BlogDay was initiated with the belief that bloggers should have one day which will be dedicated to know other bloggers, from other countries or areas of interests. In that day Bloggers will recommend about them to their Blog visitors.

In one long moment In August 31st, bloggers from all over the world will post a recommendation of 5 new Blogs, Preferably, Blogs different from their own culture, point of view and attitude. On this day, blog surfers will find themselves leaping and discovering new, unknown Blogs, celebrating the discovery of new people and new bloggers.

• Idle Type: "distracting your brains out" -- Troy is really talented at aiding procrastination, and posts all sorts of interesting links to check out. Plus he really likes Saskatoon.

• Bitch, PhD. One of my new favorites -- Dr. B has insightful, madly funny, and activist oriented posts.
  

• The Revealer: A Daily Review of Religion and the Press. This one is put out by Jeff Sharlet (editor of Killing the Buddha) and the NYU Department of Journalism & Center for Religion and Media. This is the site to read if you're looking to raise your blood pressure -- they do a good job keeping the Religious Right accountable for their crazy actions. But, they watch not only Protestant fundies, but how religion in general is covered in media today -- a good site to watch.

• Cecilia's Blog: "we're not working, why should you?" -- it's the PhD comics blog. Their latest comic, "the vortex of unproductivity" is a little too true.

• The Movie Blog -- full of gossip, reviews, and rants. It's also one of my best-kept secrets in how I know so much about current movie projects and gossip.

• and finally, One Good Move -- Norm has clips of everything from the Daily Show to silly moments spotted on FOX News, along with interesting links and news stories, everyday.
  

"KYAGB—kiss your ass good bye," reads Maestri.

"Because," says Maestri, "anyone who was here when that storm came across was gone—it was body-bag time. We think 40,000 people could lose their lives in the metropolitan area."

And some scientists say that figure is conservative. People have known for centuries that New Orleans is a risky spot — the biggest river in North America wraps around it; and most of the land is below sea level. But researchers say they've been learning just how grave the problem is, only in the last few years. And they say the city and the nation aren't prepared to handle it.

[...]

"One of the things that's frustrating now for all of us in my business," explains Maestri, "is that if that Category Five Hurricane comes to New Orleans, 50,000 people could lose their lives. Now that is significantly larger than any estimates that we would have of individuals who might lose their lives from a terrorist attack. When you start to do that kind of calculus - and it's horrendous that you have to do that kind of calculus - it appears to those of us in emergency management, that the risk is much more real and much more significant, when you talk about hurricanes. I don't know that anybody, though, psychologically, has come to grip with that: that the French Quarter of New Orleans could be gone."

Our politics may be completely opposite, but our sense of humor isn't? Via Kate of small dead animals,

"If Quentin Tarantino Made Plush Toys Instead Of Films"

Think you’re up with current events and doing what you can to protect the rights of those who can’t fight for them? What about the piñatas who have no voice? Society accepts disturbing brutality towards piñatas, but one man is standing up and defending piñata rights.

• WARM and sunny outside (finally)

• listening to Loretta Lynn's new album "Van Lear Rose" and deciding to go out and rent Coal Miner's Daughter tonight. I love that movie.

• making mexican for supper tonight! Black Bean burritos and some Spanish rice. Yum.

Is it just me, but does the way Jerry and Becky are sitting and looking make them seem like they came from the pages of a blogging catalogue or something? What a pose! I've got my mouth full of Wendy's Big Bacon Classic, Dixie's probably saying something witty (or saying, "What the hell are you doing?" to the photographer, which, in its own way, is also witty), and Joel looks like he's ready to high-tail it out of there.

christian fundamentalist anti green tea
Sallie Mae sucks
who got the only sweetest thing in the world
tickling as foreplay or tickling foreplay (!!)
signs of a compulsive liar
cute guys prefer ugly girls
becky dobson (yikes indeed)
if you were to get mauled by bears i hope they d stay away from you re face cause i think you re cute
geek fleece blanket
unbelievable scary picture
preacher daughter nose ring

Modern, Cool Nerd
69 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore.

Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

You scored higher than 72% on nerdiness

You scored higher than 75% on geekosity

You scored higher than 37% on dork points

Stewart: There is reasonable dissent in this country about the way this war has been conducted that has nothing to do with the belief that we should "cut and run" from the terrorists, or that we should show weakness in the face of terrorism, or that we believe we have in some way brought this upon ourselves -- they believe that this war is being conducted without transparency, without credibility, and without competence.

