From this article. What a great scam! :D

Man has been paying rent to false landlord.

Until last week, Carl Kopsho had no idea that the man who collected 800-dollars from him every month was not legally his landlord. Deputies say a man pretended to own a house in Silver Springs Shores, Florida and rented it to Kopsho, 34, and his girlfriend, Heather Peteck, 23, without the knowledge of the owner, who lives in New York. In January, Kopsho needed a new place to live. Tyrone Grain told him he was in the process of a divorce and wanted to rent out his house. It was close to where Kopsho was already living, so he signed a lease, paid the first and last months' rent and, in early February, moved in. Grain refused to accept checks, saying he had been ripped off in the past, and collected the cash in person at the beginning of each month. According to a sheriff's office report, the deed-holder, Sebastian Wagner, called authorities last week to say he suspected someone was living at his Marion County property, which was supposed to be vacant. Deputies are still investigating the case and have not located the man who called himself Tyrone Grain.

just some links for myself -- crochet & amigurumi

http://www.crochetme.com/amigurumi
http://www.amigurumipatterns.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=9639
http://crochetandknittingdiva.blogspot.com/2006/03/amigurumi.html
http://www.bellaonline.org/articles/art3350.asp (felting)
http://purrls.blogspot.com/2006/11/steggie-now-with-downloadable-pdf.html
http://fortheloveofyarn.com/Issues/Spring06/patterns/spring06_patterns.shtml
http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/PATTnautie.html (knit, not crochet; AWESOME)
http://www.mgrounds.freeserve.co.uk/ (weresheep)

http://fortheloveofyarn.com/Issues/07Spring/spring07_cover.shtml
http://crochetandknittingdiva.blogspot.com/
http://www.crochetme.com/amigurumi

http://www.amigurumikingdom.com/
http://gourmetamigurumi.com/
http://ip2much.com/journal/?cat=13
http://farm.avocadolite.com/

Lately I've been browsing Flickr from work. I have a few pics up there, myself.

Today I ran across someone's collection of Flickr tools and toys: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

For instance, the Pallete Generator will (as the name implies) generate a color pallete from any photo you plug into it. (You don't have to be a Flickr member to use this -- just plug the Flickr URL into the Photobucket box instead. Or upload any photo.)

So say you were enamored of the subtle color harmony in this photo of moss and lichen on brick.



"Wow," you think to yourself. "I would love to use those colors on my website."
Et voilà: a pallete in handy hexdecimal.



Nifty, eh?

This is just me talking to myself, getting my thoughts in order.

The title should probably be "What I DON'T want." ( Read more... )

DVD review for Bellydance Superstars
(bellydance performance)



( Read more... )

Book/DVD review for The Way of the Belly, by Neena and Veena Bidasha
(a belly dance book and DVD).

( Read more... )

Teh Internets has spawned a phenomenon and I've been sucked in.

These are my cat macros:



( Read more... )

Two things, courtesy of work chat --

http://www.2loop.com/snowflakemag.html <--A magnified snowflake. It's really amazing.

http://f.chtah.com/i/9/276579820/coupon30_1214.htm <--A coupon for 30% off at Borders. You have to be a member of their Rewards Club, but membership is free.

The full story is here (I hope that's a permalink).

"An unborn elephant, tiny but perfect in every way. A dolphin swimming in the womb, just as it will have to swim in the ocean the moment it is born. An unborn dog panting. Each one amazing and now, thanks to these remarkable pictures, they can be seen for the first time.

"Using a combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras, the team were able to show the entire process from conception to birth."

( I snagged some pics. )

Cutting edge medical research, not science fiction any more:

So far it's only successful with bladders. But they're actually growing human organs in labs. "Researchers seeded a biodegradable bladder-shaped scaffold with cells from the patient’s own bladder and then transplanted the scaffold into the patient. As the cells matured, the scaffold dissolved, leaving behind a fully functional bladder."

That is so cool. My father had bladder cancer, and now has a faux bladder made of part of his intestine. It's cool that they can do that, give him an alternative to wearing a bag on the outside of his body -- but it's far from perfect. It doesn't have the control of a real bladder, so it leaks a bit; he has to wear pads. And it doesn't stretch, so he has to pee frequently. Kind of hard on an old man. But if this technology had been available at the time he had his surgery, he could be sporting a brand-new bladder grown from his own cells. It's awesome that they can do this now.

Bladders are easier because they have no blood vessels, but they're working on livers, kidneys, and even hearts now...

The story: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2006/product_87.html

---

And cutting edge eco-friendly building design:

"The official swimming facility of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, will span 7.8 acres, house five pools, and seat 17,000 spectators, yet it doesn’t contain a single steel cable, concrete column or structural beam."

