Blogrilla

Outside of some digestive issues he’s super. One thing was kind of sad. Last night Liz and I wandered in to the kitchen where Buck’s pen is and discovered him sitting remorsefully on his newspapers with two puddles of vomit. He looked so sad and so sorry.

Poor kid!

I took him outside where his butt made some suprising noises and that’s all I will say about his rear-end.

When we came back in Liz was just finishing cleaning up. He curled up on his papers and went to sleep and seemed somewhat more at ease. Still we felt bad for him. So I gave him my t-shirt again. It may just be my imagination but I think it really does comfort him. Plus I’m sure he enjoys sleeping on it more than on the newspaper.

He was happy and boucy this morning. He was playfully nipping at Peterman and chasing him around the yard … JUST like a puppy should! So I think he’s better. I know what cured him too.

It was my t-shirt.

Yup.

I have that effect on a lot of people.

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One: Turns out that I’m not as impressed with Perplex City as I had hoped to be. Sure the puzzles are tricky, well some are. I’ve done about 20 out of the 15 I have. Some were easy and others took quite a while to work out while others are, I believe, beyond my meager mental skills. But I don’t mind that. What bothers me is that there’s supposed to be this “immersive” aspect to the game – where the game begins to intrude on reality and I just don’t see how that’s supposed to happen. All I can see right now is some activity on the forums and a slow, third person update of the main plot and story line. But it hasn’t sucked me in. So I am giving up which is disappointing. I was looking forward to it and thought it would be great. It is not.

Two: My in-laws came up over the weekend and made off with their dog, Meggie. We liked having her and I think she’ll make a great addition to their family. But we’ll miss her.

Three: Benjamin is close to finishing off the requirements for his Webelos badge in cub scouts. I think he can do it by the end of this week so when we have our first big pack meeting in September he will receive a whole slew of badges for his work over the summer and I think it will really make him feel great. I hope he keeps with it.

Four: Last night I went to a Cub Scout leadership training meeting on selling popcorn. See, the cub scouts are selling popcorn, just like the girl scouts sell cookies. They use it as a fund raiser and the fall is their big fund raising time of year. I am the fundraising chairman for pack 615 so I had to go. It was ok and I was home by 8:45pm anyway.

Five: I have a lot of yard work to do. I have to mow and trim the grass. Clear out the weeds and trees from beside the garage and out of the canyon. I have to clean out the store room so I can build some shelves to store the Cub Scout’s popcorn and candy. Well, its not just for them. Its also so I can make better use of that space. Eventually I want to move the door to the store room to the back of the structure to prevent water from getting in. Then I would turn it in to a game room or a rumpus room or something. I would, of course have to store my crap somewhere else. In a shed maybe. And maybe reserve the back half of the room for a workbench that would be good for all kinds of things. But that’s a long term plan.

Six: I had a very busy morning because I had an auditor in asking a million detailed questions. Fortunately I think I came out of it smelling like a rose. I just get very tense when I have to defend my work, you know?

Seven: The kids are going back to school next week. Tuesday I think. Gabriel’s birthday is that following weekend – 10 days from now, I guess. He is having a LaserTag party. What could be better for a nine year old boy? Really. Nothing. Most of the kids are looking forward to some focused swim lessons that we have signed them up for. The YMCA’s lessons, which they have been taking for years haven’t prepared the kids as well as I would like. There’s a vo-tech school not far that has a good reputation for teaching kids how to really swim. So we signed up all four kids for an 8am to 9am time slot on Saturday mornings. I think it goes for ELEVEN weeks! Ben has said he doesn’t want to go. I overruled him and encouraged him to look forward to the post-swim McDonalds breakfast that mommy promised. He says he would prefer to sleep then. What’s funny is that he doesn’t sleep at that time of day on Saturday’s anway! So he’s coming.

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Chinese Striptease Funeral

I read in the news that the Chinese police are cracking down on the practice of hiring strippers for funerals.

Seriously.

Strippers for funerals.

Villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more honored the dead person is. And naked women bring in the crowds. I can think of no better way to honor a dead grandmother than by hiring naked women to arouse her surviving husband while the in-laws watch.

Plus there’s a practical aspect to it. You want to make sure the guy in the casket is really dead and not just faking it. There’s probably an old Chinese saying that goes something like “If he gets a stiffy, he’s not a stiff.” And don’t get me started about raising the dead.

It’s hard to pick my favorite part of this story, but one of the contenders has to do with the name of the county where the police did the crack down: Donghai.

I suppose you could pronounce it Dong-hay. But it’s more deliciously ironic if it’s pronounced dong-high. If anyone knows it’s really pronounced Dong-hay, don’t ruin it for me.

I didn’t see in the news report why the Chinese police were suddenly cracking down on the strippers at funerals, but I have a theory. I think I speak for all men when I say that at the age of 14 I would have been willing to kill a cousin to look at a stripper. And remember that those small villages in China don’t have cable TV and high speed Internet. You pretty much have to choke someone to death just to generate any entertainment that doesn’t involve dragon costumes and tambourines.