Hitchens: I'm sorry, sunshine, but I just watched you ridicule the President for saying he wouldn't give a ...

Stewart: No, you misunderstood why ... that's not why I ridiculed the President. What I ridiculed the President because ... he refuses to answer questions from adults as though we were adults, and falls back upon platitudes and phrases and talking points that does a disservice to the goals that he himself shares with the very people he needs to convince.

CBC On the Line

Bill Doskoch: Media, BPS*, Film, Minutiae -- a good roundup of news (from various outlets) by a CTV newsman

CBC Unplugged -- podcasts from various locked out workers & an extensive list of CBC bloggers

The GarretTree -- a Toronto CBC producer's firsthand views & rants on the situation

I Love Radio.org's Special Lockout Coverage -- Day by day updates off the picket line. There's even a special "this sucks" teeshirt design to download.

Parkdale Pictures -- another picketer's perspective, along with various "lockout songs of the day" to peruse.

And of course, the CBC Negotiations page & the Canadian Media Guild Negotiations site.

FOR thousands of hungry children in Niger today, a tiny plastic bracelet in red, yellow or blue could be a passport to the future.

The bands around their shrunken wrists and ankles allow them and their mothers to receive special food handouts. For many that extra food will make the difference between life and death.

For aid workers the bracelets represent an ironic contrast with those worn symbolically by Western supporters of the Make Poverty History campaign.

[...] The plastic bands indicate how malnourished a child is. If a limb is less than a pitiful 110mm (4.3in) in circumference, a red bracelet is stapled around it. The child is classed as severe and given a five-day intensive feeding course. The mother receives an emergency package of basic food items.

If the circumference is between 110mm and 124 mm, the child qualifies for a yellow bracelet and the mother is given 25kg (55lb) of fortified flour and 5 litres (8.8pt) of cooking oil — a huge amount in what is officially classed as the second-poorest country in the world — which she can then use to feed all her family.

“After they are given food, the band is switched to blue, which means they can come back in a month’s time and get more,” said an aid worker at a food distribution centre in the village of Dan Malam, 32km (20 miles) outside the southern town of Maradi, one of the worst-affected areas. “They can come back three times.”

1. Dismiss the message -- megachurch pastor Ted Haggart defending and Stewart translating: "Robertson didn't make his comment during the time of day when he's a Christian"
2. FOX News -- dismiss the messenger. The pundits call for his retirement saying "his day has passed" -- but, wait! What is Robertson doing on Hannity and Colmes ONE WEEK AGO, as a panelist?!
3. Dismiss critical thinking -- CNN Paula Zahn, "has Robertson gone too far, or is he onto something?"

Google Talk is a downloadable Windows application that enables users to quickly and easily talk or send instant messages to their friends for free. Calls are made through your computer using the latest voice technology; all you need is an Internet connection, a microphone and a speaker. If you don't have a speaker or built-in microphone, you may want to consider buying a headset, which will also provide the best voice quality when using Google Talk.

Wake up, television executives of America: Jon Stewart - the wiseacre host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show - knows more about your business than you do. Sure, The Daily Show may just seem like a smart comedy program on basic cable; nothing more than good political satire and a spot-on parody of TV news pieties. But it's also a demonstration of television done right. In the six years since Stewart took over, the audience for The Daily Show has grown almost threefold to 1.4 million viewers a night. It boasts a legion of young, smart fans who are among the most demographically desirable audiences in the industry - further collapsing the caste distinctions between networks and cable. It has raised the bar for tie-ins, with a best-seller (America [The Book] has sold a stunning 2.5 million copies), a hit DVD (Indecision 2004), and - starting in October - a full-fledged spinoff (The Colbert Report). And The Daily Show may be the most popular TV program on the Internet:

Between blog links and BitTorrent downloads, hundreds of thousands of people watch clips online each day rather than on TV. In other words, in form if not in tone, Stewart's Daily Show offers a glimpse of what all TV may one day become: something we can consume in many distillations, at a time, place, and device of our choosing.

Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

People are taught from childhood to believe that the brain is essentially the "boss" of the body. While it is true that the brain is the centerpiece of our mental capacity and nervous system, it is also a fact that there are nearly one hundred million nerve cells in the gut alone -- about the same number found in the spinal cord!

