British Post Dogs!

I saw this picture on the BBC site and couldn’t help but post it here. It’s fantastic.

Here’s the real article: Royal Mail Dogs.

Two One Hundred Word Stories

He once fought against his forbearers on a mighty mountain. He once ruled with an iron fist; the elements at his command. Enthroned above, he would look down on the mortals that were his to rule.

But all that is long past now. His siblings and offspring lay forgotten in books and stories. His named has been distorted, lost to myth and legend while his image has remained the same.

He sits alone on that mighty mountain, tired of the human-made name Elohim. He waits for the day he’ll be remembered. His name is Zeus, and he is angry.

.

.

.

Cain struggled to ascend the wall of Eden. The jagged rocks cutting his hands; dripping blood staining the gray rock brown.

He was running for his brother, hours dead. He was running for his guilt, very alive.

When he reached the top of the cliff, he surveyed the paradise and found it spoiled — blackened trees and rotting fruit. He ran to where Tree of Life had been, but it was gone. God had taken it back. Cain fell to his knees and cursed him for his brother’s death. He grabbed a stone and began to cut out his soul.

(I plan on submitting these stories to Fordham’s Lit Mag this semester. We’ll see how that goes. Enjoy. Please critique.)

Playing Santa

(Updated! Because now I actually have time.)

So this is just a quick note of things I bought for people in my family this year. I decided to update this while sipping hot cocoa spiked with a shot of Godiva Chocolate and a shot of Bailey’s Irish cream.

Mom – The Annotated Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (ed. Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina), Dreamgirls on DVD & Justin Timberlake’s Futuresex/Lovesounds (Deluxe Edition).

Dad – A Yankee Century and Beyond by Harvey Frommer & When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss.

Grandma -Double Cross by James Patterson & Amazing Grace Danielle Steel.

Grandpa – Books of Soups: More than 100 Recipes for Perfect Soups by the Culinary Institute of America.

Conner, cousin, age 7 – The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. (I forget which version, but it really nice, full page paintings every few pages and big font.)

Brooke, cousin, age 5 – The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean.

Caden, cousin, age 1.5 – The Complete Adventures of Curious George by H.A. Rey.

Samantha, cousin, age <1  – A Cinderella storybook from Disney. Big pictures and short sentences.

Jameson , cousin, age <1 – Some quirky little book by Raffi about fish and counting.

Anything else interesting? Oh, I saw I Am Legend which was fairly good except for the seemingly tacked on, religious ending. More on that later.

Alike Unto God

I’ve seen wondrous things from up here. The reign of queens, the fall of governments, the wars that have raged and the silent battles fought. All this has passed before my eyes.  I’ve seen awesome things from my tiny home.  Nature’s wrath, the fury of the Earth. Men humbled by women and all humbled by children. I’ve learned amazing things in my own little world. How to speak, how to think, how to live.  I watch over you, every night. Revolving and evolving  Lights go on across half the world as other lights fall. And I sit here and wonder….

How I’ve changed since those long ago days, no more the pup I once was. Seasoned now, and wiser. How I’ve stayed the same for so long, still the same scoundrel I once was. Apt to bite at loving friends and squander what I have.  How I’ve learned to cope with life, alone yet always accompanied.  Tin voices fell silent so many years ago, but I see you every day.  I feel them every night, and speak as much as I am able. But they’ll never hear me, never see me. But I am…

I was once a simple thing, of confused mind and absentminded play. The trip changed that.  I was once a complex thing, unable to communicate but able to think. Reason changed that. I was once a captured a thing, caged and tethered. The trip set me free.  “The man who goes throw the door in the wall is not the same as the man who comes back.” Aldous Huxley said that.  You’d be amazed what else I’ve heard up here….

The eye of Orion burns bright tonight, ancient god protector. He sees me and bids good eve’. The horns of Taurus grow mute tonight, the man-beast’s soul. He sees me and seems appeased. The heart of Sirius glows warmly tonight, a kindred soul of mine.  He sees me and calls me home.  The lights of Earth burn brightest of all, but I had left them long ago.

My name is Laika, the first in space.  Some thought I died, some think I live. Both are right or both are wrong, all that matters is I’ve changed. No more the thing I once was, no longer able to say what I’ll grow into. For now I sit, watching over the world, guarding the home of man. One day they’ll come for me, or call me back, whomever beckons first.

