Saturday, August 6, 2011

Tattoo to you…clever ways to send subtle messages to the world

ambigram tattoo

We live in the “Age of the Tat” (How do you like that?) 

I’ve been learning about different kinds of tattoos lately, and ran across ambigram tattoos! Who knew?

This ambigram tattoo (right) incorporates some of the most important aspects of philosophy into an ambigram.

It’s also particularly nice in that it is easy to read and doesn’t look strange from either direction, which is one of the hardest aspects in making an ambigram.

There are many other types that are off-the-wall like -multiple meaning ones, skull illusion tattoos, and anamorphic ones. Here’s nine other tattoos for your viewing pleasure.

Humboldt County Sheriff agrees with As It Stands column on Meth

Fight meth and protect Californians

By Michael Downey/For The Times-Standard

Posted: 08/06/2011 10:56:22 AM PDT

Re: As It Stands: Speed Kills -- so why is meth still scourging our society?

Excerpt:

“Methamphetamine abuse in Humboldt County is among the highest in the state, which is why our sheriff's department is continuing to invest in the fight against meth. As pointed out by Dave Stancliff in the Times-Standard, meth is a serious crisis that needs a serious solution. We're doing our part at the county level; we need help at the state level, too.”

photo source

Meet the Dahlia Man – Humboldt County resident loves variety

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My friend, Carl Young of Fortuna, has a beautiful collection of dahlias that get more colorful every season as he adds more varieties of this versatile flower annually. Here’s an exclusive look at a fraction of the blooming beauties  in Carl’s back yard today. He’s still got about 50 more varieties that will be blooming soon. Got any questions about Dahlia’s?

email carl at: carlhandup@att.net

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Count monkeys for better slumber, U.S. loses triple-A credit rating, and it’s International Beer Day

Image: Capuchin monkey

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s coffee time. Have a nice steaming hot shot of java and let’s explore what the headlines offer this morning.

Back on line. Quite a few people were without the internet and home phones yesterday as At&t & Suddenlink experienced problems.

To fall asleep faster, listen to monkeys

Forget counting sheep -- many people prefer listening to lions roaring and monkeys calling to help them nod off, according to a new survey.

US government loses triple-A credit rating

It was bound to happen after the world saw how pathetic our Congress is after the contrived debt crisis.  Make sure to thank a Tea Bagger today because that group in the House is paving the way for America’s demise.

“The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's Friday in a dramatic reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy.

S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus. The credit agency said it was making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country's debt situation.

The S&P report cited "the gulf between the political parties" evidenced during last week's debt-ceiling debate that resulted in legislation designed to cut over $2.1 trillion over 10 years among its reasons for the first-time lowering, but GOP leaders laid the blame on President Barack Obama, according to reports from NBC News.”

Cheers! It's International Beer Day

It's International Beer Day, as if anyone needed an excuse to grab a cold one. Bottom's up!

Time to walk on down the road…

 

Friday, August 5, 2011

Naked woman at Elks Lodge golf tourney fires up wives, gadgets for people who hate mornings, and school bans Kurt Vonnegut books

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Good Morning Humboldt County!

Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a seat, and let’s see what’s happening beyond our piece of paradise: 

Naked woman at golf tournament angers Woodward officials

“City officials said they are angry that a naked woman was part of a charitable golf tournament hosted on a municipal golf course. Elks Lodge No. 1355 hosted the golf tournament in July at the Boiling Springs Golf Course. The event is a fundraiser for the lodge's annual rodeo, Elks Rodeo Chairman Neal Day said.”

I hear the leading golfer was having problems with his short game. However, with concentration, choking up on his putter, and shortening his stroke, the golfer was able to put it in the hole!!

10 gadgets for people who hate mornings

Do you hate mornings? Do you spend your days in a groggy stupor? Are you a bit of a masochist?

If you answered yes to these questions, you might find the following gadgets useful.

They will help you get up and get to work on time so you can fall asleep when the boss isn't looking.

