dog-food sausage) has become a finicky eater lately. I thought she might like it warmed up and moist. Plus, this stuff is expensive. Did I say that already?

Anyway, it turns out she does like it warmed up and moist!

Oh, but that smell! It smells like burning horse manure on a freshly salted, slushy city street. I got my dog to eat but I stink-bombed my microwave. Ah yes, we have arrived at that delicious moment of having overcome one daunting obstacle only to be confronted by another (the seed of a theme for this mess, this dog's breakfast masquerading as a blog, peeks it's tiny head out yet again -just keep pushing that rock up that hill whatever your name is).

But back to the task of bonding with my dog (who hates me)…

I made a big pot of coffee, which I have been going back to throughout the afternoon. I've been heating my coffee in the microwave because the coffee maker just warms it to a gross lukewarm temperature. Would you like to know what black coffee is like when you smell the slight odor of lamb-flavored dog food as you bring it to your lips? Actually, it's tolerable. I'm getting used to it. Still, I'm going to have to get a second microwave to be used just for dog food if this new warmed-up sausage thing lasts (you think I'm kidding, don't you?).

Does drinking dog-food flavored coffee constitute bonding with your pet? If you ask me, yes, but then I'm grabbing at straws here people; my dog hates me. But at least she’s eating.

And now my coffee is cold again.

Update 2/25/2006 5:01 PM: Yes, *that* Dick Van Patten who was in Spaceballs and nearly every TV show ever made I think.

[King Roland has given in to Dark Helmet's threats, and is telling him the combination to the "air shield"]
Roland: One.
Dark Helmet: One.
Colonel Sandurz: One.
Roland: Two.
Dark Helmet: Two.
Colonel Sandurz: Two.
Roland: Three.
Dark Helmet: Three.
Colonel Sandurz: Three.
Roland: Four.
Dark Helmet: Four.
Colonel Sandurz: Four.
Roland: Five.
Dark Helmet: Five.
Colonel Sandurz: Five.
Dark Helmet: So the combination is one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!

Update 3/1/2006 1:55 PM AM: This post was typo-riffic. Was...

Wow. It's late. I mentioned I like coffee right?

unsound

Bush wants the United Arab Emirates to run our major commercial port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. He wants it so bad he's actually threatening to use his veto power. You know, one of those not-made-up executive powers that he has never, ever used.

ever.


PA Governor Rendell's letter to the President:

I am aware that the government of the United Arab Emirates, owner of Dubai Ports World, is an ally of the United States. However, serious questions about the appropriateness of this sale have been raised in many quarters, and as of yet I have not seen or heard anything from your administration that convinces me it is safe to proceed.

Hey Ed, Listen up! Bush doesn't owe you an explantation. Just be glad New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia aren't known for thier quail hunting. Now that's something to be afraid of.

Whippets & Ouija boards

I wonder what these animal communicators (ahem. Broken Flowers anyone?) would have to tell me about the thoughts and/or aura of my dog (who hates me)?

I'm guessing the aura is a nice, anxious and angry orange-ish hue (to match her skin, natch) and the contents of her mind are mainly "Mommy!?!! Mommy!?!! Ohmygod!!! It's HIM!! Keep him away!! Aiieeeee!!! Where can I hide!?!! Under the bed!?!!" with a few positive thoughts like "OOh goodie! Time for a walk!" and "Sausage!" thrown in since I have seen her tail wag... on occasion. What can I say? She runs hot and cold. Mostly cold. Like my cobweb covered heart.

Good luck, animal communicators. Try not to get too much psychic dog slobber in your third eye.

Running Scared

Missing Show Dog 'Vivy'

MY.WORST.FEAR.

"She was just running scared, somehow she got out of her crate and it's driving me crazy," said the dog’s owner Jil Walton.

To be precise, my worst fear is that somehow I lose my grip on the leash, or it fails somehow, and my dog (who hates me) will be far and away in a flash. I have had the misfortune of having to try and catch her one time - not cool. The free run was not my idea - it was 'mommy's' idea. I did not need to set her loose to know what would happen. My dog (who hates me) does not come to me. She runs in the opposite direction. Luckily, it was on a subdivision with a golf course, just a few houses, a big lawn, long driveway, etc. -- i.e. very few cars. Furthermore, as you might expect, she is fast. That said, wide open spaces are quite rare in our part of Brooklyn - our area is teeming with cars, trucks, and other petrol-powered doggie squishers. Since we moved here a few years ago I've witnessed two car accidents on my block and once we saw a dog run straight out into traffic only to head-butt the broad side of a moving car with a sickening 'whack' sound. The dog stumbled away - it survived. My wife and I looked at the owner who seemed a little too relaxed about it - as if this dog is always running out into the street, playing its version of frogger or demolition derby.

