Hey, Jio is back, hosted on Republihk! He’s not kidding about that “dog-eaters” graphic, folks; dog meat is a popular beer-drinkers’ delicacy in some parts of the Philippines. I haven’t tried the stuff myself, but on one visit to Barangay Laoag, Ilocos Norte, I did get to watch villagers slaughter, skin, slice, and stew a stray dog. We even got it on tape. Yummy.
Beowulf’s Dinosaurs
Interesting. John is reading through some literature on “dragons” — which some theorize were medieval dinosaurs — of which there were sightings as late as the early 1600’s.
Of course, the question must be asked: Why haven’t we found matching bones in the area which can be dated appropriately? I want to avoid the common creationist idea that the fossils we have were actually pre-flood dinosaurs. While I do believe in the Creation (albeit as a crusty old-Earther), I’m not a big fan of creation “science,” which often takes the liberty of non-credible leaps of logic to be able to prove the young-earth premise at any cost.
Still, having just visited the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian, I’m fascinated by the possibility of dinosaurs (or dinosaur-like creatures) surviving as far as the Middle Ages. I wonder if any unbiased paleontological research can support it?
Wait. My brain suddenly decided to stop working. Creationism issues overload. Will eat now.
Googlewhack
Via MeFi, I’ve just discovered the fun of GoogleWhacking. How it works: Run a search for two words which return only one result, then multiply the number of results for each individual word to get your score.
Try not to mention the search term in your weblog or on any indexable webpage, or your Whack gets lost the next time your page is indexed. Instead, provide a non-descriptive link to the search result, like this. (That was my first Whack: 285,250,000 points.)
Campbell and Star Wars
Joseph Campbell my foot, says writer Stephen Hart. Apparently Star Wars traces its origins to early 20th Century pop science fiction, and not from Campbell’s dubious “cookie cutter” mythology.
In any case, Campbellian or otherwise, Anakin and Amidala can go and have their sci-fi teenage romance flick. I have absolutely no intention of paying money to see Episode 2. I made that mistake with Episode 1, and I’m not making it again. Nuh-uh. Forget it.
Bloggerbot
Currently studying how to use the AIM Bloggerbot.
I’ve also added michael paul (of Pickebrine fame). Interesting, how he mentions the Smurfs just as I find from Cam that the Smurfs were Communists. I knew there was a reason Grandpa Smurf wore that red hat.
Blog Post 600
If the numbers are to be believed, that was my 600th blog entry.
And whoa hey, I just found a huge jar of manzanilla-stuffed olives tucked in the back of my uncle’s fridge. There must be more than a gallon of them. I don’t know how long they’ve been there, but they sure taste good. Hooray for olives!
Bus to Silver Springs MD
I don’t have a car, and even if I did, I would be hard-pressed to drive it, since I haven’t gotten behind the wheel for more than five years. It’s therefore imperative that I get acquainted with the local public transport. That’s why today was a bit of an adventure for me: my first time to take the S-bus all the way down 16th Street, clear out into the suburbs: Silver Spring, MD. I needed to raid the nearest Ross for clothes.
The fun part was that, with my AIM-enabled phone, I was able to chat with Jim, even while riding the bus. Kewl.
And now, with dinner finished and a light rain pattering outside, I can curl up on the couch with some warm milk to read Dickens’ Bleak House, while Bach’s Orchestral Suites play in the background. Aaaahh.
Weather Pixie
WeatherPixie brings you the weather from DC, and from other parts of the world, with a preset StorTrooper added for extra character. Cute and fun meme, but I think it might need a little more work. And the graphic is four pixels too wide for my thinnest blog column, so I can’t use it in my random layouts. Also check out the plain-text forecast.
(Link via Lia, who will be going to NYU this Fall.)
The Disciplinary Loaf
If you are a naughty prisoner in Maryland Correctional, they feed you the Disciplinary Loaf. Be afraid.
Sort of a carrot-and stick approach to corrections, then. Except that the carrots in this case are finely grated and mixed with wheat bread, fake cheese, spinach, beans, raisins and other ingredients to create what Simon concludes “smells a little bit like the food they serve in the elephant cage at the National Zoo.”
Menu fixed
Oh, and I got the menu fixed — updated and backed up, too.
Hey East Coasters, it sure was warm today, wasn’t it? Two days ago we had a freeze warning at dawn, but this afternoon was above 70, and I could walk around in just a t-shirt.