Fully one-half of your nerve cells are located in the gut, so your capacity for feeling and for emotional expression depends primarily on the gut (and only to a lesser extent on your brain). By the time you add together the number of nerve cells in the esophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines, there are more nerve cells in the overall digestive system than there are in the peripheral nervous system.

Most people would say the brain determines whether you are happy or sad, but they have their facts skewed. It seems the gut is more responsible than we ever imagined for mental well-being and how we feel.

Ever wonder why people get "butterflies" in the stomach before going on stage? Or why an impending job interview can cause an attack of intestinal cramps? And why antidepressants targeted for the brain cause nausea or abdominal upset in millions of people who take such drugs?

The reason for these common experiences, scientists say, is that the body has two brains - the familiar one encased in the skull and a lesser known but vitally important one found in the human gut Like Siamese twins, the two brains are interconnected ; when one gets upset, the other does, too.

The gut's brain, known as the enteric nervous system, is located in sheaths of tissue lining the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. Considered a single entity, it is a network of neurons, neurotransmitters and proteins that zap messages between neurons, support cells like those found m the brain proper and a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember and, as the saying goes, produce gut feelings.

VIRGINIA BEACH (AP) — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson called on Monday for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him a "terrific danger" to the United States.

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on "The 700 Club" it was the United States' duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Robertson accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said.

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Extremists will always be with us, and they will always have followers. But while Americans are constantly asking mainstream Muslims to please denounce Islamic extremists, no one is asking mainstream Christians to do something about Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, [Eric]Rudolph, and their ilk.

• Junk Food Nation: Who's to blame for childhood obesity?

Conflict about junk food has intensified since late 2001, when a Surgeon General's report called obesity an "epidemic." Since that time, the White House has repeatedly weighed in on the side of Big Food. It worked hard to weaken the World Health Organization's global anti-obesity strategy and went so far as to question the scientific basis for "the linking of fruit and vegetable consumption to decreased risk of obesity and diabetes." Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson--then our nation's top public-health officer--even told members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association to "'go on the offensive' against critics blaming the food industry for obesity," according to a November 12, 2002, GMA news release.

• If not junk food, then Graffiti & Litter May Help Spur Obesity.
  
  British researchers think there's a link between graffiti and obesity. People who live in city areas with little green space, lots of graffiti and litter are more likely to be obese, compared with people living in city areas with lots of greenery, the researchers claim in a new report.
  
  "People who live in more pleasant and attractive environments, which in our study was assessed by levels of greenery, are much more likely to be physically active and not to be overweight or obese," said study author Anne Ellaway, a senior science officer in the Medical Research Council's Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. "Conversely, in less attractive areas, those with lots of graffiti, litter and dog mess, people are more likely to be overweight or obese and to take less exercise," she added.
  
  Hmmm, my guess is that eating too much and not exercising is what causes obesity. Maybe I'll write a study.

*my job -- will I be teaching my own class, or will I be a teaching assistant? Will I get that GTF I applied for? Will I be working on campus at all? More importantly, when will I be getting that first paycheck?

*my immigration status -- will I get the extension of my student visa? If not, what will I do? Will I get the Permanent Residency?

*will my bathroom ceiling get fixed before we leave this apartment? Or will I need to contact the housing authority and complain? (it's been over 2 weeks, and they've looked at it ONCE) When will I be in the bathroom and have it rain on my head? (yuck)

• Cindy's Blog

• What Fox News Channel Would Have Done to Rosa Parks

O’Reilly: “To question the government of Alabama and implicitly the entire United States government by defying the political order like this has to be considered treasonous. Civil disobedience is a code word for I hate America. These people are criminals, simple criminals. It's ridiculous that they think they don't have to live by the same rules as the rest of us.”

• Why are the media having such a hard time covering Cindy Sheehan?

Hypocrites and Liars
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Letter
Saturday 20 August 2005

The media are wrong. The people who have come out to Camp Casey to help coordinate the press and events with me are not putting words in my mouth, they are taking words out of my mouth. I have been known for sometime as a person who speaks the truth and speaks it strongly. I have always called a liar a liar and a hypocrite a hypocrite. Now I am urged to use softer language to appeal to a wider audience. Why do my friends at Camp Casey think they are there? Why did such a big movement occur from such a small action on August 6, 2005?

I haven't had much time to analyze the Camp Casey phenomena. I just read that I gave 250 interviews in less than a week's time. I believe it. I would go to bed with a raw throat every night. I got pretty tired of answering some questions, like: "What do you want to say to the President?" and "Do you really think he will meet with you?" However, since my mom has been sick I have had a chance to step back and ponder the flood gates that I opened in Crawford, Tx.

