Week of 2 Dec

I used to enjoy driving. Sure, in college, it took me two & a half hours to drive the twenty miles between home & school. But even when I drove for a living as a courier for a small record company all those years ago, I enjoyed my time behind the wheel. Most all the time I'd lived in NYC, I didn't have to do any driving till I got involved with a woman who didn't care that my license had expired. I didn't much like driving round Queens & Brooklyn, but I didn't hate it. Now is a whole new story. I've not had a valid license in some four or more years. I walk now, everywhere. So, who's idea was it we should have to spend so much of our lives here? Who's responsible? I want answers.

Just another gathering of politicians & Homeland Security.

Me in a suit. Want more?

I really can't tell if the author likes or dislikes Hitler -- despite the likelihood that he's Jewish (I should think very few Jews like or liked Hitler), &, admittedly, I did only skim the article, but Everything You Need To Know About Hitler's "Missing" Testicle seems an interesting read.

Now, that's technique!

Check out the Rock of Cashel. Nice.

The writings of Richard Feynman, among the greatest of physicists, Absence of Evidence, on the need of pharmaceuticals publishing of findings of everything -- not just those which will make a buck.

Raphael Lemkin: Polish Jew gave his life defining, fighting genocide.

The Autumn

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them --
The summer flowers depart --
Sit still -- as all transform'd to
stone,
Except your musing heart.
   
How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods
sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows
around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the
trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the
mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us
smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us
smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!

The dearest hands that clasp our
hands, --
Their presence may be o'er;
The dearest voice that meets our
ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys
of youth,
Which once refresh'd our mind,
Shall come -- as, on those
sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind -- view not
the woods;
Look out o'er vale and hill-
In spring, the sky encircled
them --
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn's scathe -- come
winter's cold --
Come change -- and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth
bound,
Can ne'er be desolate.
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Ten mythical creatures people didn't think ever exited, ten Most Mysterious Creatures of Modern Times & elevin Mythical Places You Want To Live In.

Yeah! It's a vinyl revival. About time!

Heh. Mac "Security Threat" Evaporates in 24 Hours. Between the Linux I'd run for many years & now OS X at home, the only hassles I now have to worry about are crappy hardware I buy claiming to work with Macs but don't. Maybe one day, but not today.

Cool pic site with lots of pics that make me feel good.

Oh, a while back I'd suggested that if anyone saw a working Hasselblad 500C cheap to let me know, as I'd love to own one. But considering my dimming eyesight, perhaps a...

Canon Rebel XT, EOS 350D, would be in order. Besides, while I love working in black & white on film, I've really grown accustomed to manipulating light & color in a digital format. After all, xmas is coming....

Interesting article on the CIA influence over Hollywood movies.

This is Marie Doro, an actress, & was taken round the beginning of the last century. Wow!

Wow! I never knew. Sucked Into The Tunnels Beneath Las Vegas. Maybe the lovely & talented Heather could elaborate...?

No respect for the dead. Sheesh!

Fight Club: I Am Jack's Manic-Depression. Nice article, but the best bit is the "Condensed Fight Club" video a few paragraphs in.