The Chinese have given us gun powder, fireworks, chop sticks, and now this idea. I hope it starts catching on in the States. I don’t know what it would feel like to be sad and aroused at the same time, but I’m willing to give it a try.

Unfortunately, we ruin everything over here. We’ll probably start having mimes at funerals instead of strippers. But I have to admit it would be funny watching a mime do his impression of being trapped underground in a pine box.

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ThinkGeek :: Perplex City Card Game

Sign me up! This sounds great!

I gotta get some cards! I wonder where I can find some right away?!

Here are some other links:
BoingBoing
Wired
Wikipedia

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What a Moronic Presidential Press Conference!

It’s clear Bush doesn’t understand Iraq, or Lebanon, or Gaza, or …

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Scarborough’s fair

The Republican TV host reveals why he launched his “Is Bush an ‘idiot’?” segment and why conservatives are afraid to question the president.

[via Salon]

 

1. Calls bush an idiot
2. Calls republicans hypocritical
3. Admits that liberals were right

To me that warrants taking another look at him.  Although his opinions and values differ from mine I can appreciate an honest difference of opinion, which Limbaugh and O’Reilly don’t put up with.

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The Fix | Salon Arts & Entertainment

Money Quote:
Johnny Knoxville, of “Jackass” and “Dukes of Hazzard” fame, says that whatever his image, he’s not much of a fightin’ man: “People think by challenging me they’re going to show they’re tough. But I’m not tough. Decent drinker. Not such a bad kisser. But not a great fighter.” (Spin via ContactMusic)

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The weekend was fine. It was especially unproductive, though, which didn’t make me happy. I am always happiest if I can spend one day getting things done and another day enjoying the time off. In this weekends’ case both days were unproductive.

We have two new puppies, Buckaroo and Meggie. Meggie will be leaving this coming weekend, bound for New Jersey. So this weekend we spent being tied down. They’re eating four times a day right now - they’re about seven-and-a-half weeks old and need to eat more frequently than usual. I’m looking forward to cutting down on their food somewhat.

Meggie is doing fine in that department but Buckaroo isn’t eating as much as we would like and he seems a little stumped by kibble. Right now we’re feeding them wet food with a little kibble thrown in and Meggie loves it. But Buckaroo doesn’t seem that interested. So we went out yesterday and got him some other stuff including some puppy formula.

Did you know they made that? They do.

I know because we got some. Over the last day or so he seems more enthusiastic about eating so I think he’ll get over it.

Peterman has relaxed a great deal and is playing with the puppies on a regular basis now. He plays with them more as peers than as babies. I kind of thought he would sit apart from them and just “manage” them, you know? Like a lord oversees his manor but he’s romping around with them and having a great time.

BTW, Peterman, too is eating about four times a day. We’ve cut the size of his meals dramatically but we want him to eat at the same time as the puppies so he doesn’t feel left out.

I bought a new baby-gate for the kids’ playroom. The one we have has a pressure mounting method while the new one is hardware based. We’re sick of it falling out of the door frame. So I will put it up tonight.

Ben went to a birthday party on Saturday while the two kids of a family friend spent the day with us. The friend’s grandfather died and the family was in a panic. She was having a hard time so we just looked after the kids for the day. No big deal but it tied us down again.

The weather has been outstanding and I haven’t been taking advantage of it except to sit on my ass in the backyard. I need to dust off the bike and start laying down some miles. I’ve been negligent and it shows.

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Salon.com | News Wires

Endangered Manatee Spotted Off R.I.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

August 21,2006 | WARWICK, R.I. — An endangered manatee made a rare appearance in Rhode Island waters during the weekend, a state Department of Environmental Management official said.

The manatee was seen Sunday in Greenwich Bay off the coast of Warwick. The large marine mammals are usually found only in the warm waters of Florida and the Carolinas.

DEM dispatcher Michael Mahoney said the manatee seen in Rhode Island appeared healthy.

It is not known whether the manatee is the same one seen earlier this month near Manhattan Island in New York. That manatee was tracked as it swam north along the coasts of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.

Manatees are protected by the Endangered Species Act. Florida wildlife experts counted 3,116 in their annual survey in February.

If the animals are normally found in tropical floridian waters and this one wandered 1,500 miles off course no wonder they’re endangered!

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CNN.com - JonBenet Ramsey�suspect working as teacher - Aug 17, 2006

I was amazed when they announced that they found the killer of that little girl. I really believed that the killer would never be found. I was very pleased that they got the guy.

But the more I hear about this the more I think he may just be a nut with some very considerable personal problems.

1. CNN said that he read where this guy’s wife said that he wasn’t even in Colorado when the tragic event happened. She says he was in Alabama. Maybe she’s wrong.

2. ABCNews quoted the killer as saying that he drugged her and accidentally killed her. But the autopsy found no drugs or alcohol in her system. I guess it could be a drug they didn’t test for or he did a lousy job of drugging her or she was already dead.

All I’m saying is that it wouldn’t suprise me if it turned out that this wasn’t the guy. He may still be dangerous and need to be behind bars, but maybe not for the crime of which he’s accused.

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