I just read an article posted today on LewRockwell.com by artist Robert Shetterly who painted my portrait. The article reminded me of something I said at the Veteran's for Peace Convention the night before I set out to Bush's ranch in my probable futile quest for the truth. This is what I said:

I got an email the other day and it said, "Cindy if you didn't use so much profanity ... there's people on the fence that get offended.

And you know what I said? "You know what? You know what, god damn it? How in the world is anybody still sitting on that fence?

If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out.

This is what the Camp Casey miracle is all about. American citizens who oppose the war but never had a conduit for their disgust and dismay are dropping everything and traveling to Crawford to stand in solidarity with us who have made a commitment to sit outside of George's ranch for the duration of the miserable Texan August. If they can't come to Texas, they are attending vigils, writing letters to their elected officials and to their local newspapers; they are setting up Camp Casey branches in their hometowns; they are sending flowers, cards, letters, gifts, and donations here to us at Camp Casey. We are so grateful for all of the support, but I think pro-peace Americans are grateful for something to do, finally.

One thing I haven't noticed or become aware of though is an increased number of pro-war, pro-Bush people on the other side of the fence enlisting to go and fight George Bush's war for imperialism and insatiable greed. The pro-peace side has gotten off their apathetic butts to be warriors for peace and justice. Where are the pro-war people? Everyday at Camp Casey we have a couple of anti-peace people on the other side of the road holding up signs that remind me that "Freedom isn't Free" but I don't see them putting their money where their mouths are. I don't think they are willing to pay even a small down payment for freedom by sacrificing their own blood or the flesh of their children. I still challenge them to go to Iraq and let another soldier come home. Perhaps a soldier that is on his/her third tour of duty, or one that has been stop-lossed after serving his/her country nobly and selflessly, only to be held hostage in Iraq by power mad hypocrites who have a long history of avoiding putting their own skin in the game.

Contrary to what the main stream media thinks, I did not just fall off a pumpkin truck in Crawford, Tx. on that scorchingly hot day two weeks ago. I have been writing, speaking, testifying in front of Congressional committees, lobbying Congress, and doing interviews for over a year now. I have been pretty well known in the progressive, peace community and I had many, many supporters before I even left California. The people who supported me did so because they know that I uncompromisingly tell the truth about this war. I have stood up and said: "My son died for NOTHING, and George Bush and his evil cabal and their reckless policies killed him. My son was sent to fight in a war that had no basis in reality and was killed for it." I have never said "pretty please" or "thank you." I have never said anything wishy-washy like he uses "Patriotic Rhetoric." I say my son died for LIES. George Bush LIED to us and he knew he was LYING. The Downing Street Memos dated 23 July, 2002 prove that he knew that Saddam didn't have WMD's or any ties to Al Qaeda. I believe that George lied and he knew he was lying. He didn't use patriotic rhetoric. He lied and made us afraid of ghosts that weren't there. Now he is using patriotic rhetoric to keep the US military presence in Iraq: Patriotic rhetoric that is based on greed and nothing else.

Now I am being vilified and dragged through the mud by the righties and so-called "fair and balanced" main stream media who are afraid of the truth and can't face someone who tells it by telling any truth of their own. Now they have to twist, distort, lie, and scrutinize anything I have ever said when they never scrutinize anything that George Bush said or is saying. Instead of asking George or Scotty McClellan if he will meet with me, why aren't they asking the questions they should have been asking all along: "Why are our young people fighting, dying, and killing in Iraq? What is this noble cause you are sending our young people to Iraq for? What do you hope to accomplish there? Why did you tell us there were WMD's and ties to Al Qaeda when you knew there weren't? Why did you lie to us? Why did you lie to the American people? Why did you lie to the world? Why are our nation's children still in harm's way and dying everyday when we all know you lied? Why do you continually say we have to "complete the mission" when you know damn well you have no idea what that mission is and you can change it at will like you change your cowboy shirts?"

Camp Casey has grown and prospered and survived all attacks and challenges because America is sick and tired of liars and hypocrites and we want the answers to the tough questions that I was the first to dare ask. THIS is George Bush's accountability moment and he is failing ... miserably. George Bush and his advisers seriously "misunderestimated" me when they thought they could intimidate me into leaving before I had the answers, or before the end of August. I can take anything they throw at me, or Camp Casey. If it shortens the war by a minute or saves one life, it is worth it. I think they seriously "misunderestimated" all mothers. I wonder if any of them had authentic mother-child relationships and if they are surprised that there are so many mothers in this country who are bear-like when it comes to wanting the truth and who want to make meaning of their child's needless and seemingly meaningless deaths?