Is that a promotion I smell? Wow, success smells a lot like bacon — but that might just be my alarm clock.

 

Vonnegut library offers banned book to students

“Up to 150 students at a Missouri high school that ordered "Slaughterhouse-Five" pulled from its library shelves can get a free copy of the novel, courtesy of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, library officials said on Thursday.”

What led up to this situation? Believe it or not…just one person.

“The Republic School District took the move at its April 18 meeting following a complaint lodged by local resident Wesley Scroggins in the spring of 2010.

In his complaint, the Missouri State University associate business professor called on district officials to stop using textbooks and other materials "that create false conceptions of American history and government or that teach principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth."

Pretty pathetic isn’t it? How is it lone extremists manager to get their way against a majority? It seems to be the story of our country in the 21st Century. It was certainly the story during our contrived debt ceiling fiasco.

Time to walk on down the road…

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Fly away vultures, fly away, you’ve done your job today…

The Tea Party vultures who roosted in the House and polarized our entire political process during the contrived debt ceiling crisis picking away at chances of compromise, are flying back to their own hunting grounds to play for the rest of the summer. Their jobs done.

Meanwhile the Senate has some unfinished business with the FAA. The government has been losing about $30 million a day in uncollected airline ticket taxes since the shutdown began on July 23, when FAA's operating authority expired.

If unresolved through Congress' August recess, lost revenue could tally about $1.2 billion. But what’s this? According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today:

A bipartisan compromise to end the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration that has left 74,000 transportation and construction workers idled, has been reached! I’m still waiting for final details. For some interesting reason a unanimous vote to pass is expected. Oh! I know why…the Tea Party flock can’t gut the compromise at the last minute. None of them are circling the ceiling in the Senate with a vote. 

The Tea Party gang leaves behind them a pretty sharp 512 point dive in the stock market today, and a worried string of investors. Economists and investors worldwide are shaking their heads in disgust as the prospects for our government passing any meaningful legislation until after the 2012 presidential election is over and the new “vulture culture” in the House is done ripping up anything not on their menu!    

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Odd Art: California man selling Hitler’s parents’ photo

Who the heck would want that monster’s parents hanging in their house? This ranks right up there on my odd meter:

“An Orange resident is auctioning off oil-paint portraits of Adolf Hitler 's parents that once hung in one of the Nazi dictator's mountain homes.

Ken Biggs, 72, says he acquired the portraits of Alois and Klara Hitler in France in the early 1970s from his wife's cousin, who was "terrified" to have the paintings and intended to cut up the relics.”

Story

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Klara and Alois Hitler/circa 1930s

Hacker changes recipe on Hershey’s website, the logic of gang colors, and snake hitchhikes on family car

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Glad you could join me in having a cup of coffee this morning. It’s still dark outside, and I hear birds socializing outside my window. Here’s a few news items to entertain you while we enjoy our coffee:

Hershey's website hacked, recipe changed

Is there nothing safe from hackers! Good grief, some clown hacked the Hershey website and changed one of their baking recipes. Really? Was it really that bad?

 The strange scientific logic of gang colors

Why would a career criminal advertise his gang affiliation to police? What does biology have to do with gang colors? Consider the peacock: The male of the species displays an enormous, brightly colored tail in order to attract females. But a heavy, highly visible tail would also attract predators and make the bird an easily caught meal. A female nonetheless prefers to mate with a male who has a bigger, brighter tail because, in order to have survived, "he must be strong and fast.

So the handicap of bright colors helps gang members?
Yes, in the long run. Wearing brightly colored clothes that identify these gang members to police helps to weed out less-competent members from the gang, as they are more likely to get arrested. Gang colors create group solidarity, but also signal to others that anyone who's seen wearing the colors must be stronger, faster, and smarter than the police — a big plus in the cutthroat world of gangs.

Sneaky serpent  catches ride on family car

First there were Snakes on a Plane; then there were Snakes on a Train (can you say "straight to DVD"?) Now ... you guessed it: Snakes on a car.