I’ve seen amazing things out here in space. I’ve been alone out here in space. I’ve been Laika out here in space. And I’ve been after-Laika out here in space.  Dog and more-than-Dog. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe, and I’ve seen things you can’t help but believe. I’ve been forgotten, I’ve been remembered, I’ve been dead, I’ve been alive. And I’ve been vigilant.  And I’ll be waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

 

 (This was written after I spent the day writing a 15 page paper. My roommate was talking about his “Space Race” class and we came upon the subject of Laika, the first dog in space. There is apparently a small but growing body of work about her.  This story (poetic prose?) is just my shot at what I hope happened to Laika, that pioneer that we all over look.)

 

 

The Importance of Being Indy

I found this at Newsarama and I just had to share it with everyone. Feast your eyes and enjoy! (Original context: Blog@)  

Of Bierbaums, Balder and the Pogues

Well, it’s a perfectly miserable Sunday evening in the Bronx. Despite the poor ambiance today has been relatively productive. I’ve completed two statements of intent for grad school, bringing the grand total to 3 out of 4. It’s tough work, talking about yourself. After visiting Columbia Teachers College Thursday night, I’m certain that its my first choice.  It just felt right to me. What’s even better is that I got some hints from them about how to organize my statements of intent. They suggested a do some research about the program I’m applying to and find an academic who shares a research interest with me.  In working on the statements, I discovered that I’m concerned with literacy and media literacy. I’ve always thought they were important, but I found it very easy to discuss them and figure out how I would teach them. Some research into TC’s Anthropology and Education department shows that Dr. Lesley Bartlett researches literacy and its effect on society and individuals. I read two or three of her articles, which are very good, and wrote a little about her in my statement. Here’s hoping that works!

Saturday night was “The Festival of Approximately One Hundred Beers Appearing as a Tree” at Rosanne and Andrews.  Incredibly fun. I had a really good time and it was good to see some friends who I haven’t seen in over a semester.  Sentimentalism abounded. I have to say that Ro’ and Andrew know how to throw a good bash. There were gingerbread men, a really good bean dip (courtesy of Wil), various cookies and cakes brought by friends, festive dancing, beer, gin and more.  The centerpiece of the evening was the lighting of the Beer Tree, or Bierbaum, which was greeted with a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” to Jesus (or Mithras where applicable). The Tree was then then lit and greeted with a toast of Peppermint Schnapps. Which, incidentally, tastes like melted candy canes. There were also copious amounts of mistletoe scattered around the room. This lead to many interesting and provocative kiss combinations, but suffice to say I got a generous share.

Speaking of mistletoe, I recently discovered this charming myth about it and the practice of kissing under it. Basically, Balder (of the Norse Gods) dreamed he was going to die, so his mother, Frigg, asked everything in the world she considered harmful to her son to swear an oath to her that it would not allow harm to come to Balder. They agreed.  There after Balder was invulnerable to weapons.  The other gods would take turns throwing things at him (knives, spears, axes) and watching them bounce off Balder’s body. Loki, who was jealous of Balder, disguised himself as a woman and asked Frigg about her oath with the things of the earth. Frigg let slip that she forgot to ask mistletoe because it was too young a plant to give an oath. Loki went to the woods and fashioned a dart out of mistletoe (the legends disagree as to where it was a dart or a spear). Loki gave the dart to Balder’s blind twin brother, Hod, and told him to throw it at Balder.  Hod agreed only after Loki said he would help guide Hod’s aim. And so Balder was struck down by his own brother with a mistletoe spear. Odin was upset and sent his son Hermod to go speak to Hel and get her to release Balder.  He went and Hel said she would release Balder only if everyone in all the 9 realms would cry for Balder.  Odin and Hermod went around asking everyone to cry and they did, but Hel did not release Balder because a lone witch hidden in a cave did not cry. Little did they know that the witch was really Loki in disguise.  Hearing this news, Frigg ran into the woods weeping for her lost son. Hel took pity on her and restored Balder to life. Overjoyed by her son’s return, Frigg stood under the mistletoe bundle from which Loki took the wood that killed Balder and kissed every passerby.