The Camp Casey movement will not die until we have a genuine accounting of the truth and until our troops are brought home. Get used to it George, we are not going away.

Today's the birthday of my "little" (6ft. something) brother -- he's the ripe age of 24, today.

I haven't seen him for 2 years now?! That's way too long.

I miss my family.

Happy birthday, bud. In the near future, check your mailbox for some Canadian goodies.

The fact that everyone between seventeen and thirty-five or so is liable to be (as Nim put it) "tied down to childbearing," implies that no one is quite so thoroughly "tied down" here as women, elsewhere, are likely to be -- psychologically or physically. Burden and privilege are shared out pretty equally; everybody has the same risk to run or choice to make. Therefore nobody here is quite so free as a free male anywhere else.

The First Mobile, if one is sent, must be warned that unless he is very self-assured, or senile, his pride will suffer. A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter, they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.

"To the Dean and staff of the Graduate Division,

You fascists are the largest argument against higher education there has ever been. Any claims you make as an ally and resource for students is an utter sham. All dealings with you have ended in sheer frustration. I'd rather take a hot stick in the eye then deal with your bureaucratic nonsense. An especial disacknowledgement to David Fishman whose officious, blind devotion to absurd rules provides disservice to both education and the university.

"To Professor Fred Wudl (formerly of UCSB, tenured at UCLA),

For failing to realize that your professorship and tenure doesn't give you the privilege of disrespectful and cruel treatment of your students and employees. Further, it has surprised me that your arrogance and proclivity at being an ass can affect even those isolated from your presence. It is my supreme pleasure to never have associations with you again."

I work on dead authors because they won't show up to conferences to tell me I'm full of crap. Or because people who have talked to them in person will not be able to stand up and tell me I'm full of crap. But I also dance with the dead because I treasure the intimacy of defeating death and time, if only for a fleeting moment, poring over an old newspaper or an old diary. An illusion perhaps, but a beautiful one worth making your life's work.

Dancing with the Dead

1. Tending to put off what ought to be done at once; given to procrastination.
2. Marked by procrastination or delay; intended to cause delay; -- said of actions or measures.

Dilatory is from Latin dilatorius, from dilator, "a dilatory person, a loiterer," from dilatus, past participle of differre, "to delay, to put off," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + ferre, "to carry."

The ads, from Nike’s longtime Portland agency, Wieden & Kennedy, are authoritative and bold, with a bit of humor. The six different images represent six different parts of the body, including a posterior in an ad that shows a well-rounded bum and copy that reads: “My Butt is big and round like the letter C, and 10,000 lunges have made it rounder but not smaller. And that’s just fine. It’s a space heater for my side of the bed. It’s my ambassador. To those who walk behind me, it’s a border collie that herds skinny women away from the best deals at clothing sales. My butt is big and that’s just fine. And those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it. Just do it.”

• Fat Chance, an editorial by Jessical Seigel in the NYT, where she rants about the facts about the products behind the Dove campaign.

• Swoosh! Big women taking ads by storm -- article from New York Daily

• and another NYT article, For Everyday Products, Ads Using the Everyday Woman by Stewart Elliot. An article about the advertising of everything from soap, tennis shoes, and tuna -- using the everyday woman.
  

"Sure, it's a little grrrrrrl-y, but that's a small bone to pick with two pages of advertising in a big fall-fashion issue of a major women's magazine, where we're traditionally treated to photographs of kohl-eyed consumptives peddling pencil skirts."

Five pet peeves about eating out with Ayn Rand

1. claims moral right to tour kitchen, personally choosing objectively best pot pie available
2. even in large parties, always demands own itemized check
3. loudly proclaims that you could have had that last yeast roll if you weren’t so damned weak
4. only tips 3% (except for what she terms “heroic” service)
5. always farting and blaming it on “irrational” woman at next table

According to Firebaugh , the study revealed that - in evaluating their own incomes, individuals compare themselves to their peers of the same age and hence, and he believes that a person’s reported level of happiness depends on how his or her income compares to others in the same age group, but while income is important in determining happiness, Firebaugh’s data found that physical health was the best single predictor of happiness, followed by income, education, and marital status.

jux·ta·po·si·tion, originally uploaded by becky b..