They're building a framework of thin steel pipes that distribute the weight of the building across thousands of nodes. It will withstand earthquakes (I didn't realize that's an issue in Bejing, but apparently they get some big ones). The framework is covered by a very thin skin of transparent Teflon-like foil. "It lets in more light and heat than glass does, helping to keep the pools warm and slashing energy costs by 30 percent."

It looks freaking awesome, too. Granted most of these are the architects' design pictures but if you check out the photos, there's some of the actual construction, too.

See the story here: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2006/product_41.html

Work safe, but under the cut just the same. ( Read more... )

Today's web-surfing finds.

The Victorian age vaudeville act, the Barrison Sisters, used to dance and sing risque songs; in their most famous act, they teased their audiences by asking, "Do you want to see our pussies?" When the audience responded with enthusiasm, the girls would lift their skirts to reveal live kittens.



This led me to this page: Brian's Page of Antique Weirdness. Much is not safe for work. But very interesting and a bit disturbing (read the label -- and that one *is* safe for work).

Lookit what my cat Uma Marie was playing with earlier this afternoon. ( under the cut )

Bill Shakespeare = Britain's First Emo Boy

Sonnet No. 29

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee--and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

So. My boots have been eating my socks all day, and I told Kirk that the FIRST THING I was going to do when we got home was TAKE OFF MY G-D BOOTS, and then I did. And he pointed to my bare feet and said something (what? I don't remember, because) I shouted, "NOW I CAN TROUBLE DEAF HEAVEN WITH MY BOOTLESS CRIES," and he laughed but looked at me funny (not really funny-ha-ha either). So I had to find the sonnet and read it to him. And then I was all like, SHAKESPEARE WAS EMO, MANG. EMO.

Rilke poems translated by Cliff Crego

I like when I can make a link between a song lyric that I like, and what might be its literary source.

And yet everything which touches us, you and me,
takes us together like a single bow,
drawing out from two strings but one voice.
On which instrument are we strung?
And which violinist holds us in his hand?

I read this, and remembered Kate Bush's "Love and Anger" --

We could be like two strings beating,
Speaking in sympathy.
What would we do without you?
Two strings speak in sympathy.

Could be a coincidence, but I bet Kate had read Rilke's poem.

( Yes, I am a total nerd. )

There's something that bothers me, and I can't fully articulate why... this is my attempt to try to understand it myself by writing about it.

It's how people often refer to sex between two men by merely saying "buttsex" (or worse, buttsecks or some other made-up spelling). This came up recently in a few discussions about the movie Brokeback Mountain, but it's been bothering me for awhile.

Why does it bother me?

It feels immature. And disrespectful. It feels like that sexual act, which can be just as passionate and beautiful as any other, is being slighted and made fun of.

Nobody refers to sex between a man and a woman as "pussysex," it's just "sex." So it feels like maybe they don't think m/m anal sex is really sex, or at least can't be categorized as simply sex... it has to be singled out. (Sex between two women is even further marginalized and/or sensationalized.)

It should go without saying that m/m sex isn't all about anal sex. Lots of people don't even have anal sex. Some like using their mouths or hands. It should also go without saying that sex isn't just about how you go about getting your orgasms. It *should* go without saying, but unfortunately it seems like this point has to be made fairly often.

Maybe part of it is that people are afraid of butts. Butts are perceived as dirty and gross, not as a part of the body that is capable of giving intense pleasure.

Of course I don't think that sex is some sacred thing that should never be joked about. On the contrary, joking around about sex can be very funny and can break down a lot of barriers. But it can also reinforce barriers. And I think that's part of what I'm perceiving with this "buttsecks" thing. It feels like it's another way to say "You are different and weird."

I may have used the term myself (though not the stupid spelling) so it's not like I'm pointing fingers or taking some moral high ground. I don't specifically remember saying it, especially in such a mocking manner -- but if I have, then I'm disappointed in myself.

Maybe I am being overly sensitive about this, but it's been on my mind for awhile, so I just wanted to get this down even in this somewhat inarticulate form.