That tale reminds me a lot of Osiris from Egyptian mythology. But that’s a story for another time.

So I found out on Friday evening that one of the songs on my Christmas playlist was misnamed. While it was by No Use for A Name, it was not infact an original song titled “Christmas Day.” In reality it is a cover of the Pogues, an Irish-American rock band, song “Fairytale of New York.” “Fairytale of New York” is apparently a very popular song and covered by many bands.  I updated the list below to reflect the discovery of the truth!  While I now proudly have the Pogues version in my library, I will still use the NUFAN version as the faster speed and harder sound mesh more with the mix I made.

And finally, I should be doing work on a paper about Second Life for a Communications and Technology class that I’m taking, but instead of I’ve been watching the YouTube videos of Jon Lajoie. Hilarious stuff. I went around posting some of them to my friends walls on facebook. It’s been a semiproductive day so far. Let’s see how the night goes.

Oh, and thanks to the good folks over at Zuda and the DC Comics message boards for doubling my hit counter in a day!

Christmas Things

Good December to one and all! It’s that time of year when everyone gets sentimental and people start buying each other extravagant gifts and feeling bad about what they got the other person. And for the past fews years, the beginning of December has meant one thing to me, and one thing only, updating my iTunes playlist “My Holiday Special.” Now, we’ll get to that in a bit but first I want to share a couple things with you my adoring fans (All one of you.)

The first is a video I saw courtesy of my favorite video blog, Rocketboom, it’s called Chris Christmas Rodriguez. There’s a whole series of them but none are as funny as this first one. Research about it on the ‘net shows that it was part of a 2000/2001 ad campaign for Mother. I have to say, it’s fantastic and worth a look. Also, the music and dancing in it rock. I’d vote for Chris Christmas.

Another Christmas themed thing I found while looked for more CCR videos was this gem from an old episode of MAD TV, Terminator 3: The Greatest Action Story Ever Told. I remember watching this… so long ago, now. I was probably 12 or 13. It’s not as good as I remember, but there are still some hilarious lines. “Pontius Pilate at 10 o’clock,” being my favorite.

And finally, not Christmas themed, but still something I think people should be linked to, Zuda Comics. This is the site for the Web comics initiative launched by DC Comics that allows registered users to vote on their favorite comic and the winner of the monthly contest is signed for a one year deal to continue their comic. All this for free. The first 21 comics posted on the site are very good. My personal favorite right now has to be Adventures of Maxy J Millionaire. I just find the original concept and the quirky art really interesting. The Crooked Man comes in second for me this month. I encourage everyone to register and vote for Zuda. Also, check out High Moon while you’re there. I really liked it last month and luckily it won!

And, finally, here it is folks the “My Holiday Special” revised for 2007. I put a little thought into the list this year. It follows a very light storyline of basically the days leading up to Christmas (Sex Pistols to Ringo), Christmas Eve (Ramones thru Weezer), Interlude (Pixies), The Santa Clause Tetrad (Python thru Damned), Christmas Day (NUFAN thru MxPx), Interlude II (Hannon and Pixies), New Years Eve and Day (Motion City thru U2). I really suggest for people to assemble these songs and give it a listen. Maybe even have a Christmas Party with it. Oh well, enjoy kids…

“Punk Rock Christmas” – Sex Pistols
“Come On Christmas” – Cheap Trick
“Oi to the World” – The Vandals
“Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)” – The Darkness
“Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On” – Ringo Starr
“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” – The Ramones
“My First Christmas (As A Woman)” – The Vandals
“The First Noel” – Bad Religion
“Christmas With the Devil” – Spinal Tap
“Last Christmas (Wham Cover)” – Jimmy Eat World
“Yellin’ at the X-Mas Tree” – Billy Idol
“A Great Big Sled” – The Killers
“Grandpa’s Last Christmas” – The Vandals
“Christmas” – The Who (from Tommy)
“White Christmas” – Stiff Little Fingers
“Christmas Song” – Weezer
“The Holiday Song” – Pixies
“Ho, Ho, Fucking Ho” – Monty Python
“Father Christmas” – The Kinks
“Don’t Shoot Me Santa” – The Killers
“There Ain’t No Santa Clause” – The Damned
“Fairytale of New York (The Pogues Cover)” – No Use for A Name
“The Stowaway” – Yamit Mamo (from Doctor Who Christmas Special 2007)
“Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” – Fall Out Boy
“A Gun for Christmas” – The Vandals
“Christmas Day” – MxPx
“Song for Ten” – Neil Hannon (from Doctor Who Christmas Special 2005)
“Winterlong (Neil Young Cover)” – Pixies
“Resolution” – Motion City Soundtrack
“Together We’ll Ring in the New Year” – Motion City Soundtrack
“New Year’s Day” – U2