In my worst nightmare my dog (who hates me) would get away and then... what... go to some passerby, perhaps? run to a woman? "Miss! please call to my dog" I would say. Or, my dog would run directly out into traffic. Dreadful thoughts. But what can you do (besides post it to your half-assed blog)?

Good luck to Vivy wherever she is.

Update 2/16/2006 7:18 PM: "Running Scared"... I hear Netflix calling me, beckoning...

Update 2/17/2006 12:08 PM:... and this of course! duh.

Update 2/20/2006 2:54 PM: NYTimes namechecks Bobbi and the Strays and NYPost has some good news (perhaps).

and the avalanche...

...of random bric-a-brac continues.

dear god, how could I forget? -- it's monday!

blizzrd

-shovel sidewalk
-walk to Madiba
-snap a photo
-have some brunch & bloody marys in mason jars
-pick up people food / cat food
-snap another photo
-play one Bowie CD I have only because mrs. greenthoughts didn't believe I had any Bowie
-- Ground control to mrs. greenthoughts... P3WND! eat it!!1!elevntyoneone!1!!
-have a beer, log on to Blogger
-share these photos with you.

Update 2/12/2006 4:37 PM:
-get my laugh for the day*
-watch Jacobs ladder since it finally arrived a few days ago despite being pushed further and further back in the Netflix queue.

*[Edit 2/13/06 2:20 PM] it makes me laugh because after this and now this, I gotta say just hang up the ol' rifle there 'Big Time' and stick to the fly-fishing.. er, on second thought, scratch that too. And no, people getting shot in the face is *not* my idea of humor -- just FYI.

Update: 2/13/2006 12:48 PM: Edit/PS. Touched up my l33t *satirical* taunting of my wife -- her music is far cooler than mine, and I am *not* a native to l33t (read 'I am a poseur').

Also, I totally forgot that Macaulay Culkin (age ten) was in Jacob's Ladder (very few lines, not terribly good) which took me right out of the film for a sec (not to mention noticing a bunch of other now very familiar faces/actors). And the 'making-of' documentary and deleted scenes really showed how bad the movie could have been had Adrian Lyne not added/changed what he did. All in all, I still like it, but it would be better as a pure mood piece without such a resolved ending, dead son or no. Just see it for the acting by Tim Robbins -- right up there with his Oscar-winning (and Golden Globe) Mystic River performance.

Update: 2/13/2006 1:12 PM: and coming soon from Adrian Lyne...Keanu as Johnny Mnemonic Johnny Stompanato in Stompanato. dude. ahem. I mean, d00d. I am there. Will Flea be in it?

I want to spy like an eagle

At alternet.org 'rights & liberties' I find Hey, Kids: Spying Is Fun!... I think somebody's been spying on me!

Why is my dog (who hates me *and* spies on me?) so nervous around me? And Tuxedo kitty sure has been in the litter box a long time! 'Meow!' Meow!' -- Pretty kitty makes it sound like an accusation or a signal to the SWAT team waiting outside my door. What's going on here?! Damn you CSS Sam!

Update 2/11/2006 11:46 PM: Also at alternet.org 'New this weekend' is a book review of An Interrupted Life:

There is nothing wrong with celebrating a writer with words -- it's a standard in the realm of the scribe. But Spalding Gray was more than just a collection of thoughts. It was the way he presented those ideas, the way he connected with audiences and drew them into his imaginary world that really made the difference.

I saw him perform "It's a Slippery Slope" a/k/a "Skiing To New England" and it really was an experience. Perhaps it is the monologue form, the minimalism of the presentation or maybe it was all him, his voice, his story. I'm so glad I saw him perform that one time at least.

I could argue that this relates to the domestic spying story but it doesn't. Although, Spaulding Gray made a career, made fame, for himself by pouring out in lyrical form what most of us desperately keep hidden away from others or try to crush to a pulp, to keep secret or destroy.

Herman the Rabbit has a posse

link

Update 2/10/2006 6:47 PM: "Anybody want a carrot?"

Update 2/11/2006 8:01 PM: And mdhm has a posse too! Adding this nycbloggers.com graphic...

Civilian who? At what controls?

Still thinking about the Feb 9, 2001 USS Greeneville / Ehime Maru collision - An AP article from Tuesday mildly states:

A National Transportation Safety Board report, released last October, concluded that Waddle's hasty order for the drill caused the submarine to surface into the Ehime Maru's hull.

