Intellectual Poison

All new Aussie Yamaha motorcycles to come with free DataDot theft protection - gizmag Article

DataDots are a very cool idea wherein thousands or millions of microscopic dots, containing a website and code to identify the rightful owner, are sprayed on mechanical parts.

What they do is make it unfeasible to just scrap off the identifying markings, as in the old days where there'd be one single point of identification.

Yamaha Australia is putting DataDots into use on their motorcycles. This effectively means that stealing a new Yamaha in Australia is no longer a good idea since every single part of the bike is easily identifiable.

Well done, Yamaha. When can I get this on my motorcycle, car, computer and everything else?

I defy any of you out there to prevent a 14 month old baby from treating a cat's temporary Elizabethan collar (put on to prevent her from chewing on her bandage from an abscess on her paw). I dare you, I double dog dare you. It is just not possible without removing them from each other's presence.

The kitty is resting, mostly, comfortably. Anytime she stands up she remembers she's got a club bandage for a right front paw and shakes it like a polaroid picture.

Luckily for her, Sully's attention span is reasonably short so he moved on to the next annoyance in short order. Have I mentioned that Sullivan is the world's smallest hurricane? He buzzes through a room and leaves devastation in his wake. Don't let him near a box of tissues or you will quickly end up with a box and a big pile of tissues. Same thing for wipes and toilet paper.

But he is, as Grady was, unbelievably sweet and has the most adorable happy-boy smile ever.

Graydon, by the way, has a couple of phrases right now that are just too cute. When I say, "I love you, Grady" he responds with, "I love you, Poppa" and there's nothing better in the whole world. One of our games we play is to make our hands into binoculars and find each other and say, "I see you, Grady" and then he'll do the same. He is just a sweetheart of a boy.

I just wish I could turn off his auto-repeat voice function. When he wants something he has a tendency to say it again and again and again until you arrive at Nutsville (i.e. he drives you nuts).

Labels: children

I just got an email this morning letting me know that this photo of mine from 2005 was selected for Schmap's The Great Outdoors section of its Las Vegas guide.

Thank you, Schmap!

[Update: And I apologize for the wonked up formatting of the post originally. I always forget that posting from Flickr adds code that munges things up.]

Labels: photography

You know the squawky emergency broadcast signal test that gets run every so often on the television? We've got one that says its the weekly test of the emergency broadcast system. The only thing is that I've heard or seen the test for the last three nights in a row. How is it a weekly test if its being tested every night?

Should I take this as a sign of impending emergency, grab my kids, my laptop and my car keys and run for the hills? And my camera, of course!

On a slightly more serious side, this should serve as a reminder to put together some emergency gear. Bags that are packed and ready to go if something does happen. We've got one but I'm sure it needs an update, upgrade and bigger diapers and clothes for the boys.

And I should get my laptop hard drive backed up better than it is right now.

This ought to be a busy week, we're watching kids a couple of days, working a couple of days and I'm going to go scout places to shoot photos next Saturday of a bike race through the Santa Cruz mountains. More on that later though.

Labels: emergency

I know Grady went through his stage where he was fascinated with all things toilet. Heck, here's a photo of him standing in the toilet (and looking rather non-plussed about it). But he got through that stage pretty quickly or, at least, it seemed like it.

Sully, on the other hand, delights in finding a bathroom with the door open, going in, lifting the lid and splash, splash, splashing himself until he's thoroughly drenched.

And it occurred to me today that the word, toilet, sounds far too similar to the word, toy. Like its a little toy or a toy for girls. I don't know.

I do know I'm ready for him to be done with the toilet water. But it does make him screech with glee (yes, my little boy screeches like a banshee crossed with a hyena). The combination of Grady running around shouting with joy and then Sully chasing him, toddler style with lots of side to side and falling, screeching at levels high enough to shatter eardrums, or close to it, is entertaining as heck!

Labels: children

Weekly World News to close (aliens not blamed!)

I grew up reading this trash tabloid with my brother, it was one of those things that I remember and remember happily. And everytime I saw a copy at the supermarket, I'd think about him. I guess there are a finite number of ways and times you can write about Bat Boy and aliens. Too bad.

I also just read that Amp'd Mobile is collapsing under its own bulk. Hope you didn't just re-up your minutes, dude! I like that the news is relayed via a Customer Q&A on the home page. Very slick!

Labels: bankruptcy, closure, nostalgia

I find it an interesting contrast between the fervor surround Barry Bonds nearing the home run record and, yet another, Tour de France being completely swamped by doping.