I Can’t Get to Sleep, Think About the Implications

“Human beings behaving humanly? Brilliant.” – James Lipton in a Gieco commerical.

Today was a pretty boring day.  Which doesn’t mean that it was bad, just slow.  I did manage to get a good deal of work done. By work I mean catching up on my back-log of comics.  Solid reading and some thoughts on what I will and won’t keep on my pull list, but nothing solid. And I finally got to start Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors which so far as offered a really good assortment of stories. I’m only about 80 pages in but am loving it.  I did always like Gaiman’s style (as determined from Sandman, The Eternals and Stardust) and find his short stories very engaging. “Chivalry” and “Troll Bridge” stand out as my early favorites from the book.

Moving on, I attempted to make Gluhwein a German mulled wine. It turned out okay. I didn’t have all the ingredients but it was still tasty. Here’s the recipe for the adventurous amongst us. Gluhwein Recipe.

Tomorrow I plan on running errands with my mom, going shopping and finally sitting down to start filling out  applications to grad school. So far I’m looking at the New School for Social Research, Fordham U., NYU and Columbia Teacher’s College. That should be an interesting time.  I really have fixed feelings about going to grad school, but I don’t know what will come of it.

Well, that’s all for now.  My friend Ande is really persuading me to start writing. Ro, too.

The Post-Thanksgiving Cigarette

Ahh, Thanksgiving. ‘Twas a good day. I’ve sat around all day feasting on food. Sometimes, it feels like a medieval feast.  Granted, I’ve only had traditional Thanksgiving for the past 5 or so years, so it was an interesting experinece. However, it was made bittersweet because my cousin, Patty, and her husband, Chris, were unable to make it because their son, Caden, is in the hospital for some bizarre auto-immune issue that messes up his liver. On top of this, Patty just had a new baby girl, Samantha, last week. So it’s a hectic week for them. Their absence was felt today but it was still enjoyable. I love seeing my grandparents.

I got to show off Guitar Hero III to my mother, who thought it was awesome. She really loves ’70s rock and is a bit of a cognoscenti, though you wouldn’t know it to look at her. She loves rap, too, which just weirds me out. Other than that, I’ve just been lounging around the house today, as my back still hurts, and watching pointless TV.  I’ve been catching up on my comics as well, though there’s a bit too many to talk about it.  Hopefully tomorrow I can start reading some Gaiman and Moore.

I did miss an outing with Jay and Donnelly to see Beowulf in 3-D because I’ve already seen it and didn’t feel like driving half an hour out of my way to see it at midnight, again. It’s a great film that I really enjoyed watching and I saw it with good friends who were really into it.

And I got to see Doctor Who‘s Children In Need Special “Time Crash,” thanks to the lovely people at DWNY. (Who pay their license fees and use TiVo!) What a lovely, lovely piece. It uses my two favorite Doctors in a touching validation of both the new and old series. It’s just so… “pretty sort of marvellous” to quote Peter Davison.

Anyway, that’s about all for now. I’m hoping Caden is feeling better, maybe I can get to see him and Samantha over the weekend before I go back to school.

Well Come

“Where am I?”

“In the Village.”

“What do you want?”

“We want information.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“That would be telling. We want information. Information. Information.”

“You won’t get it.”

“By hook or by crook, we will.”

“Who are you?”

“The new No. 2.”

“Who is No. 1?”

“You are No. 6.”

“I am not a number, I am a free man.”

- from The Prisoner episode “Arrival.”

Welcome to my new blog. I’ve moved here from LJ and am much better for it. Though I’m not quite sure what will become of this foray into the global village, I think it will be a turn for the better. Anyway, come in. Enjoy. Berate. Whatever tickles your fancy. And on that note, enter stage right…