What are the shops in your neighborhood? In your neighborhood? In your neigh-bor-hood?

In mine, there's a bar next to a Bible society -- ah, the irony!

• Read this review -- I've had this bookmarked since last Friday. Any time Ebert gives a movie ZERO stars, it's a review worth reading. This one is of Deuce Bigalow 2, and includes a hilarious slam against Rob Schineder. Good stuff.

• Speaking of Ebert, read some snippets of films he's hated -- Movie reviews where he says: "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."

• How It Should Have Ended -- featuring new endings for Braveheart, Star Wars IV, Saving Private Ryan, and Matrix:Revolutions. Coming soon: Se7en!
  

• 10 Movies that Get Women Right -- Including such genres as the Chick Flick, the Earnest Social Commentary, the Cancer Weepey, and the Action Figure. Of course, Ripley is at the top of the list.

Today is my little sister's birthday -- she's a whopping 26 now. I'm sending you something in the mail, so keep an eye out for it. Miss you!

For some pretty horrid pictures of me growing up, see this flickr set. Little sisters are good at picking (and posting!) embarrassing pictures of their older sisters! :)

I love ya, girl. Happy birthday.

• Forget Supersize Me, woman loses 37 pounds eating only McDonald's -- yeah, and probably spent most of her savings account in the process. Yuck.


• Wheelchair-bound woman kicked out of church: A 65-year-old wheelchair-bound woman with congestive heart failure was kicked out of her church because she was not paying her tithe. (yikes) via

• Speaking of yikes, check out this church sign,
  "a free mind is Satan's slave."

• Hipster Bingo. Huh. I only fit a couple of those squares -- look who's not hip.
  

• The fourth horseman has appeared -- Donald Trump has a blog. Someone needs to be fired.
  
  

• Survive a Terrorist Attack by following this handy how-to guide. Michael Jackson is a terrorist. If you spot this smooth criminal with dead, dead eyes, run the f--k away.

• Leave My Child Alone -- I didn't know this, but the "No Child Left Behind" act requires schools to release a student's contact information to military recruiters. Scary. This website gives the steps necessary to take your child's name off the list and opt out.

• Finally, the Daily Show tonight was hil-arious. They did one damning report on George "it's also important for me to go on with my life" Bush's refusal to meet with protesting mom Cindy Sheenan. Keep an eye on this page for the video clip.
  

heh, I love this.

... Do I want to speak of the miracle of our divine Lord's transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about his divinity -- I'd rather talk about his humanity. I mean, you know, how he lived his life here on Earth.

His kindness, his tolerance. Listen, here's what I think: we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do -- by what we deny ourselves, what we resist ... who we exclude. I think we've got to measure our goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.

• Justice Sunday Preachers: If their struggle is like the civil rights movement, why do Christian-rightists like Tony Perkins have so many racist friends?

• Religion & Ethics program on the last Justice Sunday event

• National Council of Churches Tells "Justice Sunday" To Keep Religion And Politics Separate

• Protests planned
  

• and InJustice Sunday, an editorial by Harry Knox.

• Freeway Blogger -- Free speech: Use it or Lose it.

• My newest hero.

• Someone Tell the President the War is Over by Frank Rich

• New Rolling Stones song, "Sweet Neo Con" with these lyrics:

"You call yourself a Christian,
I call you a hypocrite
You call yourself a patriot,
well I think you're full of s—t."

• and Christopher Walken for President?! It's fun to imagine, anyway.
  

• When you say 1pm, you really mean 1:30. (or, there's a 30-90 minute grace period for people showing up)
• The fact that it's August and I'm already wearing layers is just pathetic.
• For a blogger get-together to be "successful" (or at least attended), make sure there's booze involved -- ie, have it at a pub and not outside in a park
  
• of course, when you least expect it -- the media shows up. There's going to be a picture of the two five of us at the picnic in the Star Phoneix sometime in the near future. (of course, after the photographer left, then our numbers doubled)
  
• oh, and one more lesson learned -- I'm officially hanging up my organizer hat.

By the way, I thought I'd mention that today's our 6-month anniversary. Wow, I love him.

If your son has "a tendency to cry easily, be less athletic, and dislike the roughhousing that other boys enjoy" or a "tendency to walk, talk, dress and even “think” effeminately" -- then look out!