That's what the Fisher family from Memphis, Tennessee found slithering on the windshield of their SUV -- while they were driving. The sneaky serpent had snuck into the engine and decided to show himself once things got too hot under the hood.

The Fishers caught it all on video and posted it to YouTube, where, predictably, animal lovers blasted the couple for not stopping. But all's well that ends well: Hitchy McHitchhiker eventually slithered off the car and to safety.

Time to walk slither on down the road…

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Doga: practicing Yoga with your dog for a centered universe

When yoga goes to the dogs, they call it doga. And while doga may not measure up, fitness-wise, to a game of fetch or a run on the beach, experts say practicing yoga with your pet can soothe the not-so-savage beasts of both person and pooch.

"I consider it partner yoga," said Suzi Teitelman, a Florida-based instructor who has been teaching doga to man, woman and beast since 2002. "It's my lifelong passion." Teitelman stumbled upon doga because her dog liked to lie under her while she practiced. "When you feel good, they feel good," she said. "They want to be around your goodness."

Classes, DVDs and a training manual followed. Teitelman said she's trained more than 100 people around the world in doga, some from as far away as China and Japan. Disco yoga, kid yoga, beach yoga, spin yoga and yogalites are but a few of the trendy hybrids saluting the sun at fitness centres these days, all takeoffs on the 5,0000-year-old practice that coordinates movement and breath.

But Teitelman insists she teaches a traditional yoga class, even if the downward facing dog is flesh and blood."We chant together to feel the vibrations, then we start moving into twists and turns," she said.Traditional poses such as warriors, triangles and backbends follow, possibly enhanced by a little dog balanced at the belly or waist.

"The person takes dog deeper into a stretch, and the dog takes the person deeper," she said. "If you have a dog on your arm in a standing posture it helps balance and strength." Teitelman believes the rewards of yoga accrue to human and animal alike. "You're moving their body. They're getting touched, they're getting love," she explained, "and everybody needs to be hanging upside down."

Dr. Robin Brennen, a New York City veterinarian, was sceptical of the hugely popular doga classes at the Bideawee animal shelter and learning center where she works. Then she attended one. "I witnessed the demeanor of the animals changing during the class," she said. "They'll come in barking, seven, eight, nine dogs in room, but by the end of the session, they're sleeping. They're in savasana (the final resting pose)."

Brennen said unlike running or jogging, doga is not physically strenuous for the dog. "It's a level one yoga class and with this big dog in front of you it's hard to do poses," she said. "It's basically stopping and starting." But then doga isn't about dogs doing yoga, but about owners interacting with their dogs. "It really highlights the human-animal bond," she said. "For me, being in animal rescue, and seeing so many homeless pets, and people who very easily discard animals, I like these activities on the other side of the spectrum."

But she is doubtful about the spiritual side. "It's hard to think of a centering practice like yoga being centering to an animal, because it's hard to know what centers them," she said. Teitelman believes doga can embrace other domesticated creatures. "It definitely works with cats," she said, "and when I do downward dog my bird comes over."

But Brennen has her doubts. "Cats? Obviously you'd have to change the format. They want their feet on the ground. Then there's the scratching and clawing factor."

source

Random thought: Case closed on D.B. Cooper

I’m thinking the FBI has some mixed feelings right now. They’ve searched for the mythical plane hijacker D.B. Cooper for four decades with no success.

Then out of the blue some woman says she knows the identity of D.B. Cooper, the nickname given to the man who carried out the only unsolved plane hijacking in U.S. history: her uncle. "I'm certain he was my uncle, Lynn Doyle Cooper, who we called L.D. Cooper," Marla Cooper told ABC News.

The FBI won’t say for sure yet, but they’re going over evidence his niece Marla Cooper, of Oklahoma City provided, and agree her story fits the timelines involved. If what she says is true, it wasn’t police work that finally caught up with Lynn Doyle Cooper, it was the Grim Reaper! 

Her famous uncle isn’t going to have to worry about doing time behind bars in an earthly prison…because he died in 1999. Case closed.

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...