After last year's Landis miracle and subsequent positive drug test, you'd think that the riders would try to do it clean. But nope. That'd be too much like thinking or something. Anyway, rider #2 has failed a drug test. Bye now, Christian Moreni. Was it worth it?

At least he was honest enough to admit he cheated and not pretend like he never did anything wrong. That says something.

[Update: The Leader Gets Sent Home for violating team rules and missing two drug tests. Will cycling be the first professional sport to just give up and embrace cheating?]

Labels: bicycle, cheating, racing

I thought it was odd when my laptop came back from repairs with two or three unknown "Buddies" in my iChat buddy list. Two were people and one was a company. How or why they got there was a mystery and kind of annoying. But it was easy enough to delete them and move on.

That was several weeks ago. When I fired up iChat this morning, there was another new Buddy that I'd never seen before. For a company with IM services to sell me.

While the person who came up with this invasive marketing technique probably got congratulated by the higher ups for such an innovative way of getting into the buyer's face, as an end user, I think they should get strung up and yanked apart by horses.

And, perhaps more importantly, it won't friggin' work. Do you really think I'd be limp enough to actually buy your crap after you forced your way onto my computer? Ha.

I'm a fan of marketing done right, this ain't it.

Labels: bad marketing

Damnit, after a 2 outs in the 9th and being down by four runs only to come back and tie the frigging game on Barry Bonds' 43rd birthday, you'd think the Braves would have the good grace to cede the victory to the Giants.

But NOOOOOOOOOOO! Extra innings losses hurt just a little bit more than a regular old beating but this one hurt more than most.

And, while the SF sports writers have already called the season over, I'll join them. The Giants are done for this year, they need to refocus, rebuild and shed some age (well, shed a whole lot of age!).

Damned Braves.

Labels: baseball

Lindsay Lohan arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Calif. just a couple of weeks after turning herself in to face other charges for DUI and hit-and-run from Memorial Day weekend.

Its strange that I have some sympathy for Lindsay Lohan and none at all for a twit like Paris Hilton. I think the reason for that could be found in the underlying reasons for their troubles.

Paris just seems like a self absorbed idiot who breaks the law because she's too rich to give a damn.

Lindsay strikes me as someone who actually has some real problems, alcoholism, drug addiction, any number of other things. And I've known many people who have been on that same road.

While Paris is a vain gnat, Lindsay is a more tragic character stumbling and flailing through life. The fact that she's quite cute makes her all the more compelling. Anyway, it probably isn't much fun to be her right now and the hangover isn't helping either.

I know its been a burning question for weeks and even months now. Just how does Grady eat a graham cracker?

He gnaws and scraps a hole in the middle of it. I don't know why but that's how he does it. Until the cracker breaks and then he'll go to town on it Cookie Monster style, including the avalanche of crumbs in his lap.

He has some fairly elaborate rules on the consumption of broken pieces of graham cracker too. As well as where he must play with his cars on the couch (i.e. right where his momma or poppa are sitting).

And Sully has learned, at the ripe old age of 14 months, how to eat with a fork.

[Update: Upon rereading this post I can see how easy it would be to think that I was talking about Sully in the first part of the post. I've amended it to be more easily understood. The graham cracker part was about Grady, the eating with a fork part is about the Sullivator.]

Labels: children, milestones

After taking last year off, our purple plum tree has delivered unto us a fruitful bounty. Over the last couple of weeks we've pulled and picked a couple hundred dark purple plums that have a very sweet flesh contrasted with a tart skin. They are quite delicious.

And, just this morning, I checked our dwarf peach tree with Grady and found that there are several peaches on it that are soft and come off quite easily in one's hand. They are not full sized peaches, they run about half sized but they are extremely fragrant and sweet.

There's nothing I like better than home grown fruits (my tomato plant is also fruiting). Which reminds me, we want to get a lemon and a lime tree to plant. We've talked about building in planter boxes on the hill that looks out over the street because it gets such phenomenal sun.

Geez, three posts before 9 today? That'll happen when you wake up at 6 and the kids aren't awake until after 7.

Labels: fruit

I learned that our tent is too small for four people and a dog. Three people would probably be alright as long as one of those people was Grady or Sully sized. But two of them and two adults is too much.

But I slept well on the air mattress despite the expected leakage. The ground was bumpy but it felt smooth and comfy to me.

I didn't really care for the pincer bug that crawled across me in the night and left me with more phantom tick attacks than I've already been having. But it was a nice night and not a bad way to learn that we've outgrown our tent.