Who am I? They often tell me
I would step from my cell's confinement
calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I would talk to my wardens
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I would bear the days of misfortune
equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself,
restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

• Online exhibit on his life (from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
  
• Samples of his works and a chronology
• Wiki entry

Juno, originally uploaded by peachicken.

My little sister has some pretty amazing photos here. Check 'em out.

The next time you are in a used bookstore, look through the shelves for ancient volumes on child training and family discipleship. Here is what you will find: If the book was written in the eighteenth century, it was directed to fathers. If it was written in the nineteenth century, it was directed to mothers. What happened? The nineteenth century brought many profound social changes which rocked the family and paved the way for the absentee fathers of the twentieth century. The influence of Unitarianism and early feminism, certain adverse effects of the industrial revolution, and the abandonment of the old Reformation view of the family all contributed to the decline of fatherhood in America.

The result, for the first time in the history of the church, was the gradual transfer of spiritual training responsibilities from the father to the mother. Generations later, few Christian fathers even know how to begin the process of shepherding their children and leading their families in the ways of God.

The mission of The Vision Forum is to address this problem. Our name — The Vision Forum — points to our desire that the Lord would use this work to be a forum for communicating a vision of victory to Christian families. We can preach the covenant and the sovereignty of God until we are blue in the face, but if we allow our children to be educated by Canaanites, if we encourage our daughters to pursue a careerist philosophy, if we fail to make our homes economically vital, hospitable centers for love and learning, we are hypocrites. Not surprisingly, the scriptural warning against such hypocrisy is specifically given within the context of the family. If we have not taught our wives and daughters to love children and be “keepers at home” then we are “blasphemers” (Tit. 2); if we have not trained our men to be providers, then we are “worse than infidels” (1 Tim. 5).

1. a. Having the quality of producing or bringing forth; tending to produce; creative, generative.
b. Const. of the thing produced.
c. Med. Of a cough: that raises mucus or sputum.

2. That causes or brings about, that results in; causative. Always with of.

3. Something I need to be, today.

• Rhubarb Custard Cake -- recipe here. I made this on Sunday, and people must have liked it because there's none left! It's a fun little recipe, just a yellow cake mix, fruit, and some whipping cream poured on top (I added strawberries along with the rhubarb). As it cooks, the fruit and cream settle to the bottom of the pan. It's light tasting, but probably full of empty calories. But, sometimes those are the best kind of calories to have.

• Strawberry Rhubarb muffins -- recipe here. Two of my favorite fruit combinations. I'll let you know how they turn out.

• Venue 1: The Broadway Theatre
• Venue 2: Victoria School auditorium
  
• Venue 3: Victoria School gym
• Venue 4: St. James Basement
• Venue 5: The Refinery
• Venue 6: Off Broadway Arts Centre
• Venue 7: Joe Duquette gym
• Venue 8: Youth Venue, Saskatoon Pilates Centre
• Venue 9: Regional Cultural performances, Cosmo Seniors Center

Martha Stewart needed here., originally uploaded by becky b..

Just in time for company to come over tonight, our bathroom ceiling has sprung a leak! Apparently, whenever our upstairs neighbors take a shower, we inadvertently have one too -- through our ceiling. Ugh.

Anna Begins
Counting Crows

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
I am not worried
I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
with the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, "you're changing."
But we're always changing

It does not bother me to say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
And I guess I'm going to have to live with that
But I'm sure there's something in a shade of grey,
Something in between,
And I can always change my name
If that's what you mean

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
But I am not really worried I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget I am not worried
"If it's love," she said, "then we're going to have to think about the consequences."
She can't stop shaking
I can't stop touching her and...
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering for days," she says
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing

But I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not going to bend, and I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love..."
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should
Snap her up in a butterfly net
Pin her down on a photograph album
I am not worried I've done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and...

The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins to change my mind
And everytime she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away
She disappears and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

To escape execution in Virginia, an inmate has to prove he has an IQ of 70 or less; but Atkins scored 76 recently.

He had previously scored 59 in 1998.

The intellectual stimulation he got from constant contact with lawyers in the case is thought to have raised his IQ above the threshold of 70.

The jury considered a wide range of evidence to determine his mental capacity, including records from his childhood, various intelligence and memory tests and interviews with people who had known him as an adult.

The prosecution blamed his poor performance in school on the use of drugs and alcohol, and said the claim of mental retardation was a ploy to avoid execution, the Associated Press news agency reports.