This is from Moby's website, here.


journal
ok, bear with me and this little analogy...
Oct 05, 2006 - nyc

suppose you were redecorating your house.
and you wanted your house to be a quintessential minimal mid-century modern house.
and you had a friend who only liked victorian houses, filled with velvet drapes and thick carpets and over-stuffed couches and lots of ornamentation.
this same friend also had repeatedly said that they had no interest in ever living in a mid-century modern house.
would you ask them for their opinion about decorating your mid-century house?
obvious answer: no. because they don't like mid-century furniture and aesthetics and they only like victorian aesthetics.
pretty simple, right? why consider the opinion of someone who has no interest in the aesthetic that you're going for? right?
ok, that was the analogy.
so, i ask you, why do women listen to the aesthetic opinions of gay fashion designers?
don't get me wrong: i love gay fashion designers. i'm just dismayed that there are hundreds of millions of women currently starving themselves and beating themselves up because they don't have a body that's deemed 'attractive' by men who aren't attracted to women.
gay fashion designers(and editors, photographers, stylists, etc)are sexually attracted to men. which is great and should be applauded. but they're not sexually or physically attracted to women, which does kind of make their opinions about female bodies kind of moot.
is it any wonder that these same designers/etc tend to like female models who have very boy-ish bodies?
to make an anthropomorphic generalization: male bodies: angular. female bodies: curvy.
most female fashion models are angular, which is a quality normally associated with male bodies.
women are supposed to be curvy. it's what makes a woman's body feminine.
can you imagine how absurd it would be if women designed clothes for men and expected men to have breasts and hips?
wouldn't it be absurd if hundreds of millions of men were staring into mirrors and berating themselves for not looking more like women?
ok, so isn't it then absurd that hundreds of millions of women are staring into mirrors and berating themselves for not looking more like young men?
it's unnecessary and unhealthy.
and yes, obesity is bad. that goes without saying. but when perfectly healthy, normal women beat themselves up for being 'too fat' it's not only absurd, but emotionally and physically unhealthy.
women are not supposed to look like emaciated 14 year old boys. they're just not.
i'm not trying to pick a fight with the fashion industry, i'm just saying that endlessly promoting an ideal of beauty wherein women are supposed to look like emaciated 14 year old boys is absurd and destructive and creates tons of unnecessary anguish for the hundreds of millions of women who are healthy and don't look like emaciated 14 year old boys.

to use me as an example. i'm a vegan. i don't like meat. so if you were having a sausage and cheese party would you ask me for my opinion on what sort of sausage and cheese you should serve?
of course not.
my hope is that somehow women will allow themselves to be who they are, and stop beating themselves up for not looking like emaciated 14 year old boys.
as i said, it's absurd and deeply unhealthy.
thanks,
moby

I gots a YouTube channel of my own. Only have "memory and dream" up, but... yeah! Gonna use stop motion animation to take over the world. or something.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=pixelcurious

And I'm absurdly proud that my little maxis recolor has been downloaded more than 800 1,100 times already.

http://modthesims2.com/member.php?u=332582

The video stuff comes outta the tangled mess that is my brain, the sims thing is just fluff. At first I was wishing my movie was getting as much attention, but then I realized that would throw off my entire worldview and sense of self. Surreality should not be commonplace or commonly appreciated. I would like to be the next Svankmajer or maybe the next Guy Maddin -- not the next, oh, Spielberg or Howard or some crap. How banal and sucky would that be?

Of course this did not stop me from entering "memory and dream" in the Warner Brothers sponsored Science of Sleep contest, in the hope of winning a video iPod. :p

you can describe it as the entire left side of your head being encased in white-hot pain. but that doesn't really convey it.

you can break it down. there's an icepick repeatedly jabbing you under your left eye, and no matter how many times it hits you, each time it crunches through the bone and rips anew into your tender sinuses. and at the base of your skull, below and around behind your ear, a small but heavy sledgehammer is steadily, rhythmically, destroying your cerebellum. and connecting the two is a steel band, the kind that can be clamped down tight, and with each blow of icepick and hammer the clamps are twisted so that steel band squeezes your skull.

that describes it a little better. but it leaves out the tendrils of icy pain that snake down nerves in your neck, shoulders and arms. it leaves out how light makes you whimper. it leaves out the sweats and the chills. it leaves out the nausea and the way you must suddenly sit bolt upright, grabbing for the basin, because you get that taste in your mouth that means you're going to puke.

really the best way to describe it is that you wish you'd never seen that movie, Pi. because at the end of it, the guy with the migraines finally drills a hole through his temple to gain relief through death. and when this happens to you, when it's this bad, you know what could make a person do that, and you sincerely contemplate doing the same, and you might -- if it didn't mean getting out of bed, reeling, needing to puke, staggering down the hall, having to turn on the light (ow my eyes) to search for the drill, the prospect of leaning over the toolbox to find the bits is too much because it means the blood would fill your head and you'd probably pass out and wake up with the imprints of phillips head screws in your face, and it just isn't worth it. better to just lie in bed, sweating or shivering, whimpering, and wait. it won't last forever, it never does. concentrate on your breathing. say your mantra. run your mala through your fingers. don't think about the guy in the movie, how blessed that surcease from pain must feel...