Better to learn it in the backyard than a couple of hours away from home on Lake San Antonio or Big Sur.

But the tent would make a nice backup or granny unit for a tow camp trailer. While I'm at it, we need a boat too. And a small plane would be nice, as well. Maybe that cool one with the canards and push-prop and swept back wings that keeps flying by? Sure, that'd be fine.

Labels: camping

Will the arrival of David Beckham onto the American soccer scene make the game more appealing to me? Nope. Soccer's nice and all but I just cannot get interested in watching it. I don't mind a highlight reel or some news coverage though.

Will the arrival of Victoria Beckham onto the American celebrity scene make the world more appealing to me? Nope. No wait, that's not entirely true. I can say with some positivity that she is NOT Paris Hilton and that's definitely something in her favor. From all accounts, her reality show about moving to America is completely unwatchable. The Gallery of the Absurd captures her quite well (and don't forget to look at the critters at the bottom of the picture).

They sure are pretty people and they've got loads and loads of money so I'm sure they'll do just fine.

Labels: culture

You know what grinds my gears?

Long and unskippable ads on DVD's for kids. Like the Thomas the Tank Engine DVD. There are long ads for the other DVDs in the series and then another ad for the book series. You can not skip them, you can only fast forward through them.

That sort of abrasive marketing should be stopped entirely. It makes me want to never buy another thing from the Thomas line (yes, I realize that that statement is utterly insane and likely impossible with two boys under the age of four).

Marketing to kids is always going to be a touchy subject and it should be approached cautiously and with consideration.

Forcing kids (and their parents) to sit through ads for the product you're about to watch is just plain rude.

And that isn't even touching on the pervasive Work is Good is Fun theme. Maybe another time on that.

Labels: advertising, children

Stupid, dumb, cruel, mean and ugly. Pretty much any of those terms can be applied to soon-to-be ex-NFL quarterback, Michael Vick.

Falcons' Vick Charged With Dogfighting (warning, the story details some of the truly gruesome ways Vick as his co-defendants dealt with wounded and no longer valuable dogs, it will sicken you).

Kiss that NFL contract goodbye. Kiss freedom goodbye. And expect nothing but wishes for a deeply uncomfortable stay in prison from football fans like myself. I also happen to be a dog fan as well and the fact that you allowed, encouraged and profited from allowing dog fighting to take place on your property reduces you to the lowest form of scum known.

I can't even begin to convey how deep my disgust is for people that enable dog fighting, by watching it, by allowing it to happen, by betting on it. Same thing for cock fighting, its disgusting to me and I would throw all the scumbags who make it happen in prison permanently, if it were up to me.

Dogs are for petting, dogs are for running on the beach with, dogs are for playing. Dogs are not for fighting, dogs do not exist just so a sub-human group of fucking sick bastards can get their rocks off. I have nothing but the deepest contempt for Michael Vick and his cohorts and hope that they get the absolute maximum punishment for their crimes (presuming that they are, in fact, guilty).

Labels: disgust

Apparently every season is tick season here. I caught three ticks trying to find a good place to settle in and drink my hound's blood. And then I found three more that had already found a nice place to feed. Two had already begun to feed and were swelling up, they squished rather satisfyingly. And the last was a wee tick buried in her thick neck fur, it didn't want to let go and I, as always, had to be careful not to squish its body to inject whatever nasty toxins were inside it into my dog.

But it came off and got squished like the others.

And now, of course, I have phantom tick-itis, where it feels like there are ticks crawling on your skin all the time. In fact, I just went and checked my back in the mirror just to make sure.

I hate ticks, hate, hate, hate them.

Labels: life with a dog, ticks

Infoporn: Despite the Web, Americans Remain Woefully Ill-Informed

The internet has long been heralded as this great source of information to make the world a smarter and more informed place.

Sadly, the reality is that Americans are less informed now than they were in 1989.

And who's at the bottom of the stack? People who watch Fox News, the worst and most openly biased "news" channel on the box. The reportage they do is so awful and skewed and just wrong, it is no wonder. Of course, the sponsored shows that are literally nothing but lies piled on lies don't help inform the viewers, they just help "validate" some pretty offensive perspectives.

People who watch The Daily Show, a fake news program, are far better informed about the world than viewers of Fox News. And that is just pathetically sad really.

Labels: information, news

The Nimbus 20-inch Ultimate Wheel purports to take unicycling to a whole new level of something or other.