1. because it's on my shelf,
   
2. everywhere I turn, I've been running across mentions of it, and
   
3. I think I'm finally beginning to appreciate (and crave) solitude.

...writer AJ Jacobs persists in tackling serious challenges in order to spice up his life – and the latest of these, The Year Of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest To Obey The Bible As Literally As Possible is about to be turned into a film.

As the title suggests, Jacobs spent a year trying to live according to the rules of the Old and New Testament. Yes, even the obscure ones about what foods to eat and what clothes to wear and not planting different crops next to each other. The catch, of course, is that he tried to obey these rules literally, ensuring that he probably didn't comply with any major religious group. After all, it's probably quite easy for a New Yorker not to covet his neighbour's ass, since very few Manhattanites keep donkeys, and a literal interpretation of the Ten Commandments would still allow him to covet their rent-controlled apartments and tickets to Wicked and generally everything else.

Though the intentions behind Dove campaign's quest to "redefine beauty" aren't exactly pure -- yes, they're selling stuff -- they're fairly high-minded nonetheless, which is why these comments seem to hit so far below the belt.

But these remarks aren't about being politically contrary; they're about something else. They expose the nasty inverse of "the beauty standard," which is the belief, held by some men, that women who don't look like fantasy material aren't just unworthy of their attention but are actually offensive, or even menacing. It's worth noting that none of the complainers goes so far as to call the Dove models ugly, yet they consider these women visual nuisances, annoying as litter, sour eye candy, gross.

It's a dirty little notion, and rarely is it ever this publicly expressed. The sheer entitlement behind it is usually a silent presence, perhaps even an unconscious one. But it's disconcerting when it emerges, when perfectly nice men like Guerrero insist that Dove ditch the Real Women in order to "make [his] morning commute a little more pleasing to the eyes."

I've been totally useless today. I just can't seem to get anything done. But I am looking at maybe finishing a draft of my second chapter by Monday. That's the good news. Of course, we'll see what the comments are like. No matter. I just keep writing. It might not be great--might not even be pretty good. Nevertheless, it is fifty pages of words with quotations and paragraphs and subheadings. If that ain't a chapter, then I don't know what is. (link)

As it turns out, the dissertation is now sitting in a box that I moved upstairs today. Is anyone on my committee reading it? Nope. Has anyone eagerly asked me for a copy? Nope. Have I re-read it? No way. Of course I'll have to return to it it revise, but that's just the thing--THE DISSERTATION IS JUST A FORMALITY. You write it to get it "okayed" by your committee. And you write it so that you have some solid ideas to talk about in job letters, interviews, etc. But don't get hung up on the diss's importance. I thought mine was a mountain. Turns out it wasn't.

It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be DONE.

Me and my backpacked shadow..., originally uploaded by becky b..

A day in the life of ... a graduate student, in the summer.

A Flickr set or slideshow.

ir·rev·er·ence n.

The fact or quality of being irreverent; absence or violation of reverence; disrespect to a person or thing held sacred or worthy of honour.

• Fashion models: average weight, 120 pounds. Average height: 5'9'' (BMI: 17.7)
• Playboy Playmate of the Year: average weight, 120 pounds. Average height: 5'7.7'' (BMI: 18.6)
• Miss America pageant winners: average weight: 120 pounds. Average height: 5'6.5'' (BMI: 19.1)
• Elite runners: average weight: 117 pounds. Average height: 5'5'' (BMI: 19.5)
• American women, ages 20 and up: average weight: 152 pounds. Average height: 5'3.7'' (BMI: 26.3)

I'm proudly amongst the ranks of the average.

Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess players do ... perhaps the strongest case of all is this: that only one great English poet went mad, Calpur. And he was definitely driven mad by logic, by the ugly and alien logic of predestination. Poetry was not the disease, but the medicine ... he was damned by John Calvin ...

Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea, and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion ... the poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his heads that splits ... the madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason ...

Materialists and madmen never have doubts ... mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have the mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity.

-- from Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesteron (originally published in 1908)
found in A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren (published in 2004)

Carol, eyeing the impending doom ... of the storm clouds!

More pictures of the big day here.

I think the kids had the most fun.

She's such a doll!

I took a bunch of pictures today at the wedding, the group pool is here.

President Bush sidestepped the Senate and installed embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, ending a five-month impasse with Democrats who accused Bolton of abusing subordinates and twisting intelligence to fit his conservative ideology.