Salt Lake Tribune – Salt Lake Tribune: Evolution bill survives by a vote A proposal targeting evolution survived its toughest challenge Wednesday when it eked out of a House committee by one vote. SB96, which requires teachers to say the state doesn’t endorse any theory involving the “origins of species,” needs only the support of the full House to pass the Legislature after gaining approval by the House Education Committee 7-6. The bill is the brainchild of Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who is disgusted that some educators teach that humans have a common ancestor with chimpanzees. Please don’t make…
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Indonesia’s mountains unveil a ‘Lost World’ | IndyStar.com Oh, man! I love me some golden-mantled tree kangaroos! I want one for Christmas! JAKARTA, Indonesia — Soon after scientists landed by helicopter in the mist-shrouded mountains of a remote Indonesian province, they stumbled on a primitive egg-laying mammal that allowed itself to be picked up and brought to their field camp. Among the things discovered by scientists in Indonesia’s remote Foja mountain range: Long-beaked Echidna: The largest species of the egg-laying group of primitive mammals called the Monotremes, seen three times during the monthlong expedition. The enigmatic creature has never reproduced…
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The Grammys are tomorrow night – probably won’t watch. But we’re pulling for some people: Category 69 – Best Hawaiian Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental.) * Slack Key Dreams Of The Ponomoe Kapono Beamer [Kapono Beamer Enterprises, Ltd] * Sweet & Lovely Raiatea Helm [Raiatea Helm Records] * Kiho’alu – Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Ledward Ka’apana * Slack Key Guitar: The Artistry Of Sonny Lim Sonny Lim [Palm Records] * Masters Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar – Vol. 1 WINNER! Various Artists Daniel Ho, Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers [Daniel Ho Creations] Okay, this is getting pretty obscure: FIELD…
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A couple of years ago, right after we got the TiVo, I was in the habit of watching Adult Swim cartoons. One of them was this stylish, eye-catching Japanese anime import called Cowboy Bebop. I’ve always been interested in anime, but found most of the few imports I ran across to be too coldly Mr. Roboto-Gundam-Warrior for my taste. And no, never could get the whole idea of why winsome girl “heroines” all have to be dressed like pervo dreamgirlz. But Bebop was different. It had incredible music, eye-popping visuals, evocative direction and editing, and fascinating characters. It sucked you…
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As the publication date of Gus Openshaw’s Whale-Killing Journal gets nearer, I’m looking forward to receiving my copy. In a weird sort of way, I was involved in the development of this book from a wacky serial published in a blog to an actual hardback with paper and everything. You might say I was vicariously picaresque at the time the whale-killing journal was being posted. Of course, Mrs. Blubridge was really the instigator, I was just along for the ride. Don’t tell her this, but between you and me, she’s pretty… wacky, but she means well. Currently, Gus is a…
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There are still some oddities encountered working with blogging client ecto. But I’m getting used to it. The nag screen comes up every time I start the thing, but I’ve seen nags that are much more obnoxious. Okay, 3,2,1 let’s jam. iTunes: Cowboy Bebop: Tank! (Opening Theme): Cowboy Bebop OST [3:30] First of all, I’m still not clear as to whether I’m saving a draft, or publishing to blog, or saving a whole new duplicate post. I’ve had a couple of dupe so far. It’s probably a force-of-habit thing that I’ll get over. I do like the “auto-save every X…
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I ran across a couple of mentions that there were “extra,” extra-offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him, if that is the proper phrase). The sources were a little too tinfoil for me to quote and link verbatim, so I went looking around. Wikipedia led me in the direction of the Danish newspaper that originally published a set of 12 cartoons – the originals are reproduced (in a very tiny format) on the Wiki page. If you really want to see them, you may… especially for comparison purposes. The Danish paper has an English-language section on the…
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“most annoying hold music” – Google Search I’ll add to this Google search on the “most annoying hold music” by saying that Continental Airlines’ agency desk (where travel agents call and request help with pricing and ticking issues) is teh brain-sucking evil. Its print equivalent would be saying “doot!” several thousand times, to a mindlessly peppy and very short tune. Thus, you hear the same short musical phrase dozens of times while waiting to find out from the agent if they can help you or not. Sometimes, it’s a dog’s life being a travel agent. That is all.
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Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune noted “Twenty great songs from 2005 that the Grammys missed” in this order: 1. “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People,” the Legendary K.O. 2. “When God Made Me,” Neil Young 3. “When the President Talks to God,” Bright Eyes 4. “Come Save Us,” Warlocks 5. “Devil in My Car,” New Black 6. “The Good Ones,” the Kills 7. “Here Comes a City,” Go-Betweens 8. “Bucky Done Gone,” M.I.A. 9. “Career Finders,” Perceptionists 10. “It’s for You,” Out Hud 11. “Everyday I Love You Less and Less,” Kaiser Chiefs 12. “Not About Love,” Fiona…
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Well, she’s gone. I never read “The Feminine Mystique” for some reason; maybe it was considered “old hat” or something when I was taking Women’s Studies classes. I had a personal encounter with her several years after college: I was drunk, silly, and sitting next to her in First Class on a flight home from a SABRE training class in Dallas. Ms. Friedan asked the flight attendant to move me far away from her, and be quiet. Heh. Well, I guess that was the real reason I never read her book, even though I respected her as a pioneer. But…