You may note, there is no seat, there is no axle, there is a wheel and two pedals. Good luck riding this thing without harming yourself badly. And please stay away from traffic until you've gotten really, really good at it.

Also, I'm leaning towards Incredibly, Incredibly Stupid.

Labels: bicycle, freak ride

Kids reading fewer books despite Harry Potter hoopla

I wonder if there's a way to account for reading done online? I don't read books as often as I used to but I probably read more now than I did before the advent of the internet.

But texting shouldn't count anyway, since its like the pig latin of email.

We do read dozens and dozens of children's books though. Some are shockingly awful and some are truly awesome.

Sure, the sugar rollercoaster didn't help that crash but it is a sign of a pretty good party when the guest of honor weeps for his picked up and gone bounce house.

I can highly recommend the bounce houses that have the obstacle course in them, much more fun than the simple bouncy floor deal. Not that the bouncy floor ones aren't fun, they are. But its more to have stuff to bounce onto, into and over and through. Plus it makes for some great photo opps.

Lots of noisy toys (remind me to post my manifesto to toy manufacturers), way too much candy, two little girls that really enjoyed leading Nande around on a leash, and a few meltdowns here and there but it was fun, more fun than years past because of more complete preparations.

And today is the start of the return to normalcy. Hopefully I'll get a chance to complete my website and post some more ads. My business cards have been ordered, I ordered cards from Moo.com because they let me use as many photos as I wanted. So I was able to choose five cards that gave a good sense of what kind of photo work I can do and want to do.

I am happy that we survived our part of the party season with two birthday parties for the boys. Lots of fun but I'm glad they're in our rearview mirror now. There's a ton of good stuff on the horizon.

Labels: party

We've been chugging along for several weeks now. It doesn't feel like there has really been any break for a long time. And we're all tired. But just a couple more days and then things should settle back down to whatever passes for normal.

We've been doing quite a lot of family stuff, lots of fun really. After coming back from Mexico, we've spent time with cousins and grandparents, more cousins and uncles, stepmoms and cousins again. BBQ's, county fairs, train rides, trips to the aquarium, walks out on jetties.

And, in couple of days, we'll celebrate Grady's birthday. It'll be great fun, I'm sure and I'm looking forward to playing around in the bounce house (a castle this year). But I'm also really looking forward to Monday morning when things start to return to a less random and more scheduable existence again.

I've also taken lots and lots of photographs with my new camera. Have built my professional site, even found a great printing company to handle the e-commerce side of the arrangement. A few more key steps (like getting business cards printed) and I really should be able to start working for real.

Next week should be a less complex week. And I fully expect to get at least one good long bike ride in, preferably with Nande. Hopefully, several good rides but I don't want to sound greedy.

Labels: catchup

The process of reducing overhead, clutter and distractions continues. We came back from Mexico with a vision of a reduced clutter life and it is hard to keep an eye on that vision through all of the crap that is around us, both online and off.

I've made great strides in reducing the distractions on my desk and in my office space but there's still the rest of the house to be dealt with to some degree or another.

My online clutter is no less distracting and I've been working hard to cut through it. A big step for me is to eliminate extraneous contacts on Flickr. I had well over three hundred contacts, some of whom hadn't uploaded a photo in nearly two years. They are no longer contacts. Now I'm further winnowing through my list and removing people I've not ever looked at their photos or can't even remember why they became contacts in the first place.

Next up will to be cut through the clutter that are the nearly 400 groups I belong to. Many of which are defunct and just taking up space both in my Flickr profile and space in my mind.

Because I have learned that clutter never goes away on its own and clutter exists in your head as much as in your reality. If you know you've got a messy desk, you're less inclined and able to sit down and focus. There are too many things to pull your eyes and attention away. Or you're frustrated by the clutter and just want to sweep it all into the trash or a drawer.

And, actually, sweeping it into a drawer is a semi-viable way of clearing it. Just having your decks cleared can allow your brain to concentrate and be more productive. And productive is what I really need to be these days.

Take a look around your world and see if there aren't things that you no longer need or want to have around. You'll be amazed at how much clearer your thinking can be without all the accoutrements and knick-knacks and whatevers hanging all over. There is something to be said for minimalism and I'm pretty sure its something good.

Labels: cleaning, clutter

One of my favorite shots from the county fair we went to the other night. This is Grady walking with his two cousins, Ciara and Aiden. Cute enough to melt your face right off, no wait, cute enough to melt your heart into a puddle of Ooooohs and Aaaaahs.