Never mind that that when the accident happened the control room (you know, the room with all those dials and gauges not to mention that periscope thingy) was so crowed with civilians or so called "Distinguished Visitors" that:

As the Greeneville ascended to periscope depth, the CO asked that some of the civilian visitors move because they were blocking the view of a video monitor that displayed the image seen through the periscope.²⁵ At 1338:30, the ship arrived at a depth of 60 feet. Reconstructed system data show that, at this time, the Ehime Maru was at a range of 2,315 yards, or 1.14 nautical miles. (See figure 8.)

And never mind (again) that the only reason the USS Greeneville was at sea that day was to entertain these DV schmucks. They had no other mission or training exercise scheduled. Zero.

I guess history is written by those who *don't* drown at sea after their floating high school is sunk by a joy-riding nuclear attack sub. Thanks Associated Press! Thanks for shoving all that down the memory hole. As long as the sub commander still feels bad about it. whatever.

Update 2/9/2006 11:55 PM: This AP article is pretty weak too. It barely mentions the civilians on board. The rest is just all 'Boy, The navy sure has learned it's lesson!' without explicitly stating what that lesson is. Might I suggest; If the cute little control room on your nuclear submarine that the US taxpayers so generously bought for you didn't come with the deluxe VIP Room option with the roomy spectator seating, cup holders and the Nerf^TM covered rudder and hull perhaps you should tell the next tour group to take a long walk off a short pier.

Update 2/15/2006 2:16 PM: Found a dead link at thehawaiichannel.com for the 2/15/2001 article titled "Japanese Outraged Over Sub Revelation" so I found it at archive.org - link

Japan Demands Information On Civilians
TOKYO, 7:58 a.m. HST February 15, 2001 -- A resident of a Japanese fishing village said that it sounds like the crew of the USS Greeneville was "fooling around."

Update 2/15/2006 3:16 PM: Last update. I realize this story is long forgotten by most people but I find it to be an interesting analogue to the current scandals that are threatening to bring down this Administration (How many are we up to? I've lost count) as well as the massively corrupt and dysfunctional American military industrial complex and the privatization of the military. Also, since it occurred before 9-11-01 (which "changed everything") it is immune from all that "War on Terror" ridiculousness. It's one story, among many, of collusion between the government, the military, and big business - about their corruption and incompetence and how they bring suffering to innocent people. -- 'Help Identify The Civilians On The Sub'



Look here (and here, here, here, here)

Ray: Georgia on my mind

Raytheon: Virginia of course!

Why We Fight [...] is an unflinching look at the anatomy of the American war machine [...]

And don't forget, Virgina Is For Lovers.


Update 2/9/2006 1:46 PM: This Day in History -- Friday Feb 9, 2001: Civilian sat at controls of sub during collision with the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fishing and high school training vessel [...] Nine crewmembers of Ehime Maru drowned, including four high-school students.

Update 2/9/2006 3:14 PM: Clout helped business executives get submarine access

Update (again) 2/9/2006 3:55 PM: And if you aren't familiar with Raytheon and their product, I'll give you a hint; They've been trying to buy them back in Afghanistan.

Bush is an ass, whole enchilada

The funeral for the civil rights leader becomes a platform for criticizing the president's policies.

Civil rights leaders and Democrats also have criticized Bush's 2007 budget plan announced this week, which would increase defense spending while maintaining tax cuts for wealthier Americans and reducing aid to the poor.

Well duh! Grabbing aid to the poor and giving it to the military? That's two strikes right there.

Anyway, we're all going to hell in handbasket under this Bush administration monarchy so why keep score? Plus, I have more important things to do like hold down a job, update my blog and ponder the startling similarities between un-related events (1)(2) and make them seem more significant than the are.


(1) 1/31/2006: Coretta King dies at 'Hospital Santa Monica' in Playa de Rosarito, Mexico.

(2) 1/25/2006: US authorities find the largest and most sophisticated tunnel running into the United States along the Mexican border.

What do they have that we don't? And why are we not allowed to have it here?

suitable for framing

Make your own motivational poster here.
Or don't. See if I care.

Look at me, I’m a scattered!*

a new planet?

2003 UB313 or 'Xena' (the red line) is located in the scattered disc which overlaps the Kuiper belt (I hate when you overlap your belt). Animation from here created by this guy.

*see Shattered by The Rolling Stones. Great song.

Update 2/2/2006 11:34 PM: This random post is not quite random and pointless enough so Etch-A-Sketch Albert Einstein has been kind enough to help me tie together some of my last few posts: 1) Etch-A-Sketch, made by The Ohio Art Company, is a popular toy which was apparently used by a very patient and talented person to create a portrait of 2) Einstein, who famously proposed a theory of general relativity which would become crucial to cosmology** and who was 3) very much involved in the Civil Rights movement**.

** according to this Wikipedia entry.