Listerine 1920s

Listerine ad from 1920.


Listerine ad from 1929.

Drug submarines

Submarines coming from the drug trade in South America have been laughably primitive up to now. Barely submerged, with PVC pipe for periscopes, they were an easy catch. Last week Equadorian officials intercepted a modern, submersible submarine loaded with cocaine. They also found a shipyard that employed 50 people. Drug enforcement officials said they were expecting more sophisticated technology from the traffickers, but this was a knock-out discovery.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iAduK5qQwdG_E72KcT_-luLrjzJQD9GOHBP00

Hot

Heat index of 100° for the week ahead.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

Mouse perspective

Blogging is hell

Blogging is addictive! 

 I'm hooked.

What have I started?

Kindergarten brawl update

Here's an update to my blog entry on June 26 called  "Kindergarten graduation."

The local press ran a follow-up article about the incident in which two women were arrested and 20 others detained for fighting at a kindergarten graduation ceremony in Victorville, California. They interviewed one of the women arrested and spoke to some witnesses. Apparently the fight started when one woman took exception to what another woman wrote on her Facebook page about the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. No kidding. Read it here:  http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/victorville-20127-brawl-lakers.html

'60s colloquialisms

Someone at work commented on a woman who was nursing in the back seat of a car parked near where we smoke. I said under my breath, “just be cool about it,” and they laughed and laughed. They thought it was hippie-speak. I thought it was everyday speak.

Freedom of the press

The mayor of a small Kentucky town punched the editor of the local newspaper in the face this week. A story in the Appalachian News-Express revealed that Pikeville Mayor Frank Justice II had contributed $2,000 to a political group behind an attack ad against a local judge. Justice was angry about the article and confronted the editor, Jerry Boggs, in a sports bar. Boggs filed assault charges against the mayor but later dropped them after Justice issued an apology. Justice said he used bad judgment.

This is like the heyday of investigative journalism. You go Boggs!!

http://www.local12.com/news/state/story/Mayor-accused-of-punching-Kentucky-editor/aI4HhOCxBU6eBxEllzVYXw.cspx

Ozzy's DNA

Ozzie Osbourne wants to know why he isn't dead yet. He has asked to have his DNA tested by a Massachusetts firm to determine why he's lived so long after many decades of drug abuse. A company spokesperson said they will study his genome but the project may not give a definite answer to the former Black Sabbath frontman's longevity. It will likely help scientists understand how DNA and the environment interact, which is the essence of genome mapping, I guess.

Osbourne, 61, is known as The Prince of Darkness for his antics on stage. If biting the heads off live bats doesn't kill you, nothing will.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20007859-71.html

Big Oil

An oil commodities broker in London went on a 3-day drinking binge and bought 7 million barrels of oil from his home computer at 2 a.m. At first he lied about it, then confessed he didn't remember doing it. It took him only 2 hours to create a $10 million loss for his company. He was fired, fined, and barred from working in the field for 5 years. The man is now enrolled in an alcohol abuse program in Switzerland.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1290577/City-firm-PVM-Oil-lost-6m-drunk-broker-bought-7m-barrels-crude.html

Active solar period

The sun's solar flare cycle has entered its active phase again and scientists say it's likely we will see some damage on Earth in the next 5 years because of it. Electrical grids are the most vulnerable to solar storms and widespread power outages are not uncommon (e.g., Quebec 1989). Satellites and aircraft are also affected by solar flares. Experts say it's unlikely, but if the Earth took a direct shot from the sun it could create a doomsday scenario that would knock out power around the globe. Banking, for instance, would come to a halt. Gas station pumps, elevators, ATM machines — anything that uses electricity would be affected. If transformers were fried, it would take at least 9 months to build new ones and get the grid back up again. Imagine the U.S. without electricity. Fortunately, if engineers have an early warning, the grids could (and would) be shut down as a preventive measure and then rebooted. Space weather is very closely monitored and there is usually enough lead time to prevent major outages. But if there is no warning, this could be a real-life disaster movie. Just thought you ought to know!

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Tiny houses

Tiny houses are a new, fast growing segment of the real estate market. A tiny house can range from 100 to 800 square feet. Most have lofts. They come with a bathroom sink, toilet and tub, a kitchen with full-sized range and a built-in microwave, a dishwasher, electric wiring, and insulation. You build the foundation or they can sit on basements. The smallest ones fit on a trailer and you can haul it around. The houses are finished on the inside.

There are many builders of these houses, and the styles and square footage varies a great deal. A Google search on "tiny houses" found 1 million hits. There's even a Tiny House Journal magazine and several forums to discuss them.

You can download the architectural drawings online for $300. You can buy a do-it-yourself kit for $10- $25,000. Or you can have them made and delivered for around $45,000 or less, depending on the size.

The houses are coveted by people who want to downsize, save energy, save resources, reduce yard work, and really go Green by reducing their footprint. It seems that people are excited to live on what they really need. Purging one's old life has a practicality and a spirituality about it.

There are neighborhoods of these houses being built, with sidewalks, a bank, a grocery store, a post office, a park, etc. Are these the future of retirement living? I'd love to have one. But my house is already 1,000 square feet, so I guess I'm ahead of my time.

My brother-in-law is a builder — I should tell him about this. 

19 sets of twins graduate

Two Syracuse-area high schools graduated 19 sets of twins on Sunday, according to The New York Times. One school graduated 12 sets, the other 7. The school with the 12 twins established a new Guinness World Record, beating a Massachussetts school's record of graduating 10 sets of twins.



http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/06/28/us/AP-US-ODD-38-Graduating-Twins.html

Cabanas

My home away from home, The Beachcomber in Pompano.
(an original photograph)

Terraced Rice Fields

Yunnan, China
Photograph by Thierry Bornier, My Shot

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/terraced-rice-field-china/

Your boss on caffeine

FarmVille

This is a screen shot of my farm in FarmVille. I thought non-FarmVille people would like to see what it looks like.

http://www.farmville.com/

George Harrison

The Hollywood Reporter says a new George Harrison documentary is on the way in 2011. "Living in the Material World: George Harrison," will be directed by Martin Scorsese in full collaboration with Harrison's widow, Olivia.

 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i417b9e1bf4bfc8ec055a530ee89abb6c?pn=1

Definition of a tree

A woman in Mt. Lookout let her yard overgrow. Her neighbor complained but the city did not cite her. The neighbor wrote to WKRC's Troubleshooter Howard Ain for help.

Ain discovered that Cincinnati does not have a definition of a tree which prevents it from taking action against the woman. They have to write a new ordinance that includes the definition.

Pictured above is an invasive weed that can grow 20 feet tall, called the Saltcedar or Noxious Weed. This is probably what they are talking about, defining whether this is a tree or a weed.

Has the city never prosecuted this problem before? This is ridiculous.

http://www.local12.com/content/troubleshooter/story/Mount-Lookout-Man-Complains-About-Neighbors-Weeds/FvTOp-RGNk6HVJjogZOwVg.cspx