We always have a great time with Aiden and Ciara. Grady and Aiden are like two peas in a pod, they play fantastically well together and cry for each other when its time to go. It really is amazing to see how quickly they mesh and play. I hope they are able to spend more time together growing up since they live in Colorado right now and only get to see each other a few times a year.

Labels: family, photography

We joined my wife's brother and his family and my mother-in-law last night to go to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California.

We were smart and opted to wait until the sun had gone down as this area was hitting triple digits with the heat during the day. And it was still warm after dark but a nice warm, not a sweltering heat.

Having been to county fairs before, I wasn't really expecting all that much but I was more than pleasantly surprised. It was huge, reasonably priced and had lots and lots of rides for the kids to have fun on. And a bunch of those rides allowed a parent to ride with the kid. There were also almost no lines for any of the kid rides, that made things alot more fun as we could ride, go to the next one, ride, and then go to the next one without having to wait around at all.

We started Grady and Aiden, his cousin, off easy with some of the tamer rides before we started to go to the mini-roller coasters and the spinning flying thingie.

We enjoyed some frozen margaritas (which weren't reasonably priced) that really hit the spot perfectly. And the bigger boys had loads of fun while Sully watched and wanted to play alot but was a bit too small for the rides. His cousin, Sierra, went on a couple of rides before deciding that she'd just as soon watch too.

Time flew by and we ended up staying until nearly 10:30. And it was just about midnight before everyone got into bed. I'll upload some photos after we get back home later today (and out of this mad, mad, mad heat!).

I also stopped by a place in San Jose on the way up and bought a new lens for my camera from someone on Craigslist. Its an excellent Tamron telephoto, not auto-focus and not light at all but its optics are superb and I'm really looking forward to getting to know how it works better and making it work for me. Of course, I still want the $1600 image stabilized uber-lens but this Tamron will serve me beautifully until we can justify that cost.

The only bummer is that Sully and I have a pretty gnarly case of pink eye right now. My left eye was cemented shut this morning. So we'll be hitting Doc in a Box later today for some meds to clear it up.

Labels: family, fun

Among all the other craziness that is the 4th of July in Watsonville, there was an unexpected and rather sad event. The neighbors who moved in to Ike the Asshole's house own a couple of dogs. Note, they aren't dog owners, they own a couple of dogs.

I'd already been aggravated by how little care they give these two dogs, one, an aging German Shepherd and the other a young Rottie.

These two dogs spend all day and all night everyday in a caged pen in the backyard. They do not get walks, they do not get socialized with other animals or people and they bark all day and all night at anything and everything that comes near the house.

They are for nothing but protection and that makes me sad since they seem like pretty nice dogs, if a touch noisy.

The neighbors are also in the process of moving out because the owner of the house is trying to sell the place out from under them. I understand they've got other stuff on their minds but that doesn't excuse them leaving the dogs outside under last night's long, loud and flashy fireworks display. And the owners weren't even home to try to care for their dogs. The old Shepherd got so badly freaked out that he broke out of the pen, dug a hole under the fence (in rock hard dirt, mind you) and then tried to get into our house.

While I felt awful for the old boy, I'd never met him, had no idea what he would be like in my house and had to keep him outside even though he was seriously not having a good night.

It just upsets me that these people show so little care for their animals that they pen them up all day and then abandon them during what I consider one of the most difficult nights of the year to be a dog in this town. I have some pretty serious disdain for them at this point.

It is one thing to own a dog and it is another thing entirely to be a dog owner. Nande is a member of our family and is treated as such. Their dogs are nothing more than four legged alarms for them and that just pisses me off to no end.

Also, I almost forgot. Earlier in the evening, just after dark, a guy in his car drove past the neighbors who'd been lighting off fireworks for a little bit. He circled back just after they'd lit three fountains and, in an angry jerky moment, drove over the fireworks, breaking them apart and presenting a pretty dangerous instant for everyone. I was kind of shocked that he was such an absolute prick and pretty much everyone hoped his car would catch fire. But no luck and he drove away and left a bunch of annoyed people in his wake.

[Update: I spoke with the neighbor this morning and got a bit more of the backstory to what's going on. The two big dogs are actually his kid's dogs that they no longer wanted or couldn't keep. And, since they are moving to a smaller place, the big dogs can't go with them so they are looking for new homes for them both. Pretty sad really. And I guess it is unfair to label my neighbors as the non-dog people, its more the kids that got dogs they couldn't care for and then foisted them off on their parents, which is lame.]

Labels: life with a dog

It is with a mixture of amusement and irritation that I've been listening to fireworks being shot off all day here. Dusk is just starting to settle in and it'll be dark before long and that's when the real fireworks will get going.

But there have been rockets and mortars and Piccolo Petes being shot off all day long. I don't know about you but a mortar exploding in the daytime sky is about as enticing as wilted lettuce.

But I understand. There are hundreds of people all over my town sitting on huge piles of explosives, just waiting for dark, just aching to get the show on the road, as it were. And many have been drinking since early this afternoon. It is understandable that some will pre-fire their mortars a bit.

In fact, I think that's kind of a funny metaphor for their character without any possibility of verifying it. Impatience combined with mas cervezas equals early mortar ejaculation.

I just wish Nande wasn't quite so manic about the whole thing. She makes it a bit harder to enjoy the display even though there's nothing to see, just alot to hear right now.

But soon enough, darkness will fall and I'll perch myself on the neighbor's deck with my XTi to see what kind of goodness I can capture. The best, as always, will be shared here.

Labels: fireworks

Rushdie Files for Divorce from Padma Lakshmi, the incredibly beautiful host of Top Chef. With apologies to Liz, who's still smoking but falls just short of the crown.

Rushdie's a smart but fairly unattractive guy. Padma is astonishingly beautiful, like she's got an inner glow that permeates her entire being. She also carries herself with grace and class, I think that adds an awful lot.

Is it just me or are the Bollywood starlets a whole other level of beauty from what we've got over here?

At least they don't get photographed with their coochies on display (coughcoughLindseycoughcough).

Labels: celebrity, top chef

I came up with this word a few days ago and have been wrestling with it since because it is a word that already exists. I just want to add another meaning to it.

Twitches - twit bitches. Like the three girls in low-rider jeans with their Starbucks cups who wander around Target giggling and basically just getting in the way. Or Paris Hilton.

Time to go get the coffee machine rolling. Today is going to be another busy one.

Labels: language, new words

Oh boy, what a great follow up to yesterday's crazy blockbuster yard clean-a-rama! Today I got to go rent a trailer, load it up with crap twice and dispose of it at the city land fill and then at the much closer drop-off in town.

The old fence? Gone. Along with its snails, nails and rotten timbers.
Yard debris? Gone. From the area along the road and inside the fence, enough to fill a 5 x 9 foot trailer about 3 1/2 feet deep.

All in all, we got rid of about 550 pounds of trash today. Not counting the bits that went into my eye.

I also got a good amount of work done on my photography site. Not enough to post the URL here yet but it is closer than it was yesterday, by a long, long shot.

And Grady had a pretty decent birthday. The part I was with him for, at least. I expect he had a pretty great time visiting with our friends up in the east bay. The pool was a big, big draw. I wish I could have gone too but it just didn't make sense to go when I had so much to do here.

Oh yeah, I even made cupcakes for his birthday, with green and red sugar sprinkles and funfetti frosting!

But now I'm going to bed as my body is weary and my eye is bleary and teary.

Labels: cleaning, trash, work

I can't be the only one who's outraged over Bush's partial pardon of Cheney's lapdog, Scooter. The shockingly overt wrongness of this pardon by the people Scooter was protecting is wrong on so many levels that I just can't even fully comprehend the monstrous balls this took.

This is like having the warden be your partner in crime and is so deeply wrong that I wouldn't be surprised if this didn't result in furhter investigation and charges and crimes that Bush won't be able to just to erase by his will.

Of course, it isn't like his approval rating can sink any further, he's at his rabid base who will blame everything he's fudged all to hell on liberals because that's what the talking heads tell them. I bet they've explored pre-emptive pardons for their own pending charges.

Why yes, I am feeling extra cynical today.

Labels: injustice, politics

This is one of the hardest weeks of the entire year to own a dog and live where I live, one of the few places in the county that fireworks are legal to own and light on private property but not the ones that explode or shoot into the air, those are illegal for private use everywhere. This is the week that fireworks are shot off with increasing frequency until the climax on Wednesday when the 4th goes off.

And Nande spends all night, every night this week freaking out. Panting heavily, hiding in the bathtub and generally just being really, really unhappy. But she's gotten better in controlling her insane barking and now she just pants and waits for daylight.

I feel awful for her and have grown to really hate the damned fireworks even if there's still a part of me that loves them.

The pain in the ass part is that the explosions will continue well into next weekend.

Labels: fireworks, life with a dog